some smart little piece on the front desk to buy lunch for?

Last Hermit

汉英

"Five percent?" I query. "I think seven would be more like it."

"Seven?" he cries, pretending to be shocked, delighted to have drawn me to battle. "Come off it, matey! You haven't got a gallery to maintain. You haven't got some smart little piece on the front desk to buy lunch for."
请问：下划线部分到底说什么？是指艺术馆或拍卖行里面什么服务设施？

The Rape of Helen

a little seemly reluctance now may pay dividends later

[ 回应主贴 ] [ 返回论坛 ]

跟贴目录:

1。头衔？2。欲擒故纵？ - 渔夫 20000312181022
Re: "smart little piece" - Youren 20000312181233
- no double about it ! Definitely the receptionist. - ds 20000312192103
- 但和后面的“to buy lunch for”联不上呀？ - Last Hermit 20000313053605
现在稍微装得为难一点对以后的？有好处(?) - hz 20000312184506
- A plan that will bear fruit is usually refer to as a scheme that will pay you dividends later. - ds 20000312193332
  - Thanks! 那就是说“现在稍微装得为难一点，以后就可捞便宜了”，am I right? - hz 20000312201552
    - 对不起，再交代一下语境……DS与大头君请进 - Last Hermit 20000313075649
      - 谢谢提供上下文！ - hz 20000313123954
      - reply - ds 20000313203334
        
        Thanks a lot. But the story... - Last Hermit 20000314094353
        
        Oops! "pasted" instead of "pased". Oh. I'm not that cruel! - Last Hermit 20000314095843
        
        seemingly & seemly - laoliu 20000314213407
        
        Yes. In Longman,... - Last Hermit 20000315044916
        
        O my, I just noticed your posting! - hz 20000315063107
        
        贤妹见谅！“I'm curious about/as to...”。“故弄玄虚”。Also... - Last Hermit 20000315091629
        
        Haha, lao shi! Thank you so much! - hz 20000315104703
        
        the loan.. - ds 20000315152230
        
        Thanks! 我现在全糊涂了:-) - hz 20000315171031
        
        Yes. That's right! Thanks a lot! - Last Hermit 20000315215906
        
        OK, it all makes sense now. - ds 20000314152121
    - yeah, I think you can say that. Also.. - ds 20000313204552
      - Thanks! - hz 20000314035741
        
        但卖什么关子呢。 - Last Hermit 20000315092146
- 有关楼下LAUGH一条谚语的出处 - Last Hermit 20000313082652
  - Thanks a lot! - hz 20000313123417

1。头衔？2。欲擒故纵？

渔夫

2000/03/12 18:10:22

回应此贴

查看原贴

Re: "smart little piece"

Youren

2000/03/12 18:12:33

回应此贴

查看原贴

no double about it ! Definitely the receptionist.

2000/03/12 19:21:03

回应此贴

查看原贴

但和后面的“to buy lunch for”联不上呀？

Last Hermit

2000/03/13 05:36:05

The context is as follows:

I gaze at him. I find all this remarkably difficult to follow, not being a simple countryman like him. Particularly the bit about splitting the commission. Splitting what commission?

"The nine or ten percent I'd have paid if we'd gone ahead at Sotheby's, or if I'd taken it to a dealer," he explains. "So you get five percent, I get five percent, and we're both happy."
...
"Fair enough?" he says, watching me. Plainly not--though fair enough is what it seems to me, I have to confess, because after all I'm not a personal friend, and I haven't found him his purchaser, and being cheated on the percentage would also relieve me conscience some what regarding the little corollary to the deal that he doesn't know about yet. For the sake of verisimilitude, though, I suppose I'd better bargain about it.

"Five percent?" I query...

---------------------------
Meunique
[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

现在稍微装得为难一点对以后的？有好处(?)

作者：hz - 2000/03/12 18:45:06 ***

pay dividends: 付股息(红利)? 不知道怎么扯到一块儿的

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

A plan that will bear fruit is usually refer to as a scheme that will pay you dividends later.

作者：ds - 2000/03/12 19:33:32 ***

The expression comes from investing. In the old days, (before this
talk of the new paradigm and the new economy), people invest in
a stock of a company with the intention of getting a yearly (or
quarterly) dividend payment from the company. (When a company makes
money, part of the profit is supposed to be paid out to investors
as a dividend (股息) {but not (红利). (红利)would be a bonus, and is
usually paid only to employees}
(Using part of your reply, ..
现在稍微装得为难一点, so that I will receive the reward of my
investment(in the sense of an invested effort) later.
(Sorry, I didn't want to exit, use my Chinese
character writer, and then log back on.)
ds

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

Thanks! 那就是说“现在稍微装得为难一点，以后就可捞便宜了”，am I right?

作者：hz - 2000/03/12 20:15:52 ***

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

对不起，再交代一下语境……DS与大头君请进

作者：Last Hermit - 2000/03/13 07:56:49 ***

　　拙译（粗译）：
　　“我昨天到城里去了，”我对着窗外的天空望了很久，仿佛在琢磨这件事值不值得提似的，可是，一扭回头便跟东尼说了，并不费劲。“我跟一个人谈的时候，他说他认识一个人，说不定会感兴趣。”
　　东尼皱眉。“不是画商么？”他将信将疑地问道。
　　“不，不*D*D一个收藏家。说喜欢Giordano。非常喜欢。”
　　“钱也没问题？”
　　“钱，照我看来，决不是问题。他富到流油(Money coming out of his ears.)。”
　　这不行喽。说起来很顺哪。看来，这头开得不错。感觉很好。先给他点甜头尝尝，然后再来点苦的。
　　“不过，我看他可是个神秘人，”我一本正经道。“个人很低调。不肯抛头露面。”
　　是这样说的么？我发现，我这话好象没找准题，反倒像顺着东尼来说似的(The subjects seem to be dropping off the fronts of my sentences)。他盯着我，似有所思。
　　他已看透了我的心思。我那勇气一下子就没了。只觉得惶惶然，心慌慌。我欺骗邻居给人逮住！以后哪有面目见人哪？怎么出门哪？
　　“您是说他不想来这儿看？”
　　“我不知道，”我在绝望中挣扎着。“没准儿……可能……”
　　“把画拿到城里去，”他斩钉截铁道。“叫您那哥儿们拿给他看看。”
　　我气还在喘，回不了神来答复他。缄默的含义便给他曲解了。
　　“麻烦是麻烦一点儿，”他说道。“可这也许值得呀，你明白吧。您可以挣个钱哪，要是这事儿光咱们俩做的话儿。免拍卖，免中介。单对单。朋友跟朋友之间处理一下。喏，您这样办。您将这老太太拿去苏士比给他们估一下价*D*D然后立马将她拿走。对不对？他们会按他们预期的价砍10个百分点下来，这他们可不会掉以轻心，所以你也抬高一点儿。对吧？然后您给它再加10点，因为您那神秘的哥儿们是不用给买主佣金的。再加上增值税，您可就两边赚了。然后您告诉我有多少，假如还算合理的话儿，我就会告诉您接着干。然后咱们将佣金分了它。”
　　我盯着他看。我觉得这事情特难办，并不像眼前这位老乡想的那么简单（I find all this remarkably difficult to follow, not being a simple countryman like him.）。尤其是说到分佣金的事儿。分什么佣金？
　　“要是咱们直接给苏士比，或者我将它拿给画商的话儿，我得拿10点左右出来作佣金，”他解释道。“所以您5点，我拿5点，两家高兴。”
　　明白了。我想他的意思是说，由于我是他的好友，又跟他找到了一个特满意的买主的，而那买主，不知出于什么原因，哪怕在情况极不明朗的情况下，都打算出高价；又由于我打算冒逃增值税的险，他打算从原来给画商的钱中拿一半出来给我。
　　“满意不？”他边说边盯着我看。显然不，尽管*D*D我得承认*D*D表面看来像是那么回事儿，因为我毕竟不是他什么密友，也没给他找到买主。再说，那桩交易他还不知道，也会带来一些必然的后果，我这么给他骗一骗，良心也就好过一点了。不过，为求逼真，我想最好还是还还价吧。
　　“5点？”我质疑道。“我看7点像样一点儿。”
　　“7点？”他嚷道，故作惊讶，骨子里却为拖我下水而暗自幸庆。“得了吧，老兄！You haven't got a gallery to maintain. You haven't got some smart little piece on the front desk to buy lunch for.”
　　没错。“6点，”我说道。
　　“5点5，”他说道。
　　这么强的人，我算是服了。“5点5，”我答应他道。
　　胜利的喜悦简直使他不能自已。他从桌子上一跳而起。又有一些纸掉进废纸篓里。
　　“您想现在就带她走么？”
　　这就跟做梦时突然发现自己会飞似的。我轻轻地挣扎着，回到了地面，然后不无幽默地拍了拍自己的口袋。
　　“钱？”他说道。“卖了以后再算。老天哪*D*D一场朋友，还是邻居。咱们先互相之间借着几千镑（We can trust each other for a few thousand）。”
　　说实在的，我还没想到钱那么远呢，更不用说借贷。
　　“我是说，”我解释道，“我没那么大的口袋来装。我是走路来的。”
　　“开我的Land Rover。”
　　我犹豫了。心里面却跃跃欲试，只希望回到早餐室去，然后找个时间再偷看一眼他们挡炉灰的妙着。然后，我看见自己回到了小别墅，凯特看着我在东尼•楚德的汽车车尾门上解包装带……然后将《强奸海伦》卸下来。并非要给凯特什么惊喜，她才不吃这套。我之所以到那儿，是因为觉得出发前还要做些准备功夫，还要商量商量。还得跟银行经理说几句话。Then again, a little seemly reluctance now may pay dividends later（好事多磨？）。

　　又及：看来，我对卡路里这个概念误解了X年，一直以来不知有这样分法，平时总听人们说每天摄取多少卡路里热量，还以为是最小的卡。
　　词典上的解释是：
　　卡路里（热量单位）
　　食物在人体内产生的热能
　　One can eat only 1500 calories a day on this diet.
　　按这个节食法,我们每天只能吃一千五百卡路里。
　　It is said that only one thin piece of bread their factory produces has more that 100 calories.
　　他们说他们厂生产的面包,薄薄一片就含有一百多卡路里。（《金山词霸2000》
　　大卡：热量的实用单位，是1卡路里的1000倍。也叫千卡。
　　因而，您说的是有道理的。这么个小问题，费了你们这么多时间，尤其DS君连嫂子也惊动了，真是过意不去。非常谢谢！

　　此外，关于“cheese cakes”和“beef cakes”，其实我的词典是有的，不过是拼成“cheesecake”和“beefcake”，并认真查，所以查不到。但朗文把两个词都标为“U”，即不具数名词。

　　再有便是，大头君似乎又误解了我对于“rock-'n'-roll”的理解。其实，我对摇滚乐尽管知道的不多，但这个名词还是很早就知道的，而且什么“重金属摇滚乐”、“爵士乐”等也是听过的。而且，当初我的确译成“摇滚乐传统”，只不过，后来又仿佛觉得作者在标奇立异，用它来表示“摇滚”的意思，结果译出来以后却成了笑话。一如您说的，这是不应该有的。以后一定多加注意。
　　谢谢您诚挚的意见！

---------------------------
Meunique
[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

谢谢提供上下文！

作者：hz - 2000/03/13 12:39:54 ***

我好象也想不出再进一步的或更准确的理解了。我猜这里没准儿指的是同银行经理的谈话，拿拿架式
，对以后的讨价还价有利。Just a guess.

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

reply

作者：ds - 2000/03/13 20:33:34 ***

Correct me if I have misinterpreted the story.

In the story, the person "I" (let's call it Mr.A) was trying to sell a picture
for a painter or owner Mr.B . He went to see a private dealer in a gallery (Mr.C).
Mr.C told him that if he were to take the picture to the auction house
Sotheby's, they would have charged him 10% as a commission. Instead
Mr.C would try to sell the picture directly, charge 10% commission.
and split that, half and half, with Mr. A .

Am I being correct so far ?

Mr.A then tried to negotiate for a 7% cut instead of 5 and finally settled
for 5.5%,
During the discussion, Mr.C complained that his cost is high: He has
the gallery to maintain (rent, overhead etc..) plus the salary a secretary (or
receptionist) to pay for. (The "buy lunch for" bit is a tongue in cheek
way of referring to a secretary whom he probably takes out for
lunch once in a while.) I based my conclusion on the use of the word
"front desk" and the reference to "buy lunch for". In the old days, it
is not inconceivable that a boss will often make suggestions to his
secretary or receptionist that he will buy her lunch.

This is the way I interprete it. Hope it is correct.

(An aside:
out for lunch and out to lunch.
Around here, when someone is completely clueless about something, we often say that "he is out to lunch".)

(2) cheesecake etc.. These are one of those words that I could
never remember (or figure out) whether they should be one
word or two !

(3) I couldn't figure out why the following sentence is the way it is::
" . I find all this remarkably difficult to follow, not being a simple countryman like him. "
I would have expected something like this:
. "I find all this remarkably difficult to follow, being a simple countryman like
myself."
(It is the " I" that had the trouble in understanding the bit
about the commission, and "him" is the gentleman with the sophistication
of the business. ) What's your opinion on this ?

(4) Last word on the cal. The reason why I spent so much time on
a small point like that is that I was totally confused. LIke I said before,
500 cal seems to be too small and 500 Kcal (500 Cal) seems to be
too large. Now I found that it's not just me, apparently there are a lot
of confusion due to the misuse of the unit cal. Straightly speaking,
one must identify the unit by a capital or small C. Unfortunately, many
people just ignor that distinction. That's why my wife was also
totally confused.

ds

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

Thanks a lot. But the story...

作者：Last Hermit - 2000/03/14 09:43:53 ***

In the story, "I" is trying to secure a picture from Tony, the owner. Yet, as a well-educated person from London, where he's majoring Philosophy, from which he always changes to Art History that his wife finds disturbing enough as she's an Art History major, he finds it very ackward and reluctant to cheat on Tony. But this picture is so important that it may make him rich and famous, which finally drives him to "launch out into the open sea of fiction". Thus, when Toney asks if he has found him a dealer as he's promised to do so, he, after a long silence of wild imaginations, cuts himself free from all hesitations and starting to write his own "fiction". Now, it comes to the context pased upstairs:

　　“我昨天到城里去了，”我对着窗外的天空望了很久，仿佛在琢磨这件事值不值得提似的，可是，一扭回头便跟东尼说了，并不费劲。“我跟一个人谈的时候，他说他认识一个人，说不定会感兴趣。”
　　……
　　我犹豫了。心里面却跃跃欲试，只希望回到早餐室去，然后找个时间再偷看一眼他们挡炉灰的妙着。然后，我看见自己回到了小别墅，凯特看着我在东尼•楚德的汽车车尾门上解包装带……然后将《强奸海伦》卸下来。并非要给凯特什么惊喜，她才不吃这套。我之所以到那儿，是因为觉得出发前还要做些准备功夫，还要商量商量。还得跟银行经理说几句话。Then again, a little seemly reluctance now may pay dividends later……

　　Note: Giordano is the painter. And the picture "I" wants to secure is not the "Rape of Helen"; rather, it's another one known as "Merrymaker", painted by Brueghel, the Elder.

The phrase "out to lunch" can be found in my dictionary:
out to lunch(Slang): Not in touch with the real world; crazy.(Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition)

Shall I translate it into Cantonese as “傻更更／戆居居”（“傻乎乎／傻冒”，in Putonghua)？

(3) I couldn't figure out why the following sentence is the way it is::
" . I find all this remarkably difficult to follow, not being a simple countryman like him. "
I would have expected something like this:
. "I find all this remarkably difficult to follow, being a simple countryman like myself."
(It is the " I" that had the trouble in understanding the bit about the commission, and "him" is the gentleman with the sophistication of the business. ) What's your opinion on this ?

In fact, "I" is more simple-minded than Tony, the countryman, who is doing tax evasion through "I", which "I" has not yet realised. But "I" has his scheme that Tony doesn't know, though.

---------------------------
Meunique
[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

Oops! "pasted" instead of "pased". Oh. I'm not that cruel!

作者：Last Hermit - 2000/03/14 09:58:43 ***

---------------------------
Meunique
[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

seemingly & seemly

作者：laoliu - 2000/03/14 21:34:07 ***

It just occurred to me that seemly means proper or suitable.

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

Yes. In Longman,...

作者：Last Hermit - 2000/03/15 04:49:16 ***

it's marked as "old-fash or lit". Now, too, this "reluctance" has an obsolete meaning: the act of struggling against or opposing: opposition(Webster's Third New). So "好事多磨" could be a probablity?

---------------------------
Meunique
[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

O my, I just noticed your posting!

作者：hz - 2000/03/15 06:31:07 ***

谢谢lao同志！hz到处出错:(，多亏您到处指出:-)。

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

贤妹见谅！“I'm curious about/as to...”。“故弄玄虚”。Also...

作者：Last Hermit - 2000/03/15 09:16:29 ***

"If you thought it irritating" would be a bit too formal in such an occasion, I'm afraid? And "find" should fit in, eh?

---------------------------
Meunique
[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

Haha, lao shi! Thank you so much!

作者：hz - 2000/03/15 10:47:03 ***

楼下您说卖什么关子，我没懂您的问题。我觉得卖关子意思差不多，但也许在那里用并不是完全恰
当。何况laoliu后来还指出seemly的含义我的理解是不对的，那个句子就更与卖关子扯不上边儿了
。您说呢？

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

the loan..

作者：ds - 2000/03/15 15:22:30 ***

Re: the 卖关子 refers to the person who wants to sell the picture.

I thought the "reluctance" from
"Then again, a little seemly reluctance now may pay dividends later."
refers to the phrase earlier: "I hesitate.". Then he thought to himself that
this "seemly reluctance" (hesitation) can be used as a ploy to get a better
deal later. He is betting on the fact thatthe dealer wants to get a deal.
If he looked reluctant , rather than too eager, to agree, then
the dealer may sweeten the pot.

Does that sound reasonable ?

ds

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

Thanks! 我现在全糊涂了:-)

作者：hz - 2000/03/15 17:10:31 ***

我上面说“沾不上边儿”欠思考，对不起。这么说吧，我觉得reluctant最准确的讲法是“勉强”
“不情愿”，而“卖关子”一词词典给出的解释是(1)吊人胃口(2)故弄玄虚。作为第二种含义，
“卖关子”用在上文中应该差不多，但我认为细究一下的话，两者仍是有区别的。也许我追究得
过细了，反而作茧自缚了。

谢谢您的认真仔细！

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

Yes. That's right! Thanks a lot!

作者：Last Hermit - 2000/03/15 21:59:06 ***

---------------------------
Meunique
[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

OK, it all makes sense now.

作者：ds - 2000/03/14 15:21:21 ***

After I read the other part of the story, the phrase about "countryman etc.."
makes sense.This shows you that it is hard to interpret something correctly
without reading the whole thing! ( "Looking a leopard through
a tube, you can only see one spot !" Or: The 3 blind man touching
an elephant, each one has a different interpretation because he can
only feel one part of the whole thing !)

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

yeah, I think you can say that. Also..

作者：ds - 2000/03/13 20:45:52 ***

I wonder if this is correct.
现在卖一个关子,以后就可捞便宜了.

( I am not sure if my memory of the meaning of "卖关子" is correct.)

ds

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

Thanks!

作者：hz - 2000/03/14 03:57:41 ***

“卖关子”我想差不多。象昨天我回答有关令狐冲的问题时就“卖关子”了(sorry! :-)，就是“吊人胃口”或“顾弄玄虚”。

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

但卖什么关子呢。

作者：Last Hermit - 2000/03/15 09:21:46 ***

---------------------------
Meunique
[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

有关楼下LAUGH一条谚语的出处

作者：Last Hermit - 2000/03/13 08:26:52 ***

据词典说，源自美国女诗人Ella Wheeler Wilcox的诗Solititude:

Laugh and the world laughs with you,
Weep and you weep alone,
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
Bu has trouble enough of its own

---------------------------
Meunique
[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

Thanks a lot!

作者：hz - 2000/03/13 12:34:17 ***

[ 回应此贴 | 查看原贴 ]

[ 跟贴目录 ] [ 返回论坛 ]