CHAPTER IV.

 

 

               There is no chapel¹ on the day

                 On which they hang a man:

               The Chaplain's heart is far too sick,

                 Or his face is far to wan²,

               Or there is that written in his eyes

                 Which none should look upon.

 

               So they kept us close till nigh on noon,

                 And then they rang the bell,

               And the Warders with their jingling³ keys

                 Opened each listening cell,

               And down the iron stair we tramped,

                 Each from his separate Hell.

 

               Out into God's sweet air we went,

                 But not in wonted way,

               For this man's face was white with fear,

                 And that man's face was grey,

               And I never saw sad men who looked

                 So wistfully at the day.

 

               I never saw sad men who looked

                 With such a wistful eye

               Upon that little tent of blue

                 We prisoners called the sky,

               And at every careless cloud that passed

                 In happy freedom by.

 

               But there were those amongst us all

                 Who walked with downcast head,

               And knew that, had each got his due,

                 They should have died instead:

               He had but killed a thing that lived

                 Whilst they had killed the dead.

 

               For he who sins a second time

                 Wakes a dead soul to pain,

               And draws it from its spotted⁴ shroud⁵,

                 And makes it bleed again,

               And makes it bleed great gouts of blood

                 And makes it bleed in vain!

 

               Like ape or clown, in monstrous⁶ garb⁷

                 With crooked⁸ arrows starred,

               Silently we went round and round

                 The slippery asphalte yard;

               Silently we went round and round,

                 And no man spoke⁹ a word.

 

               Silently we went round and round,

                 And through each hollow mind

               The memory of dreadful things

                 Rushed like a dreadful wind,

               An Horror stalked before each man,

                 And terror crept behind.

 

               The Warders strutted¹⁰ up and down,

                 And kept their herd¹¹ of brutes¹²,

               Their uniforms were spick and span,

                 And they wore their Sunday suits,

               But we knew the work they had been at

                 By the quicklime on their boots.

 

               For where a grave had opened wide,

                 There was no grave at all:

               Only a stretch of mud and sand

                 By the hideous¹³ prison-wall,

               And a little heap of burning lime,

                 That the man should have his pall¹⁵.

 

               For he has a pall, this wretched man,

                 Such as few men can claim:

               Deep down below a prison-yard,

                 Naked for greater shame,

               He lies, with fetters¹⁶ on each foot,

                 Wrapt in a sheet of flame!

 

               And all the while the burning lime

                 Eats flesh and bone away,

               It eats the brittle¹⁷ bone by night,

                 And the soft flesh by the day,

               It eats the flesh and bones by turns,

                 But it eats the heart alway.

 

               For three long years they will not sow

                 Or root or seedling¹⁸ there:

               For three long years the unblessed spot

                 Will sterile¹⁹ be and bare,

               And look upon the wondering sky

                 With unreproachful stare.

 

               They think a murderer's heart would taint²⁰

                 Each simple seed they sow.

               It is not true!  God's kindly²¹ earth

                 Is kindlier than men know,

               And the red rose would but blow more red,

                 The white rose whiter blow.

 

               Out of his mouth a red, red rose!

                 Out of his heart a white!

               For who can say by what strange way,

                 Christ brings his will to light,

               Since the barren staff the pilgrim bore

                 Bloomed in the great Pope's sight?

 

               But neither milk-white rose nor red

                 May bloom in prison air;

               The shard²², the pebble²³, and the flint,

                 Are what they give us there:

               For flowers have been known to heal

                 A common man's despair.

 

               So never will wine-red rose or white,

                 Petal²⁴ by petal, fall

               On that stretch of mud and sand that lies

                 By the hideous prison-wall,

               To tell the men who tramp the yard

                 That God's Son died for all.

 

               Yet though the hideous prison-wall

                 Still hems²⁵ him round and round,

               And a spirit may not walk by night

                 That is with fetters bound,

               And a spirit may but weep that lies

                 In such unholy ground,

 

               He is at peace—this wretched man—

                 At peace, or will be soon:

               There is no thing to make him mad,

                 Nor does Terror walk at noon,

               For the lampless Earth in which he lies

                 Has neither Sun nor Moon.

 

               They hanged him as a beast is hanged:

                 They did not even toll²⁶

               A requiem²⁷ that might have brought

                 Rest to his startled soul,

               But hurriedly they took him out,

                 And hid him in a hole.

 

               They stripped him of his canvas clothes,

                 And gave him to the flies;

               They mocked the swollen²⁸ purple throat

                 And the stark²⁹ and staring eyes:

               And with laughter loud they heaped the shroud

                 In which their convict lies.

 

               The Chaplain would not kneel to pray

                 By his dishonored grave:

               Nor mark it with that blessed Cross

                 That Christ for sinners gave,

               Because the man was one of those

                 Whom Christ came down to save.

 

               Yet all is well; he has but passed

                 To Life's appointed bourne:

               And alien tears will fill for him

                 Pity's long-broken urn¹⁴,

               For his mourner will be outcast men,

                 And outcasts always mourn.

1 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

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 jingling   

叮当声

参考例句：

• A carriage went jingling by with some reclining figure in it. 一辆马车叮当驶过，车上斜倚着一个人。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Melanie did not seem to know, or care, that life was riding by with jingling spurs. 媚兰好像并不知道，或者不关心，生活正马刺丁当地一路驶过去了呢。

4 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

5 shroud   

n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏

参考例句：

• His past was enveloped in a shroud of mystery.他的过去被裹上一层神秘色彩。
• How can I do under shroud of a dark sky?在黑暗的天空的笼罩下，我该怎么做呢？

6 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

7 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。

8 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 strutted   

趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The players strutted and posed for the cameras. 运动员昂首阔步，摆好姿势让记者拍照。
• Peacocks strutted on the lawn. 孔雀在草坪上神气活现地走来走去。

11 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

12 brutes   

兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性

参考例句：

• They're not like dogs; they're hideous brutes. 它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。
• Suddenly the foul musty odour of the brutes struck his nostrils. 突然，他的鼻尖闻到了老鼠的霉臭味。 来自英汉文学

13 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

14 urn   

n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮

参考例句：

• The urn was unearthed entire.这只瓮出土完整无缺。
• She put the big hot coffee urn on the table and plugged it in.她将大咖啡壶放在桌子上,接上电源。

15 pall   

v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕

参考例句：

• Already the allure of meals in restaurants had begun to pall.饭店里的饭菜已经不像以前那样诱人。
• I find his books begin to pall on me after a while.我发觉他的书读过一阵子就开始对我失去吸引力。

16 fetters   

n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They were at last freed from the fetters of ignorance. 他们终于从愚昧无知的束缚中解脱出来。
• They will run wild freed from the fetters of control. 他们一旦摆脱了束缚，就会变得无法无天。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

18 seedling   

n.秧苗，树苗

参考例句：

• She cut down the seedling with one chop.她一刀就把小苗砍倒了。
• The seedling are coming up full and green.苗长得茁壮碧绿。

19 sterile   

adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
• The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

20 taint   

n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染

参考例句：

• Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
• Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

21 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

22 shard   

n.（陶瓷器、瓦等的）破片，碎片

参考例句：

• Eyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air.目击者称空中石块和玻璃碎片四溅。
• That's the same stuff we found in the shard.那与我们发现的碎片在材质上一样。

23 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

24 petal   

n.花瓣

参考例句：

• Each white petal had a stripe of red.每一片白色的花瓣上都有一条红色的条纹。
• A petal fluttered to the ground.一片花瓣飘落到地上。

25 hems   

布的褶边，贴边( hem的名词复数 )； 短促的咳嗽

参考例句：

• I took the hems of my dresses up to make them shorter. 我把我的连衣裙都改短了。
• Hems must be level unless uneven design feature is requested. 袖口及裤脚卷边位置宽度必须一致（设计有特别要求的除外）。

26 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

27 requiem   

n.安魂曲，安灵曲

参考例句：

• I will sing a requiem for the land walkers.我会给陆地上走的人唱首安魂曲。
• The Requiem is on the list for today's concert.《安魂曲》是这次音乐会的演出曲目之一。

28 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

29 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。