John’s mother was cooking fish fordinner and wanted some green chilies.Twelve-year-old John had gone to the vegetablegarden2 to pick some green chiliesand heard a voice3，“I’m happy your familylikes them. Don’t be afraid. I am theSpirit4 of Chilies.”

“I am away from home and I am sohappy to be loved，”it said.

John asked， “Where do you comefrom？” “From very， very far， from theAmericas. More precisely5， from Mexico，”it answered.

John had no idea where Mexico was.Before he could ask for more messages hismother shouted from the kitchen，“John，what took you so long？ Please bring thechilies in now.”

It said，“You have to go now. Comeback tomorrow and I’ll tell you more.But please don’t tell anybody about ourtalk. I’ll tell you the story of me.”ThenJohn ran home.

The next day， John finished hishomework early in the evening. Then hewent to the vegetable garden.

“Thank you， John. Thanks forwatering me. It’s so hot today.”Again John heard the voice of theSpirit of Chilies.

John said， “You’re welcome. Can you tell me your story？”

“Many years ago， people grew manyfruits and vegetables in the Americas，and one of them was chilies. People likedchilies very much. Some people thoughtchilies were vegetables， others thoughtchilies were fruits. Then they came toIndia，”it said.

“All this is interesting，”John said.“But how did youtravel from the Americas toIndia？”

The voice said，“That’s a long story.One day over five hundred years ago，people came to our place and helped totake the chilli plant6 all over the world.They hoped to find a shorter way toIndia.”

“But did the chilli just stay in India？”John asked.

“No， it traveled all over the world！People took chilli to many other countries.You can see how our lives and thefood we eat are connected7 to the world.The world is tied8 together9 by the foodswe eat.”

約翰的母親正在為晚餐做魚，她想要一些青椒。12 歲的約翰去菜園子摘青椒，然后聽到一個(gè)聲音說：“我很高興你的家人喜歡它們。不要害怕。我是辣椒精靈?！?/p>

它說：“我遠(yuǎn)離家鄉(xiāng)，我很高興能受到人們喜愛?！?/p>

約翰問：“你從哪里來(lái)？”“我來(lái)自非常、非常遠(yuǎn)的美洲。更準(zhǔn)確地說，來(lái)自墨西哥。”它回答說。

約翰不知道墨西哥在哪里。他還沒來(lái)得及問更多的信息，母親就在廚房里喊道：“約翰，你怎么花了這么長(zhǎng)時(shí)間？現(xiàn)在請(qǐng)把辣椒拿進(jìn)來(lái)?！?/p>

它說：“你現(xiàn)在必須走了。明天來(lái)，我再詳細(xì)告訴你。但請(qǐng)不要把我們的談話告訴任何人。我會(huì)告訴你我的故事?！比缓蠹s翰就跑回家了。

第二天，約翰很早就做完了家庭作業(yè)，然后他去了菜園。

“謝謝你，約翰。謝謝你給我澆水。今天真熱?！奔s翰又聽到了辣椒精靈的聲音。

約翰說：“不客氣。你能給我講你的故事嗎？”

“許多年前，人們?cè)诿乐薹N植了許多水果和蔬菜，其中之一就是辣椒。人們非常喜歡辣椒。

有人認(rèn)為辣椒是蔬菜，而有人認(rèn)為辣椒是水果。后來(lái)辣椒傳到了印度?！彼f。

“這一切都很有趣?！奔s翰說，“但你是怎么從美洲來(lái)到印度的呢？”

那個(gè)聲音說：“說來(lái)話長(zhǎng)。五百多年前的一天，人們來(lái)到我們這里，幫忙把辣椒苗帶到了世界各地。他們希忙找到一條更近的路去印度?！?/p>

“但辣椒就只留在了印度嗎？”約翰問道。

“不，它環(huán)游世界了！人們把辣椒帶到了其他許多國(guó)家。你可以看到我們的生活和吃的食物是如何與世界聯(lián)系在一起的。世界是由我們吃的食物而聯(lián)系在一起的?！?/p>

▏Notes

1. chilli 辣椒

2. garden 菜園

3. voice 聲音

4. spirit 精靈

5. precisely 精確地

6. plant 植物. 種植

7. connect 聯(lián)結(jié)

8. tie 綁；捆

9. together 在一起