XIV. THAT OF——?

 Phwat's thot yer afther sayin'—

Oi "don't look meself at all?"

Och, murder! sure ye've guessed it.

Whist! Oi'm not meself at all,

But another man entoirly,

An' Oi'd bether tell ye trooly

How ut iz Oi'm but purtendin'

That Oi'm Mr. Pat O'Dooley.

Tim Finnegan an' me, sor,

Waz a-fightin ov the blacks

In hathen foreign parts, sor,

An' yer pardon Oi would ax

If Oi mention thot the customs

In them parts iz free an' aisy,

An' the costooms—bein' mostly beads—

Iz airy-loike an' braizy.

But them blacks iz good at fightin'

An' they captured me an' Tim;

An' they marched us back in triumph

To their village—me an' him;

An' they didn't trate us badly,

As Oi'm not above confessin',

Tho' their manners—as Oi said before—

An' customs, waz disthressin'.

 

So Oi set meself to teachin'

The King's daughter to behave

As a perfect lady should do;

An' Oi taught the King to shave;

An' Oi added to the lady's

Scanty¹ costoom by the prisent

Ov a waistcoat, which she thanked me for,

A-smilin' moighty plisent.

Now she wazn't bad to look at,

An' she fell in love with me,

Which was awkward for all parties,

As you prisently will see;

For on wan² noight, when the village

Waz all quiet-loike an' slapin',

The King's daughter to the hut, phwere

Tim an' me lay, came a-crapin'.

An' she whispered in my ear, sor:

"Get up quick, an' come this way,

Oi'll assist ye in escapin',

If ye'll do just phwat Oi say."

An' she led me by the hand, sor;

It waz dark, the rain was pourin'

An' we safely passed the huts, sor,

Phwere the sintrys waz a snorin'

Then we ran, an' ran, an' ran, sor,

Through all the blessid noight,

An' waz many miles away, sor,

Before the day was loight.

Then the lady saw my features,

An' she stopped an' started cryin',

For she found that I waz Tim instead

Ov me, which waz most tryin'.

In the hurry an' the scurry³

Ov the darkness, don't yez see,

She had made a big mistake,

An' rescued him instead ov me—

An' to me it waz confusin'

An' most hard ov realizin';

For to find yerself another person,

Sor, iz most surprisin'.

An' pwhen the lady left me,

An' Oi'd got down to the shore

An' found a ship to take me home,

Oi puzzled more an' more,

For, ov course, the woife an' family

Ov Finnegan's was moine, sor,

Tho' Oi didn't know the wan ov 'em

By hook, nor crook⁴, nor soign, sor.

But Oi came to the decision

They belonged to me no doubt,

So directly Oi had landed

Oi began to look about.

Tim Finnegan had told me

That he lived up in Killarn'y,

An' Oi found meself that far, somehow,

By carnying an' blarney.

 

An' Oi found me woife an' family—

But, ach! upon my loife

Oi waz greatly disappointed

In my family an' woife,

For my woife was not a beauty,

An' her temper wazn't cheerin'

While the family—onkindly—

At their father took to jeerin'.

"Oi waz better off as Pat," thought Oi,

"Than Oi'll iver be as Tim.

Bedad! Oi'd better be meself

An' lave off bein' him.

Oi won't stay here in Killarn'y,

Phwere they trate poor Tim so coolly,

But purtend to be meself agin

In dear old Ballyhooley.'

So Oi came to Ballyhooley,

An' Oi've niver told before

To anyone the story

Oi've been tellin' to ye, sor,

An' it, all ov it, occurred, sor,

Just exactly as Oi state it,

Though, ov course, ye'll understand, sor,

Oi don't wish ye to repate it.

1 scanty   

adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的

参考例句：

• There is scanty evidence to support their accusations.他们的指控证据不足。
• The rainfall was rather scanty this month.这个月的雨量不足。

2 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

3 scurry   

vi.急匆匆地走；使急赶；催促；n.快步急跑，疾走；仓皇奔跑声；骤雨，骤雪；短距离赛马

参考例句：

• I jumped on the sofa after I saw a mouse scurry by.看到一只老鼠匆匆路过,我从沙发上跳了起来。
• There was a great scurry for bargains.大家急忙着去抢购特价品。

4 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。