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If you've ever cracked open a peach pit and found an almond-shaped seed inside, you'll know what I'm getting at.
如果你曾經砸開過一個桃子核，看到里面的杏仁形的種子，你就會知道我說的是什么意思。
As tough as my shell can get, delicate oils found within the lobes can go rancid fairly easily.
盡管我的殼很堅硬，但在裂片里面發現的油很容易變質。
If I'm bitter or lingeringly musty, then we'd best go our separate ways.
如果我吃起來是苦的或者是持續的霉味，那么最好就送我們上路。
If you're not going to eat me right away, put me in the fridge or even in the freezer in a well-sealed, airtight bag.
如果你不立即吃掉我的話，把我放在冰箱里，或者放在密封的袋子里冷凍。
If you pick my fruit early, before the pit has fully hardened, you can do rather unexpected things.
如果在核完全變硬之前，你摘了我的果實，你可以做些意想不到的事情。
In Britain they pickle me, brining me whole in salt water and preserving me in a brown-sugar-and-spice syrup.
在英國，他們會腌制我，把我整個放在鹽水里，在紅糖和香料的糖汁里保存。
With that I become delicate and soft; you can slice clean through me and see the seed, the proto-shell, and the rim of fruit flesh.
這樣我就會變得柔軟，你可以把我整個切開，看到種子、原殼和果肉的邊緣部分。
But what's really fascinating is the color of a pickled walnut: black.
腌核桃最有趣的部分就是它的顏色：黑色。
That's because my clear, milky juice turns dark when it's exposed to air.
這是因為，我清澈的乳白色汁液暴露在空氣中會變黑。
Young walnut fruits provide that same inky color to nocino, the Italian after-dinner drink made by macerating me in high-proof liquor with sugar and spices.
未成熟的核桃果可為意大利餐后飲料nocino提供同樣的墨色，nocino是用糖和香料將我浸泡在高強度的酒中制成的。
In ancient Rome they would combine my tinted sap with leeches, ashes, and charred things to make dark hair dye.
在古羅馬，人們會把我有色的汁液與水蛭、灰燼和燒焦的東西混合，制成深色染發劑。
My juice was also used to make walnut ink, which Rembrandt, Leonardo, and Rubens are said to have used for some of their sketches.
我的汁液還被用來做胡桃木墨水，據說倫勃朗、萊昂納多和魯本斯的一些素描就是用胡桃木墨水畫的。
The Encyclopedia of Hair will tell you that in 17th-century England,
據頭發百科全書記載，在17世紀的英國，
the oil expressed from my seed was used as a depilatory, thinning the eyebrows and hairlines of women when that look was in fashion.
從我的種子中提取的油被用作脫毛劑，使眉毛和發際線變細，當時流行過這樣的時尚造型。
Now, inexplicably, walnut oil is touted as a baldness cure.
現在，令人費解的是，核桃油被吹捧為治療禿頂的良方。
Suffice it to say you might be better off not using me for hair-related purposes.
我只想說，你最好別把我用在頭發上。
But you humans have found countless other applications for me, including employing my shells as an abrasive cleaning agent, used to this day.
但是你們人類已經為我發現了無數的其他用途，包括使用我的殼作為研磨性清潔劑，直到今天還在使用。
This was not always a good idea: In 1982, a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter crashed because of walnut-shell residue that had blocked the oil jets lubricating the copter's transmission.
這并不總是一個好主意：在1982年，一架美國軍隊直升機因為核桃殼的殘渣墜毀，原因是殘渣阻塞了潤滑直升機傳動裝置的油噴嘴。
My favorite inedible function, though, is as an investment vehicle.
但是，我最喜歡的非食用功能，是用作一個投資工具。
The Chinese regard the finest examples of me the way you might regard jewels or fancy pottery.
中國人看待最好品質的核桃就跟看待珠寶或花式陶器一樣。
I can fetch wild sums of money in the East, where swirling a pair of me in your palm is said to stimulate blood circulation.
在東方，靠我可以賺到大把大把的錢，在那里，把我捧在手心轉動說可以刺激血液循環。
Matching sets can go for more than $30,000—the larger and older I am, the more I'm worth.
相匹配的一套核桃價值可超過3萬美元——我越大越老，我就越有價值。
Think of that the next time you pop a handful of me into your mouth as a snack.
下次你把我當零食吃的時候，想想這一點。
