As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.

　　既然我们大部分员工都是无辜的，罪恶感当然不是让我们缴回年终奖的动机。我们勤奋工作了12个月，现在理应按照合同被支付薪酬。这就好像一个水管工修好了水管以后，一个粗心的电匠却把房子烧毁了，水管工不应该被责怪一样，我们这些员工也是无辜的。

　　Many of the employees have, in the past six months, turned down job offers from more stable employers, based on A.I.G.’s assurances that the contracts would be honored. They are now angry about having been misled by A.I.G.’s promises and are not inclined to return the money as a favor to you.

　　过去六个月当中，许多部门内的同仁，因为这份年终奖的缘故，拒绝了许多比 AIG 更稳定的工作机会。 AIG高层一直不断保证，这笔年终奖会如期支付。同仁们现在因为被骗，而感到非常愤怒，不愿意为了帮你的忙就把奖金缴回公司。

　　The only real motivation that anyone at A.I.G.-F.P. now has is fear. Mr. Cuomo has threatened to “name and shame,” and his counterpart in Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, has made similar threats — even though attorneys general are supposed to stand for due process, to conduct trials in courts and not the press.

　　现在唯一让他们缴回奖金的动机其实只有恐惧。检察官已经放话，威胁要公布所有得到奖金的“可耻的人的姓名”。可是，检察官的正确做法，理应是在法庭上处理案件，而不是诉诸媒体。

　　So what am I to do? There’s no easy answer. I know that because of hard work I have benefited more than most during the economic boom and have saved enough that my family is unlikely to suffer devastating losses during the current bust. Some might argue that members of my profession have been overpaid, and I wouldn’t disagree.