舌尖上的航海丨第1集 情人节里的“哥伦布”

《圣瓦伦丁号》是艘特殊的运输船。“圣瓦伦丁”的英语原文“Valeutines DaY”，在情人节登录美国的时尚网站，出来的结果百分之八十是关于吃的，其中绝大多数是关于巧克力的，每个頁面都让人垂涎欲滴。

《圣瓦伦丁号》是艘专门运输巧克力的货船，所以起这个船名就不奇怪了。

更让人稀奇的是，情人节的英语原文并非“Larey，s Day“而是“Va丨eutines Day”（即圣瓦伦丁），难道这是“翻译事故“吗！

这里有鲜为人知的奥妙和故事。

《圣瓦伦丁号》大台（餐厅）是船员聚餐，也是娱乐的“圣地“。

每逢节假日，大台里除摆满各类美食佳肴，还会讲述许多航海与美食的故事。

这天，《圣瓦伦丁号》航行在大西洋上，正值“情人节”。

大台餐桌上摆满了各式各样的巧克力。这些巧克力大多是船长皮特从世界各地“淘”来的。

远洋水手的漂洋过海生活十分特殊，常年漂泊在海上，与家人聚少离多，思乡之情并未有因距离而淡薄，逢年过节，总会用各种方式怀念远方的亲人。

《圣瓦伦丁号》船长皮特出身在意大利哥伦布的故乡热那亚，典型的“感情包”，更是一位哥伦布迷！

每逢佳节，无论在繁忙的码头，还是在茫茫大洋里，皮特船长总会让人在大台里备上美酒佳肴，并讲上一段让人难忘的鲜为人知的航海人的故事；比如，哥伦布娶了名门闺秀莫尼斯，为哥伦布周旋于葡萄牙和西班牙上层社会，为运洋出海打下基础，著名的海盗船长纳多德如何用渡鸦发现“冰岛“的传奇…，甚至还会有板有眼地讲述中国秦朝航海家徐福东渡日本，寻找“长生不老药“的傳说…，当然，皮特船长讲得最多的仍然是哥伦布的故事，谁让他是“哥伦布迷”哩！

这些故事让水手们着迷，同时也学到了许多航海知识，情人节里餐厅里为啥摆满了各式各样的巧克力，难道它与航海和情人节有关吗？

人们正在猜疑，皮特船长身著哥伦布式服装亮相在餐厅里：“哥伦布！”人们不禁惊叫起来。

皮特船长奇特的装扮引起人们一阵哄笑和掌声。

皮特船长随手拿起桌上一块巧克力，端祥片刻，神秘地说：“《情人节》与巧克力，更与哥伦布航海有关，你们知道吗！”

水手们没有猜错，皮特船长三句不离哥伦布，这是不争的事实：”哥伦布是海员的骄傲！“这是皮特船长的口头禅。

但是，人们从未听说过哥伦布与情人节和巧克力有关！

情人节的大西洋风平浪静，显得格外温柔。餐厅里点起少见的蜡烛和摆满了五颜六色的鲜花。

除了值班人员外，水手们都聚集在餐厅里，听皮特船长讲述哥伦布与情人节和巧克力的故事。

“据说，情人节这天，全球巧克力的销量高达263万公斤，这是有史以来，食品销量的最高纪录！”

皮特船长整理了一下身上的服装，轻轻咳嗽了一声，讲起了一段耐人寻味又离奇的故事。

”大约在公元前五世纪未期，罗馬教皇正式确认每年的2月14日为《圣瓦伦丁节》（今情人节）。那时候，欧州人还未听说过《巧克力》这个陌生的名词。

但是，远在数千里之外的拉丁美洲的玛雅人和阿兹特克人，已经享用了巧克力1500多年。

直到15世纪初，哥伦布率领饱经风霜的探险船队归来，向西班牙女王伊莎贝拉敬献的礼物中，除黄金珠宝外，还有一种酷似春药的黑褐色东西。这件黑褐色的东西迷人的香味和神奇的传说，立刻使欧州的贵族着了迷，成了当时贵族独享的珍品！

十九世纪初，英国一家名叫吉百利的糖果公司，将这黑褐色东西制成糖果，寻常百姓才知晓它叫巧克力。

巧克力开始风靡欧州。

但是，此时，巧克力与圣瓦伦丁节没有任何关係和爪葛。

1861年，吉百利家族一名叫理查德的族人突发奇想，做出一款心形的包装盒，将巧克力放置其中，并特意选在情人节上市，顿时火爆全球。

从此，开始了情人节与巧克力的不解浪漫之缘！

随看现代科技的发展，人们发现巧克力中含有苯乙胺，是种能触发某种如坠爱河感觉的元素。为巧克力与情人节结合浪漫关係，做出合乎情理的解解。“

讲到这里，皮特船长突然仃顿下来，拿起桌上一块巧克力，口气变得缓慢而低沉，说：“按照西方宗教的传说，2月14日非但不是一个浪漫的日子，而是一个悲苦，殉道和牺牲的时刻。传说中，罗馬皇帝认为已婚男子不願离家当兵违背天理，因此颁布了一道禁止结婚的法令。此刻，一个名叫圣瓦伦丁的主教却违背罗馬皇帝的旨意，秘密为青年人举行婚礼。圣瓦伦丁的行为激怒了罗馬皇帝，终在公元273年2月14日圣瓦伦丁被处死刑。

这个故事流传了一千多年。这天成了纪念圣瓦伦丁牺牲的纪念日。

直到公元1382年，英国诗人乔叟一首浪漫诗《百鸟会议》中写道，因为今天是《圣瓦伦丁节》，所有鸟儿都会来此选择它们的配偶。这时，《圣瓦伦丁节》才有了情人节的寓意。”

皮特船长最后长长嘘了一口气说：“无论如何，《圣瓦伦丁节》有了春日万物姿情生长的寓意，最后它与巧克力结缘，还是靠伟大的航海家哥伦布的功劳，是他不远万里把巧克力从美洲带到了欧洲！“

皮特船长三句不离夲行，不愧为哥伦布的忠实崇拜者。

“圣瓦伦丁号》的船员过了一个非同寻常的《情人节》，也诠释了《情人节》英语翻译的“合理错误”。

Columbus and Valentine’s Day

The St Valentine is a cargo ship that specializes in the transportation of chocolate.

When searching for a gift on Valentine’s Day, a vast majority of people immediately

think of chocolate. Chocolate and Valentine’s Day are indisputably tied to one another, so it’s

not difficult to imagine where St Valentine got its name. But its sailors often wondered, how

come the name of the holiday that celebrates love isn’t “Lover’s Day”, but “Valentine’s

Day”?

Though the St Valentine is quite an obscure vessel, many wondrous stories transpired

aboard this inconspicuous raft.

The grand terrace on St Valentine’s deck is a homely gathering spot for the sailors,

and also a sanctuary for entertainment. When the crew spends holidays at sea, the terrace is

adorned with a wide variety of seafood, and tales of seafaring are told amongst the seamen.

The life that sailors live is very special. They often spend years adrift at sea, they

leave home more often than they are able to return to their families. As vast as the ocean is,

it’s still unable to dilute the sailors’ longing and homesickness.

The St Valentine’s Captain, Captain Pete, was no outlier. Born in the town of Genoa,

Italy, Pete was known for his theatrical stories and his fascination with Christopher

Columbus. On any festive occasion, whether it was in a busy dock or on the vast ocean,

Captain Pete would always would always have wine and food prepared in the large stage, and

tell an unforgettable story of little-known seafarers: how Columbus married Filipa Moniz

Perestrelo, a Portuguese noblewoman from Porto Santo Island, who helped Columbus secure

assistance whenever he set sail for long journeys; stories of the famous Captain Nadode, who

used ravens to unravel the legends of Iceland; he’d even speak of the Chinese navigator Xu

Fu of the Qin Dynasty, who crossed into Japan to search for the medicine for immortality.

Above all, however, Captain Pete repeatedly told tales of Christopher Columbus, as Pete was

an unrelenting fan of the navigator.

These stories fascinated Captain Pete’s crewmen, and taught them a lot about sailing.

And so, on Valentine’s Day, as the grand terrace was adorned by chocolates collected

from all across the world by Captain Pete himself, his sailors wondered: is the romantic

holiday somehow related to seafaring?

As the sailors argued amongst themselves, Captain Pete appeared in front of the

terrace, dressed from head to toe in Columbus-style clothing, and exclaimed, “Columbus!”

His peculiar outfit and overwhelming enthusiasm was met with laughter.

Captain Pete picked up a piece of chocolate from the table, held it above his head, and

said mysteriously, “Valentine’s Day is definitely related to seafaring, but it’s all the more tied

to Christopher Columbus!”

The sailors who guessed correctly were delighted, but none of them had actually ever

heard of Columbus’s relation to the delicious sweets. Aside from the few sailors who were on

shift, everyone else gathered around Captain Pete, anticipating a captivating tale of Columbus

and his chocolates.

The sea on Valentine’s Day was calm and quiet, gentle and serene. The crew lit the

grand terrace with their most precious candles and decorated it with colorful flowers.

“It is said that every Valentine's Day, global sales of chocolate

reach 2.63 million kilograms, the highest food sales ever recorded!”

Captain Pete dusted off his costume, cleared his throat, and started

to tell his bizarre story.

"Around the end of the fifth century B.C., the Pope officially

recognized February 14 of each year as "St. Valentine's Day", known today

as Valentine's Day. At the time, however, most Europeans had not yet heard

of the unfamiliar term "chocolate".But the Mayans and Aztecs, who lived

thousands of miles away in Latin America, had been indulging in the treat

for over 1500 years.

It wasn’t until the beginning of the 15th century, after Columbus

returned from a weathered expedition to the Americas, when Queen Isabella

of Spain received a set of cocoa beans along with jewelry, gold, and other

treasures. The unique taste and magical legends surrounding this dark brown

confectionary charmed the European nobility, and became an extremely

valuable gift amongst the noblemen!

Four hundred years later, a British company named Cadbury processed

these cocoa beans into a candy. Cadbury made cocoa beans more widely

available to the general public, who came to know these sweets as

“chocolate”.

Chocolate launched into Europe by storm. However, at the time,

chocolate still had no relationship with the Feast of St. Valentine.

In 1861, a member of the Cadbury family named Richard was suddenly

inspired to make a heart-shaped box to package chocolates in, and chose the

fateful occasion of Valentine’s Day to launch the new design. Chocolates

placed in heart-shaped containers turned into a global phenomenon, and

Valentine's Day and chocolate thus embarked on an inseparable love affair.

With the development of recent technologies, scientists discovered that

chocolates contain phenylethylamine, a chemical compound that triggers a

reaction in the human nervous system that is close to the feeling of

falling in love. This provided a logical explanation for the captivating

connection between chocolate and Valentine’s Day.”

Captain Pete paused in the middle of his story and picked up a piece of

chocolate from the table. His voice turned low and his tone turned steady.

“According to old Christian legends, February 14th is not a romantic day,

but a time of sorrow, martyrdom and sacrifice. In the legend, the Roman

Emperor thought that married men who did not want to leave home to serve as

soldiers were against heavenly justice, so he issued a decree forbidding

marriage. However, a bishop named St Valentine continued to conduct

marriages for young men in secret. He was executed on February 14, 273 AD

for having angered the Roman Emperor.

This story has been passed down for generations. February 14th was

known as the anniversary of St Valentine’s tragic sacrifice.

Over a thousand years later, in 1382, the English poet Chaucer wrote a

romantic poem titled “Parlement of Foules”. Chaucer wrote that the reason

why all birds gathered on February 14th to choose their lovers, was because

St Valentine sacrificed his own life on that day so others could be with

their true love. It was only then that February 14th took on the romantic

undertone that’s now known as Valentine’s Day.”

Captain Pete took a deep breath, and continued: “St Valentine’s Day

has the symbolic meaning of the springtime blossom of all things living,

and its idyllic tie with chocolate is all thanks to the Italian explorer

Christopher Columbus, who traveled thousands of miles to bring chocolate

from the Americas to Europe!”

Captain Pete told the story with great detail and passion, proving his

place as a knowledgeable follower of Christopher Columbus, and also a

dramatic sailor with great enthusiasm for nautical history. The crew of the

St Valentine experienced an unforgettable Valentine’s Day, and now

understood the sentimental background of the holiday that celebrates love

and romantic unity.