留学生在中国 第31期 Bargain 砍价

 　　Chapter 31 Bargain Shopping第31章讨价还价David：Bargaining at shops in China is very interesting.

　　在中国，在商店里买东西的时候能讨价还价，挺有意思。

　　You：You can't bargain at all the places where you go shopping.

　　并不是所有的商店都能。

　　David：And not all people like to bargain.

　　也并不是所有的人都爱讨价还价。

　　You：Yes, for some people if the price is right and they are satisfied with the quality, they may not feel like bargaining and just buy it. But when the price is too high, people might feel like they should bargain.

　　对，有的人觉得如果价位合理，质量也不错，就用不着讨价还价。但如果价格远远超出自己对商品的估价，人们一般就会讨价还价。

　　David：I noticed bargaining is popular with some street vendors¹ like those on the Silk Street. I learned² to bargain there. In fact, some foreigners feel uncomfortable to bargain, but I overcame this. Sometimes after I have bargained down the price on something, the shop owner would praise me for my bargaining abilities. I hear you are supposed to haggle³ the price down to half of the original price.

　　我发现，人们更习惯于和街头小店讨价还价。像秀水街，我就是在那儿学会的。很多外国人买东西时不习惯讨价还价，但我已经习惯了。有时候我砍完价后，店主们还会对我大赞一番。我听说，所有的东西的价格都能砍到一半。

　　You：They told me one third of the price.

　　我听说是三分之一。

　　David：One third of the price?! What?

　　三分之一？不会吧？！

　　You：I guess you didn’t catch that one. Well, do you think it is difficult for foreigners to bargain with Chinese?

　　没人告诉过你，是吧？不管怎么样，你觉得作为外国人讲价难吗？

　　David：Yes. Many westerners think it is impolite to bargain. Some believe the initial⁴ price is fair and feel like bargaining would cheat the shop owner.

　　难。很多外国人认为讨价还价很不礼貌。一些人还认为原价就是合理的价格，讲价就等于欺骗店主。

　　You：But some foreigners might regard the RMB value of the item in dollars and consider it a good deal so they don’t bargain.

　　或许有的外国人总是将中国商品的价格折合成美元来看，觉得其实也不贵嘛，所以就不讲价。

　　David：This is more the case for foreign tourists but students and foreigners who live here are already used to the standard prices and the cost of living so they know better.

　　到中国来的游客也许会那样做。但在这里生活和学习的外国人对这儿的物价及生活费用一清二楚。

1 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

3 haggle   

vi.讨价还价，争论不休

参考例句：

• In many countries you have to haggle before you buy anything.在许多国家里买东西之前都得讨价还价。
• If you haggle over the price,they might give you discount.你讲讲价，他们可能会把价钱降低。

4 initial   

adj.最初的，开始的，词首的；n.首字母，姓名的开头字母；vt.标注姓名的首字母于

参考例句：

• After she'd overcome her initial shyness,she became very friendly.她克服了起初的羞怯之后，变得十分友善。
• The experiments have given initial results eventually.那些试验总算初见成效了。