Athens' Parthenon is old. Built in 447 BC, it was constructed almost 2,000 years before Columbus happened upon America. Now consider this: The Minoan palace at Knossos, just outside the city of Iraklion, was built in 1900 BC, 1,453 years before the Parthenon. Archaeologists have discovered that four palaces were built basically on top of each other on the Knossos hilltop, the first in about 1900 BC.

雅典的帕德嫩神庙称得上古老了。它建于西元前447年，比哥伦布发现美洲早了近2000年。现在想想这个：位于伊拉克里翁市郊的米农文明克诺萨斯宫殿，建造于西元前1900年，比帕德嫩神庙还早1453年。考古学家已经发现，克诺萨斯山丘上那四座一座接着一座建造的宫殿，第一座就是建于西元前1900年。

The ancient Minoans laid terra-cotta pipes to bring water from a nearby hill, creating water pressure in much the same way we use towers. Various pressures were achieved with wide or narrow pipes. With this system, the queen had what might be the world's first flush toilet. Speaking of the queen, she and other ladies of the palace had something that today's women would recognize hair curlers, these made of ivory or clay. But the Minoans sometimes were too clever for their own good. To keep drinking water cool, they lined many of their clay pots with lead. It worked, but it also poisoned the water.

古米农人会利用赤陶管从附近山丘引水，制造水压的方法跟我们使用水塔的原理大致相同。宽窄不一样的管子就会制造出不同的水压。借由这个系统，米农女王可能是拥有了世界上第一座冲水马桶。谈到女王，她与其他宫廷女子还会使用一种现代女性一定认得出来的东西——发卷，有象牙制的，也有粘土制的。不过米农人有时也会聪明反被聪明误。为了让饮水保持冰凉，他们会把铅涂在许多陶罐的内壁。这招的确有效，却也在水中下了毒。

The palace also had a labyrinth, an intricate web of corridors that linked large and small rooms and even separate houses. Corridors are found in the queen's quarters and in the adjacent workers' areas. The labyrinths were supposed to confound any enemies who might get in. The labyrinth also led to the myth of the Minotaur, a fierce half-bull, half-man who ate children and had been banished there.

这座宫殿还有一座迷宫，以错综复杂的回廊连接了大小不同的房间，甚至还连接了外头的屋舍。这些回廊是在皇后的住处与毗邻的劳动区里被发现的。迷宫应该是为了迷惑入侵的敌人而建。这座迷宫也通往了Minotaur神话，Minotaur是只残暴的牛头人身怪物，因为吃了孩童而被放逐到这座迷宫。

But now in the mountains, life is lived much as it has been for ages: Women tend to wash and cook, mustachioed men herd goats. And once in from the hills, the men can loll for hours over a demitasse of fierce black coffee sipped down to the slurry at the cup's bottom. As evening approaches, coffee is replaced by Mythos beer or ouzo, made from pressed grapes and often including star anise, coriander, cloves, angelica root, licorice, mint, wintergreen, fennel, hazelnut, cinnamon and lime blossom. Everywhere people carry the prayer beads of the Greek Orthodox Church.

然而，克里特岛上现在的山林生活，仍和它几个世纪以来的生活没什么两样：女人忙着洗衣煮饭，大胡子男人牧羊。男人们一从山上回来，便会懒洋洋地喝起浓烈的黑咖啡来，一喝就是好几个小时，直到杯底只剩咖啡渣为止。夜晚来临，咖啡就换成了Mythos啤酒或Ouzo酒，Ouzo酒是由葡萄榨汁制成，常会加入八角、胡荽、丁香、当归根、甘草、薄荷、鹿蹄草、茴香、榛果、肉桂以及莱姆花等。人们不管上哪儿都会佩带希腊东正教的念珠。

But as tranquil as it all is now, you can still imagine Rhea spiriting baby Zeus off to a mountain cave where he was raised by three nymphs who gave him milk from a magic goat. It's that magic that survives to this day.

尽管一切如此平静，我们还是可以想象莉亚将小宙斯偷偷藏进山洞中的情景。山洞中，三位仙女喂宙斯喝一只魔力山羊的羊乳，把他抚养长大。至今，这道魔力仍然萦绕着克里特岛。

上一页  [1] [2]