2. IN THE TEA-CADDY.

 1. "Now, granny," said Rose, when the breakfast was done, "I will not forget, to-day at least, to lock up the tea-caddy."[Pg 71]

 

2. So she took up the sugar-basin, fitted it into a little place made for it inside the box where I sat, and, before I had any idea of what she was doing, she shut down the lid¹.

 

3. I was now, for the first time, left in the dark. And I began to think what a pleasant thing the sunshine was, and to wonder when I should be let out again.

 

4. But I must say that I found the sugar a great comfort. I went on eating it as long as I could. If I was to be locked up at all, I could not have been locked into a better place.

 

5. The sugar-basin was full and there were enough lumps² in it to last a fly of my size all his life. But of course one might get tired of it, in time.

 

6. But I was not tired yet. So I ate and ate, until I began to feel my legs ache³ and my wings very heavy. Just then I heard a loud noise, and a light broke into my prison.

 

7. It was Rose turning the key in the lock and lifting the lid of the tea-caddy. "Oh, granny!" cried she, "here is a poor fly that can hardly move."[Pg 72]

 

8. "I am afraid, dear, that the poor fly must thank himself for that," said Mrs. Sutton, looking closely⁴ at me. "He has been a little glutton⁵, I fear, and has eaten so much sugar that he can hardly move."

 

9. "Poor little fellow," said Rose, "I will not hurt him. He shall go out of doors on to the cool grass and get well again.

 

10. "I dare⁶ say that, though he is not quite so pretty as a butterfly, he likes to be alive." So Rose took me up between her finger and thumb as gently as she could, but oh, what great big hands they seemed to me!

 

11. And my poor sides were pinched⁷ black and blue. That is the reason why I cannot bear one of the great hands which belong to men and women to catch hold of me.

 

12. You see we tiny flies are made so lightly, and we are so small. A mere⁸ touch will crush⁹ our dainty wings, or break our slender¹⁰ legs, or hurt our eyes.

 

13. How thankful I am that we have eyes that can see behind and all round us as well as in front![Pg 73]

 

14. We are able to get away, thanks to these eyes, when we see a great hand coming to catch us. Even a baby's hand seems like that of a giant to us.

 

 

15. But dear Rose did her best for me, and put me in a spoon to carry. At the same time I did wish that the sugar had not been quite so nice, and that I had not taken so much of it.[Pg 74]

 

16. The fresh air of the garden, the sunshine, and the flowers did me a great deal of good, after being shut up in the tea-caddy. At night I slept in a lily bell.

 

Write: The fly was shut into a tea-caddy by mistake. He ate so much sugar that he could hardly fly. Rose put him out of doors to get well.

 

Questions: 1. What did Rose do after breakfast? 2. What did the fly do inside the tea-caddy? 3. What did Rose say when she opened it again? 4. What did her grandmother say? 5. What did Rose do for the fly? 6. Why does not the fly like to be touched?

1 lid   

n.盖子，眼睑；v.加盖，盖上；制止，取缔

参考例句：

• She shut the lid down.她扣上了盖儿。
• Put the lid on the garbage can.把盖子盖在垃圾筒上。

2 lumps   

n.金丝鸟病，块煤；块( lump的名词复数 )；肿块；傻大个；笨拙的人v.结成块( lump的第三人称单数 )；把…归并在一起（考虑），将人[物]同等对待[分类]

参考例句：

• This oatmeal lumps if you don't stir it well. 如果你不好好搅动，麦片粥会结块的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Break up these large lumps of dirt. 把这些大泥块弄碎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ache   

n.疼痛；vi.痛，哀怜，渴望

参考例句：

• He has an ache in the back.他的背痛。
• My muscles is going to ache all over tomorrow.明天我全身肌肉都会痛了。

4 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

5 glutton   

n.贪食者，好食者

参考例句：

• She's a glutton for work.She stays late every evening.她是个工作狂，每天都很晚才下班。
• He is just a glutton.He is addicted to excessive eating.他就是个老饕，贪吃成性。

6 dare   

n.敢，挑战；aux.敢；vi.敢；vt.敢于，勇于面对

参考例句：

• He didn't dare to look at her in the face.他不敢正眼看她。
• How dare you?Take your hand off me at once.放肆！马上把你的手挪开。

7 pinched   

adj.短缺的，匮乏的v.夹痛( pinch的过去式和过去分词 )；逮捕；盗窃；使入不敷出

参考例句：

• He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger. 他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him. 在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

9 crush   

v.压垮，压倒，压服，镇压；压碎，碾碎

参考例句：

• This machine is made to crush the rock into powder.这台机器是用来把石头压成碎末的。
• You can't crush so many people into the classroom.不能让这么多人挤进教室。

10 slender   

adj.苗条的，修长的；微薄的，微弱的

参考例句：

• Everybody of us admired her slender figure.我们人人都羡慕她的苗条身材。
• The girl was pretty and slender.那姑娘长得美丽苗条。