片段对白

Nicholas Baker: There he is. Fred.

Frederick Aiken: Hey.

Nicholas Baker: Hamilton here has offered to be your second chair.

Frederick Aiken: Oh. Re...

Hamilton: Not a chance in hell.

Nicholas Baker: No? You sure?

Hamilton: Oh, yeah. I'll carry his briefcase, but I'm not...

Frederick Aiken: Sarah.

Sarah: Fred.

Frederick Aiken: Why are you here?

Sarah: I'm trying to understand why you're here. I suppose I should wish you luck.

General Hunter: Come to order.

Mary Surratt: How is Anna, Mr. Aiken?

Frederick Aiken: She's fine... looking forward to when you come home.

Mary Surratt: That's very nice of you to say, Mr. Aiken.

General Hunter: Judge Advocate Holt, will you please proceed?

Joseph Holt: In the matter of Mary Surratt, the prosecution calls as its first witness Mr. Louis Weichmann.

Frederick Aiken: I thought he was like family. Why are they calling him?

Joseph Holt: Place your right hand on this Bible.

Mary Surratt: I don't know.

Joseph Holt: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you, God?

Louis Weichmann: I do.

Joseph Holt: Please. Are you acquainted with the defendant, Mary Surratt?

Louis Weichmann: Yes. Yes, I am. I attended Divinity College with her son John.

Joseph Holt: And until recently, you resided at the boarding house owned by Mary Surratt. Is that correct?

Louis Weichmann: That is correct, sir.

Joseph Holt: Were any of these men ever present in her home?

Louis Weichmann: Yes, sir. These three over there on several occasions.

Joseph Holt: Let the record reflect that the witness has identified the prisoners Herold, Payne and Atzerodt. And who invited these men?

Louis Weichmann: John Surratt.

Frederick Aiken: Objection.

Joseph Holt: Objection?

Frederick Aiken: Uh, uh...There's no way to prove that John Surratt even knew these men, let alone invited them.

Joseph Holt: Mr. Surratt's absence from this proceeding is Mr. Surratt's problem.

General Hunter: Objection overruled. Continue, Mr. Holt.

Joseph Holt: Was John Wilkes Booth also a frequent guest of John Surratt?

Louis Weichmann: Indeed, but all the Surratts adored him...John, his sister Anna and their mother, too.

Joseph Holt: And were there ever meetings held at the boarding house involving Mr. Booth?

Louis Weichmann: Many, sometimes lasting two, three hours and always in secret, behind closed doors.

Joseph Holt: And did you ever see Mary Surratt object to these, uh, meetings?

Louis Weichmann: No, sir.

Joseph Holt: Or to the presence of those men?

Louis Weichmann: No, she did not.

Joseph Holt: Thank you.

Louis Weichmann: She appeared to welcome them.

Joseph Holt: Thank you. That'll be all, Mr. Weichmann.

Frederick Aiken: How long did you say these secret meetings lasted?

Louis Weichmann: At least two, three hours.

Frederick Aiken: You were timing them? Eh, if you were timing them, I suppose these secret meetings were not, in fact, kept secret from you.

Louis Weichmann: I knew about them, sir, but I had no knowledge of what they were about.

Frederick Aiken: And that is because you never attended any yourself, correct?

Louis Weichmann: Exactly.

Frederick Aiken: Why was that?

Louis Weichmann: I thought them suspicious.

Frederick Aiken: Suspicious? Well, then, you see, you did know what they were about.

Louis Weichmann: No, sir, I did not.

Frederick Aiken: Then why were your suspicions aroused?

Louis Weichmann: By the snatches of rebel conversation I overheard in the hallways and by their frequent whisperings.

Frederick Aiken: Well, in that case, if it was of such great concern to you, why did you not report your suspicions to your superiors at the War Department?

Louis Weichmann: I did.

Frederick Aiken: Excuse me?

Louis Weichmann: I did reveal my suspicions. I made a confidant of Captain Gleason in the War Department.

General Hunter: Mr. Aiken, if there's nothing else... Counselor, will that be all?

Frederick Aiken: Uh, yes. Uh, no. No. No, I do have something else. Tell me, Mr. Weichmann. Tell us all. You ever been in Richmond?

Joseph Holt: Objection.

Frederick Aiken: I merely wish to know if the witness has ever visited the capital of the Confederacy.

Louis Weichmann: I don't recall.

Frederick Aiken: Then perhaps this train receipt will refresh your memory. It indicates passage to Richmond, and it has your initials on it.

Louis Weichmann: Yes. That's right. I considered continuing my divinity studies there after the war. I plan on becoming a priest.

Frederick Aiken: That's very nice. Do you recall, Mr. Weichmann, at which institute in Richmond you were thinking of enrolling?

Louis Weichmann: The name?

Frederick Aiken: Yes, Mr. Weichmann, the name.

Louis Weichmann: Well, uh...

Frederick Aiken: There is no academy of the kind...

Joseph Holt: Objection.

Frederick Aiken: ...In Richmond, is there, Mr. Weichmann? In fact, perhaps you visited Richmond...

Joseph Holt: Objection, General.

Frederick Aiken: ...For another purpose entirely.

General Hunter: Objection sustained.

Frederick Aiken: You worked for the general in charge of rebel prisoners, did you not?

Louis Weichmann: Yes. So?

Frederick Aiken: Perhaps a distinguished clerk like yourself knew certain information.

Louis Weichmann: What sort of information?

Frederick Aiken: Information that might have been of divine interest to certain rebels within the capital of the Confederacy.

Joseph Holt: Objection, General. The witness is not on trial here.

Lewis Payne: Well, he ought to be!

General Hunter: Objection sustained. The witness is not on trial.

Frederick Aiken: Sir, I am merely trying to establish the witness' credibility or rather the lack of credibility of this man.

General Hunter: Mr. Aiken, you are incriminating the witness.

Frederick Aiken: Incriminating? Sir, Louis Weichmann shared a room with John Surratt. I have a ticket that puts him in Richmond. I think it reasonable to assume that he knows more about this plot to assassinate our president than he supposedly reported.

Joseph Holt: What Mr. Aiken thinks is entirely immaterial.

General Hunter: Counselor, unless you have something more relevant to ask, the witness will step down.

Frederick Aiken: No. No, I have nothing more...relevant to ask.

妙语佳句 活学活用

1. let alone: 更不用说，更别提。

2. Objection overruled: 抗议无效/反对无效。

3. time: 记录……的时间。

4. snatch: 片段。请看例句：We heard snatches of their conversation as they raised their voices from time to time.（当他们不时地提高嗓门说话时，我们听到了他们谈话的片段。）

5. of great concern: 非常重要。看一下例句：It's a matter of great concern.（这件事至关重要。）

6. Objection sustained: 抗议有效/反对有效。

7. incriminate: 暗示（或显示）……有罪。

8. immaterial: 无关紧要的。

9. step down: 退下。