听力练习丨今日美文朗读—外祖父的蜜蜂（第五期） Grandpa's Bee外祖父的蜜蜂A long

Grandpa"s Bee

外祖父的蜜蜂

A long time before I was born, my Grandma and Grandpa moved into the house on Beechwood Avenue. They had a young family of 4 little girls. The little girls slept in the attic in a big feather bed. It was cold there on winter night. Grandma put hot bricks under the covers at the foot of the bed to keep the little girls warm.

早在我出生以前，外祖父母就搬到比奇乌大道的房子里。他们膝下养有四个小女儿。女孩们睡在阁楼的一张大羽毛床上。那里冬夜寒冷，外祖母得在床脚下垫热砖给女儿们取暖。

During the Great Depression, work was hard to find, so Grandpa did whatever jobs he could. He dug ditches during the week and on weekend he and Grandma dug a garden to grow some of their own food.

大萧条时期工作很难找，外祖父什么苦工都做。他平时挖沟渠，周末和外祖母在花园里挖挖锄锄，种点粮食自己吃。

The house on Beechwood Avenue had a big front yard with shade trees and fruit trees. In the middle of the yard was a water pump where the four little girls pumped water for cooking, cleaning and watering the garden. On one side of the yard, Grandma and Grandpa planted tomatoes, beans, squash, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries to feed their growing family. They planted roses, lilacs and irises on the other side of the yard, around the statue of the Blessed Mother.

比奇乌大道的房子有个大前院，院子里种着浓荫遮蔽的大树和果树。院中央是个水泵，小女孩们就在这里泵水来做饭、打扫卫生、灌溉花园。外祖父母在院子的一边种上番茄、豆子、南瓜、黄瓜、辣椒和草莓，供应这个大家庭食用。在另一边，他们围着圣母的雕像种了玫瑰、丁香和蝴蝶花。

Everybody worked to keep the garden growing. All summer long, the family ate food from the garden and enjoyed the beautiful flowers. Grandma put up strawberry jam，tomatoes, beans, peppers, pears and peaches in canning jam. They were good to eat through the long winter.

人人都辛勤地耕种花园，使它更加茂盛。整个夏天，一家人吃着花园种出的食物，欣赏着花园里的美丽花朵。外祖母还把做好的草莓酱、番茄、豆子、辣椒、梨子和桃子装进罐子里，使它们的美味能保持一整个漫长的冬天。

The family grew up, and before too many years had passed, the grandchildren came to visit. Grandma and Grandpa still planted their garden every spring. Everyone still enjoyed the good food from the garden and always took some home.

多年过去，孩子们长大，外孙子外孙女们也降生了。外祖父母仍然每年春天耕种花园。人人都能分享花园种出的好东西，也总能带上一些回家。

Grandchildren grow up, and grandparents grow older. It became harder for Grandma and Grandpa to keep up the garden. So they made it a little smaller. There was still plenty to eat from the garden and lovely flowers to enjoy.

孙子孙女们长大了，外祖父和外祖母也年迈古稀了，维护花园花去他们更多的精力，所以他们缩小了花园的面积，但里面种出来的食物还够吃，花朵也还招人喜爱。

Then one summer when Grandpa was eighty-nine years old, all he could do was watch from his lawn chair as the vegetables grew and the roses bloomed. Summer slowly faded, and Grandpa died before it was time to bring in the harvest.

到外祖父八十九岁那个夏天，他只能坐在草地的椅子上看蔬菜长大，玫瑰开花。夏日渐渐消逝，外祖父在丰收前去世了。

It was a lonely winter for Grandma. She sat near the window, looking out at the yard and wondering if she could plant the garden in the spring. It would be hard to care for it by herself. When spring came, she planted only a little garden.

对外祖母来说，这是个寂寞的冬天。她坐在窗边，望着外边的院子，考虑着来年春天还能不能耕种花园。只靠她自己来打理太难了些。当春天来到时，她只稍微种了一点。

One sunny day in the early summer, Grandma heard a commotion in the front yard and looked out the window to see a frightening sight a gigantic swarm of bees filled the air between two tall trees. There was thousands of bees in the air, so many that the swarm reached the tree-lops! The buzzing sound was tremendous. Grandma watched as the bees made their way into a hole up in one of the trees. Before long, every one of those bees had disappeared into its new home.

初夏的一天，阳光灿烂，外祖母听到前院传来一阵骚动声，她看出窗外，看到可怕的一幕——两棵大树上满满缀着大团的蜜蜂。空中还飞舞着成千上万只，多不胜数的蜂群一直排到树梢上，嗡嗡声不绝于耳。外祖母看见这些蜜蜂先后钻进一棵树上高高的树洞中。很快，所有的蜜蜂都搬进新家，消失了。

Grandma wondered what in the world she could do. Should she hire someone to get rid of bees? That would cost more than she could afford. She decided to wait and think it over.

外祖母不禁发愁起来：她是否该请人清走这些蜜蜂呢？但是她根本支付不起费用。于是她决定等一等，再想想办法。

During the next few days, the bees were busy making their own business. Grandma could always see a few bees buzzing in and out around the opening high in the tree. Before long, she decided the bees won"t bother anyone, so she went about her business and didn"t give them any other thought.

随后几天，蜜蜂忙碌个不停。外祖母总能看到有一些蜂儿从高高的树洞里嗡嗡地飞进飞出。不久，她看出蜜蜂并无妨碍，于是自顾自地干活，不再理会它们。

That summer, Grandma"s little garden grew and grew. The neighbors would stop to admire the huge crop of vegetables and puzzle over

their own gardens weren"t doing well. No matter, because Grandma had enough to give some away. Of course, everyone who came to visit was treated to a meal of good things from the garden.

那年夏天，外祖母的小花园硕采累累。邻居们都驻足羡慕里面生长出丰盛的蔬菜，纳闷怎么自己花园的长势就没有这么喜人。没关系，因为外祖母有好多可以送人，登门来访的人当然都有花园里的美味来招待。

One day, Grandma"s brother Frank visited from Arizona. As Grandma made Frank a delicious lunch of squash pan cakes and home made apple sauce, she told him the story about the swarm of bees.

一天，外祖母的弟弟法兰克从亚利桑那州前来拜访。外祖母给他做了一顿香喷喷的午饭，有南瓜饼、有自制的苹果酱，她还把蜜蜂的故事告诉了法兰克。

Frank said, "in Arizona, the farmers often hired beekeepers to set up beehives near their fields. The bees pollinated/"pɑl?net/ the crops and helped them to grow."

法兰克说在亚利桑那，农夫们常常雇请养蜂人在农田附近搭蜂箱。蜜蜂校粉有助于庄稼成长。

That was when Grandma realized that her bees had helped with her garden all summer.

外祖母才意识到，原来是这些蜜蜂在夏季助成了花园的丰收。

"So that"s why my little garden had such a big crop! " she exclaimed. From that time on, Grandma always believed that since Grandpa couldn"t be there to help her that summer, he had sent the bees to take his place and make Grandma"s little garden grow and grow...

“所以我的斗小花园才有了大丰收！” 从那时开始，外祖母便相信是因为外祖父那年夏天没能亲自帮她，才派了蜜蜂到这里，让外祖母的小花园欣欣向荣。

加油站

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lilac /"lail?k/ n. 紫丁香花

iris /"a?r?s/ n. 鸢尾花

gigantic /d?a?"ɡ?nt?k/ adj. 巨大的，庞大的

pollinated /"pɑl?net/ vt. 给…传授花粉

? 背景音乐 ?

《So Beautiful》——甘雨

《Faint Memory》——Claude Choe

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