A company of English soldiers were once sent to a remote village in Ireland. They stayed there for several weeks, separated from their usual base of supplies. During this period the captain in charge of the company received some general orders.
One clause of these orders was as follows: "All men in the command shall change their shirts at least twice a week." The captain gave orders to the orderly officer to see the instruction put into execution. "But, sir," said the officer, "there is only a shirt apiece to every man in the company. How can they--" "Silence!" said the captain, "orders are orders. Let the men change shirts with one another." So the officer saw to it that on every Sunday and Wednesday morning the soldiers "swapped" shirts with one another.
有一次，一連英軍奉命去到愛爾蘭一個偏僻的村莊，和他們平日的補給基地隔絕，停留了幾個星期，其間主管該連的上尉接到一些常規命令。
命令之中有以下條款：「軍中士兵每星期至少須更換襯衫兩次。」上尉下令值班軍官執行這規定，那軍官說：「但是，上尉，軍中的士兵，每人只得一件襯衫，怎能夠──」上尉說：「不得多言，命令就是命令。叫士兵彼此交換襯衫穿吧。」於是，那軍官就教士兵每個星期天和星期三上午，彼此交換襯衫穿着。