THE BROWNIES IN THE ORCHARD.

 THE autumn nights began to fill

The mind with thoughts of winter chill,

When Brownies in an orchard¹ met,

Where ripened² fruit was hanging yet.

Said one, "The apples here, indeed,

 

Must now be mellow³ to the seed;

And, ere another night, should be

Removed at once from every tree.

For any evening now may call

The frost to nip and ruin all."

Another quickly answer made:

"This man is scarcely worthy⁴ aid;

'Tis said his harsh and cruel sway

 

Has turned his children's love away.

If frost should paint his orchard white."

"It matters not who owns the place,

Or why neglect thus shows its face,"

A third replied; "the fact is clear

That fruit should hang no longer here.

If worthy people here reside

Then will our hands be well applied⁵;

And if unworthy folks we serve,

Still better notice we'll deserve."

 

"You speak our minds so full and fair,"

One loudly cried, "that speech we'll spare.

But like the buttons on your back,

We'll follow closely in your track,

And do our part with willing hand,

Without one doubting if or and."

Kind deeds the Brownies often do

Unknown to me as well as you;

The wounded hare, by hunters maimed,

Is sheltered and supplied and tamed.

The straying cat they sometimes find

Half-starved, and chased by dogs unkind,

 

And bring it home from many fears

To those who mourned its loss with tears.

And to the bird so young and bare,

 

With wings unfit to fan the air,

That preying⁶ owls⁷ had thought to rend⁸

The Brownie often proves a friend.

Then bags and baskets were brought out

From barns and buildings round about,

With kettles, pans, and wooden-ware,

That prying⁹ eyes discovered there;

Nay¹⁰, even blankets from the beds,

The pillow-slips, and table-spreads

 

Were in some manner brought to light

To render service through the night.

If there's a place where Brownies feel

At home with either hand or heel,

 

And seem from all restrictions¹¹ free,

That place is in a branching tree.

At times, with balance fair and fine

They held their stations in a line;

 

At times, in rivalry¹² and pride

To outer twigs¹³ they scattered¹⁴ wide;

And oft with one united strain

They shook the tree with might and main,

 

Till, swaying wildly to and fro,

It rocked upon the roots below.

So skilled at climbing were they all

The sum of accidents was small:

Some hats were crushed, some heads were sore,

Some backs were blue, ere work was o'er;

 

For hands will slip and feet will slide,

And boughs¹⁵ will break and forks divide,

And hours that promise sport sublime¹⁶

May introduce a limping time.

So some who clambered up the tree

With ready use of hand and knee,

Found other ways they could descend¹⁷

Than by the trunk, you may depend.

 

The startled birds of night came out

And watched them as they moved about;

Concluding thieves were out in force

They cawed around the place till hoarse¹⁸.

But birds, like people, should be slow

To judge before the facts they know;

 

For neither tramps nor thieves were here,

But Brownies, honest and sincere,

Who worked like mad to strip the trees

Before they felt the morning breeze.

And well they gauged¹⁹ their task and time,

For ere the sun commenced to prime

 

The sky with faintest tinge²⁰ of red

The Brownies from the orchard fled,

While all the fruit was laid with care

Beyond the reach of nipping air.

 

 

1 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

2 ripened   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They're collecting the ripened reddish berries. 他们正采集熟了的淡红草莓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The branches bent low with ripened fruits. 成熟的果实压弯了树枝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

4 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 preying   

v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• This problem has been preying on my mind all day. 这个问题让我伤了整整一天脑筋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For a while he let his eyes idly follow the preying bird. 他自己的眼睛随着寻食的鸟毫无目的地看了一会儿。 来自辞典例句

7 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

8 rend   

vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取

参考例句：

• Her scrams would rend the heart of any man.她的喊叫声会撕碎任何人的心。
• Will they rend the child from his mother?他们会不会把这个孩子从他的母亲身边夺走呢？

9 prying   

adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开

参考例句：

• I'm sick of you prying into my personal life! 我讨厌你刺探我的私生活！
• She is always prying into other people's affairs. 她总是打听别人的私事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

11 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

13 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

14 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

15 boughs   

大树枝( bough的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。
• A breeze sighed in the higher boughs. 微风在高高的树枝上叹息着。

16 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。

17 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

18 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

19 gauged   

adj.校准的；标准的；量规的；量计的v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• He picked up the calipers and gauged carefully. 他拿起卡钳仔细测量。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Distance is gauged by journey time rather than miles. 距离以行程时间而非英里数来计算。 来自辞典例句

20 tinge   

vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息

参考例句：

• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
• There was a tinge of sadness in her voice.她声音中流露出一丝忧伤。