Maude's kowtowing was most unlike the dogmatism of his ancestor, but the level of negotiation on both sides was still about that of a chicken talking to a duck.
麥氏的北平行比起老祖宗麥卡尼堅持不行磕頭禮的態勢，固然今非昔比；但雙方在交涉過程中表現出的「雞同鴨講」、解讀失誤，卻歷久彌新。