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That's all very well, but when I'm the guest being seen off, my protests are always useless, and my hostess or host, or both, insists on seeing me down the stairs and well on my way, with our going through the "Don't bother to see me off" ritual at every landing. If I try to go fast to discourage them from following, they are simply put to the discomfort of having to flee after me. Better to accept the inevitable. Besides, that's going against Chinese custom, because haste is to be avoided. What do you say when you part from someone? "Go slowly." Not farewell or Godspeed, but "Go slowly." To the Chinese it means "Take care"or "Watch your step" or some other such caution, but translated literally it means "Go slow." That same "slow" is used in another polite expression used by the host at the end of a particularly large and delicious meal to assure his guests what a poor and inadequate host he has been.
這樣好倒是好，但當(dāng)我成為別送的客人時(shí)，我的推讓總是無(wú)效；而且，女主人或男主人甚至兩個(gè)人都要送我下樓，并陪我走好一段路，而每下一段樓梯我都照理說(shuō)一遍“不要麻煩送我了”。如果我是想走得快一點(diǎn)以免讓他們跟上來(lái)，那只會(huì)使他們更不舒服：他們得在我后面緊追。最好還是接受著不可避免的禮節(jié)。 而且，那也是違背中國(guó)習(xí)俗的，因?yàn)椤按颐Α弊钜坏?。你跟別人分手時(shí)說(shuō)什么呢？“慢走”。不說(shuō)“再見(jiàn)”或“一路順風(fēng)”，而是“慢走”。對(duì)中國(guó)人來(lái)講，她的意思是“小心”或“腳下留神”或是諸如此類(lèi)關(guān)照的話，但其直譯是“慢走”。 同一個(gè)“慢”字還被用于另一句客套話中，那就是在一頓極其豐盛美味的飯后，主人向客人（說(shuō)“怠慢了”）表示他是一個(gè)不稱職，招待不周的主人。