A tourist wanders into a back-alley antique shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. Picking through the objects on display he discovers a detailed，life-sized bronze sculpture of a rat. The sculpture is so interesting and unique that he picks it up and asks the shop owner what it costs.

"Twelve dollars for the rat，sir,”says the shop owner, "and a thousand dollars more for the story behind it.”

一名游客在旧金山唐人街的一家破旧的古董店里闲逛。他挑选着陈列架上的物品，发现了一只做工精细、真实般大小的青铜老鼠。他拿起这个既有趣又独特的雕像，问店主卖多少钱。

"You can keep the story, old man，”he replies. "but I'll take the rat.”

“这只老鼠十二美元，先生”，店主说，“要知道它背后的故事，要再加一千美元。”

“那个故事还是你自己留着吧，老头，”他回答说，“我就要买这只老鼠。”

The transaction complete， the tourist leaves the store with the bronze rat under his arm. As he crosses the street in front of the store; two live rats emerge from a sewer¹ drain and fall into step behind him. Nervously² looking over his shoulder, he begins to walk faster, but every time he passes another sewer drain，more rats come out and follow him.

这笔交易结束后，这名游客夹着这只青铜老鼠离开了那个古董店。当他穿过店前的大街时，两只活老鼠从下水道里出来，跟在他的后面。他紧张地回头看着，开始走得更快。但是，每当他走过一个下水道时就会出来更多的老鼠跟在他后面。

By the time he’s walked two blocks, at least a hundred rats are at his heels，and people begin . to point and shout. He walks even faster, and soon breaks into a trot³ as multitudes of rats swarm⁴ from sewers⁵, basements, vacant lots, and abandoned cars.

等到他走了两个街区的时候，至少有一百只老鼠跟在他的后面。人们开始指指点点并开始大叫。他走得更快了，甚至跑了起来，老鼠也从下水道、地下室、废弃的停车场和报废的汽车里跟了出来。

Rats by the thousands are at his heels, and as he sees the waterfront at the bottom of the hill，he panics and starts to run for the bridge. Making a mighty⁶ leap, he jumps up onto a light post，grasping it with one arm while he hurls⁷ the bronze rat into San Francisco Bay with the other, as far as he can heave it. Pulling his legs up and clinging to the light post，he watches in amazement⁸ as the seething⁹ tide of rats surges over the breakwater into the sea，where they drown.

当他走到了山脚下的码头时，后面跟着的老鼠已经有上千只了。他开始变得恐慌，就向着大桥跑去。他用力一跳，跳到了一个灯杆上。他一手抓着灯杆，一只手用尽全力地把那只青铜老鼠扔向了旧金山海湾;他把双腿夹紧灯杆，惊讶的看到，滚滚的鼠潮汹涌地冲向防洪堤，向着青铜老鼠人水的方向跳进了大海。

Shaken and mumbling¹⁰, he makes his way back to the antique shop. "Ah, so you've come back for the rest of the story,” says the owner.

他全身颤抖，嘴里还喃喃而语地回到了那个古董店。“啊，你是回来买那老鼠背后故事的吧?”店主问。

“No,”says the tourist，"but I was wondering if you have any bronze lawyers!”

“不是”，那个游客说，“但是我想知道你们这里有没有卖青铜律师的!”