Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.
Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. “Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.
“Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!”
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.”
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins . The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away.
The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.
几年前，有个农夫在大西洋岸边有块地，他没少打广告征集人手，但大部分人都不愿意来干活儿。他们害怕大西洋上来的暴风骤雨，那样的恶劣天气会对房屋和庄稼造成严重的破坏。农夫面试了很多应征者，拒绝声如潮。
终于，一个个子不高、块头不大、已过中年的人找到了这个农夫。“你是干活儿的好手吗？”农夫问。
“嗯，刮风的时候我都能睡觉。”小个子说。
农夫尽管没太听明白这个回答，可是实在是急需人手，就雇用了他。小个子在农场干得很好，从早到晚忙个不停，农夫也对他干的活儿很满意。
一天夜里，海上的大风呼啸而来。农夫跳下床，抓起一盏灯笼就冲到隔壁小个子的住处。他大喊着摇醒小个子：“快起来！暴风雨来了！快去把东西绑好，要不它们就被刮跑了。”
小个子在床上翻了个身，镇定地说：“不用，先生。我告诉过你，就算刮大风，我也能睡觉。”
农夫见他这种反应，恨不能当下就解雇他。他亲自跑出去做准备，防范暴风雨的到来。让他吃惊的是，所有干草堆上都罩好了防水帆布，牛都牵进了棚里，鸡都关进了笼子，门都闩好，百叶窗也都紧紧关好。一切都已绑好，根本刮不走。
农夫这下明白自己雇来的这个帮手之前说的话是什么意思了，他回到自己的床上也睡了，尽管外面刮着风。
-havoc [ˈhævək] n. 大破坏
-haystack [ˈheɪstæk] n. 干草堆
-tarpaulin [tɑːˈpɔːlɪn] n. 防水帆布
遇事沉着多半是因为事前准备事无巨细。