近视新编

In the past, there were two near-sighted men, Mr. A and Mr. B. They didn't admit they were near-sighted, but boasted about their good eyesight instead.

One day, they heard that a new inscribed1 board was to be hung up in a temple, so they made an appointment with each other to have a contest of their eyesight. In order to win, both of them stealthily inquired beforehand about the characters inscribed on the board. When the day came, they went to the temple early in the morning.

Mr. A looked up at the place for the board, wagged his head and said: "Aren't these the four characters 'Guang Ming Zheng Da'?"

Mr. B added: "What is so strange about that? I can even make out the small characters on both sides. Look, aren't these the year, the month, and the name of the calligrapher2?"

The people standing3 nearby all burst into laughter and said: "The new inscribed board hasn't been hung up yet. Where are the characters you just read?"

从前，有甲乙两个近视眼。他们不但不肯承认自己近视，还要夸耀自己的眼力。

有一天，他们听说有一座庙要挂新匾，于是便相约去比一比各自的眼力。为了取胜，甲乙两人都事先悄悄地去探听匾上所写的字。日期到了，两人一大早就来到庙里。

甲抬头朝准备挂匾的地方看了看，便摇头晃脑地说：“这不是‘光明正大’四个大字吗?”

乙接着说：“这有什么稀奇，我还能认出两旁的小字呢!你看，这不是‘某年某月’、‘某某人书’吗!”

站在旁边的人都哈哈大笑起来，说：“新匾还没有挂上，你们念的这些字写在什么地方呀?”

1 inscribed

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。

The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 calligrapher

n.书法家

参考例句：

People would ask, then, how come a young calligrapher should choose to marry a cold-drink peddler? 以后人家会说——年轻的书法家，怎么找一个卖冷饮的？ 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

Wang Xizhi was a great calligrapher in ancient Chiina. 王羲之是中国古代一位伟大的书法家。

3 standing

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。

They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。