They're not stories about pious people whose actions are always exemplary and whose lives should be models for our own, despite what Sunday School curricula will often turn them into.

不是讲那些应该拿来做榜样的,圣人的典范故事,只有主日学校会把他们讲成那样。

耶鲁公开课 - 旧约导论课程节选

We assume that unless we're dealing with Scheherazade, it has to have an end, but at the same time we might well ask ourselves, why does it have a middle? What is the function of the middle with respect to a beginning and an end?

而且我们认定一定会有结尾，除非讲故事的是那个，《天方夜谭》中的苏丹新娘，但是我们要问自己了，为什么故事一定要有经过呢？,故事的经过对于开头结尾来说起到什么作用呢？

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

Because whenever I tell this story now, people start saying, " "Oh, well the evil machines are busy using your body as a battery" or whatever it was in the movie, right?

因为现在我一讲这个故事，人们就会说，“邪恶的机器忙着把你的身体当电池“,不管电影是怎样刻画的了？

耶鲁公开课 - 死亡课程节选

I'm going to tell about myself, but you know, you'll find the argument sort of, perhaps more persuasive if, as I tell the story, you imagine the story being told about you.

在故事中讲的是我自己,但你们会发现,如果你们相信故事说的是你们自己,这个论证就会更有说服力

耶鲁公开课 - 死亡课程节选