The Dove and the Ant

   A Dove came to a brook¹ to drink,

  When, leaning o'er its crumbling² brink³,

  An Ant fell in, and vainly tried,

  In this, to her, an ocean tide,

  To reach the land; whereat the Dove,

  With every living thing in love,

  Was prompt a spire⁴ of grass to throw her,

  By which the Ant regained⁵ the shore.

 

  A barefoot scamp, both mean and sly,

  Soon after chanced this Dove to spy;

  And, being arm'd with bow and arrow,

    The hungry codger doubted not

    The bird of Venus, in his pot,

  Would make a soup before the morrow.

  Just as his deadly bow he drew,

    Our Ant just bit his heel.

    Roused by the villain's squeal⁶,

  The Dove took timely hint, and flew

    Far from the rascal's coop—

    And with her flew his soup.

1 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。

2 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

3 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

4 spire   

n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点

参考例句：

• The church spire was struck by lightning.教堂的尖顶遭到了雷击。
• They could just make out the spire of the church in the distance.他们只能辨认出远处教堂的尖塔。

5 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

6 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。