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By Vitra Boozer
最近，我外出搜寻价格合理的中式家具，正好路过一些出售饰品的小店。搜寻毫无结果，我开始有点失望。中式家具的价格都很高，我又不太会讲价，他们给我的最低价还是超出了我的预算，而我对材质和工艺又一窍不通。即便是要买也是出于喜欢，而不是应为价格合理。我百无聊赖的来到附近那些买饰品的小店。整条街都被我逛遍了，正当我准备往回走的时候，被一些玉镯吸引住了。我试戴了几个绿色的，最后盯上了一个白色的、有褐色斑点的玉镯。粗心大意的我正准备试戴的时候，玉镯忽然碎了，碎片掉在了地上，摔成了八瓣儿。
店主开始指责我，要求我赔偿。我虽然知道高档的玉镯掉在地上会摔碎，但这里出售的玉镯最贵的才八十块，根本称不上是玉镯。而且，那玉镯也不是掉在地上摔碎的，而是我试戴的时候碎的。直觉告诉我这是一些奸商的惯用伎俩：把原本碎了的手镯粘在一起，待有粗心的客人试戴时，手镯肯定会碎掉，这样他们就可以要求客人赔偿了。我拒绝了他们的要求。这是我第一次用自己的母语确切地表达自己的想法。说出来以后心里舒服多了！当时我真的是被气坏了，说话的速度很快，估计周围人根本不明白我在说什么。如果真的是我不小心把手镯摔坏了，我当然有义务赔偿，但事实却并非如此。我冲出了商店，店主紧随其后。追了有15分钟，他嚷着要我随他过去。我加快了脚步，冲上了正在附近等客的出租车。店主觉得再追下去也没什么意思，只好离开。我终于松了口气！
有时与他人沟通会让我感到沮丧。来到中国后，我感觉到了语言的弱化。语言是我们用来表达自己想法的工具，没有什么比一个人的母语来的更自然、更让人感到舒服的了。当你身处险境时所做出的反应就是最好的证明。
On a recent trip for reasonably priced Chinese furniture, I had to pass by some small stalls selling trinkets and small ornaments. After an unsuccessful furniture search, I began to feel hopeless. The prices were very high, and with my limited bartering skills, their “best foreigner price” was way above my budget; especially when considering I couldn’t be sure of the quality of the workmanship and material. It was a case of buy it because you like it and not because you think you are getting a great deal. To break up the boredom, I decided to browse those small trinket stalls. After walking the length of the market, just as I was about to double back, my eyes were drawn to some jade bracelets. I tried on a few green ones and then spied a white one with a few brownish patches. Mindlessly, I put it over my fingers, and as I tried to nudge it towards my wrist, with very little effort, it broke apart, fell to the ground, and splintered into a few more pieces.
The store owner turned to me accusingly and insisted I pay for it. Now, I know that high quality jade would break if it fell to the ground, but this was from a vender whose highest asking price was Ұ80. Even worse, the bracelet never fell to the ground; it broke while I was trying it on. My first instinct was that this was an old trick where it had been broken and loosely glued back together earlier, and they were waiting for an unsuspecting customer to try it on. I refuse to be had like that. It was the first time I have ever resorted to speaking my native language and saying exactly what was on my mind. It was liberating and comforting because no one around me knew what I was saying. My English was too fast and angry. If I had clumsily dropped the bracelet and broke it, I would feel responsible, but that was not the case. I quickly walked away, with the shop owner on my heels. After a long fifteen minutes, he shouted at me to follow him in another direction. I quickened my pace and hurried to a waiting car. The seller decided it was pointless to continue and left. I was extremely relieved.
Sometimes it can be frustrating trying to be understood here. Coming to China has made me understand what it must be like to be language impaired. Language is a tool we use to express ourselves and nothing feels more natural and comfortable than the language we first discovered the world with. In a crisis situation this is most evident.
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