THE PROLOGUE

 SPOKEN BY LADY ALLONBY, WHO ENTERS IN A FLURRY

 

    The author bade we come—Lud, I protest!—

  He bade me come—and I forget the rest.

  But 'tis no matter; he's an arrant¹ fool

  That ever bade a woman speak by rule.

 

    Besides, his Prologue² was, at best, dull stuff,

  And of dull writing we have, sure, enough.

  A book will do when you've a vacant minute,

  But, la! who cares what is, and isn't, in it?

 

    And since I'm but the Prologue of a book,

  What I've omitted all will overlook,

  And owe me for it, too, some gratitude³,

  Seeing in reason it cannot be good

  Whose author has as much but now confessed,—

  For, Who'd excel when few can make a test

  Betwixt indifferent writing and the best?

  He said but now.

 

                           And I:—La, why excel,

  When mediocrity does quite as well?

  'Tis women buy the books,—and read 'em, say,

  What time a person nods, en négligée,

  And in default of gossip, cards, or dance,

  Resolves t' incite⁴ a nap with some romance.

 

  The fool replied in verse,—I think he said

  'Twas verses the ingenious Dryden made,

  And trust 'twill save me from entire disgrace

  To cite 'em in his foolish Prologue's place.

    Yet, scattered⁵ here and there, I some behold⁶,

  Who can discern the tinsel from the gold;

  To these he writes; and if by them allowed,

  'Tis their prerogative⁷ to rule the crowd,

  For he more fears, like, a presuming man,

  Their votes who cannot judge, than theirs can.

1 arrant   

adj.极端的；最大的

参考例句：

• He is an arrant fool.他是个大傻瓜。
• That's arrant nonsense.那完全是一派胡言。

2 prologue   

n.开场白，序言；开端，序幕

参考例句：

• A poor wedding is a prologue to misery.不幸的婚姻是痛苦的开始。
• The prologue to the novel is written in the form of a newspaper account.这本小说的序言是以报纸报道的形式写的。

3 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

4 incite   

v.引起，激动，煽动

参考例句：

• I wanted to point out he was a very good speaker, and could incite a crowd.我想说明他曾是一个非常出色的演讲家，非常会调动群众的情绪。
• Just a few words will incite him into action.他只需几句话一将，就会干。

5 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

6 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

7 prerogative   

n.特权

参考例句：

• It is within his prerogative to do so.他是有权这样做的。
• Making such decisions is not the sole prerogative of managers.作这类决定并不是管理者的专有特权。