21-pick a kettle for your enemy

Listen anddecide whether the following statements are “T” or “F”.

1. Accordingto the story, the local official never paid for the tea he drank in theteahouse. 

2. One day,the father got sick and asked his daughter to take care of the teahouse. 

3. The sonserved the official cold water and the official complained. 

4. The oldChinese saying,”pick the kettle that is not boiled” means doing or saying something that embarrasses (使……尴尬) someone else. 

Script:

Pick a kettle for your enemy

“哪壶不开提哪壶”是怎么来的？

Q:There is an old Chinesesaying, “pick the kettle that is not boiled (哪壶不开提哪壶)”. Where did it come from?

A:It’s said that a father anda son ran a teahouse (茶馆)long ago. Thanks to their hard work, it did well. However, a local official (当地官员) who was corrupt (腐败的) came to drink tea withoutpaying every day. The father and son were angry, but afraid to say anything. 

One day, the father got sick and asked his son to take care of the teahouse.The official came as usual. But the son served (服务) him cold tea – the water was not boiled (煮沸). The official complained (抱怨) a bit, but the son said thewater was boiled. After that, the official stopped coming to theteahouse. 
After the father got well and came back, he asked his son, “Why didn’t theofficial come?” The son said, “When I made tea for him, I picked the kettle (水壶) that was not boiled.”
The story and the saying behind it are well-known. People say it to mean doingor saying something that embarrasses (使……尴尬)someone else.