Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".

每一場魔術(shù)表演都有三個步驟。第一個步驟是“以虛代實”：魔術(shù)師秀出一個真實的東西，一副牌、一只鳥或一個人，讓你看這樣?xùn)|西，叫你檢視它，看它的確是真的，平常的不得了。但是，其中一定有假。第二個步驟是“偷天換日”，魔術(shù)師利用這個普通的東西，做出令人嘆為觀止的表演，現(xiàn)在你很想找出秘訣，但是絕對找不到。因為你根本沒有真正在看，你并不是真的想知道，你想要被騙。但是你還不會鼓掌，因為把東西變不見還不夠，你必須把它變回來。所以魔術(shù)都有第三個步驟，最難的部分，我們稱之為“化腐朽為神奇”。

If anybody really believed the things I did on stage, they wouldn't clap, they'd scream.

如果大家把我的表演當真，就不會鼓掌，只會尖叫。

You never understood... why we did this. The audience knows the truth. The world is simple, miserable, solid all the way through. But if you can fool them, even for a second... then you can make them wonder. And you get to see something very special. ... You really don't know. ... It was the look on their faces.

你不懂我們?yōu)槭裁匆兡g(shù)？觀眾知道真相?，F(xiàn)實既殘酷又悲慘。沒有奇跡，沒有魔法。但是如果你能騙倒他們，即使只有一秒鐘，就能讓他們驚嘆，然后你就能… 然后你就能看到非常特別的事。你真的不知道嗎？那就是觀眾臉上的表情。

The secret impresses no one. The trick you use it for is everything.

魔術(shù)的秘密沒啥了不起，變魔術(shù)的技巧才重要。

The sacrifice... that's the price of a good trick.

自我犧牲才是精彩魔術(shù)的代價。

You're familiar with the phrase "Man's reach exceeds his grasp"? It's a lie. Man's grasp exceeds his nerve. The only limits on scientific progress are those imposed by society. The first time I changed the world, I was hailed as a visionary. The second time I was asked politely to retire. The world only tolerates one change at a time. And so here I am. Enjoying my "retirement". Nothing is impossible, Mr. Angier, what you want is simply expensive.

你聽過這句俗話嗎？ “心有余而力不足”。那不是真話。人類只是膽量不夠。社會一次只能接受一種改變。我第一次試著改變世界，被稱為先知；第二次他們卻請我退休。所以我在這里享受退休時光。沒有不可能的事，只是很貴不貴的問題。