A man was selling medicine at a fair. At first he sold bottles
of a cure for colds for just one dollar per bottle.
  Many people wanted to buy it and the man’s young
assistant moved quickly through the crowd collecting money
and handing out bottles of the cold cure.
  Then, when a big crowd gathered, the man held up a very
small bottle.
  “And now, ladies and gentlemen,” he shouted, “here is the
medicine you have been waiting for. The cure for old age. Drink
just one bottle of this and you will live forever.”
  “And, ladies and gentlemen,” the man continued, “I’m not
going to charge you a hundred dollars a bottle for this wonderful
medicine. I’m not going to charge you fifty dollars a bottle. I’m
not going to charge you twenty-five dollars a bottle. No, ladies
and gentlemen, I’m going to charge you just ten dollars a bottle.
Think, my friends, for ten dollars you can live forever.”
  Most of the people in the crowd did not believe this.
  One person shouted, “If it will make you live forever, why
don’t you drink it?”
  Then another person cried, “Yes, you look as if you’re at
least sixty years old.”
  “Thank you, sir, thank you,” the man replied. “I’m so glad
you said that. My real age is three hundred and twenty-nine.”
  The crowd laughed at this, but there were still a few people
who wanted to believe the man. One of them spoke to the
man’s assistant as she passed by. “Is that true,” he asked, “that
he’s three hundred and twenty-nine?”
  “Don’t ask me,” the assistant said, “I’ve only worked for him
for a hundred and fifty years.”

                 长　寿
  一个人在集市上卖感冒药。一开始，他一瓶只卖一美元。
  许多人争先恐后地要买他的感冒药。年轻的助手麻利地在人群中穿梭，
边收钱边向大家分发药品。
  后来，人越聚越多，他举起一个非常小的瓶子。
  他向人群大喊：“女士们、先生们，这是你们一直以来梦寐以求的延缓
衰老的药。只喝一瓶，你就可以长寿！”
  他继续喊道：“女士们、先生们，这种灵丹妙药，我不会卖你们一百美
元或五十美元一瓶，也不会卖你们二十五美元一瓶的。女士们、先生们，我
只卖你们十美元一瓶！想一想，朋友们，只需花十美元，你就可以长寿！”
  人群中，大部分人都不相信他的话。
  一个人喊道：“如果这药能使你长寿的话，你怎么不喝呢？”
  接着又有人喊道：“对啊，你看起来至少有六十岁了。”
  卖药的人答道：“谢谢你，先生，谢谢。你这么说我很高兴。我的真实
年龄是三百二十九岁。”
  人们哄笑起来，但仍有几个人相信他的话。有个人问从身旁经过的助
手，“是真的吗？他真的是三百二十九岁？”
  助手说：“别问我，我才为他工作了一百五十年而已。”