Capítulo 16 de 19 · 3'08"
The staff are choosing Christmas presents: a gift for their hospitalized boss, and one for Pirovitch's wife's uncle. The comedy is in the second gift — Pirovitch admits he despises the man, and picks something deliberately bad on purpose: "it's worth it to ruin my wife's uncle's Christmas."
❝ Monólogo · 8 frases A Gift Chosen to Spoil His Wife's Uncle's Christmas
On Christmas Eve the staff of Matuschek and Company learn their boss is recovering in hospital and debate a gift for him. One says the best present is a sold-out shop with money in the register. Later a clerk tries to buy a cigarette box for his wife's uncle, finds the only good one already taken, and the two coworkers settle on another gift.
The staff's first instinct is a warm gesture: a little tree for the boss's hospital room. The reply reframes the holiday in business terms — "the biggest Christmas present we could give him tonight is an empty bare-looking shop with nothing in it except money in the cash register." Devotion to the shop is measured in sales, not sentiment. The second gift is the darker joke. Pirovitch must give his wife's uncle something, but he resents the obligation, and he turns it into a small act of revenge, choosing a present the man will hate: "But it's worth it to ruin my wife's uncle's Christmas." Generosity here is riddled with grudges, and by the end the staff have redirected the gift money toward a wallet — pointedly for Kralik.
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
“Well, that's all very nice, but I think the biggest Christmas present we could give him tonight is an empty bare-looking shop with nothing in it except money in the cash register.”
It reframes an empty, sold-out shop as the perfect gift, which is exactly what a merchant really wants.
Neutral
“But it's worth it to ruin my wife's uncle's Christmas.”
He turns generosity inside out: the money is worth it only because it spoils someone's holiday.
Informal
“I hate to spend a nickel on him.”
Dislike measured in the smallest coin there is: not one cent for him.
Informal
“Let's make this the biggest Christmas Eve in the history of Matuschek and Company.”
A rallying cry that turns one busy night into a piece of company history.
Informal
You see, I thought of giving it, uh to my wife's uncle for Christmas. I'm so sorry, can't you give him something else? Uh, it's not so easy. You see, I don't like him. I hate to spend a nickel on him. Still, I must give him a present. So I thought if I have to give him a present at least give him something he won't enjoy. The box costs 2.29. That's a lot of money. But it's worth it to ruin my wife's uncle's Christmas.
Siguiente · 17from the bottom of my heartLa escena: Matuschek Returns on Christmas EveBecause a packed, sold-out shop means the business he rebuilt is thriving while he recovers. They read his pride as tied to the store's success, so strong sales feel more meaningful than any object.
He dislikes the man and must give him something anyway, so he wants the present to fail. The box costs 2.29, and for him that price is worth it if it spoils the uncle's Christmas.
She hints that the man she is buying the cigarette box for will propose over Christmas. Earlier she says he is coming to celebrate Christmas Eve, so the box is meant for her suitor, not a relative.
Pirovitch needs it as a gift, but Kralik tells him she took the only one that really works, so he has to ask her to give it up. She bought it for her boyfriend, which sets up the wallet idea instead.
