Lesson 23 The Periwinkle
第二十三课 滨螺
A boy with a basket is walking down the street.
街上有个孩子挎着篮子走过来,
He is shouting out, "Winks, winks, periwinks!"
一边走一边吆喝：“滨螺！滨螺！卖滨螺啦！”
Let us buy a few of them, and put them into salt water, if they are alive.
咱们买几个滨螺吧, 要是还活着, 就把它们放到盐水里面。
The winkle is often called the "sea-snail, " because it lives in the sea, and looks like a snail.
滨螺也叫“海蜗牛”, 因为它生活在海里, 看上去又很像蜗牛。
It has a hard twisted shell, but it has no bones inside;
滨螺长着一个螺旋形的硬壳, 里面没有骨头,
its body is only a mass of soft flesh.
身体是一团软软的肉。
When we take it in our hands, we see that it has a hard, horny scale,
把滨螺拿在手上, 会看见它有一片坚硬的角质鳞,
which shuts the opening in its shell like a little door.
像小门一样, 封住了螺壳的开口。
Now put the winkle in the water.
再把滨螺放回水里,
Soon you see it push out a broad soft part called the "foot, " by which it holds on to the rocks.
过一会儿, 你就会看见它伸出了一片宽宽的软东西, 这东西叫“足”, 滨螺就是用它抓住石头的。
But we might also call it the "head, " for in it you see little horns or feelers and two tiny eyes.
不过, 我们也可以叫它“头”, 在里面, 可以看见滨螺的小触角和两只特别小的眼睛。
The winkle has gills inside its body to breathe with, and a little stomach and a little heart.
滨螺体内, 有用来呼吸的鳃, 还有胃和心脏。
But its blood is not red like our blood.
不过, 滨螺的血并不跟人类一样是红色的。
The tongue of the winkle is very long and narrow, and is covered with very small teeth.
滨螺的舌头很窄很长, 上面布满了细小的牙齿。
The winkle uses its tongue like a saw to cut off bits of the sea-weed on which it feeds.
滨螺吃海藻的时候, 就用这些像锯一样的牙齿, 把海藻一点一点切下来。
The winkle lays its little eggs upon the sea-weed that grows on the sea-shore.
滨螺在海岸边生长的海藻上, 产下小小的卵。
Winkles must be boiled before we eat them.
滨螺要煮过才能吃。
After they are cooked, we can pull each winkle out of its shell with a pin.
煮过以后, 可以用大头针, 把滨螺的肉从壳里剔出来。