第六课 蜜蜂
Look at that bee on the flower. See how it shakes its wings, and works with its little feet. Ah! it is off to another flower. It is working again!
看看在那花儿上的蜜蜂。观察它是怎样挥动翅膀的,怎样辛勤劳作的。啊!它又去到了另一朵花儿。它又开始工作了。
Now it is off to another! How busy it is! It does not rest a minute in one place. It seems to have a great deal of work to do, and to be in haste to get it done.
现在,它去向了另一朵!它是有多忙啊!它都不会在任何一个地方停留休息。它似乎有很多工作要做,它需要赶紧完成。
Now let us go to the other end of the garden.
现在,让我们去往花园的另一边。
Do you see those little straw houses, which have no windows, and only a very small door?
你看见那些没有窗户,只有一个小小房门的稻草屋了吗?
They are the houses in which the bees live, and are called hives.
他们是蜜蜂们居住的房子,他们叫蜂房。
A great many bees live in each hive. See how many are going in!
有成千上万的蜜蜂居住在各自的蜂房中。看有多少进去了!
When spring comes, and the flowers begin to bloom, the bees come out of the hives very early in the morning. They fly away, and gather the sweet juice out of the flowers.
当春天来临时,并且花儿都开放,蜜蜂们一大早就从蜂房中出来。他们到处飞,来收集花儿中甜美的花蜜。
The bee has a long tongue, which it thrusts(1) into the flower, to suck up the juice. Then it carries the juice to the hive, and makes it into honey.
蜜蜂有一个长长的舌头,用来插进花里,吸收果汁。然后把花蜜带回蜂房,然后做成蜂蜜。
问题
How many children do you see in the picture? What are they looking at? What are bees' houses called? What are they made of? Why do the bees go out early in spring? With what does the bee suck up the juice?
你能从图片中看到几个小孩?他们在看什么?蜜蜂的房子叫什么?是用什么做成的?蜜蜂为什么要一大早就出去?他们用什么来吸取花蜜?
When a bee sets out in the morning to look for honey, it does not visit(2) only the flowers near at hand. It goes very often more than a mile from its own hive; but it never loses its way.
当蜜蜂早上出发去寻找蜂蜜,他不只是光顾附近的花儿。他通常会飞往离他的巢一公里以上的地方,但他重来不会走丢。
When a shower of rain comes on, it takes shelter(3) in some little hole in a wall, or perhaps among the leaves of a tree, or inside a large flower. When the sun peeps out again, it mounts up into the air, and flies swiftly home.
当倾盆大雨悄然来临,他会将墙上的小洞作为避难所,或者也许是躲在树的叶子之间,或者是躲在大的花儿里。当天气放晴,他飞上天空,并且迅速地飞回家中。
Bees gather not only honey, but also a kind of golden dust, from the inside of flowers. This dust they carry home on their hind legs. They use it to make bee-bread in the hive, as food for the young bees.
蜜蜂不止收集蜂蜜,而且还从花儿里收集一种金尘。他们将金尘放在后肢带回家。他们将用金尘在蜂巢中制作蜂粮,作为小蜜蜂的食物。
This dust they also use to make wax; and with the wax they build a great many little cells,(4) all of the same shape, and all nicely fitted together.
他们也用这种金尘来做蜂蜡,他们用蜂蜡来建造许多小的蜂室,所有的都是一个形状,但是全都完美的黏贴在一起。
They fill those cells with the sweet honey. The little waxen(5) cells filled with honey are called the honey comb.
他们用甜美的蜂蜜装满整个蜂室。这种小小的蜡制的堆满蜂蜜的蜂室也叫做蜂巢。
问题
How far does a bee often go from its hive? What does it do when a shower comes on? What do bees gather besides the juice? What do they do with it? What else? What is honey comb?
一般蜜蜂回去离蜂房多远的地方?当大雨来临,他一般会怎么做?除了花蜜,他们还会收集什么?他们用它来做什么?其他的用途呢?什么是蜂巢?
One day a snail crawled into a bee-hive. The bees soon crowded about her in great wonder. They could not make out what the lady with the house on her back(6) could want.
一天一直蜗牛爬进了蜂巢。蜜蜂们很快就惊奇的围住了她。他们不理解这只把房子背在背上的女士想要干什么。
As she was very much in the way, creeping along the street of their busy little town, they tried to turn her out. But it was all in vain. They could not get her to go out of the hive.
由于她沿着他们繁忙的小镇的街道爬行,已经挡路了,他们决定试着将她驱逐出去。但是一切都是徒劳的。他们不能把她撵出蜂巢。
At last they fell upon another plan. They sealed up all the edges of her shell with wax, and so fixed it firmly to the bottom of the hive. The poor snail could not move. She soon died, and did not trouble them any more.
最后他们进行了另一个计划。他们用蜂蜡封住了她壳的所有边缘,并且死死地固定在了蜂巢的下边。这只可怜的蜗牛不能动了。很快就死了,并且再也不能给他们造成麻烦了。
问题
What one day got into a hive? What did the bees try to do? What did they do when they failed? And what then?
有一天什么进了蜂巢?这些蜜蜂试着做什么?当他们失败了,他们做了什么?然后呢?