摘要：On my final day, the riverbank still swarmed with stone hunters. A seemingly intellectually disabled child caught my attention, an

砸我一块狗头金英文版（深探翻译）

"Hit Me With a Gold Nugget"

A Micro-fiction by Song Ming

As an avid rock collector with perpetually bad luck, I've spent considerable time and money without ever acquiring a truly exceptional specimen.

Last month, rumors spread about rubies being found near a place called Golden Flow River in the northwestern deserts. I immediately packed all my savings and embarked on the long journey to hunt for treasure.

After enduring countless hardships, I conclusively proved that the so-called "rubies" were merely red silicate rocks—completely worthless.

On my final day, the riverbank still swarmed with stone hunters. A seemingly intellectually disabled child caught my attention, and I struck up a conversation:

"How old are you?"

"Hehe, dunno."

"What's your name?"

"Doggy."

"I mean your proper name."

"Hehe. Big Doggy."

"Why are you collecting stones?"

"For my sheep pen."

I pulled an orange from my pocket and gave it to him.

"Hehe. Got another? I want one more."

I gave him a second one.

"Doggy—" someone called.

He scampered off like a rabbit.

At dusk, a puttering tractor passed me. Sitting atop a pile of stones in the trailer was Doggy.

"I stole them oranges from him! He called me a thief!" Doggy said to the driver.

"Hit the bastard with a stone!" the driver growled.

My blood boiled with injustice. How could the kid lie like that? I'd given him those oranges!

Thud! A large rock landed right before me.

I kicked it in frustration—then my eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "Dear heavens! Isn't this a gold nugget?!"

Crouching down, I examined it meticulously with my magnifying glass. Undoubtedly a gold nugget, with burn marks suggesting meteoritic origin. Superb purity, easily over 10 kilograms. Most remarkably, its shape resembled a coiling dragon.

When I looked up, the tractor had vanished without a trace. Without hesitation, I dumped all the oranges from my bag and hoisted the golden treasure onto my back.

Translation Notes:

Cultural Terms:

"狗头金" translated as "gold nugget" (though literally "dog-head gold"), as Western readers more readily recognize nuggets than the Chinese specific term

Retained "hehe" for laughter to preserve the child's voice

Used "Doggy" for "狗蛋" to convey the rustic, derogatory nuance

Dialect & Tone:

"俄" (regional for "I") becomes standard "I" to avoid confusing English readers

"驴日的" rendered as "bastard" to match the vulgar tone without over-localizing

Key Irony Preservation:

Maintained the juxtaposition of the protagonist's "professional failure" vs. "accidental success"

Kept the child's illogical accusation as the catalyst for the discovery

Fluency Adjustments:

Simplified some repetitive dialogue while keeping the child's disjointed speech pattern

Added "my blood boiled" to clarify the protagonist's indignation

来源：小说讲坛