在美国说中文(1)

[00:00.02]Speaking Chinese in America#
在美国说中文#

[00:03.39]Once, at a dinner on the Monterey Peninsula, California, my mother whispered to me confidentially:#
有一次，在加州蒙特雷半岛上用餐时，我母亲私下悄悄地对我说：#

[00:12.08]Sau-sau, brother’s wife, pretends too hard to be a polite recipient! Why bother with such nominal courtesy?#
嫂嫂想做个彬彬有礼的客人，但是装得太厉害了！何必费劲讲究形式上的客套呢？#

[00:21.40]In the end, she always takes everything.#
到最后她还是什么都要。#

[00:25.20]My mother acted like a wai-xiao, an emigrant, no longer patient with old taboos and courtesies.#
我母亲行事像个“外侨”，即一个移民国外的侨民，因为她已经不耐烦老一套的禁忌和礼数了。#

[00:34.30]To prove her point, she reached across the table to offer my elderly aunt from Beijing the last scallop from the garlic seafood dish,#
为了证明她刚才的观点，她手伸过桌子，把蒜香海鲜拼盘里的最后一个扇贝，#

[00:44.40]along with the flank steak and the cucumber salad.#
连同牛腩排及黄瓜沙拉一起，递给我从北京来的年长舅妈。#

[00:48.45]Sau-sau frowned. “Bu-yao, Zhen-bu-yao!” she cried, patting her substantial stomach.#
嫂嫂皱起了眉头，“不要，真不要！”她一边大声说一边拍着自己已经吃得很饱的肚子。#

[00:56.64]I don’t want it, really I don’t.#
我不要了，真的不要了。#

[00:59.90]”Take it! Take it!” my mother scolded in Chinese, as predictably as the lunar cycles.#
“拿去吧！拿去吧！”我母亲用中文责备道。预料到她就会这样，就像月亮盈亏周期似的。#

[01:07.70]”Full, I’m already full,” Sau-sau muttered weakly, eying the scallop.#
“饱了，我已经饱了，”嫂嫂低声嘀咕着，眼睛却瞟着扇贝。#

[01:14.70]”A-I!” exclaimed my mother. Nobody wants it. It will only rot!#
“哎！”我母亲感叹着说，没人愿意吃，只能让它坏掉了！#

[01:21.52]Sau-sau sighed,#
嫂嫂叹了口气，#

[01:24.09]acting as if she were doing my mother a favor by taking the scrap off the tray and sparing us the trouble of wrapping the leftovers in foil.#
从碟子上拿去了那个扇贝，就好像是帮了我母亲一个大忙，并省去了我们用箔纸将剩菜打包的麻烦似的。#

[01:34.11]My mother turned to her brother, an experienced Chinese magistrate, visiting us for the first time.#
我母亲转头看着她兄长——一位经验丰富的中国地方法官，这是他初次来看我们。#

[01:42.63]In America, a Chinese person could starve to death.#
在美国，一个中国人可能会饿死。#

[01:48.13]If you don’t breach the old rules of etiquette and say you want it, they won’t ask you again.#
要是你不打破老一套的礼数说你要吃，他们就不会再问你了。#

[01:54.15]My uncle nodded and said he understood fully: Americans take things quickly because they have no time to be polite.#
我舅舅点点头，说他完全理解：美国人待人接物快速迅捷，因为他们没有时间客气来客气去。