Mankind, says a Chinese manuscript, which my friend M. was obliging enough to read and explain to me,
我的朋友老麦，曾经好心地为我朗读一本中国古代手抄书，并辅以解释，
for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw,
那本书上说，最早七万年前的人类尚为生番族，他们大啖生肉，
clawing or biting it from the living animal, just as they do in Abyssinia to this day.
从活物身上撕扯或啮咬血淋淋的肉来充饥，与当今蒙昧落后的埃塞俄比亚人堪有一比。
This period is not obscurely hinted at by their great Confucius in the second chapter of his “Mundane Mutations,”
在中国伟大的孔夫子《春秋》一书第二章节中，孔夫子清晰地用“庖房”
where he designates a kind of golden age by the term Cho-fang, literally the Cooks' Holiday.
词语将那一远古时期定为黄金时代，“庖房”文字上意指厨师的庆典。
The manuscript goes on to say that the art of roasting, or rather broiling (which I take to be the elder brother),
书中认为烘烤，或者毋庸说烧烤手艺（我觉得后者应率先采用），
was accidentally discovered in the manner following:
不过是人类不经意的发现，或许经过应该这样：
The swineherd, Ho-ti, having gone out into the woods one morning, as his manner was,
有一天，霍逖猪倌清晨离家走进森林，如同往常那样，
to collect mast for his hogs, left his cottage in the care of his eldest son, Bo-bo,
给家里猪猡采摘橡树果实，留下他的儿子波波看家。
a great lubberly boy, who, being fond of playing with fire,
愚笨冥顽的儿子波波喜欢玩火，
as younkers of his age commonly are, let some sparks escape into a bundle of straw,
远古荒蛮年代的孩子大多有此嗜好，于是，火星点点遽然从草堆里冒出，
which, kindling quickly, spread the conflagration over every part of their poor mansion till it was reduced to ashes.
很快燃成一片熊熊烈火。大火迅速地舔舐那间狭小茅舍，直到将其彻底化为灰烬。
Together with the cottage,—a sorry, antediluvian makeshift of a building, you may think it,
究竟一间远古大洪水前破陋窝棚，不妨设想一下，
what was of much more importance, a fine litter of newborn pigs, no less than nine in number, perished.
当时原始人的眼里迫切需要，抑或一窝生下不久、数量不少于九只的活泼猪崽孰重孰轻？
