step by step 第四册 lesson 140

Lesson 140  Kramer vs. Kramer (Ⅱ)

       (In the courtroom)
   Bailiff: Ohyeah, ohyeah! Persons having business with the Supreme 1
Court State of New York, Special Term Part Ⅴ, draw nigh and you shall
be heard. This court is now in session. Judge Atkins presiding. All
rise.
   Judge: Is the attorney for the petitioner 2 ready?
   Attorney 1: I am, Your Honor. As my first witness, I'd like to call
Joanna Kramer.
   Bailiff: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth you've got?
   Joanna: I do.
   Attorney 1: Now then, Mrs Kramer, would you tell the court how long
you were married?
   Joanna: Eight years.
   Attorney 1: And would you describe those years as happy?
   Joanna: The first two, yes. But after that, it became increasingly
difficult.
   Attorney 1: Mrs Kramer, did you hold a job before you were married?
   Joanna: Yes, I did. When I first got out of Smith, I worked in the
Art Department of Mademoiselle magazine for several years.
   Attorney 1: Did you continue to work after you were married?
   Joanna: No, I did not.
   Attorney 1: Did you wish to?
   Joanna: Yes. But every time I talked to Ted 3, to my ex-husband, about
it, he wouldn't listen. He refused to discuss it in any serious way. I
remember once he said that I probably couldn't get a job that would
pay enough to hire a baby-sitter for Billy.
   Attorney 1: Tell me are you employed at the present time?
   Joanna: Yes, I am a sportswear designer for Zelco here in New York.
   Attorney 1: And what is your present salary?
   Joanna: I make 31,000 dollars a year.
   Attorney 1: Mrs Kramer, do you love your child?
   Joanna: Yes, I do. Very much.
   Attorney 1: And yet you chose to leave him.
   Joanna: Yes. Oh, look. During the last five years of our marriage, I
was becoming more and more unhappy, more and more troubled. And I
really needed somebody to help me. But when I turned to Ted he just
wasn't there for me. So we became more and more isolated 4 from one
another, more and more separate. He was very involved in his career.
And because of his attitude towards my fears and his inability to deal
with my feelings, I had come to have almost no self-esteem. I was
scared and I was very unhappy. And in my mind I had no other choice but
to leave. At the time I left, I felt that there was something terribly
wrong with me and that my son would be better off without me. And it
was only after I got to California that I realized, after getting into
therapy, that I wasn't such a terrible person. And just because I
needed some kind of creative role and emotional outlet 5 other than my
child, that didn't make me unfit to be a mother.
   Attorney 1: Your Honor, I would like to submit in evidence a report
by Mrs Kramer's, therapist Dr. Eleanor Freeman.
   Attorney 2: Objection, you honor. The report is irrelevant 6 and
immaterial and not binding 7 on the respondent.
   Judge: Overruled.
   Attorney 1: Mrs Kramer, can you tell the court why you are asking
for custody 8?
   Joanna: Because he's my child and because I love him. I know I left
my son. I know that that's a terrible  thing to do. Believe me I have
to live with that every day of my life. But in order to leave him, I
had to believe that it was the only thing I could do, and that it was
the best thing for him. I was incapable 9 of functioning in that home,
and I didn't know what the alternative was going to be. So I thought it
was not best that I take him with me. However I have since gotten some
help and I have worked very, very hard to become a whole human being.
And I don't think I should be  punished for that. And I don't think my
little boy should be punished. Billy's only seven years old. He needs
me. I am not saying that he doesn't need his father. But I really
believe he needs me more. I was his Mommy for five and a half years and
Ted took over the role for 18 months. But I don't know how anybody can
possibly believe that I have less of a stake in mothering that little
boy than Mr Kramer does. I'm his mother. I'm his mother.
   Attorney 1: Thank you, Mrs Kramer. I have no further questions.