“What’s the most beautiful sound in the world?” a man
asked his friends one evening.
“The sound of a singing bird,” one of the friends said.
“No, it’s the sound of a flute,” the second said.
“Nonsense,” the third friend said. “It’s the sound of a
guitar.”
The three friends argued. Soon they were shouting.
“Stop! Stop!” the man cried. “You’ll never agree this way.
Come to dinner next week. I’ll help you to agree on what is the
most beautiful sound in the world.”
     A week later the man’s three friends came to his house.
They were looking forward to a good dinner but the table was
empty. Time passed and still there was no food.
     At last it was midnight. The man’s friends were very hungry
but they were too polite to say anything. Then, as they were
standing up to leave, they heard the “clink, clink” of dishes on a
tray. A servant came in and put the dishes of food on the table.
     Soon they were all enjoying a fine meal. “Tell me now,” the
man said, “What is the most beautiful sound in the world?” And
this time they all gave the same answer.

                  最美妙的音乐
一天晚上，一个人问他的朋友们：“世界上最美妙的声音是什么？”
一个朋友说：“鸟叫的声音。”
第二个朋友说：“不对，是笛子发出的声音。”
“全都不对，”第三个朋友说，“是吉他发出的声音。”
三个朋友争论起来，很快就大吵起来。
男人喊道：“别吵了！别吵了！这么吵下去是不会有结果的，下个星期
来我家吃晚餐。我会告诉你们世界上最美妙的声音是什么。”
一个星期后，男人的三个朋友来到他家。他们都期待吃一顿丰盛的晚
餐，但是桌子上什么都没有。过了很久仍然没有任何食物。
最后到了半夜，男人的三个朋友都非常饿了，但是他们都很有礼貌，
什么也没说。当他们站起来要离开的时候，他们听见盘子的碰撞声“叮！
叮！”一个仆人端着许多盘食物进来了。
很快他们享受了一顿丰盛的大餐。男人说：“现在告诉我，世界上最美
妙的声音是什么？”这次他的朋友们给出了相同的答案。