原文
I arrived in London at last. The railway station was big, black and dark. I did not know the way to my hotel, so I asked a porter. I not only spoke English very carefully, but very clearly as well. The porter, however, could not understand me. I repeated my question several times and at last he understood. He answered me, but he spoke neither slowly nor clearly. "I am a foreigner," I said. The he spoke slowly, but I could not understand him. My teacher never spoke English like that! The porter and I looked at each other and smiled. Then he said something and I understood it. "You‘ll soon learn English!" he said. I wonder. In England, each person speaks a different language. The English understand each other, but I don‘t understand them! Do they speak English?
译文
我终于到达伦敦。伦敦的火车站很大，很阴暗。我不知道怎么去旅馆的路，所以我问了一个搬运工。虽然我英语讲的不是很好，但是我尽量讲得很清晰。这个搬运工竟然听不懂我在说啥。我重复相同的问题好几遍，最后他懂了。他回答我，不过他说的太快还很含糊。“我是一个外国人，”我说。接着他说的很慢，但是我还是不懂他在说啥。我的英语老师说的英语不该这样的呀。我们微笑的看着对方。我开始明白他在说啥。“你应该快一点学下英语！”他说。我奇怪了。在英格兰，大家彼此之间说的是另外一种不同的语言。英国人自己人能彼此听得懂，但是我听不懂他们的话。他们说的是英语吗？