A Check Given to a dead
As mr. Smith was on his deathbed, he aftempted to formulate a plan that would allow him to take at least some of his considerable wealth.with him. He called for the three men he trusted most: his lawyer, his doctor, and his clergyman, He told them. “ I’m going ot give you each $30000 in cash before I die. At my funeral, I want you to place the money in my coffin so that I can try to take it with me.’ All three agreed to do this and were given the money.
At the funeral, each approached the coffin in turn and placed an envelope inside. While riding in the limousine to the cemetery, the clergyman said “ I have to confess something to you fellows. Brother Smith was a good churchman all his life, and I know he would have wanted me to do this. The cjruch needed a new baptistery very badly, and I took $ 10 000 of the money he gave me and bought one. I only put $ 20 000 in the coffin.”
The physician then said. “ Well, since we’re confiding in one another, I might as well tell you that I didn’t put the full $ 30 000 in the coffin either.Smith had a disease that very new machine, but the machine cost $20 000 and I couldn’t afford it then. I used $ 20 000 of the money to buy the machine so that I might be able to save other patients. I know that Smith would hav ewanted me to do that.”
The lawyer then siad,” I’m ashamed of both of you. When I put my envelope into that coffin, it heald my personal check ofr the full # 30 000.”
冥國支票
臨終前，史密斯先生躺在床上，試圖構想出來個方案，使得他死后至少能帶走他可觀的財富的一小部分。他叫來他最信任的三個人——他的律師，醫生和牧師。他對他們說：“我死前，將給你們每人三萬美元現金。我想讓你們在我的葬禮上，把錢放進我的棺材里，那樣，我就可以想辦法帶上它們。”三人都江堰市愿意做此事，于是都得到了那筆錢。
在葬禮上，三人依次走到史密斯先生的棺木前，把一個信封放到里面。坐在去墓地的豪華轎車里，牧師說道：“我必須要向你們懺悔。在整個一生中，史密斯教友一直是位好教徒一，我想他一定愿意讓我做這樣一件事的。教堂非常需要一個新的洗禮池，于是我從他引人矚目我的錢中，拿了一萬美元買了一個洗禮池。在棺木中我只放了兩萬美元。”
醫生接下來說：“好吧，看來我們是相互坦白，我還是告訴你們實情吧，我也沒把三萬美元全部放進棺木里。史密斯患的病本來可用一種新式儀器早一點診斷出來，但我當時沒有，因為那部儀器要花兩萬美元，我買不起。為了將來我能夠拯救其他病人的生命，我用了兩萬美元買了那部儀器。我知道史密斯一定會樂意讓我做這件事的。”
在優朗英語培訓學校曾經工作過的律師接著說；“我為你們倆人感到羞恥。當我把信封放進棺木時，那只信封時裝的是我足額開具的一張三萬美元的個人支票。”
