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Mankind, says a Chinese manuscript, which my friend M. was obliging enough to read and explain to me,
我的朋友老麥，曾經好心地為我朗讀一本中國古代手抄書，并輔以解釋，
for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw,
那本書上說，最早七萬年前的人類尚為生番族，他們大啖生肉，
clawing or biting it from the living animal, just as they do in Abyssinia to this day.
從活物身上撕扯或嚙咬血淋淋的肉來充饑，與當今蒙昧落后的埃塞俄比亞人堪有一比。
This period is not obscurely hinted at by their great Confucius in the second chapter of his “Mundane Mutations,”
在中國偉大的孔夫子《春秋》一書第二章節中，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.
詞語將那一遠古時期定為黃金時代，“庖房”文字上意指廚師的慶典。
The manuscript goes on to say that the art of roasting, or rather broiling (which I take to be the elder brother),
書中認為烘烤，或者毋庸說燒烤手藝（我覺得后者應率先采用），
was accidentally discovered in the manner following:
不過是人類不經意的發現，或許經過應該這樣：
The swineherd, Ho-ti, having gone out into the woods one morning, as his manner was,
有一天，霍逖豬倌清晨離家走進森林，如同往常那樣，
to collect mast for his hogs, left his cottage in the care of his eldest son, Bo-bo,
給家里豬玀采摘橡樹果實，留下他的兒子波波看家。
a great lubberly boy, who, being fond of playing with fire,
愚笨冥頑的兒子波波喜歡玩火，
as younkers of his age commonly are, let some sparks escape into a bundle of straw,
遠古荒蠻年代的孩子大多有此嗜好，于是，火星點點遽然從草堆里冒出，
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。大火迅速地舔舐那間狹小茅舍，直到將其徹底化為灰燼。
Together with the cottage,—a sorry, antediluvian makeshift of a building, you may think it,
究竟一間遠古大洪水前破陋窩棚，不妨設想一下，
what was of much more importance, a fine litter of newborn pigs, no less than nine in number, perished.
當時原始人的眼里迫切需要，抑或一窩生下不久、數量不少于九只的活潑豬崽孰重孰輕？
