吃面条的"吸尘器"
A Vacuum Cleaner for Noodles——张叶
Before I went abroad, I learned some western customs from books as preparation. One of them is quite impressive: When you eat dishes or soups with foreigners, you should not make any noises. Otherwise, it would be considered as impolite. This rule sounds simple, but is difficult to practice, especially for Chinese.
In fact, there is only one Chinese rule for eating noodles: with the help of chopsticks, one can hold the bowl and eat noodles and the soup. The amount of noodles is purely controlled by mouth. To eat noodles without making any noises involves at least two procedures: At first, you should use folk to roll noodles and bring them to your mouth and then chew without any noises. After complete this procedure, you can move on to use spoon to eat soup without using your mouth to suck it.
This western way of eating noodle soup deprives people of the pleasure of eating. It is by itself a difficult task to use folk to roll noodles. If you roll too less, noodles are too slippery to be rolled on the folk. If you roll too many, you will feel like that you are holding cotton candy and don't know how to eat. That is why after several attempts, I decided to stick on my Chinese principle: we should eat Chinese noodle soup as Chinese do. It may make some noises, but it is also necessary price to feel smooth and great.
Of course it is not necessary to have cultural conflicts. Therefore, every time when I eat noodles with foreigners, I like to sit with my back towards them. I feel like a spy. When noodles are ready, I will first observe my surroundings. After I am sure that there are no foreigners around me, I will eat as I like. It feels so great to enjoy the sound and noodles at the same time.
In fact, the ideal situation is: we should not criticize the western principle to eat soup in silence. They should not criticize our way of eating noodles with noises as well. In order to achieve this purpose, I have done cultural difference education to several foreign friends. The result is satisfying.
I have pointed out to them: the way of Chinese eating their meals has much to do with their usage of chopsticks. Meat and vegetable are always cut into small pieces which make them to easy to pick, which is similar to the working principle of tweezers. The rice is difficult to nip. That's why we use bowls, which makes it easy for chopsticks to put it into mouths, which is similar to the working principle of grabs. As to noodles which are difficult to grab or nip, Chinese have to use their mouths to suck, which is similar to the working principle of vacuum cleaners. Therefore, it is impossible for Chinese to eat noodles without making any noises.
After heard what I said, all foreigners had nothing to argue. For example, technical sense is more important than anything else. However, the most powerful sentence would be my summary. What I said is that there are 1.3 billionvacuum cleaners which work three times a day.
A Vacuum Cleaner for Noodles——张叶
出国以前从书上学了一些西方礼节以备用，其中印象比较深的一个是：和老外一起吃饭时喝汤不能喝出声音，否则就是不文明。这条规则听起来挺简单，但对中国人来说实践起来却不是那么容易，尤其是吃面条。
Before I went abroad, I learned some western customs from books as preparation. One of them is quite impressive: When you eat dishes or soups with foreigners, you should not make any noises. Otherwise, it would be considered as impolite. This rule sounds simple, but is difficult to practice, especially for Chinese.
本来中国方式吃面条就一个程序：在筷子的协助下，端起碗来连汤带面一起吸，面条的多少用嘴控制；而不出声音吃面条得两个工序：首先你得用叉子把面条卷起来送进嘴里，然后悄无声息地咀嚼吞咽；在完成了这一步骤之后，你才能用勺子喝汤，而且也不能吸着喝。
In fact, there is only one Chinese rule for eating noodles: with the help of chopsticks, one can hold the bowl and eat noodles and the soup. The amount of noodles is purely controlled by mouth. To eat noodles without making any noises involves at least two procedures: At first, you should use folk to roll noodles and bring them to your mouth and then chew without any noises. After complete this procedure, you can move on to use spoon to eat soup without using your mouth to suck it.
这种吃法不仅汤面的感觉一点都没有了，用叉子卷面条本身就是个很难掌握的动作。卷得少了，面条太滑叉子上卷不住；卷得多了，手里就像拿了个大棉花糖，没法下嘴。正是这个原因，在尝试了几次之后我决定坚持原则：中国汤面还得中国吃法，虽然有点声音，但那恐怕是爽的必要代价。
This western way of eating noodle soup deprives people of the pleasure of eating. It is by itself a difficult task to use folk to roll noodles. If you roll too less, noodles are too slippery to be rolled on the folk. If you roll too many, you will feel like that you are holding cotton candy and don't know how to eat. That is why after several attempts, I decided to stick on my Chinese principle: we should eat Chinese noodle soup as Chinese do. It may make some noises, but it is also necessary price to feel smooth and great.
当然也没有必要搞文化冲突，所以每次和老外一起住的时候我吃面条都背着他们，感觉有点像是在搞地下工作。面条煮好之后，我都先观察一下环境，在确认了老外不在的情况下抡开腮帮子大吃一通，可谓是"声面俱下"，痛快之极！
Of course it is not necessary to have cultural conflicts. Therefore, every time when I eat noodles with foreigners, I like to sit with my back towards them. I feel like a spy. When noodles are ready, I will first observe my surroundings. After I am sure that there are no foreigners around me, I will eat as I like. It feels so great to enjoy the sound and noodles at the same time.
其实，理想的状态是：我们不挑老外"这里喝汤静悄悄"的理，他们也不挑我们吃面条"此处有声胜无声"的理。为了达到这个目的，我对我的几个老外朋友进行了文化差异教育，效果不错。
In fact, the ideal situation is: we should not criticize the western principle to eat soup in silence. They should not criticize our way of eating noodles with noises as well. In order to achieve this purpose, I have done cultural difference education to several foreign friends. The result is satisfying.
我给他们指出：中国人吃饭方式的形成与筷子的使用有很大的关系：肉和菜切成丁、块，方便用筷子夹，体现了镊子的原理；米饭不好夹，所以用碗盛，方便用筷子往嘴里掘，体现了挖掘机的原理；至于又不好夹又没法掘的面条，中国人只好用嘴吸，体现了吸尘器的原理。所以，中国人吃面条没法不出声。
I have pointed out to them: the way of Chinese eating their meals has much to do with their usage of chopsticks. Meat and vegetable are always cut into small pieces which make them to easy to pick, which is similar to the working principle of tweezers. The rice is difficult to nip. That's why we use bowls, which makes it easy for chopsticks to put it into mouths, which is similar to the working principle of grabs. As to noodles which are difficult to grab or nip, Chinese have to use their mouths to suck, which is similar to the working principle of vacuum cleaners. Therefore, it is impossible for Chinese to eat noodles without making any noises.
听了我的说法，老外们哑口无言。对他们来说，技术上能说得通比什么都重要。不过，真正起作用的还是我最后总结的一句话，我说的是：在中国有十三亿一天三顿嗡嗡作响的"吸尘器"。
After heard what I said, all foreigners had nothing to argue. For example, technical sense is more important than anything else. However, the most powerful sentence would be my summary. What I said is that there are 1.3 billionvacuum cleaners which work three times a day.
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- abroad [ə´brɔ:d]
ad.海外；到处；广泛 (初中英语单词) - western [´westən] a.西的；西方的 (初中英语单词)
- preparation [,prepə´reiʃən] n.准备；预习(时间) (初中英语单词)
- otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
- amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
- purely [´pjuəli] ad.仅仅；简单地 (初中英语单词)
- cultural [´kʌltʃərəl] a.文化(上)的；教养的 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- achieve [ə´tʃi:v] vt.完成；达到；获得 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- vegetable [´vedʒtəbəl] a.&n.蔬菜(的)；植物 (初中英语单词)
- working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
- sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- impressive [im´presiv] a.给人深刻印象的 (高中英语单词)
- procedure [prə´si:dʒə] n.过程；手续；方法 (高中英语单词)
- slippery [´slipəri] a.滑的；不稳固的 (高中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- technical [´teknikəl] a.技术的；专门性的 (高中英语单词)
- billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
- cleaner [´kli:nə] n.清洁工人；干洗商 (英语四级单词)
- summary [´sʌməri] a.&n.摘要(的) (英语四级单词)
- vacuum [´vækjuəm] n.真空；空间 (英语六级单词)
- holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)
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