Sher Robert - A Stupid Question 汉译

A cardiologist came up with a new operating procedure that would cut down the time that heart surgery would take and would cause less trauma to the patient. He was praised by his peers when he presented it at a convention in Washington D.C. He was also paid $50,000 to present his find. He did a couple more of these presentations and realized that it would be more lucrative to do lectures on his find than to work as a surgeon. So he decided to do the lectures full-time. He hired a driver and purchased a limousine.

One day, after he’d been doing the lecture circuit for about 6 months, his driver turns to him and says, “You know.... This is completely unfair.”

“What do you mean?” asks the surgeon.

“Well, you get paid $50,000 every time you do this lecture and that’s more than I get paid in a year,” replies the driver.

The surgeon explains to him that it is a very complicated procedure and that he is the only person that can give this lecture.

“That’s not true. I can do your lecture blindfolded. I have seen you do your lecture so many times that I know it by heart,” says the driver.

“Well if that’s the case, I’ll tell you what. You do this lecture and you can keep the $50,000 if you do it right.” replies the surgeon.

The driver replies, “Ok. You’re on.”

So when they arrive at the lecture hall, the surgeon and the driver changed coats and the surgeon puts on the driver’s hat and sits in the back of the room.

The driver nails the presentation. Not only that, he also answers all the questions without any problems. Just when the driver thinks he’s done, an audience member, wearing a lab coat and tape covered glasses stands up and asks a complex question that the driver is not able to answer.

“You know...” says the driver, “I have done this lecture 287 times and I have never been asked such a stupid question. As a matter of fact, that question is SO stupid that I am going to let my driver answer it.”

愚蠢的问题

一位心脏病医生首创了一种新的手术方法，它不仅可以缩短心脏手术所需的时间，而且还可以减轻手术给病人带来的痛苦。

在首都华盛顿举行的一次心脏病专题会议上，他的这一方法受到了与会同行的高度称赞，有的医疗机构还以五万美元的酬金邀请他去介绍这种新方法。随后不久，他又作了几场专题报告。渐渐地，他意识到口头作报告要比亲自做手术更为合算。于是，他决定辞掉外科医生之职，专门到全国各地举办巡回报告。为此，他购买了一辆豪华轿车，还雇了一名专职司机。

有一天，就在他做了六个月的巡回报告之后，他的司机在面前无意中发出了一声感慨，“你知道，这实在太不公平了。”

“你这话是什么意思？”外科医生不解地问。

“哎，你每次这么一场报告下来五万块就到手了，比我一年的收入还要高啊！”司机说道。

外科医生向司机解释说，这种新的手术方法非常复杂，而他是唯一可以做这种报告的人。

“那不见得。我闭上眼睛都可以替你做报告。你的报告我已经反复听过很多次了。说实话，我可以倒背如流。”司机说道。

“嗯，如果是这样的话，我还有什么话说？这一场报告由你来作，如果你做得好，那五万块你拿去。”外科医生答道。

“好，就这么定了。”司机说。

于是，当他们驱车到达报告大厅时，外科医生便和司机交换了外套。外科医生戴上了司机的帽子，坐在了大厅的后面。

司机的报告完成得非常顺利。不仅如此，他还回答了所有的问题，而且没有出现任何破绽。正当司机以为他已经大功告成之时，一位穿着实验室制服、戴着胶带眼镜的听众站了起来。他提出了一个司机无法回答的复杂问题。

“你知道……”司机镇定地说道，“这样的报告我已经做了287次了，从来还没有人向我提出过这样一个愚蠢的问题。其实，这个问题也很简单，我看还是让我的司机来回答吧。”