前几天，一位美国朋友发来一段文字，渗着一股冷幽默。匆匆译成中文如下：

6月某日，位于湖岸边一个度假小镇，正在下雨, 它仿佛完全被世人遗忘了。这是一个艰难的时期，人人都陷入债务，人人都在信贷中挣扎。忽然间，一位富有的不速之客来到镇上。他进入当地唯一旅店，将100美元钞票放在接待柜台，便上楼审视客房，以便挑选一间。旅店老板飞跑去将100美元支付其欠债的屠夫；屠夫飞跑去将100美元支付其欠债的养猪人；养猪人飞跑去将100美元支付其欠债的饲料和燃料供应商； 供应商飞跑去将100美元支付其欠债的该镇妓女，后者在这些艰难日子里提供了赊账“服务”。这个妓女跑到旅店，并将100美元支付给旅店老板，因她租用了那里的房间招徕客户。旅店老板随即又将100美元放回到柜台，以便使那个富游客不会有任何怀疑。此刻，那位富游客审视房间后，拿回了100美元的钞票，并声称自己不喜欢旅店的任何客房，然后离开了镇子。如此一来，并没有人获得任何东西，但整个镇子现在没有了债务，并用相当乐观的态度展望未来。女士们，先生们，这正是美国政府目前的做法。

It is the month of June,  a resort town sits next to the shores of a lake. It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.  Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town. He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 dollar bill on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one. The hotel proprietor takes the 100 dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.  The Butcher takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt to the pig raiser. The pig raiser takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel. The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the town's prostitute that in these hard times, gave her "services" on credit. The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays  off her debt with the 100 dollar bill to the  hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms  that she rented when she brought her  clients there. The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 dollar bill back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.  At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and takes his 100 dollar bill, after saying that he did not like any of the rooms, and leaves town. No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is doing business today.