“What you do after working hours is your own business.”
Por qué es buena
A polite way to draw the line: after hours, what you do is none of my concern.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
How I spend my weekends is my own business.
00:00 / 05:05
00:00 / 05:05
Matuschek Learns of the Affair, Explained
The Shop Around the Corner · 1940
Capítulo 10 de 19 · 5'05"
The shop is closing for the night. A clerk argues that the boss fired his best man, and is told to mind his own business. Later a private detective reports what the boss already feared about his wife — and names one of his own employees. "Twenty-two years we've been married."
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 1:26–2:01
A Clerk Defends the Man Who Was Fired
35s - 4:11–5:04
❝ Monólogo · 4 frases The Detective Names His Wife's Companion
53s
Matuschek Learns of the Affair, explained
What happens
At closing time in Matuschek's leather-goods shop, a clerk asks the owner why he let the best salesman go, and is warned to mind his own business and keep his job. That evening a private investigator brings a written report: Matuschek's wife left home, took a taxi, and met a young man — later identified as one of his own employees.
What's really going on
The boss runs the shop like a family and expects absolute loyalty — he reminds the clerk that speaking up costs him his job. "Mr. Pirovitch, you want to keep your job, don't you?" The clerk has a family and two children, so he backs down and goes home; loyalty only flows one way. The final blow lands through paperwork rather than confrontation. A detective reads out dates, times and street corners, and a wife's quiet evening walk becomes proof of betrayal. The cruelest detail is that the man she met is not a stranger but Matuschek's own employee — the same kind of trusted near-son figure he has just cast out. When he says "Twenty-two years I was proud of my wife," the shop and the marriage collapse in the same night.
Key lines & what they mean
- “What you do after working hours is your own business.”
- The boss says the clerk's private life is not his concern — but it also quietly signals that anything beyond work, including loyalties, is off-limits to discuss.
- “...just didn't want to grow old with me.”
- The line explains the betrayal not as passion but as a fear of aging: she left because she could not picture growing old at his side.
- “Twenty-two years I was proud of my wife.”
- After the report, he sums up the marriage in a single number, twenty-two years, and the pride that made the betrayal land hardest.
- “He was almost like a son to you.”
- The clerk's protest: the man just fired was treated like family, which is exactly why the dismissal feels like a betrayal.
Theme
- Betrayal — A boss who prizes loyalty discovers that a trusted employee and his own wife have both betrayed the world he built around the shop.
- Power — The scene shows who gets to speak: a raised question can cost a man his livelihood, so the clerk swallows his protest.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel2/4
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“...just didn't want to grow old with me.”
Por qué es buena
The saddest kind of rejection, stated in the plainest words: she just didn't want to grow old with him.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
In the end, he just didn't want to grow old with me.
“Twenty-two years I was proud of my wife.”
Por qué es buena
One number carries a whole marriage, and the pride makes the betrayal cut deeper.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
For thirty years I was proud of what we built together.
“He was almost like a son to you.”
Por qué es buena
A single comparison turns an employee into family, which makes the dismissal look colder.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
She was almost like a daughter to them, and they still let her go.
Monólogo
Un personaje sostiene la escena: practícalo entero❝ The betrayed husband's confession
Twenty-two years we've been married. Twenty-two years I was proud of my wife. Well, she.. ...just didn't want to grow old with me.
He counts the years of the marriage, then admits she would not grow old with him.
Siguiente · 11had enough bad news for todayLa escena: Kralik's Blind Date Is Miss NovakIdeas clave
Lo que te llevas- Use let someone go to mean fire someone
- Catch the refusal in mind your own business
- Understand feel pretty low as emotional distress
- Soften questions with by any chance
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhy does Matuschek fire Kralik?
The film never states it plainly here, and that is the point: he acts on hurt pride, not on evidence. The clerk's protest — that Kralik was the best man he had, almost like a son — only makes the dismissal look more arbitrary.
Does Matuschek believe the report about his wife?
He doesn't deny it. He confirms Vadas works for him, then says they had been married twenty-two years and that she just didn't want to grow old with him, as if the report only confirmed what he already suspected.
Who is the young man the investigator identifies?
He is identified as Ferencz Vadas, one of Matuschek's own employees, and the detective makes a point of noting that both operatives recognized him.
What does 'let him go' mean here?
It is a euphemism for firing someone. The clerk asks why the boss let the best employee go, meaning why he dismissed him, not why he allowed him to leave at the end of the day.
Is Pirovitch wrong to back down?
Not in the film's terms. He has a family and two children, and the boss's question makes the choice explicit: press the point and lose the job, or stay quiet and go home. He chooses his family.