饮食笑话：7、 A useful lesson 有益的经验

7. A useful lesson

In England nobody under the age of eighteen is allowed1 to drink in a public bar. Mr. Thompson used to2 go to a bar near his house quite often, but he never took his son, Tom, because he was too young.

Then when Tom had his eighteenth birthday, Mr. Thompson took him to his usual bar for the first time. They drank for half an hour, and then Mr. Thompson said to his son, "Now, Tom, I want to teach you a useful lesson. You must always be careful not to drink too much. And how do you know when you've had enough? Well, I'll tell you. Do you see those two lights at the end of the bar? When they seem to have become four, you've had enough and should go home."

But, Dad, said Tom, "I can only see one light at the end of the bar."

Notes:

1. allow 允许

2. used to 过去常常

有益的经验

在英国，十八岁以下的人不准进酒吧喝酒。汤普森先生以前常常去他家附近的一个酒吧喝酒，但从来不带他的儿子汤姆去，因为他年纪太小。

后来，当汤姆年满十八岁的时候，汤普森先生第一次带他去他常去的那家酒吧。他们喝了半个小时，而后，汤普森先生对他儿子说：“汤姆，现在我要告诉你一个有益的经验。你必须时时小心不要喝得太多。你怎么知道你喝够了呢？好，我来告诉你。你看见酒吧那头有两盏灯吗？当那两盏灯看起来变成四盏的时候，你就喝得足够多了，应该回家了。”

“可是，爸爸。”汤姆说，“在酒吧那头我只能看见一盏灯。”

Useful link:

美国也好，欧洲也罢，到酒吧喝啤酒是一种文化，对他们来讲，去那里喝酒好像喝水一样普通。而在中国，即使是在大城市，很多人把去酒吧喝酒看成比较上档次的消费，很有脸面。那么自然，酒吧如果价格太低，反而无法满足这一类人的消费心理。中国人的消费行为和西方人不太一样，越贵的有时卖得越好。