雙語故事: 謊言的背後 到底誰在欺騙誰?
It was a small town with fantastic landscapes that attracted a wealth of the rich to live in it. But they were not living for long. The rich people would come to the town for one or two months during their vacations and relaxed themselves.
這裏是一個風景優美的小鎮子，因爲它的風景而吸引來了許多的富人在這裏居住，不過當然不是長久地住在這裏，而是每逢休假日就就來住一兩月，放鬆放鬆。
Ming was also attracted by the scenic spots to the town. But he had little money and did not have a permanent income, so he rented a cheap house after he arrived. But what drew his attention most here was those wealthy people. His job was to sell cell phones. But they were not “real” phones. They were indeed counterfeits that could model the real ones which had comprehensive and great functions with the cost of no more than 20 yuan. If he met his less lucky day, he could earn at least several hundred yuan, while several thousand yuan if he met his lucky day. As those buyers were very well-off, they would not care about the money even though they discovered the phones to be fake later.
小明也是被吸引過來的，不過他沒什麼錢，沒有固定收入，他到這個鎮子裏後，就租了一個廉租房。他正是看準了了這小鎮裏富人多的特點纔來的，他的工作就是賣手機，不是真真正正的手機，而是假手機，花上十幾元，就可以製造出一部貌似功能很好很強大的手機，運氣差時能賺幾百，運氣好時一部就賺幾千——這裏面住的都是富人嘛，就算髮現是假的，也不會在意，誰在乎這幾千幾百的？
One day, Ming’s pocket was empty again and wanted to earn money with his tricks. Luckily, there was still a fake phone in his pocket to sell, which made him terrifically pleased. He took the phone with him in the street where a crow of people were coming and going that made his eyes spin. But soon enough, he spotted a target, a seemingly wealthy middle-aged man in an old jacket. Ming came up to him and smiled politely, saying, “Hey, friend…….” But the man was very alert and asked, “What’s up?”
這日，小明的口袋又空啦！就又打起歪腦筋來，正巧，上次還餘下一部假手機，心裏一陣狂喜，裝着手機就走了。路上行人人來人往，叫小明看得眼花繚亂，但很快他就選好了目標——一個身着一件舊夾克，看似很有錢的中年男子。小明圍上去，堆上職業性的笑容，說：“大哥……” 男子似乎很警覺，說：“幹什麼？”
Ming was quite acquainted with the man’s reaction—the richer a man was, the more alert he would be, and the easier it was to cheat him. So Ming said to him immediately, “Friend, I have a phone with me. I bought it at 5,000 yuan. But now I could sell it to you at only 3,000.” The man seemed uninterested in his phone and wanted to go away. Ming stopped him and said, “What about 2,000?” The man was greatly irritated and shouted at him, “What do you want to do with me?”
小明對這類人司空見慣了——越富有，就越警覺，也越好被騙。於是立刻說：“大哥啊，我是個推銷手機的，”說着，將口袋裏的手機掏出來，繼續說：“我這裏有部手機，原價五千，現在賣您三千……” 男子似乎毫不理他，轉身就想走，小明立刻堵住他的路：“這樣吧，兩千……”男子見小明堵住他的路，頓時發起了大火，喝道：“你想幹什麼？”
Ming was stunned to speechlessness, because he had not seen anyone like the man since he began his business. Ming immediately put up a poor face and hugged the man’s legs, crying to him, “Oh, my dear friend! I am selling phones to make a living. Ok, now I will only sell my phone at 1,000. Only 1,000, is it ok?” Ming began pouring out his “miserable story” as he was crying. The man, after seeing this, felt a little bit affected and put his hands into his pocket. Knowing that the man seemed to be stricken to buy the phone, Ming cried even harder. Then to Ming’s expectation, the man took out 1,000 yuan to Ming and took the phone away.
小明一愣，自他出道這麼多日，還沒見過這樣的，不過小明自有方法。只見小明立刻換了一張可憐巴巴的臉，抱住男人的大腿，哭道：“大哥啊，我也是爲了生活纔來推銷手機的啊。只要一千，一千就行了……”他竟然一把鼻涕，一把眼淚地訴說起來。連男子都有點被打動，手在袋子裏動了動，小明一陣竊喜——有戲。於是哭得越發慘烈了。果然，男子掏出十張百元鈔遞給小明，拿了手機就匆匆離去。
After earning 1,000 yuan, Ming felt more than happy and as he felt hungry, he went to a small shop to buy some bread. It was noon at that time when Ming took the bread and planned the pay the bill at the counter. Ming handed over a banknote of 100 yuan to the cashier. The cashier stared at the banknote for quite a while and then said to Ming, “Sorry, I could not find the changes for you for the moment. Please wait a minute.” Then he went away. Staying in the shop without anything to do, Ming was sitting on a stool and watching TV. After all, his cheap-rented house had no TV.
賺了錢的小明好不得意，忽然覺得肚子有點餓了，就打算到小賣部裏買一兩個麪包來填填肚子。到了小賣部，已經是中午了，小明選好了兩個麪包，到收銀處結賬。小明遞上了一張剛剛賺到的百元鈔，收銀員見了這張錢一愣，然後愣愣地對小明說：“對不起，這裏暫時找不開，請稍等。”說完就轉身離去。呆在店裏的小明沒事可幹，正巧店裏有一臺電視，放的是昨晚新聞的重播，於是小明就搬了張凳子，坐下看電視，畢竟在他的廉租房裏沒有電視可看。
The TV was broadcasting a news that a gang of criminals using fake notes had come to the town and reminding the citizens to be mindful about it. The TV station also called for the public to call the police if they had any clues. Ming could not help despising those criminals. All of a sudden, he heard police siren and out of occupational sensitivity, he was about to run away immediately. But after a second, he thought that the police was not to catch him, so he stayed on in the house and pretended to hear nothing.
電視里正播放這一個新聞，大體內容是這個小鎮裏來了一夥用假鈔的罪犯，提醒市民要小心，或者有知情者可以警報.小明對它嗤之以鼻——哼！又來了一夥搶飯碗的。忽然，街道上傳來了一陣警笛聲，處於職業的敏感，小明想邁腿逃跑，可是轉念一想，又不是來抓自己的，於是就正襟危坐，面無懼色。
The police patrol car stopped before the small shop and two policemen came out of the car and arrested Ming. Ming could hardly resist. At this moment, the cashier showed up and said to the policemen, “Yes, it is he who uses fake notes!” Ming felt downright shocked, saying to himself, “The man
警車到小賣部門口就停了下來，跳下來兩個警察，一左一右將小明抓住，小明連反抗的機會都沒有。這時，收銀員從後面走出來，對警察說：“對！就是他，用假鈔的罪犯！”小明心裏一驚，那人……
