One day, a traveller on the road asked Aesop,"Kind man, could you please tell me how long it will take me to get to town?"
"Go," Aesop answered.
"I know I must go," said the traveller, "but I want to know how soon I can get there."
"Go," Aesop shouted at him.
The traveller was very angry."This man must be mad," he thought, and walked on.
Suddenly he heard Aesop shouting,"You will get there in two hours."
The traveller turned back and asked,"Why didn't you tell me that before?"
Aesop answered with a smile, "Because I didn't know how fast you could walk!"
【參考譯文】
一天,有一個旅行者在路上問伊索,“好心人,您能告訴我多長時間我能到達城里嗎?”
“走,”伊索回答。
“我知道我必須走,”旅行者說,“可是我想知道多長時間后我能到達城里。”
“走,”伊索朝他喊到。
旅行者很惱火,“這個人準是瘋了,”他想,又繼續(xù)趕路了。
突然他聽到伊索在叫喊,“你兩小時能到達城里。”
旅行者轉過身來,問道:“為什么剛才你不告訴我呢?”
伊索笑著回答,“因為我不知道你走得有多快啊!”