THE TRANSLATOR: What happened?
发生了什么？
Fāshēng le shénme?
DAO: There were a number of contributing factors. The muscle strength in my legs deteriorated significantly while I was in prison.
有各种影响因素。我在监狱的时候，腿的肌力有所衰退。
Yǒu gèzhoňg yǐngxiǎng yīnsù. wǒ zài jiānyù de shíhòu, tuǐ de jīlì yǒusuǒ shuatuì.
THE TRANSLATOR: There were a number of contributing factors. The muscle strength in my legs deteriorated significantly while I was in prison.
JULIE: Was there a particular incident that exacerbated this deterioration?
THE TRANSLATOR: Was there a particular incident that exacerbated this deterioration?
有没有发生什么加重减退的事情？
Dàodǐ yǒu méiyǒu fāshēng shénme jiāzhòng jiǎntuì de shìqíng?
DAO: Yes.
有。
Yoǔ.
THE TRANSLATOR: Yes.
JULIE: What was the incident?
THE TRANSLATOR: What was the incident?
什么事情？
Shénme shìqíng?
DAO: I was forced to stand in the prison yard for thirty hours.
我被迫在监狱院子里站了三十个小时。
wǒ bèipò zài jiānyù yuànzilǐ zhànle sānshígè xiǎoshí.
THE TRANSLATOR: (staggered) I was forced to stand in the prison yard for thirty hours.
JULIE: Until your legs collapsed?
THE TRANSLATOR: Until your legs collapsed?
直到你的腿虚脱了？
Zhídào nǐde tuǐ xūtuōle?
DAO: Yes.
JULIE: Did the prison guards know your legs had weakened before they made you do this?
THE TRANSLATOR: Did the prison guards know your legs had weakened?
监狱的看守知道你的腿已经衰退了吗?
Jiānyù de kānshǒu zhīdao nǐde tuǐ yǐjīng shuāituìle ma?
DAO: Yes, I had asked to see a doctor.
知道。我之前要求看医生。
Zhīdào. wǒ zhiqian yāoqiú kànyisheng.
THE TRANSLATOR: Yes, I asked to see a doctor.
JULIE: And instead of letting you see a doctor, they made you stand in the yard?
THE TRANSLATOR: And instead of letting you see a doctor, they made you stand in the yard?
但他们没让你看医生，反而让你罚站?
Dàn tāmen méi ràng nǐ kàn yīshēng, fǎn’ér ràng nǐ fá zhàn?
DAO: Yes.
JULIE: Thank you. No further … sorry. I’m not finished. (beat) Mr Li, while you were imprisoned, did you endure other forms of physical abuse?
THE TRANSLATOR: While you were imprisoned, did you endure other forms of physical abuse?
你坐牢的时候有没有受到其它形式的身体虐待？
Nǐ zuòláo de shíhòu yǒu méiyǒu shòudào qítā xíngshì de shēntǐ nüèdài?
A long beat.
JULIE: Ask him again.
THE TRANSLATOR: While you were imprisoned, did you endure other forms of physical abuse?
你坐牢的时候有没有受到其它形式的身体虐待？
Nǐ zuòláo de shíhòu yǒu méiyǒu shòudào qítā xíngshì de shēntǐ nüèdài?
DAO: Yes.
JULIE: Beatings?
THE TRANSLATOR: (staggered) Beatings?
挨打吗？
Āidǎ ma?
DAO: Yes.
JULIE: Forced feeding?
THE TRANSLATOR: (staggered) Forced feeding?
强迫进食？
Qiǎngpò jìnshí?
DAO: Yes.
JULIE: Electric shocks?
THE TRANSLATOR: (shorter stagger) Electric shocks?
电击？
Diànjí?
DAO: Yes.
JULIE: Starvation?
THE TRANSLATOR: (shorter stagger) Starvation?
挨饿？
Āi è?
DAO: Yes.
JULIE: Sleep deprivation?
THE TRANSLATOR: (shorter stagger) Sleep deprivation?
剥夺睡眠？
Bōduó shuìmián?
DAO: Yes.
JULIE: Solitary confinement?
THE TRANSLATOR: (synchronously) Solitary confinement?
单独监禁？
Dāndú jiānjìn?
DAO: Yes.
JULIE: Sexual assault?
THE TRANSLATOR: (synchronously) Sexual assault?
性侵犯？
Xìngqīnfàn?
DAO: I was not raped.
我没被强奸。
wǒ méi bèi qiángjiān.
THE TRANSLATOR: (staggered) I was not raped.
DAO: I was never raped.
我从没被强奸。
wǒ cóng méi bèi qiángjiān.
THE TRANSLATOR: (staggered) I was never raped.
JULIE: But you were assaulted?
THE TRANSLATOR: But you were assaulted?
但你被侵犯过？
Dàn nǐ bèi qīnfànguò?
DAO: There was an incident where, where four guards, they stripped me of my clothes.
有一回，有四个看守，他们撕破了我的衣服。
Yǒuyìhuí, you sìgè kānshǒu, tāmen sīpòle wǒ de yīfú.
THE TRANSLATOR: (staggered) There was an incident where, where four guards, they stripped me of my clothes.
DAO: The guards … they played with my genitals … and …
看守们 … 玩弄了我的生殖器 … 还有 …
Kānshǒumen … wánnòng le wǒ de shēngzhíqì … háiyǒu …
THE TRANSLATOR: (staggered) The guards … they played with my genitals … and …
DAO: They pulled at my pubic hairs, and …
他们扯了我的阴毛。还有 … Tāmen chěle wǒ de yīnmáo. And …
THE TRANSLATOR: (staggered) They pulled at my pubic hairs.
DAO: And then, one of the guards, he took my toilet brush, and … and he …
然后其中的一个看守，他拿了我的马桶刷，来 …
他来 … Ránhòu qízhōng de yígè kānshǒu, tā nále wǒ de mǎtoňgshuā, lái … tā lái …
THE TRANSLATOR: And then, one of the guards, he took my toilet brush, and … and he …
DAO: This isn’t right. I can’t continue—this isn’t right.
这不对。我不能再说下去了 … 这不对。
Zhè búdui. wǒ búnéng zài shuōxiàqùle … Zhè búdui.
THE TRANSLATOR: He’s saying he can’t continue, this isn’t right.
JULIE: No further ques—can we take a brief recess?
DAO: This isn’t right.
这不对。
Zhè búdui.
JULIE: Can we have a brief recess?
THE TRANSLATOR: (to the audience) This isn’t right.
DAO: This isn’t right.
这不对。
Zhè búdui.
JULIE: Mr Li, I’m sorry. We’re finished. We’re finished.
李先生，对不起。
Lǐ xiānshēng, duìbùqǐ.
END OF ACT 2
ACT 3
Nicholas Bell (l) with Fiona Choi (r).
THE TRANSLATOR: 三个和尚没水喝
(Sān gè héshàng méi shuǐ hē.)
Three monks have no water to drink.
The image it’s supposed to paint
Three monks
Or, three holy men, I don’t assume to—
Three holy men are carrying a bucket of water
Together
Up the side of a mountain
But because they’re all trying to carry it,
To equally bear the weight of it
They spill it
All of it
And so … they have no water to drink
The English equivalent, I suppose, is something like
‘Too many cooks spoil the …’
; Right
But
You can see it’s not really the same thing
It’s not the same thing at all
JULIE: (to Richard) We’ll need to file a notice of Appeal.
RICHARD: Jules.
JULIE: I think it’s worth getting some heavy-hitters, some folks who are big in the federal circuit, ’cause you know ONYS will be doing the same.
RICHARD: Jules, Jules—will you just stop? We’re not going to Appeals.
JULIE: What?
RICHARD: He’s on a flight back to China. Jules, it’s over. We lost. You understand? We lost.
Beat.
JULIE: Then we’ll get someone else.
RICHARD: Jesus, Jules.
JULIE: What, you think there aren’t more people in China affected by this, people won’t wanna speak out? Because everyone in China is affected by this, Rich. Every single Chinese citizen. You know the kinda shit they’re doing now? AI censors, banning Wikipedia, a fucking social credit system? It’s getting worse not better, okay, we can’t just stop fighting this just because one Dallas jury—
RICHARD: Jesus, Jules, are you even listening to yourself? You couldn’t get anyone, remember? Most people in China, they couldn’t give two shits about any of this! Dao was your guy, okay? And you fucked it up!
JULIE: My sister fucked it up!
RICHARD: Eva didn’t hound our client until he broke down on the stand, Eva sure as hell didn’t turn down a twenty-million dollar settlement! (beat) Jane told me.
JULIE: You went to Bollman behind / my back?
RICHARD: For God’s—it’s not behind your back, I’m your co-counsel, and you went behind my back when you opted not to disclose the fact that defense had offered us a revised figure at the eleventh hour, the figure we were purportedly aiming for, the figure we should have fucking accepted!
JULIE: How many times do I have to tell you it’s not about the fucking money!
RICHARD: Then what the hell is it about, Jules? Tell me what it’s about!
JULIE: It’s about letting them know someone’s watching! It’s about letting them know they can’t just get away with it! It’s about showing them that the internet isn’t just some, some autonomous entity—
THE TRANSLATOR: (to the audience) I don’t claim to interpret.
JULIE:—it’s not just this nebulous amoral thing, hovering around in the ether—
THE TRANSLATOR: (to the audience) Is that helpful?
JULIE:—the internet is people! It’s people building things! And those people are causing other people immense fucking suffering!
THE TRANSLATOR: (to the audience) Am I helping you?
RICHARD: Who are we showing, Jules? The jury? The Chinese? Who? ONYS? You think this’ll make ’em think twice about, what, their, their corporate governance? You know what might have accomplished that, Jules? Making ’em pay twenty million dollars for their sins! That might’ve accomplished something! (beat) You know the worst part of all this, Jules? I don’t think you have the faintest idea what you’re doing it for. Me, at least I’m honest about why I’m in this game, I’m in it for the money. But you? I don’t think you give a damn about China, or the CCP, or ONYS. I don’t think you could give two shits about the Golden Shield. And I think Evie, I think she’s way off the mark on this one, I don’t think this is some kind of warped revenge plot, no, deep down, Julie, this is just about wanting to win. And you’ll step on anyone to get there.
JULIE: She told you about our—she barely knows you.
RICHARD: Actually, she knows me quite well. (beat) Eva’s known me quite well for … for about four years.
A long beat.
EVA: (on the phone) Heyyy, so you wouldn’t happen to be in D.C. and down for a fuck, would you?
AMANDA: Uh, ha, no, I’m in Sydney, where it is a wildly inappropriate time for a booty call.
EVA: Right. Sorry.
AMANDA: But thank you for the charming offer.
EVA: Any time.
AMANDA: Are you okay?
EVA: Not really, no.
AMANDA: I’m sorry. Is it the trial?
EVA: I’m not at the trial. And I’m drunk.
AMANDA: Okay. Did something happen?
RICHARD: Oh, and while you’re being morally affronted about—about a business arrangement between two consenting / adults—
JULIE: That’s my fucking sister, Rich.
RICHARD:—would you ask yourself if it’s any more exploitative than what you just did to Li up there on that stand? (beat) The thing is, what I’ll do for money, what Eva will do for money: that has its limits. What you’ll do in the name of righteousness … I just don’t know anymore, Julie. I honestly don’t.
EVA: So I just had this, like, epiphany, and I was, like, oh my god, I have to tell Amanda, she’ll totally love this, so, like, I had this epiphany that the reason why I’m good at translating—the reason I’m supposed to be good at translating, anyway—is the same reason I’m good at fucking people for money. Because in both cases, right, people are, like, paying me, essentially, to not have my own thoughts. I’m just this like this empty fucking … conduit. For other people’s … bullshit. And actually the world would be much better off if I was just like—like if I was just a mouth and a cunt.
AMANDA: No it wouldn’t.
EVA: Really? Cuz I’d be pretty, like, portable. Long-distance wouldn’t be a problem. You could put me in your hand luggage.
AMANDA: Look, as you know, I’m a big fan of both your mouth and your cunt. But I am also a big fan of you as a thinking human being. (beat) I don’t want you to be a conduit, Evie.
THE TRANSLATOR: Oh.
AMANDA: I mean in an ideal world, you’d just be you, and I’d be me, and we’d be … us … and conduits can get fucked.
THE TRANSLATOR: Oh.
AMANDA: And I am fully aware of the irony of saying that down a phone line. (beat) Evie? You still there?
EVA: (crying) That’s a really fucking nice thing to say.
AMANDA: Occupational hazard, I’m afraid. Activist. Nice by trade.
LARRY: Cheers.
MARSHALL: Mazel tov.
EVA: So … How ‘bout it?
AMANDA: How about … what? (beat, laughing) Phone sex?
EVA: Or, I dunno. Something more … involved.
AMANDA: You wanna incorporate toys?
EVA: No, like. Fuck, I’m bad at this.
Beat.
AMANDA: Oh. I mean, we live on different … continents.
EVA: Yeah, but, come on. It’s the digital age.
AMANDA: I just hadn’t even considered that. With you. Because of, like, what you do.
EVA: Oh.
AMANDA: Yeah.
EVA: Is it a problem for you?
AMANDA: I mean, in like a hypothetical realm, no, but in a, um, in a personal realm, I think, yeah, it might be a problem.
LARRY: Poor bastard.
MARSHALL: Can’t get into that line of thinking. Onward and upwards.
LARRY: Hey, no, I’m appreciative of the outcome here, just, you know, he’s uh, he’s a poor bastard.
MARSHALL: We’re all poor bastards. It’s a question of scale.
EVA: Forget it.
AMANDA: No, hey—
EVA: I’m gonna hang up now.
AMANDA: Don’t.
EVA: It’s not, uh—I—
AMANDA: Can we just—fuck, let’s just back up, okay? Let’s talk about it.
EVA:… like, as in?
AMANDA: As in, you say why you do it. I’ll say why I have a problem with it. And then, like, we’ll see. (beat) How about I go first? / I’m afraid your job means I can only think of a relationship as a series of transactions.
THE TRANSLATOR: I’m afraid your job means you can only think of a relationship as a series of transactions.
Beat.
EVA: Oh. (beat) I’m doing it because it’s how I make money. Which is necessary. Money is necessary. (beat) / I’m doing it because it’s easier than failing at somethin
g else.
THE TRANSLATOR: I’m doing it because it’s easier than failing at something else.
AMANDA: Okay. (beat) See, that wasn’t so hard.
MARSHALL: Four hundred percent.
LARRY: Huh?
EVA: That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
MARSHALL: We made the internet four hundred percent faster for 1.4 billion people. Where’s the conversation about that? Huh? Where’s our fucking accolades for that?
LARRY: You don’t have to / convince—
MARSHALL: If you went up to any guy on the street, any guy, out in Guangzhou or fucking Shanghai, you said to them, hey, mister, we can either make your wifi four times faster or reduce online censorship, you know which one they’d pick? Maybe some knuckles get bruised, maybe a terrorist loses his legs, but four times faster, for you and your eight fucking kids and their eight fucking kids, you know which one they’d pick?
LARRY: Marsh. We won.
MARSHALL: I’m just saying. Efficiency is good. Efficiency is a public fucking good. I don’t appreciate being treated like a fucking villain for improving the lives of a billion fucking people, just because people are too fucking stupid to understand what it is we do. Censorship will always exist in China. All we did is we made it four times faster. (beat) You think I’m a villain, Larry?
LARRY: Nah, man.
MARSHALL: You can tell me if you do. I don’t give a shit. Maybe I am a fucking villain. I don’t know.
Beat.
LARRY: Marsh, look. Would we do it the same way, doing it over? Maybe, maybe not. But a decade on, we’re a net good in China, you know? I mean, Google, Yahoo, they couldn’t cut it in China, but we could. And we’re a net good. And that’s something to proud of, you know? That’s a reason to celebrate.
MARSHALL: You’ve changed your fucking tune.
LARRY: Have I?
MARSHALL: I mean time was, you were reining me in, voicing your moral fucking scruples.
LARRY: Yeah, well. That was 2006. I mean, you were right, Marsh. I couldn’t see at the time but … this is the way it’s heading.
MARSHALL: What way is that?
LARRY: Decentralization. I mean, that’s the future, right? Blockchain, universal wifi, it’s all headed that way. And it’s not gonna mean decentralization of power. Power’s always gonna be centralized. But it won’t be the Chinese government. It won’t be any government. It’s gonna be us. We’ll have the power, Marsh. So we just gotta use it for good. And for the most part, Marsh, I think we really do. For the most part, I think … I think, all things considered, within reason … I think we’re doing a good job.
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