XV THE LIFTING OF A CHILD

There was a woman, a short while since, and she lived on a snug¹ little farm convenient to the lough. She went to the byre for to milk, of a May morning, and no person stopped in the house only a young child in the cradle.

Not a long was herself without, maybe the half of an hour, and when she came in there was no appearance of any disorder² or strife³ in the kitchen. But the poor wee child lay cold and dead in the cradle. The mother began for to roar and lament⁴, and her heart was feeble with dread⁵.

There came a knock on the door, and a neighbouring man lifted the latch⁶ and walked in. He never let on to observe the woeful [138]countenance of herself, but he says, in a hearty⁷ voice:

“Will you tell me how is the child?”

“He is after dying on us,” she answers. “And he right well this hour past.”

The man went over to the cradle, and he lepped three foot off the floor when he seen the wee corpse⁸ lying there.

“It’s the strangest thing at all,” she laments⁹. “And what’ll I be saying to himself when he lands in from his work.”

“Let you be telling him,” says the man, “that the little fellow is in my house this day.”

“’Tis queer advice you are speaking to be bidding me utter the like of yon lie, forenenst the innocent corpse,” says herself.

“Not a lie in the world, mam,” he answers. “Sure I am just after leaving your child by my own kitchen fire, and he wrapped up in a shawl.”

With that she took a hold of the pot stick for to run him from the place—she was odious¹⁰ vexed¹¹ to think he’d make mock of her sore lamentations.

“Ar’n’t you the ungrateful besom,” says he, “to go destroying a decent neighbour [139]with a pot stick, and he after saving your son from the power of the Good People?”

“Let you tell a straight story, or quit off from here,” she answers. “For I am heart scalded listening to your old nonsense and lies.”

“’Tis striving I was not to give you your death of a scare,” says he. “But the strangest thing is after coming to pass in this house. Let you sit down and have good courage, the way I’ll be telling you a rejoiceful news.”

With that herself brought him over a chair, dusting it clean on her apron¹², then she pulled up the creepy and sat down to attend to his words.

“Did you hear any noise of disturbance,” says he, “wherever you were?”

“I did not,” she answers. “And not a far was I from this place at all. I went to the byre for to milk; and no noise was in it only the cow breathing and the splash of the milk in the can.”

“That’s more nor horrid¹³ strange,” says he. “For I was passing down by the lough and I heard a powerful commotion¹⁴ up here. There was laughter and cheering, the tramp of men’s boots on the street, and horses galloping¹⁵ by. Thinks I to myself, ‘The [140]fairies are out contriving¹⁶ some old villainy this morning of May.’ What did I do only walk up among them, and I seen no person at all. When I came to the house the poor wee child was a handing out on the window, but I could not behold¹⁷ the fairies were at the lifting.

“Well I’d have you to know I’m a brave and venturesome man, with a heart as strong as an eagle! What did I do only make my way in among the whole throng¹⁸ of Good People, and I standing¹⁹ on their feet, and pushing them off to the wall to make space for myself. I took a hold of the child for to pull him from the invisible hands were lifting him out, and, as sure as I’m sitting here, I brought him safe from the lot.

“There went a whole roar of annoyance²⁰ from the fairies, and they mounted up on their horses and away. But I brought the little fellow to my own house for fear they’d return for him to this place.”

The poor mother was wild with delight to hear tell the son was alive.

“Let’s be going to fetch him,” says she. “And he’ll never be left in the house by his lone²¹ from this out.” [141]

The two went down to the neighbour’s house, and sure enough the child was in it asleep by the fire.

The man had to carry him home, for herself was exhausted²² with fright.

“Maybe the Good People are gone up to remove what they left in the cradle,” says she.

But when they went into the kitchen wasn’t the old corpse in it yet.

“We be to bury yon article,” says herself. But the man allowed there was no need to be treating the like the same as a right thing.

“Throw it in on the back of the fire,” says he.

Herself was in dread to lay her hand on the likeness²³ of the child. So the man lifted it out of the cradle and threw it down on the fire. And it blazed away up the chimney for a second’s time and departed in a puff²⁴ of smoke.

1 snug   

adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房

参考例句：

• He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
• She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

4 lament   

n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹

参考例句：

• Her face showed lament.她的脸上露出悲伤的样子。
• We lament the dead.我们哀悼死者。

5 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

6 latch   

n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁

参考例句：

• She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
• The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

7 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

8 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

9 laments   

n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
• In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句

10 odious   

adj.可憎的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
• His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。

11 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

13 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

14 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

15 galloping   

adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The horse started galloping the moment I gave it a good dig. 我猛戳了马一下，它就奔驰起来了。
• Japan is galloping ahead in the race to develop new technology. 日本在发展新技术的竞争中进展迅速，日新月异。

16 contriving   

（不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的现在分词 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到

参考例句：

• Why may not several Deities combine in contriving and framing a world? 为什么不可能是数个神联合起来，设计和构造世界呢？ 来自哲学部分
• The notorious drug-pusher has been contriving an escape from the prison. 臭名昭著的大毒枭一直都在图谋越狱。

17 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

18 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

19 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

20 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

21 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

22 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

23 likeness   

n.相像，相似（之处）

参考例句：

• I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
• She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。

24 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。