The Crusty Crab

硬壳螃蟹

Crabs are good to eat. The next time you have one for your supper, I should like you to look at it very carefully, and try to learn what kind of an animal it is.

螃蟹也是美味的食物。小朋友，下次你晚饭吃螃蟹的时候，请仔仔细细地观察它，了解它是一种什么动物。

The crab is a cousin of the lobster and the shrimp. Like these two animals, its body is made up of a number of rings. But in the shell of the grown-up crab these rings are so close together that we cannot tell one ring from another.

螃蟹是龙虾和虾的近亲。跟龙虾和虾一样，螃蟹的身体也是很多体节组成的。但是成年螃蟹的甲壳，体节彼此挨得太近，没办法分清了。

Do you see the two short feelers which stick out in front of the crab's head These help the crab to find its way as it walks along the dark bottom of the sea. It has two round eyes, at the end of short eye-stalks, close to the feelers.

你看见螃蟹脑袋前面那两根短触角了吗螃蟹在黑暗的海底爬行的时候，触角能帮它探路。触角旁边，在短短的眼柄尽头，螃蟹还长着两只圆眼睛。

Next come the two great jointed nipping claws which you know so well; and behind these are four pairs of small jointed legs, with which the crab walks over the rocks and the sand of the sea-shore.

后面就是两只你很熟悉的，分节的“钳子”，学名叫“螯足”。再往后是四对比较小的分节的足，螃蟹用来在海岸的石头和沙子上爬行。

The crab's body inside the hard crust or shell is quite soft. The crab breathes by means of gills, with which it takes into its body some of the air which is always mixed with the sea-water.

螃蟹硬壳里面的身体很柔软。螃蟹也是用鳃呼吸的，它只用鳃吸入溶解在海水中的空气。

While the crab is alive, it is grey and brown in colour. It only turns red, as we see it at supper, when it is boiled.

活的螃蟹是灰色和棕色的，只有在煮熟了以后，我们在吃饭的时候，才看见它是红色的。

Crabs live in holes in the rocks near the shore. They feed on fishes, either alive or dead, and they also eat any other dead animals which they find on the sea-bottom.

螃蟹生活在河岸、海岸附近的岩洞里面，以活鱼和死鱼为食，也吃一切在海底找到的动物尸体。