A Wet Sunday In A Country Inn

　　A  wet  Sunday  in  a  country  inn  !  Whoever  has  had  the  luck  to  experienceone(1) can alone judge of(2) my situation. The rain pattered against thecasements;  the  bells  tolled  for  church  with  a  melancholy  sound.  I  wentto  the  windows  in  quest  of  something  to  amuse  the  eye;  but  it  seemed  asif  I  had  been  placed  completely  out  of  the  reach  of  ail¹  amusement.  Thewindows  of  my  bed-room  looked  out(3)  among  tiled  roofs  and  stacks  ofchimneys, while those of my sitting-room² commanded a full view of(4) thestable yard. I know of nothing more calculated to make a man sick of thisworld than a stable yard on a rainy day. The place was littered with wetstraw  that  had  been  kicked  about  by  travellers  and  stable-boys.  In  onecorner was a stagnant³ pool of water, surrounding an island of muck; therewere several half-drowned fowls⁴ crowded together under a cart, among whichwas a miserable⁵, crest-fallen cock, drenched⁶ out of ail life and spirit;his drooping⁷ tail matted, as it were, into a single feather, along whichthe  water  trickled  from  his  hack;  near  the  cart  was  a  half-  dozing  cow,chewing her cud, and standing⁸ patiently to be rained on, with wreaths ofvapour(5)  rising  from  her  reekinghide;  a  wall-eyed(6)  horse,  tired  of  the  loneliness  of  the  stable,  waspoking  his  spectral  head  out  of  a  window,  with  the  rain  dripping  on  itfrom the eaves; an unhappy cur, chained to a dog-house hard by, utteredsomething every now and then between a bark and a yelp⁹; a drab of a kitchenwench(7)  tramped  backwards  and  forwards  through  the  yard  in  pat-  tens,looking  as  sulky  as  the  weather  itself;  everything,  iq  short,  wascomfortless  and  forlorn,  excepting  a  crew  of  hardened  ducks,  assembledlike boon¹⁰ companions round a puddle¹¹ and making a riotous¹² noise over theirliquor.

1 ail   

v.生病，折磨，苦恼

参考例句：

• It may provide answers to some of the problems that ail America.这一点可能解答困扰美国的某些问题。
• Seek your sauce where you get your ail.心痛还须心药治。

2 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

3 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

4 fowls   

鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马

参考例句：

• A great number of water fowls dwell on the island. 许多水鸟在岛上栖息。
• We keep a few fowls and some goats. 我们养了几只鸡和一些山羊。

5 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

6 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 drooping   

adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词

参考例句：

• The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
• The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 yelp   

vi.狗吠

参考例句：

• The dog gave a yelp of pain.狗疼得叫了一声。
• The puppy a yelp when John stepped on her tail.当约翰踩到小狗的尾巴，小狗发出尖叫。

10 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

11 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

12 riotous   

adj.骚乱的；狂欢的

参考例句：

• Summer is in riotous profusion.盛夏的大地热闹纷繁。
• We spent a riotous night at Christmas.我们度过了一个狂欢之夜。