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有个人在旧金山游玩时，看到了一家散发着霉味的古董店，这家店似乎被时间遗忘了，和周围繁华的城市非常不协调。这个人的好奇心一下被激发起来，就走进了店里。店里看起来没有多少生意，架子上摆满了满是灰尘，但却很有趣的东西。奇怪的是，这个人对柜台后面架子上的一只非常丑陋的铜老鼠产生了兴趣。他从来没见过这样的东西，虽然很难看,可是做工惊人地细致，栩栩如生。他问店主这只铜鼠多少钱。 听说只要花5美元就能得到这只铜鼠，这个人非常高兴，就把钱递给了店主。可是，在把铜鼠交给这个人之前，店主严肃地警告他说：“这笔买卖就此结耒。如果你拿着这只铜鼠离开本店,不管发生什么事情我都不会再把它收回来了。" 这个人觉得这个警告有些奇怪。这只老鼠只花了5美元，就算不喜欢了，5美元也不是什么值得计较的大数目。他同意了店主的条件，就拿着铜鼠离开了。 一开始，一切似乎都很正常。可是当他走向汽车时，他听到周围有奇怪的窸窸索索的声音。接着他看到一只真的老鼠从小胡同里跑了出来开始跟着他。突然，老鼠好像从四面八方一下子围了过来，从下水道，垃圾场涌了出来，跟着他,在他脚边转来转去。 这个人跑了起来，但是越来越多的老鼠开始跟了上来。他发现后面有成千上万只老鼠在追赶，地面上一下热闹起来，因为老鼠聚集在他的身边。 他一下子明白了店主警告的意义，也知道自己该怎么做了。他转向水湾，快步向水边跑去。到了水边，他使劲把铜鼠扔到了水湾中。老鼠们从他身边跑过去，追着铜鼠一起跑进水里，结果被淹死了。 这个人又回到了古董店。店主一看到他进来就喊道："我告诉过你了，不退货。我可不想惹麻烦。买卖结束了，你不能退货。" 这个人笑着说哦，我不是来退那只铜鼠的。我只是想知道——你这里卖不卖铜的律师?" Brass Rat A man, visiting San Francisco, noticed a musty curio shop, which seemed to be forgotten by time. It seemed very out of place in the busy city. The man’s curiosity was piqued, and he entered the shop. The store didn’t seem to have much traffic, and the shelves were full of dusty, but interesting items. The man found himself strangely interested in a rather ugly brass rat on a shelf behind the counter. Ugly it was, but he had never seen anything like it — it was so incredibly detailed, and life-like. He asked the shopkeeper for a price. The man was pleased to learn that he could acquire the rat for only $ 5，and he handed the shopkeeper the money. But before giving the man the rat, the shopkeeper sternly warned him, “This sale is final. If you leave the shop with the brass rat, I won’t take it back under any circumstances. The man thought the warning was curious, given that the rat only cost $5. Even if he decided he hated the rat, it was hardly an amount worth worrying about. He agreed to the shopkeeper's terms, and left with the rat. At first, everything seemed perfectly normal. But as he walked back toward his car, the man started to hear strange rustling noises around him. Then he saw a life rat scurry out of an alley, and start to follow him. Suddenly, rats seemed to be appearing all around him, streaming out of sewers and dumpsters, all following him and milling about his feet. The man began to run, but the rats kept up in increasing numbers. The man realized that he was being chased by literally tens of thousands of rats. The ground came alive, as the rats swarmed behind him. The man suddenly realized the significance of the shopkeeper’s warning，and knew what he had to do. He turned toward the bay, and ran as quickly as he could toward the water. When he reached the waterfront, he threw the brass rat as far as he could into the bay. The rats raced past him, following the rat into the water, where they drowned. The man returned to the curio shop, and upon seeing him enter the shopkeeper shouted, “I told you, no refunds. I don’t want trouble here. The sale was final, and you can’t return the merchandise. ” The man smiled, and replied, “Oh，I don't want to return the rat. I just want to know —do you have a brass lawyer in stock?” |
