吾国及吾民.docVIP

吾国及吾民 The following is a passage from My Country and My People by Chinese writer Lin Yutang. In this book, Lin takes it on himself to explain the complexities of China, its people and their culture to the world at large. He explores several aspects of the Chinese character, often making comparisons with other countries. This passage is taken from Chapter IX The Art of Living, Part III Eating and Drinking. Lin discusses the Chinese attitudes to food and contrasts it with those of the West. 下文是节选自中国作家林语堂《吾国与吾民》的片段。本作当中，林语堂亲自捉刀，向全世界阐释了中国及其民众、文化的错综复杂。他对中国人性格中的若干方面进行了探究，常常就此与他国进行比较。而本篇片段取自第九章“生活的艺术”中的第三节“餐饮”。林语堂对中国人的食性进行了论述，并把它与西方世界的食性进行了对比。 If there’s anything we are serious about, it is neither religion nor learning, but food. We openly acclaim eating as one of the few joys of this human life. This question of attitude is very important, for unless we are honest about it we will never be able to lift eating and cooking into an art. The difference of attitude regarding the problem of food is represented in Europe by the French and the English. The French eat enthusiastically, while the English eat apologetically. The Chinese national genius decidedly leans toward the French in the matter of feeding ourselves. The danger of not taking food seriously and allowing it to degenerate into a slipshod business may be studied in the English national life. If they had known any taste for food their language would reveal it. The English language does not provide a word for cuisine: they call it just “cooking”. They have no proper word for chef: they just call him a “cook”. They do not speak about their menu, but know only “dishes”. And they have no word for gourmet: they just call him “Greedy Gut” in their nursery rhymes. The truth is that the English do not admit that they have a stomach. No stomach is fit for conversation unless it happens to be “sick” or “aching”. The result is that while the Frenchman will talk about the cuisine of his chef with - what seems to the