World Egg Day世界蛋品日

任新超

World Egg Day is celebrated on the second Fridayof October every year all over the world.

全世界每年在十月的第二个星期五庆祝世界蛋品日。

As one of the simplest and most important parts ofthe diet of humans all over the world， the egg is a formof food as well as a source1 of life. World Egg Dayoffers people the opportunity to pay attention to thisspecial item2—the egg！

蛋是全世界人类饮食中最简单、最重要的部分之一，它是食物的一种形式，也是生命的一种来源。世界蛋品日让人们有机会关注这个特殊的物品———蛋！

As one of the oldest foods known to man， eggshave played an important role in the lives and health ofhumans. Some historians3 believe its possible thathumans have been eating eggs for up to 6 millionyears！ Searching for eggs in bird nests and just eatingthem raw4， prehistoric5 people would likely have foundeggs to be a nutritious6 source of food. Later， instead ofhunting and collecting， some humans found out that itwas possible to domesticate7 certain types of birds sothat their eggs would always be available.

作为人类已知的最古老的食物之一，蛋一直在人类的生活和健康中发挥着重要作用。一些历史学家认为，人类吃蛋的历史可能已经有600 万年了！史前人类在鸟巢里寻找鸟蛋，然后直接生吃，他们很可能发现了蛋是一种营养丰富的食物来源。后来，一些人类发现驯养某些种类的鸟类成为了可能，这样就可以随时获得它们的蛋，而不用去狩猎和采集。

The story of the egg has continued throughout human history. Though today，the most commonly eaten egg is the chicken egg， many other kinds of eggs havebeen useful over the centuries and in different cultures. Some of these eggsinclude duck eggs， goose eggs， ostrich8 eggs and even crocodile9 eggs！

蛋的故事在整個人类历史上都在延续。尽管今天人们最常吃的蛋是鸡蛋，但几个世纪以来，许多其他种类的蛋在不同的文化中都作用非凡。其中一些蛋包括鸭蛋、鹅蛋、鸵鸟蛋，甚至鳄鱼蛋！

There are more types of eggs that mankind finds valuable. These are， ofcourse， the eggs of different fish， such as caviar10， a symbol of wealth in its ownright， and World Egg Day represents11 their importance as well.

人类发现的有价值的蛋还有更多种类。当然，指的是不同鱼类的卵，比如本身就是财富象征的鱼子酱。世界蛋品日也代表了它们的重要性。

The egg is far more than a food. In fact， in many cultures around the world，eggs have been a sign of life and rebirth.

蛋远不止是一种食物。事实上，在世界各地的许多文化中，蛋是生命和再生的象征。

In Western countries， Children hunt each year for Easter Eggs （brightlycolored eggs or plastic shaped in the form of the egg which contains treats such aschocolate， jellybeans， or money）.

在西方国家，孩子们每年都会寻找复活节彩蛋（颜色鲜艳的彩蛋或形状像彩蛋的塑料蛋，里面有巧克力、软糖等食物或钱）。

In Chinese tradition， in order to greet the Beginning of Summer （the first solarterm of Summer）， children get together to play egg competitions by colliding12 eachothers boiled eggs in pairs and the one whose egg is not broken wins.

在中国的传统中，为了迎接立夏（夏季的第一个节气），孩子们聚在一起玩斗蛋游戏，他们拿出煮熟的蛋互相碰撞，蛋没有被撞破的人获胜。

Learn some fun facts about chicken eggs on World Egg Day

在世界蛋品日了解一些关于鸡蛋的有趣事实

An average hen lays 300 to 325 eggs each year—almost one every day. Andas the hen gets older， the eggs get larger.

一只母鸡平均每年下 300 至 325 個蛋———几乎每天一个。随着母鸡年龄的增长，鸡蛋也会变大。

An egg shell13 has thousands of pores14—up to 17，000， for fresh air.

一个鸡蛋壳有数千个气孔———多达 17000 个，用以呼吸新鲜空气。

After a hen lays an egg， she turns it dozens of times a day to keep the yolk15from sticking to the side of the shell.

母鸡下蛋后，每天会翻动鸡蛋几十次，以防止蛋黄粘在蛋壳上。

The color of the eggs doesnt have anything to do with freshness， flavor16 ornutritional value. The color of the egg shell is completely determined17 by thebreed18 of the bird laying the eggs. Not only that， but the color of the egg shell isrelated to the earlobe19 color of the chicken.

鸡蛋的颜色与新鲜度、味道或营养价值无关。鸡蛋壳的颜色完全取决于产蛋的鸡的品种。不仅如此，鸡蛋壳的颜色还与母鸡耳垂的颜色有关。

Eating cooked eggs is healthier.

吃熟鸡蛋更健康。

Chefs hats are influenced by eggs. Some people dont know that goingback a little in history， the meaning of the number of the pleats20 in a chefs hatwas related to the number of ways that the chef was able to cook an egg.

厨师的帽子受到鸡蛋的影响。有些人不知道的是，追溯历史，厨师帽褶皱的数量与厨师烹饪鸡蛋方法的数量有关。

Notes

1. source. 来源；出处

2. item . 一件商品；或物品

3. historian. 历史学家

4. raw . 生的

5. prehistoric. 史前的

6. nutritious . 有营养的

7. domesticate. 驯养

8. ostrich.鸵鸟

9. crocodile . 鳄鱼

10. caviar . 鱼子酱

11. represent. 代表；体现；描绘

12. collide . 碰撞；相撞

13. shell . 壳

14. pore. 毛孔；气孔

15. yolk . 蛋黄

16. flavor. 滋味

17. determine. 决定

18. breed. 品种

19. earlobe. 耳垂

20. pleat.布料上缝的褶