舌尖上的航海丨第10集 “赤道龍王”與“酒鬼”

“達(dá)利森”號(hào)船長(zhǎng)是位華裔美國(guó)人，名叫布萊恩·曹；快人快語(yǔ)，幽默率直，深受船員喜愛(ài)。

“達(dá)利森”號(hào)是艘“混搭船”，船員來(lái)自世界各地。

這天，“達(dá)利森”號(hào)將駛往赤道海域，船長(zhǎng)接到船舶代理公司通知；正值赤邊附近國(guó)“赤道龍王”節(jié)，一場(chǎng)在船舶上舉辦的“赤道儀式”必不可少。希望船方給予配合。

曹船長(zhǎng)見多識(shí)廣，過(guò)赤邊活動(dòng)經(jīng)歷多次。不僅連說(shuō)ok，還特地讓船上準(zhǔn)備了豐盛的菜肴。

過(guò)赤道儀式是項(xiàng)古老的傳統(tǒng)活動(dòng)。首次過(guò)赤邊的海員必須接受“赤道龍王”的洗禮?！俺噙呄炊Y”最早出現(xiàn)在十五世紀(jì)末，航海不發(fā)達(dá)，人們扯蓬揚(yáng)帆，漂洋過(guò)海，兇多吉少。過(guò)赤道時(shí)，老水手扮成“赤道龍王”，用繩索把年輕水手，從一舷拋下海，再?gòu)牧硪幌侠蟻?lái)。說(shuō)是到赤道龍王那里報(bào)過(guò)到了。今后航海就不危險(xiǎn)了。

這是一種古老傳統(tǒng)的迷信活動(dòng)，已經(jīng)銷聲匿跡了。

不過(guò)，逢年過(guò)節(jié)，赤道附近的居民還與船方 舉辦過(guò)赤道儀式。

船上大廚賈瑧是位地道的“山東大漢”，高大敦實(shí)，有個(gè)突出的“啤酒肚”。被船長(zhǎng)戲稱“酒桶賈”，其實(shí)賈瑧平時(shí)滴酒不沾。賈瑧首次過(guò)赤邊，十分興奮，不僅做了滿桌佳肴，還特意的打扮一番。

中午時(shí)分，一艘五彩繽紛的小船靠上“達(dá)利森”號(hào)船舷。

船長(zhǎng)率領(lǐng)船員列隊(duì)在甲板上歡迎。

賈瑧和首次受洗禮的船員身著短褲，光著脊梁，畢恭畢敬地站在甲板上恭候“赤邊龍王”洗禮。

“赤道龍王”是赤道附近一位老者裝扮的老者身披魚皮，肩掛各色木制飾品手持金色龍杖，威風(fēng)凜凜，在一群臉上涂滿各種油彩“小鬼”的簇?fù)硐碌巧霞装濉?/p>

儀式開始，賈瑧和伙伴們?cè)谝蝗菏殖咒摬婧脱兜摹靶」怼北O(jiān)視下，依次被喚到“赤邊龍王”面前。先由拿著碗口大小“聽診器”的“鬼醫(yī)生”檢查身體，接著把船上通風(fēng)筒取下來(lái)放在甲板上，受洗禮者依次鉆過(guò)去，叫“脫胎換骨”。然后兩名手持鋼叉的“小鬼”輪流朝每人頭上畫一種涂料，叫“改頭換面”。隨之又把成桶海水由頭澆下，稱作“沖洗靈魂”。

經(jīng)過(guò)以上“考驗(yàn)”，受洗禮船員被重新喚到“赤道龍王”面前。

“赤道龍王”正襟危坐，嘴里念念有詞，正式宣布在“生死簿”上勾掉了受洗禮者的名字，并根據(jù)每人的特征分別起了個(gè)赤道諢名：“沙丁魚”、“月亮神”、“磁鐵貓”······。

輪到賈瑧，“赤道龍王”朝賈瑧上下打量一番，接著將鼻子湊近賈瑧臉前，聞了聞，搖頭擺尾說(shuō)：“酒鬼！”

引起人們一陣哄笑。

整個(gè)儀式充滿了歡樂(lè)和友好氣氛。

賈瑧高興之余，卻滿臉無(wú)辜；自己滴酒未沾，竟給起了“酒鬼”的綽名，難道是自己“啤酒肚”造成的。

晚餐時(shí)，賈瑧找到了船長(zhǎng)。開始船長(zhǎng)不以為然，笑著說(shuō)：“怕是’啤酒肚‘惹的禍！”當(dāng)聞到賈瑧滿嘴酒氣時(shí)，說(shuō)“喝酒了。”

賈瑧拼命地?fù)u頭：“不喝酒，船長(zhǎng)是知道的?！?/p>

當(dāng)人們從賈瑧嘴里聞到一陣陣酒氣時(shí)，人們不再懷疑：“賈瑧喝酒了?！?/p>

大廚賈瑧偷偷喝酒的消息，很快傳遍了全船。

一直快言快語(yǔ)的船長(zhǎng)一時(shí)也無(wú)語(yǔ)了。

從不相信鬼神的賈瑧，也開始懷疑“赤道龍王”的魔法，徹夜做起噩夢(mèng)。

不久，“達(dá)利森”號(hào)進(jìn)船廠船修。賈瑧借口離開船廠來(lái)到醫(yī)院檢查。

護(hù)士從賈瑧血液里居然發(fā)現(xiàn)酒精濃度高達(dá)3.7%。

賈瑧驚呆了，自幼滴酒不沾的人，血液里怎么會(huì)有高達(dá)醉酒的酒精濃度。

賈瑧將這個(gè)結(jié)果告訴了船長(zhǎng)。船長(zhǎng)建議他到大醫(yī)院做一次全面徹底檢查。

醫(yī)生終于找到原因；賈瑧的腸道里有過(guò)多的釀酒酵母，只要攝入含有豐富淀粉的食物或飲料，特別是巧克力，酵母就會(huì)分解的糖釀成酒精，存放在人體內(nèi)，平時(shí)沒(méi)有什么癥狀和感覺(jué)，久而久之，體內(nèi)就會(huì)產(chǎn)生酒精。

從小貪食巧克力的賈瑧終于找到了原因。

醫(yī)生解釋說(shuō)：貪食巧克力的人有61%以上的人患有自動(dòng)釀酒癥。由于巧克力含糖較高，在人體內(nèi)經(jīng)分解的葡萄糖可變成葡萄糖酒精，使人容易患上自動(dòng)釀酒綜合癥。這種人群占比例不大，平時(shí)也沒(méi)有更多反應(yīng)。長(zhǎng)期下去會(huì)影響健康。由其是在生長(zhǎng)發(fā)育時(shí)的青少年應(yīng)節(jié)制進(jìn)食巧克力。。

賈瑧把結(jié)果寫信告訴了船長(zhǎng)；決心節(jié)食巧克力，加強(qiáng)鍛煉，去掉“啤酒肚”，有朝一日重返“達(dá)利森”號(hào)。

船長(zhǎng)布萊恩·曹給賈瑧發(fā)來(lái)短信：如果有機(jī)會(huì)再參加“赤道洗禮”，讓“赤邊龍王”給你重新起個(gè)渾名。

The captain of the Daleson was a Chinese-American sailor named Brian

Cao. Brian spoke fast and was straightforward, but was also humorous and

easygoing, making him a well-liked figure amongst his crew. The Daleson was

a mixed cargo ship, with its crewmen hailing from all over the world.

One day, as the Daleson was sailing into a region near the equator,

Captain Cao received a message from the ship’s agency: the countries near

the equator were celebrating the Festival of the Golden Dragon, and they

had asked the ship to perform a line-crossing ceremony to commemorate the

occasion.

Captain Cao had voyaged near the equator many times, and knew that the

line-crossing ceremony was a tradition that was valued by many. He agreed

to assist the equatorial countries in their celebrations, and asked the

crew’s chefs to prepare a lavish meal.

The line-crossing ceremony first appeared at the end of the fifth

century, and has since been performed by seafarers from all over the world.

Back then, nautical routes were not as well-established, so sailors often

drifted on the sea without much knowledge of their surroundings, running

into harsh environments and ferocious storms. When they crossed the

equator, old sailors would dress up as King Neptune or the Golden Dragon,

use a rope to throw younger sailors over the port, and then help them back

up using another rope. They believed that this signified new sailors’

arrival to King Neptune, thus casting away any storm or danger.

Now, this age-old tradition has become virtually unknown, but on

certain festivals or celebrations, townspeople who lived near the equator

still sometimes performed a line-crossing ceremony with ships that passed

by.

One of the ship’s chefs was a paunchy man from Shandong named Jia

Zhen. He was tall and large, with an obvious beer belly, and even though

his crewmates affectionately called him “Wine Barrel Jia”, he actually

disliked drinking alcohol. It was Jia’s first time crossing the equator,

so he was rather excited about the ocasion, helping out during his free

time and even putting on a suit.

At noon, a small, brightly colored boat stopped at the side of the

Daleson, and Captain Cao gathered his excited crew on the deck to welcome

their visitors. Jia Zhen and the other first-timers wore nothing but a pair

of swimming trunks, stood bare-backed at the front of the deck and waved

hello to the locals.

The Golden Dragon was the mayor of a town near the Equator who dressed

up as King Neptune. He wore fish skin over his back, with wooden ornaments

hanging down from his shoulders onto his chest. Most astonishingly, he held

onto a golden staff with a dragon embellished onto it and had an army of

kids and younger townsmen surrounding him. Jia Zhen stared at the Golden

Dragon in awe, wondering what exactly he was going to do.

As the ceremony began, Jia Zhen and his fellow first-time sailors each

grabbed a trident or a knife, and under the supervision of the Golden

Dragon’s henchmen, stood in a line in front of the Golden Dragon. The

Golden Dragon used a small detector the shape of a rice bowl to graze over

the sailors’ skin, checking for any anomalies.

The Golden Dragon then asked the first time equator sailors to lift the

ship’s ventilation tube over to the deck, and asked them to crawl through

them as an initiation trial. Finally, the Golden Dragon told his henchmen

to smear facepaint over the cheeks of the sailors, and pour a bucket of ice

water over the sailors as the ultimate test of their resilience.

The sailors on the Daleson successfully completed all of the Golden

Dragon’s trials. They were once again called in front of the Golden

Dragon, who cleared his throat and began to read from a list of names.

Based on each sailor’s performance, the Golden Dragon each gave them a

nickname. “Sardine,” He called, followed by “Apollo” and “Iron Cat”.

When he got to Jia Zhen, the Golden Dragon took a good look at Jia Zhen

from head to toe, and said, “The Drunken Sailor!”

Jia Zhen’s crewmates burst out laughing.

A ceremony that started out as tense quickly shifted into an amicable,

entertaining environment. But instead of beaming in pride, Jia Zhen felt

ashamed of his nickname. Even though he, unlike many other fellow sailors,

barely ever drank alcohol, he was given the nickname of the “Drunken

Sailor” purely based on his pot belly.

During dinner, an unhappy Jia Zhen knocked on Captain Cao’s door.

Captain Cao saw the sorrowful look on Jia Zhen’s face, smiled, and asked

jokingly, “Did the ‘wine barrel’ cause trouble for you?” As he took a

moment and noticed the smell of beer coming from Jia Zhen, he asked again,

“Did you drink tonight?”

Jia Zhen shook his head. “I don’t drink, Captain. You know that.”

But when the Captain picked up on the smell of beer coming from Jia

Zhen’s mouth, there wasn’t a single doubt in his mind. Jia Zhen

definitely had a few drinks that night.

The rumors of Jia Zhen, the head chef who was known to strictly follow

all rules on board, had gone through a night of drinking soon spread

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through the entire Daleson. Jia Zhe, who was never one to believe in

superstitions, also started to wonder if there was some truth to the Golden

Dragon’s magic.

Captain Cao, who was always cheerful and had the utmost trust in his

crew, fell silent.

Not long after, the Daleson stopped at a nearby port for some routine

upkeep, and Jia Zhen took this opportunity to go to a nearby hospital to

check his blood alcohol levels.

To his horror, his blood alcohol percentage had shot up to 3.7%.

How could this be? Jia Zhen wondered to himself. As someone who never

drank, how could the alcohol in his blood rise up to such high levels?

He showed his results to Captain Cao, who immediately took him to a

nearby hospital to undergo a complete medical checkup. After a day of

taking blood samples and consulting a doctor, Jia Zhen found out that he

had high levels of a type of yeast named Saccharomyces cerevisiae in his intestinal

tracks. This type of yeast breaks down foods containing a lot of starch, especially sweets and

chocolate into alcohol, and keeps it circulating throughout the body. Normally, the patient

wouldn’t feel that there was anything wrong, but with age, alcohol levels in the blood would

start to build up.

Jia Zhen felt like he had found the culprit for his sweet tooth and large belly at long last.

The doctor explained that over 61% of people who had intense chocolate cravings may

suffer from the condition known as Auto-Brewery Syndrome. Since chocolate is extremely

high in sugar, the Brewer’s Yeast turns the glucose present in the body into alcohol, thus

making the person at risk of developing Auto-Brewery Syndrome. Although the number of

people who suffer from this condition wasn’t high, those who have undetected Auto-Brewery

Syndrome posed drastic risks to their health, especially for younger adolescents who ate a lot

of sweets.

Jia Zhen talked his results over with Captain Cao, and decided to take a break from

seafaring to go on a diet and cut out all sugar, start exercising more often, get rid of his “beer

belly”, and return to the Daleson when he felt much better.

Sensing Jia Zhen’s determination, Captain Cao respectfully allowed him to take a break

from drifting at sea. He promised Jia Zhen that as soon as he got better, they would sail

through the Equator again as a crew, and allow Jia Zhen to participate in the line-crossing

ceremony once more, and hopefully get another nickname.