The Supper Superstition.

A Pathetic Ballad¹.

“Oh flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified!”— MERCUTIO
1.

’Twas twelve o’clock by Chelsea chimes,

When all in hungry trim,

Good Mister Jupp sat down to sup

With wife, and Kate, and Jim.
2.

Said he, “Upon this dainty cod²

How bravely I shall sup”—

When, whiter than the tablecloth³,

A GHOST came rising up!
3.

“O father dear, O mother dear,

Dear Kate, and brother Jim —

You know when some one went to sea —

Don’t cry — but I am him!”
4.

“You hope some day with fond embrace

To greet your absent Jack⁴,

But oh, I am come here to say

I’m never coming back!”
5.

“From Alexandria we set sail,

With corn, and oil, and figs⁵,

But steering⁶ ‘too much Sow,’ we struck

Upon the Sow and Pigs!”
6.

“The ship we pumped till we could see

Old England from the tops;

When down she went with all our hands,

Right in the Channel’s Chops.”
7.

“Just give a look in Norey’s chart,

The very place it tells;

I think it says twelve fathom⁷ deep,

Clay bottom, mixed with shells.”
8.

“Well, there we are till ‘hands aloft,’

We have at last a call;

The pug I had for brother Jim,

Kate’s parrot too, and all.”
9.

“But oh, my spirit cannot rest

In Davy Joneses sod,

Till I’ve appeared to you and said —

Don’t sup on that ’ere Cod!”
10.

“You live on land, and little think

What passes in the sea;

Last Sunday week, at 2 P.M.,

That Cod was picking me!”
11.

“Those oysters⁸, too, that look so plump,

And seem so nicely done,

They put my corpse⁹ in many shells,

Instead of only one.”
12.

“Oh, do not eat those oysters then,

And do not touch the shrimps¹⁰;

When I was in my briny¹² grave,

They sucked my blood like imps¹¹!”
13.

“Don’t eat what brutes¹³ would never eat,

The brutes I used to pat,

They’ll know the smell they used to smell,

Just try the dog and cat!”
14.

The spirit fled — they wept his fate,

And cried, Alack, alack!

At last up started brother Jim,

“Let’s try if Jack, was Jack!”
15.

They called the Dog, they called the Cat,

And little Kitten too,

And down they put the Cod and sauce,

To see what brutes would do.
16.

Old Tray licked all the oysters up,

Puss never stood at crimps,

But munched¹⁵ the Cod — and little Kit¹⁴

Quite feasted on the shrimps!
17.

The thing was odd, and minus Cod

And sauce, they stood like posts;

Oh, prudent¹⁶ folks, for fear of hoax¹⁷,

Put no belief in Ghosts!

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 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

3 tablecloth   

n.桌布，台布

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。

4 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

5 figs   

figures 数字，图形，外形

参考例句：

• The effect of ring dyeing is shown in Figs 10 and 11. 环形染色的影响如图10和图11所示。
• The results in Figs. 4 and 5 show the excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. 图4和图5的结果都表明模拟和实验是相当吻合的。

6 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

7 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

8 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

9 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。

10 shrimps   

n.虾，小虾( shrimp的名词复数 )；矮小的人

参考例句：

• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood. 小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I'm going to have shrimps for my tea. 傍晚的便餐我要吃点虾。 来自辞典例句

11 imps   

n.（故事中的）小恶魔( imp的名词复数 )；小魔鬼；小淘气；顽童

参考例句：

• Those imps are brewing mischief. 那些小淘气们正在打坏主意。 来自辞典例句
• No marvel if the imps follow when the devil goes before. 魔鬼带头，难怪小鬼纷纷跟随。 来自互联网

12 briny   

adj.盐水的；很咸的；n.海洋

参考例句：

• The briny water is not good for the growth of the trees.海水不利于这种树木的生长。
• The briny air gave a foretaste of the nearby sea.咸空气是快近海的前兆。

13 brutes   

兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性

参考例句：

• They're not like dogs; they're hideous brutes. 它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。
• Suddenly the foul musty odour of the brutes struck his nostrils. 突然，他的鼻尖闻到了老鼠的霉臭味。 来自英汉文学

14 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

15 munched   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She munched on an apple. 她在大口啃苹果。
• The rabbit munched on the fresh carrots. 兔子咯吱咯吱地嚼着新鲜胡萝卜。 来自辞典例句

16 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

17 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。