你可能不知道的雞蛋那些事兒

They're incredible, they're edible, and if you lived in Roman times you'd also think they were magical. Here are a few facts about eggs, cooked just the way you like.

雞蛋很棒，也很好吃，如果你生活在羅馬時代，你還會覺得它們十分神奇。下列是有關雞蛋的一些事兒，想怎麼燒就怎麼燒吧。

1. EGYPTIANS WERE THE FIRST TO CRACK THE EGG BUSINESS.

1. 埃及人首先孵出了小雞。

Around 1400 BCE, Egyptians figured out how to incubate eggs inside small underground caves. This freed up hens to lay more eggs, which proliferated through the kingdom as a food source. Egyptians also regarded eggs as sacred, and would keep baskets of them inside their temples to ensure a bountiful flood.

大約在公元前1400年，埃及人想出瞭如何在小小的地下洞穴中孵出小雞的方法。這就使得母雞下更多的蛋，作爲一種食物來源，雞蛋開始在埃及擴散。埃及人認爲雞蛋十分神聖，他們會在寺廟內放幾籃雞蛋以確保雨水充足。

2. THE ROMANS INVENTED THE OMELET.

2. 羅馬人發明了煎蛋餅。

They sweetened it with honey and called it ovemele, which literally translates to "eggs and honey." Some say this is the origin of the word "omelet," while others point to the French word amelette, which describes the omelet's flat shape. The Romans also thought eggs were good luck charms, and would often line eggshells beneath their floors. Which means they were literally walking on… well, you know.

他們在煎蛋餅上放入蜂蜜使其更甜，並將其稱爲ovemele，字面意思就是"雞蛋和蜂蜜"。有些人認爲這就是"煎蛋餅"一詞的起源，但其他人則認爲法語詞amelette（描述了煎蛋餅的扁平形狀）纔是煎蛋餅一詞的來源。羅馬人也認爲雞蛋能夠帶來好運，所以他們通常會在地板下面鋪上雞蛋殼。這就意味着他們走在了……上面，你肯定懂的。

3. WE'VE BEEN DYEING EASTER EGGS FOR CENTURIES.

3. 幾個世紀以來，我們都在給復活節彩蛋染色。

In the Christian religion, eggs came to represent rebirth, and in medieval times and even before, they were often dyed red to symbolize Christ's blood. Numerous sources claim that egg dyeing actually predates Christianity, stretching back to pagan rituals that welcomed the spring season.

基督教認爲雞蛋代表着重生，在中世紀甚至更早以前，他們通常將雞蛋染紅，象徵着耶穌的血。很多消息來源聲稱實際上，早在基督教前就已經有給雞蛋染色的傳統了，這可以追溯到迎接春季到來的異教徒儀式。

4. A 19TH CENTURY EGG PROPHET RAN QUITE A CON.

4. 一枚19世紀的雞蛋預示着世界末日。

In 1806, an Englishwoman named Mary Bateman convinced hundreds of people that her chicken would predict the world's imminent end. "Christ is Coming" read the eggs that the hen laid. Bateman sold protective wards to people for a shilling apiece, but her con was exposed after a local doctor caught her shoving a handwritten egg back up into her poor hen. Bateman went on to practice medicine, and was executed for poisoning several of her patients.

1806年，一位名叫瑪麗·貝特曼的英國女性說服數百人相信她的母雞能預測世界末日。那隻母雞下的蛋上寫着"耶穌就要來了"。貝特曼向人們出售保護病房，並向每人收取一先令，但是在當地醫生抓到她將手寫的雞蛋放回那隻可憐的母雞身後時，她的騙局被拆穿了。貝特曼後來繼續從醫，後因毒死幾位病人被處以死刑。

5. A GENE MUTATION ALLOWS CHICKENS TO LAY EGGS YEAR ROUND.

5. 基因突變使得母雞一年四季都能下蛋。

In wild animals, a thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor, or TSHR, gene helps regulate reproduction to specific seasons. Chickens, though, have a mutation in this gene-developed through years of selective breeding-that allows them to breed and lay eggs throughout the year.

在野生動物中，一個甲狀腺刺激荷爾蒙受體基因有助於調節特定季節的繁殖。然而，雞的基因存在變異--選擇性繁殖幾年後就會發生基因突變--使得它們全年都能繁殖、下蛋。