I happened to have sold an English landscape to Sir Asher Aaronsberg, the famous philanthropist and picture-buyer of Middleton, then up in town in connection with his Parliamentary duties, and knowing how indefatigably8 he was in touch with the London Jewish charities, I inquired whether some committee could not do anything to assist Quarriar. Sir Asher was not very encouraging. The man knew no trade. However, if he would make application on the form enclosed and answer the questions, he would see what could be done. I saw that the details were duly filled in—the ages and sex of his five children, etc.
But the committee came to the conclusion that the only thing they could do was to repatriate9 the man. 'Return to Russia!' cried Israel in horror.
Occasionally I inquired if any plan for the future had occurred to him. But he never raised the subject of his difficulties of his own accord, and his very silence, born, as it seemed to me, of the majestic10 dignity of the man, was infinitely11 pathetic. Now and again came a fitful gleam of light. His second daughter would be given a week's work for a few shillings by his landlord, a working master-tailor in a small way, from whom he now rented two tiny rooms on the top floor. But that [30]was only when there was an extra spasm12 of activity. His half-blind daughter would do a little washing, and the landlord would allow her the use of the backyard.
At last one day I found he had an idea, and an idea, moreover, that was carefully worked out in all its details. The scheme was certainly a novel and surprising one to me, but it showed how the art of forcing a livelihood13 amid impossible circumstances had been cultivated among these people, forced for centuries to exist under impossible conditions.
Briefly14 his scheme was this. In the innumerable tailors' workshops of his district great piles of cuttings of every kind and quality of cloth accumulated, and for the purchase of these cuttings a certain competition existed among a class of people, known as piece-sorters. The sale of these cuttings by weight and for cash brought the master-tailors a pleasant little revenue, which was the more prized as it was a sort of perquisite15. The masters were able to command payment for their cuttings in advance, and the sorter would call to collect them week by week as they accumulated, till the amount he had advanced was exhausted16. Quarriar would set up as a piece-sorter, and thus be able to employ his daughters too. The whole family would find occupation in sorting out their purchases, and each quality and size would be readily saleable as raw material, to be woven again into the cheaper woollen materials. Through the recommendation of his countrymen, there were several tailors who had readily agreed to give him the preference. His own landlord in particular had promised to befriend him, and even now was allowing his cuttings to accumulate at some inconvenience, since he might have had ready [31]money for them. Moreover, his friends had introduced him to a very respectable and honest sorter, who would take him into partnership17, teach him, and allow his daughters to partake in the sorting, if he could put down twenty pounds! His friends would jointly18 advance him eight on the security of his silver candlesticks, if only he could raise the other twelve.
This promising19 scheme took an incubus20 off my mind, and I hastened, somewhat revengefully, to acquaint the professional philanthropist, who had been so barren of ideas, with my intention to set up Quarriar as a piece-sorter.
'Ah,' Sir Asher replied, unmoved. 'Then you had better employ my man Conn; he does a good deal of this sort of work for me. He will find Quarriar a partner and professor.'
'But Quarriar has already found a partner.' I explained the scheme.
'The partner will cheat him. Twenty pounds is ridiculous. Five pounds is quite enough. Take my advice, and let it all go through Conn. If I wanted my portrait painted, you wouldn't advise me to go to an amateur. By the way, here are the five pounds, but please don't tell Conn I gave them. I don't believe the money'll do any good, and Conn will lose his respect for me.'
My interest in piece-sorting—an occupation I had never even heard of before—had grown abnormally, and I had gone into the figures and quantities—so many hundredweights, purchased at fifteen shillings, sorted into lots, and sold at various prices—with as thorough-going an eagerness as if my own livelihood were to depend upon it.
[32]I confess I was now rather bewildered by so serious a difference of estimate as to the cost of a partnership, but I was inclined to set down Sir Asher's scepticism to that pessimism22 which is the penalty of professional philanthropy.
On the other hand, I felt that whether the partnership was to cost five pounds or twenty, Quarriar's future would be safer from Kazelias under the auspices23 of Sir Asher and his Conn. So I handed the latter the five pounds, and bade him find Quarriar a guide, philosopher, and partner.
With the advent24 of Conn, all my troubles began, and the picture passed into its third and last stage.
I soon elicited25 that Quarriar and his friends were rather sorry Conn had been introduced into the matter. He was alleged26 to favour some people at the expense of others, and to be not at all popular among the people amid whom he worked. And altogether it was abundantly clear that Quarriar would rather have gone on with the scheme in his own way without official interference.
Later, Sir Asher wrote to me direct that the partner put forward by the Quarriar faction1 was a shady customer; Conn had selected his own man, but even so there was little hope Quarriar's future would be thus provided for.
There seemed, moreover, a note of suspicion of Quarriar sounding underneath27, but I found comfort in the reflection that to Sir Asher my model was nothing more than the usual applicant28 for assistance, whereas to me who had lived for months in daily contact with him he was something infinitely more human.
Spring was now nearing; I finished my picture early [33]in March—after four months' strenuous29 labour—shook hands with my model, and received his blessing30. I was somewhat put out at learning that Conn had not yet given him the five pounds necessary to start him, as I had been hoping he might begin his new calling immediately the sittings ended. I gave him a small present to help tide over the time of waiting.
But that tragic31 face on my own canvas remained to haunt me, to ask the question of his future, and few days elapsed ere I found myself starting out to visit him at his home. He lived near Ratcliffe Highway, a district which I found had none of that boisterous32 marine33 romance with which I had associated it.
The house was a narrow building of at least the sixteenth century, with the number marked up in chalk on the rusty34 little door. I happened to have stumbled on the Jewish Passover. Quarriar was called down, evidently astonished and unprepared for my appearance at his humble35 abode36, but he expressed pleasure, and led me up the narrow, steep stairway, whose ceiling almost touched my head as I climbed up after him. On the first floor the landlord, in festal raiment, intercepted37 us, introduced himself in English (which he spoke38 with pretentious39 inaccuracy), and, barring my further ascent40, took possession of me, and led the way to his best parlour, as if it were entirely41 unbecoming for his tenant42 to receive a gentleman in his attic43.
He was a strapping44 young fellow, full of acuteness and vigour—a marked contrast to Quarriar's drooping46, dignified47 figure standing48 silently near by, and radiating poverty and suffering all the more in the little old panelled room, elegant with a big carved walnut49 cabinet, and gay with chromos and stuffed [34]birds. Effusively50 the master-tailor painted himself as the champion of the poor fellow, and protested against this outside partnership that was being imposed on him by the notorious Conn. He himself, though he could scarcely afford it, was keeping his cuttings for him, in spite of tempting51 offers from other quarters, even of a shilling a sack. But of course he didn't see why an outsider foisted52 upon him by a philanthropic factotum53 should benefit by this goodness of his. He discoursed54 to me in moved terms of the sorrows and privations of his tenants55 in their two tiny rooms upstairs. And all the while Quarriar preserved his attitude of drooping dignity, saying no syllable56 except under special appeal.
The landlord produced a goblet57 of rum and shrub58 for the benefit of the high-born visitor, and we all clinked glasses, the young master-tailor beaming at me unctuously59 as he set down his glass.
'I love company,' he cried, with no apparent consciousness of impudent60 familiarity.
I returned, however, to my central interest in life—the piece-sorting. It occurred to me afterwards that possibly I ought not to have insisted on such a secular61 subject on a Jewish holiday, but, after all, the landlord had broached62 it, and both men now entered most cordially into the discussion. The landlord started repeating his lament—what a pity it would be if Quarriar were really forced to accept Conn's partner—when Quarriar timidly blurted63 out that he had already signed the deed of partnership, though he had not yet received the promised capital from Conn, nor spoken over matters with the partner provided. The landlord seemed astonished and angry at learning this, pricking64 up his [35]ears curiously65 at the word 'signed,' and giving Quarriar a look of horror.
'Signed!' he cried in Yiddish. 'What hast thou signed?'
At this point the landlord's wife joined us in the parlour, with a pretty child in her arms and another shy one clinging to her skirts, completing the picture of felicity and prosperity, and throwing into greater shadow the attic to which I shortly afterwards climbed my way up the steep, airless stairs. I was hardly prepared for the depressing spectacle that awaited me at their summit. It was not so much the shabby, fusty rooms, devoid66 of everything save a couple of mattresses67, a rickety wooden table, a chair or two, and a heap of Passover cakes, as the unloveliness of the three women who stood there, awkward and flushing before their important visitor. The wife-and-mother was dwarfed68 and black-wigged, the daughters were squat69, with tallow-coloured round faces, vaguely70 suggestive of Caucasian peasants, while the sightless eye of the elder lent a final touch of ugliness.
How little my academic friends know me who imagine I am allured71 by the ugly! It is only that sometimes I see through it a beauty that they are blind to. But here I confess I saw nothing but the ghastly misery72 and squalor, and I was oppressed almost to sickness as much by the scene as by the atmosphere.
'May I open a window?' I could not help inquiring.
The genial73 landlord, who had followed in my footsteps, rushed to anticipate me, and when I could breathe more freely, I found something of the tragedy that had been swallowed in the sordidness74. My eye [36]fell again on the figure of my host standing in his drooping majesty75, the droop45 being now necessary to avoid striking the ceiling with his kingly head.
Surely a pretty wife and graceful76 daughters would have detracted from the splendour of the tragedy. Israel stood there, surrounded by all that was mean, yet losing nothing of his regal dignity—indeed the Man of Sorrows.
Ere I left I suddenly remembered to ask after the three younger children. They were still with their kind benefactor77, the father told me.
'I suppose you will resume possession of them when you make your fortune by the piece-sorting?' I said.
'God grant it,' he replied. 'My bowels78 yearn79 for that day.'
Against my intention I slipped into his hand the final seven pounds I was prepared to pay. 'If your partnership scheme fails, try again alone,' I said.
His blessings80 pursued me down the steep staircase. His womankind remained shy and dumb.
When I got home I found a telegram from the Parsonage. My father was dangerously ill. I left everything and hastened to help nurse him. My picture was not sent in to any Exhibition—I could not let it go without seeing it again, without a last touch or two. When, some months later, I returned to town, my first thought—inspired by the sight of my picture—was how Quarriar was faring. I left the studio and telephoned to Sir Asher Aaronsberg at the London office of his great Middleton business.
'That!' His contempt penetrated81 even through the wires. 'Smashed up long ago. Just as I expected.'
[37]And the sneer82 of the professional philanthropist vibrated triumphantly83. I was much upset, but ere I could recover my composure Sir Asher was cut off. In the evening I received a note saying Quarriar was a rogue84, who had to flee from Russia for illicit85 sale of spirits. He had only two, at most three, elderly daughters; the three younger girls were a myth. For a moment I was staggered; then all my faith in Israel returned. Those three children a figment of the imagination! Impossible! Why, I remembered countless86 little anecdotes87 about these very children, told me with the most evident fatherly pride. He had even repeated the quaint21 remarks the youngest had made on her return home from her first morning at the English school. Impossible that these things could have been invented on the spur of the moment. No; I could not possibly doubt the genuineness of my model's spontaneous talk, especially as in those days he had had no reason for expecting anything from me, and he had most certainly not demanded anything. And then I remembered that tragic passage describing how these three little ones, sheltered and fed by a kindly88 soul, hid themselves when their father came to see them, fearing to be reclaimed89 by him to hunger and cold. If Quarriar could invent such things, he was indeed a poet, for in the whole literature of starvation I could recall no better touch.
I went to Sir Asher. He said that Quarriar, challenged by Conn to produce these children, had refused to do so, or to answer any further questions. I found myself approving of his conduct. 'A man ought not to be insulted by such absurd charges,' I said. Sir Asher merely smiled and took up his usual [38]unshakable position behind his impregnable wall of official distrust and pessimism.
I wrote to Quarriar to call on me without delay. He came immediately, his head bowed, his features care-worn and full of infinite suffering. Yes, it was true; the piece-sorting had failed. For a few weeks all had gone well. He had bought cuttings himself, had given the partner thrust upon him by Conn various sums for the same purpose. They had worked together, sorting in a cellar rented for the purpose, of which his partner kept the key. So smoothly91 had things gone that he had felt encouraged to invest even the reserve seven pounds I had given him, but when the cellar was full of their common stock, and his own suspicions had been lulled92 by the regular division of the profits—seventeen shillings per week for each—one morning, on arriving at the cellar to start the day's work, he found the place locked, and when he called at the partner's house for an explanation, the man laughed in his face. Everything in the cellar now belonged to him, he claimed, insisting that Quarriar had eaten up the original capital and his share of the profits besides.
'Besides, it never was your money,' was the rogue's ultimate argument. 'Why shouldn't I profit, too, by the Christian's simplicity93?'
Conn blindly believed his own man, for the transactions had not been recorded in writing, and it was only a case of Quarriar's word against the partner's. It was the latter who in his venomous craft had told Conn the younger children did not exist. But, thank Heaven! his quiver was not empty of them. He had blissfully taken them home when prosperity began, but now that he was again face to face with starvation, [39]they had returned to his hospitable94 countryman, Nathan Beck.
'You are sure you could absolutely produce the little ones?'
He looked grieved at my distrusting him. My faith in his probity95 was, he said with dignity, the one thing he valued in this world. I dismissed him with a little to tide him over the next week, thoroughly96 determined97 that the man's good name should be cleared. The crocodile partner must disgorge, and the eyes of my benevolent98 friend and of Conn must be finally opened to the injustice99 they had unwittingly sanctioned. Again I wrote to my friend. As usual, Sir Asher replied kindly and without a trace of impatience100. Would I get some intelligible101 written statement from Quarriar as to what had taken place?
So, at my request, Quarriar sent me a statement in quaint English—probably the landlord's—alleging specifically that the partner had detained goods and money belonging to Quarriar to the amount of £7 9s. 5d., and had assaulted him into the bargain. When the partner was threatened with police-court proceedings102, he had defied Quarriar with the remark that Mr. Conn would bear out his honesty. Quarriar could give as references, to show that he was an honest man and had made a true statement as to the number of his children, seven Russians (named) who would attest103 that the partner provided by Conn was well known as a swindler. Though he was starving, Quarriar refused to have anything further to say to Conn. Quarriar further referred to his landlord, who would willingly testify to his honesty. But being afraid of Conn, and not inclined to commit [40]himself in writing, the landlord would give his version verbally.
Against this statement my philanthropic friend had to set another as made by the partner. Quarriar, according to this, had received the five pounds direct from Conn, and had handed over niggardly104 sums to the partner for the purchase of goods, to wit, two separate sums of one pound each (of which he returned to Quarriar thirty-three shillings from sales), while Quarriar only gave him as his share of the profits for the whole of the five weeks the sum of seventeen shillings, instead of the minimum of ten shillings each week that had been arranged.
The partner insisted further that he had never handled any money (of which Quarriar had always retained full control), and that all the goods in the cellar at the time of the quarrel were only of the value of ten shillings, to which he was entitled, as Quarriar still owed him thirty-three shillings. Moreover, he was willing to repeat in Quarriar's presence the lies the latter had tried to persuade him to tell. As to the children, he challenged Quarriar to produce them.
In vain I attempted to grapple with these conflicting documents. My head was in a whirl. It seemed to me that no judicial105 bench, however eminent106, could, from the bare materials presented, probe to the bottom of this matter. The arithmetic of both parties was hopelessly beyond me. The names of the witnesses introduced showed that there must be two camps, and that certainly Quarriar was solidly encamped amid his advisers107.
The whole business was taking on a most painful [41]complexion, and I was torn by conflicting emotions and swayed alternately by suspicion and confidence.
How sift108 the false from the true amid all this tangled110 mass? And yet mere90 curiosity would not leave me content to go to my grave not knowing whether my model was apostle or Ananias. I, too, must then become a rag-sorter, dabbling111 amid dirty fragments. Was there a black rag, and was there a white, or were both rags parti-coloured? To take only the one point of the children, it would seem a very simple matter to determine whether a man has five daughters or two; and yet the more I looked into it, the more I saw the complexity112. Even if three little girls were produced for my inspection113, it was utterly114 impossible for me to tell whether they really were the model's. Nor was it open to me to repeat the device of Solomon and have them hacked115 in two to see whose heart would be moved.
And then, if Israel's story was false here, what of the rest? Was Kazelia also a myth? Did the second daughter ever go to Hamburg? Was the landlord's detaining me in the parlour a ruse116 to gain time for the attics117 to be emptied of any comforts? Where were the silver candlesticks? These and other questions surged up torturingly. But I remembered the footsore figure on the Brighton pavement; I remembered the months he had practically lived with me, the countless conversations, and as the Man of Sorrows rose reproachful before me from my own canvas, with his noble bowed head, my faith in his dignity and probity returned unbroken.
I called on Sir Asher—I had to go to the House of Commons to find him—and his practical mind quickly [42]suggested the best course in the circumstances. He appointed a date for all parties—himself, myself, Conn, the two partners, and any witnesses they might care to bring—to appear at his office. But, above all, Quarriar must bring the three children with him.
On getting back to my studio, I found Quarriar waiting for me. He was come to pour out his heart to me, and to complain that all sorts of underhand inquiries118 were being directed against him, so that he scarcely dared to draw breath, so thick was the air with treachery. He was afraid that his very friends, who were anxious not to offend Conn and Sir Asher, might turn against him. Even his landlord had threatened to kick him out, as he had been unable to pay his rent the last week or two.
I told him he might expect a letter asking him to attend at Sir Asher's office, that I should be there, and he should have an opportunity of facing his swindling partner. He welcomed it joyfully119, and enthusiastically promised to obey the call and bring the children. I emptied my purse into his hand—there were three or four pounds—and he promised me that quite apart from the old tangle109, he could now as an expert set up as a piece-sorter himself. And so his kingly figure passed out of my sight.
The next document sent me in this cause célèbre was a letter from Conn to announce that he had made all arrangements for the great meeting.
'Sir Asher's private room in his office will be placed at the disposal of the inquiry120. The original application form filled up by Quarriar clearly condemns121 him. The partner will be there, and I have arranged for Quarriar's landlord to appear if you [43]think it necessary. I may add that I have very good reason to believe that Quarriar does not mean to appear. I fancy he is trying to wriggle122 out of the appointment.'
I at once wrote a short note to Quarriar reminding him of the absolute necessity of appearing with the children, who should be even kept away from school.
I reproduce the exact reply:
'Dear Sir,
'Referring to your welcome letter, I gratify you very much for the trouble you have taken for me. But I'm sorry to tell you that I refuse to go before the committee according you arranged to, as I received a letter without any name threatening me that I should not dare to call for the committee to tell the truth for I will be put into mischief123 and trouble. It is stated also that the same gentleman does not require the truth. He helps only those he likes to. So I will not call and wish you my dear gentleman not to trouble to come. Therefore if you wish to assist me in somehow is very good and I will certainly gratify you and if not I will have to do without it, and will have to trust the Almighty124. So kindly do not trouble about it as I do not wish to enter a risk, I remain your humble and grateful servant,
'Israel Quarriar.
'P.S.—Last Wednesday a man called on my landlord and asked him some secrets about me, and told him at last that I shall have to state according I will be commanded to and not as I wish. I enclose you herewith the same letter I received, it is written in [44]Jewish. Please not to show it to anyone but to tear it at once as I would not trust it to any other one. I would certainly call at the office and follow your advice. But my life is dearer. So you should not trouble to come. I fear already I gratify you for kind help till now, in the future you may do as you wish.'
点击收听单词发音
1 faction | |
n.宗派,小集团;派别;派系斗争 | |
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2 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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3 touchingly | |
adv.令人同情地,感人地,动人地 | |
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4 second-hand | |
adj.用过的,旧的,二手的 | |
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5 procure | |
vt.获得,取得,促成;vi.拉皮条 | |
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6 ghetto | |
n.少数民族聚居区,贫民区 | |
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7 conscientiously | |
adv.凭良心地;认真地,负责尽职地;老老实实 | |
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8 indefatigably | |
adv.不厌倦地,不屈不挠地 | |
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9 repatriate | |
v.遣返;返回;n.被遣返回国者 | |
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10 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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11 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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12 spasm | |
n.痉挛,抽搐;一阵发作 | |
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13 livelihood | |
n.生计,谋生之道 | |
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14 briefly | |
adv.简单地,简短地 | |
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15 perquisite | |
n.固定津贴,福利 | |
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16 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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17 partnership | |
n.合作关系,伙伴关系 | |
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18 jointly | |
ad.联合地,共同地 | |
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19 promising | |
adj.有希望的,有前途的 | |
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20 incubus | |
n.负担;恶梦 | |
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21 quaint | |
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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22 pessimism | |
n.悲观者,悲观主义者,厌世者 | |
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23 auspices | |
n.资助,赞助 | |
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24 advent | |
n.(重要事件等的)到来,来临 | |
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25 elicited | |
引出,探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26 alleged | |
a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
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27 underneath | |
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面 | |
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28 applicant | |
n.申请人,求职者,请求者 | |
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29 strenuous | |
adj.奋发的,使劲的;紧张的;热烈的,狂热的 | |
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30 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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31 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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32 boisterous | |
adj.喧闹的,欢闹的 | |
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33 marine | |
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵 | |
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34 rusty | |
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的 | |
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35 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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36 abode | |
n.住处,住所 | |
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37 intercepted | |
拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 ); 截住; 截击; 拦阻 | |
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38 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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39 pretentious | |
adj.自命不凡的,自负的,炫耀的 | |
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40 ascent | |
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高 | |
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41 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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42 tenant | |
n.承租人;房客;佃户;v.租借,租用 | |
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43 attic | |
n.顶楼,屋顶室 | |
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44 strapping | |
adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式 | |
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45 droop | |
v.低垂,下垂;凋萎,萎靡 | |
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46 drooping | |
adj. 下垂的,无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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47 dignified | |
a.可敬的,高贵的 | |
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48 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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49 walnut | |
n.胡桃,胡桃木,胡桃色,茶色 | |
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50 effusively | |
adv.变溢地,热情洋溢地 | |
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51 tempting | |
a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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52 foisted | |
强迫接受,把…强加于( foist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53 factotum | |
n.杂役;听差 | |
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54 discoursed | |
演说(discourse的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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55 tenants | |
n.房客( tenant的名词复数 );佃户;占用者;占有者 | |
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56 syllable | |
n.音节;vt.分音节 | |
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57 goblet | |
n.高脚酒杯 | |
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58 shrub | |
n.灌木,灌木丛 | |
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59 unctuously | |
adv.油腻地,油腔滑调地;假惺惺 | |
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60 impudent | |
adj.鲁莽的,卑鄙的,厚颜无耻的 | |
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61 secular | |
n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的 | |
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62 broached | |
v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 );打开并开始用;用凿子扩大(或修光);(在桶上)钻孔取液体 | |
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63 blurted | |
v.突然说出,脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64 pricking | |
刺,刺痕,刺痛感 | |
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65 curiously | |
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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66 devoid | |
adj.全无的,缺乏的 | |
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67 mattresses | |
褥垫,床垫( mattress的名词复数 ) | |
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68 dwarfed | |
vt.(使)显得矮小(dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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69 squat | |
v.蹲坐,蹲下;n.蹲下;adj.矮胖的,粗矮的 | |
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70 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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71 allured | |
诱引,吸引( allure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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73 genial | |
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的 | |
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74 sordidness | |
n.肮脏;污秽;卑鄙;可耻 | |
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75 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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76 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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77 benefactor | |
n. 恩人,行善的人,捐助人 | |
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78 bowels | |
n.肠,内脏,内部;肠( bowel的名词复数 );内部,最深处 | |
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79 yearn | |
v.想念;怀念;渴望 | |
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80 blessings | |
n.(上帝的)祝福( blessing的名词复数 );好事;福分;因祸得福 | |
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81 penetrated | |
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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82 sneer | |
v.轻蔑;嘲笑;n.嘲笑,讥讽的言语 | |
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83 triumphantly | |
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地 | |
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84 rogue | |
n.流氓;v.游手好闲 | |
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85 illicit | |
adj.非法的,禁止的,不正当的 | |
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86 countless | |
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
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87 anecdotes | |
n.掌故,趣闻,轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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88 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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89 reclaimed | |
adj.再生的;翻造的;收复的;回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 );要求收回;从废料中回收(有用的材料);挽救 | |
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90 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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91 smoothly | |
adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地 | |
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92 lulled | |
vt.使镇静,使安静(lull的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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93 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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94 hospitable | |
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的 | |
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95 probity | |
n.刚直;廉洁,正直 | |
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96 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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97 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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98 benevolent | |
adj.仁慈的,乐善好施的 | |
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99 injustice | |
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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100 impatience | |
n.不耐烦,急躁 | |
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101 intelligible | |
adj.可理解的,明白易懂的,清楚的 | |
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102 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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103 attest | |
vt.证明,证实;表明 | |
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104 niggardly | |
adj.吝啬的,很少的 | |
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105 judicial | |
adj.司法的,法庭的,审判的,明断的,公正的 | |
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106 eminent | |
adj.显赫的,杰出的,有名的,优良的 | |
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107 advisers | |
顾问,劝告者( adviser的名词复数 ); (指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授 | |
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108 sift | |
v.筛撒,纷落,详察 | |
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109 tangle | |
n.纠缠;缠结;混乱;v.(使)缠绕;变乱 | |
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110 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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111 dabbling | |
v.涉猎( dabble的现在分词 );涉足;浅尝;少量投资 | |
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112 complexity | |
n.复杂(性),复杂的事物 | |
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113 inspection | |
n.检查,审查,检阅 | |
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114 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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115 hacked | |
生气 | |
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116 ruse | |
n.诡计,计策;诡计 | |
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117 attics | |
n. 阁楼 | |
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118 inquiries | |
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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119 joyfully | |
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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120 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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121 condemns | |
v.(通常因道义上的原因而)谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 );宣判;宣布…不能使用;迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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122 wriggle | |
v./n.蠕动,扭动;蜿蜒 | |
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123 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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124 almighty | |
adj.全能的,万能的;很大的,很强的 | |
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