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GRADUATED EXERCISES FOR

TRANSLATION.

EXTRACTS IN VERSE.

PART V.

ACTIONS, NOT WORDS.

A YOUNGSTER at school,1 more sedate than the rest,
Had once his integrity put to the test:

His comrades had plotted an orchard to rob,
And ask'd him to go and assist in the job."

He was very much shock'd, and answer'd, "Oh, no!
What, rob our poor neighbour! I pray you don't go.
Besides, the man's poor, his orchard's his bread;
Then think of his children, for they must be fed."3

"You speak very fine, and you look very grave;
But apples we want, and apples we 'll have :
If you will go with us, we'll give you a share
If not, you shall have neither apple nor pear."

;

They spoke, and Tom ponder'd 6-" I see they will go ;
Poor man, what a pity to injure him so !

1 A youngster at school, Un écolier.-2 In the job, Dans cette expédition.-3 They must be fed, Il faut qu'il les nourrisse.-4 See § 55, 30.—5 If you will go, Si vous venez.-6 Tom pondered, Tom fit ce raisonnement.

Read works of fancy it is said,

And cultivated the belles-lettres.

And why should this be thought so odd!

Can't men have taste who cure a phthisic ?1
Of poetry though patron god,

Apollo patronises physic.

Bolus loved verse, and took so much delight in 't,
That his prescriptions he resolved to write in 't.
No opportunity he e'er let

pass

Of writing the directions on his labels

In dapper couplets,2 like Gay's fables;
Or rather like the lines in Hudibras.

Apothecary's verse! and where's the treason?3

4

'Tis simply honest dealing, not a crime; When patients swallow physic without reason, It is but fair to give a little rhyme.

He had a patient lying at death's door,5

Some three miles from the town, it might be four;
To whom, one evening, Bolus sent an article,6

In pharmacy that's called cathartical;

And, on the label of the stuff,

He wrote this verse,

Which one would think was clear enough
And terse :-

"When taken,

To be well shaken."7

Next morning early, Bolus rose,
And to the patient's house he goes
Upon his pad,

1 Can't men have taste who cure a phthisic? Ne saurait on avoir du génie parce qu'on guérit une phthisie?-2 In dapper couplets, En vers charmants.-3 And where's the treason? Et pourquoi pas ?-4 Honest dealing, Honnête passe-temps. 5 At death's door, Aux portes du tombeau.-6 An article, Un médicament.-7 When taken, to be well shaken, Quand vous donnerez, Très-fort vous secouerez,

And thus was heard the feeble tone:"1-
"Ah, sons! from evil ways depart;
My crimes lie heavy2 on my heart.
See, see the murder'd geese appear!
Why are those bleeding turkeys there?
Why all around this cackling train,3
Who haunt my ears for chickens slain ?"
The hungry foxes round them stared,
And for the promised feast prepared.
"Where, sir, is all this dainty cheer?
Nor turkey, goose, nor hen is here:
These are the phantoms of your brain,
And your sons lick their lips in vain."
-"O gluttons!" says the drooping sire,
"Restrain inordinate desire;

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power,

Your liquorish taste you shall deplore,*
When peace of conscience is5 no more.
Does not the hound betray our pace,
And gins and guns destroy our race?
Thieves dread the searching eye of
And never feel the quiet hour.
Old age (which few of us shall know)
Now puts a period to my woe.
Would you true happiness attain,
Let honesty your passions rein;
So live in credit and esteem,
And the good name you've lost redeem.”
"The counsel's good," a fox replies,
"Could we perform what you advise.
Think what our ancestors have done;
A line6 of thieves from sire to son:
To us descends the long disgrace,7

1 And thus was heard the feeble tone: Et d'une voix faible fit entendre ces mots.— 2 Lie heavy, Pèsent lourdement.-3 Cackling train, Troupe caquetante.-4 Your liquorish taste you shall deplore, Vous regretterez votre gourmandise.-5 See § 40.6 A line, Une lignée.-7 To us descends the long disgrace, Nous avons hérité de ce déshonneur séculaire.

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THE TRAVELLERS AND THE OYSTER.

ONCE, says an author, (where, I need not say,)2
Two travellers found an oyster in their way ;
Both fierce, both hungry, the dispute grew strong,3
While, scale in hand, Dame Justice pass'd along.
Before her each with clamour pleads the laws,
Explains the matter,a and would win the cause.
Dame Justice, weighing long the doubtful right,
Takes, opens, swallows it, before their sight.

1 Mine be a cot, J'aimerais une chaumière.-2 See La Fontaine, (Liv. IX. Fable 9.3 Both fierce, both hungry, the dispute grew strong, Chacun s'emporte, chacun avait faim, et la discussion s'animait.-4 The matter, L'affaire.

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In vain, by restless conscience driven,
Lord William left his home,

Far from the scenes that saw his guilt,4
In pilgrimage to roam.:5

To other climes the pilgrim fled,
But could not fly despair;

He sought his home again, but peace
Was still a stranger there.

Slow were the passing hours, yet swift
The months appear'd to roll;
And now the day return'd that shook
With terror William's soul:

A day that William never felt
Return without dismay;

For well his conscience calendar'd

Young Edmund's dying day."

1 His onward road, Le chemin qui lui restait à faire.-2 See § 36.-3 That swept, Qui effleurait.-4 The scenes that saw his guilt, Les lieux, témoins de son crime.— 5 In pilgrimage to roam, Pour faire un long pèlerinage.-6 For well his conscience calendar'd young Edmund's dying day, Car sa conscience lui disait exactement quand arrivait le jour qui avait vu mourir le jeune Edmond.

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