THE ROOK AND THE SPARROWS XXIII

 

A little boy with crumbs¹ of bread

Many a hungry sparrow fed.

It was a child of little sense

Who this kind bounty² did dispense³;

For suddenly ’twas from them torn,

And all the birds were left forlorn

In a hard time of frost and snow,

Not knowing where for food to go.

He would no longer give them bread,

Because he had observed, he said,

A great black bird, a rook by name,

That sometimes to the window came

And took away a small bird’s share.

So foolish Henry did not care

What became of the great rook

That from the little sparrows took,

Now and then, as ’twere by stealth,

A part of their abundant wealth;

Nor ever more would feed his sparrows.

Thus ignorance a kind heart narrows.

I wish I had been there, I would

Have told the child, rooks live by food

In the same way the sparrows do.

I also would have told him too

Birds act by instinct, and ne’er can

Attain⁴ the rectitude of man.

Nay⁵, that even when distress⁶

Does on poor human nature press,

We need not be too strict in seeing

The failings of a fellow-being.

1 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

2 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

3 dispense   

vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施

参考例句：

• Let us dispense the food.咱们来分发这食物。
• The charity has been given a large sum of money to dispense as it sees fit.这个慈善机构获得一大笔钱，可自行适当分配。

4 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

5 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

6 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。