A Flying Visit.

“A Calendar! a Calendar! look in the Almanac, find out moonshine — find out moonshine!”—Midsummer Night’s Dream.
1.

The by-gone September,

As folks may remember,

At least if their memory saves but an ember,

One fine afternoon,

There went up a Balloon,

Which did not return to the Earth very soon.
2.

For, nearing the sky,

At about a mile high,

The A?ronaut bold had resolved on a fly;

So cutting his string,

In a Parasol thing

Down he came in a field like a lark¹ from the wing.
3.

Meanwhile, thus adrift,

The Balloon made a shift

To rise very fast, with no burden to lift;

It got very small,

Then to nothing at all;

And then rose the question of where it would fall?
4.

Some thought that, for lack

Of the man and his pack,

’Twould rise to the cherub² that watches Poor Jack³;

Some held, but in vain,

With the first heavy rain

’Twould surely come down to the Gardens again!
5.

But still not a word

For a month could be heard

Of what had become of the Wonderful Bird;

The firm Gye and Hughes,

Wore their boots out and shoes,

In running about and inquiring for news.
6.

Some thought it must be

Tumbled into the Sea;

Some thought it had gone off to High Germanie

For Germans, as shown

By their writings, ’tis known

Are always delighted with what is high-flown.
7.

Some hinted a bilk,

And that maidens⁴ who milk,

In far distant Shires would be walking in silk:

Some swore that it must,

“As they said at the fust,

Have gone again’ flashes of lightning and bust⁵!”
8.

However, at last,

When six weeks had gone past,

Intelligence came of a plausible⁶ cast;

A wondering clown,

At a hamlet near town,

Had seen “like a moon of green cheese” coming down.
9.

Soon spread the alarm,

And from cottage and farm,

The natives buzz’d out like the bees when they swarm⁷;

And off ran the folk —

It is such a good joke

To see the descent of a bagful of smoke.
10.

And lo! the machine,

Dappled yellow and green,

Was plainly enough in the clouds to be seen:

“Yes, yes,” was the cry,

“It’s the old one, surely,

Where can it have been such a time in the sky?”
11.

“Lord! where will it fall?

It can’t find out Vauxhall,

Without any pilot to guide it at all!”

Some wager’d that Kent

Would behold⁸ the event,

Debrett had been posed to predict its descent.
12.

Some thought it would pitch

In the old Tower Ditch,

Some swore on the Cross of St. Paul’s it would hitch⁹;

And Farmers cried “Zounds!

If it drops on our grounds,

We’ll try if Balloons can’t be put into pounds.”
13.

But still to and fro

It continued to go,

As if looking out for soft places below;

No difficult job,

It had only to bob

Slap-dash down at once on the heads of the mob:
14.

Who, too apt to stare

At some castle in air,

Forget that the earth is their proper affair;

Till, watching the fall

Of some soap-bubble ball,

They tumble themselves with a terrible sprawl¹⁰.
15.

Meanwhile, from its height

Stooping downward in flight,

The Phenomenon came more distinctly in sight:

Still bigger and bigger,

And strike me a nigger

Unfreed, if there was not a live human figure!
16.

Yes, plain to be seen,

Underneath¹¹ the machine,

There dangled¹² a mortal — some swore it was Green;

Some mason could spy;

Others named Mr. Gye;

Or Holland, compell’d by the Belgians to fly.
17.

’Twas Graham the flighty,

Whom the Duke high and mighty¹³

Resign’d to take care of his own lignum-vit?;

’Twas Hampton, whose whim¹⁴

Was in Cloudland to swim,

Till e’en Little Hampton looked little to him!
18.

But all were at fault;

From the heavenly vault¹⁵

The falling balloon came at last to a halt;

And bounce! with the jar

Of descending¹⁶ so far,

An outlandish Creature was thrown from the car!
19.

At first with the jolt¹⁷

All his wits made a bolt,

As if he’d been flung by a mettlesome¹⁸ colt;

And while in his faint,

To avoid all complaint,

The muse¹⁹ shall endeavor his portrait to paint.
20.

The face of this elf,

Round as platter of delf,

Was pale as if only a cast of itself;

His head had a rare

Fleece of silvery hair,

Just like the Albino at Bartlemy Fair.
21.

His eyes they were odd,

Like the eyes of a cod²⁰,

And gave him the look of a watery²¹ God.

His nose was a snub;

Under which, for his grub,

Was a round open mouth like to that of a chub.
22.

His person was small,

Without figure at all,

A plump little body as round as a ball:

With two little fins²²,

And a couple of pins,

With what has been christened a bow in the shins.
23.

His dress it was new,

A full suit of sky-blue —

With bright silver buckles²³ in each little shoe —

Thus painted complete,

From his head to his feet,

Conceive him laid flat in Squire²⁴ Hopkins’s wheat.
24.

Fine text for the crowd!

Who disputed aloud

What sort of a creature had dropp’d from the cloud —

“He’s come from o’er seas,

He’s a Cochin Chinese —

By jingo! he’s one of the wild Cherokees!”
25.

“Don’t nobody know?”

“He’s a young Esquimaux,

Turn’d white like the hares by the Arctical snow.”

“Some angel, my dear,

Sent from some upper spear

For Plumtree or Agnew, too good for this-here!”
26.

Meanwhile with a sigh,

Having open’d one eye,

The Stranger rose up on his seat by and by;

And finding his tongue,

Thus he said, or he sung,

“Mi criky bo biggamy kickery bung!”
27.

“Lord! what does he speak?”

“It’s Dog-Latin — it’s Greek!”

“It’s some sort of slang for to puzzle a Beak²⁵!”

“It’s no like the Scotch,”

Said a Scot on the watch,

“Pho! it’s nothing at all but a kind of hotch-potch!”
28.

“It’s not parly voo,”

Cried a schoolboy or two,

“Nor Hebrew at all,” said a wandering Jew.

Some held it was sprung

From the Irvingite tongue,

The same that is used by a child very young.
29.

Some guess’d it high Dutch,

Others thought it had much

In sound of the true Hoky-poky-ish touch;

But none could be poz,

What the Dickins! (not Boz)

No mortal could tell what the Dickins it was!
30.

When who should come pat,

In a moment like that,

But Bowring, to see what the people were at —

A Doctor well able,

Without any fable²⁶,

To talk and translate all the babble²⁷ of Babel.
31.

So just drawing near,

With a vigilant²⁸ ear,

That took ev’ry syllable²⁹ in, very clear,

Before one could sip³⁰

Up a tumbler of flip³¹,

He knew the whole tongue, from the root to the tip!
32.

Then stretching his hand,

As you see Daniel stand,

In the Feast of Belshazzar, that picture so grand!

Without more delay,

In the Hamilton way

He English’d whatever the Elf had to say.
33.

“Krak kraziboo ban,

I’m the Lunatick Man,

Confined in the Moon since creation began —

Sit muggy³² bigog,

Whom except in a fog

You see with a Lanthorn, a Bush, and a Dog.”
34.

“Lang sinery lear,

For this many a year,

I’ve long’d to drop in at your own little sphere —

Och, pad-mad aroon

Till one fine afternoon,

I found that Wind-Coach on the horns of the Moon.”
35.

“Cush quackery³³ go,

But, besides you must know,

I’d heard of a profiting Prophet below;

Big botherum blether,

Who pretended to gather

The tricks that the Moon meant to play with the weather.”
36.

“So Crismus an crash

Being shortish of cash,

I thought I’d a right to partake of the hash —

Slik mizzle an smak,

So I’m come with a pack,

To sell to the trade, of My Own Almanack.”
37.

“Fiz bobbery pershal

Besides aims commercial,

Much wishing to honor my friend Sir John Herschel,

Cum puddin and tame,

It’s inscribed³⁴ to his name,

Which is now at the full in celestial³⁵ fame.”
38.

“Wept wepton wish wept,

Pray this Copy accept”—

But here on the Stranger some Kidnappers³⁶ leapt:

For why a shrewd man

Had devis’d a sly plan

The Wonder to grab for a show Caravan³⁷.
39.

So plotted, so done —

With a fight as in fun,

While mock pugilistical rounds were begun,

A knave³⁸ who could box,

And give right and left knocks,

Caught hold of the Prize by his silvery locks.
40.

And hard he had fared,

But the people were scared

By what the Interpreter roundly declared;

“You ignorant Turks!

You will be your own Burkes —

He holds all the keys of the lunary works!”
41.

“You’d best let him go —

If you keep him below,

The Moon will not change, and the tides will not flow;

He left her at full,

And with such a long pull,

Zounds! ev’ry man Jack will run mad like a bull!”
42.

So awful a threat

Took effect on the set;

The fright, tho’, was more than their Guest could forget;

So taking a jump,

In the car he came plump,

And threw all the ballast right out in a lump.
43.

Up soar’d the machine,

With its yellow and green;

But still the pale face of the Creature was seen,

Who cried from the car

“Dam in yooman bi gar!”

That is — “What a sad set of villains³⁹ you are!”
44.

Howbeit, at some height,

He threw down quite a flight

Of Almanacks, wishing to set us all right —

And, thanks to the boon⁴⁰,

We shall see very soon

If Murphy knows most, or the Man in the Moon!

1 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

2 cherub   

n.小天使，胖娃娃

参考例句：

• It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
• The cherub in the painting is very lovely.这幅画中的小天使非常可爱。

3 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。

4 maidens   

处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功，少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

6 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

7 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。

8 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

9 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

10 sprawl   

vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延

参考例句：

• In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
• He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。

11 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。

12 dangled   

悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• Gold charms dangled from her bracelet. 她的手镯上挂着许多金饰物。
• It's the biggest financial incentive ever dangled before British footballers. 这是历来对英国足球运动员的最大经济诱惑。

13 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

14 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

15 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

16 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

17 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

18 mettlesome   

adj.（通常指马等）精力充沛的，勇猛的

参考例句：

• The actor was considered as a mettlesome dramatic performer. 这个演员被认为是个勇敢的戏剧演员。 来自辞典例句
• The mettlesome actress resumed her career after recovering from a stroke. 从中风恢复过来后，坚强的女演员又重新开始了她的演艺生涯。 来自互联网

19 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

20 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。

21 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。

22 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

23 buckles   

搭扣，扣环( buckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She gazed proudly at the shiny buckles on her shoes. 她骄傲地注视着鞋上闪亮的扣环。
• When the plate becomes unstable, it buckles laterally. 当板失去稳定时，就发生横向屈曲。

24 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

25 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

26 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

27 babble   

v.含糊不清地说，胡言乱语地说，儿语

参考例句：

• No one could understand the little baby's babble. 没人能听懂这个小婴孩的话。
• The babble of voices in the next compartment annoyed all of us.隔壁的车厢隔间里不间歇的嘈杂谈话声让我们都很气恼。

28 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

29 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

30 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

31 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

32 muggy   

adj.闷热的；adv.（天气）闷热而潮湿地；n.（天气）闷热而潮湿

参考例句：

• We may expect muggy weather when the rainy season begins.雨季开始时，我们预料有闷热的天气。
• It was muggy and overcast.天气闷热潮湿，而且天色阴沉。

33 quackery   

n.庸医的医术，骗子的行为

参考例句：

• Some scientists relegate parapsychology to the sphere of quackery. 一些科学家把灵学归类到骗术范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In a famous play by Goethe, the doctor is accused of practicing quackery. 在歌德的一部著名剧目里，一名医生被指控进行庸医行骗。 来自互联网

34 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

35 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

36 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

37 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

38 knave   

n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克

参考例句：

• Better be a fool than a knave.宁做傻瓜，不做无赖。
• Once a knave,ever a knave.一次成无赖，永远是无赖。

39 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

40 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。