Indeed, it seemed to be by a sort of anachronism that I had ever mentioned contemporary Venetian Commerce; and I turned with exultation13 from the phantom14 transactions of the present to that solid and magnificent prosperity of the past, of which the long-enduring foundations were laid in the earliest Christian15 times. For the new cities formed by the fugitives16 from barbarian17 invasion of the main-land, during the fifth century, had hardly settled around a common democratic government on the islands of the lagoons18, when they began to develop maritime19 energies and resources; and long before this government was finally established at Rialto, (the ancient sea-port of Padua,) or Venice had become the capital of the young Republic, the Veneti had thriftily20 begun to turn the wild invaders21 of the main-land to account, to traffic with them, and to make treaties of commerce with their rulers. Theodoric, the king of the Goths, had fixed22 his capital at Ravenna, in the sixth century, and would have been glad to introduce Italian civilization among his people; but this warlike race were not prepared to practice the useful arts, and although they inhabited one of the most fruitful parts of Italy, with ample borders of sea, they were neither sailors nor tillers of the ground. The Venetians supplied them (at a fine profit, no doubt,) with the salt made in the lagoons, and with wines brought from Istria. The Goths viewed with especial amazement23 their skill in the management of their river-craft, by means of which the dauntless traders ascended24 the shallowest streams to penetrate25 the main-land, “running on the grass of the meadows, and between the stalks of the harvest field,”—just as in this day our own western steamers are known to run in a heavy dew.
The Venetians continued to extend and confirm their commerce with those helpless and hungry warriors26, and were ready also to open a lucrative27 trade with the Longobards when they descended28 into Italy about the year 570. They had, in fact, abetted29 the Longobards in their war with the Greek Emperor Justinian, (who had opposed their incursion,) and in return the barbarians30 gave them the right to hold great free marts or fairs on the shores of the lagoons, whither the people resorted from every part of the Longobard kingdom to buy the salt of the lagoons, grain from Istria and Dalmatia, and slaves from every country.
The slave-trade, indeed, formed then one of the most lucrative branches of Venetian commerce, as now it forms the greatest stain upon the annals of that commerce. The islanders, however, were not alone guilty of this infamous31 trade in men; other Italian states made profit of it, and it may be said to have been all but universal. But the Venetians were the most deeply involved in it, they pursued it the most unscrupulously, and they relinquished32 it the last. The pope forbade and execrated33 their commerce, and they sailed from the papal ports with cargoes35 of slaves for the infidels in Africa. In spite of the prohibitions36 of their own government, they bought Christians37 of kidnappers38 throughout Europe, and purchased the captives of the pirates on the seas, to sell them again to the Saracens. Nay39, being an ingenious people, they turned their honest penny over and over again: they sold the Christians to the Saracens, and then for certain sums ransomed40 them and restored them to their countries; they sold Saracens to the Christians, and plundered42 the infidels in similar transactions of ransom41 and restoration. It is not easy to fix the dates of the rise or fall of this slave-trade; but slavery continued in Venice as late as the fifteenth century, and in earlier ages was so common that every prosperous person had two or three slaves. 32 The corruption43 of the citizens at this time is properly attributed in part to the existence of slavery among them; and Mutinelli goes so far as to declare that the institution impressed permanent traits on the populace, rendering44 them idle and indisposed to honest labor, by degrading labor and making it the office of bondmen.
While this hateful and enormous traffic in man was growing up, the Venetians enriched themselves by many other more blameless and legitimate45 forms of commerce, and gradually gathered into their grasp that whole trade of the East with Europe which passed through their hands for so many ages. After the dominion46 of the Franks was established in Italy in the eighth century, they began to supply that people, more luxurious47 than the Lombards, with the costly48 stuffs, the rich jewelry49, and the perfumes of Byzantium; and held a great annual fair at the imperial city of Pavia, where they sold the Franks the manufactures of the polished and effeminate Greeks, and whence in return they carried back to the East the grain, wine, wool, iron, lumber50, and excellent armor of Lombardy.
From the time when they had assisted the Longobards against the Greeks, the Venetians found it to their interest to cultivate the friendship of the latter, until, in the twelfth century, they mastered the people so long caressed51, and took their capital, under Enrico Dandolo. The privileges conceded to the wily and thrifty52 republican traders by the Greek Emperors, were extraordinary in their extent and value. Otho, the western Caesar, having succeeded the Franks in the dominion of Italy, had already absolved53 the Venetians from the annual tribute paid the Italian kings for the liberty of traffic, and had declared their commerce free throughout the Peninsula. In the mean time they had attacked and beaten the pirates of Dalmatia, and the Greeks now recognized their rule all over Dalmatia, thus securing to the Republic every port on the eastern shores of the Adriatic. Then, as they aided the Greeks to repel54 the aggressions of the Saracens and Normans, their commerce was declared free in all the ports of the empire, and they were allowed to trade without restriction55 in all the cities, and to build warehouses56 and dép?ts throughout the dominions57 of the Greeks, wherever they chose. The harvest they reaped from the vast field thus opened to their enterprise, must have more than compensated58 them for their losses in the barbarization of the Italian continent by the incessant59 civil wars which followed the disruption of the Lombard League, when trade and industry languished60 throughout Italy. When the Crusaders had taken the Holy Land, the king of Jerusalem bestowed61 upon the Venetians, in return for important services against the infidel, the same privileges conceded them by the Greek Emperor; and when, finally, Constantinople fell into the hands of the Crusaders, (whom they had skillfully diverted from the reconquest of Palestine to the siege of the Greek metropolis,) nearly all the Greek islands fell to the share of Venice; and the Latin emperors, who succeeded the Greeks in dominion, gave her such privileges as made her complete mistress of the commerce of the Levant.
From this opulent traffic the insatiable enterprise of the Republic turned, without relinquishing63 the old, to new gains in the farthest Orient. Against her trade the exasperated64 infidel had closed the Egyptian ports, but she did not scruple65 to coax66 the barbarous prince of the Scythian Tartars, newly descended upon the shores of the Black Sea; and having secured his friendship, she proceeded, without imparting her design to her Latin allies at Constantinople, to plant a commercial colony at the mouth of the Don, where the city of Azof stands. Through this entrep?t, thenceforward, Venetian energy, with Tartar favor, directed the entire commerce of Asia with Europe, and incredibly enriched the Republic. The vastness and importance of such a trade, even at that day, when the wants of men were far simpler and fewer than now, could hardly be over-stated; and one nation then monopolized67 the traffic which is now free to the whole world. The Venetians bought their wares68 at the great marts of Samarcand, and crossed the country of Tartary in caravans69 to the shores of the Caspian Sea, where they set sail and voyaged to the River Volga, which they ascended to the point of its closest proximity70 to the Don. Their goods were then transported overland to the Don, and were again carried by water down to their mercantile colony at its mouth. Their ships, having free access to the Black Sea, could, after receiving their cargoes, return direct to Venice. The products of every country of Asia were carried into Europe by these dauntless traffickers, who, enlightened and animated71 by the travels and discoveries of Matteo, Nicolò, and Marco Polo, penetrated72 the remotest regions, and brought away the treasures which the prevalent fears and superstitions73 of other nations would have deterred74 them from seeking, even if they had possessed75 the means of access to them.
The partial civilization of the age of chivalry76 had now reached its climax77, and the class which had felt its refining effects was that best able to gratify the tastes still unknown to the great mass of the ignorant and impoverished78 people. It was a splendid time, and the robber counts and barons79 of the continent, newly tamed and Christianized into knights80, spent splendidly, as became magnificent cavaliers serving noble ladies. The Venetians, who seldom did merely heroic things, who turned the Crusades to their own account and made money out of the Holy Land, and whom one always fancies as having a half scorn of the noisy grandeur81 of chivalry, were very glad to supply the knights and ladies with the gorgeous stuffs, precious stones, and costly perfumes of the East; and they now also began to establish manufactories, and to practice the industrial arts at home. Their jewelers and workers in precious metals soon became famous throughout Europe; the glass-works of Murano rose into celebrity82 and importance which they have never since lost (for they still supply the world with beads); and they began to weave stuffs of gold tissue at Venice, and silks so exquisitely83 dyed that no cavalier or dame84 of perfect fashion was content with any other. Besides this they gilded85 leather for lining86 walls, wove carpets, and wrought87 miracles of ornament88 in wax,—a material that modern taste is apt to disdain,—while Venetian candles in chandeliers of Venetian glass lighted up the palaces of the whole civilized89 world.
The private enterprise of citizens was in every way protected and encouraged by the State, which did not, however, fail to make due and just profit out of it. The ships of the merchants always sailed to and from Venice in fleets, at stated seasons, seven fleets departing annually,—one for the Greek dominions, a second for Azof, a third for Trebizond, a fourth for Cyprus, a fifth for Armenia, a sixth for Spain, France, the Low Countries, and England, and a seventh for Africa. Each squadron of traders was accompanied and guarded from attacks of corsairs and other enemies, by a certain number of the state galleys90, let severally to the highest bidders91 for the voyage, at a price never less than about five hundred dollars of our money. The galleys were all manned and armed by the State, and the crew of each amounted to three hundred persons; including a captain, four supercargoes, eight pilots, two carpenters, two calkers, a master of the oars92, fifty cross-bowmen, three drummers, and two hundred rowers. The State also appointed a commandant of the whole squadron, with absolute authority to hear complaints, decide controversies93, and punish offences.
While the Republic was thus careful in the protection and discipline of its citizens in their commerce upon the seas, it was no less zealous94 for their security and its own dignity in their traffic with the continent of Europe. In that rude day, neither the life nor the property of the merchant who visited the ultramontane countries was safe; for the sorry device which he practiced, of taking with him a train of apes, buffoons96, dancers, and singers, in order to divert his ferocious97 patrons from robbery and murder, was not always successful. The Venetians, therefore, were forbidden by the State to trade in those parts; and the Bohemians, Germans, and Hungarians, who wished to buy their wares, were obliged to come to the lagoons and buy them at the great marts which were held in different parts of the city, and on the neighboring main-land. A triple purpose was thus served,—the Venetian merchants were protected in their lives and goods, the national honor was saved from insult, and many an honest zecchino was turned by the innkeepers and others who lodged98 and entertained the customers of the merchants.
Five of these great fairs were held every week, the chief market being at Rialto; and the transactions in trade were carefully supervised by the servants of the State. Among the magistracies especially appointed for the orderly conduct of the foreign and domestic commerce were the so-called Mercantile Consuls99 (Ufficio dei Consoli dei Mercanti), whose special duty it was to see that the traffic of the nation received no hurt from the schemes of any citizen or foreigner, and to punish offenses100 of this kind with banishment102 and even graver penalties. They measured every ship about to depart, to learn if her cargo34 exceeded the lawful103 amount; they guarded creditors104 against debtors105 and protected poor debtors against the rapacity106 of creditors, and they punished thefts sustained by the merchants. It is curious to find contemporary with this beneficent magistracy, a charge of equal dignity exercised by the College of Reprisals107. A citizen offended in his person or property abroad, demanded justice of the government of the country in which the offense101 was committed. If the demand was refused, it was repeated by the Republic; if still refused, then the Republic, although at peace with the nation from which the offense came, seized any citizen of that country whom it could find, and, through its College of Reprisals, spoiled him of sufficient property to pay the damage done to its citizen. Finally, besides several other magistracies resident in Venice, the Republic appointed Consuls in its colonies and some foreign ports, to superintend the traffic of its citizens, and to compose their controversies. The Consuls were paid out of duties levied108 on the merchandise; they were usually nobles, and acted with the advice and consent of twelve other Venetian nobles or merchants.
At this time, and, indeed, throughout its existence, the great lucrative monopoly of the Republic was the salt manufactured in the lagoons, and forced into every market, at rates that no other salt could compete with. Wherever alien enterprise attempted rivalry109, it was instantly discouraged by Venice. There were troublesome salt mines, for example, in Croatia; and in 1381 the Republic caused them to be closed by paying the King of Hungary an annual pension of seven thousand crowns of gold. The exact income of the State, however, from the monopoly of salt, or from the various imposts and duties levied upon merchandise, it is now difficult to know, and it is impossible to compute110 accurately111 the value or extent of Venetian commerce at any one time. It reached the acme112 of its prosperity under Tommaso Mocenigo, who was Doge from 1414 to 1423. There were then three thousand and three hundred vessels114 of the mercantile marine115, giving employment to thirty-three thousand seamen116, and netting to their owners a profit of forty per cent, on the capital invested. How great has been the decline of this trade may be understood from the fact that in 1863 it amounted, according to the careful statistics of the Chamber of Commerce, to only $60,229,740, and that the number of vessels now owned in Venice is one hundred and fifty. As the total tonnage of these is but 26,000, it may be inferred that they are small craft, and in fact they are nearly all coasting vessels. They no longer bring to Venice the drugs and spices and silks of Samarcand, or carry her own rare manufactures to the ports of western Europe; but they sail to and from her canals with humble117 freights of grain, lumber, and hemp118. Almost as many Greek as Venetian ships now visit the old queen, who once levied a tax upon every foreign vessel113 in her Adriatic; and the shipping119 from the cities of the kingdom of Italy exceeds hers by ninety sail, while the tonnage of Great Britain is vastly greater. Her commerce has not only wasted to the shadow of its former magnitude, but it has also almost entirely120 lost its distinctive121 character. Glass of Murano is still exported to a value of about two millions of dollars annually; but in this industry, as in nearly all others of the lagoons, there is an annual decline. The trade of the port falls off from one to three millions of dollars yearly, and the manufacturing interests of the province have dwindled122 in the same proportion. So far as silk is concerned, there has been an immediate123 cause for the decrease in the disease which has afflicted124 the cocoons125 for several years past. Wine and oil are at present articles of import solely,—the former because of a malady126 of the grape, the latter because of negligent127 cultivation128 of the olive.
A considerable number of persons are still employed in the manufacture of objects of taste and ornament; and in the Ruga Vecchia at Rialto they yet make the famous Venetian gold chain, which few visitors to the city can have failed to notice hanging in strands129 and wound upon spools130, in the shop windows of the Old Procuratie and the Bridge of Rialto. It is wrought of all degrees of fineness, and is always so flexile that it may be folded and wound in any shape. It is now no longer made in great quantity, and is chiefly worn by contadine (as a safe investment of their ready money), 33 and old-fashioned people of the city, who display the finer sort in skeins or strands. At Chioggia, I remember to have seen a babe at its christening in church literally131 manacled and shackled132 with Venetian chain; and the little girl who came to us one day, to show us the splendors134 in which she had appeared at a disputa (examination of children in doctrine), was loaded with it. Formerly135, in the luxurious days of the Republic, it is said the chain was made as fine as sewing-silk, and worn embroidered136 on Genoa velvet137 by the patrician138 dames139. It had then a cruel interest from the fact that its manufacture, after a time, cost the artisans their eyesight, so nice and subtle was the work. I could not help noticing that the workmen at the shops in the Ruga Vecchia still suffer in their eyes, even though the work is much coarser. I do not hope to describe the chain, except by saying that the links are horseshoe and oval shaped, and are connected by twos,—an oval being welded crosswise into a horseshoe, and so on, each two being linked loosely into the next.
An infinitely140 more important art, in which Venice was distinguished141 a thousand years ago, has recently been revived there by Signor Salviati, an enthusiast142 in mosaic143 painting. His establishment is on the Grand Canal, not far from the Academy, and you might go by the old palace quite unsuspicious of the ancient art stirring with new life in its breast. “A. Salviati, Avvocato,” is the legend of the bell-pull, and you do not by any means take this legal style for that of the restorer of a neglected art, and a possessor of forgotten secrets in gilded glass and “smalts,” as they term the small delicate rods of vitreous substance, with which the wonders of the art are achieved. But inside of the palace are some two hundred artisans at work,—cutting the smalts and glass into the minute fragments of which the mosaics144 are made, grinding and smoothing these fragments, polishing the completed works, and reproducing, with incredible patience and skill, the lights and shadows of the pictures to be copied.
You first enter the rooms of those whose talent distinguishes them as artists, and in whose work all the wonderful neatness and finish and long-suffering toil145 of the Byzantines are visible, as well as original life and inspiration alike impossible and profane146 to the elder mosaicists. Each artist has at hand a great variety of the slender stems of smalts already mentioned, and breaking these into minute fragments as he proceeds, he inserts them in the bed of cement prepared to receive his picture, and thus counterfeits148 in enduring mineral the perishable149 work of the painter.
In other rooms artisans are at work upon various tasks of marqueterie,—table-tops, album-covers, paper-weights, brooches, pins and the like,—and in others they are sawing the smalts and glass into strips, and grinding the edges. Passing through yet another room, where the finished mosaic-works—of course not the pictorial150 mosaics—are polished by machinery151, we enter the store-room, where the crowded shelves display blocks of smalts and glass of endless variety of color. By far the greater number of these colors are discoveries or improvements of the venerable mosaicist147 Lorenzo Radi, who has found again the Byzantine secrets of counterfeiting152, in vitreous paste, aventurine (gold stone), onyx, chalcedony, malachite, and other natural stones, and who has been praised by the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice for producing mosaics even more durable153 in tint154 and workmanship than those of the Byzantine artists.
In an upper story of the palace a room is set apart for the exhibition of the many beautiful and costly things which the art of the establishment produces. Here, besides pictures in mosaic, there are cunningly inlaid tables and cabinets, caskets, rich vases of chalcedony mounted in silver, and delicately wrought jewelry, while the floor is covered with a mosaic pavement ordered for the Viceroy of Egypt. There are here, moreover, to be seen the designs furnished by the Crown Princess of Prussia for the mosaics of the Queen’s Chapel155 at Windsor. These, like all other pictures and decorations in mosaic, are completed in the establishment on the Grand Canal, and are afterward156 put up as wholes in the places intended for them.
In Venice nothing in decay is strange. But it is startling to find her in her old age nourishing into fresh life an art that, after feebly preserving the memory of painting for so many centuries, had decorated her prime only with the glories of its decline;—for Kugler ascribes the completion of the mosaics of the church of St. Cyprian in Murano to the year 882, and the earliest mosaics of St. Mark’s to the tenth or eleventh centuries, when the Greek Church had already laid her ascetic157 hand on Byzantine art, and fixed its conventional forms, paralyzed its motives158, and forbidden its inspirations. I think, however, one would look about him in vain for other evidences of a returning prosperity in the lagoons. The old prosperity of Venice, was based upon her monopoly of the most lucrative traffic in the world, as we have already seen,—upon her exclusive privileges in foreign countries, upon the enlightened zeal95 of her government, and upon men’s imperfect knowledge of geography, and the barbarism of the rest of Europe, as well as upon the indefatigable159 industry and intelligent enterprise of her citizens. America was still undiscovered; the overland route to India was the only one known; the people of the continent outside of Italy were unthrifty serfs, ruled and ruined by unthrifty lords. The whole world’s ignorance, pride, and sloth160 were Venetian gain; and the religious superstitions of the day, which, gross as they were, embodied161 perhaps its noblest and most hopeful sentiment, were a source of incalculable profit to the sharp-witted mistress of the Adriatic. It was the age of penances162, pilgrimages, and relic-hunting, and the wealth which she wrung163 from the devotion of others was exceedingly great. Her ships carried the pilgrims to and from the Holy Land; her adventurers ransacked164 Palestine and the whole Orient for the bones and memorials of the saints; and her merchants sold the precious relics165 throughout Europe at an immense advance upon first cost.
But the foundations of this prosperity were at last tapped by the tide of wealth which poured into Venice from every quarter of the world. Her citizens brought back the vices62 as well as the luxuries of the debauched Orient, and the city became that seat of splendid idleness and proud corruption which it continued till the Republic fell. It is needless here to rehearse the story of her magnificence and decay. At the time when the hardy166, hungry people of other nations were opening paths to prosperity by land and sea, the Venetians, gorged167 with the spoils of ages, relinquished their old habits of daring enterprise, and dropped back into luxury and indolence. Their incessant wars with the Genoese began, and though they signally defeated the rival Republic in battle, Genoa finally excelled in commerce. A Greek prince had arisen to dispute the sovereignty of the Latin Emperors, whom the Venetians had helped to place upon the Byzantine throne; the Genoese, seeing the favorable fortunes of the Greek, threw the influence of their arms and intrigues168 in his favor, and the Latins were expelled from Constantinople in 1271. The new Greek Emperor had promised to give the sole navigation of the Black Sea to his allies, together with the church and palaces possessed by the Venetians in his capital, and he bestowed also upon the Genoese the city of Smyrna. It does not seem that he fulfilled literally all his promises, for the Venetians still continued to sail to and from their colony of Tana, at the head of the Sea of Azof, though it is certain that they had no longer the sovereignty of those waters; and the Genoese now planted on the shores of the Black Sea three large and important colonies to serve as entrep?ts for the trade taken from their rivals. The oriental traffic of the latter was maintained through Tana, however, for nearly two centuries later, when, in 1410, the Mongol Tartars, under Tamerlane, fell upon the devoted169 colony, took, sacked, burnt, and utterly170 destroyed it. This was the first terrible blow to the most magnificent commerce which the world had ever seen, and which had endured for ages. No wonder that, on the day of Tana’s fall, terrible portents171 of woe172 were seen at Venice,—that meteors appeared, that demons173 rode the air, that the winds and waters rose and blew down houses and swallowed ships! A thousand persons are said to have perished in the calamities174 which commemorated175 a stroke so mortally disastrous176 to the national grandeur. After that the Venetians humbly177 divided with their ancient foes178 the possession and maintenance of the Genoese colony of Caffa, and continued, with greatly diminished glory, their traffic in the Black Sea; till the Turks having taken Constantinople, and the Greeks having acquired under their alien masters a zeal for commerce unknown to them during the times of their native princes, the Venetians were finally, on the first pretext179 of war, expelled from those waters in which they had latterly maintained themselves only by payment of heavy tribute to the Turks.
In the mean time the industrial arts, in which Venice had heretofore excelled, began to be practiced elsewhere, and the Florentines and the English took that lead in the manufactures of the world, which the latter still retain. The league of the Hanseatic cities was established and rose daily in importance. At London, at Bruges, at Bergen, and Novogorod banks were opened under the protection and special favor of the Hanseatic League; its ships were preferred to any other, and the tide of commerce setting northward180, the cities of the League persecuted181 the foreigners who would have traded in their ports. On the west, Barcelona began to dispute the pre?minence of Venice in the Mediterranean182, and Spanish salt was brought to Italy itself and sold by the enterprising Catalonians. Their corsairs vexed183 Venetian commerce everywhere; and in that day, as in our own, private English enterprise was employed in piratical depredations184 on the traffic of a friendly power.
The Portuguese185 also began to extend their commerce, once so important, and catching186 the rage for discovery then prevalent, infested187 every sea in search of unknown land. One of their navigators, sailing by a chart which a monk188 named Fra Mauro, in his convent on the island of San Michele, had put together from the stories of travelers, and his own guesses at geography, discovered the Cape189 of Good Hope, and the trade of India with Europe was turned in that direction, and the old over-land traffic perished. The Venetian monopoly of this traffic had long been gone; had its recovery been possible, it would now have been useless to the declining prosperity of the Republic.
It remained for Christopher Columbus, born of that Genoese nation which had hated the Venetians so long and so bitterly, to make the discovery of America, and thus to give the death-blow to the supremacy190 of Venice. While all these discoveries were taking place, the old queen of the seas had been weighed down with many and unequal wars. Her naval191 power had been everywhere crippled; her revenues had been reduced; her possessions, one after one, had been lopped away; and at the time Columbus was on his way to America half Europe, united in the League of Cambray, was attempting to crush the Republic of Venice.
The whole world was now changed. Commerce sought new channels; fortune smiled on other nations. How Venice dragged onward192 from the end of her commercial greatness, and tottered193 with a delusive194 splendor133 to her political death, is surely one of the saddest of stories if not the sternest of lessons.
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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consular
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| a.领事的 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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eked
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| v.（靠节省用量）使…的供应持久( eke的过去式和过去分词 )；节约使用；竭力维持生计；勉强度日 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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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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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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lagoons
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| n.污水池( lagoon的名词复数 )；潟湖；（大湖或江河附近的）小而浅的淡水湖；温泉形成的池塘 | |
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maritime
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| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
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thriftily
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| 节俭地； 繁茂地； 繁荣的 | |
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invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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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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amazement
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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26
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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27
lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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28
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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29
abetted
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| v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持 | |
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30
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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31
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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32
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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33
execrated
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| v.憎恶( execrate的过去式和过去分词 )；厌恶；诅咒；咒骂 | |
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34
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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35
cargoes
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| n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负 | |
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36
prohibitions
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| 禁令，禁律( prohibition的名词复数 )； 禁酒； 禁例 | |
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37
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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38
kidnappers
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| n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 ) | |
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39
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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40
ransomed
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| 付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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42
plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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44
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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45
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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46
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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47
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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48
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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49
jewelry
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| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
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50
lumber
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|
| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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51
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
thrifty
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| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
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53
absolved
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| 宣告…无罪，赦免…的罪行，宽恕…的罪行( absolve的过去式和过去分词 )； 不受责难，免除责任 [义务] ,开脱（罪责） | |
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54
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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55
restriction
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| n.限制，约束 | |
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56
warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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57
dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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58
compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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59
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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60
languished
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| 长期受苦( languish的过去式和过去分词 )； 受折磨； 变得（越来越）衰弱； 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐 | |
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61
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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63
relinquishing
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的现在分词 )； 放弃 | |
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64
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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65
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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66
coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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67
monopolized
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| v.垄断( monopolize的过去式和过去分词 )；独占；专卖；专营 | |
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68
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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69
caravans
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| （可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队） | |
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70
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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71
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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72
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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73
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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74
deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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76
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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77
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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78
impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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79
barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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80
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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81
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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82
celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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83
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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84
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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85
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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86
lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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87
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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88
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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89
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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90
galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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91
bidders
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| n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 ) | |
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92
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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93
controversies
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| 争论 | |
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94
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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95
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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96
buffoons
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| n.愚蠢的人( buffoon的名词复数 )；傻瓜；逗乐小丑；滑稽的人 | |
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97
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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98
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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99
consuls
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| 领事( consul的名词复数 )； （古罗马共和国时期）执政官 （古罗马共和国及其军队的最高首长，同时共有两位，每年选举一次） | |
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100
offenses
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| n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势 | |
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101
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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102
banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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103
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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104
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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105
debtors
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| n.债务人，借方( debtor的名词复数 ) | |
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106
rapacity
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| n.贪婪，贪心，劫掠的欲望 | |
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107
reprisals
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| n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 ) | |
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108
levied
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| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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109
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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110
compute
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| v./n.计算，估计 | |
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111
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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112
acme
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| n.顶点，极点 | |
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113
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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114
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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115
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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116
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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117
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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118
hemp
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| n.大麻；纤维 | |
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119
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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120
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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121
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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122
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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124
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
cocoons
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| n.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的名词复数 )v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的第三人称单数 ) | |
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126
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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127
negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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128
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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129
strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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130
spools
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| n.（绕线、铁线、照相软片等的）管( spool的名词复数 )；络纱；纺纱机；绕圈轴工人v.把…绕到线轴上（或从线轴上绕下来）( spool的第三人称单数 )；假脱机（输出或输入） | |
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131
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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132
shackled
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| 给（某人）带上手铐或脚镣( shackle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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133
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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134
splendors
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| n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 )；壮丽；光辉；显赫 | |
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135
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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136
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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137
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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138
patrician
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| adj.贵族的，显贵的；n.贵族；有教养的人；罗马帝国的地方官 | |
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139
dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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140
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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141
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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142
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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143
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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144
mosaics
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|
| n.马赛克( mosaic的名词复数 )；镶嵌；镶嵌工艺；镶嵌图案 | |
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145
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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146
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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147
mosaicist
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| n.镶嵌细工师，镶嵌细工商 | |
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148
counterfeits
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| v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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149
perishable
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| adj.（尤指食物）易腐的，易坏的 | |
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150
pictorial
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| adj.绘画的；图片的；n．画报 | |
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151
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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152
counterfeiting
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| n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 ) | |
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153
durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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154
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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155
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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156
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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157
ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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158
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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159
indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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160
sloth
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| n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散 | |
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161
embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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162
penances
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| n.（赎罪的）苦行，苦修( penance的名词复数 ) | |
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163
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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164
ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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165
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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166
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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167
gorged
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
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168
intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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169
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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170
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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171
portents
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| n.预兆( portent的名词复数 )；征兆；怪事；奇物 | |
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172
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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173
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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174
calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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175
commemorated
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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176
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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177
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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178
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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179
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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180
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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181
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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182
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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183
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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184
depredations
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| n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 ) | |
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185
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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186
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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187
infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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188
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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189
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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190
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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191
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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192
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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193
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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194
delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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