I can... you know, if you ever want to see the Bronte sisters' house, it's not so far.The Trip · 2011 — Chapter 14 of 20 · 6'12" · B2
Shushed on the B Roads, Explained: don't come running to me
On the surface they are picking a route: avoid the A roads, thread the B roads, demist the windows. Underneath, one of them is performing the hills and the other has had enough. "I never thought you'd tell me to shush" is the tell. The line that only a brook gets to babble is not about water.
What happens
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon sit in a fogged-up car, sorting a route that stays off the A roads. One stretch of talk is a long list of B roads. Another is verse about waters rolling from mountain springs, plus "I never thought you'd tell me to shush." A line about a broken leg and mountain rescue keeps the trip from turning literary.
Listen for
the thing about ... isin a manner of speakingdon't come running to meA roads
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Now
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Phrase of the scene
don't come running to me
a joke that plays on the literal and figurative senses
罗布要去爬危险的山坡，同伴拿他打趣，用一句老话半警告半开玩笑地把他噎了回去。
Break the rules if you like, but do not come running to me afterwards.
Also in this scene
- the thing about ... is
used to introduce your view on something
- in a manner of speaking
in a way; so to speak
- A roads
major roads in the British road numbering system
Everything marked in this scene
28 notes across 104 lines
I can... you know, if you ever want to see the Bronte sisters' house, it's not so far.If you want to go visit, I'll take you there.Have you noticed as you get older, older women seem more attractive to you?comparative for a change in degree
Have you noticed as you get older, older women seem more attractive to you?Women in general.major roads in the British road numbering system
I thought we'd try and avoid the A roads, right, and go up the B6255 to Hawes, right, and then cut down through Oughtershaw, Yockenthwaite, Buckden, down the B6160 through Kettlewell, then the B6265 through Grassington to Pateley Bridge, then up to Ramsgill from there, right?I thought we'd try and avoid the A roads, right, and go up the B6255 to Hawes, right, and then cut down through Oughtershaw, Yockenthwaite, Buckden, down the B6160 through Kettlewell, then the B6265 through Grassington to Pateley Bridge, then up to Ramsgill from there, right?Can we use the sat nav tomorrow?The thing about sat nav is, you don't where you're...Yeah, but it gets you there the quickest way.liaison
Yeah, but it gets you there the quickest way.I'm like a knight, a knight of old, wandering the land...in a way; so to speak
In a manner of speaking.liaison
In a manner of speaking.I'm just gonna de-mist the windows, Rob, if that's all right with you.I'm just gonna de-mist the windows, Rob, if that's all right with you.weak form
I'm just gonna de-mist the windows, Rob, if that's all right with you.I don't want to listen to you all the time.would rather + clause for preference
Yeah, and I'd rather you didn't explain.Christ.You're spoiling it. You're spoiling it.Why do you have to do it in that voice?You've just got to make sure you've got secure footing.have got to for obligation
You've just got to make sure you've got secure footing.I sometimes get, like, a fluttery heart, like, an arrhythmic heartbeat, and I've got it now.Yeah, if it gets to three, then mountain rescue.Have you been here, around this area for a while, or...Shushed on the B Roads, explained
What's really going on
The route talk only sounds practical. A long list of B roads fills the drive. "The thing about sat nav is" never has to be finished. A machine would pick the quickest way and cancel the detour. The detour is the point. The verse is that performance. "and again I hear these waters rolling from their mountain springs with soft inland murmur" turns a fogged-up car into a reading. "I ramble through the hills and occasionally at dinner parties" confesses the habit and dresses it up. "I never thought you'd tell me to shush" is what it sounds like when the dressing fails. "The only thing that babbles is a brook" answers the poem and the man together. Water may murmur. A person talking over it may not. "If you break your leg, don't come running to me" takes the same refusal into the body and names mountain rescue. This stretch of road is about who is allowed to keep talking.
Theme
FriendshipTwo friends share a fogged-up car, and the shush, the brook line, and the broken leg are how they handle each other's noise.
SatireMountain-spring verse is cut down by a brook allowed to babble, and the cultured ramble becomes the joke.
What you'll learn
- Come running as impossible help-seeking
- About the journey as a route excuse
- Mountain rescue as a real threshold
Listen for
- gets you there — liaison
- manner of speaking — liaison
- de-mist the windows — weak form
I ramble through the hills and occasionally at dinner parties.He makes two kinds of rambling into one habit: wandering the hills, and talking too long at dinner. Charm is the defense.
I never thought you'd tell me to shush.Being told to stop actually stings. He expected a listener, and the shush is a small, public no.
The only thing that babbles is a brook.The comeback to all the murmuring. Brooks babble; people do not. It flatters the water and tells the speaker he has gone on too long.
and again I hear these waters rolling from their mountain springs with soft inland murmur.Verse about mountain water, spoken in the car, giving the springs more solemnity than a detour needs.
Questions about this scene
Why does the shush bother him so much?
"I never thought you'd tell me to shush" is surprise, not a bit about silence. He was offering the talk as part of the trip, and a companion treated it as noise. The sting is how small the word is.
Is the shush unfair?
It is blunt. The brook line is the fairer version of the same complaint. "The only thing that babbles is a brook" lets the landscape keep its sound and tells a person he does not get that license. One of them will not stop performing. The other will not pretend to enjoy it.
Why mention a broken leg and mountain rescue?
"If you break your leg, don't come running to me" needs the hills to be funny. Help out here would be mountain rescue, and the line refuses the job before anyone asks. You can do the view. You cannot make it my problem.
What is the real argument in skipping the A roads?
Scenery is only the surface. Staying off the A roads keeps the quickest way out of the car, so the drive can still be narrated. "The thing about sat nav is" aims at a machine that would end that pleasure by solving the route.
The Trip · 20 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 15a wee bitA Phone Call by the Lake
Chapter 1have someone down asSteve and Rob Set Off
Chapter 2part of its charmSteve and Rob Share a Room
Chapter 3take a long, hard look in the mirrorThe Michael Caine Impression Duel
Chapter 4in a troughSteve Calls From the Trough
Chapter 5put someone on the back footCalls on the Road to Cartmel
Chapter 6the king of understatementBond Impressions Over Dinner
Chapter 7living the dreamTelling Steve He's Living the Dream
Chapter 8method in my madnessSteve and Rob at Greta Hall
Chapter 9contend withSteve and Rob Rank Their Careers
Chapter 10not unlikeTurned Away at Dove Cottage
Chapter 11at first lightSteve and Rob's Costume Drama
Chapter 12not a lot of people knowThe Michael Caine Impressions
Chapter 13Cut to the chaseSteve Takes His Agent's Call
Watching · Chapter 14don't come running to meShushed on the B Roads
Chapter 15a wee bitA Phone Call by the Lake
Chapter 16an albatross around my neckCoogan and Brydon Compare Careers
Chapter 17as empty experiences goDad Phones Joe About Drinking
Chapter 18stick the knife inMock Eulogy at the Grave
Chapter 19if push came to shoveHiring Divers for the Gesture
Chapter 20as broad as it's longSteve Leaves His ParentsChapter 14 of 20 · about 31 min to go