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Those nasty points on the stem of the rose are not true thorns: they are what scientists call “prickles.”
玫瑰莖上那些令人討厭的刺并不是真正的刺，科學家們稱其為“皮刺”。
Prickles are smaller than thorns: they are sharp outgrowths of the plant's outer layers, the skin-like epidermis, and the sub-epidermal layer just beneath it.
皮刺比刺小很多：它們是這些植物外層的尖銳分支，類似于皮膚的表皮以及其下的亞表皮層。
Unlike a thorn, a prickle can be easily broken off the plant because it is really a feature of the outer layers rather than part of the wood, like a thorn.
皮刺無法像刺一樣輕易地從植物莖上脫落，它只是植物外層的一種特征，不像刺屬于莖的一部分。
Both prickles and thorns protect the plant from predators, and, maybe, from lovers looking for a free bouquet.
不管是皮刺還是刺，它們都可以保護植物免受天敵的侵害，同樣，也許也能保護自己不被那些想采花的情人折斷。
But perhaps we call the rose prickles “thorns” because saying “every rose has its prickle” doesn't seem to do justice to the pain of unrequited love.
但是，或許，我們應該稱“皮刺”為“刺”，因為“每朵玫瑰都有刺”的說法似乎對單相思者的痛苦來說不太公平。
譯文為可可英語翻譯，未經授權請勿轉載!
