Pigs and Piggy Banks猪与存钱罐

任新超　B Sumangal

You can find a piggy bank at almost every home. But whoever heard of pigsand savings？ Yes， pigs in a sty1. But what is the connection between the pigs anda home saving bank？

Actually none. The connecting link has to do with clay2. Clay？ Yes. Thoughcoin-slotted money boxes in the shape of animals， including pigs have been inexistence3 for centuries， the actual term came to be associated4 with Europe inthe middle ages.

In the 15th and 16th century Europe， there were no banks to put your moneyinto. The money people saved had to he kept at home. But people made so littlethat they wanted to save some money for a rainy day.

The only way they could was to put money in pots and jars. The jars weremostly made of clay as metal was a costly item then and people couldnt afford tobuy a metal jar. Pots， pans， jars and other household items were made of anorange-coloured clay known as“pygg”.

Slowly over time， the expression “pygg bank”became “pig bank”. In the19th century， the potters5 who had heard the term decided to make a coin-savingmoney box in the shape of a pig.

Pigs， in fact， have always been the poor mens asset6. A pig would be fedleftovers7 and scraps8 of the table and be fattened for the butcher9 at the end ofthe year. Similarly， a piggy bank is fed coins left over from the monthly expenses，and at the end smashed10 to take the saved money out.

Within a short time this pig-shaped moneyboxes came into the market in allshapes and sizes， with cute noses， and curly tails. Naturally this caught the attention ofthe children. There hasnt been a better bit of porcine11 wisdom since.

幾乎每个家庭都能找到一个存钱罐。但谁听说过猪和存款？是的，猪圈中的猪。但猪和家庭存钱罐之间有什么联系呢？

实际上没有。二者联系与陶土有关。陶土？是的。尽管有包括猪在内动物形状的有投币口的钱罐已经存在了几个世纪，但实际上这个词是在中世纪与欧洲联系在一起的。

在15 世纪和16 世纪的欧洲，没有银行可以让人们存钱。人们攒下的钱不得不藏在家里。但人们挣的钱太少了，他们想存点钱以备不时之需。

他们唯一能做的就是把钱放在罐子里。这些罐子大多由陶土制成，因为当时金属是贵重物品，人们买不起金属罐子。壶、锅、罐子和其他家用物品都是用橙色的陶土制成的，这种陶土被称为“pygg”。

随着时间的推移，“pygg 存钱罐”的表达变成了“pig（猪）存钱罐”。在19 世纪，听过这个词的陶艺家决定制作一个猪形状的存钱罐。

事实上，猪一直是穷人的资产。一头猪会被喂食剩余食物和餐桌上的残羹剩饭，并被养肥到年底屠宰。同样，存钱罐被喂入每月费用里剩余的硬币，最后被砸碎取出存在里面的钱。

在很短的时间内，猪形存钱罐以各种形状和大小进入市场，它们有可爱的鼻子和卷曲的尾巴。这自然引起了孩子们的注意。从那以后，再也没有比这更好的与猪的智慧有关的东西了。

渊英语原文选自（pitara.com）