One day, a traveller on the road asked Aesop,"Kind man, could you please tell me how long it will take me to get to town?"

"Go," Aesop answered.

"I know I must go," said the traveller, "but I want to know how soon I can get there."

"Go," Aesop shouted at him.

The traveller was very angry."This man must be mad," he thought, and walked on.

Suddenly he heard Aesop shouting,"You will get there in two hours."

The traveller turned back and asked,"Why didn't you tell me that before?"

Aesop answered with a smile, "Because I didn't know how fast you could walk!"

【参考译文】

一天，有一个旅行者在路上问伊索，“好心人，您能告诉我多长时间我能到达城里吗?”

“走，”伊索回答。

“我知道我必须走，”旅行者说，“可是我想知道多长时间后我能到达城里。”

“走，”伊索朝他喊到。

旅行者很恼火，“这个人准是疯了，”他想，又继续赶路了。

突然他听到伊索在叫喊，“你两小时能到达城里。”

旅行者转过身来，问道：“为什么刚才你不告诉我呢?”

伊索笑着回答，“因为我不知道你走得有多快啊!”