精彩对白

Father: All I'm saying is you two are sisters. You have got to work this out.

Jane: I'm telling you, she doesn't want to talk.

Father: No, no. She loves you. Everything is gonna be fine. Okay. If you just-

Tess: Dad? What the hell is she doing here?

Father: Tess, this is between you and her. I'm out of this. You know, Flo, have you seen the new weed whackers we've got out front? The latest model.

Jane: I feel terrible. I'm so sorry for what happened.

Tess: Sorry? You humiliated¹ me in front of every single person that I know, and you think you could just say sorry?

Jane: I know. But-

Tess: Jane, you were always jealous of me.

Jane: What?

Tess: Always! My clothes! My boyfriends!

Jane: Stop it!

Tess: You've just been waiting for the chance to tear me down.

Jane: That's not true.

Tess: Yes, it is! And you took the one thing that was finally working out.

Jane: Oh, please! This is so typical, Tess. You're not taking any responsibility for the fact that you lied to George. You manipulated him. Put down the bug² spray. Put down the bug spray, Tess! Did you even love him? Or was it just convenient?

Jane: Oh, please, Jane. Get off your high horse. Just admit it. You resent me. Because you're the one who always had to braid my hair and make my Halloween outfits³ and go shopping for my prom dress.

Jane: No, I have never resented any of that.

Tess: Yes, you have. You always thought that my life was so easy.

Jane: It was! It is! You have never had a care in the world. You're beautiful and fun and charming. Your life is perfect.

Tess: Perfect? Are you crazy? You have no idea. You want to know the real reason why I decided⁴ to stay in New York? I got fired from my job. And to top it off, Rudolfo dumped me. He dumped me. And then George came along, and he was nice to me. And he treated me well, you know? And I just wanted to be someone that he wanted. I was trying to be someone who deserved him. Someone he could respect. I was trying to be you.

Jane: Why? Why would you want to be me when you get to be you?

Tess: This is a mess.

Jane: I know.

Tess: Jane, you've been trying to take care of me ever since Mom died.

Jane: I had to.

Tess: No, you didn't have to.

Jane: But- But if I don't then-

Tess: But if you don't, then you'll just be my sister, which is what it should be. Maybe when I was young you needed to help me out. But now? You gotta stop taking care of me, of everybody.

Jane: Hello? Hi. Yeah. Yeah. It's no problem. No, of course. Yeah, I'll be right there. Okay. Okay, bye.

妙语佳句 活学活用

1. what the hell: 究竟，到底，用以加强语气。一般情况很糟糕的时候才用，有不礼貌的语气。

2. tear someone down: 诋毁某人，让某人丢脸。

例如：They tried to tear down the reputation of the novelist.（他们试图诋毁小说家的名声）。

此外，tear down还可以表示“拆毁，批驳”。例如：It's not difficult to tear down a groundless argument.（批驳一个没有根据的论点并不难。）

3. manipulate: 玩弄。Jane在这里的意思是，Tess玩弄了George的感情。

此外，manipulate还可以表示“操纵”。股民们平时最痛恨someone who manipulates stock prices（操纵股票价格的人）。

4. high horse: 高傲的态度。Tess对Jane说：“别那么义正词严，趾高气扬的”。

High horse如果直译就是高头大马。早在十四世纪的时候地位高高在上的人骑的马匹得尽可能地高大，以显示他们高人一等的身份地位。

例如：Since Bob was elected president of the club, he's been up on his high horse, ordering the rest of us around as if we were his personal servants.（自从Bob当选为俱乐部主席以来，他就趾高气扬起来了，把朋友们差遣得团团转，就好像这些人都是他雇的佣人一样）。

5. braid: 编织，编结。Tess说，Jane打小就要每天braid her hair（给她扎辫子，梳头发）。

6. prom: 正式舞会，尤指美国高中的正式舞会。文中的prom dress就是指“舞会礼服”。

7. to top it off: 更重要的是。根据语境可译为“更棒的是”或者“更糟糕的是”。

例如：And to top it off girl, he's a player.(女孩，更要命的是，他在玩弄你的感情)。

Top off单独使用则表示“结束，完成”，例如：They topped off their dinner with a cognac.（他们最后喝了一杯白兰地，结束了晚餐。）

8. dump someone: 抛弃某人。Tess的意思是“鲁道夫把我甩了”。

恋人分手还常用break up; part with one another; say goodbye来表达。