A Walk in the Clouds《云中漫步》（精讲之二）

影片对白

Paul: I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Paul Sutton.

Victoria: Victoria Aragon. I'm sorry about the bus.

Paul: Um...

Victoria: I feel terrible. All the problems I've caused you. You should just keep going. Who knows what will happen to you next?

Paul: There's always the possibility of a forest fire, I suppose. Why aren't you on the bus?

Victoria: My stop.

Paul: You're waiting for a ride.

Victoria: No. No. A miracle. He's going to kill me.

Paul: Who?

Victoria: My father.

Paul: Listen, if you're still worried about that picture--

Victoria: It's not about the picture. Oh, God.

Paul: Look, it's none of my business, but if you'd like to talk about it...

Paul: "I was not meant for the conventions of this world, not meant to be tied down. I'm a free spirit." Who's a free spirit?

Victoria: My professor. He and I were...We--We were...

Paul: I don't know your father, but I don't think just because some free spirit broke up with you--

Victoria: I'm pregnant.

Paul: Oh. Oh. You're very upset. I can understand that. Definitely understand that. But, Victoria, look at the positive side. It's a new life coming into the world. That's a miracle in itself, right?

Victoria: "I will kill anyone who dishonors my family." How many times has he said that? A hundred times, a million times?

Paul: I'm sure it's just a figure of speech.

Victoria: It's not. My father means what he says. Always. He's--He's very old-fashioned. If I come home this way without a husband, he'll kill me. I know he will.

Paul: How about if you do show up with a husband?

Victoria: Who does what, comes for the day and then just leaves?

Paul: Yes, sure. Comes to meet the family, stays one night, leaves in the morning, puts a letter in the mailbox saying he's...

Victoria: Abandoned me.

Paul: It happens.

Victoria: You're very kind for trying to help me. Maybe it might work...but...there's nobody.

Paul: Miss Aragon.Victoria. There's me.

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. Tie down

意为"Constrain, confine, or limit 束缚，受限"，例如：As long as the children were small, she was too tied down to look for a job.

2. Break up

Break up 可以表示"结束一段关系"，例如：
Their marriage broke up last year.
当表示"与……分手"时，用 with 引出分手对象：
Finally, David decided to break up with Lily.

3. Figure of speech

本意是"修辞"，这里表示"打比方，说说（而已）"，例如：I didn't really mean she was in outer space it's just a figure of speech.

文化面面观

1940 年代的美国道德观

对于大多数中国人来说，我们眼中的美国是当代好莱坞大片中的美国：个人至上、私欲至上，崇拜英雄偶象, 享乐主义,自由主义, 大众化和通俗化，商品化(市场化)和娱乐化，充斥着吸毒、暴力、色情……然而真实的美国并没有影片中展示的那么糟糕。传统道德在美国一直有市场。在1940年代，传统道德甚至是十分苛刻的。下面是一位美国观众所写的观后感，其中详细讨论了当时的美国社会道德，可以帮助我们更好地理解电影。

Does anyone recall a time when values, integrity, uprightness and true human compassion were a way of life? A Walk in the Clouds does. The story is sweet, romantic, dramatic, and heartwarming. The 1940's was an era when it was terrible shame to be unwed and pregnant. Daughters were often cast away or sent to some distant relative to bear their child in loneliness and disapproval, then the child was given for adoption. I know because I was one of those children. For my mother there was no Paul Sutton to love her and rescue her and her child. The father, portrayed by Giancarlo Gianni was a typical man of those desperate war torn years who was unable to get in touch with his feelings on any level except work and anger. I am more amazed at his ability to show affection for his wife than I am at the anger which rules his life. The family who eventually adopted me was just like this family. Hard horrible father, heavy drinker, full of anger, yet rapier wit and tongue. The rest of the family are so real because in those days most families who had a disagreeable father figure pulled together to make up for and cover over the hurts and embarrassment generated by that father. Very different from today's dysfunctional families. Anthony Quinn was superb and Keanu Reeves could not have been more believable as a simple man with a good heart and high values. His character is not meant to display anything but goodness, which he does beautifully. We have to remember that men used to be governed more by what was right than by the emotion of the moment as they are today. Aitana as Victoria is very lovely and desirable, but her character is also governed by the morals of the day. While she is sexy and flirtatious and clearly loves Paul, she stops short of using his attraction to her to seduce him because the very things she values and loves about him are his stability and uprightness. Today most women would simply go for it, but this film is not about today. It is about real love and true respect. The musical score is simply beautiful and very moving. The wine country and the shot of the California coast along Big Sur are great. Oh, by the by, for the unbelieving, after the grape harvest in the fall the branches of the vine die and become dry and brittle very quickly. The only part of a grape vine that continues to live is the stock and it's root, but even that seems all gray and dead from just looking at the outside. A fire in a dry, post-harvest vineyard would spread and destroy all, just as it did in the film. Today, there are sprinkler systems, etc. to prevent such loss, but not in the 1940's. What a great movie. I own it and will always enjoy watching it again and again.

小编感言

我想，任何一个处在困境中的女孩听到"There's me."这句话的时候，一定都会感动得一塌糊涂。怀孕后被男友抛弃，受着传统道德和家庭荣誉的谴责，再加上对严厉专制的父亲的恐惧，这时的 Victoria 真的是上天无路，入地无门。她能做的就是祈祷奇迹的出现，而奇迹也果真出现了，上帝送来了 Paul Sutton 这样一个善良、真诚的男人。当然，这是电影。生活中发生在 Victoria 身上的故事，在世界上不同地区、不同信仰的女孩身上不停上演着，可是世界上并没有那么多的 Paul Sutton，这些女孩子的命运就在世俗的洪流中消逝了。

考考你

用今日所学将下面的句子译成英语。

1．他被工作束缚住了。

2．上个月鲍勃和玛丽分手了。

3．我并非真的说我的合伙人是条蛇，不过是打个比方。

A Walk in the Clouds《云中漫步》（精讲之一）考考你 参考答案

1. The whole country's making money hand over fist. You've been away, out of touch. You don't know, but you will.
整个国家的人都在赚大钱。你不在国内，不了解情况。你不知道这些，但你会知道的。

2. In the war, I had time to think about what's important, about what I want out of life for me, for us.
在战场上，我有时间去思考什么是重要的，我想从生活中为自己、为我们得到什么。