
陈豪昨天晚上陪一位总裁去出席晚宴,可是他还有个问题不太清楚。为了请教美籍华人Mary,他约她今晚一起去美国餐馆吃晚饭。

M:嗨,陈豪,how*s last night*s dinner? Everything OK?(昨天的晚餐怎么样啦?一切都顺利吧?)
C:你告诉过我怎么喝汤,各种刀叉的用法。可是,It may sound silly(你可能会觉得有点可笑),昨晚我发现我不太清楚该怎么吃面包。美国人好象跟我们的吃法不一样。
M:别着急。你看服务员给我们送面包来了。The first thing is that your bread goes on your bread and butter plate(第一件事是面包放在面包和黄油的盘子上).
C:面包放在面包和黄油的盘上。Which one is my bread and butter plate?(那一只是我放面包和黄油的盘子呢?)
M:It*s the one on your left above the forks(是你左手边叉子放在上面的那只).
C:噢,就是这个。
M:Just remember: Bread and butter on the left; water or coffee on the right and meat goes in the middle.(面包和黄油在左边,水和咖啡在右边,中间是用餐的)你就记住德国的名牌汽车BMW就行了。
C:What has BMW to do with eating bread?(BMW和怎么吃面包有什么联系呢?)
M:B代表bread, 在左边, M代表meat, 在中间,W代表water,在右边。
C:BMW!
C:Mary,你还没有告诉我究竟该怎么吃面包呐。我们中国人都是一口一口咬的,可是美国人好象是用手掰的。
M:Yes, I noticed that too.(我也注意到了)我给你示范一下。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.(掰下一小块面包,喜欢的话可以搽上一点黄油,然后就可以吃了,完了可以继续撕下另一块面包,一直重复直到你吃饱了或已经吃完了。)
C:That*s the way I saw Americans eat their bread last night.(我昨天晚上就是看到那些美国人这样吃的)现在你证实了,我以后就没问题了。
M:So everything is clear? (一切都了解了吧?)没问题了吧?
C:等等,我还有一个问题。昨晚的面包很松,面包渣很多。我是不是应该把面包盘放到我面前。这样面包渣就不会撒在桌上。
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.(不能这样喔,面包盘要一直在那里,就在面包盘上面掰面包和涂黄油,让面包渣自然洒落就可以了)
C:噢,面包盘是不能搬动的,一直放在左上方。然后掰面包,涂黄油,面包渣就都在面包盘上面了。
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.
(对的,现在我总结一下吧:你的左手边是面包,在面包和黄油的盘上,吃面包,不要咬,要用手撕成一小块,喜欢的话可以涂黄油,一直这样,知道你饱了或吃完为止)。
