3 Chapter 3 Chinese Food

Chapter 3 Chinese Food The restaurant was crowded with people, but there was no food on the round tables, apart from a tiny steaming bowl of tea in front of each person. Stanley suddenly realized: Everyone had been waiting for him. There was a hush as the oldest-looking woman Stanley had ever seen—older, even, than Carlos's grandmother in Mexico—struggled to her feet at the other side of the room.

餐馆里挤满了人，但除了每个人面前都有一小碗热气腾腾的茶之外，圆桌上没有任何食物。 斯坦利突然意识到:每个人都在等他。 斯坦利见过的最老的女人——甚至比卡洛斯在墨西哥的祖母还老——在房间的另一边挣扎着站了起来，全场鸦鸦无声。

Yin whispered in Stanley's ear. "Great Grandmother Yin would like to wish you luck before you begin your training."

尹在斯坦利耳边低语。 “殷曾祖母在你开始训练之前祝你好运。”

Stanley was about to walk over, but Yang stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. The ancient woman slowly straightened her back, raised her shaking hands from the back of a chair... and launched herself into the air. She flipped onto the nearest table, and then did handsprings from one table to another, all the way around the room. She failed to disturb a single cup of tea before landing right in front of Stanley and giving him a toothless smile.

斯坦利正要走过去，但杨用一只手搭在他的肩膀上阻止了他。 老妇人慢慢地挺直了腰，从椅背上举起颤抖的双手…… 然后自己飞向空中。 她跳到最近的一张桌子上，然后从一张桌子跳到另一张桌子，绕着房间转了一圈。 她连一杯茶都没动，就落在斯坦利面前，对他露出了一个没有牙齿的微笑。

Stanley was stunned. The old woman giggled, grabbed him by the sides of his stomach, and shook him. He couldn't help laughing as his head and feet swung back and forth through the air... and then, suddenly, his body made a low rhythmic sound as the air rushed around him. Stanley didn't know his body could do that! Yin and Yang and their family roared with laughter. Everybody waited to fill their plates until Yin and Yang's grandparents and great grandparents were served. Then, as all of the relatives chattered and slurped and ate, Stanley carefully adjusted his chopsticks and tried to pick up a piece of food.

斯坦利惊呆了。老妇人咯咯地笑着，抓住他的腹部，摇晃着他。 他的头和脚在空中晃来晃去，忍不住笑了起来…… 然后，突然，他的身体发出一种低沉的有节奏的声音，因为空气在他周围翻滚。 斯坦利不知道他的身体能做到这一点!阴阳和他们的家人哄堂大笑。 每个人都等着把盘子装满，直到阴阳的祖父母和曾祖父母端上来。 然后，当所有的亲戚都在叽叽喳喳地吃东西的时候，斯坦利小心地调整了他的筷子，试图夹起一块食物。

Instead, one of the chopsticks tilted like a seesaw, and the piece landed in Yang's soup with a splash. Yang put down his own chopsticks. "It is time for Turnip Cake's first lesson," he announced. Yin nodded in agreement. "Let's start with an ancient feat of balance and skill!" Stanley leaned closer. "Holding—" "—A pencil," finished Yang. Stanley rolled his eyes. "I already know how to do that," he said, holding one of his chopsticks like a pencil and moving it up and down. "You are very skilled," teased Yang. "Now, do you see the cradle formed by your thumb and first finger?" asked Yin. "That is where the other, sleeping chopstick lies its head. Its leg rests on your fourth finger. Look, it does not move! It only sleeps." Stanley slipped the second chopstick into its cradle. Lifting his bowl, Stanley used the first chopstick to trap a piece of food against the one resting

相反，其中一根筷子像跷跷板一样倾斜，碎片落在了杨的汤里，溅起了水花。 杨放下了自己的筷子。 “该上萝卜饼的第一节课了。”他宣布。 尹点头表示同意。“让我们从一个古老的平衡和技巧的壮举开始!”斯坦利靠得更近了。 “拿着——”“拿着铅笔，”杨接着说。 斯坦利翻了个白眼。“我已经知道怎么做了，”他一边说，一边像拿铅笔一样拿着筷子上下移动。 “你很有技术，”杨嘲笑道。 “现在，你看到你的拇指和食指形成的摇篮了吗?”殷问。 那是另一根熟睡的筷子的头所在的地方。 它的腿靠在你的无名指上。 看，它不动!它只会睡觉。” 斯坦利把第二根筷子塞进了摇篮里。 斯坦利端起碗，用第一根筷子夹住一块食物，夹在另一根筷子上

below it. He carefully lifted the food to his mouth and dropped it in. It worked! Stanley immediately tried again. "Turnip Cake learns fast," Yang commented, as Stanley flung one thing after another into his mouth. Stanley tried lots of new things—rice with meat cooked in a leaf; spicy pork and vegetables; even turnip cake, which was surprisingly jiggly. But his favorite dish of all was a local specialty: biang biang noodles, which were almost as flat and wide as he was. As Yin and Yang's aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and great grandparents filed by his table to say good-bye, Stanley was so full, he

在它下面。他小心翼翼地把食物举到嘴边，扔了进去。 它工作!斯坦利立刻又试了一次。 “萝卜饼学得很快，”杨评论道，斯坦利把一件又一件东西扔进他嘴里。 斯坦利尝试了很多新东西——用叶子煮肉饭;麻辣猪肉和蔬菜;甚至是萝卜蛋糕，它出奇地摇摇晃晃。 但他最喜欢的是当地的特色菜:biang biang面，几乎和他一样又平又宽。 当阴阳的阿姨、叔叔、堂兄弟、祖父母和曾祖父母挨近他的桌子向他道别时，斯坦利吃得太饱了