THE BROWNIES' KITES.

 The sun had hardly taken flight

Unto the deepest caves of night;

Or fowls¹ secured a place of rest

Where Reynard's paw could not molest²,

When Brownies gathered to pursue

Their plans regarding pleasures new.

Said one: "In spite of hand or string,

 

Now hats fly round like crows in spring,

Exposing heads to gusts³ of air,

 

That ill the slightest draught⁴ can bear;

While, high above the tallest tower,

At morning, noon, and evening hour,

The youngsters' kites with streaming tails

Are riding out the strongest gales⁵.

The doves in steeples hide away

Or keep their houses through the day,

Mistaking every kite that flies

For bird of prey⁷ of wondrous⁸ size."

"You're not alone," another cried,

"In taking note. I, too, have spied

The boys of late, in street and court,

Or on the roofs, at this fine sport;

But yesternight I chanced to see

A kite entangled⁹ in a tree.

The string was nowhere to be found;

The tail about a bough¹⁰ was wound.

Some birds had torn the paper out,

To line their nests, in trees about,

But there beside the wreck¹¹ I staid,

Until I learned how kites are made.

On me you safely may depend,

To show the way to cut and bend.

So let us now, while winds are high,

Our hands at once to work apply;

And from the hill that lifts its crown

So far above the neighboring town,

[58]NEWSSUPERFINE FLOUR

We'll send our kites aloft in crowds,

To lose themselves among the clouds."

A smile on every face was spread,

At thought of fun like this, ahead;

And quickly all the plans were laid,

And work for every Brownie made.

Some to the kitchens ran in haste,

 

To manufacture pots of paste.

 

Some ran for tacks¹² or shingle-nails,

And some for rags to make the tails,

While more with loads of paper came,

Or whittled¹³ sticks to make the frame.

The strings¹⁴, that others gathered, soon

Seemed long enough to reach the moon.

But where such quantities they found,

 

'Tis not so easy to expound;—

 

Perhaps some twine-shop, standing¹⁵ nigh,

Was raided for the large supply;

Perhaps some youthful angler whines¹⁶

About his missing fishing-lines.

 

 

But let them find things where they will,

The Brownies must be furnished still;

And those who can't such losses stand,

Will have to charge it to the Band.

With busy fingers, well applied¹⁷,

They clipped and pasted, bent¹⁸ and tied;

With paint and brush some ran about

From kite to kite, to fit them out.

On some they paint a visage fair,

While others would affright a bear,

 

Nor was it long (as one might guess

Who knows what skill their hands possess)

Before the kites, with string and tail,

Were all prepared to ride the gale⁶;

And oh, the climax¹⁹ of their glee

Was reached when kites were floating free!

So quick they mounted through the air

That tangling²⁰ strings played mischief²¹ there,

 

And threatened to remove from land

Some valued members of the band.

 

The birds of night were horrified²²

At finding kites on every side,

And netted strings, that seemed to be

Designed to limit action free.

But

Brownies stood or ran about

Now winding²³ up, now letting out;

Now giving kites more tail or wing,

Now wishing for a longer string;

Until they saw the hints of day

Approaching through the morning gray.

 

 

1 fowls   

鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马

参考例句：

• A great number of water fowls dwell on the island. 许多水鸟在岛上栖息。
• We keep a few fowls and some goats. 我们养了几只鸡和一些山羊。

2 molest   

vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏

参考例句：

• If the man continues to molest her,I promise to keep no measures with the delinquent.如果那人继续对她进行骚扰，我将对他这个违法者毫不宽容。
• If I were gone,all these would molest you.如果没有我，这一切都会来骚扰你。

3 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

4 draught   

n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计

参考例句：

• He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
• It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗，没有过堂风。

5 gales   

龙猫

参考例句：

• I could hear gales of laughter coming from downstairs. 我能听到来自楼下的阵阵笑声。
• This was greeted with gales of laughter from the audience. 观众对此报以阵阵笑声。

6 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。

7 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

8 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。

9 entangled   

adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
• Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 bough   

n.大树枝，主枝

参考例句：

• I rested my fishing rod against a pine bough.我把钓鱼竿靠在一棵松树的大树枝上。
• Every bough was swinging in the wind.每条树枝都在风里摇摆。

11 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

12 tacks   

大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法

参考例句：

• Never mind the side issues, let's get down to brass tacks and thrash out a basic agreement. 别管枝节问题，让我们讨论问题的实质，以求得基本一致。
• Get down to the brass tacks,and quit talking round the subject. 谈实质问题吧，别兜圈子了。

13 whittled   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He whittled a simple toy from the piece of wood. 他把那块木头削成了一个简易的玩具。
• The government's majority has been whittled down to eight. 政府多数票减少到了八票。

14 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

15 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。

16 whines   

n.悲嗥声( whine的名词复数 )；哀鸣者v.哀号( whine的第三人称单数 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The colony whines a centerless loud drone that vibrates the neighborhood. 蜂群嗡嗡喧闹的哀鸣振动邻里。 来自互联网
• The web whines with the sound of countless mosquitoes and flies trapped in its folds. 蜘蛛网内发出无数只被困在蜘蛛丝间的蚊子与苍蝇所发出来的声音。 来自互联网

17 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。

18 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。

19 climax   

n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点

参考例句：

• The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
• His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。

20 tangling   

（使）缠结， （使）乱作一团( tangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• During match with football, sportsman is like tangling on the football field. 足球比赛时，运动员似在足球场上混战。
• Furthermore the built in cable rewind prevents tangling and prolongs cable life. 此外，在防止缠绕电缆退建，延长电缆使用寿命。

21 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

22 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

23 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。