读者文摘:一个核桃的自述(2)（在线收听）

If you've ever cracked open a peach pit and found an almond-shaped seed inside, you'll know what I'm getting at.

如果你曾经砸开过一个桃子核，看到里面的杏仁形的种子，你就会知道我说的是什么意思。

As tough as my shell can get, delicate oils found within the lobes can go rancid fairly easily.

尽管我的壳很坚硬，但在裂片里面发现的油很容易变质。

If I'm bitter or lingeringly musty, then we'd best go our separate ways.

如果我吃起来是苦的或者是持续的霉味，那么最好就送我们上路。

If you're not going to eat me right away, put me in the fridge or even in the freezer in a well-sealed, airtight bag.

如果你不立即吃掉我的话，把我放在冰箱里，或者放在密封的袋子里冷冻。

If you pick my fruit early, before the pit has fully hardened, you can do rather unexpected things.

如果在核完全变硬之前，你摘了我的果实，你可以做些意想不到的事情。

In Britain they pickle me, brining me whole in salt water and preserving me in a brown-sugar-and-spice syrup.

在英国，他们会腌制我，把我整个放在盐水里，在红糖和香料的糖汁里保存。

With that I become delicate and soft; you can slice clean through me and see the seed, the proto-shell, and the rim of fruit flesh.

这样我就会变得柔软，你可以把我整个切开，看到种子、原壳和果肉的边缘部分。

But what's really fascinating is the color of a pickled walnut: black.

腌核桃最有趣的部分就是它的颜色：黑色。

That's because my clear, milky juice turns dark when it's exposed to air.

这是因为，我清澈的乳白色汁液暴露在空气中会变黑。

Young walnut fruits provide that same inky color to nocino, the Italian after-dinner drink made by macerating me in high-proof liquor with sugar and spices.

未成熟的核桃果可为意大利餐后饮料nocino提供同样的墨色，nocino是用糖和香料将我浸泡在高强度的酒中制成的。

In ancient Rome they would combine my tinted sap with leeches, ashes, and charred things to make dark hair dye.

在古罗马，人们会把我有色的汁液与水蛭、灰烬和烧焦的东西混合，制成深色染发剂。

My juice was also used to make walnut ink, which Rembrandt, Leonardo, and Rubens are said to have used for some of their sketches.

我的汁液还被用来做胡桃木墨水，据说伦勃朗、莱昂纳多和鲁本斯的一些素描就是用胡桃木墨水画的。

The Encyclopedia of Hair will tell you that in 17th-century England,

据头发百科全书记载，在17世纪的英国，

the oil expressed from my seed was used as a depilatory, thinning the eyebrows and hairlines of women when that look was in fashion.

从我的种子中提取的油被用作脱毛剂，使眉毛和发际线变细，当时流行过这样的时尚造型。

Now, inexplicably, walnut oil is touted as a baldness cure.

现在，令人费解的是，核桃油被吹捧为治疗秃顶的良方。

Suffice it to say you might be better off not using me for hair-related purposes.

我只想说，你最好别把我用在头发上。

But you humans have found countless other applications for me, including employing my shells as an abrasive cleaning agent, used to this day.

但是你们人类已经为我发现了无数的其他用途，包括使用我的壳作为研磨性清洁剂，直到今天还在使用。

This was not always a good idea: In 1982, a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter crashed because of walnut-shell residue that had blocked the oil jets lubricating the copter's transmission.

这并不总是一个好主意：在1982年，一架美国军队直升机因为核桃壳的残渣坠毁，原因是残渣阻塞了润滑直升机传动装置的油喷嘴。

My favorite inedible function, though, is as an investment vehicle.

但是，我最喜欢的非食用功能，是用作一个投资工具。

The Chinese regard the finest examples of me the way you might regard jewels or fancy pottery.

中国人看待最好品质的核桃就跟看待珠宝或花式陶器一样。

I can fetch wild sums of money in the East, where swirling a pair of me in your palm is said to stimulate blood circulation.

在东方，靠我可以赚到大把大把的钱，在那里，把我捧在手心转动说可以刺激血液循环。

Matching sets can go for more than $30,000—the larger and older I am, the more I'm worth.

相匹配的一套核桃价值可超过3万美元——我越大越老，我就越有价值。

Think of that the next time you pop a handful of me into your mouth as a snack.

下次你把我当零食吃的时候，想想这一点。