W: Hello, Mr. Brown, how are you? It is nice to see you again.

　　-- 布朗先生，你好。很高兴再次见到你。

　　B: How are you, Mrs. Wang? It certainly is a pleasure to see you again here. I hope you had an enjoyable trip from London.

　　-- 王小姐，你好。很荣幸在这里又见到你。希望你从伦敦来一路旅途愉快。

　　W: The flight was really long, but it was comfortable so I do not feel very tired.

　　-- 飞行时间虽长，但客机非常舒适，所以也不觉得很累。

　　B: I am glad that you had a pleasant trip. I hope you are comfortably settled and find things at the hotel satisfactory.

　　-- 我很高兴你旅途愉快。希望你住得舒适，旅馆设备都还觉得满意。

　　W: Everything is perfect, thank you. Well, now, Mr. Brown, if you don’t mind, I’ll get to the point.

　　-- 谢谢你，一切都很好。噢，布朗先生，要是你不介意的话，现在咱们就开始谈谈业务吧。

　　B: Okay. You want to take up the subject of the arbutus, don’t you?

　　-- 好，你想谈谈杨梅的事，对不对?

　　W: That’s right. You see, Mr. Brown, you have probably been ad- vised of the serious damage done to the last consignment of 60 cases of arbutus. Upon its arrival in London on board the S.S. Cornea, it was found, much to our regret, that about 50% of the cases were leaking. Closer inspection by the Health Officers showed that the contents were considered unfit for human consumption.

　　-- 对。布朗先生，也许你已经知道最后一批60箱的杨梅严重损坏的情况。“柯娜”轮一到达伦敦的时候，我们就遗憾地发现其中有一半左右的箱子渗漏。经卫生检疫局官员仔细检查，认为内装食品不可供人们食用。

　　B: Just a minute, if you please, Mrs. Wang. Have your people in London discovered what were the exact causes of the leakage? It was rather a singular case, for thousands of tons of this product have been exported and this seems to be the only case of a shipment being damaged en route.

　　-- 王小姐，请稍等。请问伦敦的人有没有发现渗漏的确切原因?这件事还只这么一次，我们已经出口好几千吨了，在中途损坏还是头一回。

　　W: I am sorry I have to say it was not en route. It was definitely damaged prior to loading onto the S.S. Cornea. You may think it a singular case, yet the fact remains that this has made it necessary for us to file a claim on you. Here, Mr. Brown, I have brought along with me the certificate issued by the London Health Office. It speaks for itself. As to the causes, closer inspection and examination by our cargo-handling people revealed that the leakage of juice was brought about damaged tins. They were evidently broken through careless handling while being loaded onto the ship’s hold in Sydney dock.

　　-- 很抱歉，我得说明，损坏不是在运输途中发生的。很明显, 损坏是在装上“柯娜”轮号前发生的。你可能认为这事是头一回，可事实不得不让我们向你们提出索赔。布朗先生，这儿是伦敦卫生检疫局官员签发的证书，上面写得一清二楚。至于原因，我们经办装卸的人仔细检查，结果发现果汁渗漏的原因是锡罐被损坏了。很明显是在悉尼码头装船时，因搬运疏忽大意而造成锡罐受损的。

　　B: As I have said before, the whole business is most unfortunate. We have never come across such a case of damage during loading.

　　-- 我刚才讲过，整件事实在是很不幸。我们从未遇到过罐头在装船时发生这样的损坏。

　　W: I have to remind you that our terms are C.I.F. port of London. While we have full confidence in your Commodities Inspection Bureau, this is a case that occurred after their sampling and analy- sis at the factory. And the broken tins through careless handling and deterioration of the contents en route brought about this state of affairs. Now, Mr. Brown, you are well aware that our business has just started this branch of activities and the loses thus sustained will be a blow to this department. I am sure you will think it fair on our part when we suggest that the total value of the parcel should be reduced by 50% and that you should give us an allowance by way of credit for the amount to be set against our future purchases of canned fruits from you.

　　-- 我不得不提醒你，我们的条款是伦敦到岸价。虽然我们很信赖你们的商品检验局，可是损坏是在工厂抽样化验之后发生的，是由于搬运不慎而锡罐破裂，中途食品变质所造成的。布朗先生，你很清楚我们才开始经营这项业务，蒙受的损失将对业务部门是一个打击。我们建议这批货从总价中削减百分之五十，并给予我们补贴，这款项就用于将来向你们订购罐头水果时冲销，我相信你认为这样对我们才是公平的。

　　B: To be fair to your company, I am directed by my Sydney branch to settle this issue with you amicably on the condition that you give us a certificate issued by your Health Department. Now that this is available, I think everything will be in order.

　　-- 悉尼分公司派我来和你们公平友好地解决这件事，前提条件就是把你们卫生部签发的证书给我们。现在证书已经有了，我想事情都会解决的。

　　W: I am so glad to hear of your ready agreement. Your fairness in business dealing is unsurpassed. Shall we send you a letter confirming this?

　　-- 听到你这么痛快地同意了，我很高兴。办理业务这么公平，真是无法比啊。我们将寄信让你们确认好吗?

　　B: As soon as you send us a letter confirming this conversation, we’ll send you a reply immediately.

　　-- 我们一旦收到你们的信确认此次谈话，就会立即回复。

　　W: Thanks ever so much for your cooperation, Mr. Brown. Goodbye.

　　-- 万分感谢你的合作。布朗先生，再会。

　　B: Goodbye.

　　-- 再见。