RULES FOR BOBBING.

 When you start out to "bob," it is just as well to determine in advance what kind of bobbing you are going to do. There are several kinds, as most young people know—such as bobbing for apples, bobbing for eels¹, and bobbing on a bob-sled. A rule which would do very well when bobbing for apples would not suit you at all when sliding down hill, and vice² versa. Therefore, the first general rule for bobbing is to select your kind, and then go ahead. The following rules are for the sled variety:

1. First get your bob. There is no use of trying to go bobbing without a bob. The boy who tries to bob without a bob is apt to wear his clothes out in a very short time, and to experience considerable discomfort³ into the bargain.

2. Having secured your bob, and got its runners and steering-gear into good working order, select a convenient hill upon which to coast, and start from the top of it. This is one of the most important of the rules of bobbing. Boys who have tried the experiment of starting to bob from the foot of the hill have met with considerable opposition⁵ not from the people about them, but from certain principles of nature which make it impossible for even the best of bob-sleds to coast up hill, and while there is no law against your trying to coast up hill which would result in your being put into jail if you broke it, persistence⁶ in the effort might result in your landing sooner or later in a lunatic asylum⁷.

3. Having started from the top of the hill, then stick as closely as you can to the line mapped out before the "shove-off." It is always well to know where you are going to land, particularly when you are bobbing. It is true that when Columbus started out to discover America he did not know where he was going to land, or, indeed, that he was going to land at all, but he had a pretty good general idea of the possibilities, and that is what you need to have before the shove-off. The experiences of a New Hampshire boy who ignored this point will show its importance. He shoved off all right, but having left the chosen path, found himself speeding down the hill directly at the rear of the village church. He could not stop, and the first thing he knew he crashed through the stained-glass windows, down through the middle aisle⁸, and out into the street, slap bang into the arms of the town constable⁹. He was arrested, and his father having to pay the fine imposed, as well as to give the church new windows, and carpet for the middle aisle, where the runners of the bob had destroyed the old one, made him very uncomfortable by spanking¹⁰ him regularly every time it snowed during the following winter.

4. Do not try to coast unless there is snow on the ground. Coasting on bare hill-sides or down stony¹¹ roads is not very exhilarating sport, nor will the oiling of your runners help you a bit. The only boy who ever got far by oiling his runners for a slide on a snowless road covered twenty feet, and then had his bob destroyed by fire. He had used kerosene¹² oil, and the friction¹³ of the runners upon the road created such an intense heat that the oil ignited, and in a short time the bob was a smoking ruin. What became of the boy is not known, but it is safe to say that if he were scorched¹⁴ at all he would have found the snow rather more cooling than the country road without it.

5. If on your way down hill you see a horse and wagon¹⁵ approaching, do not try to slide between the wheels and under the horse; nor should you trust to a fortunate thank-you-marm in the road to enable you to jump the obstruction¹⁶. Steer⁴ to one side if there is room, and if there isn't, try your fortunes in a convenient snow-bank, should there happen to be one, and if there shouldn't happen to be one, do the best you can with what snow there is. It is better to be landed head-first in the snow than to become involved with a horse and wagon in any way.

6. In case your bob should run into an unforeseen stump¹⁷ on the way down, you might as well make up your mind to keep on your journey whether the bob stops short or not. You cannot help doing so, whether you wish to or not, and it is always well, in view of possible accidents of this sort, to have it understood by on-lookers that that was the way you intended to do, anyhow. If you can convince the on-looker of this, he will not have half as much excuse for laughing at you as he might otherwise have.

7. The last of the suggestions to be made here at this time is the only rule that young ladies need observe in bobbing. That rule is to leave the management of the whole affair to the boys. Just take your places on the bob and don't bother. The boys will attend to everything involved in the preceding rules, and then when the foot of the hill is reached, after a glorious trip down the precipitous descent will, if they are the right kind of boys, tell you to sit still and they will haul you back to the top again. Of course this rule is not available in leap-year, when, if the young ladies insist upon having all their rights, it will become their turn to take charge and to haul the boys up.

The End
 

1 eels   

abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system）

参考例句：

• Eels have been on the feed in the Lower Thames. 鳗鱼在泰晤士河下游寻食。
• She bought some eels for dinner. 她买回一些鳗鱼做晚餐。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

4 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

9 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

10 spanking   

adj.强烈的，疾行的；n.打屁股

参考例句：

• The boat is spanking along on the river.船在小河疾驶。
• He heard a horse approaching at a spanking trot.他听到一匹马正在疾步驰近。

11 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

12 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

13 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

14 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

15 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

16 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

17 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。