A fantasy
原文
Why was the Ambassador particularly lucky?
When the Ambassador of Escalopia returned home for lunch, his wife got a shock.
He looked pale and his clothes were in a frightful state.
'What has happened?' she asked.
'How did your clothes get into such a mess?'
'A fire extinguisher, my dear,' answered the Ambassador drily.
'University students set the Embassy on fire this morning.'
'Good heavens!' exclaimed his wife.
'And where were you at the time?'
'I was in my office as usual,' answered the Ambassador.
'The fire broke out in the basement.
I went down immediately, of course, and that fool, Horst,
aimed a fire extinguisher at me.
He thought I was on fire.
I must definitely get that fellow posted.'
The Ambassador's wife went on asking questions,
when she suddenly noticed a big hole in her husband's hat.
'And how can you explain that?' she asked.
'Oh, that,' said the Ambassador.
'Someone fired a shot through my office window.
Accurate, don't you think?
Fortunately, I wasn't wearing it at the time.
If I had been, I would not have been able to get home for lunch.'
译文
为什么这位大使特别幸运呢？
当埃斯卡洛皮亚大使回家吃午饭时，他的妻子感到非常震惊。
他看起来脸色苍白，衣服也破烂不堪。
“发生了什么事？”她问道。
“你的衣服怎么会弄得这么乱糟糟的？”
“是灭火器，亲爱的，”大使冷冷地回答道。
“今天早上，大学生们把大使馆给点着了。”
“我的天啊！”他的妻子惊呼道。
“那你当时在哪里？”
“我像往常一样在办公室里，”大使回答道。
“火是从地下室烧起来的。”
我立刻就下去了，当然了；还有那个傻瓜，霍斯特……
“把灭火器对准了我。”
他以为我着火了。
“我一定要把那个家伙调走。”
大使的妻子不停地提问。
突然，她发现丈夫的帽子上有一个大洞。
“那你又该如何解释这件事呢？”她问道。
“哦，那个……”大使说道。
“有人朝我的办公室窗户开了一枪。”
“非常准确，不是吗？”
幸运的是，当时我并没有戴着它。
“如果我戴着它，我就没法回家吃午饭了。”