The Foreman's Position

康鹤彪

同学们，法庭“庄重而威严”，容不得半点含糊。然而，在国外，一次法庭上的审判，却出现了下面的笑话：

A judge in a small city was hearing a drunk-driving case and the defendant， who had both a record and a reputation for driving under the influence， demanded a jury trial. It was nearly 4 pm and getting a jury would take time， so the judge called a recess and went out in the hall looking to impanel anyone available for jury duty. He found a dozen lawyers in the main lobby and told them that they were a jury.

The lawyers thought this would be a novel experience and so followed the judge back to the courtroom. The trial was over in about 10 minutes and it was very clear that the defendant was guilty. The jury went into the jury-room， the judge started getting ready to go home， and everyone waited.

After nearly three hours， the judge was totally out of patience and sent the bailiff into the jury-room to see what was holding up the verdict. When the bailiff returned， the judge said， “Well ， have they got a verdict yet？”

The bailiff shook his head and said， “Verdict？ Hell， they’re still doing nominating speeches for the foreman’s position！”

同学们，如果你不能完全明白，不要紧，看看下面的译文，你能get了吗？其实，这是一个“冷笑话”而已。在我们的现实生活中，是不是也有这样的笑话？

参考译文：

在一个小城市，一位法官正在审理一起酒后驾车案件。被告不仅有过酒后驾车的记录，而且声誉也不是太好，现在只是缺少一个陪审团作出裁决。因为已经接近下午四点，找个陪审团来会耽误很多时间，因此，法官宣布休庭后，就到外面随便挑选了一些人来充当陪审团。刚一出门，他就发現大厅刚好有12个律师，便请求他们充当陪审团。

听了法官的话，这些律师们认为这将会是一次新奇的经历，因此，便跟随法官回到了法庭。不到10分钟，案子就已接近尾声，因为被告明显是有罪的。陪审团回到陪审室进行商议，法官就等着宣布结果，准备回家。每个人都在等待着最后的判决。

大概过了3个小时，法官已经彻底失去了耐心，便派法警去看看判决为什么耽误了这么久。当法警回来后，法官问他：“怎么样？他们是否作出了最后的判决？”

法警摇摇头说：“判决？天啊，他们为了推选陪审团主席，还在进行演讲呢！”

（作者单位：江苏省泰州市姜堰区第四中学）