The High Cost of Living
(Originally in English)
There was once a person who was very stingy.
One day he tried to cross a river by himself,
but he slipped because the current was
extremely strong. And then the current swept
him away, down the middle of the river. So
he shouted, "Can anyone help me? I'll give
you money!" There was a person on a boat
nearby and he said, "OK. For fifty dollars I'll
help you." But the man in the river replied, "
Fifty dollars! That's too expensive. I'll give
you twenty." So the person on the boat said,
"No, no, that's too cheap." By now the man
in the river was trying very hard to breathe
and was even swallowing some of the river
water. So he said, "OK, OK, thirty dollars!"
But the person on the boat said, "No, no.
Forty dollars is my last price." And the man
in the water said,
"I - I - I'd rather die!"
昂貴的生命
以前有一個人非常吝嗇。有一天，他想自己涉水過河，
不料因為水流很急，而失足滑落河里，被河水沖到河
中央。于是他大喊救命：「有誰能救我，我就給他
賞金！」 這時附近正好有一艘小船，船上的人說：
「好！給我五十元，我就救你?！鼓莻€溺水的人
卻說：「五十元太貴了，給你二十元好了?！?BR> 船上的人說：「不行、不行！太少了！」這時，
河里那個人已經呼吸困難，而且又嗆了好幾口水，
于是他說：「好啦！好啦！那三十元！」船上的
人說：「不行，四十元是最底價！」那個溺水的
人說：「那我…我寧可淹死！」
(Originally in English)
There was once a person who was very stingy.
One day he tried to cross a river by himself,
but he slipped because the current was
extremely strong. And then the current swept
him away, down the middle of the river. So
he shouted, "Can anyone help me? I'll give
you money!" There was a person on a boat
nearby and he said, "OK. For fifty dollars I'll
help you." But the man in the river replied, "
Fifty dollars! That's too expensive. I'll give
you twenty." So the person on the boat said,
"No, no, that's too cheap." By now the man
in the river was trying very hard to breathe
and was even swallowing some of the river
water. So he said, "OK, OK, thirty dollars!"
But the person on the boat said, "No, no.
Forty dollars is my last price." And the man
in the water said,
"I - I - I'd rather die!"
昂貴的生命
以前有一個人非常吝嗇。有一天，他想自己涉水過河，
不料因為水流很急，而失足滑落河里，被河水沖到河
中央。于是他大喊救命：「有誰能救我，我就給他
賞金！」 這時附近正好有一艘小船，船上的人說：
「好！給我五十元，我就救你?！鼓莻€溺水的人
卻說：「五十元太貴了，給你二十元好了?！?BR> 船上的人說：「不行、不行！太少了！」這時，
河里那個人已經呼吸困難，而且又嗆了好幾口水，
于是他說：「好啦！好啦！那三十元！」船上的
人說：「不行，四十元是最底價！」那個溺水的
人說：「那我…我寧可淹死！」