The Elephant Book Competition | 大象之书竞赛

English Original

The UN sponsored a competition to see which nation could produce the best book on elephants.

• The British submitted a dry historical account titled "The Elephant and the British Empire."
• The French submitted a text called "The Sensuality of the Elephant — a Personal Account."
• The Germans submitted 47 volumes entitled "An Elementary Introduction to the Foundation of the Science of the Elephant's Ear."
• The Americans submitted an article from Money magazine: "Elephants — the Perfect Tax Shelter for the 80s."
• Greenpeace submitted a counter-entry: "Elephants — They're Better Than People."
• The Russians submitted a terse manuscript titled "The Superiority of the Soviet Elephant."
• But the Japanese won with their promotional flier: "We Have No Elephants, but Wouldn't You Want to Buy a Honda Instead?"

中文翻译

联合国发起了一场竞赛，看哪个国家能创作出最好的关于大象的书。

• 英国人提交了一份枯燥的历史记述，名为《大象与大英帝国》。
• 法国人提交了一篇题为《大象的感性——个人记述》的文章。
• 德国人提交了47卷本，名为《大象耳科学基础入门》。
• 美国人提交了来自《金钱》杂志的文章：《大象——80年代的完美避税工具》。
• 绿色和平组织提交了一份反参赛作品：《大象——它们比人类更好》。
• 俄罗斯人提交了一份简洁的手稿，题为《苏联大象的优越性》。
• 但日本人凭借他们的宣传单获胜了，上面写着：“我们没有大象，但您不想买辆本田车吗？”