四）肉桂与肉桂鸟的传说
在古欧洲，肉桂比胡椒稀少，因而更加昂贵。阿拉伯人长期把持着肉桂生意，为了赚取暴利，他们对肉桂的产地三缄其口，还编造了一系列神奇的故事。古希腊作家和历史学家希罗多德（Herodotus，约前480年─前425年）在他的著作《历史》（The Histories）的第三卷有较为详细的记载：
第107段： “阿拉伯是朝着正午方向的最远的人类居住地，所有的土地上都生长着乳香、末药、肉桂和麻思他其乳香胶。除了没药，其他香料都是阿拉伯人历经千辛万苦才得到的。
他们通过焚烧腓尼基人带到希腊的苏合香来取得乳香。他们烧了苏合香，得到了乳香；因为这些含有香料的树木被颜色各异的小翅蛇守护着，每棵树上都有许多蛇；这些就是攻击埃及的蛇。只有苏合香的烟雾可以把它们从树上赶走”。
（Then again Arabia is the furthest of inhabited lands in the direction of the midday, and in it alone of all lands grow frankincense and myrrh and cassia and cinnamon and gum-mastich. All these except myrrh are got with difficulty by the Arabians.
They gather frankincense by burning that storax which Phoenicians carry to Hellas; they burn this and so get the frankincense; for the spice-bearing trees are guarded by small winged snakes of varied color, many around each tree; these are the snakes that attack Egypt. Nothing except the smoke of storax will drive them away from the trees. ）
（注：希腊语称希腊为Hellas，英语称希腊为Greece 。storax ，苏合香，燃烧时会产生刺鼻的烟雾，因此用作消毒剂。）
第110段： “阿拉伯人通过上述方式获得乳香，而通过下列方式获得肉桂(Casia)：他们用牛皮和其他皮毛包裹全身和脸部，只有眼睛暴露在外面。肉桂生长在一个浅湖中；一种酷似蝙蝠的长着翅膀的生物围绕着它们，发出类似蝙蝠的尖叫声并顽强的抵抗；必须让这些生物远离视线，才能得到肉桂”。
（The Arabians get frankincense in the foregoing way, and casia in the following way: when they go after it they bind oxhides and other skins all over their bodies and faces except for the eyes. Casia grows in a shallow lake; around this and in it live winged creatures, very like bats, that squeak similarly and make a fierce resistance; these have to be kept away from the eyes in order to take the casia.）
第111段：“至于肉桂（cinnamon），他们以一种更加奇怪的方式收集它。他们说不出它的来源和产地，比较合理的传说是肉桂生长在养育狄俄倪索斯（酒神）的国度。那里有大鸟拿走干燥的树枝，然后把它们带到悬崖峭壁上用泥土筑的巢里，人类爬不上去。我们从腓尼基人口中得知那是肉桂。阿拉伯人想了个办法，把死牛、死驴和其他载重动物的尸体切成尽可能大的碎片，放在猛禽的巢附近，然后撤得远远的。传说鸟儿飞下来，将动物碎片拿回它们的巢穴，但巢穴无法承受碎肉的重量，碎了并散落在山边。而后阿拉伯人前去收集肉桂。据说肉桂就是这样收集的，从阿拉伯运到了别的国家”。
（As for cinnamon, they gather it in an even stranger way. Where it comes from and what land produces it they cannot say, except that it is reported, reasonably enough, to grow in the places where Dionysus was reared. There are great birds, it is said, that take these dry sticks which we have learned from the Phoenicians to call cinnamon and carry them off to nests stuck with mud to precipitous cliffs, where man has no means of approach. The Arabian solution to this is to cut dead oxen and asses and other beasts of burden into the largest possible pieces, then to set these near the eyries and withdraw far off. The birds then fly down (it is said) and carry the pieces of the beasts up to their nests, while these, not being able to bear the weight, break and fall down the mountain side, and then the Arabians come and gather them up. Thus is cinnamon said to be gathered, and so to come from Arabia to other lands. ）
《历史》一书记录了希罗多德在旅行中的所见所闻以及第一波斯帝国的历史，是西方文学史上第一部完整流传下来的散文作品，希罗多德也因此被尊称为“历史之父”。从他的这几段文字可以看出Cinnamon与Cassia似乎是两个不同的肉桂品种，产地也不同。伴随着这些传说而生的大鸟，被古希腊哲学家和动物学奠基人亚里士多德（Aristotle，公元前384－公元前322年）称为“肉桂鸟”（cinnamalogus）。他在著作《动物志》里解释说：“肉桂鸟是一种生活在阿拉伯的鸟类。它用人们珍视的肉桂果实筑巢，鸟巢太高，树枝太脆，想要肉桂的人们无法爬树接近鸟巢，于是向鸟巢扔铅球让肉桂掉下来。从这种鸟巢中获得的肉桂是最有价值的”。
（The cinnamalogus is a bird that lives in Arabia. It builds its nest using the fruit of the cinnamon tree, which men value greatly. The men who want to cinnamon cannot climb the tree to reach the nest, because the nest is too high and the tree branches too delicate, so they throw lead balls to knock down the cinnamon. Cinnamon obtained from the nest of this bird is the most valuable of all.）
（从其他网站上下载的肉桂鸟）
时光又过了几百年，古罗马作家和博物学家老普林尼（Pliny, the elder, 公元23年－79年）在他的《自然史》（The Natural History）里驳斥了阿拉伯人的无稽之谈。第十二卷的42章和43章分别介绍了Cainnamomum 和Cassia,如下：
第42章：肉桂/类肉桂 （CINNAMOMUM. XYLOCINNAMUM）
“奇妙的古物，希罗多德斯尤其提到肉桂（cinnamomum 和cassia）生长在养育自由之父（即酒神狄俄倪索斯）的地区，是从某种鸟类（极有可能为凤凰）的巢中发现的。鸟巢建在难以攀爬的岩石和树木上，或因鸟儿们带回家的肉块太重掉了下来，或是被装有铅的箭头射下来的，肉桂随之而落。也有人说，肉桂（cassia）生长在某些沼泽地里，受到一种可怕的带爪蝙蝠和一种翅蛇的保护。显然，这些传说都是为了提高商品的价格而编造的。另一个故事也随之而生，大意是在正午的阳光下，整个半岛散发出一种难以描述的由各种气味混合而成的芬芳。风挟着这种香味吹到了远海上的亚历山大大帝的舰队，第一次告知了阿拉伯半岛的存在。然而，这些都是假的。肉桂（cinnamomum或cinnamum）生长在埃塞尔比亚人的国家，他们通过与穴居人通婚而合成一个国家。这些东西从邻居那里买来之后，运到了广阔的海域上，放在木筏上，这些木筏既不靠舵操纵，也不靠桨或帆来推动。他们还没有得到这些资源的协助，仅仅靠人力和勇气来代替技术。除此以外，他们还选择了冬季，大约在春分，东南风吹来，航程开始了。这些风引着他们从一个海湾去往另一个海湾，走了阿拉伯海角两倍长的航程后，东北风将他们带到盖伦人的一个港口，这个港口叫欧西里亚。因此他们优先驶向这个港口；据说差不多五年之后这些商人才能返航，许多人在航程中丧命。作为交换，他们带回了玻璃制品和铜制品、布匹、带扣、手镯和项链。因此，这趟航行的成败尤其取决于女性多变的品味和爱好。肉桂灌木丛最多只有两个肘节那么高，最矮的不超过一个手掌的长度。它的宽度约为四根手指，开始抽芽和长吸盘前，它离地面的高度不会超过六根手指。到那时它的外表会干燥和枯萎，而当它是绿色时，则完全没有气味。叶子像野马郁兰，在干燥的地方长的最好，在雨天不是那么多产。它也需要不断修剪。尽管它生长在平地上，但在缠结的蕨类和荆棘丛中生长得最好，因此很难收集。只有得到神的许可才可以收集肉桂，因此有人认为朱庇特太刻薄了，埃塞尔比亚人称他们的神为“阿萨比纳斯”。他们向神敬献了四十四只公牛、山羊和公羊的内脏，请求神的恩准。但神仍禁止他们在日出之前或日落之后劳作。祭司用长矛将树枝分开，留出一部分献给神。之后，经销商将剩下的全部成块储存。还有另一个说法，肉桂在采集者和太阳之间进行分配，分成三个部分，然后抽签两次，属于太阳的份额留在那里，由其自燃。”
（肉桂鸟）
（CHAP. 42. —CINNAMOMUM.1 XYLOCINNAMUM
Fabulous antiquity, and Herodotus more particularly, have related that cinnamomum and cassia are found in the nests of certain birds, and principally that of the phœnix, in the districts where Father Liber was brought up; and that these substances either fall from the inaccessible rocks and trees in which the nests are built, in consequence of the weight of the pieces of flesh which the birds carry up, or else are brought down by the aid of arrows loaded with lead. It is said, also, that cassia grows around certain marshes, but is protected by a frightful kind of bat armed with claws, and by winged serpents as well. All these tales, however, have been evidently invented for the purpose of enhancing the prices of these commodities. Another story, too, bears them company, to the effect that under the rays of the noon-day sun, the entire peninsula exhales a certain indescribable perfume composed of its numerous odours; that the breezes, as they blow from it, are impregnated with these odours, and, indeed, were the first to announce the vicinity of Arabia to the fleets of Alexander the Great, while still far out at sea. All this, however, is false; for cinnamomum, or cinnamum, which is the same thing, grows in the country of the Æthiopians,who are united by intermarriages with the Troglodytæ. These last, after buying it of their neighbours, carry it over vast tracts of sea, upon rafts, which are neither steered by rudder, nor drawn or impelled by oars or sails. Nor yet are they aided by any of the resources of art, man alone, and his daring boldness, standing in place of all these; in addition to which, they choose the winter season, about the time of the equinox, for their voyage, for then a south easterly wind is blowing; these winds guide them in a straight course from gulf to gulf, and after they have doubled the promonotory of Arabia, the north east wind carries them to a port of the Gebanitæ, known by the name of Ocilia. Hence it is that they steer for this port in preference; and they say that it is almost five years before the merchants are able to effect their return, while many perish on the voyage. In return for their wares, they bring back articles of glass and copper, cloths, buckles, bracelets, and necklaces; hence it is that this traffic depends more particularly upon the capricious tastes and inclinations of the female sex. The cinnamon shrub is only two cubits in height, at the most, the lowest being no more than a palm in height. It is about four fingers in breadth, and hardly has it risen six fingers from the ground, before it begins to put forth shoots and suckers. It has then all the appearance of being dry and withered, and while it is green it has no odour at all. The leaf is like that of wild marjoram, and it thrives best in dry localities, being not so prolific in rainy weather; it requires, also, to be kept constantly clipped. Though it grows on level ground, it thrives best among tangled brakes and brambles, and hence it is extremely difficult to be gathered. It is never gathered unless with the permission of the god, by whom some suppose Jupiter to be meant; the Æthiopians, however, call him Assabinus.They offer the entrails of forty-four oxen, goats, and rams, when they implore his permission to do so, but after all, they are not allowed to work at it before sunrise or after sunset. A priest divides the branches with a spear, and sets aside one portion of them for the god; after which, the dealer stores away the rest in lumps. There is another account given, which states that a division is made between the gatherers and the sun, and that it is divided into three portions, after which lots are twice drawn, and the share which falls to the sun is left there, and forthwith ignites spontaneously.）
“树枝上中最薄的那部分，长约一个手掌，最受重视，用来制作最好品质的肉桂。下面那个部分，尽管不是很长，是次好的，依此类推。最接近根的那部分是品质最糟糕的，因为那部分的树皮最少，最有价值的部分是这样的：树的上部是首选，那里树皮比例最大。至于木头，丝毫不受重视，因为味道和野马郁兰一样的辛辣。肉桂(cinnamomum)的价格是每磅十德纳尔。一些作家提到了两种肉桂，白色和黑色的：从前流行白色的，现在正好相反，人们认为黑色的最好，甚至斑驳色的都强过白色的。然而，判断肉桂品质好坏的最确定的检验标准是它不粗糙，并且揉在一起时不易碎成粉末。柔软的肉桂尤其会被淘汰，说明外部树皮非常容易脱落。”
（The thinnest parts in the sticks, for about a palm in length, are looked upon as producing the finest cinnamon; the part that comes next, though not quite so long, is the next best, and so on downwards. The worst of all is that which is nearest the roots, from the circumstance that in that part there is the least bark, the portion that is the most esteemed: hence it is that the upper part of the tree is preferred, there being the greatest proportion of bark there. As for the wood, it is held in no esteem at all, on account of the acrid taste which it has, like that of wild marjoram; it is known as xylocinnamum. The price of cinnamomum is ten denarii per pound. Some writers make mention of two kinds of cinnamon, the white and the black: the white was the one that was formerly preferred, but now, on the contrary, the black is held in the highest estimation, and the mottled, even, is preferred to the white. The most certain test, however, of the goodness of cinnamon is its not being rough, and the fact that the pieces when rubbed together do not readily crumble to powder. That which is soft is more particularly rejected, which is the case, also, when the outer bark too readily falls off. ）
“只有盖伦人的国王才有权规范肉桂销售，他公开宣布开放肉桂市场。一磅肉桂的价格从前高达一千德纳尔；据说后来心怀憎恨的野蛮人放火烧毁了森林，导致价格又涨了一半。这场大火究竟是由于当权者行为不公而引发的，还是纯属偶然，至今未有确切定论。我们发现一些作者提过，在这些地区盛行的南风有时太热了，导致森林起火。 维斯巴西安.奥古斯都是第一个在朱庇特神庙以及和平女神庙宇奉献肉桂的皇帝，肉桂被嵌入金浮雕里。我本人曾经在帕拉蒂尼山的殿堂中见过奥古斯塔皇后献给已故的奥古斯都皇帝的一根很重的肉桂树根，放在一个金色的大浅盘里；每年盘子里的液滴用来蒸馏，凝结成硬粒。浅盘一直留在那里，直到神庙被大火意外摧毁。”
（The right of regulating the sale of the cinnamon belongs solely to the king of the Gebanitæ, who opens the market for it by public proclamation. The price of it was formerly as much as a thousand denarii per pound; which was afterwards increased to half as much again, in consequence, it is said, of the forests having been set on fire by the barbarians, from motives of resentment; whether this took place through any injustice exercised by those in power, or only by accident, has not been hitherto exactly ascertained. Indeed, we find it stated by some authors, that the south winds that prevail in these parts are sometimes so hot as to set the forests on fire. The Emperor Vespasianus Augustus was the first to dedicate in the temples of the Capitol and the goddess Peace chaplets of cinnamon inserted in embossed gold. I, myself, once saw in the temple of the Palatium, which his wife Augusta dedicated to her husband the late emperor Augustus, a root of cinnamon of great weight, placed in a patera of gold: from it drops used to distil every year, which congealed in hard grains. It remained there until the temple was accidentally destroyed by fire. ）
第43章：肉桂（Cassia）
“肉桂（Cassia ）也是一种灌木，生长在山区，离生长着cinnamon的平原不远。但是它的树枝比cinnamon粗很多。它的外表覆盖着一层薄皮，而不是树皮，与Cinnamon不同的是，当树皮掉下来并碎成小块时，被认为是最有价值的。灌木高三个肘节，颜色有三层：当第一根主干从地面长出，约一尺高的时候，是白色的。超过这个高度后的半尺是红色的，更高的部分则变成黑色的。最后的部分是最有价值的，其次为第二部分，白色的部分是价值最低的。他们将树枝的末端切成两个手指的长度，特地宰了牛，将收割来的树枝缝在新鲜的牛皮中：牛皮腐烂后长出的蛆会吃掉木质部分，露出味道苦涩的树皮，不受蛆虫攻击。最新鲜的树皮是有价值的，具有非常细腻的气味，而且口感极其辛辣，甚至会灼伤舌头，不会在嘴里产生温和的感觉。它是紫色的，虽然体积很大，重量却相对较轻。外皮形成短管，绝不容易折断：野蛮人给这种肉桂取名拉达。还有另一种被称为香脂素，因其具有类似香脂的芬芳，但味道更苦，因此常用于医药中，就像黑色的肉桂（cassia）被制成软膏一样。没有确定的事实说明价格会出现更大波动：最佳品质的肉桂（cassia）每磅售价为50德纳尔，其他品质的价格为每磅5德纳尔”。
（CHAP. 43.—CASSIA
Cassia is a shrub also, which grows not far from the plains where cinnamon is produced, but in the mountainous localities; the branches of it are, however, considerably thicker than those of cinnamon. It is covered with a thin skin rather than a bark, and, contrary to what is the case with cinnamon, it is looked upon as the most valuable when the bark falls off and crumbles into small pieces. The shrub is three cubits in height, and the colours which it assumes are threefold: when it first shoots from the ground, for the length of a foot, it is white; after it has attained that height, it is red for half a foot, and beyond that it is black. This last is the part that is held in the highest esteem, and next to it the portion that comes next, the white part being the least valued of all. They cut the ends of the branches to the length of two fingers, and then sew them in the fresh skins of cattle that have been killed expressly for the purpose; the object being that the skins may putrefy, and the maggots generated thereby may eat away the woody parts, and so excavate the bark; which is so intensely bitter, that it is quite safe from their attacks. That which is the freshest is the most highly esteemed; it has a very delicate smell, and is so extremely hot to the taste, that it may be said to burn the tongue, rather than gradually warm the mouth. It is of a purple colour, and though of considerable volume, weighs but very little in comparison; the outer coat forms into short tubes which are by no means easily broken: this choice kind of cassia, the barbarians call by the name of lada. There is another sort, again, which is called balsamodes,because it has a smell like that of balsam, but it is bitter; for which reason it is more employed for medicinal purposes, just as the black cassia is used for unguents. There is no substance known that is subject to greater variations in price: the best qualities sell at fifty denarii per pound, others, again, at five.）
“交易商在这些品种中添加了另一种叫做daphnoides （类似于月桂）的植物，并给它起起名“类肉桂”； 每磅售价为三百德纳尔。它被掺入了苏合香，看起来与肉桂树皮很相似，还加入了很小的月桂树细枝。肉桂（Cassia）也被种植在我们的国土范围内，植在帝国的最边缘地区，在莱茵河两岸，栽在蜂巢附近的肉桂（cassia）非常繁茂。但是，它们没有被灼热的阳光烤过后的烧焦的颜色，因此也没有和来自南方的物种相似的气味”。
(To these varieties the dealers have added another, which they call daphnoides, and give it the surname of isocinnamon; the price at which it sells is three hundred denarii per pound. It is adulterated with storax, and, in consequence of the resemblance of the bark, with very small sprigs of laurel. 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. )
通过以上这些文字，老普林尼阐述了自己的看法：他认为肉桂的产地在非洲的埃塞尔比亚，cinnamomum和Cassia是两个不同的品种。
（肉桂鸟）
但有些专家认为普林尼对cinnamomum的描述似乎不完全符合Ceylon cinnamon （锡兰肉桂）的特征，文中的cinnamomum 有可能是某种产于非洲的芸香科阿米香树属（Amyris balsamifera）植物，饶富价值的树脂乃是从树皮流出的。
再来讨论一下文中的Cassia。我曾经在自己之前创作的一篇文章中提到：古希腊人和古罗马人的颜色概念与今人是不太一样的。他们形容同一个物体时，“白”可以指“不那么黑”，“黑”可以指“不那么白”。“紫”指的是暗色调，“红”可以指带有红色调的色彩。所以他们形容的Cassia主干的颜色若以今人的角度看，是这样的：靠近根部的那一段（约一尺高）颜色略浅，中间那段色调偏红，最高的那段颜色偏深。它的树皮是暗色调的。我查阅了好几位西方植物学专家对Cassia的注释，他们认为cassia 就是Laurus cassia，即原产于中国南方的肉桂（ Cinnamomum cassia）。比起温和的锡兰肉桂，中国肉桂的味道浓烈辛辣，符合普林尼的描述。
这个观点值得商榷，西方的植物学家未必个个精通历史。他们或许不清楚，丝绸之路是在西汉的张骞出使西域后才开辟的。张骞在公元前138—前126年和前119年曾两次出使西域。在这之后东汉的班超出使中亚，货物在中国与印度、波斯和罗马帝国之间往来。 东汉甘英出使大秦，未能抵达大秦，最远抵达地中海东岸（也有一说是波斯湾东岸）。甘英西行巩固了丝绸之路。我并没有在网站上查到中国人通过丝绸之路出口桂皮的说法，即使真的有，也应发生在张骞出使西域之后。而根据希罗多德的记载，公元前五世纪左右的古希腊就有cinnamon和cassia两种肉桂，所以从时间上看，cassia并不产自中国。
其次，阿拉伯人视肉桂为发财树，对其产地和来源严格保密，运到欧洲的全是肉桂皮成品，绝不可能将香料植物的种子引入欧洲，然后在当地栽培。老普林尼对两种肉桂树的描述应该全是道听途说的。
还有一些专家从古希腊医师撰写的大量文章中得出这样的结论：cinnamon 和cassia 之间没有特别大的区别，cinnamon 指的是肉桂木，cassia指的是同一棵树木上的树皮。它们非常相似，只有行家才能从口感和气味来区分它们。我认为这个说法最符合当时的状况。
