(原版)澳大利亚语文第三册 LESSON 73
LESSON 73 THE CHILDREN'S HOUR
THE CHILDREN'S HOUR
1. Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations [1] ,
That is known as the Children's Hour.
2. I hear in the chamber [2] above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.
3. From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.
4. A whisper, and then a silence;
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.
5. A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall,
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!
6. They climb up into my turret [3] ,
O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me—
They seem to be everywhere.
7. They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse Tower on the Rhine.
8. Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti [4] ,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old moustache [5] as I am
Is not a match for you all?
9. I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon [6] ,
In the round tower of my heart.
10. And there will I keep you for ever,
Yes, for ever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!
—HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
* * *
[1] occupation: Work, labour.
[2] chamber: Room.
[3] turret: Small tower.
[4] banditti: Outlaws, robbers.
[5] moustache: The hair on the upper lip; here it means "an old man."
[6] dungeon: A deep, dark prison.
