《大城市小世界》第14期:卡洛斯你好

Oh no! I don’t understand how this can happen!

哦，不！我真的不明白怎么会这样！

Told you so.

告诉过你吧。

Hi Olivia! What’s the problem?

嗨，奥利维亚！怎么了？

Excuse me...

劳驾。

It’s not just here, not just the café...

不仅是这儿，不光是咖啡馆。

What do you mean?

什么意思？

Told you so.

告诉过你了。

Excuse me...

劳驾。

It’s true!

竟然是真的！

What is?

什么啊？

They want to knock down my shop, as well as the café!

他们想拆掉我的店，和这个咖啡馆！

Demolish¹ it? Get rid of it completely?

拆毁它？完全拆毁？

Yes

是啊。

Told you so.

告诉过你吧。

Oh no!

哦，不！

That’s what I keep saying...

我也一直说不。

Excuse me!

劳驾！

Yes?

什么?

Could I have something to eat please,and a cup of tea?

能给我来点吃的吗？再加一杯茶？

Sure, here’s a menu, go and take a seat somewhere...

当然，这是苹果，找个位子坐吧。

Oh dear...let’s go and sit down，there’s Harry² over there, let’s sit with him.

天哪，我们找个地方先坐下吧，哈利在那，我们去跟他坐。

Hello there. Magda’s on her way. I think we need to have a plan...

你们好，麦格达就过来，我觉得我们得想个计划。

Yeah, but what can we do?

是啊，但是我们能做什么呢？

Hey Magda! Hi! We’re over here! Come and sit down!

嗨，麦格达，我们在这边！过来坐吧！

Hello everyone! What’s the matter? Why does everyone look so sad?

大家好！出什么事了？怎么看起来都这么难过

The café is going to close...

咖啡馆要关门大吉了。

and Olivia’s shop too!

奥利维亚的点也是！

Why? Oh ，the property company...they’re building new flats... I remember now...

什么？噢，那个房地产公司，他们要建新公寓。我想起来了。

That’s right，and they want to demolish this place, and Olivia’s shop next door.

对，他们还要拆了这地方，还有隔壁奥利维亚的商店。

They’re offering us compensation³...

他们打算给我们赔偿。

“Compensation”?

赔偿？

Money...

就是钱。

But it’s not enough. I want to keep my shop...

但这可不行，我想留住我的店。

Yes, and I want to keep this café open...there’s nowhere else where we can all meet.

是啊，我也想让咖啡馆开下去，我们没有别的聚会的地方可去。

Excuse me...

打扰一下。

Yes?

怎么？

I couldn’t help overhearing⁴ your conversation...

我没法不听到你们的谈话。

Were you listening to us?

你在偷听我们的谈话？

No, sorry, I wasn’t listening, I just heard what you were talking about...

不，对不起。我没有偷听。我只是听到你们的谈话。

Is this the first time you’ve been here?

你是第一次来到这里吗？

Well, yes it is, actually...

嗯，确实如此。

It’ll probably be the last...

也许也是最后一次了。

Well, yes, I know...that’s what I wanted to say...

嗯，是。我知道。这正是我想说的。

What?

说什么?

I’m afraid I work for the company, the building company.

我就是为那家大公司工作的，那个建筑公司。

The company who want to knock down my shop?

想拆我店的那家公司？

And our favourite café?

还有我们心爱的咖啡馆？

I’m afraid so, yes...

我恐怕，是的。

Can you stop them?

你能阻止他们吗？

Well, no, I’m not sure about that...

不行，我没有把握。

What do you do for the company?

你在那家公司干什么？

Well, that’s the problem; I’m not one of their top managers, or anything like that...

这就是问题所在，我不是什么高级主管之类的人物。

That’s a shame.

真遗憾。

I’m just the caterer⁵.

我只是个管餐饮的。

Caterer?

管餐饮的？

Yes, I make food for them.

是啊，我给他们做饭。

Hang on a minute, I don’t understand...you’re the caterer...you make food...

等一下，我没弄明白，你是管餐饮的，还做饭。

Yes, that’s right. I’m a chef, actually. Or at least that’s what I’d like to be...

对，实际上，我是个厨师，起码我想成为一名厨师。

But you’ve just come in here to get food...

但你刚刚来过这里找吃的

Oh yeah...well, you see, the problem is,I don’t really like the food I have to cook for other people. I prefer to try new things，so I came in here!

是啊，嗯，你看，问题是，我其实不喜欢我给别人做的那种饭。我更愿意尝试新东西，所以我来这儿了！

Right...

是嘛

Can you help us?

你能帮助我们吗？

I’m not sure what I can do...I don’t really want to lose my job...

我不确定自己能做什么，我不想弄丢我的工作。

No...I guess not，but if you work for the building company, you could do some research for us...

是啊，我猜你也不想，但如果你为那家公司工作，你就可以为我们做些调查。

Research? How do you mean?

调查？什么意思？

You could find out some information for us...

你可以为我们打探些消息。

Erm, well, ok, I mean, if I can...I’d like to help you!

唔，好吧，就是说，如果可以的话，我愿意帮助你们！

Great! Let’s see what we can do... we can save this place!

好！让我们看看有什么可做的，我们能拯救这个地方！

1 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

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 compensation   

n.补偿（或赔偿）的款物，补偿，赔偿

参考例句：

• Workers who have been unfairly dismissed may claim compensation.被无理开除的工人可以要求补偿。
• Equal compensation should be given to men and women for equal work.男女同工应同酬。

4 overhearing   

串音

参考例句：

• He might be overhearing her inconsistent remarks. 也许他正在偷听她这些牛头不对马嘴的话呢。
• 'sorry, I cannot help overhearing; do you mention something about the accident? " 对不起，我是无意中听到的，你刚才好像提到了那次事故，是吗？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

5 caterer   

n. 备办食物者，备办宴席者

参考例句：

• My wife went to a lot of trouble; she called a caterer. 我太太花了很多心血，她找了专办派对的人来。
• The wedding reception has been organized by an outside caterer. 婚宴由外界的饮食公司承办。