THE LOVERS

A WHIP-TOP and a Ball were together in a drawer among some other toys; and the Top said to the Ball,

“Shall we not be bridegroom and bride, as we live together in the same box?”

But the Ball, which had a coat of morocco leather,and was just as conceited¹ as any fine lady, would make no answer to such a proposal.

Next day the little boy came to whom the toys belonged: he painted the top red and yellow, and hammered a brass² nail into it; and it looked splendid when the top turned round!

“Look at me!”he cried to the Ball. “What do you say now? Shall we not be engaged to each other? We suit one another so well! You jump and I dance! No one could be happier than we two should be.”

“Indeed? Do you think so?”replied the Ball. “Perhaps you do not know that my papa and my mamma were Morocco slippers³, and that I have a cork⁴ inside me?”

“Yes, but I am made of mahogany,” said the Top;“and the mayor himself turned me. He has a turning-lathe of his own, and it amuses him greatly.”

“Can I depend upon that?” asked the Ball.

“May I never be whipped again if it is not true!”replied the Top.

“You can speak well for yourself,”observed the Ball, “but I cannot grant your request. I am as good as engaged to a swallow: every time I leap up into the air it puts its head out of its nest and says, ‘Will you?’And now I have silently said ‘Yes,’and that is as good as half engaged; but I promise I will never forget you. ”

“Yes, that will be much good!”said the Top.

And they spoke⁵ no more to each other.

Next day the Ball was taken out by the boy. The Top saw how it flew high into the air, like a bird; at last one could no longer see it. Each time it came back again,but gave a high leap when it touched the earth, and that was done either from its longing⁶ to mount up again, or because it had a cork in its body. But the ninth time the Ball remained absent, and did not come back again; and the boy sought and sought, but it was gone.

“I know very well where it is!”sighed the Top. “It is in the swallow's nest, and has married the swallow!”

The more the Top thought of this, the more it longed for the Ball. Just because it could not get the Ball , its love increased; and the fact that the Ball had chosen another, formed a peculiar⁷ feature in the case. So the Top danced round and hummed, but always thought of the Ball, which became more and more beautiful in his fancy. Thus several years went by , and now it was an old love.

And the Top was no longer young! But one day he was gilt⁸ all over; never had he looked so handsome; he was now a golden Top, and sprang till he hummed again.Yes, that was something worth seeing! But all at once hesprang too high, and----he was gone!

They looked and looked, even in the cellar, but he was not to be found. Where could he be?

He had jumped into the dust-bin, where all kinds of things were lying: cabbage stalks, sweepings⁹, and dust that had fallen down from the roof.

“Here's a nice place to lie in! The gilding¹⁰ will soon leave me here. Among what a rabble¹¹ have I alighted!”And then he looked sideways at a long leafless cabbage stump¹², and at a curious round thing that looked like an old apple; but it was not an apple----it was an old Ball, which had lain for yeas in the gutter¹³ on the roof, and was quite saturated¹⁴ with water.

“Thank goodness, here comes one of us, with whom one can talk!”said the Ball, and looked at the gilt Top.“I am real morocco, worked by maidens¹⁵' hands, and have a cork within me; but no one would think it, to look at me. I was very nearly marrying a swallow, but I fell into the gutter on the roof, and have lain there full five years, and become quite wet through. You may believe me, that's a long time for a young girl.” But the Top said nothing. He thought of his old love; and the more he heard, the clearer it became to him that this was she.

Then came the servant-girl, and wanted to turn out the dust-bin.

“Aha! there's the gilt top!”she cried.

And so the Top was brought again to notice and honour, but nothing was heard of the Ball. And the Top spoke no more of his old love; for that dies away when the beloved object has lain for five years in a roof-gutter and got wet through; yes, one does not know her again when one meets her in the dust-bin.

1 conceited   

adj.自负的，骄傲自满的

参考例句：

• He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
• I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。

2 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

3 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

4 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

7 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

8 gilt   

adj.镀金的；n.金边证券

参考例句：

• The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。
• The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

9 sweepings   

n.笼统的( sweeping的名词复数 )；（在投票等中的）大胜；影响广泛的；包罗万象的

参考例句：

• Yet he only thought about tea leaf sweepings which cost one cent a packet. 只是想到了，他还是喝那一个子儿一包的碎末。 来自互联网

10 gilding   

n.贴金箔，镀金

参考例句：

• The dress is perfect. Don't add anything to it at all. It would just be gilding the lily. 这条裙子已经很完美了，别再作任何修饰了，那只会画蛇添足。
• The gilding is extremely lavish. 这层镀金极为奢华。

11 rabble   

n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人

参考例句：

• They formed an army out of rabble.他们用乌合之众组成一支军队。
• Poverty in itself does not make men into a rabble.贫困自身并不能使人成为贱民。

12 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

13 gutter   

n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟

参考例句：

• There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。
• He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

14 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

15 maidens   

处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功，少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹