The english we speak(BBC教学)第104期:Have your cake and eat it 鱼与熊掌兼得
Jen: Hi! I'm Jen. And here's Li.
珍：大家好！我是珍。这位是李。Li: (Sighing) Hi.
李：（叹气）大家好。Jen: You seem in a bad mood, what's wrong?
珍：你看上去心情不好，怎么了？
Li: Take a look at this brochure.
李：你看看这本册子吧。Jen: (Reading) "Golden palm beach, Barbados. This resort boasts miles of unspoiled beaches, crystal blue waters and five star accommodation..." Is this where you're going on holiday, Li?
珍：（浏览）“巴巴多斯金棕榈沙滩。这处度假胜地拥有数英里未受破坏的原始海滩、晶莹湛蓝的海水以及五星级酒店……”李，这是你要去度假的地方吗？Li: Yes, I just booked it.
李：对，我刚刚预订了。Jen: Well, you don't sound very happy about it, what's the problem?
珍：可是你听起来并不开心，有什么问题吗？Li: Well, it cost me ￡5,000!
李：这花了我5000英镑！Jen: That's a lot of money.
珍：真是一大笔钱啊。Li: I know, and I wanted to save my money so that I could get my bathroom decorated.
李：我知道，可是我还想存钱装修卫生间呢。Jen: Why did you book a holiday, then?!
珍：那你为什么要预定假期呢？Li: I have to go on holiday - I haven't had a break for two years!
李：我必须要去度假，我已经两年没有休假了！Jen: Well, that's ok, you've booked it now!
珍：好吧，你现在已经预订了呀！Li: But I really need to get the bathroom done too!
李：可是我同样也要装修卫生间！Jen: Well, you can't have your cake and eat it, Li!
珍：李，鱼和熊掌不可兼得。Li: What do you mean? How did you know I had cake today? Are you calling me fat?! Do you think I should stop eating cake?!
李：你什么意思？你怎么知道我今天吃了蛋糕？你是说我胖吗？你认为我不应该再吃蛋糕了吗？Jen: Whoa! No, no, I'm not saying anything-
珍：哇！不，不，我什么也没说……Li: Then why do you want me to stop eating cake?!
李：那你为什么让我别再吃蛋糕了？！Jen: Calm down. I said, "You can't have your cake and eat it." We use this phrase in English to mean that you can't have something both ways.
珍：冷静。我说You can't have your cake and eat it，在英语中我们用这个短语来表示你不能同时拥有两样东西。Li: Oh. So you mean I can't spend my money and save it at the same time?
李：哦，所以你的意思是我不能同时花钱和省钱？Jen: Exactly. Let's hear some more examples:
珍：没错。我们来看一些例子：He's just got married, but he misses the single life. Well it's too bad–you can't have your cake and eat it!
他刚结婚就开始想念单身生活了。这太糟糕了——鱼和熊掌不可兼得啊！I drank a whole bottle of champagne at the party last night, but now I feel sick - I've got the worst hangover ever. But I suppose you can't have your cake and eat it!
昨天我在派对上喝了一整瓶香槟，现在我感觉很不舒服，这是我经历过的最糟的宿醉。我想这真是鱼与熊掌不能兼得！Li: The second example is good–you can't expect to drink a lot of alcohol without feeling the effects the next day: you can't have it both ways; you can't have your cake and eat it.
李：第二个例子很棒，你不能希望喝了大量的酒以后第二天没什么影响：你不可能两样兼得；鱼与熊掌不可兼得。Jen: And you can't have your lovely holiday without spending a lot of money on it.
珍：而同样你也不能既享受愉快的假期又期待不会花太多的钱。Li: I suppose you're right.
李：我想你是对的。Jen: All this talk of cake has got my stomach rumbling, I feel really hungry now.
珍：一直说到蛋糕我肚子都叫了。我现在非常饿。Li: There's a new cafe across the road which is selling little cupcakes, they look really delicious! We could go and get some after the programme?
李：街对面开了一家卖纸杯蛋糕的新咖啡厅，看起来非常好吃！我们做完节目以后去买点吃怎么样？Jen: I would love to, but I can't, I want to save my money to go out to dinner tonight.
珍：我很想去，可是我不能去，我要省下钱，今天出去吃晚餐。Li: Oh well Jen, you can't have your cake and eat it. I'll just get one for myself!
李：哦，珍，你这就是二者不可兼得啊。我去给我自己买一个蛋糕！重点讲解：
1. be happy about
（对情况或安排）满意的，放心的；
eg. I am not very happy about the plan.
我对该计划不是很满意。
eg. He doesn't seem to be very happy about it.
对这他似乎不太高兴。
2. have one's cake and eat it
二者兼得；鱼与熊掌兼得；
eg. What he wants is a switch to a market economy in a way which does not reduce people's standard of living. To many this sounds like wanting to have his cake and eat it.
他想要转型为市场经济，同时又不降低人们的生活水平。在许多人看来，这是想要鱼与熊掌兼得。
eg. You want to get a pay raise and reduce your work hours? I'm sorry, but you can't have your cake and eat it too!
你想要加薪又想要减少工作时数？很抱歉，鱼与熊掌不可兼得！
3. calm down
（使）平静下来；（使）镇定下来；
eg. He walked a circle around the house to calm down.
他绕着房子走了一圈，想让自己冷静下来。
eg. She tried to calm down and head off a quarrel.
她试着冷静下来，避免争吵。
4. would love to do sth.
乐于；很愿意做某事；
eg. We would love to see a film on Sunday.
我们很愿意星期天去看电影。
eg. She would dearly love to see her childhood friend again.
她非常想再见见儿时的朋友。
