英國學(xué)生科學(xué)讀本 Lesson 82 花園中的蝸牛(2)

Snails do not grow in the winter. They do not come out of their shells at all then, even to eat. When they feel the cold weather coming, each snail finds some quiet place, where it makes a smooth hole in the earth to live in. Then it draws its body into the shell, and plasters up the opening, leaving just a little hole to breathe through. There the snail sleeps all through the winter. But it will wake up and crawl about again when the warm April showers tell it that spring has come.

蝸牛在冬天的時(shí)候停止生長。它們始終蜷縮在外殼之中, 甚至停止了進(jìn)食。如果感覺到寒冬就要來臨, 每只蝸牛都會(huì)尋找到一個(gè)安靜的地方, 在那里為自己造出一個(gè)光滑的小洞準(zhǔn)備住下。隨后, 將身體縮進(jìn)外殼之中, 用粘液將開口封閉起來, 只留下一個(gè)小孔進(jìn)行呼吸。整個(gè)冬季, 蝸牛都在這里沉睡。四月份, 當(dāng)溫暖的雨水滋潤大地之時(shí), 蝸牛們便感受到了春天的味道, 于是從睡夢中醒來, 繼續(xù)開始爬行。

Did you ever eat snails? Perhaps you are surprised at such a question, for very few people in this country know that snails are good to eat, if they have been properly fed and properly cooked. In other countries snails are thought a very dainty dish. They should be boiled in spring-water, and seasoned with oil, salt, and pepper.

你吃過蝸牛嗎? 也許你會(huì)對這個(gè)問題感到驚訝, 因?yàn)橛苌儆腥酥? 原來蝸牛是可以吃的。當(dāng)然了, 這需要正確的飼養(yǎng)與合適的烹飪。對于其他國家的居民來說, 蝸牛是一道非常美味的菜肴。用泉水將蝸牛煮熟, 配以油、鹽及胡椒等作料。

In the south of England there is a very large white snail, which is known as the "Roman snail, " because the Roman soldiers used to be very fond of eating it. In times of famine, too, such as used to happen in Britain in bygone days, many people were saved from starving who knew that snails were good to eat.

英格蘭北部生活著一種體型巨大的蝸牛, 也就是所謂的“羅馬蝸牛”, 因?yàn)榱_馬士兵曾經(jīng)非常喜歡把它作為食物。在饑荒時(shí)代, 那些知道蝸牛食用價(jià)值的人們就曾經(jīng)僥幸逃過一劫。在英格蘭的歷史上的確出現(xiàn)過這樣的情景。

Many birds, such as thrushes and blackbirds, feed on snails. The bird breaks the shell of the snail by dropping it on a stone. You may often see pieces of the shells lying beside a large stone on which a bird has broken them.

很多鳥類都喜歡捕食蝸牛, 比如畫眉與黑鶇。這些鳥兒在抓起蝸牛后便會(huì)拋向石頭, 摔碎蝸牛的外殼。你可能會(huì)看到一塊周圍遍布蝸牛碎殼的巨石, 鳥兒們就是在這里享受美食的。

If you want to catch the snails in your garden, you should take a lantern and look for them at night, for they creep about much more by night than by day.

想要抓住花園中的蝸牛, 就應(yīng)該在夜晚時(shí)分拿起燈籠進(jìn)行搜索, 因?yàn)樗鼈兏酉矚g在夜間到處爬。

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