Here let me add something which may enable the reader to perceive just what the Collegiate Assessor was like. Of course, it goes without saying that Collegiate Assessors who acquire the title with the help of academic diplomas cannot be compared with Collegiate Assessors who become Collegiate Assessors through service in the Caucasus, for the two species are wholly distinct, they are —— Stay, though. Russia is so strange a country that, let one but say anything about any one Collegiate Assessor, and the rest, from Riga to Kamchatka, at once apply the remark to themselves — for all titles and all ranks it means the same thing. Now, Kovalev was a “Caucasian” Collegiate Assessor, and had, as yet, borne the title for two years only. Hence, unable ever to forget it, he sought the more to give himself dignity and weight by calling himself, in addition to “Collegiate Assessor,” “Major.”
“Look here, good woman,” once he said to a shirts’ vendor6 whom he met in the street, “come and see me at my home. I have my flat in Sadovaia Street. Ask merely, ‘Is this where Major Kovalev lives?’ Anyone will show you.” Or, on meeting fashionable ladies, he would say: “My dear madam, ask for Major Kovalev’s flat.” So we too will call the Collegiate Assessor “Major.”
Major Kovalev had a habit of daily promenading7 the Nevsky Prospekt in an extremely clean and well-starched shirt and collar, and in whiskers of the sort still observable on provincial8 surveyors, architects, regimental doctors, other officials, and all men who have round, red cheeks, and play a good hand at “Boston.” Such whiskers run across the exact centre of the cheek — then head straight for the nose. Again, Major Kovalev always had on him a quantity of seals, both of seals engraved9 with coats of arms, and of seals inscribed10 “Wednesday,” “Thursday,” “Monday,” and the rest. And, finally, Major Kovalev had come to live in St. Petersburg because of necessity. That is to say, he had come to live in St. Petersburg because he wished to obtain a post befitting his new title — whether a Vice–Governorship or, failing that, an Administratorship in a leading department. Nor was Major Kovalev altogether set against marriage. Merely he required that his bride should possess not less than two hundred thousand rubles in capital. The reader, therefore, can now judge how the Major was situated11 when he perceived that instead of a not unpresentable nose there was figuring on his face an extremely uncouth12, and perfectly13 smooth and uniform patch.
Ill luck prescribed, that morning, that not a cab was visible throughout the street’s whole length; so, huddling14 himself up in his cloak, and covering his face with a handkerchief (to make things look as though his nose were bleeding), he had to start upon his way on foot only.
“Perhaps this is only imagination?” he reflected. Presently he turned aside towards a restaurant (for he wished yet again to get a sight of himself in a mirror). “The nose can’t have removed itself of sheer idiocy16.”
Luckily no customers were present in the restaurant — merely some waiters were sweeping17 out the rooms, and rearranging the chairs, and others, sleepy-eyed fellows, were setting forth trayfuls of hot pastries18. On chairs and tables last night’s newspapers, coffee-stained, were strewn.
“Thank God that no one is here!” the Major reflected. “Now I can look at myself again.”
He approached a mirror in some trepidation19, and peeped therein. Then he spat20.
“The devil only knows what this vileness21 means!” he muttered. “If even there had been something to take the nose’s place! But, as it is, there’s nothing there at all.”
He bit his lips with vexation, and hurried out of the restaurant. No; as he went along he must look at no one, and smile at no one. Then he halted as though riveted22 to earth. For in front of the doors of a mansion23 he saw occur a phenomenon of which, simply, no explanation was possible. Before that mansion there stopped a carriage. And then a door of the carriage opened, and there leapt thence, huddling himself up, a uniformed gentleman, and that uniformed gentleman ran headlong up the mansion’s entrance-steps, and disappeared within. And oh, Kovalev’s horror and astonishment to perceive that the gentleman was none other than — his own nose! The unlooked-for spectacle made everything swim before his eyes. Scarcely, for a moment, could he even stand. Then, deciding that at all costs he must await the gentleman’s return to the carriage, he remained where he was, shaking as though with fever. Sure enough, the Nose did return, two minutes later. It was clad in a gold-braided, high-collared uniform, buckskin breeches, and cockaded hat. And slung24 beside it there was a sword, and from the cockade on the hat it could be inferred that the Nose was purporting25 to pass for a State Councillor. It seemed now to be going to pay another visit somewhere. At all events it glanced about it, and then, shouting to the coachman, “Drive up here,” re-entered the vehicle, and set forth.
Poor Kovalev felt almost demented. The astounding26 event left him utterly27 at a loss. For how could the nose which had been on his face but yesterday, and able then neither to drive nor to walk independently, now be going about in uniform? — He started in pursuit of the carriage, which, luckily, did not go far, and soon halted before the Gostiny Dvor.1
1 Formerly28 the “Whiteley’s” of St. Petersburg.
Kovalev too hastened to the building, pushed through the line of old beggar-women with bandaged faces and apertures30 for eyes whom he had so often scorned, and entered. Only a few customers were present, but Kovalev felt so upset that for a while he could decide upon no course of action save to scan every corner in the gentleman’s pursuit. At last he sighted him again, standing31 before a counter, and, with face hidden altogether behind the uniform’s stand-up collar, inspecting with absorbed attention some wares32.
“How, even so, am I to approach it?” Kovalev reflected. “Everything about it, uniform, hat, and all, seems to show that it is a State Councillor now. Only the devil knows what is to be done!”
He started to cough in the Nose’s vicinity, but the Nose did not change its position for a single moment.
“My good sir,” at length Kovalev said, compelling himself to boldness, “my good sir, I——”
“What do you want?” And the Nose did then turn round.
“My good sir, I am in a difficulty. Yet somehow, I think, I think, that — well, I think that you ought to know your proper place better. All at once, you see, I find you — where? Do you not feel as I do about it?”
“Pardon me, but I cannot apprehend33 your meaning. Pray explain further.”
“Yes, but how, I should like to know?” Kovalev thought to himself. Then, again taking courage, he went: on:
“I am, you see — well, in point of fact, you see, I am a Major. Hence you will realise how unbecoming it is for me to have to walk about without a nose. Of course, a peddler of oranges on the Vozkresensky Bridge could sit there noseless well enough, but I myself am hoping soon to receive a —— Hm, yes. Also, I have amongst my acquaintances several ladies of good houses (Madame Chektareva, wife of the State Councillor, for example), and you may judge for yourself what that alone signifies. Good sir”— Major Kovalev gave his shoulders a shrug35 —“I do not know whether you yourself (pardon me) consider conduct of this sort to be altogether in accordance with the rules of duty and honour, but at least you can understand that ——”
“I understand nothing at all,” the Nose broke in. “Explain yourself more satisfactorily.”
“Good sir,” Kovalev went on with a heightened sense of dignity, “the one who is at a loss to understand the other is I. But at least the immediate36 point should be plain, unless you are determined37 to have it otherwise. Merely — you are my own nose.”
The Nose regarded the Major, and contracted its brows a little.
“My dear sir, you speak in error,” was its reply. “I am just myself — myself separately. And in any case there cannot ever have existed a close relation between us, for, judging from the buttons of your undress uniform, your service is being performed in another department than my own.”
And the Nose definitely turned away.
Kovalev stood dumbfounded. What to do, even what to think, he had not a notion.
Presently the agreeable swish of ladies’ dresses began to be heard. Yes, an elderly, lace-bedecked dame34 was approaching, and, with her, a slender maiden38 in a white frock which outlined delightfully39 a trim figure, and, above it, a straw hat of a lightness as of pastry41. Behind them there came, stopping every now and then to open a snuffbox, a tall, whiskered beau in quite a twelve-fold collar.
Kovalev moved a little nearer, pulled up the collar of his shirt, straightened the seals on his gold watch-chain, smiled, and directed special attention towards the slender lady as, swaying like a floweret in spring, she kept raising to her brows a little white hand with fingers almost of transparency. And Kovalev’s smiles became broader still when peeping from under the hat he saw there to be an alabaster42, rounded little chin, and part of a cheek flushed like an early rose. But all at once he recoiled43 as though scorched44, for all at once he had remembered that he had not a nose on him, but nothing at all. So, with tears forcing themselves upwards45, he wheeled about to tell the uniformed gentleman that he, the uniformed gentleman, was no State Councillor, but an impostor and a knave46 and a villain47 and the Major’s own nose. But the Nose, behold48, was gone! That very moment had it driven away to, presumably, pay another visit.
This drove Kovalev to the last pitch of desperation. He went back to the mansion, and stationed himself under its portico49, in the hope that, by peering hither and thither50, hither and thither, he might once more see the Nose appear. But, well though he remembered the Nose’s cockaded hat and gold-braided uniform, he had failed at the time to note also its cloak, the colour of its horses, the make of its carriage, the look of the lackey51 seated behind, and the pattern of the lackey’s livery. Besides, so many carriages were moving swiftly up and down the street that it would have been impossible to note them all, and equally so to have stopped any one of them. Meanwhile, as the day was fine and sunny, the Prospekt was thronged53 with pedestrians54 also — a whole kaleidoscopic55 stream of ladies was flowing along the pavements, from Police Headquarters to the Anitchkin Bridge. There one could descry56 an Aulic Councillor whom Kovalev knew well. A gentleman he was whom Kovalev always addressed as “Lieutenant–Colonel,” and especially in the presence of others. And there there went Yaryzhkin, Chief Clerk to the Senate, a crony who always rendered forfeit57 at “Boston” on playing an eight. And, lastly, a like “Major” with Kovalev, a like “Major” with an Assessorship acquired through Caucasian service, started to beckon58 to Kovalev with a finger!
“The devil take him!” was Kovalev’s muttered comment. “Hi, cabman! Drive to the Police Commissioner’s direct.”
But just when he was entering the drozhki he added:
“No. Go by Ivanovskaia Street.”
“Is the Commissioner in?” he asked on crossing the threshold.
“He is not,” was the doorkeeper’s reply. “He’s gone this very moment.”
“There’s luck for you!”
“Aye,” the doorkeeper went on. “Only just a moment ago he was off. If you’d been a bare half-minute sooner you’d have found him at home, maybe.”
Still holding the handkerchief to his face, Kovalev returned to the cab, and cried wildly:
“Drive on!”
“Where to, though?” the cabman inquired.
“Oh, straight ahead!”
“‘Straight ahead’? But the street divides here. To right, or to left?”
The question caused Kovalov to pause and recollect59 himself. In his situation he ought to make his next step an application to the Board of Discipline — not because the Board was directly connected with the police, but because its dispositions60 would be executed more speedily than in other departments. To seek satisfaction of the the actual department in which the Nose had declared itself to be serving would be sheerly unwise, since from the Nose’s very replies it was clear that it was the sort of individual who held nothing sacred, and, in that event, might lie as unconscionably as it had lied in asserting itself never to have figured in its proprietor’s company. Kovalev, therefore, decided61 to seek the Board of Discipline. But just as he was on the point of being driven thither there occurred to him the thought that the impostor and knave who had behaved so shamelessly during the late encounter might even now be using the time to get out of the city, and that in that case all further pursuit of the rogue62 would become vain, or at all events last for, God preserve us! a full month. So at last, left only to the guidance of Providence63, the Major resolved to make for a newspaper office, and publish a circumstantial description of the Nose in such good time that anyone meeting with the truant64 might at once be able either to restore it to him or to give information as to its whereabouts. So he not only directed the cabman to the newspaper office, but, all the way thither, prodded him in the back, and shouted: “Hurry up, you rascal65! Hurry up, you rogue!” whilst the cabman intermittently66 responded: “Aye, barin,” and nodded, and plucked at the reins67 of a steed as shaggy as a spaniel.
The moment that the drozhki halted Kovalev dashed, breathless, into a small reception-office. There, seated at a table, a grey-headed clerk in ancient jacket and pair of spectacles was, with pen tucked between lips, counting sums received in copper68.
“Who here takes the advertisements?” Kovalev exclaimed as he entered. “A-ah! Good day to you.”
“And my respects,” the grey-headed clerk replied, raising his eyes for an instant, and then lowering them again to the spread out copper heaps.
“I want you to publish ——”
“Pardon — one moment.” And the clerk with one hand committed to paper a figure, and with a finger of the other hand shifted two accounts markers. Standing beside him with an advertisement in his hands, a footman in a laced coat, and sufficiently69 smart to seem to be in service in an aristocratic mansion, now thought well to display some knowingness.
“Sir,” he said to the clerk, “I do assure you that the puppy is not worth eight grivni even. At all events I wouldn’t give that much for it. Yet the countess loves it — yes, just loves it, by God! Anyone wanting it of her will have to pay a hundred rubles. Well, to tell the truth between you and me, people’s tastes differ. Of course, if one’s a sportsman one keeps a setter or a spaniel. And in that case don’t you spare five hundred rubles, or even give a thousand, if the dog is a good one.”
The worthy70 clerk listened with gravity, yet none the less accomplished71 a calculation of the number of letters in the advertisement brought. On either side there was a group of charwomen, shop assistants, doorkeepers, and the like. All had similar advertisements in their hands, with one of the documents to notify that a coachman of good character was about to be disengaged, and another one to advertise a koliaska imported from Paris in 1814, and only slightly used since, and another one a maid-servant of nineteen experienced in laundry work, but prepared also for other jobs, and another one a sound drozhki save that a spring was lacking, and another one a grey-dappled, spirited horse of the age of seventeen, and another one some turnip72 and radish seed just received from London, and another one a country house with every amenity73, stabling for two horses, and sufficient space for the laying out of a fine birch or spruce plantation74, and another one some second-hand75 footwear, with, added, an invitation to attend the daily auction76 sale from eight o’clock to three. The room where the company thus stood gathered together was small, and its atmosphere confined; but this closeness, of course, Collegiate Assessor Kovalev never perceived, for, in addition to his face being muffled77 in a handkerchief, his nose was gone, and God only knew its present habitat!
“My dear sir,” at last he said impatiently, “allow me to ask you something: it is a pressing matter.”
“One moment, one moment! Two rubles, forty-three kopeks. Yes, presently. Sixty rubles, four kopeks.”
With which the clerk threw the two advertisements concerned towards the group of charwomen and the rest, and turned to Kovalev.
“Well?” he said. “What do you want?”
“Your pardon,” replied Kovalev, “but fraud and knavery78 has been done. I still cannot understand the affair, but wish to announce that anyone returning me the rascal shall receive an adequate reward.”
“Your name, if you would be so good?”
“No, no. What can my name matter? I cannot tell it you. I know many acquaintances such as Madame Chektareva (wife of the State Councillor) and Pelagea Grigorievna Podtochina (wife of the Staff–Officer), and, the Lord preserve us, they would learn of the affair at once. So say just ‘a Collegiate Assessor,’ or, better, ‘a gentleman ranking as Major.’”
“Has a household serf of yours absconded79, then?”
“A household serf of mine? As though even a household serf would perpetrate such a crime as the present one! No, indeed! It is my nose that has absconded from me.”
“Gospodin Nossov, Gospoding Nossov? Indeed a strange name, that!2 Then has this Gospodin Nossov robbed you of some money?”
2 Nose is noss in Russian, and Gospodin equivalent to the English “Mr.”
“I said nose, not Nossov. You are making a mistake. There has disappeared, goodness knows whither, my nose, my own actual nose. Presumably it is trying to make a fool of me.”
“But how could it so disappear? The matter has something about it which I do not fully40 understand.”
“I cannot tell you the exact how. The point is that now the nose is driving about the city, and giving itself out for a State Councillor — wherefore I beg you to announce that anyone apprehending80 any such nose ought at once, in the shortest possible space of time, to return it to myself. Surely you can judge what it is for me meanwhile to be lacking such a conspicuous81 portion of my frame? For a nose is not like a toe which one can keep inside a boot, and hide the absence of if it is not there. Besides, every Thurdsay I am due to call upon Madame Chektareva (wife of the State Councillor): whilst Pelagea Grigorievna Podtochina (wife of the Staff–Officer, mother of a pretty daughter) also is one of my closest acquaintances. So, again, judge for yourself how I am situated at present. In such a condition as this I could not possibly present myself before the ladies named.”
Upon that the clerk became thoughtful: the fact was clear from his tightly compressed lips alone.
“No,” he said at length. “Insert such an announcement I cannot.”
“But why not?”
“Because, you see, it might injure the paper’s reputation. Imagine if everyone were to start proclaiming a disappearance82 of his nose! People would begin to say that, that — well, that we printed absurdities83 and false tales.”
“But how is this matter a false tale? Nothing of the sort has it got about it.”
“You think not; but only last week a similar case occurred. One day a chinovnik brought us an advertisement as you have done. The cost would have been only two rubles, seventy-three kopeks, for all that it seemed to signify was the running away of a poodle. Yet what was it, do you think, in reality? Why, the thing turned out to be a libel, and the ‘poodle’ in question a cashier — of what department precisely84 I do not know.”
“Yes, but here am I advertising85 not about a poodle, but about my own nose, which, surely, is, for all intents and purposes, myself?”
“All the same, I cannot insert the advertisement.”
“Even when actually I have lost my own nose!”
“The fact that your nose is gone is a matter for a doctor. There are doctors, I have heard, who can fit one out with any sort of nose one likes. I take it that by nature you are a wag, and like playing jokes in public.”
“That is not so. I swear it as God is holy. In fact, as things have gone so far, I will let you see for yourself.”
“Why trouble?” Here the clerk took some snuff before adding with, nevertheless, a certain movement of curiosity: “However, if it really won’t trouble you at all, a sight of the spot would gratify me.”
The Collegiate Assessor removed the handkerchief.
“Strange indeed! Very strange indeed!” the clerk exclaimed. “And the patch is as uniform as a newly fried pancake, almost unbelievably uniform.”
“So you will dispute what I say no longer? Then surely you cannot but put the announcement into print. I shall be extremely grateful to you, and glad that the present occasion has given me such a pleasure as the making of your acquaintance”— whence it will be seen that for once the Major had decided to climb down.
“To print what you want is nothing much,” the clerk replied. “Yet frankly86 I cannot see how you are going to benefit from the step. I would suggest, rather, that you commission a skilled writer to compose an article describing this as a rare product of nature, and have the article published in The Northern Bee” (here the clerk took more snuff), “either for the instruction of our young” (the clerk wiped his nose for a finish) “or as a matter of general interest.”
This again depressed87 the Collegiate Assessor: and even though, on his eyes happening to fall upon a copy of the newspaper, and reach the column assigned to theatrical88 news, and encounter the name of a beautiful actress, so that he almost broke into a smile, and a hand began to finger a pocket for a Treasury89 note (since he held that only stalls were seats befitting Majors and so forth)— although all this was so, there again recurred90 to him the thought of the nose, and everything again became spoilt.
Even the clerk seemed touched with the awkwardness of Kovalev’s plight91, and wishful to lighten with a few sympathetic words the Collegiate Assessor’s depression.
“I am sorry indeed that this has befallen,” he said. “Should you care for a pinch of this? Snuff can dissipate both headache and low spirits. Nay92, it is good for haemorrhoids as well.”
And he proffered93 his box-deftly, as he did so, folding back underneath94 it the lid depicting95 a lady in a hat.
Kovalev lost his last shred96 of patience at the thoughtless act, and said heatedly:
“How you can think fit thus to jest I cannot imagine. For surely you perceive me no longer to be in possession of a means of sniffing97? Oh, you and your snuff can go to hell! Even the sight of it is more than I can bear. I should say the same even if you were offering me, not wretched birch bark, but real rappee.”
Greatly incensed98, he rushed out of the office, and made for the ward15 police inspector99’s residence. Unfortunately he arrived at the very moment when the inspector, after a yawn and a stretch, was reflecting: “Now for two hours’ sleep!” In short, the Collegiate Assessor’s visit chanced to be exceedingly ill-timed. Incidentally, the inspector, though a great patron of manufacturers and the arts, preferred still more a Treasury note.
“That’s the thing!” he frequently would say. “It’s a thing which can’t be beaten anywhere, for it wants nothing at all to eat, and it takes up very little room, and it fits easily to the pocket, and it doesn’t break in pieces if it happens to be dropped.”
So the inspector received Kovalev very drily, and intimated that just after dinner was not the best moment for beginning an inquiry100 — nature had ordained101 that one should rest after food (which showed the Collegiate Assessor that at least the inspector had some knowledge of sages’ old saws), and that in any case no one would purloin102 the nose of a really respectable man.
Yes, the inspector gave it Kovalev between the eyes. And as it should be added that Kovalev was extremely sensitive where his title or his dignity was concerned (though he readily pardoned anything said against himself personally, and even held, with regard to stage plays, that, whilst Staff–Officers should not be assailed103, officers of lesser104 rank might be referred to), the police inspector’s reception so took him aback that, in a dignified105 way, and with hands set apart a little, he nodded, remarked: “After your insulting observations there is nothing which I wish to add,” and betook himself away again.
He reached home scarcely hearing his own footsteps. Dusk had fallen, and, after the unsuccessful questings, his flat looked truly dreary106. As he entered the hall he perceived Ivan, his valet, to be lying on his back on the stained old leathern divan107, and spitting at the ceiling with not a little skill as regards successively hitting the same spot. The man’s coolness rearoused Kovalev’s ire, and, smacking108 him over the head with his hat, he shouted:
“You utter pig! You do nothing but play the fool.” Leaping up, Ivan hastened to take his master’s cloak.
The tired and despondent109 Major then sought his sitting-room110, threw himself into an easy-chair, sighed, and said to himself:
“My God, my God! why has this misfortune come upon me? Even loss of hands or feet would have been better, for a man without a nose is the devil knows what — a bird, but not a bird, a citizen, but not a citizen, a thing just to be thrown out of window. It would have been better, too, to have had my nose cut off in action, or in a duel111, or through my own act: whereas here is the nose gone with nothing to show for it — uselessly — for not a groat’s profit! — No, though,” he added after thought, “it’s not likely that the nose is gone for good: it’s not likely at all. And quite probably I am dreaming all this, or am fuddled. It may be that when I came home yesterday I drank the vodka with which I rub my chin after shaving instead of water — snatched up the stuff because that fool Ivan was not there to receive me.”
So he sought to ascertain112 whether he might not be drunk by pinching himself till he fairly yelled. Then, certain, because of the pain, that he was acting113 and living in waking life, he approached the mirror with diffidence, and once more scanned himself with a sort of inward hope that the nose might by this time be showing as restored. But the result was merely that he recoiled and muttered:
“What an absurd spectacle still!”
Ah, it all passed his understanding! If only a button, or a silver spoon, or a watch, or some such article were gone, rather than that anything had disappeared like this — for no reason, and in his very flat! Eventually, having once more reviewed the circumstances, he reached the final conclusion that he should most nearly hit the truth in supposing Madame Podtochina (wife of the Staff–Officer, of course — the lady who wanted him to become her daughter’s husband) to have been the prime agent in the affair. True, he had always liked dangling114 in the daughter’s wake, but also he had always fought shy of really coming down to business. Even when the Staff–Officer’s lady had said point blank that she desired him to become her son-inlaw he had put her off with his compliments, and replied that the daughter was still too young, and himself due yet to perform five years service, and aged29 only forty-two. Yes, the truth must be that out of revenge the Staff–Officer’s wife had resolved to ruin him, and hired a band of witches for the purpose, seeing that the nose could not conceivably have been cut off — no one had entered his private room lately, and, after being shaved by Ivan Yakovlevitch on the Wednesday, he had the nose intact, he knew and remembered well, throughout both the rest of the Wednesday and the day following. Also, if the nose had been cut off, pain would have resulted, and also a wound, and the place could not have healed so quickly, and become of the uniformity of a pancake.
Next, the Major made his plans. Either he would sue the Staff–Officer’s lady in legal form or he would pay her a surprise visit, and catch her in a trap. Then the foregoing reflections were cut short by a glimmer115 showing through the chink of the door — a sign that Ivan had just lit a candle in the hall: and presently Ivan himself appeared, carrying the candle in front of him, and throwing the room into such clear radiance that Kovalev had hastily to snatch up the handkerchief again, and once more cover the place where the nose had been but yesterday, lest the stupid fellow should be led to stand gaping116 at the monstrosity on his master’s features.
Ivan had just returned to his cupboard when an unfamiliar117 voice in the hall inquired:
“Is this where Collegiate Assessor Kovalev lives?”
“It is,” Kovalev shouted, leaping to his feet, and flinging wide the door. “Come in, will you?”
Upon which there entered a police-officer of smart exterior118, with whiskers neither light nor dark, and cheeks nicely plump. As a matter of fact, he was the police-officer whom Ivan Yakovlevitch had met at the end of the Isaakievsky Bridge.
“I beg your pardon, sir,” he said, “but have you lost your nose?”
“I have — just so.”
“Then the nose is found.”
“What?” For a moment or two joy deprived Major Kovalev of further speech. All that he could do was to stand staring, open-eyed, at the officer’s plump lips and cheeks, and at the tremulant beams which the candlelight kept throwing over them. “Then how did it come about?”
“Well, by the merest chance the nose was found beside a roadway. Already it had entered a stage-coach, and was about to leave for Riga with a passport made out in the name of a certain chinovnik. And, curiously119 enough, I myself, at first, took it to be a gentleman. Luckily, though, I had my eyeglasses on me. Soon, therefore, I perceived the ‘gentleman’ to be no more than a nose. Such is my shortness of sight, you know, that even now, though I see you standing there before me, and see that you have a face, I cannot distinguish on that face the nose, the chin, or anything else. My mother-inlaw (my wife’s mother) too cannot easily distinguish details.”
Kovalev felt almost beside himself.
“Where is the nose now?” cried he. “Where, I ask? Let me go to it at once.”
“Do not trouble, sir. Knowing how greatly you stand in need of it, I have it with me. It is a curious fact, too, that the chief agent in the affair has been a rascal of a barber who lives on the Vozkresensky Prospekt, and now is sitting at the police station. For long past I had suspected him of drunkenness and theft, and only three days ago he took away from a shop a button-card. Well, you will find your nose to be as before.”
And the officer delved120 into a pocket, and drew thence the nose, wrapped in paper.
“Yes, that’s the nose all right!” Kovalev shouted. “It’s the nose precisely! Will you join me in a cup of tea?”
“I should have accounted it indeed a pleasure if I had been able, but, unfortunately, I have to go straight on to the penitentiary121. Provisions, sir, have risen greatly in price. And living with me I have not only my family, but my mother-inlaw (my wife’s mother). Yet the eldest122 of my children gives me much hope. He is a clever lad. The only thing is that I have not the means for his proper education.”
When the officer was gone the Collegiate Assessor sat plunged123 in vagueness, plunged in inability to see or to feel, so greatly was he upset with joy. Only after a while did he with care take the thus recovered nose in cupped hands, and again examine it attentively124.
“It, undoubtedly125. It, precisely,” he said at length. “Yes, and it even has on it the pimple to the left which broke out on me yesterday.”
Sheerly he laughed in his delight.
But nothing lasts long in this world. Even joy grows less lively the next moment. And a moment later, again, it weakens further. And at last it remerges insensibly with the normal mood, even as the ripple126 from a pebble’s impact becomes remerged with the smooth surface of the water at large. So Kovalev relapsed into thought again. For by now he had realised that even yet the affair was not wholly ended, seeing that, though retrieved127, the nose needed to be re-stuck.
“What if it should fail so to stick!”
The bare question thus posed turned the Major pale.
Feeling, somehow, very nervous, he drew the mirror closer to him, lest he should fit the nose awry128. His hands were trembling as gently, very carefully he lifted the nose in place. But, oh, horrors, it would not remain in place! He held it to his lips, warmed it with his breath, and again lifted it to the patch between his cheeks — only to find, as before, that it would not retain its position.
“Come, come, fool!” said he. “Stop where you are, I tell you.”
But the nose, obstinately129 wooden, fell upon the table with a strange sound as of a cork130, whilst the Major’s face became convulsed.
“Surely it is not too large now?” he reflected in terror. Yet as often as he raised it towards its proper position the new attempt proved as vain as the last.
Loudly he shouted for Ivan, and sent for a doctor who occupied a flat (a better one than the Major’s) on the first floor. The doctor was a fine-looking man with splendid, coal-black whiskers. Possessed131 of a healthy, comely132 wife, he ate some raw apples every morning, and kept his mouth extraordinarily133 clean — rinsed134 it out, each morning, for three-quarters of an hour, and polished its teeth with five different sorts of brushes. At once he answered Kovalev’s summons, and, after asking how long ago the calamity135 had happened, tilted136 the Major’s chin, and rapped the vacant site with a thumb until at last the Major wrenched137 his head away, and, in doing so, struck it sharply against the wall behind. This, the doctor said, was nothing; and after advising him to stand a little farther from the wall, and bidding him incline his head to the right, he once more rapped the vacant patch before, after bidding him incline his head to the left, dealing138 him, with a “Hm!” such a thumb-dig as left the Major standing like a horse which is having its teeth examined.
The doctor, that done, shook his head.
“The thing is not feasible,” he pronounced. “You had better remain as you are rather than go farther and fare worse. Of course, I could stick it on again — I could do that for you in a moment; but at the same time I would assure you that your plight will only become worse as the result.”
“Never mind,” Kovalev replied. “Stick it on again, pray. How can I continue without a nose? Besides, things could not possibly be worse than they are now. At present they are the devil himself. Where can I show this caricature of a face? My circle of acquaintances is a large one: this very night I am due in two houses, for I know a great many people like Madame Chektareva (wife of the State Councillor), Madame Podtochina (wife of the Staff–Officer), and others. Of course, though, I shall have nothing further to do with Madame Podtochina (except through the police) after her present proceedings139. Yes,” persuasively141 he went on, “I beg of you to do me the favour requested. Surely there are means of doing it permanently142? Stick it on in any sort of a fashion — at all events so that it will hold fast, even if not becomingly. And then, when risky143 moments occur, I might even support it gently with my hand, and likewise dance no more — anything to avoid fresh injury through an unguarded movement. For the rest, you may feel assured that I shall show you my gratitude144 for this visit so far as ever my means will permit.”
“Believe me,” the doctor replied, neither too loudly nor too softly, but just with incisiveness145 and magnetic “when I say that I never attend patients for money. To do that would be contrary alike to my rules and to my art. When I accept a fee for a visit I accept it only lest I offend through a refusal. Again I say — this time on my honour, as you will not believe my plain word — that, though I could easily re-affix your nose, the proceeding140 would make things worse, far worse, for you. It would be better for you to trust merely to the action of nature. Wash often in cold water, and I assure you that you will be as healthy without a nose as with one. This nose here I should advise you to put into a jar of spirit: or, better still, to steep in two tablespoonfuls of stale vodka and strong vinegar. Then you will be able to get a good sum for it. Indeed, I myself will take the thing if you consider it of no value.”
“No, no!” shouted the distracted Major. “Not on any account will I sell it. I would rather it were lost again.”
“Oh, I beg your pardon.” And the doctor bowed. “My only idea had been to serve you. What is it you want? Well, you have seen me do what I could.”
And majestically146 he withdrew. Kovalev, meanwhile, had never once looked at his face. In his distraction147 he had noticed nothing beyond a pair of snowy cuffs148 projecting from black sleeves.
He decided, next, that, before lodging149 a plea next day, he would write and request the Staff–Officer’s lady to restore him his nose without publicity150. His letter ran as follows:
DEAR MADAME ALEXANDRA GRIGORIEVNA, I am at a loss to understand your strange conduct. At least, however, you may rest assured that you will benefit nothing by it, and that it will in no way further force me to marry your daughter. Believe me, I am now aware of all the circumstances connected with my nose, and know that you alone have been the prime agent in them. The nose’s sudden disappearance, its subsequent gaddings about, its masqueradings as, firstly, a chinovnik and, secondly151, itself — all these have come of witchcraft152 practised either by you or by adepts153 in pursuits of a refinement154 equal to your own. This being so, I consider it my duty herewith to warn you that if the nose should not this very day reassume its correct position, I shall be forced to have resort to the law’s protection and defence. With all respect, I have the honour to remain your very humble155 servant, PLATON KOVALEV.
“MY DEAR SIR,” wrote the lady in return, “your letter has greatly surprised me, and I will say frankly that I had not expected it, and least of all its unjust reproaches. I assure you that I have never at any time allowed the chinovnik whom you mention to enter my house — either masquerading or as himself. True, I have received calls from Philip Ivanovitch Potanchikov, who, as you know, is seeking my daughter’s hand, and, besides, is a man steady and upright, as well as learned; but never, even so, have I given him reason to hope. You speak, too, of a nose. If that means that I seem to you to have desired to leave you with a nose and nothing else, that is to say, to return you a direct refusal of my daughter’s hand, I am astonished at your words, for, as you cannot but be aware, my inclination156 is quite otherwise. So now, if still you wish for a formal betrothal157 to my daughter, I will readily, I do assure you, satisfy your desire, which all along has been, in the most lively manner, my own also. In hopes of that, I remain yours sincerely, ALEXANDRA PODTOCHINA.
“No, no!” Kovalev exclaimed, after reading the missive. “She, at least, is not guilty. Oh, certainly not! No one who had committed such a crime could write such a letter.” The Collegiate Assessor was the more expert in such matters because more than once he had been sent to the Caucasus to institute prosecutions158. “Then by what sequence of chances has the affair happened? Only the devil could say!”
His hands fell in bewilderment.
It had not been long before news of the strange occurrence had spread through the capital. And, of course, it received additions with the progress of time. Everyone’s mind was, at that period, bent159 upon the marvellous. Recently experiments with the action of magnetism160 had occupied public attention, and the history of the dancing chairs of Koniushennaia Street also was fresh. So no one could wonder when it began to be said that the nose of Collegiate Assessor Kovalev could be seen promenading the Nevski Prospekt at three o’clock, or when a crowd of curious sightseers gathered there. Next, someone declared that the nose, rather, could be beheld161 at Junker’s store, and the throng52 which surged thither became so massed as to necessitate162 a summons to the police. Meanwhile a speculator of highly respectable aspect and whiskers who sold stale cakes at the entrance to a theatre knocked together some stout163 wooden benches, and invited the curious to stand upon them for eighty kopeks each; whilst a retired164 colonel who came out early to see the show, and penetrated165 the crowd only with great difficulty, was disgusted when in the window of the store he beheld, not a nose, but merely an ordinary woollen waistcoat flanked by the selfsame lithograph166 of a girl pulling up a stocking, whilst a dandy with cutaway waistcoat and receding167 chin peeped at her from behind a tree, which had hung there for ten years past.
“Dear me!” irritably168 he exclaimed. “How come people so to excite themselves about stupid, improbable reports?”
Next, word had it that the nose was walking, not on the Nevski Prospekt, but in the Taurida Park, and, in fact, had been in the habit of doing so for a long while past, so that even in the days when Khozrev Mirza had lived near there he had been greatly astonished at the freak of nature. This led students to repair thither from the College of Medicine, and a certain eminent169, respected lady to write and ask the Warden170 of the Park to show her children the phenomenon, and, if possible, add to the demonstration171 a lesson of edifying172 and instructive tenor173.
Naturally, these events greatly pleased also gentlemen who frequented routs174, since those gentlemen wished to entertain the ladies, and their resources had become exhausted175. Only a few solid, worthy persons deprecated it all. One such person even said, in his disgust, that comprehend how foolish inventions of the sort could circulate in such an enlightened age he could not — that, in fact, he was surprised that the Government had not turned its attention to the matter. From which utterance176 it will be seen that the person in question was one of those who would have dragged the Government into anything on earth, including even their daily quarrels with their wives.
Next ——
But again events here become enshrouded in mist. What happened after that is unknown to all men.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
pimple
|
|
| n.丘疹，面泡，青春豆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
astonishment
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
prodded
|
|
| v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
commissioner
|
|
| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
vendor
|
|
| n.卖主；小贩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
promenading
|
|
| v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
provincial
|
|
| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
engraved
|
|
| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
inscribed
|
|
| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
situated
|
|
| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
uncouth
|
|
| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
huddling
|
|
| n. 杂乱一团, 混乱, 拥挤 v. 推挤, 乱堆, 草率了事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
ward
|
|
| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
idiocy
|
|
| n.愚蠢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
pastries
|
|
| n.面粉制的糕点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
trepidation
|
|
| n.惊恐，惶恐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
spat
|
|
| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
vileness
|
|
| n.讨厌，卑劣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
riveted
|
|
| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
mansion
|
|
| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
slung
|
|
| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
purporting
|
|
| v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
astounding
|
|
| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
formerly
|
|
| adv.从前，以前 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
apertures
|
|
| n.孔( aperture的名词复数 )；隙缝；（照相机的）光圈；孔径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
wares
|
|
| n. 货物, 商品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
apprehend
|
|
| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
dame
|
|
| n.女士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
shrug
|
|
| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
maiden
|
|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
delightfully
|
|
| 大喜，欣然 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
pastry
|
|
| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
alabaster
|
|
| adj.雪白的；n.雪花石膏；条纹大理石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
recoiled
|
|
| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
scorched
|
|
| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
upwards
|
|
| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
knave
|
|
| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
villain
|
|
| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
portico
|
|
| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
thither
|
|
| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
lackey
|
|
| n.侍从；跟班 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
throng
|
|
| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
thronged
|
|
| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
pedestrians
|
|
| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
kaleidoscopic
|
|
| adj.千变万化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
descry
|
|
| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
forfeit
|
|
| vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
beckon
|
|
| v.(以点头或打手势)向...示意，召唤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
recollect
|
|
| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
dispositions
|
|
| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
rogue
|
|
| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
providence
|
|
| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
truant
|
|
| n.懒惰鬼，旷课者；adj.偷懒的，旷课的，游荡的；v.偷懒，旷课 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
rascal
|
|
| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
intermittently
|
|
| adv.间歇地；断断续续 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
reins
|
|
| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
copper
|
|
| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
turnip
|
|
| n.萝卜，芜菁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
amenity
|
|
| n.pl.生活福利设施，文娱康乐场所；（不可数）愉快，适意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
plantation
|
|
| n.种植园，大农场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
second-hand
|
|
| adj.用过的，旧的，二手的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
auction
|
|
| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
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： |
|
|
|
|
78
knavery
|
|
| n.恶行，欺诈的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
absconded
|
|
| v.（尤指逃避逮捕）潜逃，逃跑( abscond的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
apprehending
|
|
| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的现在分词 )； 理解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
conspicuous
|
|
| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
disappearance
|
|
| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
absurdities
|
|
| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
precisely
|
|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
advertising
|
|
| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
depressed
|
|
| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
theatrical
|
|
| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
treasury
|
|
| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
recurred
|
|
| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
plight
|
|
| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
nay
|
|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
proffered
|
|
| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
depicting
|
|
| 描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
shred
|
|
| v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
sniffing
|
|
| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
incensed
|
|
| 盛怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
inspector
|
|
| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
inquiry
|
|
| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
ordained
|
|
| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
purloin
|
|
| v.偷窃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
assailed
|
|
| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
lesser
|
|
| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
dignified
|
|
| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
divan
|
|
| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
smacking
|
|
| 活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
despondent
|
|
| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
sitting-room
|
|
| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
duel
|
|
| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
ascertain
|
|
| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
dangling
|
|
| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
glimmer
|
|
| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
gaping
|
|
| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
unfamiliar
|
|
| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
exterior
|
|
| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
delved
|
|
| v.深入探究，钻研( delve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
penitentiary
|
|
| n.感化院；监狱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
eldest
|
|
| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
attentively
|
|
| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
undoubtedly
|
|
| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
ripple
|
|
| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
retrieved
|
|
| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
awry
|
|
| adj.扭曲的，错的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
obstinately
|
|
| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
cork
|
|
| n.软木，软木塞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
comely
|
|
| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
extraordinarily
|
|
| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
rinsed
|
|
| v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 )；冲洗；用清水漂洗掉（肥皂泡等）；（用清水）冲掉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
calamity
|
|
| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
tilted
|
|
| v. 倾斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
wrenched
|
|
| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
dealing
|
|
| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
proceedings
|
|
| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
proceeding
|
|
| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
persuasively
|
|
| adv.口才好地；令人信服地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
permanently
|
|
| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
risky
|
|
| adj.有风险的，冒险的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
gratitude
|
|
| adj.感激，感谢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
incisiveness
|
|
| n.敏锐，深刻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
majestically
|
|
| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
distraction
|
|
| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
cuffs
|
|
| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
lodging
|
|
| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
publicity
|
|
| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
secondly
|
|
| adv.第二，其次 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
witchcraft
|
|
| n.魔法，巫术 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
adepts
|
|
| n.专家，能手( adept的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
refinement
|
|
| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
inclination
|
|
| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
betrothal
|
|
| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
prosecutions
|
|
| 起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
magnetism
|
|
| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
beheld
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
necessitate
|
|
| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
penetrated
|
|
| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
lithograph
|
|
| n.平板印刷，平板画；v.用平版印刷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
receding
|
|
| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
irritably
|
|
| ad.易生气地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
eminent
|
|
| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
warden
|
|
| n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
demonstration
|
|
| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
edifying
|
|
| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
tenor
|
|
| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
routs
|
|
| n.打垮，赶跑( rout的名词复数 )；（体育）打败对方v.打垮，赶跑( rout的第三人称单数 )；（体育）打败对方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |