该小说源于British Short Stories of Today。作者马丁·阿姆斯特朗（Martin Armstrong
）以写短篇小说最为出名。《诗人与家庭主妇》用一种古老的讲故事的方式来表达一个非常现代的观点。该文类似一个寓言，但有惊喜。这个故事写于英国采用十进制货币之前。
Once upon a time, on a summer's day, two poets, having shut up shop, went out into the country to collect copy, for their stock of this commodity was exhausted.
从前，在一个夏日，两个诗人歇业后，到乡下去收稿子，因为他们的存货已经用完了。
And they were careful to dress themselves carelessly: one put on a black collar and black-and-white checked trousers, and the other a cravat（领带krəˈvæt/） of raging scarlet, for they thought (though they did not say so) ‘we must dress the part（穿戴得体）’. And their hats were wide and reckless and the hair beneath their hats was like the thatch upon abroad-eaved barn.
他们小心翼翼地随意打扮自己：一个人戴上黑领子，穿一条黑白格子裤子，另一个人系上一条鲜红的领带，因为他们认为（虽然他们没有这么说）“我们必须穿着得体。”他们的帽子又宽又乱，帽子下面的头发就像牲口棚上的茅草。
And as they journeyed, poking about with their walking sticks after the precious substance of their quest, there gathered over their heads the devil of a storm.
当们在旅途中用手杖摸索着寻找他们所寻找的珍贵之物时，一场可怕的风暴在他们的头顶上聚集起来。
And at the proper moment the storm burst and the rain came down and the poets left off（停止，中断） seeking for copy and huddled under a hawthorn（/ˈhɔːθɔːn/山楂，山楂树） tree. And they appeared as two proud exotic birds, lighted down from the Lord knows where.
暴风雨适时的到来了，下雨了，诗人们停止了找稿子，挤在一棵山楂树下。他们就像两只骄傲的异域鸟，从天知道的地方被照亮了。
And there was a lodge near the hawthorn tree, and the lodge keeper's wife looked out and, seeing the two, she exclaimed: Lord, look what the wet brings out!’ And the rain increased fearfully.
山楂树附近有一间小屋，看门人的妻子向外望，看到了他们俩，她喊道：“上帝啊，看这雨带来了什么!”雨下得更大了。
And after a while she looked out again and the poets were changed, for their bloom was impaired, the rain had clotted（凝结） their hair, and the scarlet cravat of the one had become crimson from saturation（饱和）. And rain dripped from all their extremities（手足，四只末端）.
过了一会儿，她又向窗外看了看，诗人们都变了样，因为他们的花容受到了损害，雨水事他们的头发打缕，其中一个人的猩红色领结也因过多的雨水而变成了深红色。雨水从他们的四肢上流下来。
