It's a dead duck. Leave it alone.

这是一只死鸭子。不要管它。

It's that nobody wants to stick their necks out for a dead duck.

这是因为没人想为一个政途结束的人出头。

I did as she suggested, entering the College of Education at UMO and emerging four years later with a teacher's certificate … sort of like a golden retriever emerging from a pond with a dead duck in its jaws. It was dead, all right.

我照她的建议做了，进了缅因州立大学的教育学院，四年之后，带着一张教师执照浮出水面… … 好比一只金毛猎犬叼着一只死鸭子浮出水面。是死鸭子，没错。