四頭東北民豬的奇異命運

BEIJING — Abby Rockefeller wants to bring the People’s Pig of the Northeast back to the people. First, she has to bring it to upstate New York.

北京——艾比·洛克菲勒(Abby Rockefeller)想把東北民豬帶回給東北人民。不過，她首先需要把這種豬帶到紐約州的北部。

Ms. Rockefeller, the great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller Sr., paid $1,400 this month to buy four of the People’s Pigs — Little Black, Little White, Little Gray and Old White — from a farm in suburban Beijing. She hopes to use them as breeding stock to restore a variety of swine once known in China for its virility, fatty meat and ability to endure cold. Today, by one estimate, there are only 2,000 left.

艾比是老約翰·D·洛克菲勒(John D. Rockefeller Sr.)的曾孫女，本月，她花了1400美元從北京郊區(qū)的一家農(nóng)場買了四頭“東北民豬”——小黑、小白、小灰和老白。她希望用它們作種豬，來恢復(fù)一個豬的品種，這個品種以生殖力強、肉肥，以及耐寒能力曾在中國聞名。但據(jù)估計，如今它只剩下2000頭。

“I would very much like to get these remarkable, unusual pigs that are now rare,” Ms. Rockefeller said in a telephone interview from Cambridge, Mass. “These pigs matter to me and they would be a symbol if I can get them to the United States.”

“我非常希望能得到這些出眾的、非同尋常的豬，它們現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)相當(dāng)罕見，”艾比在馬薩諸塞州坎布里奇市接受電話采訪時說。“這些豬對我很重要，它們將成為一個象征，如果我能把它們帶到美國的話。”

If she succeeds, it would be a happy ending for four animals caught up in the peculiarities of modern China. Chinese efforts to spur urbanization and modernize farming may deprive them of their current home. Health restrictions mean they can’t be moved. Chinese conservation experts want to save them. Local officials have threatened to bury them alive.

如果她成功的話，將是這四頭陷入現(xiàn)代中國奇異境地的動物的幸福結(jié)局。中國促進(jìn)城市化和農(nóng)業(yè)現(xiàn)代化的努力可能會讓它們失去現(xiàn)有的家園。衛(wèi)生方面的限制意味著不能把它們運走。中國的保護(hù)專家想拯救它們。當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T威脅要將它們活埋。

It is hard to overstate the ubiquity of pork in China, the world’s largest pig breeder and pork consumer. From the north to the south, the meat is served in everything from dumplings to soup. Every part of the pig is eaten, including the head, feet, heart, tongue, stomach and kidneys.

中國的生豬飼養(yǎng)量和豬肉消費量都是世界第一，豬肉在中國到處可見的程度再怎么說都不過分。從北方到南方，豬肉出現(xiàn)在從餃子到湯的各種食品中。豬的每個部分，包括頭、蹄、心、舌、胃和腎都被食用。

But the bulk of it comes from Western pigs. These breeds came to China as a way to meet the explosion in demand from a richer population that wanted more meat. The government gave subsidies to pig farmers starting in the 1980s to cultivate breeds from the United States and Denmark with names like Duroc and Landrace.

但是，市場上的豬肉大部分來自西方品種的豬。為了滿足更富裕的民眾對肉類需求的激增，中國引進(jìn)了這些西方品種。中國政府從20世紀(jì)80年代起開始向養(yǎng)豬戶提供補貼，讓他們養(yǎng)像杜洛克豬(Duroc)和長白豬(Landrace)這樣的美國和丹麥品種。

Local breeds have faded. Of about 72 local pig breeds in China, at least 31 could become extinct, according to a 2013 report by Oriental Weekly, a newsmagazine affiliated with China’s official news agency, Xinhua.

本地豬種已開始消失。據(jù)中國官方通訊社新華社旗下的雜志《瞭望東方周刊》2013年的一篇報道，在中國的大約72個地方品種中，至少有31個可能會滅絕。

The People’s Pig of the Northeast, or “dongbei minzhu” in Chinese, originated from Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China. The origin of the name is unclear. In English, some of their fans call the pigs by the literal translation of their name, while others call them Min pigs. Local connoisseurs say their meat is tastier than foreign pork. China’s Ministry of Agriculture lists the breed on what it calls its “national team” — animals of excellent pedigree whose genes should be protected.

東北民豬原產(chǎn)于中國東北的黑龍江省。豬種的名字來源不詳。在說英語的人中，有些喜愛這種豬的人用其中文名字的直接英譯，有些人則用“民豬”的音譯。中國本地的美食家說民豬的肉比外國豬的好吃。中國農(nóng)業(yè)部已將這個品種列入了“國家級禽畜遺傳資源保護(hù)名錄”，表示這些純種系譜動物的基因應(yīng)該得到保護(hù)。

Wang Chuduan, a professor at China Agricultural University in Beijing who specializes in pig breeding, estimates there are about 2,000 of these purebred pigs in China, up from just 100 in the 1990s.

據(jù)專門從事種豬繁殖的北京中國農(nóng)業(yè)大學(xué)教授王楚端估計，中國大約有2000頭純種民豬，比起20世紀(jì)90年代只剩下的100頭有所上升。

“The People’s Pig of the Northeast is one of the most important and most representative among all the native pig breeds,” Mr. Wang said. “If they are not conserved, they will disappear.”

“東北民豬是所有本地豬種中最重要、最具代表性的品種之一，”王楚端說。“如果不加以保護(hù)，它們將會消失。”

Little Black, Little White, Little Gray and Old White lived among 200 other pigs, chickens and cows at the Green Cow Farm on the outskirts of Beijing. Lejen Chen, the farm’s American co-owner, started the organic farm 14 years ago to supply her two restaurants with chicken, pork and milk because she could not find a safe source of food in Beijing.

小黑、小白、小灰、老白和另外200頭(只)豬、奶牛以及雞曾生活在北京郊區(qū)的綠牛農(nóng)莊。農(nóng)莊的美籍合伙人陳禮貞在14年前創(chuàng)辦了這個有機(jī)農(nóng)場，為她的兩家餐廳供應(yīng)雞肉、豬肉和牛奶，因為她在北京找不到安全的食物來源。

Just before a weeklong national holiday in October, local officials told the farm’s owners that they needed to get rid of all of their animals within five days, Ms. Chen said. If they failed to do so, the officials warned, bulldozers would cover them up.

陳禮貞說，就在10月初的國慶長假黃金周之前，當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T告訴農(nóng)場主人，他們需要在五天內(nèi)把所有的動物都處理掉。官員們警告說，如果他們不處理的話，就用推土機(jī)把動物埋掉。

“They wanted all animals off, you could not leave one chicken,” Ms. Chen said. “They said when the higher-ups come for the tour, if there was one chicken here, they would lose their jobs.”

“他們要讓所有的動物都離開，一只雞都不能留，”陳禮貞說。“他們說，上級來視察時，如果發(fā)現(xiàn)一只雞，他們就會丟飯碗。”

China is on a campaign to shut down small farms in favor of building large-scale commercial operations like the kind in the United States. Officials say the move will improve food safety and the environment. Last year, the Beijing government said it had shut down 370 farms in its suburbs, reducing major pollutants.

中國正在開展一項關(guān)閉小型農(nóng)場的運動，為的是建設(shè)美國那樣的大規(guī)模商業(yè)農(nóng)場。官員說，這樣做將改善食品安全和環(huán)境。去年，北京市政府表示，已關(guān)閉了郊區(qū)的370家農(nóng)場，減少了主要污染物。

An official from the Lixian Town Agricultural Service Center, which governs the village where Green Cow Farm is situated, said that in April the local authorities started making farms comply with a policy that farms with greenhouses can only be used for growing vegetables and cannot contain livestock. The official, who declined to give his name, denied that the authorities gave the farm only a few days to get rid of all of its animals.

綠牛農(nóng)莊所在的村子受禮賢鎮(zhèn)農(nóng)業(yè)服務(wù)中心管轄，中心的一名官員今年4月說，當(dāng)?shù)卣趫?zhí)行一項農(nóng)場需要遵守的政策，即擁有大棚的農(nóng)場只能種植蔬菜，不能飼養(yǎng)牲畜。這位不愿透露姓名的官員否認(rèn)了陳禮貞的說法，即當(dāng)局只給這家農(nóng)場幾天的時間，把所有的動物處理掉。

Supporters of Green Cow Farm say the new policy is hogwash. The real environmental enemies, they say, are large companies that confine hundreds or thousands of pigs, chickens and cattle, increasing the risk of water pollution and outbreaks of infectious diseases. They say the government should instead protect small family farms that grow heritage breeds.

綠牛農(nóng)場的支持者說，新政策毫無道理。他們說，真正的環(huán)境敵人是大農(nóng)場，大農(nóng)場把成百上千的豬、雞和牛限制在小范圍內(nèi)，增加了水污染和傳染病爆發(fā)的風(fēng)險。他們說，政府應(yīng)該保護(hù)那些養(yǎng)植傳統(tǒng)品種的小型家庭農(nóng)場。

Ms. Chen and her husband, Shan En, sold some of the animals. They sent others to another farm, what they call their “Noah’s ark.” One cow, Big Flower, initially refused to get on the truck, circling the farm three times before she finally gave in.

陳禮貞和她的丈夫單恩賣掉了他們的一些動物。他們把其余的動物送到了另一家農(nóng)場，他們稱那家農(nóng)場是他們的“諾亞方舟”。一頭名叫“大花”的母牛起初拒絕上卡車，它繞著農(nóng)莊轉(zhuǎn)了三圈后，終于屈服了。

But Little Black, Little White, Little Gray and Old White could not be moved. The government has imposed rules on transporting live pigs to prevent the spread of African swine fever, a highly contagious disease that is sweeping across China. The disease isn’t fatal to humans but has killed thousands of pigs in China and prompted mass culling.

但是小黑、小白、小灰、老白都不能運走。為了防止非洲豬瘟的繼續(xù)蔓延，中國政府出臺了對活豬運輸?shù)南拗?。正在席卷中國的非洲豬瘟雖然對人類來說并不致命，但已導(dǎo)致中國數(shù)千頭豬的死亡，并引發(fā)了大規(guī)模撲殺行動。

So Ms. Chen called Ms. Rockefeller. She had visited Green Cow Farm twice, in 2007 and 2009, and has a farm in Hudson, N.Y., that she believes will make a comfortable home for the pigs.

于是陳禮貞給艾比打了電話。艾比曾于2007年和2009年來過兩次綠牛農(nóng)莊，她在紐約州的哈德遜有一個農(nóng)場，陳禮貞覺得，艾比的農(nóng)場將為這些豬提供一個舒適的環(huán)境。

On a recent Tuesday, Little Black, Little White and Old White gathered in front of their pen, chomping on vegetable scraps. Little Gray snoozed under a tree. Around them, cages that once contained chickens stood empty. (Ms. Chen said the chickens were free to roam during the day but were put there at night for their protection.)

在最近的一個周二，小黑、小白和老白在它們的圍欄前啃食剩菜。小灰在樹下打盹。在它們周圍，曾經(jīng)關(guān)過雞的籠子現(xiàn)在都空著。(陳禮貞說，以前的那些雞白天可以自由走動，晚上為了保護(hù)它們，才把它們關(guān)進(jìn)籠子。)

In their purest forms, the People’s Pigs of the Northeast have thick black coats with long hair. Ms. Chen said she believed some of her pigs, which have whiter coats, are of mixed breeds.

最純種的東北民豬長著濃密的黑色長毛。陳禮貞說，她覺得她養(yǎng)的這幾頭中有雜種，因為它們有較白的皮毛。

It has been nearly a month since officials first delivered their threat.

自從官方下令威脅他們處理動物后，已有近一個月了。

“It makes me so sad,” said Huang Tiancen, the farm manager, who raised the sows when they were piglets. “I’ve been working with them for more than 10 years.”

“這讓我很傷心，”農(nóng)場經(jīng)理黃天岑(音)說，他把這些豬從豬仔養(yǎng)大。“我和它們一起已經(jīng)10多年了。”

No one knows for certain how pigs can be moved from China to the United States. China has placed the People’s Pig on its list of protected animals, so taking them out of the country can be challenging. If individuals or institutions want to export a protected animal, they have to submit a plan to the provincial government’s animal husbandry department and “propose a shared-benefit plan for the state.” The application then goes to the national animal husbandry and veterinary department for approval.

沒有人確切地了解如何把這些豬從中國運到美國去。中國已經(jīng)把民豬列入了畜禽保護(hù)名單，所以，把它們帶出中國可能是個挑戰(zhàn)。如果個人或機(jī)構(gòu)想向境外輸出保護(hù)畜禽的話，他們需要向省級政府的畜牧部門提交申請，并簽訂“國家共享惠益方案”。然后需要得到國家畜牧獸醫(yī)部門的審批。

The village’s vice mayor, meanwhile, visited the farm on Oct. 9 and asked employees whether the pigs were gone yet.

與此同時，該村的副村長已于10月9日來農(nóng)莊詢問員工，豬是否已經(jīng)運走。

Still, Ms. Rockefeller is hopeful she can get them to her farm in Hudson.

不過，艾比仍對把這些豬帶到她在哈德遜的農(nóng)場充滿希望。

“I know it’s not going to be easy. But I want to be part of it, I want to be part of her effort to save something from the farm,” she said, referring to Ms. Chen. “And also to help make the point of this outrageous behavior.”

“我知道這并不容易。但我想為這件事盡點力量，我想成為她拯救農(nóng)莊一些東西的努力的一部分，”艾比說，她指的是陳禮貞。“這也有助于讓人們認(rèn)識到這個蠻橫的做法。”