4. A policeman and a thief

Once a policeman was taking a thief to a city from a small town. On the way, they saw a shop. The thief said to the policeman, "Let me go into the shop to buy something so that we can eat on the train." The policeman agreed and waited in front of the shop. The thief went into the shop and ran away through the back door. Then all the police had to look for the thief again. They caught him soon.

They asked the same policeman to take the thief to the city again. On the way, they passed a food shop. The thief was thirsty2 and he wanted to buy some water. But the policeman said, "You're going to run away again, right? Are you thinking of me as a fool? I'm not so stupid! This time I'll go and buy some water for you, You must wait right here!"

Notes:

1. thief 小偷

2. thirsty 口渴

警察和小偷

曾经有一位警察从小镇押一名小偷去城里。在路上，他们看到一家店铺。小偷对警察说：“我们去那家店买些可以在火车上吃的东西吧。”警察同意并在店前等候。小偷进入商店，从后门溜走了。接着所有的警察不得不再次寻找这名小偷。他们很快抓到了他。

他们让这名警察再次带他去城里。在路上，他们路过一家食品店。小偷觉得很渴，想买点水。但这位警察说：“你要再次逃跑，对吗？你当我是个傻瓜吗？我可不会那么傻！这次我去为你买水，你必须待在这儿等着！”

（陈顺琪　译）

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近代警察发端于西欧，一般认为最早建立近代警察制度的是英国和法国。由于受英、法的影响，西方警察制度一般分为两类：一类是以法国为代表的欧洲大陆警察制度，强调集中统一的领导和管理，实行国家警察与国家宪兵并行的警察模式，属于中央集权制；另一类是以英国为代表的自治型或分散型警察体制，警察不实行中央集权制，而是由地方政权管理，接受中央政府的监督。