Unusual Echoes
Once Mark Twain and two friends were sitting in a restau-rant.One friend had just returned from a trip to Vermont.The friend said that the air in the mountains of Vermont was veryclear.In many places the echo of a voice came back five times stronger than the original voice.The second friend said that was nothing.In Colorado,where he lived,in many places the echo of a voice spoken in the morning came back in the afternoon.
Mark Twain laughed.Then he said,Listen!The echoes which you have told about are very unusual.But in a small church in Missouri,where I was born,there is an echo more unusual than those.
“What is so strange about the echo there?”asked one of them.
“Well,I will tell you,”said Mark Twain.“The echo in that church is so unusual that if one asks in a loud voice:Good Morning!How are you?The echo repeats very clearly after amoment:Very well,thank you.And how are you?”
不同尋常的迴音
有一次,馬克·吐溫和兩個朋友在飯館裏坐着。一個朋友剛從佛蒙特旅行回來。這位朋友說佛蒙特的大山裏空氣非常清新。在許多地方,一個聲音的迴音要比原來的聲音強五倍。第二位朋友說那沒有什麼。在他居住的科羅拉多的許多地方,一個早上說話的聲音的迴音要到下午才能返回。
馬克·吐溫大笑起來。然後他說:“你們說的那些迴音非常不同尋常。但是在我出生的密蘇里的一個小教堂裏,有一個迴音比你們說的那些迴音更不同尋常。”
“那裏的那個迴音有什麼不同尋常的?”一個問。
“好吧,我來告訴你們,”馬克·吐溫說。“那個教堂裏的迴音真的非常不同尋常,如果一個人大聲問:早上好!你好嗎?過一回兒,迴音會清楚地回答:非常好,謝謝。你好嗎?”
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