第七課 金魚
Have you ever seen very pretty little fishes, of a bright yellow or golden colour, swimming in a glass bowl of water? Look in the shop-windows, and perhaps you will see some.
小朋友, 你見過淺黃色或者金色的漂亮小魚, 在玻璃缸里面游來游去嗎? 往商店櫥窗里看看, 可能就會看見的。
Are these fishes made of gold? No; we only call them gold-fish because their colour is a bright yellow, like the colour of gold.
這些金魚是金子做的嗎? 不是的, 我們叫它們金魚, 是因為它們的顏色是淺黃色的, 跟金子的顏色很像。
If you save up your money, you may buy a gold-fish some day. It would cost you only a few pence. If you ever get one, you must be very kind to it. You must keep the bowl in a warm room, and fill it with fresh water two or three times a week.
攢點兒錢, 只花幾個便士, 就可以買到一條金魚。要是買了, 小朋友一定要好好地照顧它, 把魚缸放在暖和的房間里, 每個星期都給它換兩三次水。
You must not forget to feed the little fish also. It is very fond of ants' eggs, and it will eat little worms and insects, and perhaps a few bread-crumbs.
可不要忘了喂魚!金魚特別喜歡吃的是螞蟻蛋, 也吃小蟲子和面包屑。
If you are kind to your gold-fish, it will soon learn to know you. It will then swim to your finger when you put it in the bowl.
好好地照顧金魚, 金魚很快就會認識你。只要把手指頭放進魚缸, 金魚就會向手指頭游過來。
Look at the shape of the fish. It is pointed at each end, which is the best shape for going through the water. Its body is covered with scales, which lap over each other, like the tiles of a roof.
看看魚的形狀吧。魚的身體, 兩頭都是尖尖的, 這是最適合在水里游泳的形狀。魚身上蓋著鱗片, 鱗片就像瓦片一樣, 是一片疊一片的。
Do you see the fins of the gold-fish? It has two breast-fins, two belly-fins, a back-fin, a tail-fin, and a fin on its under side near the tail. These fins keep the fish steady as it swims. But how does it swim? It does this by waving its tail from side to side.
你看見金魚的魚鰭了嗎? 金魚有兩個胸鰭、兩個腹鰭、一個背鰭、一個尾鰭, 還有尾巴附近的一個臀鰭。這些鰭讓金魚在游泳的時候保持平衡。不過金魚是怎么游泳的呢? 是左右擺著尾巴游的。
You can see the two eyes of the gold-fish. They are very bright. It cannot shut its eyes as we can, for it has no eyelids.
看看金魚的兩只眼睛, 好亮啊。人類可以閉眼, 金魚卻不能閉眼, 因為金魚沒有眼皮。
Fishes breathe air as we do, but it is the air which is mixed with the water. The fish draws this air out of the water by its gills.
金魚也跟人類一樣呼吸空氣, 不過呼吸的是溶解在水里的空氣。金魚是用鰓吸進水里的空氣的。
Do you see the two flaps, one on each side of the head of the gold-fish, just behind the eyes? Under these flaps there are some folds of red flesh. These are the gills, and they are red because all the blood in the fish's body passes through them.
金魚的頭, 在眼睛后邊的兩側, 各有一個蓋子, 看見了么? 這兩個蓋子里面有幾層紅色的肌肉, 這就是魚鰓。這幾層肌肉是紅色的, 因為魚身體里的血液, 都要流過魚鰓!
Look how the fish opens its mouth and takes in water. But it does not swallow this water; it lets it run out again through its gills. And as the water passes through them, the gills suck the air out of the water.
看看金魚是怎么張嘴喝水的??墒? 金魚喝到嘴里的水, 并不咽下去, 而是從魚鰓又流了出去。水流過魚鰓的時候, 魚鰓就把里面的空氣吸出去了。
Water is used to make the steam that works our steam-engines. And we sprinkle it over our streets and roads to keep down the dust.
蒸汽機里的蒸汽也是水。水還用來灑在街道上, 不讓塵土飛起來。
Without water there would be no rivers, or ponds, or seas; without water, no trees, or plants, or flowers could live. The world would look very dull without the pretty little brooks and the wide blue ocean. SUMMARY Water is colourless, and it has neither smell nor taste. It is transparent, and because it flows it is called a fluid. Water forms a great part of our blood and our bodies. We wash with it, we cook with it; it makes our steam-engines go; it forms our rivers, our ponds, and our seas. Without it neither plants nor animals could live.
沒有水, 江河湖海就都沒有了。沒有水, 花草樹木就都不能活了。沒有蔚藍的大海, 清澈的小溪, 這個世界會多么難看呀!