Paul: Betty?

Man's voice: I prefer to dine¹ at home alone.

Betty: Paul? Paul!

Paul: When I didn't see you on the dock² I thought--

Betty: I didn't know you were coming today.

Paul: Didn't you get my letters?

Betty: Oh, oh Paul, I started to read them, I did, but after the first few, I just couldn't bear to hear about all that fighting and the killing³.

Paul: I wrote you almost every day.

Betty: I know. And I kept them. Look. See? Oh, Paul, even the thought of you in all that danger, it was just too much. I knew if I got them, you were still alive. That's all that I cared about-that, that you were alive...safe. That's all that was important to me. Can you forgive me?

Paul: Yeah, sure.

Betty: I wrote to you. You got those, right?

Paul: Got a few.

Betty: I told you I wasn't a big writer.

Man's voice: I quite agree the distinction is dubious⁴. Don't you?

Betty: It's a course I'm taking. Self-improvement. His name's Armistead. He makes tons of money. The whole country's making money hand over fist. You've been away, out of touch. You don't know, but you will. I went to see Mr. Sweeney and make sure he held your job, like he promised. He said you could start the day you got back. "Rarely cared, just make sure you wear your uniform," he said. Who could resist a war hero? Of course I negotiated⁵ a raise.

Paul: Betty, I... I don't want to go back to selling chocolate.

Betty: You've got something better.

Paul: No...I don't. But, you know...in the war, I had time to think about what's important, about what I want out of life for me, for us. I wrote you all this in the letters.

Betty: Are we back to those old letters again? You want me to read the letters?

Paul: No. It's just you'd understand what I'm feeling, what I want.

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. Hand over fist

这个片语的意思是"大量地，迅速地（赚钱）"，源于航海或捕鱼，当渔民用力拖网时，双手必须一前一后交替拉，当后面的那只手松开向前伸时，前面那只手处于紧张状态。例如：
He owns a chain of restaurants and makes money hand over fist.

He's making money hand over fist.

2. Out of touch

本意是指"中断联系"，这里引申为"不知道现在的情况"。我们来看个例子：John and Mark have been out of touch for years.

That speech showed he's out of touch with his constituency.

此外，out of touch 还表示"不表同情，和…不一致"，例如：Older people sometimes seem out of touch with the modern world.

3. Hold one's job

Hold 这个词在此处的意思是"保留，保有"的意思，就是Mr. Sweeney 为Paul 保留他的工作。此外，hold 还表示"担任职务或拥有权力"，例如：He held the governorship⁶ for six years.

那如果说"有（工作）"要怎么表达呢？除了常用的have 之外，还可以说 hold down，例如：Paul holds down two jobs.