The twain, with as bold a front as might be, walked down this passage of pikes until the captain of the watch, a burly, bearded man in Flemish armor, stopped them with uplifted hand; and two dozen pike-heads clashed down as by a single touch, to bar alike progress and retreat.
"Two Dozen Pike-Heads clashed down as by a Single Touch."
"Two Dozen Pike-Heads clashed down as by a Single Touch."
"I am the scrivener of the Abbey," Hugh called out from within this steel girdle, "and go forth to the Tolzey at behest of your master and mine—the Lord Duke of Gloster."
"And this merry fellow; hath the Duke need for him likewise?" the captain asked, with sharp glances. "I'm sworn his Grace looks more for headsmen than for morris-dancers, as to-day's wind blows."
"Put thy queries3 to the Duke himself," said Hugh; "and hold us no longer waiting here, as he waits at the Tolzey."
Grumbling4 in his beard, the captain dropped his hand, and the pikes flashed upward. Hugh and the mock fool passed forth, and turned their feet townwards across the trampled5 sward. At the church gate to their right hand, a greater body of armed men stood, and beyond these, within the churchyard, high plumes7 on knightly9 helmets nodded in the morning breeze. Of what was going forward there the two saw nothing, but hurried on, glad to pass unquestioned.
They came thus to the market-place, held clear by solid walls of troopers, mailed, and armed to the teeth, behind whom the townsfolk, now heartily10 of but one opinion, strove to win friends and peep between steel shoulders into the open space. Still unmolested, the boy, bearing his inkhorn and scroll11 well before him as a badge of craft, passed with his companion to the side of the cross—where workmen toiled12 with axe13 and mallet14 to rear a platform of newly hewn beams and boards—and held his course straight to the Tolzey.
"Saw you what they build, there by the cross?" whispered Sir Hereward. "It is a scaffold, where presently axes shall hew15 flesh and blood, not logs." And then he added, "Whither go we; into the very tusks16 of the boar?"
"Nay17, but to get behind him," returned Hugh, in the same sidelong whisper. "Halt you at the Tolzey door; mix there with the throng18 which idly gapes19 upon the soldiery, until chance offers to steal through some alley20 to the open fields."
"And you leave me there?"
"How shall it be otherwise? And—I say it now—farewell; the saints protect thee!"
"A word," the masker whispered. "Art sure it was a knight8 who ordered the letter to be writ21?"
"None other. A knight in full battle harness. And—Oh! God save us! It is he!"
Before the low-browed Tolzey, or Toll-booth, a house of bricks on timber, with projecting gallery reared over open pillars, an urgent throng of citizens swarmed22 behind two rows of soldiers, to note the uttermost of what was passing. This Tolzey—at once exchange and town hall, court-house and jail—had in its long life seen strange things, but nothing like unto to-day, when the King's brother, Richard of Gloster, and John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, held bloody23 assize upon the enemies of the King. Above the gable floated, side by side, two standards of deep red stuff, on which were wrought24, one the silver boar of Gloster, Lord Constable25 of England, one the silver lion rampant26 of Norfolk, Earl Marshal.
And at the porch, pushing their way through the press of onlookers27 under the arches between the pillars, a knot of men-at-arms dragged forward that same strange knight at whose bidding Hugh had written the letter!
"Look! It is he!" the boy repeated breathlessly, quickening his pace for the instant, then shrinking back dismayed.
Sir Hereward laid a firm hand on his arm. "I quit ye not here!" he swore, between clenched28 teeth. "Hasten we forward, and into the presence of the court."
"But—it means death to thee—" the boy began, as the other hurried him on.
"Better a thousand deaths—by fire and molten lead—than that this should happen," the other gasped29. "Up with thy chin! They must not say us nay!"
What answers they gave, in what manner their arguments satisfied, the twain barely knew. The chief matter was that they won their way into the Tolzey, were borne up the foul30, narrow staircase by the throng close at the heels of the soldiers and their captive, and suddenly found themselves stumbling over the threshold into a large room, whereof one part was densely31 crowded, and one empty as a grave fresh dug. A triple line of steel corselets, sallets, and bills, drawn32 from side to side, split these parts asunder33, and behind this line those in authority at the door roughly made to drive the new-comers.
When Hugh had shown his writing tools and told his errand, they smoothed their tone and bade him stand aside, in the cleared space. The others—strange knight, his rude captors, the mummer-gentleman—all were swallowed up behind the barrier into the throng which snarled34, and surged, and gnashed its teeth, in weltering heat and evil smells, under the spell of the scent35 of blood.
After a little while there rose an echoing blast of trumpets36 from the market-place without, riding as it were on the crest37 of a great wave of cheering. Then hurriedly the officers brought forth from an outer room two high chairs of state, gilded38, and bearing the town's arms, and set them upon the floor-cloth under a canopy39, and put behind these, on either side of the dais, other chairs and stools—and then bowed low as the doors in the centre were flung open with loud knocks, and two heralds40, in blazoned41 tabards, entered. Behind these, with stately step, by twos came a score of great warriors42 and lords, mailed to the throat, and with pages bearing their cumbrous head-gear; then others of distinction, for the most part advanced in years, who wore rich gowns and chains, and held velvet43 caps in their hands; and lastly, two young men in gowns who wore their caps on their heads. And one of these, of a square, thick-featured aspect, with broad breast, and reddish hair, was Earl Marshal of England, yet had scarce a look from any one, so bent44 were all thoughts upon the other.
This other—clad in sober colors, with a broad chain upon his breast and a black close-curling plume6 in his cap—came sedately45 forward and sat in the large chair a hand's breadth in front of his companion's. He let his glance rest easily upon the crowded half of the room, as if noting things in idleness the while his mind was elsewhere.
The heralds called out each his master's exalted46 office, and what matters they had come now to rightly judge upon; and Hugh, having been seated at a desk by the window, hung with all his eyes to the face of the youth in the foremost chair.
It was a thin, thoughtful face, dark of skin and with a saddened air. The bended nose was long, the point well out in air to bespeak47 an inborn48 swiftness of scent. And above, wide apart, there burned a steady flame of great-hearted wisdom in two deep iron-gray eyes which embraced all things, searched calmly and comprehended all things. This Prince, though first subject and foremost soldier under the King, his brother, was even now but nineteen years of age; and Hugh, gazing in rapt timidity upon him, flushed with shame at thought of his own years, close treading upon those of this Prince, and of his own weak unworthiness.
The boy wrote down what the old men in gowns bade him say concerning the dreadful things that now were toward, and, writing, contrived50 also to look and listen with an awed51, ashen52 face and bewildered mind.
Other soldiers had entered the room, and, making a weapon-lined lane between the door and the throng, brought forward now, one after another, the captive lords and knights53 taken red-handed from the Abbey or found in hiding in the town. Each in his turn, with elbows thong-bound at his back, with torn raiment and dishevelled if not bandaged head, was haled before the dais, and looked into these deep-glancing eyes of his boy judge.
Richard held them in his calm, engirdling gaze with never sign of heat or pity, and to each spoke54 in tones high and sharp-cut enough for all to hear, but of a level in cold dignity. When they in turn replied, he listened gravely, with lip uplifted so that his teeth were seen. Ever and again his fingers toyed with the hilt of the baslard at his girdle the while he listened; and these to whom he hearkened thus trembled rightly at the omen55. When all needful words were spent, the Prince leaned for a moment to his right and whispered apart with Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk; but this for very form's sake, and not to seek counsel. Then, still in the same chilled, equable voice, he would mete56 out the judgment57, suiting to each with apposite words his deliverance, whether they should lose their heads for their treason on the morrow, or depart under the King's mercy as free men, paying fines in gold or land, or suffering no penalty whatsoever58. Well nigh two score and ten passed thus before the Prince, and of this number two-and-twenty were sent to the block. Of these, the greatest in estate was Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, blood-cousin to his judge, and to whom gray hairs had brought neither wisdom nor control. With him Prince Richard parleyed at length, pointing out how the Beaufort line of John of Gaunt, beginning in dishonor with Katherine Swynford, and filtering through envious59 trickery and disloyalty, would on the morrow run itself miserably60 out in muddy lees upon the scaffold. And then they led the childless Duke away amid the angered hootings of the crowd.
None but this Somerset, and Sir John Longstrother, who was called the Prior of St. John's, had courage wherewith to accuse the King of broken faith, in that he had sworn to give mercy to all who sought refuge in the Abbey. To this young Gloster, still deadly calm, made answer that the King had given no such pledge, but only granted some old monk's prayer that all of gentle blood who met their death, either in battle or on the scaffold, might be buried in the Abbey without dismemberment; this, and nothing more.
Of a sudden, Hugh, grown at home among these horrors, saw advancing under guard between the glittering lines of bills, the mailed figure he knew so well. The boy held his breath as the strange Knight stood before the dais, helmeted and erect—and as he noted61 that the morris-dancer, fiercely pushing his way, had followed close behind.
"What now!"—it was Mowbray who spoke—"Who comes thus covered? Loose us his helm!"
"I pray ye both," spoke the Knight, "suffer me to thus remain! It is as easy to lose one's head in this fashion as another. I crave62 no other mercy."
A pale, flitting smile played over the Prince's lips. "After such stress of sober state affairs, cousin of Norfolk," he said, more gently, "the jest is grateful. Hast brought thy morris-dancer with thee, too, I note, good sir!"
The Knight swung round to follow Gloster's glance; then, after a moment's earnest gaze upon the disguised man close at hand, turned with closed eyes and hand on heart.
The Prince rubbed his hands softly together, and smiled again.
"Aye! lift us the basnet," he said to the soldiers standing63 guard. "The jest will trip the better for more air and light"—and in a twinkling the men had unfastened and raised the heavy helmet; and the Knight stood, flushed and confused, no knight at all! but a young and fair-faced woman, with loose golden hair tumbled sweetly upon her neck.
Richard's lips curled again, and his teeth gleamed under them, while his eyes shone with a merry light.
"Most excellent!" he chuckled64, looking to Mowbray's dull, puzzled face in mock search for sympathy. "Now scrub us the paint off yon mummer's cheeks, and let his head be bared. The jest goes bravely."
Before the astonished onlookers, this too was done, and Sir Hereward, still arrayed to the throat in motley, with eyes sheepishly downcast, stood revealed.
The young Prince covered the two, as they stood, with his mirthful regard, and rubbed his palms together in silent enjoyment65.
"Read me the riddle66, Lady Kate," he said at last. "I guess thy errand to these parts, and his is clear enough—perchance too clear!—but why, if thou must trick him out in morris-dress, why bring him here? Nay!"—as the lady would have spoken—"fear nothing; I like the jest thus far, but comprehend it only in part."
"My Lord Duke," the lady said, throwing back her hair with a proud gesture, "we were children together,—you and I,—you will credit my word. I knew not till this moment that he was here, but deemed him—left—behind on the field. And I came hither, not in your despite, or your dread49 brother's, but to warn my friend here, Sir Hereward, of treason menacing him in his own camp; and to that end, on Friday night, sent I a letter to him where he lay, by my own servant's hand."
"This is the letter," said Sir Hereward simply, drawing from his breast the folded paper with its broken seal.
The Prince bent forward, took the missive, spread it out upon his knee, and read carefully through from first to last. "I grieve to learn of your good sire's death," he said once, lifting his eyes, and then read on, musingly67. At last he smiled, and shook his head.
"I have full knowledge—none better, Lady Kate," he said, "of thy high spirits and brave temper. Thou wert of the mettle68 of knights-errant even in short clothes. But what I looked not for was this clerkly hand, this deft69 scrolling70 of lines and letters." Still with dancing eyes he held the paper up before the Earl Marshal. "Why, look you, cousin of Norfolk! 'Tis as fair as any guild71 work from Bruges. And from a woman's hand, mark ye!"
The lady hung her head and blushed, then, lifting it, smiled. "Your Grace ever loved his jest," she said. "Alas72, I am no clerk, nor would be with a thousand years of teaching. I could more easily ride, by night and day, across from Devon to save my—my friend, than mark a straight line on paper."
"And who writ ye this?" pursued Richard, eying the scroll afresh.
"A youth in the Abbey," said the lady, and Sir Hereward pointed73 him out where he sat.
Then suddenly Hugh, staring vaguely74 at all this, heard some one say in his ear that his Grace had called for him, and felt another push him to his feet—and then saw, as through a golden fog, that the Prince held up a jewelled finger, beckoning75 to him. The boys heart thumped76 to his throat with every step as he moved to the dais.
"It is thy hand, eh?" Duke Richard asked, with kindly77 voice, and the lad could only bow and blush. One of the old men at the table had brought forward as well the scrolls78 on which Hugh had written the day's grim record, and the Prince glanced over these with a student's lingering eye. Then, with a quaint79 smile and sigh, he said:—
"Behold80 how fair and goodly a thing is learning! Of ye three, this stripling boy comes first in the race. Thou mightst have had thy ride for naught81, my Lady Kate, but for his craft. And thou, sirrah, mightst have been murdered in thy camp, but for this same letter. And wert thou set upon by these knaves82?"
"Aye, your Grace," Sir Hereward replied, "and slew83 two, with some small hurt to myself, and their fellows fled—to be butchered elsewhere—down by the mill pit."
The Prince nodded his head in satisfaction, then more slowly spoke again.
"Sir Hereward, were thy head a match for thy heart or thy vast sinews, belike thou hadst not saved it to-day. 'Tis dull of wit, but belongs to a simple valiant84 gentleman, and I will not lop it from his shoulders. Get thee to Devon, and keep within the King's grace—and if the taste for mumming rise in thee again, and will not down, go morris-dancing on thine own estates—or hers. And thou—saucy Kate—go take thy man, and make thy wit the complement85 of his slow honesty. But no tricks! Why, silly pretty maid, didst think England was ruled by blind men! Thou hadst not killed thy first horse, in Somerset, ere we knew of thee and thy quest. And as for thy knight in motley, loud rumor86 preceded him down the street to-day as if he had been the borough87 bellman."
Sir Hereward, holding the lady's hand, would at this have made some speech of thanks, but that the Prince held up his finger to stop him.
"Nay—another day," he said, "perchance when we do send for thee to come up to London town. Thy affairs have eaten up too much time, as it stands. The saints speed thee, Lady Kate, and teach thee to write. In this rude, topsy-turvy world, naught is secure but learning. Observe what joy I have in this clerkly boy whose skilled hand mocks Master Caxton's types in the Low Countries—but of that thou knowest nothing. I am beholden to thee for the boy. This night I'll beg him of the Abbot, and he shall be of my household at Baynard's. Go now. I am aweary of good unlettered folk."
And as the twain, bowing, left the room, the Prince turned again to the scrivener lad.
The End
点击收听单词发音
1 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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2 monastery | |
n.修道院,僧院,寺院 | |
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3 queries | |
n.问题( query的名词复数 );疑问;询问;问号v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 );询问 | |
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4 grumbling | |
adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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5 trampled | |
踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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6 plume | |
n.羽毛;v.整理羽毛,骚首弄姿,用羽毛装饰 | |
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7 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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8 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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9 knightly | |
adj. 骑士般的 adv. 骑士般地 | |
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10 heartily | |
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很 | |
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11 scroll | |
n.卷轴,纸卷;(石刻上的)漩涡 | |
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12 toiled | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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13 axe | |
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减 | |
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14 mallet | |
n.槌棒 | |
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15 hew | |
v.砍;伐;削 | |
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16 tusks | |
n.(象等动物的)长牙( tusk的名词复数 );獠牙;尖形物;尖头 | |
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17 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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18 throng | |
n.人群,群众;v.拥挤,群集 | |
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19 gapes | |
v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的第三人称单数 );张开,张大 | |
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20 alley | |
n.小巷,胡同;小径,小路 | |
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21 writ | |
n.命令状,书面命令 | |
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22 swarmed | |
密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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23 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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24 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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25 constable | |
n.(英国)警察,警官 | |
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26 rampant | |
adj.(植物)蔓生的;狂暴的,无约束的 | |
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27 onlookers | |
n.旁观者,观看者( onlooker的名词复数 ) | |
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28 clenched | |
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29 gasped | |
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要 | |
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30 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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31 densely | |
ad.密集地;浓厚地 | |
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32 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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33 asunder | |
adj.分离的,化为碎片 | |
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34 snarled | |
v.(指狗)吠,嗥叫, (人)咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 );咆哮着说,厉声地说 | |
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35 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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36 trumpets | |
喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 ); 小号; 喇叭形物; (尤指)绽开的水仙花 | |
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37 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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38 gilded | |
a.镀金的,富有的 | |
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39 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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40 heralds | |
n.使者( herald的名词复数 );预报者;预兆;传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 );宣布(好或重要) | |
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41 blazoned | |
v.广布( blazon的过去式和过去分词 );宣布;夸示;装饰 | |
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42 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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43 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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44 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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45 sedately | |
adv.镇静地,安详地 | |
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46 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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47 bespeak | |
v.预定;预先请求 | |
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48 inborn | |
adj.天生的,生来的,先天的 | |
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49 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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50 contrived | |
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的 | |
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51 awed | |
adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52 ashen | |
adj.灰的 | |
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53 knights | |
骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马 | |
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54 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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55 omen | |
n.征兆,预兆;vt.预示 | |
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56 mete | |
v.分配;给予 | |
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57 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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58 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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59 envious | |
adj.嫉妒的,羡慕的 | |
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60 miserably | |
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地 | |
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61 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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62 crave | |
vt.渴望得到,迫切需要,恳求,请求 | |
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63 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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64 chuckled | |
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65 enjoyment | |
n.乐趣;享有;享用 | |
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66 riddle | |
n.谜,谜语,粗筛;vt.解谜,给…出谜,筛,检查,鉴定,非难,充满于;vi.出谜 | |
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67 musingly | |
adv.沉思地,冥想地 | |
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68 mettle | |
n.勇气,精神 | |
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69 deft | |
adj.灵巧的,熟练的(a deft hand 能手) | |
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70 scrolling | |
n.卷[滚]动法,上下换行v.(电脑屏幕上)从上到下移动(资料等),卷页( scroll的现在分词 );(似卷轴般)卷起;(像展开卷轴般地)将文字显示于屏幕 | |
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71 guild | |
n.行会,同业公会,协会 | |
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72 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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73 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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74 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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75 beckoning | |
adj.引诱人的,令人心动的v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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76 thumped | |
v.重击, (指心脏)急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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78 scrolls | |
n.(常用于录写正式文件的)纸卷( scroll的名词复数 );卷轴;涡卷形(装饰);卷形花纹v.(电脑屏幕上)从上到下移动(资料等),卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 );(似卷轴般)卷起;(像展开卷轴般地)将文字显示于屏幕 | |
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79 quaint | |
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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80 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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81 naught | |
n.无,零 [=nought] | |
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82 knaves | |
n.恶棍,无赖( knave的名词复数 );(纸牌中的)杰克 | |
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83 slew | |
v.(使)旋转;n.大量,许多 | |
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84 valiant | |
adj.勇敢的,英勇的;n.勇士,勇敢的人 | |
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85 complement | |
n.补足物,船上的定员;补语;vt.补充,补足 | |
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86 rumor | |
n.谣言,谣传,传说 | |
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87 borough | |
n.享有自治权的市镇;(英)自治市镇 | |
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