Mr.Day was a teacher at a school in a big city in the north.of England.  He usually went to France or Germany for a few weeks during his summer holidays，and he spoke¹ French and German quite well.

戴先生是英格兰北部一个大城市里的中学教师。在暑假期间他通常到法国或德国去度几周的假，他的法语和德语都讲得相当好。

But one year Mr. Day said to one of his friends，“I’m going to have a holiday in Athens.But I don't speak Greek, so I'll go to evening classes and have Greek lessons for a month before I go.”

然而有一年，戴先生对他的一位朋友说:“我准备上雅典去度假。可是我不会讲希腊语，所以去雅典前刻名先去夜校进修一个月的希腊语课程。”

He studied very hard for a month，and then his holidays began and he went to Greece.

他很用功地学了一个月后，他的假期也接着开始了，于是他就去了希腊。

When he came back a few weeks later，his friend said to him，“Did you have any trouble with your Greek when you were in Athens，Dick?"

几周后，他回来了，他的朋友问他说:“迪克，你在雅典时，铡尔的希腊语有没有遇到困难?”

"No，I didn’t have any trouble with it,"answered Mr. Day.“But the Greeks did!”

戴先生回答说:“没有，我的希腊语用来得心应手，倒是那些希腊人遇到了麻烦。”