散文：Mr.About-theSame

Mr. About-the Same差不多先生傳胡適

Hu Shi你知道中國最有名的人是誰?

Do you know who is the most well-known person in China?提起此人，人人皆曉，處處聞名。他姓差，名不多(1)，是各省各縣各村人氏。你一定見過他，一定聽說過別人談起他。差不多先生的名字天天掛在大家的口頭，因為他是中國全國人的代表。

The name of this person is a household word all over the country. His name is Cha and his given name, Buduo, which altogether mean "About the Same". He is a native of

every province, every country and every village in this country. You must have seen orheard about this person. His name is always on the lips of everybody because he is representative of the whole Chinese nation.差不多先生的相貌和你和我都差不多。他有一雙眼睛，但看的不很清楚;他有兩只耳朵，但聽的不很分明;有鼻子和嘴，但他對于氣味和口味都不很講究。他的腦子也不小，但他的記性卻不很精明，他的思想也不很細密(2).

Mr. Cha Buduo has the same physiognomy as you and I. He has a pair of eyes, but doesn't see clearly. He has a pair of ears, but doesn't hear well. He has a nose and a mouth,

but lacks a keen sense of smell and taste. His brain is none too small, but he is weak memory and sloppy in thinking.他常常說:“凡事只要差不多，就好了。何必太精明呢?”

He often says: "whatever we do, it's OK to be just about right. What's the use of being precise and accurate:"他小的時候，他媽叫他去買紅糖，他買了白糖回來。他媽罵他，他搖搖頭說:“紅糖白糖不是差不多嗎?”

One day, when he was a child, his mother sent him out to buy her some brown sugar,but he returned with some white sugar instead. As his mother scolded him about it, he

shook his head and said, "Brown sugar or white sugar, aren't they about the same?"他在學堂的時候，先生問他:“直隸省(3)的西邊是哪一省?”他說是陜西。先生說:“錯了。是山西，不是陜西。”他說:“陜西同山西，不是差不多嗎?”

One day in school, the teacher asked him, "Which province borders Hebei on the west?" He answered, "Shaanxi," The teacher corrected him, "You are wrong. It's Shanxi, Not Shaanxi." He retorted, "Shaanxi or Shanxi, aren't they about the same?"后來他在一個錢鋪(4)里做伙計，他也會寫，也會算，只是總不會精細。十字常常寫成千字，千字常常寫成十字。掌柜的生氣了，常常罵他。他只是笑嘻嘻地賠小心道:“千字比十字只多一小撇，不是差不多嗎?”

Later Mr. Cha Buduo served as an assistant at a money shop. He could write and calculate all right, but his mathematics were/was often faulty. He would mistake the Chinese character (meaning 10)for千(meaning 1000)or vice versa. The shop owne was infuriated and often took him to task. But he would grin, "The character千differs from in merely having they about the same?" only explain apologetically with a one additional short stroke. Aren't