History through the eyes of a chicken - Chris A. Kniesly

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

The annals of Ancient Egyptian king Thutmose III

古老埃及國王 圖特摩斯三世的記錄中

described a marvelous foreign bird that

描述有一種神奇的外國鳥類

“gives birth daily.”

「每天都會生育」。

Zoroastrians viewed them as spirits

祆教徒把牠們視為是神靈，

whose cries told of the cosmic struggle

牠們的叫聲訴說的是宇宙中

between darkness and light.

光明與黑暗之間的鬥爭。

Romans brought them on their military campaigns

羅馬人把牠們帶到軍隊戰役中，

to foretell the success of future battles.

預示未來戰爭的成功。

And today, this bird still occupies an important,

現今，這種鳥仍然有著重要，

though much less honorable position

不過完全沒那麼榮耀的地位——

– on our dinner plates.

我們的晚餐餐盤中的食物。

The modern chicken is descended primarily from the Red Junglefowl,

現代的雞主要是原雞的後代，

and partially from three other closely related species,

有一部分是來自三種 其他很接近的物種，

all native to India and Southeast Asia.

原生地都在印度和東南亞。

The region’s bamboo plants produce

該區域的竹類植物 會產出大量的水果，

massive amounts of fruit

just once every few decades.

幾十年一次。

Junglefowls’ ability to lay eggs daily

原雞能夠每天下蛋的能力，

may have evolved to take advantage of these rare feasts,

可能是演化的結果， 以善用這些難得出現的盛宴，

increasing their population when food was abundant.

在食物豐足時增加牠們的數量。

This was something humans could exploit

這是人類可以持續利用的特性，

on a consistent basis,

and the birds’ weak flight capabilities

且這種鳥的飛行能力很弱，

and limited need for space made them

對空間的需求有限，

讓牠們容易被捕捉和圈養。

easy to capture and contain.

The earliest domesticated chickens,

最早被馴養的雞，

dating at least back to 7,000 years ago,

至少可追溯到七千年前，

weren’t bred for food,

繁殖的目的不是食物，

but for something considered less savory today.

而是現在看來實在 不怎麼美味的目的。

The aggressiveness of breeding males,

繁殖用的公雞很有侵略性，

armed with natural leg spurs,

雞距（刺）是牠們的天然武器，

made cockfighting a popular entertainment.

讓鬥雞成為非常熱門的娛樂活動。

By the second millennium BCE,

到了西元前兩千年，

chickens had spread from the Indus Valley to China

雞已經從印度河流域

傳播到中國以及中東，

and the Middle East to occupy royal menageries

被放在皇家動物園中，

and to be used in religious rituals.

用在宗教儀式中。

But it was in Egypt

但這種鳥類的歷史新頁，

where the next chapter in the bird’s history began.

是在埃及開始的。

When a hen naturally incubates eggs,

在自然的狀況下， 當母雞在孵蛋時，

she will stop laying new ones

她會停止生出新的蛋，

and sit on a “clutch” of 6 or more eggs for 21 days.

坐在一「窩」至少六個蛋上

長達二十一天。

By the middle of the 1st millennium BCE,

到了西元前一千年中期，

the Egyptians had learned

埃及人學會了用人工方式孵雞蛋，

to artificially incubate chicken eggs

by placing them in baskets over hot ashes.

把蛋放在熱灰燼上的一個籃子裡。

That freed up hens to continue laying daily,

這麼一來，母雞就能 繼續每天生蛋，

and what had been a royal delicacy

而過去的皇家佳餚或是宗教祭品

or religious offering

became a common meal.

就變成了一般人的膳食。

Around the same time as Egyptians were incubating eggs,

和埃及人孵蛋差不多同時期，

Phoenician merchants introduced chickens to Europe,

腓尼基商人把雞引進歐洲，

where they quickly became an essential part

牠們很快就成為歐洲人 重要的家畜之一。

of European livestock.

However, for a long time,

然而，有很長一段時間，

the chicken’s revered status continued to exist

雞仍然一直有著被尊敬的地位，

alongside its culinary one.

同時又是烹飪的食物。

The Ancient Greeks used fighting roosters

古希臘人用公雞

as inspirational examples for young soldiers.

作為鼓舞年輕士兵的典範。

The Romans consulted chickens as oracles.

羅馬人把雞當作先知來請教。

And as late as the 7th Century,

到了第七世紀這麼後期，

the chicken was considered a symbol for Christianity.

雞被當作是基督教的象徵。

Over the next few centuries,

在接下來的幾個世紀，

chickens accompanied humans wherever they went,

不論人到哪裡，都一定帶著雞，

spreading throughout the world through trade,

透過貿易、征戰、以及殖民，

conquest,

and colonization.

雞被散播到全世界。

After the Opium Wars,

鴉片戰爭之後，

Chinese breeds were brought to England

中國的品種被帶到英國，

and crossed with local chickens.

和當地的雞雜交。

This gave rise to a phenomenon called

這造成了一種現象的產生：

“Hen Fever”

「母雞熱」或「迷戀」，

or “The Fancy”,

with farmers all over Europe

也就是全歐洲的農夫

striving to breed new varieties

都努力想要育出

with particular combinations of traits.

有特定特徵組合的新品種。

This trend also caught the attention

這股風潮引起了

of a certain Charles Darwin, who wondered if

達爾文的注意，他很納悶，

a similar selective breeding process occurred in nature.

大自然中是否有發生

類似的天擇性育種過程。

Darwin would observe hundreds of chickens

達爾文觀察了數百種雞，

while finalizing his historic work

當時他快要完成了他的歷史壯舉：

introducing the theory of Evolution.

提出進化論。

But the chicken’s greatest contribution to science

但雞對於科學 最大的貢獻還在後頭。

was yet to come.

In the early 20th century,

在二十世紀初，

a trio of British scientists

有三位英國科學家

conducted extensive crossbreeding of chickens,

針對雞進行了大量的雜交繁育，

building on Gregor Mendel’s

以孟德爾對於 基因遺傳的研究為基礎。

studies of genetic inheritance.

With their high genetic diversity,

雞的基因多樣性非常高， 又有許多明顯的特徵，

many distinct traits,

and only 7 months between generations,

且七個月就是一個世代，

chickens were the perfect subject.

牠們成了完美的研究對象。

This work resulted in the famous Punnett Square,

這項研究導致了著名的旁氏表，

used to show the genotypes that would result

用來顯示用已知的配對來做育種

from breeding a given pairing.

會產生出的基因型。

Since then,

從那之後，數個繁殖計畫 讓雞變得更大、更多肉，

numerous breeding initiatives have made chickens

bigger and meatier,

and allowed them to lay more eggs than ever.

也讓牠們比以前更會下蛋。

Meanwhile,

同時，雞的生產也轉變為一種

chicken production has shifted to an industrial, factory-like model,

類似工廠的工業模型，

with birds raised in spaces with a footprint

養雞的空間極小，

足跡不會超出一張紙的範圍。

no larger than a sheet of paper.

And while there’s been a shift towards free-range farming

雖然後來因為動物權利 以及環境考量，

due to animal rights and environmental concerns,

轉變為自由牧場飼養的模型，

most of the world’s more than 22 billion chickens today

現今世界上有超過 220 億隻雞

are factory farmed.

都是工廠飼養的。

From gladiators and gifts to the gods,

從角鬥士及給神的禮物，

to traveling companions and research subjects,

到旅行伴侶和研究對象，

chickens have played many roles over the centuries.

數世紀來，雞扮演過許多角色。

And though they may not have come before the proverbial egg,

雖然不見得是諺語說的 先有雞才有蛋，

chickens’ fascinating history tells us a great deal about our own.

但雞的迷人歷史能讓我們 更了解我們自己的歷史。