Honest Lawyer Strange
A lawyer named Strange died, and his friend asked the tombstone maker to inscribe on this tombstone,“Here lies Strange, an honest man, and a lawyer.”
The inscriber insisted that such an inscription would be to confusing, for passers-by would tend to think that three men were buried under the stone. However, he suggested an alternative: he would inscribe.“Here lies a man who was both honest and a lawyer.”That way. Whenever anyone walked by the tombstone and read it, they would be certain to remark:“That’s strange!”
誠(chéng)實(shí)的律師
一個(gè)名叫斯特蘭奇的律師去世了,其友人為其撰寫墓志銘如下:“此地長(zhǎng)眠著斯特蘭奇,一個(gè)誠(chéng)實(shí)的人、一個(gè)律師。”書寫碑文的匠人卻認(rèn)為這樣的說法容易引起誤會(huì),讓人覺得好像有三個(gè)人同眠于此地,便提議改正如下:“此地長(zhǎng)眠著一個(gè)誠(chéng)實(shí)的人,是個(gè)律師”這樣一來,來往的過客讀完碑文肯定會(huì)異口同聲地驚叫:“怪事兒。”