A FOWL WIND.

 “I’ll pond—I’ll tail him!”—In a voice of thunder
He recommenced his fury and his fuss,
Loud, open-mouth’d, and wedded¹ to his blunder,
Like one of those great guns that end in buss.
“I’ll teach him to write ponds and tails to us!”
But while so menacing this-that-and-t’others,
His wife broke in with certain truths, as thus:
“Men are not women—fathers can’t be mothers,—
Females are females”—and a few such others.
So saying, with rough nudges, willy-nilly,
She hustled² him outside the chamber-door,
Looking, it must be own’d, a little silly;
And then she did as the Carinthian boor³
Serves (Goldsmith says) the traveller that’s poor!
[Pg 319]
Id est, she shut him in the outer space,
With just as much apology—no more—
As Boreas would present in such a case,
For slamming the street door right in your face.
And now, the secrets of the sex thus kept,
What passed in that important tête-à-tête
’Twixt dam and daughter, nobody except
Paul Pry⁵, or his Twin Brother, could narrate—
So turn we to Lorenzo, left of late,
In front of Mrs. Snelling’s sugar’d snacks,
In such a very waspish stinging state,
But now at the Old Dragon, stretch’d on racks,
Fretting⁷, and biting down his nails to tacks⁸;
Because that new fast four-inside—the Comet,
Instead of keeping its appointed time,
Had deviated⁹ some few minutes from it,
A thing with all astronomers¹⁰ a crime,
And he had studied in that lore⁶ sublime¹¹;
Nor did his heat get any less or shorter
For pouring upon passion’s unslaked lime
A well-grown glass of Cogniac and water,
Mix’d stiff as starch¹² by the Old Dragon’s daughter.
At length, “Fair Ellen” sounding with a flourish,
The Comet came all bright, bran new, and smart:
Meanwhile the melody conspired¹³ to nourish
The hasty spirit in Lorenzo’s heart,
And soon upon the roof he “topped his part,”
Which never had a more impatient man on,
Wishing devoutly¹⁴ that the steeds would start
Like lightning greased,—or, as at Ballyshannon
Sublimed¹⁵, “greased lightning shot out of a cannon¹⁶.”
[Pg 320]
For, ever since the letter left his hand,
His mind had been in vacillating motion,
Dodge-dodging like a fluster’d crab¹⁷ on land,
That cannot ask its way, and has no notion
If right or left leads to the German Ocean—
Hatred¹⁸ and Love by turns enjoy’d monopolies,
Till, like a Doctor following his own potion,
Before a learned pig could spell Acropolis,
He went and booked himself for our metropolis¹⁹.
“Oh, for a horse,” or rather four,—“with wings!”
For so he put the wish into the plural—
No relish²⁰ he retained for country things,
He could not join felicity with rural,
His thoughts were all with London and the mural,
Where architects—not paupers—heap and pile stones;
Or with the horses’ muscles, called the crural,
How fast they could macadamize the milestones²¹
Which pass’d as tediously as gall²² or bile stones.
Blind to the picturesque²³, he ne’er perceived
In Nature one artistical fine stroke;
For instance, how that purple hill relieved
The beggar-woman in the gipsy-poke,
And how the red cow carried off her cloak;
Or how the aged²⁴ horse, so gaunt and grey,
Threw off a noble mass of beech²⁵ and oak!
Or, how the tinker’s ass⁴, beside the way,
Came boldly out from a white cloud—to bray²⁶!
Such things have no delight for worried men,
That travel full of care and anxious smart:
Coachmen and horses, are your artists then:
Just try a team of draughtsmen with the Dart²⁷,
Take Shee, for instance, Etty, Jones, and Hart,
[Pg 321]
Let every neck be put into its noose²⁸,
Then tip ’em on the flank to make ’em start,
And see how they will draw!—Four screws let loose
Would make a difference—or I’m a goose!
Nor cared he more about the promised crops,
If oats were looking up, or wheat was laid,
For flies in turnip²⁹, or a blight³⁰ in hops³¹,
Or how the barley³² prosper’d or decay’d;
In short, no items of the farming trade.
Peas, beans, tares³³, ’taters, could his mind beguile³⁴;
Nor did he answer to the servant maid,
That always asked at every other mile,
“Where do we change, Sir?” with her sweetest smile.

1 wedded   

adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's wedded to her job. 她专心致志于工作。
• I was invited over by the newly wedded couple for a meal. 我被那对新婚夫妇请去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 hustled   

催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
• The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。

3 boor   

n.举止粗野的人；乡下佬

参考例句：

• I'm a bit of a boor,so I hope you won't mind if I speak bluntly.我是一个粗人，说话直来直去，你可别见怪。
• If he fears the intellectual,he despises the boor.他对知识分子有戒心，但是更瞧不起乡下人。

4 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

5 pry   

vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起)

参考例句：

• He's always ready to pry into other people's business.他总爱探听别人的事。
• We use an iron bar to pry open the box.我们用铁棍撬开箱子。

6 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

7 fretting   

n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的

参考例句：

• Fretting about it won't help. 苦恼于事无补。
• The old lady is always fretting over something unimportant. 那位老妇人总是为一些小事焦虑不安。

8 tacks   

大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法

参考例句：

• Never mind the side issues, let's get down to brass tacks and thrash out a basic agreement. 别管枝节问题，让我们讨论问题的实质，以求得基本一致。
• Get down to the brass tacks,and quit talking round the subject. 谈实质问题吧，别兜圈子了。

9 deviated   

v.偏离，越轨( deviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• On this occasion the plane deviated from its usual flight path. 这一次那架飞机偏离了正常的航线。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His statements sometimes deviated from the truth. 他的陈述有时偏离事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。

12 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。

13 conspired   

密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
• Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。

14 devoutly   

adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地

参考例句：

• She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈，而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句

15 sublimed   

伟大的( sublime的过去式和过去分词 )； 令人赞叹的； 极端的； 不顾后果的

参考例句：

• After microtomy the sulphur is sublimed away under vacuum. 在完成切片后，可在真空下将硫升华除掉。
• The ice sublimed away, leaving the books, dry and undamaged. 冰已经升华掉了，剩下的是干燥的完好无损的书本。

16 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

17 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

18 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

19 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

20 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

21 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网

22 gall   

v.使烦恼，使焦躁，难堪；n.磨难

参考例句：

• It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。
• No gall,no glory.没有磨难，何来荣耀。

23 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

24 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

25 beech   

n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的

参考例句：

• Autumn is the time to see the beech woods in all their glory.秋天是观赏山毛榉林的最佳时期。
• Exasperated,he leaped the stream,and strode towards beech clump.他满腔恼怒，跳过小河，大踏步向毛榉林子走去。

26 bray   

n.驴叫声, 喇叭声；v.驴叫

参考例句：

• She cut him off with a wild bray of laughter.她用刺耳的狂笑打断了他的讲话。
• The donkey brayed and tried to bolt.这头驴嘶叫着试图脱缰而逃。

27 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

28 noose   

n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑

参考例句：

• They tied a noose round her neck.他们在她脖子上系了一个活扣。
• A hangman's noose had already been placed around his neck.一个绞刑的绳圈已经套在他的脖子上。

29 turnip   

n.萝卜，芜菁

参考例句：

• The turnip provides nutrition for you.芜菁为你提供营养。
• A turnip is a root vegetable.芜菁是根茎类植物。

30 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

31 hops   

跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• The sparrow crossed the lawn in a series of hops. 那麻雀一蹦一跳地穿过草坪。
• It is brewed from malt and hops. 它用麦精和蛇麻草酿成。

32 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

33 tares   

荑；稂莠；稗

参考例句：

• Mt.13:26 And when the blade sprouted and produced fruit, then the tares appeared also. 太十三26到长苗吐穗的时候，稗子也显出来。 来自互联网
• But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit then appeared the tares also. 到了麦子长大结穗的时候，稗子也出现了。 来自互联网

34 beguile   

vt.欺骗，消遣

参考例句：

• They are playing cards to beguile the time.他们在打牌以消磨时间。
• He used his newspapers to beguile the readers into buying shares in his company.他利用他的报纸诱骗读者买他公司的股票。