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| A Fairy Tale of Pond |
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A pond is one of the richest habitats on earth, an independent ecosystem, where thousands of plants and animals live together, depending on each other for survival. Whilst a heavily shaded pond will soon lose its richness and vitality, sunlit ponds can produce more plant matter than the most fertile grasslands.
 Where there is sunshine the pond is a unique community, a watery city full of contrasting inhabitants. The water scorpion hunts beneath the surface, hanging upside down. To breathe it has a perfect natural snorkel—a long air tube at the tip of its abdomen. The kingfisher is truly a royal fisherman. Its babies will each eat 18 fish a day.
A vision of grace—one of the heaviest and most powerful of all flying birds, the swan, mates for life, breeding happily in pond, river, lake or moat…And in Britain, all are owned by the Queen.
And just as the river flows through stories like the Wind in the Willows…so the pond’s most enduring fairy tale image is the frog resting on a lily pad. Serene and exquisite, the lilies are universal symbols of life and eternal existence. Perhaps it’s their size that fires the imagination—he biggest lily pad ever was almost three meters across, strong enough for a child to sit on.
Whether he is Jeremy Fisher or just another frog, no creature is so associated with the pond as amphibian. Almost all breed here. Water eases fertilization and prevents the young from drying out; it also maintains an even temperature, and protects from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
 But the pond has something else, a stillness favored by many creatures for nurturing the next generation. These toadlets will spend most of their lives in woodland areas, but every single one will return, however far, to the pond of their birth when it’s time for them to breed.
The toads are wise to choose the pond—the tugging pull of the river’s current creates serious challenges. The animal world has ingenious ways of fighting the river’s current, the Surinam toad carries her babies around on her back. The male midwife toad bundles up to fifty eggs in a long string around his hind legs. He keeps them there for three weeks until they hatch into tadpoles and can be lowed to swim free.
译文:
池塘是世界上最富饶的栖息地之一. 在这个独立的生态系统中, 成千上万种动物在一起, 为了生存组成互相依存的生物链. 得不到阳光照耀的湖泊很快会丧失活力和生物多样性, 而阳光普照的池塘中生长着比肥沃的草原上还要繁茂的植物.
阳光下的池塘孕育着独一无二的生物群落. 这里也是一个充满形态各异的定居者的水世界. 水蝎倒悬着身体在水下捕食. 它的顶端有一个长长的空气管, 那是水蝎天生的水下呼吸器, 相当完美. 翠鸟是真正的捕鱼好手. 一只小翠鸟一天要吃掉十八只鱼.
天鹅体态优雅, 在所有飞鸟中体重最大, 最有力气. 它们在池塘, 河流, 湖泊和小水沟中求偶,交配, 幸福地抚育小天鹅.
池塘中典型的神话故事形象就是在百合的大浮叶上歇脚的青蛙. 百合花安静而优雅, 是生命的象征. 或许是它们的外形勾起了人们的联想—最大的百合叶直径将近三米, 非常结实, 上面能坐一个孩子.
很少有生物能像两栖动物那样与池塘联系得如此紧密. 几乎所有的两栖动物都在这里养育下一代. 在水里卵容易受精, 幼体不会干死; 水还能保温, 使小生命免受太阳紫外线的照射.
池塘的好处还不止于此. 许多正在养育后代的生物偏爱池塘的宁静. 幼蟾生命的大部分时间是在林区度过的. 只要到了生育期, 不管路途有多远, 每一只幼蟾都要返回它的出生地.
蟾蜍聪明地选择了池塘. 在与水流的搏击中, 动物总有自己的聪明才智. 负子蟾把它的孩子背在身上. 雄性产婆蟾将一长串五十余枚卵缠绕在后脚上三个月之久, 直到小蝌蚪孵化并且能在水里畅游.
(CCTV-1, Dec. 3)
(TV Guide, Zhou Qianbin)
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