2015-07-03

【Aiden in English】

        Pizza is the new Alexander the Great in Italian culinary, which conquests countries with ease and turns people’s appetites against themselves. Its origin comes from the beautiful city of Naples with more than 2,500-year-old history.

        In the downtown Naples crammed in a small, dark side stands a tiny alley with a golden plaque that reads: “Nacque la Pizza Margherita”. This is an official plaque that states the origin of the monstrosity known as “Pizza”. The cheesy, tasty dough was invented in the 1889, and from the very start, Italians saw potential in the small circular bread of triangles consisted of green basil, red tomatoes and white mozzarella di bufala. Back in the old day, the pizza was a simple delicatessen of Italy, native to the country, and only known in this country. Then, Queen Margherita of Savoy happened to taste it. Those British and their explorers were always nosing their way into secrets. And so the pizza was no longer loyal to this country and owned by this country. In fact, Europe was reacting to this discovery like a girl to Cinderella’s crystal shoe (See Note at the bottom). Once the merchants passed it onto the Americans, the meaning of “pizza” was taken quite differently. The path split, and the American version of pizza was born. The oil, the grease, and the non-formality were given to an amazing dish. 

        It was astonishing to see how the world reacted to such a delicious pastry transform. They actually accepted it in a crazy and inhumane way. People switched their shops’ food to keep up with the competition here. After completing a diagram and analysis, I believe that it is because of US tourists and their money. When rich people come to poor places, money talks and leaves a trail. That’s why tourism becomes such a big hit in certain economies. The people need to get the tourists willing to spend money to buy their goods at higher prices. Now money can also make you a target, which leads to theft, hate, and assassination. It didn’t help that the Mafia was used to be extremely strong in Naples. Why was that? It’s the very people that tend to hand on to their money, sometimes even more than life. At what a point in time was money worth more than life? Well, some people have a thing for the green paper and numbers, I guess. Money stands out everywhere. It makes many people respect you, while others may resent you. Believe or not, nearly everyone sees you as a possibility to be like you.

Note: The story of Cinderella was actually inspired by the architecture in Naples.

【红霞译文】

        皮萨可谓意大利烹饪界的亚历山大大帝，不仅轻而易举地征服了整个国家，并且还博取全体同胞交口称赞，其发源地正是风景优美、具有2500年悠久文化历史的那不勒斯。

        地处那不勒斯市中心一个空间狭隘光线暗淡的胡同镶金牌匾上写着“皮萨玛格丽塔诞生”，这就是官方认可的被惯称为“皮萨”尤物出世之地。1889年，乳香可口的面食在此首次跟公众见面，尽管从一开始意大利人早已嗅到这个由三角面皮涂满绿紫苏红番茄白水牛奶酪拼成的圆饼会带来无限商机，但那时皮萨只被当成热气腾腾的风味小吃，仅在本土顶多行销本国范围，直到英国萨伏依女皇玛格丽塔道访亲口尝试，才引起英国人及其猎奇者的高度重视。打那以后，皮萨不再由意大利人独享，也不再归意大利专属。实际上，欧洲人对这项发明趋之若鹜，犹如公主小姐情系灰姑娘水晶鞋一般^【注】；而美洲商家则借题发挥，“皮萨”本土气息荡然无存，取而代之的是腻乎乎油渍渍的家常便饭，米式皮萨应运而生。

        皮萨转型过程令人感慨，中间不乏武断缺乏情理。为了适应竞争，当地人不得不改造皮萨生意，纵观总体分析，这种结果完全由美国游客一手造出。当富人来到穷地，物质消费必定刺激生机，游客喜爱的东西会引起商家关注，所以说旅游业促进一定的经济发展。生意人期待从观光者消费中获得利润，他们把游客当成发家致富的对象，这也是为什么抢劫、仇恨、暗杀等犯罪事件时有发生，这样只会给那不勒斯旅游业雪上加霜，为什么这么说呢？要知道从前这里黑手党势力强大，他们图财害命杀人不眨眼。在我看来，某些人把金钱看得比生命还重要。物欲社会哪里都需要金钱，人们对它羡慕嫉妒恨，五味杂陈。不管相信与否，几乎所有人或多或少认为金钱万能。

【注】事实上，《灰姑娘》原著中的场景设计灵感来自那不勒斯建筑。