THE BROWNIES' YACHT-RACE.

 WHEN fleets of yachts were sailing round

The rippling¹ bay and ruffled² sound,

And steering⁴ out where Neptune⁵ raves⁶,

To try their speed in rougher waves,

The Brownies from a lofty place

Looked out upon the novel race.

Said one: "A race is under way.

They'll start from somewhere in the bay,

To leave the frowning forts behind,

And Jersey⁷ headlands, as you'll find,

And sail around, as I surmise⁸,

The light-ship that at anchor lies.

All sails are spread, the masts will bend,

For some rich prize they now contend—

A golden cup or goblet¹⁰ fine,

Or punch-bowl of antique design."

Another said: "To-night, when all

Have left the boats, we'll make a call,

And boldly sail a yacht or two

Around that ship, as people do.

 

If I can read the signs aright

That nature shows 'twill be a night

When sails will stretch before the blast,

And not hang idly round the mast."

 

So thus they talked, and plans they laid,

And waited for the evening shade.

And when the lamps in city square

And narrow street began to glare,

The Brownies ventured from their place

To find the yachts and sail their race.

In equal numbers now the band,

Divided up, the vessels¹¹ manned.

Short time they wasted in debate

Who should be captain, cook, or mate;

But it was settled at the start

That all would take an active part,

And be prepared to pull and haul

If trouble came in shape of squall.

For in the cunning Brownie crowd

No domineering is allowed;

All stand alike with equal power,

And friendly feeling rules the hour.

The Brownies' prophecy was true.

That night the wind increased and blew,

And dipped the sails into the wave,

And work to every Brownie gave;

 

Not one on board but had to clew,

Or reef, or steer³, or something do.

Sometimes the yachts ran side by side

A mile or more, then parted wide,

Still tacking¹² round and shifting sail

To take advantage of the gale¹³.

 

Sometimes a sloop¹⁴ beyond control

At random¹⁵ ran, or punched a hole

Clean through her scudding¹⁶ rival's jibs,

Or thumped¹⁷ her soundly on the ribs¹⁸.

Of Brownies there were two or three

Who tumbled headlong in the sea,

While they performed some action bold,

And failed to keep a proper hold.

At first it seemed they would be lost;

For here and there they pitched and tossed,

Now on the crests¹⁹ of billows white,

Now in the trough, clear out of sight,

But all the while with valiant²⁰ heart

Performing miracles of art.

 

 

 

Some life-preservers soon were thrown;

And ready hands let sails alone,

And turned to render aid with speed

To those who stood so much in need.

But accident could not displace

Or weaken interest in the race;

And soon each active Brownie stood

Where he could do the greatest good;

It mattered not if shifting sail,

Or at the helm, or on the rail.

With arm to arm and hip⁹ to hip,

They lay in rows to trim the ship.

 

All hands were anxious to succeed

And prove their yachts had greatest speed.

But though we sail, or though we ride,

Or though we sleep, the moments glide²¹;

 

And none must bear this fact in mind

More constantly than Brownie kind.

For stars began to lose their glow

While Brownies still had miles to go.

Said one, who scanned the eastern sky

 

With doubtless an experienced eye:

"We'll crowd all sail, for fear the day

Will find us still upon the bay—

Since it would prove a sad affair

If morning light should find us there."

 

But when the winds began to fail

And lightly pressed the flapping sail,

It was determined²² by the band

To run their yachts to nearest land,

So they could reach their hiding-place

Before the sun revealed his face.

 

By happy chance a cove²³ they reached

Where high and dry the boats were beached,

And all in safety made their way

To secret haunts without delay.

 

1 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

2 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

3 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

4 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

5 Neptune   

n.海王星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun.海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Neptune turned out to be a dynamic,stormy world.海王星原来是个有生气、多风暴的世界。

6 raves   

n.狂欢晚会( rave的名词复数 )v.胡言乱语( rave的第三人称单数 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说

参考例句：

• She raves about that singer. 她醉心地谈论那位歌手。 来自辞典例句
• His new play received raves in the paper. 他的新剧本在报纸上受到赞扬。 来自辞典例句

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 surmise   

v./n.猜想，推测

参考例句：

• It turned out that my surmise was correct.结果表明我的推测没有错。
• I surmise that he will take the job.我推测他会接受这份工作。

9 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

10 goblet   

n.高脚酒杯

参考例句：

• He poured some wine into the goblet.他向高脚酒杯里倒了一些葡萄酒。
• He swirled the brandy around in the huge goblet.他摇晃着高脚大玻璃杯使里面的白兰地酒旋动起来。

11 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 tacking   

（帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉

参考例句：

• He was tacking about on this daily though perilous voyage. 他在进行这种日常的、惊险的航行。
• He spent the afternoon tacking the pictures. 他花了一个下午的时间用图钉固定那些图片。

13 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

14 sloop   

n.单桅帆船

参考例句：

• They heeled the sloop well over,skimming it along to windward.他们使单桅小船倾斜适当，让它顶着风向前滑去。
• While a sloop always has two sails,a cat-rigged boat generally has only one.一艘单桅帆船总是有两面帆，但一艘单桅艇通常只有一面帆。

15 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

16 scudding   

n.刮面v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clouds were scudding across the sky. 云飞越天空。 来自辞典例句
• China Advertising Photo Market-Like a Rising Wind and Scudding Clouds. 中国广告图片市场：风起云涌。 来自互联网

17 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。

18 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

19 crests   

v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点

参考例句：

• The surfers were riding in towards the beach on the crests of the waves. 冲浪者们顺着浪头冲向岸边。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The correspondent aroused, heard the crash of the toppled crests. 记者醒了，他听见了浪头倒塌下来的轰隆轰隆声。 来自辞典例句

20 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。

21 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

22 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

23 cove   

n.小海湾，小峡谷

参考例句：

• The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁，嫩绿一片，好一个山外的小海湾。
• I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。