Lesson 28 One pound too dear
Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour. Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board and the deck were soon covered with colourful rugs from Persia, silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware. It was difficult not to be tempted. Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen, but I decided not to buy anything until I had disembarked.
I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring. I had no intention of buying one, but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds. Some of them were as big as marbles. The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real. As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass. It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.
The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches. I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine. At the base of the gold cap, the words 'made in the U.S.A' had been nearly inscribed. The man said that the pen was worth $10, but as a special favour, he would let me have it for $8. I shook my head and held up one finger indicating that I was willing to pay $1. Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous, but he eventually reduced the price to $3. Shrugging my shoulders, I began to walk away when, a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands. Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the pound I gave him. I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain -- until I got back to the ship. No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written a single world!
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
wares
n. 貨物，商品
anchor
v. 停航下錨
deck
n. 甲板
silverware
n. 銀器
tempt
v. 吸引；引誘
bargain
v. 討價還價
disembark
v. 下船上岸
assail
v. 糾纏
marble
n. 小玻璃球
inscribe
v. 刻寫，雕
favour
n. 好處，優惠
gesticulate
v. （講話時）打手勢
outrageous
adj. 出人預料的；令人不悅的
thrust
v. 硬塞給
參考譯文
當一艘大型班船進港的時候，許多小船載著各種雜貨快速向客輪駛來。大船還未下錨。小船上的人就紛紛爬上客輪。一會兒工夫，甲板上就擺滿了色彩斑斕的波斯地毯。印度絲綢。銅咖啡壺以及手工製作的漂亮的銀器。要想不為這些東西所動心是很困難的。船上許多遊客開始同商販討價還價起來，但我打定主意上岸之前什麽也不買。
我剛下船，就被一個人截住，他向我兜售一枚鑽石戒指。我根本不想買，但我不能掩飾這樣一個事實：其鑽石之大給我留下了深刻的印象。有的鑽石像玻璃球那麽大。那人竭力想證明那鑽石是真貨。我們路過一家商店時，他將一顆鑽石使勁地往櫥窗上一按，在玻璃上留下一道深痕。我花了半個多小時才擺脫了他的糾纏。
向我兜售的第二個人是賣名貴鋼筆和手表的。我仔細察看了一枝鋼筆，那看上去確實不假，金筆帽下方整齊地刻有“美國製造”字樣。那人說那支筆值50英鎊，作為特別優惠，他願意讓我出30英鎊成交。我搖搖頭，伸出5根手指表示我隻願出5鎊錢。那人激動地打著手勢，仿佛我的出價使他不能容忍。但他終於把價錢降到了10英鎊。我聳聳肩膀掉頭走開了。一會兒，他突然從後追了上來，把筆塞到我手裏。雖然他絕望地舉起雙手，但他毫不遲疑地收下了我付給他的5鎊錢。在回到船上之前，我一直為我的絕妙的討價還價而洋洋得意。然而不管我如何擺弄，那枝漂亮的鋼筆就是吸不進墨水來。直到今天，那枝筆連一個字也沒寫過！
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