知府大人 小人一时糊涂
“Prefect. I was momentarily confused”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
田槐安 你等 有何要讲
“Tian Huai'an, what do you have to say?”
知府大人 小人 一时糊涂
“Prefect. I was momentarily confused”
错用他人
“and employed the wrong person.”
“Please spare me, I did not plan this wicked deed maliciously—my judgment just slipped for a second.”
Addressing oneself as 'xiaoren' (lowly one) and framing felonies as temporary foolishness ('yishi hutu') was a standard legal strategy in ancient China to gain bureaucratic leniency.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
momentarily confused; suffering a temporary lapse of judgment
A classic apology idiom used to diminish personal liability by claiming the mistake was uncharacteristic and unthinking.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Prefect Huo, do you take me as a suspect now?”
“What did the Prefect say? The people from the Capital all”
“Your Excellency, please wait!”
“Your Excellency, I, Chen Junshan, can also testify.”
“His Excellency will take into account that this is your first offense and a moment of foolishness,”
“Now that you've met the prefect, why don't you speak your mind?”