Why was even five pounds 'too dear'?

Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was enteringthe harbour. Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed onboard and the decks were soon covered with colourful rugs from Persia, silksfrom India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware. It wasdifficult not to be tempted. Many of the tourists on board had begun bargainingwith the tradesmen, but I decided not to buy anything until I haddisembarked.

I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted tosell me a diamond ring. I had no intention of buying one, but I could notconceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds. Some of themwere as big as marbles. The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamondswere real. As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against thewindow and made a deep impression in the glass. It took me over half an hour toget rid of him.

The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches. Iexamined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine. At the base ofthe gold cap, the words 'made in the U.S.A.' had been neatly inscribed. The mansaid that the pen was worth £50, but as a special favour, he would let me haveit for £30. I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I waswilling to pay £5. Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offeroutrageous, but he eventually reduced the price to £10. Shrugging my shoulders,I began to walk away when, a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the peninto my hands. Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readilyaccepted the £5 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 impossibleto fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written asingle word!

New words and expressions 生词与短语

wares

n. 货物，商品

anchor

v. 停航下锚

deck

n. 甲板

silverware

n. 银器

tempt

v. 吸引;引诱

bargain

v. 讨价还价

disembark

v. 下船上岸

assail

v. 纠缠

marble

n. 小玻璃球

inscribe

v. 刻写，雕

favour

n. 好处，优惠

gesticulate

v. (讲话时)打手势

outrageous

adj. 出人预料的;令人不悦的

thrust

v. 硬塞给

本文参考译文

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，那支笔连一个字也没写过!新概念英语第三册mp3

(兼职编辑：张博)