Mr and Mrs Reeve visit Japan 呂富夫婦訪日本

Mr and Mrs Reeve had just arrived in Narita Airport in Tokyo. They were waiting in the queue for the immigration check.
“Good morning, Mr and Mrs Leebu,” the officer was polite.
“It’s Reeve,” Mr Reeve corrected him.
“OK, Mr Leebu, how long will you stay in Tokyo?”
“My name is Reeve, not Leebu, and we are going to stay with our son and his family for a month.”
After several more questions, they were through to collect their luggage. Their son Paul was waiting for them in the arrival area.

呂富夫婦剛抵達東京成田機場。他們在入境檢查排隊等著。
“早安，李布先生太太，” 官員頗有禮貌的。
“是呂富，” 呂富先生糾正他。
“好的，李布先生，你們要在東京待多久?”
“我的名字是呂富，不是李布，我們要跟我們的兒子和他家人一起住一個月。”
經過幾個問題後，他們就出境去提行李了。他們的兒子保羅已在入境區等著他們了。

Paul was working for an international company, and he had been assigned to Japan a year ago. His wife Kathryn and little daughter Millie went with him. They had a comfortable western-style house in the suburbs of Tokyo. Paul had invited his parents to visit Japan many times, but Mrs Reeve always declined.
“I don’t like to leave the garden unattended,” she said. In fact, the main reason was that neither she nor Mr Reeve could speak a single word of Japanese, but they missed their grand daughter very much, and when their neighbours agreed to look after the house and garden for them they plucked up enough courage to make the journey.

保羅在一家國際公司工作，一年前他被派送到日本去。他的妻子凱瑟琳和小女兒咪莉跟他一起去。他們在東京郊區有幢舒服的西洋式房屋。保羅曾好幾次邀他的父母來日本，但呂富太太總是婉拒。
“我不喜歡把花園留著沒人照顧，” 她說。事實上，主要的原因是她和呂富先生連一個日本字也不會說，可是他們很想念他們的孫女，當他們的鄰居同意照顧他們的房屋和花園時他們就鼓起足夠的勇氣起程了。

Mrs Reeve had bought a Japanese-English phrase book, but the Japanese words and pronunciations were just too difficult for them.
“You can see English everywhere in Tokyo, and most Japanese people can speak some English. They are also very helpful, so you won’t have any problem,” Paul had told them, so they were not too worried about the language.
“Perhaps that immigration officer did not study English very well,” Mr Reeve thought.
Millie was delighted to see them; she has been going to a Japanese nursery school, and had learned a lot of Japanese already. She volunteered to be their guide, which made Mrs Reeve feel assured.

呂富太太買了一本英-日片語手冊，但日本字和發音對他們而言真是太難了。
“在東京到處都可看得見英文，而且大部分得日本人都會說點英語的。他們也都很樂於助人，所以你們不會有什麼問題的，”保羅曾告訴他們，因此他們也就不太擔心語言了。
“或許那個入境官員的英文沒學得很好，” 呂富先生心想。
咪莉非常高興看到他們﹔她已上日本幼稚園了，也已經學了很多的日文了。她自願要當他們的嚮導，這讓呂富太太感到放心多了。

The next morning when they were having coffee, the doorbell rang. Millie went to answer it.
“Ohio gozaimas, Tanaka San,” they heard Millie say in Japanese.
“Grandpa ando Grandma Leebu here?” a Japanese lady said.
“Hi,” Millie replied.
“Presento for Grandpa ando Grandma Leebu.”
“domo arigado gozaimas,” Millie said.
After a little while, Millie brought back a beautifully wrapped cake.
“Look! Grandpa, Grandma, Mr and Mrs Tanaka brought a present for you,” Millie said.
“The Tanakas are our next door neighbours, they are very kind, and have helped us a lot since we came” Paul said, “Millie loves it when they come to baby-sit her.”
“Japanese people are very polite, when they greet you or thank you they bow to show their respect,” Kathryn said.
“We could do with manners like that in England,” Mrs Reeve sighed.

次日上午當他們在喝咖啡時，門鈴響了。咪莉去應門。
“早安，田中先生太太，” 他們聽到咪利用日語說著。
“李布爺爺和奶奶在這兒了嗎?” 一位日本女士說。
“是的”
“給李布爺爺和奶奶的禮物。”
“非常謝謝，”咪莉說。
一會兒後，咪莉帶回一盒包裝精美的蛋糕。
“看! 爺爺，奶奶，田中先生和太太帶來一個禮物給你們，” 咪莉說。
“田中夫婦是我們的鄰居，他們很親切，自從我們來後就幫我們很多忙，” 保羅說， “咪莉好喜歡他們來當褓母照顧她。”
“日本人都很有禮貌，當他們跟你問候或感謝你時他們會鞠躬來表示敬意，” 凱瑟琳說。
“在英國我們正需要有像那樣的禮貌哩，” 呂富太太嘆著氣。

On Monday afternoon, Mr and Mrs Reeve took a walk with Kathryn to collect Millie from the school. They noticed there was no litter on the streets.
“The Japanese council services must be excellent!” Mr Reeve was amazed.
“Well, it’s the peoples’ self respect really; Japanese people keep their environment very clean. Early in the morning every day, the housewives usually sweep all round their houses and the part of the street in front of their houses, sometimes even their next door’s too,” Kathryn explained.
“We could do with that kind of self respect in England,” Mrs Reeve sighed, “our village Rainford is clean, but so many of our towns are spoilt by litter”.

一個星期一的下午，呂富夫婦與凱瑟琳散步去學校接咪莉。他們發現街上連一點垃圾也沒。
“日本的地方政府服務一定很完善!” 呂富先生很驚奇。
“嗯，其實是人們的自尊心哩﹔日本人將他們的環境維持得很乾淨。每天一大清早，家庭主婦們通常會打掃房屋四周以及他們家前面的街道，有時甚至他們隔壁的也掃呢，”凱瑟琳解釋。
“在英國我們正需要有像那樣的自尊哩，” 呂富太太嘆著氣，“我們的鄉村雷恩佛是乾淨，不過我們有很多城鎮都被垃圾破壞了。”

Some parents were waiting there already when they arrived. Many of them came over to say hello. Mr Reeve shook hands with them while Mrs Reeve bowed,
“Hello, Mr Leebu, nice to meet you.”
“Konnichiwa, Leebu San.”
“Good afternoon, Leebu San.”
Paul had told them that there was no equivalent sound to the English ‘r’, ‘v’ or ‘th’ in the Japanese language, and many English consonants were sounded as if they had an extra e, o or u added on behind; so their surname ‘Reeve’ became ‘Leebu’, and Kathryn was frequently called ‘Kasleen’, while Paul was known as ‘Paulu’.
“And ‘present’ becomes ‘presento’, Grandpa,” Millie said proudly. They were trying to get used to the strange sounds of the English words.

當他們到達時已有些父母親在那兒等著了。有很多過來寒喧。呂富先生與他們握手而呂富太太則鞠躬致意，
“你好，李布先生太太。”
“午安，李布先生太太。”
“午安，李布先生太太。”
保羅告訴他們日文沒有跟英文的‘r’，‘v’和‘th’相同的音，因此有很多英文的子音聽起來好像字尾加了個‘e’，‘o’或‘u’﹔所以他們的姓‘呂富’就變成‘李布’，凱瑟琳常被稱為‘凱沙琳’，而保羅則被稱為‘保路’。
“禮物present變成presento，爺爺，”咪莉驕傲地說。他們試著去習慣那種奇怪的英語字的音調。

Paul took the whole family to a restaurant one evening. Mr and Mrs Reeve ordered a traditional Japanese meal,
“We must try the food to have the full experience of Japan,” Mr Reeve said.
When the food was served, they enjoyed the beautiful presentation and the fine china dishes.
“These natto beans look interesting,” Mr Reeve said, awkwardly picking up some soybeans with his chopsticks and putting them in his mouth, but the threads of the fermented soybeans proved to be quite difficult to manage.
“You look like a spider eating a fly! Grandpa,” Millie laughed, “Now you are caught on the web yourself.”

有一個晚上保羅帶全家去餐廳。呂富夫婦點了傳統的日式餐，
“我們得嘗試日式食物才能有完整的日本經驗，” 呂富先生說。
當菜都送來時，他們讚賞著優美的裝飾與精緻的瓷器。
“這些納豆看來蠻有趣的，” 呂富先生說，笨拙地用筷子夾起一些納豆送進嘴裡，可是那些發酵過的納豆絲實在很難處理。
“你看起來好像一隻蜘蛛在吃蒼蠅喔! 爺爺，”咪莉笑著，“現在你自己被卡在蛛網上啦。”

“I feel this piece of octopus is growing bigger and bigger the more I chew it.” Mrs Reeve didn’t quite know how to swallow it.
“Try this tuna sashimi, Mum, Dad, it’s delicious!”
“I think I’ll give it a miss, I don’t want a bad dream of being chased by a giant fish!” Mrs Reeve was reluctant, having just had trouble swallowing a big lump of octopus.
Mr Reeve quickly swallowed a piece of raw fish, remembering the fish and chips he liked back home, “That fried food Millie has on her plate looks rather nice.”
“It’s called tempura, Grandpa, and it’s yummy,” said Millie.
“This pretty Japanese food is for your eyes only!” Mr Reeve joked.

“我覺得這塊章魚我愈嚼它卻變得愈大塊。” 呂富太太不知道要怎麼才能把它吞下去。
“試試這鮪魚刺身 (生魚片) ，媽，爸，很好吃喔!”
“我想我還是別試啦，我可不想要作惡夢被大魚窮追呢!”呂富太太沒自信，方剛才為了吞那一大塊章魚時有那麼麻煩。
呂富先生很快地吞下一塊生魚片，記起了在家時他所喜歡的魚和薯條，“咪莉的盤子上的那些油炸的東西看起來蠻好吃的。”
“它們叫作天婦羅(油炸物)，爺爺，好好吃耶，”咪莉說。
“ 這些可愛的日本食物只能眼看!” 呂富先生開玩笑說。

The following Friday, Paul’s Japanese friends gave them a ‘Welcome’ dinner in a Karaoke bar. Mr and Mrs Reeve have never done Karaoke before even though it was becoming popular in England. Paul’s friends started to sing and dance merrily after several servings of sake (Japanese wine), and even Paul was joining in with them and enjoying the noisy music. Mr Reeve were nervous at first, but he relaxed after some cups of sake and managed to sing a few songs with Paul, but Mrs Reeve didn’t want to look a fool in front of Paul’s Japanese friends, however she did enjoy the happy and totally relaxed atmosphere. This time they remembered to choose tempura food, so the evening was a thoroughly delightful experience for them.

接下來的那星期五保羅的日本朋友在一家卡拉OK給他們一餐歡迎晚宴。雖然在英國卡拉OK已逐漸普遍呂富夫婦卻從未上過。喝了幾杯清酒(日本酒)後保羅的朋友就開始快樂地唱歌又跳舞，連保羅也跟著他們一起享受著熱鬧的音樂。呂富先生一開始時有點緊張，但幾杯清酒喝下後他就放鬆了居然也跟著保羅唱了幾首歌，可是呂富太太不想在保羅的日本朋友面前出洋相，不過她倒很欣賞那快樂而完全輕鬆的氣氛。這次他們記得點選天婦羅食物，所以那晚他們有個徹底地愉快的經驗。

Mr and Mrs Reeve took trains and buses to many places, stayed in Japanese-style hotels, and tasted the local hand-made dessert and noodles. They were amazed how efficient and clean the public transportation systems were in Japan. They visited Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan, the beautiful Himeji Castle and many famous places in Tokyo, such as the Meiji Shrine, Asakusa-Kannon Temple and Ueno Park; they went to the Kabukiza Theatre in Ginza to see one of the unique Japanese kabuki plays. Mrs Reeve had a wonderful time shopping in Ginza; she was very impressed by the smiling, polite and helpful shop assistants.

呂富夫婦搭乘火車和巴士到很多地方，住在日式旅館，也嘗試各處的當地手工甜點與麵條。他們很驚詫於日本的公共交通系統是那麼有效率與乾淨。他們參觀了日本最高的山脈富士山，美麗的姬路城和東京許多著名的地方，例如明治神宮，浅草觀音寺與上野公園﹔他們去銀座的歌舞伎座劇院觀賞日本獨一的歌舞伎戯劇。呂富太太在銀座購物時有了很不錯的時光﹔她對那些帶著微笑、有禮貌又樂於幫忙的店員頗有好感。

“They make me feel so pampered and I just can’t walk out of the shop without buying a thing or two.” Mrs Reeve was particularly pleased with the elegant kimono, “I’ll be the envy of all my friends back home.” Mr Reeve couldn’t agree more since the kimono had made a big hole in their bank balance.
With so many new and exciting things to do, time passed too quickly and soon it was the end of the holiday for Mr and Mrs Reeve. Millie was upset when the time came for them to go, but they promised to visit again soon because they had had such an exciting time in Japan.

“她們令我覺得很受寵讓我感到若不買一兩件東西就走不出店。” 呂富太太特別對那優雅的和服感到很滿意，“回家後我將是我所有的朋友們羨慕的對象。”呂富先生是再同意不過了，因為那和服在他們的銀行餘額挖了個大洞。
有這麼多新的和有趣的事要做，時光過得可真快而不久呂富夫婦的假期就要結束了。當他們該離開的時候即將到來時咪莉感到很傷心，但他們答應很快會再來訪因為他們在日本有了非常有趣的時光。