三分钟英语故事(一)
A barber was in his shop, busily cutting a man's hair, when a handsome young stranger came in. He had a small boy with him. They sat down together and waited until the barber had finished. Then the young man told the barber to shave him and to cut the small boy's hair.
The barber said,“Do you want me to cut the boy's hair first, or to shave you?”
“Oh, shave me.”said the young man.“Then I'll go down the road and have a glass of wine while you're cutting the boy's hair.”
The young man sat down in the barber's chair, and the barber began to shave him.
When he had finished, the young man got up and said,“I'll go down the road now and have my wine while you're cutting the boy's hair.”
“All right, but I won't take long.”the barber warned him. The young man went out, the small boy obediently sat down in the barber's chair，and the barber began to cut his hair.
As he had said, he soon finished, and then the boy sat down and waited. At the end of half an hour, when the young man had still not come back, the barber said to the boy,“It is a pity that your daddy's taking such a long time. Where is he likely to be now?”
“I can't guess,”answered the small boy.“And that man wasn't my daddy. I've never seen him before in my life. I was playing in the street this morning, and he came up to me and asked me whether I'd like to have my hair cut without having to pay anything. I said I would, because my hair was rather long, so he brought me here.”
三分钟英语故事(二)
There was a bookseller who did not like to pay for anything. One day a big box of books fell on his foot.
“Go to the doctor,”said his wife，“show that foot to him.”
“No,”he said,“I'll wait until the doctor comes to our shop next time. Then I'll ask him about my foot. If I go to see him, I shall have to pay.”
The next day the doctor came to the shop to buy some books. The bookseller told the doctor about his bad foot. The doctor looked at it and promised to help.
He took out a piece of paper and wrote something on it.“Buy this and put it on the foot before you go to bed every night.”he said.
“Thank you.”said the bookseller.“And now, sir, here are your books.”
“How much?”asked the doctor.
“Two pounds.”
“Good,”said the doctor.“I shall not have to pay you anything today.”
“Why?”asked the bookseller.
“I have examined your foot. I want two pounds for that. If people come to my house, I ask them to pay one pound for a small thing like that. But when I go to their houses, I usually charge two pounds. And I came here today, didn't I? Bye-bye!”
三分钟英语故事(三)
A famous doctor once attended a little boy who was dangerously ill. Thanks to his skill and care this young patient recovered, and was soon able to get up and run about again. The child's mother was very grateful, and she called on the doctor to thank him for what he had done for her son.
“Doctor,”she said.“You have saved my little boy's life. I do not know how to thank you enough. I feel that money alone cannot repay you, so I have made this little purse with my own hands, as a sign of my gratitude. I hope you will accept it.”
The doctor drew himself up and said coldly,“Madam, little presents like that are very nice between friends, but a doctor needs to be paid properly for his attentions.”
The lady was too surprised and hurt to reply for a moment. Then she said quietly,“Perhaps you will tell me what your fee is, doctor?”
“Fifty pounds,”he answered.
The lady opened the little purse that she had made and took out four fifty-pound bank notes. She handed one of them to the doctor, and put the other three back into the purse. She put the purse into her handbag, and saying good morning to the doctor, she went out of the room.