THE WEE NEST

 Once upon¹ a time two little birds built a wee little nest² in a pink rose tree.

 

(And a little boy saw them; but he did not tell,

For it was a secret, he knew very well.)

The nest was round and cozy³ and soft; and when it was finished the mother-bird put eggs in it—the prettiest eggs!

 

(And the little boy peeped⁴ in the nest to see,

But he was as careful as he could be.)

The mother-bird sat on the nest almost all the time to keep the eggs safe and warm; and when she was tired the father-bird took her place.

 

 

(And the little boy watched them, and wondered, too,

What would become of those eggs of blue.)

Day after day the mother-bird sat on the nest; but one morning she flew away singing her sweetest song. The father-bird sang, too, for something wonderful had happened. The pretty blue eggs were broken⁵, but in their place were—what do you think? Baby birds, cunning⁶ and weak and wee.

 

(The little boy counted them, one, two, three,

Three baby birds in the pink rose tree.)

The father bird and the mother bird were busy all day getting their babies something to eat.

 

(And the little boy threw them some crumbs⁷ of bread:

"Perhaps they'll like these for their dinner," he said.)

 

The little birds grew very fast. It was not long before they were ready to learn to fly. Mother bird and father bird showed them how to spread⁸ their wings, and hold their feet; and the little birds tried to do just as they were told.

 

(And the little boy laughed to see them try;

They were so funny, and fat and shy!)

At first they could only fly from the rose tree to the ground; but soon their wings grew strong, and then away they went over the rose tree, over the fence⁹, into the world.

 

(And the little boy called as he watched them fly,

"Dear little birdies, good-by, good-by.")

 

1 upon   

prep.在……上面

参考例句：

• I hope that fortune may smile upon you.我希望幸运之神会向你微笑。
• I rely upon you to finish the work on time.我相信你会准时完成这项工作的。

2 nest   

n.巢，窝，休息所，隐匿处；vi.筑巢，找鸟巢；vt.为…设窝，使套入

参考例句：

• The home is a warm nest.家是一个温暖的巢。
• This is an old nest.这是一个旧的鸟窝。

3 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

4 peeped   

窥视( peep的过去式和过去分词 )； 偷看； 隐现； 慢慢露出

参考例句：

• The moon finally peeped out from behind the clouds. 月亮终于从云层后面露了出来。
• At the examination he peeped at his neighbour's paper. 他考试时偷看了他邻座的卷子。

5 broken   

adj.坏掉的，患病的，被制服的，断掉的；vbl.break的过去分词

参考例句：

• He is mending a broken cup.他在修补破杯子。
• Something was broken in my engine.我的发动机里有个东西损坏了。

6 cunning   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；n.狡猾，奸诈

参考例句：

• A spy used cunning means to find out secrets.间谍使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• The fox is known for its cleverness and cunning.狐狸的机敏和狡猾是人所共知的。

7 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

8 spread   

n.传播，散布，伸展；adj.扩延的，伸展的；vt.展开，铺开；传播，推广；伸出；涂，敷

参考例句：

• The news spread very widely.这消息传播得很广。
• She spread a cloth on the table.她用一块布铺在餐桌上。

9 fence   

n.围墙，剑术；v.用篱笆围住，练习剑术，防护；[计算机]栅栏

参考例句：

• They put a fence around the garden.他们在园子的周围建起了篱笆。
• The thief jumped himself over a fence and escaped.贼纵身跃过篱笆逃走了。