[00:00.44]Lesson 11
[00:02.11]Not guilty
[00:08.86]What was the Customs Officer looking for?
[00:13.22]Customs Officers are quite tolerant these days, but they can still stop you when you are going through the Green Channel and have nothing to declare.
[00:23.00]Even really honest people are often made to feel guilty.
[00:27.47]The hardened professional smuggler, on the other hand, is never troubled by such feelings,
[00:33.67]even if he has five hundred gold watches hidden in his suitcase.
[00:38.97]When I returned from abroad recently, a particularly officious young Customs Officer
[00:44.92]clearly regarded me as a smuggler.
[00:48.39]'Have you anything to declare?' he asked, looking me in the eye.
[00:54.07]'No,' I answered confidently.
[00:57.61]'Would you mind unlocking this suitcase please? '
[01:01.55]'Not at all,' I answered.
[01:03.97]The Officer went through the case with great care.
[01:07.71]All the things I had packed so carefully were soon in a dreadful mess.
[01:13.57]I felt sure I would never be able to close the case again.
[01:18.27]Suddenly, I saw the Officer's face light up.
[01:22.34]He had spotted a tiny bottle at the bottom of my case
[01:26.25]and he pounced on it with delight.
[01:29.35]'Perfume, eh?' he asked sarcastically.
[01:34.68]'You should have declared that.
[01:36.66]Perfume is not exempt from import duty. '
[01:41.38]'But it isn't perfume, I said. 'It's hair gel. '
[01:46.96]Then I added with a smile,
[01:49.55]'It's a strange mixture I make myself.
[01:53.36]As I expected, he did not believe me.
[01:57.25]'Try it!' I said encouragingly.
[02:00.96]The Officer unscrewed the cap and put the bottle to his nostrils.
[02:05.46]He was greeted by an unpleasant smell which convinced him that I was telling the truth.
[02:11.96]A few minutes later, I was able to hurry away with precious chalk marks on my baggage.
现在的海关官员往往相当宽容。但是，当你通过绿色通道，没有任何东西需要申报时，他们仍可以拦住你。甚至是最诚实的人也常弄得觉得有罪似的，而老练的职业走私犯却使手提箱里藏着500只金表，却也处之泰然。最近一次，我也出国归来，碰上一位特别好管闲事的年轻海关官员，他显然把我当成走私犯。
“您有什么需要申报的吗？”他直盯着我的眼睛问。
“没有。”我自信地回答说。
“请打开这只手提箱好吗？”
“好的。”我回答说。
那位官员十分仔细地把箱子检查了一遍。所有细心包装好的东西一会儿工夫就乱成一团。我相信那箱子再也关不上了。突然，我看到官员脸上露出了得意的神色。他在我的箱底发现了一只小瓶，高兴地一把抓了起来。
“香水，嗯？”他讥讽地说道，“你刚才应该申报，香水要上进口税的。”
“不，这不是香水，”我说，“是发胶。”接着我脸带微笑补充说：“这是一种我自己配制的奇特的混合物。”
“你就闻一闻吧！”我催促说。
海关官员拧开瓶盖，把瓶子放到鼻子底下。一股怪味袭来，使他相信了我说的真话。几分钟后，我终于被放行，手提划着宝贵的粉笔记号的行李，匆匆离去。