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Why was even five pounds '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 decks were son 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 decide 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 $50, but as a special favour, he would let me have it for $30. I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay $5. Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous, 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 pen into my hands. Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the $5 I have 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 生词和短语

     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

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，那枝笔连一个字也没写过！

New words and expression 生词和短语

Wares  n.货物, 商品

Ware  n.器皿, 陶器, 物品（总称, 常用于复合词）

-- silverware 银器 /  ironware 铁器 /  chinaware 陶器 /  glassware 玻璃器皿

-- software 软件 /  hardware 五金器具, (电脑的)硬件

-- a popular ware 热门货 /  small wares 小百货

goods  n.商品, 货物（商店里出售的物品）

-- half-done goods 半成品 /  home made goods = native goods 国货

-- leather goods 皮件 /  frozen goods 冻结货物 /  consumer goods 日用消费品

commodity  n.商品, 物品（总称, 正式的经济学术语）

-- commodity price 商品价格,  commodity economy 商品经济

-- commodity market 商品市场,  agricultural commodity 农产品

 

Anchor  v.停航下锚

Deck  n.甲板

Silverware  n.银器

 

Tempt  v.吸引, 引诱

Tempt sb to do sth  吸引某人做某事

Temptation  n.勾引, 诱惑, 引诱

-- The temptation to steal is greater than ever before - especially in large shops.

偷窃的诱惑力比以往任何时候更强烈了,在大商店里尤其如此。

Tempting  adj.诱惑人的, 吸引人的 = （attractive  adj.吸引人的, 有魅力的）

 

Bargain  v.讨价还价

Bargain  n.交易, 合同交易, 协议

-- a good bargain 赚钱的生意 /  make a bargain 成交, 达成协议

-- drive a hard bargain with sb  极力和某人讨价还价

-- bargain with sb for sth.  和某人就某事讨价还价

-- bargain away  议价出售

 

Disembark  v.下船上岸（= debark）

Embark  v.上船, 上飞机

-- He disembarked. 他下船上了岸。

-- He decided to embark.  他决定上船。

 

Assail  v.纠缠

-- He was assailed with worries.

Afflict  vt.使痛苦, 折磨 -- Tramps can keep free from the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people.

 

Marble  n.小玻璃球

Inscribe  v.刻写, 雕

 

Favour  n.好处, 优惠

in favor of  赞成, 支持  -- I am in favor of stopping work now.  我赞成现在停止工作。

in sb.'s favor  得某人欢心, 对某人有利  -- The situation, both at home and aboard, is in our favor.

out of favor  失宠, 不利  by favor of sb 请面交给某人(信封上用语)   do sb a favor  给某人恩惠

favorite adj.心爱的, 受宠的  favorite n.受宠的人或物   favorable adj.赞成的, 赞许的, 讨人喜欢的

 

Gesticulate  v.（讲话时）打手势

 

Outrageous  adj.出人预料的, 令人不悦的

-- He played an outrageous joke.

Outrage  n.暴行, 侮辱, 愤怒 vt.凌辱, 强奸, 虐待, 伤害, 迫害

Rage  n.愤怒, 情绪激动, 狂暴, 精神错乱

-- My father was in a rage last night.  我父亲昨天晚上十分生气。

fly into a rage 勃然大怒

 

Thrust  v.硬塞给

Thrust sth into…  塞进…  -- He thrust the pen into my hand.

Thrust aside  推开  -- He thrust the girl aside.

Thrust oneself forward  -- He thrust himself forward in the crowd.

thrust oneself in  强行闯入, 干涉, 探听（= thrust one's nose into） -- Don’t thrust yourself in private sth.

thrust sth. on/upon sb.  强卖给某人  -- Don’t thrust your idea on me. = Don’t exert your idea on me.

thrust out  推出, 逐出, 解雇

 

other words:

speed vt.vi.（speeded, speeded, speeding）或（sped, sped, speeding）

liner  n.班机, 定期轮船

rug  n.(小)地毯, 垫子

Persia  n.波斯（西南亚国家，现在的伊朗）

Iran  n.伊朗

Iranian  adj.伊朗的 n.伊朗人（= Irani）

Silk  n.蚕丝, 丝, 丝绸, 绸缎

copper  n.铜, 警察

tradesman  n.零售商, 工匠, 手艺人

conceal  vt.隐藏, 隐蔽, 隐瞒

diamond  n.钻石, 菱形

intention  n.计划, 目的

firmly  adv.强有力的

approach  vt.vi.走近, 靠近

close  adj.近的, 近亲的, 紧密的, 严格的

neat  adj.整齐的, 整洁的

indicate  vt.指出, 显示, 象征, 预示

hold up  v.举起, 支撑, 继续下去

wildly  adv.狂暴的, 激动的, 愤怒的 adv.野的, 野生的, 野性的

offer  n.出价, 提议

eventual  adj.最后的, 结果的

-- eventual success [failure] 最后的成功[失败]

eventually  adv.最后, 终于, 结果

shrug  vt.vi.（表示怀疑或不感兴趣）耸肩

shoulder  n.肩, 肩部, 侧翼

readily  adv.乐意地, 欣然, 容易地

throw up  猛地举起

especially  adv.特别, 尤其

 

Text 课文

Why was even five pounds‘too dear’?

Dear（adj.昂贵的）= Costly（adj.昂贵的, 贵重的）= Expensive（adj.费钱的, 昂贵的）

 

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

Small boats sped to the great liner（主干）

Loaded with 装载, 运载 = filled with

-- The boat was loaded with wooden goods.

Loaded with wares为过去分词做定语修饰boats（= that was loaded with wares）

Speed  v.迅速驶向

-- Speed down hill 向山下疾驶 /  Speed up hill 向山上疾驶

Speed by迅速驶过

-- Our holiday speed by.  我们的假期迅速过去。

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