The Ant and the Fly

    An ant and a fly were contending heatedly who was of greater importance．The fly was the first to begin：“Can you possibly compare with my endowments？When a sacrifice is made，I am the first to taste the entrails that belong to the Gods．I pass my time among the altars，and I wander through all the temples；once I have espied¹ the mall，I seat myself on the head of a king；and I taste the chaste² kisses of matrons．I lab our not，and yet enjoy the nicest of things．What like this，good rustic，falls to your lot？”
    “Eating with the Gods，”said the ant，“is certainly a thing to be boasted of；but it should be bragged³ of by him who is invited，not himwho is loathed⁴ as an intruder．You talk about kings and the kisses of matrons．Well，while I am carefully heaping up a stock of grain for winter，I see you feeding on filth⁵ on the walls．You frequent the altars；yes，but you are driven away as often as you come．You lab our not；therefore it is why you have nothing when you stand in need of it．Be-sides，you boast about what a modest man ought to conceal⁶．You tease me in summer；when winter comes you are silent．While the cold shrivels you up and puts you to death，a well-stored abode⁷ harbours me．Surely I have now pulled down your pride enough．”
    Exercises：
    判断对（T）、错（F）：
    ①A fly thought he was of greater importance than an ant，be-cause he could enjoy the nicest of things without labour．②The ant desired for the life of the fly．③The ant thought that eating with the gods is a thing to be boasted of，though not being invited．④At last，the ant pulled down the fly's pride enough．

1 espied   

v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• One day a youth espied her as he was hunting.She saw him and recognized him as her own son, mow grown a young man. 一日，她被一个正在行猎的小伙子看见了，她认出来这个猎手原来是自己的儿子，现在已长成为一个翩翩的少年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In a little while he espied the two giants. 一会儿就看见了那两个巨人。 来自辞典例句

2 chaste   

adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的

参考例句：

• Comparatively speaking,I like chaste poetry better.相比较而言，我更喜欢朴实无华的诗。
• Tess was a chaste young girl.苔丝是一个善良的少女。

3 bragged   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He bragged to his friends about the crime. 他向朋友炫耀他的罪行。
• Mary bragged that she could run faster than Jack. 玛丽夸口说她比杰克跑得快。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 loathed   

v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢

参考例句：

• Baker loathed going to this red-haired young pup for supplies. 面包师傅不喜欢去这个红头发的自负的傻小子那里拿原料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Therefore, above all things else, he loathed his miserable self! 因此，他厌恶不幸的自我尤胜其它！ 来自英汉文学 - 红字

5 filth   

n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥

参考例句：

• I don't know how you can read such filth.我不明白你怎么会去读这种淫秽下流的东西。
• The dialogue was all filth and innuendo.这段对话全是下流的言辞和影射。

6 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

7 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！