The Oyster & the Pearl

We can truly learn so much from nature! I just love the story about the the oyster and the pearl and thought I'd share it with you. Natural pearls form when an irritant, usually a parasite (the proverbial grain of sand) finds its way into an oyster. As a defense mechanism, a fluid is used to coat the irritant. Layers of this coating, also known as nacre, are deposited until a lustrous pearl is formed.




 The Oyster⁠

There once was an oyster whose story I'll tell,⁠
Who found that some sand had slipped under his shell.⁠
It was only a grain, but it gave him great pain,⁠
For oysters have feelings although they're so plain.⁠
Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate⁠
That brought him to such a deplorable state?⁠
No, he said to himself as he lay on a shell,⁠
Since I cannot remove it, I shall try to improve it.⁠
So, the years rolled by as years always do⁠
And he came to his ultimate destiny, a stew.⁠
But the small grain of sand that had bothered him so,⁠
Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow.⁠
Now this tale has a moral, for isn't it grand,⁠
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand?⁠
What couldn't we do if we'd only begin,⁠
To enrich all those things that get under our skin.⁠
-Anon⁠

 

 

 


The Oyster & the Pearl

We can truly learn so much from nature! I just love the story about the the oyster and the pearl and thought I'd share it with you. Natu...