XXII. THAT OF THE POET AND THE BUCCANEERS.

 It does not fall to every man

To be a minor¹ poet,

But Inksby-Slingem he was one,

And wished the world to know it.

In almost every magazine

His dainty verses might be seen.

He'd take a piece of paper—blank,

With nothing writ³ upon it—

And soon a triolet 'twould be

A ballade, or a sonnet⁴.

Pantoums,—in fact, whate'er you please,

This poet wrote, with greatest ease.

By dozens he'd turn poems out,

To Editors he'd bring 'em,

Till, quite a household word became

The name of Inksby-Slingem.

A mild exterior⁵ had he,

With dove-like personality.

 

His hair was dark and lank² and long,

His necktie large and floppy⁶

(Vide his portrait in the sketch⁷

"A-smelling of a Poppy"),

And unto this young man befell

The strange adventure I'll now tell.

He took a summer holiday

Aboard the good ship "Goschen,"

Which foundered⁸, causing all but he

To perish, in the ocean,

And many days within a boat

Did Inksby-Slingem sadly float—

Yes, many days, until with joy

He saw a ship appearing;

A skull⁹ and crossbones flag it bore,

And towards him it was steering¹⁰.

"This rakish-looking craft," thought he,

"I fear a pirate ship must be."

It was. Manned by a buccaneer.

And, from the very first, he

Could see the crew were wicked men,

All scowling¹¹ and bloodthirsty;

Indeed, he trembled for his neck

When hoisted¹² to their upper deck.

Indelicate the way, at least,

That he was treated—very.

They turned his pockets inside-out;

They stole his Waterbury;

His scarf-pin, and his golden rings,

His coat and—er—his other things.

Then, they ransacked¹³ his carpet-bag,

To add to his distresses¹⁴,

And tumbled all his papers out,

His poems, and MSS.'s.

He threw himself upon his knees,

And cried: "I pray you, spare me these!"

"These? What are these?" the Pirate cried.

"I've not the slightest notion."

He read a verse or two—and then

Seemed filled with strange emotion.

He read some more; he heaved a sigh;

A briny¹⁵ tear fell from his eye.

"Dear, dear!" he sniffed¹⁶, "how touching¹⁷ is

This poem 'To a Brother!'

It makes me think of childhood's days,

My old home, and my mother."

He read another poem through,

And passed it to his wondering crew.

 

They read it, and all—all but two—

Their eyes were soon a-piping;

It was a most affecting sight

To see those pirates wiping

Their eyes and noses in their griefs

On many-coloured handkerchiefs,

* * *

To make a lengthy¹⁸ story short,

The gentle poet's verses

Quite won those men from wicked ways,

From piratings, and curses;

And all of them, so I've heard tell,

Became quite, quite respectable.

All—all but two, and one of them

Than e'er before much worse is

For he is now a publisher,

And "pirates" Slingem's verses;

The other drives a "pirate" 'bus,

Continuing—alas!—to "cuss."

1 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

2 lank   

adj.瘦削的；稀疏的

参考例句：

• He rose to lank height and grasped Billy McMahan's hand.他瘦削的身躯站了起来，紧紧地握住比利·麦默恩的手。
• The old man has lank hair.那位老人头发稀疏

3 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

4 sonnet   

n.十四行诗

参考例句：

• The composer set a sonnet to music.作曲家为一首十四行诗谱了曲。
• He wrote a sonnet to his beloved.他写了一首十四行诗，献给他心爱的人。

5 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

6 floppy   

adj.松软的，衰弱的

参考例句：

• She was wearing a big floppy hat.她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
• Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk?你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗？

7 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

8 foundered   

v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Three ships foundered in heavy seas. 三艘船在波涛汹涌的海面上沉没了。 来自辞典例句
• The project foundered as a result of lack of finance. 该项目因缺乏资金而告吹。 来自辞典例句

9 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

10 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

11 scowling   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里，穿着灰色的衣服，漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

12 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

13 ransacked   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• The house had been ransacked by burglars. 这房子遭到了盗贼的洗劫。
• The house had been ransacked of all that was worth anything. 屋子里所有值钱的东西都被抢去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 distresses   

n.悲痛( distress的名词复数 )；痛苦；贫困；危险

参考例句：

• It was from these distresses that the peasant wars of the fourteenth century sprang. 正是由于这些灾难才爆发了十四世纪的农民战争。 来自辞典例句
• In all dangers and distresses, I will remember that. 在一切危险和苦难中，我要记住这一件事。 来自互联网

15 briny   

adj.盐水的；很咸的；n.海洋

参考例句：

• The briny water is not good for the growth of the trees.海水不利于这种树木的生长。
• The briny air gave a foretaste of the nearby sea.咸空气是快近海的前兆。

16 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

18 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。