"布朗尼加分"口語課堂:樂極生悲 口語

Hello, 我是Rose, 歡迎光臨“布朗尼加分”口語課堂。 今天要給大家講的是一個“樂極生悲”的故事。不過，這個小“悲劇”還真是有點讓人匪夷所思。

One day, a Russian man is fishing at a lake. He is crazy about this sport. He catches a very large fish and is on cloud nine! Then he begins to show off for his pals. He grabs the fish and kisses it right on the mouth. But the fish turns the tables on the fisherman and bites his nose. It won't let go. The poor fisherman is in hot water now. "Take it easy," his friends advise. Then they have an idea. They cut the head off the fish. But the fish still won't let go of the fisherman's nose. It has strong teeth! Finally, doctors in a local hospital set the fisherman free. "Play it safe," they tell him. "Don't kiss any more fish!"

故事裏的主角is crazy about fishing，對釣魚這項運動非常着迷。一天，他釣到一條非常大的魚。這可真讓他，on cloud nine了。不知道大家是否還記得之前講過的be in seventh heaven，這兩個短語表達的是相同的意思，“極度幸福，高興的忘乎所以”。再比如，He was on cloud nine after winning the competition. 他在比賽獲勝後欣喜若狂。

對於一個迷戀釣魚的人來說，能釣到大魚的心情除了on cloud nine之外，還免不了要去show off 一番。Show off短語種的show大家一定都不陌生，現在很流行的各種“秀”就出自show 這個單詞，表示“展示”。但show off可不是單純的展示，而是“炫耀，賣弄”，也就是我們常常說的“顯擺”，有貶義的感情色彩。比如： He wrote in that style just to show off. 用這種文體寫文章，完全是爲了賣弄文采。Mike has only driven to the pub to show off his new car-he usually walks! 麥克駕車來到酒店，只是爲了向大家炫耀他的那輛新車，他平時總是步行來的！

炫耀也就罷了，這個人的方式還真特別，他親吻了自己的勝利品，可惜的是，魚兒毫不領情，做出的反應是turns the tables on the fisherman and bites his nose。Turn the tables (on),字面意思爲“將桌子調轉過來”，暗示互換了位置，我們常常翻譯爲“扭轉局面”。比如I'll turn the tables on you one day and punish you for all the wrongs you've done to my family. 總有一天我會報復你的，你對我家幹了那麼多壞事，我會懲罰你的。就像這條被釣上的魚一樣，用咬住對方的鼻子作爲回敬。這下，這個人可be in hot water了。不用我解釋，相信大家都知道處於很燙的水中是怎樣的狀態了。再比如：I lost my report in the taxi; now I am in hot water with the boss. 我把報告忘在出租車上了，我現在麻煩了，老闆那兒無法交代。

最後大家不得不cut the head off the fish砍掉魚頭，並在醫生的幫助下set the fisherman free，讓釣魚人的鼻子得以解脫。

醫生給他的勸告是，凡事還是“play it safe”爲好. 這個短語原本指打高爾夫球時，如果沒有把握就不冒險的意思。現在多用於指“小心，穩紮穩打”。再比如：I think you should play it safe and wait. You know, safe than sorry. 我覺得你還是小心一點，先等一下。小心總比後悔好。

恩，雖說樂極會生悲，好在漢語裏還有一個足以安慰我們的另一個成語，“否極泰來”。不管怎樣，借用現下流行的一個詞兒，我們還是“淡定，淡定”吧。下期見。