美国诗人、“时光剪影”主持人莱恩·詹宁斯的信

I" m sending this comment/query to both Karl and poet Yi Sha.

卡尔和伊沙，请看以下评论和问题。

Here in America there is something of a tradition of " surly" servers in diners and other relatively low-class restaurants. It is different from the " uppity" waiters of high class establishments who can make diners feel they don" t deserve the fine food he or she is about to bring them because they are too ignorant to appreciate it. The " surly server" I mean is one who is too busy or distracted to care about the feelings of their customers, so they just slap the plate down in front of you--take it or leave it.

在美国的小饭馆或者比较低档的饭店里，服务员总是一副气鼓鼓的样子，这也可以说是一种传统了。在高档次饭店里服务员则是另外一番模样，他们盛气凌人，傲慢的态度让顾客觉得自己很无知、不会欣赏美食，因而不配享用即将送上的美餐。说到那些气鼓鼓的服务员，我是指他们要么太忙要么心不在焉，所以无法顾及顾客的感受，他们只会把盘子往你面前一仍——爱吃不吃。

This is the tone I imagined the waitress using in your poem. I" m sure there is a graceful and polite way to present any dish, particularly in a language like Chinese where subtleties of nuance can make even small distinctions of rank and social importance clear to anyone listening. Knowing this, it could be genuinely shocking to hear the Asian equivalent of " Hey bud, here" s your liver!" and one might not even be sure it was food being talked about--hence the reaction. Anyway that is what I thought as I read this poem.

我想象中你诗里的女服务员就是用这种语调说话的。我相信上任何菜都可以做到优雅礼貌，尤其是用中文，因为中文表达细致微妙，阶层和地位稍有上下，就有相应不同的措辞。知道这点以后再听到“嘿老兄，你的肝！”的亚洲版，就会大吃一惊，听者或许都不能肯定对方说的到底是不是食物——然后才会有那样的反应。不管怎样，这是我读这首诗时的想法。

My question to the poet, and to Karl, is where do you imagine this event taking place? Is it a fine restaurant, and the server is somehow annoyed or resentful of the customers? Or is it a less classy joint, and the server is perhaps just being rude without realizing it?

我给诗人和卡尔提的问题是：你们想像中故事发生在哪里？是在一个很好的饭店吗，饭店里的服务员不知怎的总是对顾客有些气恼和愤恨？还是说故事发生在一个不是那么高级的小饭铺里，服务员也许只是无意中粗鲁？

The poem works either way for me, and I think everyone who reads or hears it gets the same pleasure from the joke (and I agree with Karl that haveing a woman customer doesn" t spoil the fun). Still, I" m curious.

我觉得两种场景各有各的效果，每个读到或听到的人都可以从这个笑话中得到同样的乐趣（我同意卡尔的想法，即使顾客是个女的，也还是同样有意思。）不过，我还是很好奇你们是怎么想的。

《上菜语言》作者、中国诗人伊沙的回信

莱恩·詹宁斯先生，您好！感谢您如此热诚地细读我的诗。
我想从诗中所写到的细节入手，来回答您的问题。
“爆炒肝尖”这道菜是中国低、中档饭馆中的常见菜；“清炖牛鞭”则是一道隆重的大菜（所以它在诗中是最后上来），一般只会出现在高级饭店里――显而易见，我在该诗的写作中运用了文学创作的集中手法，将低、中档饭馆和高级饭店集中为“这一个”饭馆。
在中国也存在您说的美国那种现象（我想全世界都一样），但我诗中的“这一个”服务员小姐态度还是蛮好的（“小姐笑容灿烂”），她只是说话过于简约，过于口语化的表达，造成了这个生活中的笑话――当诸如此类的笑话在生活中发生时，当事人会有一点点小尴尬，但都会善意地理解，开心一笑罢了。

Hi, Mr. Lane Jennings. Thank you for perusing my poem with enthusiasm and sincerity.
I’d like to answer your question by examining the details in the poem.
The “tender stir-fried pork liver” is a common dish in low and middle class Chinese restaurants; the “soup made of ox penis”, instead, is a grand dish (It is, therefore, served as the last course.) usually served in high class restaurants. –It is rather obvious that I have employed the literary technique of synthesis, creating this “one” restaurant out of the low, middle and high class restaurants.
There is also such phenomenon in China as you have mentioned (I guess it is universal.), but the waitress in my poem could be regarded as friendly (“The waitress, smiling most radiantly”). It’s just that her speech is too terse and colloquial, which leads to the joke. When such jokes take place in our life, the people involved will feel a bit embarrassed, but will all understand with good nature and dismiss the embarrassment with a hearty laugh.

美国诗人南·弗莱的帖子

Re: My notes on my poem The Importance of Language When Serving Restaurant Patrons
回复：伊沙《〈上菜语言〉自释》
Posted by: Nan Fry
寄自：楠·弗莱
Date: February 16, 2011 05:50 AM
日期：2011年2月16日，早晨05:50


    I" d like to respond to both Yi Sha and Lane Jennings here.
    借由此信，我想对伊沙和莱恩·詹宁斯的观点做出回应。

    Yi Sha, I liked what you said about being considered a " colloquial poet" in China. That comes through clearly in the poem as translated by Karl Zhang.
    伊沙，你说要做中国“口语化”诗人，这一想法我非常喜欢。我想，通过张宽先生的翻译，你的观点已经表达得很清楚了。

    Lane, I don" t think the waitress is either surly or uppity. She refers to the speaker as " Sir," and later she is " smiling most radiantly" when she brings the ox penis. I think she is either very literal or she is having fun and has a sly sense of humor.
    莱恩，我并不认为诗中的服务员是气鼓鼓的或是盛气凌人的。她称诗人为“先生”，上清炖牛鞭这道菜时她“笑容灿烂”。我认为，她要么只是在表达字面意思，就事论事；要么就是有一种狡猾的幽默感，有意跟诗人开玩笑。

    This was a delicious poem and part of a delightful evening.
这不仅是一首美味的诗歌，它还是关于某个愉快夜晚的回忆。