Charles和Diana是一對(duì)渴望擁有孩子的夫婦。Diana多次流產(chǎn)無(wú)法懷上一男半女，他們決定找一位代孕媽媽幫他們圓擁有孩子的夢(mèng)，但是要找到合適的年輕女孩作為他們的代孕媽媽不是一件容易的事。

Charles： I don’t know， Di. I’m still not convinced.

Diana： What on earth was wrong with this one？

Charles： ①I(mǎi) can’t quite put my finger on it， but there was something off about her.

Diana： ②For crying out loud Charles， this is our last resort！ ③If you keep holding these potential surrogates to unreasonable standards， I’ll be over the hill by the time I get to hold a little one in my arms.

Charles： I realize that， my love. But aren’t you as anxious as I am， when it comes to trusting one of these young ladies with our family’s future？

Diana： I admit， I’ve showed pause in the past， understandably so， after suffering through all the…those difficult times.

Charles： Indeed， we have suffered through more than anyone should have to endure.

Diana： You have no idea.

Charles： They were my children too！

Diana： But they weren’t a part of you！ They weren’t inside you. You planted a seed， but those seeds grew in me. They became part of me. And they all died in me； every last one...

Charles： I…

Diana： How can I be a mother， Charles，when my body is a graveyard？ I’m afraid that if I lose one more child， I will lose the will to live. I will lose myself.

Charles： My dearest Diana， you are the strongest， bravest， kindest， most selfless person I’ve ever met. I know you can do it. We can do it. And we’ll know it when the right girl walks through that door.

Diana： And what if the right girl never comes？ What if we are fated to be a barren， childless couple， with only ourselves to keep each other company for all 1）eternity？

Charles： I must say I’m awe struck by how eloquent you become when the weight of the world seems on your shoulders.

Diana： Is this your way of trying to butter me up before the next interview？

Charles： Far from it. Just trying to lighten the heavy load you bear. That’s all. And replace it with a tiny load， with ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes.

Diana： Now who’s 2）waxing 3）rhapsodic over surrogacy？

Charles： I swear to you that all the love in your heart will soon have a much-needed outlet.

Diana： Oh， that it were true， and not just a 4）pipe dream. But I fear it is the same 5）mirage that seems more distant with each tick of the clock； that beautiful brass ring 6）dangling just beyond our reach.

Charles： Oh， my pessimistic life partner， how can we give up now？ When， for all we know， the answer to all our dreams could be waiting right outside that door.

Diana： Dear Husband， I hope against hope that there exists such a person， who will help us finally bring a child into this cold， cruel world...

查爾斯：戴，我不知道，我仍然不能說(shuō)服自己。

戴安娜：這一位究竟有什么問(wèn)題？

查爾斯：我不能確切地指出問(wèn)題的所在，但就覺(jué)得她有問(wèn)題。

戴安娜：天哪，查爾斯，這是我們最后的選擇了！如果你對(duì)這些候選孕母堅(jiān)持不合理的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的話，等我懷抱一個(gè)小寶寶的時(shí)候已經(jīng)人老珠黃了。

查爾斯：親愛(ài)的，我明白。但談到把我們家庭的未來(lái)交付給這些年輕女士中的一位，你不是跟我一樣擔(dān)憂嗎？戴安娜：我承認(rèn)，我以前曾猶豫過(guò)，捱過(guò)了所有……那些艱難日子后，這是可以理解的。

查爾斯：真的，我們承受的痛苦比任何人應(yīng)該承受的都要多。

戴安娜：你根本不懂。

查爾斯：他們也是我的孩子！

戴安娜：但他們不是你身體的一部分！他們不在你身體里。你是播了種，但那些種子在我身體里長(zhǎng)大。他們成了我身體的一部分，而他們?nèi)克涝谖腋怪?，一個(gè)都不剩……查爾斯：我……

戴安娜：查爾斯，我的身體是一座墳?zāi)梗以趺纯赡艹蔀橐粋€(gè)母親？如果我再失去一個(gè)孩子，我恐怕會(huì)失去活著的意志，會(huì)失去我自己。

查爾斯：我最親愛(ài)的戴安娜，你是我遇到的最堅(jiān)強(qiáng)、最勇敢、最善良和最無(wú)私的人。我知道你能做到的，我們都能做到。只要那個(gè)合適的女孩走過(guò)那扇門(mén)，我們就知道了。

戴安娜：如果那個(gè)合適的女孩不來(lái)怎么辦？如果我們命中注定是不能生育、膝下無(wú)兒女的夫婦，只有我們倆彼此相伴到老又該怎么辦？

查爾斯：我必須說(shuō)你在過(guò)度操心的時(shí)候變得如此口若懸河真令我肅然起敬。

戴安娜：在下一場(chǎng)面試來(lái)之前你就這樣極力奉承我的嗎？

查爾斯：根本不是。我只是想減輕你沉重的負(fù)擔(dān)，僅此而已，而且你扛的負(fù)擔(dān)只是一個(gè)有著十個(gè)小手指，十個(gè)小腳趾的小家伙。

戴安娜：現(xiàn)在是誰(shuí)變得如此贊美代孕了？

查爾斯：我向你保證你心中的所有母愛(ài)很快就能找到極需要的出口。

戴安娜：哦，希望是真的，而不只是不切實(shí)際的夢(mèng)想。但我害怕隨著時(shí)鐘的每一聲滴答，它又會(huì)是離我們愈加遙遠(yuǎn)的海市蜃樓，就像一個(gè)懸垂著的美麗銅鈴，我們卻難以企及。

查爾斯：哦，我悲觀的妻子，我們現(xiàn)在怎么能放棄呢？我們都知道，我們所有夢(mèng)想的答案隨時(shí)可能就在那扇門(mén)外等著。

戴安娜：親愛(ài)的丈夫，我仍抱著一線希望：真有那么一個(gè)人，她能最終幫我們把一個(gè)小孩帶到這個(gè)冰冷的、殘酷的世界……

Smart Sentences

① I can’t quite put my finger on it， but there was something off about her. 我不能確切地指出問(wèn)題的所在，但就覺(jué)得她有問(wèn)題。

put one’s finger on sth.： exactly identify sth. （a problem or reason）（確切地指出問(wèn)題或理由等）。例如：

The teacher couldn’t quite put his finger on the reason for Jenny’s recent bad performance， but he suspected it had something to do with her parents’ divorce.

老師不太確定簡(jiǎn)妮最近表現(xiàn)不佳的原因，但他懷疑與她父母離婚有關(guān)。

off about sb./sth.： eccentric， strange（古怪，異常）。例如：

I always thought there was something off about that supermarket. It turned out that it was an underground casino.

我一直覺(jué)得那家超市怪怪的，原來(lái)那是一家地下賭場(chǎng)。

② For crying out loud Charles， this is our last resort！ 天哪，查爾斯，這是我們最后的選擇了！

last resort： the very last option to get out of a difficult situation or solve a problem（擺脫困境或解決問(wèn)題的最后一個(gè)選擇）。例如：

Moving back in to live with my parents would be my last resort if I still can’t find a job in a month.

如果我在一個(gè)月里還找不到工作，那我最后的選擇就是搬回家跟父母住了。

③ If you keep holding these potential surrogates to unreasonable standards， I’ll be over the hill by the time I get to hold a little one in my arms. 如果你對(duì)這些候選孕母堅(jiān)持不合理的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的話，等我懷抱一個(gè)小寶寶的時(shí)候已經(jīng)人老珠黃了。

over the hill： past one’s prime for doing sth.（過(guò)了做某事的好時(shí)機(jī)，在衰退期）。例如：Nick’s loss at the World Cup was not a coincidence. He is over the hill at his age.

尼克在世界杯的失利不是偶然的，他這個(gè)年齡已經(jīng)過(guò)了自己的巔峰期。