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@ 50408 坐月子
A 媽，您這是怎麼啦？誰惹您老生這麼大的氣啊？
mā, nín zhè shì zěnme la? shéi rě nínlǎo shēng zhème dà de qì a?
Mom, what's the matter? Who made you so angry?
B 哼，去問你的好媳婦兒吧。
hēng, qù wèn nǐ de hǎo xífùr ba.
Hmph, go ask your wonderful wife.
A 老婆，出了什麼事？你怎麼把媽氣成這樣？
lǎopo, chū le shénme shì? nǐ zěnme bǎ mā qì chéng zhèyàng?
What happened, babe? How did you get my mom so angry?
C 老公，我什麼也沒做啊。倒是婆婆，剛才我要去洗澡，她硬是不讓，還把我訓了一通。說什麼女人剛生完孩子，一個月都不能洗澡。這是哪門子怪規矩啊？一個月不洗澡多不衛生啊。
lǎogōng, wǒ shénme yě méi zuò a. dàoshì pópo, gāngcái wǒ yào qù xǐzǎo, tā yìng shì bùràng, hái bǎ wǒ xùn le yī tōng. shuō shénme nǚrén gāng shēngwán háizi, yīgeyuè dōu bùnéng xǐzǎo. zhè shì nǎménzi guài guīju a? yīgeyuè bù xǐzǎo duō bùwèishēng a.
I didn't do anything, dear. It was actually her-- just when I was going to take a shower, she wouldn't let me. And then she lectured me about how just after a woman gives birth, she shouldn't shower for a month. What kind of weird rule is that? It's so unsanitary to go without showering for a month.
B 兒子，你聽到了吧？快給我們評評理。我跟她說坐月子的時候千萬不能洗頭洗澡，否則以後會經常頭痛、身子痛的，可她偏不信，難道我這做婆婆的還會害她不成？
érzi, nǐ tīngdào le ba? kuài gěi wǒmen píngping lǐ. wǒ gēn tā shuō zuòyuèzi de shíhou qiānwàn bùnéng xǐtóu xǐzǎo, fǒuzé yǐhòu huì jīngcháng tóutòng, shēnzi tòng de, kě tā piān bùxìn, nándào wǒ zhè zuò pópo de hái huì hài tā bùchéng?
Did you hear that, son? Quick, tell me the right thing to do. I told her that while she's resting after childbirth, she absolutely cannot take a shower. Otherwise, she'll get headaches and pain later in life. But she didn't believe me. Can she honestly think I'm trying to hurt her?
C 婆婆，我不是這個意思。只是在我的家鄉並沒有這種習俗。女人生完孩子馬上就可以洗澡了，長這麼大也沒聽說她們生什麼病啊。還有您剛才跟我說的那個什麼“坐月子”，整整一個月，不能吃冰激凌、喝涼水，不能洗澡，不能吹風，不能幹家務，不能出去運動，每天只能躺在床上休息，還要喝一大堆雞湯和魚湯什麼的，我覺得簡直是受罪啊。
pópo, wǒ bù shì zhège yìsi. zhǐshì zài wǒ de jiāxiāng bìng méiyǒu zhèzhǒng xísú. nǚrén shēngwán háizi mǎshàng jiù kěyǐ xǐzǎo le, zhǎng zhème dà yě méi tīngshuō tāmen shēng shénme bìng a. háiyǒu nín gāngcái gēn wǒ shuō de nàge shénme `` zuòyuèzi" , zhěngzhěng yīgeyuè, bùnéng chī bīngjīlíng, hē liángshuǐ, bùnéng xǐzǎo, bùnéng chuīfēng, bùnéng gànjiāwù, bùnéng chūqù yùndòng, měitiān zhǐnéng tǎng zài chuáng shang xiūxi, háiyào hē yīdàduī jītāng hé yútāng shénmede, wǒ juéde jiǎnzhí shì shòuzuì a.
Mother-in-law, that's not what I meant. It's just that in my hometown we don't have this custom. A woman can take a shower immediately after giving birth. I've lived to this age and never heard of anybody getting sick from it. Then there was all that stuff you just said about ``resting after childbirth" for an entire month. I shouldn't eat ice cream, or drink cool water, or take a shower, or use a hairdryer, or do housework, or go work out. I can only rest in bed every day, and drink a lot of chicken soup or fish soup or whatever. To me, that would be torture!
A 是啊，媽，西方根本就沒有坐月子這種說法。
shì a, mā, xīfāng gēnběn jiù méiyǒu zuòyuèzi zhèzhǒng shuōfa.
Yeah. Mom, they don't have this idea of ``resting after childbirth" in the West.
B 去去去，你一個大男人懂什麼？生完孩子要是不坐月子，會落下病根的。年輕的時候當然是看不出什麼，等以後年紀大了，吃了苦頭就知道了。老祖宗傳下來的規矩不會錯。
qù qù qù, nǐ yī ge dànánrén dǒng shénme? shēngwán háizi yàoshì bù zuòyuèzi, huì làoxià bìnggēn de. niánqīng de shíhou dāngrán shì kànbuchū shénme, děng yǐhòu niánjì dà le, chī le kǔtou jiù zhīdào le. lǎozǔzōng chuán xiàlai de guīju bùhuì cuò.
Go on, what do you understand, you big man? If you don't rest after childbirth, you're sowing the seeds of illness. Of course you can't tell when you're young, but wait until you get older. Once you've suffered, you'll know what I mean. Rules passed down from our ancestors can't be wrong.
A 媽，我們都明白您這是為她好。可我們老祖宗的這一套用在西方人身上就不靈了。西方人和我們的飲食結構、體質還有生活環境都不一樣，怎麼能把我們的那一套照搬到他們身上呢？
mā, wǒmen dōu míngbai nín zhè shì wèi tā hǎo. kě wǒmen lǎozǔzōng de zhè yī tào yòng zài xīfāngrén shēnshang jiù bùlíng le. xīfāngrén hé wǒmen de yǐnshí jiégòu, tǐzhì háiyǒu shēnghuó huánjìng dōu bùyīyàng, zěnme néng bǎ wǒmen de nà yī tào zhàobān dào tāmen shēnshang ne?
Mom, we all know that you're doing this for her good. But it won't work to apply our ancestors' traditions to Westerners. Westerners' dietary habits, constitutions, and living environments are different from ours. How can you apply those rules to them?
B 這……你說的好像也有道理。可是生完孩子多休息，多進補總沒錯啊。
zhè......nǐ shuō de hǎoxiàng yě yǒu dàolǐ. kěshì shēngwán háizi duō xiūxi, duō jìnbǔ zǒng méicuò a.
This...what you're saying seems reasonable. But there's never anything wrong with resting more and getting some more vitamins after you have a baby.
A 媽，並不是凡事都多多益善。醫生也說了，產後適當休息、適當進補就可以了，還有適當運動也很重要，否則反而不利於身體恢復。
mā, bìngbùshì fánshì dōu duōduōyìshàn. yīshēng yě shuō le, chǎnhòu shìdàng xiūxi, shìdàng jìnbǔ jiù kěyǐ le, háiyǒu shìdàng yùndòng yě hěn zhòngyào, fǒuzé fǎnér bùlìyú shēntǐ huīfù.
Mom, it's not necessarily the more the better with everything. The doctor also told us, after giving birth you should rest an appropriate amount. And you should take in an appropriate amount of vitamins. That's all you need to do. You should also get some exercise. Otherwise, it'll actually make your recovery harder.
C 是啊，婆婆，您也不希望看到我因為每天吃了睡，睡了吃，以後變成一個大胖子吧。再說，您年紀大了，我怎麼能把家務活都扔給您，讓您伺候我呢？
shì a, pópo, nín yě bùxīwàng kàndào wǒ yīnwèi měitiān chī le shuì, shuì le chī, yǐhòu biànchéng yī ge dà pàngzi ba. zàishuō, nín niánjì dà le, wǒ zěnme néng bǎ jiāwùhuó dōu rēng gěi nín, ràng nín cìhou wǒ ne?
Yeah, mom. You can't hope that you'll see me become a big fatso because all I do everyday is eat then sleep, sleep then eat. Plus, you're getting older. How could I make you do all the housework and wait on me?
A 就是啊，媽，您就別擔心她了。倒是您老，快喝點茶，消消氣。
jiùshì a, mā, nín jiù bié dānxīn tā le. dàoshì nínlǎo, kuài hē diǎn chá, xiāoxiao qì.
Yeah. Don't worry about her. You're the old one: have a little tea and cool down.
B 好好好，這次就聽你們的。不過，乖兒媳啊，你可千萬別逞強，什麼都比不上自個兒的身子重要。要是有哪裡不舒服，記得馬上去看醫生啊。
hǎo hǎo hǎo, zhècì jiù tīng nǐmen de. bùguò, guāi érxí a, nǐ kě qiānwàn bié chěngqiáng, shénme dōu bǐbushàng zìgěr de shēnzi zhòngyào. yàoshì yǒu nǎli bù shūfu, jìde mǎshàng qù kàn yīshēng a.
Fine, fine. This time, I'll do what you say. But, dear daughter-in-law, whatever you do, don't try to be a hero. Nothing is more important than your own health. If you feel at all uncomfortable, go to the doctor right away.
C 知道啦，婆婆大人。哎呀！糟了，我們盡顧著說話，把寶寶給忘了。
zhīdào la, pópo dàrén. āiyā! zāo le, wǒmen jìn gù zhe shuōhuà, bǎ bǎobao gěi wàng le.
OK, I understand. Oh no! Nuts, we were so focused on talking that we forgot about the baby.
Key Vocabulary
媳婦兒 xífùr wife
哪門子 nǎménzi what
評理 pínglǐ to discriminate between right and wrong
坐月子 zuòyuèzi to follow certain Chinese post-childbirth customs
受罪 shòuzuì to endure hardship
落下病根 làoxià bìnggēn to develop a sickness
照搬 zhàobān to copy
進補 jìnbǔ to take dietary supplements
多多益善 duōduōyìshàn the more the better
伺候 cìhou to serve
消氣 xiāoqì to cool one's temper
逞強 chěngqiáng to flaunt superiority
Supplementary Vocabulary
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