THERE was once an old poet----a very good old poet. One evening, as he sat at home, there was dreadfully bad weather outside. The rain streamed down: but the old poet sat comfortably by his stove, where the fire was burning and the roasting apples were hissing¹.

“There won't be a dry thread left on the poor people who are out in this weather!” said he, for he was a good old poet.

“Oh, open to me! I am cold and quite wet,” said a little child outside; and it cried, and knocked at the door, while the rain streamed down, and the wind made all the casements² rattle³.

“You poor little creature!” said the poet; and he went to open the door. There stood a little boy; he was quite naked, and the water ran in streams from his long fair curls. He was shivering with cold, and had he not been let in, he would certainly have perished in the bad weather.

“You poor little creature!” said the poet, and took him by the hand, “come to me, and I will warm you. You shall have wine and an apple, for you are a pretty boy.”

And so he was. His eyes sparkled like two bright star, and though the water ran down from his fair curls, they fell in beautiful ringlets. He looked like a little angelchild, but was white with cold and trembled all over. In his hand he carried a lovely bow, but it looked quite spoiled by the wet; all the colours in the beautiful arrows had been blurred⁴ together by the rain.

The old poet sat down by the stove, took the little boy on his knees, pressed the water out of the long curls, warmed his hands in his own, and heated sweet wine for him; then the boy recovered himself, and his cheeks grew red and he jumped to the floor and danced round the old poet.

“You are a merry boy,” said the old poet. “What your name?”

“My name is Cupid,” he replied: “don't you know me? There lies my bow---- I shoot with that, you may believe me! See, now the weather is clearing up outside, and the moon shines.”

“But your bow is spoiled,” said the old poet.

“That would be a pity,” replied the little boy; and he took the bow and looked at it. “Oh, it is quite dry, and has suffered no damage; the string is quite stiff----I will try it!” Then he

点击收听单词发音  

1 hissing
n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式
参考例句：
The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。 His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

2 casements
n.窗扉( casement的名词复数 )
参考例句：
There are two casements in this room. 这间屋子有两扇窗户。 来自互联网 The rain pattered against the casements; the bells tolled for church with a melancholy sound. 雨点噼噼啪啪地打在窗子上；教堂里传来沉重的钟声，召唤人们去做礼拜。 来自互联网

3 rattle
v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓
参考例句：
The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。 She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

4 blurred
v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离
参考例句：
She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。 Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 bent
n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的
参考例句：
He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。 We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 heed
v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心
参考例句：
You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。 For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

7 confirmation
n.证实，确认，批准
参考例句：
We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。 We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

8 bums
n. 游荡者，流浪汉，懒鬼，闹饮，屁股 adj. 没有价值的，不灵光的，不合理的 vt. 令人失望，乞讨 vi. 混日子，以乞讨为生
参考例句：
The other guys are considered'sick" or "bums". 其他的人则被看成是“病态”或“废物”。 You'll never amount to anything, you good-for-nothing bums! 这班没出息的东西，一辈子也不会成器。

9 promenades
n.人行道( promenade的名词复数 )；散步场所；闲逛v.兜风( promenade的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
He often promenades his wife along the Thames Embankment. 他常常带太太沿着泰晤士河堤防散步。 来自辞典例句 Stoas lined marketplaces and sanctuaries and formed places of Business and public promenades. 柱廊围绕在市场和神庙的四周，是交易和公众散步的场所。 来自互联网