The english we speak(BBC教學)第262期:To make a monkey out of me 捉弄我

Rob's been asked to dress up like a monkey but it seems like someone is literally making a monkey out of him! What does that mean and why is someone foolish compared to a monkey? Luckily Li has some words of wisdom that makes Rob feel better.

有人讓羅布打扮成猴子去參加聚會，其實是他們在捉弄羅布！這個短語是什麼意思，爲什麼要把愚蠢的人比作猴子？幸運的是，莉的智慧提示讓羅布感覺好多了。

Li: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Li...

莉：大家好，歡迎收聽地道英語節目。我是莉。

Rob: And hello, I'm Rob

羅布：大家好，我是羅布。

Li: Sorry, I didn't hear that.

莉：抱歉，我聽不清你說什麼。

Rob: If I just take this head off... can you hear me better now? Hello!

羅布：我把這個布偶頭套拿下來試試……現在能聽清我說的話了嗎？大家好！

Li: That's better, but why are you wearing a life-size monkey costume Rob?

莉：好多了，不過羅布，你爲什麼穿着真人大小的猴子布偶服？

Rob: Well, my friend said I should wear it to his son's birthday party this morning — his son loves monkeys and it would make his birthday really special if he saw one!

羅布：今天早上我朋友讓我穿上這個去參加他兒子的生日派對，他兒子非常喜歡猴子，如果他兒子能看到一隻猴子，那會讓他的生日派對非常特別！

Li: Well, that's very kind of you Rob — and how did the party go?

莉：羅布，你真是太好了，派對怎麼樣？

Rob: Well that's the problem. As you can see, I dressed up like a monkey, travelled across London on the bus and there was no party!

羅布：這就是問題所在。你看，我打扮成了一隻猴子，坐公交車在倫敦穿行，可是根本就沒有什麼派對！

Li: Ha ha — no party! It looks like your friend has been 'making a monkey out of you'!

莉：哈哈，沒有派對！看起來你朋友捉弄了你！

Rob: Making a monkey out of me? Yes, that's a very good phrase. You mean he's trying to make me look foolish or to humiliate me.

羅布：捉弄我？這是個很棒的短語。你的意思是他想讓我看上去很傻，想讓我丟臉。

Li: He's certainly done that! Let's hear some examples of the phrase in action...

莉：他就是這麼做的！我們來聽些例句，看看這個例句如何應用。

Examples

例句

Mary made a monkey out me by telling to me to ask her best friend out on a date — she said no!

瑪麗捉弄了我，她讓我邀請她最好的朋友去約會，可是她的朋友拒絕了我。

My boyfriend's always making a monkey out of himself by getting drunk at parties.

我男朋友經常因爲在派對上喝醉而讓自己丟臉。

Sid made a monkey out of Paul by telling him to wear a suit to the party — everyone else was wearing jeans!

希德捉弄了保羅，希德讓保羅穿西裝去參加派對，可是其他人穿的都是牛仔服！

Li: So 'making a monkey out of someone' is not a nice thing to do. You can also say 'making a fool out of someone'. So Rob, you're angry because he's made a fool out of you?

莉：捉弄人並不是好事。還可以用make a fool out of someone來表達同樣的意思。羅布，你是不是因爲你朋友捉弄了你而感到很生氣？

Rob: Yes, that's right! This phrase doesn't just apply to people who dress up like monkeys. It can apply to any situation where somewhere has been made to look foolish or ridiculous — like me. But Li, this phrase compares someone to a monkey because monkeys look like they are fooling around. Isn't that right?

羅布：沒錯！這個短語不僅僅可以用來形容打扮成猴子的人。還可以形容任何看上去很傻或是很荒謬的情況，就像我遇到的事。不過莉，這個短語把某人比作猴子，是因爲他們看起來很傻。對嗎？

Li: No. In the Chinese culture, a monkey is seen as a clever animal and is often compared to a clever person.

莉：不是這樣。在中國文化中，猴子是一種很聰明的動物，聰明的人經常被比作猴子。

Rob: Oh really? Well, in that case I might wear this monkey costume for a little bit longer. How does it make me look? Clever, smart?

羅布：哦，真的嗎？這樣的話我可以再穿會兒這身猴子布偶裝。我穿這個看上去怎麼樣？聰明，機智？

Li: Quite smart and quite handsome too.

莉：非常機智，而且非常帥氣。

Rob: Oh thank you very much!

羅布：非常謝謝你！

Li: Bye.

莉：再見。

Rob: Bye.

羅布：再見。

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. take off 脫下，脫掉（衣物）；
例句：Itook offmy overcoat since it was warm.
天氣很暖和，我就把大衣脫了。
2. dress up 裝扮；打扮；
例句：Little girlsdress upas angels for fiestas.
小女孩們在節日裏扮成天使的樣子。
3. apply to 適用；適合；
例句：Find out ahead of time what regulationsapply toyour situation.
提前搞清楚什麼規章適用於你的情況。
4. see as 認爲；把…看作；
例句：The status quo isseen asuntenable.
維持其現狀的觀點看來是站不住腳的。
5. compare to 把…比作；
例句：Teachers are oftencompared toburning candles.
人們總是把老師比喻爲燃燒的蠟燭。
6. fool around 犯傻；扮傻逗樂；
例句：Stopfooling around, man.
不要再扮傻充愣了，老兄。
7. in that case 那樣的話；在那種情況下；
例句：In that casewe will not look on with folded arms.
在這種情況下，我們不會袖手旁觀。