the woman whom the former prime minister "flirts" with.
the wife of italy's former prime minister silvio berlusconi forced him to make a public apology on wednesday for sexist quips that outraged her very much.
berlusconi told some woman at a tv awards dinner last week that "if i wasn't already married i would marry you right away", and "with you i'd go anywhere", she said in an open letter in a leading newspaper. .
veronica, berlusconi's second wife and mother of three of his children, said the comments belittled her and that she only decided to make her marital spat public after failing to win an apology in private.
"these are affirmations that i see as damaging to my dignity, affirmations that ... cannot be reduced to jokes," wrote veronica, a former actress.
"to my husband and to the public man i therefore ask for a public apology, having not received one privately."
the soap-opera enthralled the country, with italians sounding off on whether they agreed with veronica -- and whether they thought berlusconi, 70, would submit to his wife, 20 years his junior. late in the day, italy's richest man did just that.
"here i am, saying i'm sorry. i was recalcitrant in private, because i am playful but proud too. challenged in public, the temptation to give in to you is strong. i can't resist," said berlusconi.
"so, i beg you, forgive me and accept this public display of a private pride that gives in to your rage as an act of love -- just one of many."
(afp)
意大利前总理西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼的妻子于本周三要求丈夫就“调情”一事向她表示公开道歉，并称这件事情深深伤害了她。
前总理夫人在某主流报纸上发表的一封公开信中说，贝卢斯科尼在上周的一个电视颁奖晚宴中对某个女人说出“如果我还没结婚，我会立刻娶你”以及“我愿与你到天涯海角”等调情的话语。
贝卢斯科尼的第二任妻子、与他生了三个孩子的维罗尼卡在信中说，贝卢斯科尼的这些言论是对她的一种蔑视，她曾要求丈夫私下向她道歉，但一直未得到回应，所以才决定将这件事情公开。
曾当过演员的维罗尼卡在信中说：“这些言论伤害了我的自尊，我无法将其简单的看成是笑话。”
“既然他不原意私下向我道歉，所以我郑重要求我的丈夫、这个公众人物公开向我道歉。”
这出“肥皂剧”一时间传遍意大利全国，人们众说纷纭，有的评论维罗尼卡的做法，有人则猜测70岁的贝卢斯科尼是否会向比他小20岁的妻子妥协。昨天晚些时候，这位意大利最富有的男人终于开口。
他说：“（亲爱的维罗尼卡），我向你道歉，对不起。我之所以没有私下向你道歉，是因为我没把这当回事，而且还很自负。这件事公开后，向你道歉的冲动实在是很强烈。我简直无法抗拒。”
“所以，亲爱的，我求求你，原谅我，请你接受我的公开道歉，请你将我的妥协视为我对你的一种爱吧！”
（英语点津姗姗编辑）
vocabulary:
spat:a brief quarrell（争吵）
sound off:to express one's views vigorously（高声谈论；抒发见解）