英語笑話 - 青少年篇：651　A trick does long way 頗費周折的花招

英語笑話

651　A trick does long way 頗費周折的花招

A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment. Then a new school year began. The very next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful, afterschool enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trashcan they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.

The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way down the street. Stopping them, he said, “You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. In fact, I used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I'll give you each a dollar if you'll promise to come around every day and do your thing.” The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trashcans.

After a few days, the old-timer greeted the kids again, but this time he had a sad smile on his face. “This recession's really putting a big dent in my income,” he told them. “From now on, I'll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the cans.” The noisemakers were obviously displeased, but they accepted his offer and continued their afternoon ruckus.

A few days later, the wily retiree approached them again as they drummed their way down the street. “Look,” he said, “I haven't received my Social Security check yet, so I'm not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. Will that be okay?” “A lousy quarter?” The drum leader exclaimed. “If you think we're going to waste our time, beating these cans around for a quarter, you're nuts! No way, mister. We quit!” And the old man enjoyed peace and serenity for the rest of his days.

一個聰明的老紳士退休以后在一所初級中學(xué)附近買了一座小房子。開始幾個星期，日子過得平靜而又滿足。然后，新學(xué)期開始了。就在第二天下午，三個充滿青春活力和課后熱情的男孩子沿著這條街走來。他們快樂地敲打他們所遇到的每一個垃圾桶。這種喧鬧的打擊樂器日復(fù)一日，直到有一天這個聰明的老紳士覺得是采取一點行動的時候了。

第二天下午，當(dāng)這幾位青年打擊樂手敲敲打打地過來的時候，他出門去迎他們。他讓他們停下來，說：“你們這些孩子真能找樂子。我喜歡看你們這樣表達(dá)你們的青春活力。事實上，我像你們的年齡時也常做這些事。我想請你們幫一個忙。如果你們答應(yīng)每天都過來做這件事，那么我給你們每人一塊錢。”這幾個孩子興高采烈地答應(yīng)了。于是每天繼續(xù)敲打垃圾桶。

過了幾天，老頭又來見這些孩子。但是，這一次他哭喪著臉對他們說：“經(jīng)濟緊縮實在打擊我的收入。從現(xiàn)在起，我只能給你們五毛錢了。”這些噪音制造者顯然不高興，不過還是接受了。繼續(xù)他們下午的喧鬧。

又過了幾天，當(dāng)這些孩子沿街敲敲打打地過來的時候，這個聰明的老頭又來見他們。他說：“瞧，我還沒有收到我的社會保險支票。因此我最多能給你們兩毛五。這樣行不行？”這支隊伍的頭兒大叫起來：“就給兩毛五？如果你認(rèn)為我們會為了兩毛五來沿街敲打垃圾桶浪費時間，那你就太蠢了。沒門，老頭。我們不干了！”于是這個老年人就可以安安穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地享受以后的日子了。