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Chapter XXXIX
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 Chapter XXXIX
 
It will probably not surprise the reflective reader that Ralph Touchett should have seen less of his cousin since her marriage than he had done before that event — an event of which he took such a view as could hardly prove a confirmation1 of intimacy2. He had uttered his thought, as we know, and after this had held his peace, Isabel not having invited him to resume a discussion which marked an era in their relations. That discussion had made a difference — the difference he feared rather than the one he hoped. It had not chilled the girl’s zeal3 in carrying out her engagement, but it had come dangerously near to spoiling a friendship. No reference was ever again made between them to Ralph’s opinion of Gilbert Osmond, and by surrounding this topic with a sacred silence they managed to preserve a semblance4 of reciprocal frankness. But there was a difference, as Ralph often said to himself — there was a difference. She had not forgiven him, she never would forgive him: that was all he had gained. She thought she had forgiven him; she believed she didn’t care; and as she was both very generous and very proud these convictions represented a certain reality. But whether or no the event should justify5 him he would virtually have done her a wrong, and the wrong was of the sort that women remember best. As Osmond’s wife she could never again be his friend. If in this character she should enjoy the felicity she expected, she would have nothing but contempt for the man who had attempted, in advance, to undermine a blessing6 so dear; and if on the other hand his warning should be justified7 the vow8 she had taken that he should never know it would lay upon her spirit such a burden as to make her hate him. So dismal9 had been, during the year that followed his cousin’s marriage, Ralph’s prevision of the future; and if his meditations10 appear morbid11 we must remember he was not in the bloom of health. He consoled himself as he might by behaving (as he deemed) beautifully, and was present at the ceremony by which Isabel was united to Mr. Osmond, and which was performed in Florence in the month of June. He learned from his mother that Isabel at first had thought of celebrating her nuptials12 in her native land, but that as simplicity13 was what she chiefly desired to secure she had finally decided14, in spite of Osmond’s professed16 willingness to make a journey of any length, that this characteristic would be best embodied17 in their being married by the nearest clergyman in the shortest time. The thing was done therefore at the little American chapel18, on a very hot day, in the presence only of Mrs. Touchett and her son, of Pansy Osmond and the Countess Gemini. That severity in the proceedings19 of which I just spoke20 was in part the result of the absence of two persons who might have been looked for on the occasion and who would have lent it a certain richness. Madame Merle had been invited, but Madame Merle, who was unable to leave Rome, had written a gracious letter of excuses. Henrietta Stackpole had not been invited, as her departure from America, announced to Isabel by Mr. Goodwood, was in fact frustrated21 by the duties of her profession; but she had sent a letter, less gracious than Madame Merle’s, intimating that, had she been able to cross the Atlantic, she would have been present not only as a witness but as a critic. Her return to Europe had taken place somewhat later, and she had effected a meeting with Isabel in the autumn, in Paris, when she had indulged — perhaps a trifle too freely — her critical genius. Poor Osmond, who was chiefly the subject of it, had protested so sharply that Henrietta was obliged to declare to Isabel that she had taken a step which put a barrier between them. “It isn’t in the least that you’ve married — it is that you have married HIM,” she had deemed it her duty to remark; agreeing, it will be seen, much more with Ralph Touchett than she suspected, though she had few of his hesitations22 and compunctions. Henrietta’s second visit to Europe, however, was not apparently23 to have been made in vain; for just at the moment when Osmond had declared to Isabel that he really must object to that newspaper-woman, and Isabel had answered that it seemed to her he took Henrietta too hard, the good Mr. Bantling had appeared upon the scene and proposed that they should take a run down to Spain. Henrietta’s letters from Spain had proved the most acceptable she had yet published, and there had been one in especial, dated from the Alhambra and entitled ‘Moors and Moonlight,’ which generally passed for her masterpiece. Isabel had been secretly disappointed at her husband’s not seeing his way simply to take the poor girl for funny. She even wondered if his sense of fun, or of the funny — which would be his sense of humour, wouldn’t it? — were by chance defective24. Of course she herself looked at the matter as a person whose present happiness had nothing to grudge25 to Henrietta’s violated conscience. Osmond had thought their alliance a kind of monstrosity; he couldn’t imagine what they had in common. For him, Mr. Bantling’s fellow tourist was simply the most vulgar of women, and he had also pronounced her the most abandoned. Against this latter clause of the verdict Isabel had appealed with an ardour that had made him wonder afresh at the oddity of some of his wife’s tastes. Isabel could explain it only by saying that she liked to know people who were as different as possible from herself. “Why then don’t you make the acquaintance of your washerwoman?” Osmond had enquired26; to which Isabel had answered that she was afraid her washerwoman wouldn’t care for her. Now Henrietta cared so much.
 
Ralph had seen nothing of her for the greater part of the two years that had followed her marriage; the winter that formed the beginning of her residence in Rome he had spent again at San Remo, where he had been joined in the spring by his mother, who afterwards had gone with him to England, to see what they were doing at the bank — an operation she couldn’t induce him to perform. Ralph had taken a lease of his house at San Remo, a small villa27 which he had occupied still another winter; but late in the month of April of this second year he had come down to Rome. It was the first time since her marriage that he had stood face to face with Isabel; his desire to see her again was then of the keenest. She had written to him from time to time, but her letters told him nothing he wanted to know. He had asked his mother what she was making of her life, and his mother had simply answered that she supposed she was making the best of it. Mrs. Touchett had not the imagination that communes with the unseen, and she now pretended to no intimacy with her niece, whom she rarely encountered. This young woman appeared to be living in a sufficiently28 honourable29 way, but Mrs. Touchett still remained of the opinion that her marriage had been a shabby affair. It had given her no pleasure to think of Isabel’s establishment, which she was sure was a very lame30 business. From time to time, in Florence, she rubbed against the Countess Gemini, doing her best always to minimise the contact; and the Countess reminded her of Osmond, who made her think of Isabel. The Countess was less talked of in these days; but Mrs. Touchett augured31 no good of that: it only proved how she had been talked of before. There was a more direct suggestion of Isabel in the person of Madame Merle; but Madame Merle’s relations with Mrs. Touchett had undergone a perceptible change. Isabel’s aunt had told her, without circumlocution32, that she had played too ingenious a part; and Madame Merle, who never quarrelled with any one, who appeared to think no one worth it, and who had performed the miracle of living, more or less, for several years with Mrs. Touchett and showing no symptom of irritation33 — Madame Merle now took a very high tone and declared that this was an accusation34 from which she couldn’t stoop to defend herself. She added, however (without stooping), that her behaviour had been only too simple, that she had believed only what she saw, that she saw Isabel was not eager to marry and Osmond not eager to please (his repeated visits had been nothing; he was boring himself to death on his hill-top and he came merely for amusement). Isabel had kept her sentiments to herself, and her journey to Greece and Egypt had effectually thrown dust in her companion’s eyes. Madame Merle accepted the event — she was unprepared to think of it as a scandal; but that she had played any part in it, double or single, was an imputation35 against which she proudly protested. It was doubtless in consequence of Mrs. Touchett’s attitude, and of the injury it offered to habits consecrated36 by many charming seasons, that Madame Merle had, after this, chosen to pass many months in England, where her credit was quite unimpaired. Mrs. Touchett had done her a wrong; there are some things that can’t be forgiven. But Madame Merle suffered in silence; there was always something exquisite37 in her dignity.
 
Ralph, as I say, had wished to see for himself; but while engaged in this pursuit he had yet felt afresh what a fool he had been to put the girl on her guard. He had played the wrong card, and now he had lost the game. He should see nothing, he should learn nothing; for him she would always wear a mask. His true line would have been to profess15 delight in her union, so that later, when, as Ralph phrased it, the bottom should fall out of it, she might have the pleasure of saying to him that he had been a goose. He would gladly have consented to pass for a goose in order to know Isabel’s real situation. At present, however, she neither taunted38 him with his fallacies nor pretended that her own confidence was justified; if she wore a mask it completely covered her face. There was something fixed39 and mechanical in the serenity40 painted on it; this was not an expression, Ralph said — it was a representation, it was even an advertisement. She had lost her child; that was a sorrow, but it was a sorrow she scarcely spoke of; there was more to say about it than she could say to Ralph. It belonged to the past, moreover; it had occurred six months before and she had already laid aside the tokens of mourning. She appeared to be leading the life of the world; Ralph heard her spoken of as having a “charming position.” He observed that she produced the impression of being peculiarly enviable, that it was supposed, among many people, to be a privilege even to know her. Her house was not open to every one, and she had an evening in the week to which people were not invited as a matter of course. She lived with a certain magnificence, but you needed to be a member of her circle to perceive it; for there was nothing to gape41 at, nothing to criticise42, nothing even to admire, in the daily proceedings of Mr. and Mrs. Osmond. Ralph, in all this, recognised the hand of the master; for he knew that Isabel had no faculty43 for producing studied impressions. She struck him as having a great love of movement, of gaiety, of late hours, of long rides, of fatigue44; an eagerness to be entertained, to be interested, even to be bored, to make acquaintances, to see people who were talked about, to explore the neighbourhood of Rome, to enter into relation with certain of the mustiest relics45 of its old society. In all this there was much less discrimination than in that desire for comprehensiveness of development on which he had been used to exercise his wit. There was a kind of violence in some of her impulses, of crudity46 in some of her experiments, which took him by surprise: it seemed to him that she even spoke faster, moved faster, breathed faster, than before her marriage. Certainly she had fallen into exaggerations — she who used to care so much for the pure truth; and whereas of old she had a great delight in good-humoured argument, in intellectual play (she never looked so charming as when in the genial47 heat of discussion she received a crushing blow full in the face and brushed it away as a feather), she appeared now to think there was nothing worth people’s either differing about or agreeing upon. Of old she had been curious, and now she was indifferent, and yet in spite of her indifference48 her activity was greater than ever. Slender still, but lovelier than before, she had gained no great maturity49 of aspect; yet there was an amplitude50 and a brilliancy in her personal arrangements that gave a touch of insolence51 to her beauty. Poor human-hearted Isabel, what perversity52 had bitten her? Her light step drew a mass of drapery behind it; her intelligent head sustained a majesty53 of ornament54. The free, keen girl had become quite another person; what he saw was the fine lady who was supposed to represent something. What did Isabel represent? Ralph asked himself; and he could only answer by saying that she represented Gilbert Osmond. “Good heavens, what a function!” he then woefully exclaimed. He was lost in wonder at the mystery of things.
 
He recognised Osmond, as I say; he recognised him at every turn. He saw how he kept all things within limits; how he adjusted, regulated, animated55 their manner of life. Osmond was in his element; at last he had material to work with. He always had an eye to effect, and his effects were deeply calculated. They were produced by no vulgar means, but the motive56 was as vulgar as the art was great. To surround his interior with a sort of invidious sanctity, to tantalise society with a sense of exclusion57, to make people believe his house was different from every other, to impart to the face that he presented to the world a cold originality58 — this was the ingenious effort of the personage to whom Isabel had attributed a superior morality. “He works with superior material,” Ralph said to himself; “it’s rich abundance compared with his former resources.” Ralph was a clever man; but Ralph had never — to his own sense — been so clever as when he observed, in petto, that under the guise59 of caring only for intrinsic values Osmond lived exclusively for the world. Far from being its master as he pretended to be, he was its very humble60 servant, and the degree of its attention was his only measure of success. He lived with his eye on it from morning till night, and the world was so stupid it never suspected the trick. Everything he did was pose — pose so subtly considered that if one were not on the lookout61 one mistook it for impulse. Ralph had never met a man who lived so much in the land of consideration. His tastes, his studies, his accomplishments62, his collections, were all for a purpose. His life on his hill-top at Florence had been the conscious attitude of years. His solitude63, his ennui64, his love for his daughter, his good manners, his bad manners, were so many features of a mental image constantly present to him as a model of impertinence and mystification. His ambition was not to please the world, but to please himself by exciting the world’s curiosity and then declining to satisfy it. It had made him feel great, ever, to play the world a trick. The thing he had done in his life most directly to please himself was his marrying Miss Archer65; though in this case indeed the gullible66 world was in a manner embodied in poor Isabel, who had been mystified to the top of her bent67. Ralph of course found a fitness in being consistent; he had embraced a creed68, and as he had suffered for it he could not in honour forsake69 it. I give this little sketch70 of its articles for what they may at the time have been worth. It was certain that he was very skilful71 in fitting the facts to his theory — even the fact that during the month he spent in Rome at this period the husband of the woman he loved appeared to regard him not in the least as an enemy.
 
For Gilbert Osmond Ralph had not now that importance. It was not that he had the importance of a friend; it was rather that he had none at all. He was Isabel’s cousin and he was rather unpleasantly ill — it was on this basis that Osmond treated with him. He made the proper enquiries, asked about his health, about Mrs. Touchett, about his opinion of winter climates, whether he were comfortable at his hotel. He addressed him, on the few occasions of their meeting, not a word that was not necessary; but his manner had always the urbanity proper to conscious success in the presence of conscious failure. For all this, Ralph had had, toward the end, a sharp inward vision of Osmond’s making it of small ease to his wife that she should continue to receive Mr. Touchett. He was not jealous — he had not that excuse; no one could be jealous of Ralph. But he made Isabel pay for her old-time kindness, of which so much was still left; and as Ralph had no idea of her paying too much, so when his suspicion had become sharp, he had taken himself off. In doing so he had deprived Isabel of a very interesting occupation: she had been constantly wondering what fine principle was keeping him alive. She had decided that it was his love of conversation; his conversation had been better than ever. He had given up walking; be was no longer a humorous stroller. He sat all day in a chair — almost any chair would serve, and was so dependent on what you would do for him that, had not his talk been highly contemplative, you might have thought he was blind. The reader already knows more about him than Isabel was ever to know, and the reader may therefore be given the key to the mystery. What kept Ralph alive was simply the fact that he had not yet seen enough of the person in the world in whom he was most interested: he was not yet satisfied. There was more to come; he couldn’t make up his mind to lose that. He wanted to see what she would make of her husband — or what her husband would make of her. This was only the first act of the drama, and he was determined72 to sit out the performance. His determination had held good; it had kept him going some eighteen months more, till the time of his return to Rome with Lord Warburton. It had given him indeed such an air of intending to live indefinitely that Mrs. Touchett, though more accessible to confusions of thought in the matter of this strange, unremunerative — and unremunerated — son of hers than she had ever been before, had, as we have learned, not scrupled73 to embark74 for a distant land. If Ralph had been kept alive by suspense75 it was with a good deal of the same emotion — the excitement of wondering in what state she should find him — that Isabel mounted to his apartment the day after Lord Warburton had notified her of his arrival in Rome.
 
She spent an hour with him; it was the first of several visits. Gilbert Osmond called on him punctually, and on their sending their carriage for him Ralph came more than once to Palazzo Roccanera. A fortnight elapsed, at the end of which Ralph announced to Lord Warburton that he thought after all he wouldn’t go to Sicily. The two men had been dining together after a day spent by the latter in ranging about the Campagna. They had left the table, and Warburton, before the chimney, was lighting76 a cigar, which he instantly removed from his lips.
 
“Won’t go to Sicily? Where then will you go?”
 
“Well, I guess I won’t go anywhere,” said Ralph, from the sofa, all shamelessly.
 
“Do you mean you’ll return to England?”
 
“Oh dear no; I’ll stay in Rome.”
 
“Rome won’t do for you. Rome’s not warm enough.”
 
“It will have to do. I’ll make it do. See how well I’ve been.”
 
Lord Warburton looked at him a while, puffing77 a cigar and as if trying to see it. “You’ve been better than you were on the journey, certainly. I wonder how you lived through that. But I don’t understand your condition. I recommend you to try Sicily.”
 
“I can’t try,” said poor Ralph. “I’ve done trying. I can’t move further. I can’t face that journey. Fancy me between Scylla and Charybdis! I don’t want to die on the Sicilian plains — to be snatched away, like Proserpine in the same locality, to the Plutonian shades.”
 
“What the deuce then did you come for?” his lordship enquired.
 
“Because the idea took me. I see it won’t do. It really doesn’t matter where I am now. I’ve exhausted78 all remedies, I’ve swallowed all climates. As I’m here I’ll stay. I haven’t a single cousin in Sicily — much less a married one.”
 
“Your cousin’s certainly an inducement. But what does the doctor say?”
 
“I haven’t asked him, and I don’t care a fig79. If I die here Mrs. Osmond will bury me. But I shall not die here.”
 
“I hope not.” Lord Warburton continued to smoke reflectively. “Well, I must say,” he resumed, “for myself I’m very glad you don’t insist on Sicily. I had a horror of that journey.”
 
“Ah, but for you it needn’t have mattered. I had no idea of dragging you in my train.”
 
“I certainly didn’t mean to let you go alone.”
 
“My dear Warburton, I never expected you to come further than this,” Ralph cried.
 
“I should have gone with you and seen you settled,” said Lord Warburton.
 
“You’re a very good Christian80. You’re a very kind man.”
 
“Then I should have come back here.”
 
“And then you’d have gone to England.”
 
“No, no; I should have stayed.”
 
“Well,” said Ralph, “if that’s what we are both up to, I don’t see where Sicily comes in!”
 
His companion was silent; he sat staring at the fire. At last, looking up, “I say, tell me this,” he broke out; “did you really mean to go to Sicily when we started?”
 
“Ah, vous m’en demandez trop! Let me put a question first. Did you come with me quite — platonically?”
 
“I don’t know what you mean by that. I wanted to come abroad.”
 
“I suspect we’ve each been playing our little game.”
 
“Speak for yourself. I made no secret whatever of my desiring to be here a while.”
 
“Yes, I remember you said you wished to see the Minister of Foreign Affairs.”
 
“I’ve seen him three times. He’s very amusing.”
 
“I think you’ve forgotten what you came for,” said Ralph.
 
“Perhaps I have,” his companion answered rather gravely.
 
These two were gentlemen of a race which is not distinguished81 by the absence of reserve, and they had travelled together from London to Rome without an allusion82 to matters that were uppermost in the mind of each. There was an old subject they had once discussed, but it had lost its recognised place in their attention, and even after their arrival in Rome, where many things led back to it, they had kept the same half-diffident, half-confident silence.
 
“I recommend you to get the doctor’s consent, all the same,” Lord Warburton went on, abruptly83, after an interval84.
 
“The doctor’s consent will spoil it. I never have it when I can help it.”
 
“What then does Mrs. Osmond think?” Ralph’s friend demanded. I’ve not told her. She’ll probably say that Rome’s too cold and even offer to go with me to Catania. She’s capable of that.”
 
“In your place I should like it.”
 
“Her husband won’t like it.”
 
“Ah well, I can fancy that; though it seems to me you’re not bound to mind his likings. They’re his affair.”
 
“I don’t want to make any more trouble between them,” said Ralph.
 
“Is there so much already?”
 
“There’s complete preparation for it. Her going off with me would make the explosion. Osmond isn’t fond of his wife’s cousin.”
 
“Then of course he’d make a row. But won’t he make a row if you stop here?”
 
“That’s what I want to see. He made one the last time I was in Rome, and then I thought it my duty to disappear. Now I think it’s my duty to stop and defend her.”
 
“My dear Touchett, your defensive85 powers —!” Lord Warburton began with a smile. But he saw something in his companion’s face that checked him. “Your duty, in these premises86, seems to me rather a nice question,” he observed instead.
 
Ralph for a short time answered nothing. “It’s true that my defensive powers are small,” he returned at last; “but as my aggressive ones are still smaller Osmond may after all not think me worth his gunpowder87. At any rate,” he added, “there are things I’m curious to see.”
 
“You’re sacrificing your health to your curiosity then?”
 
“I’m not much interested in my health, and I’m deeply interested in Mrs. Osmond.”
 
“So am I. But not as I once was,” Lord Warburton added quickly. This was one of the allusions88 he had not hitherto found occasion to make.
 
“Does she strike you as very happy?” Ralph enquired, emboldened89 by this confidence.
 
“Well, I don’t know; I’ve hardly thought. She told me the other night she was happy.”
 
“Ah, she told YOU, of course,” Ralph exclaimed, smiling.
 
“I don’t know that. It seems to me I was rather the sort of person she might have complained to.”
 
“Complained? She’ll never complain. She has done it — what she HAS done — and she knows it. She’ll complain to you least of all. She’s very careful.”
 
“She needn’t be. I don’t mean to make love to her again.”
 
“I’m delighted to hear it. There can be no doubt at least of YOUR duty.”
 
“Ah no,” said Lord Warburton gravely; “none!”
 
“Permit me to ask,” Ralph went on, “whether it’s to bring out the fact that you don’t mean to make love to her that you’re so very civil to the little girl?”
 
Lord Warburton gave a slight start; he got up and stood before the fire, looking at it hard. “Does that strike you as very ridiculous?”
 
“Ridiculous? Not in the least, if you really like her.”
 
“I think her a delightful90 little person. I don’t know when a girl of that age has pleased me more.”
 
“She’s a charming creature. Ah, she at least is genuine.”
 
“Of course there’s the difference in our ages — more than twenty years.”
 
“My dear Warburton,” said Ralph, “are you serious?”
 
“Perfectly serious — as far as I’ve got.”
 
“I’m very glad. And, heaven help us,” cried Ralph, “how cheered-up old Osmond will be!”
 
His companion frowned. “I say, don’t spoil it. I shouldn’t propose for his daughter to please HIM.”
 
“He’ll have the perversity to be pleased all the same.”
 
“He’s not so fond of me as that,” said his lordship.
 
“As that? My dear Warburton, the drawback of your position is that people needn’t be fond of you at all to wish to be connected with you. Now, with me in such a case, I should have the happy confidence that they loved me.”
 
Lord Warburton seemed scarcely in the mood for doing justice to general axioms — he was thinking of a special case. “Do you judge she’ll be pleased?”
 
“The girl herself? Delighted, surely.”
 
“No, no; I mean Mrs. Osmond.”
 
Ralph looked at him a moment. “My dear fellow, what has she to do with it?”
 
“Whatever she chooses. She’s very fond of Pansy.”
 
“Very true — very true.” And Ralph slowly got up. “It’s an interesting question — how far her fondness for Pansy will carry her.” He stood there a moment with his hands in his pockets and rather a clouded brow. “I hope, you know, that you’re very — very sure. The deuce!” he broke off. “I don’t know how to say it.”
 
“Yes, you do; you know how to say everything.”
 
“Well, it’s awkward. I hope you’re sure that among Miss Osmond’s merits her being — a — so near her stepmother isn’t a leading one?”
 
“Good heavens, Touchett!” cried Lord Warburton angrily, “for what do you take me?”
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 confirmation ZYMya     
n.证实,确认,批准
参考例句:
  • We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
  • We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前,我们需要书面确认。
2 intimacy z4Vxx     
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行
参考例句:
  • His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切,这有点言过其实。
  • I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。
3 zeal mMqzR     
n.热心,热情,热忱
参考例句:
  • Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们,于是他们从军了。
  • They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作,以期完成这个项目。
4 semblance Szcwt     
n.外貌,外表
参考例句:
  • Her semblance of anger frightened the children.她生气的样子使孩子们感到害怕。
  • Those clouds have the semblance of a large head.那些云的形状像一个巨大的人头。
5 justify j3DxR     
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护
参考例句:
  • He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
  • Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗?
6 blessing UxDztJ     
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿
参考例句:
  • The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
  • A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。
7 justified 7pSzrk     
a.正当的,有理的
参考例句:
  • She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
  • The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。
8 vow 0h9wL     
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓
参考例句:
  • My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿,每星期日都去做礼拜。
  • I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。
9 dismal wtwxa     
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的
参考例句:
  • That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
  • My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。
10 meditations f4b300324e129a004479aa8f4c41e44a     
默想( meditation的名词复数 ); 默念; 沉思; 冥想
参考例句:
  • Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations. 每一句话似乎都给人以许多冥思默想。
  • I'm sorry to interrupt your meditations. 我很抱歉,打断你思考问题了。
11 morbid u6qz3     
adj.病的;致病的;病态的;可怕的
参考例句:
  • Some people have a morbid fascination with crime.一些人对犯罪有一种病态的痴迷。
  • It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。
12 nuptials 9b3041d32e2bfe31c6998076b06e2cf5     
n.婚礼;婚礼( nuptial的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Their nuptials were performed by the local priest. 他们的婚礼由当地牧师主持。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • If he married, when the nuptials would take place, and under what circumstances? 如果他结婚,那么什么时候举行婚礼?在什么情况下举行婚礼? 来自辞典例句
13 simplicity Vryyv     
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯
参考例句:
  • She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
  • The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。
14 decided lvqzZd     
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。
15 profess iQHxU     
v.声称,冒称,以...为业,正式接受入教,表明信仰
参考例句:
  • I profess that I was surprised at the news.我承认这消息使我惊讶。
  • What religion does he profess?他信仰哪种宗教?
16 professed 7151fdd4a4d35a0f09eaf7f0f3faf295     
公开声称的,伪称的,已立誓信教的
参考例句:
  • These, at least, were their professed reasons for pulling out of the deal. 至少这些是他们自称退出这宗交易的理由。
  • Her manner professed a gaiety that she did not feel. 她的神态显出一种她并未实际感受到的快乐。
17 embodied 12aaccf12ed540b26a8c02d23d463865     
v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 );象征;包括;包含
参考例句:
  • a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
  • The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 chapel UXNzg     
n.小教堂,殡仪馆
参考例句:
  • The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
  • She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午,她在小教堂的演出,可以说是登峰造极。
19 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
20 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
21 frustrated ksWz5t     
adj.挫败的,失意的,泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧
参考例句:
  • It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
  • The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
22 hesitations 7f4a0066e665f6f1d62fe3393d7f5182     
n.犹豫( hesitation的名词复数 );踌躇;犹豫(之事或行为);口吃
参考例句:
  • His doubts and hesitations were tiresome. 他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The cool manipulators in Hanoi had exploited America's hesitations and self-doubt. 善于冷静地操纵这类事的河内统治者大大地钻了美国当局优柔寡断的空子。 来自辞典例句
23 apparently tMmyQ     
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。
24 defective qnLzZ     
adj.有毛病的,有问题的,有瑕疵的
参考例句:
  • The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
  • If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷, 顾客有权索赔。
25 grudge hedzG     
n.不满,怨恨,妒嫉;vt.勉强给,不情愿做
参考例句:
  • I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
  • I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。
26 enquired 4df7506569079ecc60229e390176a0f6     
打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 ); 询问; 问问题; 查问
参考例句:
  • He enquired for the book in a bookstore. 他在书店查询那本书。
  • Fauchery jestingly enquired whether the Minister was coming too. 浮式瑞嘲笑着问部长是否也会来。
27 villa xHayI     
n.别墅,城郊小屋
参考例句:
  • We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
  • We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。
28 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
29 honourable honourable     
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的
参考例句:
  • I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号,我可担当不起。
  • I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。
30 lame r9gzj     
adj.跛的,(辩解、论据等)无说服力的
参考例句:
  • The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
  • I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。
31 augured 1de95241a01877ab37856ada69548743     
v.预示,预兆,预言( augur的过去式和过去分词 );成为预兆;占卜
参考例句:
  • The press saw the event as a straw in the wind that augured the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries. 报界把这件事看作是两国之间即将恢复邦交的预兆。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • This augured disaster for 1945. 这就预示1945年要发生灾难。 来自互联网
32 circumlocution 2XKz1     
n. 绕圈子的话,迂回累赘的陈述
参考例句:
  • He is a master at circumlocution.他讲话很会兜圈子。
  • This sort of ritual circumlocution is common to many parts of mathematics.这种繁冗的遁辞常见于数学的许多部分分式中。
33 irritation la9zf     
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。
34 accusation GJpyf     
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。
35 imputation My2yX     
n.归罪,责难
参考例句:
  • I could not rest under the imputation.我受到诋毁,无法平静。
  • He resented the imputation that he had any responsibility for what she did.把她所作的事情要他承担,这一责难,使他非常恼火。
36 consecrated consecrated     
adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献
参考例句:
  • The church was consecrated in 1853. 这座教堂于1853年祝圣。
  • They consecrated a temple to their god. 他们把庙奉献给神。 来自《简明英汉词典》
37 exquisite zhez1     
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的
参考例句:
  • I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
  • I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
38 taunted df22a7ddc6dcf3131756443dea95d149     
嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 ); 嘲弄; 辱骂; 奚落
参考例句:
  • The other kids continually taunted him about his size. 其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
  • Some of the girls taunted her about her weight. 有些女孩子笑她胖。
39 fixed JsKzzj     
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。
40 serenity fEzzz     
n.宁静,沉着,晴朗
参考例句:
  • Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤,但仍使人感觉安详。
  • She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。
41 gape ZhBxL     
v.张口,打呵欠,目瞪口呆地凝视
参考例句:
  • His secretary stopped taking notes to gape at me.他的秘书停止了记录,目瞪口呆地望着我。
  • He was not the type to wander round gaping at everything like a tourist.他不是那种像个游客似的四处闲逛、对什么都好奇张望的人。
42 criticise criticise     
v.批评,评论;非难
参考例句:
  • Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
  • It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任!
43 faculty HhkzK     
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员
参考例句:
  • He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
  • He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。
44 fatigue PhVzV     
n.疲劳,劳累
参考例句:
  • The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
  • I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。
45 relics UkMzSr     
[pl.]n.遗物,遗迹,遗产;遗体,尸骸
参考例句:
  • The area is a treasure house of archaeological relics. 这个地区是古文物遗迹的宝库。
  • Xi'an is an ancient city full of treasures and saintly relics. 西安是一个有很多宝藏和神圣的遗物的古老城市。
46 crudity yyFxz     
n.粗糙,生硬;adj.粗略的
参考例句:
  • I'd never met such crudity before.我从未见过这样粗鲁的行径。
  • Birthplace data are only the crudest indicator of actual migration paths.出生地信息只能非常粗略地显示实际移民过程。
47 genial egaxm     
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的
参考例句:
  • Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
  • He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友,也是友善待客的主人。
48 indifference k8DxO     
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎
参考例句:
  • I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
  • He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
49 maturity 47nzh     
n.成熟;完成;(支票、债券等)到期
参考例句:
  • These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
  • This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。
50 amplitude nLdyJ     
n.广大;充足;振幅
参考例句:
  • The amplitude of the vibration determines the loudness of the sound.振动幅度的大小决定声音的大小。
  • The amplitude at the driven end is fixed by the driving mechanism.由于驱动机构的作用,使驱动端的振幅保持不变。
51 insolence insolence     
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度
参考例句:
  • I've had enough of your insolence, and I'm having no more. 我受够了你的侮辱,不能再容忍了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • How can you suffer such insolence? 你怎么能容忍这种蛮横的态度? 来自《简明英汉词典》
52 perversity D3kzJ     
n.任性;刚愎自用
参考例句:
  • She's marrying him out of sheer perversity.她嫁给他纯粹是任性。
  • The best of us have a spice of perversity in us.在我们最出色的人身上都有任性的一面。
53 majesty MAExL     
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权
参考例句:
  • The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
  • Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下,您必须赶快做出决定!
54 ornament u4czn     
v.装饰,美化;n.装饰,装饰物
参考例句:
  • The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
  • She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。
55 animated Cz7zMa     
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的
参考例句:
  • His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
  • We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。
56 motive GFzxz     
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。
57 exclusion 1hCzz     
n.拒绝,排除,排斥,远足,远途旅行
参考例句:
  • Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
  • He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球,其他运动一概不参加。
58 originality JJJxm     
n.创造力,独创性;新颖
参考例句:
  • The name of the game in pop music is originality.流行音乐的本质是独创性。
  • He displayed an originality amounting almost to genius.他显示出近乎天才的创造性。
59 guise JeizL     
n.外表,伪装的姿态
参考例句:
  • They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
  • The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。
60 humble ddjzU     
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。
61 lookout w0sxT     
n.注意,前途,瞭望台
参考例句:
  • You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
  • It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来,公司的前景可就不妙了。
62 accomplishments 1c15077db46e4d6425b6f78720939d54     
n.造诣;完成( accomplishment的名词复数 );技能;成绩;成就
参考例句:
  • It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
  • Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
63 solitude xF9yw     
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。
64 ennui 3mTyU     
n.怠倦,无聊
参考例句:
  • Since losing his job,he has often experienced a profound sense of ennui.他自从失业以来,常觉百无聊赖。
  • Took up a hobby to relieve the ennui of retirement.养成一种嗜好以消除退休后的无聊。
65 archer KVxzP     
n.射手,弓箭手
参考例句:
  • The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
  • The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。
66 gullible zeSzN     
adj.易受骗的;轻信的
参考例句:
  • The swindlers had roped into a number of gullible persons.骗子们已使一些轻信的人上了当。
  • The advertisement is aimed at gullible young women worried about their weight.这则广告专门针对担心自己肥胖而易受骗的年轻女士。
67 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
68 creed uoxzL     
n.信条;信念,纲领
参考例句:
  • They offended against every article of his creed.他们触犯了他的每一条戒律。
  • Our creed has always been that business is business.我们的信条一直是公私分明。
69 forsake iiIx6     
vt.遗弃,抛弃;舍弃,放弃
参考例句:
  • She pleaded with her husband not to forsake her.她恳求丈夫不要抛弃她。
  • You must forsake your bad habits.你必须革除你的坏习惯。
70 sketch UEyyG     
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述
参考例句:
  • My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
  • I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。
71 skilful 8i2zDY     
(=skillful)adj.灵巧的,熟练的
参考例句:
  • The more you practise,the more skilful you'll become.练习的次数越多,熟练的程度越高。
  • He's not very skilful with his chopsticks.他用筷子不大熟练。
72 determined duszmP     
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。
73 scrupled 65b381f5337be8646c5559b9bedc2453     
v.感到于心不安,有顾忌( scruple的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The man scrupled to perjure himself. 这人发伪誓时迟疑了起来。 来自互联网
74 embark qZKzC     
vi.乘船,着手,从事,上飞机
参考例句:
  • He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
  • Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。
75 suspense 9rJw3     
n.(对可能发生的事)紧张感,担心,挂虑
参考例句:
  • The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
  • The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。
76 lighting CpszPL     
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光
参考例句:
  • The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
  • The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
77 puffing b3a737211571a681caa80669a39d25d3     
v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧
参考例句:
  • He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
78 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
79 fig L74yI     
n.无花果(树)
参考例句:
  • The doctor finished the fig he had been eating and selected another.这位医生吃完了嘴里的无花果,又挑了一个。
  • You can't find a person who doesn't know fig in the United States.你找不到任何一个在美国的人不知道无花果的。
80 Christian KVByl     
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。
81 distinguished wu9z3v     
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。
82 allusion CfnyW     
n.暗示,间接提示
参考例句:
  • He made an allusion to a secret plan in his speech.在讲话中他暗示有一项秘密计划。
  • She made no allusion to the incident.她没有提及那个事件。
83 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地,出其不意地
参考例句:
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
84 interval 85kxY     
n.间隔,间距;幕间休息,中场休息
参考例句:
  • The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
  • There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。
85 defensive buszxy     
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的
参考例句:
  • Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题,使她警觉起来。
  • The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。
86 premises 6l1zWN     
n.建筑物,房屋
参考例句:
  • According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定,场内不准饮酒。
  • All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行,不用送到外面去做。
87 gunpowder oerxm     
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。
88 allusions c86da6c28e67372f86a9828c085dd3ad     
暗指,间接提到( allusion的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • We should not use proverbs and allusions indiscriminately. 不要滥用成语典故。
  • The background lent itself to allusions to European scenes. 眼前的情景容易使人联想到欧洲风光。
89 emboldened 174550385d47060dbd95dd372c76aa22     
v.鼓励,使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆,走上前去向她作自我介绍。
  • His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
90 delightful 6xzxT     
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的
参考例句:
  • We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
  • Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。


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