(原版)澳大利亞語文第六冊 LESSON 47
LESSON 47 THE SLAVE'S DREAM
THE SLAVE'S DREAM
Beside the ungathered rice he lay,
His sickle [1] in his hand;
His breast was bare, his matted hair
Was buried in the sand;
Again, in the midst and shadow of sleep,
He saw his native land.
Wide through the landscape of his dreams
The lordly Niger flowed;
Beneath the palm-trees on the plain
Once more a king he strode,
And heard the tinkling caravans [2]
Descend the mountain road.
He saw once more his dark-eyed queen
Among her children stand;
They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks,
They held him by the hand!
A tear burst from the sleeper's lids,
And fell into the sand.
And then at furious speed he rode
Along the Niger's bank;
His bridle-reins were golden chains,
And, with a martial clank,
At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel
Smiting his stallion's flank.
Before him, like a blood-red flag,
The bright flamingoes [3] flew;
From morn till night he followed their flight,
O'er plains where the tamarind [4] grew,
Till he saw the roofs of Kaffir [5] huts,
And the ocean rose to view.
At night he heard the lion roar,
And the hyena [6] scream,
And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds
Beside some hidden stream;
And it passed, like a glorious roll of drums,
Through the triumph of his dream.
The forests with their myriad [7] tongues
Shouted of liberty;
And the blast of the desert cried aloud
With a voice so wild and free,
That he started in his sleep, and smiled
At their tempestuous [8] glee.
He did not feel the driver's whip
Nor the burning heat of day;
For death had illumined the Land of Sleep,
And his lifeless body lay,
A worn-out fetter [9] , that the soul
Had broken and thrown away.
—HENRY LONGFELLOW
* * *
[1] sickle: A kind of reaping hook.
[2] caravans: Companies of travellers who went together for safety.
[3] flamingoes: Web-footed, long-necked birds over five feet high.
[4] tamarind: A tropical fruit-bearing tree.
[5] Kaffir: Kaffirs are certain native tribes living in South Africa.
[6] hyena: A flesh-eating animal, the cry of which is said to resemble shrieking laughter.
[7] myriad: Countless.
[8] tempestuous: Stormy; noisy.
[9] fetter: Chain for the feet.
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