The Man in the Moon

 The Man in the Moon came tumbling down,

And enquired¹ the way to Norwich;

He went by the south and burned his mouth

With eating cold pease porridge!

WHAT! have you never heard the story of the Man in the Moon? Then I must surely tell it, for it is very amusing, and there is not a word of truth in it.

 

The Man in the Moon was rather lonesome, and often he peeked² over the edge of the moon and looked down upon the earth and envied all the people who lived together, for he thought it must be vastly more pleasant to have companions to talk to than to be shut up in a big planet all by himself, where he had to whistle to keep himself company.

 

One day he looked down and saw an alderman sailing up through the air towards him. This alderman was being translated (instead of being transported, owing to a misprint in the law) and as he came near the Man in the Moon called to him and said,

 

"How is everything down on the earth?"

 

"Everything is lovely," replied the alderman, "and I wouldn't leave it if I was not obliged to."

 

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"What's a good place to visit down there? enquired the Man in the Moon.

 

"Oh, Norwich is a mighty³ fine place," returned the alderman, "and it's famous for its pease porridge;" and then he sailed out of sight and left the Man in the Moon to reflect upon what he had said.

 

The words of the alderman made him more anxious than ever to visit the earth, and so he walked thoughtfully home, and put a few lumps of ice in the stove to keep him warm, and sat down to think how he should manage the trip.

 

You see, everything went by contraries in the Moon, and when the Man wished to keep warm he knocked off a few chunks⁴ of ice and put them in his stove; and he cooled his drinking water by throwing red-hot coals of fire into the pitcher⁵. Likewise, when he became chilly⁶ he took off his hat and coat, and even his shoes, and so became warm; and in the hot days of summer he put on his overcoat to cool off.

 

All of which seems very queer to you, no doubt; but it wasn't at all queer to the Man in the Moon, for he was accustomed to it.

 

Well, he sat by his ice-cool fire and thought about his journey to the earth, and finally he decided⁷ the only way he could get there was to slide down a moonbeam.

 

So he left the house and locked the door and put the key in his pocket, for he was uncertain how long he should be gone; and then he went to the edge of[111] the moon and began to search for a good strong moonbeam.

 

At last he found one that seemed rather substantial and reached right down to a pleasant-looking spot on the earth; and so he swung himself over the edge of the moon, and put both arms tight around the moonbeam and started to slide down. But he found it rather slippery, and in spite of all his efforts to hold on he found himself going faster and faster, so that just before he reached the earth he lost his hold and came tumbling down head over heels and fell plump into a river.

 

The cool water nearly scalded him before he could swim out, but fortunately he was near the bank and he quickly scrambled⁸ upon the land and sat down to catch his breath.

 

By that time it was morning, and as the sun rose its hot rays cooled him off somewhat, so that he began looking about curiously⁹ at all the strange sights and wondering where on earth he was.

 

By and by a farmer came along the road by the river with a team of horses drawing a load of hay, and the horses looked so odd to the Man in the Moon that at first he was greatly frightened, never before having seen horses except from his home in the moon, from whence they looked a good deal smaller. But he plucked up courage and said to the farmer,

 

"Can you tell me the way to Norwich, sir?"

 

"Norwich?" repeated the farmer musingly¹⁰; "I[112] don't know exactly where it be, sir, but it's somewhere away to the south."

man in jestor suit sitting in moon

The Man in the Moon

 

"Thank you," said the Man in the Moon.—But stop! I must not call him the Man in the Moon any longer, for of course he was now out of the moon; so I'll simply call him the Man, and you'll know by that which man I mean.

 

Well, the Man in the—I mean the Man (but I nearly forgot what I have just said)—the Man turned to the south and began walking briskly along the road, for he had made up his mind to do as the alderman had advised and travel to Norwich, that he might eat some of the famous pease porridge that was made there. And finally, after a long and tiresome¹¹ journey, he reached the town and stopped at one of the first houses he came to, for by this time he was very hungry indeed.

 

A good-looking woman answered his knock at the door, and he asked politely,

 

"Is this the town of Norwich, madam?"

 

"Surely this is the town of Norwich," returned the woman.

 

"I came here to see if I could get some pease porridge," continued the Man, "for I hear you make the nicest porridge in the world in this town."

 

"That we do, sir," answered the woman, "and if you'll step inside I'll give you a bowl, for I have plenty in the house that is newly made."

 

[113]

 

So he thanked her and entered the house, and she asked,

 

"Will you have it hot or cold, sir?"

 

"Oh, cold, by all means," replied the Man, "for I detest¹² anything hot to eat."

 

She soon brought him a bowl of cold pease porridge, and the Man was so hungry that he took a big spoonful at once.

 

But no sooner had he put it into his mouth than he uttered a great yell, and began dancing frantically¹³ about the room, for of course the porridge that was cold to earth folk was hot to him, and the big spoonful of cold pease porridge had burned his mouth to a blister¹⁴!

 

"What's the matter?" asked the woman.

 

"Matter!" screamed the Man; "why, your porridge is so hot it has burned me."

 

"Fiddlesticks!" she replied, "the porridge is quite cold."

 

"Try it yourself!" he cried. So she tried it and found it very cold and pleasant. But the Man was so astonished to see her eat the porridge that had blistered¹⁵ his own mouth that he became frightened and ran out of the house and down the street as fast as he could go.

 

The policeman on the first corner saw him running, and promptly¹⁶ arrested him, and he was marched off to the magistrate¹⁷ for trial.

 

"What is your name?" asked the magistrate.

 

[114]

 

"I haven't any," replied the Man; for of course as he was the only Man in the Moon it wasn't necessary he should have a name.

 

"Come, come, no nonsense!" said the magistrate, "you must have some name. Who are you?"

 

"Why, I'm the Man in the Moon."

 

"That's rubbish!" said the magistrate, eyeing the prisoner severely¹⁸, "you may be a man, but you're not in the moon—you're in Norwich."

 

"That is true," answered the Man, who was quite bewildered by this idea.

 

"And of course you must be called something," continued the magistrate.

 

"Well, then," said the prisoner, "if I'm not the Man in the Moon I must be the Man out of the Moon; so call me that."

 

"Very good," replied the judge; "now, then, where did you come from?"

 

"The moon."

 

"Oh, you did, eh? How did you get here?"

 

"I slid down a moonbeam."

 

"Indeed! Well, what were you running for?"

 

"A woman gave me some cold pease porridge, and it burned my mouth."

 

The magistrate looked at him a moment in surprise, and then he said,

 

"This person is evidently crazy; so take him to the lunatic asylum¹⁹ and keep him there."

 

This would surely have been the fate of the Man[115] had there not been present an old astronomer²⁰ who had often looked at the moon through his telescope, and so had discovered that what was hot on earth was cold in the moon, and what was cold here was hot there; so he began to think the Man had told the truth. Therefore he begged the magistrate to wait a few minutes while he looked through his telescope to see if the Man in the Moon was there. So, as it was now night, he fetched his telescope and looked at the Moon,—and found there was no man in it at all!

 

"It seems to be true," said the astronomer, "that the Man has got out of the Moon somehow or other. Let me look at your mouth, sir, and see if it is really burned."

 

Then the Man opened his mouth, and everyone saw plainly it was burned to a blister! Thereupon the magistrate begged his pardon for doubting his word, and asked him what he would like to do next.

 

"I'd like to get back to the Moon," said the Man, "for I don't like this earth of yours at all. The nights are too hot."

 

"Why, it's quite cool this evening!" said the magistrate.

 

"I'll tell you what we can do," remarked the astronomer; "there's a big balloon in town which belongs to the circus that came here last summer, and was pawned²¹ for a board bill. We can inflate²² this balloon and send the Man out of the Moon home in it."

 

"That's a good idea," replied the judge. So the[116] balloon was brought and inflated²³, and the Man got into the basket and gave the word to let go, and then the balloon mounted up into the sky in the direction of the moon.

 

The good people of Norwich stood on the earth and tipped back their heads, and watched the balloon go higher and higher, until finally the Man reached out and caught hold of the edge of the moon, and behold²⁴! the next minute he was the Man in the Moon again!

 

After this adventure he was well contented²⁵ to stay at home; and I've no doubt if you look through a telescope you will see him there to this day.

1 enquired   

打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问

参考例句：

• He enquired for the book in a bookstore. 他在书店查询那本书。
• Fauchery jestingly enquired whether the Minister was coming too. 浮式瑞嘲笑着问部长是否也会来。

2 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

3 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

4 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

5 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

6 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

10 musingly   

adv.沉思地，冥想地

参考例句：

11 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

12 detest   

vt.痛恨，憎恶

参考例句：

• I detest people who tell lies.我恨说谎的人。
• The workers detest his overbearing manner.工人们很讨厌他那盛气凌人的态度。

13 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

14 blister   

n.水疱；(油漆等的)气泡；v.(使)起泡

参考例句：

• I got a huge blister on my foot and I couldn't run any farther.我脚上长了一个大水泡，没办法继续跑。
• I have a blister on my heel because my shoe is too tight.鞋子太紧了，我脚后跟起了个泡。

15 blistered   

adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂

参考例句：

• He had a blistered heel. 他的脚后跟起了泡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their hands blistered, but no one complained. 他们手起了泡，可是没有一个人有怨言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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。

17 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

18 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

19 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

20 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

21 pawned   

v.典当，抵押( pawn的过去式和过去分词 )；以（某事物）担保

参考例句：

• He pawned his gold watch to pay the rent. 他抵当了金表用以交租。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 inflate   

vt.使膨胀，使骄傲，抬高（物价）

参考例句：

• The buyers bid against each other and often inflate the prices they pay.买主们竞相投标，往往人为地提高价钱。
• Stuart jumped into the sea and inflated the liferaft.斯图尔特跳到海里给救生艇充气。

23 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 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。

25 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。