Ed: I was sheriff of this county when I was twenty-five years old. Hard to believe. Grandfather was a lawman. Father too. Me and him was sheriffs at the same time, him up in Plano and me out here. I think he was pretty proud of that. I know I was. Some of the old-time sheriffs never even wore a gun. A lot of folks find that hard to believe. Jim Scarborough never carried one. That the younger Jim. Gaston Boykins wouldn't wear one up in Commanche County. Now I always liked to hear about the old-timers. Never missed a chance to do so. You can't help but compare yourself against the old-timers. Can't help but wonder how they would've operated these times. There is this boy I sent to the electric chair in Huntsville here a while back. My arrest and my testimony. He killed a fourteen-year-old girl. Papers said it was a crime of passion but he told me there wasn't any passion to it. Told me that he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said if they turned him out he'd do it again. Said he knew he was going to hell. Be there in about fifteen minutes. I don't know what to make of that. I surely don't. The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He just has to say, "Okay. I'll be part of this world."
妙语佳句，活学活用
1. a while back
也作a while ago，指“过去，曾经”，例如：I ran into Barbara a while back but didn't get her new address. 我曾偶遇过芭芭拉，但没有她的新地址。
2. turn out
这里的 turn out 是“赶出，驱逐”的意思，那个囚犯的意思是说“如果司法人员把他从监狱里放出去的话”。我们来看个例子：The landlord turned out his tenant. 房东把房客赶了出去。
3. make of
这里的make of 是“了解”的意思，通常是make (something) of (something)，即to understand (something) by or from (something)，例如：What do you make of all this? 你从这些情况中了解到了什么？
4. take one's measure
也作take the measure of someone，这个片语的意思是“size someone up, evaluate someone or something 评价，评判”，例如：At their first meeting, heads of the company generally try to take each other's measure. 第一次见面，公司的领导们通常会彼此评价。
