365个英语简短小故事-193. A Little White Lie

Irene was angry at her boyfriend Rory. She was trying to make a business deal. Rory was not a business man. But she needed Rory’s help because she was a woman and business men, she knew, routinely¹ lied to women.

“All you have to do is tell Mr. Lo that you are the sales manager for my company. What’s the big deal? It’s not like you’re in court raising your right hand and swearing to God. You’re just telling a sales manager that you also are a sales manager. That way he has respect for you. He doesn’t want to deal with someone who is ‘lower’ than him. You must be his equal. Then he will have respect for you, and he will tell you the truth. I need to know if he can ship 10 tons of copper² to Long Beach every month. He told me he could ship only five. I think he is lying to me, because I’m a woman. But he won’t lie to a man.”

“Ha! You think men don’t lie to other men? Of course they do. But that’s beside the point. I am not going to misrepresent myself in what could be a huge business transaction—that’s fraud³.”

“It’s not fraud; it’s a little white lie. Don’t be such a chicken!”

“I’m not a chicken, for crying out loud. I just don’t want to go to jail⁴. You don’t know the laws, and neither do I. All I know is that I’ll be misrepresenting myself; you can call it a little white lie, but the lawyers who prosecute⁵ me will call it fraud. Maybe we can think of another title for me that isn’t a lie.”

“You want another title instead of sales manager? You want a title that isn’t a lie? I have a title for you—when you call him up, introduce yourself as my company’s Chief Executive⁶ Chicken!”

 

1 routinely   

adv.例行公事地；常规地，惯常地；老一套地

参考例句：

• Children have been routinely immunized against polio since 1958. 自从1958 年以来，儿童都按照常规接种防治小儿麻痹症的疫苗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The library routinely handles a wide variety of enquiries. 图书馆日常要处理各种各样的咨询。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

3 fraud   

n.骗子，欺骗，欺诈，诡计

参考例句：

• We will introduce legal safeguards against fraud.我们将推行防止欺诈的法律条款。
• The prosecutor accused the defendant of fraud.原告控告被告犯有欺诈罪。

4 jail   

n.监狱，看守所；vt.监禁，拘留

参考例句：

• The castle had been used as a jail.这城堡曾用作监狱。
• If she carries on shoplifting,she'll end up in jail.她如果还在店铺里偷东西，最终会被抓进监狱的。

5 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

6 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。