An oyster¹ that was very proud was talking with a fish.“Let's be friends and we can look after each other whenever the fisherman's net comes along,”the fish suggested.

一只非常骄傲的牡蛎正在和一条鱼说话。“我们做朋友吧，这样，当渔夫的渔网罩过来的时候，我们就可以互相帮助了。”鱼建议说。

The proud oyster replied,“I have a strong shell and I feel safe when I close my shell, for no harm can happen to me.”

骄傲的牡蛎回答说：“我有坚硬的壳。合上壳之后我就安全了，没有任何东西可以伤害到我。”

“But when you close your shell, you may not know what is happening.”answered the fish.

“可是，当你合上壳时，你怎么知道外面发生了什么事呢？”鱼不解地问。

Still the oyster boasted that he was perfectly² safe and he needs no friends to warn him.

可是牡蛎还是继续夸耀自己是绝对安全的，根本不需要任何朋友来提醒它。

Suddenly, there was a great splashing sound and the oyster closed his shell and very quickly kept quiet.

突然，传来一声巨响，溅起无数水花，牡蛎马上合上壳，不作声了。

“What could the splashing have been？ Was it a net, and was the fish caught？”the oyster wondered. When at last the oyster opened his shell, he found himself in a strange place.

“溅起水花的声音是怎么回事呢？是渔网吗，鱼被抓住了吗？”牡蛎自问道。可是当牡蛎打开壳的时候，却发现自己在一个陌生的地方。

“Where am I？”He looked for the fish but it was no longer around.

“我在哪儿？”它找鱼，鱼却不在它旁边。

Sadly, the oyster found he was at a fishmonger's stall. A ticket on his back marked,“For Sale！”

牡蛎悲哀地发现自己正躺在鱼贩子的摊位上，背上还贴着一张写有“出售”字样的标签。