Audiobook Dictation: “If I can obtain it by…”

If I can obtain it by any merit I possess, I utilize that merit, providing always, that I can secure my object in the time, otherwise--"

如果我能凭借自己的某种长处得到它，我就利用那长处，前提始终是能及时达成目的，否则——”

He shrugged his shoulders.

他耸了耸肩。

"I see," she said, nodding her head quickly.

“我明白了，”她说着，飞快地点了点头。

"I suppose that is how blackmailers feel."

“我想敲诈勒索的人大概就是这种感觉吧。”

"That is a word I never use, nor do I like to hear it employed," he said.

“那个词我从来不用，也不喜欢听别人用，”他说。

"Blackmail suggests to me a vulgar attempt to obtain money."

“敲诈在我看来，意味着一种为了弄钱的粗鄙企图。”

"Which is generally very badly wanted by the people who use it," said the girl, with a little smile, "and, according to your argument, they are also justified."

“而那些干这种事的人通常都非常缺钱，”姑娘微微一笑说，“照您的说法，他们也是情有可原的。”

"It is a matter of plane," he said airily.

“这是层次的问题，”他轻描淡写地说。

"Viewed from my standpoint, they are sordid criminals--the sort of person that T. X. meets, I presume, in the course of his daily work.

“在我看来，他们是卑劣的罪犯——我想，就是T. X.在日常工作中会碰到的那种人。

T. X.," he went on somewhat oracularly, "is a man for whom I have a great deal of respect.

T. X.，”他颇有些故作高深地接着说，“是个我非常尊敬的人。