Stories in New Zealand Expedition

               贻贝之痛
                   Agony of the mussels

5月22日，Pangaea停泊在了Pickersgill港口（45 °53′S ，166 ° 35′E）。首个在地图上标记下这个港口的是船长James Cooks，1773年他带着他的船员们从这里上岸，补充食物及饮用水源，Dave指给我们看小岛上那些明显更为翠绿的树木，便正是当年他们为了观测星象而砍伐部分树木后，这个地带又重新长出的次林。由于航行的劳累，我们也将在这里像James一样给自己补充点能量，我参加了mussel(贻贝)采集小队，另一行人则去钓鱼。

                                                 James Cook       

Around 16:00, May 22nd, dear Pangaea moored at the Pichkersgill Harbor （45 °53′S ，166 ° 35′E） which was first mapped down by Captain James Cook in 1773 when he led his crew on land here for supplement(so did we that day). The trees on the island which seem relatively green now are exactly those which have regenerated after James crew chopped them down for star observation.

 We were divided into 2 groups, mussel picking group and finshing group.And I chose to join the former one including Simon,Daniel,Andrew,Jecek and Tristan.

 电皮艇将我们落载在一个小岛边的岸礁上，远远望去密密麻麻，亮黑亮黑的一片，许许多多的贻贝，黑卵石般地嵌在礁石上。哇塞，果然是宝岛！Jacek提醒我们采集那些礁石下面比较大的贻贝（3/4个手掌），礁石上比较小的还需要生长，就像鱼类养殖场做的那样，让鱼苗留下。我和几个男生就忙乎了起来，当时刚好是下午5、6点正在涨潮的时间，我们就赶着潮退哗哗而下，徒手拔贝（贻贝的足丝紧紧将其缠缚在礁石上），不过几秒后又狼狈不堪地被浪潮追逐上岸，常常是冷冷的海水打在裤腿上，不亦乐乎！很快，两个塑料桶就成了被满满贻贝们的摇篮，有些壳上还粘附着硬硬的肉色小海星，或苗条的长虫。电皮艇还没来，我就索性赤脚踏浪继续拔贻贝，虽然我们已经有挺多的了，唉，后来不幸的事情也许就是从这里开始了。

The mosquito craft (what a funny name for yacht!) dropped us off the rocky shore.Oh...shores of mussels like black pebbles bed in the reef.What a treasure island! Jecek mentioned that we only picked the mussels big enough (3/4 your palm) because the young ones still needed growing.Then we rolled up sleeves!It was just the time when the tide bulged.We swarmed down when wave was away and ran up when it was coming (big mussels hide in the shallow water),like police and thief,and great fun that we thieves enjoyed the arrest! The mussels sticked their byssus tough in the rocks so it took a little work to get it out with bare hands and sometimes a srewdriver was necessary to knock it out.Soon,two buckets were filled up with strong 23:08:55mussels.But since the mosquito craft hadn't come to pick us up yet, I put off shoes to feel the tide and pick more mussels up by the way.

Maybe the coming tragedy was started that time.

 返回到Pangaea后，大家都收获不少，钓鱼小队带回了7、8条大海鱼和一些贻贝，我们将所有的贻贝用清水盛在两个大箱子里，兴致勃勃的等待着晚餐的到来。"What are you doing?(你们在干什么？)"，Dave看到那个装贻贝的大箱子很是吃惊，"You guys want to eat so many like these?你们想把这些全部吃完吗？"，估摸了一下，我们竟然采了有五六百个贻贝？！这是谁也没有想到的数目，也就是说，船上每个人平均至少吃20个都还有剩，要知道，贻贝是胆固醇丰厚的海鲜，吃上10个就已经很要不得的了，而现在的情况却是远远超出了所有人的需求量！

After back to Pangaea,we all harvested greatly.The fishing group brought back 7 or 8 big sea fish and some mussels as well.Everyone was starving for supper.Oh, what would our dear Pillippa cook? wondering enjoyably.

"What are you doing,guys?"asked Dave in a trembling voice when he saw the big boxes with mussels in the fresh water."You guys want to eat so many like these?"
    Assessing roughly,there were 500 mussels or so collected.Shocking figures! That indicated leftover would remaind even if each on boat ate 20 mussels! As you know,10 mussels are more than Ok as they ware soooooo rich seafood.Let alone 20!

 "旅途中人们饿了，抓一两条鱼足够来填饱肚子，OK，继续上路，而你们在干什么？在掠夺？你们知不知道一只这么大的贻贝在低温环境下长成那么大需要10多年的时间？！"Dave抓起一只手掌大的贻贝十分气愤，"现在索取那么多，下一个来到这里的船只怎么办，都像我们这样，我们的下一代还吃什么？"我们大家都惊呆了，几个世纪前多少欧洲航海者拿着James绘制的峡湾地图来到这里，开始大量屠杀海豹，捕杀这里的鸟类，吃一半扔一半，讽刺的是，几世纪后，我们竟然类似地重蹈覆辙！而且还是一群热爱环保的青少年。比利时女孩Annelies哭了，我觉得十分无地自容，拾贻贝的我们就像一群自助餐上的暴徒，因为看似不用付出代价，撑死也值得，完全忘记自助餐真正想给于人们的是一种自由、轻松地气愤，而不是欲望的膨胀与随之带来的浪费。

"People get hungry when traveling, they stop,catching 1 or 2 fish,then start to walk again.But what are you doing,yepers? Do you know it takes more than 10 years for a mussel to grow so big like this and it takes more under such cold environment here?!" Dave said angrily from heart,"We take away so many now, what about the next boat coming here? If everyone acts as us,what you leave for the next generation?"

We were all abrutly alarmed.A few centuries ago, European sailers and settlers came here with Captain Cook's map.Then they slaughtered the seals,whales,birds and so on here for fortune in the market like the fur of the seals.And they overtook everything,using a half, wasting a half.What's ironical,we had copied what they had done nowaday!Besides,we are youth who aim at environmental protection！
    I felt speechless for that sin and guilt and Annelies cried in Caroline's arms.Oh~~
    The mobs on the free buffet dinner seem the real us.Because we don't have to pay,we eat until vomit and take away as much as possible,regardless how much we really need,not the bubbles of desire and the coming terrible waste!  

 与此同时，我们还犯了另一个错误，这些本应该放在海水的贻贝现在却放在了淡水里，它们将很快死去，已经不可能有任何补救的措施了。唯一能做的，就是今晚每人吃上20多个贻贝，不知道明天会发生什么，但我们必须负责。
    "我没有生你们的气，我只是气愤这件事情本身。"Dave最后说到。

     在与毛利人交换礼物时，我们有这样的一个仪式，各自将准备好的礼物放在地上，然后用双手捧起彼此的赠礼，意味"一切源于大地，我们从大地中索取"，一种感恩，一种铭记。

    啊，但愿我们不要再犯错了！

     In the meantime,we had made another mistake.If the mussels were still in the sea water,we could throw them back and they leave alive.But on the contrary,they were put into fresh water without concern.The only thing we can do is to finish 20 mussels everyone tonight.Having no idea about what would happen tomorrow morning after the big meal,but we had to take this responsibility.

    "I'm not angry with you gus, I'm just angry with the thing itself."Dave last said.

P.S.   When we exchanged presents with the Maoris,there was a protocol like this: we put the gift onto the ground, then the Maoris pick it up with both hands.That means "what we get are all from earth".A kind of thanksgiving,a kind of memorization.Oh,please,we will never make the same mistake again!