別以為我愛嘮叨

別以為我愛嘮叨

Don’t Think I Just Like to Nag

編者按：隨著北京2008年奧運會的臨近，民眾越來越關(guān)心“中國”品牌的樹立，學(xué)習(xí)英語的熱情也被點燃。越來越多的外宣干部和業(yè)內(nèi)同行向我們表達(dá)了期待看到雙語欄目的愿望。因此，我們自2006年第1期起開辦了《雙語視窗》欄目以滿足廣大讀者的需求。

看看周圍的媒體，在《北京青年報》、《參考消息》、《國門時報》上有許多精粹的小短文，像一只只啄木鳥，善意地提醒了中國人習(xí)以為常的行為背后“尚未和國際接軌”的細(xì)節(jié)，讀后讓人回味不已。在獲得借鑒意義的同時，也帶來更深入的思考。我們效仿中英文對照的版面形式，旨在通過外國友人的視角來看中國，從中折射出東西方觀念、習(xí)俗的異同。通過一篇篇這樣的文章，讓讀者在領(lǐng)略異域文化的同時，也能達(dá)到學(xué)習(xí)英語的目的。

有一次，在有一個中國人在場的情況下，我說我絕不會把房子租給中國人，話一出口連我自己都很吃驚。好在我說的聲音很小，他沒有聽見。不過別急，我所說的話并沒有成為現(xiàn)實。但問題并不在此。更為有意思的是，究竟是什么導(dǎo)致了像我這樣的人，一個熱愛中國且與一個中國人結(jié)了婚在中國住了１１年的人有了這一個糟糕的想法？盡管這只是一閃而過。

原因在于：一般說來，中國人的家務(wù)料理以及對樓房的維護(hù)離世界水平還相差很遠(yuǎn)。當(dāng)老外在中國發(fā)現(xiàn)原以為是50年以前建的樓房實際上只有四五年時，總是很驚訝。為什么這些相當(dāng)新的樓房看上去那么陳舊？關(guān)鍵在于公用部分——樓梯間、電梯間、入門處的破舊狀況。那些把腳印留在粉刷得白白的墻上，把嚼過的口香糖和煙蒂扔到樓梯上，把痰吐到甚至把鼻涕甩到地板上的人是誰呢？顯然，屬于公共的地段，就沒有人來負(fù)責(zé)任。若是公用地段的一塊玻璃壞了，一連幾個月也沒人修。在那些由國家單位管理的樓房中出現(xiàn)的糟踏與掉以輕心我已習(xí)以為常了。

當(dāng)然，現(xiàn)如今很多人都有了自己的房子，但對于公共財產(chǎn)的態(tài)度還沒有相應(yīng)的變化。如果說能看到區(qū)別的話，那是在房子的里面，因為那是房主花了自己的錢買來的私人財產(chǎn)。而即便是在房子里面，也仍然存在著問題：當(dāng)房主人從國有單位把房子買了下來，也往往把很多壞習(xí)慣帶了過來。尤其是，他們時常不注意整體維護(hù)以及那些需要輕微修補(bǔ)的地方，而這些地方很容易變成大問題。一個邋遢的管家并不會因為成為了房子的主人就必然成為井井有條講求衛(wèi)生的行家。

有一次我告訴丈夫，如果我們買了房子，我會自己把樓梯間、樓梯拐彎處都粉刷一新；我還會一周兩次清掃樓梯，清潔窗戶和電梯的門；同時我還會組織一個鄰里委員會，輪流看管公共地段，在樓房周圍將不會有任何垃圾，一點都不會有！我們還將從每家每戶集點兒資種花草和灌木。而我的丈夫聽后，對我所說的話并不感到鼓舞：“你要做的這些根本沒用，鄰居們也不會說你好話。”這會是真的嗎？

有一次我的一個親戚告訴我，如果你想評價一個家庭的衛(wèi)生狀況，就去看衛(wèi)生間。而在很多中國人的家里，唉，衛(wèi)生間和廚房似乎算不上房子的一部分，我覺得這種態(tài)度令人遺憾，這些地方應(yīng)該像客廳一樣干凈。當(dāng)我的一個法國朋友決定更換用了25年的墻紙時，只是因為她看膩了，而墻紙依然干凈鮮亮。當(dāng)我的一個表妹不想留一個有了年頭的冰箱時，賣之前不需做任何額外的清理，因為她平時總是定期地對冰箱內(nèi)外進(jìn)行清理。看看你周圍：是有很多中國掌勺人在每一次做過飯之后都用肥皂和水清洗灶口嗎？他們是徹底清洗，還是讓四面留著干嘎巴兒？爐灶后面的墻是干凈的還是有著黏黏的油漬？我知道有些人只洗盤子和鍋的里面，而其他地方只是在冷水里沖一下。

在有些家庭里，人們明智地避免穿著鞋踩到地毯上，但是地毯四周的木地板或是瓷磚地有著很多“圓角落”：在打掃地板的時候，他們懶得用掃把去掃家具的下面；當(dāng)他們刷洗地板時——這是很少見的——他們也不愿費力用布去擦那些墩布夠不著的地方。在門把手和電燈開關(guān)四周則滿是臟手印。

也許聽起來我像個愛嘮叨的人，但實際上，人類周圍缺少美麗，其精神就會受到影響。在北京還有不少人不知道房前堆著空箱子、瓶子和舊報紙與擺一盆天竺葵的區(qū)別。 就我個人而言，我覺得只有在人們學(xué)會了視保持房子與周圍的清潔為理所當(dāng)然之事時，北京成為真正怡人的城市才大有希望。

原文：

Once I appalled even myself by saying in the presence of a Chinese person that I would never rent my apartment to a Chinese. Fortunately I said it under my breath， and he didn’t

hear. Now， I hasten to add that the statement doesn’t happen to be true， but that’s not the point. More interesting is what would lead a person like me， someone who loves China， is married to a Chinese and has been here for 11 years， to have such an awful thought， however fleetingly， in the f irst place.

The reason is this: By and large， Chinese housekeeping and building maintenance are far from the world’s best. It always amazes foreigners in China to discover that a building which they assumed was put up over 50 years ago is in fact only four or five years old. Why do Chinese buildings look so old when they are still relatively new? The key is in the run-down state of the public parts， i.e. the stairwells， the elevators， the entrance. Who are the barbarians who put footprints on whitewashed walls， who throw chewing gum and cigarette butts on the stairs， who spit and even blow their nose on the floor? Apparently what belongs to the community in China is no one’s responsibility. Let a pane break in a public window and it will go unrepaired for months. Abuse and neglect in buildings controlled by state-owned units appear to me to be the norm.

Of course， nowadays many people own their homes， but attitudes toward public property have not changed as a result. If a difference can be detected， it’s inside the apartments， because this is private property that the owners have paid for with their own cash. Yet even here there are problems: When owners have bought their flats from state units， they tend to carry over a lot of bad habits. In particular， they too often fail to pay attention to maintenance and minor repairs， repairs that can easily become major problems. And untidy housekeepers don’t necessarily become adepts of sgroups and cleanliness just because they now have the title to their digs.

Once I told my husband that if we purchased a flat， I would paint the walls of the stairwell and the landing myself; I would also sweep the stairs twice a week and clean the windows and elevator doors. At the same time I would organize a committee of neighbours to take turns caring for the public spaces. And there would be no garbage around the building， none! We would collect a small sum from each resident to plant flowers and bushes. My husband was not encouraging: You’ll do a lot of work for nothing， and the neighbours will think the less of you for it all!” Can that be true?

A relative of mine once told me that if you want to judge the overall cleanliness of a home， check the bathroom. In many Chinese households， alas， the bathroom and kitchen seem not even to count as parts of the apartment. This attitude is regrettable， I think; they should be as clean as the living room! When a French friend of mine decided to change her wallpaper after 25 years， it was because she was bored with it-the paper was still clean and bright. When a cousin got rid of her aging refrigerator， it didn’t need any extra cleaning before being sold， because it had regularly been thoroughly cleaned inside and out. Look around you: Do many Chinese cooks wash the kitchen range with soap and water after each use? And do they wash it all， or are the sides covered with dried gunk? Is the wall behind clean or sticky with grease? I know some people who only wash the upper sides of dishes or the inside of cooking pots with soap， while everything else just gets a quick rinse in cold water!

In some homes， people wisely refrain from walking on the carpets with their shoes on， but the wood or tile floors around the carpets have round corners. When they sweep the floor， they don’t bother to use the broom under the furniture; when they wash the floor a rare event ， they don’t take pains to use a cloth to clean the corners that the mop doesn’t reach. Around the door handles and light switches there are unsightly zones of dirty finger marks.

Perhaps I sound like a nag， but the fact is that human beings are mentally affected by a lack of beauty around them. There are still too many people in Beijing who can’t distinguish between a pile of empty boxes， bottles and old newspapers in front of their houses and a pot of geraniums. Personally， I don’t think there’s much hope that Beijing will become a truly pleasant city until people learn to keep their homes and immediate environs clean as a matter of course.

（本欄目文章選自《北京青年報》“雙語視窗”，得到欄目編輯張愛學(xué)的授權(quán)。英文部分的稿費由本編輯部支付，請作者本人看到此啟事后與編輯部聯(lián)系，或發(fā)郵件至zhoujin_gongwu@sina.com）

責(zé)編：周瑾