Reading practice
Summarize
The
Cubelli Lagoon
Translated from the Spanish
by Michele Aynesworth In the southeast
region of the provincial plains of Buenos
Aires, you might come across the Cubelli Lagoon, familiarly known as the
"Lake of the Dancing Alligator." This popular name is expressive and
graphic, but just as Doctor Ludwig Boitus established it is inaccurate.
In
the first place, "lagoon" and "lake" are distinct
hydrographic occurrences. Secondly, though the alligator — Caiman yacare
(Daudin), of the Alligatoridae family — is common to America, this lagoon is
not the habitat for any species of alligator.
Its
waters are extremely salty, and its fauna and flora are what you would expect
for creatures that inhabit the sea. For this reason, it cannot be considered
unusual that in this lagoon a population of approximately 130 marine crocodiles
are to be found.
The
"marine crocodile," that is, the Crocodilus porosus (Schneider), is
the largest of all living reptiles. It commonly reaches a length of some seven
meters (23 feet), weighing more than a ton. Doctor Boitus affirms having seen,
along the coasts of Malaysia, several of them that were over nine meters (30
feet) in length, and, in fact, has taken and brought back photographs that
supposedly prove the existence of such large individuals. But, as they were
photographed in marine waters, without external points of reference, it is not
possible to determine precisely if those crocodiles were truly the size
attributed to them by Doctor Boitus. It would of course be absurd to doubt the
word of an investigator with such a brilliant career (even though his language
is rather baroque), but scientific rigor requires that the facts be validated
by inflexible methods that, in this case, were not put to use.
Well
then, it happens that the crocodiles of the Cubelli Lagoon possess exactly the
taxonomic characteristics of those that live in the waters around India, China,
and Malaysia; hence, they should by all
rights be called marine crocodiles or Crocodili porosi. However, there are some
differences,which Doctor Boitus has divided into morphological traits and
ethological traits.
Among
the former, the most important (or, better said, the only) is size. Whereas the
marine crocodile of Asia can be up to seven meters long, the one we have in the
Cubelli Lagoon scarcely reaches, in the best of cases, two meters (6 feet 6
inches), measuring from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail.
Regarding its ethology, this crocodile is
"fond of musically harmonized movements" according to Boitus (or, to
use the simpler term preferred by those in the town of Cubelli,
"dancing"). As anyone knows, as long as crocodiles are on land, they
are as harmless as a flock of pigeons. They can only hunt and kill when in the
water, which is their vital element. They trap their prey between their toothy
jaws, then rotate rapidly, spinning until their victim is dead; their teeth
have no masticatory function, being designed exclusively to imprison and
swallow a victim whole.
If we go to the shores of the Cubelli Lagoon and start to play music, having
previously chosen something appropriate for dancing, right away we will see
that — let's not say all — almost all the crocodiles rise out of the water and,
once on land, begin to dance to the beat of the tune in question.
For
such anatomical and behavioral reasons, this saurian has received the name
Crocodilus pusillus saltator (Boitus).
Their
tastes are varied and eclectic, and they do not seem to distinguish between
esthetically worthy music and music of little merit. Popular tunes delight them
no less than symphonic compositions for ballet.
These
crocodiles dance in an upright position, balancing only on their hind legs,
reaching an average height of one meter, seventy centimeters (5 feet 8 inches).
In order not to drag on the ground, their tails rise at an acute angle, roughly
parallel to their spines. At the same time, their front limbs (which we could
well call hands) follow the beat with various amusing gestures, while their
yellow teeth form a wide smile, exuding enthusiasm and satisfaction.
Some
townspeople are not in the least attracted by the idea of dancing with
crocodiles, but many others do not share this aversion. It's a fact, every
Saturday when the sun goes down they put on their party clothes and gather on
the shore of the lagoon.There the Cubelli Social Club has set up everything
necessary to make the evening unforgettable. Likewise, people can dine in the
restaurant that has arisen not far from the dance floor.
The arms of the crocodile are rather short
and cannot embrace the body of their partner. The gentleman or lady dancing
with the male or female crocodile that has chosen them places both hands on one
of their partner's shoulders. To achieve this, one's arms must be stretched to
the maximum at a certain distance; as the snout of a crocodile is quite
pronounced, one must take the precaution of standing as far back as possible.
Though disagreeable episodes have occasionally occurred (such as nasal
excision, explosion of ocular globes, or decapitation), it must not be
forgotten that, as their teeth may contain the remains of cadavers, the breath
of this reptile is far from being attractive.
According
to Cubellian legend, occupying the small island in the center of the lagoon are
the king and queen of the crocodiles, who it seems have never left it. They say
they are each more than two centuries old and, perhaps owing to their advanced
age, perhaps owing simply to whim, they have never wished to participate in the
dances organized by the Social Club.
The
get-togethers do not last much past midnight, for at that hour the crocodiles
begin to tire, and maybe to get a little bored; in addition, they feel hungry
and, as their access to the restaurant is prohibited, they want to return to
the water in search of food.
When
no more crocodiles remain on terra firma, the ladies and gentlemen go back to
town, rather tired and a little sad, but with the hope that, maybe at the next
dance, or perhaps at a later one, the crocodiles' king, or the queen, or even
both together, might abandon their island for a few hours and participate in
the party. If this were to happen, each gentleman, though he takes care not to
show it, harbors the illusion that the queen of the crocodiles will choose him
for her dance partner; the same is true of all the ladies, who dream of dancing
with the king.
"La albufera de
Cubelli" was originally published in Cuadernos del Minotauro (edited by
Valent'n Pérez Venzalแ), Ano
IV, No. 6, Madrid, 2008, pp. 117-120. The present English version was
translated from a slightly modified text.
No.
|
Words
|
Part of Speech
|
Meaning
|
Example sentence
|
1.
|
|
noun
|
ความแตกต่าง
|
- There is not much difference between the
two opinions.
|
2.
|
|
adjective
|
ซึ่งไม่ยืดหยุ่น
|
- The
rule is utterly inflexible.
|
3.
|
Translated
|
verb
|
แปลง,ถ่าย,แปลความ
|
- My Translated of what he said wrong.
|
4.
|
|
noun
|
ท่าเรือ
|
- Sydney
has a beautiful natural harbor.
|
5.
|
imprison
|
verb transitive
|
จำคุก
|
- The man was imprison for
murder.
|
6.
|
probably
|
adverb
|
อย่างน่าจะเป็นไปได้
|
-
Those dark clouds will probably bring rain.
|
