The Jar

On the second morning, Chiara brought a jar to Pasta's tank. The jar had a screw lid. Inside was a live crab.

På den anden morgen bragte Chiara et glas til Pastas tank. Glasset havde et skruelåg. Indeni var der en levende krabbe.

Chiara dropped the jar into the water. It sank slowly. Pasta did not lunge.

Chiara lod glasset falde ned i vandet. Det sank langsomt. Pasta sprang ikke frem.

Polly perched on the rim. The crab moved inside the jar. Pasta touched the jar with one arm. Her arms can taste what they touch.

Polly satte sig på kanten. Krabben bevægede sig inde i glasset. Pasta rørte glasset med en arm. Hendes arme kan smage det, de rører ved.

Pasta gathered the jar with two arms. She turned it slowly. A third arm worked at the lid.

Pasta samlede glasset op med to arme. Hun drejede det langsomt. En tredje arm arbejdede på låget.

Octopuses can open screw-top jars. They have done it in labs since the 1950s. They feel the threads with their suckers. Then they turn the lid.

Blæksprutter kan åbne glas med skruelåg. De har gjort det i laboratorier siden 1950'erne. De mærker gevindene med deres sugekopper. Så drejer de låget.

Pasta turned the lid. It popped off. The crab tried to escape. But Pasta's fourth arm was waiting. The crab was gone.

Pasta drejede låget. Det poppede af. Krabben forsøgte at flygte. Men Pastas fjerde arm ventede. Krabben var væk.

Chiara wrote on her clipboard. "Three minutes. She is getting fast."

Chiara skrev på sin clipboard. "Tre minutter. Hun bliver hurtigere."

Octopuses are very strange. They have three hearts. Their blood is blue. They live only three to five years. Pasta was already two.

Blæksprutter er meget mærkelige. De har tre hjerter. Deres blod er blåt. De lever kun tre til fem år. Pasta var allerede to.

She would learn everything she would ever know in the time she had left.

Hun ville lære alt, hvad hun nogensinde ville vide, i den tid hun havde tilbage.