THE BROWNIES' SNOW MAN.

 When snowdrifts blocked the country roads,

And trees were bending with their loads,

The wind grew mild which had been raw,

 

And winter yielded to a thaw¹;

That night the Brownies stood to stare

In wonder on the village square.

Said one, "This plot where drifts now roll

Seems like an acre from the Pole.

 

I have a scheme which nothing lacks:

Now while the snow so closely packs,

And may be molded in the hand,

We'll build a statue tall and grand

Which here shall stand at morning prime,

To be the wonder of the time."

Another cried, "That suits us all.

 

To work let every member fall.

When once the task we undertake

Be sure no dwarfish² man we'll make;

 

But one that proudly may look down

On half the buildings in the town.

I know the place where builders keep

Their benches while the snow is deep;

The poles, and ladders too, are there,

 

To use when working high in air.

While some for these with me will fly,

Let some their hands to snow apply,

And not a feature of the man

Shall be neglected in our plan.

 

"You know the night, some time ago,

We tramped so far through drifted snow

To ornament³ with quaint⁴ design

The windows of a mansion⁵ fine;

And how, on lengthy⁶ ladders there

And scaffold swinging in the air,

 

We worked our brushes with a will

From icy cap to window-sill,

And made the people, great and small,

Believe Jack⁷ Frost had done it all?—

To-night we'll work as well, and show

A grand result before we go."

 

The snow that night was at its best,

And held its shape however pressed;

Like dough⁸ beneath the baker's hand

It seemed to answer each demand.

The rolls, when tumbled to and fro,

Increased with every turning, so

 

First like a cushion on they sped,

Then like a pillow, next, a bed,

Until the snow, adhering there,

Would leave the grass or pebbles⁹ bare.

As higher blocks of snow were laid

Still higher scaffolding was made,

And ladders brought to use instead

Of those too short to reach the head.

[4]

Thus grew the form from hour to hour;

For Brownies' hands have wondrous¹⁰ power,

And let them turn to what they will

 

Surprising work will follow still.

Some shaped the legs or smoothed the waist,

Some saw plump arms were rightly placed;

[5]

The head was fixed¹¹ with proper pose,

Well fashioned were both ears and nose.

So close thronged¹² Brownies high and low,

A looker-on would hardly know

What plan or shape the busy band

Of cunning Brownies had in hand.

 

But plan they had, and deftness¹³ too,

As well was seen when they were through.

The rounded form and manly¹⁴ port

Showed modeling of rarest sort,

 

While charcoal¹⁵ eyes, so well designed

They seemed to read the very mind,

Long icicles for beard and hair,

Were last affixed¹⁶ with taste and care.

And when the poles around the base

Had been returned each to its place,

And every ladder, bench, and board

They had in use, again was stored,

The Brownies stood around awhile

To gaze upon their work and smile.

Each points at head, or hand, or toe,

 

His special handiwork to show.

In truth, they had good reason there

With joy and pride to stand and stare,

And contemplate¹⁷ the object white

Which loomed¹⁸ above to such a height,

 

And not unlike some hero old,

For courage famed, or action bold,

With finger pointed¹⁹ out, as though,

To indicate the coming foe²⁰.

 

But morning light soon came to chase

The Brownies to their hiding-place.

And children on their way to school

Forgot their lessons and the rule

While gazing on the statue tall

That seemed to guard the County Hall.

And after drifts had left the square,

When roads and shingle-roofs were bare,

The Brownies' statue, like a tower,

Still bravely faced both wind and shower—

Though sinking slowly all the while,

And losing corpulence and style,

Till gardeners, on the first of May,

With shovels²¹ pitched the man away.

1 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

2 dwarfish   

a.像侏儒的，矮小的

参考例句：

• Her dwarfish spouse still smoked his cigar and drank his rum without heeding her. 她那矮老公还在吸他的雪茄，喝他的蔗酒，睬也不睬她。
• Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments, but press forward to things and heavenly. 不要再满足于属世的成就，要努力奔向属天的事物。

3 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

4 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

5 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

6 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

9 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

10 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 deftness   

参考例句：

• Handling delicate instruments requires deftness. 使用精巧仪器需要熟练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• I'm greatly impressed by your deftness in handling the situation. 你处理这个局面的机敏令我印象十分深刻。 来自高二英语口语

14 manly   

adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地

参考例句：

• The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
• He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务，并希望别人效之。

15 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

16 affixed   

adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章）

参考例句：

• The label should be firmly affixed to the package. 这张标签应该牢牢地贴在包裹上。
• He affixed the sign to the wall. 他将标记贴到墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

18 loomed   

v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

20 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

21 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句