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 andra morgonen tog Chiara med en burk till Pastas akvarium. Burken hade ett skruvlock. Inuti fanns en levande krabba.

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

Chiara släppte burken i vattnet. Den sjönk långsamt. Pasta gjorde inget utfall.

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. Krabban rörde sig inne i burken. Pasta rörde vid burken med en arm. Hennes armar kan smaka på det de rör vid.

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

Pasta tog tag i burken med två armar. Hon vände den långsamt. En tredje arm arbetade med locket.

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.

Bläckfiskar kan öppna burkar med skruvlock. De har gjort det i laboratorier sedan 1950-talet. De känner gängorna med sina sugkoppar. Sedan vrider de av locket.

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

Pasta vred av locket. Det ploppade av. Krabban försökte fly. Men Pastas fjärde arm väntade. Krabban var borta.

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

Chiara skrev på sin skrivplatta. "Tre minuter. Hon blir snabbare."

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

Bläckfiskar är mycket märkliga. De har tre hjärtan. Deras blod är blått. De lever bara tre till fem år. Pasta var redan två.

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

Hon skulle lära sig allt hon någonsin skulle veta under den tid hon hade kvar.