Faithless Sally Brown.?

An Old Ballad¹.

Young Ben he was a nice young man,

A carpenter by trade;

And he fell in love with Sally Brown,

That was a lady’s maid.

But as they fetch’d a walk one day,

They met a press-gang crew;

And Sally she did faint away,

Whilst Ben he was brought to.

The Boatswain swore with wicked words,

Enough to shock a saint.

That though she did seem in a fit,

’Twas nothing but a feint.

“Come, girl,” said he, “hold up your head,

He’ll be as good as me;

For when your swain is in our boat,

A boatswain he will be.”

So when they’d made their game of her,

And taken off her elf,

She roused, and found she only was

A coming to herself.

“And is he gone, and is he gone?”

She cried, and wept outright²:

“Then I will to the water-side,

And see him out of sight.”

A waterman came up to her —

“Now, young woman,” said he,

“If you weep on so, you will make

Eye-water in the sea.”

“Alas! they’ve taken my beau, Ben,

To sail with old Benbow”;

And her woe³ began to run afresh,

As if she’d said Gee⁴ woe!

Says he, “They’ve only taken him

To the Tender-ship, you see”; —

“The Tender-ship,” cried Sally Brown,

What a hard-ship that must be!

“O! would I were a mermaid⁵ now,

For then I’d follow him;

But, oh! I’m not a fish-woman,

And so I cannot swim.

“Alas! I was not born beneath

‘The virgin⁶ and the scales,’

So I must curse my cruel stars,

And walk about in Wales,”

Now Ben had sail’d to many a place

That’s underneath⁷ the world;

But in two years the ship came home,

And all the sails were furl’d.

But when he call’d on Sally Brown,

To see how she went on,

He found she’d got another Ben,

Whose Christian⁸ name was John.

“O Sally Brown, O Sally Brown,

How could you serve me so,

I’ve met with many a breeze before,

But never such a blow!”

Then reading on his ‘bacco box,

He heaved a heavy sigh,

And then began to eye his pipe,

And then to pipe his eye.

And then he tried to sing “All’s Well,”

But could not, though he tried;

His head was turn’d, and so he chew’d

His pigtail till he died.

His death, which happen’d in his berth⁹,

At forty-odd befell:

They went and told the sexton, and

The sexton toll’d the bell.

1 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

2 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

3 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

4 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

5 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。

6 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

7 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。