Went bounding along on the tip of its tail,
For the daylight was nearly past.

"There is Thingumbob shouting!" the Bellman said,
"He is shouting like mad, only hark!

He is waving his hands, he is wagging his head,
He has certainly found a Snark!"

They gazed in delight, while the Butcher exclaimed
"He was always a desperate wag!"

They beheld him--their Baker--their hero unnamed--
On the top of a neighboring crag.

Erect and sublime, for one moment of time.
In the next, that wild figure they saw

(As if stung by a spasm) plunge into a chasm,
While they waited and listened in awe.

"It's a Snark!" was the sound that first came to their ears,
And seemed almost too good to be true.

Then followed a torrent of laughter and cheers:
Then the ominous words "It's a Boo-"

Then, silence. Some fancied they heard in the air
A weary and wandering sigh

Then sounded like "-jum!" but the others declare
It was only a breeze that went by.

They hunted till darkness came on, but they found
Not a button, or feather, or mark,

By which they could tell that they stood on the ground
Where the Baker had met with the Snark.

In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,

He had softly and suddenly vanished away---
For the Snark *was* a Boojum, you see.

THE END

• daylight [´deilait] n.日光；黎明 (初中英语单词)
• butcher [´butʃə] n.屠夫，刽子手 (初中英语单词)
• desperate [´despərit] a.拼死的；绝望的 (初中英语单词)
• beheld [bi´held] behold的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
• neighboring [´neibəriŋ] a.邻近的；接壤的 (初中英语单词)
• plunge [plʌndʒ] v.插进 n.投入；冲击 (初中英语单词)
• laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)
• breeze [bri:z] n.微风；不费力的事 (初中英语单词)
• button [´bʌtn] n.钮扣 vt.扣上(扣子) (初中英语单词)
• feather [´feðə] n.羽毛 (初中英语单词)
• softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)
• torrent [´tɔrənt] n.奔流，激流，洪流；迸发 (高中英语单词)
• sublime [sə´blaim] a.崇高的，伟大的 (英语四级单词)
• ominous [´ɔminəs] a.不祥的；预示的 (英语四级单词)
• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)