任新超　B Sumangal

You can find a piggy bank at almost every home. But whoever heard of pigsand savings？ Yes， pigs in a sty1. But what is the connection between the pigs anda home saving bank？

Actually none. The connecting link has to do with clay2. Clay？ Yes. Thoughcoin-slotted money boxes in the shape of animals， including pigs have been inexistence3 for centuries， the actual term came to be associated4 with Europe inthe middle ages.

In the 15th and 16th century Europe， there were no banks to put your moneyinto. The money people saved had to he kept at home. But people made so littlethat they wanted to save some money for a rainy day.

The only way they could was to put money in pots and jars. The jars weremostly made of clay as metal was a costly item then and people couldnt afford tobuy a metal jar. Pots， pans， jars and other household items were made of anorange-coloured clay known as“pygg”.

Slowly over time， the expression “pygg bank”became “pig bank”. In the19th century， the potters5 who had heard the term decided to make a coin-savingmoney box in the shape of a pig.

Pigs， in fact， have always been the poor mens asset6. A pig would be fedleftovers7 and scraps8 of the table and be fattened for the butcher9 at the end ofthe year. Similarly， a piggy bank is fed coins left over from the monthly expenses，and at the end smashed10 to take the saved money out.

Within a short time this pig-shaped moneyboxes came into the market in allshapes and sizes， with cute noses， and curly tails. Naturally this caught the attention ofthe children. There hasnt been a better bit of porcine11 wisdom since.

幾乎每個家庭都能找到一個存錢罐。但誰聽說過豬和存款？是的，豬圈中的豬。但豬和家庭存錢罐之間有什么聯系呢？

實際上沒有。二者聯系與陶土有關。陶土？是的。盡管有包括豬在內動物形狀的有投幣口的錢罐已經存在了幾個世紀，但實際上這個詞是在中世紀與歐洲聯系在一起的。

在15 世紀和16 世紀的歐洲，沒有銀行可以讓人們存錢。人們攢下的錢不得不藏在家里。但人們掙的錢太少了，他們想存點錢以備不時之需。

他們唯一能做的就是把錢放在罐子里。這些罐子大多由陶土制成，因為當時金屬是貴重物品，人們買不起金屬罐子。壺、鍋、罐子和其他家用物品都是用橙色的陶土制成的，這種陶土被稱為“pygg”。

隨著時間的推移，“pygg 存錢罐”的表達變成了“pig（豬）存錢罐”。在19 世紀，聽過這個詞的陶藝家決定制作一個豬形狀的存錢罐。

事實上，豬一直是窮人的資產。一頭豬會被喂食剩余食物和餐桌上的殘羹剩飯，并被養(yǎng)肥到年底屠宰。同樣，存錢罐被喂入每月費用里剩余的硬幣，最后被砸碎取出存在里面的錢。

在很短的時間內，豬形存錢罐以各種形狀和大小進入市場，它們有可愛的鼻子和卷曲的尾巴。這自然引起了孩子們的注意。從那以后，再也沒有比這更好的與豬的智慧有關的東西了。

淵英語原文選自（pitara.com）