Not as Good as a Fish / 人不如鱼

最近世界杯足球赛进行得如火如荼，虽然未能捧红哪个球星，或哪支球队，却意外地捧红了章鱼歌-Paul。话说这Paul，那来头可就大了，他生于英国，长于德国，见过大世面，而且还是出身名门望族呢，他的妈妈便是个百发百中的算命师。难怪他那么得厉害了。听说他预测西班牙将夺得本次比赛的冠军，那还等什么？听罢我立马便买了一张足球彩票，希望能借这位海底黄大仙的光发上一笔。比赛完后的清晨，妈妈便打电话给我，声音激动地在颤抖，“恭喜你，终于中奖了。”
等到领奖那一天，我兴冲冲并小心翼翼地递上自己的彩票，用虔诚的眼光看着并期待着这一神圣时刻的到来，毕竟这是俺第一次中奖哦！这时意想不到的事发生了，当职员打入我的身份证号码后告知我，“对不起，你没中奖。”“什么？”我简直不敢相信自己的耳朵，“为什么？”“因为西班牙没赢，它们和了。”“你没看电视么？这么大的事你都不知道，西班牙把奖杯都抱回家啦，人家正在庆祝呢，怎会没赢？”“只算前面的90分钟。。。”只觉得一阵的晕眩，接下来她说的话什么也没听见，踉踉跄跄的走回家，给爸爸打电话，爸爸听后也觉得诧异，经分析爸爸才得出结论，这不用说是Singapore Pools算错了赔率，赢得人太多了，他们没钱给了，只好耍赖。要说着Singapore Pools也真够惨了，拥有那么多的硕士，博士，还有什么精算大师，居然算不过一只章鱼，真悲哀哟！可他们又不能听章鱼的，于是造成了上述惨剧。唉！

The world Cup Soccer Match in South Africa was definitely the hot topic this year. But not even one individual or a particular team gained the limelight. The only one who gained popularity was an octopus – Paul. Paul was born into a famous family. His mother was an outstanding fortune teller. He inherited such intelligence from his mother and made only one mistake in his life time. My father said that he predicted Spain would be the champions this time. Then why wait? I must quickly do something. I rushed out to buy a lottery ticket. I had hoped to be able to make my fortune through him! The next morning, mother called me, voice already trembling, “Congratulations! You won finally!”
When I went to collect my prize, I handed in my ticket carefully, yet also excitedly, waiting for that sacred moment to come. You know this was the first time for me to strike a win on the lottery in a lifetime! After checking my IC number, the officer told me, ”Sorry, you have not won a prize.” “What? How can this be?” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Because Spain did not win, it was a draw game.” “What? You did not watch TV? Spain brought away the trophy and now they are busy celebrating.” “We count only the first 90 min, so…..” I felt a sudden dizziness, and did not really hear what she said. Walking home stumbling, I called Father. My father also felt surprised. Finally he concluded that It must be because the Singapore Pools miss calculated the odds and too many people won the game. Therefore, they could not afford to pay. With so many master and even PHD holders, Singapore Pools was not even able to compete with a fish. But how could those so called experts bow to a fish? Alas!

沉痛悼念保罗的不幸逝世，保罗永远活在我们心中！