34 A happy discovery

Antique shops exert a peculiar fascination on a great many people.

古玩店对许多人来说有一种特殊的魅力。

The more expensive kind of antique shop where rare objects are beautifully displayed in glass cases to keep them free from dust is usually a forbidding place.

高档一点的古玩店为了防尘,把文物漂亮地陈列在玻璃柜子里,那里往往令人望而却步。

But no one has to muster up courage to enter a less pretentious antique shop.

而对不太装腔作势的古玩店,无论是谁都不用壮着胆子才敢往里进。

There is always hope that in its labyrinth of musty, dark, disordered rooms a real rarity will be found amongst the piles of assorted junk that litter the floors.

人们还常常有希望在发霉、阴暗、杂乱无章、迷宫般的店堂里,从杂乱地摆放在地面上的、亠堆堆各式各样的破烂货里找到一件稀世珍品。

No one discovers a rarity by chance.

无论是谁都不会一下子就发现一件珍品。

A truly dedicated bargain hunter must have patience, and above all, the ability to recognize the worth of something when he sees it.

一个到处找便宜货买的人必须具有耐心,而且最重要的是看到珍品时要有鉴别珍品的能力。