國家地理:Leather Tanner 最辛苦的職業(yè) 皮革鞣制

This tannery is infamous as the foulest-smelling place in all of Fez, Morocco. Tanning hides may be dirty and smelly work, but somebody has to do it. Every day, 17-year-old Mousin must wind his way through the ancient alleyways of Fez. He is following in the footsteps of countless generations who have labored before him in this 600-year-old tannery.
After just three years here, Mousin's tenure has been relatively brief, but his father Abdul has been breathing in the tannery stench for more than three decades. Each delivery of skins, fresh from the slaughter, means the start of the stinking, wet, filthy process. Of all the foul tasks Mousin must do, few are worse than washing the animal skins. And there's no other way to do it than to climb right into the tub—a fetid sewer of animal hides, flesh, hair and bacteria. Exposure to the filth makes Mousin and his co-workers more susceptible to infections, particularly if they would have any open sores or cuts. While Mousin rinses his lambskins, others prepare pelt hides for tanning, scraping the leftovers into the same near-stagnant pool. Nothing about this job is for the faint of heart, but Mousin has learnt to appreciate its benefits.
The reward for carrying out this unappealing job brings beginning tanners just $2 a day, and very experienced ones about $5. Much of the tannery's odor comes from its potent and pungent secret ingredient- pigeon droppings. Mousin gathers the droppings from the rooftops of Fez. Then he's ready for the dirtiest and smelliest job of all: wading into a vat of excrement. The stench is overpowering, but Mousin must keep his head and be sure to add just the right amount of water to the pigeon droppings. The perfect mix will help make a skin supple but not too soft.
"The pigeon droppings have a burning quality, so when you put it on the skin, it bites into it and softens it, and then the skin becomes like a piece of cloth."
But to transform this raw hide into leather clog requires Mousin to get down and dirty. Shoeless, he can use his toes and heels to knead the skins over and over. For almost three hours, he tromps around the vat. Even apart from the smell, it's a difficult chore requiring strength and endurance. Finally, the skins are soft enough to please the expert- his father Abdul.
"This is a very good job. Just look at what we produce, it's beautiful. My son made this."
It's a product to be proud of. And few who end up wearing this leather on their feet would ever know that it was crafted in one of the foulest-smelling places on Earth.
tannery: a place where animal hides are tanned
tan: convert (animal skin) into leather, especially by soaking in a liquid containing tannic acid
fetid: foul-smelling, stinking
pungent: having a strong taste or smell
vat: A tub, tank, cask, or other large vessel used to hold a liquid, esp. fermenting beer, chemical preparations for dyeing or tanning
supple: easily bent or folded without breaking or cracking, pliant, flexible