2014-08-07

【Aiden in English】

        At school, we were taught that stingrays were deadly killers of the sea, and had poisonous stingers that could instantly kill you. I disagree, especially after seeing the stingrays when Mom and I sailed Allura Catamaran to the Sandbar in Stingray City, Grand Cayman.

        First of all, stingray's stingers are not poisonous. They have just there for protection from danger. To them, we aren't considered too much of a threat. Besides, the stingrays wouldn't waste their stingers on us. Woooow, they're saving it for the sharks.

        As a matter of fact, stingrays are also very, very friendly. They love to rub against your leg like a cat, and they feel so... so... weird. They're squishy, soft, plump, and chubby. The only hard part is their stingers. The stingrays also allow you to lift them up. Just a few people accomplished that with the help of our guides, and even fewer kissed the stingrays. I was one of the few. It tasted like raw oysters, and I hated raw oysters. The one I kissed was huge female. Most of the time, the females were larger than the males and looked much larger. And the girls outnumber the boys about 10 to 1.

        Stingrays look dangerous, sound dangerous, but aren't dangerous, especially if you aren't dangerous to them.

【红霞译文】

        上学读书的时候，我们误以为魟鱼杀伤力强，身上长刺剧毒，只要一碰到它，人就丧命。我并不认同这种说法，特别当我和妈妈扬起“魅力”号双体船风帆驶入大开曼岛魟鱼城沙洲魟鱼世界之后，更觉得课堂上教的太过离谱。

        首先，魟鱼尾刺无毒，形体尖利纯属为了保护自己。对它们而言，人类过分夸大“威胁”的用意，说白了，魟鱼完全舍不得为我们浪费防御工具。哎…哟…，它们得储备起来严阵鲨鱼来犯。

        事实上，魟鱼极其友善，它们像猫似的在你腿边蹭来蹭去，感觉太…太…奇怪了，除了棘刺坚硬之外，浑身上下滑溜溜软绵绵肥嘟嘟胖乎乎的。魟鱼乐意让人托浮水面，我们当中仅有个别游客靠导游帮助真正这么试过，跟它们口对口亲嘴接吻的更是屈指可数，我便是其中几位之一。魟鱼闻起来味如生蚝，而我厌恶生蚝。我亲吻的那只魟鱼是雌的，大多数情况下，母的比公的肥硕，体态大出很多，两者数量不成比例，女比男大约十比一。

        虽然魟鱼看上去可怕，听起来危险，但实际上却相当安全，如果你对它们毫无非分之想，彼此一定会友好相处。