“As it Fell Upon a Day.”

Oh! what’s befallen Bessy Brown,

She stands so squalling in the street;

She’s let her pitcher¹ tumble down,

And all the water’s at her feet!

The little school-boys stood about,

And laugh’d to see her pumping, pumping;

Now with a curtsey to the spout²,

And then upon her tiptoes jumping.

Long time she waited for her neighbors,

To have their turns:— but she must lose

The watery³ wages of her labors⁴ —

Except a little in her shoes!

Without a voice to tell her tale,

And ugly transport in her face;

All like a jugless nightingale,

She thinks of her bereavèd case.

At last she sobs⁵ — she cries — she screams!

And pours her flood of sorrows out,

From eyes and mouth, in mingled⁶ streams,

Just like the lion on the spout.

For well poor Bessy knows her mother

Must lose her tea, for water’s lack,

That Sukey burns — and baby-brother

Must be dryrubb’d with huck-a-back!

1 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

2 spout   

v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱

参考例句：

• Implication in folk wealth creativity and undertaking vigor spout.蕴藏于民间的财富创造力和创业活力喷涌而出。
• This acts as a spout to drain off water during a rainstorm.在暴风雨季，这东西被用作喷管来排水。

3 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

4 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

5 sobs   

啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She was struggling to suppress her sobs. 她拼命不让自己哭出来。
• She burst into a convulsive sobs. 她突然抽泣起来。

6 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。