「我勸你看開點，還有比你更糟的呢，希特勒現在就住在猶太人中間，他們當年全都死於他所建造的集中營，現在卻都原諒了他，可是他每次看到他們快快樂樂地，就氣得半死，血壓也會升高，而去看他病的又是猶太人醫生。他到處宣傳反猶太人的理論，沒人理他，大家把他當胡塗老頭子看。他才可憐呢，比起他來，你的情況好得多了，對不對？」
“I encourage you to look at the situation in a more positive light. There are people worse off than you. For instance, Hitler now lives among Jews, all of whom died in his concentration camps but have now forgiven him. But he can’t stand seeing how happy they are. Every time he gets really mad, his blood pressure goes up, and he has to go see a Jewish doctor. He goes around everywhere spreading anti-Jewish propaganda, but no one pays any attention to him—they treat him like a crazy old man. He’s got it tough—compared to him, you’ve got it pretty good, right?”
透過李家同簡潔而寓意深遠的文章，領略用英文表達中文故事的妙趣
我在此給讀者一個建議：你不妨先看看中文文章，先不看英文的翻譯，然後試著將中文翻成英文，我相信你一定會覺得中翻英好困難。翻完以後，再去看英文翻譯，相信可以學到不少，也可以寫出越來越像外國人的句子。– 李家同
目次
〈來自遠方的孩子The Boy from a Distant Land〉
他老是一個人。在美國，雖然個人主義流行，但並不提倡孤獨主義，青少年老是呼朋引伴而行。
He was always alone—in America, individualism may be fashionable, but being a loner isn’t. Young people tend to travel in groups.
〈前途無量A Limitless Future〉
我想老和尚一定老胡塗了，阿川才最有前途，我將來是個小學老師，怎麼說我最有前途？
I think the old monk must be getting senile. A-Chuan has the brightest future. I’m just going to be an ordinary elementary school teacher—why does he think I’m the one with the potential?
〈祈禱的應驗The Prayer that Was Answered〉
劉醫生告訴我他常常祈禱，祈禱中的主題永遠都是祈求上天降下怒火，毀滅世界上的壞人。可是他也承認，雖然他非常認真祈禱，他的祈禱似乎一點也沒有應驗。
Doctor Liu told me he prayed often, and always with the same appeal: that God would destroy the wicked people of the world with the fire of his heavenly indignation. But he had to admit that though his prayers were very earnest, it seemed like they hadn’t been answered at all.
〈陌生人Strangers〉
老太太看到了老闆娘，對她說，「真要謝謝妳，妳根本不認識我，還對我這樣好。」老闆娘聽了這番話，幾乎昏倒了過去，後來索性走到隔壁房間去放聲大哭。
When she saw the hostess, the old woman exclaimed, “Thank you so much! You don’t even know me, but you’re so kind to me.” The host nearly fainted at what she said. Unable to control her emotions, she retreated into the next room, crying hard.
〈無名氏John Doe〉
這個孩子看起來有十六歲左右，我們請他在一張表格上填上名字，他填了「約翰陶士」，在英文，「約翰陶士」代表無名氏的意思。
He looked to be about sixteen years old. When we asked him to write down his name on a form, he wrote “John Doe”, which is what we say in English for “Anonymous”.
〈禁令License to Ban〉
世界上有幾人有這種權力，可以禁止任何我們想禁止的活動？
How many people in the world had the power to ban whatever they wanted?
