79　Historical Events 历史事件

I was manning the register at a busy Italian restaurant when a customer walked up with his check, totaling $14.92. “That's when Columbus discovered America,” he commented. “You don't really believe that, do you?” I responded. “I mean, the Native Americans were here long before he showed up.” We continued in this vein for several minutes. Meanwhile, a line had begun to form. After my customer left, the next patron in line came up to my counter and impatiently asked me what was going on. “Oh, we were talking about historical events,” I said. “Well, then,” said the irritated customer, “can you tell me what happened the year I started waiting in line?”

我正在一家繁忙的意大利餐馆帮忙收款，一个顾客走上前来，拿着他的用餐账单，总计14.92美元。他说：“这是哥伦布发现美洲的时候。”我应声说：“你并不相信，是不是？我的意思是，在他来之前美洲原住民早就在这里了。”我们以这种情调谈了好几分钟。这时，后面的人就排起队来了。这个顾客走了以后，后面的顾客走上来，很不耐烦地问我是怎么回事。我说：“哦，我们正在讨论一些历史事件。”那个生气的顾客说：“唔，那么你能不能告诉我，我开始排队的那一年发生了什么事？”