My Shadow

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India-rubber ball,And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

Key points

arrant 完全的

coward 胆小鬼

dew 露水

heel 脚后跟

notion 概念

ought 应该

proper 真正的

shame 羞愧

sort 类别

stick 粘贴

我的影子

有个小小影子总跟着我走动，

不知他除了让我看还有啥用。

虽然他从头到脚都和我一样，

却总是比我抢先一步跳上床。

有趣的是他时刻在变化，

不像别的孩子慢慢长大，

有时他像皮球一蹿老高，

有时又小得让你看不到。

他不懂怎么玩儿童游戏，

只知道变着法儿愚弄我。

他老缠着我，一看就是胆小鬼，

我若这么缠人心里肯定害臊！

一天早上，太阳还没起床，

我悄悄去花园看露珠闪光，

我的懒影子却留在了家中，

他还躺在床上，睡得正香。

你发现了吗？

在这首诗中，诗句结尾的这些词都是押韵的：me / see, head / bed, grow / slow, ball / all, play / way, up / buttercup，读起来朗朗上口。