Happiness

Lots of different people call at my church. Some people want to talk about getting married, or having their babies christened. Some have very difficult personal problems and are extremely unhappy. Some want a cup of tea. And some just want to talk.

I remember a few years ago, one of my regular visitors was what used to be called ‘a gentleman of the road’ – today I suppose people would simply call him a tramp. His name was Barney Teller. Barney always asked for a cup of hot water – he always brought his own teabag – and got great pleasure from discussing what he called ‘philosophical questions’.

Once the question was ‘What is happiness?’ The question caught me by surprise; as strange as it may seem I’m not asked such questions very often, and so I had to think about it for a long time.

‘Well’, I began, ‘I suppose that for many people happiness means having enough to eat, a warm place to stay in winter, good health and enough money for the basic necessities of life.’ I was just about to go into matters of spiritual happiness, when Barney interrupted me.

‘Ah, but’, he said, ‘why is it that so many people wish they had more than just that? Why are they unhappy in spite of their 4-bedroom houses, dish-washers, deep-freezers, electric tin-openers, electric tooth-brushes, colour TV’s, big cars and two foreign holidays every year? Are these things necessities of life?’

Then Barney added that he personally was very happy, even though he had nothing and never looked for happiness.

‘I don’t wish I were rich or had more money. I don’t even wish I had a warm place to sleep tonight. I’ll be happy as long as I can walk and breathe... as long as I can be free’ he said.

This made me think of a poster I had once seen... perhaps you have seen it, too, but just in case you haven’t I’ll describe it for you. The poster shows a beautiful butterfly with beautiful gold and red wings and this beautiful gold and red-winged butterfly had just landed on someone’s shoulder... and the poster said ‘Happiness is like a butterfly. If you try to catch it, it will fly away. But if you forget about it and get on with your life, it may just land on your shoulder.’

Suddenly, as I sat there that afternoon with Barney, the tramp, I began to think, too, of all those people I mentioned before who came to me with their personal problems. So many were looking for happi- ness – and never finding it. Perhaps I ought to tell them about Barney sometimes – and perhaps I ought to tell them that they will never find happiness if they look for it.

Post-Reading

A Say in alternative words the following.

1) to call at one’s church; 2) to christen a baby; 3) a regular visitor; 4) a gentleman of the road; 5) to catch smb. by surprise; 6) basic necessities of life; 7) spiritual happiness; 8) to go into the matters of; 9) a tramp; 10) a teabag; 11) a tin-opener; 12) a poster; 13) to get on with one’s life; 14) to be just about to do smth.

B Translate into English using the vocabulary from the text.

1. Он был одним из постоянных посетителей этого бара. 2. Их приход застал меня врасплох. 3. Этих денег тебе хватит только на самое необходимое. 4. Я как раз собирался замкнуть дверь, когда раздался телефонный звонок. 5. Он может быть счастлив, если просто светит солнце, небо голубое и можно спокойно дышать свежим воздухом. 6. Я полагаю, что понятие ‘счастье’ связано более с духовными, чем материальными ценностями.

С Discuss the following questions.

1. Why do people come to the priest? 2. What kind of visitor was Barney Teller? 3. What questions was he keen on discussing? 4. Barney Teller is a happy man, isn’t he? What makes him happy? 5. What do you think of comparing happiness to a butterfly? Does it seem convincing to you? What could you compare happiness to?

Text 5

Pre-Reading

The old wisdom says that if you cannot change a situation or circumstances, you had better change your attitude to them.

What would you say to it?

Reading

Read the text “Attitude is Everything” and do the exercises that follow.