Friends英语赏析【14】约定

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第十四篇

圣诞节快要到了，Chandler和老友们约好说这次圣诞节就他们六个人一起吃年夜饭, 不准有其它约会(Just the six of us-dinner.)。

在大伙装饰圣诞树时，Phoebe说到了她新交的男友：

Phoebe: I just- I just wanna be with him all the time. Day and night, and night and day... and special occasions...
Chandler: Wait a minute, wait a minute, I see where this is going, you're gonna ask him to New Year's, aren't you. You're gonna break the pact. She's gonna break the pact.
Phoebe: No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, could I just…?
Chandler: Yeah, 'cause I already asked Janice.
Monica: What?!
Ross: C'mon, this was a pact! This was your pact!
Chandler: I snapped, okay? I couldn't handle the pressure and I snapped.
Monica: Yeah, but Janice? That-that was like the worst breakup in history!
Chandler: I'm not saying it was a good idea, I'm saying I snapped!

【世博视角】

刚刚坠入爱河的恋人们总是恨不得每天都粘在一起，就像Phoebe说得那样：I just wanna be with him all the time. Day and night, and night and day...(日日夜夜)，and special occasions...（还有一些特殊场合）。听到这儿，Chandler有点反应过来了：“Wait a minute, wait a minute, I see where this is going, 这句话颇有点像我们中文所说的“我知道你葫芦里装的是什么药了" ，圣诞节不就可以算是个 “特殊场合” 吗？所以Chandler猜测Phoebe想和他的男友一起过圣诞 （you're gonna ask him to New Year's, aren't you.），这样的话Phoebe就要打破他们先前的约定了(She's gonna break the pact)。pact就是 “约定” 的意思，它既可以指那些非常正式的，比方说国与国之间的互不侵犯协定 (e.g. The two countries signed a non-aggression pact.), 也可以是几个人之间的口头约定, 譬如：We made a pact never to tell anyone about what had happened.

既然和别人有了约定就应该遵守，break the pact 总是要被人骂的，所以当Chandler一语道破Phoebe的心思之后，她起先还一个劲地否认，最后才不好意思说：“Yeah, could I just…（是的，我能不能…?）” 没料到Chandler居然也回答说Yeah, 因为他自己也约了别人('cause I already asked Janice.) 这下大伙都跳了起来，要知道那个pact可是Chandler提出来的, 难怪Ross说： “This was your pact!” 自知理亏的Chandler只得承认自己受不了新年没有约会的压力，出尔反尔(I couldn't handle the pressure and I snapped) 。handle 是一个常用的动词，看它的拼写我们就不难想象出它的意思，需要用hand来做的事情总是比较复杂的，因此handle就可解释为 “处理” 棘手的情况、问题或是人，比如：She's very good at handling difficult customers. 而pressure （压力）就属难对付的情况之一，有些人就处理不好，像Chandler在压力之下就 “啪” 地一声被折断了( snap的基本含义.) 。顺便说一下，handle也可作名词，表示 “把手”, 如：She turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Monica更是想不通Chandler为什么偏偏还要约他的前女友Janice, 在和她分手之后,Chandler曾夸张地告诉大伙说那是史上最糟糕的分手 (That was like the worst breakup in history!) 面对Monica的诘问，Chandler只能辩解道：“我又没说这是个好主意，我说我受不了了嘛！（I'm not saying it was a good idea, I'm saying I snapped!）”

*本篇所讲到的地道表达法：

sign / make / break a pact
handle something / somebody