5. A three-legged chicken

One day a traveling salesman was driving down a back country road at about 30 mph when he noticed that there was a three-legged chicken running alongside his car. He stepped on the gas but at 50 mph. The chicken was still keeping up. After about a mile of running the chicken ran up a farm lane1 and into a barn behind an old farm house.

The salesman had some time to kill so he turned around and drove up the farm lane. He knocked at the door and when the farmer answered he told him what he had just seen.

The farmer said that he was a geneticist2 and had developed this breed of chicken because he, his wife and his son each like a drumstick3 when they have chicken and this way they only have to kill one chicken.

That's the most fantastic4 thing I've ever heard, said the salesman. "How do they taste?" "I don't know," said the farmer. "We've never caught one."

Notes:

1. lane 小路

2. geneticist 遗传学家

3. drumstick 鼓槌，鸡腿

4. fantastic 奇妙的

三条腿的小鸡

一天，一个旅行推销员以时速30英里的速度开车去一个小镇子，忽然发现一只三条腿的小鸡在他的车旁奔跑。他猛踩了一下油门，时速达到了50英里，可那只小鸡依然没被他的车落下。跑了很久之后，小鸡穿过农场田间小路，最后跑进了农场一间旧房子后面的鸡笼里。

那个旅行推销员看时间还早，就把车也开进了农场的田间小路。他敲了那间旧房子的门，并把他看到的一切告诉了来开门的那个农场主。

农场主说他是一名遗传学者，培育这种三条腿的鸡是因为他和妻子、他们的儿子都喜欢吃鸡腿。这样，当他们全家吃鸡的时候，只需要杀死一只鸡，就可以每个人都能吃到一个鸡腿了。

“这是我听过最奇妙的想法了”，旅行推销员说，“它的味道怎么样？”“我不知道”，农场主说，“我一次也没有抓住过。”

Useful link:

旅行推销员一般受雇于大批发公司，很多没有固定工资，光靠提取佣金生活。他们带着商品目录和装满样品的大箱子四处推销，包括纺织品、威士忌、日用品、成药、珠宝、化学产品、五金器具和皮货等等。乡村十字路口的百货店因其经营的商品种类繁多、琳琅满目而成为旅行推销员极佳的推销对象。