这一条街上的店铺、摆摊的，生意如何，彼此都很清楚。近几年，景况都不大好。有几家好一些，但也只是能维持。有的是逐渐地败落下来了。先是货架上的东西越来越空，只出不进，最后就出让“生财”，关门歇业。只有王二的生意却越做越兴旺。他的摊子越摆越大，装炒货的匣子，装熏烧的洋磁盘子，越来越多。每天晚上到了买卖高潮的时候，摊子外面有时会拥着好些人。好天气还好，遇上下雨下雪(下雨下雪买他的东西的比平常更多)，叫主顾在当街打伞站着，实在很不过意。于是经人说合，出了租钱，他就把他的摊子搬到隔壁源昌烟店的店堂里去了。
The shops and stalls in this street knew well enough how business was going on in other shops and stalls. Business had been bad in the past few years. With some shops things fared better, but all they could do was just keep business going. In the grips of a recession, the shelves of other stores grew bare. Deliveries were halted and finally, the owners were compelled to sell their shengcai and close up shop. Wang Er’s business, to the contrary, grew more and more prosperous. He expanded his stall and increased the number of boxes of peas, seeds and enamel trays of hot food. During the busy hours every evening, a crowd of people would stand in front of his stall. On rainy or snowy days an even greater number of people would come to buy his food. Seeing his customers standing outside under their umbrellas made him uneasy. Then, after he had someone throw in nice words to the shop owner and paid the rent, he moved his stall next door to the Yuanchang Tobacco Shop.
fare的意思是：to progress or to be in a particular condition。In the grips of sth是指处于不快却无法制止的境遇。经人说合翻译成了"had someone throw in nice words"，查词典"throw in"有两个意思："to include something extra with something that you are selling, without asking for more money"，也就是提供额外的不收费的东西，比如例句"Buy a computer now and get a free printer thrown in!"；另一个意思是"to add a remark, question etc in a conversation"，比如"I just threw in a few comments occasionally."。这里应该是第二个意思，从字面上翻译回来就是：让某人插嘴说一些好话。好像没有"说合"的意思，说合的意思是"从中介绍﹐促使事情成功﹐或使两方面能说到一块儿"。中国古代是熟人社会，没有太多商业法律来保障陌生人之间的商业权益，因此说合的人会充当某种"中介"的作用，"throw in nice words"是没有这层意思的。
Notes
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Equipment for doing business, meaning “amassing fortunes.” back
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God of Wealth in Chinese folklore. back
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