最后一块该谁吃

苏晴，来，坐我旁边。今天是我们几个老朋友的聚会，你是新来的，别客气。

Su Qing, come sit next to me. Today's a gathering of us old friends, you're new here, don't be so formal.

谢谢你叫我一起来。你们做的这条鱼真好吃，我很久没吃过这么好的鱼了。

Thanks for inviting me along. This fish you all made is really delicious, I haven't had fish this good in a long time.

多吃点，我们几个都吃得差不多了，你随便吃。

Eat more, the rest of us have had plenty already, help yourself.

大家都吃饱了吧？盘子里还剩最后一块鱼，谁吃？

Is everyone full? There's still one last piece of fish left on the plate, who's eating it?

我不吃了，我真的饱了，你们吃吧。

I won't have it, I'm really full, you two go ahead.

我也饱了。苏晴，你应该还没吃饱吧？这块你吃了吧。

I'm full too. Su Qing, you're probably not full yet, right? You eat this piece.

那……我就不客气了，谢谢。

Well then... I won't be polite about it, thanks.

奇怪，怎么大家突然都不说话了？是不是我不应该吃那块鱼？

That's odd, why did everyone suddenly go quiet? Was I not supposed to eat that piece of fish?

没事没事，你吃得对，是我们让你吃的。

It's nothing, nothing, you were right to eat it, we're the ones who told you to.

老实说，你刚才吃那块鱼的时候，大家都愣了一下，你感觉到了吧？

Honestly, when you ate that piece of fish just now, everyone paused for a second. You could feel it, couldn't you?

感觉到了，我心里也有点不舒服，是不是我做错什么了？

I could feel it. I felt a little uneasy inside too. Did I do something wrong?

你没做错。只是你还不知道我们的一个规矩：最后一块菜，大家都要先说自己饱了，客气几句，才会有人吃。

You didn't do anything wrong. It's just that you don't know one of our customs yet: for the last piece of food, everyone has to first say they're full, be polite for a few rounds, before anyone actually eats it.

可是大家真的都饱了吗？

But is everyone really full?

不一定。有的人是真饱了，有的人只是客气，其实心里还挺想吃的。

Not necessarily. Some people really are full, some are just being polite, and actually still kind of want it inside.

那这个规矩不是有点奇怪吗？大家都想吃，却都说不想吃。

Isn't that custom a bit strange then? Everyone wants to eat it, but everyone says they don't.

是有点奇怪，可是这样大家才不用抢。老实跟你说，我刚才说我饱了，其实是假装的，我也想吃那块鱼。

It is a bit strange, but this way nobody has to fight over it. Honestly, when I said I was full just now, I was actually pretending. I wanted to eat that piece of fish too.

真的吗？那你为什么不自己吃？

Really? Then why didn't you just eat it yourself?

因为这个规矩只有大家都愿意一起这样做，才能一直用下去。要是我自己先吃了，别人以后也不会客气了。

Because this custom only keeps working if everyone's willing to go along with it together. If I ate it myself first, other people wouldn't bother being polite about it in the future either.

所以你们说的客气，有时候是真的，有时候是装的？

So this politeness you all talk about, sometimes it's real, and sometimes it's an act?

对，可是没关系，大家都懂这个规矩，也没人会说什么。你刚才吃了那块鱼，反而让今天的聚会更热闹。

Right, but it's fine, everyone understands this custom, and no one will say anything about it either. You eating that piece of fish just now actually made today's gathering livelier.

下次吃饭，我是不是也应该学着客气一下？

Next time we eat together, should I also learn to perform a little politeness?

可以试试。不过如果你真的很饿，就老实说你想吃，我们都不会介意的。

You can try. But if you're really hungry, just honestly say you want it, none of us will mind.