The events of human existence, whether public or private, are so closely allied5 to architecture that the majority of observers can reconstruct nations and individuals, in their habits and ways of life, from the remains6 of public monuments or the relics7 of a home. Archaeology8 is to social nature what comparative anatomy9 is to organized nature. A mosaic10 tells the tale of a society, as the skeleton of an ichthyosaurus opens up a creative epoch11. All things are linked together, and all are therefore deducible. Causes suggest effects, effects lead back to causes. Science resuscitates12 even the warts13 of the past ages.
Hence the keen interest inspired by an architectural description, provided the imagination of the writer does not distort essential facts. The mind is enabled by rigid14 deduction15 to link it with the past; and to man, the past is singularly like the future; tell him what has been, and you seldom fail to show him what will be. It is rare indeed that the picture of a locality where lives are lived does not recall to some their dawning hopes, to others their wasted faith. The comparison between a present which disappoints man’s secret wishes and a future which may realize them, is an inexhaustible source of sadness or of placid16 content.
Thus, it is almost impossible not to feel a certain tender sensibility over a picture of Flemish life, if the accessories are clearly given. Why so? Perhaps, among other forms of existence, it offers the best conclusion to man’s uncertainties17. It has its social festivities, its family ties, and the easy affluence18 which proves the stability of its comfortable well-being19; it does not lack repose20 amounting almost to beatitude; but, above all, it expresses the calm monotony of a frankly21 sensuous22 happiness, where enjoyment23 stifles24 desire by anticipating it. Whatever value a passionate25 soul may attach to the tumultuous life of feeling, it never sees without emotion the symbols of this Flemish nature, where the throbbings of the heart are so well regulated that superficial minds deny the heart’s existence. The crowd prefers the abnormal force which overflows26 to that which moves with steady persistence27. The world has neither time nor patience to realize the immense power concealed28 beneath an appearance of uniformity. Therefore, to impress this multitude carried away on the current of existence, passion, like a great artist, is compelled to go beyond the mark, to exaggerate, as did Michael Angelo, Bianca Capello, Mademoiselle de la Valliere, Beethoven, and Paganini. Far-seeing minds alone disapprove29 such excess, and respect only the energy represented by a finished execution whose perfect quiet charms superior men. The life of this essentially30 thrifty31 people amply fulfils the conditions of happiness which the masses desire as the lot of the average citizen.
A refined materialism32 is stamped on all the habits of Flemish life. English comfort is harsh in tone and arid33 in color; whereas the old-fashioned Flemish interiors rejoice the eye with their mellow34 tints35, and the feelings with their genuine heartiness37. There, work implies no weariness, and the pipe is a happy adaptation of Neapolitan “far-niente.” Thence comes the peaceful sentiment in Art (its most essential condition), patience, and the element which renders its creations durable38, namely, conscience. Indeed, the Flemish character lies in the two words, patience and conscience; words which seem at first to exclude the richness of poetic39 light and shade, and to make the manners and customs of the country as flat as its vast plains, as cold as its foggy skies. And yet it is not so. Civilization has brought her power to bear, and has modified all things, even the effects of climate. If we observe attentively40 the productions of various parts of the globe, we are surprised to find that the prevailing41 tints from the temperate42 zones are gray or fawn43, while the more brilliant colors belong to the products of the hotter climates. The manners and customs of a country must naturally conform to this law of nature.
Flanders, which in former times was essentially dun-colored and monotonous44 in tint36, learned the means of irradiating its smoky atmosphere through its political vicissitudes45, which brought it under the successive dominion46 of Burgundy, Spain, and France, and threw it into fraternal relations with Germany and Holland. From Spain it acquired the luxury of scarlet47 dyes and shimmering48 satins, tapestries49 of vigorous design, plumes51, mandolins, and courtly bearing. In exchange for its linen52 and its laces, it brought from Venice that fairy glass-ware in which wine sparkles and seems the mellower53. From Austria it learned the ponderous54 diplomacy55 which, to use a popular saying, takes three steps backward to one forward; while its trade with India poured into it the grotesque56 designs of China and the marvels57 of Japan.
And yet, in spite of its patience in gathering58 such treasures, its tenacity59 in parting with no possession once gained, its endurance of all things, Flanders was considered nothing more than the general storehouse of Europe, until the day when the discovery of tobacco brought into one smoky outline the scattered60 features of its national physiognomy. Thenceforth, and notwithstanding the parcelling out of their territory, the Flemings became a people homogeneous through their pipes and beer.*
[* Flanders was parcelled into three divisions; of which Eastern Flanders, capital Ghent, and Western Flanders, capital Bruges, are two provinces of Belgium. French Flanders, capital Lille, is the Departement du Nord of France. Douai, about twenty miles from Lille, is the chief town of the arrondissement du Nord.]
After assimilating, by constant sober regulation of conduct, the products and the ideas of its masters and its neighbors, this country of Flanders, by nature so tame and devoid61 of poetry, worked out for itself an original existence, with characteristic manners and customs which bear no signs of servile imitation. Art stripped off its ideality and produced form alone. We may seek in vain for plastic grace, the swing of comedy, dramatic action, musical genius, or the bold flight of ode and epic62. On the other hand, the people are fertile in discoveries, and trained to scientific discussions which demand time and the midnight oil. All things bear the ear-mark of temporal enjoyment. There men look exclusively to the thing that is: their thoughts are so scrupulously63 bent64 on supplying the wants of this life that they have never risen, in any direction, above the level of this present earth. The sole idea they have ever conceived of the future is that of a thrifty, prosaic66 statecraft: their revolutionary vigor50 came from a domestic desire to live as they liked, with their elbows on the table, and to take their ease under the projecting roofs of their own porches.
The consciousness of well-being and the spirit of independence which comes of prosperity begot67 in Flanders, sooner than elsewhere, that craving68 for liberty which, later, permeated69 all Europe. Thus the compactness of their ideas, and the tenacity which education grafted70 on their nature made the Flemish people a formidable body of men in the defence of their rights. Among them nothing is half-done — neither houses, furniture, dikes, husbandry, nor revolutions; and they hold a monopoly of all that they undertake. The manufacture of linen, and that of lace, a work of patient agriculture and still more patient industry, are hereditary71 like their family fortunes. If we were asked to show in human form the purest specimen72 of solid stability, we could do no better than point to a portrait of some old burgomaster, capable, as was proved again and again, of dying in a commonplace way, and without the incitements of glory, for the welfare of his Free-town.
Yet we shall find a tender and poetic side to this patriarchal life, which will come naturally to the surface in the description of an ancient house which, at the period when this history begins, was one of the last in Douai to preserve the old-time characteristics of Flemish life.
Of all the towns in the Departement du Nord, Douai is, alas73, the most modernized74: there the innovating75 spirit has made the greatest strides, and the love of social progress is the most diffused76. There the old buildings are daily disappearing, and the manners and customs of a venerable past are being rapidly obliterated77. Parisian ideas and fashions and modes of life now rule the day, and soon nothing will be left of that ancient Flemish life but the warmth of its hospitality, its traditional Spanish courtesy, and the wealth and cleanliness of Holland. Mansions79 of white stone are replacing the old brick buildings, and the cosy80 comfort of Batavian interiors is fast yielding before the capricious elegance81 of Parisian novelties.
The house in which the events of this history occurred stands at about the middle of the rue de Paris, and has been known at Douai for more than two centuries as the House of Claes. The Van Claes were formerly82 one of the great families of craftsmen83 to whom, in various lines of production, the Netherlands owed a commercial supremacy84 which it has never lost. For a long period of time the Claes lived at Ghent, and were, from generation to generation, the syndics of the powerful Guild85 of Weavers87. When the great city revolted under Charles V., who tried to suppress its privileges, the head of the Claes family was so deeply compromised in the rebellion that, foreseeing a catastrophe88 and bound to share the fate of his associates, he secretly sent wife, children, and property to France before the Emperor invested the town. The syndic’s forebodings were justified89. Together with other burghers who were excluded from the capitulation, he was hanged as a rebel, though he was, in reality, the defender90 of the liberties of Ghent.
The death of Claes and his associates bore fruit. Their needless execution cost the King of Spain the greater part of his possessions in the Netherlands. Of all the seed sown in the earth, the blood of martyrs92 gives the quickest harvest. When Philip the Second, who punished revolt through two generations, stretched his iron sceptre over Douai, the Claes preserved their great wealth by allying themselves in marriage with the very noble family of Molina, whose elder branch, then poor, thus became rich enough to buy the county of Nourho which they had long held titularly in the kingdom of Leon.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, after vicissitudes which are of no interest to our present purpose, the family of Claes was represented at Douai in the person of Monsieur Balthazar Claes-Molina, Comte de Nourho, who preferred to be called simply Balthazar Claes. Of the immense fortune amassed93 by his ancestors, who had kept in motion over a thousand looms94, there remained to him some fifteen thousand francs a year from landed property in the arrondissement of Douai, and the house in the rue de Paris, whose furniture in itself was a fortune. As to the family possessions in Leon, they had been in litigation between the Molinas of Douai and the branch of the family which remained in Spain. The Molinas of Leon won the domain95 and assumed the title of Comtes de Nourho, though the Claes alone had a legal right to it. But the pride of a Belgian burgher was superior to the haughty96 arrogance97 of Castile: after the civil rights were instituted, Balthazar Claes cast aside the ragged98 robes of his Spanish nobility for his more illustrious descent from the Ghent martyr91.
The patriotic99 sentiment was so strongly developed in the families exiled under Charles V. that, to the very close of the eighteenth century, the Claes remained faithful to the manners and customs and traditions of their ancestors. They married into none but the purest burgher families, and required a certain number of aldermen and burgomasters in the pedigree of every bride-elect before admitting her to the family. They sought their wives in Bruges or Ghent, in Liege or in Holland; so that the time-honored domestic customs might be perpetuated100 around their hearthstones. This social group became more and more restricted, until, at the close of the last century, it mustered101 only some seven or eight families of the parliamentary nobility, whose manners and flowing robes of office and magisterial102 gravity (partly Spanish) harmonized well with the habits of their life.
The inhabitants of Douai held the family in a religious esteem103 that was well-nigh superstition104. The sturdy honesty, the untainted loyalty105 of the Claes, their unfailing decorum of manners and conduct, made them the objects of a reverence106 which found expression in the name — the House of Claes. The whole spirit of ancient Flanders breathed in that mansion78, which afforded to the lovers of burgher antiquities107 a type of the modest houses which the wealthy craftsmen of the Middle Ages constructed for their homes.
The chief ornament108 of the facade109 was an oaken door, in two sections, studded with nails driven in the pattern of a quineunx, in the centre of which the Claes pride had carved a pair of shuttles. The recess110 of the doorway111, which was built of freestone, was topped by a pointed112 arch bearing a little shrine113 surmounted114 by a cross, in which was a statuette of Sainte-Genevieve plying65 her distaff. Though time had left its mark upon the delicate workmanship of portal and shrine, the extreme care taken of it by the servants of the house allowed the passers-by to note all its details.
The casing of the door, formed by fluted115 pilasters, was dark gray in color, and so highly polished that it shone as if varnished116. On either side of the doorway, on the ground-floor, were two windows, which resembled all the other windows of the house. The casing of white stone ended below the sill in a richly carved shell, and rose above the window in an arch, supported at its apex117 by the head-piece of a cross, which divided the glass sashes in four unequal parts; for the transversal bar, placed at the height of that in a Latin cross, made the lower sashes of the window nearly double the height of the upper, the latter rounding at the sides into the arch. The coping of the arch was ornamented118 with three rows of brick, placed one above the other, the bricks alternately projecting or retreating to the depth of an inch, giving the effect of a Greek moulding. The glass panes119, which were small and diamond-shaped, were set in very slender leading, painted red. The walls of the house, of brick jointed120 with white mortar121, were braced122 at regular distances, and at the angles of the house, by stone courses.
The first floor was pierced by five windows, the second by three, while the attic123 had only one large circular opening in five divisions, surrounded by a freestone moulding and placed in the centre of the triangular124 pediment defined by the gable-roof, like the rose-window of a cathedral. At the peak was a vane in the shape of a weaver86’s shuttle threaded with flax. Both sides of the large triangular pediment which formed the wall of the gable were dentelled squarely into something like steps, as low down as the string-course of the upper floor, where the rain from the roof fell to right and left of the house through the jaws125 of a fantastic gargoyle126. A freestone foundation projected like a step at the base of the house; and on either side of the entrance, between the two windows, was a trap-door, clamped by heavy iron bands, through which the cellars were entered — a last vestige127 of ancient usages.
From the time the house was built, this facade had been carefully cleaned twice a year. If a little mortar fell from between the bricks, the crack was instantly filled up. The sashes, the sills, the copings, were dusted oftener than the most precious sculptures in the Louvre. The front of the house bore no signs of decay; notwithstanding the deepened color which age had given to the bricks, it was as well preserved as a choice old picture, or some rare book cherished by an amateur, which would be ever new were it not for the blistering128 of our climate and the effect of gases, whose pernicious breath threatens our own health.
The cloudy skies and humid atmosphere of Flanders, and the shadows produced by the narrowness of the street, sometimes diminished the brilliancy which the old house derived129 from its cleanliness; moreover, the very care bestowed130 upon it made it rather sad and chilling to the eye. A poet might have wished some leafage about the shrine, a little moss131 in the crevices132 of the freestone, a break in the even courses of the brick; he would have longed for a swallow to build her nest in the red coping that roofed the arches of the windows. The precise and immaculate air of this facade, a little worn by perpetual rubbing, gave the house a tone of severe propriety133 and estimable decency134 which would have driven a romanticist out of the neighborhood, had he happened to take lodgings135 over the way.
When a visitor had pulled the braided iron wire bell-cord which hung from the top of the pilaster of the doorway, and the servant-woman, coming from within, had admitted him through the side of the double-door in which was a small grated loop-hole, that half of the door escaped from her hand and swung back by its own weight with a solemn, ponderous sound that echoed along the roof of a wide paved archway and through the depths of the house, as though the door had been of iron. This archway, painted to resemble marble, always clean and daily sprinkled with fresh sand, led into a large court-yard paved with smooth square stones of a greenish color. On the left were the linen-rooms, kitchens, and servants’ hall; to the right, the wood-house, coal-house, and offices, whose doors, walls, and windows were decorated with designs kept exquisitely136 clean. The daylight, threading its way between four red walls chequered with white lines, caught rosy137 tints and reflections which gave a mysterious grace and fantastic appearance to faces, and even to trifling138 details.
A second house, exactly like the building on the street, and called in Flanders the “back-quarter,” stood at the farther end of the court-yard, and was used exclusively as the family dwelling139. The first room on the ground-floor was a parlor140, lighted by two windows on the court-yard, and two more looking out upon a garden which was of the same size as the house. Two glass doors, placed exactly opposite to each other, led at one end of the room to the garden, at the other to the court-yard, and were in line with the archway and the street door; so that a visitor entering the latter could see through to the greenery which draped the lower end of the garden. The front building, which was reserved for receptions and the lodging-rooms of guests, held many objects of art and accumulated wealth, but none of them equalled in the eyes of a Claes, nor indeed in the judgment141 of a connoisseur142, the treasures contained in the parlor, where for over two centuries the family life had glided143 on.
The Claes who died for the liberties of Ghent, and who might in these days be thought a mere144 ordinary craftsman145 if the historian omitted to say that he possessed146 over forty thousand silver marks, obtained by the manufacture of sail-cloth for the all-powerful Venetian navy — this Claes had a friend in the famous sculptor147 in wood, Van Huysum of Bruges. The artist had dipped many a time into the purse of the rich craftsman. Some time before the rebellion of the men of Ghent, Van Huysum, grown rich himself, had secretly carved for his friend a wall-decoration in ebony, representing the chief scenes in the life of Van Artevelde — that brewer148 of Ghent who, for a brief hour, was King of Flanders. This wall-covering, of which there were no less than sixty panels, contained about fourteen hundred principal figures, and was held to be Van Huysum’s masterpiece. The officer appointed to guard the burghers whom Charles V. determined149 to hang when he re-entered his native town, proposed, it is said, to Van Claes to let him escape if he would give him Van Huysum’s great work; but the weaver had already despatched it to Douai.
The parlor, whose walls were entirely150 panelled with this carving151, which Van Huysum, out of regard for the martyr’s memory, came to Douai to frame in wood painted in lapis-lazuli with threads of gold, is therefore the most complete work of this master, whose least carvings152 now sell for nearly their weight in gold. Hanging over the fire-place, Van Claes the martyr, painted by Titian in his robes as president of the Court of Parchons, still seemed the head of the family, who venerated153 him as their greatest man. The chimney-piece, originally in stone with a very high mantle-shelf, had been made over in marble during the last century; on it now stood an old clock and two candlesticks with five twisted branches, in bad taste, but of solid silver. The four windows were draped by wide curtains of red damask with a flowered black design, lined with white silk; the furniture, covered with the same material, had been renovated154 in the time of Louis XIV. The floor, evidently modern, was laid in large squares of white wood bordered with strips of oak. The ceiling, formed of many oval panels, in each of which Van Huysum had carved a grotesque mask, had been respected and allowed to keep the brown tones of the native Dutch oak.
In the four corners of this parlor were truncated155 columns, supporting candelabra exactly like those on the mantle-shelf; and a round table stood in the middle of the room. Along the walls card-tables were symmetrically placed. On two gilded156 consoles with marble slabs157 there stood, at the period when this history begins, two glass globes filled with water, in which, above a bed of sand and shells, red and gold and silver fish were swimming about. The room was both brilliant and sombre. The ceiling necessarily absorbed the light and reflected none. Although on the garden side all was bright and glowing, and the sunshine danced upon the ebony carvings, the windows on the court-yard admitted so little light that the gold threads in the lapis-lazuli scarcely glittered on the opposite wall. This parlor, which could be gorgeous on a fine day, was usually, under the Flemish skies, filled with soft shadows and melancholy158 russet tones, like those shed by the sun on the tree-tops of the forests in autumn.
It is unnecessary to continue this description of the House of Claes, in other parts of which many scenes of this history will occur: at present, it is enough to make known its general arrangement.
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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naively
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| adv. 天真地 | |
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voracious
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| adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的 | |
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gestation
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| n.怀孕；酝酿 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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archaeology
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| n.考古学 | |
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anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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resuscitates
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| v.使（某人或某物）恢复知觉，苏醒( resuscitate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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warts
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| n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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affluence
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| n.充裕，富足 | |
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well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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stifles
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的第三人称单数 )； 镇压，遏制 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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overflows
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| v.溢出，淹没( overflow的第三人称单数 )；充满；挤满了人；扩展出界，过度延伸 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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disapprove
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| v.不赞成，不同意，不批准 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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thrifty
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| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
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materialism
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| n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上 | |
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arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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heartiness
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| 诚实，热心 | |
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durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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vicissitudes
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| n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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49
tapestries
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| n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
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50
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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51
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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52
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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53
mellower
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| 成熟的( mellow的比较级 )； （水果）熟透的； （颜色或声音）柔和的； 高兴的 | |
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54
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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55
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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56
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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57
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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58
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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59
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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60
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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61
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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62
epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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63
scrupulously
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| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
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64
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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65
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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66
prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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67
begot
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去式 )；产生，引起 | |
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68
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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69
permeated
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| 弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透 | |
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70
grafted
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| 移植( graft的过去式和过去分词 )； 嫁接； 使（思想、制度等）成为（…的一部份）； 植根 | |
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71
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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72
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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73
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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74
modernized
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| 使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法 | |
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75
innovating
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| v.改革，创新( innovate的现在分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法）， | |
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76
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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77
obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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78
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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79
mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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80
cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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81
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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82
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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83
craftsmen
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| n. 技工 | |
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84
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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85
guild
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| n.行会，同业公会，协会 | |
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86
weaver
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| n.织布工；编织者 | |
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87
weavers
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| 织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 ) | |
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88
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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89
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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90
defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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91
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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92
martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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93
amassed
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
looms
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| n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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95
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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96
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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97
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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98
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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99
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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100
perpetuated
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| vt.使永存（perpetuate的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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101
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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102
magisterial
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| adj.威风的，有权威的；adv.威严地 | |
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103
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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104
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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105
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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106
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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107
antiquities
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| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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108
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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109
facade
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| n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表 | |
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110
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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111
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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112
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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113
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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114
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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115
fluted
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| a.有凹槽的 | |
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116
varnished
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| 浸渍过的，涂漆的 | |
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117
apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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118
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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120
jointed
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| 有接缝的 | |
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121
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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122
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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123
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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124
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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125
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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126
gargoyle
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| n.笕嘴 | |
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127
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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128
blistering
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| adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡 | |
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129
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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130
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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132
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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133
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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134
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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135
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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136
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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137
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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138
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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139
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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140
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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141
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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142
connoisseur
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| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
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143
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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144
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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145
craftsman
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| n.技工，精于一门工艺的匠人 | |
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146
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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147
sculptor
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| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
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148
brewer
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| n. 啤酒制造者 | |
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149
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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150
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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151
carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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152
carvings
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| n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物 | |
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153
venerated
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| 敬重（某人或某事物），崇敬( venerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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154
renovated
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| 翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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155
truncated
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| adj.切去顶端的，缩短了的，被删节的v.截面的( truncate的过去式和过去分词 )；截头的；缩短了的；截去顶端或末端 | |
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156
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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157
slabs
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| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
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158
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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