Old Ballad1.
The pilgrims, without experiencing further molestation2, arrived at the retreat of Sir Guy of Gamwell. They found the old knight3 a cup too low; partly from being cut off from the scenes of his old hospitality and the shouts of his Nottinghamshire vassals4, who were wont5 to make the rafters of his ancient hall re-echo to their revelry; but principally from being parted from his son, who had long been the better half of his flask6 and pasty. The arrival of our visitors cheered him up; and finding that the baron7 was to remain with him, he testified his delight and the cordiality of his welcome by pegging8 him in the ribs9 till he made him roar.
Robin10 and Marian took an affectionate leave of the baron and the old knight; and before they quitted the vicinity of Barnsdale, deeming it prudent11 to return in a different disguise, they laid aside their pilgrim’s attire12, and assumed the habits and appurtenances of wandering minstrels.
They travelled in this character safely and pleasantly, till one evening at a late hour they arrived by the side of a river, where Robin looking out for a mode of passage perceived a ferry-boat safely moored14 in a nook on the opposite bank; near which a chimney sending up a wreath of smoke through the thick-set willows15, was the only symptom of human habitation; and Robin naturally conceiving the said chimney and wreath of smoke to be the outward signs of the inward ferryman, shouted “Over!” with much strength and clearness; but no voice replied, and no ferryman appeared. Robin raised his voice, and shouted with redoubled energy, “Over, Over, O-o-o-over!” A faint echo alone responded “Over!” and again died away into deep silence: but after a brief interval16 a voice from among the willows, in a strange kind of mingled17 intonation18 that was half a shout and half a song, answered:
Over, over, over, jolly, jolly rover, Would you then come over? Over, over, over? Jolly, jolly rover, here’s one lives in clover: Who finds the clover? The jolly, jolly rover. He finds the clover, let him then come over, The jolly, jolly rover, over, over, over,
“I much doubt,” said Marian, “if this ferryman do not mean by clover something more than the toll19 of his ferry-boat.”
“I doubt not,” answered Robin, “he is a levier of toll and tithe20, which I shall put him upon proof of his right to receive, by making trial of his might to enforce.”
The ferryman emerged from the willows and stepped into his boat. “As I live,” exclaimed Robin, “the ferryman is a friar.”
“With a sword,” said Marian, “stuck in his rope girdle.”
The friar pushed his boat off manfully, and was presently half over the river.
“It is friar Tuck,” said Marian.
“He will scarcely know us,” said Robin; “and if he do not, I will break a staff with him for sport.”
The friar came singing across the water: the boat touched the land: Robin and Marian stepped on board: the friar pushed off again.
“Silken doublets, silken doublets,” said the friar: “slenderly lined, I bow: your wandering minstrel is always poor toll: your sweet angels of voices pass current for a bed and a supper at the house of every lord that likes to hear the fame of his valour without the trouble of fighting for it. What need you of purse or pouch21? You may sing before thieves. Pedlars, pedlars: wandering from door to door with the small ware22 of lies and cajolery: exploits for carpet-knights; honesty for courtiers; truth for monks23, and chastity for nuns24: a good saleable stock that costs the vender25 nothing, defies wear and tear, and when it has served a hundred customers is as plentiful26 and as marketable as ever. But, sirrahs, I’ll none of your balderdash. You pass not hence without clink of brass27, or I’ll knock your musical noddles together till they ring like a pair of cymbals28. That will be a new tune29 for your minstrelships.”
This friendly speech of the friar ended as they stepped on the opposite bank. Robin had noticed as they passed that the summer stream was low.
“Why, thou brawling30 mongrel,” said Robin, “that whether thou be thief, friar, or ferryman, or an ill-mixed compound of all three, passes conjecture31, though I judge thee to be simple thief, what barkest thou at thus? Villain32, there is clink of brass for thee. Dost thou see this coin? Dost thou hear this music? Look and listen: for touch thou shalt not: my minstrelship defies thee. Thou shalt carry me on thy back over the water, and receive nothing but a cracked sconce for thy trouble.”
“A bargain,” said the friar: “for the water is low, the labour is light, and the reward is alluring33.” And he stooped down for Robin, who mounted his back, and the friar waded34 with him over the river.
“Now, fine fellow,” said the friar, “thou shalt carry me back over the water, and thou shalt have a cracked sconce for thy trouble.”
Robin took the friar on his back, and waded with him into the middle of the river, when by a dexterous35 jerk he suddenly flung him off and plunged36 him horizontally over head and ears in the water. Robin waded to shore, and the friar, half swimming and half scrambling37, followed.
“Fine fellow, fine fellow,” said the friar, “now will I pay thee thy cracked sconce.”
“Not so,” said Robin, “I have not earned it: but thou hast earned it, and shalt have it.”
It was not, even in those good old times, a sight of every day to see a troubadour and a friar playing at single-stick by the side of a river, each aiming with fell intent at the other’s coxcomb38. The parties were both so skilled in attack and defence, that their mutual39 efforts for a long time expended40 themselves in quick and loud rappings on each other’s oaken staves. At length Robin by a dexterous feint contrived41 to score one on the friar’s crown: but in the careless moment of triumph a splendid sweep of the friar’s staff struck Robin’s out of his hand into the middle of the river, and repaid his crack on the head with a degree of vigour42 that might have passed the bounds of a jest if Marian had not retarded43 its descent by catching44 the friar’s arm.
“How now, recreant45 friar,” said Marian; “what have you to say why you should not suffer instant execution, being detected in open rebellion against your liege lord? Therefore kneel down, traitor46, and submit your neck to the sword of the offended law.”
“Benefit of clergy47,” said the friar: “I plead my clergy. And is it you indeed, ye scapegraces? Ye are well disguised: I knew ye not, by my flask. Robin, jolly Robin, he buys a jest dearly that pays for it with a bloody48 coxcomb. But here is balm for all bruises49, outward and inward. (The friar produced a flask of canary.) Wash thy wound twice and thy throat thrice with this solar concoction50, and thou shalt marvel51 where was thy hurt. But what moved ye to this frolic? Knew ye not that ye could not appear in a mask more fashioned to move my bile than in that of these gilders and lackerers of the smooth surface of worthlessness, that bring the gold of true valour into disrepute, by stamping the baser metal with the fairer impression? I marvelled52 to find any such given to fighting (for they have an old instinct of self-preservation): but I rejoiced thereat, that I might discuss to them poetical53 justice: and therefore have I cracked thy sconce: for which, let this be thy medicine.”
“But wherefore,” said Marian, “do we find you here, when we left you joint54 lord warden55 of Sherwood?”
“I do but retire to my devotions,” replied the friar. “This is my hermitage, in which I first took refuge when I escaped from my beloved brethren of Rubygill; and to which I still retreat at times from the vanities of the world, which else might cling to me too closely, since I have been promoted to be peer-spiritual of your forest-court. For, indeed, I do find in myself certain indications and admonitions that my day has past its noon; and none more cogent56 than this: that daily of bad wine I grow more intolerant, and of good wine have a keener and more fastidious relish57. There is no surer symptom of receding58 years. The ferryman is my faithful varlet. I send him on some pious59 errand, that I may meditate60 in ghostly privacy, when my presence in the forest can best be spared: and when can it be better spared than now, seeing that the neighbourhood of Prince John, and his incessant61 perquisitions for Marian, have made the forest too hot to hold more of us than are needful to keep up a quorum62, and preserve unbroken the continuity of our forest-dominion? For, in truth, without your greenwood majesties63, we have hardly the wit to live in a body, and at the same time to keep our necks out of jeopardy64, while that arch-rebel and traitor John infests65 the precincts of our territory.”
The friar now conducted them to his peaceful cell, where he spread his frugal66 board with fish, venison, wild-fowl, fruit, and canary. Under the compound operation of this materia medica Robin’s wounds healed apace, and the friar, who hated minstrelsy, began as usual chirping67 in his cups. Robin and Marian chimed in with his tuneful humour till the midnight moon peeped in upon their revelry.
It was now the very witching time of night, when they heard a voice shouting, “Over!” They paused to listen, and the voice repeated “Over!” in accents clear and loud, but which at the same time either were in themselves, or seemed to be, from the place and the hour, singularly plaintive68 and dreary69. The friar fidgetted about in his seat: fell into a deep musing70: shook himself, and looked about him: first at Marian, then at Robin, then at Marian again; filled and tossed off a cup of canary, and relapsed into his reverie.
“Will you not bring your passenger over?” said Robin. The friar shook his head and looked mysterious.
“That passenger,” said the friar, “will never come over. Every full moon, at midnight, that voice calls, ‘Over!’ I and my varlet have more than once obeyed the summons, and we have sometimes had a glimpse of a white figure under the opposite trees: but when the boat has touched the bank, nothing has been to be seen; and the voice has been heard no more till the midnight of the next full moon.”
“It is very strange,” said Robin.
“Wondrous strange,” said the friar, looking solemn.
The voice again called “Over!” in a long plaintive musical cry.
“I must go to it,” said the friar, “or it will give us no peace. I would all my customers were of this world. I begin to think that I am Charon, and that this river is Styx.”
“I will go with you, friar,” said Robin.
“By my flask,” said the friar, “but you shall not.”
“Then I will,” said Marian.
“Still less,” said the friar, hurrying out of the cell. Robin and Marian followed: but the friar outstepped them, and pushed off his boat.
A white figure was visible under the shade of the opposite trees. The boat approached the shore, and the figure glided72 away. The friar returned.
They re-entered the cottage, and sat some time conversing73 on the phenomenon they had seen. The friar sipped74 his wine, and after a time, said:
“There is a tradition of a damsel who was drowned here some years ago. The tradition is ——”
But the friar could not narrate75 a plain tale: he therefore cleared his throat, and sang with due solemnity, in a ghostly voice:
A damsel came in midnight rain,
And called across the ferry:
The weary wight she called in vain,
Whose senses sleep did bury.
At evening, from her father’s door
She turned to meet her lover:
At midnight, on the lonely shore,
She shouted “Over, over!”
She had not met him by the tree
Of their accustomed meeting,
And sad and sick at heart was she,
Her heart all wildly beating.
In chill suspense76 the hours went by,
The wild storm burst above her:
She turned her to the river nigh,
And shouted, “Over, over!”
A dim, discoloured, doubtful light
The moon’s dark veil permitted,
And thick before her troubled sight
Fantastic shadows flitted.
Her lover’s form appeared to glide71,
And beckon77 o’er the water:
Alas78! his blood that morn had dyed
Her brother’s sword with slaughter79.
Upon a little rock she stood,
To make her invocation:
She marked not that the rain-swoll’n flood
Was islanding her station.
The tempest mocked her feeble cry:
No saint his aid would give her:
The flood swelled80 high and yet more high,
And swept her down the river.
Yet oft beneath the pale moonlight,
When hollow winds are blowing,
The shadow of that maiden81 bright
Glides82 by the dark stream’s flowing.
And when the storms of midnight rave13,
While clouds the broad moon cover,
The wild gusts83 waft84 across the wave
The cry of, “Over, over!”
While the friar was singing, Marian was meditating85: and when he had ended she said, “Honest friar, you have misplaced your tradition, which belongs to the aestuary of a nobler river, where the damsel was swept away by the rising of the tide, for which your land-flood is an indifferent substitute. But the true tradition of this stream I think I myself possess, and I will narrate it in your own way:
It was a friar of orders free, A friar of Rubygill: At the greenwood-tree a vow86 made he, But he kept it very ill: A vow made he of chastity, But he kept it very ill. He kept it, perchance, in the conscious shade Of the bounds of the forest wherein it was made: But he roamed where he listed, as free as the wind, And he left his good vow in the forest behind: For its woods out of sight were his vow out of mind, With the friar of Rubygill.
In lonely hut himself he shut, The friar of Rubygill; Where the ghostly elf absolved87 himself, To follow his own good will: And he had no lack of canary sack, To keep his conscience still. And a damsel well knew, when at lonely midnight It gleamed on the waters, his signal-lamp-light: “Over! over!” she warbled with nightingale throat, And the friar sprung forth88 at the magical note, And she crossed the dark stream in his trim ferryboat, With the friar of Rubygill.”
“Look you now,” said Robin, “if the friar does not blush. Many strange sights have I seen in my day, but never till this moment did I see a blushing friar.”
“I think,” said the friar, “you never saw one that blushed not, or you saw good canary thrown away. But you are welcome to laugh if it so please you. None shall laugh in my company, though it be at my expense, but I will have my share of the merriment. The world is a stage, and life is a farce89, and he that laughs most has most profit of the performance. The worst thing is good enough to be laughed at, though it be good for nothing else; and the best thing, though it be good for something else, is good for nothing better.”
And he struck up a song in praise of laughing and quaffing90, without further adverting91 to Marian’s insinuated92 accusation93; being, perhaps, of opinion, that it was a subject on which the least said would be the soonest mended.
So passed the night. In the morning a forester came to the friar, with intelligence that Prince John had been compelled, by the urgency of his affairs in other quarters, to disembarrass Nottingham Castle of his royal presence. Our wanderers returned joyfully94 to their forest-dominion, being thus relieved from the vicinity of any more formidable belligerent95 than their old bruised96 and beaten enemy the sheriff of Nottingham.
点击收听单词发音
1 ballad | |
n.歌谣,民谣,流行爱情歌曲 | |
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2 molestation | |
n.骚扰,干扰,调戏;折磨 | |
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3 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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4 vassals | |
n.奴仆( vassal的名词复数 );(封建时代)诸侯;从属者;下属 | |
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5 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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6 flask | |
n.瓶,火药筒,砂箱 | |
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7 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
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8 pegging | |
n.外汇钉住,固定证券价格v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的现在分词 );使固定在某水平 | |
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9 ribs | |
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹 | |
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10 robin | |
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟 | |
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11 prudent | |
adj.谨慎的,有远见的,精打细算的 | |
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12 attire | |
v.穿衣,装扮[同]array;n.衣着;盛装 | |
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13 rave | |
vi.胡言乱语;热衷谈论;n.热情赞扬 | |
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14 moored | |
adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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15 willows | |
n.柳树( willow的名词复数 );柳木 | |
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16 interval | |
n.间隔,间距;幕间休息,中场休息 | |
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17 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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18 intonation | |
n.语调,声调;发声 | |
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19 toll | |
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟) | |
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20 tithe | |
n.十分之一税;v.课什一税,缴什一税 | |
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21 pouch | |
n.小袋,小包,囊状袋;vt.装...入袋中,用袋运输;vi.用袋送信件 | |
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22 ware | |
n.(常用复数)商品,货物 | |
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23 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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24 nuns | |
n.(通常指基督教的)修女, (佛教的)尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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25 vender | |
n.小贩 | |
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26 plentiful | |
adj.富裕的,丰富的 | |
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27 brass | |
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器 | |
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28 cymbals | |
pl.铙钹 | |
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29 tune | |
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整 | |
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30 brawling | |
n.争吵,喧嚷 | |
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31 conjecture | |
n./v.推测,猜测 | |
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32 villain | |
n.反派演员,反面人物;恶棍;问题的起因 | |
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33 alluring | |
adj.吸引人的,迷人的 | |
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34 waded | |
(从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35 dexterous | |
adj.灵敏的;灵巧的 | |
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36 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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37 scrambling | |
v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞 | |
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38 coxcomb | |
n.花花公子 | |
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39 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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40 expended | |
v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 );使用(钱等)做某事;用光;耗尽 | |
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41 contrived | |
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的 | |
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42 vigour | |
(=vigor)n.智力,体力,精力 | |
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43 retarded | |
a.智力迟钝的,智力发育迟缓的 | |
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44 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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45 recreant | |
n.懦夫;adj.胆怯的 | |
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46 traitor | |
n.叛徒,卖国贼 | |
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47 clergy | |
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员 | |
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48 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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49 bruises | |
n.瘀伤,伤痕,擦伤( bruise的名词复数 ) | |
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50 concoction | |
n.调配(物);谎言 | |
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51 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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52 marvelled | |
v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53 poetical | |
adj.似诗人的;诗一般的;韵文的;富有诗意的 | |
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54 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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55 warden | |
n.监察员,监狱长,看守人,监护人 | |
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56 cogent | |
adj.强有力的,有说服力的 | |
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57 relish | |
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味 | |
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58 receding | |
v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
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59 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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60 meditate | |
v.想,考虑,(尤指宗教上的)沉思,冥想 | |
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61 incessant | |
adj.不停的,连续的 | |
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62 quorum | |
n.法定人数 | |
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63 majesties | |
n.雄伟( majesty的名词复数 );庄严;陛下;王权 | |
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64 jeopardy | |
n.危险;危难 | |
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65 infests | |
n.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的名词复数 );遍布于v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的第三人称单数 );遍布于 | |
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66 frugal | |
adj.节俭的,节约的,少量的,微量的 | |
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67 chirping | |
鸟叫,虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
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68 plaintive | |
adj.可怜的,伤心的 | |
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69 dreary | |
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的 | |
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70 musing | |
n. 沉思,冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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71 glide | |
n./v.溜,滑行;(时间)消逝 | |
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72 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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73 conversing | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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74 sipped | |
v.小口喝,呷,抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75 narrate | |
v.讲,叙述 | |
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76 suspense | |
n.(对可能发生的事)紧张感,担心,挂虑 | |
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77 beckon | |
v.(以点头或打手势)向...示意,召唤 | |
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78 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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79 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
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80 swelled | |
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
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81 maiden | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
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82 glides | |
n.滑行( glide的名词复数 );滑音;音渡;过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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83 gusts | |
一阵强风( gust的名词复数 ); (怒、笑等的)爆发; (感情的)迸发; 发作 | |
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84 waft | |
v.飘浮,飘荡;n.一股;一阵微风;飘荡 | |
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85 meditating | |
a.沉思的,冥想的 | |
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86 vow | |
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓 | |
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87 absolved | |
宣告…无罪,赦免…的罪行,宽恕…的罪行( absolve的过去式和过去分词 ); 不受责难,免除责任 [义务] ,开脱(罪责) | |
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88 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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89 farce | |
n.闹剧,笑剧,滑稽戏;胡闹 | |
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90 quaffing | |
v.痛饮( quaff的现在分词 );畅饮;大口大口将…喝干;一饮而尽 | |
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91 adverting | |
引起注意(advert的现在分词形式) | |
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92 insinuated | |
v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 );巧妙或迂回地潜入;(使)缓慢进入;慢慢伸入 | |
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93 accusation | |
n.控告,指责,谴责 | |
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94 joyfully | |
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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95 belligerent | |
adj.好战的,挑起战争的;n.交战国,交战者 | |
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96 bruised | |
[医]青肿的,瘀紫的 | |
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