English Original
"Daddy, can I learn to play the violin?" young Sarah asked her father. She was always asking for things, and her father was not pleased.
"You cost me a lot of money, Sarah," he said. "First you wanted to learn horse riding, then dancing, then swimming. Now it's the violin."
"I'll play every day, Daddy," Sarah said. "I'll try very hard."
"All right," her father said. "This is what I'll do. I'll pay for six weeks of lessons. At the end, you must play something for me. If you play well, you can have more lessons. If you play badly, I will stop them."
"OK, Daddy," Sarah said. "That is fair."
He soon found a good but expensive violin teacher, and Sarah began her lessons. Her father kept his promise.
The six weeks passed quickly. It was time for Sarah to play for her father.
She went to the living room and said, "I'm ready to play for you, Daddy."
"Fine, Sarah," her father said. "Begin."
She began to play. She played very badly, making a terrible noise. Her father had a friend with him, who put his hands over his ears.
When Sarah finished, her father said, "Well done, Sarah. You can have more lessons." Sarah ran happily out of the room.
Her father's friend turned to him. "You've spent a lot of money, but she still plays very badly," he said.
"Well, that's true," her father replied. "But since she started learning the violin, I've been able to buy five apartments in this building very cheaply. In another six weeks, I'll own the whole building!"
中文翻译
“爸爸，我能学拉小提琴吗？”小莎拉问她的父亲。她总是要这要那，这让她的父亲很不高兴。
“你已经花了我很多钱了，莎拉，”他说。“起初你想学骑马，然后想学跳舞，后来是游泳。现在又想学小提琴。”
“我会每天都练习的，爸爸，”莎拉说。“我会非常努力的。”
“好吧，”她爸爸说。“我会这么做：我付六周的小提琴课学费。六周后，你必须拉首曲子给我听。如果你拉得好，就可以继续上课。如果拉得差，课程就到此为止。”
“好的，爸爸，”莎拉说。“这很公平。”
他很快找到了一位优秀但昂贵的小提琴老师，莎拉开始上课了。她的父亲信守了承诺。
六周很快就过去了。莎拉该为父亲演奏了。
她走进客厅说：“我准备好拉小提琴给您听了，爸爸。”
“好啊，莎拉，”她的父亲说。“开始吧。”
莎拉开始拉了。她拉得非常糟糕，发出了可怕的噪音。她父亲的一位朋友也在场，朋友用手捂住了耳朵。
一曲终了，她的父亲说：“拉得好，莎拉。你可以继续学琴了。”莎拉高兴地跑出了房间。
她父亲的朋友转向他说：“你已经花了不少钱了，可她还是拉得很差。”
“噢，的确如此，”她爸爸回答。“但自从她开始学小提琴以后，我就能以很便宜的价格买下这幢楼的五套公寓了。再过六周，我就能拥有整幢楼啦！”