a teacher said to her class：“who was the first man?”
有个老师问班上的学生：“谁是第一个男人？
”

“george washington，”a little boy shouted promptly．"
乔治·华盛顿，”一个小男孩当即叫道。

“how do you make out that george washington was the first man？”asked the teacher，smiling indulgently．
“你怎么知道乔治·华盛顿是第一个男人呢？”老师问道，宽容地微笑着。

“because，”said the little boy，“he was first in war，first in peace，and first in the hearts of his countrymen．”
小男孩说：“因为他是战时第一，和时第一，国人心中第一。”

but at this point a larger boy held up his hand．
这时一个大点儿的男孩举起手来。

“well，”said the teacher to him，“who do you think was the first man？”
“那么，”老师对他说，“你认为谁是第一个男人呢？”

“i don't know what his name was，”said the larger boy，“but i know it wasn't george washington，ma’am，because the history book says george washington married a widow，so，of course，there must have been a man ahead of him．”
“我不知道他的名字，”大点儿的男孩说，“但我知道不是乔治·华盛顿，老师。因为历史书上说，乔治·华盛顿娶了一个寡妇，所以在他前面肯定还有一个男人。
”