Since when are you back?The Shop Around the Corner · 1940 — Chapter 17 of 19 · 3'46" · B2
Matuschek Returns on Christmas Eve, Explained: from the bottom of my heart
The boss everyone thought was out sick walks back into the shop on Christmas Eve. Nothing is argued about, yet the whole staff is quietly measuring itself against him. "Well, if you don't know, Mr. Matuschek, who should?" is the scene's real question: who has been running this place?
What happens
On Christmas Eve, Hugo Matuschek walks into his own leather-goods shop after two weeks in the hospital. The staff greet him as a returning patient; he insists he only came to see if the shop was still standing. Then he asks about business, thanks everyone for the little Christmas tree, and starts handing out bonuses.
Listen for
if you don't know, who shouldI didn't mean itno Christmas is complete without a bonusfrom the bottom of my heart
00:00 / 03:46Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Tap a line to replay it
Phrase of the scene
from the bottom of my heart
with the deepest sincerity
马图谢克在圣诞前夜回到店里，看到当天做出了大生意，转身对克拉利克和皮罗维奇说 from the bottom of my heart，由衷感谢他们像最好的医生一样把他从病里拉了回来。
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for standing by us.
Also in this scene
- if you don't know, who should
if even you don't know, nobody does
- I didn't mean it
I did not truly mean those words
- no Christmas is complete without a bonus
something is essential for the occasion to feel right
Everything marked in this scene
34 notes across 67 lines
liaison
Since when are you back?Oh, I'm not here, I'm supposed to be a pretty sick man that's what my doctor tells me.be supposed to
Oh, I'm not here, I'm supposed to be a pretty sick man that's what my doctor tells me.But after all, it's Christmas Eve.I couldn't stay away any longer.preposition with a gerund
Can you imagine me, over two weeks in the hospital without seeing a single customer?And they expect me to get well?Well, they're pretty busy, but no comparison with this.Now Mr. Matuschek, take it easy. Don't overdo.liaison
Now Mr. Matuschek, take it easy. Don't overdo.I just came around to find out if the shop was still here.I just came around to find out if the shop was still here.Same to you.Do you think Eric would like that briefcase?I don't know. I'm not so sure.Oh, uh, pardon me, ladies, I-I can't see very well without my glasses.Could you tell me the price on that briefcase?I wonder how Matuschek and Company can do it.Well, how much is it?You-you should be very proud.with the deepest sincerity
And I, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.liaison
And I, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.Well, this morning when I received the little Christmas tree that you all sent me I was deeply moved.I-I read your little note over and over.causative with a that-clause
And it made me very happy that you missed me and hoped that I'd be coming back home soon again.This is where I spent most of my life.something is essential for the occasion to feel right
Well, now, no Christmas is complete without a bonus.You know that I've called you names on several occasions.I did not truly mean those words
Well, when you see the bonus, you'll realize that I didn't mean it.- Oh, well, Rudy. - Good boy.We'll leave the shop just as it is till after the holiday.elision
We'll leave the shop just as it is till after the holiday.I-I want you all to go home now and have a very Merry Christmas.Matuschek Returns on Christmas Eve, explained
What's really going on
For two weeks the shop has run without its owner, and the scene lets the staff see how much that mattered. Matuschek frames his visit as a sick man checking on a building, but every exchange pulls him back inside the life he built: the nurse's handbag that came from a rival, the bonus he can't wait to hand out. The line that gives the game away is "Well, if you don't know, Mr. Matuschek, who should?" — praise that is also a reminder that this man is the shop. Even his apology to Pirovitch comes through money, not words: one line has the bonus proving he "didn't mean it." The staff laugh and thank him, but they are also watching a lonely man come home to the only family he has on Christmas Eve.
Theme
LonelinessMatuschek calls the shop his home and the staff his nurses, because on Christmas Eve he has nowhere warmer to be.
MoneyThe bonus is the only language he has for gratitude and apology, so feeling gets measured out in cash.
What you'll learn
- Use from the bottom of my heart for sincere thanks.
- Use take it easy to tell someone not to overdo it.
- Understand get well and go home in context.
- Catch called you names as a softened reference to insults.
Listen for
- when are you back — liaison
- take it easy — liaison
- bottom of my heart — liaison
- just as it is — elision
Well, if you don't know, Mr. Matuschek, who should?A compliment dressed as a question: if the owner can't explain the shop's low prices, nobody can, so the reply quietly calls him the man behind everything.
This is where I spent most of my life.The shop is not just a business to him; it is where his whole adult life happened, and saying it out loud is how he admits he has come home.
Well, when you see the bonus, you'll realize that I didn't mean it.An apology with a paycheck attached: he owns up to insulting Pirovitch, then lets the size of the bonus stand in for the words he can't say.
I just came around to find out if the shop was still here.His stated reason for the visit — checking that a building still stands — is really about fearing the shop, and his place in it, went on without him.
Questions about this scene
Why does Matuschek call the staff his 'doctors' and 'nurses'?
Because their Christmas tree and note did more for him than the hospital did. He walked in claiming he was still 'a pretty sick man,' and by the end he says the shop and the people in it are what actually made him well. It's his way of saying they are family.
Why does Matuschek give Pirovitch a bonus instead of a straight apology?
He admits he has 'called you names on several occasions,' then says the bonus will prove he didn't mean it. Money is the apology he can't quite put into words, and it lets both men move past it without an awkward scene on Christmas Eve.
What does 'if you don't know, Mr. Matuschek, who should?' mean?
It's a flattering rhetorical question. Matuschek has just joked about how astonishingly cheap the shop's prices are, and the reply says that if even the owner can't explain how it's done, no one can — a playful way of calling him the man behind the whole operation.
Why does Matuschek say he's 'not here' and only came to see if the shop still exists?
He's teasing his doctor's orders and hiding how glad he is to be back. It's Christmas Eve, he 'couldn't stay away any longer,' but he frames the visit as a quick check on a building — right before he starts running the place and handing out bonuses.
The Shop Around the Corner · 19 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 18your whole life ahead of youMatuschek Invites a Lonely Boy Home
Chapter 1make something out of nothingMorning Gossip at Matuschek's
Chapter 2earn one's daily breadThe Anonymous Letter From Box 237
Chapter 3make up your mindMatuschek's Singing Cigarette Box
Chapter 4go through the whole routineA Job Seeker's Sales Pitch
Chapter 5have a weakness forSelling the Musical Candy Box
Chapter 6knock on woodKralik Reveals His Pen Pal
Chapter 7pick on someoneMatuschek Turns on Kralik
Chapter 8call it a dayKlara Asks Kralik for a Night Off
Chapter 9of one's own accordMatuschek Fires Kralik
Chapter 10mind your own businessMatuschek Learns of the Affair
Chapter 11had enough bad news for todayKralik's Blind Date Is Miss Novak
Chapter 12instead of a heart, a handbagKralik and Novak Meet at the Cafe
Chapter 13kept in strictest confidenceMatuschek Confesses His Jealousy
Chapter 14a yes manKralik Fires Vadas
Chapter 15not in the same planetKralik Visits a Sick Klara
Chapter 16ruin ChristmasThe Staff Choose Christmas Gifts
Watching · Chapter 17from the bottom of my heartMatuschek Returns on Christmas Eve
Chapter 18your whole life ahead of youMatuschek Invites a Lonely Boy Home
Chapter 19swept me off my feetKlara Confesses to KralikChapter 17 of 19 · about 7 min to go