42、May 4,1952

                    37 Oakfield Court
                    Haslemere Road
                    Crouch End
                    London, N. 8

                    Sunday, May 4th, 1952

Dear Helene,
    Thanks  for  the  parcel  of dried egg
received on Friday and I was very glad for
same,  I  did mention something about eggs
coming off the ration, well it just hasn’t
happened  so  the powder was a godsend for
our weekend cakes,  etc.   Frank is taking
some to the shop to send to Cecily,  as he
keeps forgetting  to bring home her address.
I expect you know she has left the shop and
is waiting to join her husband in East.
    I am enclosing a few snaps, Frank says
none  of  them  do him justice, he is much
better-looking; but we just let him dream.
    Sheila was home for a month’s break and
we  have  been  gadding about a bit to the
seaside for day trips and sight-seeing and
must now pull in our horns a bit,   as the
cost of transport here is terrific.  It is
our ambition to have a car but they are so
expensive  and  a decent secondhand one is
dearer than a new one.  The  new  ones are
being exported and there are so few for the
home  market  some of my friends have been
waiting 5 to 7 years for a new car.
    Sheila  is  going to say a “jolly good
prayer” for you so you may get your wish to
come to England because the tin of bacon we
had  from  you on Easter Monday was such a
treat.  So  if  “jolly  good  prayers” are
answered  you might have a windfall and be
able to come and see us soon.
    Well,  so long for now and thanks once
again.

                                    Nora

注释：
a month’s break 一个月的假期
gadding about a bit 闲逛一会儿
pull in one's horns 减少开支，行为收敛
windfall 意外之财; 意外的收获; 被风吹落的果子

关于 pull in one's horns

假如你的朋友小明，平时买东西基本不在乎价格，想买就直接买了。但是他最近非常节俭，买东西的时候也会算价钱。你问他怎么突然这样。他解释他最近失业了，所以必须要这样，这样也是为了pull in his horns。

那大家猜猜看，pull in one's horns到底是什么意思呢？

pull in one's horns的意思是“to behave in a more careful way than you did before, especially by spending less money”，即“减少开支，行为收敛”。

尽管horn这个词是指羊、牛等动物的角，但这句习语的来源和好斗的有角生物可没关系。这句习语源于蜗牛。蜗牛有触角，当蜗牛感觉附近有危险，就会缩到壳里。

例句：

I just got this quarter's budget report, and we need to pull in our horns.
我刚拿到这个季度的预算报告，我们需要减少开支。

He'll have to pull in his horns now he's lost his job.
由于失业，他将不得不减少开支。

参考：
horn是指动物的角，那pull in one's horns是什么意思？