"Someday, she said, "when you're being bugged by Oliver V—"
“总有一天,”她说,“当奥利佛第五跟你怄气的时候——”
"He won't be called Oliver, be sure of that!" I snapped at her. She didn't raise her voice, though she usually did when I did.
“他的名字决不会叫奥利佛,这你放心好了!”我对她厉声说道。通常我一提高嗓门,她也跟着将嗓门抬高,这回她却没有。
"Listen, Ollie,even if we name him Bozo the Clown that kid's still going to resent you because you were a big Harvard athlete. And by the time he's a freshman, you'll probably be in the Supreme Court!"
“听我说,奥利,即使我们给他取名叫‘小丑博佐’,那小子照样会怨恨你,因为你曾是哈佛的体育大明星。等他上大学一年级的时候,说不定你已经当上了联邦最高法院的法官!”
I told her that our son would definitely not resent me. She then inquired how I could be so certain of that. I couldn't produce evidence. I mean, I simply knew our son would not resent me, I couldn't say precisely why. Jenny then remarked:
我对她说,我们的儿子肯定不会怨恨我。于是她问我凭什么这样自信。我提不出证据。我的意思是说,反正我知道我们的儿子决不会怨恨我,至于确切的理由嘛,我一时还说不清楚。于是詹妮说道:
"Your father loves you too, Oliver. He loves you just the way you'll love Bozo. But you Barretts are so damn proud and competitive, you'll go through life thinking you hate each other."
“你父亲也是爱你的,奥利佛。他爱你,就像你日后爱博佐一样。但是你们巴雷特家的人都那么傲慢,那么好胜,你们一辈子都在想,你们相互仇恨,不共戴天。”
"If it weren't for you," I said jokingly.
“要不是有了你,说不定还真会这样呢。”我用调侃的口吻说。
"Yes,"she said.
“可不。”她说。
"The case is closed," I said ,being, after all, the husband and head of household. My eyes returned to The State v. Percival and Jenny got up. But then she remembered.
“本案到此结束,”我说,毕竟我是丈夫,是一家之主。我的眼睛重又回到“珀西瓦尔公诉案”上,詹妮也站起身来。但这时她突然想了起来。
"There's still the matter of the RSVP."
“‘请赐回复’的事儿还没了结呢。”