第28课

旁白 neutral

Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour.

当那艘巨型客轮驶进港口的时候，许多装载着货品的小船疾驶着向它靠拢。

旁白 neutral

Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board

没等船停稳，小船上的人就爬上了客轮。

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and the decks were soon covered with colourful rugs from Persia,

甲板上很快就摆满了：来自波斯的五光十色的地毯、

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silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware.

印度的丝绸、铜咖啡壶以及制作精美的手工银器。

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It was difficult not to be tempted.

谁都很难不为之所动。

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Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen,

船上许多游客已和小贩们讨价还价起来，

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but I decided not to buy anything until I had disembarked.

而我却决定不买任何东西，直到下船为止。

旁白 neutral

I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring.

我刚一下船，就受到一个要向我兜售钻石戒指的人的纠缠。

旁白 neutral

I had no intention of buying one,

我根本不想买钻石戒指，

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but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds.

但我不得不承认我还是给那些钻石的大小留下了深刻的印象。

旁白 neutral

Some of them were as big as marbles.

有些钻石大得像弹子。

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The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real.

那个人竭力证明他的钻石是真的。

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As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass.

当我们走过一家商店的时候，他把一枚钻石使劲地抵在橱窗上，在玻璃上划出了一道深痕。

旁白 neutral

It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.

我花了半个多小时才摆脱了他。

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The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches.

第二个向我走来的人是卖高档钢笔和手表的。

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I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine.

我仔细地察看了一支钢笔。它看上去确实是真品。

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At the base of the gold cap, the words 'made in the U.S.A.' had been neatly inscribed.

在金笔帽的底部，刻有“美国制造”的字样。

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The man said that the pen was worth £50, but as a special favour, he would let me have it for £30.

那人说这支笔值50镑，但作为特别优惠，他愿以30镑卖给我。

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I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay £5.

我摇了摇头，伸出5个手指，表示我愿付5镑。

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Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous,

那人狂乱地打着手势，装出我的出价不可思议的样子，

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but he eventually reduced the price to 10 pounds.

但最终还是把价格降到了10镑。

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Shrugging my shoulders I began to walk away when,

我耸了耸肩膀，刚要走开，

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a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands.

片刻之后，他便追了上来，把钢笔塞到我手里。

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Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the £5 I gave him.

尽管他不停地绝望地挥舞着双臂，但他还是爽快地收下了我给他的5镑钱。

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I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain--until I got back to the ship.

我对这笔了不起的交易特别满意——直到我回到船上。

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No matter how hard I tried,

无论我怎么努力，

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it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written a single word!

也无法把墨水灌进这支漂亮的钢笔里，而且直到今天，它连一个字也没写出来过！