About the middle of the year 1817, his grief, slowly abating2, left him a prey3 to solitude4 and defenceless under the monotony of the life he was leading, which heavily oppressed him. At first he struggled bravely against the allurements5 of Science as they gradually beset6 him; he forbade himself even to think of Chemistry. Then he did think of it. Still, he would not actively7 take it up, and only gave his mind to his researches theoretically. Such constant study, however, swelled8 his passion which soon became exacting9. He asked himself whether he was really bound not to continue his researches, and remembered that his wife had refused his oath. Though he had pledged his word to himself that he would never pursue the solution of the great Problem, might he not change that determination at a moment when he foresaw success? He was now fifty-nine years old. At that age a predominant idea contracts a certain peevish11 fixedness13 which is the first stage of monomania.
Circumstances conspired15 against his tottering16 loyalty17. The peace which Europe now enjoyed encouraged the circulation of discoveries and scientific ideas acquired during the war by the learned of various countries, who for nearly twenty years had been unable to hold communication. Science was making great strides. Claes found that the progress of chemistry had been directed, unknown to chemists themselves, towards the object of his researches. Learned men devoted18 to the higher sciences thought, as he did, that light, heat, electricity, galvanism, magnetism19 were all different effects of the same cause, and that the difference existing between substances hitherto considered simple must be produced by varying proportions of an unknown principle. The fear that some other chemist might effect the reduction of metals and discover the constituent20 principle of electricity — two achievements which would lead to the solution of the chemical Absolute — increased what the people of Douai called a mania14, and drove his desires to a paroxysm conceivable to those who devote themselves to the sciences, or who have ever known the tyranny of ideas.
Thus it happened that Balthazar was again carried away by a passion all the more violent because it had lain dormant21 so long. Marguerite, who watched every evidence of her father’s state of mind, opened the long-closed parlor22. By living in it she recalled the painful memories which her mother’s death had caused, and succeeded for a time in re-awaking her father’s grief, and retarding23 his plunge24 into the gulf25 to the depths of which he was, nevertheless, doomed26 to fall. She determined27 to go into society and force Balthazar to share in its distractions28. Several good marriages were proposed to her, which occupied Claes’s mind, but to all of them she replied that she should not marry until after she was twenty-five. But in spite of his daughter’s efforts, in spite of his remorseful29 struggles, Balthazar, at the beginning of the winter, returned secretly to his researches. It was difficult, however, to hide his operations from the inquisitive30 women in the kitchen; and one morning Martha, while dressing31 Marguerite, said to her:—
“Mademoiselle, we are as good as lost. That monster of a Mulquinier — who is a devil disguised, for I never saw him make the sign of the cross — has gone back to the garret. There’s monsieur on the high-road to hell. Pray God he mayn’t kill you as he killed my poor mistress.”
“It is not possible!” exclaimed Marguerite.
“Come and see the signs of their traffic.”
Mademoiselle Claes ran to the window and saw the light smoke rising from the flue of the laboratory.
“I shall be twenty-one in a few months,” she thought, “and I shall know how to oppose the destruction of our property.”
In giving way to his passion Balthazar necessarily felt less respect for the interests of his children than he formerly32 had felt for the happiness of his wife. The barriers were less high, his conscience was more elastic33, his passion had increased in strength. He now set forth34 in his career of glory, toil35, hope, and poverty, with the fervor36 of a man profoundly trustful of his convictions. Certain of the result, he worked night and day with a fury that alarmed his daughters, who did not know how little a man is injured by work that gives him pleasure.
Her father had no sooner recommenced his experiments than Marguerite retrenched37 the superfluities of the table, showing a parsimony38 worthy39 of a miser40, in which Josette and Martha admirably seconded her. Claes never noticed the change which reduced the household living to the merest necessaries. First he ceased to breakfast with the family; then he only left his laboratory when dinner was ready; and at last, before he went to bed, he would sit some hours in the parlor between his daughters without saying a word to either of them; when he rose to go upstairs they wished him good-night, and he allowed them mechanically to kiss him on both cheeks. Such conduct would have led to great domestic misfortunes had Marguerite not been prepared to exercise the authority of a mother, and if, moreover, she were not protected by a secret love from the dangers of so much liberty.
Pierquin had ceased to come to the house, judging that the family ruin would soon be complete. Balthazar’s rural estates, which yielded sixteen thousand francs a year, and were worth about six hundred thousand, were now encumbered41 by mortgages to the amount of three hundred thousand francs; for, in order to recommence his researches, Claes had borrowed a considerable sum of money. The rents were exactly enough to pay the interest of the mortgages; but, with the improvidence42 of a man who is the slave of an idea, he made over the income of his farm lands to Marguerite for the expenses of the household, and the notary43 calculated that three years would suffice to bring matters to a crisis, when the law would step in and eat up all that Balthazar had not squandered44. Marguerite’s coldness brought Pierquin to a state of almost hostile indifference45. To give himself an appearance in the eyes of the world of having renounced46 her hand, he frequently remarked of the Claes family in a tone of compassion:—
“Those poor people are ruined; I have done my best to save them. Well, it can’t be helped; Mademoiselle Claes refused to employ the legal means which might have rescued them from poverty.”
Emmanuel de Solis, who was now principal of the college-school in Douai, thanks to the influence of his uncle and to his own merits which made him worthy of the post, came every evening to see the two young girls, who called the old duenna into the parlor as soon as their father had gone to bed. Emmanuel’s gentle rap at the street-door was never missing. For the last three months, encouraged by the gracious, though mute gratitude47 with which Marguerite now accepted his attentions, he became at his ease, and was seen for what he was. The brightness of his pure spirit shone like a flawless diamond; Marguerite learned to understand its strength and its constancy when she saw how inexhaustible was the source from which it came. She loved to watch the unfolding, one by one, of the blossoms of his heart, whose perfume she had already breathed. Each day Emmanuel realized some one of Marguerite’s hopes, and illumined the enchanted48 regions of love with new lights that chased away the clouds and brought to view the serene49 heavens, giving color to the fruitful riches hidden away in the shadow of their lives. More at his ease, the young man could display the seductive qualities of his heart until now discreetly50 hidden, the expansive gaiety of his age, the simplicity51 which comes of a life of study, the treasures of a delicate mind that life has not adulterated, the innocent joyousness52 which goes so well with loving youth. His soul and Marguerite’s understood each other better; they went together to the depths of their hearts and found in each the same thoughts — pearls of equal lustre53, sweet fresh harmonies like those the legends tell of beneath the waves, which fascinate the divers54. They made themselves known to one another by an interchange of thought, a reciprocal introspection which bore the signs, in both, of exquisite55 sensibility. It was done without false shame, but not without mutual56 coquetry. The two hours which Emmanuel spent with the sisters and old Martha enabled Marguerite to accept the life of anguish57 and renunciation on which she had entered. This artless, progressive love was her support. In all his testimonies58 of affection Emmanuel showed the natural grace that is so winning, the sweet yet subtile mind which breaks the uniformity of sentiment as the facets59 of a diamond relieve, by their many-sided fires, the monotony of the stone — adorable wisdom, the secret of loving hearts, which makes a woman pliant60 to the artistic61 hand that gives new life to old, old forms, and refreshes with novel modulations the phrases of love. Love is not only a sentiment, it is an art. Some simple word, a trifling62 vigilance, a nothing, reveals to a woman the great, the divine artist who shall touch her heart and yet not blight63 it. The more Emmanuel was free to utter himself, the more charming were the expressions of his love.
“I have tried to get here before Pierquin,” he said to Marguerite one evening. “He is bringing some bad news; I would rather you heard it from me. Your father has sold all the timber in your forest at Waignies to speculators, who have resold it to dealers64. The trees are already felled, and the logs are carried away. Monsieur Claes received three hundred thousand francs in cash as a first instalment of the price, which he has used towards paying his bills in Paris; but to clear off his debts entirely65 he has been forced to assign a hundred thousand francs of the three hundred thousand still due to him on the purchase-money.”
Pierquin entered at this moment.
“Ah! my dear cousin,” he said, “you are ruined. I told you how it would be; but you would not listen to me. Your father has an insatiable appetite. He has swallowed your woods at a mouthful. Your family guardian66, Monsieur Conyncks, is just now absent in Amsterdam, and Claes has seized the opportunity to strike the blow. It is all wrong. I have written to Monsieur Conyncks, but he will get here too late; everything will be squandered. You will be obliged to sue your father. The suit can’t be long, but it will be dishonorable. Monsieur Conyncks has no alternative but to institute proceedings67; the law requires it. This is the result of your obstinacy68. Do you now see my prudence69, and how devoted I was to your interests?”
“I bring you some good news, mademoiselle,” said young de Solis in his gentle voice. “Gabriel has been admitted to the Ecole Polytechnique. The difficulties that seemed in the way have all been removed.”
Marguerite thanked him with a smile as she said:—
“My savings70 will now come in play! Martha, we must begin to-morrow on Gabriel’s outfit71. My poor Felicie, we shall have to work hard,” she added, kissing her sister’s forehead.
“To-morrow you shall have him at home, to remain ten days,” said Emmanuel; “he must be in Paris by the fifteenth of November.”
“My cousin Gabriel has done a sensible thing,” said the lawyer, eyeing the professor from head to foot; “for he will have to make his own way. But, my dear cousin, the question now is how to save the honor of the family: will you listen to what I say this time?”
“No,” she said, “not if it relates to marriage.”
“Then what will you do?”
“I? — nothing.”
“But you are of age.”
“I shall be in a few days. Have you any course to suggest to me,” she added, “which will reconcile our interests with the duty we owe to our father and to the honor of the family?”
“My dear cousin, nothing can be done till your uncle arrives. When he does, I will call again.”
“Adieu, monsieur,” said Marguerite.
“The poorer she is the more airs she gives herself,” thought the notary. “Adieu, mademoiselle,” he said aloud. “Monsieur, my respects to you”; and he went away, paying no attention to Felicie or Martha.
“I have been studying the Code for the last two days, and I have consulted an experienced old lawyer, a friend of my uncle,” said Emmanuel, in a hesitating voice. “If you will allow me, I will go to Amsterdam to-morrow and see Monsieur Conyncks. Listen, dear Marguerite —”
He uttered her name for the first time; she thanked him with a smile and a tearful glance, and made a gentle inclination72 of her head. He paused, looking at Felicie and Martha.
“Speak before my sister,” said Marguerite. “She is so docile73 and courageous74 that she does not need this discussion to make her resigned to our life of toil and privation; but it is best that she should see for herself how necessary courage is to us.”
The two sisters clasped hands and kissed each other, as if to renew some pledge of union before the coming disaster.
“Leave us, Martha.”
“Dear Marguerite,” said Emmanuel, letting the happiness he felt in conquering the lesser75 rights of affection sound in the inflections of his voice, “I have procured76 the names and addresses of the purchasers who still owe the remaining two hundred thousand francs on the felled timber. To-morrow, if you give consent, a lawyer acting10 in the name of Monsieur Conyncks, who will not disavow the act, will serve an injunction upon them. Six days hence, by which time your uncle will have returned, the family council can be called together, and Gabriel put in possession of his legal rights, for he is now eighteen. You and your brother being thus authorized77 to use those rights, you will demand your share in the proceeds of the timber. Monsieur Claes cannot refuse you the two hundred thousand francs on which the injunction will have been put; as to the remaining hundred thousand which is due to you, you must obtain a mortgage on this house. Monsieur Conyncks will demand securities for the three hundred thousand belonging to Felicie and Jean. Under these circumstances your father will be obliged to mortgage his property on the plain of Orchies, which he has already encumbered to the amount of three hundred thousand francs. The law gives a retrospective priority to the claims of minors78; and that will save you. Monsieur Claes’s hands will be tied for the future; your property becomes inalienable, and he can no longer borrow on his own estates because they will be held as security for other sums. Moreover, the whole can be done quietly, without scandal or legal proceedings. Your father will be forced to greater prudence in making his researches, even if he cannot be persuaded to relinquish79 them altogether.”
“Yes,” said Marguerite, “but where, meantime, can we find the means of living? The hundred thousand francs for which, you say, I must obtain a mortgage on this house, would bring in nothing while we still live here. The proceeds of my father’s property in the country will pay the interest on the three hundred thousand francs he owes to others; but how are we to live?”
“In the first place,” said Emmanuel, “by investing the fifty thousand francs which belong to Gabriel in the public Funds you will get, according to present rates, more than four thousand francs’ income, which will suffice to pay your brother’s board and lodging80 and all his other expenses in Paris. Gabriel cannot touch the capital until he is of age, therefore you need not fear that he will waste a penny of it, and you will have one expense the less. Besides, you will have your own fifty thousand.”
“My father will ask me for them,” she said in a frightened tone; “and I shall not be able to refuse him.”
“Well, dear Marguerite, even so, you can evade81 that by robbing yourself. Place your money in the Grand-Livre in Gabriel’s name: it will bring you twelve or thirteen thousand francs a year. Minors who are emancipated82 cannot sell property without permission of the family council; you will thus gain three years’ peace of mind. By that time your father will either have solved his problem or renounced it; and Gabriel, then of age, will reinvest the money in your own name.”
Marguerite made him explain to her once more the legal points which she did not at first understand. It was certainly a novel sight to see this pair of lovers poring over the Code, which Emmanuel had brought with him to show his mistress the laws which protected the property of minors; she quickly caught the meaning of them, thanks to the natural penetration83 of women, which in this case love still further sharpened.
Gabriel came home to his father’s house on the following day. When Monsieur de Solis brought him up to Balthazar and told of his admission to the Ecole Polytechnique, the father thanked the professor with a wave of his hand, and said:—
“I am very glad; Gabriel may become a man of science.”
“Oh, my brother,” cried Marguerite, as Balthazar went back to his laboratory, “work hard, waste no money; spend what is necessary, but practise economy. On the days when you are allowed to go out, pass your time with our friends and relations; contract none of the habits which ruin young men in Paris. Your expenses will amount to nearly three thousand francs, and that will leave you a thousand francs for your pocket-money; that is surely enough.”
“I will answer for him,” said Emmanuel de Solis, laying his hand on his pupil’s shoulder.
A month later, Monsieur Conyncks, in conjunction with Marguerite, had obtained all necessary securities from Claes. The plan so wisely proposed by Emmanuel de Solis was fully84 approved and executed. Face to face with the law, and in presence of his cousin, whose stern sense of honor allowed no compromise, Balthazar, ashamed of the sale of the timber to which he had consented at a moment when he was harassed85 by creditors86, submitted to all that was demanded of him. Glad to repair the almost involuntary wrong that he had done to his children, he signed the deeds in a preoccupied87 way. He was now as careless and improvident88 as a Negro who sells his wife in the morning for a drop of brandy, and cries for her at night. He gave no thought to even the immediate89 future, and never asked himself what resources he would have when his last ducat was melted up. He pursued his work and continued his purchases, apparently90 unaware91 that he was now no more than the titular92 owner of his house and lands, and that he could not, thanks to the severity of the laws, raise another penny upon a property of which he was now, as it were, the legal guardian.
The year 1818 ended without bringing any new misfortune. The sisters paid the costs of Jean’s education and met all the expenses of the household out of the thirteen thousand francs a year from the sum placed in the Grand-Livre in Gabriel’s name, which he punctually remitted93 to them. Monsieur de Solis lost his uncle, the abbe, in December of that year.
Early in January Marguerite learned through Martha that her father had sold his collection of tulips, also the furniture of the front house, and all the family silver. She was obliged to buy back the spoons and forks that were necessary for the daily service of the table, and these she now ordered to be stamped with her initials. Until that day Marguerite had kept silence towards her father on the subject of his depredations94, but that evening after dinner she requested Felicie to leave her alone with him, and when he seated himself as usual by the corner of the parlor fireplace, she said:—
“My dear father, you are the master here, and can sell everything, even your children. We are ready to obey you without a murmur95; but I am forced to tell you that we are without money, that we have barely enough to live on, and that Felicie and I are obliged to work night and day to pay for the schooling96 of little Jean with the price of the lace dress we are now making. My dear father, I implore97 you to give up your researches.”
“You are right, my dear child; in six weeks they will be finished; I shall have found the Absolute, or the Absolute will be proved undiscoverable. You will have millions —”
“Give us meanwhile the bread to eat,” replied Marguerite.
“Bread? is there no bread here?” said Claes, with a frightened air. “No bread in the house of a Claes! What has become of our property?”
“You have cut down the forest of Waignies. The ground has not been cleared and is therefore unproductive. As for your farms at Orchies, the rents scarcely suffice to pay the interest of the sums you have borrowed —”
“Then what are we living on?” he demanded.
Marguerite held up her needle and continued:—
“Gabriel’s income helps us, but it is insufficient98; I can make both ends meet at the close of the year if you do not overwhelm me with bills that I do not expect, for purchases you tell me nothing about. When I think I have enough to meet my quarterly expenses some unexpected bill for potash, or zinc99, or sulphur, is brought to me.”
“My dear child, have patience for six weeks; after that, I will be judicious100. My little Marguerite, you shall see wonders.”
“It is time you should think of your affairs. You have sold everything — pictures, tulips, plate; nothing is left. At least, refrain from making debts.”
“I don’t wish to make any more!” he said.
“Any more?” she cried, “then you have some?”
“Mere trifles,” he said, but he dropped his eyes and colored.
For the first time in her life Marguerite felt humiliated101 by the lowering of her father’s character, and suffered from it so much that she dared not question him.
A month after this scene one of the Douai bankers brought a bill of exchange for ten thousand francs signed by Claes. Marguerite asked the banker to wait a day, and expressed her regret that she had not been notified to prepare for this payment; whereupon he informed her that the house of Protez and Chiffreville held nine other bills to the same amount, falling due in consecutive102 months.
“All is over!” cried Marguerite, “the time has come.”
She sent for her father, and walked up and down the parlor with hasty steps, talking to herself:—
“A hundred thousand francs!” she cried. “I must find them, or see my father in prison. What am I to do?”
Balthazar did not come. Weary of waiting for him, Marguerite went up to the laboratory. As she entered she saw him in the middle of an immense, brilliantly-lighted room, filled with machinery103 and dusty glass vessels104: here and there were books, and tables encumbered with specimens105 and products ticketed and numbered. On all sides the disorder106 of scientific pursuits contrasted strongly with Flemish habits. This litter of retorts and vaporizers, metals, fantastically colored crystals, specimens hooked upon the walls or lying on the furnaces, surrounded the central figure of Balthazar Claes, without a coat, his arms bare like those of a workman, his breast exposed, and showing the white hair which covered it. His eyes were gazing with horrible fixity at a pneumatic trough. The receiver of this instrument was covered with a lens made of double convex glasses, the space between the glasses being filled with alchohol, which focussed the light coming through one of the compartments107 of the rose-window of the garret. The shelf of the receiver communicated with the wire of an immense galvanic battery. Lemulquinier, busy at the moment in moving the pedestal of the machine, which was placed on a movable axle so as to keep the lens in a perpendicular108 direction to the rays of the sun, turned round, his face black with dust, and called out —
“Ha! mademoiselle, don’t come in.”
The aspect of her father, half-kneeling beside the instrument, and receiving the full strength of the sunlight upon his head, the protuberances of his skull109, its scanty110 hairs resembling threads of silver, his face contracted by the agonies of expectation, the strangeness of the objects that surrounded him, the obscurity of parts of the vast garret from which fantastic engines seemed about to spring, all contributed to startle Marguerite, who said to herself, in terror —
“He is mad!”
Then she went up to him and whispered in his ear, “Send away Lemulquinier.”
“No, no, my child; I want him: I am in the midst of an experiment no one has yet thought of. For the last three days we have been watching for every ray of sun. I now have the means of submitting metals, in a complete vacuum, to concentrated solar fires and to electric currents. At this very moment the most powerful action a chemist can employ is about to show results which I alone —”
“My father, instead of vaporizing metals you should employ them in paying your notes of hand —”
“Wait, wait!”
“Monsieur Merkstus has been here, father; and he must have ten thousand francs by four o’clock.”
“Yes, yes, presently. True, I did sign a little note which is payable111 this month. I felt sure I should have found the Absolute. Good God! If I could only have a July sun the experiment would be successful.”
He grasped his head and sat down on an old cane112 chair; a few tears rolled from his eyes.
“Monsieur is quite right,” said Lemulquinier; “it is all the fault of that rascally113 sun which is too feeble — the coward, the lazy thing!”
Master and valet paid no further attention to Marguerite.
“Leave us, Mulquinier,” she said.
“Ah! I see a new experiment!” cried Claes.
“Father, lay aside your experiments,” said his daughter, when they were alone. “You have one hundred thousand francs to pay, and we have not a penny. Leave your laboratory; your honor is in question. What will become of you if you are put in prison? Will you soil your white hairs and the name of Claes with the disgrace of bankruptcy114? I will not allow it. I shall have strength to oppose your madness; it would be dreadful to see you without bread in your old age. Open your eyes to our position; see reason at last!”
“Madness!” cried Balthazar, struggling to his feet. He fixed12 his luminous115 eyes upon his daughter, crossed his arms on his breast, and repeated the word “Madness!” so majestically116 that Marguerite trembled.
“Ah!” he cried, “your mother would never have uttered that word to me. She was not ignorant of the importance of my researches; she learned a science to understand me; she recognized that I toiled117 for the human race; she knew there was nothing sordid118 or selfish in my aims. The feelings of a loving wife are higher, I see it now, than filial affection. Yes, Love is above all other feelings. See reason!” he went on, striking his breast. “Do I lack reason? Am I not myself? You say we are poor; well, my daughter, I choose it to be so. I am your father, obey me. I will make you rich when I please. Your fortune? it is a pittance119! When I find the solvent120 of carbon I will fill your parlor with diamonds, and they are but a scintilla121 of what I seek. You can well afford to wait while I consume my life in superhuman efforts.”
“Father, I have no right to ask an account of the four millions you have already engulfed122 in this fatal garret. I will not speak to you of my mother whom you killed. If I had a husband, I should love him, doubtless, as she loved you; I should be ready to sacrifice all to him, as she sacrificed all for you. I have obeyed her orders in giving myself wholly to you; I have proved it in not marrying and compelling you to render an account of your guardianship123. Let us dismiss the past and think of the present. I am here now to represent the necessity which you have created for yourself. You must have money to meet your notes — do you understand me? There is nothing left to seize here but the portrait of your ancestor, the Claes martyr124. I come in the name of my mother, who felt herself too feeble to defend her children against their father; she ordered me to resist you. I come in the name of my brothers and my sister; I come, father, in the name of all the Claes, and I command you to give up your experiments, or earn the means of pursuing them hereafter, if pursue them you must. If you arm yourself with the power of your paternity, which you employ only for our destruction, I have on my side your ancestors and your honor, whose voice is louder than that of chemistry. The Family is greater than Science. I have been too long your daughter.”
“And you choose to be my executioner,” he said, in a feeble voice.
Marguerite turned and fled away, that she might not abdicate125 the part she had just assumed: she fancied she heard again her mother’s voice saying to her, “Do not oppose your father too much; love him well.”
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retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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abating
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| 减少( abate的现在分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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allurements
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| n.诱惑( allurement的名词复数 )；吸引；诱惑物；有诱惑力的事物 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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peevish
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| adj.易怒的，坏脾气的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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fixedness
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| n.固定；稳定；稳固 | |
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mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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loyalty
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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magnetism
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| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
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constituent
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| n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的 | |
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dormant
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| adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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retarding
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| 使减速( retard的现在分词 )； 妨碍； 阻止； 推迟 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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26
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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28
distractions
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| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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29
remorseful
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| adj.悔恨的 | |
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30
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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31
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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32
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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33
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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34
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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35
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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36
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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37
retrenched
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| v.紧缩开支( retrench的过去式和过去分词 )；削减（费用）；节省 | |
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38
parsimony
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| n.过度节俭，吝啬 | |
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39
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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40
miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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41
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
improvidence
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| n.目光短浅 | |
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43
notary
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| n.公证人，公证员 | |
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44
squandered
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| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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46
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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47
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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48
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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49
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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50
discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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51
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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52
joyousness
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| 快乐，使人喜悦 | |
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53
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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54
divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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55
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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56
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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57
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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58
testimonies
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| （法庭上证人的）证词( testimony的名词复数 )； 证明，证据 | |
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59
facets
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| n.（宝石或首饰的）小平面( facet的名词复数 )；（事物的）面；方面 | |
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60
pliant
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| adj.顺从的；可弯曲的 | |
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61
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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63
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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65
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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66
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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67
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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68
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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69
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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70
savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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71
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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72
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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73
docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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74
courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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75
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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76
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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77
authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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78
minors
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| n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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79
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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80
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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81
evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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82
emancipated
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| adj.被解放的，不受约束的v.解放某人（尤指摆脱政治、法律或社会的束缚）( emancipate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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83
penetration
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| n.穿透，穿人，渗透 | |
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84
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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85
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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86
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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87
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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88
improvident
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| adj.不顾将来的，不节俭的，无远见的 | |
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89
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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90
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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91
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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92
titular
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| adj.名义上的，有名无实的；n.只有名义（或头衔）的人 | |
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93
remitted
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| v.免除（债务），宽恕( remit的过去式和过去分词 )；使某事缓和；寄回，传送 | |
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94
depredations
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| n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 ) | |
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95
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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96
schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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97
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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98
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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99
zinc
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| n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌 | |
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100
judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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101
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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102
consecutive
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| adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的 | |
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103
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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104
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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105
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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106
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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107
compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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108
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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109
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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110
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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111
payable
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| adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的 | |
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112
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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113
rascally
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| adj. 无赖的，恶棍的 adv. 无赖地，卑鄙地 | |
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114
bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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115
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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116
majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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117
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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118
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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119
pittance
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| n.微薄的薪水，少量 | |
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120
solvent
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| n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的 | |
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121
scintilla
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| n.极少，微粒 | |
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122
engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
guardianship
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| n. 监护, 保护, 守护 | |
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124
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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125
abdicate
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| v.让位，辞职，放弃 | |
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