招牌玄机/张孝成(赵金基译）

程思良

招牌玄机/张孝成
　　
　　张三和李四同时开了服装店。两家店在一条街，门对门。
　　换季，上季的服装严重积压。他们想出了同样的点子：搞甩卖促销。
　　张三店门竖个牌子，上写：跳楼价甩卖，最后三天。
　　李四店门也竖上牌子：自杀价贱卖，最后三天。
　　果然，两家服装销售火爆，顾客络绎不绝。
　　但三天后奇怪的事发生了。张三的店一直顾客盈门，李四的店门可罗雀。
　　张妻笑问老公其中玄机。张三诡秘一笑：“真妇道人家。你再仔细看看门口招牌就知。”
　　原来，张三的招牌上并未注明日期——顾客一来，永远以为还有最后三天！
　　
　　
　　The Magic Signboard
　　
　　By Zhang Xiaocheng
　　
　　Simultaneously Zhangsan and Lisi opened their clothing stores, which stood opposite to each other on the same street.
　　As seasons changed, both Zhangsan and Lisi met the problem of overstocks. The same idea occurred to them: holding a sale.
　　There rose a signboard at Zhanshan’s store, which read, “Sale at breakdown price; last chance within three days.”
　　There also rose a signboard at Lisi’s store, which read, “Sale at bottom price; last chance within three days.”
　　Sure enough, both stores achieved great sales with an endless stream of customers.
　　Three days afterwards, however, things became different. Zhansan’s store was still being frequented by as many customers while Lisi’s store was called by none.
　　Smilingly Zhangsan’s wife enquired about the magic. Zhangsan smiled back mysteriously, “What a woman! Just look at the signboard more carefully, and you’ll know.”
　　No wonder. Zhangsan didn’t put a fixed date on the signboard so that the customers would be always catching the “last chance within three days”!
　　

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