A young man was considered a half-wit in the village.

Wherever he was offered a choice between a dime¹ and a nickel², he always chose the nickel. When this had gone on many times, a kind old man told him that a dime was worth twice as much as a nickel, so he should choose the dime in the future.

The half-wit said, "oh, I know the difference, but if I choose the dime, they'd stop offering me the choice and then I'd never even get the nickel."

村子里有个年轻人被认为是个傻子。

每次有人拿出一个一角的银币和一个五分的镍币让他从中选一个，他总是选那个镍币。他这样挑选了好多次后，有个好心的老人告诉他，一角的银币要值两个五分的镍币，以后应该选一角的银币。

傻子说：“哦，我知道它们的区别。可是，如果我选了银币，他们就不会再让我挑选了，那我就连一个五分的镍币也捞不到了。”