《一呼一吸》精讲 15

Talking to Robin¹

和罗宾说话

It's very clever of you to get him to say anything at all.

就像玩一个可怕的派对游戏

where you don't know the rules.

还不知道规则是什么

was rather like playing one of those ghastly party games

你们能让他开口说话 就已经很不容易了

Well, what he said was...

他说的是...

What he said was, "Let me die."

他说的是 "让我去死"

Well, we can't, can we?

但我们不能 对吧

You mean we can't even think of such a thing

你是说我们不能有那样的想法

or we wouldn't know how to do it?

还是说我们做不到

Both, I suppose.

两者都有吧

Well, it makes no odds², really.

其实也没什么区别

I had a sort of word with the consultant³,

我和医生聊过几句

and he wouldn't hear of it.

他根本不肯听

It's not what they do.

他们不做那种事

It's not a good way to go, apparently⁴.

很显然 那不是什么安详的死法

It's several minutes of agony.

会痛苦挣扎好几分钟

No. No, I don't want that.

不行 我不想那样

No, of course not.

不 当然不行

You do have a life, too, you know.

你要知道 你也有自己的人生

You are allowed to think of yourself.

为自己考虑一下 不是什么罪过

Chin up. We're doing very well.

抬起下巴 非常好

Well, Mrs. Cavendish, we do have some progress to report.

卡文迪许太太 我们有些新进展

Progress?

进展

We're learning to swallow again.

我们已经重新学会了吞咽

We are?

是吗

It's more significant than it sounds.

听起来可能微不足道 但实际上意义重大

At present, we have an inflated⁵ cuff⁶ round our tracheotomy tube

现在我们的呼吸管上 有一个充气的套环

to stop food and drink going down our windpipe.

用来阻止食物和水进到呼吸管里

If we can swallow again,

如果可以重新吞咽

the cuff can be removed, and air can get to the larynx.

套环就可以拿走 气流可以接触到喉咙

Then we'll be able to talk again.

我们就可以重新说话了

Might there be other progress, too?

还有什么其他进展吗

This is about as good as it's going to get, I'm afraid.

恐怕目前就是这样了

How are we this morning?

今天早上我们感觉怎么样

We wish we were dead. Good, good.

我们想去死呢 很好 很好

Good morning to you, Paddy.

早上好 派迪

1 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

2 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

3 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 cuff   

n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口

参考例句：

• She hoped they wouldn't cuff her hands behind her back.她希望他们不要把她反铐起来。
• Would you please draw together the snag in my cuff?请你把我袖口上的裂口缝上好吗？