THE drummer's wife wentinto the church．Shesawthe new altar with thepainted pictures and thecarved an－gels： they were so beautiful， both those upon the canvas，in colours and with haloes， and those that were carved inwood，and painted and gilt¹ into thebargain． Theirhairgleamed golden in the sunshine， lovely to behold； but thereal sunshine was more beautiful still． It shone redder，clearer through the dark trees， when thesunwentdown．It was lovelythustolook at the sunshineofheaven．Andshe looked at the red sun， and she thought about it sodeeply，andthought of the little one whomthestork wasto bring；and the wife of the drummer was very cheerful， and looked and looked， and wished that the child mighthavea gleam ofsunshine given to it， sothat itmightatleastbecome like oneofthe shining angels over the altar．

And when she really had the little child in herarms，and held it up to its father，then it was like one ofthe angels in the church to behold， with hair like gold—the gleamofthesettingsunwasuponit．

"My golden treasure，my riches， my sunshine！'said the mother； and she kissed the shining locks， and itsounded like music and song in the roomofthedrummer；and there was joy， and life， and movement． The drummerbeata roll—a roll of joy． And the Drum， the Fire－drum， that was beaten when there was a fire in the town， said："Red hair！the little fellow has red hair！Believe thedrum， and not what your mother says！ Rub-a－dub， rub- a- dub！"

And the town repeated what the Fire－drum had said．

The boywastaken to church; the boy was chris-tened．There was mothing much tobe saidabouthisname；he was called Peter． The whole town， and theDrum too， called him"Peter the drummer's boy with thered hair"； but his mother kissedhis red hair， and calledhim her golden treasure. In the hollow way in the clayey bank，many hadscratched their names as a remembrance．

"Celebrityis always something！"said the drummer；

and so he scratched his own name there， and his littleson's name likewise．

And the swallows came： they had， on their long jour－ney， seen more durablecharacters engraven on rocks， andon thewallsofthe temples inHindostan, mightydeeds ofgreatkings， immortal² names， so old that no one now couldread or speak them． Remarkablecelebrity！

In theclayeybankthe martins built their nest：theyboredholesinthedeepdeclivity，andthesplashing？rainand the thin mist came and crumbled

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1 gilt
adj.镀金的；n.金边证券
参考例句：
The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。 The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

2 immortal
adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的
参考例句：
The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。 The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

3 crumbled
（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏
参考例句：
He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。 Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

4 gilded
a.镀金的，富有的
参考例句：
The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。 "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

5 witty
adj.机智的，风趣的
参考例句：
Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。 He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

6 infancy
n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期
参考例句：
He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。 Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

7 marsh
n.沼泽，湿地
参考例句：
There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。 I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

8 hurrah
int.好哇，万岁，乌拉
参考例句：
We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。 The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

9 adorned
[计]被修饰的
参考例句：
The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。 And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

10 outgrowing
长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的现在分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过
参考例句：
Vibrant colors last year around without wilting, watering, or outgrowing their pots early, quantities are limited. 它高贵优雅，不容易萎蔫，不用经常浇水，也不会长出花盆之外。

11 spoke
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 betrothal
n. 婚约, 订婚
参考例句：
Their betrothal took place with great pomp and rejoicings. 他们举行了盛大而又欢乐的订婚仪式。 "On the happy occasion of the announcement of your betrothal," he finished, bending over her hand. "在宣布你们订婚的喜庆日。" 他补充说，同时低下头来吻她的手。

13 smitten
猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 )
参考例句：
From the moment they met, he was completely smitten by her. 从一见面的那一刻起，他就完全被她迷住了。 It was easy to see why she was smitten with him. 她很容易看出为何她为他倾倒。

14 solely
adv.仅仅，唯一地
参考例句：
Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。 The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。