Frederick Aiken: I'm here to see Secretary Stanton, boys.

 

Man: Stand down. Sorry, sir. Mr. Stanton doesn't see anyone without an appointment.

 

Joseph Holt: Well, good morning, Mr. Aiken.

 

Frederick Aiken: Morning.

 

Joseph Holt: Perhaps I can be of some assistance.

 

Frederick Aiken: If you can arrange an appointment for me with the secretary, you can.

 

Joseph Holt: Unfortunately he's quite busy right now, but perhaps you'd care to have a word with me instead. Please.

 

Frederick Aiken: My client is unwell.

 

Joseph Holt: So I hear. Touch of the woman's curse. I'm sure she'll be well enough to continue her trial in a few days.

 

Frederick Aiken: She's been in solitary¹ confinement² for over a month. She hasn't eaten in over a week.

 

Joseph Holt: She's refusing to eat. All the prisoners are fed daily. Soft bread and salted meat.

 

Frederick Aiken: Unless she has a proper meal and some fresh air, I can't guarantee she'll be it for trial.

 

Joseph Holt: One of the conspirators³ refuses to be guarded by a Negro, and the other insists on only eating his mother's cooking. We can't accommodate every whim⁴.

 

Frederick Aiken: Come now. I am merely asking for you to stop treating her like a savage⁵.

 

Joseph Holt: How dare you accuse us of savagery⁶? Have you forgotten how our own were treated by the rebels?

 

Frederick Aiken: Of course not.

 

Joseph Holt: Well...

 

Frederick Aiken: But Mary Surratt is in serious decline. If this treatment of her continues, she will not be sound of mind. And I trust that is something the government wishes to avoid.

 

Joseph Holt: I may have a way to serve all interests. I'll deny ever telling you this. Understood?

 

*****************************

 

Nicholas Baker⁷: So we're stuck in these shallow trenches⁹. We're surrounded on all sides. Nobody knows what to do. Nobody knows what to say. We're frozen, completely petrified¹⁰. And then from somewhere up on the hill, we hear this loud booming Southern voice. It's the rebel general. He yells, "Y'all boys better say your prayers, because there are 400 of us and only 100 of you."

 

Frederick Aiken: You can stop right there, Baker.

 

Nicholas Baker: And so then this madman, he stands up, and he yells back to him, and he says... he says, "Hundred? Heck, we've got less than that. But we don't surrender, so come and get us." And with that, he pulls down his pants and bares his arse.

 

Woman 1: You didn't.

 

Frederick Aiken: I didn't.

 

Nicholas Baker: What?

 

Sarah: It doesn't seem as though Fred ever intends to surrender.

 

William: Ah, it appears he already has. She's fair, fit and 40.

 

Woman 1: Is it true Mrs. Surratt is a Catholic, wears black from head to toe?

 

Woman 2: I hear she spits in the faces of every Union soldier she encounters.

 

Woman 1: Apparently¹¹ she wears a necklace made from the bone of a Union soldier.

 

William: Seriously, Fred, do you honestly doubt she's guilty?

 

Nicholas Baker: So, okay, who would like to dance?

 

Sarah: Yes.

 

Woman 1: Yes.

 

Nicholas Baker: Good.

 

Sarah: Dance? It's more like a wake. I suppose I should have dressed more like Mrs. Surratt.

 

William: Fred, what are you doing?

 

Frederick Aiken: I'm enduring the pain of having to listen to Baker.

 

William: You know what I mean. If she's found guilty, they'll say you weren't up to the task. And God forbid you prevail. They'll think you just as much a traitor¹² as she.

 

Frederick Aiken: Baker, how 'bout¹³ something a little happier?

 

Nicholas Baker: Little happier?

 

Frederick Aiken: Yeah.

 

Nicholas Baker: All right, Fred. Happier, he wants.

 

Sarah: William's right, you know. Either outcome, you cannot prevail.

 

Frederick Aiken: Sarah.

 

Sarah: What is it about Mary Surratt you find so compelling? These are criminal, despicable people, Fred. They're... they're the same sort of people you risked your life fighting against, and she helped kill your commander in chief.

 

Frederick Aiken: I don't know what she's guilty of.

 

Sarah: May I ask you one more thing?

 

Frederick Aiken: What is it, Sarah?

 

Sarah: Does the captain remember how to dance?

 

Frederick Aiken: Of course.

 

*****************************

 

Reverdy Johnson: Few people will forget what side you fought on. Trust me. It can be lonely.

 

Frederick Aiken: I'm just upholding my oath as an attorney and doing my job. It's what you asked. It's what you told me to do.

 

Reverdy Johnson: This habit of quoting me back to me could become most irritating. You have your mother's convictions and your father's annoying habits.

 

Frederick Aiken: Well, "Maw Surratt is entitled to a defense¹⁴, Freddie, so I shall defend her."

 

Reverdy Johnson: If they want John Surratt, then you should serve him up on a platter. I... I don't mean, uh, physically¹⁵. I mean in spirit. You have to prove to the Commission that he is responsible, not her.

 

Frederick Aiken: She's not gonna like that.

 

 

1. stand down: 撤退。

 

2. of some assistance: 有些帮助，帮上点忙。

 

3. accommodate: 对……予以照顾性考虑。例如：accommodate the special interests of various groups（照顾到不同集团的特殊利益）。

 

4. whim: 突然的念头。请看例句：He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.（今天他突然想要去航海。）

 

5. trench⁸: 战壕。

 

6. petrified: 惊呆的，目瞪口呆的。

 

7. wake: 守夜，守灵。

 

8. up to: 胜任。

 

9. prevail: 胜出。例如：His argument prevailed and I yielded.（他的论点占了上风，我让步了。）

 

10. compelling: 激发兴趣的，有强烈吸引力的。例如：a compelling novel（引人入胜的小说）。

 

11. uphold: 维护，维持；坚持。例如：We uphold the principle of racial equality.（我们坚持种族平等的原则。）

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