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Edward's wife is a bean counter who wraps him around her little finger.
愛德華的老婆不僅精打細(xì)算，而且牢牢地控制著他。
【Andrew's Note】
Nobody likes a bean counter. Someone who focuses on the little details of life, especially money, is usually not very pleasant to be around.
沒有人喜歡過于斤斤計較的人。那種把精力放在雞毛蒜皮（尤其是金錢）這樣生活小節(jié)上的人，與人交往往往是不受歡迎的。
[1] Marston often invites Edward for dinner but Edward hasn't returned the invitation even once. Edward gave him an official invitation for dinner somewhere the day before yesterday. They had a very nice dinner, but when Edward asked for the bill, he was dumbfounded. The bill amounted to 268 dollars. Edward groped in his pocket for all his notes and coins, but he could only piece together 108 dollars and nothing more.
[2] It was Marston again who picked up the bill, leaving Edward embarrassed, with no chance to return his kindness. Edward felt ashamed for he thought Marston might feel he just tried to give lip service. Edward didn't dare to give Marston any more promises, because he could only spend $100 on dinner, a limit set by his wife.
[3] Edward just tried to save what little money he could from bonuses. But every time he got back home late at night, his wife would take him to task and give him a piece of her mind. Edward could never keep more than 100 dollars in his wallet. Otherwise, his wife might accuse him, as she often put it, of spending money gathering roses with beautiful young ladies. So now Edward has to refuse to dine out with all his friends because he might have to foot the bill. He couldn't change the status quo unless he got on the gravy train and had money to burn in his pocket.
[4] All in all, Edward has a wife who pinches pennies and tries hard to twist him around her little finger, restraining all his expenditures and his ability to socialize. On the other hand, she loves Edward and their son wholeheartedly and never spends any money for her own benefit. She is still wearing clothes she used to wear before getting married. So Edward can't really complain as far as her well-intentioned stinginess is concerned.
【參考譯文】
[1] 馬斯頓經(jīng)常邀請愛德華一起吃晚餐，可愛德華卻連一次也沒有回請馬斯頓。前天，愛德華發(fā)出了正式邀請，在某個地方吃晚飯。他們吃了一頓豐盛的晚餐；愛德華要來賬單時，當(dāng)場就目瞪口呆了：共計268美元。愛德華在衣兜里摸來摸去，把所有的票子和硬幣拼湊在一起也只有108美元，多一分都沒有。
[2] 這回又是馬斯頓付了賬單，讓愛德華好沒面子，也沒有機(jī)會回敬他的好意。愛德華感到歉疚，因為他想馬斯頓會認(rèn)為自己口惠而心不實。愛德華再也不敢有任何許諾了，因為他只能花100美元請客吃頓晚飯，這可是老婆大人定的規(guī)矩。
[3] 愛德華盡量從獎金里省點小錢。但每次回家晚了，他老婆就拿他試問，把他罵得狗血噴頭的。通常他的錢夾里放的錢都不到100元。不然，就像她經(jīng)常說的那樣，他可能把錢花在和哪個年輕漂亮的女人一起尋歡作樂上了。所以現(xiàn)在他只好拒絕和朋友們出外吃飯，以免付賬。除非他發(fā)大財有用不完的錢，不然他是不能改變現(xiàn)狀的。
[4] 總之，他老婆過于節(jié)儉，控制他的一切開銷，也限制了他的社交能力。另一方面，她卻全心全意地愛著愛德華和兒子，從沒在自己身上花過錢。她現(xiàn)在還穿著結(jié)婚前的衣服。所以就她那點善意的摳門（吝嗇），愛德華也就沒什么好抱怨的。
