当希腊人遇到希腊人

When Greek Meets Greek

It is said among business men that it requires twelve Jews to cheat a Genoese； but twelve Genoese are not enough tocheat a Greek… Only one person， that I ever heard of， enjoys the not very enviable distinction of having cheatednot merely one Greek， but two．
He Was a Bari man．
He was returning to Italy， but had no bootsor rather， the things he had were no longer boots． He carefully counted up his money， found that he had not enough to buy a newpair， and so quieted his conscience． Then he went to a shoemaker's in the Street of Hermes.②
"I want a pair of shoes by Monday morning，to fit me ex actly， with round toes，" etc．； in short， he gave the fullest directions．
"Certainly，sir．You shall have them Without fail．They shall be sent to your house at ten on Monday morning．"
The Bari man left his address and departed．
In the Street of Eolus he entered another shoemaker'sshop and ordered a precisely similar pair of shoes in the sameterms．
"Have I made myself understood？"
"Perfectly． Let me have the address，and on Monday atten——"
"I shall not be in at ten．Dont't send them before eleven．"
At eleven you may count on having them，without fail．"
On Monday at ten the first victim appeared．The gentleman tried on the shoes； the right was a perfect fit， the left wasfearfully tight over the instep； it wanted stretching a little．
"All right，" said the obliging tradesman；"I will take itaway，and bring it back to you tomorrow．"
"Very well；and I will settle your account then．"
The shoemaker bowed himself out with the left shoe．
At eleven， punctual as a creditor， arrived the second predestined victim． The same scene was repeated； but this time itwas the right shoe that did not fit．
"You will have to put it over the last again， my friend．" "We'll soon set that right，sir." And this shoemaker， more knowing than the other， was about to take both shoesaway with him．
"Leave the other，”said the Bari man．"It's a fancy ofmine… if you take them both，some one may come in andfind that they fit him， and you will sell them to him， and Ishall have to wait another week．"
"But I assure you，sir ——"
"No， no， my friend；I know how things go．I want thispair of shoes and no other，and I insist on keeping the one．"
The shoemaker bowed his head with a sigh， and wentaway to stretch the right shoe．
An hour later the Bari man and his shoes were already onboard the Pireus steamer；and on the following day the twovictims met on his doorstep，each with a shoe in his hand，andlooked into each other's rapidly lengthening faces．

当希腊人遇到希腊人

生意人中有个说法：十二个犹太人才骗得了一个热那亚人，但十二个热那亚人也骗不了一个希腊人。我只听说过一个人曾有那不怎么令人钦羡的出众业绩——即欺骗了希腊人，并且骗了不只一个，而是两个希腊人。
他是个巴利人。
他正要回意大利，但却没靴子——或者更确切地说，他脚上的东西已不再是靴子了。他细细地点了钱，发现自己的 钱不够买一双新鞋，倒也心安理得了。于是他去了汉米斯街的一家鞋铺。
“我要一双鞋，星期一早上必须交货，鞋得十分合脚，要圆头的，”如此等等。总之，他给了最详尽的指示。
“没问题，先生。您一定能按时得到鞋子。星期一早上十点给您送货到家。”
巴利人留下地址就离开了。
在风神街他又走进另一家鞋店，以同样的条件订购了另外一双完全相同的鞋子。
“你听明白了吗？”
“分毫无误。把地址给我吧，星期一早十点——”“十点钟我不在家。十一点以后再送货吧。”
“十一点您一准能收到鞋。”
到了星期一，十点钟时第一个受骗者来了。那位先生试了鞋子。右脚非常合适，可左边的鞋足背处实在太挤脚了，还得楦一楦。
“好吧，”殷勤的手艺人说，“我把它拿回去修修，明儿再给您送来。”
“那好，就明天再结帐。”
鞋匠便拿着左鞋鞠躬告辞了。
到了十一点，第二个预定的倒霉鬼也来了，像债主似的准时。于是那一幕又重演了一遍，只不过这一次不合适的是右边的鞋。
“朋友，你得返工重做做最后一道工序。”
“我们立马就能把它修好，先生。”这个鞋匠比先头那个心眼多些，打算把两只鞋一起带走。
“把另外那只留下，”巴利人说：“我有个怪念头，觉得要是你全拿走了，也许有个人会看中它们，保不住你就卖给他了，结果我就得再等一个星期。”
“我向您担保，先生——”
“不，不，我的朋友，我知道事情会怎样演变。我只要这双鞋，不要别的，所以我定要你留下此鞋。”
鞋匠低下头，叹了口气，便转回店铺去整修右鞋。
一小时以后那巴利人和他的鞋子都上了“派利厄斯”号汽船。第二天两个上了当的鞋匠在巴利人的门阶前相遇，手里各拿着一只鞋子。他们迅速地相互扫了一眼，脸立刻拉长了。