Pip reached London that evening to find the great gloomy house in Westock Square shuttered and silent. His father's brougham had driven up as usual at lunch-time, after the morning round, and its owner had been discovered lying in a dead faint inside it. He had been carried into the house, to die—not even in his bed. Death, with whom he had waged a vicarious and more than commonly successful warfare1 for thirty-one years, had conquered at last, and that, too, with grim irony2, in the very arena3 of the dead man's triumphs—his own consulting-room. The great physician lay peacefully on an operating-couch near the darkened window, surrounded by life-saving appliances and books that tell how death may be averted4.
His affairs were in a hopeless tangle5. He had risked almost every penny he possessed6 in an ill-judged effort to "get rich quick," and so provide for himself, or at any rate for his family, however sudden and direct the course that his malady8 might take. Half his capital had been sunk in unremunerative investments, which might or [Pg 234] might not pay fifty per cent some day; and the other half was gone beyond recall on an unrealised anticipation9 of a fall in copper10 shares.
A week later Pip, Pipette, and Mr. Hanbury—the latter ten years older than when we last heard of him, but not much changed except for a little reasonable adiposity—sat at dinner. It was almost the last meal they were to take in the old house, for now res angust? were to be the order of the day.
The meal ended, and coffee having been served, Pipette, looking pale and pretty in her black evening frock, gave each of the men a cigar, snipping11 the ends herself, as she had been accustomed to do for her father; and the trio composed themselves to conversation.
"I saw Crampton to-day," said Pip. (Crampton was the family lawyer.) "He gave me the facts and figures about things. I couldn't follow all the stuff on blue paper, but I asked him questions and jotted12 down what I wanted."
"How does it work out?" inquired Hanbury.
"By putting what money there is in the bank into Consols, and adding the interest on the few investments that are paying anything at all, the total income of the estate comes to exactly one hundred and fifty a year," said Pip.
"So long as the capital sunk in the other investments produces nothing, that is?"
[Pg 235] "Yes. There is a matter of fifteen thousand pounds buried in some Australian mining group: it might as well be sunk in the sea for all the good it is doing us. Of course it may turn up trumps13 some day, but not at present, Crampton says. So Pipette and I are worth just a hundred and fifty a year between us."
There was a silence, and the ash on Pip's cigar was perceptibly longer when he spoke14 again.
"A hundred and fifty," he said, "is not much use for two, but it's a comfortable little sum for one; so Pipette is going to take it all."
Pipette came round and sat on the arm of Pip's chair with the air of one who wishes to argue the point, and Pip continued hurriedly,—
"We talked it over with her this afternoon, Ham, and she agreed with me that for the present it will be best for her to accept the Rossiters' invitation to join them on their visit to Spain and Algiers, which is to last about a year. Pipette will be able to pay her full share of the expenses, so she won't be dependent on anybody. At the same time she will be having a good time with really nice people instead of—instead of—"
"Instead of sitting all day in a two-pair-back in London?" said Hanbury.
"That's it, exactly," said Pip, grateful for this moral support. "Of course it would be ripping".—Pipette was beginning to shake, and he put [Pg 236] his arm clumsily round her—"it would be ripping to have remained together, but it can't be done at present. In a year, perhaps. The old lady has been very sensible about it."
Apparently15 being "sensible" did not include abstinence from tears, for Pipette was now weeping softly. She had lost her father only a week, and now she was to lose her beloved brother.
Hanbury, who, like most strong men, was helpless against feminine tears, coughed self-consciously.
"It sounds a good arrangement," he said. "I suppose it is quite impossible for you two to live together? With the hundred and fifty, and what you could make yourself, Pip—"
"How am I going to make it?" inquired Pip.
"What are your prospects16?"
"What are my accomplishments18? I am just twenty-five; I am sound in wind and limb; and I sometimes take wickets. Can you suggest anything else?"
"Yes; you possess a stout19 heart and a hard head."
"If by hard you mean thick, I do," agreed Pip dismally20.
"Thick heads have their market like everything else. Where are you going to take yours?"
"Where would you suggest? I have my own [Pg 237] ideas on the subject, of course, but I should like to hear yours, Ham."
Hanbury looked across at him quizzically.
"My young friend," he said, with a flash of his old pedagogic manner, "long experience of your character warns me that you have determined21 on some crack-brained scheme, and are now prepared to defend it against all comers. Proceed."
Pip grinned.
"As you like," he said. "But I think a discussion would clear the air. Here goes! Pipette is appointed chairman. The subject for debate is 'The Choice of a Career for a Young Man without Education, Ability, or Prospects.' Fire away, Ham, and bear in mind that all the learned professions are barred to me."
"I'm not sure of that. How about school-mastering?"
"At a Preparatory?"
"Yes."
"Do you recommend the billet?"
"Frankly—no. Preparatory work is all right provided that you don't mind a berth22 in which your real work only begins at playtime, and which, unless you can afford ultimately to set up for yourself, offers you an absolutely maximum screw of about two hundred a year."
"I know the sort of thing," said Pip. "You start on about eighty, with board—"
[Pg 238] "Which means a poky dust-hole to sleep in, meat-tea, and—"
"'The post is one we can unreservedly recommend'—I know."
"'Write promptly23 yet carefully,'" chanted Ham, "'to the Principal, the Rev24. Adolphus Buggins—'"
"'Explaining that you have heard of this vacancy25 through our agency—'"
"'Stating your degree and previous experience (if any)—'"
"'If a member of the Church of England—'"
"'Your willingness to participate in school games—'"
"'If musical—'"
"'If possible, a photograph'—yah!"
"Don't you think we are rather wandering from the point?" inquired the mystified chairwoman.
The rhapsodists ceased their antistrophes and apologised.
"True," said Ham. "Suggestion number one is negatived without a division. Let us try a fresh cast. Have you any influence with business firms?"
"No, thank God!" said Pip simply. "An office would just kill me. If I had any chance of a post I should of course have to apply; but I haven't, so I needn't."
[Pg 239] There was another pause.
"If," said Ham reflectively, "there was any prospect17 of your sunken capital rising to the surface again, say in two or three years' time, and it was simply a matter of hanging on till then, you could afford to spend the intervening period in a very interesting fashion."
"As how?"
"Go and see the world for yourself, above and below, inside and out. Knock about and rub shoulders with all sorts of folk. Plunge26 beneath the surface and see things as they are. Make your way everywhere, and if possible live by the work of your own two hands. You would acquire a knowledge of mankind that few men possess. At the worst you could hang on and make a living somehow until your ship came in—if it were only as a dock-hand or a railway porter. It would be a grand chance, Pip. Most men are so unenterprising. Those at the top never want to see what things are like below, and those below are so afraid of staying there forever that their eyes are constantly turned upwards27 and they miss a lot. I'd give something to be a vagabond for a year or two."
"What fearful sentiments for a respectable house-master!" said Pipette severely28; but Pip's eyes glowed.
"However," continued Hanbury more soberly, [Pg 240] "Pip can't afford to waste time observing life in a purely29 academic way down in the basement. He must start getting upstairs at once."
"Hear, hear!" said the chairwoman.
"As a matter of fact," said Pip, "the scheme I have in my eye rather meets the case, I think."
"What is it?"
"Well, I made a list of all the careers open to me. I'll go through them."
Though his final choice was all they wished to know, his audience settled themselves patiently to listen. They knew it was useless to hurry Pip.
"The things I thought of," continued the orator30, "are—cricket-pro7, gamekeeper, policeman, emigrant31 to Canada, and Tommy."
He smiled genially32 upon his gaping33 companions. "They are all good open-air jobs," he explained.
Pipette stiffened34 in her chair.
"But they will none of them do," he added.
Pipette relaxed again.
"This," said Hanbury, "is interesting and human. We must have your reasons for rejecting these noble callings, seriatim. A cricket-pro, for instance?"
"Once a 'pro' always a 'pro,'" said Pip. "I hope some day to play as an amateur again. And while we are on the subject, I may as well say that I'm not going to be a professional-amateur. [Pg 241] No two hundred a year as assistant-deputy-under-secretary to a county club for me, please!"
"Good boy," said Hanbury. "Now, please—gamekeeper?"
"I'm too old. A gamekeeper requires to be born to the job. I have the ordinary sporting man's knowledge of game and sport generally, but I should be a hundred before I learned as much about the real ins and outs of the business as—a poacher's baby."
"Quite so. Policeman?"
"The only chance of promotion35 in the police force is in the detective direction, and I—I think detection comes under the head of learned professions."
"Tommy, then?"
"A Tommy's would be a grand life if there was always a war. But, Ham, think what the existence of a gentleman-ranker must be in time of peace. A few hours' duty a day, and the rest—beer and nursemaids! Help!"
"You have been devoting much time to reflection, Pip. Well, to continue. How about emigrating?"
"Emigration is such a tremendously big step. If one is prepared for it, well and good. But I'm not ripe yet. You see, Canada and Australia are so far away, and I'm not quite prepared to give up—"
[Pg 242] "England, home, and beauty—eh, Pip? Is that how the wind blows?"
"Dry up!" said Pip, hastily passing on to his peroration36. "Before I try any of these things I am going to see how my own pet scheme pans out."
"And that is—?" said Pipette breathlessly.
"I can use my hands a bit, and have a sort of rough knowledge of mechanics," continued Pip, staring into the fire and stating his case with maddening deliberation, "and I don't mind hard work. Mind you—"
"Pip, do get on!" almost screamed poor Pipette.
Pip, looking slightly surprised, came to the point.
"I am going to try for a job," said he, "at a big motor works I know of. I will start as a cleaner, or greaser, or anything they please, if they'll take me; and when I have got a practical knowledge of the ins and outs of the business, I shall try to set up as a chauffeur37."
He broke off, and scanned his hearers' faces rather defiantly38.
"How do you like the idea?" he asked.
"You'd get horribly dirty, Pip," said practical Pipette. "Think of the oil!"
Pip laughed. "I'll get used to that."
"And how long would you stick to it?"
[Pg 243] "What, the oil?"
"No, the trade."
"That depends. If I find the life absolutely unbearable39 for any reason—Trades unions, for instance—I shall jack40 it up. But I don't think it is very likely."
"Neither do I," said Hanbury, who had had exceptional opportunities for studying Pip's character.
"Then," continued Pip, with something like enthusiasm, "if those sunken shares took up, and there was money to be had, I might buy myself a partnership41 in a motor business. If they don't take up, I must just save my wages till I can afford to go out and farm in Canada. I'll take you with me, Pipette, if I go," he added reassuringly42.
II
A month later Pip obtained a humble43 and oleaginous appointment at the Gresley Motor Works in Westminster Bridge Road.
The foreman who engaged him was short-handed at the time, and though Pip was obviously too old for a beginner, he was impressed with his thews and sinews. After a few weeks, finding that Pip did not drink, and if given a job, however trivial, to perform, could be relied on with absolute certainty to complete it on time, [Pg 244] the foreman unbent still further, and paid Pip the compliment of heaping upon him work that should have been done by more competent but less dependable folk. Pip throve under this treatment, and in spite of the aloofness44 of his fellow-workmen, who scented45 a "toff," the novelty and genuine usefulness of his new life inspired him with a zest46 and enthusiasm that took him over many rough places.
For it was not all plain sailing. The horny-handed son of toil47 is no doubt the salt of the earth and the backbone48 of the British nation, but he is not always an amenable49 companion, and he is apt to regard habitual50 sobriety and strict attention to duty in a colleague as a species of indirect insult to himself. However, abundance of good temper, together with a few hard knocks when occasion demanded, soon smoothed over Pip's difficulties in this direction; and presently the staff of Gresley's left him pretty much to himself, tacitly agreeing to regard him as an eccentric but harmless lunatic who liked work.
Pip purposely avoided young Gresley when he applied51 for the post. His idea was to obtain employment independently, if possible, and only to appeal to his friend as a last resource. He was anxious, too, to spare Gresley the undoubted embarrassment52 of having to oblige a venerated53 member of his own college and club by appointing [Pg 245] him to a job worth less than thirty shillings a week. Gresley, moreover, would probably have foisted54 him into a position for which he was totally unfitted, or would have pressed a large salary on him in return for purely nominal55 services. Pip was determined that what he made he would earn, and so he started quietly and anonymously56 at the foot of the ladder. He even adopted a nom de guerre, lest a glance at the time-sheet or pay-list should betray his identity to his employer. The Gresley Works contained seven hundred men, and it was not likely, Pip thought, that young Gresley, who, though he was seen frequently about the shops, spent most of his time in the drawing-office, would recognise even his most admired friend amid a horde57 of grimy mechanics.
But for all that they met, as they were bound to do. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Pip's reliability58 and general smartness soon raised him from the ruck of his mates, and presently his increasing responsibilities began to bring him in contact with those in authority. He had not counted on this; so, realising that recognition was now only a matter of time, and wishing to avoid the embarrassment of an unpremeditated meeting in the works, he waylaid59 his friend one morning in a quiet storehouse. The surprise took young Gresley's breath away, and Pip took [Pg 246] advantage of the period preceding its return to give a hurried explanation of his presence there, coupled with a request that his anonymity60 might be respected.
That night young Gresley, filled with admiration61, told the whole story to his father.
"Of course, Dad, you'll move him up to a good post at once?" he said.
Old Gresley, leaning his scraggy face upon his hand, replied curtly62, "I shall do no such thing."
The son, who knew that his father never said a thing without reason, waited.
"Wilmot? He was the young fellow who helped you when you went fooling away your money at cards, wasn't he?" continued the old man, suddenly turning his Napoleonic eye upon his son.
"Yes. He pulled me out of a tight place."
"That young man wouldn't thank me for undeserved promotion. He has the right stuff in him, and he wants to do things from the beginning—the only way! I often wish that you had had to start in the same fashion, Harry63: there's nothing like it for making men. But your foolish old dad had been over the ground before you, and that made things easy. What that boy wants is work. I'll see he gets it, and I'll watch how he does it, and I'll take care that he is paid according to his merits."
[Pg 247] Consequently Pip, much to his relief, was left in undisturbed possession of his self-sought limbo64, and made the recipient65 of an ever-increasing load of work,—varied66, strenuous67, responsible work,—and for three sturdy years he lived a life that hardened his muscles, broadened his views, taught him self-reliance, cheery contentment with his lot, and, in short, made a man of him.
He learned to live on a pound a week. He learned to drink four ale and smoke shag. He became an habitué of those establishments which are so ably administered by Lord Rowton and Mr. Lockhart. He obtained an insight into the workings of the proletariat mind. He learned the first lesson which all who desire to know their world must learn, namely, that mankind is not divided into three classes,—our own, another immediately above it, and another immediately below it,—but that a motor factory may contain as many grades and distinctions, as many social barriers and smart sets, as many cliques68 and cabals69, as Mayfair—or Upper Tooting. He learned to distinguish the stupid, beer-swilling, illiterate70, but mainly honest British workman of the old-fashioned type from the precocious71, clerkly, unstable72, rather weedy product of the board-school and music-hall. He discovered earnest young men in blue overalls73 who read Ruskin, and pulverised empires and withered74 [Pg 248] up dynasties once a week in a debating society. He made the acquaintance of the paid agitator75, with his stereotyped76 phrases and glib77 assertions of the right of man to a fair day's work and a fair day's wage, oblivious78 of the fact that he did not know the meaning of the first and would never have been content with the second. He rubbed shoulders with men who struggled, amid cylinders79 and accumulators, with religious doubts; men who had been "saved," and who insisted on leaving evidence to that effect, in pamphlet form, in their mates' coat-pockets; and men who, either through excess of intellect or from lack of adversity, had never had any need of God, and consequently did not believe in Him.
He saw other things, many of which made him sick. He saw child-wives of seventeen, tied to stunted80 youths of twenty, already inured81 and almost indifferent to a thrashing every Saturday night. He saw babies everywhere, chiefly in public-houses, where their sole diet appeared to consist of as much gin as they could lick off the fingers which accommodating parents from time to time dipped into their glasses and thrust into their wailing82 little mouths. He saw the beast that a woman can make of a man and the wreck83 that a man can make of a woman, and the horror that drink can make of both; and, being young and inexperienced, he grew depressed84 at these [Pg 249] sights, and came to the conclusion that the world was very evil.
And then he began to notice other things—the goodness of the poor to the poor; game struggles with grinding poverty; incredible cheerfulness under drab surroundings and in face of imminent85 starvation; the loyalty86 of the wife to the husband who ill-used her; the good-humoured resignation of the shrew's husband; the splendid family pride of the family who, though they lived in one room, considered very properly that one room (with rent paid punctually) constitutes a castle; the whip-round among a gang of workmen when a mate was laid by and his whole family rendered destitute87; and finally the children, whom neither dingy88 courts, nor crowded alleys89, nor want of food, nor occasional beatings, nor absence of any playthings save tiles, half-bricks, and dead kittens, could prevent from running, skipping, shouting, quarrelling, playing soldiers, keeping shop, and making believe generally, just as persistently90 and inconsequently as their more prosperous little brethren were doing, much more expensively, not many streets away. Pip saw all these things, and he began to realise, as we must all do if we wait long enough, that it takes all sorts to make a world, and that life is full of compensations.
In short, three years of close contact with the [Pg 250] raw material of humanity gave Pip a deeper knowledge of man as God made him, than he could have acquired perhaps from a whole lifetime spent in contemplating91 the finished article in a more highly veneered and less transparent92 class of society.
Pip allowed himself certain relaxations93. He had consented to keep fifty pounds out of Pipette's hundred and fifty a year, and once a month, on Saturday afternoons, after a preliminary scrub and change in his lodging94, he departed to the West End, and indulged in the luxury of a Turkish bath. (He needed it, as the heated individual who operated upon him was wont95, with some asperity96, to remark.) Then he dined in state at one of those surprising two-shilling tables d'h?te in a Soho restaurant, and went on to the play—the pit. Sometimes he went to the Oval or Lord's, and with itching97 arm watched the cricket. Once he heard a bystander lament98 the absence, abroad, of one Wilmot, a celebrated99 "left-'ender" ("Terror, my boy! Mike this lot sit up if 'e was 'ere!"), and he glowed foolishly to think that he was not forgotten. Absence abroad was the official explanation of his non-appearance in first-class cricket during this period, and also served to satisfy the curiosity of those of his friends who wanted to know what had become of him.
[Pg 251] Sometimes, as he sat in the shilling seats at Lord's, he wondered if he would ever be able to use his member's ticket again; and he smiled when he pictured to himself what the effect would be if a petrol-scented mechanic were to elbow his way in and claim a seat in the Old Blues100' reservation!
He saw no friends but Hanbury, who occasionally looked him up in his lodging, and with whom he once went clothed and in propria persona to a quiet golfing resort during one joyful101 Christmas week, when the works were closed from Friday night till Wednesday morning. He heard regularly from Pipette. At first she was obviously miserable102, and Pip was at some pains to write her boisterously103 cheerful letters about the pleasantness of his new existence and the enormous saving of money to be derived104 from not keeping up appearances, knowing well that the knowledge that he was happy would be the first essential in producing the same condition in Pipette. After a little she wrote more cheerfully: then followed a regular year of light, irresponsible, thoroughly105 feminine correspondence, full of the joy of youth and lively appreciation106 of the scenes and people around her. Then came a period when unseeing Pip found her letters rather dull—a trifle perfunctory, in fact. Then came a fortnight during which there was no letter at all, and [Pg 252] Pip grew anxious. Finally, just as he sat down to write to Mrs. Rossiter inquiring if his sister was ill, there came a letter,—a long, breathless, half-shy, half-rapturous screed107,—containing the absolutely unprecedented108 piece of information that Providence109 had brought her into contact with the most splendid fellow—bracketed with Pip, of course—that the world had ever seen; that the said fellow—Jim Rossiter—incredible as it might appear, had told her that he loved her; whereupon Pipette had become suddenly conscious that she loved him; that everybody was very pleased and kind about it, and—did Pip mind?
Pip, who knew Jim Rossiter for a good fellow, wrote back soberly but heartily110. He congratulated Pipette, gave his unconditional111 assent112 to the match, gratefully declined an invitation to come and take up his abode113 with the young couple after their marriage, and faithfully promised, whenever that joyful ceremony should take place, to have a bath and come and give the bride away. Which brings little Pipette's part in this narrative114 to a happy conclusion.
Of Elsie Pip heard little, and tried to think not at all. At present she was not for him, and probably never would be. His mind was quite clear on the subject. When, if ever, his ship came in, he would seek her out wherever she [Pg 253] was, and—provided she had not married some one else, which was only too likely, Pip thought—ask her to marry him. Till then he was a member of the working classes, and must not cry for the moon. Still, though he conscientiously115 refrained from direct inquiries116, he greedily hoarded117 every careless item of information on the subject that cropped up in Pipette's letters.
Elsie had no parents, and soon after Pip's disappearance118 "abroad" had gone for a trip round the world with Raven119 Innes and his wife. She spent some months in India, and Pip, who knew that that bright jewel of the Empire's crown contains many men and few women, shuddered120 and ground his teeth. However, no bad news came, and presently he heard from Pipette that the travellers had left Colombo and were on their way to Australia. After that Pipette became engaged, and the curtain fell upon Elsie's movements, for Pipette's letters now harped121 upon a single string, and Pip was far too shy to ask for information outright122. So he hardened his heart, hoped for the best, and went on with his day's work, as many a man has had to do before him, and been all the better for it.
One sentimental123 indulgence he allowed himself. Every Christmas he sent Elsie a present, together with his best wishes for the season. Only [Pg 254] that, and nothing more. No long screed: above all, no address. He had his pride.
After two years' work his duties took a more varied and infinitely124 pleasanter form. He was by this time a thoroughly competent workman. He could take an engine to pieces and put it together again. He could diagnose every ill that a motor-car is heir to,—and a motor-car is more than human in this respect,—and he was a fearless and cool-headed driver. Consequently he was frequently sent out on trial trips, touring excursions, and the like; and owing to his excellent appearance and pleasant manner, was greatly in request as a teacher. More than one butterfly of fashion conceived a tenderness in her worldly and elastic125 little heart for the big silent chauffeur, who explained the whole art of motoring so clearly and quietly, and was never dirty to look at or familiar to speak to. He grew accustomed—though slowly—to receiving tips, even from his own former friends and acquaintances, more than one of whom sat by his side, and even conversed126 with him without recognition. His name was now John Armstrong,—he was holding back his own till a more prosperous time,—and he had shaved off a mustache of which, as an undergraduate, he had been secretly but inordinately127 proud. These changes, together with his leather livery and peaked cap, neutralised [Pg 255] him down into one of a mere128 type, and he looked just like scores of other clean-shaven, hawk-eyed chauffeurs129.
One day he drove down a roystering party of cricketers to play a match in the country. When the game began it was discovered that the visiting team was a man short. The captain, hard put to it to find a substitute, cast his eye upon the chauffeur, and straightway pressed him, a not unwilling130 victim, into the service. In black leather breeches and shirt-sleeves Pip fielded in the sun, "revolving131 many memories," as Tennyson says; and towards the end of the match, when runs were coming somewhat too freely and all the bowlers132 had been tried in vain, was given the ball; whereupon, throwing caution to the winds, he disposed of five wickets in exactly three overs. Fortunately the team had lunched generously, as teams that come down from the city for a day's sport not infrequently do, so the enthusiasm which Pip's feat133 evoked134 was too alcoholic135 to be discriminating136.
One more experience Pip had, and as it marked the closing stages of his apprenticeship137 to manhood, and also introduced him to a character whose existence was foreshadowed in the second chapter of this book, it shall be set down at length.
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warfare
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irony
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arena
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averted
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tangle
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possessed
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malady
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anticipation
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copper
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snipping
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jotted
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trumps
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apparently
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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18
accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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20
dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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21
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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22
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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23
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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24
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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25
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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26
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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27
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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28
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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29
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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30
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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31
emigrant
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| adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民 | |
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32
genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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33
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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34
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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35
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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36
peroration
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| n.（演说等之）结论 | |
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37
chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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38
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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39
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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40
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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41
partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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42
reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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43
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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44
aloofness
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| 超然态度 | |
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45
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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46
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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47
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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48
backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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49
amenable
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| adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的 | |
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50
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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51
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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52
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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53
venerated
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| 敬重（某人或某事物），崇敬( venerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
foisted
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| 强迫接受，把…强加于( foist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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56
anonymously
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| ad.用匿名的方式 | |
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57
horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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58
reliability
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| n.可靠性，确实性 | |
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59
waylaid
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| v.拦截，拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
anonymity
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| n.the condition of being anonymous | |
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61
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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62
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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63
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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64
limbo
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| n.地狱的边缘；监狱 | |
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65
recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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66
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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67
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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68
cliques
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| n.小集团，小圈子，派系( clique的名词复数 ) | |
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69
cabals
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| n.（政治）阴谋小集团，（尤指政治上的）阴谋( cabal的名词复数 ) | |
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70
illiterate
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| adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲 | |
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71
precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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72
unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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73
overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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74
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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75
agitator
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| n.鼓动者；搅拌器 | |
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76
stereotyped
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| adj.(指形象、思想、人物等)模式化的 | |
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77
glib
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| adj.圆滑的，油嘴滑舌的 | |
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78
oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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79
cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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80
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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81
inured
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| adj.坚强的，习惯的 | |
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82
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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83
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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84
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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85
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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86
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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87
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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88
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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89
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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90
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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91
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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92
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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93
relaxations
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| n.消遣( relaxation的名词复数 )；松懈；松弛；放松 | |
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94
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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95
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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96
asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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97
itching
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| adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 ) | |
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98
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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99
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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100
blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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101
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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102
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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103
boisterously
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| adv.喧闹地，吵闹地 | |
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104
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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105
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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106
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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107
screed
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| n.长篇大论 | |
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108
unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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109
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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110
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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111
unconditional
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| adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的 | |
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112
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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113
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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114
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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115
conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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116
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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117
hoarded
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| v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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119
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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120
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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121
harped
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| vi.弹竖琴（harp的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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122
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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123
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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124
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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125
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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126
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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127
inordinately
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| adv.无度地，非常地 | |
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128
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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129
chauffeurs
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| n.受雇于人的汽车司机( chauffeur的名词复数 ) | |
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130
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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131
revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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132
bowlers
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| n.（板球）投球手( bowler的名词复数 )；圆顶高帽 | |
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133
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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134
evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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135
alcoholic
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| adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者 | |
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136
discriminating
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| a.有辨别能力的 | |
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137
apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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