THE ORIGIN OF COFFEE

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.

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.

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.

The Arabian coffeehouses soon became centres of political activity and were suppressed. Coffee and coffeehouses were subsequently banned several times over the next few decades， but they kept reappearing. Eventually a solution was found when coffeehouses and coffee were taxed.

咖啡的起源

咖啡的種植和飲用在全世界廣泛流傳的經(jīng)歷可以說是歷史上最神奇、最浪漫的故事之一。這段傳奇從位于埃塞俄比亞的非洲之角（即索馬里）開始，咖啡樹最早可能就是在那里的喀法省出現(xiàn)的。關(guān)于咖啡豆是如何被發(fā)現(xiàn)，有各種各樣離奇但不靠譜的傳說。其中一個(gè)故事說的是一個(gè)埃塞俄比亞牧羊人驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)他的山羊吃了一些紅色的咖啡漿果后行為變得異?；钴S。然而我們能夠比較肯定的是，當(dāng)年奴隸通過當(dāng)時(shí)昌盛的海港摩卡從今天的蘇丹被賣到也門和阿拉伯地區(qū)時(shí)，他們都會(huì)吃這些咖啡果外層味甜汁多的果肉，而時(shí)至今日摩卡已成了咖啡的同義詞。到了15世紀(jì)，也門肯定已經(jīng)栽種有咖啡，說不定時(shí)間還要更早些。

摩卡在當(dāng)時(shí)也是前往圣地麥加的海上航線上的主要港口之一，也是當(dāng)時(shí)世界是最繁忙的港口。但阿拉伯人有一個(gè)嚴(yán)格的規(guī)定，禁止出口所有能結(jié)果的豆類，因此咖啡未能在其他地方種植?？Х榷故强Х葮涞姆N子，但咖啡豆去殼后就不能結(jié)果了。最終，荷蘭人于1616年贏得了偷取活咖啡樹或咖啡豆的競(jìng)賽。

也門當(dāng)局一開始就積極鼓勵(lì)人們飲用咖啡，因?yàn)橄鄬?duì)于阿拉伯茶——一種果實(shí)和葉子被人們咀嚼來提神的灌木——強(qiáng)烈的副作用來說，咖啡要溫和些。世界上的第一批咖啡館在圣地麥加誕生，它們被叫作“kaveh kanes”。隨后，咖啡館迅速遍布阿拉伯地區(qū)，顧客盈門。它成了人們下棋、閑聊、欣賞歌舞和音樂的地方?？Х瑞^的裝修豪華，每家都各有特色。這是一種前所未有的場(chǎng)所：社交活動(dòng)在這里進(jìn)行，生意在這里成交；這里環(huán)境舒適，只需付上一杯咖啡的價(jià)錢，就人人都可以去。

阿拉伯地區(qū)的咖啡館很快成為政治活動(dòng)的中心，因此遭到了查禁。在以后的幾十年里，咖啡和咖啡館屢次被禁，但卻總是重新冒頭。最終的解決辦法是當(dāng)局對(duì)咖啡館和咖啡課稅。

COFFEE COMES TO ASIA

The Dutch were also growing coffee at 8)Malabar in India， and in 1699 took some to 9)Batavia in Java， in what is now Indonesia. Within a few years the Dutch colonies had become the main suppliers of coffee to Europe. Today Indonesia is the fourth largest exporter of coffee in the world.

咖啡來到亞洲

荷蘭人還在印度的馬拉巴爾海岸種植咖啡，并于1699年帶了一些到如今屬于印尼爪哇的巴達(dá)維亞（雅加達(dá)的舊稱）。幾年后，荷蘭在此的殖民地就成為歐洲咖啡的主要供應(yīng)源。如今，印度尼西亞是世界上第四大咖啡出口國(guó)。

COFFEE COMES TO EUROPE

Venetian traders first brought coffee to Europe in 1615. This was a period when the two other great hot 10)beverages also appeared in Europe. Hot chocolate was the first， brought by the Spanish from the Americas to Spain in 1528; and tea， which was first sold in Europe in 1610.

At first coffee was mainly sold by lemonade 11)vendors and was believed to have medicinal qualities. The first European coffeehouse opened in Venice in 1683， with the most famous， 12)Caffe Florian in 13)Piazza San Marco， opening in 1720. It is still open for business today.

咖啡來到歐洲

威尼斯商人于1615年首次把咖啡帶回歐洲。與此同時(shí)，另外兩樣很受歡迎的熱飲料也先后在歐洲出現(xiàn)。先是由西班牙人在1528年從美洲帶回去的熱巧克力；然后是在1610年被引進(jìn)歐洲的茶。

一開始，主要是賣檸檬水的小販?zhǔn)圪u咖啡，當(dāng)時(shí)咖啡被認(rèn)為是有藥用效果的飲料。1683年，第一家歐洲咖啡館在威尼斯開張，而最有名的弗洛里安咖啡館于1720年在圣馬可廣場(chǎng)開張，至今仍在營(yíng)業(yè)。

COFFEE COMES TO THE AMERICAS

The first reference to coffee being drunk in North America is from 1668 and， soon after， coffee houses were established in New York， Philadelphia， Boston and other towns. Both the New York Stock Exchange and the Bank of New York started in coffeehouses， in what is today the financial district known as Wall Street. It was in the 1720s that coffee first came to be cultivated in the Americas，

through what is perhaps the most fascinating and romantic story in the history of coffee.

Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu was a French naval officer serving in 14)Martinique who in 1720， went to Paris on leave. With assistance and no little personal charm he acquired a coffee tree which he took with him on the ship back. The plant was kept in a glass case on deck to keep it warm and prevent damage from salt water. The journey was eventful， or at least Mr. Mathieu de Clieu’s journal of the voyage was. Pirates from Tunis threatened the ship， there was a violent storm and the plant had to be tied down. Our hero faced an enemy on board who was jealous and tried to 15)sabotage the plant. There was a violent struggle in which a branch was torn off， but the plant survived this horror. Then the ship was 16)becalmed and drinking water was rationed. De Clieu had his priorities right and gave most of his allowance of precious water to the coffee plant. It survived， as did he.

Finally， the ship arrived in Martinique and the coffee tree was replanted， where it was surrounded by a thorn hedge and watched over by slaves. It grew， and multiplied， and by 1726 the first harvest was ready. It is recorded that by 1777， there were between 18 and 19 million coffee trees on Martinique， and the model for a new cash crop that could be grown in the New World was in place.

咖啡來到美洲

在北美洲，咖啡的飲用被第一次提到是在1668年，很快，咖啡館就在紐約、費(fèi)城、波士頓及其他城市相繼出現(xiàn)。紐約股票交易所和紐約銀行誕生在位于當(dāng)今金融街區(qū)的咖啡館里，該街區(qū)即是如今赫赫有名的華爾街。咖啡首次在美洲種植是18世紀(jì)20年代，而這里發(fā)生了咖啡歷史上最迷人的浪漫故事。

加布里埃爾·馬蒂厄·德·克利是一名駐扎在馬提尼克島的法國(guó)海軍軍官，1720年，他請(qǐng)假去巴黎?？恐说膸椭约八^人的個(gè)人魅力，他弄到了一棵咖啡樹，并把它帶到了船上。為了給咖啡樹保暖，并防止海水的損害，他把樹安放在甲板上的一個(gè)玻璃箱里。旅程可謂驚險(xiǎn)重重，至少馬蒂

厄·德·克利日記里是這么記載的。突尼斯的海盜威脅著船只的安全，船遇上了猛烈的風(fēng)暴，咖啡樹要被固定住才行。而在船上，我們的主人公還有一位心懷妒意的對(duì)手，試圖毀壞咖啡樹。爭(zhēng)奪保衛(wèi)之戰(zhàn)異常激烈，樹的一條枝干被折斷了，但咖啡樹最終逃過了一劫。之后，船因無風(fēng)而停航，船上的飲用水實(shí)行統(tǒng)一定量分配。馬蒂

厄·德·克利深明大義，把自己的大部分寶貴的水用來澆咖啡樹。樹活下來了，他也幸免于難。

最終，船到達(dá)馬提尼克島，咖啡樹被種在了這里，樹的周圍豎起了帶刺的籬笆，由奴隸看守?？Х葮浞毖苌?，到1726年，人們終于迎來了第一次收獲。據(jù)記載，到了1777年，馬提尼克島有一千八百到一千九百萬株咖啡樹。于是，在新大陸上種植搖錢樹的模式也就形成了。

COFFEE TODAY

This new found “coffee culture” has started to spread to the rest of the world. To those countries with great coffee traditions of their own， such as Italy， Germany， and Scandinavia， new converts were introduced to the pleasures of good coffee. Today it is possible to find good coffee in every major city of the world， from London to Sydney to Tokyo; tomorrow the world will drink more and more importantly， better coffee.

咖啡的今天

這種新生的“咖啡文化”已開始傳播至世界其他角落。除了像意大利、德國(guó)和斯堪的納維亞半島諸國(guó)這些有著各自豐富咖啡傳統(tǒng)的國(guó)家，還有不少新的咖啡愛好者學(xué)會(huì)了享受優(yōu)質(zhì)咖啡。如今，不管是在倫敦、悉尼，還是東京，在世界各大城市，要找到好咖啡并不難。明天，這個(gè)世界將會(huì)喝越來越多的咖啡，更重要的是，咖啡的質(zhì)量將越來越好。