英国一名男子求婚时别出心裁，将一枚价值约6000英镑的钻戒放在一只气球内，打算让不知情的女友戳破气球的瞬间向其求婚。不料遭遇罕见狂风，钻戒随气球一同被狂风吹走。
it is the one moment every man wants to get right -- and which london floor-fitter lefkos hajji could hardly have got more wrong.
the luckless 28 year-old's dreams of giving his sweetheart, leanne, 26, the ultimate proposal have literally vanished into thin air.
hajji, of hackney, east london, had concealed a 6,000-pound engagement ring inside a helium balloon. the idea was that she would pop the balloon as he popped the question.
but as he left the shop, a gust of wind pulled the balloon from his hand and he watched the ring -- and quite possibly the affections of his girlfriend -- sailing away over the rooftops.
"i couldn't believe it," he told the sun newspaper.
"i just watched as it went further and further into the air.
"i felt like such a plonker. it cost a fortune and i knew my girlfriend would kill me."
hajji spent two hours in his car trying to chase and find the balloon, without success.
"i thought i would give leanne a pin so i could literally pop the question," he said.
"but i had to tell her the story -- she went absolutely mad. now she is refusing to speak to me until i get her a new ring."
he is hoping the ring will still turn up.
"it would be amazing if someone found it," he added.
(agencies)
vocabulary:
floor-fitter: 地板安装工人
plonker：笨蛋，傻瓜
(英语点津celene编辑)