报纸和杂志的编辑们常常走极端，为读者提供无关紧要的事实和统计数字。
Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their readers with unimportant facts and statistics.
去年，一位记者曾被一家著名杂志社指派，去撰写一篇有关非洲某新兴共和国总统宫殿的文章。
Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president's palace in a new African republic.
文章一到，编辑读了第一句话，随即拒绝发表。
When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refused to publish it.
文章的开头是这样写的："数以百计的台阶通向环绕着总统宫殿的那道高墙。"
The article began: 'Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president's palace.'
编辑立刻给记者发了一封传真，指示他查明台阶的准确数目和围墙的高度。
The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him to find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.
记者立刻出发去获取这些"重要事实"，但他花了很长时间才把它们发回来。
The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he took a long time to send them.
与此同时，编辑越来越不耐烦了，因为杂志很快就要付印了。
Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine would soon go to press.
他又给记者发了两封传真，但没有收到任何回复。
He sent the journalist two more faxes, but received no reply.
他又发了一封传真，告知记者如果不尽快回复，就会被解雇。
He sent yet another fax informing the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would be fired.
当记者再次未能回复时，编辑不情愿地将文章按其原本写成的样子发表了。
When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as it had originally been written.
一周后，编辑终于收到了来自记者的一封传真。
A week later, the editor at last received a fax from the journalist.
这个可怜的人不仅被捕了，而且还被送进了监狱。
Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well.
然而，他终于被允许发了一封传真，在传真中他告知编辑，他是在数通向总统宫殿那道15英尺高围墙的1,084级台阶时被捕的。
However, he had at last been allowed to send a fax in which he informed the editor that he had been arrested while counting the 1,084 steps leading to the 15-foot wall which surrounded the president's palace.