慷慨的律师

鸭绒25（译）

2024年8月18日

当地一家名叫“联合之路”的慈善组织办事处发现，该组织从未收到过镇上最成功的那位律师的捐款。负责捐款的办事员打电话给律师，劝说他捐款。

“我们的研究表明，在至少50万美元年收入的人中，你没有捐过一分钱给慈善机构。你不想以某种方式回馈社区吗？”

律师想了一会儿，回答说：“首先，你的研究是否也表明，我母亲长期患病，生命垂危，医疗费用是她年收入的几倍？”

联合之路代表尴尬地嘟囔道：“嗯……没有。”

律师打断道：“或者，我的兄弟是一名残疾退伍军人，双目失明，只能坐在轮椅上？”

被问倒的联合之路代表开始结结巴巴地道歉。但他再次被打断。

“或者，我姐姐的丈夫死于交通事故。”律师的声音充满愤怒，“她身无分文，还要抚养三个孩子？！”

联合之路代表被羞辱得筋疲力尽，只得简单地说：“我不知道……”

律师又一次打断了他的话：“如果我连他们都没给钱，为什么要给你钱？”

原文： Generous Lawyer

A local United Way office realized that the organization had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer。The person in charge of contributions called him to persuade him to contribute。

“Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $500,000，you give not a penny to charity。Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way？”

The lawyer mulled this over for a moment and replied：“First，did your research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness，and has medical bills that are several times her annual income？”

Embarrassed，the United Way rep mumbled：“Um……no。”

The lawyer interrupts：“or that my brother，a disabled veteran，is blind and confined to a wheelchair？”

The stricken United Way rep began to stammer out an apology，but was interrupted again。

“or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident。”the lawyer's voice rising in indignation，“leaving her penniless with three children？！”

The humiliated United Way rep，completely beaten，said simply：“I had no idea……”

On a roll，the lawyer cut him off once again：“So if I don't give any money to them，why should I give any to you？”