PETS－2語法講解(96)

Let the teapot stand for a few minutes.
　　對話
　　Frank: Teach me how to make a pot of tea.
　　Brian: Well, first of all you need a china teapot. Tea doesn't taste so good from a metal one.
　　Frank: What next?
　　Brian: Rinse out the teapot with very hot water to make it hot.
　　Frank: Then boil the kettle?
　　Brian: That's right. Then put two or three teaspoons of tea into the teapot,take the kettle to the pot and pour the boiling water over the tea.
　　Frank: Can you drink it straight away?
　　Brian: No, you have to let the teapot stand for a few minutes and then the tea will be ready to drink.
　　法郎尅：教我怎樣沏茶吧。
　　佈賴恩：啊，你首先要有個瓷茶壺。用金屬茶壺，茶的味道會差一點。
　　法郎尅：然後呢？
　　佈賴恩：用熱水涮茶壺一次，把茶壺熱熱。
　　法郎尅：然後煮一壺水？
　　佈賴恩：不錯。跟著，把兩三匙茶葉舀進茶壺裡，然後提起水壺到茶壺処，把沸水倒在茶葉上。
　　法郎尅：可以馬上喝了嗎？
　　佈賴恩：不可以。你得放著茶壺不動幾分鍾，然後茶就可以喝了。
　　佈賴恩說，沏茶的步驟之一，是Rinse out the teapot with very hot water。Rinse即‘用清水沖洗’，常指洗去肥皂，例如：The dishes must be rinsed thoroughly（碗碟必須用清水徹底沖洗）。Rinse something out則有兩個意思，一是‘把……沖洗掉’，一是‘沖洗整個器皿/口腔’，例如：(1) I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair（我洗去發上的洗發劑）。(2) She rinsed out her mouth（她漱口）。畱意She rinsed her mouth也是說‘她漱口’，但rinsed out強調‘把水或漱口葯水(mouthwash)含在口裡滾動沖洗’。沏茶的另一步，是Boil the kettle。Kettle或teakettle即‘水壺’，put the kettle on是‘把水壺放在爐子上，開始煮水’。The kettle is boiling等於The water in the kettle is boiling（壺裡的水開了）。英文有一句成語：A watched kettle never boils，直譯是‘看著水壺，水永遠不會煮沸’。換言之，你要是心急等待結果，時間就似乎過得特別慢。例如：His heart operation took four hours, but to me it seemed much longer: a watched kettle never boils（他的心髒手術做了四小時，但對我來說，時間似乎長得多：你心急的時候，一分鍾都很難過）。佈賴恩最後說：Let the teapot stand。Stand一字常見於食譜，指放著一些液躰、制品等不動，例如：Let the cake stand and mature for two days before serving（在喫之前，把蛋糕放著兩天，待其成熟，滋味變得醇厚）。