Tony why he was late to work and he told me some hard-luck story about having to take his mother's ageing pet poodle to the vet because it had swallowed a chicken bone.

我问托尼为什么上班迟到。他告诉我他碰到了倒霉事，他母亲那条宝贝的长卷毛狗因为咽下了一根鸡骨头，他只得送它去看兽医。

I asked Tony why he was late to work and he told me some hard-luck story about having to take his mother's ageing pet poodle to the vet because it had swallowed a chicken bone.

我问托尼为什么上班迟到。他告诉我他碰到了倒霉事，他母亲那条宝贝的长卷毛狗因为咽下了一根鸡骨头，他只得送它去看兽医。

They live to think of themselves as tough-minded business men, yet they are push-overs for any hard luck story.

他们向来把自己想成硬心肠的商人，可是任何不幸的故事都会使他们受骗。

They all tell you some hard luck story about how this program changed their life.

他们都告诉你一些倒霉天子这一计划改变了他们的生活。

Who can resist a kid with a hard luck story?

谁能拒绝一个有着倒霉往事的小孩？

The story tells us that we should not wait for unexpected gains by trusting chance and luck. Or we should not hope to get rewards without hard work.

这个故事告诉我们，我们不能等着机会和运气带来的不可预料的收获，也就是说，我们不能希望不劳而获。