我初一,老师要我们写一英文翻译,目的是试着灵活运用主谓宾。我爸爸一公司的高层管理人员,英语很好。
交作业时,老师一眼就看出是我爸爸帮我翻的,我就奇怪了,老师怎么这么神?
那个说英语的年轻人作了翻译。四双惊讶的眼睛看着我打开了冰箱。现在我们有一个文化上的问题。我看见了一个漂亮的可口的红苹果。“好,这是普通的食物。”我取出了苹果,递给了拿着大砍刀的人。这似乎是一个重要的时刻。在许多文化中,分享食物是一种交流的方式,友谊的信号,或和平的宣告。当我坚持把苹果递给他时,我觉得他踌躇了一会。以他自己的方式放弃了我们初次见面时彼此所扮演的角色。他微笑了一下,接过了苹果。
The English-speaking young man translated. Four pairs of incredulous eyes looked at me as I pro ceeded to open the refrigerator. Now we had a cultural problem. I saw a nice red Delicious apple. “ Okay, that's normal food.” I took out the apple and held it out toward the man with the machete. This felt like an important moment. In most cultures, the sharing of food is a kind of communion, an acknowledgment of friendship, or declaration of peace. As I continued to hold out the apple toward him, I sensed him struggling for a moment, in his own way letting go of the roles in which we had met. For an instant he smiled, then took hold of the apple.