礼节美语 017 Breaking bread

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

(Restaurant ambience)

M：嗨，陈豪，how's last night's dinner? Everything OK?

C：你告诉过我怎么喝汤，各种刀叉的用法。可是，It may sound silly，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.

C：面包放在面包和黄油的盘上。Which one is my bread and butter plate?

M：It's the one on your left above the forks。

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. 你就记住德国的名牌汽车BMW就行了。

C：What has BMW to do with eating bread?

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。

C：That's the way I saw Americans eat their bread last night. 现在你证实了，我以后就没问题了。

M：So everything is clear? 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.

C：噢，面包盘是不能搬动的，一直放在左上方。然后掰面包，图黄油都在盘上面。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.