English Original
A tourist wanders into a back-alley antique shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. Among the objects on display, he discovers a detailed, life-sized bronze sculpture of a rat. Intrigued by its uniqueness, he asks the shop owner the price.
"Twelve dollars for the rat, sir," says the owner, "and a thousand dollars more for the story behind it."
"You can keep the story, old man," the tourist replies, "but I'll take the rat."
After completing the transaction, the tourist leaves with the bronze rat under his arm. As he crosses the street, two live rats emerge from a sewer drain and begin following him. Nervously looking over his shoulder, he quickens his pace. With every sewer drain he passes, more rats join the pursuit. Within two blocks, at least a hundred rats are at his heels, drawing shouts and pointing from bystanders.
He breaks into a trot as multitudes of rats swarm from sewers, basements, and vacant lots. By the thousands, they follow. Seeing the waterfront at the bottom of the hill, he panics and runs at full tilt. No matter his speed, the rats keep up, their hideous squealing growing as their numbers swell into the millions. A trail of rats twelve city blocks long streams behind him as he reaches the water's edge.
In a final, desperate move, he makes a mighty leap onto a light post. Clinging with one arm, he hurls the bronze rat as far as he can into San Francisco Bay. Pulling up his legs, he watches in amazement as the seething tide of rats surges over the breakwater and drowns in the sea.
Shaken and mumbling, he returns to the antique shop.
"Ah, so you've come back for the rest of the story," says the owner.
"No," says the tourist. "I was wondering if you have a bronze lawyer."
中文翻译
一位游客漫步走进旧金山唐人街一条小巷里的古董店。在陈列的物品中，他发现了一尊细节精致、与真鼠等大的铜鼠雕塑。他被其独特性所吸引，便询问店主价格。
店主说：“先生，老鼠十二美元，它背后的故事再加一千美元。”
游客回答：“故事你留着吧，老先生，但这老鼠我买了。”
交易完成后，游客腋下夹着铜鼠离开了商店。过马路时，两只活老鼠从下水道井盖钻出，开始尾随他。他紧张地回头张望，加快了脚步。每经过一个下水道口，就有更多的老鼠加入追逐。走了不到两个街区，至少上百只老鼠紧跟其后，引得路人指指点点、大声惊呼。
他小跑起来，成群的老鼠从下水道、地下室和空地里蜂拥而出。成千上万的老鼠紧追不舍。看到山脚下的海滨，他惊慌失措，开始全力狂奔。无论他跑得多快，老鼠都能跟上，它们可怕的尖叫声随着数量膨胀到数百万只而愈发刺耳。当他冲到水边时，身后已拖着长达十二个街区的老鼠洪流。
最后，他孤注一掷，奋力一跃跳上一根路灯柱。他用一只胳膊紧紧抱住灯柱，用另一只胳膊将铜鼠尽可能远地抛入旧金山湾。他蜷起双腿，惊愕地看着沸腾的老鼠潮涌过防波堤，淹死在海中。
惊魂未定、喃喃自语的游客回到了古董店。
店主说：“啊，你回来听剩下的故事了。”
游客说：“不，我想问问你这里有没有铜律师。”