文字难度：★★★
The word “taboo” (also spelled “tabu”) is Polynesian and means “sacred” or “forbidden”; it has a 1)quasi-magical or religious 2)overtone. The term was introduced to 3)anthropological literature in the second half of the nineteenth century. When you dig out what is hidden behind the forbidden, we can see people deal with “taboo” for many reasons, from culture to religion.
Taboo（禁忌）”（亦拼作“tabu”），这个词来源于波利尼西亚语，它的意思是“神圣的”、“被禁止的”，有类似于魔力方面的意味或带有宗教方面的暗示。它最早出现在19世纪下半叶的人类学文献中。当挖掘“被禁止”背后隐藏的秘密时，我们能发现，从文化到宗教，人们涉及“禁忌”的原因有很多。
In the field of food and nutrition, food taboos are not necessarily connected with magical-religious 4)practices, and some nutritionists prefer to speak of “food avoidance.” Food is a culturally specific concept. In general, anything can function as food if it is not immediately toxic. But what is 5)edible in one culture may not be in another. The concept of food is determined by three factors: biology, geography, and culture.
在饮食营养方面，食物的忌讳不一定与神力或宗教习俗有关，一些营养学家更倾向于称之为“避食习惯”。何为食物，这是因文化而异的概念。一般而言，本身没有毒性的东西都可为食物。然而，一种文化视为可食之物，到了另一种文化中就不一定如此。能否成为食物跟三个因素有关：生物特性、地理环境和文化习惯。
Certain plants and animals are not consumed because they are indigestible. Geography also plays a role. For example, 6)dairy products are not part of the food culture of the humid tropical regions since the geographical conditions for keeping cattle are unfavorable. Milk is often a taboo food in such cultures. Insects are not considered food in Europe and most of the United States despite attempts to introduce them in the late twentieth century. This is because there are few edible insects in regions with 7)temperate climates. In Mexico, by contrast, insects are packaged in plastic 8)sachets, cans, or jars for sale.
人们不食用某些食物，是因为它们不易消化。同时，地理环境也起着作用。例如，在潮湿的热带地区，乳制品不出现在其食物文化中，是因为那里的自然环境不适宜畜养牛羊，因此，在这些地区，奶类也就时常成为一种食物禁忌。在欧洲和美国的大部分地方，昆虫无法成为当地人的食物，尽管二十世纪末人们多次尝试向那里引入昆虫美食。究其原因，是因为在温带地区，人们几乎找不到可以食用的昆虫。相反地，在墨西哥，昆虫是成袋成罐地卖给人吃的。
Meanwhile we also have permanent food taboos. For example, in Western society cats and dogs are not consumed because of the emotional relationships developed with these pets. Increasingly pets are being “humanized” in such a way that eating them is seen as an act of 9)anthropophagy or 10)cannibalism. The feeling of closeness to certain animals can also be found in the 11)savannah regions of West Africa. Certain West African 12)clans consider dogs clan animals, based on the fact that they have been beneficial to the clan in the past; as clan animals they are unfit for consumption. Hippocrates regarded dog meat favorably as a 13)light meal, but in later 14)antiquity, dogs were considered unclean and unfit to eat. This is still the case in the Mediterranean area and the Middle East. By contrast, dog meat is popular in China and the mountainous regions of the Philippines. Actually, from a nutritional point of view, dog meat is an excellent source of animal protein, and dogs do not require the 15)grazing area demanded by cattle or other large 16)ruminants.
同时，有些食物的禁忌是长久存在的。举个例子，在西方社会里，猫和狗是人们的宠物，并与人们有着亲密的情感关系，所以这些地方的人们是不会食用猫和狗的。随着这些宠物日益被“人性化”，人们认为食用这些动物的行为有如食用自己同类一样残忍不已。这种与某种动物之间有着亲密情感关系的情况在西非的热带草原地区也存在。在西非的一些部落中，因为在过去狗对于他们的部落生存发展有利，所以人们把狗当成一种部落守护动物，如此一来，狗便成了被禁止食用的动物。希波克拉底（古希腊医师，人称医药之父）则认为狗肉是很好的便餐，但是后来，古人却认为狗不干净，所以不能吃。直到今天，在地中海和中东地区，情况依然如是。与此相反的是，在中国和菲律宾的山区，狗肉却很受青睐。而事实上，从营养学的角度来看，狗肉的确是动物蛋白的理想来源，而且狗不像牛或其它大型反刍动物那样需要宽阔的牧场来放养。