CASTLES BY THE SEA

THIS is a story about Belinda, and, as it is the last, I think I shall tell it you in poetry. Belinda is the one in mauve, and I could have written much better poetry if she had been in brown or blue, but Mothers never think of things like this when they dress their children. However, she has a little red on her cap, which may be useful. We shall see.

 

First Verse¹

 

Belinda Brown was six or so,

Belinda had a grown-up² spade³,

Belinda Brown was six, and oh!

The castle that Belinda made!

That’s the first verse; and now, if anybody asks you what her name was, you can answer at once “Belinda, because it says so in one of the lines.”

 

Second Verse

 

Belinda Brown was six or so,

Although she looked a little more,

But she was only six, and oh!

The bonny cap Belinda wore!

{102}

Now you can tell everybody Belinda’s age. Six. With a good poem like this one doesn’t want to be in a hurry.

 

Third Verse

 

Belinda’s cap was mauve and red—

A pity that it wasn’t blue—

But it was red and mauve instead,

And very pretty colors, too.

I think I shall go straight on to the next verse without saying anything about that one.

 

Fourth Verse

(This is going to be a good one)

 

Belinda had a bathing-gown

Which had been brown a week before;

The envy⁴ of her native town

The bathing-gown Belinda wore!

I like that verse. Besides being good poetry, it explains everything. You see, Belinda’s Aunt Rotunda⁵ had given her the beautiful cap, and when Belinda went to dig⁶ castles in the sand, she decided⁷ to wear the cap to keep the sun off her head, but{103} to wear the bathing-dress, too, so as not to mind if she got wet, which was her own idea and none of the other children had thought of it. So her Mother said, “Then we’d better dye⁸ the dress mauve,” to which her Father replied, “Wouldn’t it be easier to dye the cap brown?” And Belinda’s Mother said, “I think, dear, it might hurt Aunt Rotunda’s feelings.” So—

 

Belinda wore

Her bathing-gown

(A brilliant brown

The week before).

The local store

Had toned⁹ it down,

The bathing-gown

Belinda wore.

I think it looks nicer spread out like that. I will tell you a secret now. When people pay you to write poetry for them (as they often do), they pay you so much for every line you write, so sometimes you feel that a verse looks nice spread out, and{104} sometimes the man who is paying you feels that it doesn’t. It’s just a matter of taste.

 

Fifth Verse

(I’m not counting the last one, because it’s a different shape from the others)

 

Belinda Brown was not afraid,

(Belinda was as brave as three)

And in the castle she had made

She waited for the rising sea.

Belinda was as brave as 3,

Belinda was as brave as 8;

She waited calmly while the sea

Came in at a tremendous¹⁰ rate.

And now we are coming to the sad part of the story. There was Belinda, as you see her in the picture, not a bit afraid, and suddenly—

 

Seventh Verse

 

A monster wave came rolling on,

It washed Belinda’s castle down,

And in a moment they were gone—

The castle and Belinda Brown.

But where was Belinda? That was what all the other children said. And when Mr. and Mrs. Brown came down to the{105} beach they began saying it, too: “Where is Belinda?” Nobody knew. However, it was all right.

 

Eighth Verse

 

They found her later on the hill

A mile or so above the town,

A little out of breath¹¹, but still

Undoubtedly¹² Belinda Brown.

You can imagine how excited they all were. All but Belinda. They came rushing up to her, saying, “Oh, Belinda, are you hurt?” and, “Are you sure you’re all right, Belinda darling?” and some of the more polite ones, who had never seen her before, said, “I trust that you have not injured¹³ yourself in any way, Miss Brown?” And what did Belinda say?

 

Last Verse

 

Belinda tossed¹⁴ a scornful head—

Belinda was as brave as brave—

Belinda laughed at them and said,

“Oh, wasn’t that a lovely wave?”

1 verse   

n.诗，韵文，诗行

参考例句：

• He is good at verse.他善于作诗。
• His book was in parts written in verse.他的书有许多地方是用韵文写的。

2 grown-up   

adj.成熟的，已经成人的；n.成人，大人

参考例句：

• She has a grown-up daughter who lives abroad.她有一个已经长大成人的女儿，在海外生活。
• The boy eats like a grown-up.那男孩的食量像个成人。

3 spade   

n.铁锨，铲子

参考例句：

• This spade is very handy.这把铁锹使起来挺顺手。
• He dug the ground with a spade.他用锹挖地。

4 envy   

vt.羡慕，忌妒；n.羡慕，忌妒

参考例句：

• I envy your ability to work so fast.我真羡慕你，能干得这么快。
• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。

5 rotunda   

n.圆形建筑物；圆厅

参考例句：

• The Capitol at Washington has a large rotunda.华盛顿的国会大厦有一圆形大厅。
• The rotunda was almost deserted today,dotted with just a few tourists.圆形大厅今天几乎没有多少人，只零星散布着几个游客。

6 dig   

v.挖（洞，沟等）；掘

参考例句：

• It is difficult to dig the ground when it is frozen.地面冻住了就不易挖掘。
• In those days we often went to dig for wild vegetables.那时候我们常常出去挖野菜。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 dye   

n.染料，染色；v.染，染色

参考例句：

• Black will dye over other colours.黑色能把大多数其他颜色盖住。
• This material does not dye well.这料子染不好。

9 toned   

某种语气的，某种语调的

参考例句：

• My legs seem to have toned up with all that walking. 走了那么多路后，我的腿好像有劲起来。
• The newspaper toned down its attack. 那家报纸缓和了他们的攻击。

10 tremendous   

adj.巨大的，极大的；很好的，非常好的

参考例句：

• This book was the outcome of a tremendous amount of scientific work.这本书是大量科学研究工作的成果。
• There is a tremendous difference between them.他们之间有着极大的差别。

11 breath   

n.呼吸，气息，微风，迹象，精神，一种说话的声音

参考例句：

• I'm just going out for a breath of fresh air.我正要出去呼吸新鲜空气。
• While climbing up the stairs the old man always loses his breath.那老人上楼时总是气喘吁吁的。

12 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

13 injured   

adj.受伤的

参考例句：

• Our best defender is injured and won't be able to play today.我们最佳的防守员受伤了，今天不能参加比赛。
• The injured men have been dug out of the snow.受伤人员从雪中被挖了出来。

14 tossed   

v.（轻轻或漫不经心地）扔( toss的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）摇荡；摇匀；（为…）掷硬币决定

参考例句：

• I tossed the book aside and got up. 我把书丢在一边，站了起来。
• He angrily tossed his tools and would work no longer. 他怒气冲冲地扔下工具不肯再干了。 来自《简明英汉词典》