提要
曾經有一則笑話提到，外星人勘查地球後回報：地球的生物特徵是金屬軀殼、四個輪子，體內住著一種叫做「人」的寄生蟲。
我們外出玩賞自然美景，要懷著感激與敬畏之心，一草一木都不該攀折，除了美好的回憶，什麼都別帶走；為了讓其他人也看得到同樣的美景，零食包裝、飲料罐都要處理好，除了腳印，什麼都別留下。
我們未必像文中湯姆、傑瑞這麼幸運，能夠遇到海洋生物開party，但至少可以不要當地球的寄生蟲。
Frosty edges rode the top of huge waves, like a parade of small hills heading for the ocean beach.
"Too high," three-year old Tom giggled.
"No, they're not!" said Tom's big brother Jerry . He was seven, as he should know better. "Follow me," he ordered.
"Aren't you glad we brought our surf boards? " asked Jerry. Tom's head bobbed up and down.
The older boy carried his brother into deeper water. Soon they were surfing the waves. Huge crests carried the boys out to sea then back again.
"Watch me do some good tricks," Jerry said.
"Ok," Tom said. He was having great fun.
Grandpa nervously chewed his nails as he sat on the red sand watching. When he said, "Go play," he didn't mean they should go riding such huge waves.
Jerry showed Tom how to do back flips. "Go really fast, so you won't sink," Jerry said.
"Ok," Tom answered. He wasn't afraid if his brother wasn't. Besides, he had his lucky blue rubber boots on. Soon, he was doing his own fancy flips and somersaults.
To prevent sunburn, "Let's find treasures now," grandpa said to the brothers.
Jerry said, "Okay."
Both searched the red shoreline for treasure. They were close to Oak Island where Captain Kidd hid his own treasure.
At first, it was hard walking on top of hot sand. But feet soon cooled off as they kept sinking in softer wet spots.
Sand flew in all directions, as they dug down with both hands.
"Ouch!"
"What happened ? " Jerry asked.
"I didn't say anything," Tom answered.
Jerry dug faster. By now they were about a foot deep. "Ouch!" said a strange voice. Now it was Jerry's turn to be surprised.
"Your digging hurt me." A curved creature with a thin shell lay panting on its side. "No more," it said. "I'm tired of trying to escape."
"I'm a Razor Clam," when Jerry and Tom's wide-open mouths were a little smaller, the voice said. "I dig straight down when I'm frightened."
"We be friends now?" asked Tom.
"Okay," the Razor Clam answered. Then he did a side flip out of his sandy hideout.
He offered to be their guide, then grandpa came along.
"There are other shellfish in the area," the Razor Clam said. "Come on, I'll show you where to find Bar Clams and Quahogs on the beach."
"Want to come, grand-papa?" asked Jerry.
"Sure," grandpa whispered. "Now we're talking to sea shells."
Grandpa decided not to be surprised anymore by anything. So the boys and their grandpa listened to their new guide.
Creatures on the beach seemed enjoyed having new friends, Rock Crabs did a sideways shuffle across the sand, Lobsters began their dance, snapping claws in the air.
Mussels, with bluish-black shells, joined the beach party.
And Jerry, Tom even grandpa clapped happily.
As each performance ended, their group grew in size, from other shells across the beach.
Grandma finally found her family. She decided to join them. Soon the shoreline was filled with twisting, leaping, flipping and jumping shapes.
Everyone splashed each other, racing from one sandbar to the next. Then with laughter, rolled in the kelp along the shore. After, they pitched wet, sandy balls at each other.
Before the end of this fun day, both grandparents and children climbed up and up. Whew, as they made it to the top of wavy crests.
解說
巨大的海浪夾帶水霧，像隆起的山丘，順著沙灘滑行。
「太高啦！」三歲的湯姆咯咯地笑了起來。
「才不會呢，」湯姆的哥哥傑瑞說。七歲的他，總在弟弟面前逞能， 「跟我來！」他命令湯姆。
「你是不是很高興我們帶了衝浪板？」傑瑞問，湯姆頻頻點頭。
哥哥帶著弟弟挑戰更深的水域，巨大的海浪把兩兄弟帶出去、再沖回來。
「看我的招數」，傑瑞說。「好啊，」湯姆說，他也樂在其中。
帶他們去海邊的爺爺，緊張地咬著指甲坐在一旁觀看。當他說：「去玩吧」的時候，完全沒料到他們會去挑戰這種巨浪。
傑瑞對湯姆示範後空翻：「做得夠快，你就不會下沉。」
「好吧」，湯姆回答，如果哥哥不怕，他也不怕。況且，他穿著他的幸運藍色橡膠靴。沒多久，他也鑽研出自己的翻轉與筋斗招式。
「為了防止曬傷（也為了安全），我們現在改玩『找寶藏』的遊戲，」爺爺對兩兄弟說。
傑瑞說，「好吧。」
兄弟倆在紅色的海岸沿線仔細地找著寶藏，這兒靠近橡樹島，也是著名的海盜「基德船長」藏寶的地方。
走在滾燙的熱沙上起初頗困難，但腳不斷地陷入下層的溼沙中，就涼快多了。
他們把鬆軟的溼沙挖得到處亂飛，突然聽到一聲：「哎喲！」
「發生什麼事？」傑瑞問， 湯姆回答：「我什麼都沒說。」
傑瑞挖得更快，大約挖到一英尺深時， 又聽到陌生的一聲「哎喲！」讓傑瑞驚訝不已。
「你挖傷了我」，帶殼的生物露面、躺在沙中喘氣說， 「 別再挖了，我懶得再躲了。」
「我是一個蟶，」等傑瑞和湯姆敞開的嘴巴變小了一些時，那個聲音說：「當我嚇壞了時，會一直往下鑽。」
「那麼，現在我們是朋友了嗎？」湯姆問。
「好啊，」蟶回答，然後側著翻出他的藏身沙坑。
當蟶提議帶他們四處逛逛時，爺爺走了過來。
「附近還有其他貝類」，蟶說。「來吧，我會告訴你沙灘上哪裡可以找到大西洋衝浪蛤和文蛤。」
「爺爺要一塊兒來嗎？」傑瑞問，「當然」，爺爺低聲說，「我們正在跟貝殼交談呢！」
爺爺不想再有什麼意外的刺激了，所以決定要乖乖聽「導遊」的安排。
海邊的生物似乎喜歡新的朋友加入。祖孫三人看到石蟹做了一個「側身滑步」橫越沙灘；龍蝦舞群開始擺動身軀、在空中揮舞大螯。
藍黑色外殼的貽貝家族，也群起加入這場熱鬧的海灘派對。
傑瑞、湯姆與爺爺高興地跟著手舞足蹈、拍手應合。
每結束一場「海邊生態表演秀」，海灘派對的規模就擴大一些，最後蔓延整個海灘。
奶奶終於在「人群中」找到了她的家人，她也決定要湊熱鬧。不久，海岸線充滿了扭曲、跳躍，翻轉和跳躍的身影。
大夥互相拍水、噴沙，在沙丘間追逐。然後在嘻笑聲中，互擲溼沙捏成的沙球。
這個有趣一天的尾聲，祖父母和兩兄弟愉悅的情緒不斷攀高，如同沖浪在波浪的頂峰。
WOW 原來如此
not to be surprised
anymore
「surprised」指遇到令人震驚的事物，有時帶有「譴責」的意味，例如：「I am surprised at you！ 」
語氣較強的詞則是「astonished」，表示一個人對意外事件作出超乎尋常的反應。
文中的爺爺「decided not to be surprised anymore by anything」就是因為「兩個孫子沖浪」、「貝殼會說話」已經非常刺激啦，所以他已經「不想再看到什麼新花樣了！」
red shoreline
「red shoreline」是含量豐富的氧化鐵造成的的紅色海岸，從岩石中的鐵礦浸出的色素 ，飽含紅色、橙色和黃色的色素，有時會出現寶石般的色澤。
Ouch
「Ouch！」是「哎喲！」或是「噢！」通常跟隨著「It hurts！」（好痛！）
「Ouch, you're hurting me！」（噢，你弄痛我了！）
現在的習慣用法，只要說「Ouch！」就是叫痛了！
類似的還有「oops」（糟糕），例如：「oops！ I did it again.」（糟糕，我又做錯了。）
should know better
「should know better」 直譯是 「知道的更多」就是傑瑞年長四歲，「走的橋比他走的路多」，所以可以在弟弟面前逞能。
「should know better」 後面常加上「than」，意思就變成「應該知道別這麼做才對！」
例如：Children should know better than to play in the road. 孩子們應該知道在馬路上玩是不對的。（因為馬路上車多，危險！）