【生词预览】

tightfisted吝啬的，stingy小气的，Yama阎罗王，escort护送

【笑话原文】

Tightfisted Till the End

When a very miserly man nicknamed the "stingy ghost" died and went to hell, the Yama King reproached him, saying, "You stingy ghost! When you were alive, you clung hard to everything and wouldn't give to anyone. Even when you saw others in poverty and misery, you refused to offer them help. Also, you didn't take good care of your parents, relatives or friends and let them suffer and starve. For your evil karma, you'll be dumped into a pot of boiling oil."

The ghost wardens then escorted the man to the pot of boiling oil, and when they arrived, he looked at the pot and said, "Hey! Wait a minute! There's so much oil in it. What a waste! Please drain out the oil, sell it and give me the money.Then, you can simply dump me in a pot of boiling water! There's no need for oil. You're using too much oil to cook one person anyway!"

【中文译文】

本性难移 有一个人很吝啬，叫吝啬鬼，他死了以后下地狱，阎罗王骂他说：“你这个吝啬鬼，在尘间的时候什么东西都抓很紧不放，什么人都不给，看到贫穷、痛苦的人也不帮助，父母、亲戚、朋友也没有照顾好，让他们都挨饿受苦，你这种凶恶的业障，应该被放入滚开的油锅里面。”

鬼差就带他到滚得很热、很烫的油锅那边，吝啬鬼一看就说：“喔，等一下、慢一下！油那么多，怎么那么浪费呢？你们先把这些油倒出来，卖出去后把钱给我，然后丢我在热烫的水里就可以了！何必用油，而且还用那么多油!”

【词汇讲解】

1.reproach责备。Beyond reproach无可指摘：十分完美的以至于排除了任何受批评的可能性.

2.warden看守员。He is the warden of an old people's home.他是一家养老院的管理员。

3.escort护送。Who will escort this young lady home?谁护送这位小姐回家?

4.drain排空。也有“喝光”的意思：Let's drain the glass dry.咱们把这杯干了吧。