The Bachelor’s Dream.

My pipe is lit, my grog is mix’d,

My curtains drawn¹ and all is snug²;

Old Puss is in her elbow-chair,

And Tray is sitting on the rug.

Last night I had a curious dream,

Miss Susan Bates was Mistress Mogg —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

She look’d so fair, she sang so well,

I could but woo and she was won,

Myself in blue, the bride in white,

The ring was placed, the deed was done!

Away we went in chaise-and-four,

As fast as grinning boys could flog —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

What loving tête-à-têtes to come!

But tête-à-têtes must still defer³!

When Susan came to live with me,

Her mother came to live with her!

With sister Belle⁴ she couldn’t part,

But all my ties had leave to jog —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

The mother brought a pretty Poll —

A monkey too, what work he made!

The sister introduced a Beau —

My Susan brought a favorite maid.

She had a tabby of her own,

A snappish mongrel christen’d Gog —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

The Monkey bit — the Parrot scream’d

All day the sister strumm’d and sung;

The petted maid was such a scold!

My Susan learn’d to use her tongue:

Her mother had such wretched health,

She sate⁵ and croak’d like any frog —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

No longer Deary, Ducky, and Love,

I soon came down to simple “M!”

The very servants cross’d my wish,

My Susan let me down to them.

The poker⁶ hardly seem’d my own,

I might as well have been a log —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

My clothes they were the queerest shape!

Such coats and hats she never met!

My ways they were the oddest ways!

My friends were such a vulgar set!

Poor Tomkinson was snubb’d and huff’d —

She could not bear that Mister Blogg —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, My Dog?

At times we had a spar, and then

Mamma must mingle⁷ in the song —

The sister took a sisters part —

The Maid declared her Master wrong —

The Parrot learn’d to call me “Fool!”

My life was like a London fog —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

My Susan’s taste was superfine,

As proved by bills that had no end —

I never had a decent coat —

I never had a coin to spend!

She forced me to resign my Club,

Lay down my pipe, retrench⁸ my grog —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

Each Sunday night we gave a rout⁹

To fops and flirts¹⁰, a pretty list;

And when I tried to steal away,

I found my study full of whist!

Then, first to come and last to go,

There always was a Captain Hogg —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

Now was not that an awful dream

For one who single is and snug —

With Pussy¹¹ in the elbow-chair

And Tray reposing¹² on the rug? —

If I must totter¹³ down the hill,

’Tis safest done without a clog¹⁴ —

What d’ye think of that, my Cat?

What d’ye think of that, my Dog?

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 snug   

adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房

参考例句：

• He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
• She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。

3 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

4 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

5 sate   

v.使充分满足

参考例句：

• Nothing could sate the careerist's greed for power.什么也满足不了这个野心家的权力欲。
• I am sate with opera after listening to it for a whole weekend.听了整整一个周末的歌剧，我觉得腻了。

6 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

7 mingle   

vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往

参考例句：

• If we mingle with the crowd,we should not be noticed.如果我们混在人群中，就不会被注意到。
• Oil will not mingle with water.油和水不相融。

8 retrench   

v.节省，削减

参考例句：

• Shortly afterwards,cuts in defence spending forced the aerospace industry to retrench.不久之后，国防开支的削减迫使航空航天业紧缩开支。
• Inflation has forced us to retrench.因通货膨胀我们不得不紧缩开支。

9 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

10 flirts   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She flirts with every man she meets. 她同她遇到的每个男人调情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She flirts with every handsome man she meets. 她和所遇到的每个美男子调情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 pussy   

n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪

参考例句：

• Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？
• The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

12 reposing   

v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His parents were now reposing in the local churchyard. 他的双亲现在长眠于本地教堂墓地。 来自辞典例句
• The picture shows a nude reposing on a couch. 这幅画表现的是一个人赤身体躺在长沙发上。 来自辞典例句

13 totter   

v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子

参考例句：

• He tottered to the fridge,got a beer and slumped at the table.他踉跄地走到冰箱前，拿出一瓶啤酒，一屁股坐在桌边。
• The property market is tottering.房地产市场摇摇欲坠。

14 clog   

vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐

参考例句：

• In cotton and wool processing,short length fibers may clog sewers.在棉毛生产中，短纤维可能堵塞下水管道。
• These streets often clog during the rush hour.这几条大街在交通高峰时间常常发生交通堵塞。