我想帶走我的錢
As Mr. Smith was on his death bed, he attempted toformulate a plan that would allow him to take atleast some of his wealth with him.
史密斯先生快要死了,他想到一個計劃能讓他在死后帶走至少一部分財產(chǎn)。
He called for the three man he trusted most--hislawyer, his doctor, and his clergyman.
他叫來自己最信任的三個人——他的律師、私人醫(yī)生和牧師。
He told them, "I'm going to give you each $30,000 in cash before I die. At my funeral, I wantyou to place the money in my coffin so that I can try to take it with me."
他對他們說:“我死前會給你們每個人3萬塊錢,我要你們在我的葬禮上把這些錢放到我的棺材里,這樣我才好盡量把它們帶走。”
All three agreed to do this and were given the money. At the funeral, each approached thecoffin in turn and placed an envelope inside.
那三個人都同意這樣做并拿到了錢。葬禮上,三個人依次走到棺材前,然后把一個信封放進去。
While leaving the cemetery, the clergyman said, "I have to confess something to you fellow.Brother Smith was a good churchman all his life, and I know he would have wanted me to dothis. The church needed a new baptistery very badly, and I took $10,000 of the money he gaveme and bought one. I only put $20,000 in the coffin."
從墓地離開時,牧師說道:“我有事情要對你們懺悔。教友史密斯終身都是虔誠的教徒,我相信他會要我這樣做的。教堂里急需一個新的浸禮池,我就從他給我的錢里拿出1萬塊買了一個,所以我只在他的棺材里放了2萬塊錢。”
The physician then said, "Well, since we're confiding in one another, I might as well tell youthat I didn't put the full $30,000 in the coffin either. Smith had a disease that could have beendiagnosed sooner if I had this very new machine, but the machine cost $20,000 and I couldn'tafford it then. I used $20,000 of the money to buy the machine so that I might be able to saveanother patient. I know that Smith would have wanted me to do that."
醫(yī)生跟著說道:“既然我們互相信任,那么我得告訴你們我也沒有把那3萬塊錢都放進棺材里。史密斯先生得了一種病,如果我有一種最先進的儀器的話就能早些診斷出來,可是那儀器要2萬塊錢,當時我買不起。所以我從那筆錢里拿出2萬塊錢買了儀器,這樣我就能用它救治其他的病人。我想史密斯先生會讓我這么做的。”
The lawyer then said, "I'm ashamed of both of you. When I put my envelope into that coffin,it held my personal check for the full $30,000."
律師接著說:“我真替你們兩個害臊。我放進棺材的那個信封里可是有一張我簽的整整3萬元的個人支票。”