英语故事: 谎言的背后 到底谁在欺骗谁?

 
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.

这里是一个风景优美的小镇子，因为它的风景而吸引来了许多的富人在这里居住，不过当然不是长久地住在这里，而是每逢休假日就就来住一两月，放松放松。

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.

小明也是被吸引过来的，不过他没什么钱，没有固定收入，他到这个镇子里后，就租了一个廉租房。他正是看准了了这小镇里富人多的特点才来的，他的工作就是卖手机，不是真真正正的手机，而是假手机，花上十几元，就可以制造出一部貌似功能很好很强大的手机，运气差时能赚几百，运气好时一部就赚几千——这里面住的都是富人嘛，就算发现是假的，也不会在意，谁在乎这几千几百的？

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?”

这日，小明的口袋又空啦！就又打起歪脑筋来，正巧，上次还余下一部假手机，心里一阵狂喜，装着手机就走了。路上行人人来人往，叫小明看得眼花缭乱，但很快他就选好了目标——一个身着一件旧夹克，看似很有钱的中年男子。小明围上去，堆上职业性的笑容，说：“大哥……” 男子似乎很警觉，说：“干什么？”

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?”

小明对这类人司空见惯了——越富有，就越警觉，也越好被骗。于是立刻说：“大哥啊，我是个推销手机的，”说着，将口袋里的手机掏出来，继续说：“我这里有部手机，原价五千，现在卖您三千……” 男子似乎毫不理他，转身就想走，小明立刻堵住他的路：“这样吧，两千……”男子见小明堵住他的路，顿时发起了大火，喝道：“你想干什么？”

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，自他出道这么多日，还没见过这样的，不过小明自有方法。只见小明立刻换了一张可怜巴巴的脸，抱住男人的大腿，哭道：“大哥啊，我也是为了生活才来推销手机的啊。只要一千，一千就行了……”他竟然一把鼻涕，一把眼泪地诉说起来。连男子都有点被打动，手在袋子里动了动，小明一阵窃喜——有戏。于是哭得越发惨烈了。果然，男子掏出十张百元钞递给小明，拿了手机就匆匆离去。

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.

赚了钱的小明好不得意，忽然觉得肚子有点饿了，就打算到小卖部里买一两个面包来填填肚子。到了小卖部，已经是中午了，小明选好了两个面包，到收银处结账。小明递上了一张刚刚赚到的百元钞，收银员见了这张钱一愣，然后愣愣地对小明说：“对不起，这里暂时找不开，请稍等。”说完就转身离去。呆在店里的小明没事可干，正巧店里有一台电视，放的是昨晚新闻的重播，于是小明就搬了张凳子，坐下看电视，毕竟在他的廉租房里没有电视可看。

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.

电视里正播放这一个新闻，大体内容是这个小镇里来了一伙用假钞的罪犯，提醒市民要小心，或者有知情者可以警报.小明对它嗤之以鼻——哼！又来了一伙抢饭碗的。忽然，街道上传来了一阵警笛声，处于职业的敏感，小明想迈腿逃跑，可是转念一想，又不是来抓自己的，于是就正襟危坐，面无惧色。

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

警车到小卖部门口就停了下来，跳下来两个警察，一左一右将小明抓住，小明连反抗的机会都没有。这时，收银员从后面走出来，对警察说：“对！就是他，用假钞的罪犯！”小明心里一惊，那人……