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Consider the squirrel. Squirrels are everywhere and they're pretty cute, but are they valuable? Not really right?
说到松鼠。它们随处可见，又很可爱，但它们珍贵吗？不怎么珍贵，对吧？
Believe it or not, medieval Europeans used to use red squirrel pelts as currency,
不管你信不信，中世纪的欧洲人曾拿红松鼠皮当过货币，
just as you and I might exchange dollar bills today.
就像你我今天使用美元一样。
It's one of the many surprisingly different ways humans have transacted with one another throughout history.
历史上人类用过很多奇奇怪怪的东西当货币，红松鼠皮就是其中之一。
It might seem crazy, but when you think about how we're now able to pay each other digitally in minutes,
这种货币虽然看上去很疯狂，但想想我们现在都能在分分钟内完成电子支付，
cash might be going away with the red squirrel sooner than you think.
就会发现，纸币也正在像红松鼠皮一样被淘汰，速度也可能比我们想象的更快。
The history of money is a movement from trading stuff you can use, to trading stuff that's symbolic and now even virtual.
货币的发展史是一个从物物交换到物与象征性的货币甚至是今天的虚拟货币交换的过程。
Nowadays, you can send money safely and easily to pretty much anyone you know in a matter of minutes, straight from your personal banking app.
如今，大家能够分分钟内轻松而安全地把钱从银行客户端转给任何你认识的人。
So how did we get here? Somewhere in the middle of this history is the red squirrel or Sciurus Vulgaris,
我们的货币能发展到今天，其中就有红松鼠，学名Sciurus vulgaris的功劳，
which formed the basis for the medieval economy of Finland and Russia.
因为红松鼠曾经是中世纪芬兰和俄罗斯经济的基础。
In fact the Finnish word for money, "raha" comes from squirrels.
事实上，芬兰语中表示货币的词“raha”就来自于“松鼠”这一词语。
But they also became a symbol, a collective belief, a currency.
松鼠成了一种象征，一种大家公认的东西，一种货币。
A tikkuri was 10 squirrel pelts and a kiihetelys was four times that
一个tikkuri 是10张松鼠皮，一个kiihetely则是40张松鼠皮
and while values changed, at one point a hundred pelts could get you a whole cow.
松鼠皮的价值会变，曾经100张松鼠皮就可以买到一头牛。
But, big drawback: it took time to catch them
然而，拿松鼠当货币有一个很大的弊端：松鼠不好抓。
and while squirrel currency eventually went out of favour as metal coins appeared,
虽然随着金属钱币的出现，松鼠这种货币就逐渐被淘汰了，
there were still squirrel pelt currency exchange charts even in 1926.
然而，即便到了1926年，也还有松鼠皮兑换相关的参照表。
Despite what the internet might tell you though and we asked the Finnish Embassy about this and they laughed at us,
不管对此网上有什么样的答案，也不管我们就这事向芬兰大使馆求证时他们是如何笑话我们的，
Squirrels are no longer accepted as payment there, FYI.
如今在他们那里红松鼠都已经不再是货币了，供您参考。
A squirrel economy is pretty weird, but humans everywhere have a history of paying with strange things,
松鼠经济的确很怪异，但不同地域的人都曾有过拿奇怪的东西当货币的历史，
things that are really just symbols we believed to be worth something.
那些东西都不过是一些被我们人为地赋予了价值的符号。
These cowry shells spread across much of the ancient trading lands, from China to India, to Eastern Africa.
这些贝齿就曾在贸易中穿越世界各地，从中国到印度，再到东非。
Salt or Salarium Argentum, was paid out to soldiers in Rome and it's the reason you now get a salary by the way.
罗马曾经发放盐，也就是买盐钱，当做士兵的供给，这也就是英语里“薪水（salary）”一词的来源。
In Central America the cocoa bean understandably became prized.
可可豆曾在中美洲的作物中占有重要的地位，这也是情有可原的。
Even in modern Italy and this is true, 17,000 tons of Parmesan Reggiano cheese are kept in bank vaults as collateral.
即使是进入现代社会以后，意大利还有人在银行放过1.7万吨帕马森干酪作为担保，这是真的。
Besides the squirrel, the strangest / most symbolic / most unwieldy was the rai stone of the Solomon Islands.
除了红松鼠，最奇怪/最具象征性/最笨重的货币当属所罗门群岛居民曾经使用的石灰石石盘。
It had to be gathered from islands hundreds of miles away and they were so huge that they occasionally capsized canoes.
采集这种石盘需前往数百英里之外的岛屿，而且这些石盘无比沉重，有时甚至会把他们的小船压翻。
Of course it's tempting to laugh at our ancestors for paying with such weird things, but we're not really all that different.
显然，想到这些，我们不禁要笑话祖先们竟会使用这些奇怪的货币，但这不过是五十步笑百步。
For centuries for us in the United States, gold was the standard currency and some still obsess over it,
数百年来，我们美国人都以金子作为标准货币，现在还有很多人痴迷于这种东西。
but it's really just a symbol too - not that far removed from a pelt.
但金子真的不过就是一种象征，和小动物并没有太大区别。
And the same is basically true with paper money.
纸币也是一个道理。
It's important, but ultimately works as a representation of a country's stability,
纸币是很重要，但最终也只是国家稳定的一种象征，
Like melting gold or hauling huge limestone tablets across oceans or catching 40 squirrels, cash takes time.
同熔化金子，越过重洋搬回巨大的石灰石石盘以及抓40只松鼠一样，取钱也需要时间。
A study suggests that Americans waste 200 billion dollars worth of our time per year just getting it out of ATMs,
有研究发现，美国人每年用ATM取钱浪费的时间成本就高达2000亿美元。
so where does that leave us?
这意味着什么呢？
Today we continue to go even faster and more symbolic
如今，我们在快速、符号的道路上越走越远，
in an era where you can just send money in minutes from your bank account to a friend's bank account on your phone.
身处这个时代，我们能用手机在很一眨眼的时间内将钱从我们的银行账户转到朋友的账户。
Paper money may soon seem just as silly as paying with a squirrel,
纸币很快也会变得和松鼠一样落后，
so the more transfers, the more money available in your bank account within minutes and less fur.
所以，交易次数越多，证明我们的钱已经越来越多了，就不用去抓松鼠了。
The red squirrel would probably be happy.
这对红松鼠来说未必不是一件好事。
