"Well, I declare, there lies a pair of goloshes," said the watchman. "No doubt, they belong to the lieutenant¹ who lives up stairs. They are lying just by his door." Gladly would the honest man have rung, and given them in, for a light was still burning, but he did not wish to disturb the other people in the house; so he let them lie. "These things must keep the feet very warm," said he; "they are of such nice soft leather." Then he tried them on, and they fitted his feet exactly. "Now," said he, "how droll² things are in this world! There's that man can lie down in his warm bed, but he does not do so. There he goes pacing up and down the room. He ought to be a happy man. He has neither wife nor children, and he goes out into company every evening. Oh, I wish I were he; then I should be a happy man."

As he uttered this wish, the goloshes which he had put on took effect, and the watchman at once became the lieutenant. There he stood in his room, holding a little piece of pink paper between his fingers, on which was a poem,—a poem written by the lieutenant himself. Who has not had, for once in his life, a moment of poetic³ inspiration? and at such a moment, if the thoughts are written down, they flow in poetry. The following verses were written on the pink paper:—

"OH WERE I RICH!

"Oh were I rich! How oft, in youth's bright hour,
     When youthful pleasures banish⁴ every care,
I longed for riches but to gain a power,
     The sword and plume⁵ and uniform to wear!
The riches and the honor came for me;
     Yet still my greatest wealth was poverty:
         Ah, help and pity me!

"Once in my youthful hours, when gay and free,
     A maiden⁶ loved me; and her gentle kiss,
Rich in its tender love and purity,
     Taught me, alas

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1 lieutenant
n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员
参考例句：
He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。 He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

2 droll
adj.古怪的，好笑的
参考例句：
The band have a droll sense of humour.这个乐队有一种滑稽古怪的幽默感。 He looked at her with a droll sort of awakening.他用一种古怪的如梦方醒的神情看着她.

3 poetic
adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的
参考例句：
His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。 His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

4 banish
vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除
参考例句：
The doctor advised her to banish fear and anxiety.医生劝她消除恐惧和忧虑。 He tried to banish gloom from his thought.他试图驱除心中的忧愁。

5 plume
n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰
参考例句：
Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。 He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

6 maiden
n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的
参考例句：
The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。 The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

7 alas
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句：
Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！ Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

8 bliss
n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福
参考例句：
It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。 He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

9 lore
n.传说；学问，经验，知识
参考例句：
I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。 Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

10 wilt
v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱
参考例句：
Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。 Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

11 woe
n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌
参考例句：
Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。 A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

12 humble
adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低
参考例句：
In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。 Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

13 contented
adj.满意的，安心的，知足的
参考例句：
He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。 The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

14 smother
vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息
参考例句：
They tried to smother the flames with a damp blanket.他们试图用一条湿毯子去灭火。 We tried to smother our laughter.我们强忍住笑。

15 delightful
adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的
参考例句：
We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。 Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

16 steamship
n.汽船，轮船
参考例句：
The return may be made on the same steamship.可乘同一艘汽船当天回来。 It was so foggy that the steamship almost ran down a small boat leaving the port.雾很大，汽艇差点把一只正在离港的小船撞沉。

17 sloth
n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散
参考例句：
Absence of competition makes for sloth.没有竞争会导致懒惰。 The sloth spends most of its time hanging upside down from the branches.大部分时间里树懒都是倒挂在树枝上。

18 snail
n.蜗牛
参考例句：
Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。 Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

19 liberated
a.无拘束的，放纵的
参考例句：
The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。 The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

20 lighter
n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级
参考例句：
The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。 The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

21 forth
adv.向前；向外，往外
参考例句：
The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。 He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

22 turrets
（六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车
参考例句：
The Northampton's three turrets thundered out white smoke and pale fire. “诺思安普敦号”三座炮塔轰隆隆地冒出白烟和淡淡的火光。 If I can get to the gun turrets, I'll have a chance. 如果我能走到炮塔那里，我就会赢得脱险的机会。

23 transparent
adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的
参考例句：
The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。 The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

24 foliage
n.叶子，树叶，簇叶
参考例句：
The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。 Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

25 capabilities
n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力
参考例句：
He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句 Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

26 peculiarities
n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪
参考例句：
the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点 He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

27 dense
a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的
参考例句：
The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

28 descend
vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降
参考例句：
I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。 We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

29 acting
n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的
参考例句：
Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。 During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。