十大經典數字背後的故事(下)

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5.城鎮的命名

Naming a town seems like a pretty straightforward thing. In America, they're mainly named after people, local landmarks, or other towns. So if someone tells you it's called New York because people just liked it better that way, you can correct them and say it was named for the eventual King James II of England, then known as the Duke of York and Albany.

給城鎮命名聽上去似乎很簡單。美國的城鎮一般以人物、地標或其他城鎮的名字爲名，所以如果有人跟你說紐約之所以叫紐約，只是因爲人們喜歡這麼叫時，你就可以糾正並告訴他，紐約的叫法其實包含了對當時的約克和奧爾巴尼公爵、英王詹姆斯二世的尊敬。

But what about towns named for numbers? One such town came to public attention via the national pastime. Bill Voiselle was a major league baseball pitcher during the 1940s. Today, he's best remembered for his uniform number—at a time when everyone wore low numbers, Voisselle wore #96. His reasoning was pretty simple: he was from the town of Ninety Six, South Carolina. Ninety Six got its unusual name from a simple quirk of cartography. In 1730, surveyor George Hunter marked the area as being 96 miles from the Cherokee town of Keowee. The number made it onto the maps, and the name has stuck around ever national building supply chain 84 Lumber got its name in a similar way—the company was founded in the town of Eighty Four, Pennsylvania. Like most number-based towns, there are all sorts of crazy stories about how Eighty Four came to be named, but the most likely story is actually quite simple. The small rural community wanted the name Smithville for their postal route. That name was already taken in eastern Pennsylvania, so postmaster H.F. Weir asked for the route to be named after the year the post office was built: 1884. A slightly abbreviated version ended up becoming the town's official name.

那麼，以數字爲名的城鎮又有什麼說法呢？比爾·維斯樂是20世紀40年代棒球大聯盟的一名投手，他因自己的球衣號碼爲人所熟知，那個時候，大家的球衣號碼都是小數字，而維斯樂球衣背後的號碼是大數字96。他說選這個數字的原因很簡單：他來自南卡羅來納的九十六小城，這個小城因製圖時的一個小失誤而得名96。1730年，測量員喬治·亨特一時疏忽把這個小城距切羅基原住民居住地的距離標到了地圖上，自那之後，這個小城就成了96小城。84木材是一家連鎖國家建材供應商，跟96小城一樣，它的命名也是源自公司所在的地區：賓夕法尼亞州的84小城。大多以數字命名的小城都有着各種各樣的稀奇傳說，84小城也不例外，不過，它的來歷相對比較簡單。起初，這個小城想以Smithville來命名其郵遞路線，但那個名字已經被賓夕法尼亞州東部的一個小城用了，於是郵政局長 H.F. Weir徵求大家意見，建議用郵局所建年份1884做名字，最後，大家選擇了年份的後兩位數作爲小城的官方名稱。

z 57

4.亨氏57變

The Heinz Company is known for making condiments—so many of them that the company famously adopted the advertising slogan "57 Varieties." The company was founded in 1869 and has prospered ever since, although it took a bit of a tumble when John Kerry ran for President in 2004. Since Kerry was married to Teresa Heinz, the widow of company Heir John Heinz III, some Republicans claimed that purchasing Heinz products was "like giving to the Democrats." Unsurprisingly, Heinz survived this backlash and continues to produce well over 57 products.

亨氏集團以其調味品著稱，很多調味品都採用了"57變"的廣告語。亨氏集團自1869年成立以來生意一直很好，只是2004年約翰·克里競選總統時業績有些下滑，因爲克里娶了亨氏集團繼承人約翰·海茵茨三世的遺孀特麗莎·海茵茨，所以一些共和黨人認爲購買亨氏集團的產品"就像在給民主黨投票"。不過，亨氏集團最終還是熬過了這次抵制行動，繼續生產了57種產品。

So why is the number 57 associated with Heinz? It all started in 1896, when company founder Henry Heinz was on a train in New York City and passed a sign advertising 21 different styles of shoes. Heinz thought that was brilliant—it made the company seem complex and diversified and appealed to many different tastes in shoes. By that point, his company already had well over 60 products available, but Heinz decided 57 worked better. Some sources say he considered 57 his lucky number, others claim that his lucky number was five, and his wife's was seven. Or maybe he just liked how it sounded. Regardless, the number 57 doesn't actually refer to 57 specific varieties of anything—it's just a catchy marketing device.

爲什麼57會跟海茵茨扯上關係呢？這要追溯到1896年，那一年，亨氏集團創始人亨利·海茵茨在紐約市的火車上，正巧看到路邊一則廣告上展示着21種不同風格的鞋子。海茵茨心想，這個廣告主意不錯，能展現出公司鞋子產品的多樣化並吸引不同需求的消費者購買。那個時候，他的公司已經生產了60餘種產品，但是海茵茨覺得57更好。有傳言說57是海茵茨的幸運數字；還有人說5是他的幸運數字，7是他妻子的幸運數字；也或者他就僅僅是喜歡57的發音呢。不管怎麼說，雖然是選擇了57，但這並不是指代57種特定的調味品，而是吸引市場眼球的一個手段。

Million Jews

3.600萬猶太人

There are some numbers that shouldn't be questioned, yet Holocaust denial has been around since the 1950s, when the influential American priest Gerald L. K. Smith claimed that no Jews had been killed by the Nazis—they had all secretly emigrated to America instead. Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is still telling anyone who can stand to hear him talk that the Holocaust is a myth, while others content themselves with claiming that the six million Jews estimated to have been killed is an exaggeration.

有些數字不容人們質疑，可是自20世紀50年代起，否認大屠殺的事就一直未平息。美國一位很有影響力的牧師 Gerald L. K. Smith聲稱，納粹不曾殺害過一個猶太人，相反，猶太人都被祕密安全轉移到美國了。前伊朗總統馬哈茂德·艾哈邁迪-內賈德仍然大言不慚的跟那些能忍着聽完他講話的人說納粹德國對猶太人的大屠殺是一個迷；還有一些人則安慰自己說600百萬猶太人被殺害有些誇大其詞。

But six million isn't just a random guess—it's well documented. The Nazis kept detailed records of their atrocities, including how many Jews were moved to concentration camps or killed by roving death squads. Adolf Eichmann, as responsible as anyone for planning the Holocaust, was confident that a bit over five million Jews had been killed. Historians have done extensive work to determine the exact number—including those who never even made it to Eichmann's camps. For example, SS records confirm at least 7,000 died during the fighting of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. After meticulously scouring the records, the historian Lucy Dawidowicz put the total number killed at 5.93 million. Other historians have reached similar figures. The fact that these figures derive from German bureaucratic records should be enough to blow a hole in any Holocaust denier's theories. There was a Holocaust, it was real, and the Nazis are the ones who said so.

但是600萬這個數字並不是隨意的猜想，而是有文件記載的。納粹黨人保留了他們暴行的詳細記錄，包括有多少猶太人被運往集中營，有多少人死於敢死隊。在猶太人大屠殺中執行"最終方案"的主要負責者納粹戰犯阿道夫·艾希曼承認有500多萬猶太人被殺害。歷史學家做了大量工作以獲得確切數字，想知道那些都沒能到集中營就喪命的人數。就如，根據SS黨衛軍的記錄，單在1943年華沙猶太人隔離區起義中，就有至少7000名猶太人被殺害。經過細緻調查和統計，歷史學家Lucy Dawidowicz指出，被迫害的猶太人有593萬，其他歷史學家的統計也跟這個計算結果相近。這些根據德國官方記錄而得出的受害人數足以抨擊否認大屠殺的人的陰謀論。大屠殺真實存在，迫害方納粹黨就是這場殘暴屠殺的見證者。

38th Parallel

2.三八線

The 38th parallel is a circle of latitude that served as the initial basis for the famous demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea—the most heavily fortified border in the world. The DMZ traces its origins to World War II. As US forces landed in the south of Korea and the Soviet Red Army overran the Japanese forces in the north, there needed to be a line where the two armies could meet without overlapping (and possibly ending up fighting each other). The 38th parallel was chosen. But why?

三八線是一條用以劃分南北朝鮮之間受降範圍的暫時軍事分界線，是世界上防衛最森嚴的一條邊界線。其歷史要追溯到第二次世界大戰，那時，美國武力登陸朝鮮南部，蘇聯紅軍將日本軍力控制在北部，所以需要有一條分界線來劃分兩國部隊控制的受降區，以免兩國軍隊見面打起來。於是，就選擇了三八線，爲什麼呢？

It turns out that the line had no real historical significance. Prior to the Allied invasion, Korea functioned as a whole pretty well. It was the Soviets and Americans who decided to split the nation. Dean Rusk, a member of General George Marshall's staff (and a future Secretary of State), looked over a National Geographic map with Army Colonel Charles "Tic" Bonesteel. The pair were determined that Seoul should be in the American zone, but they couldn't find a natural break north of the city. They eventually settled for the 38th parallel, around 56 kilometers (35 mi) north of Seoul. The Soviets agreed to the entirely arbitrary dividing line and the rest is (war-torn) history.

事實證明這條分界線的確立並沒有什麼歷史性的意義。盟軍入侵之前，朝鮮還是個完整的國家，是蘇聯和美國硬生生把這個國家一分爲二。喬治·馬歇爾將軍的一位年輕參謀迪安·拉斯克上校（Dean Rusk，後來擔任美國國務卿）和陸軍軍官查爾斯·邦斯迪爾審視了國家地圖後，認爲首爾應該歸在美國受降區，但是他們沒能在這個城市的北部找到一個自然分界線。於是最後選擇了距首爾北部大約56,000米，位於北緯38度附近的一條線。蘇聯對這個隨意劃分的分界線也表示同意，三八線就這麼形成了。

erman's Top 10 lists

1.萊特曼的前10榜

Everyone loves lists. There are even websites based on the idea. But the idea behind a Top 10 list didn't originate in the Internet age—magazines have been doing them for decades. But nothing helped popularize Top 10 lists as much as Late Night with David Letterman.

每個人都喜歡榜單，有很多網站也是基於排名而設立。不過，前十排行這個主意可不是緣起於互聯網時代，雜誌媒介已經採用這種形式數十年了。但要說讓前十榜單這一形式紅起來的，那還要屬午夜聊天節目《大衛深夜脫口秀》。

In its early days, Letterman was known for being edgier than other talk shows—since it was on later in the evening, it had more leeway to get away with silly stunts. Writer Randy Cohen has often been given credit for the idea of doing a humorous Top 10 list, but Cohen himself says it was more of a team effort. Which is good, because it seems like everyone who worked for Letterman except Letterman himself thinks they came up with the idea as a spoof of other Top 10 lists. The direct inspiration was likely a Cosmopolitan list of the 10 sexiest men over 60. The first list, written by Kevin Curran, was the Top 10 Words That Almost Rhyme With "Peas." But what about Listverse? Well, our very first list was published way back in 2007. And while Listverse didn't always follow the 10-item format, it works well, as history has shown us.

早期時候，這檔脫口秀以其生動犀利的語言而聞名，因爲節目是在午夜播出，所以可以盡情嬉笑怒罵，將娛樂精神展現的淋漓盡致。人們常常將前十排行這一創意歸功於寫手蘭迪·科恩，不過科恩自己說這更多的是團隊協作的成果。這樣想也好，因爲這樣一來，似乎除了主持人萊特曼以外，每個爲這檔脫口秀工作的人都可以把自己算作創造前十榜單笑料的一員。前十排行的直接靈感來源於Cosmopolitan的"十大60歲以上的最性感大叔"榜單。《大衛深夜脫口秀》中的第一份前十排行榜是凱文·庫然寫的"十大跟peas（豌豆）押韻的詞語"。

翻譯：毛志遙 來源：前十網