44 Ways and Means
44 花招
A man handed a pair of gray gloves to the clerk of a duty-shop. "I'd like these altered, please." he said. The clerk asked for the sales receipt, but after making a thorough search in his pockets, the man replied he had lost it. The clerk told him that it was store policy not to do free alterations without a receipt.
一位男子把一副灰色的手套递给免税商店职员。“我想换一副。”他说。店员向他要售货收据,但这位男子翻遍了他所有的口袋,最后只得说收据丢了。店员告诉他说没有收据不能更换,这是商店的规矩。
"Okay, then, " the man said, "I'd like to return the gloves." The clerk processed the return and gave him cash equaling the cost of the gloves.
“那好吧,”这位男子说,“我要把这幅手套退掉。”店员按程序办理了退货手续并把手套钱如数退给了他。
The man pushed the money back across the counter. "Now I want to buy the gloves." he said. The clerk rang up the sale, bagged the gloves and handed them to him with a receipt.
这位男子把钱从柜台上推回去。“现在我还要这幅手套。”他说。店员用收银机收下了钱,把那幅手套装进包里,并把它连同收据递给了他。
Triumphantly, he put the gloves and the receipt on the counter. "I'd like to have these altered, please."
这位男子把手套和收据放在柜台上,神气地说:“我要把这幅手套换了。”