III. THAT OF OUR OLD FRIEND BISHOP P.

 (With many thanks to Mr. W. S. Gilbert for his kind assurances

that the inclusion of these verses causes him no offence.)

Twice Mr. Gilbert sang to you

Of Bishop¹ P., of Rum-ti-foo;

Now, by your leave, I'll do that too,

Altho' I'm bound to fail

(So you will tell me to my face)

In catching² e'en the slightest trace

Of true Gilbertian charm, or grace,

To decorate my tale.

Still, I will tell, as best I can,

How Bishop Peter—worthy³ man—

Is getting on by now.

Now where shall I begin? Let's see?

You know, I think, that Bishop P.

(Wishful to please his flock was he)

Once took the bridegroom's vow⁴.

You doubtless recollect⁵, His Grace

Wed⁶ Piccadil'lee of that place,

And Peterkins were born apace,

When she became his bride.

In fact I'm told that there were three,

When dusky Piccadillillee,

In odour of sanctittittee,

Incontinently died.

 

Some years have passed since her demise⁷

But Bishop Peter—bless his eyes—

That saintly prelate, kind, and wise,

Is excellently well.

And, not so very long ago,

He sought to wed—this gallant⁸ beau

(His faithful flock desired it so)—

Another Island belle⁹.

There was one difficulty, this:

Our Peter wooed a dusky Miss

Who (tho' inclined to married bliss)

Declared him rather old;

Who giggled¹⁰ at his bald, bald head,

And even went so far, 'tis said,

As to decline His Grace to wed,

Did Lollipoppee bold.

But, one day, on that far-off reef,

A merchant vessel¹¹ came to grief,

And all the cargo—to be brief—

Was washed upon the shore.

Most of the crew, I grieve to state,

Except the Bos'un and the Mate,

Were lost. Theirs was a woesome fate,

And one we all deplore¹².

Amongst the wreckage¹³ on the strand¹⁵,

A box of "Tatcho" came to land,

Which, there half buried in the sand,

The Bishop—singing hymns¹⁶

Amongst his flock down by the shore—

Discovered, and they open tore

The case. Behold¹⁷! The contents bore

The magic name of Sims.

"What! G. R. Sims?" quoth Bishop P.

(Visions of "Billy's Rose" had he),

"Good gracious now! It Sims to me

I've heard that name before."

(Oh, well bred flock! there was not one

Who did not laugh at this poor pun;

They revelled¹⁸ in their Bishop's fun.

They even cried "Encore!")

Then spake the Mate (whose name was Ted¹⁹):

"Now this 'ere stuff, so I've 'eard said,

Will make the 'air grow on yer 'ead

As thick as any mat."

"Indeed?" quoth worthy Bishop P.;

"Then 'tis the very thing for me,

For I am bald, as you may see."

His Grace removed his hat.

The Bo'sun quickly broke the neck

Of one large bottle from the wreck¹⁴,

Proceeding²⁰ then His Grace to deck

With towels (careful man,

This was to save his coat of black,

For "Tatcho" running down one's back

Is clearly off its proper tack).

And then the fun began.

 

For Ted he rubbed the liquid through,

As hard as ever he could do.

And worthy Jack²¹ rubbed some in too

(The Bo'sun's name was Jack).

And day by day they did the same.

Now "Tatcho" ne'er belies²² its fame,

And soon a little hair there came

(His Lordship's hair is black).

Miss Lollipoppee views with glee

The change in worthy Bishop P.

Now quite agreed to wed is she

(The banns were called to-day).

No "just cause or impediment"

Can interfere²³ with their content;

The natives' loyal sentiment

Is summed up in "Hooray!"

1 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

2 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

3 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。

4 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

5 recollect   

v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得

参考例句：

• He tried to recollect things and drown himself in them.他极力回想过去的事情而沉浸于回忆之中。
• She could not recollect being there.她回想不起曾经到过那儿。

6 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

7 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

8 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

9 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

10 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

12 deplore   

vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾

参考例句：

• I deplore what has happened.我为所发生的事深感愤慨。
• There are many of us who deplore this lack of responsibility.我们中有许多人谴责这种不负责任的做法。

13 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

14 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。

15 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

16 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

17 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

18 revelled   

v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉

参考例句：

• The foreign guests revelled in the scenery of the lake. 外宾们十分喜爱湖上的景色。 来自辞典例句
• He revelled in those moments of idleness stolen from his work. 他喜爱学习之余的闲暇时刻。 来自辞典例句

19 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

20 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

21 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。

22 belies   

v.掩饰( belie的第三人称单数 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎

参考例句：

• His appearance belies him. 他的外貌给人以假象。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The modesty of their home belies their great wealth. 他们简朴的家使人们看不出他们拥有巨额财富。 来自辞典例句

23 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。