When she came back to consciousness, with her hair shorn and wan10 little hands upon the coverlet, she recognised our tender mother seated beside her bed, and contentedly11 shortening her last new frock for my second sister. She[Pg 213] offered up the mortification12 for her sins, and instantly said a prayer to her patron saint, Agnes. At dinner she never ate pudding or pie, not even damson-pie, for which I in those gluttonous13 days would have sold, not only my own soul, but hers as well; but after dinner she invariably carried her share of these luxurious14 edibles15 to the nearest poor person.
She visited the poor continually, always provided with tea and sugar and such things; and Pauline, who accompanied her on these missions of mercy, assured me that she often saw the pet cases of misery16 dash under the bed excellent dishes of bacon and eggs and bottles of Guinness' stout17, while the traditional invalid18 would jump into bed, gather the clothes about her, and begin to whine19, "Sure, your little ladyship, 'tis our lonesome selves as hasn't had bit or sup since last we saw your purty face."
My eldest sister was a bewitching beauty. She had large dusky blue eyes in constant communion with the heavenly spheres. She had ruddy golden hair that shown adown her back like pounded guineas, and her complexion20 was a thing to gape21 at. Indeed we had all inherited from our mother wonderful golden locks and dazzling complexions22.
This sentimental23 and saintly creature wrought24 the utmost havoc25 around her, and went dreamily through life unconscious or sublimely26 indifferent, with her gaze of impassioned sadness fixed27 upon her heavenly home. Youths went down before her like ninepins, and trembled when they addressed her. One lad of sixteen rode past the door with a crimson28 cravat29, which he fondly hoped to be becoming, and the moody30 intensity31 of expression that betokens32 a broken heart. She minded him not. She was reading "Fabiola" for the hundredth time in the front garden. The gate was open. In his amorous33 distraction34 the youth forgot the proprieties35, and rode through the gate in lordly style. The door likewise was open, and the pony36 gallantly37 galloped38 into the hall.
My sister's dismay was nothing to the youth's. He stammered39 and stuttered and went so red that the wonder was he ever grew pale again. But we were used to these commotions40 aroused by our young Saint Agnes in the bosom41 of excitable youth. It did not hurt her, and it did not harm them. With gracious gravity she escorted the poor lad to the gate; but we who knew her knew that she was stifling42 with suppressed laughter. For my eldest sister had a[Pg 215] pretty humour, even an irony43 of her own, and gaiety, as will be seen, was not contraband44 in her religion.
She constituted herself our veritable mother in that old rambling45 house of Dalkey. She ruled us like an autocrat46, and punished us with a lamentable47 severity. To teach us self-control and fearlessness, she insisted that the smallest baby should be taken in her night-dress, half asleep, and flung into the wild Irish sea that roared at the foot of the garden. No mercy was shown a recalcitrant48 babe. Howl she never so dolorously49, she was plunged50 in head-foremost, sputtering51 salt through her rebellious52 lips.
At night, when our parents stayed in town, she gathered us together in the long low drawing-room, and insisted that we should examine our consciences, meditate53, and say the Rosary aloud to keep away robbers and ghosts. All the boys got to know of this edifying54 practice, and outside the window a crowd of arch-villains would gather, and shout the responses derisively55. We could hear Arthur's high-bred tones sing out "Holy Mary, Mother of God," above the deep bass56 notes of the red-headed chief. Arthur's brother, an elegant guardsman, staying with the old lord for a couple of weeks, often [Pg 216]condescended to join the band of reprobates57; and once I peeped out through the big chinks of the shutter58, and saw the man of fashion, with the hall-light directly upon his lean and bronzed visage, eyes devoutly59 lifted to heaven in mimicry60 of my eldest sister's ecstatic gaze, and hands folded like those of a stained-glass picture: "Holy Mary! pray for me, a miserable61 sinner. Blessed St. Agnes, help, oh help to convert me!"
Even the devotion of my eldest sister was unsettled, and we could see her mobile lips twitch62. It sufficed to reveal to us that the autocrat was off guard, and we lay about the floor, and shrieked with delight.
Whenever he met my eldest sister upon the roads or rocks, the elegant guardsman raised his hat with the air of a prince, and never a hint about him of nocturnal iniquities63.
But austere64 as she was in all things pertaining65 to discipline and religion, she allowed us unbounded freedom out-of-doors. Some notion of our use of that liberty may be seized from the following ejaculations of an elderly bachelor, a political friend, who came to visit my stepfather, and was confronted with this young saint of the golden locks, the established mistress of a large household.
The elderly gentleman, looking out of the window in front, perceived two little boots dangling66 from the branch of a high tree, almost against the heaven.
"Who's up that tall tree?" asked the elderly gentleman.
"Oh, that's Angela. She always reads up there."
"Bless my soul!" exclaimed the elderly gentleman.
After further conversation, he walked down the room to examine the view from the back. In gazing across the sea, seemingly near Howth, he detected a rock point surrounded with heavy waves, and two little specks67 upon this rock.
"It looks as if there were some creatures in danger of being drowned," remarked the elderly gentleman.
"Oh, not at all. That's Pauline's rock. She and Birdie always go out when the tide is out, and spend the whole day wading68 there, and they come back when the tide runs out again."
"My God!" cried the elderly gentleman.
Looking later up to the stable roof, he saw three little golden heads bent69 over cards.
"What's that?" he blankly asked.
"Those are the three youngest, playing beggar-my-neighbour on the roof."
"What extraordinary children!" muttered the elderly gentleman.
She devised a notable and original punishment for me whenever I flew into one of my diabolical70 rages. She would order Miss Kitty, the sentimental little stitcher, to hold my feet, a servant to hold my head, and while I lay thus on the ground in durance vile71, she would piously73 besprinkle me with holy water, and audibly beseech74 the Lord and my guardian75 angel to deliver me of the devil. It would be difficult for me to conceive an operation more suitable as entertainment of the devil than my sister's pious72 and fiendish method of obtaining his dismissal. The first thing I inevitably76 did, when liberated77, was to go into the yard, and pump all the holy water off my wicked person. Then, dripping like a Newfoundland, I would return to the house and decline to change my dress or shoes, in the vociferated hope of immediate78 death from consumption.

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1
eldest
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adj.最年长的,最年老的 | |
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2
sage
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n.圣人,哲人;adj.贤明的,明智的 | |
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3
Christian
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adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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martyr
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n.烈士,殉难者;vt.杀害,折磨,牺牲 | |
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5
shrieked
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v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dismally
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adv.阴暗地,沉闷地 | |
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fervently
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adv.热烈地,热情地,强烈地 | |
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8
devoured
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吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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9
ravening
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a.贪婪而饥饿的 | |
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10
wan
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(wide area network)广域网 | |
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contentedly
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adv.心满意足地 | |
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12
mortification
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n.耻辱,屈辱 | |
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13
gluttonous
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adj.贪吃的,贪婪的 | |
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14
luxurious
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adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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15
edibles
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可以吃的,可食用的( edible的名词复数 ); 食物 | |
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16
misery
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n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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18
invalid
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n.病人,伤残人;adj.有病的,伤残的;无效的 | |
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19
whine
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v.哀号,号哭;n.哀鸣 | |
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20
complexion
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n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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21
gape
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v.张口,打呵欠,目瞪口呆地凝视 | |
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22
complexions
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肤色( complexion的名词复数 ); 面色; 局面; 性质 | |
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23
sentimental
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adj.多愁善感的,感伤的 | |
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24
wrought
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v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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25
havoc
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n.大破坏,浩劫,大混乱,大杂乱 | |
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sublimely
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高尚地,卓越地 | |
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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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28
crimson
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n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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29
cravat
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n.领巾,领结;v.使穿有领结的服装,使结领结 | |
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30
moody
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adj.心情不稳的,易怒的,喜怒无常的 | |
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31
intensity
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n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度 | |
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32
betokens
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v.预示,表示( betoken的第三人称单数 ) | |
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33
amorous
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adj.多情的;有关爱情的 | |
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34
distraction
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n.精神涣散,精神不集中,消遣,娱乐 | |
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35
proprieties
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n.礼仪,礼节;礼貌( propriety的名词复数 );规矩;正当;合适 | |
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36
pony
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adj.小型的;n.小马 | |
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37
gallantly
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adv. 漂亮地,勇敢地,献殷勤地 | |
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38
galloped
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(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事 | |
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39
stammered
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v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
commotions
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n.混乱,喧闹,骚动( commotion的名词复数 ) | |
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41
bosom
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n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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42
stifling
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a.令人窒息的 | |
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43
irony
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n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄 | |
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44
contraband
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n.违禁品,走私品 | |
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45
rambling
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adj.[建]凌乱的,杂乱的 | |
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46
autocrat
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n.独裁者;专横的人 | |
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47
lamentable
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adj.令人惋惜的,悔恨的 | |
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recalcitrant
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adj.倔强的 | |
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49
dolorously
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adj. 悲伤的;痛苦的;悲哀的;阴沉的 | |
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50
plunged
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v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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51
sputtering
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n.反应溅射法;飞溅;阴极真空喷镀;喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 );发劈啪声;喷出;飞溅出 | |
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52
rebellious
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adj.造反的,反抗的,难控制的 | |
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53
meditate
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v.想,考虑,(尤指宗教上的)沉思,冥想 | |
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54
edifying
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adj.有教训意味的,教训性的,有益的v.开导,启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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55
derisively
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adv. 嘲笑地,嘲弄地 | |
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56
bass
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n.男低音(歌手);低音乐器;低音大提琴 | |
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57
reprobates
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n.道德败坏的人,恶棍( reprobate的名词复数 ) | |
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58
shutter
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n.百叶窗;(照相机)快门;关闭装置 | |
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59
devoutly
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adv.虔诚地,虔敬地,衷心地 | |
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60
mimicry
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n.(生物)拟态,模仿 | |
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61
miserable
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adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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62
twitch
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v.急拉,抽动,痉挛,抽搐;n.扯,阵痛,痉挛 | |
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63
iniquities
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n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 );极不公正 | |
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64
austere
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adj.艰苦的;朴素的,朴实无华的;严峻的 | |
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65
pertaining
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与…有关系的,附属…的,为…固有的(to) | |
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66
dangling
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悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 ); 摆动不定; 用某事物诱惑…; 吊胃口 | |
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67
specks
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n.眼镜;斑点,微粒,污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
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68
wading
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(从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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69
bent
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n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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70
diabolical
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adj.恶魔似的,凶暴的 | |
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71
vile
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adj.卑鄙的,可耻的,邪恶的;坏透的 | |
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72
pious
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adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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73
piously
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adv.虔诚地 | |
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74
beseech
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v.祈求,恳求 | |
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75
guardian
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n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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76
inevitably
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adv.不可避免地;必然发生地 | |
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77
liberated
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a.无拘束的,放纵的 | |
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78
immediate
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adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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