An unemployed jewellery setter has taken to combing the streets of New York with a pair of tweezers to cash in on dropped gems and gold.
一位失业珠宝商用镊子捡拾纽约街头的珠宝和金子换钱。 The streets of New York may not quite be paved with gold. But one man in America is proving that the cracks on Manhattan pavements really can bear riches.
纽约街道也许并不是金子铺成的,但一位美国人确实证明了曼哈顿街道的间隙里确实藏着财富。
Raffi Stepanian, 43, has begun crawling around the New York 'Diamond District' on his hands and knees, plucking jewels and fragments of precious metals from between the slabs.
今年43岁的Raffi Stepanian经常匍匐于纽约“钻石区”,在石板的缝隙间夹出珠宝和部分贵重金属。
Armed with a pair of tweezers, Mr Stepanian, an unemployed diamond setter from Queens, claims to have collected $1,010(£623) worth in the past fortnight.
Stepanian是纽约皇后区的一位失业珠宝商,他每天拿着镊子干活,据他介绍,这两个星期他已经找到了价值1010美元(623英镑)的贵重物品。
"I'm surviving on it," he said. "I may be about to trigger a new gold rush on the streets of New York, The soil in the sidewalks of 47th street are saturated with the stuff "
“我就是靠这个生活的。”他说道,“我正打算在纽约街头掀起一股新的淘金热。第47号大街人行道上的泥土中充满着财富。”
Mr Stepanian's haul so far has included chips of diamonds and rubies, bits of platinum, and gold fragments from watches, earrings and necklaces.
Stepanian的成果包括钻石和红宝石的碎片,小块片的铂金及手表、耳环和项链的黄金材料。
He has sold most of his discoveries to metal refiners or diamond sellers, while keeping some gold with a view to melting it down for future use.
他已经将收集的绝大部分材料卖给了金炼者和珠宝商,只保留了少许黄金准备将来熔炼后再用。
"You might get $30 per piece, but it all adds up, It is a rich area and people simply drop things, or their jewellery falls on the street, and it gets stuck in the mud or the gum. It's like a mine, but more concentrated." he said.
“这些黄金可能一片才30美元,但如果将它们熔炼在一起,价钱就大大提升了。这是一片富裕区,而人们经常掉东西,它们的珠宝掉落在大街上,然后被泥土或口香糖卡住。这里就像一座矿山,但宝藏更集中。”他介绍到。
"Being in the jewellery industry for 26 years, it was second nature to spot glistening fragments on the floors and in elevators. It was always tempting to pick them up. Now that's what I'm doing." he said.
“在珠宝业摸爬滚打26年,在地板和电梯里发现闪光的东西已经成为我的第二天性了。他们总是能吸引我把他们捡拾起来,这就是我所做的。”他如此说道。
上一篇: 英科学家发现神奇蛋白 可让白发变黑
下一篇: 英国网购遇冷 百姓更爱传统购物方式