The Great British Pub美妙的英國酒吧

本·約翰遜

Renowned the world over， the great British pub is not just a place to drink beer， wine， cider or even something a little bit stronger. It is also a unique social centre， very often the focus of community life in villages， towns and cities throughout the length and breadth of1 the country.

Yet it appears that the great British pub actually started life as a great Italian wine bar， and dates back almost 2，000 years.

It was an invading Roman army2 that first brought Roman roads， Roman towns and Roman pubs known as tabernae3 to these shores4 in 43 AD. Such tabernae， or shops that sold wine， were quickly built alongside Roman roads and in towns to help quench the thirst of the legionary troops.

It was ale， however， that was the native British brew， and it appears that these tabernae quickly adapted to provide the locals with their favourite tipple5， with the word eventually being corrupted6 to tavern.

These taverns or alehouses not only survived but continued to adapt to an ever changing clientele7， through invading Angles， Saxons， Jutes， and not forgetting those fearsome Scandinavian Vikings8. In around 970 AD， one Anglo-Saxon king， Edgar， even attempted to limit the number of alehouses in any one village. He is also said to have been responsible for introducing a drinking measure9 known as ‘the peg10 as a means of controlling the amount of alcohol an individual could consume， hence the expression “to take （someone） down a peg”.

Taverns and alehouses provided food and drink to their guests， whilst inns offered accommodation for weary travellers. These could include merchants， court officials or pilgrims travelling to and from religious shrines， as immortalised11 by Geoffrey Chaucer12 in his Canterbury Tales13.

Inns also served military purposes; one of the oldest dating from 1189 AD is Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham， and is said to have acted as a recruitment centre for volunteers to accompany King Richard I （The Lionheart）14 on his crusade to the Holy Lands.

Alehouses， inns and taverns collectively became known as public houses and then simply as pubs around the reign of King Henry VII. A little later， in 1552， an Act was passed that required innkeepers to have a licence in order to run a pub.

By 1577 it is estimated that there were some 17，000 alehouses， 2，000 inns and 400 taverns throughout England and Wales. Taking into account the population of the period， that would equate to around one pub for every 200 persons. To put that into context， that same ratio today would be approximately one pub for every 1，000 persons... Happy Daze！

Throughout history， ale and beer have always formed a part of the staple British diet， the brewing process itself making it a much safer option than drinking the water of the times.

Although both coffee and tea were introduced into Britain around the mid-1600s， their prohibitive15 prices ensured that they remained the preserve16 of the rich and famous. Just a few decades later however， things changed dramatically when cheap spirits， such as brandy from France and gin from Holland hit the shelves of the pubs. The social problems caused by the ‘Gin Era of 1720–1750 are recorded in Hogarth17s Gin Lane18.

The Gin Acts of 1736 and 1751 reduced gin consumption to a quarter of its previous level and returned some semblance19 of order back to the pubs.

The age of the stagecoach heralded yet another new era for the pubs of the time， as coaching inns were established on strategic20 routes up and down and across the country. Such inns provided food， drink and accommodation for passengers and crew alike， as well as changes of fresh horses for their continued journey. The passengers themselves generally consisted of two distinct groups， the more affluent who could afford the relative luxury of travelling inside the coach， and the others who would be left clinging on to the outside for dear life. The ‘insiders would of course receive the warmest greetings and be welcomed into the innkeepers private parlour or salon （saloon）， the outsiders meanwhile would get no further than the inns bar room.

The age of the stagecoach， although relatively short-lived， did establish the precedence for the class distinctions that was continued in rail travel from the 1840s onward. Like the railways that operated a First， Second and even Third Class service， so the pubs evolved in a similar manner. Pubs of that time， even relatively small ones， would typically be split into several rooms and bars in order to cater for differing types and classes of customer.

In todays ‘open-plan society such walls have been removed， and now anyone and everyone is welcome in the great British pub. So welcome， in fact， that almost one in four Britons will now meet their future wife or husband in a pub！

Historical Note： The native British brew of ‘a(chǎn)le was originally made without hops. Ale brewed with hops was gradually introduced in the 14th and 15th centuries， this was known as beer. By 1550 most brewing included hops and the expression alehouse and beerhouse became synonymous. Today beer is the general term with bitter， mild， ales， stouts and lagers simply denoting different types of beer.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ■

英國的酒吧聞名于世，不可小覷。這里不僅是人們喝啤酒、葡萄酒、蘋果酒甚或更烈一些的酒品的場所，而且還是別具一格的社交中心，全國各地鄉(xiāng)村、鎮(zhèn)落、城市的社區(qū)生活往往匯集于此。

然而，美妙的英國酒吧其實發(fā)端于同樣美妙的意大利葡萄酒酒吧，其歷史可追溯至近2000年前。

公元43年，羅馬侵略軍首次將羅馬式道路、羅馬式城鎮(zhèn)和被稱為tabernae的羅馬式酒吧帶入英國。為了讓軍團士兵一解近渴，這種銷售葡萄酒的商鋪很快就在羅馬式道路旁和城鎮(zhèn)中建了起來。

然而，麥芽酒才是英國本土的自釀酒。于是，這些商鋪很快便入鄉(xiāng)隨俗，為當?shù)厝颂峁┧麄冏類鄣木破?。tabernae一詞最終也訛變?yōu)閠avern（酒館）。

這些酒館或酒屋，不僅得以幸存，而且還一直適應著不斷變化的酒客們——陸續(xù)侵入的盎格魯人、撒克遜人以及朱特人，也包括那些駭人的斯堪的納維亞維京人。公元970年左右，盎格魯-撒克遜國王埃德加竟試圖限制每個村莊的酒屋數(shù)量。相傳，為了控制人們的酒量，他還推行一種被稱作peg（淺酌）的飲酒標準，于是便有了“to take （someone） down a peg[煞煞（某人）的酒威]”這一表達。

酒館和酒屋為來客提供食物和酒水，酒棧則為勞頓的旅人提供住宿。這些旅人包括往來于宗教圣地的商人、朝臣等朝圣者——杰弗雷·喬叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》讓這些朝圣者名垂千古。

此外，酒棧也曾用于軍事目的。坐落在諾丁漢的“老耶路撒冷之旅”是最古老的酒棧之一，其歷史可追溯至公元1189年。相傳，這家酒棧曾用作志愿兵征募中心，征來的士兵要跟隨國王理查一世（“獅心王”）率領的十字軍一同東征圣地。

當時，酒屋、酒棧、酒館統(tǒng)稱為public houses，后來又在國王亨利七世統(tǒng)治時期簡稱為pubs，即酒吧。不久后的1552年，議會通過一項法案，要求酒棧老板必須持有執(zhí)照才能經(jīng)營酒吧。

據(jù)估算，到1577年，英格蘭和威爾士境內(nèi)大約有17，000家酒屋、2000家酒棧和400家酒館。如果將當時的人口數(shù)量考慮在內(nèi)，這相當于大約每200人一家酒吧。照此計算，這一比例在今天大致相當于每1000人一家酒吧……可真是一種享受啊！

在整個歷史中，麥芽酒和啤酒一直是英國主食的一部分，其釀制過程本身決定了在那個時代，飲酒要比飲水安全得多。

盡管17世紀中期前后英國引入了咖啡和茶，但是二者高昂的價格使其成為富人和名流的專享飲品。然而，僅幾十年后情況就發(fā)生了劇變，源自法國的白蘭地酒和荷蘭的杜松子酒等廉價烈性酒開始出現(xiàn)在英國酒吧的貨架上。1720年至1750年的“杜松子酒時代”引發(fā)了一系列社會問題，這在霍加斯的畫作《杜松子酒巷》中皆有展現(xiàn)。

1736年和1751年出臺的《杜松子酒法案》使杜松子酒的消費量降到了此前水平的四分之一，也使酒吧的秩序在表面上有所恢復。

驛站馬車時代的到來預示著酒吧再次步入新的發(fā)展時期，因為當時縱橫英國的重要線路沿途都建起了馬車酒棧。這種酒棧為旅客和車夫提供餐飲和住宿，同時還為他們更換新馬匹，以便繼續(xù)趕路。一般而言，旅客本身可明顯劃為兩類：一類是財力雄厚者，能享受到旅行時坐在車內(nèi)的較好待遇;另一類則暴露在車外，行路時需要死命地抓牢馬車?！败噧?nèi)客”當然會受到最熱情的迎候，還能進入酒棧私人會客廳，而“車外客”就只能待在棧內(nèi)的酒吧間。

驛站馬車時代盡管相對短暫，卻確立了基于階層差異的優(yōu)先規(guī)則，這種規(guī)則自19世紀40年代起一直在鐵路客運中沿用。正如鐵路客運有一等座、二等座乃至三等座服務之分，酒吧也以相似的方式演變著。為了迎合不同類型、不同階層顧客的需求，當時的酒吧通常會分隔為若干個房間和吧間，即便是較小的酒吧也是如此。

今天的社會講求“開放式布局”，這類隔斷墻已不見了蹤影?，F(xiàn)在，美妙的英國酒吧歡迎每一位酒客的到來。一個人所樂見的事實便是：現(xiàn)在大約每四個英國人中就有一個會在酒吧結(jié)識未來的另一半！

史注：起初，英國本土的“麥芽酒”在釀制過程中不使用啤酒花。加入啤酒花釀制的麥芽酒在14至15世紀才逐漸引進英國，這種酒被稱作啤酒。到了1550年，大多數(shù)釀制酒都加入了啤酒花，alehouse（麥芽酒屋）和beerhouse（啤酒屋）便成了同義詞。如今，啤酒只是一個泛稱，可指苦啤、淡啤、艾爾啤、烈性黑啤、拉格啤等各類啤酒。? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?□

（譯者單位：北京外國語大學高級翻譯學院）

1 throughout the length and breadth of到處，遍及。? 2指羅馬帝國侵略軍。羅馬帝國（公元前27—公元1453）以地中海為中心，跨越歐、亞、非三個大洲。? 3 tabernae為拉丁語taberna的復數(shù)形式。最早指單間商鋪，多建在家庭住宅一層，一側(cè)面朝街道，后隨著羅馬帝國的經(jīng)濟日漸繁榮，開始建在室內(nèi)市場中，銷售谷物、面包、葡萄酒、珠寶等商品。? 4 shores瀕海國家，這里指英國。

5 tipple烈酒，常喝的酒。? 6 corrupt訛用（語、詞等），使（文本等）摻雜訛誤。? 7 clientele（統(tǒng)稱）顧客，客戶。? 8 Viking意為“來自峽灣的人”。維京人泛指生活于公元800—1066年間所有的斯堪的納維亞人。他們從事廣泛的海外貿(mào)易和殖民擴張。? 9 measure（酒的）標準量。? 10 peg少量烈酒。? 11 immortalise使不朽（尤指通過文學藝術(shù)作品等）。? 12英國小說家、詩人，被公認為中世紀英國最偉大的詩人之一。? 13喬叟創(chuàng)作于1386—1400年間的詩體短篇小說集，記錄了來自英國社會各階層的30名朝圣者往返于宗教圣地坎特伯雷途中所講的故事，故事題材涉及探險傳奇、宗教和道德訓誡、動物寓言等。

14金雀花王朝的第二位英格蘭國王，1189年至1199年在位，因驍勇善戰(zhàn)而號稱“獅心王”。? 15 prohibitive（價格）令人望而卻步的。? 16 preserve專門領域，這里指專用品。

17英國著名版畫家、諷刺畫家，其作品多諷刺所處時代的政治和風俗。? 18霍加斯創(chuàng)作于1751年的一幅版畫，描繪了倫敦街頭人們酩酊大醉、放蕩淫亂的場景。? 19 semblance表象，外觀。? 20 strategic（戰(zhàn)略上）重要的;要害的。