意思的有效、精美傳輸

1.我一下船就讓一個人給纏住了，他向我兜銷一枚鉆戒。(I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring.)

2.我無意要買鉆戒，但我無法掩飾自己還是被鉆石的個頭給吸引住了。(I had no intention of buying one, but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamond.)

3.我們走經一家路邊的商店時，他拿起一塊鉆石，緊緊地按在窗戶上，在玻璃上劃出了一道很深的印痕。(As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass.)

4.下一個走向我的人是賣貴重鋼筆和手表的。(The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches.)

5.我仔細查看了其中的一支鋼筆，看起來的確像是真的。在金筆帽的底部整齊地刻著“美國造”字樣。(I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine. At the base of the gold cap, the words ‘Made in USA’ were neatly inscribed.)

6.這人講這支筆值50英鎊，但算我面子大，只需30鎊便可拿走。(The man said that the pen was worth 50 pounds, but as a special favor, he would let me have it for 30 pounds.)

7.我搖了搖頭，伸出了五個手指，意思是我只愿意付5英鎊。(I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay 5 pounds.)

8.一邊打著手勢，嘴里面一邊哇哇亂叫著，這人表現得好像感到我的出價讓他發瘋一般。但他最終還是把價格降到了10英鎊。(Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous, but he eventually reduced the price to 10 pounds.)

9.我聳了聳肩膀便邁步走開了，此時，也就是那么一會兒的功夫，他追了上來并將筆塞到了我的手里面。(Shrugging my shoulders, I began to walk away when, a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands.)

10.雖然他絕望地不停地向空中甩著胳膊，然而還是很欣然地接過了我給他的那5英鎊。(Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the 5 pounds that I gave him.)

11.我為自己殺價的本領沾沾自喜、得意忘形，但回到船上后這種感覺便蕩然無存了。無論我怎么擺弄，就是沒辦法將這支漂亮的筆灌上墨水。時至今日，它還沒寫出過一個字呢。(I was 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 word! )

12.首先，沉湎于過去是無意義的。(First of all, it is futile to dwell on the past.)