Show me the money 給我錢！
May 4th 2006 | NEW YORK
From The Economist print edition
（1）THE words “probate exception” do not titillate[1]. And yet a saucy[2], decade-long legal battle ______① a fortune of nearly half a billion dollars hinges on[3] this clause, which deals with the boundaries between state and federal courts in estate disputes. At issue[4] is whether Vickie Lynn Marshall, a former Playboy pin-up[5] and exotic dancer better known as Anna Nicole Smith, will get anything from the estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall, an oil tycoon with assets estimated _______② $1.6 billion.
“對(duì)遺囑公證可持有異議”這句話本身并無桃色意味。實(shí)際上，這是適用于涉及州立和聯(lián)邦法庭之間處理財(cái)產(chǎn)糾紛的權(quán)限問題的條款。然而正是這一條款，讓一場(chǎng)令人啼笑皆非、爭(zhēng)奪大約5億財(cái)產(chǎn)的訴訟持續(xù)十年之久。大家都對(duì)維基?琳恩?馬歇爾能否從她已故丈夫的財(cái)產(chǎn)中分得一杯羹議論紛紛。馬歇爾曾經(jīng)是《花花公子》雜志的一名海報(bào)女郎和脫衣舞女，人稱“安娜?尼科爾?史密斯”，她的丈夫J.霍華德?馬歇爾則是一個(gè)擁有差不多16億身家的石油大亨。
On May 1st, Ms Smith won an important victory. Although her inheritance remains uncertain, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that she could pursue her case in federal court. （2）One suspects the justices were enjoying themselves, for once.
5月1日，史密斯女士贏得了重大勝利。盡管她的繼承權(quán)仍未明確，但美國(guó)法院一致裁決，她可以在聯(lián)邦法院追訴。有人懷疑，法官們這是在逗悶玩兒，簡(jiǎn)直是破天荒頭一次。
（3）The details of the case have kept the tabloids busy. （4）Marshall met Ms Smith when he was wheeled[6] into the Texas strip club where she was dancing. After a courtship of a few years, full of expensive gifts (such as $2m in jewellery) and pricier promises, the two were married in 1994. She was 26, he was 89. Fourteen months later, Marshall dropped dead ________③ a heart attack, leaving nothing to Ms Smith in his will.
那些街頭小報(bào)為了捕捉此案一些細(xì)節(jié)而忙得不亦樂乎。（報(bào)道說，）馬歇爾是被人用輪椅推進(jìn)得克薩斯脫衣舞夜總會(huì)后結(jié)識(shí)了在那兒跳脫衣舞的史密斯。隨著幾年的求愛，加上數(shù)不勝數(shù)的昂貴禮物（比如200萬美元的珠寶）跟一番海誓山盟之后，兩人在1994年結(jié)婚。當(dāng)時(shí)她26歲，而他89歲。十四個(gè)月過后，馬歇爾死于心臟病，可在遺囑中給史密斯女士分文未留。
（5）The dispute has seen the inside of five courthouses since 1995, when Ms Smith first sued Marshall’s son, E. Pierce Marshall, in a Texas state court, accusing him of cutting her ________④ from the estate. She insists that Marshall promised her half his fortune. His son, seething[7] at what he considers Ms Smith’s gold-digging (he calls her “Miss Cleavage”), argued that Marshall had already given her $6m in gifts and did not intend to leave her more. Ms Smith got nothing from her first lawsuit, but was awarded $475m in a federal bankruptcy ruling in California in 2000. （6）A federal district court judge cut this award to $89m, and then a US appeals court ruled that the issue was not a federal matter.
（7）The Supreme Court justices, who heard arguments in February, have not weighed in on the merits of Ms Smith’s case. （8）Indeed the buxom[8] blonde, who sniffled disingenuously during the hearings, has hardly been a sympathetic figure. The court’s opinion, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is a technical one that measures the scope of the probate exception. It leaves _______⑤ state courts the probate or annulment[9] of a will and the administration of an estate. （9）This puts Marshall’s estate back into play, and ensures that bitter legal wrangling[10] will stretch on for years.
今年2月就此案舉行聽證的法院法官并沒有把史密斯一案當(dāng)回事。事實(shí)上，這個(gè)在聽證會(huì)上拿腔作勢(shì)、哭哭啼啼的豐乳肥臀的金發(fā)女人，絕不是省油的燈。魯思?巴德爾?金斯伯格法官（在一項(xiàng)聲明中）寫道，法院給出的是從技術(shù)層面權(quán)衡“遺囑認(rèn)證例外”范圍的處理意見，至于遺囑公證或認(rèn)定無效以及財(cái)產(chǎn)如何分配則是州立法院的事。這就使得馬歇爾的財(cái)產(chǎn)再度陷入糾葛之中，接下來肯定又是持續(xù)數(shù)年的激烈的法律紛爭(zhēng)。
May 4th 2006 | NEW YORK
From The Economist print edition
（1）THE words “probate exception” do not titillate[1]. And yet a saucy[2], decade-long legal battle ______① a fortune of nearly half a billion dollars hinges on[3] this clause, which deals with the boundaries between state and federal courts in estate disputes. At issue[4] is whether Vickie Lynn Marshall, a former Playboy pin-up[5] and exotic dancer better known as Anna Nicole Smith, will get anything from the estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall, an oil tycoon with assets estimated _______② $1.6 billion.
“對(duì)遺囑公證可持有異議”這句話本身并無桃色意味。實(shí)際上，這是適用于涉及州立和聯(lián)邦法庭之間處理財(cái)產(chǎn)糾紛的權(quán)限問題的條款。然而正是這一條款，讓一場(chǎng)令人啼笑皆非、爭(zhēng)奪大約5億財(cái)產(chǎn)的訴訟持續(xù)十年之久。大家都對(duì)維基?琳恩?馬歇爾能否從她已故丈夫的財(cái)產(chǎn)中分得一杯羹議論紛紛。馬歇爾曾經(jīng)是《花花公子》雜志的一名海報(bào)女郎和脫衣舞女，人稱“安娜?尼科爾?史密斯”，她的丈夫J.霍華德?馬歇爾則是一個(gè)擁有差不多16億身家的石油大亨。
On May 1st, Ms Smith won an important victory. Although her inheritance remains uncertain, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that she could pursue her case in federal court. （2）One suspects the justices were enjoying themselves, for once.
5月1日，史密斯女士贏得了重大勝利。盡管她的繼承權(quán)仍未明確，但美國(guó)法院一致裁決，她可以在聯(lián)邦法院追訴。有人懷疑，法官們這是在逗悶玩兒，簡(jiǎn)直是破天荒頭一次。
（3）The details of the case have kept the tabloids busy. （4）Marshall met Ms Smith when he was wheeled[6] into the Texas strip club where she was dancing. After a courtship of a few years, full of expensive gifts (such as $2m in jewellery) and pricier promises, the two were married in 1994. She was 26, he was 89. Fourteen months later, Marshall dropped dead ________③ a heart attack, leaving nothing to Ms Smith in his will.
那些街頭小報(bào)為了捕捉此案一些細(xì)節(jié)而忙得不亦樂乎。（報(bào)道說，）馬歇爾是被人用輪椅推進(jìn)得克薩斯脫衣舞夜總會(huì)后結(jié)識(shí)了在那兒跳脫衣舞的史密斯。隨著幾年的求愛，加上數(shù)不勝數(shù)的昂貴禮物（比如200萬美元的珠寶）跟一番海誓山盟之后，兩人在1994年結(jié)婚。當(dāng)時(shí)她26歲，而他89歲。十四個(gè)月過后，馬歇爾死于心臟病，可在遺囑中給史密斯女士分文未留。
（5）The dispute has seen the inside of five courthouses since 1995, when Ms Smith first sued Marshall’s son, E. Pierce Marshall, in a Texas state court, accusing him of cutting her ________④ from the estate. She insists that Marshall promised her half his fortune. His son, seething[7] at what he considers Ms Smith’s gold-digging (he calls her “Miss Cleavage”), argued that Marshall had already given her $6m in gifts and did not intend to leave her more. Ms Smith got nothing from her first lawsuit, but was awarded $475m in a federal bankruptcy ruling in California in 2000. （6）A federal district court judge cut this award to $89m, and then a US appeals court ruled that the issue was not a federal matter.
（7）The Supreme Court justices, who heard arguments in February, have not weighed in on the merits of Ms Smith’s case. （8）Indeed the buxom[8] blonde, who sniffled disingenuously during the hearings, has hardly been a sympathetic figure. The court’s opinion, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is a technical one that measures the scope of the probate exception. It leaves _______⑤ state courts the probate or annulment[9] of a will and the administration of an estate. （9）This puts Marshall’s estate back into play, and ensures that bitter legal wrangling[10] will stretch on for years.
今年2月就此案舉行聽證的法院法官并沒有把史密斯一案當(dāng)回事。事實(shí)上，這個(gè)在聽證會(huì)上拿腔作勢(shì)、哭哭啼啼的豐乳肥臀的金發(fā)女人，絕不是省油的燈。魯思?巴德爾?金斯伯格法官（在一項(xiàng)聲明中）寫道，法院給出的是從技術(shù)層面權(quán)衡“遺囑認(rèn)證例外”范圍的處理意見，至于遺囑公證或認(rèn)定無效以及財(cái)產(chǎn)如何分配則是州立法院的事。這就使得馬歇爾的財(cái)產(chǎn)再度陷入糾葛之中，接下來肯定又是持續(xù)數(shù)年的激烈的法律紛爭(zhēng)。