When Mr.. Wilkins answered the door late in the evening one day after he'd lost his wife scuba diving, he was greeted by two grim-faced policemen. We're sorry to call on you at this hour, Mr. Wilkens, but we have some information about your wife.
Well...tell me! he demanded.
The policeman said, We have some bad news, some pretty good news, and some really great news. Which do you want to hear first?
Fearing the worse, Mr. Wilkins said, Give me the bad news first.
So the policeman said, I'm sorry to tell you sir, but we found your wife's body this morning in San Francisco Bay.
OH MY GOD!, said Mr. Wilkens, overcome by emotion. Then, remembering what the policeman had said, he asked, What's the good news?
Well, said the policeman, When we pulled her up she had two five-pound lobsters and a dozen good size Dungeoness crabs on her.
Huh? he said, not understanding. So, what's the great news?
The policeman smiled, licked his chops, and said, We're going to pull her up again tomorrow morning.
译文:
失去妻子的男人
一天，威新斯先生的妻子去潜水没有回来。深夜，有人敲门，他打开门，看到两个表情凝重的警察。
“我们很抱歉这时候打扰你，但我们有一些关于你妻子的消息。”
“好，快告诉我！”他急道。
警察说：“我们有一个坏消息，一个比较好的消息和一个特好的消息，你想先听那个？”
由于害怕坏消息，威新斯先生说：“先说坏的。”
警察说：“我很抱歉地告诉你，我们今早在旧金山湾发现了你妻子的尸体。”
“哦，我的上帝！”威新斯说，他感情上有点难以接受。过了一会儿，他想起警察之前说的话，又问道：“那比较好的消息呢？”
“哦，”警察说：“当我们把她拉上来时，她身上有两个5磅的龙虾和12个邓杰内斯蟹。”
“啊？！”他不解地说：“那消息特好的呢？”
警察笑了，舔着嘴说：“我们想明早再把她拉上来一次！”