One night a hotel caught fire, and the people who were staying in it ran¹ out in their night clothes.

Two men stood² outside and looked at the fire.

Before I came³ out, said⁴ one, I ran into some of the rooms and found⁵ a lot of money. People don't think of money when they're afraid. When anyone⁶ leaves⁷ paper money in a fire, the fire burns⁸ it. So I took⁹ all the bills¹⁰ that I could¹¹ 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 thought¹² quickly and said, and do you know my work? No, said the policeman.

I'm a writer¹³. I'm always telling stories about things that never happened.

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，另一个说。

你是干什么的？

我是警察。

噢！第一个人喊了一声，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。