learn the result
It ends when you decide and we both drink and find out who is right and who is dead.The Princess Bride · 1987 — 第 1 / 3 章 · 3'13" · C1
Battle of Wits, Explained：battle of wits
On the surface the two men are playing a deadly guessing game: each must drink and find out who survives. "It ends when you decide and we both drink and find out who is right and who is dead" spells out the stakes. The real contest isn't the wine: it's who can out-think the other.
あらすじ
Two men sit at a table with a goblet of wine each and turn a simple drink into a life-or-death puzzle. One asks where the poison is; the other lays out the rules, then talks himself through an endless chain of reasoning about which cup to choose. They drink, one laughs, and the twist lands.
注目の表現
battle of witsdivine fromused to havingonly think
00:00 / 03:13Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
このシーンの表現
battle of wits
a contest of cleverness, not fists
Someone announces a battle of wits over two cups and makes both people drink once the choice is made.
Our Friday trivia became a battle of wits over one unfair question.
このシーンの他の表現
- divine from
guess by reasoning from what you know
- used to having
accustomed to something happening
- only think
you believe it, but you are wrong
- given everything away
revealed the secret completely
- your back was turned
while you were not looking
このシーンのメモ一覧
47 行のセリフに 29 件のメモ
In a quick American delivery, let the t tap lightly into I.
All I have to do is divine from what I know of you.the one placed before you
I'm not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.Keep not against a, and let the t slip forward instead of stopping.
I'm not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.relied on that fact in the plan
You would've counted on it. So I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.not even close Not about distance; it means not at all.
- You've made your decision then? - Not remotely.stated as if it were common knowledge He pretends this is something everybody already accepts.
Because iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows.populated by a certain kind of person
And Australia is entirely peopled with criminals.accustomed to something happening
The distrust detour uses used to having to justify refusing the cup in front of the other person.
And criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me.cleverness that makes you dizzy It sounds like praise, but he means the talk is spinning him.
Truly you have a dizzying intellect.really start Not departing; he means he has barely started.
Wait till I get going!dragging the decision out — Fine between rivals; too casual for a written report.
- You're just stalling now. - You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?which-clause: Which points back to the whole feat, not the giant.
You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong.Let have take almost no beat between must and studied.
But you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must've studied.that-clause: That introduces what was learned, and man means humans, not one man.
And in studying, you must've learned that man is mortal.at the greatest possible distance
So you would've put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.lure someone into an action
You're trying to trick me into giving away something. It won't work.revealed the secret completely
He shouts that the other person has given everything away and claims he now knows which cup is poisoned.
It has worked! You've given everything away! I know where the poison is!was completely sure a moment ago Not a courtroom oath; he was sure he had seen it.
Well, I-I could've sworn I saw something. No matter. Hmm.while you were not looking
He explains the laugh: the glasses were switched when the other person's back was turned.
That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned!was caught by a known trap
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders.become mixed up in it
The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia.oppose someone head-on Not entering a place; it means taking them on.
But only slightly less well known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!at risk if you fail
The boast ends by putting death on the line and daring anyone to oppose a Sicilian.
But only slightly less well known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!complement inversion: The complement comes first, so the rule after this gets the weight.
But only slightly less well known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!treated as unimportant Not the dessert; it means handled lightly.
- Who are you? - I am no one to be trifled with.cleft sentence: The cleft pins the poison on your cup alone.
To think, all that time it was your cup that was poisoned.Put the weight on both and ease off the next word.
They were both poisoned.gradually becoming resistant
The last line admits years spent building up an immunity, which is why both cups could be poisoned.
I spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder.「Battle of Wits」を読み解く
What's really going on
The whole ritual is performance. The wine is barely the point; the two men are competing to see who can construct the more convincing chain of reasoning, and the fun is watching logic collapse under its own weight as each new deduction loops back to the same line. One insists he has "given everything away" when he has simply been stalling. The final laugh belongs to the man who switched the glasses "when your back was turned" — not because he read his opponent's mind, but because both cups were poisoned and he had spent years building immunity. Wit is the show; preparation is what actually keeps him alive.
Theme
DeceptionBoth men bluff and misdirect, and the winner's final trick is a glass switch nobody sees coming.
Dark humorA poisoning is played as a polite comedy, with courteous banter while both men face death.
発音のポイント
- what I — In a quick American delivery, let the t tap lightly into I.
- not a — Keep not against a, and let the t slip forward instead of stopping.
- must've studied — Let have take almost no beat between must and studied.
- both poisoned — Put the weight on both and ease off the next word.
It ends when you decide and we both drink and find out who is right and who is dead.The rules stated up front: each man drinks, and the drink itself reveals who reasoned correctly and who dies.
Truly you have a dizzying intellect.A dry, mocking compliment: the other man's chain of logic is dazzling only because it keeps circling without arriving anywhere.
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders.A gloating line meaning the opponent walked straight into a famous, avoidable mistake that everyone is supposed to know.
The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia.Half of a running joke: the so-called classic blunder is really just blunt worldly advice, delivered as if it were strategy.
But only slightly less well known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!The punchline: never gamble against this man when your life is at stake, because he has prepared for exactly that.
I spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder.The reveal: he did not win by guessing the right cup but by slowly making his body immune to the poison beforehand.
このシーンについての質問
Who actually wins the battle of wits?
The man who had built up an immunity. Both goblets were poisoned, so guessing the "right" cup made no difference; surviving came from years of exposure to iocane powder.
Why does one man laugh right before they drink?
Because he has already switched the glasses while the other man's back was turned. The joke is the trick itself, set up in plain sight.
What does iocane powder have to do with Australia?
It is one link in the deliberately tangled reasoning. The speaker claims the powder comes from Australia, a land full of criminals, and that criminals are used to not being trusted.
Were both cups poisoned?
Yes. "They were both poisoned" is the reveal. The loser drinks believing one cup is safe, while the winner has spent years making himself immune.
What does "on the line" mean here?
It means at serious risk, with death as the stake. The full line warns against going up against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
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