郵票誕生記

“薄薄一張小花紙，四面長滿細牙齒，兩地朋友要談心，必須請它當差使。”這個謎語的謎底是什么，你猜到了嗎？是郵票。你知道郵票是怎么產生的嗎？在10月9日世界郵政日(World Post Day)到來之際，我們不妨一起去探尋郵票的起源吧。

The birth of the postage stamp dates back to May 6， 1840， when Britain issued1) its first stamp， the \"Penny Black.\" But， how did people receive mail before this time， and what led to the idea of using stamps?

Primitive2) message systems have been in place as long as man has been in existence. Until 1840， however， regardless of how primitive or how elaborate3)， all these systems operated without the benefit of a postage stamp.

In the early days of the postal service， stamps and envelopes did not exist. When you wanted to send a letter， you would fold it up and seal it shut， and the person who received the letter had to pay for the delivery4) costs. Since rates at that time were very high， many people refused to accept letters. In fact， many people developed secret codes by which they could cheat the postal services. They would place secret marks on the outside of the letter that conveyed5) their message and all the addressee6) had to do was to read the secret message， refuse to accept the letter， and thus not have to pay for it. Mainly for this reason， postal services turned to a means of prepaying postage.

In 1837， Sir Rowland Hill， the British Postmaster General， introduced the \"Post Office Reforms\" whereby7) the mail could go anywhere in the British Isles at the same rate; the postage was to be paid by the sender—not the addressee; and payment was receipted8) by placing a small piece of colored paper on the outside of the letter—THE STAMP! Of course Hill's proposal was heavily debated for a few years， but after serious discussion， the change was enacted9) and instituted in 1840. Thus on May 6， 1840， the first government-printed postage stamps were born.

Sir Rowland Hill himself designed the first stamp which cost one penny and bore the profile of Queen Victoria. Because the stamp was printed in black， the 1-cent stamp soon became known as the \"Penny Black\"—the world's most popular stamp. These first stamps were imperforate10) and people had to cut apart the sheets of stamps. The first perforated stamps did not appear until 1854.

The popularity of this new system of sending mail and collecting the fee in advance spread fast and it didn't take long for other countries to use similar systems. By 1860， almost all countries have postage stamps. And the year 1878 finally saw the birth of the first stamp in China.

郵票的誕生要追溯到1840年的5月6日。在那一天，英國發行了它的首枚郵票——“黑便士”。但是，在此之前人們是如何接收信件的呢？又是什么使人們有了使用郵票的想法呢？

早期的信息傳遞體系自人類存在以來就一直都有。但在1840年之前，所有的信息傳遞體系，無論多么簡單或是多么精細，在運轉中都沒有享受到郵票的好處。

在郵政服務的早期，郵票和信封并不存在。如果你想寄一封信，可以把信件卷起來并封好，收到信件的那個人將不得不支付投遞費。由于當時投遞費非常高，所以很多人都拒絕接受信件。事實上，很多人發明了秘密代碼，以此來欺騙郵政服務部門。他們在信件的外面標上傳達自己信息的記號，而收信人只需閱讀這些秘密的信息，拒收來信，這樣就無需支付郵資。主要基于這一原因，郵政服務部門決定實施一種預付郵資的辦法。

1837年，英國郵政大臣羅蘭·希爾爵士提出了一項“郵局改革”辦法。按照這一辦法，支付相同的郵資，信件即可送達英國本土的任何一個地方；而且郵資都必須由寄信人而不是收信人支付；郵資的支付將通過寄信人在信件外貼一小塊彩紙——郵票來證明。當然，希爾的提議在數年里都飽受爭議，但經過嚴肅的討論，這項變革于1840年得以頒布和實施。就這樣，在1840年5月6日，首枚政府印制的郵資郵票誕生了。

羅蘭·希爾爵士親自設計了世界上的首枚郵票。這枚郵票面值1便士，印有維多利亞女王的側面頭像。由于郵票是用黑色油墨印制，所以這種1便士郵票就以“黑便士”著稱——世界上最受歡迎的郵票。最初的這些郵票沒有齒孔，人們必須用剪刀將整版郵票剪開。直到1854年，世界上第一批有齒孔的郵票才出現。

這種全新的寄信和預付郵資的方式深受歡迎，并迅速流傳開來。沒過多久，其他國家也開始采用類似的郵政體系。到1860年，幾乎所有的國家都發行了郵資郵票。在1878年，中國的首枚郵票也誕生了。

Stamps郵票

Record stamps

Bhutan， an Asian nation in the Himalayan Mountains， issued a group of postage stamps that were actually phonograph11) records. These stamps， issued in 1973， had native folk songs recorded on one side and could be played on a record player.

唱片郵票

不丹是一個位于喜馬拉雅山脈內的亞洲國家。它曾發行過一組實際上是唱片的郵資郵票。這些郵票于1973年發行，在郵票的一面上錄有當地的民歌，可以放到唱片機上播放。

Stamps with warning messages

Several hundred years ago， important military messages had gallows12) drawn on them as a warning to robbers. The drawings showed those who couldn't read what would happen if they stole the letters.

警告強盜的郵票

幾百年前，重要的軍事信件外都畫有絞刑架的圖案以警告強盜。這些圖案告訴那些不識字的人，如果他們偷竊信件，將會有什么樣的后果。

Stamps with Ads

Sometime before 1883， advertising for various products was printed on the back of U.S. three-cent stamps.

廣告郵票

1883年前的某個時期，在美國發行的面額為3美分的郵票背面，印有不同產品的廣告。

Postage 郵資

Candles determined the postage rates

In 1693， letters were held in front of a candle to determine the postage rate. The less the light shone through， the more costly the rate. This was known as candling.

燭光定郵資

1693年，郵件需要拿到燭光前來確定郵資。透過去的燭光越少，郵費就越昂貴。這后來被大家稱為燭光定資法。

Postman郵遞員

Cat as postman

In 1879， Liege， Belgium employed 37 cats to carry bundles of letters to villages. This service didn't last long as cats proved to be thoroughly undisciplined.

貓咪郵遞員

1879年，比利時的列日市雇用了37只貓來向村莊運送捆綁好的信件。但這項服務并沒有持續太久，因為貓被證明是完全不遵守紀律的。

Post office 郵局

Undersea post office

It was established in 1939 as part of a scientific facility on the sea bed off the Bahamas. They used a special oval13) postmark that was inscribed \"SEA FLOOR/BAHAMAS.\" Here you can see the post office depicted on Bahamas 5-shilling stamp issued in 1965.

海底郵局

這個海底郵局是1939年建立的，它實際上是建于巴哈馬島外海床上的科學設施的一個組成部分。郵局人員使用一種特殊的橢圓形郵戳，上面刻有“海底/巴哈馬”的字樣。你可以在巴哈馬1965年發行的面額為5先令的郵票上看到它。