There was once a person who was very stingy. One day he tried to cross a river by himself, but he slipped because the current was extremely strong. And then the current swepthim away, down the middle of the river. So he shouted, "Can anyone help me? I'll give you money!"  There was a person on a boatnearby and he said, "OK. For fifty dollars I'll help you." But the man in the river replied, "Fifty dollars! That's too expensive. I'll giveyou twenty."  So the person on the boat said,"No, no, that's too cheap."  By now the manin the river was trying very hard to breatheand was even swallowing some of the riverwater. So he said, "OK, OK, thirty dollars!" But the person on the boat said, "No, no.Forty dollars is my last price."  And the manin the water said,"I - I - I'd rather die!"

昂贵的生命

以前有一个人非常吝啬。有一天，他想自己涉水过河，不料因为水流很急，而失足滑落河里，被河水冲到河中央。于是他大喊救命：「有谁能救我，我就给他赏金！」 这时附近正好有一艘小船，船上的人说：「好！给我五十元，我就救你。」那个溺水的人却说：「五十元太贵了，给你二十元好了。」船上的人说：「不行、不行！太少了！」这时，河里那个人已经呼吸困难，而且又呛了好几口水，于是他说：「好啦！好啦！那三十元！」船上的人说：「不行，四十元是最底价！」那个溺水的人说：「那我…我宁可淹死！」