纪录片《美国商业大亨传奇》 铁路之争（4）

For Vanderbilt, this is a great tragedy.

对于范德比尔特而言 这是非常令他悲痛万分的

He had one son who had that same sense of physical strength and ability,

他有一个儿子 同自己具有相同体力和能力

and he had died when he was still quite young.

但却英年早逝

It was deeply troubling for the Commodore.

这对"船长"而言异常痛苦

For years, Vanderbilt groomed¹ George

多年来 范德比尔特一直在培养乔治

to take over the family business.

以使他能继承家业

Now, the Commodore is forced to rely

而现在 船长只能

on his less accomplished² son, William.

指望另一个不那么有才华的儿子 威廉

I'm making you operations director of the Hudson Railroad.

我任命你为哈德逊铁路运营总监

Vanderbilt places William in the midst of negotiations³

旁白：范德比尔特让威廉

with the owners of a rival railroad.

同竞争铁路公司所有者谈判

So name your price.

告诉我们你的价格

If you give us your freight, year round,

如果你们给我们全年的运费

we will give you the privilege

我们给你们

of allowing your passengers access into Manhattan

让你们的乘客能够进入曼哈顿的特权

for two hundred thousand.

价格为20万美元

That privilege is not worth two hundred thousand.

这一特权值不了20万美元

Then let us settle on one hundred thousand?

那定在10万美元如何

I believe that to be a fair and generous offer.

我认为这个要价很合理 也很慷慨

I'm not really interested in your generosity⁴.

我对你的慷慨没有兴趣

I'm only interested in getting the best deal for my shareholders⁵.

我只想为我的股东达成最好的交易

And that does not include handing over one hundred thousand dollars,

这并不包括付给你们10万美元

or even one dollar.

甚至哪怕1美元

My father wants only what he believes is right.

我父亲只想要他认为正确的东西

The trouble is, your father doesn't know what is right.

问题在于 你的父亲并不知道什么是正确的

The old man should be put out to pasture.

那个老头早该想牛羊一样被扔到草场上放养了

The message is clear.

信息很明确

The competition no longer sees Vanderbilt as a man to fear.

对方不再将范德比尔特看作值得害怕的对手

People are always rooting for very successful people to fail.

人们总在等待成功人士的没落

The day people are not taking shots at you means you're not on top anymore.

如果别人不再照你的来 你就失去了最高的地位

But where they see weakness,

对手看到了弱点

the Commodore sees an opportunity to assert his dominance,

而船长则看到了机会 来维持自己的统治力

and teach William what it means to be a Vanderbilt.

并教会威廉什么才是范德比尔特家的作风

If they want a war,

如果他们想要一场战争

I'll give them a war.

给他们就是了

1 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

5 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任