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A watched pot never boils
心急吃不了熱豆腐。
【Andrew's Note】
You wait, and you wait, and you wait, but waiting doesn't really help. Things will move along at their own speed whether you wait or not.
你著急地等呀、等呀、等呀，但無濟于事。不管你多么著急，事情都以自身的速度運轉著。
[1] Mr. Dong wants to attend a seminar to be held in Singapore but the organizing committee asks each participant to present a research paper focusing on ESL teaching in China. However, this requirement puts Mr. Dong in a jam.
[2] This morning he called me and said he had something urgent to talk with me. I was reluctant to leave the work at hand, but went to meet him in the office. He was all smiles to me and killed me with kindness, leaving me dumbfounded. He made a point of making tea for me himself and asked me to be seated next to him. I felt even more perplexed and puzzled.
[3] I couldn't tolerate being treated that way so I asked what the matter was. He got down to business and told me he was in direneed of a paper to present to the Singaporean Seminar. He asked me to do him another favor and promised to give me something in return for my labor. I didn't dare turn him down but I insisted that it would take some time. But Mr. Dong was not happy about that and said, "No, sir. You know the deadline is due just next week, so you must get on with itstraight away and give me the paper this Saturday night."
[4] This time I was getting huffy, saying roughly, "If time is short, I can't vouch forthe quality of your paper. You make your choice, quality or junk? Mr. Dong, a watched pot never boils."
【參考譯文】
[1] 董先生想參加一個在新加坡舉辦的研討會，但是組委會要求每個與會者需提交一篇針對ESL中國教學情況的論文。這個要求使董先生感到很棘手。
[2] 今早他給我打來電話，說是有要事和我談談。我不情愿地放下手頭上的工作,去辦公室見他。他見到我滿臉堆笑，我被這突如其來的熱情搞得一時語塞。他還專門給我沏茶，并請我落座。我越來越感到不知所措了。
[3] 我受不了這般熱情的對待，便問何故。他這才言歸正傳，他正急需一篇論文,提交到新加坡研討會。他要我幫他，并許諾會對我的勞動給予回報。我不敢拒絕他，但我強調說這需要時間。但董先生很不高興，“不，先生。你要知道最后期限就在下星期，所以，你得立馬著手行動并在周六晚交給我。”
[4] 這次我不高興了，便沒好氣地說：“ 時間不夠，我可不能保證論文質量。你自己定奪：質量還是垃圾？董先生，心急吃不了熱豆腐。”
