An acquaintance of mine stopped at a local tavern¹ after work and spent the evening there. When’ he arrived home around ten o'clock, his wife was sitting at the kitchen table，waiting. Instead of questioning or scolding him，however , she simply asked pleasantly if he wanted dinner. He was not interested in eating，and went off to bed.

我的一个熟人在一次下班后，把车停在了一个小饭馆前，在那儿他消磨可一个晚上。大约十点钟他才回到家。他的妻子坐在厨房的桌旁等他。她没有追问他什么，也没有责怪他，只是和蔼地问他想不想吃点什么。他已经对晚餐不感兴趣，于是，就上床睡觉了。

At 3:30 a. m.，the alarm went off. He scrambled² out of bed and turned on the light. When he saw the time, he roared at his wife，demanding an explanation.

大约在凌晨三点半的时候，闹钟突然响了。他赶紧掀开了被子，打开了灯。当他看清了时问时，他冲妻子大声地吼叫为什么。

"Well,"she replied placidly³, "if it took you four-hours to get home from work，I figured it would take you four hours to get back to work，and I didn't want you to be late. "

妻子和气地说:“我想，假如你下班回家路止花了四个小时的话，你上班当然也需要花四个小时赶路了。我只是不想让你迟到。”