12. A LONG SLEEP.

 1. About this time I began to feel a chill¹ in the air. I did not like this, for it made me feel drowsy². So I kept in the warmth of the drawing-room all day.

 

2. But I was shocked to see that many of my friends began to get quite unfit to run or fly about. Their wings seemed heavy, and some of them crept³ into holes where they went to sleep.

 

3. One day I went down to the table and found one of the gayest⁴ flies I had ever known, lying on his back upon the cloth.

 

4. He was cold and stiff⁵. Nearly all the friends I had made that summer were dying⁶ or dead around me, or else they had crept into corners out of sight.

 

5. I knew that something must be done, or I too should one day be found lying on my back with my legs in the air, and Thomas would sweep me away, as he did the other flies.[Pg 104]

 

6. I made up my mind to choose the best place I could, and there seemed none better than the old red curtain from which I had first come out into that pleasant room.

 

7. I therefore ran about on the wall behind it for some time, looking for a proper hole. I found just the nook I wanted, where a bit of the wall paper was peeling off.

 

8. I had hardly crept into it when I was fast asleep. To my good sense and quickness I owe my life. If I had not been a clever fly, I should have died, I dare say, like the rest.

 

9. As it is, here I am, alive and merry. When I woke the next warm spring day, there was little Rose and Mr. and Mrs. Sutton sitting at breakfast just as they had done when first I saw them.

 

10. Rose was perhaps a little taller, and the bald place on her grand-father's head may have been a wee bit wider.

 

11. But the jam was just as good, the honey and sugar as sweet, and the white cap just as clean and nice to sit on. The[Pg 105] flowers in the garden, too, smell as fresh as ever—still I prefer the jam.

 

12. If I might say one word at parting, it would be this. Do not forget that there is room in this big wide world for a poor little fly as well as for boys and girls.

 

13. And if you enjoy life and like a good game at play,—why, so do we! So let us have our harmless⁷ games and do our tiny bit of work for you in peace.

 

Write: As soon as it felt cold the fly went to sleep. He did not wake up till the next spring. There is room in the world for flies as well as for boys and girls.

 

Questions: 1. What did the fly now begin to feel? 2. What did he see on the table? 3. Where did he hide himself? 4. When did he wake from his sleep? 5. What change did he see in Rose? 6. What does the fly say as a parting word?

 

1 chill   

vt.使变冷，使冷却，使沮丧；n.寒冷，风寒

参考例句：

• With the chill factor,it's nearly minus forty here.加上风寒指数，气温接近零下40度。
• The bad news cast a chill over the whole family.这坏消息使全家人感到沮丧。

2 drowsy   

adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的

参考例句：

• Exhaust fumes made him drowsy and brought on a headache.废气把他熏得昏昏沉沉，还引起了头疼。
• I feel drowsy after lunch every day.每天午饭后我就想睡觉。

3 crept   

v.蹑手蹑足地走( creep的过去式和过去分词 )；缓慢地行进；爬行；匍匐

参考例句：

• I crept up the stairs, trying not to wake my parents. 为了尽量不吵醒父母，我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• He had crept up on his unsuspecting victim from behind. 他从背后悄悄逼近了那毫无戒备的受害者。

4 gayest   

快乐的，华美的； 同性恋的( gay的最高级 )； 轻率的，放荡的； 快乐的，轻松的； （色彩等）明快的

参考例句：

• I find it the gayest and more refreshing time. 我认为这是最愉快最清爽的时候。
• But the New Orleans Rhett showed her was the gayest place she had ever seen. 不过瑞德在新奥尔良带她去的地方，是她从未见过的繁华地区。

5 stiff   

adj.严厉的，激烈的，硬的，僵直的，不灵活的

参考例句：

• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
• You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活，你必须用力推才能转动它。

6 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

7 harmless   

adj.无害的，无恶意的

参考例句：

• This experiment was harmless to the animals.这个试验不会对动物造成伤害。
• He was a harmless sort.他是一个不怀恶意的人。