舌尖上的航海丨第28集 舷窗里的“愛情果”

遠洋航船常年飄泊在大洋里，海員們習慣在舷窗旁擺上花果盆景。望著這些來自陸地的生物，心里有股說不出的親切感。

海員們稱它們是海員的”海上伴侶”。

肖惠惠來自海員大省福建，是位資深的海乘（郵輪服務員）。當地人有個習慣，每當離家遠航，總會把家鄉(xiāng)一種叫“望鄉(xiāng)花”的植物帶上船，擺在舷窗旁。

據說“望鄉(xiāng)花”有個至今使人弄不明白的特征：無論輪船航行在那里，花朵總是朝著家鄉(xiāng)的方向。所以，人們親切地稱它為”望鄉(xiāng)花”。

一年，肖惠惠隨船來到日本大販。正值世界女排大獎賽。中國女排力克群雄奪得冠軍。在頒獎臺前，一位年邁的老華僑帶著小孫女，將一束“望鄉(xiāng)花”獻給女排姑娘。當人們知曉“望鄉(xiāng)花”是這位老華僑幾十年前離家時帶過來的，近年因年老體弱，由身邊這位雙目失明的小孫女護養(yǎng)時，肖惠惠感動地熱淚盈眶。

不久前，肖惠惠被外派到一艘叫《伊麗莎白女王》號的郵輪上做服務員。

肖惠惠臨行前，精心選了一盆家鄉(xiāng)的“望鄉(xiāng)花“。

《伊麗莎白女王》號是艘豪華的環(huán)球郵輪，是以英國女王伊麗莎白命名的，除了沒備齊全舒適外，幾乎每個舷窗里都擺有各式各樣來自世界各地的花果盆景：美洲的紫羅蘭，荷蘭的郁金香，非洲的笆蕉紅…，可謂“舷窗花“的世界。有“海上花坊”的美稱而享譽航海界。

肖慧慧把“望鄉(xiāng)花”放置在住艙最顯眼的舷窗旁：“讓中國的花果為《海上花坊》增光添色吧！“

一天，她在打掃船長房間時，忽然發(fā)現船長房間的舷窗上擺放的盆景與眾不同，是一盆結滿了紅果的，形似“西紅柿”的“舷窗花”，引起了肖慧慧的好奇和猜疑：“船長與這盆花果一定有故事！”

果然不出肖慧慧所料。船長威爾遜是位典型的英國人，有著貴族血統。舷窗里的“西紅柿”不僅與航海有關，還與英國女王伊麗莎白一世的愛情有關。船長威爾遜與其有不解之緣。

肖慧慧想知道其中的奧妙。

但是，令肖慧慧失望的是，船長是位沉默寡言的人，連與他同船多年的船員都不知其中的故事，只知船長稱這盆”西紅柿”叫“爰情果”。

肖慧慧沒有灰心，利用打掃船長艙室的條件和機會，漸漸摸清了船長的脾氣和愛好，得到了威爾遜船長的信任和好感。終于在肖慧慧離船公休前，揭開了《伊麗莎白號》人們至今尚不知曉的”謎”。

“西紅柿”的發(fā)現與傳播與航海有密不可分的關係。早在十六世紀初期，偉大的航海家哥傖布遠航南美洲時，就發(fā)現了這種”神奇”的植物；顏色艷亮，氣味鮮美。直到十六世紀未，葡萄牙航海探險隊，終于將在南美洲發(fā)現的這種野生花果帶回歐洲。

起初，野生的西紅柿個頭很小，雖然外形艷麗嬌捎，但是味道卻十分奇特。歐洲人認為它有毒，只是狐貍和狼才會吃它。所以取名“狐貍的果實”或“狼桃”。至今仍有歐洲人稱它為“狐貍的果實”或“狼桃”。

一次偶然的機會，英國的俄羅達里公爵發(fā)現這種十分可愛的野生植物，把它移栽花園里，視為珍寶。在伊麗莎白一世女王生日那天，摘下艷麗的果實獻給女王，以示熾熱的爰情。

英國歷史上有二位伊麗莎白女王：一位是現代的伊麗莎白女王，一位是伊麗莎白一世女王。出生在十五世紀的伊麗莎白一世女王性情弧驕，是英國亨利八世與安妮，博林的孩子。雖然被指定為王位繼承人。后來，由于王室的爭紛和宗教的干擾，繼承王位的路十分曲折艱辛。直到亨利八世去世后才登上女王的寶座。

伊麗莎白一世女王在位45年，是英國的黃金時代。但是，伊麗莎白一世一生保持獨身沒有結婚。來自國外的：西班牙，德國，羅馬，瑞典等國的皇親國戚排成了長長的求婚隊伍…。國內的達官顯貴更是屢不勝數。其中，英國貴族俄羅達里公爵最有代表性的一員。

伊麗莎白一世女王謝絕了所有求婚者的禮品，唯獨收下了俄羅達里公爵這束鮮麗的“西紅柿”，引起英國上下的極大轟動！雖然，伊麗莎白一世最終沒有接受俄羅達里公爵的求婚。但是“西紅柿”成了熾熱愛情的象征。從此“西紅柿”有了“愛情果”的美譽。

船長威爾遜是俄羅達里公爵的后裔，祖輩這樁象征愛情的故事和榮耀，使他終身難忘：航海使歐洲人得到了“愛情果”，“愛情果”又使人們憶起了伊麗莎白一世女王時代的繁榮盛世。

所以，威爾遜放棄許多陸上的工作機會，走上海洋，做了一名航海者，並把“爰情果”隨身帶在身邊…。

肖慧慧被這個故事感動了。回國后，《舷窗里的“爰情果"》的故事很快在網上走紅，點擊率節(jié)節(jié)攀升。

肖慧慧還專門查詢了“愛情果”，被中國稱為“洋柿子”傳入中國的歷史：“西紅柿”最初傳入中國是明未，通過”海上絲路”引進的。明代的王象晉所著《群芳譜》里記載的西紅柿：“最堪現，火傘火珠，未足為喻”是最早做為國內觀嘗植物的記載。

西紅柿真正成為中國人歺桌上的美食，是在鴉片戰(zhàn)爭前后。直到上世紀初，”西紅柿”才在中國大力發(fā)展起來，成為大眾喜爰的美食。

當人們食用這種美食時，不要忘了那些航海者，是他們給我們帶來了《舷窗里的“愛情果》的故事和它的美味。

張濤系中國航海學會科普專家、中國遠洋海運作家協會副主席、中國知名海員作家、“一帶一路”應用型海事 人才研究院特聘研究員。作為遠洋船長，其在工作之余，筆耕不輟，為宣傳航海文化做出了較大貢獻，被譽 為“當代弘揚航海文化有突出貢獻的航海人”。先后在人《民日報》《中國建設》《海事大觀》《航?！贰吨袊?員》等報紙雜志上發(fā)表了大量文章，并出版了《我們都是無產者》《船長與黃金》《路娃航海記》《船長風云 錄》《海上天方夜譚》《舌尖上的航海》等十余部近百萬余字反映航海經歷的文藝作品。其中《我們都是無產 者》和《海上天方夜譚》獲國家優(yōu)秀作品獎；《路娃航海記》獲中國航海學會特別貢獻獎；《舌尖上的航?！吩?在國內多家網站和報紙雜志上發(fā)表及刊登，受到廣大讀者，特別是航海愛好者的熱烈歡迎和好評；同時被譯 成英文，受到外國青少年和航海愛好者的喜愛。 2021年3月，江蘇航運職業(yè)技術學院設立了“張濤海員作家”工作室。希望此工作室能夠創(chuàng)作出更多更好的作 品來弘揚和發(fā)展海洋文化！

On long and arduous voyages, many sailors often put flowers and fruits on the ledge of

their portholes. As they stared at the beautiful creatures they brought alongside from their

homes on land, an indescribable sense of longing often blossomed inside their hearts.

Some seafarers referred to these flowers and fruits as their companions.

Xiao, a sailor from Fujian, China, was a senior cruise attendant on board an international

cruise ship. Sailors from Fujian had a tradition of bringing a kind of plant named the “Wang

Xiang Flower” and placing it as a decoration by the porthole whenever they sailed away from

home.

The name “Wang Xiang Flower” can be translated to the flower of those who miss their

homes. But the most peculiar thing about these flowers is that no matter where the ship sails,

the flower always blooms in the direction of home.

One year, Xiao traveled to Osaka, Japan with her ship on the same weekend that the

Women’s Volleyball World Championships were taking place. The Chinese National Team

triumphantly defeated all other contestants and took home the first prize in the

championships. As the team stood on the podium, an elderly Chinese woman and her young

granddaughter walked up to the stage, and presented a bouquet of Wang Xiang Flowers to the

girls in the volleyball team. Xiao was surprised to see the flowers that she held so dear

featured in an international celebration, but when she found out that the elderly lady had

brought the flowers over from home decades ago and only decided to give them away now

because she had become frail from old age and still had to take care of her blind

granddaughter, Xiao was moved to tears.

Not long after, Xiao was assigned to be a cruise attendant on a famous cruise liner

named the Queen Elizabeth.

Before she left home for his new position, she prepared a pot of Wang Xiang Flowers

that she picked specifically from his relatives’ garden.

The Queen Elizabeth liner was a luxurious globetrotting cruise ship named after Queen

Elizabeth of England herself. In addition to being equipped with the most comfortable,

advanced furniture and technology, every single porthole had a pot of flowers from a different

corner of the world sitting on its ledge: violets from the Americas, tulips from the

Netherlands, scarlet banana flowers from Africa… It was paradise for the porthole flora, a

bountiful floating garden on the sea.

Xiao set down her pot of Wang Xiang flowers on the ledge of a porthole near all the

other colorful flowers on the ship. Together, the flowers that hailed from different countries

all lived in harmony, spreading joy and their soothing unique scents to every single guest that

came onboard.

One day, when Xiao was cleaning the captain’s bedroom, she suddenly noticed that the

flowers that were set next to the captain’s porthole were unlike any other plant she had ever

seen before. The flowers were bright red in color, and bloomed with small, round fruits that

looked like cherry tomatoes. Xiao was immediately taken by these lovable blossoms, and

knew she had to ask the captain about what exactly they were.

Captain Wilson of the cruise ship Queen Elizabeth came from the United Kingdom, and

some say that his family even descended from the royal bloodline. These “cherry tomatoes”

that sat by Captain Wilson’s porthole not only played a fascinating part in maritime history,

they were also the symbol of the most romantic story of Queen Elizabeth’s life.

Xiao wanted to know what the tale beyond these adorable flowers were.

However, to Xiao’s disappointment, Captain Wilson was a quiet, reserved individual

who never really shared much about his life. Even old crew members who had been working

with Captain Wilson for many years weren’t able to uncover the mystery beneath these

flowers, but they did know that Captain Wilson called these fruits “The Fruits of Love”.

Xiao wasn’t ready to give up on those fruits just yet. Over the years she worked on the

Queen Elizabeth, she spent a large amount of time speaking and getting to know the captain,

eventually becoming good friends with him. Before she went home on vacation one year, she

finally unveiled the secrets of Captain Wilson’s fruits of love.

To her surprise, the discovery and trade of these cherry tomatoes were indisputably

related to seafaring. In the early 16th century, the Italian navigator Columbus discovered

these unusual fruits in South America. They were bright and eye-catching, and also tasted

sweet and succulent. But it wasn’t until the end of the 16th century, when a Portuguese

discovery fleet found these fruits in South America and finally brought them back to Europe.

In the beginning, wild tomato plants yielded very small fruits, which despite being

delicate in appearance, had an unexpectedly odd taste. Europeans initially thought that these

fruits were poisonous and that only foxes and wolves would ever feed on them. Botanists

assumed that tomatoes were in fact a fruit named nightshade, which were related to the

poisonous belladonna.

By chance, Sir Walter Raleigh of England took a liking to these tomatoes and planted

them in his garden, viewing them as a precious delicacy. On Queen Elizabeth’s birthday, he

collected a big, juicy tomato and offered it to Queen Elizabeth as a gesture of his love.

Queen Elizabeth I, unlike the current English monarch Queen Elizabeth II, grew up

isolated in royal life and was quite a lonely woman. She was the daughter of King Henry VIII

and Queen Anne Boleyn, and was the heir to the royal throne. Her path to the crown was

demanding and challenging due to royal discord and interference from the church, and she

did not ascend to the throne until the passing of her father, Henry VIII.

But Queen Elizabeth’s reign lasted for forty-five years, bringing about what many saw

as the Golden Age in England. During Queen Elizabeth’s reign, she proved her dedication to

her responsibilities as monarch and never married or took a lover. Candidates from Spain,

Germany, Rome, Sweden, and various other nations asked for her hand in marriage, and

noblemen from within England did the same. Sir Walter Raleigh was one such candidate.

When presented with countless luxurious and extravagant offerings, Queen Elizabeth

rejected all of them except for one item: Sir Walter Raleigh’s beaming red, delicious tomato.

Her acceptance of the gift sent a shock through the entire United Kingdom, elevating the

tomato from a common fruit to a symbol of royal romance. And yet, Queen Elizabeth never

accepted Sir Walter Raleigh’s marriage proposal, only ever leaving hints of romance in a

plant that became known as the “Fruit of Love”.

Xiao found out that Captain Wilson was a distant relative of Sir Walter Raleigh. The

story and glories of his ancestors and their symbol of love influenced Captain Wilson’s

decision to become a seafarer: the tomato was brought to Europe by sailors and navigators,

which in turn allowed generations of people to remember the prosperity of Queen Elizabeth’s

time as monarch.

Therefore, Captain Wilson rejected numerous lavish positions and jobs that he could

have enjoyed on land, and instead studied at nautical school in order to become a man of the

sea. Wherever he went, he brought tomatoes with him as a symbol of love and the influences

of maritime history.

Xiao was deeply touched by Captain Wilson’s story. After she returned home, she wrote

about her experiences onboard the Queen Elizabeth and published them online, allowing

masses of readers to enjoy these wonderful tales.

She also researched the origins of tomatoes in China, and found out why their name

translated to “red western fruit” in Chinese.

Tomatoes were first brought to China at the end of the Ming Dynasty through the

Maritime Silk Road. They were first mentioned in the Chinese poem “Qun Fang Pu” and

described as “a delicate, fiery pearl that went beyond the boundaries of common fruits”.

Tomatoes became a delicacy in China after the Opium Wars, and finally achieved

household status in the19th century, as Chinese people fell in love with the delicious

ingredient.

Xiao hoped that when people tasted the magical fruit of love, they wouldn’t forget the

voyages of the sailors that brought tomatoes to the masses’ table, and the wondrous tales that

came with them.

Zhang Tao is an expert in the fields of navigation, maritime history, and nautical science. He is involved in the Chinese Institute of Navigation, and is the vice president of the Chinese Association of Maritime Authors, a well-known Chinese author of subjects related to seafaring, as well as a distinguished researcher for the nautical analysis of the “One Belt One Road” Initiative. Aside from leading sailing crews as an esteemed captain of many Chinese ships, he works tirelessly in his spare time and has made important contributions to nautical culture and history. He has been described as “a navigator with momentous involvement in the promotion of seafaring culture in modern times”. He has published articles in People’s Daily, China’s Construction, Maritime Spectacle, Sailing, and Chinese Sailors and more magazines and newspapers. His authorial works include We Are All Proletarians, The Captain and Gold, Lu Wa’s Sailing Journal, The Captain of Wind and Clouds, Fairy Tales from the Sea, and The Taste of Seafaring, all of which reflect and promote the experience and culture of seafaring to millions of readers. Among his works, We Are All Proletarians and Fairy Tales from the Sea have won the National Outstanding Novel Award; Luwa’s Sailing Journal won the Outstanding Contribution Award from the Chinese Institute of Navigation; and The Taste of Seafaring has been published on multiple Chinese websites and magazines, attracting new waves of readers and audiences and acclaim from those with particular interest in sailing. The Taste of Seafaring has now been translated into English and is beloved by youths and nautical enthusiasts worldwide. In March of 2021, the Jiangsu Shipping College established the Zhang Tao Sailing Author’s Workshop. Hopefully, more wonderful stories and writings will come to fruition with the help of the workshop, and inspire people from all across the globe to learn about maritime culture!