49 筷子

49 筷子
几千年来，我们中国人一直将筷子视为一种将饭送入口中的最简单、有效的工具。早在周朝时期，筷子便被人们用来夹取荤、蔬菜，而米饭在那时则用手来取食。筷子的大小基本一样，而制作筷子的材料则各有不同，所选材料有竹子、木材、玉石等。中国人使用筷子的方法很有艺术性，各人有各人的方法，就好像签名一样，不尽一致。中国人一般都能随心所欲地用筷子夹起一粒米饭，一粒豌豆，甚至一只滑溜溜的丸子。

>> The Chopsticks
For several thousand years, we Chinese have always regarded chopsticks as the easiest and most effective utensil to bring food into the mouth. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, chopsticks were used to pick up meat and vegetable dishes while rice was eaten with one's hands. The chopsticks, which are of more or less the same size, are made of different types of materials such as bamboo, wood and jade, etc. Chinese have an artistic way of using chopsticks. Different people use chopsticks in a different way just like their signatures which are not completely the same. Chinese people usually can use chopsticks at will to pick up a grain of rice, a pea or even a slippery round mass of food.