Pat O'Burke was a poor Irishman with a large family and one morning, waking up early from cold and hunger, he decided¹ to go shooting in a wood near his cottage.

 

The wood belonged to Lord Northwood, a rich gentle man, and Pat had no right to go there, but there were swarms² of rabbits and flocks of birds that were good to eat, and Pat decided to take the risk.

 

Suddenly he saw the owner, with a group of friends, coming towards him in the wood. There was a look of anger on lord Northwood's face as he saw the gun in Pat's hands. Pat's heart sank with fear, but he saw there was no hope of escape, so he walked boldly up to the company and said to Lord Northwood.

 

"Good morning, sir, and what has brought you out so early this morning?" Lord Northwood, rather surprised, said he and his friends were taking a little exercise to get an appetite for their breakfast. Then looking at Pat with suspicion, he said, "But why are you out so early in the morning?"

 

"Well, sir" said Pat, "I just came out to see if I could get a breakfast for my appetite." The whole crowd burst into laughter at Pat's ready wit, and with a smile Lord Northwood walked on leaving Pat to try his luck with the rabbits.

 

帕特·奥伯克是个有一大家子人的贫苦的爱尔兰人。一天清晨，由于连冻带饿，他早早就醒了。他决定到茅屋附近的林子中去打猎。

 

林子属于富有的诺思伍德爵爷，帕特没有权力到里面去。可是林子中有一群野兔，还有鸟群，那将是一道美餐。于是，帕特决定去冒冒险。

 

突然间，他看到主人和他的朋友们从树林中向他走来。当主人看到帕特手中的枪时，脸上露出愤怒的神情。帕特吓得心里“咯噔”一下，可又一想，逃跑是不行了，于是便大着胆子向这些人走去，并对诺斯伍德爵爷说：“早晨好，先生。什么事使您这么早就出来了呢？”

 

诺思伍德爵爷十分惊讶，说他和他的朋友出来活动活动，以便为他们的早餐加点食欲。接着，他疑疑惑惑得看着帕特说：“可是，你今天早晨怎么也出来这么早啊？”

 

“哦，先生，我出来正是看一看能不能为我的食欲弄顿早餐。”帕特说，看到帕特这样的随机应变，这些人都哄堂大笑。诺思伍德也笑了，继续向前走去，留下帕特碰碰运气。

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