XXV. THAT OF THE GEISHA AND THE JAPANESE WARRIOR.

 An almond-eyed maiden¹ was pretty Jes-So,

Her effort in life was to please;

A Geisha was she, and she handed the tea

In a costume bewitching as ever could be,

And a style which was best Japanese;

And she often served bowls of exceptional size

To a Japanese warrior² called Li-Kwize.

And daily Li-Kwize and the pretty Jes-So,

In their artless and Japanese way,

'Neath the Gom-bobble trees rubbed their hands o'er their knees,

Saying flattering things, such as over the seas,

It's the proper and right thing to say:

Little wonder, in sooth, that Li-Kwize fell in love,

While the Japanese turtle-birds twittered above.

But 'tis said that the course of true love ne'er ran smooth,

And a rival appeared on the scene,

He'd a glass in his eye, and his collar was high,

His gloves were immaculate, so was his tie,

And his legs were excessively lean;

A descendant was he of a long line of "Dooks,"

And his name was Lord Algernon Perkyns de Snooks.

In Japan,—on a tour,—he'd arrived with his ma,

On the tea gardens stumbled by chance,

And directly he saw all the girls he said "Haw!

I—aw—wish, don't you know, that I'd come here befaw"—

And he gave them a languishing³ glance;

To his feeble moustache he gave several twirls,

Declaring that Geishas were "Doocid fine girls!"

And he called for a dish of best Japanese tea,

And he ogled⁴ the pretty Jes-So,

While the warlike Li-Kwize stared in angry surprise

At the flirtation⁵ going on under his eyes,

And he wished that Lord Algy would go;

But, oh! dear me, no, he continued to stop

All the long afternoon in the pretty tea-shop.

On the morrow he came there again, and again

He appeared on the following day,

And it made Jes-So sad to hear language so bad

As Li-Kwize employed, as he "went on" like mad

In a grotesque⁶, and Japanese way;

For he raved⁷ and he stormed as they do in Japan.

(You have seen how, no doubt, on a Japanese fan.)

He thrust, and he slashed⁸ at the air with his sword,

And he shouted aloud at each blow;

There is, really, no doubt he was greatly put out,

But he didn't do what you are thinking about:

He didn't slay⁹ Lord Algy—no:

For Li-Kwize he was subtle, as subtle could be,

He'd a far better plan up his sleeve, don't you see.

He went to the house where Lord Algy's mamma,

A stern, and a haughty¹⁰ old dame¹¹,

Was staying, and, tho' it was all in dumb show,

He managed—somehow,—that the lady should know

Exactly her son's little game,

The equivalent Japanese noise for a kiss

He expressed,—its significance no one could miss.

In pantomime glibly¹² he told the whole tale,

While the lady grew pale, and irate¹³:

"Ha! what's that you say? Takes tea there each day?

Geisha? Tea-shop indeed! Come, show me the way!

We must stop this before it's too late."

And she pounced¹⁴ on her son, with a terrible frown,

At the pretty tea-shop at the end of the town.

 

Not a word did she say, but she took by the ear

Lord Algernon Perkyns de S.;

She turned him about, and she marched him straight out—

An undignified exit, altho', without doubt,

An effectual way to suppress

A thing which no mother could view with delight,

And, for one, I contend the old lady was right.

* * *

The pretty Jes-So, and the warlike Li-Kwize

"Made it up," I am happy to say,

And the almond-eyed miss, with a Japanese kiss,

Filled the warrior's heart with a Japanese bliss¹⁵,

In quite the conventional way;

While the turtle-birds sang in the Gom-bobble trees

All their prettiest songs in their best Japanese.

1 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。

2 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

3 languishing   

a. 衰弱下去的

参考例句：

• He is languishing for home. 他苦思家乡。
• How long will she go on languishing for her red-haired boy? 为想见到她的红头发的儿子，她还将为此烦恼多久呢？

4 ogled   

v.（向…）抛媚眼，送秋波( ogle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He ogled at all the attractive girls in the office. 他向办公室里所有有魅力的女孩暗送秋波。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Carrie found herself stared at and ogled. 嘉莉发现也有人在盯着她看，向她送秋波。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 flirtation   

n.调情，调戏，挑逗

参考例句：

• a brief and unsuccessful flirtation with the property market 对房地产市场一时兴起、并不成功的介入
• At recess Tom continued his flirtation with Amy with jubilant self-satisfaction. 课间休息的时候，汤姆继续和艾美逗乐，一副得意洋洋、心满意足的样子。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

6 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

7 raved   

v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说

参考例句：

• Andrew raved all night in his fever. 安德鲁发烧时整夜地说胡话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They raved about her beauty. 他们过分称赞她的美。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 slay   

v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮

参考例句：

• He intended to slay his father's murderer.他意图杀死杀父仇人。
• She has ordered me to slay you.她命令我把你杀了。

10 haughty   

adj.傲慢的，高傲的

参考例句：

• He gave me a haughty look and walked away.他向我摆出傲慢的表情后走开。
• They were displeased with her haughty airs.他们讨厌她高傲的派头。

11 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

12 glibly   

adv.流利地，流畅地；满口

参考例句：

• He glibly professed his ignorance of the affair. 他口口声声表白不知道这件事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He put ashes on his head, apologized profusely, but then went glibly about his business. 他表示忏悔，满口道歉，但接着又故态复萌了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 irate   

adj.发怒的，生气

参考例句：

• The irate animal made for us,coming at a full jump.那头发怒的动物以最快的速度向我们冲过来。
• We have received some irate phone calls from customers.我们接到顾客打来的一些愤怒的电话

14 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。