作为所里的唯一一名中国代表，我经常得被动阅读一些五花八门的有关中国的英文短文。什么丁玲的文学创作与爱情啦，毛泽东鲜为人知的故事啦，刘宾雁的中国之爱啦，中国的三大伟帝啦，传统中国人的生活啦，孔夫子对中国的贡献啦，等等等等，诸如此类。

这些文章是各国鬼子在报纸杂志上看到以后，自己读完觉得有趣，然后想象我作为一个中国人一定会觉得它们更有趣，所以就兴高采烈地呈上来了。他们不但让我读，而且还喜欢对文章里所谈到的题目大发评论，一个个都俨然一幅中国通的架式。显然，掌握有关我们遥远而神秘的中国的知识，是件令他们引为殊荣的事。

对于这些送到眼皮底下的“好文章”，我是不可以置之不理的: 怎么也不能让鬼子们产生错觉，好像咱中国人对中国事儿没兴趣似的对吧。可惜真读起来的话这些文章还真挺没劲的，多数其实就是对中国有一知半解的鬼子在蒙骗对中国毫不知情的鬼子。

今天来的这篇稍微好玩儿些，是有关相面术的，读着感觉很新鲜，好像还真是那么回事 --- 连我都被蒙了。

文章是英国一家电台的节目主持人写的关于他采访一位中医的故事。
节选如下。 (我不知道 “physical inspection” 是不是应该译成 “相面术” , 或者有更好的译法?)
...
After a few calls, an old lady came on the line: "Could you, doctor, advise my son on how to choose his wife through physical inspection?"
I tried to stop her old-fashioned talk - by law, broadcasters were expected to uphold the voice of revolution and liberation. But, in truth, I wanted to learn more about physical inspection.
"Listen!" she cried. "You have no idea about little Chinese traditional knowledge you have, all of you. You don't know how to get a better family with this kind of advice."
"Should we cut her line off?" the program controller asked me.
"Don't worry," I said.
"Come on, doctor! You know it as a part of your Chinese medicine studies, don't you?" the old lady caller continued.
The doctor looked to me for permission to reply. I nodded.

"OK," he said. "Physical inspection was a very important part of Chinese male culture before the 1940s. The ancient Chinese believed the human body was full of information about the personality of an individual and could be used for checking unmarried girls:
"Lowered eyes, unsmiling: she might hide her true thoughts. Raised eyes, smiling: she could be flirtatious.
“Nose like a hook: she might be after your family’s money, but it could mean she is frugal.
“Curled lips: she is very negative and will nag.
“Soft ears: she is too soft-hearted and overly generous with money.
“High forehead: she comes from a very talented background.
“Curved back: she could bring shame on her future family…”

Later, as we left the studio, I asked him: “How many physical inspections did you perform until you found your wife?”
“None. She was given to me by her father, the head of my hospital.”
“Lucky you! What about your mother-in-law? Was she chosen by physical inspection?” I asked.
“You want to know the truth?” he asked. “She has almost everything the opposite of good physical characteristics.”
“But why didn’t your father-in-law use physical inspection for his own marriage when it was popular in his time?” I asked.
“He said his mother told him: the best choice of a wife is that you must make sure no one else wants your wife as a lover, then you are safe and will be with her forever.
“That’s how he tried to persuade me to marry his daughter!”

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后记： 最近，我想出了个好办法，肯定可以免除被迫阅读之苦。以后谁要是再来介绍他们的“中国文章”，我就顺便推荐个真正好的中国文章给谁读，而且肯定都是大部头的。我也会告诉他们：“等你读完了，我准备跟你讨论讨论”。今天，我就十分热情地介绍这篇相面术的推荐者去读西厢记了。 哈哈！保管他近期之内不敢再送文章来了！：)