第一碗拉面
How hand-pulled noodles are made: the apprentice's first bowl
Name: ________________ Date: ________
我在一家牛肉面店学拉面。来了三个月，老板一次也没让我拉面，每天只让我洗碗。
老板拉面的时候，我就在旁边看。一块面团，老板两只手一拉，就变得很长。两头放在一起，再一拉，就成了两条；再来，四条，八条……这样做七次，就有一百二十八条面条了。
面条在他手里，好像在跳舞，“啪”的一声打在桌子上，又细又白。
今天中午，客人特别多，老板忙不过来。他看了看我：“你来，一碗细的！”
我很紧张。我拿起面团，两只手一拉，又一拉。面条有的地方粗，有的地方细，还断了一条。最后放进锅里的，有的像筷子，有的像线。
我把面条拿给客人，是一个白头发的老爷爷。“对不起，这是我第一次拉面……”
老爷爷看了看碗，没说话，一口一口地吃完了，连汤也喝完了。
走的时候，他笑着对我说：“好吃。三十年前，你们老板做的第一碗，比这个还难看。”
我一看，老板站在锅旁边，脸都红了。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place |
| 客人 | kèren | guest; visitor |
| 碗 | wǎn | bowl |
| 地方 | dìfang | place |
| 最后 | zuìhòu | finally; in the end; last; final |
| 筷子 | kuàizi | chopsticks |
| 像 | xiàng | like; as |
| 脸 | liǎn | face |
| 拉 | lā | to empty one's bowels; to have (diarrhea) |
| 细 | xì | thin; slender; fine |
| 粗 | cū | thick; wide |
| 汤 | tāng | soup; broth |
English (for the teacher)
I'm learning to make hand-pulled noodles at a beef noodle shop. I've been here three months, and the boss hasn't let me pull noodles once; every day he only lets me wash the bowls.
When the boss pulls noodles, I watch from the side. One piece of dough: he pulls it with both hands, and it gets very long. He puts the two ends together, pulls again, and it becomes two strands; again, four, eight … Do that seven times, and there are a hundred and twenty-eight noodles.
In his hands the noodles seem to dance; they hit the table with a slap, thin and white.
Today at lunch there were loads of customers, and the boss couldn't keep up. He looked at me. “You do it, one bowl, thin!”
I was very nervous. I picked up the dough and pulled with both hands, then pulled again. The noodles were thick in some places and thin in others, and one strand broke. What finally went into the pot was partly as thick as chopsticks, partly as thin as thread.
I took the noodles out to the customer, an old man with white hair. “I'm sorry, it's my first time pulling noodles …”
The old man looked at the bowl and said nothing; he ate it bite by bite, down to the last drop of soup.
As he was leaving, he smiled and said to me, “Delicious. Thirty years ago, the first bowl your boss made looked even worse than this.”
I looked over: the boss was standing by the pot, and his face had gone red.