美國西部片影史回顧
考考你
本片段劇情：瑪?shù)俑赣H遇害后，購買的馬被謀殺犯偷走了?，?shù)僬业劫u主，堅(jiān)持以325美元的價(jià)格把馬再賣回去。賣主非常不情愿，兩人一番唇槍舌劍，最后賣主無奈買下了本屬于自己的已經(jīng)丟失的馬。來看看瑪?shù)偈窃趺唇o自己辯護(hù)的吧。
精彩對白
Mattie: How much are you paying for cotton?
Trader: Nine and a half, for low and middlin' and ten for ordinary.
Mattie: Think I'm surprise of that, really. I sold to the Wizten brothers in Little Rock for eleven cents.
Trader: Then I suggest you take the balance of it to the Witzen brothers.
Mattie: I take the balance to Witzen. At ten and a half.
Trader: Why'd you come here to tell me this?
Mattie: I thought I might shop around a place. I'm doing alright in Little Rock. I'm Mattie Ross. Daughter of Frank Ross.
Trader: Aw, tragic thing. May I say, your father impressed me. With his manly qualities. He was a close trader, but he acted a gentleman.
Mattie: My post was to sell those ponies back to you, that my father brought.
Trader: Well that I fear, is out of the question. Well, we'll see that they are shipped to you, at my earliest convenience.
Mattie: We don't want the ponies now, we don't need them.
Trader: Well that hardly concerns me. Your father brought the ponies, and paid for them. And there's an end to it. I have the bill of sale.
Mattie: And I want $300 for Papa's saddle horse that was stolen from your stable.
Trader: You'll have to take that up with the man who stole the horse.
Mattie: Tom Chaney stole the horse while it was in your care. You were responsible.
Trader: Yeah, I admire your sin. But I believe you'll find I'm not liable for such claims.
Mattie: You were the custodian. If you were a bank that were robbed. You could not simply tell your depositors to go hang.
Trader: I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world as it is vexing enough. Secondly your evaluation of the horse is high. By about two hundred dollars. How old are you?
Mattie: If anything, my purse is low. My Judy was a fine racing mare. I've seen her jump a eight rung fence with a rider at fourteen.
Trader: Oh, it's all very interesting. The ponies are yours, take them. Your father horse was stolen by a murderous criminal. I have provided reasonable protection for the creature as per our implicit agreement. My watchmen had his teeth knocked out, you can take on his suit.
Mattie: That would take to long.
Trader: You have no case.
Mattie: Courage would make the dartmore to long. This is by a jury. Petitioned by a widow and three small children.
Trader: I will pay two hundred dollars to your fathers estate. When I have in my hand a letter from your lawyer, absolving me of all liability from the beginning of the world to today.
Mattie: I'll take two hundred dollars for Judy, plus one hundred for the ponies. And twenty five dollars for the grey horse that Tom Chaney left. He was easily worth, forty. That is three hundred and twenty five dollars, sold.
Trader: The ponies have no part in it. I will not buy them.
Mattie: And the price for Judy is three hundred and twenty five dollars.
Trader: I would not pay three hundred and twenty five dollars for winged Pegasus. As for the grey horse, it does not belong to you.
Mattie: The grey horse was lent to Tom Chaney by my father. Chaney only had the use of him.
Mattie: I would pay two hundred and twenty five dollars. And keep the grey horse. And I want the ponies.
Mattie: Then it's settled, then. There will be no settlement after I leave this office and go to the court of law.
Trader: All right, this is my last offer. Two hundred and fifty dollars. For that I get the release, previously discussed. And I keep your father's saddle. The grey horse is not yours to sell.
Mattie: The saddle is not for sale. I will keep it. Glory Daniel will approve of the grey horse. He will come after you with a great vengeance.
Trader: What? All right, now look, listen very carefully. As I will not bargain further. I'll will take the ponies back, and the grey horse. Which is mine. And settle... For three hundred dollars. Now you must take that or leave it. And I do not much care which it is.
Mattie: My Lawyer Decker would not wish me to consider anything under three hundred and twenty five dollars. But I will settle for three hundred and twenty. If I am given twenty in advance. Now here's what I have to say about that saddle.
妙語佳句 活學(xué)活用
1. manly qualities: 男子氣概，陽剛之氣。這里也可以翻譯為“是條漢子”。
比如：He looks very manly in his uniform.（他穿著制服十分精神。）
2. pony: 小型馬，矮馬。
3. out of the question：不可能的。
類似的說法還有stand no chance of，比如：This team stands no chance of winning the match.（這個隊(duì)不可能在比賽中獲勝。）
4. saddle horse: 馴馬，鞍馬。
5. go hang: 任其自然，忘卻，一般用let things go hang來表示。
比如：Mr Johnson let his business go hang after his wife died.（太太死后，約翰遜先生對自己的事業(yè)再也無興趣了。）
6. The world as it is vexing enough: 煩人的事多著呢，本來已經(jīng)夠煩人的了。Vex表示“使煩惱，惱怒”。
7. if anything: 怎么說，如果有什么區(qū)別的話。這里瑪?shù)偈钦f，怎么說我的報(bào)價(jià)也已經(jīng)很低了。
8. racing mare: 賽馬。Mare一般指母馬。
9. as per: 按照。
例如：As per the contract, the construction of factory is now under way. 根據(jù)合同規(guī)定，工廠的建設(shè)正在進(jìn)行中。
10.winged Pegasus: 有翼的馬，神馬，這里指已經(jīng)丟了的馬。
Pegasus在希臘神話中指珀加索斯，是一匹有雙翼的飛馬，被其足蹄踩過的地方有泉水涌出，詩人飲用這些泉水可以獲得靈感。因此也可以引申為詩人的靈感，詩才。在天文學(xué)中，Pegasus也指“天馬座”。
11.take that or leave it: 要么接受，要么就算了。這里是賣主在威脅瑪?shù)俳邮茏约旱某鰞r(jià)。
