CHAPTER VI. MY TREASURE GROUNDS

 Are you tired? No? Well, that is no great wonder. It is ever so much easier to glide¹ through the water on the broad back of a great fish than to ride horseback, or in a car.

 

My sails or fins² flap quietly to and fro, the water parts readily to make us a path, no rough winds blow away your hat, there is no danger way down here that a boat will bang against us, and roll you off into a cavern⁴ or a cave.

 

Now I am taking you into deeper water, which still is not so very deep, but I want to show you some other strange things in the world I live in.

 

Here we go sailing in and out of rocks, but do not be alarmed, I know them all. Perhaps you wonder what it is that we keep pressing against, something soft and smooth that sends extra sprays of water over us. What can it be?

 

Well, now, put on your thinking-cap. What does your mother wash the baby with? What does Michael wash the carriage with? And what is that object in the wire holder⁵ in the bath-tub?

 

"Ah, a sponge!" you exclaim. Yes, and here is where they grow. "What, sponges grow?" you ask. Certainly. And just as with the coral, it took Folks a long time to find out whether sponges were plants, shrubs⁶, or insects.

 

Now it is decided⁷ that the sponge is an animal growth. And the same as with coral, the tiny creature that it starts from dies, and out from the skeleton, or frame, branches the sponge that sometimes grows very large, and sometimes is of a kind that remains⁸ small. One may be as big as a mop, others no larger than an egg.

 

Down in the blue Mediterranean⁹ Sea are found the best sponges that grow. They are called "horny sponges," and grow in great masses, fine, yet tough and durable¹⁰. A sponge from the Mediterranean, called the "Turkey sponge," will cost three times as much as a coarser, more brittle¹¹ one from other waters. They are porous¹², or full of little holes and hollows.

 

We fishes like to bang against the sponges and feel the sudden spray dash over us. Water we have all around and about us, but a shower-bath is not as common a thing.

 

When you buy a sponge, it is round, flat, or cone-shaped. Now see what they look like under water. Here is a little tree, you say. Oh, no, it is only a mass of sponges piled together and branching out as they grow.

 

Here are fans, arches, tiny caves, and many different shapes forming a sponge-garden. Queer, isn't it? Oh, lots of things are queer until you learn about them.

 

Would you like to see how I wash myself? Don't laugh so loud, you might scare the fishes. I know very well that it seems to you as if I was washing or bathing all the time, but there! Some kind of a water-bug has plumped right down onto my head, and left a lot of sticky sand on it, that the water does not wash away.

 

Now don't be alarmed. I won't let you be swept from my back. I am only going to wash my head. See me swim directly under this mass of sponge, swaying out from a rock. There will be no bits of sand clinging to me after I have been sponged a few moments.

 

Here is a sponge that looks as if almost as large as your sun when it rises out of the water, but if you squeeze that fellow dry—the sponge, not the sun—it will not begin to be the size it is now. You could press it into a bowl of moderate size when dry, but then take it to the pump or the faucet¹³, fill it with water, and my, what a balloon!

 

Sponges were once called "worm-nests," and were thought to be a mere¹⁴ kind of seaweed. But looked at under the sea, it would be known at once that they are neither nest nor weed.

 

Once in awhile sponges seem to spring directly up from the mud without anything to cling to, but generally they are fastened to rocks or large stones, and spread out and out from them. Here they look so much like a kind of herb, that Folks who make a study of things in nature, and are called naturalists¹⁵, for a long time took them to be a kind of sea-plant, and for years it was a puzzle as to just what they were.

 

All are full of pores or layers of small cells, and some are quite pretty from having a fringe about the cells like eyelashes. There are others curiously¹⁶ shaped, looking like coral sprays, and here and there they look like helmets; then there is another form that seems to have long fingers running out, and is called "mermaid¹⁷'s gloves."

 

The form called "Venus flower-basket," large and basket-shaped, might answer for a mermaid's work-basket, and hold her thimble, scissors, and thread. You had better take care! A mermaid may be near this very moment, and hear you laughing. And remember, she could spin you round from one end of the sea to another, then leave you high and dry on a big rock in the middle of the ocean.

 

Now, on what do sponges feed? Dear sakes, as if they fed on anything! Yet they do. Although they branch and bunch out in the forms described, yet they do not roam about, but only float or swim out as far as they can stretch themselves while firmly fastened to a rock. Here they take in specks¹⁸ or particles that float through the water; they pass through the open pores of the body, and answer for food. The water constantly passing through them serves to refresh and keep them round and healthy.

 

Here we come to a perfect thicket¹⁹ of sponges, and see the fishes playing "tag" all around and about them. There! that sly little fish, like a salt water pickerel, nipped the tail of that great clumsy porpoise—porpus—so hard, I heard the big fish grunt²⁰. The teeth of a pickerel are fearfully long and sharp.

 

Oh! Oh! What is that most beautiful thing we see shining with a faint, sweet glow, down at the bottom of the sea? It is in plain sight, nestled in the heart of a conch-shell. It is round, has a milk-like murkiness²¹, yet pinky, changing lights like tiny stars, that glint and gleam as you look upon it.

 

Now believe me! Of all the treasures of the sea I have told you of or shown you, this is far and away the most precious.

 

It is a pearl. Only once in a great while will so perfect and so valuable a gem²² be found near my deep water home. And although we are not so very far east, yet it would be called an "Orient," or an "Eastern pearl."

 

Perhaps it has floated in its polished pink bed from a far eastern sea. I told you a little while ago that I must explain what an oyster²³ had to do with Folks that sported too many jewels, and why it might be amused at the sight.

 

Did you know that inside of an oyster-shell grew the lovely, costly²⁴ pearls that Folks will give a great deal of money for? Why, Queen Victoria of England had a Scotch²⁵ pearl that cost two hundred dollars. Queens and princes, rich Folks, jewellers, and dealers²⁶ in precious stones, will give great sums of money for necklaces, brooches, or rings that have in them the precious Oriental pearls.

 

I had to listen very hard to find out what I did about pearls. But I found that they have been known, talked of, and written about, almost ever since the beginning of the world.

 

Oyster-beds are generally much nearer the shore than most kinds of shells. It is said to be when an oyster gets restless or uneasy that a strange substance enters the edge of the shell, and after a time a pearl is formed. And while many pearls are found in oyster-shells, they also are often found fastened to the pink bosom²⁷ of a conch-shell.

 

There are black pearls of much value, but though rare, they are never half as beautiful as a white or pink one. Some pink pearls are very lovely, and when large-sized, are also very expensive.

 

The pearl we see lying here is a splendid white one, and my! the money it would bring! Pick up that shell, carry it with you to a jeweller, and see the dollars the fair round gem will bring to your purse. You could buy yourself beautiful clothes, or a pony²⁸, or could have with it a fine party, flowers, favors, treat and all.

 

What? Don't dare to? Oh, me, me, what a little coward! I can't pick it up very well. If I took it in my mouth, down my throat it would go. If I tried to catch it up with a fin³, over into the water it would bounce.

 

Never mind. Look at the sweetly beautiful conch-shell, with the splendid gem resting so softly on its pink, polished side. And let me tell you what I think.

 

The opinion of a fish, even a great lordly one, may not be worth much, but to me that exquisitely²⁹ lovely stone, reposing³⁰ on that exquisitely lovely shell, is a far more beautiful thing to look upon than the jewel ever could be when fitted into the costliest³¹ setting of gold.

 

Now it is just as it was made, and I think that Whoever formed and set that pearl knew more about real beauty and fitness, and what is simple, natural, and very beautiful, than all the Folks and jewellers in the world.

 

Look at that white splendor³². Don't you agree with me?

1 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

2 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

3 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

4 cavern   

n.洞穴，大山洞

参考例句：

• The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。
• It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。

5 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

6 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

10 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

11 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

12 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

13 faucet   

n.水龙头

参考例句：

• The faucet has developed a drip.那个水龙头已经开始滴水了。
• She turned off the faucet and dried her hands.她关掉水龙头，把手擦干。

14 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

15 naturalists   

n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者

参考例句：

• Naturalists differ much in determining what characters are of generic value. 自然学者对于不同性状决定生物的属的含义上，各有各的见解。 来自辞典例句
• This fact has led naturalists to believe that the Isthmus was formerly open. 使许多自然学者相信这个地蛱在以前原是开通的。 来自辞典例句

16 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

17 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。

18 specks   

n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Minutes later Brown spotted two specks in the ocean. 几分钟后布朗发现海洋中有两个小点。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• Do you ever seem to see specks in front of your eyes? 你眼睛前面曾似乎看见过小点吗？ 来自辞典例句

19 thicket   

n.灌木丛，树林

参考例句：

• A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。
• We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。

20 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

21 murkiness   

n.阴暗；混浊；可疑；黝暗

参考例句：

• There is a mass of murkiness which neither moonlight nor sunlight can penetrate. 日月无光。 来自辞典例句
• Ms Munro comes from southern Ontario, an area of considerable psychic murkiness and oddity. 芒罗女士(MsMunro)来自南安大略，一个奇特古怪的地方。 来自互联网

22 gem   

n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel

参考例句：

• The gem is beyond my pocket.这颗宝石我可买不起。
• The little gem is worth two thousand dollars.这块小宝石价值两千美元。

23 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

24 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

25 scotch   

n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的

参考例句：

• Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
• Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景，真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。

26 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

27 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

28 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

29 exquisitely   

adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地

参考例句：

• He found her exquisitely beautiful. 他觉得她异常美丽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He wore an exquisitely tailored gray silk and accessories to match. 他穿的是做工非常考究的灰色绸缎衣服，还有各种配得很协调的装饰。 来自教父部分

30 reposing   

v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His parents were now reposing in the local churchyard. 他的双亲现在长眠于本地教堂墓地。 来自辞典例句
• The picture shows a nude reposing on a couch. 这幅画表现的是一个人赤身体躺在长沙发上。 来自辞典例句

31 costliest   

adj.昂贵的( costly的最高级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history. “卡特里娜”飓风造成了近810亿美圆的损失，是美国历史上最严重的自然灾难之一。 来自互联网
• Senator John Kerry has proposed a tax on the costliest health plans sold by insurance companies. 参议员约翰？克里(JohnKerry)已经提议对保险公司销售的高价值的保险计划征税。 来自互联网

32 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。