THE BLACK REAPER

PROEM

Heaven's Nursery

 

"Sinner, sinner, whence do you come?"

  "From the bitter earth they called my home."

"Sinner, sinner, why do you wait?"

  "I fear to knock at the golden gate:

"My crimes were heavy; my doom¹ is sure,

  And I dread² the anguish³ I must endure."

"Had you ever a child down there?"

  "One—but it died, and I learnt despair."

"Here you will find it, behind the gate."

  "God forbid! for it felt my hate—

"Shrunk in the frost of my cruelties.

  More than the Judge's I fear its eyes."

"Hist! At the keyhole place your ear.

  Sinner, what is the sound you hear?

"Is it ten thousand babes at play?

  Heaven's nursery lies that way.

"Through it to judgment⁴ all must fare

  It was God's pity placed it there."

The gate swung open; the sinner past;

  Little hands caught and held him fast.

"While you wait the call of the Nameless One,

  There's time for a game at 'Touch-and-Run'!"

He played with them there in that shining place,

  With the hot tears scorching⁵ his furrowed⁶ face—

Played, till the voice rang dread and clear:

  "Where is the sinner? I wait him here!"

Then shouting with laughter one and all

  They pushed him on to the Judgment Hall;

Stood by him; swarmed⁷ to the daïs steps,

  A jumble⁸ of gleeful eyes and lips.

The Judge leaned stern from His Judgment Throne:

  "I gave thee—where is thy littte one?"

Wildly the culprit caught his breath:

  "Lord, I have sinned. My doom be death."

He hung his head with a broken sob⁹.

  There sprang a child from the rosy¹⁰ mob—

"Daddy!" it cried, with a joyful¹¹ shriek¹²;

  Leapt to his arms and kissed his cheek.

But he put it from him with bursting sighs,

  And looked on the Judge with swimming eyes;

Stood abashed¹³ in his bitter shame,

  Waiting the sentence that never came.

From the Throne spoke¹⁴ out the thundered Word:

  "This be thy doom!" No more he heard,

For a chime of laughter from baby throats

  Took up those crashing organ notes,

Mixed with; silenced them; made them void—

  And the children's laughter was unalloyed,

"This be thy doom," came a little squeak¹⁵,

  "To play with us here at 'hide-and-seek'!"

Thrice did the Judge essay to frown;

  Thrice did the children laugh Him down—

Till at the last, He caught and kissed

  The maddest of all and the merriest;

Turned to the sinner, with smiling face:

  "These render futile¹⁶ the Judgment Place.

"Sunniest rascals¹⁷, imp¹⁸ and elf,

  Who think they can better the Judge Himself.

"Sinner—whatever thy sins may be,

  Theirs is the sentence—go from Me!"

1 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

2 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。

3 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

6 furrowed   

v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Overhead hung a summer sky furrowed with the rash of rockets. 头顶上的夏日夜空纵横着急疾而过的焰火。 来自辞典例句
• The car furrowed the loose sand as it crossed the desert. 车子横过沙漠，在松软的沙土上犁出了一道车辙。 来自辞典例句

7 swarmed   

密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响，孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
• When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下，人群就蜂拥回了旅社。

8 jumble   

vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆

参考例句：

• Even the furniture remained the same jumble that it had always been.甚至家具还是象过去一样杂乱无章。
• The things in the drawer were all in a jumble.抽屉里的东西很杂乱。

9 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

10 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

11 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

12 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

13 abashed   

adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He glanced at Juliet accusingly and she looked suitably abashed. 他怪罪的一瞥，朱丽叶自然显得很窘。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The girl was abashed by the laughter of her classmates. 那小姑娘因同学的哄笑而局促不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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。

15 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

16 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

17 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

18 imp   

n.顽童

参考例句：

• What a little imp you are!你这个淘气包！
• There's a little imp always running with him.他总有一个小鬼跟着。