Part Three Chapter 2

General Lord Edward Campion, G.C.B., K.C.M.G. (military), D.S.O., etc., sat, radiating glory and composing a confidential¹ memorandum² to the Secretary of State for War, on a bully-beef case, leaning forward over a military blanket that covered a deal table. He was for the moment in high good humour on the surface, though his subordinate minds were puzzled and depressed³. At the end of each sentence that he wrote — and he wrote with increasing satisfaction! — a mind that he was not using said: ‘What the devil am I going to do with that fellow?’ Or: ‘How the devil is that girl’s name to be kept out of this mess?’

Having been asked to write a confidential memorandum for the information of the home authorities as to what, in his opinion, was the cause of the French railway strike, he had hit on the ingenious device of reporting what was the opinion of the greater part of the forces under his command. This was a dangerous line to take, for he might well come into conflict with the home Government. But he was pretty certain that any inquiries⁴ that the home Government could cause to be made amongst the local civilian⁵ population would confirm what he was writing — which he was careful to state was not to be taken as a communication of his own opinion. In addition, he did not care what the Government did to him.

He was satisfied with his military career. In the early part of the war, after materially helping⁶ mobilisation, he had served with great distinction in the East, in command mostly of mounted infantry⁷. He had subsequently so distinguished⁸ himself in the organising and transporting of troops coming and going overseas that, on the part of the lines of communication where he now commanded becoming of great importance, he knew that he had seemed the only general that could be given that command. It had become of enormous importance — these were open secrets! — because, owing to divided opinions in the Cabinet, it might at any moment be decided⁹ to move the bulk of H.M. Forces to somewhere in the East. The idea underlying¹⁰ this — as General Campion saw it — had at least some relation to the necessities of the British Empire, and strategy embracing world politics as well as military movements — a fact which is often forgotten. There was this much to be said for it: the preponderance of British Imperial interests might be advanced as lying in the Middle and Far Eaststo the east, that is to say, of Constantinople. This might be denied, but it was a feasible proposition. The present operations on the Western front, arduous¹³, and even creditable, as they might have been until relatively¹⁴ lately, were very remote from our Far-Eastern possessions and mitigated¹⁵ from, rather than added to, our prestige. In addition, the unfortunate display in front of Constantinople in the beginning of the war had almost eliminated our prestige with the Mohammedan races. Thus a demonstration¹⁶ in enormous force in any region between European Turkey and the north-western frontiers of India might point out to Mohammedans, Hindus, and other Eastern races, what overwhelming forces Great Britain, were she so minded, could put into the field. It is true that that would mean the certain loss of the war on the Western front, with corresponding loss of prestige in the West. But the wiping out of the French republic would convey little to the Eastern races, whereas we could no doubt make terms with the enemy nations, as a price for abandoning our allies, that might well leave the Empire, not only intact, but actually increased in colonial extent, since it was unlikely that the enemy empires would wish to be burdened with colonies for some time.

General Campion was not overpoweringly sentimental¹⁷ over the idea of the abandonment of our allies. They had won his respect as fighting organizations, and that, to the professional soldier, is a great deal; but still he was a professional soldier, and the prospect¹⁸ of widening the bounds of the British Empire could not be contemptuously dismissed at the price of rather sentimental dishonour¹⁹. Such bargains had been struck before during wars involving many nations, and doubtless such bargains would be struck again. In addition, votes might be gained by the Government from the small but relatively noisy and menacing part of the British population that favoured the enemy nations.

But when it came to tactics — which it should be remembered concerns itself with the movement of troops actually in contact with enemy forces — General Campion had no doubt that that plan was the conception of the brain of a madman. The dishonour of such a proceeding²⁰ must of course be considered — and its impracticability was hopeless. The dreadful nature of what would be our debacle did we attempt to evacuate²² the Western front might well be unknown to, or might be deliberately²³ ignored by, the civilian mind. But the general could almost see the horrors as a picture — and, professional soldier as he was, his mind shuddered²⁴ at the picture. They had by now in the country enormous bodies of troops who had hitherto not come into contact with the enemy forces. Did they attempt to withdraw these in the first place the native population would at once turn from a friendly into a bitterly hostile factor, and moving troops through hostile country is to the nth power a more lengthy²⁵ matter than moving them through territory where the native populations lend a helping hand, or are at least not obstructive. They had in addition this enormous force to ration¹¹, and they would doubtless have to supply them with ammunition²⁶ on the almost certain breaking through of the enemy forces. It would be impossible to do this without the use of the local railways — and the use of these would at once be prohibited. If, on the other hand, they attempted to begin the evacuation by shortening the front, the operation would be very difficult with troops who, by now, were almost solely²⁷ men trained only in trench²⁸ warfare²⁹, with officers totally unused to that keeping up of communications between units which is the life and breath of a retreating army. Training, in fact, in that element had been almost abandoned in the training camps where instruction was almost limited to bomb-throwing, the use of machine-guns, and other departments which had been forced on the War Office by eloquent³⁰ civilians³¹ — to the almost complete neglect of the rifle. Thus at the mere³² hint of a retreat the enemy forces must break through and come upon the vast, unorganised, or semi-organised bodies of troops in the rear . . .

The temptation for the professional soldier was to regard such a state of things with equanimity³³. Generals have not infrequently enormously distinguished themselves by holding up retreats from the rear when vanguard commanders have disastrously³⁵ failed. But General Campion resisted the temptation of even hoping that this chance of distinguishing himself might offer itself. He could not contemplate³⁶ with equanimity the slaughter³⁷ of great bodies of men under his command, and not even a successful retreating action of that description could be carried out without horrible slaughter. And he would have little hope of conducting necessarily delicate and very hurried movements with an army that, except for its rough training in trench warfare, was practically civilian in texture³⁸. So that although, naturally, he had made his plans for such an eventuality, having indeed in his private quarters four enormous paper-covered blackboards upon which he had changed daily the names of units according as they passed from his hands or came into them and became available, he prayed specifically every night before retiring to bed that the task might not be cast upon his shoulders. He prized very much his universal popularity in his command, and he could not bear to think of how the eyes of the Army would regard him as he put upon them a strain so appalling⁴⁰ and such unbearable⁴² sufferings. He had, moreover, put that aspect of the matter very strongly in a memorandum that he had prepared in answer to a request from the home Government for a scheme by which an evacuation might be effected. But he considered that the civilian element in the Government was so entirely⁴³ indifferent to the sufferings of the men engaged in these operations, and was so completely ignorant of what are military exigencies⁴⁴, that the words he had devoted⁴⁵ to that department of the subject were merely wasted . . .

So everything pushed him into writing confidentially⁴⁶ to the Secretary of State for War a communication that he knew must be singularly distasteful to a number of the gentlemen who would peruse⁴⁷ it. He chuckled⁴⁸ indeed as he wrote, the open door behind him and the sunlight pouring in on his radiant figure. He said:

‘Sit down, Tietjens. Levin, I shall not want you for ten minutes,’ without raising his head, and went on writing. It annoyed him that, from the corner of his eye, he could see that Tietjens was still standing⁵⁰, and he said rather irritably⁵¹: ‘Sit down, sit down . . . ’

He wrote:

‘It is pretty generally held here by the native population that the present very serious derangement⁵² of traffic, if not actively⁵³ promoted, is at least winked⁵⁴ at by the Government of this country. It is, that is to say, intended to give us a taste of what would happen if I took any measures here for returning any large body of men to the home country or elsewhere, and it is said also to be a demonstration in favour of a single command — a measure which is here regarded by a great weight of instructed opinion as indispensable to the speedy and successful conclusion of hostilities⁵⁵ . . . ’

The general paused over that sentence. It came very near the quick. For himself he was absolutely in favour of a single command, and in his opinion, too, it was indispensable to any sort of conclusion of hostilities at all. The whole of military history, in so far as it concerned allied⁵⁶ operations of any sort — from the campaigns of Xerxes and operations during the wars of the Greeks and Romans, to the campaigns of Marlborough and Napoleon and the Prussian operations of 1866 and 1870 — pointed⁵⁷ to the conclusion that a relatively small force acting⁵⁸ homogeneously was, to the nth power again, more effective than vastly superior forces of allies acting only imperfectly in accord or not in accord at all. Modern development in arms had made no shade at all of difference to strategy and had made differences merely of time and numbers to tactics. To-day, as in the days of the Greek Wars of the Allies, success depended on apt timing⁶⁰ of the arrival of forces at given points, and it made no difference whether your lethal⁶¹ weapons acted from a distance of thirty miles or were held and operated by hand; whether you dealt death from above or below the surface of the ground, through the air by dropped missiles or by mephitic and torturing vapours. What won combats, campaigns, and, in the end, wars, was the brain which timed the arrival of forces at given points — and that must be one brain which could command their presence at these points, not a half-dozen authorities requesting each other to perform operations which might or might not fall in with the ideas or the prejudices of any one or other of the half-dozen . . .

Levin came in noiselessly, slid a memorandum slip on to the blanket beside the paper on which the general was writing. The general read: T. agrees completely, sir, with your diagnosis⁶² of the facts, except that he is much more ready to accept General O’H.’s acts as reasonable. He places himself entirely in your hands.

The general heaved an immense sigh of relief. The sunlight streaming in became very bright. He had had a real sinking at the heart when Tietjens had boggled for a second over putting on his belt. An officer may not demand or insist on a court martial⁶³. But he, Campion, could not in decency⁶⁴ have refused Tietjens his court martial if he stood out for it. He had a right to clear his character publicly. It would have been impossible to refuse him. Then the fat would have been in the fire. For, knowing O’Hara through pretty nearly twenty-five years — or it must be thirty! — of service Campion was pretty certain that O’Hara had made a drunken beast of himself. Yet he was very attached to O’Hara — one of the old type of rough-diamond generals who swore your head off, but were damn capable men! . . . It was a tremendous relief.

He said sharply:

‘Sit down, can’t you, Tietjens! You irritate me by standing there!’ He said to himself: ‘An obstinate⁶⁵ fellow . . . Why, he’s gone!’ and his mind and eyes being occupied by the sentence he had last written, the sense of irritation⁶⁶ remained with him. He re-read the closing clause: ‘ . . . a single command — a measure which is here regarded by a great weight of instructed opinion as indispensable to the speedy and successful termination of hostilities . . . ’

He looked at this, whistling beneath his breath. It was pretty thick. He was not asked for his opinion as to the single command: yet he decidedly wanted to get it in and was pretty well prepared to stand the consequences. The consequences might be something pretty bad: he might be sent home. That was quite possible. That, even, was better than what was happening to poor Puffies, who was being starved of men. He had been at Sandhurst with Puffles, and they had got their commissions on the same day to the same regiment⁶⁷. A damn good soldier, but too hot-tempered. He was making an extraordinarily⁶⁸ good thing of it in spite of his shortage of men, which was the talk of the army. But it must be damn agonizing⁶⁹ for him, and a very improper⁷⁰ strain on his men. One day — as soon as the weather broke — the enemy must break through. Then he, Puffies, would be sent home. That was what the fellows at Westminster and in Downing Street wanted. Puffles had been a great deal too free with his tongue. They would not send him home before he had a disaster because, unless he were in disgrace, he would be a thorn in their sides: whereas if he were disgraced no one much would listen to him. It was smart practice . . . Sharp practice!

He tossed the sheet on which he had been writing across the table and said to Tietjens:

‘Look at that, will you?’ In the centre of the hut Tietjens was sitting bulkily on a bully-beef case that had been brought in ceremoniously by a runner. ‘He does look beastly shabby,’ the general said. ‘There are three . . . four grease stains on his tunic⁷¹. He ought to get his hair cut!’ He added: ‘It’s a perfectly⁵⁹ damnable business. No one but this fellow would have got into it. He’s a firebrand. That’s what he is. A regular firebrand!’

Tietjens’ troubles had really shaken the general not a little. He was left up in the air. He had lived the greater part of his life with his sister, Lady Claudine Sandbach, and the greater part of the remainder of his life at Groby, at any rate after he came home from India and during the reign⁷² of Tietjens’ father. He had idolized Tietjens’ mother, who was a saint! What indeed there had been of the idyllic⁷³ in his life had really all passed at Groby, if he came to think of it. India was not so bad, but one had to be young to enjoy that . . .

Indeed, only the day before yesterday he had been thinking that if this letter that he was thinking out did result in his being sent back, he should propose to stand for the half of the Cleveland Parliamentary Division in which Groby stood. What with the Groby influence and his nephew’s in the country districts, though Castlemaine had not much land left up there, and with Sandbach’s interest in the ironworking districts, he would have an admirable chance of getting in. Then he would make himself a thorn in the side of certain persons.

He had thought of quartering himself on Groby. It would have been easy to get Tietjens out of the army and they could all — he, Tietjens and Sylvia — live together. It would have been his ideal of a home and of an occupation . . .

For, of course, he was getting old for soldiering: unless he got a fighting army there was not much more to it as a career for a man of sixty. If he did get an army he was pretty certain of a peerage and hefty political work could still be done in the Lords. He would have a good claim on India and that meant dying a Field-Marshal.

On the other hand, the only command that was at all likely to be going — except for deaths, and the health rate amongst army commanders was pretty high! — was poor Puffles’. And that would be no pleasant command — with men all hammered to pieces. He decided to put the whole thing to Tietjens. Tietjens, like a meal-sack, was looking at him over the draft of the letter that he had just finished reading. The general said:

‘Well?’

Tietjens said:

‘It’s splendid, sir, to see you putting the matter so strongly. It must be put strongly, or we’re lost.’

The general said:

‘You think that?’

Tietjens said:

‘I’m sure of it, sir . . . But unless you are prepared to throw up your command and take to politics . . . ’

The general exclaimed:

‘You’re a most extraordinary fellow . . . That was exactly what I was thinking about: this very minute.’

‘It’s not so extraordinary,’ Tietjens said. ‘A really active general thinking as you do is very badly needed in the House. As your brother-in-law is to have a peerage whenever he asks for it, West Cleveland will be vacant at any moment, and with his influence and Lord Castlemaine’syour nephew’s not got much land, but the name is immensely respected in the country districts . . . And, of course, using Groby for your headquarters . . . ’

The general said:

‘That’s pretty well botched, isn’t it?’

Tietjens said without moving a muscle:

‘Why, no, sir. Sylvia is to have Groby and you would naturally make it your headquarters . . . You’ve still got your hunters there . . . ’

The general said:

‘Sylvia is really to have Groby . . . Good God!’

Tietjens said:

‘So it was no great conjuring⁷⁴ trick, sir, to see that you might not mind . . . ’

The general said:

‘Upon my soul. I’d as soon give up my chance of heaven . . . no, not heaven, but India, as give up Groby.’

‘You’ve got,’ Tietjens said, ‘an admirable chance of India . . . The point is: which way? If they give you the sixteenth section . . . ’

‘I hate,’ the general said, ‘to think of waiting for poor Puffles’ shoes. I was at Sandhurst with him . . . ’

‘It’s a question, sir,’ Tietjens said, ‘of which is the best way. For the country and yourself. I suppose if one were a general one would like to have commanded an army on the Western front . . . ’

The general said:

‘I don’t know . . . It’s the logical end of a career . . . But I don’t feel that my career is ending . . . I’m as sound as a roach. And in ten years’ time what difference will it make?’

‘One would like,’ Tietjens said, ‘to see you doing it . . . ’

The general said:

‘No one will know whether I commanded a fighting army or this damned Whiteley’s outfitting⁷⁵ store . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘I know that, sir . . . But the sixteenth section will desperately⁷⁶ need a good man if General Perry is sent home. And particularly a general who has the confidence of all ranks . . . It will be a wonderful position. You will have every man that’s now on the Western front at your back after the war. It’s a certain peerage . . . It’s certainly a sounder proposition than that of a free-lance — which is what you’d be — in the House of Commons.’

The general said:

‘Then what am I to do with my letter? It’s a damn good letter. I don’t like wasting letters.’

Tietjens said:

‘You want it to show through that you back the single command for all you are worth, yet you don’t want them to put their finger on your definitely saying so yourself?’

The general said:

‘ . . . That’s it. That’s just what I do want . . . ’ He added: ‘I suppose you take my view of the whole matter. The Government’s pretence⁷⁷ of evacuating⁷⁸ the Western front in favour of the Middle East is probably only a put-up job to frighten our Allies into giving up the single command. Just as this railway strike is a counter-demonstration by way of showing what would happen to us if we did begin to evacuate . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘It looks like that . . . I’m not, of course, in the confidence of the Cabinet. I’m not even in contact with them as I used to be . . . But I should put it that the section of the Cabinet that is in favour of the Eastern expedition is very small. It’s said to be a one-man party — with hangerson — but arguing him out of it has caused all this delay. That’s how I see it.’

The general exclaimed:

‘But, good God! . . . How is such a thing possible? That man must walk along his corridors with the blood of a million — I mean it, of a million — men round his head. He could not stand up under it . . . That fellow is prolonging the war indefinitely by delaying us now. And men being killed all the time! . . . I can’t . . . ’ He stood up and paced, stamping up and down the hut . . . ‘At Bonderstrom,’ he said, ‘I had half a company wiped out under me . . . By my own fault, I admit. I had wrong information . . . ’ He stopped and said: ‘Good God! . . . Good God! . . . I can see it now . . . And it’s unbearable! After eighteen years. I was a brigadier then. It was your own regiment — the Glamorganshires . . . They were crowded into a little nullah and shelled to extinction⁷⁹ . . . I could see it going on and we could not get on to the Boer guns with ours to stop ’em . . . That’s hell,’ he said, ‘that’s the real hell . . . I never inspected the Glamorganshires after that for the whole war. I could not bear the thought of facing their eyes . . . Buller was the same . . . Buller was worse than I . . . He never held up his head again after . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘If you would not mind, sir, not going on . . .

The general stamped to a halt in his stride. He said: ‘Eh? . . . What’s that? What’s the matter with you?’

Tietjens said:

‘I had a man killed on me last night. In this very hut; where I’m sitting is the exact spot. It makes me . . . It’s a sort of . . . Complex, they call it now . . . ’

The general exclaimed:

‘Good God! I beg your pardon, my dear boy . . . I ought not to have . . . I have never behaved like that before another soul in the world . . . Not to Buller . . . Not to Gatacre, and they were my closest friends . . . Even after Spion Kop I never . . . ’ He broke off and said: ‘I’ve such an absolute belief in your trustworthiness, I know you won’t betray what you’ve seen . . . What I’ve just said . . . ’ He paused and tried to adopt the air of the listening magpie⁸⁰. He said: ‘I was called Butcher Campion in South Africa, just as Gatacre was called Backacher. I don’t want to be called anything else because I’ve made an ass³⁹ of myself before you . . . No, damn it all, not an ass. I was immensely attached to your sainted mother . . . He said: ‘It’s the proudest tribute any commander of men can have . . . To be called Butcher and have your men follow you in spite of it. It shows confidence, and it gives you, as commander, confidence! . . . One has to be prepared to lose men in hundreds at the right minute in order to avoid losing them in tens of thousands at the wrong! . . . ’ He said: ‘Successful military operations consist not in taking or retaining positions, but in taking or retaining them with a minimum sacrifice of effectives . . . I wish to God you civilians would get that into your heads. The men have it. They know that I will use them ruthlessly — but that I will not waste one life . . . ’ He exclaimed: ‘Damn it, if I had ever thought I should have such troubles, in your father’s days . . .!’ He said: ‘Let’s get back to what we were talking about . . . My memorandum to the Secretary . . . ’ He burst out: ‘My God! . . . What can that fellow think when he reads Shakespeare’s When all those heads, legs, arms, joined together on the Last Day shall . . . How does it run? Henry V’s address to his soldiers . . . Every subject’s body is the king’s . . . but every subject’s soul is his own . . . And there is no king, be his cause ever so just . . . My God! My God! . . . as can try it out with all unspotted soldiers . . . Have you ever thought of that?’

Alarm overcame Tietjens. The general was certainly in disorder⁸¹. But over what? There was not time to think. Campion was certainly dreadfully overworked . . . He exclaimed:

‘Sir, hadn’t you better? . . . ’ He said: ‘If we could get back to your memorandum . . . I am quite prepared to write a report to the effect of your sentence as to the French civilian population’s attitude. That would throw the onus⁸² on me . . . ’

The general said agitatedly⁸³:

‘No! No! . . . You’ve got quite enough on your back as it is. Your confidential report states that you are suspected of having too great common interests with the French. That’s what makes the whole position so impossible . . . I’ll get Thurston to write something. He’s a good man, Thurston. Reliable . . . ’ Tietjens shuddered a little. The general went on astonishingly:

‘But at my back I always hear

Time’s winged chariot hurrying near:

And yonder all before me lie

Deserts of vast eternity⁸⁴!’ . . .

That’s a general’s life in this accursed war . . . You think all generals are illiterate⁸⁵ fools. But I have spent a great deal of time in reading, though I never read anything written later than the seventeenth century.’

Tietjens said:

‘I know, sir . . . You made me read Clarendon’s History of the Great Rebellion when I was twelve.’

The general said:

‘In case we . . . I shouldn’t like . . . In short . . . ’ He swallowed: it was singular to see him swallow. He was lamentably⁸⁶ thin when you looked at the man and not the uniform.

Tietjens thought:

‘What’s he nervous about? He’s been nervous all the morning.’

The general said:

‘I am trying to say — it’s not much in my line — that in case we never met again, I do not wish you to think me an ignoramus.’

Tietjens thought:

‘He’s not ill . . . and he can’t think me so ill that I’m likely to die . . . A fellow like that doesn’t really know how to express himself. He’s trying to be kind and he doesn’t know how to . . . ’

The general had paused. He began to say:

‘But there are finer things in Marvell than that . . . ’

Tietjens thought:

‘He’s trying to gain time . . . Why on earth should he? . . . What is this all about?’ His mind slipped a notch⁸⁸. The general was looking at his finger-nails on the blanket. He said:

‘There’s, for instance:

‘The grave’s a fine and secret place

But none I think do there embrace . . .

At those words it came to Tietjens suddenly to think of Sylvia, with the merest film of clothing on her long, shining limbs . . . She was working a powder-puff under her armpits in a brilliant illumination from two electric lights, one on each side of her dressing⁸⁹ table. She was looking at him in the glass with the corners of her lips just moving. A little curled . . . He said to himself:

‘One is going to that fine and secret place . . . Why not have?’ She had emanated⁹⁰ a perfume founded on sandalwood. As she worked her swansdown powder-puff over those intimate regions he could hear her humming. Maliciously⁹¹! It was then that he had observed the handle of the door moving minutely. She had incredible arms, stretched out amongst a wilderness⁹² of besilvered cosmetics⁹³. Extraordinarily lascivious⁹⁴! Yet clean! Her gilded⁹⁵ sheath gown was about her hips⁹⁶ on the chair . . .

Well! she had pulled the strings⁹⁷ of one too many shower-baths!

Shining; radiating glory but still shrivelled so that he reminded Tietjens of an old apple inside a damascened helmet; the general had seated himself once more on the bully-beef case before the blanketed table. He fingered his very large, golden fountain-pen. He said:

‘Captain Tietjens, I should be glad of your careful attention!’

Tietjens said:

‘Sir!’ His heart stopped.

The general said that that afternoon Tietjens would receive a movement order. He said stiffly that he must not regard this new movement order as a disgrace. It was promotion⁹⁸. He, Major-General Campion, was requesting the colonel commanding the depot⁹⁹ to inscribe¹⁰⁰ the highest possible testimonial in his, Tietjens’, small-book. He, Tietjens, had exhibited the most extraordinary talent for finding solutions for difficult problems — The colonel was to write that! — In addition he, General Campion, was requesting his friend, General Perry, commanding the sixteenth section . . .

Tietjens thought:

‘Good God. I am being sent up the line. He’s sending me to Perry’s Army . . . That’s certain death!’

. . . To give Tietjens the appointment of second in command of the VIth Battalion¹⁰¹ of his regiment!

Tietjens said, but he did not know where the words came from:

‘Colonel Partridge will not like that. He’s praying for McKechnie to come back!’

To himself he said:

‘I shall fight this monstrous¹⁰³ treatment of myself to my last breath.’

The general suddenly called out:

‘There you are . . . There is another of your infernal worries . . . ’

He put a strong check on himself, and, dryly, like the very great speaking to the very unimportant, asked:

‘What’s your medical category.’

Tietjens said:

‘Permanent base, sir. My chest’s rotten!’

The general said:

‘I should forget that, if I were you . . . The second in command of a battalion has nothing to do but sit about in arm-chairs waiting for the colonel to be killed.’ He added: ‘It’s the best I can do for you . . . I’ve thought it out very carefully. It’s the best I can do for you.’

Tietjens said:

‘I shall, of course, forget my category, sir . . . ’

Of course he would never fight any treatment of himself!

There it was then: the natural catastrophe¹⁰⁴! As when, under thunder, a dam breaks. His mind was battling with the waters. What would it pick out as the main terror? The mud: the noise: dread²¹ always at the back of the mind? Or the worry! The worry! Your eyebrows¹⁰⁵ always had a slight tension on them . . . Like eye-strain!

The general had begun, soberly:

‘You will recognize that there is nothing else that I can do.’

His answering:

‘I recognize, naturally, sir, that there is nothing else that you can do . . . ’ seemed rather to irritate the general. He wanted opposition¹⁰⁶: he wanted Tietjens to argue the matter. He was the Roman father counselling suicide to his son: but he wanted Tietjens to expostulate. So that he, General Campion, might absolutely prove that he, Tietjens, was a disgraceful individual . . . It could not be done. The general said:

‘You will understand that I can’t — no commander could! — have such things happening in my command . . . ’

‘I must accept that, if you say it, sir.’

The general looked at him under his eyebrows. He said:

‘I have already told you that this is promotion. I have been much impressed by the way you have handled this command. You are, of course, no soldier, but you will make an admirable officer for the militia¹⁰⁷, that is all that our troops now are . . . ’ He said: ‘I will emphasize what I am saying . . . No officer could — without being militarily in the wrong — have a private life that is as incomprehensible and embarrassing as yours . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘He’s hit it! . . . ’

The general said:

‘An officer’s private life and his life on parade are as strategy to tactics . . . I don’t want, if I can avoid it, to go into your private affairs. It’s extremely embarrassing . . . But let me put it to you that . . . I wish to be delicate. But you are a man of the world! . . . Your wife is an extremely beautiful woman . . . There has been a scandal . . . I admit not of your making . . . But if, on the top of that, I appeared to show favouritism to you . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘You need not go on, sir . . . I understand . . . ’ He tried to remember what the brooding and odious¹⁰⁸ McKechnie had said . . . only two nights ago . . . He couldn’t remember . . . It was certainly a suggestion that Sylvia was the general’s mistress. It had then, he remembered, seemed fantastic . . . Well, what else could they think? He said to himself: ‘It absolutely blocks out my staying here!’ He said aloud: ‘Of course, it’s my own fault. If a man so handles his womenfolk that they get out of hand, he has only himself to blame.’

The general was going on. He pointed out that one of his predecessors¹⁰⁹ had lost that very command on account of scandals about women. He had turned the place into a damned harem! . . .

He burst out, looking at Tietjens with a peculiar¹¹¹ goggle-eyed intentness:

‘If you think I’d care about losing my command over Sylvia or any other damned Society woman . . . ’ He said: ‘I beg your pardon . . . ’ and continued reasoningly:

‘It’s the men that have to be considered. They think — and they’ve every right to think it if they wish to — that a man who’s a wrong ’un over women isn’t the man they can trust their lives in the hands of . . . ’ He added: ‘And they’re probably right . . . A man who’s a real wrong ’un . . . I don’t mean who sets up a gal¹¹² in a tea-shop . . . But one who sells his wife, or . . . At any rate, in our army . . . The French may be different! . . . Well, a man like that usually has a yellow streak¹¹³ when it comes to fighting . . . Mind, I’m not saying always . . . Usually . . . There was a fellow called . . . ’

He went off into an anecdote¹¹⁴ . . .

Tietjens recognized the pathos¹¹⁵ of his trying to get away from the agonizing present moment, back to an India where it was all real soldiering and good leather and parades that had been parades. But he did not feel called upon to follow. He could not follow. He was going up the line . . .

He occupied himself with his mind. What was it going to do? He cast back along his military history: what had his mind done in similar moments before? . . . But there had never been a similar moment! There had been the sinister¹¹⁶ or repulsive¹¹⁷ business of going up, getting over, standing to — even of the casualty clearing-station! . . . But he had always been physically¹¹⁸ keener, he had never been so depressed or overwhelmed.

He said to the general:

‘I recognize that I cannot stop in this command. I regret it, for I have enjoyed having this unit . . . But does it necessarily mean the VIth Battalion?’

He wondered what was his own motive¹¹⁹ at the moment. Why had he asked the general that? . . . The thing presented itself as pictures: getting down bulkily from a high French train, at dawn. The light picked out for you the white of large hunks of bread — half-loaves — being handed out to troops themselves invisible . . . The ovals of light on the hats of English troops: they were mostly West Countrymen. They did not seem to want the bread much . . . A long ridge¹⁰² of light above a wooded bank: then suddenly, pervasively¹²⁰, a sound! . . . For all the world as, sheltering from rain in a cottager’s wash-house on the moors¹²¹, you hear the cottager’s clothes boiling in a copper¹²² . . . Bubble . . . bubble . . . bubbubbub . . . bubble . . . Not terribly loud — but terribly demanding attention! . . . The Great Strafe! . . .

The general had said:

‘If I could think of anything else to do with you, I’d do it . . . But all the extraordinary rows you’ve got into . . . They block me everywhere . . . Do you realize that I have requested General O’Hara to suspend his functions until now? . . . ’

It was amazing to Tietjens how the general mistrusted his subordinates — as well as how he trusted them! . . . It was probably that that made him so successful an officer. Be worked for by men that you trust: but distrust them all the time — along certain lines of frailty¹²⁴: liquor, women, money! . . . Well, he had a long knowledge of men!

He said:

‘I admit, sir, that I misjudged General O’Hara. I have said as much to Colonel Levin and explained why.’

The general said with a gloating irony¹²⁵:

‘A damn pretty pass to come to . . . You put a general officer under arrest . . . Then you say you had misjudged him! . . . I am not saying you were not performing a duty . . . ’ He went on to recount the classical case of a subaltern, cited in King’s Regulations, temp. William IV, who was court-martialled and broken for not putting under arrest his colonel who came drunk on to parade . . . He was exhibiting his sensuous¹²⁶ delight in misplaced erudition.

Tietjens heard himself say with great slowness:

‘I absolutely deny, sir, that I put General O’Hara under arrest! I have gone into the matter very minutely with Colonel Levin.’

The general burst out:

‘By God! I had taken that woman to be a saint . . . I swear she is a saint . . .

Tietjens said:

‘There is no accusation¹²⁷ against Mrs Tietjens, sir!’

The general said:

‘By God, there is!’

Tietjens said:

‘I am prepared to take all the blame, sir.’

The general said:

‘You shan’t . . . I am determined¹²⁸ to get to the bottom of all this . . . You have treated your wife damn badly . . . You admit to that . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘With great want of consideration, sir . . . ’

The general said:

‘You have been living practically on terms of separation from her for a number of years? You don’t deny that that was on account of your own misbehaviour. For how many years?’

Tietjens said:

‘I don’t know, sir . . . Six or seven!’

The general said sharply:

‘Think, then . . . It began when you admitted to me that you had been sold up because you kept a girl in a tobacco-shop? That was at Rye in 1912 . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘We have not been on terms since 1912, sir.’

The general said:

‘But why? . . . She’s a most beautiful woman. She’s adorable. What could you want better? . . . She’s the mother of your child . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘Is it necessary to go into all this, sir? . . . Our differences were caused by . . . by differences of temperament¹²⁹. She, as you say, is a beautiful and reckless woman . . . Reckless in an admirable way. I, on the other hand . . . ’

The general exclaimed:

‘Yes! that’s just it . . . What the hell are you? . . . You’re not a soldier. You’ve got the makings of a damn good soldier. You amaze me at times. Yet you’re a disaster; you are a disaster to every one who has to do with you. You are as conceited¹³⁰ as a hog¹³¹; you are as obstinate as a bullock . . . You drive me mad . . . And you have ruined the life of that beautiful woman . . . For I maintain she once had the disposition¹³² of a saint . . . Now: I’m waiting for your explanation!’

Tietjens said:

‘In civilian life, sir, I was a statistician. Second secretary to the Department of Statistics . . . ’

The general exclaimed convictingly:

‘And they’ve thrown you out of that! Because of the mysterious rows you made . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘Because, sir, I was in favour of the single command . . . ’

The general began a long wrangle¹³³: ‘But why were you? What the hell had it got to do with you?’ Couldn’t Tietjens have given the Department the statistics they wanted — even if it meant faking them? What was discipline for if subordinates were to act on their consciences? The home Government had wanted statistics faked in order to dish the Allies . . . Well . . . Was Tietjens French or English? Every damn thing Tietjens did . . . Every damn thing, made it more impossible to do anything for him! With his attainments¹³⁴ he ought to be attached to the staff of the French Commander-in-Chief. But that was forbidden in his, Tietjens’, confidential report. There was an underlined note in it to that effect. Where else, then, in Heaven’s name, could Tietjens be sent to? He looked at Tietjens with intent blue eyes:

‘Where else, in God’s name . . . I am not using the Almighty’s name blasphemously¹³⁵ . . . can you be sent to? I know it’s probably death to send you up the line — in your condition of health. And to poor Perry’s Army. The Germans will be through it the minute the weather breaks.’

He began again: ‘You understand: I’m not the War Office. I can’t send any officer anywhere. I can’t send you to Malta or India. Or to other commands in France. I can send you home — in disgrace. I can send you to your own battalion. On promotion! . . . Do you understand my situation? . . . I have no alternative.’

Tietjens said:

‘Not altogether, sir.’

The general swallowed and wavered from side to side. He said:

‘For God’s sake, try to . . . I am genuinely concerned for you. I won’t — I’m damned if I will! — let it appear that you’re disgraced . . . If you were McKechnie himself I wouldn’t! The only really good jobs I’ve got to give away are on my own staff. I can’t have you there. Because of the men. At the same time . . . ’

He paused and said with a ponderous¹³⁶ shyness:

‘I believe there’s a God . . . I believe that, though wrong may flourish, right will triumph in the end! . . . If a man is innocent, his innocence¹³⁷ will one day appear . . . In a humble¹³⁸ way I want to . . . help Providence¹³⁹ . . . I want some one to be able one day to say: ”General Campion, who knew the ins and outs of the affair . . . ” promoted you! In the middle of it . . . ’ He said: ‘It isn’t much. But it’s not nepotism¹⁴⁰. I would do as much for any man in your position.’

Tietjens said:

‘It’s at least the act of a Christian¹⁴¹ gentleman!’

A certain lack-lustre joy appeared in the general’s eyes. He said:

‘I’m not used to this sort of situation . . . I hope I’ve always tried to help my junior officers . . . But a case like this . . . ’ He said:

‘Damn it . . . The general commanding the 9th French Army is an intimate friend of mine . . . But in face of your confidential report — I can’t ask him to ask for you. That’s blocked!’

Tietjens said:

‘I do not propose, sir, at any rate in your eyes, to pass as putting the interests of any power before those of my own country. If you examine my confidential report you will find that the unfavourable insertions are initialled G. D . . . They are the initials of a Major Drake . . . ’

The general said bewilderingly:

‘Drake . . . Drake . . . I’ve heard the name.’

Tietjens said:

‘It doesn’t matter, sir . . . Major Drake’s a gentleman who doesn’t like me . . . ’

The general said:

‘There are so many. You don’t try to make yourself popular, I must say!’

Tietjens said to himself:

‘The old fellow feels it! . . . But he can hardly expect me to tell him that Sylvia thinks Drake was the father of my own son, and desires my ruin!’ But of course the old man would feel it. He, Tietjens, and his wife, Sylvia, were as near a son and daughter as the old man had. The obvious answer to make to the old man’s query¹⁴² as to where he, Tietjens, ought to be sent was to remind him that his brother Mark had had an order put through to the effect that Tietjens was to be put in command of divisional transport . . . Could he remind the old man of that? Was it a thing one could do?

Yet the idea of commanding divisional transport was like a vision of Paradise to Tietjens. For two reasons: it was relatively safe, being concerned with a lot of horses . . . and the knowledge that he had that employment would put Valentine Wannop’s mind at rest.

Paradise! . . . But could one wangle out of a hard into a soft job? Some other poor devil very likely wanted it. On the other hand — think of Valentine Wannop! He imagined her torture of mind, wandering about London, thinking of him in the very worst spot of a doomed¹⁴³ army. She would get to hear of that. Sylvia would tell her! He would bet Sylvia would ring her up and tell her. Imagine, then, writing to Mark to say that he was with the transport! Mark would pass it on to the girl within half a minute. Why . . . he, Tietjens, would wire. He imagined himself scribbling¹⁴⁴ the wire while the general talked and giving it to an orderly the moment the talk was over . . . But could he put the idea into the old man’s head! Is it done? . . . Would, say . . . say, an Anglican saint do it?

And then . . . Was he up to the job? What about the accursed obsession¹⁴⁶ of 0 Nine Morgan that intermittently¹⁴⁷ jumped on him? All the while he had been riding Schomburg the day before, 0 Nine Morgan had seemed to be just before the coffin-headed brute’s off-shoulder. The animal must fall! . . . He had had the passionate¹⁴⁸ impulse to pull up the horse. And all the time a dreadful depression! A weight! In the hotel last night he had nearly fainted over the thought that Morgan might have been the man whose life he had spared at Noircourt . . . It was getting to be a serious matter! It might mean that there was a crack in his, Tietjens’, brain. A lesion! If that was to go on . . . 0 Nine Morgan, dirty as he always was, and with the mystified eyes of the subject races on his face, rising up before his horse’s off-shoulder! But alive, not with half his head cut away . . . If that was to go on he would not be fit to deal with transport, which meant a great deal of riding.

But he would chance that . . . Besides, some damn fool of a literary civilian had been writing passionate letters to the papers insisting that all horses and mules¹⁴⁹ must be abolished in the army . . . Because of their pestilence-spreading dung! . . . It might be decreed by A.C.I. that no more horses were to be used! . . . Imagine taking battalion supplies down by night with motor lorries, which was what that genius desired to see done! . . .

He remembered once or twice — it must have been in September, ‘16 — having had the job of taking battalion transport down from Locre to B.H.Q., which were in the chateau¹⁵⁰ of Kemmell village . . . You muffled¹⁵¹ every bit of metal you could think of: bits, trace-chains, axles . . . and yet, whilst you hardly breathed, in the thick darkness some damn thing would always chink and jolt¹⁵²; beef tins made a noise of old iron . . . And bang, after a long whine¹⁵³, would come the German shell, registered exactly on to the corner of the road where it went down by the shoulder of the hill: where the placards were ordering you not to go more than two men together . . . Imagine doing it with lorries, that could be heard five miles away! . . . The battalion would go pretty short of rations¹²! . . . The same antichevaline genius had emitted the sentiment that he had rather the Allies lost the war than that cavalry¹⁵⁴ should distinguish themselves in any engagement! . . . A wonderful passion for the extermination¹⁵⁵ of dung . . .! Or perhaps this hatred¹⁵⁶ of the horse was social . . . Because the cavalry wear long moustaches dripping with Macassar oil and breakfast off caviare, chocolate and Pommery Greno they must be abolished! . . . Something like that . . . He exclaimed: ‘By God! How my mind wanders! How long will it go on?’ He said: ‘I am at the end of my tether.’ He had missed what the general had said for some time.

The general said:

‘Well. Has he?’

Tietjens said:

‘I didn’t catch, sir!’

‘Are you deaf?’ the general asked. ‘I’m sure I speak plain enough. You’ve just said there are no horses attached to this camp. I asked you if there is not a horse for the colonel commanding the depot . . . A German horse, I understand!’

Tietjens said to himself:

‘Great heavens! I’ve been talking to him. What in the world about?’ It was as if his mind were falling off a hillside. He said:

‘Yes, sir . . . Schomburg. But as that’s a German prisoner, captured on the Marne, it is not on our strength. It is the private property of the colonel. I ride it myself . . . ’

The general exclaimed dryly:

‘You would . . . ’ He added more dryly still: ‘Are you aware that there is a hell of a strafe put in against you by a R.A.S.C. second-lieutenant¹⁵⁷ called Hotchkiss? . . . ’

Tietjens said quickly:

‘If it’s over Schomburg, sir . . . it’s a washout. Lieutenant Hotchkiss has no more right to give orders about him than as to where I shall sleep . . . And I would rather die than subject any horse for which I am responsible to the damnable torture Hotchkiss and that swine Lord Beichan want to inflict¹⁵⁸ on service horses . . . ’

The general said maleficently:

‘It looks as if you damn well will die on that account!’

He added: ‘You’re perfectly right to object to wrong treatment of horses. But in this case your objection blocks the only other job open to you.’ He quietened himself a little. ‘You are probably not aware,’ he went on, ‘that your brother Mark . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘Yes, I am aware . . . ’

The general said: ‘Do you know that the 19th Division to which your brother wants you sent is attached to Fourth Army now — and it’s Fourth Army horses that Hotchkiss is to play with? . . . How could I send you there to be under his orders?’

Tietjens said:

‘That’s perfectly correct, sir. There is nothing else that you can do . . . ’ He was finished. There was now nothing left but to find out how his mind was going to take it. He wished they could go to his cook-houses!

The general said:

‘What was I saying? . . . I’m dreadfully tired . . . No one could stand this . . . ’ He drew from inside his tunic a lapis-lazuli coloured, small be-coroneted note-case and selected from it a folded paper that he first looked at and then slipped between his belt and his tunic. He said: ‘On top of all the responsibility I have to bear!’ He asked: ‘Has it occurred to you that, if I’m of any service to the country, your taking up my energy —sapping my energy over your affairs! — is aiding your country’s enemies? . . . I can only afford four hours sleep as it is . . . I’ve got some questions to ask you . . . He referred to the slip of paper from his belt, folded it again and again slipped it into his belt.

Tietjens’ mind missed a notch again . . . It was the fear of the mud that was going to obsess¹⁴⁵ him. Yet, curiously¹⁵⁹, he had never been under heavy fire in mud . . . You would think that that would not have obsessed¹⁶⁰ him. But in his ear he had just heard uttered in a whisper of intense weariness, the words: Es ist nicht zu ertragen; es ist das dasz uns verloren hat . . . words in German, of utter despair, meaning: It is unbearable: it is that that has ruined us . . . The mud! . . . He had heard those words, standing amidst volcano craters¹⁶¹ of mud, amongst ravines, monstrosities of slime, cliffs and distances, all of slime . . . He had been going, for curiosity or instruction, from Verdun where he had been attached to the French — on a holiday afternoon when nothing was doing, with a guide, to visit one of the outlying forts . . . Deaumont? . . . No, Douaumont . . . Taken from the enemy about a week before . . . When would that be? He had lost all sense of chronology . . . In November . . . A beginning of some November . . . With a miracle of sunshine: not a cloud: the mud towering up shut you in intimately with a sky that ached for limpidity¹⁶² . . . And the slime had moved . . . following a French bombardier who was strolling along eating nuts, disreputably, his shoulders rolling . . . Déserteurs . . . The moving slime was German deserters . . . You could not see them: the leader of them — an officer! — had his glasses so thick with mud that you could not see the colour of his eyes, and his half-dozen decorations were like the beginnings of swallows’ nests, his beard like stalactites . . . Of the other men you could only see the eyes — extraordinarily vivid: mostly blue like the sky! . . . Deserters! Led by an officer! Of the Hamburg Regiment! As if an officer of the Buffs had gone over! . . . It was incredible . . . And that was what the officer had said as he passed: not shamefacedly, but without any humanity left in him . . . Done! . . . Those moving saurians compacted of slime kept on passing him afterwards, all the afternoon . . . And he could not help picturing their immediate¹⁶³ antecedents for two months . . . In advanced pill-boxes . . . No, they didn’t have pill-boxes then . . . In advanced pockets of mud, in dreadful solitude¹⁶⁴ amongst those ravines . . . suspended in eternity, at the last day of the world. And it had horribly shocked him to hear again the German language, a rather soft voice, a little suety . . . Like an obscene whisper . . . The voice obviously of the damned: hell could hold nothing curious for those poor beasts . . . His French guide had said sardonically¹⁶⁵: On dirait l’Inferno de Dante! . . . Well, those Germans were getting back on him. They were now to become an obsession! A complex, they said nowadays . . . The general said coolly:

‘I presume you refuse to answer?’

That shook him cruelly.

He said desperately:

‘I had to end what I took to be an unbearable position for both parties. In the interests of my son!’ Why in the world had he said that? . . . He was going to be sick. It came back to him that the general had been talking of his separation from Sylvia. Last night that had happened. He said: ‘I may have been right: I may have been wrong . . . ’

The general said icily:

‘If you don’t choose to go into it . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘I would prefer not to . . . ’

The general said:

‘There is no end to this . . . But there are questions it’s my duty to ask . . . If you do not wish to go into your marital¹⁶⁶ relations, I cannot force you . . . But, damn it, are you sane¹⁶⁷? Are you responsible? Do you intend to get Miss Wannop to live with you before the war is over? Is she, perhaps, here, in the town, now? Is that your reason for separating from Sylvia? Now, of all times in the world!’

Tietjens said:

‘No, sir. I ask you to believe that I have absolutely no relations with that young lady. None! I have no intention of having any. None! . . . ’

The general said:

‘I believe that!’

‘Circumstances last night,’ Tietjens said, ‘convinced me suddenly, there on the spot, that I had been wronging my wife . . . I had been putting a strain on the lady that was unwarrantable. It humiliates¹⁶⁸ me to have to say it! I had taken a certain course for the sake of the future of our child. But it was an atrociously wrong course. We ought to have separated years ago. It has led to the lady’s pulling the strings of all these shower-baths . . . ’

The general said:

‘Pulling the . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘It expresses it, sir . . . Last night was nothing but pulling the string of a shower-bath. Perfectly justifiable¹⁶⁹. I maintain that it was perfectly justifiable.’

The general said:

‘Then why have you given her Groby? . . . You’re not a little soft, are you? . . . You don’t imagine you’ve . . . say, got a mission? Or that you’re another person? . . . That you have to . . . to forgive . . . ’ He took off his pretty hat and wiped his forehead with a tiny cambric handkerchief. He said: ‘Your poor mother was a little . . . ’

He said suddenly:

‘To-night when you are coming to my dinner . . . I hope you’ll be decent. Why do you so neglect your personal appearance? Your tunic is a disgusting spectacle . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘I had a better tunic, sir . . . but it has been ruined by the blood of the man who was killed here last night . . . ’

The general said:

‘You don’t say you have only two tunics¹⁷⁰? . . . Have you no mess clothes?’

Tietjens said:

‘Yes, sir, I’ve my blue things. I shall be all right for to-night . . . But almost everything else I possessed¹⁷¹ was stolen from my kit¹⁷² when I was in hospital . . . Even Sylvia’s two pair of sheets . . . ’

‘But hang it all,’ the general exclaimed, ‘you don’t mean to say you’ve spaflled all your father left you?’

Tietjens said:

‘I thought fit to refuse what my father left me owing to the way it was left . . . ’

The general said:

‘But, good God! . . . Read that!’ He tossed the small sheet of paper at which he had been looking across the table. It fell face downwards¹⁷³. Tietjens read, in the minute handwriting of the general’s:

‘Colonel’s horse: Sheets: Jesus Christ: Wannop girl: Socialism?’

The general said irritably:

‘The other side . . . the other side . . . ’

The other side of the paper displayed the words in large capitals: WORKERS OF THE WORLD, a wood-cut of a sickle¹⁷⁴ and some other objects. Then high treason for a page.

The general said:

‘Have you ever seen anything like that before? Do you know what it is?’

Tietjens answered:

‘Yes, sir. I sent that to you. To your Intelligence . . . ’ The general thumped¹⁷⁵ both his fists violently on the army blanket:

‘You . . . ’ he said. ‘It’s incomprehensible . . . It’s incredible . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘No, sir . . . You sent out an order asking commanders of units to ascertain¹⁷⁶ what attempts were being made by Socialists¹⁷⁷ to undermine the discipline of their other ranks . . . I naturally asked my sergeant¹⁷⁹-major, and he produced this sheet, which one of the men had given to him as a curiosity. It had been handed to the man in the street in London. You can see my initials on the top of the sheet!’

The general said:

‘You . . . you’ll excuse me, but you’re not a Socialist¹⁷⁸ yourself?’

Tietjens said:

‘I knew you were working round to that, sir. But I’ve no politics that did not disappear in the eighteenth century. You, sir, prefer the seventeenth!’

‘Another shower-bath, I suppose,’ the general said.

‘Of course,’ Tietjens said, ‘if it’s Sylvia that called me a Socialist, it’s not astonishing. I’m a Tory of such an extinct type that she might take me for anything. The last megatherium. She’s absolutely to be excused . . . ’

The general was not listening. He said:

‘What was wrong with the way your father left his money to you?’

‘My father,’ Tietjens said — the general saw his jaw¹⁸⁰ stiffen¹⁸¹ —‘committed suicide because a fellow called Ruggles told him that I was . . . what the French called maquereau . . . I can’t think of the English word. My father’s suicide was not an act that can be condoned¹⁸². A gentleman does not commit suicide when he has descendants. It might influence my boy’s life very disastrously . . . ’

The general said:

‘I can’t . . . I can’t get to the bottom of all this . . . What in the world did Ruggles want to go and tell your father that for? . . . What are you going to do for a living after the war? They won’t take you back into your office, will they?’

Tietjens said:

‘No, sir. The Department will not take me back. Every one who has served in this war will be a marked man for a long time after it is over. That’s proper enough. We’re having our fun now.’

The general said:

‘You say the wildest things.’

Tietjens answered:

‘You generally find the things I say come true, sir. Could we get this over? Ruggles told my father what he did because it is not a good thing to belong to the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries in the twentieth. Or really, because it is not good to have taken one’s public-school’s ethical¹⁸³ system seriously. I am really, sir, the English public schoolboy. That’s an eighteenth-century product. What with the love of truth that — God help me! — they rammed¹⁸⁴ into me at Clifton and the belief Arnold forced upon Rugby that the vilest¹⁸⁵ of sins — the vilest of all sins — is to peach to the head master! That’s me, sir. Other men get over their schooling¹⁸⁶. I never have. I remain adolescent. These things are obsessions¹⁸⁷ with me. Complexes, sir!’

The general said:

‘All this seems to be very wild . . . What’s this about peaching to a head master?’

Tietjens said:

‘For a swan song, it’s not wild, sir. You’re asking for a swan song. I am to go up into the line so that the morals of the troops in your command may not be contaminated by the contemplation of my marital infelicities.’

The general said:

‘You don’t want to go back to England, do you?’ Tietjens exclaimed:

‘Certainly not! Very certainly not! I can never go home. I have to go underground somewhere. If I went back to England there would be nothing for me but going underground by suicide.’

The general said:

‘You see all that? I can give you testimonials . . . ’

Tietjens asked:

‘Who couldn’t see that it’s impossible?’

The general said:

‘But . . . suicide! You won’t do that. As you said: think of your son.’

Tietjens said:

‘No, sir. I shan’t do that. But you see how bad for one’s descendants suicide is. That is why I do not forgive my father. Before he did it I should never have contemplated¹⁸⁸ the idea. Now I have contemplated it. That’s a weakening of the moral fibre. It’s contemplating¹⁸⁹ a fallacy as a possibility. For suicide is no remedy for a twisted situation of a psychological kind. It is for bankruptcy¹⁹⁰. Or for military disaster. For the man of action, not for the thinker. Creditors’ meetings wipe the one out. Military operations sweep on. But my problem will remain the same whether I’m here or not. For it’s insoluble. It’s the whole problem of the relations of the sexes.’

The general said:

‘Good God! . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘No, sir, I’ve not gone off my chump. That’s my problem! . . . But I’m a fool to talk so much . . . It’s because I don’t know what to say.’

The general sat staring at the tablecloth¹⁹¹: his face was suffused¹⁹² with blood. He had the appearance of a man in monstrous ill-humour. He said:

‘You had better say what you want to say. What the devil do you mean? . . . What’s this all about? . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘I’m enormously sorry, sir. It’s difficult to make myself plain.’

The general said:

‘Neither of us do. What is language for? What the hell is language for? We go round and round. I suppose I’m an old fool who cannot understand your modern ways . . . But you’re not modern. I’ll do you that justice . . . That beastly little McKechnie is modern . . . I shall ram⁸⁷ him into your divisional-transport job, so that he won’t incommode you in your battalion . . . Do you understand what the little beast did? He got leave to go and get a divorce. And then did not get a divorce. That’s modernism. He said he had scruples¹⁹³. I understand that he and his wife and . . . some dirty other fellow . . . slept three in a bed. That’s modern scruples . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘No sir, it’s not really . . . But what is a man to do if his wife is unfaithful to him?’

The general said as if it were an insult:

‘Divorce the harlot! Or live with her! . . . ’ Only a beast he went on, would expect a woman to live all her life alone in a cockloft! She’s bound to die. Or go on the streets . . . What sort of a fellow wouldn’t see that? Was there any sort of beast who’d expect a woman to live . . . with a man beside her . . . Why, she’d . . . she’d be bound to . . . He’d have to take the consequences of whatever happened. The general repeated: ‘Whatever happened! If she pulled all the strings of all the shower-baths in the world!’

Tietjens said:

‘Still, sir . . . there are . . . there used to be . . . in families of . . . position . . . a certain . . . ’ He stopped.

The general said:

‘Well . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘On the part of the man . . . a certain . . . Call it . . . parade!’

The general said:

‘Then there had better be no more parades . . . ’ He said: ‘Damn it! . . . Besides us, all women are saints . . . Think of what child-bearing is. I know the world . . . Who would stand that? . . . You? . . . I . . . I’d rather be the last poor devil in Perry’ lines!’

He looked at Tietjens with a sort of injurious cunning: ‘Why don’t you divorce?’ he asked.

Panic came over Tietjens. He knew it would be his last panic of that interview. No brain could stand more. Fragments of scenes of fighting, voices, names, went before his eyes and ears. Elaborate problems . . . The whole map of the embattled world ran out in front of him — as large as a field. An embossed map in greenish papier maché— a ten-acre field of embossed papier maché: with the blood of O Nine Morgan blurring¹⁹⁴ luminously¹⁹⁵ over it. Years before . . . How many months? . . . Nineteen, to be exact, he had sat on some tobacco plants on the Mont de Kats . . . No, the Montagne Noire. In Belgium . . . What had he been doing? . . . Trying to get the lie of the land . . . No . . . Waiting to point out positions to some fat home general who had never come. The Belgian proprietor¹⁹⁶ of the tobacco plants had arrived, and had screamed his head off over the damaged plants . . .

But, up there you saw the whole war . . . Infinite miles away, over the sullied land that the enemy forces held: into Germany proper. Presumably you could breathe in Germany proper . . . Over your right shoulder you could see a stump¹⁹⁷ of a tooth. The Cloth Hall at Ypres: at an angle of 50° below . . . Dark lines behind it . . . The German trenches¹⁹⁸ before Wytschaete!

That was before the great mines had blown Wytschaete to hell . . .

But — every half-minute by his wrist-watch — white puffs¹⁹⁹ of cotton-wool existed on the dark lines — the German trenches before Wytschaete. Our artillery²⁰⁰ practice . . . Good shooting. Jolly good shooting!

Miles and miles away to the left . . . beneath the haze²⁰¹ of light that, on a clouded day, the sea threw off, a shaft²⁰² of sunlight fell, and was reflected in a grey blue . . . It was the glass roofs of a great airplane shelter!

A great plane, the largest he had then seen, was moving over, behind his back, with four little planes as an escort . . . Over the vast slag-heaps by Bethune . . . High, purplish-blue heaps, like the steam domes²⁰³ of engines or the breasts of women . . . Bluish purple. More blue than purple . . . Like all Franco-Belgian Gobelins tapestry²⁰⁴ . . . And all quiet . . . Under the vast pall⁴¹ of quiet cloud! . . .

There were shells dropping in Poperinghe . . . Five miles out, under his nose . . . The shells dropped. White vapour rose and ran away in plumes²⁰⁵ . . . What sort of shells? . . . There were twenty different kinds of shells . . .

The Huns were shelling Poperinghe! A senseless cruelty. It was five miles behind the lines! Prussian brutality²⁰⁶ . . . There were two girls who kept a tea-shop in Poperinghe . . . High coloured . . . General Plumer had liked them . . . a fine old general . . . The shells had killed them both . . . Any man might have slept with either of them with pleasure and profit . . . Six thousand of H.M. officers must have thought the same about those high-coloured girls. Good girls! . . . But the Hun shells got them . . . What sort of fate was that? . . . To be desired by six thousand men and smashed into little gobbets of flesh by Hun shells?

It appeared to be mere Prussianism — the senseless cruelty of the Hun! — to shell Poperinghe. An innocent town with a tea-shop five miles behind Ypres . . . Little noiseless plumes of smoke rising under the quiet blanketing of the pale maroon²⁰⁷ skies, with the haze from the aeroplane shelters, and the great aeroplanes over the Bethune slag-heaps . . . What a dreadful name — Bethune . . .

Probably, however, the Germans had heard that we were massing men in Poperinghe. It was reasonable to shell a town where men were being assembled . . . Or we might have been shelling one of their towns with an Army H.Q. in it. So they shelled Poperinghe in the silent grey day . . . That was according to the rules of the service . . . General Campion, accepting with equanimity what German airplanes did to the hospitals, camps, stables, brothels, theatres, boulevards, chocolate stalls and hotels of his town, would have been vastly outraged²⁰⁸ if Hun planes had dropped bombs on his private lodgings²⁰⁹ . . . The rules of war! . . . You spare, mutually, each other’s headquarters and blow to pieces girls that are desired by six thousand men apiece . . .

That had been nineteen months before! . . . Now, having lost so much emotion, he saw the embattled world as a map . . . An embossed map of greenish papier maché. The blood of 0 Nine Morgan was blurring luminously over it. At the extreme horizon was territory labelled White Ruthenians! Who the devil were those poor wretches²¹⁰?

He exclaimed to himself: ‘By heavens! Is this epilepsy?’ He prayed: ‘Blessed saints, get me spared that!’ He exclaimed: ‘No, it isn’t! . . . I’ve complete control of my mind. My uppermost mind.’ He said to the general:

‘I can’t divorce, sir. I’ve no grounds.’

The general said:

‘Don’t lie. You know what Thurston knows. Do you mean that you have been guilty of contributory misconduct? . . . Whatever it is? And can’t divorce! I don’t believe it.’

Tietjens said to himself:

‘Why the devil am I so anxious to shield the whore? It’s not reasonable. It is an obsession!’

White Ruthenians are miserable²¹¹ people to the south of Lithuania. You don’t know whether they incline to the Germans or to the Poles. The Germans don’t even know . . . The Germans were beginning to take their people out of the line where we were weak: they were going to give them proper infantry training. That gave him, Tietjens, a chance. They would not come over strong for at least two months. It meant, though, a great offensive in the spring. Those fellows had sense. In the poor, beastly trenches the Tommies knew nothing but how to chuck bombs. Both sides did that. But the Germans were going to cure it! Stood chucking bombs at each other from forty yards. The rifle was obsolete²¹²! Ha! ha! Obsolete! . . . The civilian psychology²¹³!

The general said:

‘No, I don’t believe it. I knew you did not keep any girl in any tobacco-shop. I remember every word you said at Rye in 1912. I wasn’t sure then. I am now. You tried to let me think it. You had shut up your house because of your wife’s misbehaviour. You let me believe you had been sold up. You weren’t sold up at all.’

. . . Why should it be the civilian psychology to chuckle⁴⁹ with delight, uproariously, when the imbecile idea was promulgated²¹⁴ that the rifle was obsolete? Why should public opinion force on the War Office a training-camp course that completely cut out any thorough instruction in the rifle and communication drill? It was queer . . . It was of course disastrous³⁴. Queer. Not altogether mean. Pathetic, too . . .

‘Love of truth!’ the general said. ‘Doesn’t that include a hatred for white lies? No; I suppose it doesn’t, or your servants could not say you were not at home . . . ’

. . . Pathetic! Tietjens said to himself. Naturally the civilian population wanted soldiers to be made to look like fools: and to be done in. They wanted the war won by men who would at the end be either humiliated²¹⁵ or dead. Or both. Except, naturally, their own cousins or fiancées’ relatives. That was what it came to. That was what it meant when important gentlemen said that they had rather the war were lost than that cavalry should gain any distinction in it! . . . But it was partly the simple, pathetic illusion of the day that great things could only be done by new inventions. You extinguished the Horse, invented something very simple and became God! That is the real pathetic fallacy. You fill a flower-pot with gunpowder²¹⁶ and chuck it in the other fellow’s face, and heigh presto²¹⁷! the war is won. All the soldiers fall down dead! And You: you who forced the idea on the reluctant military, are the Man that Won the War. You deserve all the women in the world. And . . . you get them! Once the cavalry are out of the way! . . .

The general was using the words:

‘Head master!’ It brought Tietjens completely back. He said collectedly:

‘Really, sir, why this strafe of yours is so terribly long is that it embraces the whole of life.’

The general said:

‘You’re not going to drag a red herring across the trail . . . I say you regarded me as a head master in 1912. Now I am your commanding officer — which is the same thing. You must not peach to me. That’s what you call the Arnold of Rugby touch . . . But who was it said: Magna est veritas et prev . . . Prev something!’

Tietjens said:

‘I don’t remember, sir.’

The general said:

‘What was the secret grief your mother had? In 1912? She died of it. She wrote to me just before her death and said she had great troubles. And begged me to look after you, very specially²¹⁸! Why did she do that?’ He paused and meditated²¹⁹. He asked: ‘How do you define Anglican sainthood? The other fellows have canonizations, all shipshape like Sandhurst examinations. But us Anglicans . . . I’ve heard fifty persons say your mother was a saint. She was. But why?’

Tietjens said:

‘It’s the quality of harmony, sir. The quality of being in harmony with your own soul. God having given you your own soul you are then in harmony with heaven.’

The general said:

‘Ah, that’s beyond me . . . I suppose you will refuse any money I leave you in my will?’

Tietjens said:

‘Why, no, sir.’

The general said:

‘But you refused your father’s money. Because he believed things against you. What’s the difference?’

Tietjens said:

‘One’s friends ought to believe that one is a gentleman. Automatically. That is what makes one and them in harmony. Probably your friends are your friends because they look at situations automatically as you look at them . . . Mr Ruggles knew that I was hard up. He envisaged²²⁰ the situation. If he were hard up, what would he do? Make a living out of the immoral²²¹ earnings²²² of women . . . That translated into the Government circles in which he lives means selling your wife or mistress. Naturally he believed that I was the sort of fellow to sell my wife. So that’s what he told my father. The point is, my father should not have believed him.’

‘But I . . . ’ the general said.

Tietjens said:

‘You never believed anything against me, sir.’

The general said:

‘I know I’ve damn well worried myself to death over you . . . ’

Tietjens was sentimental at rest, still with wet eyes. He was walking near Salisbury in a grove²²³, regarding long pastures and ploughlands running to dark, high elms from which, embowered . . . Embowered was the word! — peeped the spire²²⁴ of George Herbert’s church . . . One ought to be a seventeenth-century parson at the time of the renaissance²²⁵ of Anglican saintliness . . . who wrote, perhaps poems. No, not poems. Prose. The statelier vehicle!

That was home-sickness! . . . He himself was never to go home!

The general said:

‘Look here . . . Your father . . . I’m concerned about your father . . . Didn’t Sylvia perhaps tell him some of the things that distressed²²⁶ him?’

Tietjens said distinctly:

‘No, sir. That responsibility cannot be put on to Sylvia. My father chose to believe things that were said against me by a perfect — or a nearly perfect — stranger . . . ’ He added: ‘As a matter of fact, Sylvia and my father were not on any sort of terms. I don’t believe they exchanged two words for the last five years of my father’s life.’

The general’s eyes were fixed²²⁷ with an extreme hardness on Tietjens’. He watched Tietjens’ face, beginning with the edges round the nostrils²²⁸, go chalk white. He said: ‘He knows he’s given his wife away! . . . Good God!’ With his face colourless, Tietjens’ eyes of porcelain-blue stuck out extraordinarily. The general thought: ‘What an ugly fellow! His face is all crooked²²⁹!’ They remained looking at each other.

In the silence the voices of men talking over the game of House came as a murmur²³⁰ to them. A rudimentary card game monstrously²³¹ in favour of the dealer²³². When you heard voices going on like that you knew they were playing House . . . So they had had their dinners.

The general said:

‘It isn’t Sunday, is it?’

Tietjens said:

‘No, sir; Thursday, the seventeenth, I think, of January . . . ’

The general said:

‘Stupid of me . . . ’

The men’s voices had reminded him of church bells on a Sunday. And of his youth . . . He was sitting beside Mrs Tietjens’ hammock under the great cedar²³³ at the corner of the stone house at Groby. The wind being from the east-north-east the bells of Middlesbrough came to them faintly. Mrs Tietjens was thirty; he himself thirty; Tietjens — the father — thirty-five or so. A most powerful quiet man. A wonderful landowner. Like his predecessor¹¹⁰ for generations. It was not from him that this fellow got his . . . his . . . his what? . . . Was it mysticism? . . . Another word! He himself home on leave from India: his head full of polo. Talking for hours about points in ponies²³⁴ with Tietjens’ father, who was a wonderful hand with a horse.

But this fellow was much more wonderful! . . . Well, he got that from the sire, not the dam! . . . He and Tietjens continued to look at each other. It was as if they were hypnotized. The men’s voices went on in a mournful cadence²³⁵. The general supposed that he too must be pale. He said to himself: ‘This fellow’s mother died of a broken heart in 1912. The father committed suicide five years after. He had not spoken to the son’s wife for four or five years! That takes us back to 1912 . . . Then, when I strafed him in Rye, the wife was in France with Perowne.’

He looked down at the blanket on the table. He intended again to look up at Tietjens’ eyes with ostentatious care. That was his technique with men. He was a successful general because he knew men. He knew that all men will go to hell over three things: alcohol, money . . . and sex.

This fellow apparently²³⁶ hadn’t. Better for him if he had! He thought:

‘It’s all gone . . . mother! father! Groby! This fellow’s down and out. It’s a bit thick.’

He thought:

‘But he’s right to do as he is doing.’

He prepared to look at Tietjens . . . He stretched out a sudden, ineffectual hand. Sitting on his beef-case, his hands on his knees, Tietjens had lurched. A sudden lurch²³⁷ — as an old house lurches when it is hit by a H.E. shell. It stopped at that. Then he righted himself. He continued to stare direct at the general. The general looked carefully back. He said — very carefully too:

‘In case I decide to contest West Cleveland, it is your wish that I should make Groby my headquarters?’

Tietjens said:

‘I beg, sir, that you will!’

It was as if they both heaved an enormous sigh of relief. The general said:

‘Then I need not keep you . . . ’

Tietjens stood on his feet, wanly²³⁸, but with his heels together.

The general also rose, settling his belt. He said:

‘ . . . You can fall out.’

Tietjens said:

‘My cook-houses, sir . . . Sergeant-Cook Case will be very disappointed . . . He told me that you couldn’t find anything wrong if I gave him ten minutes to prepare . . . ’

The general said:

‘Case . . . Case . . . Case was in the drums when we were at Delhi. He ought to be at least Quartermaster by now . . . But he had a woman he called his sister . . . ’

Tietjens said:

‘He still sends money to his sister.’

The general said:

‘ . . . He went absent over her when he was colour-sergeant and was reduced to the ranks . . . Twenty years ago that must be! . . . Yes, I’ll see your dinners!’

In the cook-houses, brilliantly accompanied by Colonel Levin, the cook-house spotless with limed walls and mirrors that were the tops of camp-cookers, the general, Tietjens at his side, walked between goggle-eyed men in white who stood to attention holding ladles. Their eyes bulged²³⁹, but the corners of their lips curved because they liked the general and his beautifully unconcerned companions. The cook-house was like a cathedral’s nave²⁴⁰, aisles²⁴¹ being divided off by the pipes of stoves. The floor was of coke-brize shining under french polish and turpentine.

The building paused, as when a godhead descends²⁴³. In breathless focusing of eyes the godhead, frail¹²³ and shining, walked with short steps up to a high-priest who had a walrus²⁴⁴ moustache and, with seven medals on his Sunday tunic, gazed away into eternity. The general tapped the sergeant’s Good Conduct ribbon with the heel of his crop. All stretched ears heard him say:

‘How’s your sister, Case? . . . ’

Gazing away, the sergeant said:

‘I’m thinking of making her Mrs Case . . . ’

Slightly leaving him, in the direction of high, varnished²⁴⁵ pitch-pine panels, the general said:

‘I’ll recommend you for a Quartermaster’s commission any day you wish . . . Do you remember Sir Garnet inspecting field kitchens at Quetta?’

All the white tubular beings with global eyes resembled the pierrots of a child’s Christmas nightmare. The general said: ‘Stand at ease, men . . . Stand easy!’ They moved as white objects move in a childish dream. It was all childish. Their eyes rolled.

Sergeant Case gazed away into infinite distance.

‘My sister would not like it, sir,’ he said. ‘I’m better off as a first-class warrant officer!’

With his light step the shining general went swiftly to the varnished panels in the eastern aisle²⁴² of the cathedral. The white figure beside them became instantly tubular, motionless and global-eyed. On the panels were painted: TEA! SUGAR! SALT! CURRY²⁴⁶ PDR! FLOUR! PEPPER!

The general tapped with the heel of his crop on the locker-panel labelled PEPPER: the top, right-hand locker-panel. He said to the tubular, global-eyed white figure beside it: ‘Open that, will you, my man? . . . ’

To Tietjens this was like the sudden bursting out of the regimental quick-step, as after a funeral with military honours the band and drums march away, back to barracks.

The End

1 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

2 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

3 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

4 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

8 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

11 ration   

n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应

参考例句：

• The country cut the bread ration last year.那个国家去年削减面包配给量。
• We have to ration the water.我们必须限量用水。

12 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

13 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 mitigated   

v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cost of getting there is mitigated by Sydney's offer of a subsidy. 由于悉尼提供补助金，所以到那里的花费就减少了。 来自辞典例句
• The living conditions were slightly mitigated. 居住条件稍有缓解。 来自辞典例句

16 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

17 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

18 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

19 dishonour   

n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩

参考例句：

• There's no dishonour in losing.失败并不是耻辱。
• He would rather die than live in dishonour.他宁死不愿忍辱偷生。

20 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

21 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

22 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

23 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

24 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：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

26 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

27 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

28 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

29 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

30 eloquent   

adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的

参考例句：

• He was so eloquent that he cut down the finest orator.他能言善辩，胜过最好的演说家。
• These ruins are an eloquent reminder of the horrors of war.这些废墟形象地提醒人们不要忘记战争的恐怖。

31 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

32 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

33 equanimity   

n.沉着，镇定

参考例句：

• She went again,and in so doing temporarily recovered her equanimity.她又去看了戏，而且这样一来又暂时恢复了她的平静。
• The defeat was taken with equanimity by the leadership.领导层坦然地接受了失败。

34 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

35 disastrously   

ad.灾难性地

参考例句：

• Their profits began to spiral down disastrously. 他们的利润开始螺旋形地急剧下降。
• The fit between the country's information needs and its information media has become disastrously disjointed. 全国的信息需求与信息传播媒介之间的配置，出现了严重的不协调。

36 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

37 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

38 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

39 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

40 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

41 pall   

v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕

参考例句：

• Already the allure of meals in restaurants had begun to pall.饭店里的饭菜已经不像以前那样诱人。
• I find his books begin to pall on me after a while.我发觉他的书读过一阵子就开始对我失去吸引力。

42 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

43 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

44 exigencies   

n.急切需要

参考例句：

• Many people are forced by exigencies of circumstance to take some part in them. 许多人由于境况所逼又不得不在某种程度上参与这种活动。
• The people had to accept the harsh exigencies of war. 人们要承受战乱的严酷现实。

45 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

46 confidentially   

ad.秘密地，悄悄地

参考例句：

• She was leaning confidentially across the table. 她神神秘秘地从桌子上靠过来。
• Kao Sung-nien and Wang Ch'u-hou talked confidentially in low tones. 高松年汪处厚两人低声密谈。

47 peruse   

v.细读，精读

参考例句：

• We perused the company's financial statements for the past five years.我们翻阅了公司过去5年来的财务报表。
• Please peruse this report at your leisure.请在空暇时细读这篇报道。

48 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

49 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

50 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

51 irritably   

ad.易生气地

参考例句：

• He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了，暴躁地斥责孩子们。
• On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事，他妻子大声斥责，令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

52 derangement   

n.精神错乱

参考例句：

• She began to think he was in mental derangement. 她开始想这个人一定是精神错乱了。
• Such a permutation is called a derangement. 这样的一个排列称为错位排列。

53 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

54 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：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

55 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

56 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

57 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

58 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

59 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

60 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

61 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

62 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

63 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

64 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

65 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

66 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

67 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

68 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

69 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死

70 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

71 tunic   

n.束腰外衣

参考例句：

• The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
• Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢，年轻人。

72 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

73 idyllic   

adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的

参考例句：

• These scenes had an idyllic air.这种情景多少有点田园气氛。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

74 conjuring   

n.魔术

参考例句：

• Paul's very good at conjuring. 保罗很会变戏法。
• The entertainer didn't fool us with his conjuring. 那个艺人变的戏法没有骗到我们。

75 outfitting   

v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The outfitting installation activities carried out on the building berth or dock. 舾装在船台上或船钨内完成。 来自互联网
• There is so much outfitting work. Do you subcontract some of them? 有这么多的舾装工作要做，你们将工程分包出去吗？ 来自互联网

76 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

77 pretence   

n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰

参考例句：

• The government abandoned any pretence of reform. 政府不再装模作样地进行改革。
• He made a pretence of being happy at the party.晚会上他假装很高兴。

78 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

79 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

80 magpie   

n.喜欢收藏物品的人，喜鹊，饶舌者

参考例句：

• Now and then a magpie would call.不时有喜鹊的叫声。
• This young man is really a magpie.这个年轻人真是饶舌。

81 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

82 onus   

n.负担；责任

参考例句：

• The onus is on government departments to show cause why information cannot bedisclosed.政府部门有责任说明不能把信息公开的理由。
• The onus of proof lies with you.你有责任提供证据。

83 agitatedly   

动摇，兴奋； 勃然

参考例句：

• "Where's she waiting for me?" he asked agitatedly. 他慌忙问道：“在哪里等我？” 来自子夜部分
• His agitatedly ground goes accusatorial accountant. 他勃然大怒地去责问会计。

84 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

85 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

86 lamentably   

adv.哀伤地，拙劣地

参考例句：

• Aviation was lamentably weak and primitive. 航空设施极其薄弱简陋。 来自辞典例句
• Poor Tom lamentably disgraced himself at Sir Charles Mirable's table, by premature inebriation. 可怜的汤姆在查尔斯·米拉贝尔爵士的宴会上，终于入席不久就酩酊大醉，弄得出丑露乖，丢尽了脸皮。 来自辞典例句

87 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

88 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

89 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

90 emanated   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Do you know where these rumours emanated from? 你知道谣言出自何处吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rumor emanated from Chicago. 谣言来自芝加哥。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

91 maliciously   

adv.有敌意地

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His enemies maliciously conspired to ruin him. 他的敌人恶毒地密谋搞垮他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

92 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

93 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

94 lascivious   

adj.淫荡的，好色的

参考例句：

• I was there to protect her from the importunities of lascivious men.我在那里保护她,不受那些好色男子的纠缠不休。
• In his old age Cato became lascivious and misconducted himself with a woman slave.到了晚年,卡托沉溺于女色,跟一个女奴私通。

95 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

96 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

97 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

98 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

99 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

100 inscribe   

v.刻；雕；题写；牢记

参考例句：

• Will you inscribe your name in the book?能否请你在这本书上签名？
• I told the jeweler to inscribe the ring with my name.我叫珠宝商把我的名字刻在那只戒指上。

101 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

102 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

103 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

104 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

105 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

106 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

107 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

108 odious   

adj.可憎的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
• His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。

109 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

110 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

111 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

112 gal   

n.姑娘，少女

参考例句：

• We decided to go with the gal from Merrill.我们决定和那个从梅里尔来的女孩合作。
• What's the name of the gal? 这个妞叫什么？

113 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

114 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

115 pathos   

n.哀婉，悲怆

参考例句：

• The pathos of the situation brought tears to our eyes.情况令人怜悯，看得我们不禁流泪。
• There is abundant pathos in her words.她的话里富有动人哀怜的力量。

116 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

117 repulsive   

adj.排斥的，使人反感的

参考例句：

• She found the idea deeply repulsive.她发现这个想法很恶心。
• The repulsive force within the nucleus is enormous.核子内部的斥力是巨大的。

118 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

119 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

120 pervasively   

adv.无处不在地，遍布地

参考例句：

• The idea of Healthy, Brief, Fashion, Comfort, Leisure "accepted pervasively." “健康、简约、时尚、舒适、休闲”家居理念得到人们认同。 来自互联网
• Knowledge is being used pervasively in the overall economic system. 知识与资讯正全面渗透到整个经济运作过程中去。 来自互联网

121 moors   

v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• the North York moors 北约克郡的漠泽
• They're shooting grouse up on the moors. 他们在荒野射猎松鸡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

122 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

123 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

124 frailty   

n.脆弱；意志薄弱

参考例句：

• Despite increasing physical frailty,he continued to write stories.尽管身体越来越虛弱，他仍然继续写小说。
• He paused and suddenly all the frailty and fatigue showed.他顿住了，虚弱与疲惫一下子显露出来。

125 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

126 sensuous   

adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的

参考例句：

• Don't get the idea that value of music is commensurate with its sensuous appeal.不要以为音乐的价值与其美的感染力相等。
• The flowers that wreathed his parlor stifled him with their sensuous perfume.包围著客厅的花以其刺激人的香味使他窒息。

127 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

128 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

129 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

130 conceited   

adj.自负的，骄傲自满的

参考例句：

• He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
• I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。

131 hog   

n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占

参考例句：

• He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
• Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。

132 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

133 wrangle   

vi.争吵

参考例句：

• I don't want to get into a wrangle with the committee.我不想同委员会发生争执。
• The two countries fell out in a bitter wrangle over imports.这两个国家在有关进口问题的激烈争吵中闹翻了。

134 attainments   

成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就

参考例句：

• a young woman of impressive educational attainments 一位学业成就斐然的年轻女子
• He is a scholar of the highest attainments in this field. 他在这一领域是一位颇有造就的学者。

135 blasphemously   

参考例句：

• The sailors were cursing blasphemously. 水手们很不敬地破口大骂。 来自互联网

136 ponderous   

adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的

参考例句：

• His steps were heavy and ponderous.他的步伐沉重缓慢。
• It was easy to underestimate him because of his occasionally ponderous manner.由于他偶尔现出的沉闷的姿态，很容易使人小看了他。

137 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

138 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

139 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

140 nepotism   

n.任人唯亲；裙带关系

参考例句：

• The congressman lashed the president for his nepotism.国会议员抨击总统搞裙带关系。
• Many will regard his appointment as the kind of nepotism British banking ought to avoid.很多人会把他的任命看作是英国银行业应该避免的一种裙带关系。

141 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

142 query   

n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑

参考例句：

• I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily.我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
• They raised a query on his sincerity.他们对他是否真诚提出质疑。

143 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

144 scribbling   

n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• Once the money got into the book, all that remained were some scribbling. 折子上的钱只是几个字！ 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• McMug loves scribbling. Mama then sent him to the Kindergarten. 麦唛很喜欢写字，妈妈看在眼里，就替他报读了幼稚园。 来自互联网

145 obsess   

vt.使着迷，使心神不定，（恶魔）困扰

参考例句：

• I must admit that maps obsess me.我得承认我对地图十分着迷。
• A string of scandals is obsessing America.美国正被一系列丑闻所困扰。

146 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

147 intermittently   

adv.间歇地；断断续续

参考例句：

• Winston could not intermittently remember why the pain was happening. 温斯顿只能断断续续地记得为什么这么痛。 来自英汉文学
• The resin moves intermittently down and out of the bed. 树脂周期地向下移动和移出床层。 来自辞典例句

148 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：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

149 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

150 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

151 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

152 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

153 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

154 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

155 extermination   

n.消灭，根绝

参考例句：

• All door and window is sealed for the extermination of mosquito. 为了消灭蚊子，所有的门窗都被封闭起来了。 来自辞典例句
• In doing so they were saved from extermination. 这样一来却使它们免于绝灭。 来自辞典例句

156 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

157 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

158 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

159 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

160 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

161 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

162 limpidity   

n.清澈，透明

参考例句：

• Paradise Island has many aquatic villas, they are surrounded by the limpidity sea. 天堂岛有许多水生别墅，他们是由清澈海水所包围。 来自互联网

163 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

164 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

165 sardonically   

adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地

参考例句：

• Some say sardonically that combat pay is good and that one can do quite well out of this war. 有些人讽刺地说战地的薪饷很不错，人们可借这次战争赚到很多钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Tu Wei-yueh merely drew himself up and smiled sardonically. 屠维岳把胸脯更挺得直些，微微冷笑。 来自子夜部分

166 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

167 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

168 humiliates   

使蒙羞，羞辱，使丢脸( humiliate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His teacher continually humiliates him in maths lessons. 他的数学老师频频在课上羞辱他。
• The lowly vassals suffering all humiliates in both physical and mental aspects. 地位低下的奴仆，他们在身体上和精神上受尽屈辱。

169 justifiable   

adj.有理由的，无可非议的

参考例句：

• What he has done is hardly justifiable.他的所作所为说不过去。
• Justifiable defense is the act being exempted from crimes.正当防卫不属于犯罪行为。

170 tunics   

n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍

参考例句：

• After work colourful clothes replace the blue tunics. 下班后，蓝制服都换成了色彩鲜艳的衣服。 来自辞典例句
• The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics with Buttons and loops. 古希腊人在肩部用钮扣与环圈将束腰外衣扣紧。 来自互联网

171 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

172 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

173 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

174 sickle   

n.镰刀

参考例句：

• The gardener was swishing off the tops of weeds with a sickle.园丁正在用镰刀嗖嗖地割掉杂草的顶端。
• There is a picture of the sickle on the flag. 旗帜上有镰刀的图案。

175 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。

176 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

177 socialists   

社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The socialists saw themselves as true heirs of the Enlightenment. 社会主义者认为自己是启蒙运动的真正继承者。
• The Socialists junked dogma when they came to office in 1982. 社会党人1982年上台执政后，就把其政治信条弃之不顾。

178 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

179 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

180 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

181 stiffen   

v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬

参考例句：

• The blood supply to the skin is reduced when muscles stiffen.当肌肉变得僵硬时，皮肤的供血量就减少了。
• I was breathing hard,and my legs were beginning to stiffen.这时我却气吁喘喘地开始感到脚有点僵硬。

182 condoned   

v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Terrorism can never be condoned. 决不能容忍恐怖主义。
• They condoned his sins because he repented. 由于他的悔悟，他们宽恕了他的罪。 来自辞典例句

183 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

184 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：

• Two passengers were injured when their taxi was rammed from behind by a bus. 公共汽车从后面撞来，出租车上的两位乘客受了伤。
• I rammed down the earth around the newly-planted tree. 我将新栽的树周围的土捣硬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

185 vilest   

adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的

参考例句：

186 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

187 obsessions   

n.使人痴迷的人（或物）( obsession的名词复数 )；着魔；困扰

参考例句：

• 95% of patients know their obsessions are irrational. 95％的病人都知道他们的痴迷是不理智的。 来自辞典例句
• Too often you get caught in your own obsessions. 所以你时常会沉迷在某个电影里。 来自互联网

188 contemplated   

adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
• The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

189 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

190 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

191 tablecloth   

n.桌布，台布

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。

192 suffused   

v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was suffused with colour. 她满脸通红。
• Her eyes were suffused with warm, excited tears. 她激动地热泪盈眶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

193 scruples   

n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
• I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调

194 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

195 luminously   

发光的； 明亮的； 清楚的； 辉赫

参考例句：

• an alarm clock with a luminous dial 夜光闹钟
• luminous hands on a clock 钟的夜光指针

196 proprietor   

n.所有人；业主；经营者

参考例句：

• The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
• The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。

197 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

198 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

199 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

200 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

201 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

202 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

203 domes   

n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场

参考例句：

• The domes are circular or ovoid in cross-section. 穹丘的横断面为圆形或卵圆形。 来自辞典例句
• Parks. The facilities highlighted in text include sport complexes and fabric domes. 本书重点讲的设施包括运动场所和顶棚式结构。 来自互联网

204 tapestry   

n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面

参考例句：

• How about this artistic tapestry and this cloisonne vase?这件艺术挂毯和这个景泰蓝花瓶怎么样？
• The wall of my living room was hung with a tapestry.我的起居室的墙上挂着一块壁毯。

205 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

206 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

207 maroon   

v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的

参考例句：

• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks.埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。
• Robinson Crusoe has been marooned on a desert island for 26 years.鲁滨逊在荒岛上被困了26年。

208 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

209 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。

210 wretches   

n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋

参考例句：

• The little wretches were all bedraggledfrom some roguery. 小淘气们由于恶作剧而弄得脏乎乎的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The best courage for us poor wretches is to fly from danger. 对我们这些可怜虫说来，最好的出路还是躲避危险。 来自辞典例句

211 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

212 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

213 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

214 promulgated   

v.宣扬（某事物）( promulgate的过去式和过去分词 )；传播；公布；颁布（法令、新法律等）

参考例句：

• Hence China has promulgated more than 30 relevant laws, statutes and regulations. 中国为此颁布的法律、法规和规章多达３０余项。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The shipping industry promulgated a voluntary code. 航运业对自律守则进行了宣传。 来自辞典例句

215 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

216 gunpowder   

n.火药

参考例句：

• Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶，火药传入欧洲。
• This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

217 presto   

adv.急速地；n.急板乐段；adj.急板的

参考例句：

• With something so important,you can't just wave a wand and presto!在这么重大的问题上，你想挥动一下指挥棒，转眼就变过来,办不到！
• I just turned the piece of wire in the lock and hey presto,the door opened.我把金属丝伸到锁孔里一拧，嘿，那门就开了。

218 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

219 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：

• He meditated for two days before giving his answer. 他在作出答复之前考虑了两天。
• She meditated for 2 days before giving her answer. 她考虑了两天才答复。

220 envisaged   

想像，设想( envisage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He envisaged an old age of loneliness and poverty. 他面对着一个孤独而贫困的晚年。
• Henry Ford envisaged an important future for the motor car. 亨利·福特为汽车设想了一个远大前程。

221 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

222 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

223 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

224 spire   

n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点

参考例句：

• The church spire was struck by lightning.教堂的尖顶遭到了雷击。
• They could just make out the spire of the church in the distance.他们只能辨认出远处教堂的尖塔。

225 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

226 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

227 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

228 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

229 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

230 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

231 monstrously   

参考例句：

• There is a class of men in Bristol monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. 布里斯托尔有那么一帮人为此恨透了布兰德利。
• You are monstrously audacious, how dare you misappropriate public funds? 你真是狗胆包天，公家的钱也敢挪用？

232 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

233 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

234 ponies   

矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑

参考例句：

• They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
• She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。

235 cadence   

n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫

参考例句：

• He delivered his words in slow,measured cadences.他讲话缓慢而抑扬顿挫、把握有度。
• He liked the relaxed cadence of his retired life.他喜欢退休生活的悠闲的节奏。

236 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

237 lurch   

n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行

参考例句：

• It has been suggested that the ground movements were a form of lurch movements.地震的地面运动曾被认为是一种突然倾斜的运动形式。
• He walked with a lurch.他步履蹒跚。

238 wanly   

adv.虚弱地；苍白地，无血色地

参考例句：

• She was smiling wanly. 她苍白无力地笑着。 来自互联网

239 bulged   

凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物）

参考例句：

• His pockets bulged with apples and candy. 他的口袋鼓鼓地装满了苹果和糖。
• The oranges bulged his pocket. 桔子使得他的衣袋胀得鼓鼓的。

240 nave   

n.教堂的中部；本堂

参考例句：

• People gathered in the nave of the house.人们聚拢在房子的中间。
• The family on the other side of the nave had a certain look about them,too.在中殿另一边的那一家人，也有着自己特有的相貌。

241 aisles   

n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊

参考例句：

• Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
• They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。

242 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

243 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

244 walrus   

n.海象

参考例句：

• He is the queer old duck with the knee-length gaiters and walrus mustache.他穿着高及膝盖的皮护腿，留着海象般的八字胡，真是个古怪的老家伙。
• He seemed hardly to notice the big walrus.他几乎没有注意到那只大海象。

245 varnished   

浸渍过的，涂漆的

参考例句：

• The doors are then stained and varnished. 这些门还要染色涂清漆。
• He varnished the wooden table. 他给那张木桌涂了清漆。

246 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。