A Sick Man received a visit from his Doctor, who asked him how he was. “Fairly well, Doctor,” said he, “but I find I sweat a great deal.” “Ah,” said the Doctor, “that's a good sign.” On his next visit he asked the same question, and his patient replied, “I'm much as usual, but I've taken to having shivering fits, which leave me cold all over.” “Ah,” said the Doctor, “that's a good sign too.” When he came the third time and inquired as before about his patient's health, the Sick Man said that he felt very feverish. “A very good sign,” said the Doctor; “you are doing very nicely indeed.” Afterwards a friend came to see the invalid, and on asking him how he did, received this reply: “My dear friend, I'm dying of good signs.”
一个病人去看医生，医生问他感觉怎么样。他回答：“很好，医生，但我发现自己出汗很严重。”医生说：“这是好现象。”下一回来的时候，医生问了同样的问题。病人回答：“感觉跟平时差不多，但我经常发抖，一直感觉很冷。”医生说：“啊，这也是好现象。”到了第三次，他依然询问病人的健康状况，病人说这次感觉自己在发高烧。“这是好现象，”医生说，“你确实越来越好了。”最后，一个朋友来看病人，问他感觉怎么样，得到的回答是：“亲爱的朋友，我要死于种种好现象了。”