“Your Grace,” said he, “I have but obeyed your commands, and all that I crave2 is to know the pleasure of your Majesty3. Shall I obey yourself or my Lord Leicester?”
Leicester had also attempted to tell his side of the story, but a wave of the queen’s hand had silenced him. Now she turned upon him haughtily5 and said:—
151 “I have wished you well, my lord, but know you that my favor is not so locked up in you that others can have no share. I will have here but one mistress and no master.”
Leicester tried to take revenge on the queen’s vanity by asking her for an appointment in France.
“Do you really wish to go?” she demanded.
“It is one of the things that I most desire,” answered the earl. Elizabeth pondered a moment, she glanced at Leicester, and then turned to the Spanish ambassador, who stood near, and said laughingly:—
“I can’t live without seeing him. Why, he is my lap-dog, and wherever I go, people expect that he will follow.” Leicester did not go to France.
Elizabeth’s old suitor, King Philip, was giving her more trouble than Leicester. The Low Countries, as Holland and Belgium were then called, formed part of his domain6. Most of the inhabitants of these lands were Protestants, and they were making a determined7 resistance to the rule of the Spanish king. Elizabeth believed that if Philip was successful he might attack England.152 The course decided8 upon by the English council was to send money secretly to the revolters in the Low Countries. This would not make open war with Spain, but would enable the king’s opponents to oppose him more strongly, and would keep him too busy to think of invading England.
Even before Elizabeth came to the throne, the English Channel and the neighboring seas were swarming9 with bold sailors who attacked any vessel10 that they believed might be carrying gold or any other cargo11 of value. To-day this would be called piracy12, it was then looked upon as brave seamanship. These pirates cared little for the nationality of a vessel, but Spain had more ships at sea than any other country, and these ships were loaded with gold from America or with valuable goods from India, therefore, Spain was the greatest sufferer; and as the English sailors were generally more bold and more successful than others in making these attacks, the wrath13 of Spain toward England grew more and more bitter. Whenever a Spanish ship captured an English ship, the sailors were hanged, or imprisoned15, or perhaps tortured, or even burned at the stake as heretics.153 “It is only fair,” said Elizabeth, “to get our reprisal16 in whatever way we can;” and whoever had taken a Spanish vessel, be he English or belonging to some other nation, was allowed to bring his prize into an English port and there dispose of it.
The slave-trade, too, was looked upon as an honorable business and a valuable source of wealth for England. Spain forbade all nations to trade with her American colonies, but these bold Englishmen kidnapped negroes on the African coast, carried them to America, and found ready purchasers in the Spanish colonists17 of the West Indies. One of these English fleets was attacked by the Spanish in the Gulf18 of Mexico, and three of the vessels19 were captured. Elizabeth raged and declared that she would have vengeance20. It is possible that her indignation was no less from the fact that two of the vessels of this fleet belonged to the queen herself.
It was not long before the opportunity for revenge appeared. Four Spanish vessels loaded with money for the payment of Philip’s army were chased by French pirates and took refuge in an154 English harbor. Under the pretence21 of securing the safety of this money, it was quietly transferred to the royal treasury22.
The Spanish ambassador protested, but there was much delay before he was permitted to see the queen. He presented a letter from Duke Alva, who commanded the Spanish forces in the Low Countries, claiming the treasure.
“I am not wholly without reason,” declared Elizabeth coolly, “for believing that this gold does not belong to the king of Spain.”
“This is the duke’s own writing, your Highness,” said the ambassador.
“Not willingly or with intent to deal unjustly would I seize upon aught that with propriety23 belongs to his Majesty,” said the queen, “but certain rumors24 have reached me that divers25 persons of Genoa are sending this money to the Low Countries to make profit by loaning it to the duke.”
“Your Majesty, I give you most solemn assurance that such is not the case,” declared the helpless ambassador.
“A few days will determine whether your informants or mine be correct,” said the queen155 haughtily. “If the king of Spain can prove that the gold is his, I will restore it to him. Otherwise, I will pay the usual rate of interest to its true owners, and keep it for good service in my own kingdom.”
Elizabeth was right in her belief that Philip would not wish to have another war on his hands, and so would made no attack upon her kingdom. He seized Englishmen and English property in Antwerp, but this was small loss to England, for Elizabeth retaliated26 by imprisoning27 the Spaniards who were doing business in her kingdom and whose possessions were of far more value than those of the English in Antwerp.
Duke Alva was annoyed and delayed in his plans by the loss of the money, but the fighting went on most bitterly. In France there was a kind of peace between the court and the Huguenots, as the French Protestants were called, but on neither side was there forgiveness or forgetfulness. The leader of the Huguenots was wounded in Paris by an assassin. Catherine de Medicis, mother of the French king, alarmed her son by declaring that the Huguenots would take a fearful vengeance for this attack, and induced him to156 consent to a terrible slaughter28 in which thousands of Protestants were slain29. This was the massacre30 of St. Bartholomew’s Day.
The English were then thoroughly31 aroused. Thousands were ready to take up arms and avenge32 the wicked murders. To the French ambassador fell the unwelcome task of telling the dreadful story to the queen of England. He asked for an audience, but she refused it. For three days she hesitated; at length he was admitted. The queen and all her attendants were dressed in the deepest mourning. The unhappy ambassador entered the room and advanced through the lines of lords and ladies. Little return was made to his respectful salutations, there was dead silence. Finally the queen with grave, stern face, came a few steps toward him, greeted him with politeness, and motioned him to follow her to one side.
“I have no wish to show discourtesy to your sovereign,” she said, “but it was impossible that I should bring my mind sooner to speak of a matter so grievous to me and to my realm.” The ambassador bowed silently, and the queen went on. “Can it be that this strange news of the157 prince whom I have so loved and honored has been correctly reported to me?”
“In truth,” answered the ambassador gravely, “it is for this very thing that I am come to lament33 with your Majesty over the sad accident.”
“An accident?” questioned Elizabeth.
“Surely, your Majesty, for is not that an accident which is forced upon a sovereign by no will of his own, but by the plots and treasons of those whom he would gladly have befriended?”
“How may that be?” asked Elizabeth.
“The evening before the sad event the king was horrified34 to learn that in revenge for the attempt at assassination35, a terrible deed had been planned. It was no less than the imprisonment36 of himself and his family and the murder of the Catholic leaders.”
“How was this known?”
“One whose conscience could no longer bear the burden revealed the wicked plot. The words and looks of several of the conspirators37 gave gloomy confirmation38 to the story.”
“Why not imprison14 the traitors39? Is there no dungeon40 in France and no executioner?”
158 “Your Majesty, not all rulers have your keen judgment41 and your control of even the strongest sentiments of your heart. The king has not yet learned to govern his feelings by moderation. He had but a few short hours to decide what was best. Many were urging him on to inflict42 the most severe penalties, and at last he yielded, and allowed that to be done which he will ever regret. Especially does he lament that with a populace so wildly excited and so indignant at the plot against the king, it is all but impossible that some who are innocent should not have perished with the guilty. This is his chief cause of grief.” The ambassador had made as smooth a story as possible, but how would the queen receive it?
She was silent for several minutes, then she said:—
“Although I could not accept his Majesty, the king of France, for a husband, yet shall I always revere44 him as if I were his wife, and ever feel jealous for his honor. I will believe that from some strange accident, which time will perhaps more fully45 explain, these murders have come to pass. I recommend the Protestants among his159 people as especially entitled to his Highness’s loving care and protection.”
When this speech was reported to Catherine de Medicis, she smiled grimly and said, “The queen of England can hardly ask greater protection than she herself grants; namely, to force no man’s conscience, but to permit no other worship in the land than that which the ruler himself practises.”
Four years had passed since Mary of Scotland fled to England. Nothing had been satisfactorily determined in regard to her guilt43 or innocence46. An important part of the testimony47 against her was a casket of her letters to Bothwell. Elizabeth’s commissioners48 believed these letters to be the work of Mary’s hand, but the English queen refused to permit them to be made public. Whether they were true or were forgeries49, she would not allow a queen, a member of her own family, to be declared guilty of murder.
Mary was put under the care of the Earl of Shrewsbury. The sovereign claimed the right to give prisoners of state or guests of the nation to her nobles for watch or entertainment or both. “I am about to trust you as I would trust few160 men,” the queen said to the earl when she informed him of his new task. He was obliged to accept the charge meekly50, but it must have been a heavy burden. If his family moved from one of his manors51 to another, Mary must go with them. She must have the attendance and treatment due to her rank, but she must be closely watched to prevent, if possible, the sending of letters and messages to any that might conspire52 to rescue her. Guests of the family must be kept from meeting her. It is no wonder that the earl’s health gave out. He went away for medical treatment, and at once there came a letter from Cecil:—
“The queen has heard that you are gone from home. She says she can scarce believe it, but she bids me know from you what order you left for attendance upon the Queen of Scots. She would not that you should be long away from her, for she feels it only in accordance with her honor that the said queen be honorably attended, and for this she cares as much as for any question of surety.”
The earl did not recover at once, and the queen sent another trusty servant to take charge of161 Mary. The caring for the prisoner and her retinue53 was no small matter, for there were so many in her train that her unwilling54 host felt greatly relieved when Elizabeth commanded that their number be reduced to thirty.
Soon after Mary’s coming to England there was an uprising in the north among the nobles who wished to oblige Elizabeth to acknowledge Mary as her heir. They planned for the Scotch55 queen to marry an English duke of great power and wealth. This conspiracy56 was discovered, Mary was kept for a while in closer confinement57, and after some time the duke was beheaded. Elizabeth long refused to sign the warrant, and she would pay no attention whatever to the counsels of the royal advisers58 in regard to the execution of Mary, though one called her “that dangerous woman,” another, “a desperate person.” The archbishop of York advised Elizabeth to “cut off the Scottish queen’s head forthwith;” Cecil was decidedly in favor of this plan, for he believed that it was the only way to secure peace to the kingdom, that so long as Mary lived there would be plots, and that, however closely she was watched, she would find means to communicate162 with plotters. The rebellion in the north was the only revolt of any importance while Elizabeth was on the throne. It was punished most severely59 by a vast number of executions.
Not long after the revolt, the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth. He pronounced upon her a solemn curse whether she ate or drank, went in or went out; whatever she did, she was accursed, and her subjects were no longer called upon to obey her. Neither Philip nor the king of France ventured to have this decree published in his kingdom, and in England it seems to have produced no effect whatever. The government was every day becoming stronger. The man who disobeyed did not often escape punishment, and Englishmen in general preferred to be excommunicated by the Pope in Italy than to be executed by Elizabeth in England.
The queen gained steadily60 in power and in the affections of her subjects. Some of this increase of power was because by good management England had grown richer, some of it because by her shrewd treatment of France and Spain she had won the deference61 of both. Her means of gaining power were not always to be commended;163 she was not above maintaining nominally62 peaceful relations with a king while she was aiding his revolting subjects; and she would favor first one proposed marriage and then another, as it might suit her purposes to win the good will of the country to which the respective wooers belonged. When she was once accused of deriding63 and mocking whoever sought her hand, she replied with an air of injured innocence that she never “mocked or trifled” with any of those who would have had her in marriage, that she had given them her answer as promptly64 as the “troubles and hindrances65 that were happening in the world” would permit. Dishonorable as her behavior sometimes was, it is only fair to Elizabeth to remember that in her times fair dealing66 among nations was the exception rather than the rule; the country that could gain the advantage over another country was looked upon as having shown the greater ability.
Part of Elizabeth’s gain in power was due to the improved condition of England. The country was at peace, taxes were not large; ways of living were becoming more comfortable; all subjects were required to attend the Protestant164 church, but fines and loss of office were small matters when compared with the axe67 and the stake; bold sailors were taking English ships to distant harbors; a great exchange had been built in London where merchants from any part of the world might come to buy and sell; and the thing that made all these advantages possible was the fact that the government was firm and sure. That the queen was the vainest woman who ever lived, that she would say one thing one day and quite another thing the next morning was perhaps not known outside of her court, and in any case, her subjects would have forgiven her faults, for they felt that she was ever a friend to them, that she believed in them and trusted them. At one time a gun went off by accident and the bullet came very near the queen. Elizabeth straightway issued a proclamation, “I will believe nothing against my subjects,” said she, “that loving parents would not believe of their children.”
Elizabeth refused positively68 to stand at the head of any one party; she was determined to be, as she said, “a good queen” to all her subjects. It must be admitted that she was sometimes unjust to the “great folk,” but nothing else aroused165 her wrath so surely and so dangerously as a wrong done to her people, to the masses of her subjects, with whom she felt sympathy and to whom she turned for support. It was an ancient custom in the land that whenever the sovereign went from one part of the kingdom to another, the people of whatever district he might chance to be in should furnish him with food for his attendants, often numbered by hundreds. “Purveyors,” or officers whose business it was to attend to the providing of food, went ahead of the royal party and took what they chose to declare would be needed. Sometimes they paid for it—whatever price they chose—sometimes they did not, but in any case the purveyor69 was sorely tempted4 to seize larger quantities of supplies than would be needed and sell them elsewhere. When Elizabeth discovered that one of her officers had been behaving in this manner, she was most indignant. “My people shall suffer by no such abuses,” she declared. One article that the cheating purveyor had seized and sold for the advantage of his own pocket was a quantity of smelts70. “Take him to the pillory,” bade the angry queen. “Hang the smelts about his neck,166 and see you to it that there shall he sit for three full days. Let him who steals from my people keep in his account that he has to reckon not with them but with me; they are my people, and I am their queen.”
This proud sovereign who ruled her haughty71 nobles with so high a hand enjoyed showing to her subjects how humble72 she could be. When she was tormenting73 the king of Spain by every means in her power, she kept on one Maundy Thursday the old custom of feet-washing. Elizabeth was thirty-nine years of age, and therefore the poor women who were seated before her for the ceremony were thirty-nine in number. The queen’s ladies brought silver basins filled with warm water delicately perfumed with flowers and sweet-smelling herbs. Cushions were placed, and on these the queen kneeled as she washed one foot of each of the poor women, marked it with a cross and kissed it. It takes a little from the humility74 of the act to read that just before the queen’s performance of this duty the feet of the thirty-nine poor women were most carefully scrubbed and perfumed by three separate officials.167 There must have been some competition to be among the chosen thirty-nine, if any one guessed what would happen, for before the queen bade them farewell, she presented each one with a pair of shoes, cloth for a gown, the towel and apron75 used in the ceremony, a purse of white leather containing thirty-nine pence, and a red purse containing twenty shillings. Besides these gifts, each one received bread, fish, and wine.
It is no wonder that Elizabeth was popular among her subjects, and that she rejoiced in their good will, but some of the consequences of their devotion were not agreeable. It was the custom to wear ornaments76 called aglets, which were somewhat like large loops. These were made of gold and often set with precious stones. They were sewed upon various parts of her robes of state, and they had a fashion of disappearing when the queen was dining in public, for her subjects who were near enough to secure one as a souvenir of their beloved queen seem to have taken advantage of their opportunity. The persons who had charge of her wardrobe made in their books many such entries as these:—
168 “Lost from her Majesty’s back the 17th of January, at Westminster, one aglet of gold, enamelled blue, set upon a gown of purple velvet77.”
Another one is:—
“One pearl and a tassel78 of gold being lost from her Majesty’s back, off the French gown of black satin, the 15th day of July, at Greenwich.”
点击收听单词发音
1 usher | |
n.带位员,招待员;vt.引导,护送;vi.做招待,担任引座员 | |
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2 crave | |
vt.渴望得到,迫切需要,恳求,请求 | |
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3 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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4 tempted | |
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词) | |
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5 haughtily | |
adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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6 domain | |
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
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7 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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8 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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9 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 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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10 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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11 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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12 piracy | |
n.海盗行为,剽窃,著作权侵害 | |
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13 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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14 imprison | |
vt.监禁,关押,限制,束缚 | |
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15 imprisoned | |
下狱,监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 reprisal | |
n.报复,报仇,报复性劫掠 | |
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17 colonists | |
n.殖民地开拓者,移民,殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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18 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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19 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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20 vengeance | |
n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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21 pretence | |
n.假装,作假;借口,口实;虚伪;虚饰 | |
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22 treasury | |
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库 | |
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23 propriety | |
n.正当行为;正当;适当 | |
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24 rumors | |
n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷 | |
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25 divers | |
adj.不同的;种种的 | |
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26 retaliated | |
v.报复,反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27 imprisoning | |
v.下狱,监禁( imprison的现在分词 ) | |
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28 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
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29 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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30 massacre | |
n.残杀,大屠杀;v.残杀,集体屠杀 | |
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31 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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32 avenge | |
v.为...复仇,为...报仇 | |
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33 lament | |
n.悲叹,悔恨,恸哭;v.哀悼,悔恨,悲叹 | |
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34 horrified | |
a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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35 assassination | |
n.暗杀;暗杀事件 | |
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36 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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37 conspirators | |
n.共谋者,阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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38 confirmation | |
n.证实,确认,批准 | |
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39 traitors | |
卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 ); 叛徒; 背叛者; 背信弃义的人 | |
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40 dungeon | |
n.地牢,土牢 | |
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41 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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42 inflict | |
vt.(on)把…强加给,使遭受,使承担 | |
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43 guilt | |
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责 | |
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44 revere | |
vt.尊崇,崇敬,敬畏 | |
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45 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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46 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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47 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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48 commissioners | |
n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 );长官;委员;政府部门的长官 | |
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49 forgeries | |
伪造( forgery的名词复数 ); 伪造的文件、签名等 | |
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50 meekly | |
adv.温顺地,逆来顺受地 | |
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51 manors | |
n.庄园(manor的复数形式) | |
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52 conspire | |
v.密谋,(事件等)巧合,共同导致 | |
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53 retinue | |
n.侍从;随员 | |
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54 unwilling | |
adj.不情愿的 | |
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55 scotch | |
n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;v.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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56 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
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57 confinement | |
n.幽禁,拘留,监禁;分娩;限制,局限 | |
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58 advisers | |
顾问,劝告者( adviser的名词复数 ); (指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授 | |
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59 severely | |
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地 | |
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60 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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61 deference | |
n.尊重,顺从;敬意 | |
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62 nominally | |
在名义上,表面地; 应名儿 | |
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63 deriding | |
v.取笑,嘲笑( deride的现在分词 ) | |
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64 promptly | |
adv.及时地,敏捷地 | |
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65 hindrances | |
阻碍者( hindrance的名词复数 ); 障碍物; 受到妨碍的状态 | |
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66 dealing | |
n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
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67 axe | |
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减 | |
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68 positively | |
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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69 purveyor | |
n.承办商,伙食承办商 | |
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70 smelts | |
v.熔炼,提炼(矿石)( smelt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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71 haughty | |
adj.傲慢的,高傲的 | |
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72 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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73 tormenting | |
使痛苦的,使苦恼的 | |
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74 humility | |
n.谦逊,谦恭 | |
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75 apron | |
n.围裙;工作裙 | |
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76 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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77 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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78 tassel | |
n.流苏,穗;v.抽穗, (玉米)长穗须 | |
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