LESSON 10 ROBIN REDBREAST 紅胸脯的知更鳥

William Allingham (b.1828, d.1889) was born at Ballyshannon, Ireland.His father was a banker, and gave him a good education in Irish schools.He showed his literary tastes at an early date, contributing to periodicals, etc.In 1850 he published his fi rst volume of poems; in 1854 his“Day and Night Songs” appeared, and in 1864 a poem in twelve chapters entitled “Lawrence Bloomfi eld in Ireland,” His reputation was established chiefl y through his shorter lyrics, or ballad poetry.In 1864 he received a literary pension.

1.Good-by, good-by to Summer!

For Summer’s nearly done;

The garden smiling faintly,

Cool breezes in the sun;

Our thrushes now are silent,

Our swallows fl own away,—

But Robin’s here in coat of brown,

And scarlet breastknot gay.

Robin, Robin Redbreast,

O Robin dear!

Robin sings so sweetly

In the falling of the year.

2.Bright yellow, red, and orange,

The leaves come down in hosts;

The trees are Indian princes,

But soon they’ll turn to ghosts;

The leathery pears and apples

Hang russet on the bough;

It’s autumn, autumn, autumn late,

’T will soon be winter now.

Robin, Robin Redbreast,

O Robin dear!

And what will this poor Robin do?

For pinching days are near.

3.The fi reside for the cricket,

The wheat stack for the mouse,

When trembling night winds whistle

And moan all round the house.

The frosty ways like iron,

The branches plumed with snow,—

Alas! in winter dead and dark,

Where can poor Robin go?

Robin, Robin Redbreast,

O Robin dear!

And a crumb of bread for Robin,

His little heart to cheer.

Note.—The Old World Robin here referred to is quite diff erent in appearance and habits from the American Robin.It is only about half the size of the latter.Its prevailing color above is olive green, while the forehead, cheeks, throat, and breast are a light yellowish red.It does not migrate, but is found at all seasons throughout temperate Europe, Asia Minor, and northern Africa.

【中文閱讀】

威廉·亞林漢姆（1828—1889）出生于愛爾蘭巴萊山農(nóng)港。他的父親是一名銀行家，為他提供了良好的教育。他從小就展現(xiàn)出他的文學(xué)才華，致力于期刊雜志的出版。1850年，他出版了首部詩集；1854年，他的詩集《晝夜之歌》問世；1864年，他出版了一首題為《愛爾蘭的勞倫斯·布盧姆菲爾德》的詩，全詩共十二章。他主要因他的短篇抒情詩以及民謠類詩歌而出名。1864年，他獲得文學(xué)年金嘉獎。

1.再見，與夏季揮手作別！

炎熱的舞臺，即將落幕。

花園里，笑聲黯淡下來，

微風(fēng)，吹過九月艷陽。

畫眉，不再引吭高歌，

燕子，也已飛向遠(yuǎn)方。——

知更鳥，身穿棕色衣裳，

胸前一抹猩紅，耀眼炫目。

知更鳥，紅胸脯的知更鳥，

哦，可愛的知更鳥！

在秋意襲來的季節(jié)，

知更鳥唱得多么動聽。

2.明黃、艷紅、亮橙斑斕，

落葉紛飛里，光影迷亂；

莊穆挺立的樹，如印度王子，

寒風(fēng)里，即將形銷骨立。

皮厚肉實(shí)的梨子、蘋果，

黃澄澄地點(diǎn)綴在樹枝上。

秋天，秋天，晚秋到了，

轉(zhuǎn)眼便是寒冬來臨。

知更鳥，紅胸脯的知更鳥，

哦，可愛的知更鳥！

蕭瑟的寒冬近了，

可憐的知更鳥該怎么辦呢？

3.蟋蟀，躲在壁爐邊過冬，

老鼠，鉆進(jìn)麥堆里取暖，

夜里，顫抖的寒風(fēng)呼嘯，

襲卷著大地和房屋。

結(jié)冰的道路冷硬如鐵，

雪塊壓彎了枝椏。——

啊！在這陰冷的冬天，

可憐的知更鳥能去哪兒呢？

知更鳥，紅胸脯的知更鳥，

哦，可愛的知更鳥！

在地上為它撒上些面包屑，

它便挺著那紅色的小胸膛，快樂跳躍。