Do You Know My Work?
One night a hotel caught fire,and the people who were staying in it ran out in their night clothes．
Two men stood outside and looked at the fire．
“Before I came out,” said one,“I ran into some of the rooms and found a lot of money． People don't think of money when they're afraid． When anyone leaves paper money in a fire,the fire burns it． So I took all the bills that I could find．No one will be poorer because I took them．”
“You don't know my work,” said the other．
“What is your work?”
“I'm a policeman．
“Oh!” cried the first man． He thought quickly and said,“And do you know my work?”“No,”said the policeman．
“I'm a writer． I'm always telling stories about things that never happened．”
譯文：
你知道我是干什么的嗎?
一天晚上,一家旅館失火,住在這家旅館里的人穿著睡 衣就跑了出來(lái).
兩個(gè)人站在外面,看著大火.
“在我出來(lái)之前,”其中一個(gè)說(shuō)：“我跑進(jìn)一些房間,找到了一大筆錢(qián).人在恐懼中是不會(huì)想到錢(qián)的.如果有人把紙幣留在火里,火就會(huì)把它燒成灰燼.所以我把所能找到的鈔票都拿走了.沒(méi)有人會(huì)因?yàn)槲夷米咚鼈兌兊酶F.”
“你不知道我是干什么的.”另一個(gè)說(shuō).
“你是干什么的?”
“我是警察.”
“噢!”第一個(gè)人喊了一聲,靈機(jī)一動(dòng),說(shuō)：“那你知道我是干什么的?”“不知道.”警察說(shuō).
“我是個(gè)作家.我總是愛(ài)編一些從未發(fā)生過(guò)的故事.”