美国语文第五册 第38期:玉米谣(2)

 　　There, richer than the fabled¹ gift apollo showered of old, 比想象的馈赠，更为富足，阿波罗，带来光的神奇，

　　Fair hands the broken grain shall sift², 苍老灵巧的双手，筛尽谷粒，

　　And knead its meal of gold. 揉捻成，霞光万道的晚餐。

　　Let vapid³ idlers loll in silk, 乏味无趣，那些慵懒之辈，

　　Around their costly⁴ board; 衣着华美，佳肴云集，

　　Give us the bowl of samp and milk, 应当施舍，给穷人一碗米粥，

　　By homespun beauty poured! 古道热肠的质朴，让人流泪。

　　Where'er the wide old kitchen hearth⁵, sends up its smoky curls, 何处寻找，古老宽敞的灶台？雾霭散去，袅袅炊烟飘来，

　　Who will not thank the kindly⁶ earth and bless our farmer girls! 难道不再祝福，仁慈大地，胼手砥足，我们农家女孩？

　　Then shame on all the proud and vain, 骄傲虚妄，实在极端可耻，

　　Whose folly⁷ laughs to scorn the blessing⁸ of our hardy⁹ grain, 谁竟然，卖弄愚昧自夸，尽情嘲笑，农夫的辛勤劳作，

　　Our wealth of golden corn! 还有黄澄澄的，地里庄稼！

　　Let earth withhold¹⁰ her goodly root; 让大地留存，优异的良种，

　　Let mildew¹¹ blight¹² the rye, 否则，霉菌病让黑麦绝收，

　　Give to the worm the orchard's fruit, 蝇虫，在果园里肆虐成群，

　　The wheat field to the fly: 万亩良田，全被飞鸟糟蹋。

　　But let the good old crop adorn¹³ the hills our fathers trod; 亘古流传的种子，装扮自然，祖先土地，广袤的田野山峦，

　　Still let us, for his golden corn, 怀念上帝，点播下金色玉米，

　　Send up our thanks to God! 心存感激，至今口授相传。

1 fabled   

adj.寓言中的，虚构的

参考例句：

• For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
• Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

3 vapid   

adj.无味的；无生气的

参考例句：

• She made a vapid comment about the weather.她对天气作了一番平淡无奇的评论。
• He did the same thing year by year and found life vapid.他每年做着同样的事，觉得生活索然无味。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 hearth   

n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面

参考例句：

• She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来，在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
• She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里，打开电灯。

6 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

7 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

8 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

9 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

10 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

11 mildew   

n.发霉；v.（使）发霉

参考例句：

• The interior was dark and smelled of mildew.里面光线很暗，霉味扑鼻。
• Mildew may form in this weather.这种天气有可能发霉。

12 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

13 adorn   

vt.使美化，装饰

参考例句：

• She loved to adorn herself with finery.她喜欢穿戴华丽的服饰。
• His watercolour designs adorn a wide range of books.他的水彩设计使许多图书大为生色。