ThePope,abishopandarabbiweresittinginaboat.Thebishopsaid,"I'mfeelingpeckish,soI'llnipacrosstotheshoreandgetussomesandwiches."Therabbisaid,"Buthowcanyou?We'refarfromtheshore.""Don'tworry,"repliedthebishop,"myfaithisstrong."Hesteppedoutoftheboat,walkedtotheshoreandgotthesandwiches.
ThenthePopesaid,"I'mthirsty,soI'llnipacrosstotheshoreandgetussomedrinks."Whenhereturned,andsaidhehadforgottentobringsomethingtoread,therabbisawthechancetoprovehisfaith."Don'tworry,I'llnipacrosstotheshoreandgetussomemagazines."Withthathesteppedoutoftheboat,anddrowned.
"Weshouldhavetoldhimaboutthesteppingstones,"saidthePope.
教皇、一位主教和一位猶太教士坐在小舟上。主教說:「我有點餓,待我走到岸上,取些三明治大家吃。」猶太教士說:「這怎麼行?我們離岸很遠。」主教說:「別擔心,我有大信仰。」他跨出小舟,走到岸上,取了三明治回來。
不久,教皇說:「我渴了,待我走到岸上,取些水來大家喝。」他回來時,說忘了也帶些讀物,猶太教士要乘機證明自己的信仰。「別擔心,待我走到岸上,取些雜誌回來大家看。」他跨出小舟,淹死了。
教皇說:「我們該告訴他那些踏腳石。」
【附注】這篇英文由讀者擲下,說不明白最後一句,謹譯成中文,或有助理解。Peckish是「有點餓」,nip則是「匆匆走一回」,都是俗語。