[00:01.080]--- lesson 27 Nothing to sell and nothing to buy
[00:07.360]--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
[00:13.040]--- What is the most important thing for a tramp?
[00:18.080]It has been said that everyone lives by selling something.
[00:22.720]In the light of this statement, teachers live by selling knowledge,
[00:27.720]philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling spiritual comfort.
[00:34.720]Though it may be possible to measure the value of material goods in terms of money,
[00:40.160]it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us.
[00:47.480]There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives,
[00:53.160]yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely this service.
[01:00.120]The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop.
[01:08.640]Everyone has something to sell.
[01:12.320]Tramps seem to be the only exception to this general rule.
[01:17.520]Beggars almost sell themselves as human beings to arouse the pity of passers-by.
[01:23.840]But real tramps are not beggars.
[01:26.880]They have nothing to sell and require nothing from others.
[01:31.200]In seeking independence, they do not sacrifice their human dignity.
[01:37.000]A tramp may ask you for money, but he will never ask you to feel sorry for him.
[01:43.400]He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the consequences.
[01:51.080]He may never be sure where the next meal is coming from, but he is free from the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people.
[02:00.560]His few material possessions make it possible for him to move from place to place with ease.
[02:07.360]By having to sleep in the open, he gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do.
[02:14.520]He may hunt, beg, or steal occasionally to keep himself alive;
[02:19.880]he may even, in times of real need, do a little work; but he will never sacrifice his freedom.
[02:27.520]We often speak of tramps with contempt and put them in the same class as beggars,
[02:33.800]but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care?