“Master Volodya’s here!” bawled1 Natalya the cook, running into the dining-room. “Oh, my goodness!”
The whole Korolyov family, who had been expecting their Volodya from hour to hour, rushed to the windows. At the front door stood a wide sledge2, with three white horses in a cloud of steam. The sledge was empty, for Volodya was already in the hall, untying3 his hood4 with red and chilly5 fingers. His school overcoat, his cap, his snowboots, and the hair on his temples were all white with frost, and his whole figure from head to foot diffused6 such a pleasant, fresh smell of the snow that the very sight of him made one want to shiver and say “brrr!”
His mother and aunt ran to kiss and hug him. Natalya plumped down at his feet and began pulling off his snowboots, his sisters shrieked7 with delight, the doors creaked and banged, and Volodya’s father, in his waistcoat and shirt-sleeves, ran out into the hall with scissors in his hand, and cried out in alarm:
“We were expecting you all yesterday? Did you come all right? Had a good journey? Mercy on us! you might let him say ‘how do you do’ to his father! I am his father after all!”
“Bow-wow!” barked the huge black dog, Milord, in a deep bass8, tapping with his tail on the walls and furniture.
For two minutes there was nothing but a general hubbub9 of joy. After the first outburst of delight was over the Korolyovs noticed that there was, besides their Volodya, another small person in the hall, wrapped up in scarves and shawls and white with frost. He was standing10 perfectly11 still in a corner, in the shadow of a big fox-lined overcoat.
“Volodya darling, who is it?” asked his mother, in a whisper.
“Oh!” cried Volodya. “This is—let me introduce my friend Lentilov, a schoolfellow in the second class. . . . I have brought him to stay with us.”
“Delighted to hear it! You are very welcome,” the father said cordially. “Excuse me, I’ve been at work without my coat. . . . Please come in! Natalya, help Mr. Lentilov off with his things. Mercy on us, do turn that dog out! He is unendurable!”
A few minutes later, Volodya and his friend Lentilov, somewhat dazed by their noisy welcome, and still red from the outside cold, were sitting down to tea. The winter sun, making its way through the snow and the frozen tracery on the window-panes, gleamed on the samovar, and plunged12 its pure rays in the tea-basin. The room was warm, and the boys felt as though the warmth and the frost were struggling together with a tingling13 sensation in their bodies.
“Well, Christmas will soon be here,” the father said in a pleasant sing-song voice, rolling a cigarette of dark reddish tobacco. “It doesn’t seem long since the summer, when mamma was crying at your going . . . and here you are back again. . . . Time flies, my boy. Before you have time to cry out, old age is upon you. Mr. Lentilov, take some more, please help yourself! We don’t stand on ceremony!”
Volodya’s three sisters, Katya, Sonya, and Masha (the eldest14 was eleven), sat at the table and never took their eyes off the newcomer.
Lentilov was of the same height and age as Volodya, but not as round-faced and fair-skinned. He was thin, dark, and freckled15; his hair stood up like a brush, his eyes were small, and his lips were thick. He was, in fact, distinctly ugly, and if he had not been wearing the school uniform, he might have been taken for the son of a cook. He seemed morose16, did not speak, and never once smiled. The little girls, staring at him, immediately came to the conclusion that he must be a very clever and learned person. He seemed to be thinking about something all the time, and was so absorbed in his own thoughts, that, whenever he was spoken to, he started, threw his head back, and asked to have the question repeated.
The little girls noticed that Volodya, who had always been so merry and talkative, also said very little, did not smile at all, and hardly seemed to be glad to be home. All the time they were at tea he only once addressed his sisters, and then he said something so strange. He pointed17 to the samovar and said:
“In California they don’t drink tea, but gin.”
He, too, seemed absorbed in his own thoughts, and, to judge by the looks that passed between him and his friend Lentilov, their thoughts were the same.
After tea, they all went into the nursery. The girls and their father took up the work that had been interrupted by the arrival of the boys. They were making flowers and frills for the Christmas tree out of paper of different colours. It was an attractive and noisy occupation. Every fresh flower was greeted by the little girls with shrieks18 of delight, even of awe19, as though the flower had dropped straight from heaven; their father was in ecstasies20 too, and every now and then he threw the scissors on the floor, in vexation at their bluntness. Their mother kept running into the nursery with an anxious face, asking:
“Who has taken my scissors? Ivan Nikolaitch, have you taken my scissors again?”
“Mercy on us! I’m not even allowed a pair of scissors!” their father would respond in a lachrymose21 voice, and, flinging himself back in his chair, he would pretend to be a deeply injured man; but a minute later, he would be in ecstasies again.
On his former holidays Volodya, too, had taken part in the preparations for the Christmas tree, or had been running in the yard to look at the snow mountain that the watchman and the shepherd were building. But this time Volodya and Lentilov took no notice whatever of the coloured paper, and did not once go into the stable. They sat in the window and began whispering to one another; then they opened an atlas23 and looked carefully at a map.
“First to Perm . . .” Lentilov said, in an undertone, “from there to Tiumen, then Tomsk . . . then . . . then . . . Kamchatka. There the Samoyedes take one over Behring’s Straits in boats . . . . And then we are in America. . . . There are lots of furry24 animals there. . . .”
“And California?” asked Volodya.
“California is lower down. . . . We’ve only to get to America and California is not far off. . . . And one can get a living by hunting and plunder25.”
All day long Lentilov avoided the little girls, and seemed to look at them with suspicion. In the evening he happened to be left alone with them for five minutes or so. It was awkward to be silent.
He cleared his throat morosely26, rubbed his left hand against his right, looked sullenly27 at Katya and asked:
“Have you read Mayne Reid?”
“No, I haven’t. . . . I say, can you skate?”
Absorbed in his own reflections, Lentilov made no reply to this question; he simply puffed28 out his cheeks, and gave a long sigh as though he were very hot. He looked up at Katya once more and said:
“When a herd22 of bisons stampedes across the prairie the earth trembles, and the frightened mustangs kick and neigh.”
He smiled impressively and added:
“And the Indians attack the trains, too. But worst of all are the mosquitoes and the termites29.”
“Why, what’s that?”
“They’re something like ants, but with wings. They bite fearfully. Do you know who I am?”
“Mr. Lentilov.”
“No, I am Montehomo, the Hawk’s Claw, Chief of the Ever Victorious30.”
Masha, the youngest, looked at him, then into the darkness out of window and said, wondering:
“And we had lentils for supper yesterday.”
Lentilov’s incomprehensible utterances31, and the way he was always whispering with Volodya, and the way Volodya seemed now to be always thinking about something instead of playing . . . all this was strange and mysterious. And the two elder girls, Katya and Sonya, began to keep a sharp look-out on the boys. At night, when the boys had gone to bed, the girls crept to their bedroom door, and listened to what they were saying. Ah, what they discovered! The boys were planning to run away to America to dig for gold: they had everything ready for the journey, a pistol, two knives, biscuits, a burning glass to serve instead of matches, a compass, and four roubles in cash. They learned that the boys would have to walk some thousands of miles, and would have to fight tigers and savages32 on the road: then they would get gold and ivory, slay33 their enemies, become pirates, drink gin, and finally marry beautiful maidens34, and make a plantation35.
The boys interrupted each other in their excitement. Throughout the conversation, Lentilov called himself “Montehomo, the Hawk’s Claw,” and Volodya was “my pale-face brother!”
“Mind you don’t tell mamma,” said Katya, as they went back to bed. “Volodya will bring us gold and ivory from America, but if you tell mamma he won’t be allowed to go.”
The day before Christmas Eve, Lentilov spent the whole day poring over the map of Asia and making notes, while Volodya, with a languid and swollen36 face that looked as though it had been stung by a bee, walked about the rooms and ate nothing. And once he stood still before the holy image in the nursery, crossed himself, and said:
“Lord, forgive me a sinner; Lord, have pity on my poor unhappy mamma!”
In the evening he burst out crying. On saying good-night he gave his father a long hug, and then hugged his mother and sisters. Katya and Sonya knew what was the matter, but little Masha was puzzled, completely puzzled. Every time she looked at Lentilov she grew thoughtful and said with a sigh:
“When Lent comes, nurse says we shall have to eat peas and lentils.”
Early in the morning of Christmas Eve, Katya and Sonya slipped quietly out of bed, and went to find out how the boys meant to run away to America. They crept to their door.
“Then you don’t mean to go?” Lentilov was saying angrily. “Speak out: aren’t you going?”
“Oh dear,” Volodya wept softly. “How can I go? I feel so unhappy about mamma.”
“My pale-face brother, I pray you, let us set off. You declared you were going, you egged me on, and now the time comes, you funk it!”
“I . . . I . . . I’m not funking it, but I . . . I . . . I’m sorry for mamma.”
“Say once and for all, are you going or are you not?”
“I am going, only . . . wait a little . . . I want to be at home a little.”
“In that case I will go by myself,” Lentilov declared. “I can get on without you. And you wanted to hunt tigers and fight! Since that’s how it is, give me back my cartridges37!”
At this Volodya cried so bitterly that his sisters could not help crying too. Silence followed.
“So you are not coming?” Lentilov began again.
“I . . . I . . . I am coming!”
“Well, put on your things, then.”
And Lentilov tried to cheer Volodya up by singing the praises of America, growling38 like a tiger, pretending to be a steamer, scolding him, and promising39 to give him all the ivory and lions’ and tigers’ skins.
And this thin, dark boy, with his freckles40 and his bristling41 shock of hair, impressed the little girls as an extraordinary remarkable42 person. He was a hero, a determined43 character, who knew no fear, and he growled44 so ferociously45, that, standing at the door, they really might imagine there was a tiger or lion inside. When the little girls went back to their room and dressed, Katya’s eyes were full of tears, and she said:
“Oh, I feel so frightened!”
Everything was as usual till two o’clock, when they sat down to dinner. Then it appeared that the boys were not in the house. They sent to the servants’ quarters, to the stables, to the bailiff’s cottage. They were not to be found. They sent into the village— they were not there.
At tea, too, the boys were still absent, and by supper-time Volodya’s mother was dreadfully uneasy, and even shed tears.
Late in the evening they sent again to the village, they searched everywhere, and walked along the river bank with lanterns. Heavens! what a fuss there was!
Next day the police officer came, and a paper of some sort was written out in the dining-room. Their mother cried. . . .
All of a sudden a sledge stopped at the door, with three white horses in a cloud of steam.
“Volodya’s come,” someone shouted in the yard.
“Master Volodya’s here!” bawled Natalya, running into the dining-room. And Milord barked his deep bass, “bow-wow.”
It seemed that the boys had been stopped in the Arcade46, where they had gone from shop to shop asking where they could get gunpowder47.
Volodya burst into sobs48 as soon as he came into the hall, and flung himself on his mother’s neck. The little girls, trembling, wondered with terror what would happen next. They saw their father take Volodya and Lentilov into his study, and there he talked to them a long while.
“Is this a proper thing to do?” their father said to them. “I only pray they won’t hear of it at school, you would both be expelled. You ought to be ashamed, Mr. Lentilov, really. It’s not at all the thing to do! You began it, and I hope you will be punished by your parents. How could you? Where did you spend the night?”
“At the station,” Lentilov answered proudly.
Then Volodya went to bed, and had a compress, steeped in vinegar, on his forehead.
A telegram was sent off, and next day a lady, Lentilov’s mother, made her appearance and bore off her son.
Lentilov looked morose and haughty49 to the end, and he did not utter a single word at taking leave of the little girls. But he took Katya’s book and wrote in it as a souvenir: “Montehomo, the Hawk’s Claw, Chief of the Ever Victorious.”
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收听单词发音
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1
bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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3
untying
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| untie的现在分词 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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7
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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9
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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10
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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12
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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13
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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14
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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15
freckled
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| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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18
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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19
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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20
ecstasies
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| 狂喜( ecstasy的名词复数 )； 出神； 入迷； 迷幻药 | |
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21
lachrymose
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| adj.好流泪的，引人落泪的；adv.眼泪地，哭泣地 | |
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22
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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23
atlas
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| n.地图册，图表集 | |
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24
furry
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| adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的 | |
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25
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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26
morosely
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| adv.愁眉苦脸地，忧郁地 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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28
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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29
termites
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| n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 ) | |
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30
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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31
utterances
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| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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32
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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33
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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34
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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35
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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36
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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37
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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38
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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39
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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40
freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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41
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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42
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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43
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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44
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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45
ferociously
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| 野蛮地，残忍地 | |
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46
arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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47
gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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48
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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49
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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