A man was selling medicine at a fair(集市). At first, he sold bottles of a cure(药剂 )for colds for just a dollar a bottle. Many people wanted to buy it and the man's young assistant moved quickly through the crowd collecting money and handing out bottles of the cure. Then, when he had a bid crowd, the man stood up, held up a very small bottle and said," And now, ladies and gentleman, I am not going to charge you a hundred dollars a bottle for this wonderful medicine. I am not going to charge you fifty dollars a bottle. I am not going to charge you twenty-five dollars a bottle. Now, ladies and gentleman. I am not going to charge you ten dollars, and you can live forever. Most of the people in the crowd did not believe this. One person shouted," If you can make you live forever, why don't you drink it?" Then the other man cried," Yes, you look as if you are at least sixty years. " "Thank you, sir, thank you," the man answered," I am so glad you said that. My real age is three hundred and twenty-nine. "The crowd laughed at this but there were still some people who wanted to believe the man. One of the men spoke to the man's assistant as he passed by," Is that true?" he asked. "Is he three hundred and twenty-nine? "Don't ask me," the assistant said," I have only worked for him for a hundred and fifty years. "
