Mr. Smith lived in the country, but he worked in an office in the big city, so five days a week he went to work by train every morning and came home the same way.

One morning he was reading his newspaper on the train when a man sitting behind him, who Mr. Smith had never met before, leaned¹ forward, tapped him on the shoulder and spoke² to him. The man said, "You're not leading a very interesting life, are you? You get on the same train at the same station at the same time every morning, and you always sit in the same seat and read the same newspaper."

Mr. Smith put his paper down, turned around, and said to the man angrily, "How do you know all that about me?"

"Because I'm always sitting in this seat behing you," the man answered.

史密斯先生住在乡下，但他在大城市的一个办公室里上班，所以他一周五天每天早上都乘火车去上班，然后又乘火车回家。

一天早上，他在火车上正读报纸，这时一个坐在他身后的男子（史密斯先生以前从未见过他），向前靠着，轻轻拍他的肩膀，并对他讲话。这男子说，“你的生活过得不是很有意思，是吗？每天早上你在同一时间同一车站赶同一列火车，而且你总是坐在同一个座位上，读着同一张报纸。”

史密斯先生放下报纸，转过身来，生气地对那人说道：“ 你怎么知道关于我的这一切？”

“因为我总是坐在你身后的这个座位上。”这男子回答说。