Our Village.

By a Villager.

Our village, that’s to say, not Miss Mitford’s village, but our village of Bullock Smithy,

Is come into by an avenue of trees, three oak pollards, two elders, and a withy;

And in the middle there’s a green, of about not exceeding an acre and a half;

It’s common to all and fed off by nineteen cows, six ponies¹, three horses, five asses², two foals, seven pigs, and a calf³!

Besides a pond in the middle, as is held by a similar sort of common law lease,

And contains twenty ducks, six drakes, three ganders, two dead dogs, four drowned kittens, and twelve geese.

Of course the green’s cropt very close, and does famous for bowling⁴ when the little village boys play at cricket;

Only some horse, or pig, or cow, or great jackass, is sure to come and stand right before the wicket.

There’s fifty-five private houses, let alone barns and workshops, and pigsties⁷, and poultry⁸ huts, and such-like sheds,

With plenty of public-houses — two Foxes, one Green Man, three Bunch of Grapes, one Crown, and six King’s Heads.

The Green Man is reckoned the best, as the only one that for love or money can raise

A postillion, a blue jacket, two deplorable lame⁹ white horses, and a ramshackle “neat post-chaise!”

There’s one parish church for all the people, whatsoever¹⁰ may be their ranks in life or their degrees,

Except one very damp, small, dark, freezing cold, a little Methodist Chapel¹¹ of Ease;

And close by the churchyard, there’s a stone-mason’s yard, that when the time is seasonable

Will furnish with afflictions sore and marble urns¹² and cherubims, very low and reasonable.

There’s a cage, comfortable enough; I’ve been in it with Old Jack⁵ Jeffery and Tom Pike;

For the Green Man next door will send you in ale, gin, or anything else you like.

I can’t speak of the stocks, as nothing remains¹³ of them but the upright post;

But the pound is kept in repair for the sake of Cob’s horse as is always there almost.

There’s a smithy of course, where that queer sort of a chap in his way, Old Joe Bradley,

Perpetually hammers and stammers¹⁴, for he stutters and shoes horses very badly.

There’s a shop of all sorts that sells everything, kept by the widow of Mr. Task;

But when you go there it’s ten to one she’s out of everything you ask.

You’ll know her house by the swarm¹⁵ of boys, like flies, about the old sugary cask:

There are six empty houses, and not so well papered inside as out,

For bill-stickers won’t beware, but stick notices of sales and election placards all about.

That’s the Doctor’s with a green door, where the garden pots in the window is seen;

A weakly monthly rose that don’t blow, and a red geranium, and a teaplant with five black leaves, and one green.

As for hollyhocks at the cottage doors, and honeysuckles and jasmines, you may go and whistle;

But the Tailor’s front garden grows two cabbages, a dock, a ha’porth of pennyroyal, two dandelions, and a thistle!

There are three small orchards¹⁶ — Mr. Busby’s the school-master’s is the chief —

With two pear trees that don’t bear; one plum, and an apple that every year is stripped by a thief.

There’s another small day-school too, kept by the respectable Mrs. Gaby,

A select establishment for six little boys, and one big, and four little girls and a baby;

There’s a rectory with pointed¹⁷ gables and strange odd chimneys that never smokes,

For the Rector don’t live on his living like other Christian¹⁸ sort of folks;

There’s a barber’s once a week well filled with rough black-bearded, shock-headed churls,

And a window with two feminine men’s heads, and two masculine ladies in false curls;

There’s a butcher’s, and a carpenter’s, and a plumber’s, and a small greengrocer’s, and a baker¹⁹,

But he won’t bake on a Sunday; and there’s a sexton that’s a coal merchant besides, and an undertaker;

And a toyshop, but not a whole one, for a village can’t compare with the London shops;

One window sells drums, dolls, kites, carts, bats, Clout’s balls, and the other sells malt and hops⁶,

And Mrs. Brown in domestic economy not to be a bit behind her betters,

Lets her house to a milliner, a watchmaker, a rat-catcher, a cobbler, lives in it herself, and it’s the post-office for letters.

Now I’ve gone through all the village — ay, from end to end, save and except one more house,

But I haven’t come to that — and I hope I never shall — and that’s the Village Poor House!

1 ponies   

矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑

参考例句：

• They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
• She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。

2 asses   

n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人

参考例句：

• Sometimes I got to kick asses to make this place run right. 有时我为了把这个地方搞得像个样子，也不得不踢踢别人的屁股。 来自教父部分
• Those were wild asses maybe, or zebras flying around in herds. 那些也许是野驴或斑马在成群地奔跑。

3 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

4 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

5 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。

6 hops   

跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• The sparrow crossed the lawn in a series of hops. 那麻雀一蹦一跳地穿过草坪。
• It is brewed from malt and hops. 它用麦精和蛇麻草酿成。

7 pigsties   

n.猪圈，脏房间( pigsty的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are many pigs in the pigsties. 猪圈里有许多猪。 来自辞典例句
• The convector pits are covered with concrete grids that are prefabricatedbuilding pigsties. 供热器并被通常用在猪圈上的混凝土格栅覆盖。 来自互联网

8 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

9 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

10 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

11 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

12 urns   

n.壶( urn的名词复数 )；瓮；缸；骨灰瓮

参考例句：

• Wine utensils unearthed include jars, urns, pots, bowls and cups. 发掘出的酒器皿有瓶、瓮、罐、壶、碗和杯子。 来自互联网
• Ernie yearned to learn to turn urns. 呕尼渴望学会转咖啡壶。 来自互联网

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 stammers   

n.口吃，结巴( stammer的名词复数 )v.结巴地说出( stammer的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She stammers when she feels nervous. 她紧张时就口吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The little child stammers in the presence of strangers. 那小孩在陌生人面前说话就结巴。 来自辞典例句

15 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

16 orchards   

（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
• Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。

17 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

18 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。

19 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。