English Original
One day, on 9/9/99, a man woke up at 9:09 a.m., jumped on Bus #99, and went to his favorite restaurant on 9th Street. When the cashier rang up his order, it totaled $9.99.
"Oh, wow, this is an omen!" the man said. He then bought a pair of cheap binoculars at the 99¢ store, pulled out 99 cents for fare, and took Bus #99 to the Race Track. Approaching Gate No. 9, he told the ticket agent: "I would like to bet $999.99 on Horse No. 9 in the 9th race."
"Why those particular numbers?" the ticket agent asked.
"Nine seems to be my lucky number today," the man said excitedly. "I'm really on a roll!"
Feeling confident, he sat through the first eight races until Race No. 9 began. Sure enough, he was on a roll.
The horse came in ninth.
中文翻译
1999年9月9日，一天早上，一名男子在9点09分醒来，跳上了99路公交车，前往第九街上他最喜欢的餐厅。当收银员结算他的餐费时，总计正好是9.99美元。
“哇，这真是个预兆！”男子说道。于是，他在99美分店买了一副便宜的望远镜，掏出99美分车费，再次坐上99路公交车前往赛马场。走到9号检票口时，他对售票员说：“我想下注999.99美元，押第9场比赛的9号马。”
“为什么是这些特定的数字？”售票员问道。
“今天9似乎是我的幸运数字，”男子兴奋地说。“我真是运气爆棚！”
他信心满满地看完了前八场比赛，直到第九场开始。没错，他确实“运气爆棚”。
那匹马跑了第九名。