教皇和咖啡

A coffee craze first gripped the. world about 600 yearsago， travelling from Ethiopia to the Middle East，where Muslin monks used coffee as a stimulant to stayup during prayers. In the late 1500s， coffee had reachedEurope， and Vatican officials were clamouring to condemnit as Satanic. After all， coffee came from the Islamic world.

According to legend， Vatican officials asked PopeClement VIII to impose a ban on coffee. He refused todo so before trying it first himself. Thus， he ordered thatsome coffee be prepared for him. He evidently enjoyed it，and he remarked， \"This Satan's drink is so delicious itwould be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use ofit. We shall fool Satan by baptising it.\" This removed thebiggest obstacle for the popularisation of coffee in Europe.

約六百年前，咖啡開始風靡世界，由衣索匹亞傳到中東。中東的回教僧侶愛喝咖啡提神。以免禱告時打瞌睡。15世紀末葉，咖啡傳到歐洲，梵蒂岡要員紛紛主張把這種飲料斥為魔鬼之物。說到底，咖啡是來自回教世界的。

據說，梵蒂岡那些要員要求教皇克雷芒八世頒發禁咖啡令。教皇不答應，要親自嘗過后才決定，并下令準備些咖啡給他喝，喝后顯然很喜歡，說：“這種魔鬼飲料美味得很，要是給那些教外蠻夷專享，未免可惜。我們何不給咖啡洗禮，戲弄魔鬼一次?！边@個決定，掃除了咖啡流行歐洲的最大障礙。

[附注]Infide一般譯做“異教徒”。從前基督徒和回教徒互詆為infidel，帶強烈貶義。