A boy was assigned a paper on childbirth and asked his parents "how was I born?"
"Well honey..."said the slightly prudish parent, "the stork brought you to us."
"OH," said the boy. "Well, how did you and daddy get born?" he asked.
"Oh, the stork brought us too."
"Well, how were grandpa and grandma born?" he persisted.
"Well darling, the stork brought them too!" said the parent, by now getting irritated with a lazy boy.
Several days later, the boy handed in his paper to the teacher who read with confusion the opening sentence: "This report has been very difficult to write due to the fact that there hasn't been a natural childbirth in my family for three generations."
【Words & Phrases】 child birth:出産 prudish:内気ぶって stork:コウノトリ persist:続ける get irritated:いらいらする hand in:提出する confusion:困惑 due to~:~のせいで
……【日本語訳】………………………………………………
■家系
出産についての宿題を課された男の子は、両親にこう聞いた。
「ボクはどうやって生まれたの?」
「う~んとねぇ・・・、」両親は少し言いにくそうに答える。 「コウノトリが運んできたのよ」
「へぇ、」男の子が言う。 「じゃあ、お母さんとお父さんはどうやって生まれたの?」
「オー、お母さんたちもコウノトリが運んできたのよ」
「じゃあ、おじいちゃんとおばあちゃんはどうやって生まれたの?」
男の子は質問を続ける。
「だからね、おじいちゃんたちも、コウノトリが運んできたのよ!」
両親は、男の子の理解力のなさにイライラしながら答えた。
数日後、男の子は宿題を先生に手渡した。 先生は、始まりの文章を読んで困惑した。
“ぼくは、このレポートをかくのがとてもむずしかったです。 なぜなら、 ぼくのかけいでは、3せだいにわたって、 しぜんなしゅっさんがなされていないからです。” ■Orientation in Heaven
Friends Tom, Dick and Harry die in a car accident and they go to heaven, where the welcoming angel gives them an orientation.
The angel asks the friends “When you are lying in your casket and your friends and family are mourning you, what would you like to hear them say about you?”
Tom says, “I would like them to say that I was a great doctor who helped save many lives and a good husband and father to my wife and children.”
Dick says, “I would like to hear that I was a caring and loving husband and a wonderful teacher who made a difference in my students’ lives”
Harry says, “I would like to hear them say…Look! He’s moving!”
Married life is tough. In the first year of marriage, the husband speaks and the wife listens.
In the second year of marriage, the wife speaks and the husband listens.
In the third year of marriage, they both speak and the neighbours listen.
【Words & Phrases】 Married life:結婚生活 neighbours:隣人、近所の人、隣席の人
……【日本語訳】………………………………………………
■ 結婚生活
結婚生活は厳しい。結婚生活1年目は、夫がしゃべり、妻が聞く。
2年目は、妻がしゃべり、夫が聞く。
3年目は、二人ともしゃべり、隣人が聞く。
…………………………………………………………………… ■The Birds and the Bees
A little boy went to his father and asked, "Daddy, how was I born?"
The father answered: "Well son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway, so I might as well tell you! Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo. Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe.”
“We sneaked into a secluded room, where your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a little Pop-Up appeared that said:”
The Vice President of The United States walked into the Oval Office in the White House. There he saw the President yelling and screaming like a madman.
“What’s the matter, Mr. President?”
“Not a damn thing,” the President said. “I just finished this jigsaw puzzle in record time, that’s all.”
The President smiled from ear to ear.
“Well, that’s great! How long did it take you?”
“The box said 3 to 5 years, but I did it in a month!"
…………………………………………………………………… ※箱の“3 to 5 years”という表示は3歳~5歳用という意味 ■The Fridge
Keith bought a new fridge for his house, and so decided to get rid of his old one by putting it in his front garden with a sign on it saying, “Free to a good home. If you want it, please take it.”
However, after three days passed without a single person taking interest, Keith decided that maybe he was taking the wrong approach.
He changed the sign so it read, “Fridge for sale - $80.” The next day, someone stole it.