A man was selling medicines¹ at a fair³. At first he sold⁴ bottles of a cure⁵ for colds for just a dollar a bottle.

Many people wanted to buy it and the man's young assistant⁶ moved quickly through the crowd⁷ collecting money and handing out bottles of the cold cure.

Then, when he had⁸ a big crowd, the man held up a very small bottle.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen⁹, " he shouted. "here is the medicine² you have been waiting for. The cure for old age. Drink just one bottle of this and you will live forever¹⁰.""And, ladies and gentlemen," the man continued¹¹, "I'm not going¹² to charge¹³ you a hundred dollars a bottle for this wonderful medicine. I'm not going to charge you fifty dollars a bottle. I'm not going to charge you twenty five dollars a bottle. No, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to charge you just ten dollars a bottle. Think, my friends, for ten dollars you can live forever."Most of the people in the crowd did¹⁴ not believe¹⁵ this.

One person¹⁶ shouted, "if it will make you live forever, why don't you drink it?"Then another person cried , "Yes, you look as if you're at least¹⁷ sixty years old. ""Thank you, sir, thank you," the man replied¹⁸, "I'm so glad you said¹⁹ that. My real²⁰ age is three hundred and twenty nine. "The crowd laughed at this but there were still a few people who wanted to believe the man. One of them spoke²¹ to the man's assistant as she passed by. "Is that true," he asked, "that he's three hundred and twenty-nine?"“Don't ask me," the assistant said, "I've only worked for him for a hundred and fifty years."一人在集市卖药。起先他卖一美元一瓶的治感冒的药。

很多人想买药，那人的年轻助手迅速穿行于人群中，一边收钱，一边递药。

然后当围观的人多起来时，那人举起一个小瓶子。

“听着，女士们，先生们，”那人喊道，“这就是你们一直想要的药。

消除衰老的药。只吃一瓶，就会长生不老。”

“女士们，先生们，”那人接着说道，“对这种神奇的药，我不打算卖一瓶100美元。我不打算卖一瓶50美元，我也不打算卖一瓶25美元。我只打算卖一瓶10美元。想想吧，朋友们，只花10美元，你们就能长生不老。”

人群中大多数人不相信他的话。

一人喊道：“如果这药能使人长生不老，你为什么不吃？”

接着另一人叫道：“是哇，你看上去至少60岁。”

“谢谢，先生，谢谢，”那人回答，“我很高兴你这么说。我的实际年龄是329岁。”

听到他的话，人群中发出一阵笑声，但仍有几个人愿意相信他的话。其中一人当那个助手经过时问她，“他已329岁了，这是真的吗？”他问。

“别问我，”助手说，“我只为他工作了150年。”