The Rat and the Elephant

 

 

  A Rat, of quite the smallest size,

  Fix'd on an Elephant his eyes,

  And jeer'd the beast of high descent

  Because his feet so slowly went.

  Upon his back, three stories high,

  There sat, beneath a canopy¹,

  A certain sultan of renown²,

    His Dog, and Cat, and wife sublime³,

    His parrot, servant, and his wine,

  All pilgrims to a distant town.

  The Rat profess'd to be amazed

  That all the people stood and gazed

  With wonder, as he pass'd the road,

  Both at the creature and his load.

      "As if," said he, "to occupy

      A little more of land or sky

  Made one, in view of common sense,

  Of greater worth and consequence!

  What see ye, men, in this parade,

  That food for wonder need be made?

  The bulk which makes a child afraid?

  In truth, I take myself to be,

  In all aspects, as good as he."

  And further might have gone his vaunt;

      But, darting⁴ down, the Cat

      Convinced him that a Rat

  Is smaller than an elephant.

1 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

2 renown   

n.声誉，名望

参考例句：

• His renown has spread throughout the country.他的名声已传遍全国。
• She used to be a singer of some renown.她曾是位小有名气的歌手。

3 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。

4 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句