《大城市小世界》第6期:他是个讨厌鬼

Joe! Can you stop that please! Can you please come here and sit down!

乔!你能不能停下来！过来坐下！

Hello there, Olivia. Who’s this?

你好，奥利维亚，这是谁？

This is Joe he’s my nephew.

他是乔，我的侄子。

Nephew?

侄子？

My sister’s son.

我姐姐的儿子。

Oh! I see. He’s lovely! I love children...

我明白了。可爱的孩子！我喜欢小孩。

Yeah, they’re great until you have to look after them...

如果由你来照看他们的话，就不可爱了。

You’re looking after him?

你照顾他？

Yeah, just for today, fortunately. My sister can’t get a babysitter¹. But Joe comes to my shop quite often. He loves it there...unfortunately!

幸运的是就今天，姐姐没法请保姆。但是乔又经常来店里。很不幸，他喜欢这里。

Why’s that ‘unfortunate’?

为什么不幸？

Because he’s a pest, that’s why...

因为他是个讨厌鬼。

What’s a ‘pest’?

什么是讨厌鬼？

Somebody or something which makes you angry...

让你生气的人或事。

No!! I don’t believe it! He’s so sweet! How old is he?

我不信！他多可爱，他多大了？

Four, nearly five.

4岁，快5岁了

Whoooaaaa! Slow down there, little man! Who’s this?

喔，小孩，慢点！这是谁？

Fadi, meet Joe.

法帝，这是乔。

He’s Olivia’s nephew. And a sweet little pest!

他是奥利维亚的侄子。可爱的小坏蛋！

Oh really! I didn’t know you were Aunt Olivia!

真的吗!我真不知道你已经是奥利维亚阿姨了！

Thank you very much Fadi. You make me feel old. Listen, have you had a chat with Harry² yet?

非常感谢，法帝。你让我感觉我已经老了。听着，你和哈利聊了吗？

About work?

关于工作吗？

Yeah.

是的。

No, not yet, but I’m supposed to talk to him today. He said he’d be in here later.

还没，但是我想我会今天和他谈谈。他说他一会过来。

Listen, though, it’s not true what Harry was saying...

听着，哈利没说真话。

About what?

什么没说真话？

About me being upset if he can’t do the website for my shop...I don’t mind if he can’t do it!

关于让我感到不安的事，如果他不帮我的店做网站，我就会感到不安。他做不了，我不介意。

He wanted far too much money. I could never have afforded it.

他要的太多。我给不起。

Now it’s ok, because he thinks he’s turning me down...I don’t have to offend³ him by saying ‘no’! A happy result all round!

现在好了，因为他认为他拒绝了我。我不用对他说“不”来伤害他了！结果圆满。

I see...so I don’t have to bail⁴ you out, after all?

所以，我不用解救你了？

No!

不用！

Joe, can you stop that please? Come over here!

乔，能不能停下来？过来！

and here he is!

他来了！

Alright mate⁵! Alright Olivia, Magda...who’s this young man?

大家好！你好奥利维亚，玛格达，小男孩是谁？

My nephew, Joe.

我侄子，乔。

Hello Joe!

你好，乔！

He’s very...erm...what’s the word...energetic⁶?

他非常，嗯，什么词来着，精神充沛？

I just call him “trouble”!

我把他叫做“麻烦”！

So, Fadi, you wanted to talk business?

法帝，你想聊一聊正事吗？

Yeah, finally...well, I’ve got the all clear from my uncle, so we’re on.

我和我叔叔谈妥了，所以我们可以开始了。

Great.

太好了。

But...

但是。

There’s always a “but”!

总是有个“但是”！

You’re going to have to do us a favour and come down on the price, mate...

你得帮我们一个忙，把价格降下来。

What price did I quote⁷ you?

我当时的报价是多少？

Two thousand five hundred.

2500。

Well, seeing as you’re a friend, I could come down to two thousand four hundred, but not less than that.

你是我的朋友，我可以减到2400，不能再少了。

We can offer two thousand. That’s our top limit. We don’t have a bigger budget than that.

我们可以出2000.这是我们的上限。我们拿不出那么多钱。

Come on! You’re joking!

你是在开玩笑嘛？

Sorry mate. It’s two thousand, or nothing.

对不起，兄弟。2000，要不没戏。

No way. Can’t be done. I’ve got to go now...got to go and see Johnny. he’s offered me a real job...bye all!

不可能。我要走了，去约翰那里。他提供给我一个工作机会。再见！

Oh no, do you think he’s really upset now?

不，你不认为他现在才真是不安吗？

I don’t think “upset” is the word....

我不认为他是不安。

We can go a bit higher actually...I was just trying to be a tough negotiator⁸.

其实我们还可以再高点。我只是想成为一名难对付的谈判家。

A bit too tough, I think.

我想是有点难对付。

You should never mix work and friendship, anyway.

千万不要修补工作和友谊。

And you probably shouldn’t have a business meeting in a café!

你不应该在咖啡馆谈生意。

Oh no. What a mess. I’d better go. Hang on..where’s my...where are my....I can’t find my mobile⁹! Or my keys! Has anyone seen them?

不，全乱套了。我要走了。等等，我的，我的手机不见了。我的钥匙，谁看见了？

Let’s look under the seats...they must be here somewhere...

在椅子下面找找，一定在什么地方。

I can’t see anything.

没找到。

No sign.

没看到。

How strange...hang on a minute, my nephew’s been terribly quiet for the last five minutes...what’s he up to...Joe!!!

太奇怪了。等等，我侄子这五分钟怎么这么安静？乔，你在干嘛？

1 babysitter   

n.临时照顾幼儿者

参考例句：

• I can't find a babysitter for tonight. 我找不到人今天晚上帮我看小孩。
• The babysitter was in charge of the kids while the parents were out. 保姆在父母不在家的时候，负责照顾孩子们。 来自辞典例句

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

3 offend   

v.犯错误；违犯；犯罪

参考例句：

• He took care never to offend his visitors.他小心谨慎，绝不得罪他的访客。
• I think I never offend you.我想我从没有触犯过你。

4 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

5 mate   

n.伙伴，同事；配偶；大副；v.(使)交配

参考例句：

• Where is the mate to this glove?这副手套的另一只在哪儿？
• She has been a faithful mate to him.她一直是他忠实的配偶。

6 energetic   

adj.充满活力的，精力充沛的

参考例句：

• The elderly man is quite energetic.这位上了年纪的老人仍精力充沛。
• Her mother was a resourceful and energetic woman.她母亲是一个足智多谋、精力充沛的女人。

7 quote   

n.引用语，语录；vt.引述，举证，报价；vi.引用

参考例句：

• I can quote what he said.我可以引用他的话。
• This is the best price I can quote you.这是我给你开出的最有利的价钱了。

8 negotiator   

n.协商者，谈判者；(票据、支票等)背书人

参考例句：

• They have placed great trust in him as a negotiator. 他们完全信赖他进行谈判。
• The negotiator acted as liaison between labour and management. 谈判者充当劳资双方的联络人。

9 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。