[00:00.36]Lesson 28
[00:02.68]Five pounds too dear
[00:10.72]Why was even five pounds 'too dear' ?
[00:16.88]Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour.
[00:23.63]Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board
[00:28.49]and the decks were soon covered with colourful rugs from Persia,
[00:33.30]silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware.
[00:40.08]It was difficult not to be tempted.
[00:43.30]Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen,
[00:47.47]but I decided not to buy anything until I had disembarked.
[00:53.56]I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring.
[01:02.16]I had no intention of buying one,
[01:04.87]but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds.
[01:11.44]Some of them were as big as marbles.
[01:14.63]The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real.
[01:19.90]As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass.
[01:28.90]It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.
[01:32.93]The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches.
[01:38.10]I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine.
[01:43.79]At the base of the gold cap, the words 'made in the U.S.A.' had been neatly inscribed.
[01:52.31]The man said that the pen was worth 锟?0, but as a special favour, he would let me have it for 锟?0.
[02:02.21]I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay 锟?.
[02:10.51]Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous,
[02:17.42]but he eventually reduced the price to 10 pounds.
[02:22.62]Shrugging my shoulders I began to walk away when,
[02:26.62]a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands.
[02:33.35]Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the 锟? I gave him.
[02:40.57]I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain--until I got back to the ship.
[02:47.77]No matter how hard I tried,
[02:50.58]it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written a single word!
当一艘大型班船进港的时候，许多小船载着各种杂货快速向客轮驶来。大船还未下锚。小船上的人就纷纷爬上客轮。一会儿工夫，甲板上就摆满了色彩斑斓的波斯地毯。印度丝绸。铜咖啡壶以及手工制作的漂亮的银器。要想不为这些东西所动心是很困难的。船上许多游客开始同商贩讨价还价起来，但我打定主意上岸之前什么也不买。
我刚下船，就被一个人截住，他向我兜售一枚钻石戒指。我根本不想买，但我不能掩饰这样一个事实：其钻石之大给我留下了深刻的印象。有的钻石像玻璃球那么大。那人竭力想证明那钻石是真货。我们路过一家商店时，他将一颗钻石使劲地往橱窗上一按，在玻璃上留下一道深痕。我花了半个多小时才摆脱了他的纠缠。
向我兜售的第二个人是卖名贵钢笔和手表的。我仔细察看了一枝钢笔，那看上去确实不假，金笔帽下方整齐地刻有“美国制造”字样。那人说那支笔值50英镑，作为特别优惠，他愿意让我出30英镑成交。我摇摇头，伸出5根手指表示我只愿出5镑钱。那人激动地打着手势，仿佛我的出价使他不能容忍。但他终于把价钱降到了10英镑。我耸耸肩膀掉头走开了。一会儿，他突然从后追了上来，把笔塞到我手里。虽然他绝望地举起双手，但他毫不迟疑地收下了我付给他的5镑钱。在回到船上之前，我一直为我的绝妙的讨价还价而洋洋得意。然而不管我如何摆弄，那枝漂亮的钢笔就是吸不进墨水来。直到今天，那枝笔连一个字也没写过！