(单词翻译:单击)
Vegetables Do Not Have Gender
蔬菜无性别之分
Have you heard that female watermelons are sweeter than male ones? That male eggplants are less bitter than female ones? That male peppers have fewer seeds? Well, you heard wrong.
你有没有听过母西瓜比公西瓜更甜的说法？有没有听过母茄子比公茄子更苦的说法？或者公胡椒的籽更少的说法？如果有，可别信哦。
Let me explain what happens when one vegetable loves another vegetable very much. Their flower parts do have gender: the pollen comes from the male part, and it needs to get to an ovary, which is a female flower part. Sometimes the same flower has both male and female parts (like eggplants), while in other plants (like watermelons) the male and female flowers are separate.
首先，我需要解释当一种蔬菜与另一种蔬菜相爱时会发生什么。它们的花蕊却有雌雄之分：花粉来源于雄蕊，需要进入雌蕊的子房。有时候，有些花雌雄同株（比如茄子），而其它植物（比如西瓜）的雌雄蕊是分开的。
But no matter what, a fruit is a fruit. The ovary, having been fertilized with pollen, grows into a fruit with seeds. The fruit is not "male" or "female" (and yes, this means that eggplants and peppers are fruits. It is also correct to call them vegetables.)
但无论如何，水果就是水果。受精的花粉到达子房，从而长成带有种子的水果。而这种水果无公母之分（是的，这意味着茄子和胡椒都是水果。但它们也属于蔬菜。）
So when you pick up an eggplant at the store, you're not looking at a male or a female creature. There are no "male" or "female" eggplants, nor peppers nor watermelons nor whatever else people are making up silly stories about.
所以，当你在店里挑选茄子时，你并不是在挑选公茄子或母茄子。对于茄子、胡椒、西瓜或其它水果蔬菜而言，它们并无公母之分。
Fortunately, the people who spend their days educating the public about vegetables are on the case, patiently explaining this nonsense over and over again:
幸运的是，整天都在向大众介绍蔬菜无性别之分的专家正耐心地向人们一遍又一遍地解释。
"This is a garden myth," says the Oregon State University extension about gender of bell peppers. "There are not 'male' or 'female' eggplants," says Mary Keith of the University of Florida extension. "vegetable specialist Joe Kemble wants to make clear that there are no male fruits," says the Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities extension page.
“这是一个菜园之谜，”俄勒冈州立大学在甜椒性别拓展课上表示。“茄子不分公母，”佛罗里达大学的的玛丽·基思（Mary Keith）在拓展课上说到。“蔬菜专家乔·肯布勒（Joe Kemble）正在研究有没有公水果，”阿拉巴马农工大学和奥本大学在其拓展页面上写道。
Most of the advice about fruit and vegetable gender centers around checking some subtle clue about the vegetable—the number of sections on a pepper, the shape of the flower scar on an eggplant—but, again, this doesn't reveal anything special about the contents. Eggplants don't come in round-scarred and oval-scarred types; they just have flower scars, and you can make up whatever story you like about them, but that story will not help you pick the right and fresh one.
有关水果和蔬菜性别的大多数建议都以查看蔬菜的细微线索为主——例如胡椒的片数、茄子上花疤的形状等——但这并没有揭示出关于蔬菜的任何特殊信息。茄子不是圆形就是椭圆形的，它们本身就长有花疤，虽然你可以根据自己的喜好编造任何故事，但这并不能帮助你挑选出既新鲜又好吃的茄子。
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
