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Origina

lStory

Big-Eyed

Bee,

author:Iem

Tithseiha.

illus

trator:S

ouKimsan,

.Pu

blishe

dby

TheAs

iaFo

unda

tion,

https://www.le

tsread

asia.org

©Th

eAs

iaFo

unda

tion.

Released

unde

rCC

BY4.0.

Thisworkisamod

ified

versionof

theoriginal

story.

©Th

eAs

iaFo

unda

tion,

2019

.Som

erigh

tsreserved

.Relea

sedun

derCC

BY4.0.

Forfullterm

sof

usean

dattribution,

http://crea

tivecom

mon

s.org/licen

ses/by

/4.0/

Big-Eyed

Bee

Iem

Tithseiha

SouKimsan,

letsread

asia.org

Thenext

morning,

Sophywakes

upand

feelsquite

different.She

would

nothave

made

ithom

ewithout

thehelp

ofthe

fireflyand

herfellow

bees.

”Iamsorry

forleavingyou

allbehind,”shesays

tothem

.”Willyou

forgiveme?”

”Ofcourse

Sophy,beesare

bestwhen

theystick

together!”

22

Sophythe

beehas

bigeyes

andisvery

proudthat

shecan

seethings

faraw

ay.She

isalso

thefastest

flierin

thesw

arm,alw

aysthe

firstto

fillherjar

with

nectar.1

Flying

homein

theda

rk,the

bees

soon

getlos

t.Bu

tSop

hy’sne

wfriend

calls

hisfamily

tohe

lp.

Ahu

gesw

arm

offireflieslig

httheway

forthe

bees.

21

One

morning

,she

arrivesat

thega

rden

,firstas

usua

l,an

dland

son

abigflo

wer

towaitfor

the

othe

rbe

es.Sh

eclos

eshe

reyes

andbrea

thes

inthelovelyfrag

ranc

earou

ndhe

r.

Butso

onsh

erealizes

that

sheis

still

alon

e.’W

here

iseveryo

ne?Ih

avebe

enwaitin

gfora

long

timeno

w,’sh

eco

mplains

.

2

Butbefore

thecreatures

getany

closer,the

swarm

arrives!The

forestcreatures

slitheraw

ayquickly

beforethey

cangetstung.

”How

didyou

findme?”Sophie

asks.

Hector

speaksup.

”When

wereturned

tothe

hiveand

sawyou

were

notthere

wecam

eto

lookfor

you.Let’sgo

hometogether.”

20

Atlast,

thesw

armarrives.

Theywork

closetogether,gathering

nectarfrom

theflow

ers.Abee

named

Hectorapproaches

Sophyand

asks,’W

hydon’tyou

joinus?

Itisalw

aysbestto

sticktogether.’

’Youare

tooslow

tokeep

upwith

me,’Sophy

boasts.

”OK,

butyou

shouldbe

careful.It

canbe

dangerousin

thegarden.”

”Nothing

canhurt

me,Ihave

thebiggest

eyes

3

Asthenigh

tde

epen

s,centiped

es,frog

s,an

dsn

akes

emerge

from

the

forest.

They

are

draw

nto

thefirefly’sglow

inglig

ht.

19

and

the

fastestwings

!”So

phy

exclaims,

asHectorturnsaw

ayan

dreturnsto

thegrou

p,leavingSo

phyalon

e.

4

Suddenly,the

flower

opensup

andthe

two

small

insectsmanage

toescape.

Exhausted,they

flutterto

theground

andfallasleep.

18

Thebees

work

hardgathering

nectar.But

Sophyis

notpleased

thatno

oneis

payingattention

toher.

’Lookeveryone!

Ihave

alreadyfilled

myjar

with

nectar.Ieven

haveenough

leftoverfor

asnack.”

5

Sudd

enly,the

petals

beginto

clos

e.Th

eyare

trap

ped!

Asticky

liquidfillsup

theinside

ofthe

flower.

’Ugh

!Ican’tb

reathe

!’sh

outs

thefirefly.

’Wemus

tge

tou

tof

this

place,’rep

liesSo

phy.

Shestrugg

lesto

mov

e,an

dman

ages

tosting

theflo

wer.

17

Aseven

ing

approa

ches,the

buzzing

ofthe

bees

grow

sloud

er.

Everyo

neis

hurrying

tofillthe

irne

ctar

jars.So

phyha

sno

interest

inhe

lping

them

.Sh

ede

cide

sto

take

abrea

kinstea

d.

6

Backin

thepurple

flower,a

fireflyhas

spottedSophy

andstops

tohelp

her.

’Wake

up!’hecries.”This

isapoisonous

flower.

Itwilltry

toeatyou!”

Asthe

skybecom

esdark,

Sophymanages

toopen

hereyes.

16

Sophylies

downon

anice

leafandlooks

atthebeautifulsky.

Suddenly,she

seesan

unusualpurple

flower

highabove

her.

”Thatflow

eris

huge!”she

exclaims.

”Ibet

Ican

getmore

nectarthan

allthe

otherbees

combined

fromthatflow

er.”

7

Mea

nwhile,

the

swarm

finishe

sco

llecting

nectar

asthesu

nsets.

Butno

onecanfin

dSo

phy.

They

know

shealwaysflies

ahea

dof

the

grou

p,so

decide

shemus

tha

vego

neba

ckto

thehive

alon

e.Th

ebe

eshe

adho

mewith

out

her.

15

Soph

yflies

upthroug

hthe

bran

ches.

Sometim

essh

etake

sash

ortcut

throug

hho

les

intheleaves

eatenby

worms.

Shedo

esn’tp

aymuc

hattentionto

whe

resh

eisgo

ing.

8

Sophyflies

rightintothe

flower’s

goldenheart

andtakes

asip

ofthenectar.Butitis

bitterandmakes

herfeeldizzy.

Shetries

tofly

away,but

quicklyruns

outofenergy.Her

wings

become

weak

andher

eyesbegin

toclose.

14

Suddenly,Sophysees

aneight-legged

creatureon

aweb

infront

ofher.

”Who

areyou?”

sheasks.

’Haven’tyou

seenaspiderbefore?’the

creatureasks.

”No,w

hatisthatyou

arewalking

on?”

9

Soph

yis

very

plea

sed

with

herselfthat

she

escape

dthesp

ider.F

lyinghigh

into

theair,sh

esp

otsthepu

rple

flower

again.

”Oh,

therewill

beso

muc

hne

ctar

inthat

flower!IfI

bringitall

back

tothehive,e

veryon

ewill

know

Iam

the

best

beein

thesw

arm.” 13

”Thisismyweb

.Itc

anbe

avery

excitin

gplace.

Doyo

uwan

ttoco

meplay

with

me?”

Soph

ieisintrigue

d,so

sheflies

towardtheweb

.

10

AsSophy

strugglesto

freeherself,she

turnsto

seethe

spiderapproaching.

”Doyou

seehow

excitingmyweb

canbe?”the

spidersays,show

ingher

fangs.

Sophyisready

togo,now

!Sheflaps

herwings

hardand

reminds

herselfthatsheisthe

fastestbee

inthe

swarm

.”Ihave

toget

outof

here!”she

tellsherself.

Finally,shemanages

toescape,just

aheadof

thespider’s

chomping

jaws.

12

Butthenshe

noticesamosquito,trapped

inthe

web.

Sophybegins

tofeelnervous

abouther

newfriend.

Shetries

tofly

away,

butone

ofher

legsgets

stuck!

11