英语翻译
Oneday,IheardanAmericanboysaytoaChinesegirlstudent,“Youspeakvery
goodEnglish.”Butthegirlanswered,“No,no.MyEnglishisverypoor.”The
foreignerwasquitesurprisedattheanswer.Thinkinghehadnotmadehimselfunderstoodor
thegirlhadnotlistenedtohimclearly,hesaid,“Yes,indeed,youspeakvery
well.”butthegirlstillkeptsaying,“No.”IntheendtheAmericanboycould
notunderstandanddidn’tknowwhattosay.What’swrongwiththegirl’s
answer?Shedidn’tacceptacompliment(恭维)inthesamewayastheAmericanpeople
do.Sheshouldanswer,“Thankyou”insteadof“No”.Shereallyunderstoodwhat
theAmericanboyhadsaid,butshethoughtsheshouldbemodest.Inthewest,
peoplewillfeelproudandconfidentwhentheyarepraised.Soifsomeonesaysthedishesyouhavecookedareverydelicious,youshouldsay,“Thankyou.”Inour
countrywethinkbeingmodestisavirtue(美德)andbeingproudisabadthing,
butinmyopinion,beingconfidentdoesnotmeanbeingproud,sosometimesyou
shouldbeconfidentaswellasbeingmodest.
