A brief history of alcohol

來源視頻

This chimpanzee stumbles across a windfall（橫財） of overripe plums.?

Many of them have split（分裂） open,?

drawing him ?to their intoxicating fruity odor（氣味）.?

He gorges himself?

and begins to experience some… ?strange effects.?

This unwitting ape ?has stumbled on a process?

that humans will eventually harness?

to create ?beer, wine, and other alcoholic drinks.

這只黑猩猩偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了 一堆熟透了的李子。（stumble 絆倒 ；?stumbles?across?偶然發(fā)現(xiàn) ）

好多已經(jīng)爛熟得咧開了口子， 飄出醉人的水果香氣。

它不由得狼吞虎咽起來， 然后一些……奇怪的感覺產(chǎn)生了。

這只不知情的黑猩猩 碰巧經(jīng)歷了一種作用過程，

這一過程后來被人類 所運用于制造啤酒、

紅酒和其他酒精飲料。

The sugars in overripe fruit ?attract microscopic organisms?

known as yeasts.??

As the yeasts feed on the fruit sugars ?they produce a compound called ethanol—?

the type of alcohol ?in alcoholic beverages.?

This process is called fermentation.

熟透的水果里的糖分 吸引來一些名為酵母的微生物。

當酵母進食果糖后， 便產(chǎn)出一種名為乙醇的化合物，

?即酒精飲料里的酒精。

?這個過程被稱為發(fā)酵。

Nobody knows exactly when?

humans began ?to create fermented beverages.?

The earliest known evidence ?comes from ,? 7,000 BCE in China,?

where residue in clay pots?

has revealed that people ?were making an alcoholic beverage?

from fermented rice, millet, ?grapes, and honey.

?我們不知道人類第一次 制作發(fā)酵飲料的確切時間。

?已有的證據(jù)顯示 最早可追溯到公元前7000年的中國，

?出土陶罐中的殘留物表明

?那時人們已經(jīng)開始利用經(jīng)過發(fā)酵的 稻米、粟米、葡萄和蜂蜜

?制作酒精飲料了。

?Within a few thousand years,?

?cultures all over the world ?were fermenting their own drinks.?

?Ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians ?made beer throughout the year?

?from stored cereal grains.?

?This beer ?was available to all social classes,?

?and workers ?even received it in their daily rations（給養(yǎng)、配給）.

?在幾千年間，

?世界上各個文明利用發(fā)酵， 制造著屬于自己的飲品。

?古代美索不達米亞和埃及地區(qū)

?一年到頭都在 利用儲存的谷物釀造啤酒。

?這種啤酒向社會各個階層開放，

?甚至每日向工人們定量發(fā)放。

?They also made wine,?

?but because the climate ?wasn’t ideal for growing grapes,?

?it was a rare and expensive delicacy（美味；精致）.?

?By contrast, in Greece and Rome, ?where grapes grew more easily,?

?wine was as readily available ?as beer was in Egypt and Mesopotamia.?

?Because yeasts ?will ferment basically any plant sugars,?

?ancient peoples made alcohol?

?from whatever crops and plants ?grew where they lived.

?他們還制作紅酒，

?但由于當?shù)貧夂虿贿m宜種植葡萄，

?那是一種稀有而昂貴的佳釀。

?相反，希臘和羅馬的環(huán)境 適合葡萄生長，

?那兒的紅酒就如同埃及和 美索不達米亞的啤酒一般平常。

?由于酵母幾乎能使 任何一種植物糖發(fā)酵，

?古人就利用當?shù)氐?各種農(nóng)作物和植物釀酒。

?In South America, ?people made chicha from grains,?

?sometimes adding hallucinogenic herbs.?

?In what’s now Mexico, ?pulque, made from cactus sap（（植物）汁、液）,?

?was the drink of choice,?

?while East Africans ?made banana and palm beer.?

?And in the area that’s now Japan, ?people made sake（利益；目的；清酒） from rice.?

?Almost every region of the globe ?had its own fermented drinks.

?在南美洲，人們用糧食釀奇恰酒，

?有時還添加致幻草藥。

?在墨西哥，由仙人掌汁液制成的 龍舌蘭酒也大受歡迎。

?東非的人們制作 香蕉啤酒和棕櫚啤酒，

?而在如今是日本的地區(qū)， 人們用大米制成清酒。

?世界上幾乎各個角落都 創(chuàng)造了其獨屬的酒飲。

?As alcohol consumption ?became part of everyday life,?

?some authorities latched（占有、鎖住） onto effects ?they perceived as positive—?

?Greek physicians ?considered wine to be good for health,?

?and poets ?testified to its creative qualities.?

?Others were more concerned ?about alcohol’s potential for abuse.

?隨著飲酒成為了一項生活日常，

?權威們對酒精帶來的積極效用 產(chǎn)生了濃厚的興趣。（latch?onto? 緊抓；明白）

?希臘醫(yī)師們宣稱 紅酒有益于身體健康，

?詩人們也贊嘆 酒精對創(chuàng)造力的顯著裨益。

?其他人則對酒精的濫用表達了隱憂。

?Greek philosophers promoted temperance.?

?Early Jewish and Christian writers ?in Europe integrated wine into rituals?

?but considered excessive（過度） intoxication（中毒；陶醉；喝醉） ?a sin.?

?And in the middle east, ?Africa, and Spain,?

?an Islamic rule ?against praying while drunk?

?gradually solidified ?into a general ban on alcohol.

?例如，希臘的哲學家們就提倡要節(jié)制慎飲。

?早期的歐洲猶太教和基督教的 作家們將紅酒融入禮教，

?但將醉酒斥為罪孽。

?在中東、非洲和西班牙，

?一項伊斯蘭律法從禁止醉酒時祈禱

?逐漸演化成對酒精的全面抵制。

?Ancient fermented beverages ?had relatively low alcohol content.?

?At about 13 % alcohol,?

?the by-products wild yeasts ?generate during fermentation?

?become toxic and kill them.?

?When the yeasts die,?

?fermentation stops ?and the alcohol content levels off.?

?So for thousands of years, ?alcohol content was limited.?

?古法發(fā)酵飲品的酒精濃度相對較低。

?大約發(fā)酵到?13% 時，

?野生酵母就會產(chǎn)生有毒副產(chǎn)品

?并殺死酵母。

?酵母失效后，發(fā)酵過程也終止了， 酒精濃度便隨之穩(wěn)定。

?所以幾千年來， 酒精濃度都是有限的。

?That changed ?with the invention of a process?

?called distillation.?

?9th century Arabic writings ?describe boiling fermented liquids?

?to vaporize the alcohol in them.?

?Alcohol boils ?at a lower temperature than water,?

?so it vaporizes first.?

?Capture this vapor, cool it down, ?and what’s left is liquid alcohol?

?much more concentrated ?than any fermented beverage.

?而蒸餾的發(fā)明改變了這一切。

?9世紀的阿拉伯文獻有記載，

?沸騰的發(fā)酵液體能揮發(fā)出酒精。

?由于酒精的沸點比水低， 所以會首先揮發(fā)掉。

?將揮發(fā)的氣體收集起來，并冷卻， 便能得到比任何發(fā)酵飲料

?純度高很多的液體酒精。

?At first, these stronger spirits ?were used for medicinal purposes.?

?Then, spirits became ?an important trade commodity?（商品）

?because, unlike beer and wine, ?they didn’t spoil.

?一開始，這些高濃度酒精被用于醫(yī)療中。

?接著，它成了一種重要的交易品，

?這是因為酒精 不像啤酒和紅酒那樣會變質。

?Rum made from sugar?

?harvested in European colonies ?in the Caribbean?

?became a staple（主要產(chǎn)品） for sailors?

?and was traded to North America.?

?Europeans brought ?brandy and gin to Africa?

?and traded it ?for enslaved（使成為奴隸） people, land,?

?and goods like palm oil and rubber.?

?Spirits became ?a form of money in these regions.

?歐洲在加勒比的殖民地 所收獲的糖，發(fā)酵產(chǎn)生了朗姆酒，

?并成為貿(mào)易中的主要商品， 被海員們賣到了北美。

?歐洲人又將白蘭地和金酒引進了非洲，

?用它們來交換奴隸、土地和物品， 例如棕櫚油和橡膠。

?烈酒在這些地區(qū)成為了一種貨幣。

?During the Age of Exploration,?

?spirits played a crucial role ?in long distance sea voyages.?

?Sailing from Europe to east Asia ?and the Americas could take months,?

?and keeping water fresh ?for the crews was a challenge.?

?Adding a bucket of brandy ?to a water barrel kept water fresh longer?

?because alcohol is a preservative ?that kills harmful microbes.

?在大航海時代，

?烈酒在長途航海中有著重要的作用。

?從歐洲到東亞和美洲 常常要航行數(shù)月，

?保持海員生存所需的淡水清潔， 是嚴峻的挑戰(zhàn)。

?往水桶中添加一勺白蘭地 能延長淡水的保質期，

?因為酒精作為一種防腐劑 能殺死有害微生物。

?So by the 1600s,?

?alcohol had gone from ?simply giving animals a buzz?

?to fueling global trade and exploration— ?along with all their consequences.?

?As time went on,?

?its role in human society ?would only get more complicated.

?到了?17?世紀，

?酒精從一種能讓動物感到暈眩的物質，

?演變成全球貿(mào)易和探險開拓的重要產(chǎn)品， 同時帶來了種種影響。

?隨著時間的推移，酒精在人類社會中的 角色將會變得越來越復雜。

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Tracing the history of our industry and agriculture

gives us a fascinating look at what we value as the species

and how we end up where we are today.

Check out these two lessons for a super-specific and eye-opening look at why we're like this.

追溯我們的工業(yè)和農(nóng)業(yè)的歷史

讓我們著迷地看待我們作為物種的價值

以及我們?nèi)绾巫罱K走到今天這一步。

看看這兩節(jié)極其具體和令人大開眼界的課，了解我們?yōu)楹螘@樣。