薛洪君

Oil is valuable. In fact， it is so valuable that it’s often called black gold. However， oil isn’t the only liquid to hold this title. Coming in1 as the second-most valuable trade item in the world， coffee has enormous economic， social， and even political power. Researchers claim that over 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed every single day. Let’s find out some interesting facts about “Coffee”.

1. Coffee is actually a fruit.

Coffee is actually a fruit like a cherry. Its seed is often called coffee beans because of its resemblance2 to actual beans. Because it is a fruit it could be processed differently for getting different type of flavors. Depending on the variety， the roast， and the brewing method， coffee can be brewed to taste like white grape， lemon zest3， plum juice， strawberry jam， etc.

2. The name came from Arabic word “qahwah”.

The term coffee came from the Dutch word “koffie” which was originally borrowed from Ottoman Turkish4 language word “kahve”. It is interesting that “kahve” was originally borrowed from Arabic word “Qahwah”. Qahwah is also known as Arabic coffee.

3. George Washington invented instant coffee.

No， not that George Washington. While Satori Kato actually created the first “recipe”5 for making instant coffee， the man who invented the first mass produced instant coffee was George Constant Louis Washington， born in Kortrijk， Belgium in May 1871. While it wasn’t very tasty， it did hit the spot6 for soldiers on the battlefield in World War I.

4. The stock exchange7—both in London and in New York—started in coffeehouses.

Just as they are today， coffee houses often served as portable8 “offices” for gentlemen doing business in earlier years. Both the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchanges started in popular coffee houses in their respective cities. Other financial industries that also started in coffee house include auction houses （Sotheby’s of London） and the insurance industry—Lloyds of London began in a coffee house as well.

5. Coffee was first cultivated in Middle East.

Although Coffee plant was first in Ethiopia it was first cultivated in Yemen. Initially it was used for religious purpose for Arabs at that time. From Middle East it was reached Europe through Italy in 17th century.

6. Coffee may not make you sober， but it does seem to protect your liver from alcohol related diseases.

Despite old wives tales9 to the contrary， if you feed coffee to a drunk， all you get is a wide-awake10 drunk. On the other hand， considerable research has found that people who drink coffee regularly show a much lower incidence of all liver diseases， including cirrhosis of the liver， which is commonly associated with chronic alcoholism.

7. In ancient Arab culture， coffee was grounds for divorce.

While mid-1970s US ads centered around women who couldn’t make a good cup of coffee and the displeasure of their husbands， in ancient times， the onus11 for coffee was laid upon the providers. A woman could legally divorce her husband if he failed to provide her with enough coffee.

石油很寶貴。事實(shí)上，正因其寶貴，常被稱(chēng)為“黑色的金子”。不過(guò)，石油并非唯一享此美譽(yù)的液體。作為交易額位居世界第二的商品，咖啡有著巨大的經(jīng)濟(jì)、社會(huì)甚至政治影響力。研究人員指出，每天都會(huì)有20多億杯咖啡被喝掉。這里是關(guān)于“咖啡”的一些趣事。

1. 咖啡實(shí)際上是一種果實(shí)。

咖啡實(shí)際上是一種果實(shí)，類(lèi)似櫻桃。種子的外形像真正的豆類(lèi)，所以常被稱(chēng)作咖啡豆。對(duì)這樣的果實(shí)進(jìn)行不同方式的加工，可制作出各種口味?？Х纫榔淦贩N、烘焙和煮制方式，能煮泡出如白葡萄、檸檬皮、李子汁、草莓醬等諸多味道。

2. 其名稱(chēng)源自阿拉伯語(yǔ) qahwah。

coffee一詞來(lái)源于荷蘭語(yǔ)koffie，而koffie是借用奧斯曼土耳其語(yǔ)kahve一詞。有趣的是，kahve最初是借用阿拉伯詞語(yǔ)Qahwah。Qahwah也就是阿拉伯咖啡。

3. 喬治·華盛頓發(fā)明了速溶咖啡。

不，不是大家都知道的喬治·華盛頓。毋庸諱言，加藤聰里創(chuàng)制了速溶咖啡的首個(gè)“配方”，但量產(chǎn)速溶咖啡的首創(chuàng)者是1871年5月出生于比利時(shí)科特賴(lài)克市的喬治·康斯坦特·路易斯·華盛頓。盡管這種咖啡味道不很可口，卻在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)的士兵中廣受歡迎。

4.倫敦和紐約的證券交易所都始自咖啡館。

正如今天的情形一樣，咖啡館早些年也是生意人的便攜“辦公室”。無(wú)論倫敦交易所還是紐約交易所，都是從各自城市備受青睞的咖啡館起家。其他由咖啡館發(fā)展而來(lái)的金融行當(dāng)包括拍賣(mài)行（如倫敦的蘇富比拍賣(mài)行）和保險(xiǎn)業(yè)——倫敦的勞埃德銀行，前身也是咖啡館。

5.咖啡最先在中東培植。

雖然最早發(fā)現(xiàn)咖啡樹(shù)是在埃塞俄比亞，但最早種植卻是在也門(mén)。起初它被當(dāng)時(shí)的阿拉伯人用于宗教目的，17世紀(jì)從中東通過(guò)意大利傳至歐洲。

6.咖啡不見(jiàn)得能讓你清醒，但似乎的確能保護(hù)肝臟免受酒精相關(guān)疾病的侵襲。

盡管關(guān)于咖啡的功效有很多荒誕傳說(shuō)，不過(guò)若是讓醉酒的人飲咖啡，最終也只是讓其毫無(wú)睡意。另一方面，大量研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，常喝咖啡的人各類(lèi)肝病的發(fā)生率要低很多，包括肝硬化，而該病常見(jiàn)于慢性酒精中毒者。

7.古老的阿拉伯文化中，咖啡竟是離婚的理由。

20世紀(jì)70年代中期，美國(guó)廣告最為鐘愛(ài)的題材是女人煮不出好咖啡如何令丈夫不開(kāi)心;不過(guò)在古代，有關(guān)咖啡的一應(yīng)責(zé)任卻是落在養(yǎng)家者的身上。法律規(guī)定，如果丈夫不能供給足夠的咖啡，妻子可以提出離婚。? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?□

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)選手）