It was at that time that Belfast’s devotion — and also his pugnacity52 — secured universal respect. He spent every moment of his spare time in Jimmy ‘s cabin. He tended him, talked to him; was as gentle as a woman, as tenderly gay as an old philanthropist, as sentimentally53 careful of his nigger as a model slave-owner. But outside he was irritable54, explosive as gunpowder55, sombre, suspicious, and never more brutal56 than when most sorrowful. With him it was a tear and a blow: a tear for Jimmy, a blow for any one who did not seem to take a scrupulously57 orthodox view of Jimmy’s case. We talked about nothing else. The two Scandinavians, even, discussed the situation — but it was impossible to know in what spirit, because they quarreled in their own language. Belfast suspected them of irreverence58, and in this incertitude59 thought that there was no option but to fight them both. They became very much terrified by his truculence60, and henceforth lived amongst us, dejected, like a pair of mutes. Wamibo never spoke intelligibly61, but he was as smileless as an animal — seemed to know much less about it all than the cat — and consequently was safe. Moreover he had belonged to the chosen band of Jimmy’s rescuers, and was above suspicion. Archie was silent generally, but often spent an hour or so talking to Jimmy quietly with an air of proprietorship62. At any time of the day and often through the night some man could be seen sitting on Jimmy’s box. In the evening, between six and eight, the cabin was crowded, and there was an interested group at the door. Every one stared at the nigger.
He basked63 in the warmth of our interest. His eyes gleamed ironically, and in a weak voice he reproached us with our cowardice65. He would say, ‘If you fellows had stuck out for me I would be now on deck.’ We hung our heads. ‘Yes, but if you think I am going to let them put me in irons just to show you sport . . . Well, no . . . It ruins my health, this lying up, it does. You don’t care.’ We were as abashed66 as if it had been true. His superb impudence67 carried all before it. We would not have dared to revolt. We didn’t want to really. We wanted to keep him alive till home — to the end of the voyage.
Singleton as usual held aloof68, appearing to scorn the insignificant69 events of an ended life. Once only he came along, and unexpectedly stopped in the doorway70. He peered at Jimmy in profound silence, as if desirous to add that black image to the crowd of Shades that peopled his old memory. We kept very quiet and for a long time Singleton stood there as though he had come by appointment to call for some one, or to see some important event. James Wait lay perfectly71 still and apparently72 not aware of the gaze scrutinising him with a steadiness full of expectation. There was a sense of tussle73 in the air. We felt the inward strain of men watching a wrestling bout2. At last Jimmy with perceptible apprehension74 turned his head on the pillow. — ‘Good evening,’ he said in a conciliating tone. — ‘H’m,’ answered the old seaman75, grumpily. For a moment longer he looked at Jimmy with severe fixity, then suddenly went away. It was a long time before any one spoke in the little cabin, though we all breathed more freely as men do after an escape from some dangerous situation. We all knew the old man’s ideas about Jimmy, and nobody dared to combat them. They were unsettling they caused pain; and, what was worse, they might have been true for all we knew. Only once did he condescend77 to explain them fully78, but the impression was lasting79. He said that Jimmy was the cause of head winds. Mortally sick men — he maintained — linger till the first sight of land, and then die; and Jimmy knew that the land would draw his life from him. It is so in every shi. Didn’t we know it? He asked us with austere80 contempt: what did we know? What would we doubt next? Jimmy’s desire encouraged by us and aided by Wamibo’s spells delayed the ship in the open sea. Only lubberly fools couldn’t see it. Whoever heard of such a run of calms and head winds? It wasn’t natural . . . We could not deny that it was strange. We felt uneasy. The common saying, ‘more days, more dollars,’ did not give the usual comfort because the stores were running short. Much had been spoiled off the Cape76, and we were on half allowance of biscuit. Peas, sugar and tea had been finished long ago. Salt meat was giving out. We had plenty of coffee but very little water to make it with. We took up another hole in our belts and went on scraping, polishing, painting the ship from morning to night. And soon she looked as though she had come out of a band-box; but hunger lived on board of her. Not dead starvation, but steady, living hunger that stalked about on the decks, slept in the forecastle; the tormentor82 of waking moments, the disturber of dreams. We looked to windward for signs of change. Every few hours of night and da y we put her round with the hope that she would come up on that tack83 at last! She didn’t. She seemed to have forgotten the way home; she rushed to and fro, heading north-west, heading east; she ran backwards84 and forwards, distracted, like a timid creature at the foot of a wall. Sometimes, as if tired to death, she would wallow languidly for a day in the smooth swell85 of an unruffled sea. All up to the swinging masts the sails thrashed furiously through the hot stillness of the calm. We were weary, hungry, thirsty; we commenced to believe Singleton, but with unshaken fidelity86 dissembled to Jimmy. We spoke to him with jocose87 allusiveness88, like cheerful accomplices89 in a clever plot; but we looked to the westward90 over the rail with mournful eyes for a sign of hope, for a sign of fair wind; even if its first breath should bring death to our reluctant Jimmy. In vain! The universe conspired91 with James Wait. Light airs from the northward92 sprung up again; the sky remained clear; and round our weariness the glittering sea. touched by the breeze, basked voluptuously93 in the great sunshine, as though it had forgotten our life and trouble.
Donkin looked out for a fair wind along with the rest. No one knew the venom94 of his thoughts now. He was silent, and appeared thinner, as if consumed slowly by an inward rage at the injustice95 of men and fate. He was ignored by all and spoke to no one, but his hate for every man looked out through his eyes. He talked with the cook only, having somehow persuaded the good man that he — Donkin — was a much calumniated96 and persecuted97 person. Together they bewailed the immorality98 of the ship’s company. There could be no greater criminals than we, who by our lies conspired to send the soul of a poor ignorant black man to ever-lasting perdition. Podmore cooked what there was to cook, remorsefully99, and felt all the time that by preparing the food of such sinners he imperilled his own salvation100. As to the Captain — he had lived with him for seven years, he said, and would not have believed it possible that such a man . . . ‘Well. Well . . . There it is . . . Can’t get out of it. Judgment101 capsized all in a minute . . . Struck in all his pride . . . More like a visitation than anything else.’ Donkin, perched sullenly103 on the coal-locker, swung his legs and concurred104. He paid in the coin of spurious assent105 for the privilege to sit in the galley106; he was disheartened and scandalised; he agreed with the cook; could find no words severe enough to criticise107 our conduct; and when in the heat of reprobation108 he swore at us, Podmore, who would have liked to swear also if it hadn’t been for his principles, pretended not to hear. So Donkin, unrebuked, cursed enough for two, cadged110 for matches, borrowed tobacco, and loafed for hours, very much at home before the stove. From there he could hear us on the other side of the bulkhead, talking to Jimmy. The cook knocked the pots about, slammed the oven door, muttered prophecies of damnation for all the ship’s company; and Donkin, who did not admit of any hereafter, except for the purposes of blasphemy111, listened, concentrated and angry, gloating fiercely over a called-up image of infinite torment81 — like men gloat over the accursed images of cruelty and revenge, of greed, and of power . . .
On clear evenings the silent ship, under the cold sheen of the dead moon, took on the false aspect of passionless repose112 resembling the winter of the earth. Under her a long band of gold barred the black disc of the sea. Footsteps echoed on her quiet decks. The moonlight clung to her like a frosted mist, and the white sails stood out in dazzling cones113 as of stainless114 snow. In the magnificence of the phantom115 rays the ship appeared pure like a vision of ideal beauty, illusive116 like a tender dream of serene117 peace. And nothing in her was real, nothing was distinct and solid but the heavy shadows that filled her decks with their unceasing and noiseless stir; the shadows blacker than the night and more restless than the thoughts of men.
Donkin prowled spiteful and alone amongst the shadows, thinking that Jimmy too long delayed to die. That evening, just before dark, land had been reported from aloft, and the master, while adjusting the tubes of the long glass, had observed with quiet bitterness to Mr. Baker118 that, after fighting our way inch by inch to the Western Islands there was nothing to expect now but a spell of calm. The sky was clear and the barometer119 high. The light breeze dropped with the sun, and an enormous stillness, the forerunner120 of a night without wind, descended121 upon the heated waters of the ocean. As long as daylight lasted, the hands collected on the forecastle-head watched on the eastern sky the island of Flores, that rose above the level expanse of the sea with irregular and broken outlines like a sombre ruin upon a vast and deserted122 plain. It was the first land seen for nearly four months. Charley was excited, and in the midst of general indulgence took liberties with his betters. Men strangely elated without knowing why, talked in groups, and pointed123 with bared arms. For the first time that voyage Jimmy’s sham124 existence seemed for a moment forgotten in the face of a solid reality. We had got so far anyhow. Belfast discoursed125, quoting imaginary examples of short homeward passages from the Islands. ‘Them smart fruit schooners126 do it in five days,’ he affirmed. ‘What do you want? — only a good little breeze.’ Archie maintained that seven days was the shortest passage, and they disputed amicably127 with insulting words. Knowles declared he could already smell home from there, and with a heavy list on his short leg laughed fit to split his sides. A group of grizzled sea-dogs looked out for a time in silence and with grim absorbed faces. One said suddenly — ‘Tain’t far to London now.’ — ‘My first night ashore128, blamme if I haven’t steak and onions for supper . . . and a pint129 of bitter,’ said another. — ‘A barrel ye mean,’ shouted some one. — ‘Ham an’ eggs three times a day. That’s the way I live!’ cried an excited voice. There was a stir, appreciative130 murmurs132; eyes began to shine; jaws133 champed; short nervous laughs were heard. Archie smiled with reserve all to himself. Singleton came up, gave a negligent134 glance, and went down again without saying a word, indifferent, like a man who had seen Flores an incalculable number of times. The night travelling from the East blotted135 out of the limpid136 sky the purple stain of the high land. ‘Dead calm,’ said somebody quietly. The murmur131 of lively talk suddenly wavered, died out; the clusters broke up; men began to drift away one by one, descending137 the ladders slowly and with serious faces as if sobered by that reminder138 of their dependence139 upon the invisible. And when the big yellow moon ascended140 gently above the sharp rim35 of the clear horizon it found the ship wrapped up in a breathless silence; a fearless ship that seemed to sleep profoundly, dreamlessly, on the bosom141 of the sleeping and terrible sea.
Donkin chafed142 at the peace — at the ship — at the sea that stretched away on all sides merged144 into the illimitable silence of all creation. He felt himself pulled up sharp by unrecognised grievances145. He had been physically146 cowed, but his injured dignity remained indomitabe, and nothing could heal his lacerated feelings. Here was land already — home very soon — a bad pay-day — no clothes — more hard work. How offensive all this was. Land. The land draws away life from sick sailors. That nigger there had money — clothes — easy times; and would not die. Land draws life away . . . He felt tempted147 to go and see whether it did. Perhaps already . . . It would be a bit of luck. There was money in the beggar’s chest. He stepped briskly out of the shadows into the moonlight, and, instantly, his craving148, hungry face from sallow became livid. He opened the door of the cabin and had a shock. Sure enough, Jimmy was dead! He moved no more than a recumbent figure with clasped hands, carved on the lid of a stone coffin149. Donkin glared with avidity. Then Jimmy, without stirring, blinked his eyelids151, and Donkin had another shock. Those eyes were rather startling. He shut the door behind his back with gentle care, looking intently the while at James Wait as though he had come in there at great risk to tell some secret of startling importance. Jimmy did not move but glanced languidly out of the corners of his eyes. ‘Calm?’ he asked. — ‘Yuss,’ said Donkin, very disappointed, and sat down on the box.
Jimmy breathed with composure. He was use to such visits at all times of night or day. Men succeeded one another. They spoke in clear voices, pronounced cheerful words, repeated old jokes, listened to him; and each, going out, seemed to leave behind a little of his own vitality152, surrender some of his own strength, renew the assurance of life — the indestructable thing! He did not like to be alone in his cabin, because, when he was alone, it seemed to him as if he hadn’t been there at all. There was nothing. No pain. Not now. Perfectly right — but he couldn’t enjoy his healthful repose unless some one was by to see it. This man would do as anybody. Donkin watched him stealthily. — ‘Soon home now,‘observed Wait. — ‘Why d’yer whisper?’ asked Donkin with interest, ‘can’t you speak hupz?’ Jimmy looked annoyed and said nothing for a while; then in a lifeless unringing voice:— ‘Why should I shout? You ain’t deaf that I know. — ‘Oh! I can ’ear right enough,’ answered Donkin in a low tone, and looked down. He was thinking sadly of going out when Jimmy spoke again. — ‘Time we did get home . . . to get something decent to eat . . . I am always hungry.’ Donkin felt angry all of a sudden. — ‘What habout me,’ he hissed154, ‘I am ’ungry too an’ got ter work. You, ’ungry! — ‘ Your work won’t kill you,’ commented Wait, feebly;‘there’s a couple of biscuits in the lower bunk155 there — you may have one. I can’t eat them.’ Donkin dived in, groped in the corner and when he came up again his mouth was full. He munched156 with ardour. Jimmy seemed to doze157 with open eyes. Donkin finished his hard bread and got up. — ‘You’re not going? asked Jimmy, staring at the ceiling. — ‘No,’ said Donkin impulsively158, and instead of going out leaned his back against the closed door. He looked at James Wait, and saw him long, lean, dried up, as though all his flesh had shrivelled on his bones in the heat of a white furnace; the meagre fingers of one hand moved lightly upon the edge of the bunk playing an endless tune159. To look at him was irritating and fatiguing160; he could last like this for days; he was outrageous161 — belonging wholly neither to death nor life, and perfectly invulnerable in his apparent ignorance of both. Donkin felt tempted to enlighten him. — ‘What hare yer thinkin’ of?’ he asked surlily. James Wait had a grimacing162 smile that passed over the deathlike impassiveness of his bony face. incredible and frightful163 as would, in a dream, have been the sudden smile of a corpse164.
‘There is a girl,’ whispered Wait . . . ‘Canton Street girl — She chucked a third engineer of a Rennie boat — for me. Cooks oysters165 just as I like . . . She says — she would chuck — any toff — for a coloured gentleman . . . That’s me. I am kind to women.’ he added a shade louder.
Donkin could hardly believe his ears. He was scandalised. — ‘Would she? Yer wouldn’t be hany good to ’er,’ he said with unrestrained disgust. Wait was not there to hear him. He was swaggering up the east India Dock Road; saying kindly166, ‘Come along for a treat.’ pushing glass swing-doors,, posing with superb assurance in the gaslight above a mahogany counter. — ‘D’yer think yer will hever get ashore?’ asked Donkin angrily. Wait came back with a start. — ‘Ten days,’ he said promptly167, and returned at once to the regions of memory that know nothing of time. He felt untired, calm, and as if safely withdrawn168 within himself beyond the reach of every grave incertitude. There was something of the immutable169 quality of eternity170 in the slow moments of his complete restfulness. He was very quiet and easy amongst his vivid reminiscences which he mistook joyfully171 for images of an undoubted future. He cared for no one. Donkin felt this vaguely172 like a blind man may feel in his darkness the fatal antagonism173 of all the surrounding existences, that to him shall for ever remain irrealisable, unseen and enviable. He had a desire to assert his importance, to break, to crush; to be even with everybody for everything; to tear the veil, unmask expose, leave no refuge — a perfidious174 desire of truthfulness175! He laughed in a mocking splutter and said:
‘Ten days. Strike me blind if I hever! . . . You will be dead by this time to-morrow p’r’aps. Ten days!’ He waited for a while.‘D’ye ’ear me? Blamme if yer don’t look dead halready.’
Jimmy must have been collecting his strength for he said almost aloud — ‘You’re a stinking176, cadging177 liar178. Every one knows you.’ And sitting up, against all probability, startled his visitor horribly. But very soon Donkin recovered himself. He blustered179, ‘What? What? Who’s a liar? You hare — the crowd hare — the skipper — heverybody. I haint! Putting on hairs! w ho’s yer?’ He nearly choked himself with indignation. ‘Who’s yer to put on hairs,’ he repeated trembling. ‘‘Ave one — ’ave one, says ’ee — an’ cawn’t heat ’em ’isself. Now I’ll ’ave both. By Gawd — I will! Yer nobody!’
He plunged180 into the lower bunk, rooted in there and brought to light another dusty biscuit. He held it up before Jimmy — weethen took a bite defiantly182.
‘What now?’ he asked with feverish184 impatience185. ‘Yer may take one — says yer. Why not giv’ me both? No. I’m a mangy dorg. One for a mangy dorg.I’ll tyke both. Can yer stop me? Try. Come on. Try.’
Jimmy was clasping his legs and hiding his face on the knees. His shirt clung to him. Every rib42 was visible. His emaciated186 back was shaken in repeated jerks by the panting catches of his breath.
‘Yer won’t? Yer can’t? What did I say?’ went on Donkin fiercely. He swallowed another dry mouthful with a hasty effort. The other’s silent helplessness, his weakness, his shrinking attitude exasperated187 him.‘Ye’re done!’ he cried. ‘Who’s yer to be lied to; to be waited on ‘and and foot like a bloomin’ hymperor. Yer nobody. Yer no one at all!’ he spluttered with such a strength of unerring conviction that it shook him from head to foot in coming out, and left him vibrating like a released string.
Jimmy rallied again. He lifted his head and turned bravely at Donkin, who saw a strange face, an unknown face, a fantastic and grimacing mask of despair and fury. Its lips moved rapidly; and hollow, moaning, whistling sounds filled the cabin with a vague mutter full of menace, complaint and desolation, like the far-off murmur of a rising wind. Wait shook his head; rolled his eyes; he denied, cursed, menaced — and not a word had the strength to pass beyond the sorrowful pout of those black lips. It was incomprehensible and disturbing; a gibberish of emotions, a frantic188 dumb show of speech pleading for impossible things, threatening a shadowy vengeance189. It sobered Donkin into a scrutinising watchfulness190.
‘Yer can’t holler. See? What did I tell yer?’ he said slowly after a moment of attentive191 examination. The other kept on headlong and unheard, nodding passionately193, grinning with grotesque194 and appalling195 flashes of big white teeth. Donkin, as if fascinated by the dumb eloquence196 and anger of that black phantom, approached, stretching his neck out with distrustful curiosity; and it seemed to him suddenly that he was looking only at the shadow of a man crouching197 high in the bunk on the level with his eyes. — ‘What? What?’ he said. He seemed to catch the shape of some words in the continuous panting hiss153. ‘Yer will tell Belfast! Will yer? Hare yer a bloomin’ kid?’ He trembled with alarm and rage. ‘Tell yer gran’mother! Yer afeard! Who’s yer ter be afeard more’n hanyone?’ His passionate192 sense of his own importance ran away with a last remnant of caution. ‘Tell an’ be damned! Tell if yer can!’ he cried. ‘I’ve been treated worse’n a dorg by your blooming back-lickers. They ’as set me on, honly to turn against me, I ham the honly man ’ere. They choked me, kicked me — an’ yer laffed — yer black, rotten incumbrance, you! You will pay fur it. They giv’ yer their grub, their water — yer will pay fur hit to me, by Gawd! Who haxed me ter ’ave a drink of water? They put their bloomin’ rags on yer that night, an’ what did they giv’ ter me — a clout199 on the bloomin’ mouth — blast their . . . S’elp me! . . . Yer will pay fur hit with yer money. Hi’m goin’ ter ’ave it in a minyte; has soon has ye’re dead, yer bloomin’ useless fraud. That’s the man I ham. An ye’re a thing —— a bloody200 thing. Yah — you corpse!
He flung at Jimmy’s head the biscuit he had been all the time clutching hard, but it only grazed, and striking with a loud crack the bulkhead beyond burst like a hand-grenade into flying pieces. James Wait, as though wounded mortally, fell back on the pillow. His lips ceased to move and the rolling eyes became quiet and stared upwards201 with an intense and steady persistence202. Donkin was surprised; he sat suddenly on the chest, and looked down, exhausted203 and gloomy. After a moment he began to mutter to himself, ‘Die, you beggar — die. Somebody’ll come in . . . I wish I was drunk . . . Ten days . . . Hoysters . . . ’ He looked up and spoke louder. ‘No . . . no more for yer . . . no more bloomin’ gals204 that cook hoysters . . . Who’s yer? Hit’s my turn now . . . I wish I was drunk; I would soon giv’ you a leg up haloft. That’s where y er will go. Feet first, through a port . . . Splash! Never see yer hany more. Hoverboard! Good ‘nuff fur yer.’
Jimmy’s head moved slightly and he turned his eyes to Donkin’s face; a gaze unbelieving, desolated205 and appealing, of a child frightened by the menace of being shut up alone in the dark. Donkin observed him from the chest with hopeful eyes; then without rising he tried the lid. Locked. ‘I wish I was drunk.’ he muttered and getting up listened anxiously to the distant sound of footsteps on the deck. They approached — ceased. Some one yawned interminably just outside the door, and the footsteps went away shuffling206 lazily. Donkin’s fluttering heart eased its pace, and when he looked towards the bunk again Jimmy was staring as before at the white beam. — ‘‘Ow d’yer feel now?’ he asked. — ‘Bad,’ breathed out Jimmy.
Donkin sat down patient and purposeful. Every half-hour the bells spoke to one another ringing along the whole length of the ship. Jimmy’s respiration207 was so rapid that it couldn’t be counted, so faint that it couldn’t be heard. His eyes were terrified as though he had been looking at unspeakable horrors; and by his face one could see that he was thinking of abominable208 things. Suddenly with an incredibly strong and heart-breaking voice he sobbed209 out:
‘Overboard! . . . I! . . . My God!’
Donkin writhed210 a little on the box. He looked unwillingly211. Jimmy was mute. His two long bony hands smoothed the blanket upwards, as though he had wished to gather it all up under his chin. A tear, a big solitary212 tear, escaped from the corner of his eye and, without touching213 the hollow cheek, fell on the pillow, his throat rattled215 faintly.
And Donkin, watching the end of that hateful nigger, felt the anguishing216 grasp of a great sorrow on his heart at the thought that he himself, some day, would have to go through it all — just like this — perhaps! His eyes became moist. ‘Poor beggar,’ he murmured. The night seemed to go by in a flash; it seemed to him he could hear the irremediable rush of precious minutes. How long would this blooming affair last? Too long surely. No luck. He could not restrain himself. He got up and approached the bunk. Wait did not stir. Only his eyes appeared alive and his hands continued their smoothing movement with a horrible and tireless industry. Donkin bent over.
‘Jimmy,’ he called low. There was no answer, but the rattle214 stopped. ‘D’yer see me?’ he asked trembling. Jimmy’s chest heaved. Donkin, looking away, bent his ear to Jimmy’s lips and heard a sound like the rustle217 of a single dry leaf driven along the smooth sand of a beach. It shaped itself.
‘Light . . . the lamp . . . and . . . go.’ breathed out Wait.
Donkin, instinctively218, glanced over his shoulder at the blazing flame; then, still looking away, felt under the pillow for a key. he got it at once and for the next few minutes was shakily but swiftly busy about the box. when he got up, his face — for the fist time in his life — had a pink flush — perhaps of triumph.
He slipped the key under the pillow again, avoiding to glance at Jimmy, who had not moved. He turned his back squarely from the bunk and started to the door as though he were going to walk a mile. At his second stride he had his nose against it. He clutched the handle cautiously, but at that moment he received the irresistible220 impression of something happening behind his back. He spun221 round as though he had been tapped on the shoulder. He was just in time to see Jimmy’s eyes blaze up and go out at once like two lamps overturned together by a sweeping222 blow. Something resembling a scarlet223 thread hung down his chin out of t he corner of his lips — and he had ceased to breathe.
Donkin closed the door behind him gently but firmly. Sleeping men, huddled224 under jackets, made on the lighted deck shapeless dark mounds226 that had the appearance of neglected graves. Nothing had been done all through the night and he hadn’t been missed. He stood motionless and perfectly astounded227 to find the world outside as he had left it; there was the sea, the ship — sleeping men; and he wondered absurdly at it, as though he had expected to find the men dead, familiar things gone for ever; as though, like a wanderer returning after many years, he had expected to see bewildering changes. He shuddered228 a little in the penetrating freshness of the air, and hugged himself forlornly. The declining moon drooped229 sadly in the western board as if withered230 by the cold touch of a pale dawn. The ship slept. And the immortal231 sea stretched away, immense and hazy232, like the image of life with a glittering surface and lightless depths; promising233, empty inspiring — terrible. Donkin gave it a defiant183 glance and slunk off noiselessly as if judged and cast out by the august silence of its might.
Jimmy’s death, after all, came as a tremendous surprise. We did not know till then how much faith we had put in his delusions. We had taken his chances of life so much at his own valuation that his death, like the death of an old belief shook the foundations of our society. A common bond was gone; the strong, effective and respectable bond of a sentimental6 lie. All that day we mooned at our work, with suspicious looks and a disabused234 air. In our hearts we thought that in the matter of his departure Jimmy had acted in a perverse235 and unfriendly manner. He didn’t back us up, as a shipmate should. In going he took away with himself the gloomy and solemn shadow in which our folly236 had posed, with human satisfaction, as a tender arbiter237 of fate. And now we saw it was no such thing. It was just common foolishness; a silly and ineffectual meddling238 with issues of majestic239 import — that is, if Podmore was right. Perhaps he was? Doubt survived Jimmy; and, like a community of banded criminals disintegrated240 by a touch of grace, we were profoundly scandalised with each other. Men spoke unkindly to their best chums. Others refused to speak at all. Singleton only was not surprised. ‘Dead — is he? Of course,’ he said, pointing at the island right abeam241: for the calm still held the ship spell-bound within sight of Flores. Dead — of course. He wasn’t surprised. Here was the land, and there, on the forehatch and waiting for the sailmaker — there was that corpse. Cause and effect. And for the fist time that voyage, the old seaman became quite cheery and garrulous242, explaining and illustrating243 from the stores of experience how, in sickness, the sight of an island (even a very small one) is generally more fatal than the view of a continent. But he couldn’t explain why.
Jimmy was to be buried at five, and it was a long day till then — a day of mental disquiet19 and even of physical disturbance244. We took no interest in our work and, very properly, were rebuked109 for it. This, in our constant state of hungry irritation245, was exasperating246. Donkin worked with his brow bound in a dirty rag, and looked so ghastly that Mr. Baker was touched with compassion at the sight of this plucky247 suffering. — ‘Ough! You, Donkin! Put down your work and go lay-up this watch. You look ill.’ — ‘Hi ham, sir — in my ’ead,’ he said in a subdued248 voice, and vanished speedily. This annoyed many, and they thought the mate ‘bloomin’ soft to-day.’ Captain Allistoun could be seen on the poop watching the sky cloud over from the south-west, and it soon got to be known about the decks that the barometer had begun to fall in the night and that a breeze might be expected before long. This, by a subtle association of ideas, led to violent quarrelling as to the exact moment of Jimmy’s death. Was it before or after ‘that ’ere glass started down’? It was impossible to know and it caused much contemptuous growling249 at one another. All of a sudden there was a great tumult251 forward. Pacific Knowles and good-tempered Davies had come to blows over it. The watch below interfered252 with spirit, and for ten minutes there was a noisy scrimmage round the hatch, where, in the balancing shade of the sails, Jimmy’s body, wrapped up in a white blanket, was watched over by the sorrowful Belfast, who, in his desolation, disdained253 the fray254. When the noise had ceased, and the passions had calmed into surly silence, he stood up at the head of the swathed body, and lifting both arms on high, cried with pained indignation:— ‘You ought to be ashamed of your-selves! . . . ’ We were.
Belfast took his bereavement255 very hard. He gave proofs of unextinguishable devotion. It was he, and no other man, who would help the sailmaker to prepare what was left of Jimmy for a solemn surrender to the insatiable sea. He arranged the weights carefully at the feet; two holystones, an old anchor-shackle without its pin, some broken links of a worn-out stream cable. He arranged them this way, then that. ‘Bless my soul! you aren’t afraid he will chafe143 his heel?’ said the sailmaker, who hated the job. He pushed the needle, puffing256 furiously, with his head in a cloud of tobacco smoke; he turned the flaps over, pulled at the stitches, stretched the canvas. — ‘Lift his shoulders . . . Pull to you a bit . . . So — o — o — . Steady.’ Belfast obeyed, pulled, lifted, overcome with sorrow, dropping tears on the tarred twine257. — ‘Don’t you drag the canvas too taut258 over his poor face, Sails,’ he entreated259 tearfully. — ‘What are you fashing yourself for? He will be comfortable enough,’ assured the sailmaker, cutting the thread after the last stitch, that came about the middle of Jimmy’s forehead. He rolled up the remaining canvas, put away the needles. ‘What makes you take on so?’ he asked. Belfast looked down at the long package of grey sailcloth. — ‘I pulled him out,’ he whispered, ‘and he did not want to go. If I had sat up with him last night he would have kept alive for me . . . but something made me tired.’ The sailmaker took vigorous draws at his pipe and mumbled260:— ‘When I . . . West India Station . . . In the Blanche frigate261 . . . Yellow Jack225 . . . sewed in twenty men a day . . . Portsmouth — Devonport men — townies — knew their fathers, mothers — sisters — the whole boiling of ’em. Thought nothing of it. And these niggers like this one — you don’t know where it comes from. Got nobody. No use to nobody. Who will miss him?’ — ‘I do — I pulled him out,’ mourned Belfast dismally262.
On two planks263 nailed together, and apparently resigned and still under the folds of the union Jack with a white border, James Wait, carried aft by four men, was deposited slowly, with his feet pointing at an open port. A swell had set in from the westward, and following on the roll of the ship, the red ensign, at half-mast, darted264 out and collapsed265 again on the grey sky, like a tongue of flickering266 fire; Charley tolled267 the bell; and at every swing to starboard the whole vast semi-circle of steely waters visible on that side seemed to come up with a rush to the edge of the port, as if impatient to get at our Jimmy. Every one was there but Donkin, who was too ill to come; the Captain and Mr. Creighton stood bareheaded on the break of the poop; Mr. Baker, directed by the master, who had said to him gravely:— ‘You know more about the prayer book than I do,’ came out of the cabin door quickly and a little embarrassed. All the caps went off. He began to read in a low tone, and with his usual harmlessly menacing utterance268, as though he had been for the last time reproving confidentially269 that dead seaman at his feet. The men listened in scattered270 groups; they leaned on the fife rail, gazing on the deck; they held their chins in their hands thoughtfully, or, with crossed arms and one knee slightly bent, hung their heads in an attitude of upright meditation271. Wamibo dreamed. Mr. Baker read on, grunting272 reverently273 at the turn of every page. The words, missing the unsteady hearts of men, rolled out to wander without a home upon the heartless sea; and James Wait, silenced forever, lay uncritical and passive under the hoarse274 murmur of despair and hopes.
Two men made ready and waited for those words that send so many of our brothers to their last plunge181. Mr. Baker began the last passage. ‘Stand by.’ muttered the boatswain. Mr. Baker read out:’ To the deep,’ and paused. The men lifted the inboard end of the planks, the boatswain snatched off the union Jack, and James Wait did not move. — ‘Higher,’ muttered the boatswain angrily. All the heads were raised; every man stirred uneasily, but James Wait gave no sign of going. In death and swathed up for all eternity, he yet seemed to hang on to the ship with the grip of an undying fear. ‘Higher! Lift!’ whispered the boatswain fiercely. — ‘He won’t go,’ stammered275 one of the men shakily, and both appeared ready to drop everything. Mr. Baker waited, burying his face in the book, and shuffling his feet nervously276. All the men looked profoundly disturbed, from their midst a faint humming noise spread out — growing louder . . . ‘Jimmy!’ cried Belfast in a wailing277 tone, and there was a second of shuddering278 dismay.
‘Jimmy, be a man!’ he shrieked279 passionately. Every mouth was wide open, not an eyelid150 winked280. He stared wildly, twitching281 all over; he bent his body forward like a man peering at an horror. ‘Go, Jimmy! — Jimmy, go! Go!’ His fingers touched the head of the body and the grey package started reluctantly to, all at once, whizz off the lifted planks with the suddenness of a flash of lightning. The crowd stepped forward like one man; a deep Ah — h — h! came out vibrating from the broad chests. The ship rolled as if relieved of an unfair burden; the sails flapped. Belfast, supported by Archie, gasped282 hysterically283; and Charley, who anxious to see Jimmy’s last dive, leaped headlong on the rail, was too late to see anything but the faint circle of a vanishing ripple284.
Mr. Baker, perspiring285 abundantly, read out the last prayer in a deep rumour286 of excited men and fluttering sails. ‘Amen!’ he said in an unsteady growl250, and closed the book.
‘Square the yards!’ thundered a voice above his head. All hands gave a jump; one or two dropped their caps; Mr. Baker looked up surprised. The master, standing287 on the break of the poop, pointed to the westward. ‘Breeze coming,’ he said, ‘square the yards. Look alive, men!’ Mr. Baker crammed288 the book hurriedly into his pocket. — ‘Forward there — let go the foretack!’ he hailed joy fully bareheaded and brisk; ‘Square the foreyard, you port-watch!’ — ‘Fair wind — fair wind,’ muttered the men going to the braces290. — ‘What did I tell you?’ mumbled old Singleton, flinging down coil after coil with hasty energy; ‘I knowed it! — he’s gone, and here it comes.’
It came with the sound of a lofty and powerful sigh. The sails filled, the ship gathered way, and the waking sea began to murmur sleepily of home to the ears of men.
That night, while the ship rushed foaming291 to the Northward before a freshening gale292, the boatswain unbosomed himself to the petty officers’ berth293:— ‘The chap was nothing but trouble,’ he said, ‘from the moment he came aboard — d’ye remember — that night in Bombay? Been bullying294 all that softy crowd — cheeked the old man — we had to go fooling all over a half-drowned ship to save him. Dam’ nigh a mutiny all for him — and now the mate abused me like a pickpocket296 for forgetting to dab297 a lump of grease on them planks. So I did, but you ought to have known better too, than to leave a nail sticking up — hey, Chips?’ ‘And you ought to have known better than to chuck all my tools overboard for ’im, like a skeary greenhorn,’ retorted the morose298 carpenter. ‘Well — he’s gone after ’em now,’ he added in an unforgiving tone. ‘On the China Station, I remember once, the Admiral he says to me . . . ’ began the sailmaker.
A week afterwards the Narcissus entered the chops of the Channel.
Under white wings she skimmed low over the blue sea like a great tired bird speeding to its nest. The clouds raced with her mastheads; they rose astern enormous and white, soared to the zenith, flew past, and falling down the wide curve of the sky seemed to dash headlong into the sea — the clouds swifter than the ship, more free, but without a home. The coast to welcome her stepped out of space into the sunshine. The lofty headlands trod masterfully into the sea; the wide bays smiled in the light; the shadows of homeless clouds ran along the sunny plains, leaped over valleys, without a check darted up the hills, rolled down the slopes; and the sunshine pursued them with patches of running brightness. On the brows of dark cliffs white lighthouses shone in pillars of light. The Channel glittered like a blue mantle299 shot with gold and starred by the silver of the capping seas. The Narcissus rushed past the headlands and the bays. Outward-bound vessels301 crossed her track, lying over, and with their masts stripped for a slogging fight with the hard sou’wester. And, inshore, a string of smoking steamboats waddled302, hugging the coast, like migrating and amphibious monsters, distrustful of the restless waves.
At night the headlands retreated, the bays advanced into one unbroken line of gloom. The lights of the earth mingled303 with the lights of heaven; and above the tossing lanterns of a trawling fleet a great lighthouse shone steadily304, such as an enormous riding light burning above a vessel300 of fabulous305 dimensions Below its steady glow, the coast, stretching away straight and black, resembled the high side of an indestructible craft riding motionless upon the immortal and unresting sea. The dark land lay alone in the midst of waters, like a mighty306 ship bestarred with vigilant307 lights — a ship carrying the burden of millions of lives — a ship freighted with dross308 and with jewels, with gold and with steel. She towered up immense and strong, guarding priceless traditions and untold309 suffering, sheltering glorious memories and base forgetfulness, ignoble310 virtues311 and splendid transgressions312. A great ship! For ages had the ocean battered313 in vain her enduring sides; she was there when the was vaster and darker, when the sea was great and mysterious, and ready to surrender the prize of fame to audacious men. A ship mother of fleets and nations! The great flagship of the race; stronger than the storms! and anchored in the open sea.
The Narcissus, heeling over to off-shore gusts314, rounded the South Foreland, passed through the Downs, and, in tow, entered the river. Shorn of the glory of her white wings, she wound obediently after the tug315 through the maze316 of invisible channels. As she passed them the red-painted light-vessels, swung at their moorings seemed for an instant to sail with great speed in the rush of tide, and the next moment were left hopelessly behind. The big buoys317 on the tails of banks slipped past her sides very low, and, dropping in her wake, tugged318 at their chains like fierce watch-dogs. The reach narrowed; from both sides the land approached the ship. She went steadily up the river. On the riverside slopes the houses appeared in groups — seemed to stream down the declivities at a run to see her pass, and, checked by the mud of the foreshore, crowded on the banks. Further on, the tall factory chimneys appeared in insolent319 bands and watched her go by, like a straggling crowd of slim giants swaggering and upright under the black plummets320 of smoke cavalierly aslant321. She swept round the bends; an impure322 breeze shrieked a welcome between her stripped spars; and the land, closing in, stepped between the ship and the sea.
A low cloud hung before her — a great opalescent323 and tremulous cloud, that seemed to rise from the steaming brows of millions of men. Long drifts of smoky vapours soiled it with livid trails; it throbbed324 to the beat of millions of hearts, and from it came an immense and lamentable325 murmur — the murmur of millions of lips praying, cursing, sighing, jeering326 — the undying murmur of folly, regret, and hope exhaled327 by the crowds of the anxious earth. The Narcissus entered the cloud; the shadows deepened; on all sides there was the clang of iron, the sound of mighty blows, shrieks328, yells. Black barges329 drifted stealthily on the murky330 stream. A mad jumble331 of begrimed walls loomed332 up vaguely in the smoke, bewildering and mournful, like a vision of disaster. The tugs333, panting furiously, backed and filled in the stream, to hold the ship steady at the dock-gates; from her bows two lines went through the air whistling, and struck at the land viciously, like a pair of snakes. A bridge broke in two before her, as if by enchantment334; big hydraulic335 capstans began to turn all by themselves, as though animated336 by a mysterious and unholy spell. She moved through a narrow lane of water between two low walls of granite337, and men with check-ropes in their hands kept pace with her, walking on the broad flagstones. A group waited impatiently on each side of the vanished bridge: rough heavy men in caps; sallow-faced men in high hats; two bareheaded women; ragged338 children, fascinated and with wide eyes. A cart coming at a jerky trot339 pulled up sharply. One of the women screamed at the silent ship — ‘Hallo, Jack!’ without looking at any one in particular, and all hands looked at her from the forecastle head. — ‘Stand clear! Stand clear of that rope!’ cried the dockmen, bending over stone posts. The crowd murmured, stamped where they stood. — ‘Let go your quarter-checks! Let go! sang out a ruddy-faced old man on the quay340. The ropes splashed heavily falling in the water, and the Narcissus entered the dock.
The stony342 shores ran away right and left in straight lines, enclosing a sombre and rectangular pool. brick walls rose high above the water — soulless walls, staring through hundreds of windows as troubled and dull as the eyes of over-fed brutes343. At their base monstrous344 iron cranes crouched345, with chains hanging from their long necks, balancing cruel-looking hooks over the decks of lifeless ships. A noise of wheels rolling over stones, the thump346 of heavy things falling, the racket of feverish winches, the grinding of strained chains, floated on the air. Between high buildings the dust of all the continents soared in short flights; and a penetrating smell of perfumes and dirt, of spices and hides, of things costly347 and of things filthy348, pervaded the space, made for it an atmosphere precious and disgusting. The Narcissus came gently into her berth; the shadows of soulless walls fell upon her, the dust of all the continents leaped upon her deck, and a swarm349 of strange men, clambering up her sides, took possession of her in the name of the sordid350 earth. She had ceased to live.
A toff in a black coat and high hat scrambled351 with agility352, came up to the second mate, shook hands, and said:— ‘Hallo, Herbert.’ It was his brother. A lady appeared suddenly. A real lady, in a black dress and with a parasol. She looked extremely elegant in the midst of us, and as strange as if she had fallen there from the sky. Mr. Baker touched his cap to her. It was the master’s wife. And very soon the Captain, dressed very smartly and in a white shirt, went with her over the side. We didn’t recognise him at all till, turning on the quay, he called to Mr. Baker:— ‘Remember to wind up the chronometers353 to-morrow morning.’ An underhand lot of seedy-looking chaps with shifty eyes wandered in and out of the forecastle looking for a job — they said — ‘More likely for something to steal,’ commented Knowles cheerfully. Poor beggars. Who cared? Weren’t we home! But Mr. Baker went for one of them who had given him some cheek, and we were delighted. Everything was delightful354 — ‘I’ve finished aft, sir,’ called out Mr. Creighton. — ‘No water in the well, sir,’ reported for the last time t he carpenter, sounding-rod in hand. Mr. Baker glanced along the decks at the expectant groups of men, glanced aloft at the yards. — ‘Ough! That will do, men.’ he grunted355. The groups broke up. The voyage was ended.
Rolled-up beds went flying over the rail; lashed341 chests went sliding along the gangway — mighty few of both at that. ‘The rest is having a cruise off the Cape,’ explained Knowles enigmatically to a dock-loafer with whom he had struck a sudden friendship. Men ran, calling to one another, hailing utter strangers to ‘lend a hand with the dunnage,’ then sudden decorum approached the mate to shake hands before going ashore. — ‘Good-bye, sir,’ they repeated in various tones. Mr. Baker grasped hard palms, grunted in a friendly manner at every one, his eyes twinkled. — ‘Take care of your money, Knowles. Ough! Soon get a nice wife if you do.’ The lame219 man was delighted. — ‘Good-bye, sir,’ said Belfast with emotion, wringing356 the mate’s hand, and looked up with swimming eyes. ‘I thought I would take ’im ashore with me,’ he went on plaintively357. Mr. Baker did not understand, but said kindly:— ‘Take care of yourself, Craik,’ and the bereaved358 Belfast went over the rail mourning and alone.
Mr. Baker in the sudden peace of the ship moved about solitary and grunting, trying door handles peering into dark places, never done — a model chief mate! No one waited for him ashore. Mother dead; father and two brothers, Yarmouth fishermen, drowned together on the Dogger Bank; sister married and unfriendly. Quite a lady. Married to the leading tailor of a little town, and its leading politician, who did not think his sailor brother-in-law quite respectable enough for him. Quite a lady, quite a lady, he thought, sitting down for a moment’s rest on the quarter-hatch. Time enough to go ashore and get a bite, and sup, and a bed somewhere. He didn’t like to part with the ship. No one to think about then. The darkness of a misty359 evening fell, cold and damp, upon the deserted deck; and Mr. Baker sat smoking, thinking of all the successive ships to whom through many years he had given the best of a seaman’s care. And never a command in sight. Not once! — ‘I haven’t somehow the cut of a skipper about me,’ he meditated360 placidly361, while the shipkeeper (who had taken possession of the galley), a wizened362 old man with bleared eyes, cursed him, in whispers for ‘hanging about so.’ — ‘Now Creighton,’ he pursued the unenvious train of thought. ‘quite a gentleman . . . swell friends . . . will get on. Fine young fellow . . . a little more experience.’ He got up and shook himself. ‘I’ll be back first thing to-morrow morning for the hatches. Don’t you let them touch anything before I come, shipkeeper,’ he called out. Then, at last, he also went ashore — a model chief mate!
The men scattered by the dissolving contract of the land came together once more in the shipping363 office. — ‘The Narcissus pays off,’ shouted outside a glazed364 door a brass-bound old fellow with a crown and the capitals B. T. on his cap. A lot trooped in at once but many were late. The room was large, white-washed, and bare; a counter surmounted365 by a brass-wire grating fenced off a third of the dusty space, and behind the grating a pasty-faced clerk, with his hair parted in the middle, had the quick, glittering eyes and the vivacious366, jerky movements of a caged bird. Poor Captain Allistoun also in there, and sitting before a little table with piles of gold and notes on it, appeared subdued by his captivity367. Another Board of
Trade bird was perching on a high stool near the door; an old bird that did not mind the chaff368 of elated sailors. The crew of the Narcissus, broken up into knots, pushed in the corners. They had new shore togs, smart jackets that looked as if they had been shaped with an axe198, glossy369 trousers that seemed made of crumpled370 sheet-iron, collarless flannel371 shirts, shiny new boots. They tapped on shoulders, button-holed one another, slapped their thighs372, stamped, with bursts of subdued laughter. Most had clean radiant faces; only one or two were dishevelled and sad; the two young Norwegians looked tidy, meek373, and altogether of a promising material for the kind ladies that patronize the Scandinavian Home. Wamibo, still in his working clothes, dreamed, upright and burly in the middle of the room, and, when Archie came in, woke up for a smile. But the wide-awake clerk called out a name, and the paying-off business began.
One by one they came up to the pay-table to get the wages of their glorious and obscure toil374. They swept the money with care into broad palms, rammed289 it trustfully into trousers pockets, or, turning their backs on the table, reckoned with difficulty in the hollow of their stiff hands. — ‘Money right? Sign the release. There — there,’ repeated the clerk, impatiently. ‘How stupid those sailors are!’ he thought. Singleton came up, venerable — and uncertain as to daylight; brown drops of tobacco juice maculated his white beard; his hands, that never hesitated in the great light of the open sea, could hardly find the small pile of gold in the profound darkness of the shore. ‘Can’t write?’ said the clerk, shocked. ‘Make a mark, then.’ Singleton painfully sketched375 in a heavy cross, blotted the page. ‘What a disgusting old brute,’ muttered the clerk. Somebody opened the door for him, and the patriarchal seaman passed through unsteadily, without as much as a glance at any of us.
Archie had a pocket-book. he was chaffed. Belfast, who looked wild, as though he had already luffed up through a public-house or two, gave signs of emotion and wanted to speak to Captain privately376. The master was surprised. They spoke through the wires, and we could hear the Captain saying:— ‘I’ve given it up to the Board of Trade.’ ‘I should ‘ve liked to get something of his,’ mumbled Belfast. ‘But you can’t, my man. It’s given up, locked and sealed, to the Marine377 Office,’ expostulated the master; and Belfast stood back, with drooping378 mouth and troubled eyes. In a pause of the business we heard the master and the clerk talking. We caught ‘James Wait — deceased — found no papers of any kind — no relations — no trace — the office must hold his wages then.’ Donkin entered. He seemed out of breath, was grave, full of business. He went straight to the desk, talked with animation379 to the clerk, who thought him an intelligent man. They discussed the account, dropping h’s against one another as if for a wager380 — very friendly. Captain Allistoun paid. ‘I give you a bad discharge,’ he said, quietly. Donkin raised his voice:— ‘I don’t want your bloomin’ discharge — keep it. I’m goin’ ter ’ave a job hashore.’ He turned to us. ‘No more bloomin’ sea fur me,’ he said, aloud. All looked at him. He had better clothes, had an easy air, appeared more at home than any of us; he stared with assurance, enjoying the effect of his declaration. ‘Yuss. I ’ave friends well hoff. That’s more’n yer got. But I ham a man. Yer shipmates for all that. Who’s comin’ fur a drink?’
No one moved. There was a silence; a silence of blank faces and stony looks. He waited a moment, smiled bitterly, and went to the door. There he faced round once more. ‘Yer won’t? Yer bloomin’ lot of ‘ypocrites. No? What ’ave I done to yer? Did I bully295 yer? Did I hurt yer? Did I? . . . Yer won’t drink? . . . No! . . . Then may yer die of thirst, hevery mother’s son of yer! Not one of yer ’as the sperrit of a bug381. Ye’re the scum of the world. Work and starve!’
He went out, and slammed the door with such violence that the old Board of Trade bird nearly fell off his perch102.
‘He’s mad,’ said Archie. ‘No! No! He’s drunk,’ insisted Belfast, lurching about, and in a maudlin382 tone. Captain Allistoun sat smiling thoughtfully at the cleared pay-table.
Outside, on Tower Hill, they blinked, hesitated clumsily, as if blinded by the strange quality of the hazy light, as if discomposed by the view of so many men; and they who could hear one another in the howl of gales383 seemed deafened384 and distracted by the dull roar of the busy earth. — ‘To the Black Horse! To the Black Horse!’ cried some. ‘Let us have a drink together before we part.’ They crossed the road, clinging to one another. Only Charlie and Belfast wandered off alone. As I came up I saw a red-faced, blowsy woman, in a grey shawl, and with dusty, fluffy385 hair, fall on Charley’s neck. It was his mother. She slobbered over him:— ‘O, my boy! My boy!’ — ‘Leggo of me,’ said Charley, ‘Leggo, mother!’ I was passing him at the time, and over the untidy head of the blubbering woman he gave me a humorous smile and a glance ironic64, courageous386, and profound, that seemed to put all my knowledge of life to shame. I nodded and passed on, but heard him say again, good-naturedly:— ‘If you leggo of me this minyt — ye shall ’ave a bob for a drink out of my pay.’ In the next few steps I came upon Belfast. He caught my arm with tremulous enthusiasm. — ‘I couldn’t go wi’ ’em,’ he stammered, indicating by a nod our noisy crowd, that drifted slowly along the other sidewalk. ‘When I think of Jimmy . . . Poor Jim! When I think of him I have no heart for drink. You were his chum, too . . . but I pulled him out . . . didn’t I? Short wool he had . . . Yes. And I stole the blooming pie . . . He wouldn’t go . . . He wouldn’t go for nobody.’ He burst into tears. ‘I never touched him — never — never — ‘ he sobbed. ‘He went for me like . . . like . . . a lamb.’
I disengaged myself gently. Belfast’s crying fits generally ended in a fight with some one, and I wasn’t anxious to stand the brunt of his inconsolable sorrow. Moreover, two bulky policemen stood near by, looking at us with a disapproving387 and incorruptible gaze. — ‘So long!’ I said, and went off.
But at the corner I stopped to take my last look at the crew of the Narcissus. They were swaying, irresolute388 and noisy on the broad flagstones before the Mint. They were bound for the Black Horse, where men, in fur caps, with brutal faces and in shirt sleeves, dispense389 out of varnished390 barrels the illusions of strength, mirth, happiness; the illusion of splendour and poetry of life, to the paid-off crews of southern-going ships. From afar I saw them discoursing391, with jovial392 eyes and clumsy gestures, while the sea of life thundered into their ears ceaseless and unheeded. And swaying about there on the white stones, surrounded by the hurry and clamour of men, they appeared to be creatures of another kind — lost, alone, forgetful, and doomed393; they were like cast aways, like reckless and joyous394 castaways, like mad castaways making merry in the storm and upon an insecure ledge22 of a treacherous395 rock.
The roar of the town resembled the roar of topping breakers, merciless and strong, with a loud voice and cruel purpose; but overhead the clouds broke; a flood of sunshine streamed down the walls of grimy houses. The dark knot of seamen396 drifted in sunshine. To the left of them the trees in Tower Gardens sighed, the stones of the Tower gleaming, seemed to stir in the play of light, as if remembering suddenly all the great joys and sorrows of the past, the fighting prototypes of these men; press-gangs; mutinous397 cries; the wailing of women by the riverside, and the shouts of men welcoming victories. The sunshine of heaven fell like a gift of grace on the mud of the earth, on the remembering and mute stones, on greed, selfishness; on the anxious faces of forgetful men. And to the right of the dark group the stained front of the Mint, cleansed398 by the flood of light, stood out for a moment, dazzling and white like a marble palace in a fairy tale. The crew of the Narcissus drifted out of sight.
I never saw them again. The sea took some, the steamers took others, the graveyards399 of the earth will account for the rest. Singleton has no doubt taken with him the long record of his faithful work into the peaceful depths of an hospitable400 sea. And Donkin, who never did a decent day’s work in his life, no doubt earns his living by discoursing with filthy eloquence upon the right of labour to live. So be it! Let the earth and the sea each have its own.
A gone shipmate, like any other man, is gone for ever; and I never saw one of them again. But at times the spring-flood of memory sets with force up the dark River of the Nine Bends. Then on the waters of the forlorn stream drifts a ship — a shadowy ship manned by a crew of Shades. They pass and make a sign, in a shadowy hall. Haven’t we, together and upon the immortal sea, wrung401 out a meaning from our sinful lives? Good-bye brothers! You were a good crowd. As good a crowd as ever fisted with wild cries the beating canvas of a heavy foresail; or tossing aloft, invisible in the night, gave back yell for yell to a westerly gale.
The End
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
pervaded
|
|
| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
bout
|
|
| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
meditative
|
|
| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
lurks
|
|
| n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
buoy
|
|
| n.浮标；救生圈；v.支持，鼓励 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
bolster
|
|
| n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
compassion
|
|
| n.同情，怜悯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
steadfastness
|
|
| n.坚定，稳当 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
colossal
|
|
| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
enigma
|
|
| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
manifestation
|
|
| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
exquisitely
|
|
| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
droll
|
|
| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
obstinate
|
|
| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
disquiet
|
|
| n.担心，焦虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
disquieting
|
|
| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
ledge
|
|
| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
inhuman
|
|
| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
apparition
|
|
| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
slanted
|
|
| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
skull
|
|
| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
sockets
|
|
| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
decadent
|
|
| adj.颓废的，衰落的，堕落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
subtlety
|
|
| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
evasions
|
|
| 逃避( evasion的名词复数 )； 回避； 遁辞； 借口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
delusions
|
|
| n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
initiated
|
|
| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
infamous
|
|
| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
grimaces
|
|
| n.（表蔑视、厌恶等）面部扭曲，鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
rim
|
|
| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
conspirators
|
|
| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
vile
|
|
| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
obsequious
|
|
| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
sycophants
|
|
| n.谄媚者，拍马屁者( sycophant的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
Augmented
|
|
| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
dissent
|
|
| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
rib
|
|
| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
durability
|
|
| n.经久性，耐用性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
vigour
|
|
| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
pout
|
|
| v.撅嘴；绷脸；n.撅嘴；生气，不高兴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
crabs
|
|
| n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
unwilling
|
|
| adj.不情愿的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
pang
|
|
| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
chary
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，细心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
penetrating
|
|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
pugnacity
|
|
| n.好斗，好战 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
sentimentally
|
|
| adv.富情感地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
irritable
|
|
| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
gunpowder
|
|
| n.火药 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
scrupulously
|
|
| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
irreverence
|
|
| n.不尊敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
incertitude
|
|
| n.疑惑，不确定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
truculence
|
|
| n.凶猛，粗暴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
intelligibly
|
|
| adv.可理解地，明了地，清晰地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
proprietorship
|
|
| n.所有（权）；所有权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
basked
|
|
| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的过去式和过去分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
ironic
|
|
| adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
cowardice
|
|
| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
abashed
|
|
| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
impudence
|
|
| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
aloof
|
|
| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
insignificant
|
|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
tussle
|
|
| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
apprehension
|
|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
seaman
|
|
| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
cape
|
|
| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
condescend
|
|
| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
lasting
|
|
| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
austere
|
|
| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
torment
|
|
| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
tormentor
|
|
| n. 使苦痛之人, 使苦恼之物, 侧幕 =tormenter | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
tack
|
|
| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
backwards
|
|
| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
swell
|
|
| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
fidelity
|
|
| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
jocose
|
|
| adj.开玩笑的，滑稽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
allusiveness
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
89
accomplices
|
|
| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
westward
|
|
| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
conspired
|
|
| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
northward
|
|
| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
voluptuously
|
|
| adv.风骚地，体态丰满地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
venom
|
|
| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
injustice
|
|
| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
calumniated
|
|
| v.诽谤，中伤( calumniate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
persecuted
|
|
| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
immorality
|
|
| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
remorsefully
|
|
| adv.极为懊悔地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
salvation
|
|
| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
perch
|
|
| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
sullenly
|
|
| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
concurred
|
|
| 同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
assent
|
|
| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
galley
|
|
| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
criticise
|
|
| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
reprobation
|
|
| n.斥责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
rebuked
|
|
| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
cadged
|
|
| v.乞讨，乞得，索取( cadge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
blasphemy
|
|
| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
repose
|
|
| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
cones
|
|
| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
stainless
|
|
| adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
phantom
|
|
| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
illusive
|
|
| adj.迷惑人的，错觉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
serene
|
|
| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
baker
|
|
| n.面包师 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
barometer
|
|
| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
forerunner
|
|
| n.前身，先驱（者），预兆，祖先 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
sham
|
|
| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
discoursed
|
|
| 演说（discourse的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
schooners
|
|
| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
amicably
|
|
| adv.友善地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
pint
|
|
| n.品脱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
appreciative
|
|
| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
murmurs
|
|
| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
jaws
|
|
| n.口部；嘴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
negligent
|
|
| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
blotted
|
|
| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
limpid
|
|
| adj.清澈的，透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
descending
|
|
| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
reminder
|
|
| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
dependence
|
|
| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
ascended
|
|
| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
chafed
|
|
| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
chafe
|
|
| v.擦伤；冲洗；惹怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
merged
|
|
| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
grievances
|
|
| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
physically
|
|
| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
craving
|
|
| n.渴望,热望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
coffin
|
|
| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
eyelid
|
|
| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
vitality
|
|
| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
hiss
|
|
| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
hissed
|
|
| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
bunk
|
|
| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
munched
|
|
| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
doze
|
|
| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
impulsively
|
|
| adv.冲动地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
tune
|
|
| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
fatiguing
|
|
| a.使人劳累的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
outrageous
|
|
| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
grimacing
|
|
| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
frightful
|
|
| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
corpse
|
|
| n.尸体，死尸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
oysters
|
|
| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
withdrawn
|
|
| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
immutable
|
|
| adj.不可改变的，永恒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
eternity
|
|
| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
joyfully
|
|
| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
antagonism
|
|
| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
perfidious
|
|
| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
truthfulness
|
|
| n. 符合实际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
stinking
|
|
| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
cadging
|
|
| v.乞讨，乞得，索取( cadge的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
liar
|
|
| n.说谎的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
179
blustered
|
|
| v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
180
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
181
plunge
|
|
| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
182
defiantly
|
|
| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
183
defiant
|
|
| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
184
feverish
|
|
| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
185
impatience
|
|
| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
186
emaciated
|
|
| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
187
exasperated
|
|
| adj.恼怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
188
frantic
|
|
| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
189
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
190
watchfulness
|
|
| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
191
attentive
|
|
| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
192
passionate
|
|
| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
193
passionately
|
|
| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
194
grotesque
|
|
| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
195
appalling
|
|
| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
196
eloquence
|
|
| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
197
crouching
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
198
axe
|
|
| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
199
clout
|
|
| n.用手猛击；权力，影响力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
200
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
201
upwards
|
|
| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
202
persistence
|
|
| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
203
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
204
gals
|
|
| abbr.gallons （复数）加仑（液量单位）n.女孩，少女( gal的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
205
desolated
|
|
| adj.荒凉的，荒废的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
206
shuffling
|
|
| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
207
respiration
|
|
| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
208
abominable
|
|
| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
209
sobbed
|
|
| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
210
writhed
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
211
unwillingly
|
|
| adv.不情愿地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
212
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
213
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
214
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
215
rattled
|
|
| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
216
anguishing
|
|
| v.（尤指心理上的）极度的痛苦( anguish的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
217
rustle
|
|
| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
218
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
219
lame
|
|
| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
220
irresistible
|
|
| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
221
spun
|
|
| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
222
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
223
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
224
huddled
|
|
| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
225
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
226
mounds
|
|
| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
227
astounded
|
|
| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
228
shuddered
|
|
| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
229
drooped
|
|
| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
230
withered
|
|
| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
231
immortal
|
|
| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
232
hazy
|
|
| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
233
promising
|
|
| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
234
disabused
|
|
| v.去除…的错误想法( disabuse的过去式和过去分词 )；使醒悟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
235
perverse
|
|
| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
236
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
237
arbiter
|
|
| n.仲裁人，公断人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
238
meddling
|
|
| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
239
majestic
|
|
| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
240
disintegrated
|
|
| v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
241
abeam
|
|
| adj.正横着(的) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
242
garrulous
|
|
| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
243
illustrating
|
|
| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
244
disturbance
|
|
| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
245
irritation
|
|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
246
exasperating
|
|
| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
247
plucky
|
|
| adj.勇敢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
248
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
249
growling
|
|
| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
250
growl
|
|
| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
251
tumult
|
|
| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
252
interfered
|
|
| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
253
disdained
|
|
| 鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
254
fray
|
|
| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
255
bereavement
|
|
| n.亲人丧亡，丧失亲人，丧亲之痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
256
puffing
|
|
| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
257
twine
|
|
| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
258
taut
|
|
| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
259
entreated
|
|
| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
260
mumbled
|
|
| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
261
frigate
|
|
| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
262
dismally
|
|
| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
263
planks
|
|
| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
264
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
265
collapsed
|
|
| adj.倒塌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
266
flickering
|
|
| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
267
tolled
|
|
| 鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
268
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
269
confidentially
|
|
| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
270
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
271
meditation
|
|
| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
272
grunting
|
|
| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
273
reverently
|
|
| adv.虔诚地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
274
hoarse
|
|
| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
275
stammered
|
|
| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
276
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
277
wailing
|
|
| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
278
shuddering
|
|
| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
279
shrieked
|
|
| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
280
winked
|
|
| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
281
twitching
|
|
| n.颤搐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
282
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
283
hysterically
|
|
| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
284
ripple
|
|
| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
285
perspiring
|
|
| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
286
rumour
|
|
| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
287
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
288
crammed
|
|
| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
289
rammed
|
|
| v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
290
braces
|
|
| n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
291
foaming
|
|
| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
292
gale
|
|
| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
293
berth
|
|
| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
294
bullying
|
|
| v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
295
bully
|
|
| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
296
pickpocket
|
|
| n.扒手；v.扒窃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
297
dab
|
|
| v.轻触，轻拍，轻涂；n.(颜料等的)轻涂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
298
morose
|
|
| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
299
mantle
|
|
| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
300
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
301
vessels
|
|
| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
302
waddled
|
|
| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
303
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
304
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
305
fabulous
|
|
| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
306
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
307
vigilant
|
|
| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
308
dross
|
|
| n.渣滓；无用之物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
309
untold
|
|
| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
310
ignoble
|
|
| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
311
virtues
|
|
| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
312
transgressions
|
|
| n.违反，违法，罪过( transgression的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
313
battered
|
|
| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
314
gusts
|
|
| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
315
tug
|
|
| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
316
maze
|
|
| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
317
buoys
|
|
| n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 )；航标；救生圈；救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
318
tugged
|
|
| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
319
insolent
|
|
| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
320
plummets
|
|
| v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
321
aslant
|
|
| adv.倾斜地；adj.斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
322
impure
|
|
| adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
323
opalescent
|
|
| adj.乳色的，乳白的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
324
throbbed
|
|
| 抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
325
lamentable
|
|
| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
326
jeering
|
|
| adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
327
exhaled
|
|
| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
328
shrieks
|
|
| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
329
barges
|
|
| 驳船( barge的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
330
murky
|
|
| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
331
jumble
|
|
| vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
332
loomed
|
|
| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
333
tugs
|
|
| n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 )；猛拖；拖船v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
334
enchantment
|
|
| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
335
hydraulic
|
|
| adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
336
animated
|
|
| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
337
granite
|
|
| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
338
ragged
|
|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
339
trot
|
|
| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
340
quay
|
|
| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
341
lashed
|
|
| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
342
stony
|
|
| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
343
brutes
|
|
| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
344
monstrous
|
|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
345
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
346
thump
|
|
| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
347
costly
|
|
| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
348
filthy
|
|
| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
349
swarm
|
|
| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
350
sordid
|
|
| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
351
scrambled
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
352
agility
|
|
| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
353
chronometers
|
|
| n.精密计时器，航行表( chronometer的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
354
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
355
grunted
|
|
| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
356
wringing
|
|
| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
357
plaintively
|
|
| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
358
bereaved
|
|
| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
359
misty
|
|
| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
360
meditated
|
|
| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
361
placidly
|
|
| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
362
wizened
|
|
| adj.凋谢的；枯槁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
363
shipping
|
|
| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
364
glazed
|
|
| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
365
surmounted
|
|
| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
366
vivacious
|
|
| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
367
captivity
|
|
| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
368
chaff
|
|
| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
369
glossy
|
|
| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
370
crumpled
|
|
| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
371
flannel
|
|
| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
372
thighs
|
|
| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
373
meek
|
|
| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
374
toil
|
|
| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
375
sketched
|
|
| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
376
privately
|
|
| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
377
marine
|
|
| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
378
drooping
|
|
| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
379
animation
|
|
| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
380
wager
|
|
| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
381
bug
|
|
| n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
382
maudlin
|
|
| adj.感情脆弱的，爱哭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
383
gales
|
|
| 龙猫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
384
deafened
|
|
| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
385
fluffy
|
|
| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
386
courageous
|
|
| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
387
disapproving
|
|
| adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
388
irresolute
|
|
| adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
389
dispense
|
|
| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
390
varnished
|
|
| 浸渍过的，涂漆的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
391
discoursing
|
|
| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
392
jovial
|
|
| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
393
doomed
|
|
| 命定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
394
joyous
|
|
| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
395
treacherous
|
|
| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
396
seamen
|
|
| n.海员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
397
mutinous
|
|
| adj.叛变的，反抗的；adv.反抗地，叛变地；n.反抗，叛变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
398
cleansed
|
|
| 弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
399
graveyards
|
|
| 墓地( graveyard的名词复数 )； 垃圾场； 废物堆积处； 收容所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
400
hospitable
|
|
| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
401
wrung
|
|
| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |