To explain how she came to be outside the school-gates instead of inside them, we must go back a little and explain her situation both outside and inside her school.
Bloomah was probably 'Blume,' which is German for a flower, but she had always been spelt 'Bloomah' in the school register, for even Board-school teachers are not necessarily familiar with foreign languages.
They might have been forgiven for not connecting Bloomah with blooms, for she was a sad-faced child, and even in her tenth year showed deep, dark circles round her eyes. But they were beautiful eyes, large, brown, and soft, shining with love and obedience4.
Mrs. Beckenstein, however, found neither of these qualities in her youngest born, who seemed to her entirely5 sucked up by the school.
'In my days,' she would grumble6, 'it used to be [174]God Almighty7 first, your parents next, and school last. Now it's all a red mark first, your parents and God Almighty nowhere.'
The red mark was the symbol of punctuality, set opposite the child's name in the register. To gain it, she must be in her place at nine o'clock to the stroke. A moment after nine, and only the black mark was attainable9. Twenty to ten, and the duck's egg of the absent was sorrowfully inscribed10 by the Recording11 Angel, who in Bloomah's case was a pale pupil-teacher with eyeglasses.
But it was the Banner which loomed13 largest on the school horizon, intensifying14 Bloomah's anxiety and her mother's grievance15.
'I don't see nothing,' Mrs. Beckenstein iterated; 'no prize, no medal—nothing but a red mark and a banner.'
The Banner was indeed a novelty. It had not unfurled itself in Mrs. Beckenstein's young days, nor even in the young days of Bloomah's married brothers and sisters.
As the worthy16 matron would say: 'There's been Jack17 Beckenstein, there's been Joey Beckenstein, there's been Briny18 Beckenstein, there's been Benjy Beckenstein, there's been Ada Beckenstein, there's been Becky Beckenstein, God bless their hearts! and they all grew up scholards and prize-winners and a credit to their Queen and their religion without this meshuggas (madness) of a Banner.'
Vaguely19 Mrs. Beckenstein connected the degenerate20 innovation with the invasion of the school by 'furriners'—all these hordes21 of Russian, Polish, and Roumanian Jews flying from persecution22, who were [175]sweeping23 away the good old English families, of which she considered the Beckensteins a shining example. What did English people want with banners and such-like gewgaws?
The Banner was a class trophy24 of regularity25 and punctuality. It might be said metaphorically26 to be made of red marks; and, indeed, its ground-hue was purple.
The class that had scored the highest weekly average of red marks enjoyed its emblazoned splendours for the next week. It hung by a cord on the classroom wall, amid the dull, drab maps—a glorious sight with its oaken frame and its rich-coloured design in silk. Life moved to a chivalrous27 music, lessons went more easily, in presence of its proud pomp: 'twas like marching to a band instead of painfully plodding28.
And the desire to keep it became a passion to the winners; the little girls strained every nerve never to be late or absent; but, alas29! some mischance would occur to one or other, and it passed, in its purple and gold, to some strenuous30 and luckier class in another section of the building, turning to a funeral-banner as it disappeared dismally31 through the door of the cold and empty room.
Woe32 to the late-comer who imperilled the Banner. The black mark on the register was a snowflake compared with the black frown on all those childish foreheads. As for the absentee, the scowls34 that would meet her return not improbably operated to prolong her absence.
Only once had Bloomah's class won the trophy, and that was largely through a yellow fog which hit the other classes worse.
[176]For Bloomah was the black sheep that spoilt the chances of the fold—the black sheep with the black marks. Perhaps those great rings round her eyes were the black marks incarnate35, so morbidly36 did the poor child grieve over her sins of omission37.
Yet these sins of omission were virtues38 of commission elsewhere; for if Bloomah's desk was vacant, it was only because Bloomah was slaving at something that her mother considered more important.
'The Beckenstein family first, the workshop second, and school nowhere,' Bloomah might have retorted on her mother.
At home she was the girl-of-all-work. In the living-rooms she did cooking and washing and sweeping; in the shop above, whenever a hand fell sick or work fell heavy, she was utilized39 to make buttonholes, school hours or no school hours.
Bloomah was likewise the errand-girl of the establishment, and the portress of goods to and from S. Cohn's Emporium in Holloway, and the watch-dog when Mrs. Beckenstein went shopping or pleasuring.
'Lock up the house!' the latter would cry, when Bloomah tearfully pleaded for that course. 'My things are much too valuable to be locked up. But I know you'd rather lose my jewellery than your precious Banner.'
When Mrs. Beckenstein had new grandchildren—and they came frequently—Bloomah would be summoned in hot haste to the new scene of service. Curt40 post-cards came on these occasions, thus conceived:
'Dear Mother,
'A son. Send Bloomah.
'Briny.'
[177]Sometimes these messages were mournfully inverted41:
'Dear Mother,
'Poor little Rachie is gone. Send Bloomah to your heart-broken
'Becky.'
Occasionally the post-card went the other way:
'Dear Becky,
'Send back Bloomah.
'Your loving mother.'
The care of her elder brother Daniel was also part of Bloomah's burden; and in the evenings she had to keep an eye on his street sports and comrades, for since he had shocked his parents by dumping down a new pair of boots on the table, he could not be trusted without supervision43.
Not that he had stolen the boots—far worse! Beguiled44 by a card cunningly printed in Hebrew, he had attended the evening classes of the Meshummodim, those converted Jews who try to bribe45 their brethren from the faith, and who are the bugbear and execration46 of the Ghetto.
Daniel was thereafter looked upon at home as a lamb who had escaped from the lions' den42, and must be the object of their vengeful pursuit, while on Bloomah devolved the duties of shepherd and sheep-dog.
It was in the midst of all these diverse duties that Bloomah tried to go to school by day, and do her home lessons by night. She did not murmur47 against her mother, though she often pleaded. She recognised that the poor woman was similarly distracted between domestic duties and turns at the machines upstairs.
[178]Only it was hard for the child to dovetail the two halves of her life. At night she must sit up as late as her elders, poring over her school books, and in the morning it was a fierce rush to get through her share of the housework in time for the red mark. In Mrs. Beckenstein's language: 'Don't eat, don't sleep, boil nor bake, stew48 nor roast, nor fry, nor nothing.'
Her case was even worse than her mother imagined, for sometimes it was ten minutes to nine before Bloomah could sit down to her own breakfast, and then the steaming cup of tea served by her mother was a terrible hindrance49; and if that good woman's head was turned, Bloomah would sneak50 towards the improvised51 sink—which consisted of two dirty buckets, the one holding the clean water being recognisable by the tin pot standing52 on its covering-board—where she would pour half her tea into the one bucket and fill up from the other.
When this stratagem53 was impossible, she almost scalded herself in her gulpy54 haste. Then how she snatched up her satchel55 and ran through rain, or snow, or fog, or scorching56 sunshine! Yet often she lost her breath without gaining her mark, and as she cowered57 tearfully under the angry eyes of the classroom, a stab at her heart was added to the stitch in her side.
It made her classmates only the angrier that, despite all her unpunctuality, she kept a high position in the class, even if she could never quite attain8 prize-rank.
But there came a week when Bloomah's family remained astonishingly quiet and self-sufficient, and it looked as if the Banner might once again adorn58 the dry, scholastic59 room and throw a halo of romance round the blackboard.
[179]Then a curious calamity60 befell. A girl who had left the school for another at the end of the previous week, returned on the Thursday, explaining that her parents had decided61 to keep her in the old school. An indignant heart-cry broke through all the discipline:
'Teacher, don't have her!'
From Bloomah burst the peremptory62 command: 'Go back, Sarah!'
For the unlucky children felt that her interval63 would now be reckoned one of absence. And they were right. Sarah reduced the gross attendance by six, and the Banner was lost.
Yet to have been so near incited64 them to a fresh spurt65. Again the tantalizing66 Thursday was reached before their hopes were dashed. This time the break-down was even crueller, for every pinafored pupil, not excluding Bloomah, was in her place, red-marked.
Upon this saintly company burst suddenly Bloomah's mother, who, ignoring the teacher, and pointing her finger dramatically at her daughter, cried:
'Bloomah Beckenstein, go home!'
Bloomah's face became one large red mark, at which all the other girls' eyes were directed. Tears of humiliation67 and distress68 dripped down her cheeks over the dark rings. If she were thus hauled off ere she had received two hours of secular69 instruction, her attendance would be cancelled.
The class was all in confusion. 'Fold arms!' cried the teacher sharply, and the girls sat up rigidly70. Bloomah obeyed instinctively71 with the rest.
'Bloomah Beckenstein, do you want me to pull you out by your plait?'
'Mrs. Beckenstein, really you mustn't come here [180]like that!' said the teacher in her most ladylike accents.
'Tell Bloomah that,' answered Mrs. Beckenstein, unimpressed. 'She's come here by runnin' away from home. There's nobody but her to see to things, for we are all broken in our bones from dancin' at a weddin' last night, and comin' home at four in the mornin', and pourin' cats and dogs. If you go to our house, please, teacher, you'll see my Benjy in bed; he's given up his day's work; he must have his sleep; he earns three pounds a week as head cutter at S. Cohn's—he can afford to be in bed, thank God! So now, then, Bloomah Beckenstein! Don't they teach you here: "Honour thy father and thy mother"?'
Poor Bloomah rose, feeling vaguely that fathers and mothers should not dishonour72 their children. With hanging head she moved to the door, and burst into a passion of tears as soon as she got outside.
After, if not in consequence of, this behaviour, Mrs. Beckenstein broke her leg, and lay for weeks with the limb cased in plaster-of-Paris. That finished the chances of the Banner for a long time. Between nursing and house management Bloomah could scarcely ever put in an attendance.
So heavily did her twin troubles weigh upon the sensitive child day and night that she walked almost with a limp, and dreamed of her name in the register with ominous73 rows of black ciphers74; they stretched on and on to infinity—in vain did she turn page after page in the hope of a red mark; the little black eggs became larger and larger, till at last horrid75 horned insects began to creep from them and scramble76 all [181]over her, and she woke with creeping flesh. Sometimes she lay swathed and choking in the coils of a Black Banner.
And, to add to these worries, the School Board officer hovered77 and buzzed around, threatening summonses.
But at last she was able to escape to her beloved school. The expected scowl33 of the room was changed to a sigh of relief; extremes meet, and her absence had been so prolonged that reproach was turned to welcome.
Bloomah remorsefully78 redoubled her exertions79. The hope of the Banner flamed anew in every breast. But the other classes were no less keen; a fifth standard, in particular, kept the Banner for a full month, grimly holding it against all comers, came they ever so regularly and punctually.
Suddenly a new and melancholy80 factor entered into the competition. An epidemic of small-pox broke out in the East End, with its haphazard81 effects upon the varying classes. Red marks, and black marks, medals and prizes, all was luck and lottery82. The pride of the fifth standard was laid low; one of its girls was attacked, two others were kept at home through parental83 panic. A disturbing insecurity as of an earthquake vibrated through the school. In Bloomah's class alone—as if inspired by her martial86 determination—the ranks stood firm, unwavering.
The epidemic spread. The Ghetto began to talk of special psalms87 in the little synagogues.
In this crisis which the epidemic produced the Banner seemed drifting steadily88 towards Bloomah and her mates. They started Monday morning with all hands on deck, so to speak; they sailed round [182]Tuesday and Wednesday without a black mark in the school-log. The Thursday on which they had so often split was passed under full canvas, and if they could only get through Friday the trophy was theirs.
And Friday was the easiest day of all, inasmuch as, in view of the incoming Sabbath, it finished earlier. School did not break up between the two attendances; there was a mere89 dinner-interval in the playground at midday. Nobody could get away, and whoever scored the first mark was sure of the second.
Bloomah was up before dawn on the fateful winter morning; she could run no risks of being late. She polished off all her house-work, wondering anxiously if any of her classmates would oversleep herself, yet at heart confident that all were as eager as she. Still there was always that troublesome small-pox——! She breathed a prayer that God would keep all the little girls and send them the Banner.
As she sat at breakfast the postman brought a post-card for her mother. Bloomah's heart was in her mouth when Mrs. Beckenstein clucked her tongue in reading it. She felt sure that the epidemic had invaded one of those numerous family hearths90.
Her mother handed her the card silently.
'Dear Mother,
'I am rakked with neuraljia. Send Bloomah to fry the fish.
'Becky.'
Bloomah turned white; this was scarcely less tragic91.
'Poor Becky!' said her heedless parent.
'There's time after school,' she faltered92.
'What!' shrieked93 Mrs. Beckenstein. 'And not [183]give the fish time to get cold! It's that red mark again—sooner than lose it you'd see your own sister eat hot fish. Be off at once to her, you unnatural94 brat85, or I'll bang the frying-pan about your head. That'll give you a red mark—yes, and a black mark, too! My poor Becky never persecuted95 me with Banners, and she's twice the scholard you are.'
'Why, she can't spell "neuralgia,"' said Bloomah resentfully.
'And who wants to spell a thing like that? It's bad enough to feel it. Wait till you have babies and neuralgy of your own, and you'll see how you'll spell.'
'She can't spell "racked" either,' put in Daniel.
His mother turned on him witheringly. 'She didn't go to school with the Meshummodim.'
Bloomah suddenly picked up her satchel.
'What's your books for? You don't fry fish with books.' Mrs. Beckenstein wrested96 it away from her, and dashed it on the floor. The pencil-case rolled one way, the thimble another.
'But I can get to school for the afternoon attendance.'
'Madness! With your sister in agony? Have you no feelings? Don't let me see your brazen97 face before the Sabbath!'
Bloomah crept out broken-hearted. On the way to Becky's her feet turned of themselves by long habit down the miry street in which the red-brick school-building rose in dreary98 importance. The sight of the great iron gate and the hurrying children caused her a throb99 of guilt100. For a moment she stood wrestling with the temptation to enter.
[184]It was but for the moment. She might rise to the heresy101 of hot fried fish in lieu of cold, but Becky's Sabbath altogether devoid102 of fried fish was a thought too sacrilegious for her childish brain.
From her earliest babyhood chunks103 of cold fried fish had been part of her conception of the Day of Rest. Visions and odours of her mother frying plaice and soles—at worst, cod104 or mackerel—were inwoven with her most sacred memories of the coming Sabbath; it is probable she thought Friday was short for frying-day.
With a sob105 she turned back, hurrying as if to escape the tug106 of temptation.
'Bloomah! Where are you off to?'
It was the alarmed cry of a classmate. Bloomah took to her heels, her face a fiery107 mass of shame and grief.
Towards midday Becky's fish, nicely browned and sprigged with parsley, stood cooling on the great blue willow-pattern dish, and Becky's neuralgia abated108, perhaps from the mental relief of the spectacle.
When the clock struck twelve, Bloomah was allowed to scamper109 off to school in the desperate hope of saving the afternoon attendance.
The London sky was of lead, and the London pavement of mud, but her heart was aglow110 with hope. As she reached the familiar street a certain strangeness in its aspect struck her. People stood at the doors gossiping and excited, as though no Sabbath pots were a-cooking; straggling groups possessed111 the roadway, impeding112 her advance, and as she got nearer to the school the crowd thickened, the roadway became impassable, a gesticulating mob blocked the iron gate.
[185]Poor Bloomah paused in her breathless career ready to cry at this malicious113 fate fighting against her, and for the first time allowing herself time to speculate on what was up. All around her she became aware of weeping and wailing114 and shrieking115 and wringing116 of hands.
The throng117 was chiefly composed of Russian and Roumanian women of the latest immigration, as she could tell by the pious118 wigs120 hiding their tresses. Those in the front were pressed against the bars of the locked gate, shrieking through them, shaking them with passion.
Although Bloomah's knowledge of Yiddish was slight—as became a scion121 of an old English family—she could make out their elemental ejaculations.
'You murderers!'
'Give me my Rachel!'
'They are destroying our daughters as Pharaoh destroyed our sons.'
'Give me back my children, and I'll go back to Russia.'
'They are worse than the Russians, the poisoners!'
'O God of Abraham, how shall I live without my Leah?'
On the other side of the bars the children—released for the dinner-interval—were clamouring equally, shouting, weeping, trying to get to their mothers. Some howled, with their sleeves rolled up, to exhibit the upper arm.
'See,' the women cried, 'the red marks! Oh, the poisoners!'
A light began to break upon Bloomah's brain. [186]Evidently the School Board had suddenly sent down compulsory122 vaccinators.
'I won't die,' moaned a plump golden-haired girl. 'I'm too young to die yet.'
'My little lamb is dying!' A woman near Bloomah, with auburn wisps showing under her black wig119, wrung123 her hands. 'I hear her talk—always, always about the red mark. Now they have given it her. She is poisoned—my little apple.'
'Your little carrot is all right,' said Bloomah testily124. 'They've only vaccinated125 her.'
The woman caught at the only word she understood. 'Vaccinate126, vaccinate!' she repeated. Then, relapsing into jargon127 and raising her hands heavenward: 'A sudden death upon them all!'
Bloomah turned despairingly in search of a wigless128 woman. One stood at her elbow.
'Can't you explain to her that the doctors mean no harm?' Bloomah asked.
'Oh, don't they, indeed? Just you read this!' She flourished a handbill, English on one side, Yiddish on the other.
Bloomah read the English version, not without agitation129:
'Mothers, look after your little ones! The School Tyrants130 are plotting to inject filthy131 vaccine132 into their innocent veins133. Keep them away rather than let them be poisoned to enrich the doctors.'
There followed statistics to appal134 even Bloomah. What wonder if the refugees from lands of persecution—lands in which anything might happen—believed they had fallen from the frying-pan into the fire; if the rumour135 that executioners with instruments had [187]entered the school-buildings had run like wildfire through the quarter, enflaming Oriental imagination to semi-madness.
While Bloomah was reading, a head-shawled woman fainted, and the din12 and frenzy136 grew.
'But I was vaccinated when a baby, and I'm all right,' murmured Bloomah, half to reassure137 herself.
'My arm! I'm poisoned!' And another pupil flew frantically138 towards the gate.
The women outside replied with a dull roar of rage, and hurled139 themselves furiously against the lock.
A window on the playground was raised with a sharp snap, and the head-mistress appeared, shouting alternately at the children and the parents; but she was neither heard nor understood, and a Polish crone shook an answering fist.
'You old maid—childless, pitiless!'
Shrill140 whistles sounded and resounded141 from every side, and soon a posse of eight policemen were battling with the besiegers, trying to push themselves between them and the gate. A fat and genial142 officer worked his way past Bloomah, his truncheon ready for action.
'Don't hurt the poor women,' Bloomah pleaded. 'They think their children are being poisoned.'
'I know, missie. What can you do with such greenhorns? Why don't they stop in their own country? I've just been vaccinated myself, and it's no joke to get my arm knocked about like this!'
'Then show them the red marks, and that will quiet them.'
The policeman laughed. A sleeveless policeman! It would destroy all the dignity and prestige of the force.
'Then I'll show them mine,' said Bloomah [188]resolutely. 'Mine are old and not very showy, but perhaps they'll do. Lift me up, please—I mean on your unvaccinated arm.'
Overcome by her earnestness the policeman hoisted143 her on his burly shoulder. The apparent arrest made a diversion; all eyes turned towards her.
'You Narronim!' (fools), she shrieked, desperately144 mustering145 her scraps146 of Yiddish. 'Your children are safe. Ich bin84 vaccinated. Look!' She rolled up her sleeve. 'Der policeman ist vaccinated. Look—if I tap him he winces147. See!'
'Hold on, missie!' The policeman grimaced148.
'The King ist vaccinated,' went on Bloomah, 'and the Queen, and the Prince of Wales, yes, even the Teachers themselves. There are no devils inside there. This paper'—she held up the bill—'is lies and falsehood.' She tore it into fragments.
'No; it is true as the Law of Moses,' retorted a man in the mob.
'As the Law of Moses!' echoed the women hoarsely149.
Bloomah had an inspiration. 'The Law of Moses! Pooh! Don't you know this is written by the Meshummodim?'
The crowd looked blank, fell silent. If, indeed, the handbill was written by apostates150, what could it hold but Satan's lies?
Bloomah profited by her moment of triumph. 'Go home, you Narronim!' she cried pityingly from her perch151. And then, veering152 round towards the children behind the bars: 'Shut up, you squalling sillies!' she cried. 'As for you, Golda Benjamin, I'm ashamed of you—a girl of your age! Put your sleeve down, cry-baby!'
[189]Bloomah would have carried the day had not her harangue153 distracted the police from observing another party of rioters—women, assisted by husbands hastily summoned from stall and barrow, who were battering154 at a side gate. And at this very instant they burst it open, and with a great cry poured into the playground, screaming and searching for their progeny155.
The police darted156 round to the new battlefield, expecting an attack upon doors and windows, and Bloomah was hastily set down in the seething157 throng and carried with it in the wake of the police, who could not prevent it flooding through the broken side gate.
The large playground became a pandemonium158 of parents, children, police, and teachers all shouting and gesticulating. But there was no riot. The law could not prevent mothers and fathers from snatching their offspring to their bosoms159 and making off overjoyed. The children who had not the luck to be kidnapped escaped of themselves, some panic-stricken, some merely mischievous160, and in a few minutes the school was empty.
The School Management Committee sat formally to consider this unprecedented161 episode. It was decided to cancel the attendance for the day. Red marks, black marks—all fell into equality; the very ciphers were reduced to their native nothingness. The school-week was made to end on the Thursday.
Next Monday morning saw Bloomah at her desk, happiest of a radiant sisterhood. On the wall shone the Banner.
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ghetto
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| n.少数民族聚居区，贫民区 | |
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epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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inspectors
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| n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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grumble
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| vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声 | |
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almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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attainable
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| a.可达到的，可获得的 | |
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inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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intensifying
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉 | |
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grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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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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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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briny
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| adj.盐水的；很咸的；n.海洋 | |
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vaguely
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degenerate
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hordes
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persecution
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sweeping
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trophy
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regularity
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metaphorically
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chivalrous
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plodding
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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strenuous
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dismally
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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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33
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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34
scowls
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| 不悦之色，怒容( scowl的名词复数 ) | |
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35
incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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36
morbidly
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| adv.病态地 | |
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37
omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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38
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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39
utilized
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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41
inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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43
supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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44
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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45
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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46
execration
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| n.诅咒，念咒，憎恶 | |
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47
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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48
stew
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| n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑 | |
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49
hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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50
sneak
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| vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行 | |
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51
improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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52
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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53
stratagem
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| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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54
gulpy
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| 多旋涡的，遍布裂口（或深坑）的 | |
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55
satchel
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| n.(皮或帆布的)书包 | |
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56
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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57
cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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58
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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59
scholastic
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| adj.学校的，学院的，学术上的 | |
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60
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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61
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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62
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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63
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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64
incited
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| 刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65
spurt
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| v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆 | |
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66
tantalizing
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| adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 ) | |
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67
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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68
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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69
secular
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| n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的 | |
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70
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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71
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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72
dishonour
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|
| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
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73
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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74
ciphers
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| n.密码( cipher的名词复数 )；零；不重要的人；无价值的东西 | |
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75
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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76
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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77
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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78
remorsefully
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| adv.极为懊悔地 | |
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79
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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80
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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81
haphazard
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| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
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82
lottery
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| n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事 | |
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83
parental
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| adj.父母的；父的；母的 | |
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84
bin
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|
| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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85
brat
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| n.孩子；顽童 | |
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86
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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87
psalms
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| n.赞美诗( psalm的名词复数 )；圣诗；圣歌；(中的) | |
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88
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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89
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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90
hearths
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| 壁炉前的地板，炉床，壁炉边( hearth的名词复数 ) | |
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91
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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92
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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93
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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95
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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96
wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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97
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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98
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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99
throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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100
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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101
heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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102
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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103
chunks
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| 厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分 | |
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104
cod
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| n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗 | |
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105
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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106
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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107
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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108
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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109
scamper
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| v.奔跑，快跑 | |
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110
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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111
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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112
impeding
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| a.(尤指坏事)即将发生的，临近的 | |
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113
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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114
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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115
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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116
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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117
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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118
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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119
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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120
wigs
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| n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 ) | |
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121
scion
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| n.嫩芽，子孙 | |
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122
compulsory
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| n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的 | |
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123
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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124
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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125
vaccinated
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| [医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的 | |
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126
vaccinate
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| vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘 | |
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127
jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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128
wigless
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| adj.无假发的，不戴假发（套）的 | |
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129
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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130
tyrants
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| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
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131
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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132
vaccine
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| n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的 | |
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133
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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134
appal
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| vt.使胆寒，使惊骇 | |
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135
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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136
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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137
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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138
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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139
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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140
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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141
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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142
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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143
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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144
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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145
mustering
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的现在分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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146
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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147
winces
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| 避开，畏缩( wince的名词复数 ) | |
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148
grimaced
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| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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149
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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150
apostates
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| n.放弃原来信仰的人( apostate的名词复数 )；叛教者；脱党者；反叛者 | |
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151
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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152
veering
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| n.改变的；犹豫的；顺时针方向转向；特指使船尾转向上风来改变航向v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的现在分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转 | |
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153
harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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154
battering
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| n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 ) | |
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155
progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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156
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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157
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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158
pandemonium
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| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
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159
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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160
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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161
unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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