本篇文章共分 7 個段落，分別介紹肉豆蔻的物理性質與用途，歐洲各國爭奪與荷蘭壟斷全球肉豆蔻到壟斷結束期間的歷史，以及目前的栽種現況，增進讀者對這個著名香料的認識。

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

Nutmeg – a Valuable Spice 肉豆蔻—一種寶貴的香料

1. 肉豆蔻植物與香料

   The nutmeg tree, Myristica fragrans, is a large evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia. Until the late 18th century, it only grew in one place in the world: a small group of islands in the Banda Sea, part of the Moluccas – or Spice Islands – in northeastern Indonesia. The tree is thickly branched with dense foliage of tough, dark green oval leaves, and produces small, yellow, bell-shaped flowers and pale yellow pear-shaped fruits. The fruit is encased in a flesh husk. When the fruit is ripe, this husk splits into two halves along a ridge running the length of the fruit. Inside is a purple-brown shiny seed, 2-3 cm long by about 2 cm across, surrounded by a lacy red or crimson covering called an ‘aril’. These are the sources of the two spices nutmeg and mace, the former being produced from the dried seed and the latter from the aril.

   肉豆蔻樹，學名為 Myristica fragrans，是一種原產於東南亞的大型常青樹。到 18 世紀末之前，全世界它只在一個地方生長：班達海的一小群島嶼，屬於印尼東北部的摩鹿加群島—或稱香料群島—的一部分。該樹枝葉茂密，葉子堅韌，呈深綠色的橢圓形，開黃色鐘形小花，結淡黃色梨形果實。果實被包裹在一個肉質的外殼中。當果實成熟時，這個外殼會沿著貫穿果實的脊線裂成兩半。裡面是一顆紫褐色有光澤的種子，長 2-3 厘米，寬約 2 厘米，周圍有花邊的紅色或深紅色覆蓋物，稱為「假種皮」。這些是肉豆蔻和肉豆蔻衣這兩種香料的來源，前者產自乾燥的種子，後者產自假種皮。

2. 肉豆蔻早期歷史

   Nutmeg was a highly prized and costly ingredient in European cuisine in the Middle Ages, and was used as a flavouring, medicinal, and preservative agent. Throughout this period, the Arabs were the exclusive importers of the spice to Europe. They sold nutmeg for high prices to merchants based in Venice, but they never revealed the exact location of the source of this extremely valuable commodity. The Arab-Venetian dominance of the trade finally ended in 1512, when the Portuguese reached the Banda Islands and began exploiting its precious resources.

   肉豆蔻在中世紀的歐洲美食中是一種非常珍貴且昂貴的原料，被用作調味劑、藥用和防腐劑。在這一時期，阿拉伯人是歐洲獨家進口這種香料的人。他們以高價將肉豆蔻賣給設在威尼斯的商人，但他們從未透露過這種極其寶貴的商品來源的確切位置。1512 年，當葡萄牙人到達班達群島並開始開採其珍貴的資源時，阿拉伯-威尼斯人對該貿易的主導地位終於結束。

3. 歐洲國家爭奪

   Always in danger of competition from neighbouring Spain, the Portuguese began subcontracting their spice distribution to Dutch traders. Profits began to flow into the Netherlands, and the Dutch commercial fleet swiftly grew into one of the largest in the world. The Dutch quietly gained control of most of the shipping and trading of spices in Northern Europe. Then, in 1580, Portugal fell under Spanish rule, and by the end of the 16th century the Dutch found themselves locked out of the market. As prices for pepper, nutmeg, and other spices soared across Europe, they decided to fight back.

   葡萄牙人始終面臨著來自鄰國西班牙的競爭，他們開始將香料分銷分包給荷蘭商人。利潤開始流入荷蘭，荷蘭商業艦隊迅速發展成為世界上最大的艦隊之一。荷蘭人悄悄地獲得了對北歐大部分航運和香料貿易的控制權。然後，在 1580 年，葡萄牙落入西班牙的統治之下，到 16 世紀末，荷蘭人發現自己被鎖在市場之外。隨著整個歐洲的胡椒、肉豆蔻和其他香料的價格飆升，他們決定進行反擊。

4. 荷蘭東印度公司介入

   In 1602, Dutch merchants founded the VOC, a trading corporation better known as the Dutch East India Company. By 1617, the VOC was the richest commercial operation in the world. The company had 50,000 employees worldwide, with a private army of 30,000 men and a fleet of 200 ships. At the same time, thousands of people across Europe were dying of the plague, a highly contagious and deadly disease. Doctors were desperate for a way to stop the spread of this disease, and they decided nutmeg held the cure. Everybody wanted nutmeg, and many were willing to spare no expense to have it. Nutmeg bought for a few pennies in Indonesia could be sold for 68,000 times its original cost on the streets of London. The only problem was the short supply. And that’s where the Dutch found their opportunity.

   1602 年，荷蘭商人成立了 VOC，這家貿易公司即更廣為人知的荷蘭東印度公司。到 1617 年，VOC 是世界上最富有的商業公司。該公司在全球擁有50,000 名員工，擁有一支由 30,000 人組成的私人軍隊和一支由 200 艘船組成的艦隊。與此同時，整個歐洲有成千上萬的人死於瘟疫，這是一種高度傳染性的致命疾病。醫生們急切地尋找阻止這種疾病蔓延的方法，他們認為肉豆蔻是貼療方。每個人都想要肉豆蔻，許多人願意不惜一切代價來擁有它。在印尼花幾分錢買的肉豆蔻，在倫敦街頭可以賣到原價的 68,000 倍。唯一的問題是供應不足。而這正是荷蘭人發現的機會所在。

5. 荷蘭壟斷肉豆蔻

   The Banda Islands were ruled by local sultans who insisted on maintaining a neutral trading policy towards foreign powers. This allowed them to avoid the presence of Portuguese or Spanish troops on their soil, but it also left them unprotected from other invaders. In 1621, the Dutch arrived and took over. Once securely in control of the Bandas, the Dutch went to work protecting their new investment. They concentrated all nutmeg production into a few easily guarded areas, uprooting and destroying any trees outside the plantation zones. Anyone caught growing a nutmeg seedling or carrying seeds without the proper authority was severely punished. In addition, all exported nutmeg was covered with lime to make sure there was no chance a fertile seed which could be grown elsewhere would leave the islands. There was only one obstacle to Dutch domination. One of the Banda Islands, a sliver of land called Run, only 3 km long by less than 1 km wide, was under the control of the British. After decades of fighting for control of this tiny island, the Dutch and British arrived at a compromise settlement, the Treaty of Breda, in 1667. Intent on securing their hold over every nutmeg-producing island, the Dutch offered a trade: if the British would give them the island of Run, they would in turn give Britain a distant and much less valuable island in North America. The British agreed. That other island was Manhattan, which is how New Amsterdam became New York. The Dutch now had a monopoly over the nutmeg trade which would last for another century.

   班達群島由當地蘇丹統治，他們堅持對外國勢力保持中立的貿易政策。這使他們能夠避免葡萄牙或西班牙軍隊出現在他們的土地上，但這也使他們沒有受到其他侵略者的保護。1621 年，荷蘭人抵達並接管了這裡。一旦穩固地控制了班達島，荷蘭人就開始工作，保護他們的新投資。他們將所有肉豆蔻的生產集中在幾個守衛容易的區域，將種植區以外的任何樹木連根拔起並摧毀。任何被發現種植肉豆蔻樹苗或未經適當授權攜帶種子的人都會受到嚴厲的懲罰。此外，所有出口的肉豆蔻都要用石灰覆蓋，以確保可以在其他地方種植的可繁殖種子沒有機會離開這些島嶼。對荷蘭的統治只有一項障礙。班達群島中的一個叫朗島 (Run) 的地方，只有 3 公里長，不到 1 公里寬，被英國人控制著。為爭奪這個小島的控制權，荷蘭人和英國人經過幾十年的戰鬥，於 1667 年達成了一個妥協方案，即《布雷達條約》。為了確保他們對每個肉豆蔻生產島嶼的控制，荷蘭人提出了一個交易：如果英國人願意給他們朗島，他們將反過來給英國一個遙遠的、價值更低的北美島嶼。英國人同意了。這座島嶼就是曼哈頓，這就是新阿姆斯特丹成為紐約的原因。荷蘭人現在壟斷了肉豆蔻貿易，並將持續一個世紀。

6. 荷蘭壟斷結束

   Then, in 1770, a Frenchman named Pierre Poivre successfully smuggled nutmeg plants to safety in Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa. Some of these were later exported to the Caribbean where they thrived, especially on the island of Grenada. Next, in 1778, a volcanic eruption in the Banda region caused a tsunami that wiped out half the nutmeg groves. Finally, in 1809, the British returned to Indonesia and seized the Banda Islands by force. They returned the islands to the Dutch in 1817, but not before transplanting hundreds of nutmeg seedlings to plantations in several locations across southern Asia. The Dutch nutmeg monopoly was over.

   之後，到了 1770 年，一個名叫 Pierre Poivre 的法國人成功地將肉豆蔻植物走私到非洲海岸邊的模里西斯的安全地帶。其中一些後來被出口到加勒比海地區，在那裡它們茁壯成長，特別是在格瑞那達島。接下來，在 1778 年，班達地區的火山爆發引起了一場海嘯，使一半的肉豆蔻樹林消失了。最後，在 1809 年，英國人回到印尼，用武力奪取了班達群島。1817 年，他們將這些島嶼歸還給了荷蘭人，但在此之前，他們將數以百計的肉豆蔻樹苗移植到亞洲南部幾個地方的種植園中。荷蘭肉豆蔻的壟斷地位就此結束。

7. 今日種植地區與產量

   Today, nutmeg is grown in Indonesia, the Caribbean, India, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka, and world nutmeg production is estimated to average between 10,000 and 12,000 tonnes per year.

   今日，肉豆蔻在印尼、加勒比海地區、印度、馬來西亞、巴布亞紐幾內亞和斯里蘭卡都有種植，世界肉豆蔻產量估計平均每年在 10,000 到 12,000 噸之間。