To the Honoured, Noble Translator of Rabelais.

Rabelais, whose wit prodigiously¹ was made,

All men, professions, actions to invade,

With so much furious vigour², as if it

Had lived o’er each of them, and each had quit,

Yet with such happy sleight³ and careless skill,

As, like the serpent, doth with laughter kill,

So that although his noble leaves appear

Antic and Gottish, and dull souls forbear

To turn them o’er, lest they should only find

Nothing but savage⁴ monsters of a mind,—

No shapen beauteous thoughts; yet when the wise

Seriously strip him of his wild disguise,

Melt down his dross⁵, refine his massy ore,

And polish that which seem’d rough-cast before,

Search his deep sense, unveil his hidden mirth,

And make that fiery⁶ which before seem’d earth

(Conquering those things of highest consequence,

What’s difficult of language or of sense),

He will appear some noble table writ⁷

In the old Egyptian hieroglyphic⁸ wit;

Where, though you monsters and grotescoes see,

You meet all mysteries of philosophy.

For he was wise and sovereignly bred

To know what mankind is, how ’t may be led:

He stoop’d unto them, like that wise man, who

Rid on a stick, when ‘s children would do so.

For we are easy sullen⁹ things, and must

Be laugh’d aright, and cheated into trust;

Whilst a black piece of phlegm, that lays about

Dull menaces, and terrifies the rout

点击收听单词发音  

1 prodigiously
adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地
参考例句：
Such remarks, though, hardly begin to explain that prodigiously gifted author Henry James. 然而这样的说法，一点也不能解释这个得天独厚的作家亨利·詹姆斯的情况。 来自辞典例句 The prices of farms rose prodigiously. 农场的价格飞快上涨。 来自互联网

2 vigour
（=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力
参考例句：
She is full of vigour and enthusiasm.她有热情，有朝气。 At 40,he was in his prime and full of vigour.他40岁时正年富力强。

3 sleight
n.技巧，花招
参考例句：
With a little statistical sleight of hand they could make things look all right.只要在统计上耍些小小的花招，他们就能瞒天过海。 In the theater of the media there is an economic sleight of hand.传播媒介在经济上耍了一个大花招。

4 savage
adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人
参考例句：
The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。 He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

5 dross
n.渣滓；无用之物
参考例句：
Caroline felt the value of the true ore,and knew the deception of the flashy dross.卡罗琳辨别出了真金的价值，知道那种炫耀的铁渣只有迷惑人的外表。 The best players go off to the big clubs,leaving us the dross.最好的队员都投奔大俱乐部去了，就只给我们剩下些不中用的人。

6 fiery
adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的
参考例句：
She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。 His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

7 writ
n.命令状，书面命令
参考例句：
This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。 You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

8 hieroglyphic
n.象形文字
参考例句：
For centuries hieroglyphic word pictures painted on Egyptian ruins were a mystery.几世纪以来，刻划在埃及废墟中的象形文字一直是个谜。 Dongba is an ancient hieroglyphic language.东巴文是中国一种古老的象形文字。

9 sullen
adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的
参考例句：
He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。 Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

10 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。

11 peevish
adj.易怒的，坏脾气的
参考例句：
A peevish child is unhappy and makes others unhappy.一个脾气暴躁的孩子自己不高兴也使别人不高兴。 She glared down at me with a peevish expression on her face.她低头瞪着我，一脸怒气。

12 rabble
n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人
参考例句：
They formed an army out of rabble.他们用乌合之众组成一支军队。 Poverty in itself does not make men into a rabble.贫困自身并不能使人成为贱民。

13 stratagem
n.诡计，计谋
参考例句：
Knit the brows and a stratagem comes to mind.眉头一皱，计上心来。 Trade discounts may be used as a competitive stratagem to secure customer loyalty.商业折扣可以用作维护顾客忠诚度的一种竞争策略。

14 virtue
n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力
参考例句：
He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。 You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

15 bosoms
胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形
参考例句：
How beautifully gold brooches glitter on the bosoms of our patriotic women! 金光闪闪的别针佩在我国爱国妇女的胸前，多美呀！ Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there weep our sad bosoms empty. 我们寻个僻静的地方，去痛哭一场吧。

16 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。

17 hoary
adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的
参考例句：
They discussed the hoary old problem.他们讨论老问题。 Without a word spoken,he hurried away,with his hoary head bending low.他什么也没说，低着白发苍苍的头，匆匆地走了。

18 lust
n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望
参考例句：
He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。 Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念，就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。

19 platonic
adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的
参考例句：
Their friendship is based on platonic love.他们的友情是基于柏拉图式的爱情。 Can Platonic love really exist in real life?柏拉图式的爱情，在现实世界里到底可能吗？

20 enjoyment
n.乐趣；享有；享用
参考例句：
Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。 After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

21 scattering
n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散
参考例句：
The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 embalm
v.保存（尸体）不腐
参考例句：
The Egyptians used to embalm the bodies of their dead kings and queens.埃及人以前用药物保存国王和王后的尸体。 His body was embalmed.他的尸体进行了防腐处理。