~1~
When I told Dr. Zimmern that I should solve the problem of the increase of the supply of protium I may have been guilty of speaking of hopes as if they were certainties. My optimism was based on the discovery that the exact chemical state of the protium in the ore was unknown, and that it did not exist equally in all samples of the ore.
After some further months of labour I succeeded in determining the exact chemical ingredients of the ore, and from this I worked rapidly toward a new process of extraction that would greatly increase the total yield of the precious element. But this fact I kept from my assistants whose work I directed to futile2 researches while I worked alone after hours in following up the lead I had discovered.
During the progress of this work I was not always in the laboratory. I had become a not infrequent visitor to the Level of the Free Women. The continuous carnival3 of amusement had an attraction for me, as it must have had for any tired and lonely man. But it was not merely the lure5 of sensuous6 pleasures that appealed to me, for I was also fascinated with the deeper and more tragic7 aspect of life beneath the gaudy8 surface of hectic9 joy.
Some generalities I had picked up from observation and chance conversations. As a primary essential to life on the level I had quickly learned that money was needed, and my check book was in frequent demand. The bank provided an aluminum10 currency for the pettier needs of the recreational life, but neither the checks nor the currency had had value on other levels, since there all necessities were supplied without cost and luxuries were unobtainable. This strange retention12 of money circulation and general freedom of personal conduct exclusively on the Free Level puzzled me. Thus I found that food and drink were here available for a price, a seeming contradiction to the strict limitations of the diet served me at my own quarters. At first it seemed I had discovered a way to defeat that limitation--but there was the weigher to be considered.
It was a queer ensemble13, this life in the Black Utopia of Berlin, a combination of a world of rigid14 mechanistic automatism in the regular routine of living with rioting individual license16 in recreational pleasure. The Free Level seemed some ancient Bagdad, some Bourbon Court, some Monte Carlo set here, an oasis17 of flourishing vice18 in a desert of sterile19 law-made, machine-executed efficiency and puritanically20 ordered life. Aided by a hundred ingenious wheels and games of chance, men and women gambled with the coin and credit of the level. These games were presided over by crafty21 women whose years were too advanced to permit of a more personal means of extracting a living from the grosser passions of man. Some of these aged22 dames23 were, I found, quite highly regarded and their establishments had become the rendezvous24 for many younger women who by some arrangement that I could not fathom25 plied11 their traffic in commercialized love under the guidance of these subtler women who had graduated from the school of long experience in preying27 upon man.
But only the more brilliant women could so establish themselves for the years of their decline. There were others, many others, whose beauty had faded without an increase in wit, and these seemed to be serving their more fortunate sisters, both old and young, in various menial capacities. It was a strange anachronism in this world where men's more weighty affairs had been so perfectly28 socialized, to find woman retaining, evidently by men's permission, the individualistic right to exploit her weaker sister.
The thing confounded me, and yet I recalled the well known views of our sociological historians who held that it was woman's greater individualism that had checked the socialistic tendencies of the world. Had the Germans then achieved and maintained their rigid socialistic order by retaining this incongruous vestige30 of feminine commercialism as a safety valve for the individualistic instincts of the race?
They called it the Free Level, and I marvelled31 at the nature of this freedom. Freedom for licentiousness33, for the getting and losing of money at the wheels of fortune, freedom for temporary gluttony and the mild intoxication34 of their flat, ill-flavoured synthetic35 beer. A tragic symbol it seemed to me of the ignobility36 of man's nature, that he will be a slave in all the loftier aspects of living if he can but retain his freedom for his vices37 and corruptions38. Had the Germans then, like the villain39 of the moral play, a necessary part in the tragedy of man; did they exist to show the other races of the earth the way they should not go? But the philosophy of this conception collapsed40 when I recalled that for more than a century the world had lost all sight of the villain and yet had not in the least deteriorated41 from a lack of the horrible example.
From these vaguer speculations42 concerning the Free Level of Berlin that existed like a malformed vestigial organ in the body of that socialized state, my mind came back to the more human, more personal side of the problem thus presented me. I wanted to know more of the lives of these women who maintained Germany's remnant of individualism.
To what extent, I asked myself, have the true instincts of womanhood and the normal love of man and child been smothered43 out of the lives of these girls? What secret rebellions are they nursing in their hearts? I wondered, too, from what source they came, and why they were selected for this life, for Zimmern had not adequately enlightened me on this point.
Pondering thus on the secret workings in the hearts of these girls, I sat one evening amid the sensuous beauty of the Hall of Flowers. I marvelled at how little the Germans seemed to appreciate it, for it was far less crowded than were the more tawdry places of revelry. Here within glass encircling walls, preserved through centuries of artificial existence, feeding from pots of synthetic soil and stimulated44 by perpetual light, marvellous botanical creations flourished and flowered in prodigal45 profusion46. Ponderous47 warm-hued lilies floated on the sprinkled surface of the fountain pool. Orchids48, dangling49 from the metal lattice, hung their sensuous blossoms in vapour-laden air. Luxurious50 vines, climatized to this unreal world, clambered over cosy51 arbours, or clung with gripping fingers to the mossy concrete pillars.
~2~
I was sitting thus in moody52 silence watching the play of the fountain, when, through the mist, I saw the lonely figure of a girl standing53 in the shadows of a viny bower54. She was toying idly with the swaying tendrils. Her hair was the unfaded gold of youth. Her pale dress of silvery grey, unmarred by any clash of colour, hung closely about a form of wraith-like slenderness.
I arose and walked slowly toward her. As I approached she turned toward me a face of flawless girlish beauty, and then as quickly turned away as if seeking a means of escape.
"I did not mean to intrude," I said.
She did not answer, but when I turned to go, to my surprise, she stepped forward and walked at my side.
"Why do you come here alone?" she asked shyly, lifting a pensive56 questioning face.
"Because I am tired of all this tawdry noise. But you," I said, "surely you are not tired of it? You cannot have been here long."
"No," she replied, "I have not. Only thirty days"; and her blue eyes gleamed with childish pride.
"And that is why you seem so different from them all?"
Timidly she placed her hand upon my arm. "So you," she said gratefully, "you understand that I am not like them-that is, not yet."
"You do not act like them," I replied, "and what is more, you act as if you did not want to be like them. It surely cannot be merely that you are new here. The other girls when they come seem so eager for this life, to which they have long been trained. Were you not trained for it also?"
"Yes," she admitted, "they tried to train me for it, but they could not kill my artist's soul, for I was not like these others, born of a strain wherein women can only be mothers, or, if rejected for that, come here. I was born to be a musician, a group where women may be something more than mere4 females."
"Then why are you here?" I asked.
"Because," she faltered58, "my voice was imperfect. I have, you see, the soul of an artist but lack the physical means to give that soul expression. And so they transferred me to the school for free women, where I have been courted by the young men of the Royal House. But of course you understand all that."
"Yes," I said, "I know something of it; but my work has always so absorbed me that I have not had time to think of these matters. In fact, I come to the Free Level much less than most men."
For a moment, it seemed, her eyes hardened in cunning suspicion, but as I returned her intent gaze I could fathom only the doubts and fears of childish innocence59.
"Please let us sit down," I said; "it is so beautiful here; and then tell me all about yourself, how you have lived your childhood, and what your problems are. It may be that I can help you."
"There is not much to tell," she sighed, as she seated herself beside me. "I was only eight years old when the musical examiners condemned60 my voice and so I do not remember much about the music school. In the other school where they train girls for the life on the Free Level, they taught us dancing, and how to be beautiful, and always they told us that we must learn these things so that the men would love us. But the only men we ever saw were the doctors. They were always old and serious and I could not understand how I could ever love men. But our teachers would tell us that the other men would be different. They would be handsome and young and would dance with us and bring us fine presents. If we were pleasing in their sight they would take us away, and we should each have an apartment of our own, and many dresses with beautiful colours, and there would be a whole level full of wonderful things and we could go about as we pleased, and dance and feast and all life would be love and joy and laughter.
"Then, on the 'Great Day,' when we had our first individual dresses--for before we had always worn uniforms--the men came. They were young military officers and members of the Royal House who are permitted to select girls for their own exclusive love. We were all very shy at first, but many of the girls made friends with the men and some of them went away that first day. And after that the men came as often as they liked and I learned to dance with them, and they made love to me and told me I was very beautiful. Yet somehow I did not want to go with them. We had been told that we would love the men who loved us. I don't know why, but I didn't love any of them. And so the two years passed and they told me I must come here alone. And so here I am."
"And now that you are here," I said, "have you not, among all these men found one that you could love?"
"No," she said, with a tremor61 in her voice, "but they say I must."
"And how," I asked, "do they enforce that rule? Does any one require you--to accept the men?"
"Yes," she replied. "I must do that--or starve."
"And how do you live now?" I asked.
"They gave me money when I came here, a hundred marks. And they make me pay to eat and when my money is gone I cannot eat unless I get more. And the men have all the money, and they pay. They have offered to pay me, but I refused to take their checks, and they think me stupid."
The child-like explanation of her lot touched the strings62 of my heart. "And how long," I asked, "is this money that is given you when you come here supposed to last?"
"Not more than twenty days," she answered.
"But you," I said, "have been here thirty days!"
She looked at me and smiled proudly. "But I," she said, "only eat one meal a day. Do you not see how thin I am?"
The realization63 that any one in this scientifically fed city could be hungry was to me appalling64. Yet here was a girl living amidst luxurious beauty, upon whom society was using the old argument of hunger to force her acceptance of the love of man.
I rose and held out my hand. "You shall eat again today," I said.
"I would rather not," she demurred65. "I have not yet accepted favours from any man."
"But you must. You are hungry," I protested. "The problem of your existence here cannot be put off much longer. We will go eat and then we will try and find some solution."
Without further objection she walked with me. We found a secluded66 booth in a dining hall. I ordered the best dinner that Berlin had to offer.
During the intervals67 of silence in our rather halting dinner conversation, I wrestled68 with the situation. I had desired to gain insight into the lives of these girls. Yet now that the opportunity was presented I did not altogether relish70 the r?le in which it placed me. The apparent innocence of the confiding71 girl seemed to open an easy way for a personal conquest--and yet, perhaps because it was so obvious and easy, I rebelled at the unfairness of it. To rescue her, to aid her to escape--in a free world one might have considered these more obvious moves, but here there was no place for her to escape to, no higher social justice to which appeal could be made. Either I must accept her as a personal responsibility, with what that might involve, or desert her to her fate. Both seemed cowardly--yet such were the horns of the dilemma72 and a choice must be made. Here at least was an opportunity to make use of the funds that lay in the bank to the credit of the name I bore, and for which I had found so little use. So I decided73 to offer her money, and to insist that it was not offered as the purchase price of love.
"You must let me help you," I said, "you must let me give you money."
"But I do not want your money," she replied. "It would only postpone74 my troubles. Even if I do accept your money, I would have to accept money from other men also, for you cannot pay for the whole of a woman's living."
"Why not," I asked, "does any rule forbid it?"
"No rule, but can so young a man as you afford it?"
"How much does it take for you to live here?"
"About five marks a day."
I glanced rather proudly at my insignia as a research chemist of the first rank. "Do you know," I asked, "how much income that insignia carries?"
"Well, no," she admitted, "I know the income of military officers, but there are so many of the professional ranks and classes that I get all mixed up."
"That means," I said, "ten thousand marks a year."
"So much as that!" she exclaimed in astonishment75. "And I can live here on two hundred a month, but no, I did not mean that--you wouldn't,--I couldn't--let you give me so much."
"Much!" I exclaimed; "you may have five hundred if you need it."
"You make love very nicely," she replied with aloofness76.
"But I am not making love," I protested.
"Then why do you say these things? Do you prefer some one else? If so why waste your funds on me?"
"No, no!" I cried, "it is not that; but you see I want to tell you things; many things that you do not know. I want to see you often and talk to you. I want to bring you books to read. And as for money, that is so you will not starve while you read my books and listen to me talk. But you are to remain mistress of your own heart and your own person. You see, I believe there are ways to win a woman's love far better than buying her cheap when she is starved into selling in this brutal77 fashion."
She looked at me dubiously78. "You are either very queer," she said, "or else a very great liar79."
"But I am neither," I protested, piqued80 that the girl in her innocence should yet brand me either mentally deficient81 or deceitful. "It is impossible to make you understand me," I went on, "and yet you must trust me. These other men, they approve the system under which you live, but I do not. I offer you money, I insist on your taking it because there is no other way, but it is not to force you to accept me but only to make it unnecessary for you to accept some one else. You have been very brave, to stand out so long. You must accept my money now, but you need never accept me at all--unless you really want me. If I am to make love to you I want to make love to a woman who is really free; a woman free to accept or reject love, not starved into accepting it in this so-called freedom."
"It is all very wonderful," she repeated; "a minute ago I thought you deceitful, and now I want to believe you. I can not stand out much longer and what would be the use for just a few more days?"
"There will be no need," I said gently, "your courage has done its work well--it has saved you for yourself. And now," I continued, "we will bind82 this bargain before you again decide me crazy."
Taking out my check book I filled in a check for two hundred marks payable83 to--"To whom shall I make it payable?" I asked.
"To Bertha, 34 R 6," she said, and thus I wrote it, cursing the prostituted science and the devils of autocracy84 that should give an innocent girl a number like a convict in a jail or a mare85 in a breeder's herd86 book.
And so I bought a German girl with a German check--bought her because I saw no other way to save her from being lashed87 by starvation to the slave block and sold piecemeal88 to men in whom honour had not even died, but had been strangled before it was born.
With my check neatly89 tucked in her bosom90, Bertha walked out of the café clinging to my arm, and so, passing unheeding through the throng91 of indifferent revellers, we came to her apartment.
At the door I said, "Tomorrow night I come again. Shall it be at the café or here?"
"Here," she whispered, "away from them all."
I stooped and kissed her hand and then fled into the multitude.
~3~
I had promised Bertha that I would bring her books, but the narrow range of technical books permitted me were obviously unsuitable, nor did I feel that the unspeakably morbid92 novels available on the Level of Free Women would serve my purpose of awakening93 the girl to more wholesome94 aspirations95. In this emergency I decided to appeal to my friend, Zimmern.
Leaving the laboratory early, I made my way toward his apartment, puzzling my brain as to what kind of a book I could ask for that would be at once suitable to Bertha's child-like mind and also be a volume which I could logically appear to wish to read myself. As I walked along the answer flashed into my mind--I would ask for a geography of the outer world.
Happily I found Zimmern in. "I have come to ask," I said, "if you could loan me a book of description of the outer world, one with maps, one that tells all that is known of the land and seas and people."
"Oh, yes," smiled Zimmern, "you mean a geography. Your request," he continued, "does me great honour. Books telling the truth about the world without are very carefully guarded. I shall be pleased to get the geography for you at once. In fact I had already decided that when you came again I would take you with me to our little secret library. Germany is facing a great crisis, and I know no better way I can serve her than doing my part to help prepare as many as possible of our scientists to cope with the impending96 problems. Unless you chemists avert97 it, we shall all live to see this outer world, or die that others may."
Dr. Zimmern led the way to the elevator. We alighted on the Level of Free Women. Instead of turning towards the halls of revelry we took our course in the opposite direction along the quiet streets among the apartments of the women. We turned into a narrow passage-way and Dr. Zimmern rang the bell at an apartment door. But after waiting a moment for an answer he took a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.
"I am sorry Marguerite is out," he said, as he conducted me into a reception room. The walls were hung with seal-brown draperies. There were richly upholstered chairs and a divan98 piled high with fluffy99 pillows. In one corner stood a bookcase of burnished100 metal filigree101.
Zimmern waved his hand at the case with an expression of disdain102. "Only the conventional literature of the level, to keep up appearances," he said; "our serious books are in here"; and he thrust open the door of a room which was evidently a young lady's boudoir.
Conscious of a profane103 intrusion, I followed Dr. Zimmern into the dainty dressing104 chamber105. Stepping across the room he pushed open a spacious106 wardrobe, and thrusting aside a cleverly arranged shield of feminine apparel he revealed, upon some improvised107 shelves, a library of perhaps a hundred volumes. He ran his hand fondly along the bindings. "No other man of your age in Berlin," he said, "has ever had access to such a complete fund of knowledge as is in this library."
I hope the old doctor took for appreciation108 the smile that played upon my face as I contrasted his pitiful offering with the endless miles of book stacks in the libraries of the outer world where I had spent so many of my earlier days.
"Our books are safer here," said Zimmern, "for no one would suspect a girl on this level of being interested in serious reading. If perchance some inspector109 did think to perform his neglected duties we trust to him being content to glance over the few novels in the case outside and not to pry110 into her wardrobe closet. There is still some risk, but that we must take, since there is no absolute privacy anywhere. We must trust to chance to hide them in the place least likely to be searched."
"And how," I asked, "are these books accumulated?"
"It is the result of years of effort," explained Zimmern. "There are only a few of us who are in this secret group but all have contributed to the collection, and we come here to secure the books that the others bring. We prefer to read them here, and so avoid the chance of being detected carrying forbidden books. There is no restriction111 on the callers a girl may have at her apartment; the authorities of the level are content to keep records only of her monetary112 transactions, and that fact we take advantage of. Should a man's apartment on another level be so frequently visited by a group of men an inquiry113 would be made."
All this was interesting, but I inferred that I would again have opportunity to visit the library and now I was impatient to keep my appointment with Bertha. Making an excuse for haste, I asked Zimmern to get the geography for me. The stiff back of the book had been removed, and Zimmern helped me adjust the limp volume beneath my waistcoat.
"I am sorry you cannot remain and meet Marguerite tonight," he said as I stepped toward the door. "But tomorrow evening I will arrange for you to meet Colonel Hellar of the Information Staff, and Marguerite can be with us then. You may go directly to my booth in the café where you last dined with me."
~4~
After a brief walk I came to Bertha's apartment, and nervously114 pressed the bell. She opened the door stealthily and peered out, then recognizing me, she flung it wide.
"I have brought you a book," I said as I entered; and, not knowing what else to do, I went through the ridiculous operation of removing the geography from beneath my waistcoat.
"What a big book," exclaimed Bertha in amazement115. However, she did not open the geography but laid it on the table, and stood staring at me with her child-like blue eyes.
"Do you know," she said, "that you are the first visitor I ever had in my apartment? May I show you about?"
As I followed her through the cosy rooms, I chafed116 to see the dainty luxury in which she was permitted to live while being left to starve. The place was as well adapted to love-making as any other product of German science is adapted to its end. The walls were adorned117 with sensual prints; but happily I recalled that Bertha, having no education in the matter, was immune to the insult.
Anticipating my coming she had ordered dinner, and this was presently delivered by a deaf-and-dumb mechanical servant, and we set it forth118 on the dainty dining table. Since the world was young, I mused119, woman and man had eaten a first meal together with all the world shut out, and so we dined amid shy love and laughter in a tiny apartment in the heart of a city where millions of men never saw the face of woman--and where millions of babies were born out of love by the cold degree of science. And this same science, bartering120 with licentious32 iniquity121, had provided this refuge and permitted us to bar the door, and so we accepted our refuge and sanctified it with the purity that was within our own hearts--such at least was my feeling at the time.
And so we dined and cleared away, and talked joyfully122 of nothing. As the evening wore on Bertha, beside me upon the divan, snuggled contentedly124 against my shoulder. The nearness and warmth of her, and the innocence of her eyes thrilled yet maddened me.
With fast beating heart, I realized that I as well as Bertha was in the grip of circumstances against which rebellion was as futile as were thoughts of escape. There was no one to aid and no one to forbid or criticize. Whatever I might do to save her from the fate ordained125 for her would of necessity be worked out between us, unaided and unhampered by the ethics126 of civilization as I had known it in a freer, saner127 world.
In offering Bertha money and coming to her apartment I had thrust myself between her and the crass128 venality129 of the men of her race, but I had now to wrestle69 with the problem that such action had involved. If, I reasoned, I could only reveal to her my true identity the situation would be easier, for I could then tell her of the rules of the game of love in the world I had known. Until she knew of that world and its ideals, how could I expect her to understand my motives130? How else could I strengthen her in the battle against our own impulses?
And yet, did I dare to confess to her that I was not a German? Would not deep-seated ideals of patriotism131 drilled into the mind of a child place me in danger of betrayal at her hands? Such a move might place my own life in jeopardy132 and also destroy my opportunity of being of service to the world, could I contrive133 the means of escape from Berlin with the knowledge I had gained. Small though the possibilities of such escape might be, it was too great a hope for me to risk for sentimental134 reasons. And could she be expected to believe so strange a tale?
And so the temptation to confess that I was not Karl Armstadt passed, and with its passing, I recalled the geography that I had gone to so much trouble to secure, and which still lay unopened upon the table. Here at least was something to get us away from the tumultuous consciousness of ourselves and I reached for the volume and spread it open upon my knees.
"What a funny book!" exclaimed Bertha, as she gazed at the round maps of the two hemispheres. "Of what is that a picture?"
"The world," I answered.
She stared at me blankly. "The Royal World?" she asked.
"No, no," I replied. "The world outside the walls of Berlin."
"The world in the sun," exclaimed Bertha, "on the roof where they fight the airplanes? A roof-guard officer" she paused and bit her lip--
"The world of the inferior races," I suggested, trying to find some common footing with her pitifully scant135 knowledge.
"The world underground," she said, "where the soldiers fight in the mines?"
Baffled in my efforts to define this world to her, I began turning the pages of the geography, while Bertha looked at the pictures in child-like wonder, and I tried as best I could to find simple explanations.
Between the lines of my teaching, I scanned, as it were, the true state of German ignorance. Despite the evident intended authoritativeness136 of the book--for it was marked "Permitted to military staff officers"--I found it amusingly full of erroneous conceptions of the true state of affairs in the outer world.
This teaching of a child-like mind the rudiments138 of knowledge was an amusing recreation, and so an hour passed pleasantly. Yet I realized that this was an occupation of which I would soon tire, for it was not the amusement of teaching a child that I craved139, but the companionship of a woman of intelligence.
As we turned the last page I arose to take my departure. "If I leave the book with you," I said, "will you read it all, very carefully? And then when I come again I will explain those things you can not understand."
"But it is so big, I couldn't read it in a day," replied Bertha, as she looked at me appealingly.
I steeled myself against that appeal. I wanted very much to get my mind back on my chemistry, and I wanted also to give her time to read and ponder over the wonders of the great unknown world. Moreover, I no longer felt so grievously concerned, for the calamity140 which had overshadowed her had been for the while removed. And I had, too, my own struggle to cherish her innocence, and that without the usual help extended by conventional society. So I made brave resolutions and explained the urgency of my work and insisted that I could not see her for five days.
Hungrily she pleaded for a quicker return; and I stubbornly resisted the temptation. "No," I insisted, "not tomorrow, nor the next day, but I will come back in three days at the same hour that I came tonight."
Then taking her in my arms, I kissed her in feverish141 haste and tore myself from the enthralling142 lure of her presence.
~5~
When I reached the café the following evening to keep my appointment with Zimmern, the waiter directed me to one of the small enclosed booths. As I entered, closing the door after me, I found myself confronting a young woman.
"Are you Col. Armstadt?" she asked with a clear, vibrant143 voice. She smiled cordially as she gave me her hand. "I am Marguerite. Dr. Zimmern has gone to bring Col. Hellar, and he asked me to entertain you until his return."
The friendly candour of this greeting swept away the grey walls of Berlin, and I seemed again face to face with a woman of my own people. She was a young woman of distinctive144 personality. Her features, though delicately moulded, bespoke145 intelligence and strength of character that I had not hitherto seen in the women of Berlin. Framing her face was a luxuriant mass of wavy147 brown hair, which fell loosely about her shoulders. Her slender figure was draped in a cape55 of deep blue cellulose velvet148.
"Dr. Zimmern tells me," I said as I seated myself across the table from her, "that you are a dear friend of his."
A swift light gleamed in her deep brown eyes. "A very dear friend," she said feelingly, and then a shadow flitted across her face as she added, "Without him life for me would be unbearable149 here."
"And how long, if I may ask, have you been here?"
"About four years. Four years and six days, to be exact. I can keep count you know," and she smiled whimsically, "for I came on the day of my birth, the day I was sixteen."
"That is the same for all, is it not?"
"No one can come here before she is sixteen," replied Marguerite, "and all must come before they are eighteen."
"But why did you come at the first opportunity?" I asked, as I mentally compared her confession150 with that of Bertha who had so courageously152 postponed153 as long as she could the day of surrender to this life of shamefully154 commercialized love.
"And why should I not come?" returned Marguerite. "I had a chance to come, and I accepted it. Do you think life in the school for girls of forbidden birth is an enjoyable one?"
I wanted to press home the point of my argument, to proclaim my pride in Bertha's more heroic struggle with the system, for this girl with whom I now conversed155 was obviously a woman of superior intelligence, and it angered me to know that she had so easily surrendered to the life for which German society had ordained her. But I restrained my speech, for I realized that in criticizing her way of life I would be criticizing her obvious relation to Zimmern, and like all men I found myself inclined to be indulgent with the personal life of a man who was my friend. Moreover, I perceived the presumptuousness156 of assuming a superior air towards an established and accepted institution. Yet, strive as I might to be tolerant, I felt a growing antagonism157 towards this attractive and cultured girl who had surrendered without a struggle to a life that to me was a career of shame--and who seemed quite content with her surrender.
"Do you like it here?" I asked, knowing that my question was stupid, but anxious to avoid a painful gap in what was becoming, for me, a difficult conversation.
Marguerite looked at me with a queer penetrating158 gaze. "Do I like it here?" she repeated. "Why should you ask, and how can I answer? Can I like it or not like it, when there was no choice for me? Can I push out the walls of Berlin?"--and she thrust mockingly into the air with a delicately chiselled159 hand--"It is a prison. All life is a prison."
"Yes," I said, "it is a prison, but life on this level is more joyful123 than on many others."
Her lip curled in delicate scorn. "For you men--of course--and I suppose it is for these women too--perhaps that is why I hate it so, because they do enjoy it, they do accept it. They sell their love for food and raiment, and not one in all these millions seems to mind it."
"In that," I remarked, "perhaps you are mistaken. I have not come here often as most men do, but I have found one other who, like you, rebels at the system--who in fact, was starving because she would not sell her love."
Marguerite flashed on me a look of pitying suspicion as she asked: "Have you gone to the Place of Records to look up this rebel against the sale of love?"
A fire of resentment160 blazed up in me at this question. I did not know just what she meant by the Place of Records, but I felt that this woman who spoke146 cynically161 of rebellion against the sale of love, and yet who had obviously sold her love to an old man, was in no position to discredit162 a weaker woman's nobler fight.
"What right," I asked coldly, "have you to criticize another whom you do not know?"
"I am sorry," replied Marguerite, "if I seem to quarrel with you when I was left here to entertain you, but I could not help it--it angers me to have you men be so fond of being deceived, such easy prey26 to this threadbare story of the girl who claims she never came here until forced to do so. But men love to believe it. The girls learn to use the story because it pays."
A surge of conflicting emotion swept through me as I recalled the child-like innocence of Bertha and compared it with the critical scepticism of this superior woman. "It only goes to show," I thought, "what such a system can do to destroy a woman's faith in the very existence of innocence and virtue163."
Marguerite did not speak; her silence seemed to say: "You do not understand, nor can I explain--I am simply here and so are you, and we have our secrets which cannot be committed to words."
With idle fingers she drummed lightly on the table. I watched those slender fingers and the rhythmic164 play of the delicate muscles of the bare white arm that protruded165 from the rich folds of the blue velvet cape. Then my gaze lifted to her face. Her downcast eyes were shielded by long curving lashes166; high arched silken brows showed dark against a skin as fresh and free from chemist's pigment167 as the petal168 of a rose. In exultant169 rapture170 my heart within me cried that here was something fine of fibre, a fineness which ran true to the depths of her soul.
In my discovery of Bertha's innocence and in my faith in her purity and courage I had hoped to find relief from the spiritual loneliness that had grown upon me during my sojourn171 in this materialistic172 city. But that faith was shaken, as the impression Bertha had made upon my over-sensitized emotions, now dimmed by a brighter light, flickered173 pale on the screen of memory. The mere curiosity and pity I had felt for a chance victim singled out among thousands by the legend of innocence on a pretty face could not stand against the force that now drew me to this woman who seemed to be not of a slavish race--even as Dr. Zimmern seemed a man apart from the soulless product of the science he directed. But as I acknowledged this new magnet tugging174 at the needle of my floundering heart, I also realized that my friendship for the lovable and courageous151 Zimmern reared an unassailable barrier to shut me into outer darkness.
The thought proved the harbinger of the reality, for Dr. Zimmerman himself now entered. He was accompanied by Col. Hellar of the Information Staff, a man of about Zimmern's age. Col. Hellar bore himself with a gracious dignity; his face was sad, yet there gleamed from his eye a kindly175 humor.
Marguerite, after exchanging a few pleasantries with Col. Hellar and myself, tenderly kissed the old doctor on the forehead, and slipped out.
"You shall see much of her," said Zimmern, "she is the heart and fire of our little group, the force that holds us together. But tonight I asked her not to remain"--the old doctor's eyes twinkled with merriment,--"for a young man cannot get acquainted with a beautiful woman and with ideas at the same time."
~6~
"And now," said Zimmern, after we had finished our dinner, "I want Col. Hellar to tell you more of the workings of the Information Service."
"It is a very complex system," began Hellar. "It is old. Its history goes back to the First World War, when the military censorship began by suppressing information thought to be dangerous and circulating fictitious176 reports for patriotic177 purposes. Now all is much more elaborately organized; we provide that every child be taught only the things that it is decided he needs to know, and nothing more. Have you seen the bulletins and picture screens in the quarters for the workers?"
"Yes," I replied, "but the lines were all in old German type."
"And that," said Hellar, "is all that the workers and soldiers can read. The modern type could be taught them in a few days, but we see to it that they have no opportunity to learn it. As it is now, should they find or steal a forbidden book, they cannot read it."
"But is it not true," I asked, "that at one time the German workers were most thoroughly178 educated?"
"It is true," said Hellar, "and because of that universal education Germany was defeated in the First World War. The English contaminated the soldiers by flooding the trenches179 with democratic literature dropped from airplanes. Then came the Bolshevist regime in Russia with its passion for revolutionary propaganda. The working men and soldiers read this disloyal literature and they forced the abdication180 of William the Great. It was because of this that his great grandson, when the House of Hohenzollern was restored to the throne, decided to curtail181 universal education.
"But while William III curtailed182 general education he increased the specialized183 education and established the Information Staff to supervise the dissemination184 of all knowledge."
"It is an atrocious system," broke in Zimmern, "but if we had not abolished the family, curtailed knowledge and bred soldiers and workers from special non-intellectual strains this sunless world of ours could not have endured."
"Quite so," said Hellar, "whether we approve of it or not certainly there was no other way to accomplish the end sought. By no other plan could German isolation185 have been maintained."
"But why was isolation deemed desirable?" I enquired186.
"Because," said Zimmern, "it was that or extermination187. Even now we who wish to put an end to this isolation, we few who want to see the world as our ancestors saw it, know that the price may be annihilation."
"So," repeated Hellar, "so annihilation for Germany, but better so--and yet I go on as Director of Information; Dr. Zimmern goes on as Chief Eugenist; and you go on seeking to increase the food supply, and so we all go on as part of the diabolic system, because as individuals we cannot destroy it, but must go on or be destroyed by it. We have riches here and privileges. We keep the labourers subdued188 below us, Royalty189 enthroned above us, and the World State at bay about us, all by this science and system which only we few intellectuals understand and which we keep going because we can not stop it without being destroyed by the effort."
"But we shall stop it," declared Zimmern, "we must stop it--with Armstadt's help we can stop it. You and I, Hellar, are mere cogs; if we break others can take our places, but Armstadt has power. What he knows no one else knows. He has power. We have only weakness because others can take our place. And because he has power let us help him find a way."
"It seems to me," I said, "that the way must be by education. More men must think as we do."
"But they can not think," replied Hellar, "they have nothing to think with."
"But the books," I said, "there is power in knowledge."
"But," said Hellar, "the labourer can not read the forbidden book and the intellectual will not, for if he did he would be afraid to talk about it, and what a man can not talk about he rarely cares to read. The love or hatred190 of knowledge is a matter of training. It was only last week that I was visiting a boy's school in order to study the effect of a new reader of which complaint had been made that it failed sufficiently191 to exalt192 the virtue of obedience193. I was talking with the teacher while the boys assembled in the morning. We heard a great commotion194 and a mob of boys came in dragging one of their companions who had a bruised195 face and torn clothing. "Master, he had a forbidden book," they shouted, and the foremost held out the tattered196 volume as if it were loathsome197 poison. It proved to be a text on cellulose spinning. Where the culprit had found it we could not discover but he was sent to the school prison and the other boys were given favours for apprehending198 him."
"But how is it," I asked, "that books are not written by free-minded authors and secretly printed and circulated?"
At this question my companions smiled. "You chemists forget," said Hellar, "that it takes printing presses to make books. There is no press in all Berlin except in the shops of the Information Staff. Every paper, every book, and every picture originates and is printed there. Every news and book distributor must get his stock from us and knows that he must have only in his possession that which bears the imprint199 for his level. That is why we have no public libraries and no trade in second-hand200 books.
"In early life I favoured this system, but in time the foolishness of the thing came to perplex, then to annoy, and finally to disgust me. But I wanted the money and honour that promotion201 brought and so I have won to my position and power; with my right hand I uphold the system and with my left hand I seek to pull out the props202 on which it rests. For twenty years now I have nursed the secret traffic in books and risked my life many times thereby203, yet my successes have been few and scattered204. Every time the auditors205 check my stock and accounts I tremble in fear, for embezzling206 books is more dangerous than embezzling credit at the bank."
"But who," I asked, "write the books?"
"For the technical books it is not hard to find authors," explained Hellar, "for any man well schooled in his work can write of it. But the task of getting the more general books written is not so easy. For then it is not so much a question of the author knowing the things of which he writes but of knowing what the various groups are to be permitted to know.
"That writing is done exclusively by especially trained workers of the Information Service. I myself began as such a writer and studied long under the older masters. The school of scientific lying, I called it, but strange to say I used to enjoy such work and did it remarkably207 well. As recognition of my ability I was commissioned to write the book 'God's Anointed.' Through His Majesty208's approval of my work I now owe my position on the Staff.
"His Majesty," continued Hellar, "was only twenty-six years of age when he came to the throne, but he decided at once that a new religious book should be written in which he would be proclaimed as 'God's Anointed ruler of the World.'
"I had never before spoken with the high members of the Royal House, and I was trembling with eagerness and fear as I was ushered209 into His Majesty's presence. The Emperor sat at his great black table; before him was an old book. He turned to me and said, 'Have you ever heard of the Christian210 Bible?'
"My Chief had informed me that the new book was to be based on the old Bible that the Christians211 had received from the Hebrews. So I said, 'Yes, Your Majesty, I am familiar with many of its words.'
"He looked at me with a gloating suspicion. 'Ah, ha,' he said, 'then there is something amiss in the Information Service--you are in the third rank of your service and the Bible is permitted only to the first rank.'
"I saw that my statement unless modified would result in an embarrassing investigation212. 'I have never read the Christian Bible,' I said, 'but my mother must have read it for when as a child I visited her she quoted to me long passages from the Bible.'
"His Majesty smiled in a pleased fashion. 'That is it,' he said, 'women are essentially213 religious by nature, because they are trusting and obedient. It was a mistake to attempt to stamp out religion. It is the doctrine214 of obedience. Therefore I shall revive religion, but it shall be a religion of obedience to the House of Hohenzollern. The God of the Hebrews declared them to be his chosen people. But they proved a servile and mercenary race. They traded their swords for shekels and became a byword and a hissing215 among the nations--and they were scattered to the four corners of the earth. I shall revive that God. And this time he shall chose more wisely, for the Germans shall be his people. The idea is not mine. William the Great had that idea, but the revolution swept it away. It shall be revived. We shall have a new Bible, based upon the old one, a third dispensation, to replace the work of Moses and Jesus. And I too shall be a lawgiver--I shall speak the word of God.'"
Hellar paused; a smile crept over his face. Then he laughed softly and to himself--but Dr. Zimmern only shook his head sadly.
"Yes, I wrote the book," continued Hellar. "It required four years, for His Majesty was very critical, and did much revising. I had a long argument with him over the question of retaining Hell. I was bitterly opposed to it and represented to His Majesty that no religion had ever thrived on fear of punishment without a corresponding hope of reward. 'If you are to have no Heaven,' I insisted, 'then you must have no Hell.'
"'But we do not need Heaven,' argued His Majesty, 'Heaven is superfluous216. It is an insult to my reign217. Is it not enough that a man is a German, and may serve the House of Hohenzollern?'
"'Then why,' I asked, 'do you need a Hell?' I should have been shot for that but His Majesty did not see the implication. He replied coolly:
"'We must have a Hell because there is one way that my subjects can escape me. It is a sin of our race that the Eugenics Office should have bred out--but they have failed. It is an inborn218 sin for it is chiefly committed by our children before they come to comprehend the glory of being German. How else, if you do not have a Hell in your religion, can you check suicide?'
"Of course there was logic29 in his contention219 and so I gave in and made the Children's Hell. It is a gruesome doctrine, that a child who kills himself does not really die. It is the one thing in the whole book that makes me feel most intellectually unclean for writing it. But I wrote it and when the book was finished and His Majesty had signed the manuscript, for the first time in over a century we printed a bible on a German press. The press where the first run was made we named 'Old Gutenberg.'"
"Gutenberg invented the printing press," explained Zimmern, fearing I might not comprehend.
"Yes," said Hellar with a curling lip, "and Gutenberg was a German, and so am I. He printed a Bible which he believed, and I wrote one which I do not believe."
"But I am glad," concluded Hellar as he arose, "that I do not believe Gutenberg's Bible either, for I should very much dislike to think of meeting him in Paradise."
~7~
After taking leave of my companions I walked on alone, oblivious220 to the gay throng, for I had many things on which to ponder. In these two men I felt that I had found heroic figures. Their fund of knowledge, which they prized so highly, seemed to me pitifully circumscribed221 and limited, their revolutionary plans hopelessly vague and futile. But the intellectual stature222 of a man is measured in terms of the average of his race, and, thus viewed, Zimmern and Hellar were intellectual giants of heroic proportions.
As I walked through a street of shops. I paused before the display window of a bookstore of the level. Most of these books I had previously223 discovered were lurid-titled tales of licentious love. But among them I now saw a volume bearing the title "God's Anointed," and recalled that I had seen it before and assumed it to be but another like its fellows.
Entering the store I secured a copy and, impatient to inspect my purchase, I bent224 my steps to my favourite retreat in the nearby Hall of Flowers. In a secluded niche225 near the misty226 fountain I began a hasty perusal227 of this imperially inspired word of God who had anointed the Hohenzollerns masters of the earth. Hellar's description had prepared me for a preposterous228 and absurd work, but I had not anticipated anything quite so audacious could be presented to a race of civilized229 men, much less that they could have accepted it in good faith as the Germans evidently did.
"God's Anointed," as Hellar had scoffingly230 inferred, not only proclaimed the Germans as the chosen race, but also proclaimed an actual divinity of the blood of the House of Hohenzollern. That William II did have some such notions in his egomania I believe is recorded in authentic231 history. But the way Eitel I had adapted that faith to the rather depressing facts of the failure of world conquest would have been extremely comical to me, had I not seen ample evidence of the colossal232 effect of such a faith working in the credulous233 child-mind of a people so utterly234 devoid235 of any saving sense of humour.
Not unfamiliar236 with the history of the temporal reign of the Popes of the middle ages, I could readily comprehend the practical efficiency of such a mixture of religious faith with the affairs of earth. For the God of the German theology exacted no spiritual worship of his people, but only a very temporal service to the deity's earthly incarnation in the form of the House of Hohenzollern.
The greatest virtue, according to this mundane237 theology, was obedience, and this doctrine was closely interwoven with the caste system of German society. The virtue of obedience required the German to renounce238 discontent with his station, and to accept not only the material status into which he was born, with science aforethought, but the intellectual limits and horizons of that status. The old Christian doctrine of heresy239 was broadened to encompass240 the entire mental life. To think forbidden thoughts, to search after forbidden knowledge, that was at once treason against the Royal House and rebellion against the divine plan.
German theology, confounding divine and human laws, permitted no dual15 overlapping241 spheres of mundane and celestial242 rule as had all previous religious and, social orders since Christ had commanded his disciples243 to "Render unto Caesar--" There could be no conscientious244 objection to German law on religious grounds; no problem of church and state, for the church was the state.
In this book that masqueraded as the word of God, I looked in vain for some revelation of future life. But it was essentially a one-world theology; the most immortal245 thing was the Royal House for which the worker was asked to slave, the soldier to die that Germany might be ruled by the Hohenzollerns and that the Hohenzollerns might sometime rule the world.
As the freedom of conscience and the institution of marriage had been discarded so this German faith had scrapped246 the immortality247 of the soul, save for the single incongruous doctrine that a child taking his own life does not die but lives on in ceaseless torment248 in a ghoulish Children's Hell.
As I closed the cursed volume my mind called up a picture of Teutonic hordes249 pouring from the forests of the North and blotting250 out what Greece and Rome had builded. From thence my roving fancy tripped over the centuries and lived again with men who cannot die. I stood with Luther at the Diet of Worms. With Kant I sounded the deeps of philosophy. I sailed with Humboldt athwart uncharted seas. I fought with Goethe for the redemption of a soul sold to the Devil. And with Schubert and Heine I sang:
Du bist wie eine Blume,
So hold und schoen und rein57,
Betend dass Gott dich erhalte,
So rein und schoen und hold.
But what a cankerous end was here. This people which the world had once loved and honoured was now bred a beast of burden, a domesticated251 race, saddled and trained to bear upon its back the House of Hohenzollern as the ass1 bore Balaam. But the German ass wore the blinders that science had made--and saw no angel.
~8~
As I sat musing137 thus and gazing into the spray of the fountain I glimpsed a grey clad figure, standing in the shadows of a viney bower. Although I could not distinguish her face through the leafy tracery I knew that it was Bertha, and my heart thrilled to think that she had returned to the site of our meeting. Thoroughly ashamed of the faithless doubts that I had so recently entertained of her innocence and sincerity252, I arose and hastened toward her. But in making the detour253 about the pool I lost sight of the grey figure, for she was standing well back in the arbour. As I approached the place where I had seen her I came upon two lovers standing with arms entwined in the path at the pool's edge. Not wishing to disturb them, I turned back through one of the arbours and approached by another path. As I slipped noiselessly along in my felt-soled shoes I heard Bertha's voice, and quite near, through the leafy tracery, I glimpsed the grey of her gown.
"Why with your beauty," came the answering voice of a man, "did you not find a lover from the Royal Level?"
"Because," Bertha's voice replied, "I would not accept them. I could not love them. I could not give myself without love."
"But surely," insisted the man, "you have found a lover here?"
"But I have not," protested the innocent voice, "because I have sought none."
"Now long have you been here?" bluntly asked the man.
"Thirty days," replied the girl.
"Then you must have found a lover, your début fund would all be gone."
"But," cried Bertha, in a tearful voice, "I only eat one meal a day--do you not see how thin I am?"
"Now that's clever," rejoined the man, "come, I'll accept it for what it is worth, and look you up afterwards," and he laughingly led her away, leaving me undiscovered in the neighbouring arbour to pass judgment254 on my own simplicity255.
As I walked toward the elevator, I was painfully conscious of two ideas. One was that Marguerite had been quite correct with her information about the free women who found it profitable to play the r?le of maidenly256 innocence. The other was that Dr. Zimmern's precious geography was in the hands of the artful, child-eyed hypocrite who had so cleverly beguiled257 me with her r?le of heroic virtue. Clearly, I was trapped, and to judge better with what I had to deal I decided to go at once to the Place of Records, of which I had twice heard.
The Place of Records proved to be a public directory of the financial status of the free women. Since the physical plagues that are propagated by promiscuous258 love had been completely exterminated259, and since there were no moral standards to preserve, there was no need of other restrictions260 on the lives of the women than an economic one.
The rules of the level were prominently posted. As all consequential261 money exchanges were made through bank checks, the keeping of the records was an easy matter. These rules I found forbade any woman to cash checks in excess of one thousand marks a month, or in excess of two hundred marks from any one man. That was simple enough, and I smiled as I recalled that I had gone the legal limit in my first adventure.
Following the example of other men, I stepped to the window and gave the name: "Bertha 34 R 6."A clerk brought me a book opened to the page of her record. At the top of the page was entered this statement, "Bred for an actress but rejected for both professional work and maternity262 because found devoid of sympathetic emotions." I laughed as I read this, but when on the next line I saw from the date of her entrance to the level that Bertha's thirty days was in reality nearly three years, my mirth turned to anger. I looked down the list of entries and found that for some time she had been cashing each month the maximum figure of a thousand marks. Evidently her little scheme of pensive posing in the Hall of Flowers was working nicely. In the current month, hardly half gone, she already had to her credit seven hundred marks; and last on the list was my own contribution, freshly entered.
"She has three hundred marks yet," commented the clerk.
"Yes, I see,"--and I turned to go. But I paused and stepped again to the window. "There is another girl I would like to look up," I said, "but I have only her name and no number."
"Do you know the date of her arrival?" asked the clerk.
"Yes, she has been here four years and six days. The name is Marguerite."
The clerk walked over to a card file and after some searching brought back a slip with half a dozen numbers. "Try these," he said, and he brought me the volumes. The second record I inspected read: "Marguerite, 78 K 4, Love-child."On the page below was a single entry for each month of two hundred marks and every entry from the first was in the name of Ludwig Zimmern.
~9~
I kept my appointment with Bertha, but found it difficult to hide my anger as she greeted me. Wishing to get the interview over, I asked abruptly263, "Have you read the book I left?"
"Not all of it," she replied, "I found it rather dull."
"Then perhaps I had better take it with me."
"But I think I shall keep it awhile," she demurred.
"No," I insisted, as I looked about and failed to see the geography, "I wish you would get it for me. I want to take it back, in fact it was a borrowed book."
"Most likely," she smiled archly, "but since you are not a staff officer, and had no right to have that book, you might as well know that you will get it when I please to give it to you."
Seeing that she was thoroughly aware of my predicament, I grew frightened and my anger slipped from its moorings. "See here," I cried, "your little story of innocence and virtue is very clever, but I've looked you up and--"
"And what--," she asked, while through her child-like mask the subtle trickery of her nature mocked me with a look of triumph--"and what do you propose to do about it?"
I realized the futility264 of my rage. "I shall do nothing. I ask only that you return the book."
"But books are so valuable," taunted265 Bertha.
Dejectedly I sank to the couch. She came over and sat on a cushion at my feet. "Really Karl," she purred, "you should not be angry. If I insist on keeping your book it is merely to be sure that you will not forget me. I rather like you; you are so queer and talk such odd things. Did you learn your strange ways of making love from the book about the inferior races in the world outside the walls? I really tried to read some of it, but I could not understand half the words."
I rose and strode about the room. "Will you get me the book?" I demanded.
"And lose you?"
"Well, what of it? You can get plenty more fools like me."
"Yes, but I would have to stand and stare into that fountain for hours at a time. It is very tiresome266."
"Just what do you want?" I asked, trying to speak calmly.
"Why you," she said, placing her slender white hands upon my arm, and holding up an inviting267 face.
But anger at my own gullibility268 had killed her power to draw me, and I shook her off. "I want that book," I said coldly, "what are your terms?" And I drew my check book from my pocket.
"How many blanks have you there?" she asked with a greedy light in her eyes--"but never mind to count them. Make them all out to me at two hundred marks, and date each one a month ahead."
Realizing that any further exhibition of fear or anger would put me more within her power, I sat down and began to write the checks. The fund I was making over to her was quite useless to me but when I had made out twenty checks I stopped. "Now," I said, "this is enough. You take these or nothing." Tearing out the written checks I held them toward her.
As she reached out her hand I drew them back--"Go get the book," I demanded.
"But you are unfair," said Bertha, "you are the stronger. You can take the book from me. I cannot take the checks from you."
"That is so," I admitted, and handed the checks to her. She looked at them carefully and slipped them into her bosom, and then, reaching under the pile of silken pillows, she pulled forth the geography.
I seized it and turned toward the door, but she caught my arm. "Don't," she pleaded, "don't go. Don't be angry with me. Why should you dislike me? I've only played my part as you men make it for us--but I do not want your money for nothing. You liked me when you thought me innocent. Why hate me when you find that I am clever?"
Again those slender arms stole around my neck, and the entrancing face was raised to mine. But the vision of a finer, nobler face rose before me, and I pushed away the clinging arms. "I'm sorry," I said, "I am going now--going back to my work and forget you. It is not your fault. You are only what Germany has made you--but," I added with a smile, "if you must go to the Hall of Flowers, please do not wear that grey gown."
She stood very still as I edged toward the door, and the look of baffled child-like innocence crept back into her eyes, a real innocence this time of things she did not know, and could not understand.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
ass
|
|
| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
futile
|
|
| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
carnival
|
|
| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
lure
|
|
| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
sensuous
|
|
| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
tragic
|
|
| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
gaudy
|
|
| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
hectic
|
|
| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
aluminum
|
|
| n.(aluminium)铝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
plied
|
|
| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
retention
|
|
| n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
ensemble
|
|
| n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
rigid
|
|
| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
dual
|
|
| adj.双的；二重的，二元的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
license
|
|
| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
oasis
|
|
| n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
vice
|
|
| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
sterile
|
|
| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
puritanically
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
crafty
|
|
| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
dames
|
|
| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
rendezvous
|
|
| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
fathom
|
|
| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
prey
|
|
| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
preying
|
|
| v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
logic
|
|
| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
vestige
|
|
| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
marvelled
|
|
| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
licentious
|
|
| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
licentiousness
|
|
| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
intoxication
|
|
| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
synthetic
|
|
| adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
ignobility
|
|
| 无能，无力； 无才能； 无能为力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
vices
|
|
| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
corruptions
|
|
| n.堕落( corruption的名词复数 )；腐化；腐败；贿赂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
villain
|
|
| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
collapsed
|
|
| adj.倒塌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
deteriorated
|
|
| 恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
speculations
|
|
| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
smothered
|
|
| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
stimulated
|
|
| a.刺激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
prodigal
|
|
| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
profusion
|
|
| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
ponderous
|
|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
orchids
|
|
| n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
dangling
|
|
| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
luxurious
|
|
| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
cosy
|
|
| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
moody
|
|
| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
bower
|
|
| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
cape
|
|
| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
pensive
|
|
| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
rein
|
|
| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
faltered
|
|
| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
innocence
|
|
| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
condemned
|
|
| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
tremor
|
|
| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
strings
|
|
| n.弦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
realization
|
|
| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
appalling
|
|
| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
demurred
|
|
| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
secluded
|
|
| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
intervals
|
|
| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
wrestled
|
|
| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
wrestle
|
|
| vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
relish
|
|
| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
confiding
|
|
| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
dilemma
|
|
| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
postpone
|
|
| v.延期，推迟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
astonishment
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
aloofness
|
|
| 超然态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
dubiously
|
|
| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
liar
|
|
| n.说谎的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
piqued
|
|
| v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 )；激起（好奇心） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
deficient
|
|
| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
bind
|
|
| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
payable
|
|
| adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
autocracy
|
|
| n.独裁政治，独裁政府 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
mare
|
|
| n.母马，母驴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
herd
|
|
| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
lashed
|
|
| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
piecemeal
|
|
| adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
throng
|
|
| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
morbid
|
|
| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
awakening
|
|
| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
wholesome
|
|
| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
aspirations
|
|
| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
impending
|
|
| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
avert
|
|
| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
divan
|
|
| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
fluffy
|
|
| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
burnished
|
|
| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
filigree
|
|
| n.金银丝做的工艺品；v.用金银细丝饰品装饰；用华而不实的饰品装饰；adj.金银细丝工艺的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
disdain
|
|
| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
profane
|
|
| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
dressing
|
|
| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
chamber
|
|
| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
spacious
|
|
| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
improvised
|
|
| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
appreciation
|
|
| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
inspector
|
|
| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
pry
|
|
| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
restriction
|
|
| n.限制，约束 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
monetary
|
|
| adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
inquiry
|
|
| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
chafed
|
|
| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
adorned
|
|
| [计]被修饰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
mused
|
|
| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
bartering
|
|
| v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
iniquity
|
|
| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
joyfully
|
|
| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
joyful
|
|
| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
contentedly
|
|
| adv.心满意足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
ordained
|
|
| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
ethics
|
|
| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
saner
|
|
| adj.心智健全的( sane的比较级 )；神志正常的；明智的；稳健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
crass
|
|
| adj.愚钝的，粗糙的；彻底的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
venality
|
|
| n.贪赃枉法，腐败 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
130
motives
|
|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
patriotism
|
|
| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
jeopardy
|
|
| n.危险；危难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
contrive
|
|
| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
scant
|
|
| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
authoritativeness
|
|
| [法]权威 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
musing
|
|
| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
rudiments
|
|
| n.基础知识，入门 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
craved
|
|
| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
calamity
|
|
| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
feverish
|
|
| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
enthralling
|
|
| 迷人的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
vibrant
|
|
| adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
distinctive
|
|
| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
bespoke
|
|
| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
wavy
|
|
| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
velvet
|
|
| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
unbearable
|
|
| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
courageous
|
|
| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
courageously
|
|
| ad.勇敢地，无畏地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
postponed
|
|
| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
shamefully
|
|
| 可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
conversed
|
|
| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
presumptuousness
|
|
| n.自以为是，专横，冒失 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
antagonism
|
|
| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
penetrating
|
|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
chiselled
|
|
| adj.凿过的，凿光的； （文章等）精心雕琢的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
resentment
|
|
| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
cynically
|
|
| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
discredit
|
|
| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
rhythmic
|
|
| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
protruded
|
|
| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
lashes
|
|
| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
pigment
|
|
| n.天然色素，干粉颜料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
petal
|
|
| n.花瓣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
exultant
|
|
| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
rapture
|
|
| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
sojourn
|
|
| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
materialistic
|
|
| a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
flickered
|
|
| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
tugging
|
|
| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
fictitious
|
|
| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
patriotic
|
|
| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
179
trenches
|
|
| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
180
abdication
|
|
| n.辞职；退位 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
181
curtail
|
|
| vt.截短，缩短；削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
182
curtailed
|
|
| v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
183
specialized
|
|
| adj.专门的，专业化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
184
dissemination
|
|
| 传播,宣传,传染(病毒) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
185
isolation
|
|
| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
186
enquired
|
|
| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
187
extermination
|
|
| n.消灭，根绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
188
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
189
royalty
|
|
| n.皇家，皇族 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
190
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
191
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
192
exalt
|
|
| v.赞扬，歌颂，晋升，提升 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
193
obedience
|
|
| n.服从，顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
194
commotion
|
|
| n.骚动，动乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
195
bruised
|
|
| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
196
tattered
|
|
| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
197
loathsome
|
|
| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
198
apprehending
|
|
| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的现在分词 )； 理解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
199
imprint
|
|
| n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
200
second-hand
|
|
| adj.用过的，旧的，二手的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
201
promotion
|
|
| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
202
props
|
|
| 小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
203
thereby
|
|
| adv.因此，从而 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
204
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
205
auditors
|
|
| n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
206
embezzling
|
|
| v.贪污，盗用（公款）( embezzle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
207
remarkably
|
|
| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
208
majesty
|
|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
209
ushered
|
|
| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
210
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
211
Christians
|
|
| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
212
investigation
|
|
| n.调查，调查研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
213
essentially
|
|
| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
214
doctrine
|
|
| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
215
hissing
|
|
| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
216
superfluous
|
|
| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
217
reign
|
|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
218
inborn
|
|
| adj.天生的，生来的，先天的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
219
contention
|
|
| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
220
oblivious
|
|
| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
221
circumscribed
|
|
| adj.[医]局限的：受限制或限于有限空间的v.在…周围划线( circumscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；划定…范围；限制；限定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
222
stature
|
|
| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
223
previously
|
|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
224
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
225
niche
|
|
| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
226
misty
|
|
| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
227
perusal
|
|
| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
228
preposterous
|
|
| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
229
civilized
|
|
| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
230
scoffingly
|
|
| 带冷笑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
231
authentic
|
|
| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
232
colossal
|
|
| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
233
credulous
|
|
| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
234
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
235
devoid
|
|
| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
236
unfamiliar
|
|
| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
237
mundane
|
|
| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
238
renounce
|
|
| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
239
heresy
|
|
| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
240
encompass
|
|
| vt.围绕，包围；包含，包括；完成 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
241
overlapping
|
|
| adj./n.交迭（的） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
242
celestial
|
|
| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
243
disciples
|
|
| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
244
conscientious
|
|
| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
245
immortal
|
|
| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
246
scrapped
|
|
| 废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
247
immortality
|
|
| n.不死，不朽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
248
torment
|
|
| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
249
hordes
|
|
| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
250
blotting
|
|
| 吸墨水纸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
251
domesticated
|
|
| adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
252
sincerity
|
|
| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
253
detour
|
|
| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
254
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
255
simplicity
|
|
| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
256
maidenly
|
|
| adj. 像处女的, 谨慎的, 稳静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
257
beguiled
|
|
| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
258
promiscuous
|
|
| adj.杂乱的，随便的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
259
exterminated
|
|
| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
260
restrictions
|
|
| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
261
consequential
|
|
| adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
262
maternity
|
|
| n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
263
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
264
futility
|
|
| n.无用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
265
taunted
|
|
| 嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
266
tiresome
|
|
| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
267
inviting
|
|
| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
268
gullibility
|
|
| n.易受骗，易上当，轻信 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |