伊索貝爾·惠特科姆　雷婷

One thousand years before the first Fourth of July1， the first fireworks exploded2. It didnt rain twinkling stars or light up the night sky—but to the complete surprise and misfortune of one Chinese chemist3， it did go “bang.”

This “bang” was the product of an ancient quest for immortality， according to Gunpowder， Explosives and the State： A History （Routledge4， 2016）. In early-ninth-century China， alchemy5 was all the rage6. The goal of alchemy was to produce a substance that would prolong life， or even cheat death. Alchemy never did uncover a death-defying7 concoction8. But it did produce an explosion that would change the way we celebrate holidays worldwide.

An explosion requires just three components. First， there must be a fuel—a chemical consisting of long， chain like molecules9 with very strong bonds. Then， there must be a chemical called an oxidizer10. The oxidizer breaks those bonds， releasing tremendous11 energy in the process. Finally， you need heat to get the explosive reaction going.

In hopes of producing a new life-prolonging powder， the unsuspecting12 creator of fireworks mixed charcoal—the perfect fuel—with potassium nitrate13， a common food preservative at the time and a strong oxidizer. The addition of sulfur14 would have lowered the ignition15 temperature of charcoal. With a little heat to prod the reaction forward， the powder exploded. As one Chinese text dating from the mid-ninth century remarked： “Smoke and flames result， so that [the scientists] hands and faces have been burnt， and even the whole house where they were working burned down.”16

Stuffed17 in bamboo， or in a paper tube， the new concoction exploded in religious ceremonies and at the commencement of the new year， Smithsonian Magazine18 reported. The loud noise it made when tossed into19 a fire was thought to scare off evil spirits. （Awe-inspiring20 pyrotechnic21 displays wouldnt come until much later—these early fireworks were all about the bang.）

But the chemistry experiment didnt just produce the earliest fireworks. The concoction， later called gunpowder， was also used in warfare. By the 13th century， gunpowder was used to propel rockets painted like dragons toward invading Mongols， and it was in that same century that Marco Polo brought the stuff back to Europe.

Today， with modern， colorful chemicals at our disposal， pyrotechnicians22 can put on dazzling23 displays unheard of in ninth-century China. But for the bang and the explosion， we can thank the quest for immortality.

早于美國獨(dú)立日一千年，第一顆煙花爆炸了。它并沒有璨若流星或者點(diǎn)亮夜空，而是“砰”的一聲炸了，對一名中國煉金術(shù)士來說，這是始料未及的飛來橫禍。

按《火藥、炸藥與國家：一部史書》（勞特利奇出版社，2016年）所說，這聲“砰”是古代長生不老夢的產(chǎn)物。在9世紀(jì)初的中國，煉金術(shù)風(fēng)靡一時。其目的是煉出一種讓人延年益壽甚至長生不老的物質(zhì)。煉金術(shù)從來沒有造出過長生不老藥，反倒產(chǎn)生了爆炸，改變了全球慶祝節(jié)日的方式。

爆炸只需要三個因素。首先，必須有一種燃料——一種由長鏈狀分子和非常牢固的鍵組成的化學(xué)制品。然后，必須有一種叫作氧化劑的化學(xué)制品。氧化劑會破壞這些鍵，并在此過程中釋放出巨大的能量。最后，需要加熱使爆炸反應(yīng)持續(xù)進(jìn)行。

為了創(chuàng)制一種新的長生不老藥粉，煙花的發(fā)明者將木炭（完美的燃料）和硝石（當(dāng)時常見的食品防腐劑和強(qiáng)氧化劑）混合在一起，并添加硫黃以降低木炭的燃點(diǎn)。沒想到剛一加熱促進(jìn)反應(yīng)，粉末就爆炸了。如中國9世紀(jì)中葉的一部文獻(xiàn)所記載：“焰起，燒手面及火盡屋舍?！?/p>

據(jù)《史密森尼雜志》報道，人們會在宗教儀式上和新年伊始點(diǎn)燃塞滿這種新型混合物的竹子或紙管。將其扔進(jìn)火中迸發(fā)出的巨大聲響被認(rèn)為可以嚇退邪靈。 （令人嘖嘖稱奇的煙花表演要等到很久以后才會出現(xiàn)，這些早期的煙花主要就是聽個響。）

化學(xué)實驗不僅產(chǎn)生了最早的煙花。這種被后世稱之為火藥的混合物也用于戰(zhàn)爭。到了13世紀(jì)，火藥已被用來推動畫成龍形的火箭射向入侵的蒙古人;在同一世紀(jì)，馬可·波羅將其運(yùn)回歐洲。

如今，煙火技師可以憑借多彩的現(xiàn)代化學(xué)制品展現(xiàn)9世紀(jì)的中國聞所未聞的絢爛景象。但為了這砰砰聲和爆炸，我們得感謝對長生不老的追求。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>

1美國于1776年7月4日在費(fèi)城正式通過獨(dú)立宣言，因此，7月4日被定為美國獨(dú)立日。? 2 explode爆炸;推翻。? 3 chemist煉金術(shù)士。? 4勞特利奇出版社本部位于英國倫敦，是一家主要在倫敦和紐約兩地發(fā)行的國際性出版公司。? 5 alchemy煉金術(shù)。? 6 rage肆虐;流行。? 7 defy挑釁，對抗。? 8 concoction混合物。

9 molecule分子;微粒。? 10 oxidizer氧化劑。? 11 tremendous巨大的。? 12 unsuspecting無懷疑的。文中為了通順將其調(diào)整到下句譯出。? 13 potassium nitrate硝酸鉀;火硝。? 14 sulfur硫，硫黃。? 15 ignition點(diǎn)火，著火。? 16見唐末五代鄭思遠(yuǎn)所著《真元妙道要略》。? 17 stuff填充。? 18隸屬于美國史密森尼學(xué)會的一本雜志。史密森尼學(xué)會是唯一由美國政府資助的半官方性質(zhì)的博物館機(jī)構(gòu)。? 19 toss into扔進(jìn)。

20 awe-inspiring令人驚嘆的，令人敬畏的。? 21 pyrotechnic煙火的。? 22 pyrotech-nician煙火技師。? 23 dazzling輝煌的，炫目的。