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When I was in Brazil I had struggled to learn the local language, and
decided to give my physics lectures in Portuguese. Soon after I came to
Caltech, I was invited to a party hosted by Professor Bacher. Before I
arrived at the party, Bacher told the guests, "This guy Feynman thinks he's
smart because he learned a little Portuguese, so let's fix him good: Mrs.
Smith, here (she's completely Caucasian), grew up in China. Let's have her
greet Feynman in Chinese."
I walk into the party innocently, and Bacher introduces me to all these
people: "Mr. Feynman, this is Mr. So-and-so."
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Feynman."
"And this is Mr. Such-and-such."
"My pleasure, Mr. Feynman."
"And this is Mrs. Smith."
"Ai, choong, ngong jia!" she says, bowing.
This is such a surprise to me that I figure the only thing to do is to
reply in the same spirit. I bow politely to her, and with complete
confidence I say, "Ah ching, jong jien!"
"Oh, my God!" she exclaims, losing her own composure. "I knew this
would happen -- I speak Mandarin and he speaks Cantonese!"
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в продолжение темы о Фейнмане)
отрывок из той самой "Surely you're joking, Mr Feynman!"
http://a-juce.livejournal.com/214871.html