Two brothers, Herbert and James, lived with their mother and a cat name Edgar.

 

"Edgar is dead," Herbert answered.

 

James was particularly attached to the cat, and when he had to leave town for several days, he left Herbert meticulous¹ instructions about the pet's care. At the end of his first day away, James telephoned his brother. "How is Edgar?" he asked.

 

There was a pause. Then James said: "Herbert, you are insensitive. You know how close I was to Edgar-you should have broken the news to me slowly. When I asked about Edgar tonight, you should have said Edgar's on the roof, but you've called the fire department to get him down. And tomorrow when I called, you could have said the firemen were having trouble getting Edgar down, but you were hopeful they would succeed. Then when I called the third time, you could have told me that the firemen had done their best, but unfortunately Edgar had fallen off the roof and was at the veterinarian's. then when I called the last time, you could have said that although everything possible had been done for Edgar, he had died. That's the way a sensitive man would have told me about Edgar, and, oh, before I forget," James added, "How is mother?"

 

"Uh," Herbert said, pausing for a moment, "She is on the roof."

 

郝伯特和詹姆斯兄弟二人一起生活，家中有一老母并养了一只猫叫埃德加。

 

詹姆斯特别喜欢这只猫。有一次他要外出几天，临行前不厌其烦地嘱咐郝伯特照顾好这只宠物。出门后的头一天晚上，他打来电话询问：“埃德加好吗？”

 

“它死了，”郝伯格回答。

 

一阵沉默之后，詹姆斯说：“郝伯特，你太不善解人意了，你知道我与埃德加的关系有多么好——你应该慢慢告诉我这惊人的消息。当我问起埃德加今晚怎样时，你应该说埃德加爬上了屋顶，但是你已经叫消防的救它下来。’我明天又给你打电话时，你应该说消防队营救埃德加遇到了麻烦，但你相信他们会成功。在我第三天给你打电话时，你可以说消防队员已尽了最大努力，但很不幸，埃德加从屋顶上掉了下来，现在正在兽医那里。在我最后一次给你打电话询问，你可以说尽管对埃德加做了一切所能做的努力，它还是死了。这是顾及别人感情的人应该说的。哦，对了，我刚才忘了问你，”詹姆斯补充道，“妈妈怎么样了？”

 

“哦……”一阵沉默后郝伯特答道，“她上了屋顶。”

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