Obituary
死亡訃告
The phone rang in the obituary department of the local newspaper. "How much does it cost to have an obituary printed"? asked the woman. "It's five dollars a word, ma'am," the clerk replied politely. "Fine," said the woman after a moment. "Got a pencil?" "Yes ma'am." "Got some paper?"
"Yes ma'am." "Okay, write this down: 'Cohen dead'." "That's all?" asked the clerk disbelievingly. "That's it." "I'm sorry ma'am, I should have told you - there's a five word minimum." "Yes, you should've," snapped the woman. Now let me think a minute... okay, got a pencil?" "Yes ma'am."
"Got some paper?" "Yes, ma'am." "Okay, here goes: 'Cohen dead. Cadillac for Sale.'"
地方報(bào)社負(fù)責(zé)刊登死亡訃告的部門電話響了。“登一篇訃告多少錢?”一位女士問。“五美元一個(gè)字,太太。”書記員禮貌地回答。“好的,”女士沉默了一小會(huì)兒,“拿著筆呢嗎?”“是的,夫人。”“紙呢?”“是的,夫人。”“好的,這樣寫:‘科恩去世了’”“就這些了?”書記員疑惑地問道。“對(duì),就這些。”“很抱歉,夫人,我剛才沒有告訴您,在我們這登訃告最少也得五個(gè)字。”“沒錯(cuò),你就應(yīng)該告訴我,”女士有點(diǎn)生氣了,“現(xiàn)在我得考慮一下,嗯…拿著筆呢嗎?”“是的,夫人。”“紙呢?”“是的,夫人。”“好的,這樣寫:‘科恩去世了,出售一輛卡迪拉克轎車。’”