Monday, March 9, 2015

CUOI CHÚT CHOI : THE DEAF FRIEND (ÔNG BẠN GIÀ ĐIÊC LÒI TÓI )

Fr: Khanh Bui* Dinh Cuc
The Deaf Friend
old patient
In a certain village there lived a merchant who had a deaf friend.
 The latter learned that the former was ill, so he set out one afternoon to visit him.

“ It’s my duty to cheer my friend up, and besides, I’d like to,” he said to himself , “but I must be careful of what I say. 
First I’ll ask, “ Well, how are you today?  He’ll answer “ Fine, thank you.” 
Then I’ll ask about his food .He’ll say,“Rice without salt”, and I’ll say ,“ That’s good for you. I hope it helps you.” Then I’ll ask,“ Who is your doctor? and he will tell me such and such a person is his doctor, and I’ll say,“ I hope God will help him with his work.”
The deaf man then reached the merchant’s house and sat down near his bed. The patient was extremely sick and was not too happy to have company.
“My dear friend , how are you?” asked the deaf man.
“ I’ve trouble with a bad fever,” answered the man . “ I can’t sleep at night.”
The deaf man smiled and said, “ Very good ! I hope God will keep you this way, I mean it !”
Then he asked, “What do you eat ?”
By this time the patient was angry. “ The dust of the earh!” he answered.
“ That’s good for you,” said the deaf man.“ I hope it helps you. And tell me , who is your doctor?”
“ Doctor ?” cried the merchant .”Death himself!”
“ Oh,that’s fine.” said the deaf man. “ I hope God will help him with his work.”
And he returned home.
 
headphone funny  
Daniel Doan * Paula  Le* Kimmy Nguyen

merchant  mer-chant  /ˈmɜː(r)tʃ(ə)nt/)  lái buôn/nhà  buôn/thương gia /thương nhân  
merchantman   (mer-chant-man   /ˈmɜː(r)tʃ(ə)ntmən/) tàu buôn ( từ ít dùng) nay :  merchant ship (tàu buôn)
merchant marine  đội thương thuyền   marine  (ma-rine /məˈriːn/)
merchandise  ( mer-chan-dise/ˈmɜː(r)tʃ(ə)ndaɪz/) hàng hoá
food /fuːd/     foot/fʊt/
leaf  /liːf/       deaf/def/