The City Rat and the Country Rat

   A city Rat, one night

    Did with a civil stoop

  A Country Rat invite

    To end a turtle soup.

 

  Upon a Turkey carpet

    They found the table spread,

  And sure I need not harp¹ it

    How well the fellows fed.

 

  The entertainment was

    A truly noble one;

  But some unlucky cause

    Disturbed it when begun

 

  It was a slight rat-tat,

    That put their Joys to rout²;

  Out ran the City Rat;

    His guest, too, scampered³ out.

 

  Our rats but fairly quit,

    The fearful knocking ceased,

  "Return we," said the cit,

    "To finish there our feast."

 

  "No," said the Rustic⁴ Rat;

    "To-morrow dine with me.

  I'm not offended at

    Your feast so grand and free,

 

  "For I've no fare resembling;

    But then I eat at leisure,

  And would not swap⁵ for pleasure

    So mixed with fear and trembling."

 

1 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

2 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

3 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 rustic   

adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬

参考例句：

• It was nearly seven months of leisurely rustic living before Michael felt real boredom.这种悠闲的乡村生活过了差不多七个月之后,迈克尔开始感到烦闷。
• We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust.我们希望新鲜的空气和乡村的氛围能帮他调整自己。

5 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。