膠菜

3=vegetable

膠菜

1. (chiefly Wu) napa cabbage

   • 大概是物以稀為貴罷。北京的白菜運往浙江，便用紅頭繩繫住菜根，倒掛在水果店頭，尊為“膠菜”；福建野生著的蘆薈，一到北京就請進溫室，且美其名曰“龍舌蘭”。 [MSC, trad.]
     大概是物以稀为贵罢。北京的白菜运往浙江，便用红头绳系住菜根，倒挂在水果店头，尊为“胶菜”；福建野生着的芦荟，一到北京就请进温室，且美其名曰“龙舌兰”。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1926 October 12, 魯迅 (Lu Xun),《藤野先生》, translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang

     Dàgài shì wùyǐxīwéiguì ba. Běijīng de báicài yùnwǎng Zhèjiāng, biàn yòng hóng tóushéng xì zhù càigēn, dàoguà zài shuǐguǒdiàn tóu, zūn wéi “jiāocài”; Fújiàn yěshēng-zhe de lúhuì, yī dào Běijīng jiù qǐng jìn wēnshì, qiě měiqímíngyuē “lóngshélán”. [Pinyin]

     No doubt the rarer a thing the higher its value. When Peking cabbage is shipped to Zhejiang, it is hung upside-down in the greengrocer’s by a red string tied to its root, and given the grand title “Shangdong Vegetable.” When the aloe which grows wild in Fujian comes to Peking, it is ushered into a hothouse and given the beautiful name “Dragon-Tongue Orchid.”