WinkLingo
ログイン

Witness for the Prosecution · 1957 — 第 18 / 27 章 · 4'05" · B2

Wilfrid Cross-Examines the Housekeeper, Explained：a scheming rascal

Sir Wilfrid takes the housekeeper apart on the stand. He doesn't deny she hates Leonard — 'He's a shiftless, scheming rascal' — he uses it. Then he asks how she could identify a voice through 'four inches of solid oak', and lands the real blow: she has applied for a hearing aid. Her certainty was about belief, not hearing.

あらすじ

On the stand at the Central Criminal Court, the housekeeper Janet McKenzie faces Sir Wilfrid's cross-examination. He draws out that the old will left her the bulk of Mrs French's estate, while the new one leaves almost everything to Leonard Vole. She calls him a 'shiftless, scheming rascal', and insists she heard his voice through a closed door — until Sir Wilfrid asks about her hearing aid.

CourtroomInterrogationsConfrontingComplainingB2slowbritishClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

a wicked injusticea scheming rascalthe murmur of voicesthe way your mind worked

00:00 / 04:05
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

a scheming rascal

a sly rogue

Janet calls Vole a scheming rascal and then insists she is not hostile to him.

Everyone warned me about that scheming rascal.

このシーンの他の表現

  • a wicked injustice

    a terrible wrong

  • the murmur of voices

    low voices

  • the way your mind worked

    how you were thinking

  • be away being repaired

    out for repair

  • apply to

    request from

このシーンのメモ一覧

54 行のセリフに 24 件のメモ

表現 · B2the bulk of something

most of

In the old will, that which was revoked, were you not to receive the bulk of Mrs French's estate?
文法 · B2were you not to receive

negative question: The negative question assumes the answer and pushes the witness to agree.

In the old will, that which was revoked, were you not to receive the bulk of Mrs French's estate?
表現 · B1except for something

apart from

Whereas in the new will, except for a bequest to you of a small annuity, the principal beneficiary is the prisoner, Leonard Vole.
文法 · B2Whereas in the new will

contrast clause: Whereas sets the new will against the old one to highlight what she lost.

Whereas in the new will, except for a bequest to you of a small annuity, the principal beneficiary is the prisoner, Leonard Vole.
表現 · B2a penny of something

even a cent of

It'll be a wicked injustice if he ever touches a penny of that money.
表現 · C1be antagonistic to someone

hostile to

It is entirely understandable that you are antagonistic to the prisoner.
表現 · C1a shiftless person

lazy and useless

He's a shiftless, scheming rascal. But I'm not antagonistic to him.
スラング · B2rascal

rogue — An old-fashioned insult; playful with friends, rude to strangers.

He's a shiftless, scheming rascal. But I'm not antagonistic to him.
表現 · B1cost someone something

made you lose

I suggest you formed this opinion because his friendship with Mrs French cost you the bulk of her estate.
表現 · B2what someone actually said

the real words

- What did you hear them say? - I didn't hear what they actually said.
表現 · C1the murmur of voices

low voices

Sir Wilfrid reduces her testimony to a murmur of voices, hinting she never caught the words.

- The murmur of voices? - They were laughing.
表現 · A2be in a hurry

rushed

You were in a hurry to get the pattern so you probably walked quickly past the closed door, yet you are sure you heard Leonard Vole's voice?
文法 · B2yet you are sure

contrast with yet: Yet links two clashing facts, implying her certainty does not add up.

You were in a hurry to get the pattern so you probably walked quickly past the closed door, yet you are sure you heard Leonard Vole's voice?
表現 · B1long enough to do something

enough time to

I was there long enough to hear what I heard.
発音don't wish to

The t sounds in don't and wish to are often dropped in fast speech.

Come, I'm sure you don't wish to suggest to the jury that you were eavesdropping.
スラング · B2Come

oh, come on — A spoken opener that pushes back; too casual for formal settings.

Come, I'm sure you don't wish to suggest to the jury that you were eavesdropping.
表現 · B2the way someone's mind works

how you were thinking

What you mean is that you wanted it to be him. That's the way your mind worked.
表現 · B2be away being repaired

out for repair

Janet rules out the television because it was away being repaired that week.

Because the television was away being repaired that week, that's why.
表現 · B1pay out money

pay regularly

Aye, that's so. Four and sixpence I pay out every week.
発音Four and sixpence

And reduces to a light /ən/, so the sum runs together.

Aye, that's so. Four and sixpence I pay out every week.
表現 · A2a hearing aid

device for hearing

- ...a hearing aid? - For... for what?
表現 · B2solid oak

hard oak wood

However, you state that you walked past a door, which is four inches of solid oak, you heard voices,
発音distinguish the

The end of distinguish slides into the, with the g almost silent.

and you are willing to swear that you could distinguish the voice of...
表現 · B2miss very little

hardly missing anything

you are missing very little. You may stand down now.

「Wilfrid Cross-Examines the Housekeeper」を読み解く

What's really going on

The whole cross-examination is a lesson in destroying a witness without calling her a liar. Sir Wilfrid never disputes that Janet disliked Leonard; he agrees, and turns her loathing into motive: 'I suggest you formed this opinion because his friendship with Mrs French cost you the bulk of her estate.' When she protests she is not antagonistic, he only sharpens the point. Then he dismantles her one solid fact — that she recognised Leonard's voice — by stressing the closed oak door, her hurry, and her wishful thinking: 'What you mean is that you wanted it to be him.' The hearing aid finishes it. She has sworn to a voice she may not have been able to hear, and her own application proves it.

Theme

LiesJanet's certainty about a voice she may not have heard shows how a witness can believe her own prejudice.
JusticeCross-examination turns honest hatred into motive, and a hearing aid into reasonable doubt.

このチャプターで学べること

  • The will explains why the housekeeper resents Vole.
  • A witness can be sincere and still wrong about a voice.
  • The hearing aid turns her best evidence into doubt.
  • Small details about timing decide who the jury believes.

発音のポイント

  • don't wish to — The t sounds in don't and wish to are often dropped in fast speech.
  • Four and sixpence — And reduces to a light /ən/, so the sum runs together.
  • distinguish the — The end of distinguish slides into the, with the g almost silent.
It'll be a wicked injustice if he ever touches a penny of that money.

Janet's bitterness is on full display: she would see Leonard taking any of the money as an outrage.

What you mean is that you wanted it to be him. That's the way your mind worked.

Sir Wilfrid's key move — reframing her certainty as wishful thinking rather than evidence.

I was there long enough to hear what I heard.

Her blunt, stubborn defence of her own testimony, refusing to concede she might be mistaken.

He's a shiftless, scheming rascal. But I'm not antagonistic to him.

She insults Leonard and denies bias in the same breath, handing Sir Wilfrid the contradiction he exploits.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Sir Wilfrid care that the old will left Janet the money?

It gives her a motive to hate Leonard: his friendship with Mrs French cost her the bulk of the estate, so her testimony against him is not disinterested.

Why does Sir Wilfrid ask about the hearing aid?

Janet's key evidence is that she recognised Leonard's voice through a closed, four-inch oak door. If she has applied for a hearing aid, the jury can doubt that she heard anything clearly at all.

Is Janet lying about hearing Leonard's voice?

The film leaves it as mistaken certainty rather than a proven lie. Sir Wilfrid's point is that she wanted it to be Leonard, and her hearing trouble means she may simply have guessed.

What does Janet mean by saying she is not antagonistic to him?

She insists she has no personal grudge even while calling Leonard a 'shiftless, scheming rascal' — a contradiction Sir Wilfrid lets the jury hear for themselves.

Why does Janet ask the judge for help at the end?

Half joking, she complains that her own hearing aid has not arrived six months after she applied, and the judge wryly dismisses her from the stand.

情婦 · 全 27 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 19 章an accomplice toChristine Testifies Against Vole
第 1 章put it in mothballsSir Wilfrid Goes Home第 2 章when her back is turnedSir Wilfrid Hides Cigars in His Cane第 3 章circumstantial evidenceVole Tries to Hire Sir Wilfrid第 4 章in the hands ofLeonard Tells Sir Wilfrid His Story第 5 章not cricketHow Vole Met Mrs French第 6 章a hot potatoLeonard Recounts the Night of the Murder第 7 章with flying coloursInspector Hearne Arrests Leonard第 8 章call it what you likeChristine Vole Meets the Lawyers第 9 章a way with womenChristine and the Green Socks第 10 章worships the ground I walk onChristine Denies She's His Wife第 11 章on the chance thatWilfrid Photographs Vole in Prison第 12 章gave someone ideasLeonard Meets Christine in Hamburg第 13 章clutching at a razor bladeVole Tells How He Married Christine第 14 章to a pointLeonard Vole Pleads Not Guilty第 15 章take someone by surpriseHearne Testifies About the Prints第 16 章account forThe Bloodstained Jacket in Court第 17 章hither and thitherJanet McKenzie Takes the Stand再生中 · 第 18 章a scheming rascalWilfrid Cross-Examines the Housekeeper第 19 章an accomplice toChristine Testifies Against Vole第 20 章a chronic and habitual liarMyers Destroys Christine on the Stand第 21 章shed new light onSir Wilfrid Calls Leonard Vole第 22 章establish an alibiMyers Cross-Examines Leonard Vole第 23 章wild-goose chaseThe Call About the German Wife第 24 章on the slySir Wilfrid Buys the Letters第 25 章a pack of liesSir Wilfrid's Blue Letter Trap第 26 章dispose ofVole Is Found Not Guilty第 27 章call someone namesChristine Reveals Leonard Was Guilty
第 18 / 27 章 · 残り約 33 分