"We have a skunk in the basement," shrieked the caller to the police dispatcher. "How can we get it out?"

“我们的地下室里有一只臭鼬，”打电话的人对警察调度员尖叫道。“我们怎样才能把它弄出来?”

"Take some bread crumbs," said the dispatcher,

“弄一些面包屑，”调度员说，

"and put down a trail from the basement out to the back yard. Then leave the cellar door open."

“从地下室往外铺一条小道直到后院。然后将地下室的门打开。”

Sometime later the resident called back. "Did you get rid of it?" asked the dispatcher.

一段时间后，那位居民又将电话打了回来。“你们将它弄出来了吗?”调度员问。

"No," replied the caller. "Now I have two skunks in there!"

“没有，”打电话的人答道，“现在那儿有两只臭鼬了。”

Notes:

1. skunk

n.臭鼬；臭鼬毛皮；<口>卑鄙的人；可恶的人

vt.<俚>使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

eg.Let every man skin his own skunk.[谚]个人自扫门前雪。

hotter than a skunk烂醉

2.shriek=cry=scream

vt.& vi.尖叫；引人注意；发出一种类似尖叫的声音

n.尖叫声；尖锐的声音

3.caller

n.呼叫者；召集者；访问者；打电话者

adj.新鲜的

4.bread crumb面包屑

5.basement,cellar地下室