One of the greatest Warner Bros. cartoons of all time is the one about the singing frog1). A construction worker finds a time capsule2) in the cornerstone3) of an old building. When he opens it， out leaps a green frog， which starts to dance and sing. The worker is amazed and quickly sees that this astonishing find will make his fortune. So he quits his job and opens a theatre starring his talented frog. When the curtain rises on opening night， however， the frog just sits and croaks4). The worker never questions how the frog was able to sing and dance. He doesn't even question how it managed to survive so long in an airtight5) time capsule without food or water. But then， this is just a cartoon， right? Nothing to do with reality.

You think so? In fact， there are numerous documents of such findings， mostly involving frogs. Most often the frogs found within solid rock， come out—alive! Granted， they do not sing or dance， but they are one of the most perplexing6) mysteries of geology. Here are some of those cases.

In May， 1733， when the master builder Johan Graberg went to inspect the quarry7) of Wamlingebo (now Vamlingbo) in Sweden， two of the workers brought him an astonishing news. While cutting large blocks of sandstone more than 3m below the surface， one of them had discovered a large frog sitting in the middle of a big stone that had just been cut open. Graberg followed them down into the quarry and was startled by the sight before him. Part of the stone nearest the frog was so porous8) that the violence of the blow had broken it， destroying the impression of the animal's body. The frog was in a lethargic9) state and its mouth was covered with a yellow membrane10). Later， Graberg took the frog's body to several scholars in Stockholm and the discovery of the frog got published in the Academy's Transactions11).

In the autumn of 1862， the Great International Exhibition was opened in Cromwell Road， London. One section contained geological specimens from English and Welsh mines， among them a large block of coal from the mine of Cwmtillery， which， when cut in two， had been found to contain a living frog. Attendees rejected the geological specimens in favor of the Welsh frog-in-the-coal.

Around 1865， an article in Scientific American told how a silver miner named Moses Gaines found a toad inside a two-foot diameter stone. The article said that the toad was \"three inches long and very plump and fat. Its eyes were about the size of a silver cent piece， being much larger than those of toads of the same size as we see every day. They tried to make him hop or jump by touching him with a stick， but he paid no attention.\"

Live toads and frogs have also been found inside impossible tight and enclosed12) spaces within trees that were being cut open. The French Academy of Sciences published an account of the felling13) of a large elm tree in 1719. In the exact center of the trunk， about four feet above the root， was found \"a live toad， middle-sized but lean14) and filling up the whole vacant space.\" The Uitenhage Times of South Africa in 1876 printed the experience of timber men who were cutting a tree into planks15)， when deep inside of it a hole was found containing 68 small toads， each about the size of a grape. \"They were of a light brown， almost yellow color， and perfectly healthy， hopping about and away as if nothing had happened. All about them was solid yellow wood.\"

There have been more than 210 cases of animals found inside stones， lumps of coal， or within the trunks of large trees—from Europe， the United States， Canada， Africa， New Zealand and the West Indies. The earliest are from the late 15th century， the latest occurred in Australia and New Zealand in the early 1980s. But up till now， there are still no easy explanations for these incredible anecdotes. Those who found the creatures nearly always say that there was no small hole， crack， or fissure16) by which they could have gotten into these pockets inside the rock. And the pockets are always about the exact size as the animals within—some even bearing an impression of the animal， as if the rock had been cast around it. What did it live on? How did it move inside? And how old are these animals， since geologists tell us that rock is formed over thousands of years...Various questions like this are still waiting to solve.

華納兄弟制片公司最棒的動畫片之一是關(guān)于一只會唱歌的青蛙的故事。一名建筑工人在一座老建筑的基石內(nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)時(shí)光盒。當(dāng)他打開時(shí)光盒時(shí)，一只綠色的青蛙蹦了出來，開始又唱又跳。建筑工人吃驚之余，馬上就意識到這一驚人的發(fā)現(xiàn)可以讓自己發(fā)財(cái)。于是他辭了工作，開了家劇場供這只才藝蛙表演?？墒蔷驮趧鲩_業(yè)當(dāng)晚，幕布開啟，這只青蛙卻只是蹲在那兒，呱呱地叫著。這名工人從未想過青蛙怎么會唱歌跳舞。他甚至沒想過，在無食無水又密不透風(fēng)的時(shí)光盒里，這只青蛙怎么能存活那么長時(shí)間。不過話說回來，這只是部動畫片，對吧？跟現(xiàn)實(shí)完全不著邊兒。

你這么想嗎？事實(shí)上，有很多關(guān)于這類發(fā)現(xiàn)的記錄，并且大多都是關(guān)于青蛙的。大多數(shù)情況下，這些在堅(jiān)固的石頭中發(fā)現(xiàn)的青蛙在出來的時(shí)候還都活著！它們當(dāng)然不會唱歌跳舞，但它們卻是最令人費(fèi)解的地質(zhì)學(xué)謎團(tuán)之一。下面就是一些這樣的事例。

1733年5月，建筑師約翰·格羅貝里去瑞典現(xiàn)稱萬林格博的采石場視察時(shí)，兩名工人告訴他一個(gè)令人吃驚的消息。在開采位于地下3米多深的大塊砂巖時(shí)，其中一個(gè)工人發(fā)現(xiàn)在剛剛砸開的一塊大石頭中坐著一只大青蛙。格羅貝里跟著他們下到了采石場，眼前的景象令他大為震驚。最靠近青蛙身體的巖石有一部分非常疏松多孔，已被敲擊的力量震破，印在上面的青蛙的身體輪廓也被毀壞了。那只青蛙處于昏睡狀態(tài)，嘴巴上有一層黃色的薄膜。其后，格羅貝里把這只青蛙的尸體帶給斯德哥爾摩的一些學(xué)者過目，這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)也被登在了《學(xué)會會刊》上。

1862年秋天，萬國博覽會在倫敦克倫威爾路開幕。一個(gè)展區(qū)陳列著來自英格蘭和威爾士礦區(qū)的地礦標(biāo)本，其中有一塊從昆提勒瑞煤礦開采上來的大煤塊。當(dāng)這個(gè)大煤塊被劈成兩半時(shí)，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)里面有一只活青蛙。參觀者們都丟下那些地質(zhì)標(biāo)本，來看這只來自威爾士的“煤中之蛙”。

1865年左右，《科學(xué)美國人》雜志上的一篇文章描述了一位名叫摩西·蓋恩斯的銀礦工人從一塊直徑為2英尺的石頭中發(fā)現(xiàn)一只蟾蜍的經(jīng)過。文章寫道，那只蟾蜍“體長3英寸，長得很胖。它的眼睛約有一枚美分銀幣那么大，比我們?nèi)粘Ｋ姷捏w型相仿的蟾蜍的眼睛要大很多。人們試著用小棍兒碰它，想讓它蹦一下兒，可它卻完全不予理睬?！?/p>

人們還在鋸開一些樹木時(shí)，在樹干內(nèi)部的密閉空間這種不可思議的地方，發(fā)現(xiàn)過活的青蛙和蟾蜍。法蘭西科學(xué)院在1719年發(fā)表了一篇報(bào)道，講了砍伐一棵大榆樹的經(jīng)過。在樹干的正中央，距樹根約4英尺的地方，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)了“一只活蟾蜍，中等大小，體型偏瘦，填滿了整個(gè)空間?！?876年，南非的《埃騰哈赫時(shí)報(bào)》報(bào)道了一些伐木工人的經(jīng)歷。他們在把一棵樹鋸成木板時(shí)，在樹干的深處發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)洞，里面有68只小蟾蜍，每只的個(gè)頭和葡萄差不多?！八鼈兂实厣?，接近黃色，非常健康，若無其事地四處蹦來蹦去。包圍著它們的則是結(jié)實(shí)的黃色木頭?！?/p>

在歐洲、美國、加拿大、非洲、新西蘭和西印度群島，這種從石頭、煤塊或大樹的樹干中發(fā)現(xiàn)動物的實(shí)例已有210多個(gè)。其中最早的發(fā)生在15世紀(jì)后期，最近的則發(fā)生在上世紀(jì)80年代早期的澳大利亞和新西蘭。但直到現(xiàn)在，人們對這種不可思議的奇事仍然難以解釋。發(fā)現(xiàn)這些動物的人幾乎一致表示，沒有任何小洞、裂口或縫隙能讓它們進(jìn)入這些石塊內(nèi)部的囊穴。另外，石穴的大小總是剛好能容納身處其中的動物——有些石穴壁上甚至還留有該動物的印痕，就像這些石頭是澆鑄在它們身上的一樣。它們靠什么存活？在石穴里如何活動？地質(zhì)學(xué)家說石塊在數(shù)千年前就已經(jīng)形成，那它們該有多少歲了……許多類似這樣的問題仍有待解答。

Vocabulary

1. the singing frog: 指華納兄弟1955年12月31日出品的動畫短片《青蛙之夜》(One Froggy Evening)中的主角Michigan J. Frog，一只會唱歌的青蛙。

2.time capsule: 時(shí)光盒，一種虛構(gòu)的能帶人穿梭時(shí)空的東西。

3. cornerstone [5kC:nEstEJn] n. 奠基石，基石

4.croak [krEuk] vi. (蛙、鴉等)呱呱地叫

5.airtight [5eEtaIt] adj. 不透氣的，密封的

6.perplexing [pE5pleksIN] adj. 使人困惑的，使人茫然的；令人費(fèi)解的

7.quarry [5kwCrI] n. 采石場，露天礦場

8.porous [5pC:rEs] adj. 有孔的，多孔的

9.lethargic [le5WB:dVIk] adj. 昏睡的；呆滯的；沒精打采的

10.membrane [5membreIn] n. 薄膜；膜狀物

11.transaction [trAn5zAkFEn] n. 復(fù)數(shù)形式多表示“(學(xué)術(shù)團(tuán)體等的)學(xué)報(bào)，會刊”

12.enclose [In5klEuz] vt. (從四面八方)圍住，包住

13.fell [fel] vt. 砍伐，砍倒

14.lean [li:n] adj. (人或動物)瘦的

15.plank [plANk] n. 厚(木)板

16.fissure [5fIFE(r)] n. (狹而深長的)裂縫，裂隙