English Original
There once lived a lad who was deeply in love with a girl, but disliked by the girl's father, who didn't want to see any further development of their love. The lad was eager to write to the girl, yet he was quite sure that the father would read it first. So he wrote such a letter to the girl:
My love for you I once expressed
no longer lasts, instead, my distaste for you
is growing with each passing day. Next time I see you,
I even won't like that look yours.
I'll do nothing but
look away from you. You can never expect I'll
marry you. The last chat we had
was so dull and dry that you shouldn't think it
made me eager to see you again.
If we get married, I firmly believe I'll
live a hard life, I can never
live happily with you, I'll devote myself
but not
to you. No one else is more
harsh and selfish and least
solicitous and considerate than you.
I sincerely want to let you know
what I said is true. Please do me a favor by
ending our relations and refrain from
writing me a reply. Your letter is always full of
things which displease me. You have no
sincere care for me. So long! Please believe
I don't love you any longer. Don't think
I still have a love of you!
Having read the letter, the father felt relieved and gave it to his daughter with a light heart.
The girl also felt quite pleased after she read it carefully, for her lad still had a deep love for her.
Do you know why? In fact, she felt very sad when she read the letter for the first time. But she read it a few more times and, at last, she found the key – only every other line should be read, that is the first line, the third, the fifth … and so on to the end.
中文翻译
从前，有一个少年深爱着一位姑娘，但姑娘的父亲不喜欢他，不愿看到他们的恋情继续发展。少年渴望给姑娘写信，但他确信姑娘的父亲会先读到信。于是，他给姑娘写了这样一封信：
我对你的爱曾表白过
不再持续，相反，我对你的厌恶
与日俱增。下次我见到你，
我甚至不会喜欢你的样子。
我只会
避开你。你永远别指望我会
娶你。我们上次的聊天
是如此枯燥乏味，你不该认为它
让我渴望再次见到你。
如果我们结婚，我坚信我会
过着艰难的生活，我永远无法
与你幸福地生活，我会献身
但不是
献给你。没有人比你更
苛刻自私，更不
体贴周到。
我真诚地想让你知道
我说的是真的。请帮我一个忙，
结束我们的关系，并且不要
给我回信。你的信总是充满
让我不快的内容。你对我没有
真诚的关心。再见！请相信
我不再爱你了。别以为
我还爱着你！
读完信后，父亲松了一口气，心情轻松地把信交给了女儿。
姑娘仔细读完后也感到非常高兴，因为她的少年依然深爱着她。
你知道为什么吗？事实上，她第一次读信时感到非常难过。但她又读了几遍，终于发现了关键——只需要每隔一行读，也就是读第一行、第三行、第五行……以此类推直到结尾。