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Lesson 82 The Garden Snail
第82課 花園中的蝸牛
The "winkle" which you pick out of its shell with a pin and eat is a sea-snail. But we have now to talk about the common land-snail, which creeps about our gardens. It has a "house on its back, " in the shape of a spiral or coiled shell, which is all in one piece, and has a smooth edge. Have you noticed how the shell is marked with pretty bright bands of colour? The shell protects the soft body of the snail, and provides a shelter into which it can retreat in time of danger, and in which it sleeps.
當(dāng)你拿著大頭針, 將“濱螺”從外殼中挑出吃下的時(shí)候, 你知道嗎, 這是一種海蝸牛。不過(guò)我們現(xiàn)在要討論的卻是在我們的花園中爬來(lái)爬去的普通蝸牛。它總是“背著自己的房子”, 這座一體式的小房子是一個(gè)螺旋或者卷曲的外殼, 邊緣很光滑。你有沒(méi)有注意過(guò), 它的外殼上帶有非常明亮的顏色條紋? 這個(gè)外殼能夠保護(hù)蝸牛柔弱的身體, 在危險(xiǎn)時(shí)作為避風(fēng)港, 在休息時(shí)作為它溫暖的家。
The snail has a heart, a stomach, a lung, and many nerves inside its soft body. It creeps along by means of the lower portion of its body, a long, fleshy part called the "foot. " Have you ever seen the snail's eyes? They are placed at the ends of the two long feelers or "horns" which stick out from the creature's head. When a horn is extended, the eye is seen at its point; when it is withdrawn, the eye disappears within it. Under these horns are two much shorter feelers. Below these again is the mouth.
蝸牛柔弱的身體中長(zhǎng)有心臟、胃、肺以及許多神經(jīng)。它通過(guò)身體下半部分一個(gè)長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的肉“足”進(jìn)行蠕動(dòng)。你見(jiàn)到過(guò)蝸牛的眼睛嗎? 它們位于頭部上方兩根長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的觸角頂端。當(dāng)蝸牛伸出觸角的時(shí)候, 最上方的圓點(diǎn)就是它的眼睛；當(dāng)觸角縮回時(shí), 眼睛也消失不見(jiàn)了。這些觸角下方還有兩根觸角, 只是短得多, 在下方就是蝸牛的嘴巴。
The snail has a long tongue like a ribbon, which is covered with tiny teeth. It also has a sort of horny upper jaw. With its teeth and its upper jaw the snail cuts off bits of the young plants for food. On this account gardeners do not like the snail.
蝸牛長(zhǎng)有一條緞帶般的長(zhǎng)舌, 上面布滿了細(xì)小的牙齒。它還有一個(gè)類(lèi)似角質(zhì)的上顎。憑借這樣的牙齒與上顎, 蝸牛能夠撕咬植物幼苗作為食物。因?yàn)檫@個(gè)原因, 園丁對(duì)蝸牛沒(méi)有好感。
The snail lays its eggs in damp places in the ground;they look like tiny beads of jelly. When the little snails come out of these eggs, each one has its own little shell. As they grow larger, more of the hard shell forms round the edge; and so the snail and its shell grow together, until the animal has reached its full size.
蝸牛在地下的潮濕處產(chǎn)卵, 這些卵看起來(lái)就像是很小的果凍微粒。當(dāng)小蝸牛孵化出來(lái)以后, 它們都背著自己的殼子。隨著它們不斷長(zhǎng)大, 外殼邊緣逐漸形成更多堅(jiān)硬的外殼；于是, 蝸牛與自己的外殼一起發(fā)育, 直到完全成熟為止。
