国家地理:香氛熏陶的历史(4)

During the five to six hours it takes for Tegh Singh's roses to become attar,

在特格·辛格的玫瑰花瓣变成阿塔尔所需的五到六个小时间，

Ram¹ Singh moves between the still and the pot,

拉姆·辛格在蒸馏器和铜锅之间来回走动，

testing the water temperature and listening to the hiss² of steam to intuit whether to feed more wood into the fire.

测试水温并聆听蒸汽所发出的嘶嘶声，以判断是否要添加柴火。

"I've been doing this since I was a boy," says the 50-year-old Ram Singh.

“我从小就一直在做这个。”50岁的拉姆·辛格说。

To achieve the desired potency³, the process is repeated the next day, with a new batch⁴ of rose petals⁵,

为了达到预期的浓度，隔天会使用另一批玫瑰花瓣再重复一次流程。

Once this is done, the rose attar is aged⁶ for several months in a camel-skin bottle, which wicks moisture.

这个步骤完成后，玫瑰阿塔尔会装在可以吸去水分的骆驼皮瓶子中熟成数个月。

The finished rose attar is akin⁷ to liquid gold.

完成的玫瑰阿塔尔就像是液体黄金。

One kilo (being 2.2 pounds) can fetch up to $3,000.

1公斤（2.2磅）可以卖到3000美元。

1 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

2 hiss   

v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满

参考例句：

• We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
• Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。

3 potency   

n. 效力，潜能

参考例句：

• Alcohol increases the drug's potency.酒精能增加这种毒品的效力。
• Sunscreen can lose its potency if left over winter in the bathroom cabinet.如果把防晒霜在盥洗室的壁橱里放一个冬天，就有可能失效。

4 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

5 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

7 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。