可口可樂(lè)的誕生

編者按：100多年前，一位美國(guó)藥店老板調(diào)配出一種作為頭痛速效藥的糖漿，希望招徠顧客。他沒(méi)想到大家卻愿意把它當(dāng)作熱天的清涼飲料來(lái)喝。這就是至今經(jīng)久不衰、風(fēng)靡全球的可口可樂(lè)。我們來(lái)看看它的意外誕生過(guò)程。

The image of Coke¹ is youthful and modern. But Coke is not new. It is more than a century old. It was invented in 1886 by a pharmacist （藥劑師） called John Styth Pemberton.

Pemberton had a drugstore² in Atlanta， where he sold liver pills， hair restorer(生發(fā)劑)， cough mixtures（止咳藥水） and other medicines. He made these preparations（制劑） to his own recipes³， but people could buy similar products at any drugstore. They loved his Indian Queen hairdye（染發(fā)劑）， but there was nothing special about it. Pemberton wanted to make a product that people could buy only from him. He wanted them to have a reason to choose his shop rather than any other.

Tonic （補(bǔ)藥） is a drink that is supposed to do you good. In the old days， many chemists made and soldtheirown tonic wine. In 1885 Pemberton came up with⁴ French Wine Cola. It must have tasted rather like Coke. At first Pemberton put a little alcohol in it， but later he left it out. He is said to have mixed his brew（釀造的飲料） in the backyard in a three- legged brass pot like a witches' cauldron（女巫的大鍋）.

Pemberton sold the new drink as a quick cure for headaches. But headaches or no headaches， his staff were soon watering down⁵ the syrup，（含藥糖漿） and drinking it to slake⁶ their thirst on hot days. Maybe he really had invented a new soft drink（軟飲料） product.

On saturday 8 May 1886 Pemberton took a jug（壺，罐）of syrup down the street to another drugstore， Jacobs' Pharmacy（藥店）--to do a test. Jacobs' pharmacy had a soda⁷ fountain. This machine adds carbon dioxide to water to make fizzy（冒氣泡的） soda， and then mixes it with syrup to make a refreshing⁸ drink. Stalls（貨攤，攤位） selling ice cream and fizzy drinks made by soda fountains became knownsimply as soda fountains.

The staff and customers of Jacobs pharmacy tried Pemberton's headache cure mixed with soda and loved its taste， it was excellent， but it did not have a name.

One of Pemberton's partners， his book-keeper（記賬人） Frank Robinson， suggested Coca-Cola Syrup and Extract--which became Coca-Cola for short.He thought the two Cs would go well in advertising. He wrote down the name in the simple flowing handwriting that he used in his account books（帳薄）. His script（筆跡，手跡） became the product' s trademark. Coca-Cola went on sale immediately at five cents a glass.

可口可樂(lè)的形象是有青春活力而時(shí)髦的，但可口可樂(lè)并不是新事物，它已經(jīng)歷一個(gè)多世紀(jì)的歲月，是1886年由藥劑師約翰·斯蒂思·彭伯頓發(fā)明的。

彭伯頓在亞特蘭大開(kāi)了一家藥店，他在那里賣利肝丸、生發(fā)劑、止咳藥水和其他藥品。他按自己的配方配制藥劑，但人們可以在任何一家藥店買到類似的產(chǎn)品。他的“印第安皇后”染發(fā)劑很受歡迎，但也沒(méi)有什么獨(dú)到之處。彭伯頓想要制作一種產(chǎn)品，人們只能在他這里買到，他想要大家有理由選擇他的商店而不是其他商店。

補(bǔ)藥是一種被認(rèn)為對(duì)你有益的飲料。過(guò)去，許多藥劑師自己制作并出售補(bǔ)酒。1885年，彭伯頓制作了法國(guó)可樂(lè)果酒，它的味道一定頗像可口可樂(lè)。

一開(kāi)始彭伯頓往里面放了點(diǎn)酒精，但他后來(lái)又不放了。據(jù)說(shuō)他將釀造的飲料在后院的一口3條腿的黃銅鍋里混合，那口鍋就像女巫的大鍋。

彭伯頓把他的新飲料當(dāng)成頭痛速效藥來(lái)賣。但不久之后，他的職員不管頭痛與否，都愿意將這種糖漿攙水沖淡，在熱天解渴。也許他真的發(fā)明了一種新的軟飲料產(chǎn)品。

1886年5月8日，星期六，彭伯頓拿了一罐糖漿到街上另一家藥店(雅各布藥店)去做試驗(yàn)。雅各布藥店有個(gè)帶龍頭的汽水桶。這種機(jī)器把二氧化碳加到水里制成起泡的汽水，然后加入糖漿制成清涼提神的飲料。那些出售用汽水桶制出的冰激凌和汽水飲料的冷飲小賣部被人們簡(jiǎn)稱為“汽水吧臺(tái)”。

雅各布藥店的職員和顧客試嘗了彭伯頓的頭痛藥和汽水的混合物，很喜歡這種口味。那東西太棒了，但還沒(méi)有名字。

彭伯頓的一個(gè)合作伙伴，他的記賬員弗蘭克·羅賓遜建議叫可口可樂(lè)濃縮糖漿——后來(lái)簡(jiǎn)稱可口可樂(lè)。他認(rèn)為用兩個(gè)“C”開(kāi)頭的單詞更有利于廣告宣傳。他用他在記賬本上那種簡(jiǎn)單流暢的筆跡寫(xiě)下了這個(gè)名字。他的字跡成了這個(gè)產(chǎn)品的商標(biāo)。可口可樂(lè)很快以每杯5美分的價(jià)格上市了。

注釋：

1．Coke n．=Coca-Cola 可口可樂(lè)

2．drugstore n．（常兼售軟飲料、化妝品等的）藥

店，雜貨店

3．recipe n．處方，配方

4．come up with 提出，提供，想出

5．water down 攙水沖淡

6．slake vt．消解（slake one's thirat） 解渴

7．soda n. 果汁汽水，蘇打水 soda fountain

在此文中兼有兩意：

① （裝有龍頭的）汽水桶，汽水吧臺(tái)

② （供應(yīng)飲料、冰激凌等的）冷飲小賣部

8．refreshing a.提神的，清涼的