乔布斯传 第355期:向库比蒂诺蹒跚前进(2)

 　　For Jobs, the contest against Be was both professional and personal. 对于乔布斯来说，跟Be的竞争亦公亦私。

　　NeXT was failing, and the prospect¹ of being bought by Apple was a tantalizing² lifeline. NeXT已在走下坡路，被苹果收购是一根救命稻草。

　　In addition, Jobs held grudges³, sometimes passionately⁴, and Gassée was near the top of his list, 另外，乔布斯是很记仇的，加西在他心里几乎是最大的仇人，排名甚至比斯卡利还高。

　　despite the fact that they had seemed to reconcile when Jobs was at NeXT. 尽管他们在NeXT的时候似乎已经和解了。

　　"Gassée is one of the few people in my life I would say is truly horrible," Jobs later insisted, unfairly. "He knifed me in the back in 1985." “加西真是个邪恶的家伙，”乔布斯后来说，“他是我这辈子认为真正邪恶的少数几个人之一。1985年他在背后捅了我一刀。”

　　Sculley, to his credit, had at least been gentlemanly enough to knife Jobs in the front. 而斯卡利至少还是个绅士，是从前面捅他刀子的。

　　On December 2, 1996, Steve Jobs set foot on Apple's Cupertino campus for the first time since his ouster eleven years earlier. 1996年12月2日，史蒂夫·乔布斯在时隔11年后，再次踏上了苹果位于库比蒂诺的土地。

　　In the executive conference room, he met Amelio and Hancock to make the pitch for NeXT. 在管理层会议室，他向阿梅里奥和汉考克展示了NeXT。

　　Once again he was scribbling⁵ on the whiteboard there, 又一次，他在那块白板上狂写乱画，

　　this time giving his lecture about the four waves of computer systems that had culminated⁶, at least in his telling, with the launch of NeXT. 而这次他是在讲计算机系统的4次浪潮，以及NeXT作为这次浪潮的顶点出现。

　　He was at his most seductive, despite the fact that he was speaking to two people he didn't respect. 他尽其所能吸引着听众，尽管事实上他面对的是他并不尊重的两个人。

　　He was particularly adroit⁷ at feigning⁸ modesty⁹. 他尤其擅长伪装谦逊。

　　"It's probably a totally crazy idea," he said, but if they found it appealing, “可能这是个完全疯狂的想法。”他说，但是如果他们感兴趣，

　　"I'll structure any kind of deal you want--license the software, sell you the company, whatever." “我愿意设计任何一种你们想要的合作方式--授权软件，把公司卖给你们--哪种方式都行。”

1 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

2 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

3 grudges   

不满，怨恨，妒忌( grudge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He never grudges money. 他从不吝惜金钱。
• They bear grudges against each other. 他俩有过节儿。

4 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

5 scribbling   

n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• Once the money got into the book, all that remained were some scribbling. 折子上的钱只是几个字！ 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• McMug loves scribbling. Mama then sent him to the Kindergarten. 麦唛很喜欢写字，妈妈看在眼里，就替他报读了幼稚园。 来自互联网

6 culminated   

v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a gun battle which culminated in the death of two police officers 一场造成两名警察死亡的枪战
• The gala culminated in a firework display. 晚会以大放烟火告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 adroit   

adj.熟练的，灵巧的

参考例句：

• Jamie was adroit at flattering others.杰米很会拍马屁。
• His adroit replies to hecklers won him many followers.他对质问者的机敏应答使他赢得了很多追随者。

8 feigning   

假装，伪装( feign的现在分词 )； 捏造（借口、理由等）

参考例句：

• He survived the massacre by feigning death. 他装死才在大屠杀中死里逃生。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。

9 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。