第 5 课 · The Facts

The facts

事实

Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their readers with unimportant facts and statistics.

报纸和杂志的编辑们常常为了给读者提供一些无关紧要的事实和统计数字而走极端。

Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president's palace in a new African republic.

去年，一位记者受一家著名杂志社委托，写一篇关于某个新成立的非洲共和国总统府的文章。

When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refused to publish it.

稿子寄到后，编辑刚读了第一句就拒绝刊登。

The article began:'Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president's palace.'

文章开头写道：“几百级台阶通向环绕总统府的高墙。”

The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him to find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.

编辑立即给记者发去一份传真，指示他查明台阶的确切数目和围墙的高度。

The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he took a long time to send them.

记者立即动身去获取这些重要的资料，可是过了很久才把它们发回来。

Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine would soon go to press.

与此同时，编辑变得越来越不耐烦，因为杂志很快就要付印了。

He sent the journalist two more faxes, but received no reply.

他又给记者发去两份传真，但没有收到任何回音。

He sent yet another fax informing the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would be fired.

他又发出一份传真，通知记者：如果不尽快回复，他就会被解雇。

When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as it had originally been written.

记者再次迟迟不回复，编辑只得勉强按原样发表了这篇文章。

A week later, the editor at last received a fax from the journalist.

一个星期之后，编辑终于收到了记者发来的一份传真。

Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well.

原来这位可怜的人不仅被逮捕了，而且还被送进了监狱。

However, he had at last been allowed to send a fax in which he informed the editor that he had been arrested while counting the 1,084 steps leading to the 15th foot wall which surrounded the president's palace.

不过，他终于获准发来一份传真，告诉编辑：他是在清点那 1,084 级台阶时被捕的——那些台阶一直通向环绕总统府的 15 英尺高的围墙。