VII. THAT OF MY AUNT BETSY.

 You may have met, when walking out

or thereabout,

A lady (angular and plain)

Escorted by an ancient swain,

Or, possibly, by two,

Each leading by a piece of string

A lazy, fat, and pampered¹ thing

Supposed to be a dog. You may,

Perhaps, have noticed them, I say,

And, if so, thought, "They do

Present unto the public gaze

A singular appearance—very."

That lady, doubtless, was my aunt,

Miss Betsy Jane Priscilla Perry.

The gentleman—or gentlemen—

Attending her were Captain Venne

And Major Alec Stubbs. These two

For many years had sought to woo

My maiden² aunt, Miss P.,

Who never could make up her mind

Which one to marry, so was kind

To one or other—each in turn—

Thus causing jealous pangs³ to burn.

I incidentally

Should mention here the quadrupeds—

Respectively called "Popsey Petsey,"—

A mongrel pug;—and "Baby Heart,"—

A poodle—both belonged to Betsy.

You'd notice Captain Venne was tall,

And Major Stubbs compact and small;

These two on nought⁴ could e'er agree,

Except in this—they hated me,

Sole nephew to Aunt Bess.

My aunt was very wealthy, and

I think you'll quickly understand

The situation, when I say

That Captain Venne was on half-pay,

And Major Stubbs on less.

To me it was so very plain

And evident, I thought it funny

My aunt should never, never see

They wanted, not her, but her money.

And Stubbs and Venne they did arrange

A plan, intended to estrange⁵

My aunt and me. They told her lies;

And one day, to my great surprise,

A letter came for me.

Requesting me to "call at six,"

For aunt had "heard of all the tricks

I had been up to," and "was sad

At hearing an account so bad."

I went—in time for tea.

My aunt was looking so severe

I felt confused, a perfect noodle

While Major Stubbs caressed⁶ the pug,

And Captain Venne he nursed the poodle.

 

"Dear Major Stubbs," my aunt began,

"Has told me all—quite all he can—

Of your sad goings on. Oh, fie!

Where will you go to when you die,

You naughty wicked boy?"

And Captain Venne has told me too

What very dreadful things you do.

Of course I cannot but believe

My two dear friends. They'd not deceive,

Nor characters destroy,

Without a cause. Go, leave me now,

You'll see my purpose shall not falter⁸

I'll send at once for Lawyer Slymm,

My latest will to bring and alter."

I fear I lost my temper—quite;

I know I said what wasn't right;

You see, I felt it hard to bear

(And really, I contend, unfair),

To be misjudged like this.

I tried to argue, but 'twas vain,

"My mind is fixed—my way is plain,"

My aunt declared. "Then hear me now!"

I hotly cried, "There's naught⁷, I vow⁹,

To cause you to dismiss

Your nephew thus, but, as you please.

And if, perchance, you wish to do it,

Your money leave to your two friends;

They want it, and—they're welcome to it."

I hurried out. I slammed the door.

I vowed¹⁰ I'd never call there more.

And neither did I, in my pride,

Till six weeks since, when poor aunt died,

And then, from Lawyer Slymm

I got a little note, which said:

"The will on Tuesday will be read."

I went, and found that "Baby Heart"

From Captain Venne must ne'er depart—

She had been left to him;

While "Popsey Petsey" Major Stubbs

Received as his sole legacy¹¹

And that was all. The money—oh!

The money—that was left to me.

1 pampered   

adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The lazy scum deserve worse. What if they ain't fed up and pampered? 他们吃不饱，他们的要求满足不了，这又有什么关系？ 来自飘（部分）
• She petted and pampered him and would let no one discipline him but she, herself. 她爱他，娇养他，而且除了她自己以外，她不允许任何人管教他。 来自辞典例句

2 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

3 pangs   

突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛

参考例句：

• She felt sudden pangs of regret. 她突然感到痛悔不已。
• With touching pathos he described the pangs of hunger. 他以极具感伤力的笔触描述了饥饿的痛苦。

4 nought   

n.／adj.无，零

参考例句：

• We must bring their schemes to nought.我们必须使他们的阴谋彻底破产。
• One minus one leaves nought.一减一等于零。

5 estrange   

v.使疏远，离间，使离开

参考例句：

• His behaviour estrange him from his brother.他的行为使他与哥哥疏远了。
• Madeleine was not trying to estrange her from the Herzogs.马德琳无意要使她和赫索格家的人疏远。

6 caressed   

爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His fingers caressed the back of her neck. 他的手指抚摩着她的后颈。
• He caressed his wife lovingly. 他怜爱万分地抚摸着妻子。

7 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

8 falter   

vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚

参考例句：

• His voice began to falter.他的声音开始发颤。
• As he neared the house his steps faltered.当他走近房子时，脚步迟疑了起来。

9 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。

10 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

11 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。