The Acorn and the Pumpkin

   God's works are good. This truth to prove

  Around the world I need not move;

    I do it by the nearest Pumpkin¹.

  "This fruit so large, on vine so small,"

    Surveying once, exclaim'd a bumpkin—

  "What could He mean who made us all?

  He's left this Pumpkin out of place.

  If I had order'd in the case,

  Upon that oak it should have hung——

  A noble fruit as ever swung

  To grace a tree so firm and strong.

  Indeed, it was a great mistake,

      As this discovery teaches,

  That I myself did not partake

  His counsels whom my curate preaches.

  All things had then in order come;

    This Acorn², for example,

      Not bigger than my thumb,

  Had not disgraced a tree so ample.

  The more I think, the more I wonder

  To see outraged³ proportion's laws,

  And that without the slightest cause;

  God surely made an awkward blunder."

  With such reflections proudly fraught⁴,

  Our sage⁵ grew tired of mighty⁶ thought,

  And threw himself on Nature's lap,

  Beneath an oak, to take his nap.

  Plump on his nose, by lucky hap⁷,

  An Acorn fell: he waked, and in

  The scarf he wore beneath his chin,

  He found the cause of such a bruise⁸

  As made him different language use.

  "Oh! Oh!" he cried; "I bleed! I bleed!

  And this is what has done the deed!

  But, truly, what had been my fate,

  Had this had half a Pumpkin's weight!

  I see that God had reasons good,

  And all His works were understood."

  Thus home he went in humbler mood.

1 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

2 acorn   

n.橡实，橡子

参考例句：

• The oak is implicit in the acorn.橡树孕育于橡子之中。
• The tree grew from a small acorn.橡树从一粒小橡子生长而来。

3 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

4 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

5 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

6 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。

7 hap   

n.运气；v.偶然发生

参考例句：

• Some have the hap,some stick in the gap.有的人走运, 有的人倒霉。
• May your son be blessed by hap and happiness.愿你儿子走运幸福。

8 bruise   

n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤

参考例句：

• The bruise was caused by a kick.这伤痕是脚踢的。
• Jack fell down yesterday and got a big bruise on his face.杰克昨天摔了一跤，脸上摔出老大一块淤斑。