英国学生科学读本 Lesson 82 花园中的蜗牛(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.

蜗牛在冬天的时候停止生长。它们始终蜷缩在外壳之中, 甚至停止了进食。如果感觉到寒冬就要来临, 每只蜗牛都会寻找到一个安静的地方, 在那里为自己造出一个光滑的小洞准备住下。随后, 将身体缩进外壳之中, 用粘液将开口封闭起来, 只留下一个小孔进行呼吸。整个冬季, 蜗牛都在这里沉睡。四月份, 当温暖的雨水滋润大地之时, 蜗牛们便感受到了春天的味道, 于是从睡梦中醒来, 继续开始爬行。

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.

你吃过蜗牛吗? 也许你会对这个问题感到惊讶, 因为英国很少有人知道, 原来蜗牛是可以吃的。当然了, 这需要正确的饲养与合适的烹饪。对于其他国家的居民来说, 蜗牛是一道非常美味的菜肴。用泉水将蜗牛煮熟, 配以油、盐及胡椒等作料。

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.

英格兰北部生活着一种体型巨大的蜗牛, 也就是所谓的“罗马蜗牛”, 因为罗马士兵曾经非常喜欢把它作为食物。在饥荒时代, 那些知道蜗牛食用价值的人们就曾经侥幸逃过一劫。在英格兰的历史上的确出现过这样的情景。

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.

很多鸟类都喜欢捕食蜗牛, 比如画眉与黑鸫。这些鸟儿在抓起蜗牛后便会抛向石头, 摔碎蜗牛的外壳。你可能会看到一块周围遍布蜗牛碎壳的巨石, 鸟儿们就是在这里享受美食的。

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.

想要抓住花园中的蜗牛, 就应该在夜晚时分拿起灯笼进行搜索, 因为它们更加喜欢在夜间到处爬。

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