看绝望的主妇学英语聊Lynette的绝望
In the third episode (Scene 1), Tom and Lynette argue about going to a dinner party. Tom eventually seems to win the argument, he convinces Lynette to stay home. 在绝望的主妇第一季第三集里有一个场景，Tom与Lynette两人争论是否应该去Bree家参加晚宴。最后貌似Tom争赢了，他说服Lynette自己呆在家里照看孩子。
Lynette: I was looking so forward to a night out. 我每天都期盼着 在外面玩上一晚
Tom: I know, sweetie, I’m sorry, but…I… 我知道 亲爱的 我很抱歉 但是
——>> I’m beat. 我太累了
——>> I mean, do you remember what it was like to work a 60-hour week? 还记得一周工作60小时的时候吗
This last remark indicates that Tom does not consider housework to be very demanding, and certainly not comparable to working a sixty hour week. This disrespect for housework is emphasized by the fact that he throws a banana peel in a basket of freshly laundered clothes, as if it doesn’t matter that his wife has just taken them out of the dryer. Recent research, however, has shown that this disrespect is totally ungrounded. If American housewives were paid for everything they do, they would earn over $130.000 a year, as a 2006 survey estimated (www.salary.com).
注意Tom最后的一句话，表明他认为家务活并不是什么特别有挑战的事，而且肯定没法跟他一周60个小时的工作量相提并论。这种对她老婆工作辛苦不以为然的潜意识通过他往刚洗干净的衣服里面扔香蕉皮得以放大，就好似他对把衣服洗净晾干这点事感觉都是机器做的一样。不过，研究表明，这种对做家务活的藐视毫无任何立足点。根据salary网站的调研结果，如果要计算美国的主妇一年的家务劳作及带孩子等工作，她们平均应该拿到的工资是一年13万美元。
In the same episode, this subject is broached twice more. Tom’s sixty hour week seems to consist of drinking margaritas with his co-workers, and Lynette is angry, because he has the time to have fun with his colleagues, but he does not want to make the effort to take her out (Scene 2).
同时是在《绝望的主妇》第一季第三集，关于家务活这个主题又被作了进一步的放大。Tom每周60个小时的工作被证实很多时候是在跟他的同事饮酒享乐，这也是为什么Lynette很生气的原因：他有时间跟同时寻欢作乐，但并不愿意带她出门去参加Bree家举行的晚宴。
Tom: It’s a business meeting. 这是个商务会议
Lynette: It’s a frat party. 明显是狐朋狗友大碰头
Tom: Regional manager, corporate manager, head of sales. 地区经理 公司经理 销售主管
Lynette: Margarita, cigar, sombrero. 美酒 雪茄 宽边帽
Tom: Honey, what do you want me to do, sit around亲爱的 那你想我怎么样
——>> the hotel the whole time watching cable? 整天呆坐在酒店里看电视
Lynette: No. But when I say, 不 但当我说
——>>“we’ve been invited to a party,” 我们去晚宴吧
——>> Don’t whine about your exhausting 60-hour week. 别老拿你一周工作60小时说事
——>> Put on your dancing’ shoes 穿好你的舞鞋
——>> and take the mother of your children out for a good time. 带着我一起共度美好时光
Tom: Fine. You know what? You’re right. 好吧 你说的没错
——>> Let’s go to that party. 我们去参加晚宴吧
Lynette: I can’t. I already canceled the sitter. 不行啊 我都让保姆别来了
Tom: Okay, well, we’ll throw the next one. 那就我们来办下一次聚会
Lynette: Throw a dinner party? 办一次晚宴
——>> I don’t even have time to wash my face. 我都没时间洗脸
——>> No, you know what? 这样吧
——>> I’m going to go to this one. 这次我会去
——>> You can stay home and babysit the kids. 你待在家带孩子
Tom’s attempt to make it up to Lynette shows again that he has no idea how demanding housework can be. He proposes to throw a dinner party, an idea which she immediately discards. Tom seems to miss Lynette’s meta-message: Lynette wants to go out with her husband, but Tom seems to think she wants to go to a dinner party.
Tom想要弥补Lynette的一番话“Okay, well, we’ll throw the next one. ”显示出他对家务活计的艰辛一无所知。他建议在家自己搞一场派对，不过这个主意立马被Lynette回绝了。Tom似乎并没有听出Lynette的弦外之音：Lynette要的是他老公的陪伴，而Tom想到的只是她想去参加派对Happy。
Lynette is so angry she decides to go alone, and leave Tom in charge of the kids. She gives him instructions for the evening, but again he expresses his disrespect for the work of a housewife.
Lynette非常生气，她决定自己一人前往派对，让Tom照管孩子。她生怕Tom整不明白，将所有该做的事情交待了不止一遍，不过Tom仍然表现出了对主妇工作的不屑一顿。Lynette为了让他吃一堑，长一智，故意叫了Preston，并授权他晚上可以跟兄弟们分享饼干。这样一来，孩子们晚上会异常兴奋，不好管束。她要让Tom好好体验一把做家庭主妇的辛苦。
Lynette: The boys will be hungry at 5:30, 孩子们五点半就饿了
——>> so put the fish sticks in the toaster oven at 5:00. 所以五点就要把鱼肉条放进烤箱
Tom: For half an hour. 烤半小时
——>> Honey, I know. 亲爱的 我知道
——>> This is the third time you’ve told me. 你已经说了三遍了
Lynette: Well, if the food’s late, god help you. 好吧 如果孩子们没及时吃到饭你可就惨了
Tom: Beautiful, I don’t need a pamphlet. 知道了 我不需要一本小册子
——>> It’s not brain surgery. 这又不是什么脑部手术
——>> They’re just kids, for god sake. 拜托 他们只是些孩子
Lynette: Preston, would you come here? 普雷斯顿 过来一下
——>> Sweetie, 宝贝儿
——>> you know our rule about eating cookies, right? 你知道我们吃小饼干的规矩
Preston: Yeah, we can’t have them after 5:00, 是的 我们五点后不能吃
——>> ’cause sugar makes us hyper. 因为糖会引起多动症
Lynette: Yeah, but tonight, anything goes. 但是 今晚 什么都可以吃
——>> Make sure you share with your brothers. 和你的兄弟一起吃
In the seventh episode, Tom manages to convince Lynette to host a dinner party after all. At this party, Tom wanted to impress his boss with a new idea for an advertisement campaign, but Lynette is the one who steals the show.
我们再来看《绝望的主妇》第一季第七季里的一段对白，Tom最终还是说服Lynette来主办一场晚宴。在这次宴会上，Tom想要拿出一个新的宣传广告方案，以博得他老板的好感。不过，Lynette一番话语立马抢了他的风头。之后Tom开腔了：
Tom: You were undermining me. 你这么做是在坑我
Lynette: I I was not undermining you, I was just participating. 我并没要坑你，只不过是附和了一下Tom: Your participation was supposed to be limited to making dinner, 你的参与该仅限于准备晚饭而已
——>> not making my ideas look bad. 而不是贬低我的创意
Lynette: You know. Maybe you need better ideas. 可能你需要更好的创意
——>> I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. 对不起 我不是那个意思
Tom: No…no, we both know that your career 不 我们都知道 在有孩子们之前
——>> was going so much better than mine before we had kids. 你的事业比我的辉煌多了
——>> You never let me forget that. 你不用一直提醒我
Lynette: That is not fair. 这不公平
Tom: You were always competing with me, 过去你总是和我竞争
——>> and judging by tonight, you know what, still are. 从今晚的表现看 你还是这样
Tom here explicitly states that his wife’s place was in the kitchen and not in the living room. He represents here the traditional view of a housewife’s place. However, his wife has worked in the same business as him, so it is not very surprising that she ‘participated’.
Tom在这里特别强调了他老婆应该呆在厨房而不是客厅，他代表了西方传统文化对于家庭主妇的定位。不过，他的妻子曾经也是广告界的精英人士，她的参与并不会让人觉得冒失。
Tom is angry and accuses his wife of competing with him. 接下来，Tom指责他老婆事事与他竞争：
Tom: You were always competing with me, 过去你总是和我竞争
——>> and judging by tonight, you know what, still are. 从今晚的表现看 你还是这样
Lynette: Tom, I am sorry about tonight. Truly. 汤姆 今晚的事我真的很抱歉
——>> But these days if I’m competing with anyone 但要说我在和谁竞争的话
——>> it’s the Bree Van de Kamps of the world, 那是布里·范德坎普一家
——>> with their spotless kitchens and their perfect kids, 她们家一尘不染的厨房 优秀的孩子们
——>> who throw fabulous parties where nothing ever goes wrong. 还能不出一点差错办出最棒的派对
——>> I try so hard to keep up but I can’t. 我百般努力试图赶上 可我做不到
Lynette does not deny competing with him, and continues to give a description of what a perfect housewife is like. She compares herself with Bree, who is known in the neighborhood to be the perfect wife and mother.
Lynette并没有否认与他之间的存在竞争，而是接下来描述了一个完美主妇具有的特质。并将自己与这个社区里被奉为完美妻子和母亲的Bree进行对比。
下面，我们再来看一看《绝望的主妇》第一季第九集里面的一段场景：
Tom eventually acknowledges that Lynette’s job is demanding and he takes the week off to help her out. Tom最终意识到Lynette的工作非常的艰辛，并且决定腾出一周的时间来给妻子帮忙：
Tom：I’ve packed the diapers, 尿片打包好了
——>> I’m getting the juice boxes and carrot sticks… 我正在拿果汁和胡萝卜条
Lynette：Sunscreen? 防晒霜呢
Tom：Got it. 拿了
——>>I go pick up the boys, we hit the park, 我接到孩子们就带他们去公园
——>> and that should give you a good couple of hours. 这样你就能歇上好几个小时
——>> Enjoy the vacation. 好好享受假期吧
——>> What? 怎么了
Tom wants to help her out, and he thinks that by taking their children to the park, she will have a “vacation”. But the work of a housewife is never finished, as Lynette points out to him.
Tom想要帮Lynette的忙，而且他认为将孩子们接到公园，她就能享点“轻”福。不过，Lynette告诉他：现实是她的工作依然得继续：
Lynette：While you’re gone, I’ll be paying bills 你们走了之后 我要去付账单
——>> and sorting laundry and cooking dinner. 整理衣物 准备晚餐
——>> So what part of that sounds like a vacation? 这其中哪件事听起来像放假呢
Tom：Ok, right. We’ll pick up dinner. 那晚餐由我们带回来
——>> You just take a hot bath, relax, recharge. 你就好好洗个热水澡 养精蓄锐
不知不觉这个男人慢慢地开始转变，整个过程潜移默化，似乎不易察觉，不过看完《绝望的主妇》第一季，你会发现：居家多学Lynette，你会越来越受到老公的尊重。
