Fishing in the rain

　　It was a cold dark evening in February in the city. It was raining heavily and the roads were covered in water. George was leaving his office after work when he noticed a poor old man. The man was standing next to a puddle in the road. He was wearing long rubber fishing boots and he was holding a stick with a piece of string. The string was hanging in the puddle. George asked the old man what he was doing and the man replied that he was fishing. 'Poor guy!’, George thought. The old man was obviously going crazy. George felt sorry for the old man, and he was getting very wet, standing outside in the rain, so he decided to invite the old man to have a drink with him in a nearby bar.

　　George ordered a drink for himself and bought one for the old man. The old man was smiling happily as he was drinking. While they were finishing their drinks, George tried to start a conversation. He turned to the old man and asked,

　　'So is the fishing good today?'

　　'Not bad today, thanks.’ replied the old man.

　　'And how many have you caught?'

　　'You're the eighth,' the old man answered.

　　雨中垂钓

　　这是城市在二月里的一个寒冷的夜晚。雨下得很大，路上全是水。乔治下班后正要离开办公室，这时他注意到一个可怜的老人。那个人站在路边的水坑旁边。他穿着长长的橡胶皮靴，手里拿着一根棍子，上面有一根绳子。绳子挂吊在水坑里。乔治问老人他在干什么，那个人回答说他在钓鱼。“可怜的家伙！”乔治想。老人显然疯了。乔治为老人感到难过，他站在雨中，全身都湿透了，所以他决定邀请老人和他一起去附近的酒吧喝一杯。

　　乔治为自己点了一杯酒，给老人买了一杯。老人一边喝一边高兴地笑着。当他们喝完酒，乔治试图开始交谈。他转向老人问，

　　“今天钓鱼好吗？”

　　“今天还不错，谢谢。”老人回答说。

　　“你钓到了多少？”

　　“你是第八个，”老人回答。