雙語幽默故事—機智的早餐

Pat O'Burke was a poor Irishman with a large family and one morning, waking up early from cold and hunger, he decided1 to go shooting in a wood near his cottage.

The wood belonged to Lord Northwood, a rich gentle man, and Pat had no right to go there, but there were swarms2 of rabbits and flocks of birds that were good to eat, and Pat decided to take the risk.

帕特·奧伯克是個有一大家子人的貧苦的愛爾蘭人。一天清晨，由於連凍帶餓，他早早就醒了。他決定到茅屋附近的林子中去打獵。

林子屬於富有的諾思伍德爵爺，帕特沒有權力到裏面去。可是林子中有一羣野兔，還有鳥羣，那將是一道美餐。於是，帕特決定去冒冒險。

Suddenly he saw the owner, with a group of friends, coming towards him in the wood. There was a look of anger on lord Northwood's face as he saw the gun in Pat's hands. Pat's heart sank with fear, but he saw there was no hope of escape, so he walked boldly up to the company and said to Lord Northwood.

突然間，他看到主人和他的朋友們從樹林中向他走來。當主人看到帕特手中的槍時，臉上露出憤怒的神情。帕特嚇得心裏“咯噔”一下，可又一想，逃跑是不行了，於是便大着膽子向這些人走去，並對諾斯伍德爵爺說：“早晨好，先生。什麼事使您這麼早就出來了呢?”

"Good morning, sir, and what has brought you out so early this morning?" Lord Northwood, rather surprised, said he and his friends were taking a little exercise to get an appetite for their breakfast. Then looking at Pat with suspicion, he said, "But why are you out so early in the morning?"

"Well, sir" said Pat, "I just came out to see if I could get a breakfast for my appetite." The whole crowd burst into laughter at Pat's ready wit, and with a smile Lord Northwood walked on leaving Pat to try his luck with the rabbits.

諾思伍德爵爺十分驚訝，說他和他的朋友出來活動活動，以便爲他們的早餐加點食慾。接着，他疑疑惑惑得看着帕特說：“可是，你今天早晨怎麼也出來這麼早啊?”

“哦，先生，我出來正是看一看能不能爲我的食慾弄頓早餐。”帕特說，看到帕特這樣的隨機應變，這些人都鬨堂大笑。諾思伍德也笑了，繼續向前走去，留下帕特碰碰運氣。