LOFTER-网易轻博

ps：只有[  ]框内为原文摘录和翻译，其他是我的吐槽和碎碎念。

pps:文中提到的“——编者”是小说的编者不是我。

---

对应TV版《是，首相》第一季第六集

民主之胜 A Victory for Democracy

本章概述：为了给自己取消三叉戟导弹订单的政策铺路，哈克需要再接下来的几个月中与美国人保持一致。美国人大使提到了东也门入侵圣乔治岛和在联合国阿拉伯人谴责以色列的决议。哈克想要讨好美国人，但是在这两件事上都受到了外交部的强烈阻挠。最终哈克在以色列大使的帮助下擅自派英国空降兵在圣乔治岛吓退了入侵的东也门，并除掉了外交部安插在自己私人秘书办公室的卢克。

1

美国大使威胁哈克阻止他取消三叉戟：

[This was the kind of American reaction that Humphrey had predicted. It was not news. 

美国的这种反应是汉弗莱早就预料到的。这对我而言并不新鲜。]

其实完全不知道圣乔治岛的两人：

2

汉弗莱在分条列点地分析现阶段问题：

[The potential problem with the PM: He might get into one of his ghastly patriotic Churchillian moods. He might want to start some pro-British defending democracy nonsense.

首相的潜在问题：他可怕的丘吉尔式爱国心可能会大爆发。这样他可能会发起某种“捍卫民主”的愚蠢行动。]

 （完全是正确的）

[The potential problem with the PM: Like all inhabitants of 10 Downing Street, he wants to take his place on the world stage. But people on stages are called actors. All they are required to do is look plausible, stay sober and say the lines they are given in the right order. Those that try to make up their own lines generally do not last long.

首相的潜在问题：和所有入驻唐宁街十号的人一样，他想在世界的舞台上拥有一席之地。但在舞台上的人应该被称为演员，他们所要做的一切就是看似真实，保持清醒，按照正确的顺序把交给他们的台词念好。那些想要自创台词的人通常不会在台上太久。]

 

3

[Two days have gone by. Ive had no response from Duncan. It's making me edgy. I called in Humphrey after lunch for a discussion on Foreign Affairs -- something we've never really had before.

We sat in the study, on either side of the fireplace, and had coffee while we talked. We had no agenda -- I just wanted a chat really. But the afternoon certainly taught me a thing or two.

两天过去了。我没有收到邓肯的恢复。这使我很焦躁。午餐后我叫汉弗莱过来商讨外交事务——一些我们以前从未碰到过的事情。

我们分坐在书房里壁炉的两侧，边喝咖啡边交谈。我们没有议程——我只是想聊聊天。但这个下午我无疑学到了一两件事情。]

TV版这里哈克跟汉弗莱说自己很担心，明知故问的汉弗莱回复他的语气像在回复委屈的小孩：

Oh↘, what↘ about↘, Prime↘ Minister↗?

 

[ I told Humphrey that I was worried about the Americans. It didn't seem to bother him at all. 'Yes, well, were all worried about the Americans,' he remarked with a weary smile.

我告诉汉弗莱，我正在担心美国人。他似乎对此毫不烦恼。“是的，没错，我们都担心美国人。”他露出令人厌烦的微笑回答我。]

 

[There is a general creeping anti-Americanism in opinion-forming circles in London -- specifically in Whitehall -- which worries me a little. But Humphrey can't just dismiss my worries so easily, he knows that I've got to do everything possible to keep in with them in the next few months if I'm to cancel a huge defence order for Trident.”

伦敦的舆论制造圈子里有普遍增长的反美情绪——特别是在白厅街——这使我有些忧虑。但汉弗莱不会轻易地免除我的忧虑，他知道如果我想要取消三叉戟导弹这笔国防大订单的话，我接下来的几个月都要竭尽全力地与美国保持一致。]

 

[I came straight to the point. 'The American Ambassador mentioned something about St George's Island,' I said.

He looked surprised. 'Really?'

'Humphrey do you know what's going on in that part of the world?'

'What part of the world is that?' he asked, staring at me with insolent blue eyes. Damn it, he realised that I didn't know exactly where it is!

我直奔主题。“美国大使提到了一些关于圣乔治岛的事情，”我说道。

他看起来很惊讶。“真的吗？”

“汉弗莱，你知道在世界上的那个地方发生什么事了吗？”

“在世界上的哪个地方？”他用蓝眼睛傲慢无礼地盯着我问。该死！他知道我不知道它的确切位置！]

猫猫逗狗现场。

哈克似乎是第一次具体地描述无关谈话内容的长相特征，瞪着对方吵架还有闲情具体描述一下汉弗莱的“蓝眼睛”这一点有点暧昧了（我是不是吃得太怪了？）。

btw汉弗莱的小说设定居然是蓝眼睛。

['No indeed, Prime Minister. Rather touching, actually.' Sometimes he is so superior I could wring his neck!

“确实不是，首相。这挺感人的，实话说。”有时候他如此傲慢，我真恨不得扭断他的脖子！]

 

[I tried to get him to understand. 'Humphrey, I am talking about right and wrong!'

He was shocked. 'Well, don't let the Foreign Office hear you,' he advised me with sudden vehemence.

I felt that I had to give him a basic history lesson. I reminded him that we in Britain are the flagbearers of democracy. We keep the torch of freedom alive. Our great duty, nay, our destiny, is to resist aggressors and oppressors and maintain the rule of law and the supremacy of justice. We are the trustees of civilisation. (This was, presumably, the Churchillian outburst which Sir Humphrey Appleby had feared -Ed.)”

我尝试让他明白。“汉弗莱，我在讨论的是是非问题！”

他很震惊。“哦，别让外交部听见您这么说！”他突然强烈地建议我。

我感到有必要教他一些基本的历史知识。我提醒他，是我们英国人扛起了民主的大旗，让自由的火炬用不熄灭。我们伟大的责任，不，我们的使命，就是抵抗侵略者和压迫者，维护法制的精神和正义的地位。我们是文明社会的受托监管人。（这大概就是汉弗莱阿普尔比爵士担心的丘吉尔式爱国心的大爆发。——编者）]

 

这一段TV版没有，但能体现出两人的观点，所以摘录一下：

[汉弗莱并不打算改变他保卫民主或者说保卫圣乔治岛的方法。他一再嘲讽地谈及他称为“挥舞旗帜”和“高举火炬”的事情。他竭力辩称，如果保卫民主令那些我们准备与之交朋友的人感到不安，而损害到英国的利益的话，那么他就不是需要优先考虑的事情了。

我愣住了。这是对希特勒采取绥靖政策那些人的声音。事实上，这是同一个外交部，现在我想起来了。

但令我瞠目结舌的是，汉弗莱竟然为绥靖主义者辩护：“他们做得十分正确。打了六年的仗，我们的成果不过是让东欧从法西斯的独裁统治变为共产党的独裁统治。而我们付出的代价确实数百万人的生命以及国家的没落。这就是我们不听从外交部劝告的下场。”]

[I think that this is one of the most shocking things Humphrey has ever said to me. I mean, he may be right, but it strikes at everything that we hold dear.

我想这是汉弗莱对我说过的最让我震惊的言辞之一。我的意思是，他也许是对的，但是他玷污了我们视为珍贵的一切事物。]

“他也许是对的。”

 

[I challenged him. 'Humphrey, are you saying Britain should not be on the side of law and justice?'

'No, no, of course we should,' he answered emphatically. 'We just shouldn't allow it to affect our foreign policy, tha'ts all.' He is completely amoral.

我质问他。“汉弗莱，你是在说英国不应该站在法律与正义这边吗？”

“不，不，我们当然应该，”他以强调的语气回答，“只不过，我们不应该让它影响我们的外交政策，仅此而已。”他完全没有道德意识。]

 

4

汉弗莱质问哈克英国空降军队“友善访问”圣乔治岛的事：

[He was not mollified by my engagingly frank manner. 'Quite,' he said nastily. 'Isn't this all rather sudden?'

我迷人的坦率态度并未使他（汉弗莱）平息怒火。“说真的，”他生气地说，“这是不是太突然了？”]

 迷人的坦率态度太好笑了w

['Come, come, Humphrey.' I was openly amused now. 'We're always moving troops around Salisbury Plain. Is that potentially explosive?'

“得了，得了，汉弗莱。”我丝毫不掩饰我被取悦到了。“我们总是在索尔兹伯里平原来回调动部队，那里也有潜在的爆炸性吗？”]

 

哈克调卢克到以色列：

[Bernard and Humphrey averted their eyes. They didn't like being present at the end of a colleagues career.

伯纳德和汉弗莱避开了目光。他们不愿意亲眼看到一个同事职业生涯的毁灭。]

 

[Humphrey looked up at me. He knew when the game was lost. 'Yes Prime Minister,' he said humbly.

汉弗莱抬头看我。他知道这一局他输了。“是，首相，”他谦卑地说。]

 

欣赏一下杀手本能大爆发的帅帅哈克：

p1是对汉弗莱，p2是对卢克，可以微妙地感受到哈克成功胜过“从未真正站到我这一边”的汉弗莱之后就只是在他面前贱嗖嗖地笑着嘚瑟，但是对真正得罪和“背叛（卢克是外交部安插到哈克私人秘书办公室的人）”自己的卢克，哈克是真的绝不手下留情。

---

对应TV版《是，首相》第一季第三集

烟幕重重 The Smoke Screen

本章概要：哈克假意支持禁烟，迫使财政部支持他减少15亿所得税的政策。

1

经典政客就像孩子~

[弗兰克很担心哈克的减税建议。减税是认真的，这我知道，但是如果我处在他的位置，我恐怕会更担心经济状况和低下的生产率。]

2

哈克和汉弗莱的见面：

[今天汉弗莱和我见了面，讨论他早前送给我的一份关于撤销三叉戟导弹和恢复征兵制的研究报告。报告很长，非常细致，非常啰嗦，简直不可卒读。

我拿给他看，他却感觉到很满意。“啊，是的，我们总嫌资料不足，”他自鸣得意地说，“我们需要大量的信息。除非已经详细审查了任何牵涉的影响和任何可能的结果，不然我们不能贸然宣布任何事。”好一个拖延政策，大家都心知肚明。

“这是一定会实行的，汉弗莱。”我用坚定的口吻告诉他。

“啊，是，首相。”所谓是，他意思是不。“在一定的时刻，在适当的时间，在成熟的时机，确实会的，无可置疑。”]

[他的怀疑也许说明了我在埃里克（财政大臣）哪里遇到的难以理解的固执。]

3

卫生大臣索恩向哈克建议政府采取行动实行禁烟：

[I had no immediate answer for such radical proposals. Of course, it would have helped if I'd read his paper before the meeting, but one can't find time for everything! But he was very serious and I had to keep him happy. So I told him that obviously I agreed with him, basically, that smoking ought to be stopped. No question. And I told him that we would definitely stop it in due course, at the appropriate juncture, in the fullness of time. I could see Bernard nodding with approval in the background. I'm getting very good at Civil Service stalling techniques.

对于这种激进的提议，我没有马上答复。当然，如果我在见面之前读过他的文件，对于如何答复是会有帮助的。但是，人们不可能有时间去做每件事情！鉴于他是十分认真严肃的，我不能让他太扫兴。于是我对他说，显然我大体同意他的禁烟想法。这是毫无疑问的。我还对他说，在一定的时刻、恰当的时间、在成熟的时机我们会明确禁烟的。我能预想到伯纳德在后面点头称是。我越来越善于使用文官部门的拖延技巧了。]

哈克又在引用汉弗莱刚才说过的话。我记得不久前的哈克还在预言自己什么时候也能自己熟练说出这种话，现在已经是运用自如了。

 

4

哈克想用禁烟（减烟草税四十亿）威胁财政部达成自己的减税（减所得税十五亿）的政策，他告诉汉弗莱自己准备支持索恩博士彻底禁烟的新政策：

[He was as superior as only Humphrey can be. 'Moral perhaps, but extremely silly. No one in their right mind could possibly contemplate such a proposal.'

'I'm contemplating it,' I said.

'Yes, of course,' he replied without a moments hesitation, the patronising smile wiped instantly from his face. 'Don't misunderstand me, of course it's right to contemplate all proposals that come from your government, but no sane man could ever support it.'

'I'm supporting it,' I said.

'And quite right too, Prime Minister, if I may say so.' His footwork is so fast that one might be forgiven for not noticing that he totally reversed his opinion with each sentence he uttered.

I gave him the chance to come over to my side. 'So you'll support it?' I asked.

'Support it?' He was emphatic. 'I support it wholeheartedly! A splended, novel, romantic, well-meaning, imaginative, do-gooding notion.'

As I thought. He is totally against it!

他露出一种只有汉弗莱独有的傲慢。“或许是道德的，但却是极端愚蠢的。没有任何一个神志正常者会认真考虑这样的提议。”

“我在考虑。”我说道。

“是的，当然，”他没有丝毫犹豫地回答，但他脸上居高临下的笑容立刻消失了。“您不要误会我的意思，对来自您政府班子的所有提议加以考虑无疑是正确的，但是没有任何一个心智健全者会支持这项提议。”

“我支持。”我说道。

“那也相当正确，首相，如果我可以这样说的话。”他的话锋转换得如此敏捷，以至于人们难以注意到他说的每一句话都在彻底否定上一句话。

我给了他一个机会，让他站到我这一边来。我问道：“这么说，你打算支持它了？”

“支持它？”他强调，“我将全心全意地支持它！这是一个出色的、新奇的、浪漫的、善意的、富于想象的、改良社会的观念。”

正如我所料的，他完全反对！]

“一种汉弗莱独有的傲慢”，他在你心中特别到需要为他的傲慢独开一类。 

['Ye-es,' he acknowledged with some reluctance. But 4 billion revenue per annum is a considerable sum.' 'They would say,' he added hastily, for fear of it being thought that he was taking sides in this dispute. They were clearly the Treasury.

“是......是的。”他承认得有点勉强。“但是每年四十亿英镑的收入是很大一笔钱，”他又急忙补充：“他们会这样说的。”生怕我认为他在争论中偏袒某一方。显然，“他们”是指财政部。]

 我觉得很香的一点：

不论发生了多少次欺骗，哈克对于汉弗莱至少表面上要“信任”汉弗莱，对他“不保有秘密”（在《钥匙风波》中哈克不小心说漏嘴质疑如果多萝西与哈克用信件交谈，汉弗莱就能看到所有信件；汉弗莱反击“是的，难道这应该瞒着我吗？”哈克马上就理亏落入下风。所以推测在两人的关系中，至少维持“我们之间没有秘密”的表象是一种共识）；

而不论汉弗莱如何反对哈克，他至少语言上看起来必须是在支持哈克，不偏袒任何一方。

两人对对方的虚伪表现都心知肚明，心中也对此颇为鄙夷，但他们还是需要维持这样乐意合作的表象，并且有时需要在持续性的对抗中偶尔真正合作一下。而在每一次两人最终通过一些交换来达成自己的目的时，他们都显得无比默契，并且非常了解对方的“价格”——就像是他们都知道对方适合自己一样虚伪的同类，他们显然不真正信任对方，但是却熟悉和信赖两人长久以来并非自愿形成的模式，这种信赖来源于对对方的性格和处事方式了如指掌（小说中汉弗莱对哈克的所有推测基本都是准确的，而哈克对汉弗莱的表达的理解也是十分精准）。

 

汉弗莱表示如果让每年吸烟死去的十万人安享晚年，国家花在退休金和社会保障方面的钱将远多于他们的医药费。从财政上讲，他们继续按照目前的规模死去，无疑更划算一些：

[I was shocked. I've been in politics a long time and not much shocks me any more. But his cynicism is truly appalling. (Interestingly, Hacker was shocked by Sir Humphreys cynical desire to encourage smoking, but was not shocked by his own self-declared plan to use the smoking issue merely as a way to force the Treasury into conceding income tax cuts. He had no more intention than Sir Humphrey of following Dr Thorns advice. But he was able to convince himself, temporarily, that he was less hypocritical than his Cabinet Secretary. Of such self-deceptions are great political leaders made. Thus Hacker was able to conduct the argument with Sir Humphrey in moral terms -Ed.

我震惊了。我参政已有时日，很多事情我已经见怪不怪了。但是他的愤世嫉俗还是令我骇然不已。（有意思的是，汉弗莱鼓励吸烟的愤世嫉俗的想法使哈克吃惊，但是哈克本人明知自己是在利用禁烟问题为削减所得税的目标铺路，他却并不觉得卑鄙。他和汉弗莱一样无意于索恩博士的意见，但是他能让自己暂时相信，他并不像他的内阁秘书那么伪善。伟大的政治领袖靠的都是这种自我欺骗。无怪乎哈克能面对汉弗莱据道德而力争。——编者）]

 

[Sir Humphrey decided it was time to tell another little untruth. 'Look, I'm on your side, Prime Minister. I'm only giving you arguments you will encounter.'

I thanked him, and told him that I was glad to know that I should have support such as his. I hoped that would bring the conversation to a close -- but no! He was determined to give me all the arguments I shall encounter.

汉弗莱爵士决定此时应该再撒一个小谎。“您看，我是站在您那边的，首相。我只不过是在向您提供您会碰到的反对理由罢了。”

我谢谢他，然后告诉他我很高兴能得到他这种方式的支持。我原本希望这句话能把谈话结束了——但是没有！他决心把我会碰到的所有反对理由都灌输给我。]

好可爱，一个明知道对方不会相信自己，但还是撒谎；一个明知道对方在撒谎，但还是要说谢谢。

 

 

[He begged me to do nothing rash, to be very sure of my ground, and be very careful before I made any move. Of course, thats what he says about virtually everything.

他请求我不要冒冒失失，一定要有非常可靠的证据，每走一步都要三思而后行。当然，事实上对于每件事，他都是这么说的。]

体育大臣请求与哈克就禁烟问题进行谈话：

[The news is certainly getting around fast. I stared accusingly at Humphrey, pretending to be angry.

'Who tipped him off?' I enquired.

Humphrey and Bernard looked at each other. Then they looked at me. They remained silent.

'He's part of the tobacco lobby,' I said to Humphrey.

Humphrey pretended he didn't know. 'A member of your government?' he asked, with a feeble pretence of shock-horror.

This ploy was unworthy of Humphrey.

无疑，消息传播得很快。我以责难的目光看着汉弗莱，假装很生气。

“谁把消息捅给他的？”我问道。

汉弗莱和伯纳德彼此看了看，然后看向我。两个人都没有说话。

“恐怕他也成了烟草院外活动的一员。”我对汉弗莱说道。

汉弗莱故作不知。“可他应该是您政府的一员吧？”他问道，假装震惊，但装得不像。

汉弗莱这招很蹩脚。]

 

5

汉弗莱谈自己将要采取的策略，说一句就要跑题吐槽哈克：

[My strategy, therefore, is as follows: When Hacker was Minister for Administrative Affairs he accompanied me not only to Glyndebourne as the guest of the BTG, but also Wimbledon, Lords, the opera and the ballet.

At The Sleeping Beauty one might have thought he was auditioning for the title role. He has no interest at all in the arts, which is why using sponsorship to save the arts from the Arts Council is likely to be an unproductive line of argument. At the ballet he kept quiet, apart from his snoring. When Act IV of the Wagner started at the Garden he asked why they were playing extra time. And he referred to Act V as injury time. A total philistine.

But I digress. 

因此，我的策略是这样的：当哈克还是行政事务部大臣时，作为英国烟草集团公司的客人，他陪我去过不少地方，不仅去看了格林德伯里歌剧节，而且还去看了温布尔登网球赛、洛兹板球赛、歌剧和芭蕾舞。

在观看《睡美人》时，人们以为他是在表演剧中的角色。他对艺术毫无兴趣，这就是为什么利用赞助把艺术从艺术委员会手中拯救出来这个理由无法打动他。在观看芭蕾舞时，除了打鼾之外，他倒是懂的保持安静。在皇家歌剧院看瓦格纳歌剧时，第四幕开始了，他问他们为什么要加演，等到第五幕开始了，他认为这是“伤停补时”时间。他真是个一窍不通的门外汉。

我有些跑题了。]

原来你们已经约会这么多次了。哈克对艺术毫无兴趣但还是陪汉弗莱去了这么多次，然后每次都在汉弗莱旁边睡着，汉弗莱怨念重重的但还是一直和他一起去。你们这......我不好说......

 

[It seems that he is implicated in receiving tobacco hospitality worth hundreds of pounds, if not thousands, from the BTG. If this were to leak, shocking though a leak might be, it could be a grave embarrassment for him.

(Sir Humphrey overestimated his threat. At the meeting four days later hacker was able to deal with it with an ease that surprised the Cabinet Secretary -Ed.)

看来他涉嫌收受英国烟草集团公司价值达几百英镑——如果不值几千英镑的话——的馈赠。如果这件事泄漏出去，将会令他大大难堪一番。当然，这种事情的泄漏本身也许令人震惊。

（汉弗莱高估了这个威胁。在四天之后的会谈中，哈克对此应对自如，大大出乎内阁秘书的意料。——编者）]

疑似被同僚讽刺没有尽全力想办法控制首相：

6

[A good meeting with Humphrey. He began it by showing me some impenetrable piece of paper, always a good sign I now realise. He can no longer bamboozle me like that. It's merely an indication of his own insecurity. (A sign of Hackers growing awareness and administrative skill -Ed.)

今天和汉弗莱的会面很好。他开始的时候给了我一张纸，上面的话令人费解，现在我意识到这总归是一个好迹象。他不能够用这个办法糊弄我了。那只能说明他自己的不安全感。（这标志着哈克越来越警觉，管理手腕越来越高明。——编者）]

 

汉弗莱把前面的威胁告诉哈克：

[But I can't see anything embarrassing about that. I've had drinks at the Soviet Embassy -- that doesn't make me a spy. If that's the best idea Humphrey can come up with to block me, I may have to put Dr Thorns proposals through after all! I think Humphrey may be losing his grip -- it's the feeblest threat I ever heard.

Humphrey realized it himself, because he fell silent. 'Anything else?' I asked, hopeful that he'd do better.

但是我看不出这种事情有什么值得难堪的。我在苏联大使馆喝过酒——这并没有使我成为一个间谍。如果这是汉弗莱阻止我的最好主意，最终我也许只好不得不让索恩博士的提议通过了，我本不想这样的！我认为汉弗莱大概是黔驴技穷了——这是我听过最软弱的威胁。

汉弗拉本人也意识到这一点，因为他无话可说了。“还有别的事吗？”我问道，希望他能表现得再好点。]

哈克：汉弗莱今天怎么回事！打起精神来啊！你还没有反驳到我提出我的真正需求！

 

[Rather good that, I thought! He didn't laugh though. He just remarked grimly that it was very droll.

我觉得这真是辩得漂亮！但他没有笑。他只是阴沉地回复说这很好笑。]

 

装委屈的哈克：

[I sighed again heavily, theatrically, wondered if I were overdoing it a bit, then pressed on.

我戏剧性地重重叹了一口气，同时心里想着是否演得有些过头，接着我继续说。]

[Humphrey saw the point immediately, or even sooner. Oh, he said, brightening up considerably. 'Er... Prime Minister, I don't think they're fully committed to that other matter yet.'

汉弗莱立刻就看出了问题的关键点，甚至可以说比“立刻”还要快。“噢，”他说道，整个人一下就变得明媚而愉快，“呃......首相，我认为对于那件事，他们还没有完全确定呢。]

 

['Really?' I pretended surprise.

'Absolutely not. Oh no. Flexible. I'm sure they could find a way.'

'Could they?' I asked with wide-eyed amazement. I should have got an Oscar for this one.

'The only stumbling block,' said Humphrey, adjusting rapidly to his new negotiating position, 'would be that if the anti-smoking proposals go through, the Treasury will be too busy working on those to look for a way to help with the other cuts.'

We were now talking in a code that we both understood. 'Well,' I said, 'The anti-smoking proposals don't have nearly such a high priority as defence.'

Humphrey now knew what deal I'd accept. The quid pro quo was acceptable to him, I could see. It's just a matter of clearing it with the Treasury.

“真的吗？”我假装感到意外。

“绝对没有。哦，没有，灵活性，我相信他们一定会找到办法的。”

“他们会吗？”我睁大了眼睛，惊奇地问道。就为了这个表情，我应该获得一次奥斯卡奖。

“唯一的绊脚石是，”汉弗莱说道，迅速把自己调整到新的谈判位置上，”如果禁烟提议得以通过的话，财政部将会忙得不可开交，而无法发动人手去做减税工作。”

我们彼此都清楚对方的话是什么意思。“嗯，”我说道，“禁烟提议的优先级别是低于国防问题的。”

汉弗莱现在明白了我的交易条件。我知道这对他来说是可以接受的。现在问题只剩下和财政部讲清楚了。]

 

7

哈克已经达成了十五亿的减税目的所以对卫生大臣的禁烟政策出尔反尔，卫生大臣威胁辞职和掀起全国医生和科学家对哈克的谴责：

[I really didn't know what to say or do. But I was saved by the bell. The telephone bell, to be precise.

Bernard answered it. 'Excuse me, Prime Minister, could Sir Humphrey see you urgently, just for a moment?'

我真的无所适从。但铃声救了我（save by the bell指拳击比赛中一位选手被击倒时，在裁判数到十之前重新站起来了，那么他就算是被铃声救了），确切地说是电话铃。

伯纳德接了电话。“抱歉打扰，首相。汉弗莱问能否马上见到您，就只需要一会儿，是要紧事。”]

 

哈克对汉弗莱求助（好可爱...）：HELP！！

[I asked Thorn to wait outside. Humphrey came bursting in with good news: he'd spoken to the Treasury first thing this morning and, surprise! surprise! they can encompass my income-tax cut. This is on the understanding that no further work would be needed on the anti-smoking proposal.

I briefly filled Humphrey in about the new complication -- Dr Thorn's threatened resignation and the ensuing public condemnation of me by the entire British medical establishment.

Humphrey was worried -- but only for a moment. Then he had a brilliant idea, the kind of idea that makes him worth all the trouble he causes me -- well, almost all!

'Prime Minister, you still have that government vacancy in the Treasury, don't you?'

It was genius, pure genius. It would be a big promotion, a very rapid promotion, for Peter Thorn. But why not, for such an able Minister?

我让索恩在屋外等候。汉弗莱径直闯进来告诉我一个好消息：他今天早上第一件事就是去与财政部谈话。出人意料！极为惊喜！他们可以促成我的所得税减税建议。当然这要基于一种共识：不再继续推进那项禁烟提议。

我简单地向汉弗莱介绍了新出现的复杂情况——索恩博士威胁要辞职，随后整个英国医学体制将对我进行公开谴责。

汉弗莱感到忧虑——不过只是片刻。接着他想出了一个极好的主意，就冲着这个好主意，我可以原谅他给我带来的所有麻烦——嗯，几乎所有的！

“首相，在财政部里，您不是还有一个政府职位空缺吗？”

想出这个主意真是天才，绝对的天才。对于索恩来说，这意味着破格晋升，一个非常迅速的升迁。但是对于这样一位能干的大臣来说，有什么理由不晋升呢？]

 

哈克thumbs up:

[I sent for Humphrey and introduced him to our new Minister of Health. Humphrey pretended slight surprise, even though it had been Humphrey's idea.

我叫来汉弗莱，并向他介绍我们新的卫生大臣。汉弗莱装出了稍许惊讶，尽管这本就是他的主意。]

两人本章人设：影帝夫夫！