乔布斯传 第218期:海盗弃船(8)

 　　Cunningham was appalled¹. "This is going to reflect badly on you," she told him.

　　坎宁安震惊了。“这会给你带来负面影响。”她告诉乔布斯。

　　Finally he backed down. He decided² that he would give the reporters a copy of the resignation letter

　　最后，他让步了，决定将辞职信副本发给记者，

　　and limit any on-the-record comments to a few bland³ statements.

　　并且在公开场合只发表一些不痛不痒的评论。

　　Jobs had considered just mailing in his letter of resignation,

　　乔布斯觉得，辞职信寄到苹果公司就行了，

　　but Susan Barnes convinced him that this would be too contemptuous.

　　但是苏珊·巴恩斯认为这样会显得太过傲慢，并劝服了他。

　　Instead he drove it to Markkula's house, where he also found Al Eisenstat.

　　于是，乔布斯驾车前往马库拉家递辞职信，发现阿尔·艾森斯塔特也在那儿。

　　There was a tense conversation for about fifteen minutes;

　　他们进行了15分钟的紧张谈话，

　　then Barnes, who had been waiting outside, came to the door to retrieve⁴ him before he said anything he would regret.

　　在乔布斯还没来得及说出些令自己后悔的话前，巴恩斯就上门把他接走了。

　　He left behind the letter, which he had composed on a Macintosh and printed on the new LaserWriter:

　　乔布斯留下了辞职信，这封信是在麦金塔电脑上写的，并通过新的激光打印机打印了出来：

　　September 17, 1985 Dear Mike:

　　1985年9月17日 亲爱的迈克：

　　This morning's papers carried suggestions that Apple is considering removing me as Chairman.

　　今早的报纸报道，苹果公司正考虑撤去我的董事长职务。

　　I don't know the source of these reports but they are both misleading to the public and unfair to me.

　　我不知道这些报道的消息来源，但是它们具有误导性，对我来说也不公平。

　　You will recall that at last Thursday's Board meeting

　　你应该记得，在上周四的董事会会议上，

　　I stated I had decided to start a new venture and I tendered my resignation as Chairman.

　　我表示，自己决定创办一家新公司，并且提出辞去董事长一职。

　　The Board declined to accept my resignation and asked me to defer⁵ it for a week.

　　董事会拒绝了我的辞职请求，并要求我将此事推迟一周解决。

　　I agreed to do so in light of the encouragement the Board offered with regard to the proposed new venture and the indications that Apple would invest in it.

　　鉴于董事会对于我成立新公司提议的鼓励，以及苹果公司表示将进行投资，我同意了这个要求。

　　On Friday, after I told John Sculley who would be joining me,

　　周五，我告诉约翰·斯卡利哪些人将加入我的新公司之后

　　he confirmed Apple's willingness to discuss areas of possible collaboration⁶ between Apple and my new venture.

　　他明确表示苹果公司愿意讨论彼此之间可能的合作领域。

　　Subsequently the Company appears to be adopting a hostile posture⁷ toward me and the new venture.

　　随后，公司似乎对我及新公司采取了敌对姿态。

　　Accordingly, I must insist upon the immediate⁸ acceptance of my resignation.

　　因此，我必须坚持，请立即接受我的辞职请求。

　　As you know, the company's recent reorganization left me with no work to do and no access even to regular management reports.

　　正如你所知，公司近期的重组让我没有工作可做，甚至无法接触到定期的管理报告。

　　I am but 30 and want still to contribute and achieve.

　　我不过才30岁，希望自己仍然能够有所贡献和成就。

　　After what we have accomplished⁹ together, I would wish our parting to be both amicable¹⁰ and dignified¹¹. Yours sincerely, Steven P.Jobs

　　我们曾共同做出了一番成就，鉴于此，我希望我们的分离能够友好而不失尊严。你真诚的，史蒂文·P·乔布斯

1 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 bland   

adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的

参考例句：

• He eats bland food because of his stomach trouble.他因胃病而吃清淡的食物。
• This soup is too bland for me.这汤我喝起来偏淡。

4 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

5 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

6 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

7 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 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。

10 amicable   

adj.和平的，友好的；友善的

参考例句：

• The two nations reached an amicable agreement.两国达成了一项友好协议。
• The two nations settled their quarrel in an amicable way.两国以和睦友好的方式解决了他们的争端。

11 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。