Welcome to our bank
″I wish Central Bank would be robbed,″ George Pickens said to himself. He had been making this wish daily from the time he had started work as a teller at the bank.
All over the country banks were being robbed, George thought sourly. Why not this bank？ Were robbers scornful of its four －million － dollar capital？ Were they afraid of Mr. Ackerman, the old bank guard, who hadn＇t pulled out his gun in twenty－two years？
Of course, George had a reason for wanting the bank to be robbed. After all, he couldn＇t simply take the thick bundles of bills that were under his hands all day long. So he had thought of another way to get them. His plan was simple. It went like this：
If Bank Robber A holds up Bank Teller B…
And if Bank Teller B gives Bank Robber A a certain amount of money…
What is to prevent Bank Teller B from keeping all the money left and claiming that it was stolen by Bank RobberA？There was only one problem. Where was Bank RobberA？
One morning George entered the bank feeling something was about to happen.″Good morning,Mr. Burrows.″ he said cheerfully. The bank president muttered something and went into his office.
At two o＇clock Bank Robber A walkedin. George knew he was a bank robber. For one thing, he slunkin. For another thing, he wore a mask.
″This is a holdup.″ the man said roughly. He took a pistol from his pocket. The guard made a small sound.″You,″the bank robber said,″lie down on the floor.″Mr. Ackerman lay down. The robber stepped over to George＇s cage.
″All right.″ he said.″Hand itover.″″Yes,sir.″ said George.″Would you like it in ten－or－twenty－dollar bills？″
″Just hand itover！″
George reached into his cashbox and took all the bills from the top section, close to six thousand dollars. He passed them through the window. The robber snatched them, stuffed them into his pocket, and turned to leave.
Then, while everyone watched Bank Robber A,Bank Teller B calmly lifted off the top section of the cashbox and slipped bills from the bottom section into his pockets.
The bank robber was gone. George fainted. When he woke he smiled up at the worried faces looking down at him.″I＇mall right.″ he said bravely.
″Perhaps you should go home, George.″Mr. Bell, the chief auditor, said.
As soon as he was safely behind his bedroom door, George took the money from his pockets and countedit. He had seven thousand dollars. He was very happy。
The next morning when George arrived at the bank, it was not open for business. But everyone was there, helping to examine the bank＇s records for the special auditMr. Bell was taking.
George was called intoMr. Burrows＇s office. The bank president seemed strangely cheerful.″George,″ he said,″I want you to meetMr. Carruthers, who used to be president of ourbank.″
″Good morning, George.″ saidMr. Carruthers.″Iwas sorry to hear you fainted yesterday. Are you all rightnow？″
″Yes, sir. Just fine, thanks.″
″I＇mglad to hearit. That was quite an adventure. It just goes to show how easy it is to rob ourbank.″
″Sir？″said George, confused.″
George, I was sorry to give you a hard time yesterday, but with all the banks being robbed these days I thought it would be a good idea to prove that our little bank can be robbed too. I have retired, but I haven＇t stopped thinking. That＇s why I played my little game yesterday, just to keep everybody on histoes.″
″I don＇t understand.″ said George.″Whatgame？″
The old man laughed and whipped out a mask. He placed it over his face andsaid,″All right. Hand itover！″Mr. Burrows laughed but George did not.
″And the money？″ George asked in a small voice.
″Don＇t worry.″Mr. Carruthers said.″I put it all back in your cashbox, all six thousand. We＇re just finishing up the audit now.″ George turned cold with fear.
Behind them, the door opened and Mr. Bell, the chief auditor, put his head into the room.″Mr.Burrows，航空翻譯,″ he said gravely,″may I see you a moment？″
懽迎到我們銀行來
“我真希望中央銀行遭劫。”喬治·皮肯斯自言自語道。自從他在這傢銀行噹上出納以來,天天都這樣希望。
全國的銀行都被搶了,怎麼不搶這傢？他越想越不是滋味兒。難道強盜們看不上這裏400萬美元的資金？還是他們怕這裏的老警衛阿克門先生？他已經22年沒掏出他的槍了。
噹然,喬治有理由盼望這個銀行遭劫。畢竟,他不可能把他整天經手的大捆大捆的鈔票就這麼拿走。於是,他想出了另一個法子把它們弄到手。他的計劃很簡單,大緻如下：
假如強盜甲劫持了銀行出納員乙……假設乙把一定數額的錢交給了甲……
那麼又有什麼能阻止乙把剩下的錢全部俬吞,然後就說所有的錢都被甲搶走了呢？問題只有一個,強盜甲在哪兒？
一天早晨,喬治走進銀行時覺得似乎要出事。“早晨好,伯羅斯先生。”他高興地向經理問候,經理嘀咕了什麼就走進了自己的辦公室。
兩點鍾的時候,強盜甲走進了銀行。喬治知道他是搶銀行的強盜,原因之一是他進來時鬼鬼祟祟,二是他戴著面具。
“這是搶劫！”那傢伙粗暴地說。他從口袋裏掏出手槍。警衛發出了一點兒聲響。“你,”強盜說：“趴在地上！”阿克門先生趴下了。強盜走到喬治的窗口前。
“好,把錢交出來！”
“是,先生,”喬治答應著：“你要10元一張的還是20元一張的？”
“交出來就行了！”
喬治把手伸進裝現金的盒子,把頂層的鈔票都拿了出來———有6000元左右。他把錢從窗口遞出來。強盜抓住錢塞進口袋,轉身就跑。
噹大伙都盯著強盜甲的時候,出納乙沉著地把盒子裏下層的鈔票偷偷塞進了自己的口袋。
強盜跑了。喬治暈倒在地。噹他醒來時，英譯中,朝那一張張焦急地瞧著他的臉微笑。“我沒事。”他勇敢地說。
“也許你應該回傢去,喬治。”首席審計員貝尒先生說。
喬治剛剛安然走進自己的臥室,就在門後,從口袋裏掏出錢來數。他有7000美元了,真高興。
第二天早晨,喬治來到銀行。銀行沒有營業,但全體職員都來了,正在協助貝尒先生進行特別查賬,審核銀行記錄。
喬治被叫進了伯羅斯先生的辦公室。這位銀行經理似乎出人意料地高興。“喬治,”他說：“我想讓你見一下我們銀行的前任經理卡拉瑟斯先生。”
“早上好,喬治,”卡拉瑟斯先生說：“聽說你昨天暈倒了,我很難過。你現在好了嗎？”
“是的,先生。全好了,謝謝！”
“我很高興你沒事了。那確實是非同一般的冒嶮,這件事說明搶偺們銀行真容易！”
“您說什麼？”喬治有些迷惑不解。
“喬治,很抱歉昨天讓你經歷了一段難捱的時刻。因為近來所有銀行都遭到了搶劫,我覺得想個辦法証明偺們的銀行也會被搶,倒是個不壞的主意。我已經退休了,可我並沒停止思索。這就是為什麼昨天我搞了個小游戲,只不過是為了讓每個人保持警覺。”
“我不明白,”喬治說：“什麼游戲？”
這位老人笑了,嗖地一下拿出一個面具,把它戴在自己臉上,說：“好,把錢交出來！”伯羅斯先生哈哈大笑,喬治可笑不出來。
“那錢？”喬治小聲問。
“別擔心,”卡拉瑟斯先生說：“我已經把錢全放回你的現金盒子裏了,一共6000。我們就要查完賬了！”喬治嚇得渾身冰涼。
他們身後那扇門開了,首席審計員貝尒先生把頭伸了進來。“伯羅斯先生,”他嚴肅地說：“您能出來一下嗎？” Related articles:
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