乔布斯传 第256期:卢卡斯影业的电脑部门(2)

 　　After a few potential purchasers balked¹ in the fall of 1985,

　　1985年秋，在一些潜在买家都踌躇不决时，

　　Catmull and his colleague Alvy Ray Smith decided² to seek investors⁴ so that they could buy the division themselves.

　　卡特穆尔和联合创始人阿尔维·雷·史密斯决定自己买下这个部门并寻找投资者。

　　So they called Jobs, arranged another meeting, and drove down to his Woodside house.

　　于是，他们打电话找到乔布斯，又安排了一次会面，两人驱车前往乔布斯位于伍德赛德的家中。

　　After railing for a while about the perfidies⁵ and idiocies⁶ of Sculley,

　　乔布斯先是抱怨了一通斯卡利的愚蠢和背信弃义，

　　Jobs proposed that he buy their Lucasfilm division outright⁷.

　　然后提议自己全资买下卢卡斯影业的电脑部门。

　　Catmull and Smith demurred⁸: They wanted an investor³, not a new owner.

　　卡特穆尔和史密斯拒绝了。他们想要一位主要投资者而不是一个新的所有者。

　　But it soon became clear that there was a middle ground:

　　不过很快就有了一个折中办法：

　　Jobs could buy a majority of the division and serve as chairman but allow Catmull and Smith to run it.

　　乔布斯出资购买多数股权，并担任董事长，但由卡特穆尔和史密斯来运营。

　　"I wanted to buy it because I was really into computer graphics," Jobs recalled.

　　“我之所以想收购这个部门，是因为我真的很喜欢计算机图形。”乔布斯后来回忆道，

　　"I realized they were way ahead of others in combining art and technology, which is what I've always been interested in."

　　“我意识到，在融合艺术与技术的领域，他们走在了其他人前面，而这个领域一直都是我的兴趣所在。”

　　He offered to pay Lucas $5 million plus invest another $5 million to capitalize the division as a stand-alone company.

　　乔布斯提出的条件是，向卢卡斯支付500万美元，然后自己再投入500万美元，从而将这一部门变成独立的公司。

　　That was far less than Lucas had been asking, but the timing⁹ was right. They decided to negotiate a deal.

　　这比卢卡斯一直以来所要求的金额低得多，然而时机对乔布斯来说却刚刚好。于是，双方决定通过谈判达成交易。

1 balked   

v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑

参考例句：

• He balked in his speech. 他忽然中断讲演。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They balked the robber's plan. 他们使强盗的计划受到挫败。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

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 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 perfidies   

n.背信弃义，背叛，出卖( perfidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

6 idiocies   

n.极度的愚蠢( idiocy的名词复数 )；愚蠢的行为；白痴状态

参考例句：

• the idiocies of bureaucracy 官僚体系所为的蠢事
• Each morning he gloomily recognized his idiocies of the evening before. 他每天早晨沮丧地认识到昨天晚上的荒唐。 来自辞典例句

7 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

8 demurred   

v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• At first she demurred, but then finally agreed. 她开始表示反对，但最终还是同意了。
• They demurred at working on Sundays. 他们反对星期日工作。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。