Napoleon's Three Questions

                       爱科特英语教练译编

   A Swede admired Napoleon so much that he managed to become one of his soldiers.

   One day, word came that Napoleon would be inspecting the army.Some fellow soldiers of the Swede's reminded him that the great man might ask him some questions.Not knowing any French at all,the Swede was very anxious.An older soldier told the Swede that Napoleon always asked three questions in the same order. The first question was, "How old are you?" The second was,"How long have you been in my army?" And the third was, "Did you serve in my last two campaigns(战役)? So the Swede memorized the answers in the same order. "Twenty-three, sir." "Three months, sir." "Both, sir."

    On the day of the inspection, Napoleon stood before the army, walking up and down and looking at his soldiers with satisfaction. Then He began to inspect the army.He smiled to the soldiers or had a word with some of the officers. The Swede stood still,his lips moving slightly.Unfortunately,the great man saw him and went over to him and asked him the questions.However, this time Napoleon did not ask the questions in the same order as usual.

    "How long have you been in my army?" asked the great man.

   "23, sir."

   "How old are you?"

   "3 months, sir." answered the Swede.

    Hearing this, Napoleon was not only surprised but angry as well.

   "Either you are mad, or I am." shouted Napoleon.

    "Both, sir." the Swede answered proudly.

    一个瑞典人非常钦佩拿破仑。后来，他终于成为拿破仑军队里的一名士兵。 

　　一次，拿破仑要来检阅队伍。战友们提醒瑞典人：那伟大的人也许会问你几个问题。这个典人十分焦急。他听不懂法语啊！一个年纪大的士兵说："拿破仑总是按同样的顺序问三个同样的问题。第一个问题是："你多大了？"，第二个问题是："你在我的部队多久了？"，第三个问题是："你是否参加过我两次大战的一个？"。瑞典人按顺序背下了这三个问题的答案："23岁，先生。"，"3年了，先生"。，"都是的，先生。"。 

　　检阅那天，拿破仑站在队伍前面，用满意的目光望着士兵们。然后，他开始检阅了，一会儿微笑着看这个士兵，一会儿对那个军官说句话。那瑞典一动不动地站着，只有嘴唇在轻轻地动着。拿破仑一眼看见了他，走到他面前，开始问他问题。遗憾的是，这次拿破仑问的第一个问题是："你在我部队里多久了？"，" 23岁，先生。"，"你今年多大了？"，"3个月了，先生。"瑞典人的回答使拿破仑既吃惊又生气，于是吼道："是你疯了，还是我疯了？""都是的，先生。"瑞典人自豪地回答。