THE ORIGIN OF COFFEE

点击数：12562020-11-17 15:43:36　来源: 淄博巴布罗翻译有限公司

The story of how coffee growing and drinking spread around the world is one of the greatest and most romantic in history. It starts in the Horn of Africa, in Ethiopia, where the coffee tree probably originated in the province of 1)Kaffa. There are various fanciful but unlikely stories surrounding the discovery of coffee beans. One story has it that an Ethiopian 2)goatherd was amazed at the lively behaviour of his goats after chewing red coffee berries. What we know with more certainty is that the 3)succulent outer cherry flesh was eaten by slaves taken from present day Sudan into Yemen and Arabia, through the great port of its day, 4)Mocha, now 5)synonymous with coffee. Coffee was certainly being cultivated in Yemen by the 15th century and probably much earlier than that.

　　咖啡的种植和饮用在全世界广泛流传的经历可以说是历史上最神奇、最浪漫的故事之一。这段传奇从位于埃塞俄比亚的非洲之角（即索马里）开始，咖啡树最早可能就是在那里的喀法省出现的。关于咖啡豆是如何被发现，有各种各样离奇但不靠谱的传说。其中一个故事说的是一个埃塞俄比亚牧羊人惊讶地发现他的山羊吃了一些红色的咖啡浆果后行为变得异常活跃。然而我们能够比较肯定的是，当年奴隶通过当时昌盛的海港摩卡从今天的苏丹被卖到也门和阿拉伯地区时，他们都会吃这些咖啡果外层味甜汁多的果肉，而时至今日摩卡已成了咖啡的同义词。到了15世纪，也门肯定已经栽种有咖啡，说不定时间还要更早些。

Mocha was also the main port for the one sea route to Mecca, and was the busiest place in the world at the time. But the Arabs had a strict policy not to export any fertile beans, so that coffee could not be cultivated anywhere else. The coffee bean is the seed of the coffee tree, but when stripped of its outer layers it becomes infertile. The race to 6)make off with some live coffee trees or beans was eventually won by the Dutch in 1616.
　　摩卡在当时也是前往圣地麦加的海上航线上的主要港口之一，也是当时世界是最繁忙的港口。但阿拉伯人有一个严格的规定，禁止出口所有能结果的豆类，因此咖啡未能在其他地方种植。咖啡豆是咖啡树的种子，但咖啡豆去壳后就不能结果了。最终，荷兰人于1616年赢得了偷取活咖啡树或咖啡豆的竞赛。

Initially, the authorities in Yemen actively encouraged coffee drinking as it was considered preferable to the extreme side effects of 7)Kat, a shrub whose buds and leaves were chewed as a stimulant. The first coffeehouses were opened in Mecca and were called “kaveh kanes”. They quickly spread throughout the Arab world and became successful places where chess was played, gossip was exchanged, and singing, dancing and music were enjoyed. They were luxuriously decorated and each had an individual character. Nothing quite like the coffeehouse had existed before: a place where society and business could be conducted in comfortable surroundings and where anyone could go, for the price of coffee.
　　也门当局一开始就积极鼓励人们饮用咖啡，因为相对于阿拉伯茶——一种果实和叶子被人们咀嚼来提神的灌木——强烈的副作用来说，咖啡要温和些。世界上的第一批咖啡馆在圣地麦加诞生，它们被叫作“kaveh kanes”。随后，咖啡馆迅速遍布阿拉伯地区，顾客盈门。它成了人们下棋、闲聊、欣赏歌舞和音乐的地方。咖啡馆的装修豪华，每家都各有特色。这是一种前所未有的场所：社交活动在这里进行，生意在这里成交；这里环境舒适，只需付上一杯咖啡的价钱，就人人都可以去。