7. Police and "writer"

One night a hotel caught fire1, and the people who were staying in it ran out in their night clothes.

Two men stood outside and looked at the fire.

Before I came out, said one, "I ran into some of the rooms and found a lot of money. People don't think of money when they're afraid. When anyone leaves paper money in a fire, the fire burns it. So I took all the bills2 that I could find. No one will be poorer because I took them."

You don't know my work, said the other.

What is your work?

I'm a policeman.

Oh! cried the first man. He thought quickly and said, "and do you know my work?"

No, said the policeman.

I'm a writer. I'm always telling stories about things that never happened.

Notes:

1. caught fire 着火

2. bill 钞票

警察和“作家”

一天晚上，一家旅馆失火，住在这家旅馆里的人穿着睡衣就跑了出来。两个人站在外面，看着大火。

“在我出来之前”，其中一个人说，“我跑进一些房间，找到了一大笔钱。人在恐惧中是不会想到钱的。如果有人把纸币留在火里，火就会把它烧成灰烬。所以我把我所能找到的钞票都拿走了。没有人会因为我拿走它们而变得更穷。”

“你不知道我是干什么的。”另一个人说。

“你是干什么的？”

“我是警察。”

“噢！”第一个人叫了起来。他灵机一动，说：“那你知道我是干什么的？”

“不知道。”警察说。

“我是个作家。我总是爱编一些从未发生过的故事。”

Useful link:

美国有联邦警察，属于联邦调查局；有州长领导下的州警察，负责市与市交接地带及州际高速公路上的治安；还有市长领导下的市警察，负责本地区内治安。他们相互之间没有隶属关系，只有合作关系。我们看的美国影片里的警察绝大多数是联邦警察和市警察。他们的巡警就是负责交通和普通治安，和我们国家有些地方的交通巡警类似，巡警干得好可以升到办公室负责刑事案件。