THE BROWNIES AT ARCHERY.

 One night the Brownies strayed around

A green and level stretch of ground,

Where young folk oft their skill displayed

At archery, till evening's shade.

The targets standing¹ in the park,

With arrows resting in the mark,

 

Soon showed the cunning Brownie band

The skill of those who'd tried a hand.

 

A few in outer rings were fast,

Some pierced the "gold," and more had passed

Without a touch, until they sank

In trunk of tree or grassy² bank.

Said one: "On page and parchment old,

The story often has been told,

How men of valor³ bent⁴ the bow

To spread confusion through the foe⁵.

And even now, in later times

(As travelers find in distant climes),

 

Some savage⁶ tribes on plain and hill

Can make it interesting still."

Another spoke⁷: "A scene like this,

Reminds me of that valiant⁸ Swiss,

Who in the dark and trying hour

Revealed such nerve and matchless power,

And from the head of his brave son

The apple shot, and freedom won!

While such a chance is offered here,

We'll find the bows that must be near,

And as an hour or two of night

Will bring us 'round the morning light,

We'll take such targets as we may,

 

To safer haunts, some miles away.

Then at our leisure we can shoot

At bull's-eyes round or luscious⁹ fruit,

Till like the Swiss of olden time,

With steady nerves and skill sublime¹⁰,

Each one can split an apple fair

On every head that offers there."

 

Now buildings that were fastened tight

Against the prowlers of the night,

 

At the wee Brownies' touch and call

Soon opened and surrendered all.

So some with bulky targets strode,

That made for eight or ten a load.

 

And called for engineering skill

To steer¹¹ them up or down the hill;

Some carried bows of rarest kind,

That reached before and trailed behind.

The English "self-yew" bow was there,

Of nicest make and "cast" so rare,

 

Well tipped with horn, the proper thing,

With "nocks," or notches¹², for the string.

Still others formed an "arrow line"

That bristled¹³ like the porcupine¹⁴.

 

When safe within the forest shade,

The targets often were displayed.

At first, however near they stood,

Some scattered¹⁵ trouble through the wood.

The trees were stripped of leaves and bark,

With arrows searching for the mark.

The hares to other groves¹⁶ withdrew,

And frighted birds in circles flew.

But practice soon improves the art

Of all, however dull or smart;

 

And there they stood to do their best,

And let all other pleasures rest,

While quickly grew their skill and power,

And confidence, from hour to hour.

When targets seemed too plain or wide,

A smaller mark the Brownies tried.

By turns each member took his stand

And risked his head to serve the band.

 

For volunteers would bravely hold

A pumpkin¹⁷ till in halves it rolled;

And then a turnip¹⁸, quince, or pear,

Would next be shot to pieces there;

 

Till not alone the apples flew

In halves before their arrows true,

But even plums and cherries too.

For Brownies, as we often find,

Can soon excel the human kind,

And carry off with effort slight

The highest praise and honors bright.

 

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

3 valor   

n.勇气，英勇

参考例句：

• Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
• Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 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。

6 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 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%。

9 luscious   

adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的

参考例句：

• The watermelon was very luscious.Everyone wanted another slice.西瓜很可口，每个人都想再来一片。
• What I like most about Gabby is her luscious lips!我最喜欢的是盖比那性感饱满的双唇！

10 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。

11 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。

12 notches   

n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级

参考例句：

• The Indians cut notches on a stick to keep count of numbers. 印第安人在棒上刻V形凹痕用来计数。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They cut notches in the handle of their pistol for each man they shot. 他们每杀一个人就在枪托上刻下一个V形记号。 来自辞典例句

13 bristled   

adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。

14 porcupine   

n.豪猪， 箭猪

参考例句：

• A porcupine is covered with prickles.箭猪身上长满了刺。
• There is a philosophy parable,call philosophy of porcupine.有一个哲学寓言，叫豪猪的哲学。

15 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。

16 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

17 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

18 turnip   

n.萝卜，芜菁

参考例句：

• The turnip provides nutrition for you.芜菁为你提供营养。
• A turnip is a root vegetable.芜菁是根茎类植物。