Not Here

Kathy and Polly were friends but they liked playing tricks¹ on each otherOne day Kathy met Polly in the street. She said², "Hi, Polly. It's good to see you.""How can you see me when I'm not here?" Polly asked.

"What do you mean, you' re not here?" Kathy asked. "Of course³ you 're here.""No, I'm not." Polly said. "and I'll bet⁴ you ten dollars that I can prove⁵ I'm not here.""Alright," said Kathy. "Ten dollars. Now prove you' re not here .""Easy," Polly said, "Am I in Hong Kong?"

"No," said Kathy.

"Am I in Paris?"

"No," said Kathy.

"If I'm not in Hong Kong and I'm not in Paris," Polly said, " then I must be somewhere⁶ else. Right?""Right," said Kathy. "You must be somewhere else.""Exactly⁷." said Polly. "And if I'm somewhere else I can't be here, can I? Ten dollars, please. ""That's very clever, Polly," Kathy said, "but I can't give you ten dollars.""Why not?" asked Polly. "We had⁸ a bet.

"Certainly⁹ we had a bet," Kathy said, "but how can I give you ten dollars if you're not here?"And with a laugh she walked away.

凯斯和波丽是朋友，但她们总爱开对方的玩笑。

一天凯斯在街上遇见了波丽。她说，“喂、波丽，很高兴见到你。”

“我不在这里，你怎能看到我呢？”波丽说。

“你说你不在这里，这是什么意思？”凯斯问，“当然，你在这里。”

“不，我不在这里。”波丽说，“我将和你打10美元的赌，赌我能证明我不在这里。”

“行，”凯斯说，“10美元。现在证明你不在这里吧。”

“这很容易，”波丽说，“我在香港吗？”

“不在，”凯斯说。

“我在巴黎吧？”

“如果我既不在香港也不在巴黎，”波丽说，“那我一定在别的地方。对不对？”

“对，”凯斯说，“你一定在别处。”

“确实如此，”波丽说，“既然我在别处，那我一定不在这里，不是吗？请给10美元吧。”

“真聪明，波丽。”凯斯说，“但我不能给你10美元。”

“为什么不给？”波丽问，“我们打过赌的。”

“不错，我们打过赌。”凯斯说，“但既然你不在这里，我怎么能给你10美元呢？”

说完她笑着离开了。