MR. SMITH: Well, Yuri, tell me about it.7 o- ?5 O# M' a9 O5 y2 H
YURI: I'm sorry I can’t bring better news, sir. The site is a disaster.9 [" P0 X' {6 a6 h& n
MR. SMITH: That's what I was afraid of.
( Y. P! t. f% k* @( I YURI: It is not only the earthquake, sir. But the mudslides.7 {1 z8 a( m, w9 ?
Much of the north half of the site has been covered over by mud.
2 W. M! q" H1 W0 E5 J MR. SMITH: Mud? But Ivan told me there were no mudslides in that district.; E9 u6 ^; y1 q6 u/ |/ @" s
I thought all the mudslides were down in Chichitango.
% L5 s6 B1 ^- o) J8 w4 V YURI: That's what we thought, sir. That’s what the news reported.; L! v+ M% d9 k2 Q8 }9 ]7 \& a, k
But there was one little mudslide in our district too. Right above our site.
1 d- T$ P; n) E4 E MR. SMITH: Oh, that's terrible! What bad luck!
2 w" A0 b6 F& P/ Q! g I wish we had never come to this country.
) m1 q# f+ p( w Q& K But, if it isn't the strikes and the revolutionaries, it’s the earthquakes.' r1 L7 m. e* Z' X* _6 d$ Y* O9 Z( d" _
Our operations here are finished!! e- a8 E f' W( Q! d8 r0 ~! f
YURI: I'm sorry, sir.
' y" r Z( y A7 j/ J# e5 q MR. SMITH: It's not your fault, Yuri.
/ P1 q% o1 O& L% L0 ]' h, t. Z3 m' ` But tell me. When will Ivan be able to get out there?+ y) D. f: q1 }6 `6 b, u1 V; m
YURI: Well, it took me about nine hours to get back here by car., }9 R- z' ~, j
If Ivan leaves tonight, I think he should be there by tomorrow lunch.
- O8 ~+ M' l3 K- z) j/ h @( u6 ` MR. SMITH: Good. I want an estimate of damages as soon as possible.4 T3 m5 c. v a
YURI: But sir……/ {2 T, m4 U+ o; J6 Y ?- c
MR. SMITH: Yes, Yuri?) p% _6 \/ v) j; e, z$ k
YURI: I wouldn't recommend sending Ivan now.
4 M! v) L* P5 _4 O1 i, ]$ \1 @ Especially not at night. The roads aren't safe.
. m4 W1 g" Z3 a5 s3 ^ MR. SMITH: Has the earthquake damaged the bridges too? F3 z4 \5 c8 p* P7 ^, w
YURI: No, sir. The bridges are fine.' ], B3 y0 n3 R6 |, @# w1 e
But I've heard rumors that the revolutionaries are coming down from the mountains.
0 P# K: E: @5 C5 \8 f& ^) V There has been fighting, sir.
) j" H6 }) E0 P1 } MR. SMITH: Are you serious? Fighting? But I didn't hear anything on the news.* k$ B, ^! {& c2 w1 `$ f9 o
YURI: You know the government controls the press here, sir. They don't want it reported.& x. V6 _2 B* A. T. l6 R- `
MR. SMITH: Oh, this is terrible, Yuri. Terrible!' y; }" b ?: ^4 s
So we can't even assess the damages. How can we do business in this country?( G) q O. z" D# k8 Z
Either we're buried under mud, or we’re in danger of getting kidnapped.' a8 c2 o0 N* z0 R5 @* _0 H! I9 D. a
No, I can't believe this mess!) _' _4 |+ H: j, e+ r' N4 W5 B
YURI: I'm sorry, sir.
% p( A' [9 q! V" y( Q% f, ^ MR. SMITH: You don't have to keep saying that, Yuri. It’s not your fault.
. i; A: j$ p- X! u% a But me——I'm the one who should be sorry.
+ c- d3 s: t- [# @7 r! n+ A" a It was me who suggested operations here in the first place! Oh, what can we do?4 T9 f/ ^6 s# k
史密斯:嗯,尤里,告诉我怎么一回事。1 R' x6 o, B6 l, K' s4 `& j
尤里:我很抱歉我不能带来好一点的消息。工地的情况很糟糕。3 H# {/ Z* M5 z; [: C+ S2 }
史密斯:这就是我所担心的。
3 e+ w3 V ]4 f4 d 尤里:并不只是地震,还有塌方。) O4 u7 A- O2 n% d4 i- o; {7 u, c
大部分在北半边的工地已被泥浆给掩埋了。8 I9 v" e8 C v, A( b9 L
史密斯:泥浆?但艾文告诉我在那个区域没有塌方。( h5 N; K. A9 L# D e
我以为所有的塌方都在 Chichitango.
. e2 u2 s- a, a$ k 尤里:那是我们认为的。新闻是那样报导的。
% E' O6 u S3 p+ y2 g( u 但只有一点塌方在我们的区域,就在我们工地的上方。2 Q. U0 {# F( U, C7 T- h
史密斯:喔,那真是太可怕了!真是运气不好!$ A+ u- r) u# q6 G4 v# Z8 Y- s- F
我真希望我们从未来过这个国家。7 W& S" r! I# |6 C' ?
如果不是罢工和群众运动,就是地震。0 z* [5 D" D6 @7 P& @
我们的运作要完蛋了!
* a) i2 N+ h$ c, i6 J4 C' x 尤里:我很抱歉。5 O, O, ]4 f' n4 l% t
史密斯:这并不是你的错,尤里。2 u5 {, M! G' }: Z- R$ n
但告诉我,艾文什么时候才能到达那里?
7 P$ Y G0 F% q; |- w2 j" { 尤里:嗯,一共花了我九个小时从那里开回来。
( V# g8 e2 ]# j 如果艾文今晚动身,我想他应该可以在明天中饭左右到达。
$ x, p# C1 O. c6 e; d$ t 史密斯:很好,我想尽快估计一下损坏情况。0 @1 R4 ?& }/ O
尤里:但是先生……
- x& I- z9 Z v 史密斯:什么事,尤里。' d0 H V- l8 |7 {, z
尤里:我并不建议现在就派艾文去。
t% d6 \3 D" B9 W 特别是在晚上,路上并不很安全。: m, q# Z" |3 P D9 R( h6 x/ y
史密斯:地震有破坏到桥吗?
, F/ V) ~: C4 ~ @' C 尤里:没有,桥还很好。8 H- J9 n, t6 X' s7 _
但我听到一些谣传有关群众运动将会由山区游行。0 t! y/ h* y; m# y: v! h
已有打斗了。" X' M. m8 L$ g9 P
史密斯:你是认真的吗?打斗?但我没有听到任何新闻报导。' }/ g. x0 s& e& y: d
尤里:你知道这里政府控制着媒体,他们不想被报导出来。1 @& a: A9 `- P( U7 c
史密斯:喔,这太可怕了,尤里。太可怕了!
4 a/ u% l6 r S, D% g, g 所以我们连评估损坏都不行。我们要如何在这个国家做生意呢?/ L8 x! A }- F
我们不是被泥浆活埋,就是担心会遭到绑架。
2 x; J$ u( ^) G. R 不,我不能相信这个乱象!# W- Z: {2 i" d! K! y* d0 W
尤里:我很抱歉。# ?- ~& q5 z% n) D9 y
史密斯:你不需要一直说抱歉,尤里。这并不是你的错。! u0 g6 I6 u* Z8 T1 m- @4 X/ Z
但我……我才应该感到抱歉。9 @/ c# x; E. K6 u
是我当初提议到这里来经营的。喔,我们该怎么办呢? |