很多現代人每天都要靠咖啡來“續命”，喝了咖啡才能神清氣爽，正常開啟一天的工作模式。那么是誰發明了這么神奇又美味的提神飲料呢？

Each day, millions of people brew a cup of coffee in the morning to help get their day started. As with most things in history, from milk to vegetables, someone had to be the first to think of roasting beans for their caffeine kick. According to legend, it was a 9th-century Ethiopian goat-herder named Kaldi who may have done as much for the beverage as Starbucks.

每一天都有數百萬人在清晨沖泡一杯咖啡來幫助自己開始新的一天。就像歷史上大多數事物一樣，從牛奶到蔬菜，總得有人第一個想到烤咖啡豆來獲取咖啡因的刺激。傳說咖啡是9世紀的埃塞俄比亞牧羊人卡爾迪發現的，他為這種飲料做出的貢獻可能不亞于星巴克。

Allegedly, Kaldi observed his goats behaving erratically after eating the red berries from a nearby Coffea arabica tree. He tried some of them himself and was soon acting as hyper as his herd. He then brought a batch to a monastery, where their stimulating effects during long hours of prayer were cause for concern. Coffee, the men observed, must be the devil’s work.

據稱，卡爾迪觀察到他的山羊在吃了附近咖啡樹上的紅色漿果后行為異常。他自己嘗了一些，很快也變得和他的羊群一樣興奮。然后他帶了一些到修道院，那里的人們在長時間祈禱期間發現它們的提神效果，并為此感到擔憂。他們認為咖啡一定是魔鬼的作品。

The religious leaders there threw the tree’s beans onto a fire to destroy them—but the pleasing aroma that resulted convinced them to give coffee a second chance. Much like with tea, they put the roasted beans into warm water and coffee (the beverage) was born.

當地的宗教領袖將這棵樹的豆子扔到火上以銷毀它們，但是烤咖啡豆散發出的令人愉悅的香氣讓他們決定再給咖啡一次機會。和泡茶一樣，他們把烤過的咖啡豆放入熱水中，咖啡飲料就這樣誕生了。

Despite the legend, it’s thought that the practice of chewing coffee beans as a stimulant was around for centuries before Kaldi's alleged discovery. People would grind them to mix with butter and animal fat to preserve and eat on long journeys—basically, a precursor to the energy bar. Similarly, enslaved Sudanese peoples are thought to have chewed on coffee beans to help them survive their difficult voyages on trade routes.

盡管有這個傳說，但人們認為在卡爾迪的“發現”之前，嚼咖啡豆提神的做法已經存在了幾個世紀。人們會將咖啡豆磨碎，與黃油和動物脂肪混合，以保存并在長途旅行中食用——相當于能量棒的前身。蘇丹奴隸也被認為曾經嚼食咖啡豆，以幫助他們在貿易路線上艱難的航行中生存下來。

The story of Kaldi is difficult to pin down. What we do know is that true historical accounts of coffee consumption didn't materialize until much later, when devout Sufi in Yemen were said to use the drink to remain vigilant during religious rituals.

卡爾迪的故事難以溯源。我們所確知的是，真正的關于咖啡消費的歷史記載直到很久以后才出現，據說當時也門虔誠的蘇菲派信徒飲用咖啡以在宗教儀式期間保持警覺。

The cultivation and trade of the beans for the drink began in Arabic countries in the 14th century and spread throughout Egypt, Syria, and Turkey. It’s said not a single coffee plant existed outside of Arabia or Africa until the 1600s, when a pilgrim named Baba Budan brought them back to India. In 1616, Pieter van der Broeck smuggled some coffee out of Mocha, Yemen, and brought it back to Amsterdam. Soon, the Dutch and their colonies—most notably Sri Lanka and Java—took over the European trade, followed by the French in the Caribbean, the Spanish in Central America, and the Portuguese in Brazil. The drink eventually made its way to America via British colonizers who docked in New York City.

咖啡豆的種植和貿易始于14世紀的阿拉伯國家，然后傳播到埃及、敘利亞和土耳其。據說在17世紀以前，咖啡植株在阿拉伯或非洲之外還不存在，直到一位名叫巴巴布丹的朝圣者將它們帶回印度。1616年，彼得·范·德·布魯克走私了一些也門摩卡的咖啡，帶回了阿姆斯特丹。不久之后，荷蘭及其殖民地——主要是斯里蘭卡和爪哇——接管了歐洲貿易，隨后是加勒比海的法國人、中美洲的西班牙人和巴西的葡萄牙人。咖啡最終通過定居在后來的紐約市的英國殖民者傳入了美國。

Today, the average American spends about $2000 a year on coffee. And while Kaldi may not be a household name like Folgers, he still gets his due. The St. Louis-based Kaldi’s Coffee takes its name from the most energetic goat herder in history.

如今，普通美國人每年在咖啡上的花費約為2000美元。雖然卡爾迪可能不像福爵那樣家喻戶曉，但他仍然得到了應有的認可。總部位于圣路易斯的卡爾迪咖啡的名字就來源于這個歷史上最精力充沛的牧羊人。

英文來源：Mental Floss

翻譯&編輯：丹妮

審校：董靜、齊磊