THE farmer opened his hive. "Off with you!" he said to the bees. "The sun is shining, and everywhere the flowers are coming out, so that it is a joy to see them. Get to work, and gather a good lot of honey for me to sell to the shopkeeper in the autumn. 'Many a streamlet makes a river,' and you know these are bad times for farmers."
"What does that matter to us?" said the bees. But all the same they flew out; for they had been sitting all the winter in the hive, and they longed for a breath of fresh air.
They hummed and buzzed, they stretched their legs, they tried their wings. They
swarmed1 out in all directions; they crawled up and down the hive; they flew off to the flowers and bushes, or wandered all round on the ground. There were hundreds and hundreds of them.
Last of all came the queen. She was bigger than the others, and it was she who ruled the hive.
"Stop your nonsense, little children," she said, "and set to work and do something. A good bee does not idle, but turns to with a will and makes good use of its time."
So she divided them into parties and set them to work.
"You over there, fly out and see if there is any honey in the flowers. The others can collect flower-dust, and when you come home give it in smartly to the old bees in the hive."
Away they flew at once. But all the very young ones stayed behind. They made the last party, for they had never been out with the others.
"What are we to do?" they asked.
"You! you must
perspire2," said the queen. "One, two, three! Then we can begin our work."
And they
perspired3 as well as they had learned to, and the prettiest yellow wax came out of their bodies.
"Good!" said the queen. "Now we will begin to build."
The old bees took the wax, and began to build a number of little six-sided cells, all alike and close up to one another. All the time they were building, the others came flying in with flower-dust and honey, which they laid at the queen's feet.
"We can now knead the dough," she said. "But first put a little honey in—that makes it taste so much better."
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收听单词发音
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1
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 |
参考例句： |
- When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响，孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
- When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下，人群就蜂拥回了旅社。
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2
perspire
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| vi.出汗，流汗 |
参考例句： |
- He began to perspire heavily.他开始大量出汗。
- You perspire a lot when you are eating.你在吃饭的时候流汗很多。
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3
perspired
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的过去式和过去分词 ) |
参考例句： |
- The air became cooler but Feliks perspired all the same. 空气凉爽了，但费利克斯仍然浑身出汗。 来自辞典例句
- Sit down, you look perspired. 坐下，看你满头是汗。 来自辞典例句
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4
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 |
参考例句： |
- Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
- Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。
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5
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 |
参考例句： |
- He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
- He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
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6
stint
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| v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事 |
参考例句： |
- He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
- We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。
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7
accustom
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| vt.使适应，使习惯 |
参考例句： |
- It took him a while to accustom himself to the idea.他过了一段时间才习惯这个想法。
- It'shouldn't take long to accustom your students to working in groups.你的学生应该很快就会习惯分组学习的。
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8
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 |
参考例句： |
- The little wretches were all bedraggledfrom some roguery. 小淘气们由于恶作剧而弄得脏乎乎的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- The best courage for us poor wretches is to fly from danger. 对我们这些可怜虫说来，最好的出路还是躲避危险。 来自辞典例句
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 |
参考例句： |
- For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
- The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 |
参考例句： |
- The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 |
参考例句： |
- The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
- Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。
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drudge
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| n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳 |
参考例句： |
- I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
- I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。
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13
mere
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| 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。
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14
thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) |
参考例句： |
- Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
- He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 |
参考例句： |
- The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
- Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。
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shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) |
参考例句： |
- She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
- Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 |
参考例句： |
- How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
- We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 |
参考例句： |
- He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
- You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。
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crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) |
参考例句： |
- He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
- All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 |
参考例句： |
- A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
- Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！
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21
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 |
参考例句： |
- The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
- Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 |
参考例句： |
- He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
- We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 |
参考例句： |
- He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
- We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 |
参考例句： |
- I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
- I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 |
参考例句： |
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 |
参考例句： |
- We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
- Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。
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heyday
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| n.全盛时期，青春期 |
参考例句： |
- The 19th century was the heyday of steam railways.19世纪是蒸汽机车鼎盛的时代。
- She was a great singer in her heyday.她在自己的黄金时代是个了不起的歌唱家。
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