The english we speak(BBC教學)第104期:Have your cake and eat it 魚與熊掌兼得
Jen: Hi! I'm Jen. And here's Li.
珍：大家好！我是珍。這位是李。Li: (Sighing) Hi.
李：（嘆氣）大家好。Jen: You seem in a bad mood, what's wrong?
珍：你看上去心情不好，怎麼了？
Li: Take a look at this brochure.
李：你看看這本冊子吧。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：（瀏覽）“巴巴多斯金棕櫚沙灘。這處度假勝地擁有數英里未受破壞的原始海灘、晶瑩湛藍的海水以及五星級酒店……”李，這是你要去度假的地方嗎？Li: Yes, I just booked it.
李：對，我剛剛預訂了。Jen: Well, you don't sound very happy about it, what's the problem?
珍：可是你聽起來並不開心，有什麼問題嗎？Li: Well, it cost me ￡5,000!
李：這花了我5000英鎊！Jen: That's a lot of money.
珍：真是一大筆錢啊。Li: I know, and I wanted to save my money so that I could get my bathroom decorated.
李：我知道，可是我還想存錢裝修衛生間呢。Jen: Why did you book a holiday, then?!
珍：那你爲什麼要預定假期呢？Li: I have to go on holiday - I haven't had a break for two years!
李：我必須要去度假，我已經兩年沒有休假了！Jen: Well, that's ok, you've booked it now!
珍：好吧，你現在已經預訂了呀！Li: But I really need to get the bathroom done too!
李：可是我同樣也要裝修衛生間！Jen: Well, you can't have your cake and eat it, Li!
珍：李，魚和熊掌不可兼得。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：你什麼意思？你怎麼知道我今天吃了蛋糕？你是說我胖嗎？你認爲我不應該再吃蛋糕了嗎？Jen: Whoa! No, no, I'm not saying anything-
珍：哇！不，不，我什麼也沒說……Li: Then why do you want me to stop eating cake?!
李：那你爲什麼讓我別再吃蛋糕了？！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：冷靜。我說You can't have your cake and eat it，在英語中我們用這個短語來表示你不能同時擁有兩樣東西。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時花錢和省錢？Jen: Exactly. Let's hear some more examples:
珍：沒錯。我們來看一些例子：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!
他剛結婚就開始想念單身生活了。這太糟糕了——魚和熊掌不可兼得啊！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!
昨天我在派對上喝了一整瓶香檳，現在我感覺很不舒服，這是我經歷過的最糟的宿醉。我想這真是魚與熊掌不能兼得！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：第二個例子很棒，你不能希望喝了大量的酒以後第二天沒什麼影響：你不可能兩樣兼得；魚與熊掌不可兼得。Jen: And you can't have your lovely holiday without spending a lot of money on it.
珍：而同樣你也不能既享受愉快的假期又期待不會花太多的錢。Li: I suppose you're right.
李：我想你是對的。Jen: All this talk of cake has got my stomach rumbling, I feel really hungry now.
珍：一直說到蛋糕我肚子都叫了。我現在非常餓。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：街對面開了一家賣紙杯蛋糕的新咖啡廳，看起來非常好吃！我們做完節目以後去買點吃怎麼樣？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，我要省下錢，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，你這就是二者不可兼得啊。我去給我自己買一個蛋糕！重點講解：
1. be happy about
（對情況或安排）滿意的，放心的；
eg. I am not very happy about the plan.
我對該計劃不是很滿意。
eg. He doesn't seem to be very happy about it.
對這他似乎不太高興。
2. have one's cake and eat it
二者兼得；魚與熊掌兼得；
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.
他想要轉型爲市場經濟，同時又不降低人們的生活水平。在許多人看來，這是想要魚與熊掌兼得。
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!
你想要加薪又想要減少工作時數？很抱歉，魚與熊掌不可兼得！
3. calm down
（使）平靜下來；（使）鎮定下來；
eg. He walked a circle around the house to calm down.
他繞着房子走了一圈，想讓自己冷靜下來。
eg. She tried to calm down and head off a quarrel.
她試着冷靜下來，避免爭吵。
4. would love to do sth.
樂於；很願意做某事；
eg. We would love to see a film on Sunday.
我們很願意星期天去看電影。
eg. She would dearly love to see her childhood friend again.
她非常想再見見兒時的朋友。
