DEATH SIGNS.

In one Irish¹ family a cuckoo² always appears before a death. A lady who arrived on a visit at a house observed one morning a cuckoo perched on the window-sill, but she felt no alarm, for there was no sickness in the family. Next day, however, one of the sons was carried home dead. He had been thrown from his horse when hunting, and killed on the spot.

In another family a mysterious sound is heard like the crashing139 of boards, and a rush of wind seems to pass through the house, yet nothing is broken or disturbed. The death of an officer in the Crimea was in this way announced to his family, for the news came immediately after the warning³ sound, and then they knew that the rush of the wind was the spirit of the dead which had passed by them, but without taking any visible⁴ form.

1 Irish   

n.爱尔兰语；爱尔兰人；adj.爱尔兰(人)的

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The two volumes of collected Irish Stories are printed.两卷本的《爱尔兰故事集》已经印好了。

2 cuckoo   

n.布谷鸟，杜鹃

参考例句：

• The cuckoo lays its eggs in other birds'nests.杜鹃在别的鸟巢中产卵。
• The cuckoo is a harbinger of spring.布谷鸟预告春天的来临。

3 warning   

n.警告，告诫，训诫，警戒，警报

参考例句：

• The other side paid no attention to our warning.对方不重视我方的警告。
• He realized that his doctor was warning him off drink.他意识到医生在告诫他戒酒。

4 visible   

adj.看得见的，明显的，显然的；n.可见物

参考例句：

• It is a visible star in the sky.这是一颗在天空中可见的星星。
• The warning lights were clearly visible.警示信号灯清晰可见。