"Did you hear the radio news yesterday?" he asked.

　　"I didn't, " I said, " Was there anything exciting?"

　　"Exciting? No! It was very, very sad to me . A pack of hungry dogs killed and ate my best friend."

　　"Oh, dear!" I am sorry. How did it happen?"

　　"He was working in his oilve grove on the hillside when the packs attacked him. We'll never know all the facts, of course. When he didn't return, I went there and…"

　　"You found the body?" I asked.

　　"The body?" he repeated. "No, no. I said they were hugry dogs, didn't I? The bones were lying here in the grove. but I found this…" He pushed open a match box which he was holding in his hand.

　　The box contained a man's thumb. It was lying on some white, bloody material. There was a cut--an old cut--on the thumb nail.

　　"See that cut," the man said:" I recognized it, This is my friend's right thumb. The dogs ate the rest of him!"

　　The old man began to cry then. He finished his coffee quickly and left the cafe. I drank mine and called the waiter.

　　"I'll pay the gentleman's bill," I said."Please don't trouble him with it. His poor friend --- how awful!"

　　The waiter laughed. "Yes. There's a hole in the bottom of the matchbox. He puts his own thumb through the hole. The "blood"is red ink, I believe. Is the story worth a cup of coffer, sir?"

　　“您昨天听了收音机里的新闻吗？”他问。

　　“没有，”我说，“有什么激动人心的事吗？”

　　“激动人心？ 不！它使我非常、非常悲痛。一群饿狗弄死并吃掉了我最要好的朋友。”

　　“喔，天哪！”我叫道，“真遗憾，这是怎么发生的？”

　　“他正在山边的橄榄林时干活时， 一群饿狗袭击了他。我们并不知道全部事实。他没有回来时，我去了那儿， 可是……”

　　“你发现了尸体？”我问。

　　“尸体？” 他重复道，“不， 不。我说过它们是一群饿狗， 是吗？他的骨头散落在树林里，到处都 是。但是我发现了这个……”他打开了拿在手里的一个火柴盒里装着一截人的拇指。上面有五白色的，带血的东西。一个裂口——暗黑色的裂口——在那截拇指的指甲上。

　　“看那个裂口，”那人说道，“我认得它，这是我朋友的右拇指。饿狗把他的其余部分全吃掉了！”这时那个老人开始哭起来，他很快地喝完了咖啡，离开了酒吧。我也是把咖啡喝完，把侍者叫过来。

　　“我来替那位先生付账，”我说，“请不要为这件事再去打扰他。他可怜的朋友——太可怕了！”

　　侍者大笑起来，“哎，他的火柴盒底下有一个洞，他把自己的拇指穿过这个洞。 我想那“血是红墨水，这个故事值一杯咖啡吗，先生？”