陳豪昨天晚上陪一位總裁去出席晚宴,可是他還個問題不太清楚。為了請教美籍華人Mary,他約她今晚一起去美國餐館吃晚飯。
(Restaurant ambience)
M:嗨,陳豪,how's last night's dinner? Everything OK?
C:你告訴過我怎么喝湯,各種刀叉的用法。可是,It may sound silly,昨晚我發(fā)現(xiàn)我不太清楚該怎么吃面包。美國人好象跟我們的吃法不一樣。
M:別著急。你看服務員給我們送面包來了。The first thing is that your bread goes on your bread and butter plate.
C:面包放在面包和黃油的盤上。Which one is my bread and butter plate?
M:It's the one on your left above the forks。
C:噢,就是這個。
M:Just remember: Bread and butter on the left; water or coffee on the right and meat goes in the middle. 你就記住德國的名牌汽車BMW就行了。
C:What has BMW to do with eating bread?
M:B代表bread, 在左邊, M代表meat, 在中間,W代表water,在右邊。
C:BMW!
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C:Mary,你還沒有告訴我究竟該怎么吃面包吶。我們中國人都是一口一口咬的,可是美國人好象是用手掰的。
M:Yes, I noticed that too. 我給你示范一下。Tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it. Then tear off another piece and continue until you are satisfied or have eaten the whole thing。
C:That's the way I saw Americans eat their bread last night. 現(xiàn)在你證實了,我以后就沒問題了。
M:So everything is clear? 沒問題了吧?
C:等等,我還有一個問題。昨晚的面包很松,面包渣很多。我是不是應該把面包盤放到我面前。這樣面包渣就不會撒在桌上。
M:No, the bread plate remains in its place. Just break the bread and butter it over the plate and let the crumbs fall where they may.
C:噢,面包盤是不能搬動的,一直放在左上方。然后掰面包,圖黃油都在盤上面。So the bread crumbs would fall into the bread plate。
M:That's right. Now, let me sum up the main points: bread goes on your bread and butter plate which is on your left above the forks; to eat bread, don't bite, but tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it and continue until you are satisfied or have eaten the whole thing.