可可網友們,大家好。電影《聞香識女人》講述的是一個不算復雜的故事。年輕的學生查理無意間目睹了幾個學生準備戲弄校長的過程,校長在慘遭耍弄后查出Charlie知道誰是惡作劇的主謀,于是以開除學籍為要挾逼他說出真話。查理帶著煩惱來到退伍軍人Frank Colonel中校家中做周末兼職。中校曾經是約翰遜總統的幕僚,經歷過戰爭,在一次意外事故中雙眼失明。他整天在家里無所事事,脾氣暴躁,甚至失去了繼續生活下去的勇氣和信心。他打算花盡自己的退伍軍人津貼,盡情享受一次生活后終結生命。他帶著查理住豪華酒店,吃大餐,開法拉利,一切過后,為自己準備的是一顆子彈。查理竭力阻止了中校的自殺行為,幫助他找回了生活下去的勇氣和力量。
除了飾演中校的阿爾帕斯諾出神入化的表演,電影片名《聞香識女人》也被認為是經典之一。長期的失明生活使中校的聽覺和嗅覺異常敏感,甚至能靠聞對方的香水味道識別其身高、發色乃至眼睛的顏色。其實這都源于他對生活的深刻理解和感悟。生活總是有所失的同時又有額外的收獲。大家即將聽到的就是中校敏銳地察覺出查理有心事,于是加以詢問的場景。這一幕發生在前往豪華餐廳的加長轎車內。
Colonel: What's the matter with you? 你怎么回事?
Charlie: With me? 我?
Colonel: Yeah. Car feels heavy. You know why? You got the fuckin' weight of the world on your shoulders. 車感覺重,怎么搞的?全世界都在你肩上了。
Charlie: I got a little problem at school, that's all. 學校里出了點事。
Colonel: Spit it out!① 講吧。
Charlie: It's not a big deal, all right? Where we going, the Oak Room or something? 不是大事。我們去橡樹廳?
Colonel: If it's not a big deal, why did you say "real important stuff"? What are you doing, banging the dean's daughter②? Hah! 你說是"重要的事"。你和院長女兒上床了?
Charlie: I'm just in a little trouble. 不是,惹了點麻煩而已。
Colonel: What kind of trouble? 哪一類的?
Charlie: I saw some guys doing something. 我看到有些家伙做的些事。
Colonel: To tell or not to tell, all it's your ass③. Hmm? 說,或者不說,你都不落好,是吧?
Charlie: How'd you know that? 你怎么知道?
Colonel: I'm a wizard. Give me the details, come on. 我是男巫。細說從頭。
Charlie: There's a guy at school named Harry. He's this real rich kid. He like...runs the show. 有個叫哈瑞的,很有錢,他當頭兒。
Colonel: Who else? 別人呢?
Charlie: There's another guy, George, but George didn't do anything. George and I saw Harry and his buddies doin' somethin'. 另一個叫喬治,什么也沒做。我們看到哈瑞那伙兒做的事。
Colonel: Now, the folks at Baird, they know you and George can identify the guilty parties? 現在博德的人知道你和喬治能抓出元兇?
Charlie: Yeah, they think we can. 他們以為我們會。
Colonel: George is a friend of yours? 喬治是你的朋友?
Charlie: He's not a friend, but he's all right. 不是,不過他人不壞。
Colonel: You trust him? 你相信他?
Charlie: Yeah, I guess so. 大概吧。
Colonel: He's on scholarship too? 他也拿獎學金?
Charlie: No, why? 沒有,有關系嗎?
Colonel: We got George, we got Harry, we got trouble. They're rich, you're poor. You wanna get rich. You wanna graduate Baird, become a rich big shot④ like them. Am I right ? 我們有喬治、哈瑞和麻煩。他們有錢,你沒錢。你想有錢,你想畢業后像他們一樣有錢。對不對?
Charlie: No. It's not that way at all. 不,不完全是。
Colonel: Okay, Charlie! 好吧,查理。
電影中有幾處用法我們大致介紹一下。
1. Spit out, “傾吐;吐露”。比如:Finally he decided to spit out what was really on his mind. 最后,他還是決定傾吐他真正想問的話。
2. banging the dean’s daughter. Bang,本意指“重擊;巨響”,這里指代“have sex with sb.”
3. be someone’s ass. 某人要擔責任。在電影中另一處對話里也出現了這一用法。If the book is not back at 7.30, it’s gonna be my ass. 如果書明天七點半之前不還回來,我就要擔責任了。
4. a rich big shot. A big shot有“大人物”的意思。比如:Mr. Lee acts like a big shot, but he is just an empty suit. 李先生裝的像個大人物,但他不過是個小角色。
在與中校相處的日子里,Charlie意識到自己良知尚存,不能為了前程違背原則。回到學校,大禮堂上全校師生出席,Charlie被安排在接受審訊的位置上。Charlie如何面對校長咄咄逼人的質問和完全不公平的判決呢?我們下期再聽。