The english we speak(BBC教學)第104期:Have your cake and eat it 魚與熊掌兼得
Jen: Hi! I'm Jen. And here's Li.
珍:大家好!我是珍。這位是李。Li: (Sighing) Hi.
李:(嘆氣)大家好。Jen: You seem in a bad mood, what's wrong?
珍:你看上去心情不好,怎麼了?
Li: Take a look at this brochure.
李:你看看這本冊子吧。Jen: (Reading) "Golden palm beach, Barbados. This resort boasts miles of unspoiled beaches, crystal blue waters and five star accommodation..." Is this where you're going on holiday, Li?
珍:(瀏覽)“巴貝多金棕櫚沙灘。這處度假勝地擁有數英里未受破壞的原始海灘、晶瑩湛藍的海水以及五星級酒店……”李,這是你要去度假的地方嗎?Li: Yes, I just booked it.
李:對,我剛剛預訂了。Jen: Well, you don't sound very happy about it, what's the problem?
珍:可是你聽起來並不開心,有什麼問題嗎?Li: Well, it cost me £5,000!
李:這花了我5000英鎊!Jen: That's a lot of money.
珍:真是一大筆錢啊。Li: I know, and I wanted to save my money so that I could get my bathroom decorated.
李:我知道,可是我還想存錢裝修衛生間呢。Jen: Why did you book a holiday, then?!
珍:那你為什麼要預定假期呢?Li: I have to go on holiday - I haven't had a break for two years!
李:我必須要去度假,我已經兩年沒有休假了!Jen: Well, that's ok, you've booked it now!
珍:好吧,你現在已經預訂了呀!Li: But I really need to get the bathroom done too!
李:可是我同樣也要裝修衛生間!Jen: Well, you can't have your cake and eat it, Li!
珍:李,魚和熊掌不可兼得。Li: What do you mean? How did you know I had cake today? Are you calling me fat?! Do you think I should stop eating cake?!
李:你什麼意思?你怎麼知道我今天吃了蛋糕?你是說我胖嗎?你認為我不應該再吃蛋糕了嗎?Jen: Whoa! No, no, I'm not saying anything-
珍:哇!不,不,我什麼也沒說……Li: Then why do you want me to stop eating cake?!
李:那你為什麼讓我別再吃蛋糕了?!Jen: Calm down. I said, "You can't have your cake and eat it." We use this phrase in English to mean that you can't have something both ways.
珍:冷靜。我說You can't have your cake and eat it,在英語中我們用這個短語來表示你不能同時擁有兩樣東西。Li: Oh. So you mean I can't spend my money and save it at the same time?
李:哦,所以你的意思是我不能同時花錢和省錢?Jen: Exactly. Let's hear some more examples:
珍:沒錯。我們來看一些例子:He's just got married, but he misses the single life. Well it's too bad–you can't have your cake and eat it!
他剛結婚就開始想念單身生活了。這太糟糕了——魚和熊掌不可兼得啊!I drank a whole bottle of champagne at the party last night, but now I feel sick - I've got the worst hangover ever. But I suppose you can't have your cake and eat it!
昨天我在派對上喝了一整瓶香檳,現在我感覺很不舒服,這是我經歷過的最糟的宿醉。我想這真是魚與熊掌不能兼得!Li: The second example is good–you can't expect to drink a lot of alcohol without feeling the effects the next day: you can't have it both ways; you can't have your cake and eat it.
李:第二個例子很棒,你不能希望喝了大量的酒以後第二天沒什麼影響:你不可能兩樣兼得;魚與熊掌不可兼得。Jen: And you can't have your lovely holiday without spending a lot of money on it.
珍:而同樣你也不能既享受愉快的假期又期待不會花太多的錢。Li: I suppose you're right.
李:我想你是對的。Jen: All this talk of cake has got my stomach rumbling, I feel really hungry now.
珍:一直說到蛋糕我肚子都叫了。我現在非常餓。Li: There's a new cafe across the road which is selling little cupcakes, they look really delicious! We could go and get some after the programme?
李:街對面開了一家賣紙杯蛋糕的新咖啡廳,看起來非常好吃!我們做完節目以後去買點吃怎麼樣?Jen: I would love to, but I can't, I want to save my money to go out to dinner tonight.
珍:我很想去,可是我不能去,我要省下錢,今天出去吃晚餐。Li: Oh well Jen, you can't have your cake and eat it. I'll just get one for myself!
李:哦,珍,你這就是二者不可兼得啊。我去給我自己買一個蛋糕!重點講解:
1. be happy about
(對情況或安排)滿意的,放心的;
eg. I am not very happy about the plan.
我對該計劃不是很滿意。
eg. He doesn't seem to be very happy about it.
對這他似乎不太高興。
2. have one's cake and eat it
二者兼得;魚與熊掌兼得;
eg. What he wants is a switch to a market economy in a way which does not reduce people's standard of living. To many this sounds like wanting to have his cake and eat it.
他想要轉型為市場經濟,同時又不降低人們的生活水平。在許多人看來,這是想要魚與熊掌兼得。
eg. You want to get a pay raise and reduce your work hours? I'm sorry, but you can't have your cake and eat it too!
你想要加薪又想要減少工作時數?很抱歉,魚與熊掌不可兼得!
3. calm down
(使)平靜下來;(使)鎮定下來;
eg. He walked a circle around the house to calm down.
他繞著房子走了一圈,想讓自己冷靜下來。
eg. She tried to calm down and head off a quarrel.
她試著冷靜下來,避免爭吵。
4. would love to do sth.
樂於;很願意做某事;
eg. We would love to see a film on Sunday.
我們很願意星期天去看電影。
eg. She would dearly love to see her childhood friend again.
她非常想再見見兒時的朋友。