Food and talk进餐与交谈

屈联西

        Last week at a dinner party, the hostess asked me to sit next to Mrs. Rumbold. Mrs. Rumbold was a large, unsmiling lady in a tight black dress. She did not even look up when I took my seat beside her. Her eyes were fixed on her plate and in a short time, she was busy eating. I tried to make conversation.
    'A new play is coming to "The Globe" soon,' I said. 'Will you be seeing it?'
    'No,' she answered.
    'Will you be spending your holidays abroad this year?' I asked.
    'No,' she answered.
    'Will you be staying in England?' I asked.
    'No,' she answered.
    In despair, I asked her whether she was enjoying her dinner.
    'Young man,' she answered, 'if you ate more and talked less, we would both enjoy our dinner!"
    在上星期的一次宴会上，女主人安排我坐在兰伯尔德夫人的身旁。兰伯尔德夫人是一位身材高大、表情严肃的女人，穿一件紧身的黑衣服。当我在她身旁坐下来的时候，她甚至连头都没有抬一下。她的眼睛盯着自己的盘子，不一会儿就忙着吃起来了。我试图找个话题和她聊聊。
    “一出新剧要来‘环球剧场’上演了，”我说，“您去看吗？”
    “不，”她回答。
    “您今年去国外度假吗？”我又问。
    “不，”她回答。
    “您就呆在英国吗？”我问。
    “不，”她回答。
    失望之中我问她饭是否吃得满意。
    “年轻人，”她回答说，“如果你多吃点，少说点，我们两个都会吃得好的！”