66-Sweet as Honey

杰瑞发布于2024-10-06

[00:10.69]What was 'sweet as honey' and why? [00:16.04]In 1963 a Lancaster bomber crashed on Wallis Island, [00:22.41]a remote place in the South Pacific, a long way west of Samoa. [00:28.60]The plane wasn't too badly damaged, [00:31.61]but over the years the crash was forgotten and the wreck remained undisturbed. [00:38.58]Then in 1989, twenty-six years after the crash, the plane was accidentally rediscovered in an aerial survey of the island. [00:51.34]By this time, a Lancaster bomber in reasonable condition was rare and worth rescuing. [00:59.89]The French authorities had the plane packaged and moved in parts back to France. [01:06.28]Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. [01:11.64]It has four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines but the group will need to have only three of them rebuilt. [01:20.44]Imagine their surprise and delight when they broke open the packing cases [01:26.63]and found that the fourth engine was sweet as honey--still in perfect condition. [01:34.21]A colony of bees had turned the engine into a hive and it was totally preserved in beeswax! 1963年,一架兰开斯特轰炸机在瓦立斯岛毁。那是南太洋中一个很偏僻的小岛,位于萨摩亚群岛以西,距离群岛还有很长一段距离。飞机损坏的程度并不严重,但是,多年来这起飞机失事已被遗忘,飞机残骸也没受到破坏。于是,到了1989年,飞机失事26年后,在对小岛的一次航空勘查中那架飞机被意外地发现了。到了那个时候,状况良好的兰开斯特轰炸机实属罕见,值得抢救。法国政府让人把飞机包装起来,一部分一部分地搬回法国。一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。该飞机装装配有4台罗尔斯-罗伊斯的默林发动机,但是他们只需要修复其中的3台。想一想他们所感受到的惊奇和兴奋 —— 当他们拆开包装箱时,他们发现第4台发动机就像蜂蜜一样甜 —— 发动机完好无损。一群蜜蜂把发动机当作了蜂房,发动机在蜂蜡中被完整地保存了下来。