I see the Beckhams, David and Victoria, have acquired a couple of “micro pigs” as pets and that said pigs (65 pounds when fully grown) are now a fashionable item in Britain, at least among those who can afford a $1,000-plus price tag.
Perhaps Beckham is 1)heeding Churchill, who had a 2)penchant for pigs. The great man’s 3)verdict: “Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you. Give me a pig. He just looks you in the eye and treats you as an equal.”
Churchill’s view has some scientific basis—pigs are smart and 4)sociable. They’ve had a pretty 5)bad rap, however. Two of the world’s great6)monotheistic religions—7)Judaism and Islam—prohibit their consumption. Generally, the notion of pigs as pets seems bizarre or 8)repellent.
我发现贝克汉姆夫妇——大卫和维多利亚——养了一对“迷你猪”作宠物,这种迷你猪(长成后体重达65磅,约29.48公斤)目前在英国很流行,至少对那些花得起超出1000美元的钱买这迷你猪的人而言如是。
也许贝克汉姆留意到了邱吉尔也很喜欢猪。这位伟人总结道:“狗敬仰你,而猫蔑视你。给我一只猪吧。他只会正眼看你,平等待你。”
邱吉尔的观点有一定的科学依据——猪是聪明而友善的动物。然而,猪的名声很臭。世界上两大一神论宗教——犹太教和伊斯兰教——都禁食猪肉。一般来说,把猪当作宠物养这一想法似乎显得怪异或是令人厌恶。
Why? There’s nothing rational about the view that taking a pig for a walk on a 9)leash is weird, while eating a pork 10)chop, if you so choose, is reasonable. But then, after a visit to China, it seems to me that reason has little or nothing to do with the way we view animals and food.
The Chinese, for example, eat dog (as well as cats, but I’m going to focus on dogs here). They 11)ascribe to dog meat a 12)formidable “warming” quality—the Chinese divide nutrition into “hot” and “cold” elements and seek balance between them—which makes it prized in many regions during winter.
Now, we are 13)appalled in the West at the notion of eating dog while considering it natural to have a dog as a pet; I own a 14)beagle myself (Ned), and I’m very fond of him. This is the inverse of the 15)preponderant Western view of pigs: fine to eat (religious objections aside) but not to pet. But do pigs have any more or less of a soul than dogs? Are they any more or less 16)sentient? Do they suffer any more or less in death? Are they any more or less part of the mysterious unity of life? I think not.
为什么会这样?那种认为食用猪排(如果你选择吃它)合乎情理,却觉得用皮带栓着一头猪去散步很怪异的观点其实一点都不合理。而去了一趟中国后,我似乎明白了,我们如何看待动物以及食物与理性思考无甚关联,甚至是完全非理性的。
例如,中国人吃狗肉(还有猫肉,但在这里,我主要谈狗肉)。他们认为狗肉有一种极能“御寒”的特性——中国人用“温热”和“寒凉”来划分各种营养物质,并设法在两者之间维持平衡——这使得在冬天里,狗肉在许多地区都被视为珍品。
目前,我们西方人认为把狗当宠物养是件自然而然的事——我自己就养了一条小猎犬(内德)并且很喜欢他,却对吃狗肉这一想法感到震惊。这和西方人对猪的主流观点截然相反:你可以吃猪肉(宗教禁忌除外),但不能把猪当宠物养。可是猪与狗这两种动物的灵魂有何差别?其感情有何差别?其死亡时忍受的痛苦有何差别?难道在生命的神秘集合体里,它们有孰轻孰重的地位之分?我认为没有差别。
There is a rational, and for some people a spiritual, case for being a vegetarian: Killing animals is wrong. However I cannot see a rational argument for saying eating dogs or cats is17)barbaric while eating pork or beef is fine. If you eat meat you cannot logically find it morally or ethically 18)repugnant to eat a particular meat (I’m setting 19)cannibalism aside here).
That’s the theory at least. Yet I must confess I’ve been having a hard time. My 20)bout of anguish began a few weeks back on a wintry night in central China, in the restless 21)megalopolis of Chongqing. I was cold, wet and seeking refuge.
“What’s that?” I asked my 22)resourceful interpreter, Xiyun Yang, pointing to a steamy, crowded 23)establishment with a big red neon sign (the Chinese approach is, when in doubt, make it 24)gaudy).
“You don’t want to know.”
“I think I do.”
“It’s a dog restaurant.” It was then that I noticed the image of a puppy with 25)floppy ears beside the Chinese characters.
I gave Xiyun a long, hard look. “Dog’s really good,” she said. “I love it.”
Images of Ned (and his floppy ears)26)popped into my head, as well as thoughts of what I’d tell my daughter, but I’d come to admire Xiyun’s 27)gastronomic 28)antennae (particularly for Sichuan noodles) and I tend to adhere to the “I’ll-try-anything-once” 29)school. In we went.
素食者吃素总有一个或理性或属于精神层面的的理由:杀害动物是不对的。然而我没有发现有哪一个合理的论据可以证明吃狗肉或猫肉是野蛮行为,而吃猪肉或牛肉是正当行为。如果你吃肉食,你就无法从逻辑上推出吃某种特定的肉(嗜食人肉这种情况姑且不论)在道德或伦理上令人厌恶这样的结论。
至少理论上如此。然而,我必须承认,我一直过得很不开心。我的痛苦经历始于几周前的一个冬日夜晚,那时我身处中国中部一个繁华的大都市——重庆。当时我感觉很冷,衣服湿透了,正在找避雨的地方。
“那是什么?”我指着一家挂着一个巨大的红色霓虹灯招牌(中国人就讲这一套,想着弄得艳丽而俗气一点总没错)并且雾气蒸腾、食客满室的餐馆,问我那位足智多谋的翻译杨曦云(音译)。
“你不会想知道的。”
“我想知道。”
“那是一家狗肉餐馆。”这时,我才注意到那些汉字旁有一只耷拉着耳朵的小狗图象。
我一脸严肃地盯着曦云看了许久。“狗肉真的很美味,”她说,“我喜欢吃狗肉。”
内德(和他那耷拉着的耳朵)的模样突然出现在我脑海里,同时,我还在想我将怎样和我女儿述说这件事,但我相信曦云的美食触觉(尤其是四川面条),而且我倾向于秉持“凡事都要做一次尝试”的原则。于是我们走进了那家餐馆。
The menu was predictably dog-dominated: dog paws, dog tail, dog brain, dog 30)intestine, even dog 31)penis. We went for a dog 32)broth, 33)simmered for four hours, with 34)Sichuan pepper and ginger. It was warming, with a 35)pepper-tingle. The meat was tender,36)unctuous, blander than pork, but stronger than chicken. Later, the owner, Zemin Chen, explained how the best dogs for eating had yellow 37)coats, weighed 30 pounds, and did miracles for arthritis. I’ll take Chen’s word for it. Dog was not easy for me. The memory has proved hard to digest.
As it happened, our meal came shortly before the eruption of a furious online debate in China over a proposed “anti-animal maltreatment” law that would 38)outlaw the eating and selling of dog and cat meat, making it punishable by fines of more than $700 and 15 days of 39)detention. The legislation, now under review, immediately came 40)under heavy fire. One restaurant owner in the Chaozhou region declared: “This is ridiculous! You make dog and cat meat illegal, but aren’t chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, and sheep also animals?” Another noted a local saying: “When the dog meat is being simmered, even the gods become dizzy with hunger.”
I’m with these 41)indignant protesters. I’m not happy that I ate dog, but I’m happy China eats dog. It so proclaims both a particularity to be prized in a 42)homogenizing world and its rationality. Anyone who doesn’t want China to eat dog must logically embrace pigs as pets.
But, as I’ve learned, logic has its limits. It’s the heart not the head that governs this world under the sway of the dizzy gods.
如我们所料,菜单上的食物全和狗有关:狗爪、狗尾、狗脑、狗肠,甚至还有狗鞭。我们点了份狗肉汤。那汤炖了四个小时,里面加了花椒和姜。汤喝起来很暖和,带着麻辣感。狗肉鲜嫩肥美,尽管不如猪肉香,却比鸡肉的味道要好。后来,店主陈泽民(音译)介绍说,最好吃的狗是重30磅的黄皮狗,而且这种狗的肉对治疗关节炎有奇效。我相信陈的话。吃狗肉对我来说并非易事。这段记忆在以后的日子里始终难以磨灭。
就在我们吃过这顿狗肉后不久,中国互联网上的一件事引起了人们的热议,是关于一项有关“反动物虐待”法的提案,该提案把食用和销售狗肉、猫肉的行为列为非法行为,并对违法者处以700美元以上的罚金和15天的监禁。目前该提案正处于审议中,它一提出来即遭到大规模的口诛笔伐。潮州地区的一家餐馆老板说:“这真荒谬!你把吃狗肉和猫肉列为非法行为,难道鸡、鸭、鹅、猪、牛、羊就不是动物了吗?”当地另一个餐馆老板特别提到当地的一句俗语:“狗肉滚三滚,神仙坐不稳。”
我站在这些愤怒的抗议者这一边。我对自己吃狗肉这事耿耿于怀,而对于中国人吃狗肉一事,我却是喜闻乐见的。这表明,在这发展日趋均质化的世界里,一种民族特性及其合理性得到珍视推崇。任何看不惯中国人吃狗肉的人必须在逻辑上接受猪可以被作为宠物养这一观点。
但,就我所知,逻辑有其局限性。人们统治世界不是用脑,而是随心,他们任那些“坐不稳”的“神仙”摆布。
