English Original
At eleven o'clock each morning, most staff at the garden centre would take a ten-minute break in the tea room, enjoying a cup of tea or coffee. Though brief, this break was a lively exchange of news—from the garden centre to the UK and even the world. The topics were broad, and I loved chatting with everyone. It never mattered if we didn't fully understand each other; I never considered language a barrier to communication.
Just before Christmas in 2005, someone mentioned displaying boxes of "DUNKABLES" biscuits on the shop floor. I only caught the word "DUNKABLES," which to my ear sounded like "DONKEY ball." I suddenly chimed in:
"Donkey ball!? What's a donkey? What's a donkey ball? We sell donkey balls here? That's so strange!"
Everyone burst out laughing. From then on, "donkey and donkey ball" was on everyone's lips, becoming a frequent topic of conversation.
One morning, after greeting my colleague Tony, I asked him, "Where is your donkey ball?"
"I lost my donkey ball last night," he replied.
That day, "Tony lost a donkey ball last night" became the latest news circulating in the tea room and throughout our garden centre.
中文翻译
每天上午十一点，园艺中心的大多数员工都会在茶水间享受十分钟的休息时间，喝杯茶或咖啡。虽然时间短暂，但这里充满了各种新闻的活跃交流——从园艺中心到英国，乃至全世界。话题广泛，我喜欢和大家聊天。我们是否完全理解彼此并不重要；我从不认为语言是交流的障碍。
就在2005年圣诞节前，有人提到要在卖场展示“DUNKABLES”饼干盒。我只听到了“DUNKABLES”这个词，在我听来很像“驴球”。我突然插话道：
“驴球！？驴是什么？驴球是什么？我们这里卖驴球？太奇怪了！”
所有人都爆发出大笑。从那以后，“驴和驴球”就成了大家嘴边的话题，经常被谈起。
一天早上，我和同事托尼打招呼后，问他：“你的驴球在哪？”
“我昨晚把驴球弄丢了，”他回答道。
那天，“托尼昨晚丢了一个驴球”成了茶水间乃至整个园艺中心流传的最新消息。