The Courtesies礼节

    Etiquette requires you to work through a pile of time-wasters just
to ask a simple question. 礼节让你不得不为了问个简单的问题而编造出一大
堆浪费时间的话。

    A ： Hey Bill ！ It's been awhile. How are you？ What have you been
up to ？ How are the kids ？ HA HA！ That's great ！ Do you still have
that magnificent beard？ I' tried to grow one but my face ends up looking
like I dipped my jaw in Vaseline and then gave a Raspberry to the underside
of a cat. Wow ， it's so good to hear your voice……

    A ：嘿，Bill！有段时间没见了，你最近怎样？都在忙点啥？孩子们好吗？

    哈哈！不错！你还留着你那令人惊艳的胡子吗？我也想试着留一个，可是结
果我的脸看上去就像把下巴埋进了凡士林里，然后对着猫的下腹咂舌（这句话理
解不能，高手在哪里！）哇，能听到你的声音真是太好了……

    ……20 minutes later……20分钟之后

    A ： So uh…… the reason I'm calling is - can I borrow your chainsaw？

    A ：所以说呃……我打电话来是想借你的链锯用一用。

    B ： No. B：不借。

    A ： OK Bill， no problem ！ Figured it couldn't hurt to ask. Well，
it's been great talking to you， and we should meet up for beers sometime.
I'd love to gaze upon that enchanting beard over a delicious beverage.
We don't talk much anymore， you know ？ It's a shame. I remember when
we used to run and laugh together without a care in the world ， like
little girls on the first day of summer ……

    A ：好吧，Bill，没事！我想问一问也无妨。恩，能跟你聊天感觉真好，我
们哪天碰个面一起喝酒吧。我喜欢看你那迷人的胡子垂在美酒上的样子。你知道
吗？我们现在已经很少交谈了，真遗憾啊。我还记得我们曾经一起跑步一起谈笑，
将整个世界置身事外，就像夏日刚至时的小姑娘……