The younger man asks the older man for the time, but the older man ignores him.
After a while, the younger man again asks for the time and again the older man ignores him.
Frustrated, the younger man finally asks,
“Why won’t you answer me when I ask you for the time?”
The older man sighs and explains:
“Look, if I tell you the time, we’ll start to talk. Then when the train comes, you might sit down next to me. Perhaps we’ll get to know each other, and maybe I’ll eventually invite you to my house for dinner. Maybe then you and my daughter would really get along – why, you might even get engaged! And why would I want a son-in-law who can’t even afford a watch?”