A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were excessively mischievous1. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that, if any mischief2 occurred in their town, their sons were probably involved.

　　The boys' mother heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The clergyman agreed, but asked to see them individually. So the mother sent her 8-year-old first, in the morning, with the older boy to see the clergyman in the afternoon.

　　The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Where is God?"

　　The boy's mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there with his mouth hanging open, wide-eyed. So the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, "Where is God!!?" Again the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed3, "Where is God?"

　　The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him. When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, "What happened?"

　　The younger brother, gasping4 for breath, replied, "We are in big trouble this time. God is missing -- and they think we did it!"

　　一對夫婦有兩個(gè)兒子，一個(gè)8歲，一個(gè)10歲。他們都很淘氣，總是惹麻煩。他們的父母知道，只要鎮(zhèn)上發(fā)生了惡作劇，他們的兒子就很可能也參與了。

　　男孩的母親聽說鎮(zhèn)上有一位牧師， 在教育孩子方面很在行，于是便問他是否可以跟他的兒子們談一談。牧師同意了，但是兩個(gè)孩子要分開問。因此母親早上先把8歲的孩子送了過去，大一點(diǎn)的孩子下午再過去。

　　牧師身材高大，聲音洪亮。他讓小孩子坐下來，嚴(yán)厲地問道：“上帝在哪里？”

　　男孩張大了嘴，可是沒有作聲，他目瞪口呆地坐在那里。于是牧師又嚴(yán)厲地問道：“上帝在哪里？”男孩再一次沉默。于是牧師又提高了嗓門，在男孩的面前搖著手指，怒吼道：“上帝在哪里？”

　　男孩尖叫著從屋里沖了出來，直接往家跑去，鉆進(jìn)了衣柜，并把門關(guān)上了。當(dāng)他的哥哥在衣柜中找到他時(shí)，問道：“發(fā)生了什么事？”

　　小弟弟喘著氣說：“我們闖了大禍了。上帝不見了——他們認(rèn)為是我們倆干的！”