日本一所高中為了讓學生領會生命和食物的珍貴，讓學生親自孵化小雞、養大，最后親手將雞宰殺，并懷著感恩的心吃掉。外界對此課程反應兩極化，有的人認為這種教育方法太殘忍，也有人稱贊它教會孩子珍惜食物。元芳，你怎么看？

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For the past 60 years, every generation of freshman students at Izumo Agricultural and Forestry High School, in Izumo, Japan’s Shimane prefecture, has taken the “Class of Life”, a controversial six-month course during which the students help hatch and raise chickens, before having to slaughter and eat them.

過去60年來，日本島根縣出云市的出云農林高中的每一屆新生都要上一門“生命課”。在這門充滿爭議的六個月課程中，學生們將幫忙孵出小雞、把雞養大，然后親手宰殺并吃掉它們。

Last year, the Class of Life at Izumo High School started in October, when they were presented with around 60 chicken eggs. Under the guidance of a teacher, they prepared them for incubation, washing them, arranging them in a special tray and learning to adjust the humidity and temperature on the incubator. For the next three weeks, they were in charge of monitoring the eggs and making sure that the right conditions for hatching were met. Once the chicks hatched, each student had to pick one and raise it as their own, knowing full well that in just a few months they would have to kill and eat it.

去年，出云高中的生命課于十月份開課，約60個雞蛋被分給了學生。在一名老師的指導下，學生做了孵化雞蛋的準備工作，包括清洗雞蛋、將雞蛋放在特別的盤中，學習如何調整孵卵器的濕度和溫度。在接下來的三周時間里，學生們負責監控雞蛋，確保雞蛋處于合適的孵化條件下。 一旦小雞孵出，每名學生都要挑選一只小雞，并將自己的小雞養大，而且他們清楚地知道幾個月后他們必須親手宰殺并吃掉這只雞。

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The students were responsible for the well-being and proper growth of the chickens. They had to feed them, change their water frequently, monitor the temperature of their enclosure, as well as weight them periodically and record their progress. As you can imagine, some students get attached to the chickens, with some going as far to treat them like pets, despite knowing the gruesome conclusion of the class. Other try their best not to get to close to the birds, for that exact same reason. For example, Arakawa Yumesui, one of the students taking the Class of Life last year, told Nippon TV that she did not dare name her chicken for fear of attachment. Even so, when the time came to take its life, she said she felt uneasy because it was kind of like a pet to her.

學生們負責讓各自的小雞快樂健康地成長。他們必須給雞喂食、經常給雞換水、監控雞舍的溫度，定期給雞稱重并記錄成長進度。你可以想象得到，一些學生對雞產生了感情，個別學生甚至把雞當寵物來對待，盡管知道這門課的可怕結局。正因為知道結局，其他人盡量不讓自己和雞親近。去年上過這門課的學生Arakawa Yumesui告訴日本電視臺說，她不敢給她的雞取名字，因為害怕產生感情。即便如此，當她不得不親手殺掉雞時，她說自己還是覺得不舒服，因為這只雞對她來說就像寵物一樣。

Last month, after a final measurement and weighing of the chickens, the students were taught how to kill a chicken by their teacher, before having to slaughter the ones they had spent six months raising. In a Nippon TV video, some of the girls taking the Class of Life can be seen turning away as the teacher and other students slaughter the chicken, while others shed tears as they force themselves to look on, and told the chickens “I’m sorry” before taking their lives. It’s a painful experience, but one that is supposed to teach the students a valuable lesson.

上個月，在最后一次為雞測量身高和稱重后，學生們向老師學習如何殺雞，然后他們就得親手殺掉自己養了六個月的雞。在日本電視臺的一段視頻中，上這門人生課的一些女孩在老師和其他學生殺雞的時候把頭轉過去，其他一些人則一邊強迫自己看殺雞一邊流眼淚，并在殺雞前對雞說“對不起”。這是一次痛苦的經歷，但這門課的本意是讓學生得到寶貴的經驗。

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Finally, after killing their chickens, the students must cook and eat them to complete the Class of Life. In the video, the students are shown frying chicken meat and then eating it, and thanking the chickens for their sacrifice.

最后，在殺掉雞后，學生們必須把雞烹熟了吃掉，這樣生命課才算完結。視頻中，學生們把面前的炸雞肉吃掉，并感謝雞做出了犧牲。

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“It’s been awful and sad, so I am lonely because I do not have a duty to go back to, but I am glad that I became able to appreciate food,” Arakawa Yumesui said.

Arakawa Yumesui說：“吃掉它可怕又讓人傷心，我現在感到孤獨，因為我不再有需要照看的小雞，但我也感到欣慰，因為我學會了珍惜食物。”

日本學生在吃自己養了六個月的雞之前說：我開動啦！

The Class of Life has been part of the Izumo Agricultural and Forestry High School curriculum for the past six decades, and appears to have also been adopted by this high school in Fukuoka as well. However, not many know about it outside of Japan, so when the Nippon TV video went viral on China’s Pear Video platform recently, it caused quite the controversy.

這門生命課在出云農林高中已經有60年歷史，而且福岡高中似乎也引進了同樣的課程。不過，國外沒有多少人聽說過這種課，所以當日本電視臺的這段視頻最近在中國梨視頻網站播放后，引發了相當大的爭議。

While some praised the course, claiming that it teaches students that life itself can be cruel, and that the best way to show you respect food is to eat and not waste it, others called it unnecessary and possibly traumatic for the students.

有些人稱贊這門課，聲稱它教給學生，生命本身可能是殘忍的，而尊重食物最好的方式就是好好吃掉不浪費，其他一些人則表示沒必要并可能給學生的心理留下創傷。

The Class of Life may seem cruel and pointless, but those who support it consider it the perfect way to teach children both to value life and appreciate the meat and fish they consume. Many children are brought up with delicious animal-based dishes without ever being told that they come at the expense of other life. They live comfortable, convenient lives without ever giving thought to the lives lost to fill their bellies. This way, at least they know what it feels like to take a life for sustenance.

生命課也許在某些人看來殘忍又沒有意義，但支持者們認為這是讓孩子們學會珍惜生命和自己享用的魚肉等食物的完美方式。許多孩子都是吃著美味的肉食長大，卻從來沒有人告訴他們，這些肉食是犧牲其他動物的生命得來的。孩子們過著舒適便利的生活，從來沒想過為了填飽自己的肚皮而被殺掉的那些生命。用這種方式，至少他們會知道，殺生取食是什么感覺。

Japanese film director Tatsuya Mori, the author of a book called How to Eat Life, believes that anyone who consumes fish and meat should take the Class of Life at least once in their life. If they are not comfortable doing so, perhaps they should become vegetarians.

《如何吃掉生命》一書的作者、日本電影導演Tatsuya Mori認為，任何吃魚和肉的人一生中至少要上一次生命課。如果他們覺得這么做不舒服，也許他們應該做素食者。

從孵化雞蛋到吃掉雞肉，從歡笑到淚水，日本電視臺的這段視頻都記錄下來了，一起來看看：

英文來源：Oddity Central

翻譯&編輯：丹妮