英國學生科學讀本 Lesson 53 牡蠣(2)

The oyster has a little mouth, a stomach, and other organs. It breathes like a fish by sucking air out of the sea-water with its gills; and it also gets its food out of the sea-water.

牡蠣有一張小口, 一個胃, 還有其他的器官。牡蠣的呼吸方式跟魚很像, 也是用鰓從海水中吸進空氣的。牡蠣還從海水中得到食物。

It takes the sea-water into its mouth, and lets it run out through its gills. But any tiny living things which may be in this sea-water are caught and swallowed, and go into its stomach.

牡蠣把海水吸進口中, 又讓海水從鰓流出來, 但是海水中的任何小生物都被抓住, 吞了下去, 進了牡蠣的胃。

The best oysters are found round the mouth of the river Thames, in the English Channel, and on the coasts of France.

質量最好的牡蠣, 出產在泰晤士河口, 英吉利海峽, 法國海岸。

In the summer months the oyster lays its eggs, and millions of young ones are born. They are no bigger than pin-points, and they swim about in the sea. Most of them are eaten up by fishes; but those that escape settle down on the sea-bottom, and begin to form their shells.

牡蠣在夏季產卵, 一次能產數百萬粒, 不比大頭針的針尖更大。(孵化出的幼體)在水里到處游逛。大多數的卵都被魚吃掉了, 但逃脫的幼體就在海底安家, 開始長自己的貝殼。

Fishermen scrape the oysters off the sea-bottom by means of a dredge, which is a bag-shaped net with an iron rim. Then they are sent to London and to other large towns, to be sold for food. Oysters are a very good food, and they are very easy to digest, but they are rather dear.

漁民用一種“撈網”把牡蠣從海底刮下來。撈網也叫“挖泥機”, 是一種袋子形狀的網, 帶著一個鐵耙子。然后, 漁民會把捕撈的牡蠣, 送到倫敦和其他大城市, 當做食品出售。牡蠣是非常美味的食品, 很容易消化, 但相當貴。

A great many oysters are also found along the coasts of North America, and some of these are now put into barrels and sent to this country alive. The oyster will live for two or three weeks after it is taken out of the sea, if it is kept wet with sea-water.

沿著北美海岸, 也能找到很多牡蠣, 有一些也放進大桶, 活著運到英國。牡蠣從海里撈出來, 浸在海水里, 還能活兩三個星期。

英語美文