5.Calvin Coolidge Was A Strange Fellow
5.怪胎卡尔文·柯立芝
Coolidge was an odd man. He would literally go days without speaking a word, a trait that earned him the name "Silent Cal." Coolidge, however, loved childish pranks. His favorite prank was buzzing for his aides (or the Secret Service) and hiding from them. He hoped to make them think he had been kidnapped. In all likelihood, his feet sticking out from under the curtain probably gave him away.
古怪的柯立芝常常一天一句话也不说，因此被人们称做"沉默的卡尔"。然而，柯立芝喜欢搞有点孩子气的恶作剧，比如他最喜欢藏在他的助手或者特工身后并且发出好像他被绑架了的嗡嗡声，不过因为脚经常被垂到地面的窗帘绊倒才就此作罢。
He once had his aide fill up a bucket half with water and half with yellow beans. He then told the aide to scrub the brown spots off the beans. Finally, after some time, another staffer came along and told the aide that the only way to get the spots off was with a knife. Another time, at a presidential breakfast with the Congress, the President poured some coffee and cream into a saucer and indicated to the crowd to do the same. Coolidge then leaned down and gave the saucer to his dog. The message was received by the embarrassed crowd.
一次，柯立芝让助手在水桶里装水和黄豆各半，洗掉这些黄豆上的污点。一会儿，他让另一个人过来告诉助手只有用刀刮才能搞掉这些污点。后来在一次和国会议员吃早饭的过程中，他把咖啡奶油倒入茶碟中然后混在一起，并且示意众人也这样做。议员们面面相觑，十分尴尬。而他自己却偷偷地把这些倒给了他的狗，不幸被人们逮了个正着。
4.Abraham Lincoln Made A Man Cry
4.把人弄哭的亚伯拉罕·林肯
Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, protected the Union, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, suffered from horrible depression. Unbeknownst to most, though, he was an unrepentant jokester. We could just focus on his endless quips, but this article is about practical jokes. Early in his career, Lincoln had a debate with an opponent named Jesse Thomas. After Thomas gave his speech, Lincoln took the stage and decided simply to mimic his rival. Lincoln mocked his opponent's voice, exaggerated his movements, and had the crowd in fits. It was such a good caricature that it made his rival cry.
亚伯拉罕·林肯不仅废除了黑人奴隶制度，还阻止了联邦分裂。也许是因为总统压力过大，他不幸得了抑郁症。不过最不为人所知的其实是林肯也有幽默逗比的一面。在他事业的早期，他和他的对手杰西·托马斯有一场辩论。在托马斯演讲结束后，林肯上台决定模仿他的演讲。林肯挖苦似的模仿对手的声音，夸大他的动作，也让观众跟着他一起做。就是这样掉节操的模仿让约翰逊哭了起来。
Dick Taylor was another opponent of Lincoln to experience a practical joke during a speech. Taylor decried Lincoln's "aristocratic" proclivities and extolled his own Spartan virtue. Lincoln sneaked on stage, pulled open Taylor's vest, and exposed a shirt decorated with frills and a gold watch chain. Taylor was furious and challenged Lincoln to a duel. Lincoln was allowed to choose the weapons and chose "cavalry broadswords of the largest size." The diminutive Taylor was not amused.
迪克·泰勒也是林肯的一次演讲中的对手，同样也成为了他戏耍的对象。泰勒称赞林肯具有贵族的气质，又说自己很赞同林肯的斯巴达文化美德观点。在泰勒演讲时，林肯偷偷上台，扒掉了泰勒的衣服，露出了他里面穿的一件小衬衫和一条金表带。泰勒顿时勃然大怒，要跟林肯决斗。不过林肯选骑兵队用的最大号阔刀来当武器，这让胆小的泰勒立马蔫了。
3.John F. Kennedy Could Get Mean
3.坏坏的约翰·菲茨杰拉德·肯尼迪
John F. Kennedy had a good friend named Lem Billings. Billings went on a trip to France, met Greta Garbo, and became a bit full of himself. He went so far as to tell Kennedy that he and Garbo were "an item." Kennedy decided he couldn't let such boastful actions go unpunished and set up a dinner at the White House for himself, Jackie, Billings, and Garbo. Kennedy scheduled Garbo to arrive early and told her his scheme. She was to pretend she had never met Billings before.
约翰·菲茨杰拉德·肯尼迪的好朋友雷姆·比林斯有一次去法国旅游，碰到了葛丽泰·嘉宝。他有点小得意，告诉肯尼迪他现在和葛丽泰·嘉宝是一对。肯尼迪当然受不了好朋友这么得瑟地跟自己显摆，于是他在白宫设宴邀请杰基、比林斯和嘉宝。他特意让嘉宝提早来，告诉了她他的小阴谋，让她假装从未见过比林斯。
When Billings showed up, beaming, he turned to enthusiastically greet his new love, but she only responded with an ice-cold, "I have never seen this man before." For the better part of an hour, they sat around and had an awkward dinner, while Billings pleaded and desperately tried to remind Garbo of their time together. Garbo just regarded him as a bug buzzing about her head. Kennedy, the unrepentant prankster, even pretended to offer suggestions, asking Billings if he might have met a Greta Garbo double. It must have been an unreal experience for the man, and you have to wonder if he questioned his sanity.
于是，当比林斯满面笑容热情洋溢地跟他喜欢的嘉宝打招呼时，她一脸冷漠，说"我压根没见过这个人"。晚宴刚开始的一个小时里，气氛一直很别扭，比林斯不停地向嘉宝辩解希望她能记起之前跟他在一起的时光，而嘉宝就把他当作在身边一直嗡嗡作响的臭虫。坐在一边的肯尼迪，这个恶作剧的主导者，假装关心地劝比林斯遇到的可能是葛丽泰·嘉宝的双胞胎姊妹，而不是她本人。这么不着边儿的瞎话可能比林斯本人听过后会觉得自己是否真的认错人，还是脑子有问题了。
2.Franklin D. Roosevelt Made A Poop Joke On NBC
2.NBC上搞恶作剧的富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福
Franklin D. Roosevelt loved to pull pranks. He would pull childish ones and elaborate ones alike. For instance, during his physical therapy in Warm Springs, he would trick his therapist into falling backward into the water. One time, he told a Secret Service member to get on the roof of a farm. He then had the ladder removed and drove away waving at the stranded serviceman. However, Roosevelt's best joke might have been one of the first prank calls in history.
富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福特别喜欢搞恶作剧，尤其是孩子气的恶作剧。比如，他在暖春医院进行物理治疗的那段时间里经常作弄医生掉进水里。还有一次，他让特工爬上一个农场的房顶，然后悄悄地挪开梯子上了车，向站在房顶愣神的特工说完拜拜后就驱车走了。不过，罗斯福历史上最著名的一次恶作剧是他假冒别人的一次电话。
A few White House correspondents formed a singing group. They were invited to appear on NBC. While they were on the program, Roosevelt called the show. He disguised his famous voice and told the host he wanted to offer the men a contract. When asked who he worked for, the president responded, "I'm the advertising manager for the Cascarets," which was a famous laxative. At the next press meeting, the president revealed his joke by telling all of the other media personnel that the correspondents would need to resign, because they had a job singing on the "Cascaret Hour."
白宫的几个通讯记者组成一个歌唱团，并受邀在美国全国广播公司电视台（NBC）表演节目。当记者们正在表演节目时，罗斯福掐着嗓子给节目组打电话说他想跟表演人员签个合同。当被问到是做什么的时，罗斯福说他是Cascarets泻药公司的广告经理。第二天的新闻会议上，罗斯福告诉其他人通讯记者们可能需要辞职，因为他们有了一份泻药公司的工作。
1.过分的杜鲁门
The buck may have stopped with Harry Truman, but conning a person into facing their phobia certainly did not. Truman was set to take a trip to South America, and a group of reporters were coming with him. One of them, Tony Vaccaro, was deathly afraid of needles and was very relieved that he did not have to get a painful yellow fever shot. When Truman found out about Vaccaro's fear, he decided to have some fun.
没有什么能挡住哈里·杜鲁门用别人的恐惧症来捉弄人。杜鲁门有一次被派去出行南非，随同的还有一帮记者。他们当中有一个名叫托尼·瓦卡罗的记者特别害怕打针，去之前他确信他不用注射黄热病疫苗。当杜鲁门发现这时，他决定捉弄一下瓦卡罗。
Truman instructed a White House physician to tell Vaccaro that the policy had been changed, and the shots were no longer merely optional. Vaccaro began freaking out as he was essentially pushed into a clinic room while screaming, "I don't believe in shots!" When Vaccaro entered the office, he saw a giant hypodermic needle, the size a veterinarian would use on a horse, filled with a sinister red fluid. Vaccaro was terrified but turned around anyway. He had a job to do, and if it meant getting stabbed in the buttocks with his worst nightmare, by God, he was going to do it. The "doctor" then entered and told Vaccaro, "This won't hurt a bit, Tony." Vaccaro immediately recognized the President's voice. He felt immense relief and offered the priceless response (presumably while his pants were still down), "Mr. President, I do not usually greet Presidents of the United States from this position."
杜鲁门让白宫的一位医生告诉瓦卡罗政策改了，疫苗注射不再是自愿的了。瓦卡罗听后开始坐立不安，当他被拉到诊所时，一边大叫"我不想打针！"一边死活不想进。进去后，当他看到医生拿着兽医用的那种型号的装满红色液体的注射器，想到这要扎到自己屁股上去，感到非常恐惧，但还是转过身去做好打针准备，因为他毕竟还要做这份工作，不能为此丢了饭碗。一会儿，"医生"进来对瓦卡罗说"这不会对你有什么伤害，放轻松点，托尼"，这时瓦卡罗一下就认出这是总统的声音，顿时如释重负，回答说"总统先生，我通常不想在这种情况下跟您打招呼"（推测这时的瓦卡罗应该解开了裤子准备打针）。
评论
打印
