（五）維吉爾的肉桂樹
老普林尼在《植物史》第12卷第43章提到：“Cassia也被種植在我們的國土範圍內，植在帝國的最邊緣地區，在萊茵河兩岸，栽在蜂巢附近的cassia非常繁茂。但是，它們沒有被灼熱的陽光烤過後的燒焦的顏色，因此也沒有和來自南方的物種相似的氣味”。
(Cassia is also planted in our part of the world, and, indeed, at the extreme verge of the Empire, on the banks of the river Rhenus, where it flourishes when planted in the vicinity of hives of bees. It has not, however, that scorched colour which is produced by the excessive heat of the sun; nor has it, for the same reason, a similar smell to that which comes from the south. )
我在前麵的章節已經討論過了，萊茵河兩岸的cassia 絕不可能是真正的肉桂，應該是本土的一種氣味比較芬芳的植物。到底是哪一種呢？
我在英國近代著名學者約翰·薩格恩特 (John Sargeaunt , 1857–1922)的研究著作《維吉爾的樹、灌木和植物》（The Trees, Shrubs and Plants of Virgil，1920年出版）中找到了答案。維吉爾的《農事詩》裏多處出現了casia (或casias, casiae), 薩格恩特認為詩人分別寫了兩種不同的植物。一種是聖經裏的肉桂，即Laurus cinnamomum （注：也叫Cinnamomum verum 錫蘭肉桂），“這是一種東方植物，沒有在意大利種植，但是芳香的樹皮被進口到該國。被喜歡香味的男人當作香來用，與油混在一起做成軟膏，與末藥一起放在葬禮的柴堆裏”。（It is an Oriental plant, and was not cultivated in Italy, but the aromatic bark was imported. It was used as a scent by men who liked scent, with oil when used as an unguent, and together with myrrh in funeral pyres.）另外一種是蠟葉芫花（Daphne Gnidium），“與我們花園裏的桂葉芫花和歐亞芫花相類似。它是意大利原生植物，但似乎不生長在亞平寧山脈的東側。維吉爾將它推薦給養蜂人，開白花，紅色的小漿果非常辛辣，但常用於瀉藥，藥名為‘Granum Gnidium’。花朵用於編織花環”。（akin to the spurge-laurel and the mezereon of our gardens. It is a native of Italy, but seems not to occur on the eastern side of the Apennines. It has a white flower, which Virgil commends to bee-keepers, and a small red berry, very acrid, but used in aperient pills under the name of ' granum Gnidium.' The flowers were used in garlands. ）
有了這些植物學知識，我們就可以更好地理解古羅馬最偉大的詩人維吉爾（Virgil，公元前70年－公元前19年）的《農事詩》。現將含有Cassia的段落摘錄如下，我們可以根據上下文，輕易判斷出哪些是肉桂，哪些是蠟葉芫花：
第二卷：
“關於丘陵地區貧瘠的礫石，隻能生長卑賤的蠟葉芫花和迷迭香，無法為蜜蜂提供充足蜜源。被黑水蛇吃光了的粗糙的石筍和石灰石表明沒有其他地方能給蛇類如此甜美的食物，或者給它們提供如此蜿蜒的隱蔽處”。
（For as to the hungry gravel of a hilly country, it scarce serves the bees with lowly casias and rosemary; and the rough tufa and the chalk that black water snakes have eaten out betoken that no other lands give serpents food so sweet, or furnish such winding coverts.）
（從其他網站下載的蠟葉芫花）
第二卷：
“哦，快樂無比的農民，他們能感受自己的幸福嗎！對他們而言，遠離戰爭衝突，最公平正義的大地，不需命令或祈求她，就輕輕鬆鬆地從她的土壤裏捧出各種東西。如果沒有一群人在黎明時分從莊嚴豪宅的正門出來迎接主人，如果他們永遠不盯著鑲著可愛的玳瑁的大門看，或不被鑲金的門簾蒙蔽了雙眼，或不盯著埃菲拉青銅器，如果他們潔白的羊毛還沒有沾上亞述染料，他們純淨的油還未被肉桂汙染，該有多好。更何況他們高枕無憂，過著淳樸又充滿著豐富內涵的生活。廣闊的土地、山洞、天然湖泊、涼爽的山穀，黃牛的低吟以及樹下的酣睡 - 一切的平和寧靜全部屬於他們。他們有林間空地和狩獵場，年輕人辛苦勞作，習慣了吃的很少；敬拜神，敬老;當正義之神離開大地時，在他們當中留下了最後的足印”。
（O farmers, happy beyond measure, could they but know their blessings! For them, far from the clash of arms, most righteous Earth, unbidden, pours forth from her soil an easy sustenance. If no stately mansion with proud portals disgorges from its halls at dawn a flood of those who have come to greet its lord, if they never gaze at doors inlaid with lovely tortoiseshell or at draperies tricked with gold or at bronzes of Ephyra, if their wool’s whiteness is not stained with Assyrian dyes or the service of their clear oil is not spoiled with cassia: yet they have sleep free from anxiety, a life that is innocent of guile and rich with untold treasures. The peace of broad domains, caverns, and natural lakes, and cool vales, the lowing of oxen, and soft slumbers beneath the trees – all are theirs. They have woodland glades and the haunts of game; a youth hardened to toil and inured to scanty fare; worship of gods and reverence for age; among them, as she departed from the earth, Justice left the last imprint of her feet.）
（肉桂）
第四卷：
“首先要為你的蜜蜂尋找一個固定居所，一個背風的地方，因為風會阻撓它們把食物帶回家 – 在那裏母羊或嬉戲的孩子們不會踐踏花朵，迷途的小母牛不會碰掉草地上的露珠或傷了春草。讓全身布滿閃亮鱗片的蜥蜴、食蜂鳥和胸前沾著鮮血的普羅柯尼（即燕子）遠離肥沃的牲口棚。因為這些鳥類到處打劫，當蜜蜂在飛翔時，成為它們含在嘴裏的一塊甜食，帶回去給殘忍的幼雛。讓蜂房靠近清泉、碧綠的池塘或穿過草地的小溪流，並用棕櫚樹或巨大的野生橄欖樹為路口遮陰。當新國王帶領一大幫蜂群在春天蜂擁而至時，年幼的蜂享受著剛剛離巢的自由，附近的河岸能吸引它們去避暑，行進途中的一棵樹提供了遮陽的綠葉。無論是在靜止或奔流的水麵，都有下垂的柳枝和巨大的石頭，如果它們不巧被東風打濕，或被陣陣狂風吹到洪流裏，這些都是它們可歇腳的橋梁，以便在太陽底下張開翅膀。盡心讓蒼翠的蠟葉芫花綻放，讓野百裏香的芬芳遠揚，濃香的薄荷一片繁茂，紫香堇啜飲滴滴甘泉”。
（注：普羅柯尼即燕子，希臘神話中，雅典公主普羅柯尼為了報複丈夫，殺了兒子煮成菜肴給他吃。丈夫發現後追殺她，她被眾神變成了一隻燕子。）
（First seek a settled home for your bees, whither the winds may find no access – for the winds let them not carry home their food – where no ewes or sportive kids may trample the flowers, nor straying heifer brush off the dew from the mead and bruise the spring blade. Let the spangled lizard with his scaly back be also a stranger to the rich stalls, and the bee-eater and other birds, and Procne , with breast marked by her blood-stained hands. For these spread havoc far and near, and, while the bees are on the wing, carry them of in their mouths, a sweet morsel for their cruel nestlings. But let clear springs be near, and moss-green pools, and a tiny brook stealing through the grass; and let a palm or huge wild olive shade the porch, so that, when the new kings lead forth the early swarms in the spring they love, and the youth revel in their freedom from the combs, a bank near by may tempt them to quit the heat, and a tree in their path may hold them in its sheltering leafage. In the midst of the water, whether it stand idle or flow onward, cast willows athwart and huge stones, that they may have many bridges whereon to halt and spread their wings in the summer sun, if haply the East Wind has sprinkled the loiterers or with swift gust has plunged them in the flood. All about let green cassia bloom, and wild thyme with fragrance far borne, and a wealth of strong-scented savory; and let violet beds drink of the trickling spring.）
第四卷：
“到了深夜，年輕的蜜蜂的大腿上裝滿了百裏香，疲倦地回到家中。它們跑了很遠，以荔莓、淡綠色的柳樹、蠟葉芫花、紅色番紅花，茂盛的椴樹和暗色的風信子為食。每隻蜂都有一個季節可以休息，一個季節要辛苦勞動。天亮時，它們湧出大門，沒有人閑蕩。當晚星提醒它們從田野裏的牧場撤退時，它們返家，重整旗鼓，在入口和門檻上發出嗡嗡聲響。不久，當它們在房間裏休息時，寂靜籠罩著黑夜，疲倦的四肢換來的是一夜好眠”。
（But the young betake them home in weariness, late at night, their thighs freighted with thyme; far and wide they feed on arbutus, on pale-green willows, on cassia and ruddy crocus, on the rich linden, and the dusky hyacinth. All have one season to rest from labour, all one season to toil. At dawn they pour from the gates, no loitering; again, when the star of eve has warned them to withdraw from their pasture in the fields, then they seek their homes, then they refresh their frames; a sound is heard, as they hum about the entrances and on the thresholds. Anon, when they have laid them to rest in their chambers, silence reigns into the night, and well-earned sleep seizes their weary limbs.）
第四卷：
“為此，首先找一個狹小平整的地方。他們用狹窄的瓦頂和封閉的牆壁隔離了一個空間，四麵風口處加上四扇可以讓光線斜射的窗子。然後找來一隻兩歲的公牛，眉頭上的角剛剛彎起來。它拚命掙紮，兩個鼻孔以及嘴巴都被堵住了，透不過氣來。然後它被活活打死，隔著完整的牛皮，肉被搗成漿。它這樣躺著，他們把它留在了封閉室，並把斷枝、百裏香和新鮮的蠟葉芫花撒在它的身下。當和風開始攪動海浪時，在草甸變換新鮮的顏色之前，在喋喋不休的的燕子在椽下做巢前，這個儀式就完成了。同時，柔軟骨頭裏的濕氣變暖，發酵，奇妙的生物出現了，起初沒有腳，很快出現了嗡嗡作響的翅膀，聚集在一起，越來越多出現在軟風中，就像從夏日的雲中傾瀉而下的陣雨，或像輕裝的帕提亞人開戰之時，從弦中反彈的箭頭，它們迸發出來”。
（First is chosen a place, small and straitened for this very purpose. This they confine with a narrow roof of tiles and close walls, and towards the four winds add four windows with slanting light. Then a bullock is sought, one just arching his horns on a brow of two summer’s growth. Struggle as he will, both his nostrils are stopped up, and the breath of his mouth; then he is beaten to death, and his flesh is pounded to a pulp through the unbroken hide. As thus he lies, they leave him in his prison, and strew beneath his sides broken boughs, thyme, and fresh cassia. This is done when the zephyrs begin to stir the waves, before ever the meadows blush with their fresh hues, before the chattering swallow hangs her nest from the rafters. Meantime the moisture, warming in the softened bones, ferments, and creatures of wonderous wise to view, footless at first, soon with buzzing wings as well，swarm together, and more and more essay the light air, until, like a shower pouring from summer clouds, they burst forth, or like arrows from the string’s rebound, when the light-armed Parthians enter on the opening battle.）
（蠟葉芫花）
維吉爾的《農事詩》分為四卷，每卷五百餘行，分別寫種穀物、種橄欖和葡萄、畜牧、養蜂等農事，屬於教諭詩的類型。此詩是應麥凱納斯之約而寫的，為屋大維吸引農民回到農村的政策服務。雖然是完成一項政治任務，但他對富饒的意大利的自然景色和動植物習性的生動描寫，他的淵博的生產勞動知識，使該作品一麵世便深得農民們的喜愛。維吉爾在作品裏表達了自己的神觀，他仍相信神的主宰力量。同時他也很向欣賞小農情趣，認為遠離戰爭的淳樸的耕田狩獵的生活方式是最受祝福的。
第四卷的養蜂篇中，他從怎樣為蜜蜂尋找一個穩定住所寫起，並通過阿裏斯泰俄斯的神話故事，指點養蜂人如何在整個蜂群毀損後重新建一個蜂群。阿裏斯泰俄斯（Aristaeus） 是一個牧羊人，是水泉女神昔蘭尼（Cyrene）和阿波羅的兒子，以擅長養蜂著稱。有一日阿瑞斯泰俄斯看上了奧菲斯（希臘神話中的藝術天才）的妻子歐利蒂絲（Eurydice），並開始追求她。在逃離阿裏斯泰俄斯的過程中，歐利蒂絲不慎踩到一條毒蛇，被咬之後中毒而死。眾神犯怒，作為對阿裏斯泰俄斯的懲罰，殺死了他的蜜蜂。
阿裏斯泰俄斯向母親求助，母親告訴他：隻有從海神普羅透斯（Proteus）那裏才能得到他所尋求的知識。但海神經常變化外形使人無法捉到他，他隻向逮到他的人預言未來。
母親把阿裏斯泰俄斯帶到了海神居住的洞穴。他躲在長滿了海藻的岩石背後，母親用蓬鬆的雲彩遮住了自己。中午時分，阿波羅乘著戰車駛過高空，陸地和所有海域都像融化的金子一樣熾熱。普羅特厄斯和他的羊群回到了他那巨大的陰涼的洞穴中，他躺在沙地上伸展四肢，很快酣然入睡。阿裏斯泰俄斯趁其不備，用鎖鏈綁住了他的四肢。海神醒來後，變成了野豬，接下來變成了老虎，又變成了龍，然後是獅子。無論怎麽變，阿裏斯泰俄斯死死拽著鐵鏈不放手。最後海神再次變回了自己的形狀，告訴阿裏斯泰俄斯：找到四隻公牛和四隻母牛，在綠葉成蔭的樹林裏建造四個祭壇，以極大的誠意祭奠奧菲斯和歐利蒂絲，以減輕他們的怨恨。第九天再回來，看看眾神給他帶來了什麽。
阿裏斯泰俄斯照辦了，第九天返回森林，發現其中一隻被獻祭的動物的屍體露出清潔的白骨，在陽光下閃閃發亮，他聽到了無數蜜蜂的喃喃聲，原來一大群蜜蜂聚集在了牛的屍體上。 最後蜂群齊聚在樹梢上，成簇地懸掛在彎曲的樹枝上。
阿裏斯泰俄斯欣喜若狂，知道自己的罪過得到了赦免，而且神永遠賦予他馴蜂的能力。
維吉爾在創作《農事詩》第四卷時，內戰剛剛結束，他在美妙的詩行裏暗隱了對戰爭的評論。從祭獻的公牛屍體中產生蜜蜂，代表著蜂群的重生，維吉爾相信羅馬在屋大維（Octavian）統治下的政治和道德複興。蜜蜂的忠誠和無私可以被視為合作共存的典範，同時，鄉村也是治愈創傷的天堂。
（蠟葉芫花）
謝謝。