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British Council播客——The Post 邮政

British Council 2017-07-21 17:20
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The Post
邮政

By John Russell
约翰拉·塞尔

How did the postal service begin?
邮政服务是如何开始的?

For as long as humans have existed there has been a need to keep in touch, to transfer information between people in different places. This could have been news about important events, military information, or families staying in contact. Before the invention of writing, spoken - oral messages were carried from one person to another or between towns. Writing made it much easier to send longer messages; however, it was still difficult to make sure that your message got to the right place.
人类存在有史以来,就有着联系和在不同地区的人们之间传达消息的需要。这可能是重要事件的新闻,军事消息或家庭成员互相保持联系。在文字发明之前,口头信息从一个人传播到另一个人那里或在城镇中传播。文字使得较长信息的传送给更容易;然而,还是很难确保消息到了正确的目的地。

Who organised the first delivery system?
谁组织了第一个传递系统?

The Romans created an organised system of mail delivery, called Cursus Publicus. This was used by the Emperor and officials to transfer information throughout the Empire. Staging posts and a relay system with horses and carriages meant that messages could move quickly, by using many riders instead of one. It was very important for law and order, business, and military reasons that good communication systems existed. However, the Romans were not (as many people think) the first to realise this. In 2000 BC the Egyptians used a similar messenger system to keep people informed about the laws in the country. The Chinese and Persian empires also used systems of horses and riders more than 500 years before the Romans.
罗马人创造了 一个有组织的邮件传递系统,叫做“为公众奔波的人”。该系统被皇帝和政府官员用于在帝国之间传递信息。驿站邮递和匹配马车的中继系统意思是通过使用许多骑手而不是一个可以让消息传得很快。好的通讯系统的存在对于法令,商贸和军事原因来说非常重要。然而,第一个实现的不是罗马(就像人们想的那样)。公元前2000年,埃及人使用一种相似的信息系统让国内的人们获知法律。中国和波斯帝国也在早于罗马人500年前同样使用了马和骑手的邮递系统。

What came after the Romans?
罗马人之后又是什么?

After the Roman postal service disappeared, other systems were created, but never again as large as the Roman’s. Rulers of countries or regions (such as Charlemagne) and even the church created their own official mail network. It was also very important for business between countries that good communication existed; international traders and many capital cities set up unofficial postal links. There was one such link between Venice and Constantinople in the 14th Century.
在罗马的邮递服务消失后,其它系统被创造了,但是不像罗马的那么大。国家或地区(如查理曼大帝)的统治者甚至是教堂创造了他们自己的官方邮件网络。好的通讯对于国家间的商业很重要;国际贸易商和许多省会城市设立了非官方通邮。14世纪,威尼斯和君士坦丁堡之间就有这样的一个联系。

Who could use the post?
谁能使用这些邮政呢?

Until the mid 1600's in Europe only official Government messages could be carried by the state networks; everyone else had to use less secure, unofficial networks. However, as more roads were built, unofficial networks became safer, more reliable and very profitable. Realising they could make money, governments in most countries took control of their own public postal system - making the unofficial networks illegal!
直到1600年中期,在欧洲,只有官方政府信息才可以由国家网络传达;其他人不得不使用不太安全的,非官方的网络。然而,随着越来越多道路的修建,非官方网络变得更安全,更可靠和非常有利可图。大多数国家政府意识到可以赚钱后,便控制了他们自己的公共邮政系统---使得非官方网络非法化。

How was it paid for?
那么他们是怎么样收费呢?

Before the invention of the postage stamp, letters were 'franked.' This meant that it was marked on the letter that delivery had been paid for. This could have been either written or stamped. A post-mark was also stamped on the letter. Invented in 1660 in England, this was a mark that showed where and when the letter had been posted. It was used to see how long it took to deliver the letter - to make sure the service was reliable.
在邮票发明之前,信件被用来做印记的,这就意味邮件付费了才能在你的信上标记号,可以用手写,也可以做印记,邮政记号也会被印到这个信上。在1660年英国发明邮票之前,有一个记号会显示这个信寄出的地点时间,主要用来显示发送信件需要多长时间--确保服务的可靠性。

When were stamps invented?
邮票是什么时候发明的?

A number of countries claim to have invented the idea of stamps - placing a piece of paper on the letter showing that delivery had been paid for. But the first widely available stamp was the Penny Blank, introduced in Britain by a man called Rowland Hill in 1840. It was a black stamp with a white picture of the Queen’s head on it. Hill changed the idea of payment from distance to weight, which meant you paid for how heavy your letter was, not how far it travelled. The year before its introduction about 75 million letters had been posted in Britain, yet only 10 years later over 340 million letters were sent using stamps. It was a very important invention and completely changed the postal system. To buy a first-edition of this stamp today can cost over £1000!
很多国家声称他们发明了邮票,在信上贴一小张纸就表明邮费已付。但是,现存第一枚被广泛使用的邮票,是一个叫罗兰希尔的英国人在1840年引进的。那是一张黑色邮票,上面有一张白色的女王图像。希尔把按距离计费的想法转变成按重量计费,这就意味你的信有多重就支付多少,而不是它要运多远支付多少。在邮票引进之前的那一年,在英国就有7.5亿的信被邮递,然而仅仅10年后,34亿的信在邮递时使用了邮票,这是非常重要的发明,完完全全改变了邮政系统。如今买一张首发的邮票要花费1000英镑以上。

Who decides international prices?
谁决定了国际价格?

Until the 1870's it was still very expensive to send mail to other countries. The Universal Postal Union was created in 1874 to help countries work together and set reasonable prices for international mail prices. It cannot tell individual countries how much to charge, but it encourages co-operation. Its main aim is to make sure that "all people have affordable and reliable access to postal services.
"直到19世纪80年代,发邮件到其它国家还是很昂贵的。万国邮政联创设于1874年,帮助国家一起设定国际邮件价格。它无法规定每个国家收费多少,但是鼓励国家间的合作。它的主要目的是确保“所有人都有付得起和可靠的邮政服务”。

What is snail mail?
什么是蜗牛邮件?

With the creation of airmail, it's now cheap and quick to send letters to most parts of the world. Unfortunately, the growth of new technology (The Internet, emails, fax machines) means that traditional postal services are becoming less popular. Many people now call traditional post “snail mail”, because it does not have the speed of an email or a text message. Remember though, it has been here for over 2000 years, and is still a way of delivering a personal message. Why don't you write a letter to someone today?
航空邮件的产生使得寄信到世界上大多数国家变得廉价而快速。不幸的是,新技术的发展(因特网,邮件,传真机)意味着传统的邮政服务变得没那么重要了。现在,许多人把传统的邮政称为“蜗牛邮件”,因为它不像电子邮件或手机信息那么快速。但记住,它已经存在2000多年,仍然是传送个人信息的一种途径。为何你今天不写一封信给别人呢?

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