'I once calculated that the Foreign Office
我曾算过 外♥交♥部♥每小时
'receives 250 telegrams every hour.
能收到250封电报
'That is 6,000 telegrams per day.
一天就是6000封
'Or 42,000 each week...'
一周就是42000封
You thought I was Persia, didn't you? I've been promoted!
你以为我分管波斯的吧 我升职了
Which comes to 2,190,000 telegrams every year.
一年就是2190000封电报
Britannia rules the waves, I suppose.
大不列颠傲视群雄
And for that reason, we must welcome these tides of information.
因此 我们就得接收潮涌般的信息
'Political crisis in Argentina.
阿根廷的政♥治♥危机
'The abolition of slavery in Siam, I love it.
暹罗废除奴隶制 我超爱的
'It means that I am working at the centre of the world
也就是说我在世界的中心工作
'and get to find out what is happening, as soon as it happens.
一有事发生我马上就能得知
'Well, within a few hours, anyway.
反正不会超过几小时
'But, my word, it is an awful lot of telegrams!'
但是 老天啊 电报量可真不小呀
Could you do these promptly, Muriel? Please?
能尽快打出这封吗 莫丽尔 说拜托
Please!
拜托
This particular one though,
而这一封
received in London from His Britannic Majesty's Consul
由英王陛下驻萨拉热窝领事
in Sarajevo, on June 28, 1914.
在1914年6月28日发往伦敦
Well, I should be honest with you,
我就说实话吧
the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, murdered in Sarajevo.
弗兰茨·斐迪南大公在萨拉热窝遇刺身亡
'Interesting, for sure, over breakfast,
早餐时当谈资还挺有趣
but forgotten by tea-time.'
到下午茶时就没人记得了
Thank you.
谢谢
Or so I thought. As did everyone else I spoke to.
我是这么以为的 大家也都一样
But it was not forgotten. And I think it never will be.
但它没有被迅速遗忘 我觉得它会永载史册了
'You know, it is a magical place,
老实说 这地方真的很神奇
'and I have to pinch myself sometimes that I'm here.
有时我得捏捏自己 才能确信这不是梦
'Just two years on from Kings,
从伦敦国王学院毕业才两年
'a second division clerk in the great,
就做上了外♥交♥部♥大帝国
and, as some would have it,
也有人说是
'independent kingdom of the Foreign Office.'
独♥立♥帝国的二级文员
What's in the box, Henry, lead piping?
箱子里有什么 亨利 铅管吗
'Not much of a player, not yet, but a ringside seat
不算什么要职 但要是真喜欢这行的话
if you like your boxing.'
真算是不错的职位了
Shoulders back. Doubtless that is for me, Alec.
稍等 那肯定是给我的吧 埃里克
It is, sir. Well, let's take it into my office.
是的 先生 送去我办公室吧
That's my boss, Sir Eyre Crowe.'
那是我的上司 艾尔·克劳爵士
So, what do we have?
是什么消息
The Assistant Undersecretary at the Foreign Office.
外♥交♥部♥助理次长
'German born, educated in Berlin, but now,
生于德国 曾在柏林念书 但现在
'he is more British than any one of us.'
他比我们任何人都更具英伦范儿
'I have learned to watch Sir Eyre closely
我学会了密切观察艾尔爵士
because everyone knows he is a brilliant man.
因为大家都认为他才华横溢
Including himself.
包括他自己
Do you know, I was about to predict something like this?
你知道吗 我正要预言这种事的发生呢
'This man had come to Britain at 17, a German speaker still,
他17岁来英国 当时只会说德语
'and sailed through his civil service examinations.'
却顺利通过了公务员考试
I thought so.
我就猜到是这样
Rash, rash, rash.
鲁莽 轻率 冒进
'I think he likes me too.
我觉得他也喜欢我
'I am a scholarship boy, you see.
我是个成绩优异的乖学生
'A bit of an outsider myself.'
同他一样 我似乎也有些独树一帜
Look at this. The 28th was the Serb holy day.
看这个 28号♥是塞尔维亚的宗教节日
What a time for an Austrian archduke to go to Sarajevo.
奥地利大公真是挑了个好时候去萨拉热窝
It is rash, sir.
的确很轻率 先生
Yes. Rash.
是的 轻率
So... Is this important or not? It is.
那你觉得 这件事重要吗 重要
But important enough to disturb the Foreign Secretary?
足以去叨扰外交大臣吗
Right now?
现在吗
Right now.
就现在
No.
不
I believe you may want to think about that one again.
我认为你该再思考一下这个问题
Come.
请进
I am leaving, Crowe, is it urgent?
我正要下班呢 克劳 是急事吗
It's Bosnia, Foreign Secretary.
是波斯尼亚 外交大臣
I think that might wait.
我觉得那个可以先放在一边
Really?
不是吧
Come and walk me out then.
那就边走边说
'That is Sir Edward Grey, the Liberal Foreign Secretary.
那是爱德华·格雷爵士 自♥由♥党外交大臣
'As a statesman he was, we believed, trusted and admired.'
作为一名政♥治♥家 他深受我们的信任和敬仰
The Mesopotamia minute.
美索不达米亚备忘录
And I shall need the Persian text first thing tomorrow. Sir.
明天一早把波斯的文本给我 是 先生
So who would want him dead? Many people.
谁会想弄死他 很多人
Franz Ferdinand was an unpopular man and made enemies easily.
弗兰茨·斐迪南不得人心 树敌众多
What does your stomach say?
你直觉是谁
Croat? Muslim? I doubt it.
克罗地亚人 穆♥斯♥林♥教♥徒♥ 我怀疑不是
Hungarian? Possibly.
匈牙利人 有可能
More likely to be a Serb, then?
更可能是塞尔维亚人
That is where I would place my money. Me too.
我认为这可能性最大 我也这么认为
The question is, how will the Austrians take it?
问题是 奥地利人会有什么反应
You are going to give me a very brief
你要给我一个简洁
but wonderfully incisive answer.
却非常深刻的答案
The same way they take all their disappointments.
跟他们接受所有挫败一样的反应
Hysterical condemnation, a Baroque display of official grief
歇斯底里的谴责 巴洛克式的官方悼念
and a demand for financial compensation.
以及要求经济赔偿
From? Oh, from whomever they can find to blame.
谁来赔 抓到谁是谁
We don't want it to be Serbia, do we?
我们可不希望是塞尔维亚吧
No. It would be messy.
是的 那可就麻烦了
It would... Yes?
的确... 怎么
Austria does have rather too many unruly Serbs within its own borders
奥地利境内就有太多难以管束的塞尔维亚人
to go picking a fight with a whole lot more outside.
而境外则有更多 一旦打起来后果很严重
So do we need to worry? We always need to do that.
我们需要担心吗 我们时时需要担心
But I should enjoy my supper?
但我还能享受我的晚餐
'You know, Sir Edward might also have been
爱德华爵士也可能是
'the unluckiest man in Britain.
英国最倒霉的人
His wife had recently died after being thrown by a horse.'
她的妻子最近摔下马背而死
How is your boy doing? Very well, sir.
你家儿子怎么样 很好 先生
I hope to see him back here before long.
希望他能早日回来
'His elder brother had been eaten by a lion
他哥哥被狮子吃了
and his younger brother would be mauled to death by a buffalo.
弟弟则被水牛重伤致死
'That is enough personal tragedy to finish a man,
如此多的悲剧已经足够摧毁一个人了
'but Grey bore it, somehow.'
但格雷不知怎的挺了过来
That dreadful man, Eyre Crowe, I'll wager
那个可怕的人 艾尔·克劳 我打赌
he sees this as an opportunity to have a go at the Germans.
他肯定将这事看作是抨击德国的机会
Now, now, dear, Sir Edward has come here to relax,
亲爱的 爱德华爵士是来放松的
not to talk shop.
不是谈论公事的
Oh, nonsense, he loves talking shop, you all do.
胡说 他就爱谈公事 你们都是
Look at David over there.
你看那边的大卫
Do you want him to recite Welsh poetry? No, you don't.
你想让他吟诵威尔士诗歌♥吗 不想吧
You want him to relate some tittle-tattle from the Treasury!
你想让他唠唠财政部的事
You can never distinguish
你总是分不清
between a dinner party and a cabinet meeting
晚宴和内阁会议的区别
and much as we would all welcome your feminine wisdom in Cabinet,
尽管内阁非常欢迎你作为女性的智慧
Margot, there is a difference!
但玛格特 两者是有区别的
More's the pity!
真遗憾
But at least tell me this, Sir Edward,
爱德华爵士 至少告诉我
Servia是旧称
Serbia是塞尔维亚的现称
is it Serbia or Servia?
是塞尔比亚还是塞尔维亚
B for "Barbarian", or V for "Villain"?
B对应"野蛮人" 还是V对应"坏人"
I am at a loss.
我也很困惑
Some of our clerks type it up as B, others V.
有些文员打成B 有些打成V
The Times favours V.
《泰♥晤♥士♥报♥》喜欢用V
Never. In the Manchester Guardian, it is B.
不对 《曼切斯特卫报》用的是B
And the News of the World says, "Who the hell cares?"
《世界新闻报》说 "谁他妈在乎"
About the spelling? About anything!
是说拼写吗 是关于那个国家的一切
I have no firm allegiance to either, Margot.
要我说哪个都行 玛格特
Well, you should get these things straight.
但你们应该把这种事搞清楚
A misspelt name is like a forgotten face. A grave insult.
拼错名字就像记错人 是极大的侮辱
Just the sort of thing men will go to war over. Quite so!
为了这个打起来都是正常的 确实如此