“These stabs of the tongue,” he said, “are considered fair in the great world. They shock your upright nature; but as for me, I laugh at them; I am even pleased. These ladies must feel that the duke’s interests are in great peril12, when they have recourse to such warfare13.”
Making the most of the advantage Modeste had thus given him, Canalis entered upon his defence with such warmth, such eagerness, and with a passion so exquisitely14 expressed, as he thanked her for a confidence in which he could venture to see the dawn of love, that she found herself suddenly as much compromised with the poet as she feared to be with the grand equerry. Canalis, feeling the necessity of prompt action, declared himself plainly. He uttered vows16 and protestations in which his poetry shone like a moon, invoked17 for the occasion, and illuminating18 his allusions19 to the beauty of his mistress and the charms of her evening dress. This counterfeit20 enthusiasm, in which the night, the foliage21, the heavens and the earth, and Nature herself played a part, carried the eager lover beyond all bounds; for he dwelt on his disinterestedness23, and revamped in his own charming style, Diderot’s famous apostrophe to “Sophie and fifteen hundred francs!” and the well-worn “love in a cottage” of every lover who knows perfectly24 well the length of the father-inlaw’s purse.
“Monsieur,” said Modeste, after listening with delight to the melody of this concerto25; “the freedom granted to me by my parents has allowed me to listen to you; but it is to them that you must address yourself.”
“But,” exclaimed Canalis, “tell me that if I obtain their consent, you will ask nothing better than to obey them.”
“I know beforehand,” she replied, “that my father has certain fancies which may wound the proper pride of an old family like yours. He wishes to have his own title and name borne by his grandsons.”
“Ah! dear Modeste, what sacrifices would I not make to commit my life to the guardian26 care of an angel like you.”
“You will permit me not to decide in a moment the fate of my whole life,” she said, turning to rejoin the demoiselles d’Herouville.
Those noble ladies were just then engaged in flattering the vanity of little Latournelle, intending to win him over to their interests. Mademoiselle d’Herouville, to whom we shall in future confine the family name, to distinguish her from her niece Helene, was giving the notary27 to understand that the post of judge of the Supreme28 Court in Havre, which Charles X. would bestow29 as she desired, was an office worthy30 of his legal talent and his well-known probity31. Butscha, meanwhile, who had been walking about with La Briere, was greatly alarmed at the progress Canalis was evidently making, and he waylaid32 Modeste at the lower step of the portico33 when the whole party returned to the house to endure the torments34 of their inevitable35 whist.
“Mademoiselle,” he said, in a low whisper, “I do hope you don’t call him Melchior.”
“I’m very near it, my Black Dwarf36,” she said, with a smile that might have made an angel swear.
“Good God!” exclaimed Butscha, letting fall his hands, which struck the marble steps.
“Well! and isn’t he worth more than that spiteful and gloomy secretary in whom you take such an interest?” she retorted, assuming, at the mere37 thought of Ernest, the haughty38 manner whose secret belongs exclusively to young girls — as if their virginity lent them wings to fly to heaven. “Pray, would your little La Briere accept me without a fortune?” she said, after a pause.
“Ask your father,” replied Butscha, who walked a few steps from the house, to get Modeste at a safe distance from the windows. “Listen to me, mademoiselle. You know that he who speaks to you is ready to give not only his life but his honor for you, at any moment, and at all times. Therefore you may believe in him; you can confide15 to him that which you may not, perhaps, be willing to say to your father. Tell me, has that sublime39 Canalis been making you the disinterested22 offer that you now fling as a reproach at poor Ernest?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe it?”
“That question, my manikin,” she replied, giving him one of the ten or a dozen nicknames she had invented for him, “strikes me as undervaluing the strength of my self-love.”
“Ah, you are laughing, my dear Mademoiselle Modeste; then there’s no danger: I hope you are only making a fool of him.”
“Pray what would you think of me, Monsieur Butscha, if I allowed myself to make fun of those who do me the honor to wish to marry me? You ought to know, master Jean, that even if a girl affects to despise the most despicable attentions, she is flattered by them.”
“Then I flatter you?” said the young man, looking up at her with a face that was illuminated40 like a city for a festival.
“You?” she said; “you give me the most precious of all friendships — a feeling as disinterested as that of a mother for her child. Compare yourself to no one; for even my father is obliged to be devoted41 to me.” She paused. “I cannot say that I love you, in the sense which men give to that word, but what I do give you is eternal and can know no change.”
“Then,” said Butscha, stooping to pick up a pebble42 that he might kiss the hem6 of her garment, “suffer me to watch over you as a dragon guards a treasure. The poet was covering you just now with the lace-work of his precious phrases, the tinsel of his promises; he chanted his love on the best strings43 of his lyre, I know he did. If, as soon as this noble lover finds out how small your fortune is, he makes a sudden change in his behavior, and is cold and embarrassed, will you still marry him? shall you still esteem44 him?”
“He would be another Francisque Althor,” she said, with a gesture of bitter disgust.
“Let me have the pleasure of producing that change of scene,” said Butscha. “Not only shall it be sudden, but I believe I can change it back and make your poet as loving as before — nay45, it is possible to make him blow alternately hot and cold upon your heart, just as gracefully46 as he has talked on both sides of an argument in one evening without ever finding it out.”
“If you are right,” she said, “who can be trusted?”
“One who truly loves you.”
“The little duke?”
Butscha looked at Modeste. The pair walked some distance in silence; the girl was impenetrable and not an eyelash quivered.
“Mademoiselle, permit me to be the exponent47 of the thoughts that are lying at the bottom of your heart like sea-mosses under the waves, and which you do not choose to gather up.”
“Eh!” said Modeste, “so my intimate friend and counsellor thinks himself a mirror, does he?”
“No, an echo,” he answered, with a gesture of sublime humility48. “The duke loves you, but he loves you too much. If I, a dwarf, have understood the infinite delicacy49 of your heart, it would be repugnant to you to be worshipped like a saint in her shrine50. You are eminently51 a woman; you neither want a man perpetually at your feet of whom you are eternally sure, nor a selfish egoist like Canalis, who will always prefer himself to you. Why? ah, that I don’t know. But I will make myself a woman, an old woman, and find out the meaning of the plan which I have read in your eyes, and which perhaps is in the heart of every girl. Nevertheless, in your great soul you feel the need of worshipping. When a man is at your knees, you cannot put yourself at his. You can’t advance in that way, as Voltaire might say. The little duke has too many genuflections in his moral being and the poet has too few — indeed, I might say, none at all. Ha, I have guessed the mischief52 in your smiles when you talk to the grand equerry, and when he talks to you and you answer him. You would never be unhappy with the duke, and everybody will approve your choice, if you do choose him; but you will never love him. The ice of egotism, and the burning heat of ecstasy53 both produce indifference54 in the heart of every woman. It is evident to my mind that no such perpetual worship will give you the infinite delights which you are dreaming of in marriage — in some marriage where obedience55 will be your pride, where noble little sacrifices can be made and hidden, where the heart is full of anxieties without a cause, and successes are awaited with eager hope, where each new chance for magnanimity is hailed with joy, where souls are comprehended to their inmost recesses56, and where the woman protects with her love the man who protects her.”
“You are a sorcerer!” exclaimed Modeste.
“Neither will you find that sweet equality of feeling, that continual sharing of each other’s life, that certainty of pleasing which makes marriage tolerable, if you take Canalis — a man who thinks of himself only, whose ‘I’ is the one string to his lute57, whose mind is so fixed58 on himself that he has hitherto taken no notice of your father or the duke — a man of second-rate ambitions, to whom your dignity and your devotion will matter nothing, who will make you a mere appendage59 to his household, and who already insults you by his indifference to your behavior; yes, if you permitted yourself to go so far as to box your mother’s ears Canalis would shut his eyes to it, and deny your crime even to himself, because he thirsts for your money. And so, mademoiselle, when I spoke of the man who truly loves you I was not thinking of the great poet who is nothing but a little comedian60, nor of the duke, who might be a good marriage for you, but never a husband —”
“Butscha, my heart is a blank page on which you are yourself writing all that you read there,” cried Modeste, interrupting him. “You are carried away by your provincial61 hatred62 for everything that obliges you to look higher than your own head. You can’t forgive a poet for being a statesman, for possessing the gift of speech, for having a noble future before him — and you calumniate63 his intentions.”
“His! — mademoiselle, he will turn his back upon you with the baseness of an Althor.”
“Make him play that pretty little comedy, and —”
“That I will! he shall play it through and through within three days, — on Wednesday — recollect64, Wednesday! Until then, mademoiselle, amuse yourself by listening to the little tunes65 of the lyre, so that the discords66 and the false notes may come out all the more distinctly.”
Modeste ran gaily67 back to the salon68, where La Briere, who was sitting by the window, where he had doubtless been watching his idol69, rose to his feet as if a groom70 of the chambers71 had suddenly announced, “The Queen.” It was a movement of spontaneous respect, full of that living eloquence72 that lies in gesture even more than in speech. Spoken love cannot compare with acts of love; and every young girl of twenty has the wisdom of fifty in applying the axiom. In it lies the great secret of attraction. Instead of looking Modeste in the face, as Canalis who paid her public homage73 would have done, the neglected lover followed her with a furtive74 look between his eyelids75, humble76 after the manner of Butscha, and almost timid. The young heiress observed it, as she took her place by Canalis, to whose game she proceeded to pay attention. During a conversation which ensued, La Briere heard Modeste say to her father that she should ride out for the first time on the following Wednesday; and she also reminded him that she had no whip in keeping with her new equipments. The young man flung a lightning glance at the dwarf, and a few minutes later the two were pacing the terrace.
“It is nine o’clock,” cried Ernest. “I shall start for Paris at full gallop77; I can get there tomorrow morning by ten. My dear Butscha, from you she will accept anything, for she is attached to you; let me give her a riding-whip in your name. If you will do me this immense kindness, you shall have not only my friendship but my devotion.”
“Ah, you are very happy,” said Butscha, ruefully; “you have money, you!”
“Tell Canalis not to expect me, and that he must find some pretext78 to account for my absence.”
An hour later Ernest had ridden out of Havre. He reached Paris in twelve hours, where his first act was to secure a place in the mail-coach for Havre on the following evening. Then he went to three of the chief jewellers in Paris and compared all the whip-handles that they could offer; he was in search of some artistic79 treasure that was regally superb. He found one at last, made by Stidmann for a Russian, who was unable to pay for it when finished — a fox-head in gold, with a ruby80 of exorbitant81 value; all his savings82 went into the purchase, the cost of which was seven thousand francs. Ernest gave a drawing of the arms of La Bastie, and allowed the shop-people twenty hours to engrave83 them. The handle, a masterpiece of delicate workmanship, was fitted to an india-rubber whip and put into a morocco case lined with velvet84, on which two M.‘s interlaced were stamped in gold.
La Briere got back to Havre by the mail-coach Wednesday morning in time to breakfast with Canalis. The poet had concealed85 his secretary’s absence by declaring that he was busy with some work sent from Paris. Butscha, who met La Briere at the coach-door, took the box containing the precious work of art to Francoise Cochet, with instructions to place it on Modeste’s dressing-table.
“Of course you will accompany Mademoiselle Modeste on her ride today?” said Butscha, who went to Canalis’s house to let La Briere know by a wink86 that the whip had gone to its destination.
“I?” answered Ernest; “no, I am going to bed.”
“Bah!” exclaimed Canalis, looking at him. “I don’t know what to make of you.”
Breakfast was then served, and the poet naturally invited their visitor to stay and take it. Butscha complied, having seen in the expression of the valet’s face the success of a trick in which we shall see the first fruits of his promise to Modeste.
“Monsieur is very right to detain the clerk of Monsieur Latournelle,” whispered Germain in his master’s ear.
Canalis and Germain went into the salon on a sign that passed between them.
“I went out this morning to see the men fish, monsieur,” said the valet — “an excursion proposed to me by the captain of a smack87, whose acquaintance I have made.”
Germain did not acknowledge that he had the bad taste to play billiards88 in a cafe — a fact of which Butscha had taken advantage to surround him with friends of his own and manage him as he pleased.
“Well?” said Canalis, “to the point — quick!”
“Monsieur le baron89, I heard a conversation about Monsieur Mignon, which I encouraged as far as I could; for no one, of course, knew that I belong to you. Ah! monsieur, judging by the talk of the quays90, you are running your head into a noose91. The fortune of Mademoiselle de La Bastie is, like her name, modest. The vessel92 on which the father returned does not belong to him, but to rich China merchants to whom he renders an account. They even say things that are not at all flattering to Monsieur Mignon’s honor. Having heard that you and Monsieur le duc were rivals for Mademoiselle de La Bastie’s hand, I have taken the liberty to warn you; of the two, wouldn’t it be better that his lordship should gobble her? As I came home I walked round the quays, and into that theatre-hall where the merchants meet; I slipped boldly in and out among them. Seeing a well-dressed stranger, those worthy fellows began to talk to me of Havre, and I got them, little by little, to speak of Colonel Mignon. What they said only confirms the stories the fishermen told me; and I feel that I should fail in my duty if I keep silence. That is why I did not get home in time to dress monsieur this morning.”
“What am I to do?” cried Canalis, who remembered his proposals to Modeste the night before, and did not see how he could get out of them.
“Monsieur knows my attachment93 to him,” said Germain, perceiving that the poet was quite thrown off his balance; “he will not be surprised if I give him a word of advice. There is that clerk; try to get the truth out of him. Perhaps he’ll unbutton after a bottle or two of champagne94, or at any rate a third. It would be strange indeed if monsieur, who will one day be ambassador, as Philoxene has heard Madame la duchesse say time and time again, couldn’t turn a little notary’s clerk inside out.”
点击收听单词发音
1 equestrian | |
adj.骑马的;n.马术 | |
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2 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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3 intimacy | |
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行 | |
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4 alluring | |
adj.吸引人的,迷人的 | |
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5 fascinations | |
n.魅力( fascination的名词复数 );有魅力的东西;迷恋;陶醉 | |
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6 hem | |
n.贴边,镶边;vt.缝贴边;(in)包围,限制 | |
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7 splendors | |
n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 );壮丽;光辉;显赫 | |
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8 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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9 adjourned | |
(使)休会, (使)休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10 calumnies | |
n.诬蔑,诽谤,中伤(的话)( calumny的名词复数 ) | |
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11 exclamation | |
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词 | |
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12 peril | |
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物 | |
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13 warfare | |
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突 | |
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14 exquisitely | |
adv.精致地;强烈地;剧烈地;异常地 | |
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15 confide | |
v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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16 vows | |
誓言( vow的名词复数 ); 郑重宣布,许愿 | |
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17 invoked | |
v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 );行使(权利等);祈求救助;恳求 | |
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18 illuminating | |
a.富于启发性的,有助阐明的 | |
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19 allusions | |
暗指,间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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20 counterfeit | |
vt.伪造,仿造;adj.伪造的,假冒的 | |
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21 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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22 disinterested | |
adj.不关心的,不感兴趣的 | |
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23 disinterestedness | |
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24 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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25 concerto | |
n.协奏曲 | |
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26 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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27 notary | |
n.公证人,公证员 | |
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28 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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29 bestow | |
v.把…赠与,把…授予;花费 | |
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30 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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31 probity | |
n.刚直;廉洁,正直 | |
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32 waylaid | |
v.拦截,拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33 portico | |
n.柱廊,门廊 | |
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34 torments | |
(肉体或精神上的)折磨,痛苦( torment的名词复数 ); 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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35 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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36 dwarf | |
n.矮子,侏儒,矮小的动植物;vt.使…矮小 | |
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37 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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38 haughty | |
adj.傲慢的,高傲的 | |
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39 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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40 illuminated | |
adj.被照明的;受启迪的 | |
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41 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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42 pebble | |
n.卵石,小圆石 | |
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43 strings | |
n.弦 | |
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44 esteem | |
n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作 | |
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45 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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46 gracefully | |
ad.大大方方地;优美地 | |
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47 exponent | |
n.倡导者,拥护者;代表人物;指数,幂 | |
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48 humility | |
n.谦逊,谦恭 | |
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49 delicacy | |
n.精致,细微,微妙,精良;美味,佳肴 | |
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50 shrine | |
n.圣地,神龛,庙;v.将...置于神龛内,把...奉为神圣 | |
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51 eminently | |
adv.突出地;显著地;不寻常地 | |
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52 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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53 ecstasy | |
n.狂喜,心醉神怡,入迷 | |
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54 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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55 obedience | |
n.服从,顺从 | |
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56 recesses | |
n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 );(工作或业务活动的)中止或暂停期间;学校的课间休息;某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 );将(墙)做成凹形,在(墙)上做壁龛;休息,休会,休庭 | |
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57 lute | |
n.琵琶,鲁特琴 | |
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58 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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59 appendage | |
n.附加物 | |
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60 comedian | |
n.喜剧演员;滑稽演员 | |
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61 provincial | |
adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人 | |
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62 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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63 calumniate | |
v.诬蔑,中伤 | |
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64 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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65 tunes | |
n.曲调,曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调 | |
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66 discords | |
不和(discord的复数形式) | |
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67 gaily | |
adv.欢乐地,高兴地 | |
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68 salon | |
n.[法]沙龙;客厅;营业性的高级服务室 | |
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69 idol | |
n.偶像,红人,宠儿 | |
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70 groom | |
vt.给(马、狗等)梳毛,照料,使...整洁 | |
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71 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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72 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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73 homage | |
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬 | |
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74 furtive | |
adj.鬼鬼崇崇的,偷偷摸摸的 | |
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75 eyelids | |
n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 );眼睛也不眨一下;不露声色;面不改色 | |
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76 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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77 gallop | |
v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔;飞速发展 | |
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78 pretext | |
n.借口,托词 | |
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79 artistic | |
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的 | |
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80 ruby | |
n.红宝石,红宝石色 | |
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81 exorbitant | |
adj.过分的;过度的 | |
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82 savings | |
n.存款,储蓄 | |
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83 engrave | |
vt.(在...上)雕刻,使铭记,使牢记 | |
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84 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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85 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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86 wink | |
n.眨眼,使眼色,瞬间;v.眨眼,使眼色,闪烁 | |
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87 smack | |
vt.拍,打,掴;咂嘴;vi.含有…意味;n.拍 | |
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88 billiards | |
n.台球 | |
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89 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
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90 quays | |
码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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91 noose | |
n.绳套,绞索(刑);v.用套索捉;使落入圈套;处以绞刑 | |
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92 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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93 attachment | |
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附 | |
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94 champagne | |
n.香槟酒;微黄色 | |
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