乔布斯传 第188期:1985年春的摊牌(4)

 　　At the end of that month, Sculley finally worked up the nerve to tell Jobs that he should give up running the Macintosh division.

　　3月底，斯卡利终于鼓起勇气告诉乔布斯，他应该放弃麦金塔部门的管理权。

　　He walked over to Jobs's office one evening and brought the human resources manager,一天傍晚，他走进乔布斯的办公室，为了让两人的会面更加正式，Jay Elliot, to make the confrontation¹ more formal.

　　他还带上了人力资源部经理杰伊·埃利奥特。

　　"There is no one who admires your brilliance² and vision more than I do," Sculley began.

　　“没有人比我更钦佩你的才华和远见。”斯卡利开场道。

　　He had uttered such flatteries before,

　　他以前也说过这样的奉承话，

　　but this time it was clear that there would be a brutal³ "but" punctuating⁴ the thought.

　　但这次，显然后面会出现一个“但是”来打断这些赞美。

　　And there was. "But this is really not going to work," he declared.

　　事实确实如此。“但是，这真的行不通。”他说道。

　　The flatteries punctured⁵ by "buts" continued.

　　被“但是”打断的恭维话又继续下去。

　　"We have developed a great friendship with each other," he said,“我们彼此之间已经发展出深厚的友谊，”他继续说道，"but I have lost confidence in your ability to run the Macintosh division."“但是我对你管理麦金塔部门的能力失去了信心。”

　　双语有声读物 乔布斯传

　　He also berated⁶ Jobs for badmouthing him as a bozo behind his back.

　　斯卡利还斥责乔布斯在背后说自己的坏话，把他当笨蛋。

　　Jobs looked stunned⁷ and countered with an odd challenge,乔布斯看上去惊呆了，说出了一句奇怪的反驳，that Sculley should help and coach him more:

　　意思是在这方面斯卡利应该多给他点儿帮助和指导。

　　"You've got to spend more time with me." Then he lashed⁹ back.

　　“你得花更多时间与我相处。”接着他开始回击。

　　He told Sculley he knew nothing about computers,他说斯卡利对电脑一无所知，

　　was doing a terrible job running the company,管理公司一塌糊涂，

　　and had disappointed Jobs ever since coming to Apple.

　　并且自从斯卡利进苹果公司以来，就不断地令自己失望。

　　Then he began to cry. Sculley sat there biting his fingernails.

　　然后，他哭了起来。斯卡利则坐在那儿咬指甲。

　　"I'm going to bring this up with the board," Sculley declared.

　　“我会把现在的情况反映给董事会，”斯卡利说道，"I'm going to recommend that you step down from your operating position of running the Macintosh division.

　　“我会建议他们让你离开麦金塔部门的管理岗位。

　　I want you to know that."

　　我希望你知道这些。”

　　He urged Jobs not to resist and to agree instead to work on developing new technologies and products.

　　他力劝乔布斯不要抵抗，并同意去开发新技术与产品。

　　Jobs jumped from his seat and turned his intense stare on Sculley.

　　乔布斯从座位上跳了起来，转过身来，目不转睛地盯着斯卡利。

　　"I don't believe you're going to do that," he said.

　　“我不相信你会这么做，”他说，

　　"If you do that, you're going to destroy the company."“如果你做了，会毁掉公司的。”

　　Over the next few weeks Jobs's behavior fluctuated wildly.

　　在接下来的几个星期，乔布斯的行为出现了很大波动。

　　At one moment he would be talking about going off to run AppleLabs,他一会儿说自己要离开公司总部去管理苹果实验室，but in the next moment he would be enlisting¹⁰ support to have Sculley ousted¹¹.

　　一会儿又开始争取支持去推翻斯卡利。

　　He would reach out to Sculley, then lash⁸ out at him behind his back, sometimes on the same night.

　　刚同斯卡利示好，转眼又在背后大肆抨击斯卡利，有时候这种反复会发生在同一天晚上。

　　One night at 9 he called Apple's general counsel Al Eisenstat to say一天晚上9点，他打电话给苹果公司法律总顾问阿尔·艾森斯塔特，he was losing confidence in Sculley and needed his help convincing the board to fire him;说自己对斯卡利失去了信心，并需要艾森斯塔特的帮助来说服董事会。

　　at 11 the same night, he phoned Sculley to say,而两个小时后，他又一个电话吵醒斯卡利，

　　"You're terrific, and I just want you to know I love working with you."对他说：“你很了不起，我只想要你知道，我喜欢跟你合作。”

 

1 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

2 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

3 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

4 punctuating   

v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的现在分词 )；不时打断某事物

参考例句：

• Finally, it all came to a halt, with only Leehom's laboured breathing punctuating the silence. 最后，一切静止，只剩力宏吃力的呼吸，打破寂静。 来自互联网
• Li, punctuating the air with her hands, her fingernails decorated with pink rose decals. 一边说着，一边用手在空中一挥，指甲上还画了粉红玫瑰图案。 来自互联网

5 punctured   

v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气

参考例句：

• Some glass on the road punctured my new tyre. 路上的玻璃刺破了我的新轮胎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A nail on the road punctured the tyre. 路上的钉子把车胎戳穿了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 berated   

v.严厉责备，痛斥( berate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marion berated Joe for the noise he made. 玛丽昂严厉斥责乔吵吵闹闹。 来自辞典例句
• It berated Mussolini for selling out to Berlin. 它严厉谴责了墨索里尼背叛、投靠柏林的行径。 来自辞典例句

7 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

8 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

9 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 enlisting   

v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的现在分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• He thought about enlisting-about the Spanish legion-about a profession. 他想去打仗，想参加西班牙军团，想找个职业。 来自辞典例句
• They are not enlisting men over thirty-five. 他们不召超过35岁的人入伍。 来自辞典例句

11 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。