欧洲最后的两座茶园

在海边的一片绿色山坡上,茶树一行行整齐地长到海边,看上去像画出来的一样。波莉落在一堵石墙上往外看。这里是欧洲仅剩的两处还在种茶的地方之一,也是唯一可以参观的一处。

On a green hillside above the coast, rows of tea bushes grew in neat lines down to the sea. They looked almost as tidy as a drawing. Polly landed on a stone wall and looked out. This is one of only two places left in Europe that still grows tea, and the only one people can visit.

这座茶园开始于一八八三年。在那以前,岛上种柑橘,但是一场病害害死了橘树。种植者需要新的作物,于是从外面带来了茶树和英国的老机器。这两样今天还在用,所以这里是欧洲最古老的茶园。

The farm began in eighteen eighty-three. Before that, the island grew oranges, but a disease killed the orange trees. The growers needed something new for the volcanic soil, so they brought in tea plants and old English machines. Both are still used today, which makes this the oldest tea farm in Europe.

在小小的工厂里,一百多年前的铁机器还在揉茶、烘茶。工人仍然用手采最嫩的叶子,因为嫩叶做出来的茶最好。这里不用农药,这条规矩从一开始就一直遵守。

Inside the small factory, iron machines more than a hundred years old still roll and dry the leaves. Workers still pick the newest leaves by hand, because the youngest leaves make the best tea. No pesticides are used here, a rule the growers have followed since the very start.

波莉沿着温暖的一行茶树走。叶子闻起来像雨后的青草。五代茶农照顾着这片山坡,一次收成接着一次收成。

Polly walked along a warm row of tea plants. The leaves smelled like grass after rain. Five generations of growers had cared for this hillside, one harvest at a time.