Sir William Thompson was¹ very deaf³ but he did⁴ not like people to know this． One evening he had⁵ invited⁶ several⁷ friendsto dinner， and while⁹ they were sitting at the table， one of thefriends told a funny story． Everyone laughed， and SirWilliam， who had laughed as² loud as anyone¹⁰， said¹¹，“That was a very funny joke¹²， but I know a funnier one． Would¹³ you liketo hear it？” They all said they would， so Sir William began hisstory． When it ended， everyone laughed louder than ever⁸ andSir William smiled happily¹⁴． But he didn't know the reason¹⁵ for their laughter¹⁶． He had told the very same story that his friendhad just told．

54．笑 话

威廉·汤普森爵士非常聋，但他却不愿意让别人知道这 件事，一天晚上，他邀请了几位朋友吃饭。在就餐的时候，一 位朋友讲了个有趣的故事，大都笑了，汤普森也和别人一 样放声大笑，他说：“这是个十分有趣的笑话，但是我还知道 一个更有趣的笑话，你们愿意听吗？”朋友们都说愿意听。于 是，汤普森开始讲他的故事。当故事讲完时，大家笑得比方才 还厉害，汤普森的脸上露出了欣慰的笑容。但他却不知道别 人发笑的原因。原来，他讲的正是方才那位朋友讲的故事。