“书虫”是外语教学与研究出版社和牛津大学出版社共同奉献给广大英语学习者的一大精品。书虫在英语中大概是颇可爱的形象。想象一下，有那么一只勤勉的小虫，它如痴如醉地沉迷于书卷，孜孜不倦地咀嚼着字母…… 

　　如今这只“书虫”漂洋过海，轻盈地落在了中国英语学习者的掌中。“书虫”首先将给你自信，即使你目前只有几百的词汇量，也可以不太费劲地阅览世界名作了。书虫还会用它细细的鸣叫声不停地提醒你：要坚持不懈地读下去，要广泛而丰富地读下去。待到读完丛书系列中的最后一本，你也许会突然发现：你已经如蛹化蝶，振翅欲翔了！

　　1561年，苏格兰还是个未开化的国家。当年轻的苏格兰女王从法国回到苏格兰时，起初，她的人民非常高兴见到她。她的丈夫——法国国王死了，现在，她需要一个新的丈夫。可是玛丽，这位苏格兰女王是个天主教徒，而当时大多数的苏格兰人都是新教徒。当时的英格兰女王——伊丽莎白一世也是位新教徒。在那个年代，人们都乐于为他们自己的教会而战，并不惜献出生命。 
　　年轻的玛丽女王该嫁给谁呢？谁是她的朋友，谁是她的敌人？玛丽既美丽又聪明，她热爱生活，喜欢冒险，也热爱人民。或许，她爱的人太多了。人们说她“又狂又坏，认识她是危险的”。但那是真的吗？ 
　　1587年，玛丽坐在英格兰的福瑟临黑城堡里，疲惫又忧伤。现在她是伊丽莎白女王的囚徒，不久将被送上断头台。她拿起笔开始给她的儿子詹姆斯——现在的苏格兰国王写信。这就是她一生的故事…… 
　　提姆·维克瑞是位经验丰富的教师、作家。他在英格兰北部的约克镇上居住、工作。

1 Fotheringhay
1 福瑟临黑
2 France
2 法国
3 Darnley and Riccio
3 达恩利和里奇奥
4 The death of David Riccio
4 达维·里奇奥之死
5 My son is born
5 我儿子的出生
6 Kirk O'Field
6 柯克·欧菲尔德
7 Bothwell
7 博思韦尔
8 England
8 英格兰
9 A death
9 死亡
Exercises

My name is Bess Curle，but this is not my story．It is the story of my lady Mary，Queen of Scots．She wrote the story，and then she gave it to me．I am going to give it to her son.
　　She began the story a week ago．It was January 1587，and we sat here in our cold room in Fotheringhay Castle，in the north of England．We couldn't see much from the window．One or two houses，a river，some trees，some horses，and a road．That's all.
　　The road goes to London，the home of Queen Elizabeth of England．Mary sat with her little dog in her hands and watched it，all day long.
　　No one came along the road．Nothing happened．I watched Mary，unhappily.
　　‘Please，Your Majesty，come away from that window，’I said.‘It doesn't help．No one is going to come．Queen Elizabeth can't do it—Queens don't kill Queens.’
　　‘Don't they，Bess？’Mary said.‘Then why are we here，in this prison？Why am I not free？’
　　‘Why，Your Majesty？Because Queen Elizabeth is afraid of you.’
　　‘That's right，’Mary said.‘She's afraid of me，and she hates me too．She hates me because I am beautiful，and she is not；because I had three husbands，and she never married．And because many people—good Catholic people in England，France，Scotland，Spain—say that I，Mary，am the true Queen of England，not Elizabeth．And Elizabeth has no children，so，when she is dead，my son James…’
　　She came away from the window and stood in front of me.‘James，’she said quietly，'my son．Does he think about me sometimes？He was only ten months old when I last saw him．It is nearly twenty years…’
　　‘Of course he thinks about you，Your Majesty，’I said.‘You write to him often．How can he forget his mother？’
　　‘Then why doesn't he write to me？’Mary asked.‘Does he want me to stay here in an English prison？’
　　‘No，of course not，Your Majesty．But—he has a lot of work，Your Majesty．He is the King of Scotland，and…’
　　‘He is not the King of Scotland，Bess，’she said.‘Not before I am dead．Remember that.’
　　‘No，Your Majesty，of course not．But perhaps people tell him things that are untrue．You know what people say．Perhaps—perhaps he thinks you killed his father.’
　　Mary's face went white．She was very angry，and for a minute I was afraid．She said：'You know that's a lie，Bess．It is a lie！I did not kill James's father—I knew nothing about it！’
　　‘I know that，Your Majesty．But perhaps James doesn't know it．He hears so many lies，all the time．He needs to know the true story．Why don't you write，and tell him？’
　　Mary sat down slowly．She looked old and tired.‘All right，Bess，’she said.‘Give me a pen，please．I'm going to write to James，and tell him the true story．You can give it to him when I'm dead.’
　　‘Dead，Your Majesty？Don't say that．You aren't going to die.’
　　Her old，tired eyes looked at me.‘Yes I am，Bess．You know what is going to happen．One day soon，a man is going to bring a letter from Queen Elizabeth．And then her men are going to kill me．But before I die，I would like to write to my son James．I want to tell him the story of my life．So give me a pen，please.’
　　I gave her a pen．This is what she wrote：…