A man went into a restaurant and sat down at
one of the tables.
  A waiter went up to him and gave him the menu.
  The man read it carefully, and then ordered all the most
expensive dishes.
  The waiter served the meal and the man ate it with
great enjoyment.
  Then a small boy came into the restaurant and sat at the
man’s table.
  The waiter came up and said to the man, “What would your
little boy like, sir?”

  “Oh, just an ice cream,” the man told him. Then he stood up
and said to the waiter, “I’m just going out to buy a newspaper.”
  He left the restaurant. The waiter gave the boy an ice
cream. The boy ate it, and then stood up and walked to the
door.
  The waiter ran towards him.

  “Excuse me,” he said, “but your father hasn’t come back
and he hasn’t paid for his meal or for your ice cream.”
  “I’m sorry,” the young boy said, “that has nothing to do with
me.”
  “Oh, yes it does,” the waiter said. “You will stay here until
your father comes back and pays his bill.”
  “He’s not my father,” the boy said. “I don’t know who he is.”
  The waiter did not understand. “What do you mean?” he
asked.
  “The man came up to me in the street,” the boy said. “He
asked me if I liked ice cream. I told him I did. Then he told me to
come into the restaurant at 2 o’clock and sit down at his table.
He said he’d give me some.”

          便宜的午餐
  一个人走进一家餐厅，找了张桌子坐了下来。
  服务员立即迎上去，递上菜单。
  他仔细阅读后点了最贵的菜。
  服务员一直服侍他用餐，这个人吃得很开心。
  突然有个小孩跑过来，坐在了这个人的桌旁。
  服务员问：“需要给这位小朋友点什么吗？”
  “一个冰激凌就够了。”他说完站起身，对服务员说，“我出去买份报
纸。”
  他离开了餐厅，服务员给小男孩上了一份冰激凌，男孩吃完站起来就向
门口走去。
  服务员跑向他。
  “对不起，”他说，“你爸爸还没回来，他还没为他的午餐和你的冰激
凌买单呢？”
  “不好意思，”小男孩回答道，“那跟我没有关系啊。”
  “当然有关系啦，”服务员说，“你必须待在这里，等你爸爸回来买
单。”
  “他不是我爸爸，”小男孩说，“我根本不知道他是谁啊。”
  这把服务员弄糊涂了。“你什么意思啊？”他问。
  “那个人在街上找到我，”小男孩说，“问我想不想吃冰激凌，我说
想。他便让我两点钟时来这家餐厅，坐在他的桌前，这样就会有冰激凌吃
了。”