The Wond'rous Wise Man

 There was a man in our town

And he was wond'rous wise;

He jumped into a bramble bush

And scratched out both his eyes.

And when he saw his eyes were out,

With all his might and main

He jumped into another bush

And scratched them in again!

OUR town is a quiet little town, and lies nestling in a little valley surrounded by pretty green hills. I do not think you would ever have heard our town mentioned had not the man lived there who was so wise that everyone marvelled¹ at his great knowledge.

 

He was not always a wise man; he was a wise boy before he grew to manhood, and even when a child he was so remarkable³ for his wisdom that people shook their heads gravely and said, "when he grows up there will be no need of books, for he will know everything!"

 

His father thought he had a wond'rous wise look when he was born, and so he named him Solomon, thinking that if indeed he turned out to be wise the name would fit him nicely, whereas, should he be mistaken,[90] and the boy grow up stupid, his name could be easily changed to Simon.

 

But the father was not mistaken, and the boy's name remained Solomon.

 

When he was still a child Solomon confounded the schoolmaster by asking, one day,

 

"Can you tell me, sir, why a cow drinks water from a brook⁴?"

 

"Well really," replied the abashed⁵ schoolmaster, "I have never given the subject serious thought. But I will sleep upon the question, and try to give you an answer to-morrow."

 

But the schoolmaster could not sleep; he remained awake all the night trying to think why a cow drinks water from a brook, and in the morning he was no nearer the answer than before. So he was obliged to appear before the wise child and acknowledge that he could not solve the problem.

 

"I have looked at the subject from every side," said he, "and given it careful thought, and yet I cannot tell why a cow drinks water from a brook."

 

"Sir," replied the wise child, "it is because the cow is thirsty."

 

The shock of this answer was so great that the schoolmaster fainted away, and when they had brought him to he made a prophecy that Solomon would grow up to be a wond'rous wise man.

 

It was the same way with the village doctor. Solomon came to him one day and asked,

 

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"Tell me, sir, why has a man two eyes?"

 

"Bless me!" exclaimed the doctor, "I must think a bit before I answer, for I have never yet had my attention called to this subject."

 

So he thought for a long time, and then he said,

 

"I must really give it up. I cannot tell, for the life of me, why a man has two eyes. Do you know?"

 

"Yes, sir," answered the boy.

 

"Then," said the doctor, after taking a dose of quinine to brace⁶ up his nerves, for he remembered the fate of the schoolmaster, "then please tell me why a man has two eyes."

 

"A man has two eyes, sir," returned Solomon, solemnly, "because he was born that way."

 

And the doctor marvelled greatly at so much wisdom in a little child, and made a note of it in his note-book.

 

Solomon was so full of wisdom that it flowed from his mouth in a perfect stream, and every day he gave new evidence to his friends that he could scarcely hold all the wise thoughts that came to him. For instance, one day he said to his father,

 

"I perceive our dog has six legs."

 

"Oh, no!" replied his father, "our dog has only four legs."

 

"You are surely mistaken, sir," said Solomon, with the gravity that comes from great wisdom, "these are our dog's fore² legs, are they not?" pointing to the front legs of the dog.

 

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man seated

The Wond'rous Wise Man

 

"Yes," answered his father.

 

"Well," continued Solomon, "the dog has two other legs, besides, and two and four are six; therefore the dog has six legs."

 

"But that is very old," exclaimed his father.

 

"True," replied Solomon, "but this is a young dog."

 

Then his father bowed his head in shame that his own child should teach him wisdom.

 

Of course Solomon wore glasses upon his eyes—all wise people wear them,—and his face was ever grave and solemn, while he walked slowly and stiffly so that people might know he was the celebrated⁷ wise man, and do him reverence⁸.

 

And when he had grown to manhood the fame of his wisdom spread all over the world, so that all the other wise men were jealous, and tried in many ways to confound him; but Solomon always came out ahead and maintained his reputation for wisdom.

 

Finally a very wise man came from Cumberland, to meet Solomon and see which of them was the wisest. He was a very big man, and Solomon was a very little man, and so the people all shook their heads sadly and feared Solomon had met his match, for if the Cumberland man was as full of wisdom as Solomon, he had much the advantage in size.

 

They formed a circle around the two wise men, and then began the trial to see which was the wisest.

 

"Tell me," said Solomon, looking straight up into[93] the big man's face with an air of confidence that reassured⁹ his friends, "how many sisters has a boy who has one father, one mother, and seven brothers?"

 

The big wise man got very red in the face, and scowled¹⁰ and coughed and stammered¹¹, but he could not tell.

 

"I do not know," he acknowledged; "nor do you know, either, for there is no rule to go by."

 

"Oh, yes, I know," replied Solomon; "he has two sisters. I know this is the true answer, because I know the boy and his father and his mother and his brothers and his sisters, so that I cannot be mistaken."

 

Now all the people applauded at this, for they were sure Solomon had got the best of the man from Cumberland.

 

But it was now the big man's turn to try Solomon, so he said,

"Fingers five are on my hand;

All of them upright do stand.

One a dog is, chasing kittens;

One a cat is, wearing mittens¹²;

One a rat is, eating cheese;

One a wolf is, full of fleas¹³;

One a fly is, in a cup—

How many fingers do I hold up?"

 

"Four," replied Solomon, promptly¹⁴, "for one of them is a thumb!"

 

The wise man from Cumberland was so angry at being outwitted that he sprang at Solomon and would no doubt have injured him had not our wise man turned and run away as fast as he could go. The[94] man from Cumberland at once ran after him, and chased him through the streets and down the lanes and up the side of the hill where the bramble-bushes grow.

 

Solomon ran very fast, but the man from Cumberland was bigger, and he was just about to grab our wise man by his coat-tails when Solomon gave a great jump, and jumped right into the middle of a big bramble-bush!

 

The people were all coming up behind, and as the big man did not dare to follow Solomon into the bramble-bush, he turned away and ran home to Cumberland.

 

All the men and women of our town were horrified¹⁵ when they came up and found their wise man in the middle of the bramble-bush, and held fast by the brambles, which scratched and pricked¹⁶ him on every side.

 

"Solomon! are you hurt?" they cried.

 

"I should say I am hurt!" replied Solomon, with a groan¹⁷; "my eyes are scratched out!"

 

"How do you know they are?" asked the village doctor.

 

"I can see they are scratched out!" replied Solomon; and the people all wept with grief at this, and Solomon howled louder than any of them.

 

Now the fact was that when Solomon jumped into the bramble-bush he was wearing his spectacles, and the brambles pushed the glasses so close against his eyes that he could not open them; and so, as every other part of him was scratched and bleeding, and he[95] could not open his eyes, he made sure they were scratched out.

 

"How am I to get out of here?" he asked at last.

 

"You must jump out," replied the doctor, "since you have jumped in."

 

So Solomon made a great jump, and although the brambles tore him cruelly, he sprang entirely¹⁸ out of the bush and fell plump into another one.

 

This last bush, however, by good luck, was not a bramble-bush, but one of elderberry, and when he jumped into it his spectacles fell off, and to his surprise he opened his eyes and found that he could see again.

 

"Where are you now?" called out the doctor.

 

"I'm in the elderberry bush, and I've scratched my eyes in again!" answered Solomon.

 

When the people heard this they marvelled greatly at the wisdom of a man who knew how to scratch his eyes in after they were scratched out; and they lifted Solomon from the bush and carried him home, where they bound up the scratches and nursed him carefully until he was well again.

 

And after that no one ever questioned the wond'rous wisdom of our wise man, and when he finally died, at a good old age, they built a great monument over his grave, and on one side of it were the words,

 

    "Solomon; the Man who was Wond'rous Wise."

 

and on the other side was a picture of a bramble-bush.

 

1 marvelled   

v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I marvelled that he suddenly left college. 我对他突然离开大学感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I marvelled at your boldness. 我对你的大胆感到惊奇。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

5 abashed   

adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He glanced at Juliet accusingly and she looked suitably abashed. 他怪罪的一瞥，朱丽叶自然显得很窘。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The girl was abashed by the laughter of her classmates. 那小姑娘因同学的哄笑而局促不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

7 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

8 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

9 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 scowled   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
• The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。

11 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

12 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

13 fleas   

n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求）

参考例句：

• The dog has fleas. 这条狗有跳蚤。
• Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas. 除非要捉跳蚤，做事不可匆忙。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

15 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

16 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

17 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

18 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。