Five Pounds Too Dear

更新：2023-11-22

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[00:01.50]Lesson 28
[00:03.38]Five pounds too dear
[00:12.49]Why was even five pounds 'too dear' ?
[00:18.06]Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour.
[00:24.95]Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board
[00:29.55]and the decks were soon covered with colourful rugs from Persia,
[00:33.52]silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware.
[00:40.17]It was difficult not to be tempted.
[00:43.14]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.
[00:53.45]I had no sooner got off the ship
[00:55.48]than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring.
[01:00.86]I had no intention of buying one,
[01:03.15]but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds.
[01:08.80]Some of them were as big as marbles.
[01:12.38]The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real.
[01:17.11]As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window
[01:21.65]and made a deep impression in the glass.
[01:24.83]It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.
[01:29.04]The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches.
[01:33.93]I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine.
[01:39.16]At the base of the gold cap,
[01:41.33]the words 'made in the U.S.A.' had been neatly inscribed.
[01:46.33]The man said that the pen was worth ￡50, but as a special favour,
[01:51.35]he would let me have it for ￡30.
[01:54.97]I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay ￡5.
[02:02.87]Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous,
[02:08.57]but he eventually reduced the price to 10 pounds.
[02:12.55]Shrugging my shoulders I began to walk away when,
[02:15.94]a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands.
[02:21.44]Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair,
[02:24.33]he readily accepted the ￡5 I gave him.
[02:27.90]I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain--until I got back to the ship.
[02:34.23]No matter how hard I tried,
[02:36.47]it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink
[02:39.26]and to this day it has never written a single word!