I bought an exquisite Murano glass figurine of Pegasus(穆拉诺人马座玻璃小雕像) when I traveled in Venice.
It is about twelve inches high, really heavy and gorgeously-wrought sculpted glass with real gold spun through the wings, mane and tail. I fell in love with it when I saw it at the glass factory. It was said to be 50 years old and thus hideously expensive, but I rationalized that it would be my one souvenir from that first European trip. So I put it on my credit card and had it shipped to China.
My precious artwork arrived a few weeks after I returned home. I unwrapped it and placed it carefully on a bookshelf in my new apartment. I stood and admired it, then went to open the blinds so the sun could hit it, miscalculated my reach and knocked Pegasus right onto my newly waxed hardwood floor.
Of course it broke, but not completely. That was the worst part. Both wings broke off and one front leg was shattered. But my mother thought it might be salvageable. She found a glass artist in Shanghai who did his best to repair it. And he did a fair job. But I could never see it the same way again. When I looked at it, I only saw how lovely it had been before my clumsiness ruined it. It hurt to have broken Pegasus in my living room. So I packed it away.
I still have it. Five years later. I have never re-opened the box, but I can't bring myself to throw it away.
