形式婚姻

Justin： Hey， Brit. How’s everything？

Brittany： Eh， could be better…

Justin： What’s wrong？ ①Trouble in paradise？ ②Love on the rocks？

Brittany： Yeah， or no， or…I don’t know. This is what I get for trying to help out a friend.

Justin： How’re you helping me？

Brittany： Not you， I mean…let me start off by saying that I love my husband Kevin very much， and he loves me as well. But， ours is not a traditional marriage.

Justin： What do you mean？ Do you have one of those“open marriages” where you guys can go out and “fool around” with whoever you want？

Brittany： Sort of， but not exactly. How do I put this 1）delicately？…My husband’s gay.

Justin： WHAT？！

Brittany： Yeah. ③It’s a long story.

Justin： Do tell！

Brittany： Alright. ④We met in high school and dated for a bit， but we both soon realized that something was off. He knew before I did， obviously， but it came as much less of a shock than you’d think.

Justin： I’m pretty shocked. He seems like such a man’s man！

Brittany： A lot of that’s an act. I mean， he’s not 2）overtly feminine or anything， but he puts up a 3）fa？ade for everyone in public， including his 4）ultra-conservative parents. Justin： So even his own mom and dad don’t know？

Brittany： Yeah！ We’ve managed to keep this 5）ruse going for years now， and they don’t seem to have a clue. Or maybe they’re just in denial.⑤Either way， this marriage of convenience is starting to wear thin on me. All the lying and hiding and 6）deception just isn’t in my nature. I wanna come clean， but it would destroy Kevin’s world. What should I do？

Justin： Oh， well that’s easy！ First thing you gotta do is talk to Kevin and tell him that this marriage of convenience is no longer convenient for either of you.

Brittany： But what about his family？

Justin： And what about your 7）sanity？ Besides， did you ever think for a second that he may be having reservations about this arrangement too？ Don’t you think he’d be happier living an open life， out and proud， parents be damned？

Brittany： Wow！ And I always thought gay best friends gave the best advice…

Justin： Well， that they might， but they certainly don’t make the best hetero-husbands.

賈斯廷：嘿，布里特。一切還好嗎？

布里特妮：呃，會好起來的……

賈斯廷：出什么事了？是天堂里的煩惱嗎？還是愛情觸礁了？

布里特妮：是的，或者不是，或者……我不知道。我這是努力幫一個朋友擺脫困境得來的煩惱。

賈斯廷：你是怎么幫我的？

布里特妮：不是你，我是說……讓我從頭說起，我非常愛我的丈夫凱文，他也很愛我。但是，我們之間不是那種傳統的婚姻關系。

賈斯廷：你什么意思？難道你們是那種開放式婚姻，夫妻雙方可以到外面與任何人鬼混？

布里特妮：大致是這樣，但不完全是這樣。我如何描述才更精確呢？……我丈夫是同性戀。

賈斯廷：什么？！

布里特妮：沒錯，說來話長。

賈斯廷：告訴我！

布里特妮：好吧。我們在高中時相遇，約會過一陣子，但我們雙方都很快意識到有什么事不正常。很顯然，他比我更早意識到這點，然而它來得沒你想象的那么震驚。

賈斯廷：我真的很震驚，他看起來那么有男人味！

布里特妮：很多都是演出來的。我的意思是，他不會公然表現得很女性化或什么的，他反而在公眾場合給人一個很男人的形象，包括在他那極端保守的父母面前。賈斯廷：所以甚至連他自己爸媽都不知道？

布里特妮：沒錯！我們已經成功地把這個策略執行多年直到現在，而他們似乎都毫不知情，或者也許他們只是不肯接受現實。不管怎樣，我開始對這段形式婚姻不感興趣了。所有的謊言、隱瞞和欺騙都不是我的天性。我想坦白交代一切，但這樣會毀了凱文的世界。我該怎么辦？

賈斯廷：哦，那很容易！你得做的第一件事就是跟凱文談談，告訴他這場形式婚姻對你倆都行不通了。

布里特妮：但是他的家人怎么辦？

賈斯廷：那你的理智怎么辦？另外，你有否稍微想過他可能也對這樣的安排有所保留？如他擁有坦誠公開的生活，勇敢承認自己出柜，不管父母是否愿意，你不覺得這樣他會更開心的嗎？

布里特妮：哇！我以前總是以為同性戀最好的朋友都能給出最好的建議……

賈斯廷：嗯，或許是，但他們肯定不能成為最佳的異性戀丈夫。

Smart Sentences

① Trouble in paradise？ 是天堂里的煩惱嗎？

trouble in paradise： an unexpected problem in a supposedly positive situation， sometimes used with a tone of sarcasm（指在本應愉快的情況下出現的問題，常用于諷刺）。例如：

Whenever I talk about my problem， they always laugh at me for having trouble in paradise with a perfect job， loving husband and a nice house.

每次我提及自己的問題，他們總是笑我說那是天堂里的煩惱，因為我已經有一份無可挑剔的工作，愛我的丈夫和不錯的房子。

② Love on the rocks？ 還是愛情觸礁了？

on the rocks： in a state of difficulty， having problems， usu. used for a relationship（處于困境，瀕于破裂；常用于形容情感關系）。例如：

After the fierce fight with Adam last week， Pam sensed that their marriage is on the rocks.

經過上周與亞當的激烈爭吵，帕姆覺得兩人的婚姻觸礁了。

③ It’s a long story. 說來話長。

it’s a long story： used to indicate that the matter is complicated（說來話長，用以表明某事的復雜性）。例如：

—I heard that Julie’s transfer was because she asked for a raise.

我聽說茱莉是因為要求加薪才被調走的。

—Well， it’s a long story.

唉，說來話長。

④ We met in high school and dated for a bit， but we both soon realized that something was off. 我們在高中時相遇，約會過一陣子，但我們雙方都很快意識到有什么事不正常。

to be off： sth. is unusual（不正常）。例如：

Ever since the meeting last Friday， the atmosphere has been a littlt off in the department.

自從上周五的會議之后，部門里的氣氛就有點不對勁了。

⑤ Either way， this marriage of convenience is starting to wear thin on me. 不管怎樣，我開始對這段形式婚姻不感興趣了。

wear thin： become less effective（失去興味，失去吸引力）。例如：

Three days later， the excitement wore thin and the kids got bored in the cottage.

三天后，興奮勁都過去了，小孩子在小屋里覺得沒意思。