任新超

World Egg Day is celebrated on the second Fridayof October every year all over the world.

全世界每年在十月的第二個星期五慶祝世界蛋品日。

As one of the simplest and most important parts ofthe diet of humans all over the world， the egg is a formof food as well as a source1 of life. World Egg Dayoffers people the opportunity to pay attention to thisspecial item2—the egg！

蛋是全世界人類飲食中最簡單、最重要的部分之一，它是食物的一種形式，也是生命的一種來源。世界蛋品日讓人們有機會關(guān)注這個特殊的物品———蛋！

As one of the oldest foods known to man， eggshave played an important role in the lives and health ofhumans. Some historians3 believe its possible thathumans have been eating eggs for up to 6 millionyears！ Searching for eggs in bird nests and just eatingthem raw4， prehistoric5 people would likely have foundeggs to be a nutritious6 source of food. Later， instead ofhunting and collecting， some humans found out that itwas possible to domesticate7 certain types of birds sothat their eggs would always be available.

作為人類已知的最古老的食物之一，蛋一直在人類的生活和健康中發(fā)揮著重要作用。一些歷史學(xué)家認為，人類吃蛋的歷史可能已經(jīng)有600 萬年了！史前人類在鳥巢里尋找鳥蛋，然后直接生吃，他們很可能發(fā)現(xiàn)了蛋是一種營養(yǎng)豐富的食物來源。后來，一些人類發(fā)現(xiàn)馴養(yǎng)某些種類的鳥類成為了可能，這樣就可以隨時獲得它們的蛋，而不用去狩獵和采集。

The story of the egg has continued throughout human history. Though today，the most commonly eaten egg is the chicken egg， many other kinds of eggs havebeen useful over the centuries and in different cultures. Some of these eggsinclude duck eggs， goose eggs， ostrich8 eggs and even crocodile9 eggs！

蛋的故事在整個人類歷史上都在延續(xù)。盡管今天人們最常吃的蛋是雞蛋，但幾個世紀以來，許多其他種類的蛋在不同的文化中都作用非凡。其中一些蛋包括鴨蛋、鵝蛋、鴕鳥蛋，甚至鱷魚蛋！

There are more types of eggs that mankind finds valuable. These are， ofcourse， the eggs of different fish， such as caviar10， a symbol of wealth in its ownright， and World Egg Day represents11 their importance as well.

人類發(fā)現(xiàn)的有價值的蛋還有更多種類。當(dāng)然，指的是不同魚類的卵，比如本身就是財富象征的魚子醬。世界蛋品日也代表了它們的重要性。

The egg is far more than a food. In fact， in many cultures around the world，eggs have been a sign of life and rebirth.

蛋遠不止是一種食物。事實上，在世界各地的許多文化中，蛋是生命和再生的象征。

In Western countries， Children hunt each year for Easter Eggs （brightlycolored eggs or plastic shaped in the form of the egg which contains treats such aschocolate， jellybeans， or money）.

在西方國家，孩子們每年都會尋找復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋（顏色鮮艷的彩蛋或形狀像彩蛋的塑料蛋，里面有巧克力、軟糖等食物或錢）。

In Chinese tradition， in order to greet the Beginning of Summer （the first solarterm of Summer）， children get together to play egg competitions by colliding12 eachothers boiled eggs in pairs and the one whose egg is not broken wins.

在中國的傳統(tǒng)中，為了迎接立夏（夏季的第一個節(jié)氣），孩子們聚在一起玩斗蛋游戲，他們拿出煮熟的蛋互相碰撞，蛋沒有被撞破的人獲勝。

Learn some fun facts about chicken eggs on World Egg Day

在世界蛋品日了解一些關(guān)于雞蛋的有趣事實

An average hen lays 300 to 325 eggs each year—almost one every day. Andas the hen gets older， the eggs get larger.

一只母雞平均每年下 300 至 325 個蛋———幾乎每天一個。隨著母雞年齡的增長，雞蛋也會變大。

An egg shell13 has thousands of pores14—up to 17，000， for fresh air.

一個雞蛋殼有數(shù)千個氣孔———多達 17000 個，用以呼吸新鮮空氣。

After a hen lays an egg， she turns it dozens of times a day to keep the yolk15from sticking to the side of the shell.

母雞下蛋后，每天會翻動雞蛋幾十次，以防止蛋黃粘在蛋殼上。

The color of the eggs doesnt have anything to do with freshness， flavor16 ornutritional value. The color of the egg shell is completely determined17 by thebreed18 of the bird laying the eggs. Not only that， but the color of the egg shell isrelated to the earlobe19 color of the chicken.

雞蛋的顏色與新鮮度、味道或營養(yǎng)價值無關(guān)。雞蛋殼的顏色完全取決于產(chǎn)蛋的雞的品種。不僅如此，雞蛋殼的顏色還與母雞耳垂的顏色有關(guān)。

Eating cooked eggs is healthier.

吃熟雞蛋更健康。

Chefs hats are influenced by eggs. Some people dont know that goingback a little in history， the meaning of the number of the pleats20 in a chefs hatwas related to the number of ways that the chef was able to cook an egg.

廚師的帽子受到雞蛋的影響。有些人不知道的是，追溯歷史，廚師帽褶皺的數(shù)量與廚師烹飪雞蛋方法的數(shù)量有關(guān)。

Notes

1. source. 來源；出處

2. item . 一件商品；或物品

3. historian. 歷史學(xué)家

4. raw . 生的

5. prehistoric. 史前的

6. nutritious . 有營養(yǎng)的

7. domesticate. 馴養(yǎng)

8. ostrich.鴕鳥

9. crocodile . 鱷魚

10. caviar . 魚子醬

11. represent. 代表；體現(xiàn)；描繪

12. collide . 碰撞；相撞

13. shell . 殼

14. pore. 毛孔；氣孔

15. yolk . 蛋黃

16. flavor. 滋味

17. determine. 決定

18. breed. 品種

19. earlobe. 耳垂

20. pleat.布料上縫的褶