XVI NOTHING BUT A FRAUD

 At last Joseph Bumble's displeasure passed all control. He began to buzz as loud as he could, hoping to drown Buster Bumblebee's buzzing, so that Buster could no longer talk to Betsy Butterfly.

 

Naturally, Buster soon had to raise his own voice, in order to make himself heard. And soon the two made such a roar that everybody else had to stop up his ears.

 

Noticing a look of distress¹ on Betsy Butterfly's face, Buster asked her what the trouble was.

 

"You and your cousin Joseph are making a terrible racket," she told him.

 

"My cousin Joseph!" cried Buster Bumblebee. "And who is he, I should like to know? Point him out to me, please! For I didn't know I had a cousin at this party."

 

"There he is!" said Betsy Butterfly, nodding her head towards the glowering³ Joseph.

 

"What! That unshaven stranger in the yellowish-brown suit?" cried Buster Bumblebee. "I assure you he's no relation of mine."

 

"You must be mistaken," Betsy persisted. "He says he's your cousin, and of royal blood himself."

 

"Nonsense!" cried Buster Bumblebee. "Just let me talk to him a moment, and I'll soon prove that your friend is nothing but a fraud."

 

Accordingly Buster left her, and straightway perched himself upon a daisy directly in front of Joseph Bumble.

 

"How-dy do!" said Buster. "I hear you've been talking about me."

 

Now, Joseph Bumble's only thought was that the noisy chap in the yellow and black velvet⁴ must have overheard what he had said to Chirpy Cricket about throwing him out of the party.

 

"I don't care to talk with you," Joseph announced in his grandest manner. "I'm from such a fine family that I have to be very particular about whom I'm seen with."

 

"Is that so?" said Buster. "I suppose if Buster Bumblebee were at this party you'd be glad to talk with him?"

 

"I should say I would!" was the other's answer. "He's my cousin."

 

"What's your name, anyhow?" Buster Inquired.

 

"Joseph Bumble!"

 

"What's the rest of it?" Buster Bump. 81blebee demanded, while the whole company surged around him, so that they might hear.

 

"I refuse to answer!" said Joseph Bumble. And afterward⁵ Daddy Longlegs declared that at that moment he saw the fellow's knees trembling.

 

"Come!" said Joseph Bumble, turning suddenly to Betsy Butterfly. "I see that we've accidentally fallen in with some rough people; and we'd better be moving on."

 

But Betsy Butterfly didn't even look at Joseph.

 

"What is his full name?" she asked Buster.

 

"He's a Bumble Flower-Beetle," Buster said. "And as for his being related to me, that's all humbug⁶. This stranger is no kin² either to the Bumblebee or any other Bee family. But his voice is so much likep.  ours that he's taken part of our name, though our family has always claimed that he has no right to it."

 

"Who are you?" Joseph Bumble demanded of Buster quite fiercely. He was determined⁷ to put his enemy to rout⁸ if he could.

 

"I'm Buster Bumblebee!" was the reply. "Don't you know your cousin?"

 

When he heard that, Joseph Bumble knew at once that the game was up. His trickery was discovered beyond a doubt. So with one last lingering look at the beautiful Betsy he took to his wings. And no one ever saw him in those parts again.

 

As for Betsy Butterfly, she never could bear, after that, to hear the name of Joseph Bumble so much as mentioned.

 

1 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

2 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

3 glowering   

v.怒视( glower的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boy would not go, but stood at the door glowering at his father. 那男孩不肯走，他站在门口对他父亲怒目而视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then he withdrew to a corner and sat glowering at his wife. 然后他溜到一个角落外，坐在那怒视着他的妻子。 来自辞典例句

4 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

5 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

6 humbug   

n.花招，谎话，欺骗

参考例句：

• I know my words can seem to him nothing but utter humbug.我知道，我说的话在他看来不过是彻头彻尾的慌言。
• All their fine words are nothing but humbug.他们的一切花言巧语都是骗人的。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。