1.The Author's Son

　　The kind bishop1 intimately asked an author's son, "Do you want to become an author like your father?"

　　"No," replied the author's son.

　　"Then what is your ambition, my little man?" said the bishop.

　　"I want to become a famous person, then anything I write will be printed," frankly2 replied the hopeful little boy, wise beyond his age.

　　作家的兒子

　　和藹友善的主教親切地問一位作家的兒子：“你想成為一個像你父親一樣的作家嗎?”

　　作家的兒子回答說：“不想。”

　　主教說：“那你有什么志向呀，小家伙!”

　　這個早慧的對未來充滿希望的男孩坦率地回答說：“我要成為一個有名的人，那時無論我寫什么，都會被刊載和出版。”

　　2.Clever Bobby

　　Brown was very proud of his young son. Once he was talking to a visitor, telling the man how clever his son was.

　　"The boy is only two years old," he said, "and knows all animals. He's going to be a great naturalist. Here, let me show you."

　　He took a book of natural history from the bookshelf, placed Bobby on his knee, opened the book and showed him a picture of a giraffe(長頸鹿).

　　"What's that, Bobby?"

　　"Horsey," said Bobby. Next of a tiger was shown, and Bobby said, "Pussy." Then Brown showed Bobby a picture of lion, and Bobby said, "Doggy." And when a picture of a chimpanzee was shown, Bobby said, "Daddy!"

　　聰明的博比

　　布朗非常欣賞他的小兒子。一次他和一位客人聊他的兒子有多聰明。 布朗說：“他只有兩歲，就認識所有的動物了。他長大一定會是一個出色的自然學(xué)家。來，我讓你看看。”

　　他從書架上拿下一本自然書，把博比抱到膝上，打開書。指著一張長頸鹿的畫片。

　　“博比，這是什么?” “馬馬，”博比回答。 他又指了一張老虎的畫片，博比回答說：“貓咪。” 然后布朗又指了一張獅子的畫片，博比說：“狗狗。” 他又指了一張黑猩猩的畫片，博比說：“爸爸!”

　　3.All Right

　　Hurrying my 11-year old daughter to school, I made a right turn at a red light when it was prohibited. "Uh-oh," I said, realizing my mistake. "I just make an illegal turn."

　　"I guess it's all right." my daughter replied, "The police car behind us did the same thing."

　　沒關(guān)系

　　我趕著開車將11歲的女兒送到學(xué)校去，在紅燈處右拐了，而那是不允許的(譯注:在一些國家如英國,其交通規(guī)則是車輛左行的,與我國相反)。“啊噢，”意識到犯了錯誤，我說。“我剛才拐彎是違章的。”

　　“我想那沒關(guān)系的，”女兒回答說：“我們后面的警車也同樣拐了彎。”

　　4.Be Careful What You Wish For

　　A couple had been married for 25 years and were celebrating their 60th birthdays, which fell on the same day.

　　During the celebration a fairy appeared and said that because they had been such a loving couple for all 25 years, she would give them one wish each.

　　The wife wanted to travel around the world. The fairy waved her hand, and Boom! She had the tickets in her hand.

　　Next, it was the husband's turn. He paused for a moment, then said shyly, "Well, I'd like to have a woman 30 years younger than me."

　　The fairy picked up her wand, and Boom! He was ninety.

　　慎重許愿

　　一對結(jié)婚25周年的夫妻在慶祝他們六十歲的生日。他們恰好在同一天出生。

　　慶?；顒又校晃幌膳霈F(xiàn)了。她說，由于他們是已經(jīng)結(jié)婚25年的恩愛夫妻，因此她給許給這對夫妻每個人一個愿望。

　　妻子想周游世界。仙女招了招手。“呯!”的一聲，她的手中出現(xiàn)了一張票。

　　接下來該丈夫許愿了。他猶豫片刻，害羞地說，“那我想要一位比我年輕30歲的女人。”

　　仙女拾起了魔術(shù)棒。“呯!”，他變成了90歲。

　　5.Don't Argue with Children

　　A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.

　　The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.

　　The little girl stated that a whale swallowed Jonah.

　　Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.

　　The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah."

　　The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"

　　The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."

　　不要和小孩爭論

　　一個小女孩和她的老師正在談?wù)撚嘘P(guān)鯨魚的事情。

　　她的老師說：“一頭鯨魚從身體構(gòu)造的角度看，是不可能吞掉一個人的。因為盡管鯨魚是一種非常巨大的哺乳動物，可它的嗓子非常小。”

　　那個小女孩說約拿(一位西伯來先知)就是被鯨魚吞掉的。

　　她的老師非常生氣，她再次告訴小女孩說：“從身體構(gòu)造角度來講，鯨魚是不可能吞掉一個人的。”

　　那個小女孩說：“那等我到了天堂，就去問問約拿。”

　　她的老師問：“那么，假如約拿下了地獄怎么辦?”

　　那個小女孩回答：“如果是那樣的話，你就去問他。”

　　6.The boy and the snails

　　A farmer's boy went looking for snails, and, when he had picked up both his hands full, he set about making a fire at which to roast them; for he meant to eat them. When it got well alight and the snails began to feel the heat, they gradually withdrew more and more into their shells with the hissing noise they always make when they do so. When the boy heard it, he said, "You abandoned creatures, how can you find heart to whistle when your houses are burning?"

　　男孩和蝸牛

　　一個鄉(xiāng)下少年到處尋找蝸牛，當他雙手都塞滿了蝸牛后，就準備點火烤著吃。火點著了，蝸牛也開始感覺到熱了，他們紛紛退向堅殼的深處，同時還發(fā)出“咝咝”的噪音。男孩子聽到了蝸牛發(fā)出的噓聲，便說：“你們這些連命都快沒有的家伙，怎么還能有心情在窩里著火時吹口哨呢?”

　　7.Best Reward

　　A naval officer fell overboard. He was rescued by a deck hand. The officer asked how he could reward him.

　　"The best way, sir," said the deck hand, "is to say nothing about it. If the other fellows knew I'd pulled you out, they'd chuck me in."

　　最好的獎賞

　　一名海軍軍官從甲板上掉入海中。他被一名甲板水手救起。這位軍官問如何才能酬謝他。

　　“最好的辦法，長官，”這名水手說，“是別聲張這事。如果其他人知道我救了您，他們會把我扔下去的。”

　　8.A school report

　　The father was reading the school report which had just been handed to him by his hopeful son. His brow was wrathful(憤怒的) as he read,

　　"English, poor. French, weak. mathematics, fair." and he gave a glance of disgust at the quaking lad(少年，小伙子).

　　"Well, Dad." said the son, "It is not as good as it might be, but have you seen that?" And he pointed to the next line which read, "health, excellent."

　　學(xué)校成績單

　　父親在看他那滿懷希望的兒子帶回來的學(xué)校成績單。他邊看邊露出憤怒的表情：

　　“英語，差;法語，差;數(shù)學(xué)，中。”他厭惡地瞥了在發(fā)抖的兒子一眼。

　　“爸爸，”兒子說，“可能成績不夠理想。但您看到那一項了嗎?”他指了指下一行：“健康狀況，優(yōu)。”

　　9.No Bottles Accepted After Five O'clock

　　One day neat closing time at 6:30, four young children arrived with bottles. Wanting to put a stop to this habit, I sternly2 asked each child if he was aware of the rules. Three shook their heads no, but the youngest said he knew. "Why then." I asked, "have you brought me these bottles?"

　　"I can't tell time yet." He said.

　　為了緩解購物高峰，我們這個小水果店為孩子們退飲料瓶做了如下規(guī)定：

　　五點鐘以后不收瓶子

　　快到六點半下班的時候，四個孩子來退瓶子。為了制止他們的這個習(xí)慣，我故意很嚴肅的問每個孩子是否知道我們的規(guī)定。其中三個孩子都搖頭表示不知道。只有那個最小的說他知道。“那你為什么還在這個時間來退瓶子呢?”我問他。

　　“我還不認識表呢!”他說。