孫繼艷
1
Mr William was deaf, but he didn’t like people to know this. One evening he asked some friends to dinner. While they were sitting together after dinner, one of his friends told a funny story. Everyone laughed, and Mr William laughed, too. He said, “That was a funny story, but I know a funnier one.” So he began his story. When it ended, everyone laughed louder than ever. Mr William himself smiled happily. But he didn’t know he had told the very story that his friend had just told.
威廉先生耳聾,可是他不愿讓別人知道。一天晚上他請(qǐng)一些朋友吃飯。當(dāng)飯后他們坐在一起時(shí),一位朋友講了一個(gè)很有趣的故事。大家都笑了,威廉先生也笑了。他說(shuō),“這是一個(gè)挺有趣的故事,可是我還知道一個(gè)更有趣的。”于是他開始講自己的故事。當(dāng)故事結(jié)束時(shí),大家笑得更厲害了。威廉先生自己也開心地笑了??墒撬恢?,他講的故事正是剛才他朋友講的那個(gè)故事。
2
There were three professors at the railway station. They were deep in conversation. The train had just arrived, but they did not notice it. Then the guard shouted, “Take your seats, please!”
The professors heard the guard and rushed for the train. Two of them got on the train before it moved. The third one was left behind. It was Professor Egghead. He looked worried.
One of the professor’s students was at the station. He tried to comfort the professor. “It wasn’t really bad, sir,” said the student. “Two out of three caught the train. That’s quite good, you know.” “I know,” the professor said. “But it was my train. My friends only came to say goodbye. ?”
三個(gè)教授在站臺(tái)上等火車。他們正在全神貫注地談話。火車進(jìn)站了,可是他們都沒(méi)有注意到。這個(gè)時(shí)候,列車員喊道:“請(qǐng)上車了!”
教授們聽到后飛快地向火車跑去。其中兩個(gè)剛登上車,火車就開了。最后一個(gè)名叫埃哈德的教授沒(méi)有趕上火車,看起來(lái)非常焦慮。
教授的一個(gè)學(xué)生也在車站等車,他盡力安慰著教授:“先生,這還不是很糟,你們中有兩個(gè)人已經(jīng)趕上了火車。要知道,這已經(jīng)很好了。”“我明白,”教授說(shuō),“但是要趕火車的是我,我的朋友們只是來(lái)為我送行的?!?/p>