金蟬脫殼記

王維森

It was about a quarter past eight when I came to my favorite place in the park， where I meditated2 and did some stretching exercises. While parking my bike I saw a cicada on the trunk of a London plane3， only about ten centimeters away from the ground. It interested me.

I squatted down to have a look. It was the smallest kind of the four popular cicadas here in Shandong， the nymph of which was only the size of a peanut.4 It was shedding， which almost came to an end. Only the very tip of its stomach was still inside of the shell. Ninety percent of the body， which dangled5 on the tiny shell， was already out.

I thought in some minutes the tiny creature could climb out.

When I told a former colleague of mine what I found， she took a photo and shared with her circle of friends via Wechat. Going with it， she wrote a line as follows： It came out of ground later and thus luckily was not found by cicada hunters.

The hunters refer to the people who look for cicadas. That people in our province enjoy looking for and eating cicadas is well-known， which can be seen from the following sentence from Wikipedia： Cicadas are eaten in various countries， including China， where the nymphs are served deep-fried in Shandong cuisine.

Indeed， many people， including children and seniors， are fond of looking for cicada nymphs. And some people even give up work to hunt for them in the evening； and in the daytime some people catch cicadas on the trees with a specially made device. It is said that a lucky man can make about three hundred Yuan one day， which is more than what an average worker makes.

一只蟬的幼蟲在脫殼，腹部微黃，這是一個非常脆弱的生命。饑腸轆轆的螞蟻不時從旁邊匆匆爬過，蟬的幼蟲隨時都可能淪為螞蟻的早餐；更有許多在公園遛彎的人，伺機順手牽“羊”，找個知了猴——美味的下酒菜；此外，還有覓食的晨鳥兒……漫長艱辛的蛻變過程，危機四伏，無助的若蟲，想要高鳴樹端，會經(jīng)歷種種怎樣的危險？

I watched the cicada for some ten minutes but did not notice any change. It was still what it was as I first saw it. So I became impatient. I took a picture and stood up to exercise.

The picture was taken while the morning strollers were not looking this way， for I did not want them to find the tiny creature， otherwise it might fall prey to them.6

I stretched for over ten minutes and sat down to have a look at the cicada again. Still no change. The tip was still in the shell and the body still dangled in the air.

Now， awe had taken the place of interest. The shedding took so long. And it must be laborious7.

About another ten minutes passed. The body was completely out of the skin at last， which made me take a deep breath. But the two wings were very little. A man who has not ever seen a cicada might think that a cicada is wingless.

In the first few minutes after it was out， the cicada remained what it was. It seemed that the insect did not change at all. Soon the wings began to spread. Comparatively， the process was very fast. About ten minutes after the cicada shed the skin completely， the wings were almost as big as they should be. Only the very tip was still curved. They were transparent8， with a few dark spots on them. The cicada was at the prime9 of its life. I took many photos in rapid succession10. But， obviously， it was still very vulnerable11. That was why the photos were taken very carefully. I did not want to disturb the poor creature.

It stood still on the skin， extending one or two legs occasionally. Gentle breeze came and moved its wings slightly.

Suddenly one black ant crawled past and my heart palpitated12. Small ants can end the cicadas life， which I know since I was a boy.

All of a sudden， a shrill calling of a magpie startled me，13 which increased my worry.

It was about ten and I had to head home. At the exit of the park， I played with the horizontal bar14 for a moment. But before I left the park， I went back and had a look at the fragile cicada again.

It still stayed on the shell， motionless.

It took the little cicada more than half an hour to move the ten percent tip of its body out of the shell. It is safe to say the whole shedding process must have been several hours longer. And for another several hours it could not fly. Compared with the cicadas short life， the shedding is protracted15. So， I think the tiny cicada deserves much respect from humans.

1. cicada： 蟬；shed： （使毛發(fā)、外皮或葉子）脫落，蛻下。

2. meditate： 冥想。

3. London plane： 英國梧桐。

4. squat： 蹲坐；nymph： 幼蟲，若蟲。

5. dangle： 懸掛。

6. stroller： 閑逛的人，散步的人；fall prey to： 受害，淪為犧牲品。

7. laborious： 辛苦的。

8. transparent： 透明的。

9. prime： 盛年。

10. in succession： 連續(xù)地，一個接一個地。

11. vulnerable： 易受傷害的。

12. palpitate： （心臟）急速跳動。

13. shrill： 刺耳的，尖銳的；magpie： 喜鵲；startle： 使受驚嚇。

14. horizontal bar： 單杠。

15. protracted： 持久的，拖延的。