听力题 It was the height of chivalry during the Middle Ages for a knight to share his lady''s plate. Far from being ill-mannered, as it might be considered today, the custom of knights and ladies sharing the same trencher—or platter—at dinner was an expression of great tenderness and affection. Husband and wife invariably ate from the same plate. The knight and his lady probably did not mind sharing a common plate. One of the old medieval romances describes a feasting scene with 800 knights at a long table: "and by each sat a lady to eat off his plate". This was evidently a matter of pure delight for everyone concerned. The common folk practiced the same custom as the knights. For centuries European husbands and wives ate from the same big square platter. In England, where the custom seems to have endured longer than in other countries, old-fashioned married people in some rural places continued to eat from the same plate as recently as the early 19th century.