古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
食 无 肉
so scarce was meat at the end of the american civil war that even men like robert lee, formerly commander in chief of the confederate army, lived chiefly on boiled cabbage. one day, lee, entertaining important guests, served, in addition to the usual cabbage, a very small piece of meat. when each of his guests declined the meat, lee was silently overjoyed, looking forward to indulging himself the next day.
when the much-anticipated moment arrived, however, lee was dismayed to have his servant present just the usual cabbage. he promptly demanded an explanation, which the man was happy to provide: knowing that no one would touch the meat, he had borrowed it to impress the guests, and had already returned it, untouched, to its rightful owner.
