《波士顿法律》是美国ABC电视台的重头戏《律师本色》(ThePractice)的姐妹剧，它讲述AlanShore为一家律师事务所工作期间发生的故事及案件。故事集中在波士顿的一家高级律师所里，主要以民事诉讼案件为主。这些聪明的代理人必须处理法律允许他们做和该如何对抗他们不能做的。当基本上尝试的时候，他们将会面对社会的和道德的议题。这难解幽默感的系列究竟把我们带到怎样的故事里？ 《波士顿法律》不是那么传统的剧集，它是著名法律剧thepractice的延伸，但却迅速找到了自己的位置。讲述律师事务所里的众生相以及审判室的诡计和兄弟会男孩的滑稽剧bostonlegal今年在金球奖最扬眉吐气的，首推以「BostonLegal」拿下影集类最佳男配角的威廉薛特纳，薛特纳过去最让人记得的角色就是《星际旅行:原初系列》(StarTrek:TOS)里的...跳着写，反正每一篇都是独立的。 且不谈这一集混乱的情感纠葛，Alan怎么也开始喜欢Shirley，倒是看不出这old lady还很有吸引力。无奈Denny占着不放，两人进行了一场滑稽的摔跤比赛来争夺女人。Denny剽悍的赢了，利索得和年龄不相符。 第三季看到现在，几个case毫不吸引，觉得有些拖沓，风格变了，秀的成分多了。不过这集值得看这个食人者的案子，应题cannibal: 食人者, 吃同类的动物. Fine此处作动词惩罚之用。 This case is disgusting, it’s distasteful, and it’s repugnant. 这个案子很恶心，很讨厌，很令人反感。一个流浪汉吃掉他死去的唯一的最好的朋友，在他烧掉他尸体的时候，他饿得不行，几个星期没有吃饭。A number of serious charges: Violating the health code, desecration of a human body… 一系列指控：违反卫生法，侮辱人类身体…… District attorney地方检控官，面相上就很软弱的男人，在DH里扮一懦弱上司，搞不定家里公司所有事，都要Lynette帮忙摆平。之前剧集已经出现好多次，总和Alan打对台，从未赢过。检控方不接受认罪和任何调和的从轻从宽，leniency，直接上升到社会和人类的道德尊严：the sanctity and morality of a society, the human race, in fact. “The American people have been so desensitized to atrocity, we just turn an indifferent ear and eye to the most heinous of conduct. Well, I am not going to turn away. I am going to make a firm and public stand.” 有时候正义很难裁定，站在哪一方去看；就像这么义正言辞的一番话，你也可以当作上纲上线。他正在参加竞选。看看Alan的挑衅吧： - Tell me, Mr-Vote-For-Me-Come-November, what if you lose this trial? Did that ever occur to you? - Funny? It didn’t. - Perhaps it should. 庭审，证据证人是很不利的，连法官都觉得厌恶，这毕竟真是一桩grotesque变态的事情。而被告甚至找不到一个人格证人，（陪审团会把他当作怪物），他流浪街头，没有朋友。唯一的策略就是让本人上证人席，用最可怜的方式向陪审团解释。 双方的Closing: - We live in time where almost anything goes. Don’t we? Gay marriage is barely considered alternative anymore. You do on the internet; you can find a club for almost any kind of fetish. However, depraved. We’re a society where nothing seems to shock us anymore. Well. If we’ve reached the day, where burning the remains of a body, and cannibalism doesn’t offend? Then I guess life has no sanctity at all, does it? No dignity. Please deliver a verdict that says there is sanctity, not just to the life of a human being. But also the death. 我们生活在一个宽容的时代，不是吗？同性恋婚姻已经不再受到排挤，如果你们上网，可以发现各种恋物癖的俱乐部，无论多么不堪。我们的社会好像已经没有什么可以令我们感到吃惊了，那么，如果我们在某一天发现，焚烧遗骸并且吃掉它都不能令人感到反感，我想生命也就毫无尊严可言了，不是吗？没有尊严。请你们达成一个判决，让尊严并不仅是存在活人之中，还有死者。 Alternative：二选一的，排他的。 Alan: A billion and a half Christians routinely go to Church on Sundays and ceremoniously eat the body of Christ. Drink His blood. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood, abides in Me and I in him.” Jesus said that. 15亿的基督教徒每周日都去教堂，隆重地吃耶稣基督的肉，喝他的血…… 立刻被法官喝止：How dare you?! You take a holy sacrament literally. 竟敢按照字面意思解释圣餐。You have equated it with a vile and despicable act! Vile: 卑鄙的, 可耻的; despicable: 可鄙的, 卑劣的. Equate: 等同于 I apologize, Your Honor. I certainly don’t mean to indict Holy Communion. But! Let’s not carry on with the idea that the notion of cannibalism offends the sanctity of life! It has roots not only in sacraments, not to be taken literally, but also Greek mythology, it’s still glorified in certain sections of both, the South and I believe, Malibu. And I might add, it’s not illegal! There’s no Federal law, no Massachusetts law that criminalizes cannibalism. That’s why Mr District-Attorney-My-Name-Appears-Second-On-The-Ballot-This-November-Ginsberg has trumped up these other charges. Desecration, and so forth, and lectured you on dignity and sanctity. There is no dignity in starving to death! When a homeless person is left to rot on a slab, the sanctity of life somehow gets trivialized. Mr District-Attorney-My-Name-Appears-Second-On-The-Ballot-This-November-Ginsberg wants you to be offended. You know what offends me? We have, in this country, over a million homeless people. The government can’t feed them. Can’t give them shelter. But, let’s spend sixty to seventy thousand dollars to prosecute one who tried to stave off death! Let’s spend another forty-five thousand a year to imprison him!” There is no dignity in that! It’s cruel! Mr Nichols was cremating his friend to prevent the indignity of the unceremonious and degrading decomposition of his body. As for why he ate? He told you. He was starving! When was the last time you starved? How about you? 我绝对不是要诋毁圣餐礼，但是让我们不要一直带着一个想法，认为食人这个概念冒犯了生命的尊严，它不仅在不能逐字理解的圣餐中找到根源，同时也可以在希腊神话里找到根源，这在南部还有，我想在Malibu仍是一种荣耀的仪式。而且我再提一句，它并不是不合法的。没有一部联邦法律或者麻省法律，将食人列入犯法的事。这就是为什么地区检察官“在11月的选举中票数排名第二”G先生，需要捏造另外的这些指挥罪名，亵渎神圣等等，想用尊严，和神圣不可侵犯之类的话来打动你们。快饿死的人没有尊严可言，当一个无家可归的人躺在地板上腐烂，生命的尊严就变得无足轻重。“在11月的选举中票数排名第二”G先生想让你们觉得被冒犯了，你们知道什么冒犯了我吗？我们这个国家里有上百万的无家可归人口，政府不能养活他们，不能给他们栖身之地，但是，让我们花上6到7万美元来检控一名不想饿死的人，让我们花上另外的每年4万5千美元来囚禁他。这并不是尊严，是残酷。N先生只是在火化他的朋友，来避免他的尸体被随意侮辱和毫无尊严地腐烂，至于为什么他要吃，他告诉你们，他快饿死了。你最近一次挨饿是在什么时候？你呢？ trump up：捏造, 伪造；trumped up a charge of…诬陷（某人）… Let’s face it. The only reason we’re all here is because cannibalism makes for good television. What better to satiate some pre-election hunger pangs than a belly full of media attention? Mr District-Attorney-My-Name-Appears-Second-On-The-Ballot-This-November-Ginsberg knows that! That’s why he’s handling this case personally. Not only does it give him a sensational platform for his shameless self promotion! It also fits his notion of society! That it’s not about understanding the homeless. It’s about prosecuting them! Kind of makes you wonder, who here is really the cannibal? 让我们面对现实，我们在这里的唯一原因，是因为食人对电视节目来说是一个大新闻，对于某些在选举暂落下风的人来说，有什么比引起媒体关注更加有效呢？“在11月的选举中票数排名第二”G先生深谙此道，这就是为什么他要亲自处理这个案子，这不仅为他无耻的宣传提供了绝佳的平台，同时也满足了社会的猎奇心：不是去试图了解一名无家可归者，而是去起诉他，这种事让我不禁想到，谁才是真正的食人者？ Alan的结案陈词总是很精彩的。他旁征博引，擅用许多例子支撑一件事情的理由，立辩丰满有力。最重要的是他现实。他可以看透一些黑暗龌矬的本质，点穿，让它们无处遁形。他三次提到“Mr District-Attorney-My-Name-Appears-Second-On-The-Ballot-This-November-Ginsberg”很搞笑的称呼，用一个人期待和重要的一面来攻击他别有用心。这一招还是很妙的。同时他煽情恰到好处，不会那么上纲上线，但直指人心，戳在道德和情感最薄弱最愧疚的地方，每一句都好像是面对你说的。
最后的判决。这句话是法律最常用的一句结语，也是一很好的句型。 In the matter of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts versus Clarence Nichols on the charge of desecrating human remains, in violation of the Human Welfare and Safety Health Code, we find the defendant, Clarence Nichols… not guilty. 关于亵渎人体遗骸，侵犯人类安宁和违反安全健康法的的罪名，我们裁决CN无罪。 Alan真是善良，他自己掏出5000美元的支票，以律师事务所胜利的名义赠给流浪汉。It’s an experimental program. It’s called we-the fortunate-should-endeavor-to help-the-less-fortunate, I’m sure it’ll never fly. Go have a nice meal, take a trip, maybe splurge for some health insurance.他大出所有人意料。越看到后边，越喜欢Alan，放荡不羁却温柔感性，和Denny最大的不同是他同情帮助穷人。这个矮胖不帅的男人有着许多人没有的人性光辉。 阳台上惯例的谈话，让人动容。 - If you were on desert island and I died and you were starving. Could you eat me? - What do you care? When you’re dead, you’re dead. - I don’t actually believe that. I believe there’s… something… after?!