Lesson 53 The Oyster
第53课 牡蛎
The oyster is called a shell-fish; but it is not a real fish, like the sole or the herring. All true fishes have a backbone, and they swim about in the sea by the help of their tail and their fins.
牡蛎是一种贝类, 意思是“带壳的鱼”。但它不是真正的鱼, 跟比目鱼和鲱鱼不一样。所有真正的鱼都有一条脊椎骨, 借助尾巴和鳍的帮助, 在海里游来游去。
But the oyster has no backbone; indeed it has no bones at all. Its soft body is protected by two hard shells, between which it lies.
但是牡蛎没有脊椎骨, 其实, 牡蛎连一点儿骨头都没有。它柔软的身体躺在两片坚硬的甲壳之间, 让这两片甲壳来保护。
One of these shells is larger than the other; and it is by the larger one that the oyster fastens itself to the rocks or to the muddy sea-bottom where it lives.
这两片甲壳, 一片大, 一片小；牡蛎用那片大甲壳, 把自己固定在岩石上, 或者海底的泥地上, 就在这些地方生活。
The two shells are joined together by a hinge; and the oyster has a strong piece of flesh, or a muscle, by which it can keep them shut. If you take an oyster out of the water, you will find that it holds its two shells so tightly together that you cannot pull them apart.
两片甲壳由一条蝶铰相连；牡蛎还有一块强壮的肉, 学名叫“闭壳肌”, 用它来闭合两片甲壳。如果把一只牡蛎从水里捞出来, 你会发现牡蛎的两片壳闭合得非常紧, 掰都掰不开。
Oysters are usually opened with a knife; but by being put into boiling water they can be killed in a moment, and the shells then open easily. Look inside an empty oyster-shell, and you will see a little hollow where the muscle was fixed to the shell.
牡蛎一般要用刀子撬开；但是如果放进开水里, 马上就会死掉, 贝壳也就很轻易地打开了。请看空牡蛎壳的内部, 你会看见一个小小的空洞, 肌肉就是在这儿附着在壳上的。
The inside of the shell shines like pearl; indeed, it is from a kind of oyster that pearls are got. The oyster makes both the shell and the pearls out of matter which it finds dissolved in the sea-water.
贝壳的内部, 像珍珠一样闪闪发亮。其实, 牡蛎中有一种, 就是能制造珍珠的。牡蛎的贝壳和珍珠, 都是用溶解在海水里的物质制造的。