The first oyster

1 “Here you are, try this, it's delicious,” said my father, waving an oyster in front of my nose. 

2   I frowned. “I don't want to. I don't like it,” I said. 

3    “Nonsense, how do you know you don't like it if you haven't tried it,” he reasoned. “Just slide it into your mouth, and taste the Atlantic Ocean.”

4   He's right, I thought, but sometimes you can also work out what you like just by looking at it. And to be frank, I thought the oyster looked rather nasty.

5 The restaurant was in a French seaside resort, and the waiter had already brought an enormous portion of seafood, crabs, prawns, lobsters and all sorts of shellfish clinging onto each other, as well as a bottle of white wine in a bucket of ice. My mother was busy shopping, and my father had decided to take me, his ten-year- old son, to lunch, and to mark an important event in my life, as important to my father as coming of age: my first oyster.

6    What on earth must the first man to eat an oyster have been thinking about? I say “man” because surely no woman would be quite so foolish. “Well, I'm feeling a bit hungry, let's have a look in this rock pool ... yes, that looks pretty yummy to me!” Doesn't seem very likely. It sounds more like a schoolboy challenge. “Here, You try this oyster, and I'll try this juicy bacon sandwich, and we'll see who has more fun!”

7 Outside the skies were grey and a strong wind was blowing off the sea. It looked as gloomy as I felt. There was no hope left, the only feeling was hunger, and the only emotion was the fear of lost innocence as I realized there could be no escape from my first oyster.

8 “Could I have some fish and chips?” I asked hopefully, suddenly feeling homesick for my favourite dish.

9 “Certainly not! They don't serve fish and chips here, only the very best seafood in the whole region. You won't taste anything finer anywhere for miles around,” he replied, pouring himself another glass of wine. “Now, stop complaining, try one oyster for me, then you can have something nice and easy to eat, maybe some prawns with bread and butter,” he suggested, striking a note of compromise for the first time during the whole meal.

10 But with the clear perception which only a ten-year-old boy can have, I still understood that the compromise included eating that oyster, sitting on the side of my father's plate.

11  My father continued to eat his way through the mountain of seafood. On his plate was a pile of discarded lobster claws, and alongside was a battery of implements used to crack the shells, and scrape out every last piece of meat. He paused every mouthful and raised his glass. Now and then he waved the oyster at me, teasing me to eat it, but saying nothing. I just looked at my empty plate in despair. I thought about the food which I most liked, my mother's home baking, and a silent tear slid down my cheek.

12 Finally, my father picked up the oyster again, and I knew it was all over. I took it between a finger and thumb, and held it to my lips. “Suck it into your mouth. Hold it there, taste the salt and the sea, and then swallow. Then I'll get you something you like,” he said.    His voice was kinder now as he knew he had won.

13  I did as I was told. The oyster was slippery and the taste was unlike anything I had ever tasted before or since. My father watched me, half smiling as if to say, “What do you think?” As I swallowed, he raised his glass to me and said, “Cheers!” I had finally earned his love and respect.

14  But I never ate oysters again.

Translation

第一只牡蛎

1 “来，尝尝这个，这个好吃，”我父亲一边说一边在我的鼻子前晃动着一只牡蛎。

2 我皱起眉头，说：“我不吃，我不喜欢吃这个。”

3 “胡说，你没尝过怎么知道不喜欢吃。”他跟我论理，“把它放进嘴里，品尝一下大西洋的味道。”

4  我想他说得对，可是有时候有些东西你只要看一眼就知道喜不喜欢。坦率地说，我觉得牡蛎看起来挺恶心的。

5  这座饭店坐落在法国一个海滨旅游胜地。这时侍者不仅端上了一客分量极大的海鲜——螃蟹、对虾、大龙虾及各种贝类都堆在一起，还拿来了一瓶放在冰篮子里的白葡萄酒。我母亲正忙着购物，于是我父亲就决定带我——他十岁的儿子——去吃午饭。他要让我体验生命里一件重要的事情，一件对我父亲来说与成年一样重要的事：我的第一只牡蛎。

6  第一个吃牡蛎的男人到底是怎么想的呢？我说“男人”是因为女人肯定不会这么傻吧？“噢，我有点饿了，我们来瞧瞧这个石坑……嗯，我觉得它看起来挺好吃的！”好像不太可能。父亲的话听起来更像是男生式的挑战。“来，你尝尝这只牡蛎，我来尝尝这块油滋滋的咸肉三明治，让我们看看谁吃得更开心！”

7  外面，天空灰蒙蒙的，海面上刮来一阵强风。天气看起来和我的心情一样阴郁。没有希望，只感觉饿，只担心失去纯真，因为我意识到这第一只牡蛎我今天非吃不可了。

8  “我能吃炸鱼和薯条吗？”我满怀希望地问。我突然想吃我最爱吃的菜。

9  “当然不行！他们这儿没有炸鱼和薯条，只有这地方最上等的海鲜，在这方圆几英里之内你找不到更好的海鲜了。”他边回答边给自己又倒了一杯酒。“好啦，别抱怨了，就给我尝一只牡蛎，然后你就可以吃些好吃、顺口的东西，比如对虾加黄油面包。”他提议说。整顿饭中，他的话中第一次有了妥协的意思。

10  但是，尽管清晰地感觉到了他的妥协——只有一个十岁的男孩才有这样的感觉，我仍然明白这妥协包含着吃掉那只牡蛎，那只放在我父亲的盘子边上的牡蛎。

11  我父亲继续吃着那一堆海鲜。他盘子里放着一大堆被丢弃的龙虾爪，盘子边上放着一套工具，用来敲开蟹壳，剔出哪怕一丁点儿的蟹肉。他每吃一口就停一下，举杯喝一口酒。他时不时地在我眼前晃动着那只牡蛎，逗弄我吃了它，但却什么也没说。我只是绝望地看着我的空盘子。我想着我最爱吃的东西——我母亲做的点心，一滴泪静静地顺着面颊淌了下来。

12  终于，我父亲又拿起那只牡蛎，我知道这下全完了。我用拇指和另一只手指把牡蛎拈起来送到嘴边。父亲说：“把它吸进嘴里，先含着，尝尝盐和海水的味道，然后再咽下去。吃完了，我给你点你爱吃的东西。”他的语气更亲切了些，因为他知道他赢了。

13  我按照他说的吃掉了那只牡蛎。牡蛎滑溜溜的，那味道是我从未尝过的，打那以后也没再尝过。我父亲看着我，似笑非笑，好像在说：“怎么样？”我咽下去的时候，他举杯对我说：“干杯！”我终于赢得了他的爱和尊重。

14  但从那以后，我再也没吃过牡蛎。