At one end of the room, on a little raised platform, the music sat installed;?—?a trombone, a zither, and a wooden hackbrettle made up the whole orchestra. Scarcely had the performers struck up an enlivening tune16 when the men, selecting as partners the girls of their choice, began to dance round the hall in the very peculiar17 and (to say the whole truth) extremely ungraceful Tyrolean fashion. Will and Florian had heard from the landlord beforehand of the expected feast, to which they were not invited; but, “at the sound of the harp18, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music,” as Florian phrased it, their curiosity was so deeply aroused that they crept from their sitting-room19 and peeped cautiously in at the door of the Tanzboden. The sight that met their eyes in that close-packed hall was sufficiently20 striking. Even Florian allowed this was utterly21 Arcadian. For a minute or two, just at first, the young men and maidens22, grasping each other wildly round the neck and waist with both their arms, in a sort of bear-like death-hug, whirled and eddied24 in a maze25 round and round the room, stamping their heavy boots, till Will almost trembled for the stability of the rafters. For some time that was all: they twisted and twirled in closely-coupled pairs, clasped breast to breast, like so many dancing dervishes. But, of a sudden, at a change of the music, as if by magic, with one accord, the whole figure altered. Each man, letting his partner go, began suddenly to perform a series of strange antics and evolutions around her, the relics26 of some pre-historic dance, of which the snapping of fingers and uttering of heuchs in a Highland27 fling are but a faint and colourless reminiscence. As the reel went on, the music grew gradually faster and faster, and the motions of the men still more savage28 and fantastic. The two Englishmen looked on in astonishment29 and admiration30. Such agility31 and such verve they had never before seen or even dreamt of. Could these rustic32 cavaliers be really made of india-rubber? They twisted and turned and contorted themselves all the time with such obliviousness33 of their bones, and such extraordinary energy! They smacked34 their lips and tongues as they went; they jumped high into the air; they bent35 back till their heads touched the ground behind; they bounded upright once more to regain36 their position like elastic37 puppets, and, in between whiles, they slapped their resounding38 thighs39 with their horny hands; they crowed like cocks; they whistled like capercailzie; they stamped on the ground with their hob-nailed shoes; they shouted and sang, and clicked their tongues in their cheeks, and made unearthly noises deep down in their throats for which language has as yet no articulate equivalent. Florian gazed and glowered41. And well he might; ’twas an orgie of strange sound, a phantasmagoria of whirling and eddying42 motion.
While all this was going on, the two young Englishmen stood undecided and observant by the lintel of the door, even Florian half-abashed at so much unwonted merriment. But after a while, the Herr Vicar, whose acquaintance they had already made among the stones of the churchyard, spied them out by the entrance, and, with one hospitable43 fat forefinger44 extended and crooked45, beckoned46 them into the Tanzboden. “Come on,” he cried, “come on; there’s room enough for all; our people are still glad to entertain the Herr strangers: for some, unawares, have thus entertained angels.”
So encouraged by the authorised mouthpiece of the parish, Will and Florian stepped boldly into the crowded room, and watched the little groups of stalwart young men and nut-brown lasses with all the interest of unexpected novelty. The scene was indeed a picturesque47 and curious one. Every Tyrolese is, or has been, or wishes to be thought, a mountain hunter. So each man wore his hat, adorned48 with the trophies49 of his prowess in the chase; with some, ’twas a gamsbart, or so-called chamois’ beard?—?the tuft of coarse hair that grows high like a crest50 along the creature’s back in the pairing season; with others, ’twas the tail-feathers of the glossy51 blackcock, stuck saucily52 on one side, with that perky air of self-satisfied assurance so characteristic of hot youth in the true-born Tyroler. Glancing around the room, however, Will saw at a single look that two young men alone among that eager crowd wore their feathers with a difference?—?the “hook” being turned round in the opposite direction from all their neighbours’. One of these two was a tall and big-built young man of very florid complexion53, with a scar on his forehead; the other was their fiery54 friend of that morning on the hills, Franz Lindner. From what Linnet had said, Will guessed at once by the turn of the feather that both young men went in for being considered Robblers.
As he turned to impart his conjecture55 to Florian, Linnet caught his eye mutely from a corner by the mantelpiece. She wasn’t taking part in the reel herself, so, undaunted by his experience of Franz Lindner that day, Will strolled over to her side, followed close at heel by Florian. “You don’t dance?” he said, bending over her with as marked politeness as he would have shown to a lady in a London drawing-room.
“No; I may not,” Linnet answered, in her pretty broken English, with a smile of not unnatural56 womanly pleasure that the strangers should thus single her out before all her folk for so much personal attention. “I have refuse Franz Lindner, so may I not dance this time with any one. It is our custom so. When a girl shall refuse to dance with a man first, she may not that turn accept any other. Nor may he, in turn, ask her again that evening.”
“How delightful57!” Florian cried, effusively58. “Franz Lindner’s loss is our gain, Fr?ulein Linnet. No; don’t frown at me like that; it must be Fr?ulein; I’ve too much respect for you to call you otherwise. But, anyhow, we’ll sit out this dance and talk with you.”
“And I,” Will put in with a quiet smile, “I’ll call you Linnet, because you prefer it.”
“Thank you,” Linnet said, shyly, with a grateful flash of her eyes, and a side glance towards Franz Lindner; “it seems less as if you mock at me.”
As they spoke59, the figure changed of a sudden once more to a still stranger movement. The women, falling apart, massed themselves together in a central group, in attitudes expressive60 of studied indifference61 and inattention to the men; their partners, on the contrary, placing themselves full in front of them, began a series of most extraordinary twists and twirls, accompanied by loud cries or snapping of fingers, and endeavoured by every means in the power, both of lungs and limbs, to compel their disdainful coquettes to take notice of their antics. While they stood there and watched?—?Linnet with eyes askance on Franz Lindner’s face?—?Andreas Hausberger strolled up, and took his place beside them.
“Why, that’s the blackcock’s call!” Will exclaimed, with a start of recognition, as the dancers, with one accord, uttered all in a chorus a shrill62 and piercing note of challenge and defiance63. “I’ve heard it on the mountains.”
“Yes,” the wirth assented64; “that’s the blackcock’s call, and this, that they’re doing, is the blackcock’s love-dance. In the springtime, on the mountains, you know, the blackcocks and the grey hens assemble in their dancing place?—?their Tanzboden we call it, just the same as we call this one. There, the hens stand aside, and pretend to be coy, and take no notice of their mates, like the girls in this dance here; while the blackcock caper40 in front of them, and flap their wings, and fluff their necks, and do all they know to display their strength and beauty. Whoever dances the most and best, gets most of the hens to join his harem. So our young men have got up this love-dance to imitate them; they flap their arms the same way, and give the blackcock’s challenge. Nature’s pretty much the same above and below, I guess?—?especially here in the Tyrol, where we haven’t yet learned to hide our feelings under smooth silk hats as you do in England. But it’s all good for trade, and that’s the great thing. It makes them thirsty. You’ll see, after this bout8, the beer will flow like water.”
And, sure enough, the wirth was right. As soon as the dance was ended, young men and maidens, with equal zest65, betook themselves, all alike, to the consolations66 of the beer-jug. Their thirst was mighty67. And no wonder, indeed, for this Tyrolese dancing is no drawing-room game, but hard muscular exercise. Andreas Hausberger looked on with a cynical68 smile on those thin, cold lips of his. “It’s good for trade,” he murmured again, half to himself, once or twice, as the girls at the bar filled the beer-mugs merrily; “very good for trade. So are all amusements. That’s the way the foolish get rid of their money?—?and the wise get hold of it.”
After the beer came a pause, a long, deep-drawn pause; and then two young men, standing69 out from the throng, began to sing alternately at one another in short Tyrolese stanzas70. One of them was Franz Lindner; the other was the young man with the scar on his forehead, whom Linnet described as her cousin Fridolin. What they sang, neither Florian nor Will could make out, for the words of the song were in the roughest form of the mountain dialect; but it was clear from their manner, and the way they flung out their words point blank at one another’s heads, that they improvised71 as they went, like Virgilian shepherds, and that their remarks were by no means either polite or complimentary72 in substance or character. The rest stood round in a circle and listened, laughing heartily73 at times as each in turn scored a point now and then off his angry rival; while Linnet and the other girls blushed again and again at some audacious retort, though the bolder among the women only tittered to themselves or looked up with arch glances at each risky74 allusion75. Andreas Hausberger too, stood by, all alert to keep the peace; it was plain from the quick light in his resolute76 eye, and the rapid upward movement of his twitching77 hand, he was ready at a moment’s notice to intervene between the combatants, and put a stop in the nick of time to the scoffing78 contest of defiance and derision.
The song, however, passed off without serious breach79 of the peace. Then more dances followed, more beer, and more bucolic80 contests. As the evening wore on, the fun grew fast and furious. On the stroke of twelve, the Herr Vicar withdrew?—?not one hour too early; his flock were fast getting beyond control of his counsels. Linnet and a few others of the more modest-looking girls now sat out from the dance; the rest continued to whirl round and round the room in still wilder and more fantastic movements than ever. Andreas Hausberger was now yet more clearly on the alert. A stray spark would raise a flame in that magazine of gunpowder81. Suddenly, at the end of the first dance after the priest’s departure, the young man with the scar on his forehead, called Cousin Fridolin, came forward unexpectedly to where Linnet sat aside between Will Deverill and Florian. He had danced with her once before in the course of the evening, and Will observed that through that dance Franz Lindner’s eyes had never been taken off his rival and Linnet. But now the tall young man came forward with a dash, and without one word of warning, placed his conical hat, blackcock’s feather and all, with a jodel of challenge, on Linnet’s forehead. They had seen the same thing done before more than once that evening, and Linnet had explained to them that the custom was equivalent to a declaration of love for the lady so honoured?—?’twas as much as to say, “This girl is mine; who disputes it?” But as the tall young man stood back with a smile of triumph on his handsome lips, one hand on his hip7, staring fixedly82 at Linnet, Franz Lindner sprang forth2 with a face as black as night, and a brow like thunder. Trembling with rage, he seized the hat from her head, and tore hastily from its band the offending plume83. “Was kost die Feder?” he cried, in a tone of angry contempt, holding it up in his hand before the eyes of its owner; “Was kost die Feder?” which is, being interpreted, “How much for your feather?”
Quick as lightning, the answer rang out, “Fünf Finger und ein Griff”?—?“Five fingers and a grip.” It is the customary challenge of the Tyrolese Robbler, and the customary acceptance.
Before Will had time to understand what was happening next, in the crack of a finger, in the twinkle of an eye, the two young men had closed, with hands and arms and bodies, and were grappling with each other in a deadly struggle. All night long they had been watching and provoking one another; all night long they had vied in their attentions to Linnet, and their studious interchange of mutual84 insults. Sooner or later a fight seemed inevitable85. Now, flown with insolence86 and beer, and heated from the dance, they flung themselves together, with one accord, like two tigers in their fury. Linnet clapped her hands to her ears, and shut her eyes in horror. For a minute or two, it seemed to every looker-on as though there would be bloodshed in the inn that evening. Florian observed this little episode with philosophic87 interest; ’twas pleasant to watch these simple dramas of the primary emotions?—?love, jealousy88, passion?—?still working themselves out as on the stage of Hellas. He had never before seen them so untrammelled in their play; he stood here face to face with Homeric simplicity89.
In five minutes, however, to his keen disappointment, the whole scene was finished. Andreas Hausberger, that cool, calm man of the world, perceiving at a glance that such contests in his inn were very bad for trade, and that ’twould be a pity for him to lose by a violent death so good a singer, or so constant a customer, interposed his heavy hand between the angry combatants. Your half-tipsy man, be he even a Tyrolese, though often quarrelsome, is usually placable. A short explanation soon set everything right again. Constrained90 by Herr Andreas, with his imperious will, the two Robblers consented, after terms interchanged, to drown their differences in more mugs of beer, and then retire for the evening. The young man with the scar, whom they called Cousin Fridolin, regretted that he had interfered91 with Franz Lindner’s maiden23, but excused his act as a mere92 hasty excess of cousinly feeling. Franz Lindner in return, not to be outdone in magnanimity, though still with flashing eyes, and keen side-glance at Linnet, regretted that he had offered such indignity93 in his haste to the dishonoured94 symbol of his comrade’s championship. Hands were shaken all round; cuts and bruises95 were tended; and, almost as soon as said, to Florian’s infinite disgust, the whole party had settled down by the tables once more, on an amicable96 basis, to beer and conversation.
But before they retired97 from that evening’s revel98, Linnet murmured to Will in a tone of remonstrance99 very real and aggrieved100, “Franz Lindner had no right to call me his M?dchen.”
点击收听单词发音
1 prodigious | |
adj.惊人的,奇妙的;异常的;巨大的;庞大的 | |
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2 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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3 throng | |
n.人群,群众;v.拥挤,群集 | |
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4 jaunty | |
adj.愉快的,满足的;adv.心满意足地,洋洋得意地;n.心满意足;洋洋得意 | |
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5 defiant | |
adj.无礼的,挑战的 | |
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6 austere | |
adj.艰苦的;朴素的,朴实无华的;严峻的 | |
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7 hip | |
n.臀部,髋;屋脊 | |
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8 bout | |
n.侵袭,发作;一次(阵,回);拳击等比赛 | |
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9 repartee | |
n.机敏的应答 | |
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10 abetting | |
v.教唆(犯罪)( abet的现在分词 );煽动;怂恿;支持 | |
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12 complaisant | |
adj.顺从的,讨好的 | |
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13 subscribed | |
v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 );签署,题词;订阅;同意 | |
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14 purgatory | |
n.炼狱;苦难;adj.净化的,清洗的 | |
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15 undue | |
adj.过分的;不适当的;未到期的 | |
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16 tune | |
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整 | |
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17 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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18 harp | |
n.竖琴;天琴座 | |
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19 sitting-room | |
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室 | |
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20 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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21 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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22 maidens | |
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球 | |
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23 maiden | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
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24 eddied | |
起漩涡,旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25 maze | |
n.迷宫,八阵图,混乱,迷惑 | |
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26 relics | |
[pl.]n.遗物,遗迹,遗产;遗体,尸骸 | |
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27 highland | |
n.(pl.)高地,山地 | |
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28 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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29 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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30 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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31 agility | |
n.敏捷,活泼 | |
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32 rustic | |
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬 | |
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33 obliviousness | |
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34 smacked | |
拍,打,掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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36 regain | |
vt.重新获得,收复,恢复 | |
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37 elastic | |
n.橡皮圈,松紧带;adj.有弹性的;灵活的 | |
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38 resounding | |
adj. 响亮的 | |
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39 thighs | |
n.股,大腿( thigh的名词复数 );食用的鸡(等的)腿 | |
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40 caper | |
v.雀跃,欢蹦;n.雀跃,跳跃;续随子,刺山柑花蕾;嬉戏 | |
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41 glowered | |
v.怒视( glower的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42 eddying | |
涡流,涡流的形成 | |
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43 hospitable | |
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的 | |
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44 forefinger | |
n.食指 | |
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45 crooked | |
adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的 | |
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46 beckoned | |
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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48 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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49 trophies | |
n.(为竞赛获胜者颁发的)奖品( trophy的名词复数 );奖杯;(尤指狩猎或战争中获得的)纪念品;(用于比赛或赛跑名称)奖 | |
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50 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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51 glossy | |
adj.平滑的;有光泽的 | |
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52 saucily | |
adv.傲慢地,莽撞地 | |
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53 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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54 fiery | |
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的 | |
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55 conjecture | |
n./v.推测,猜测 | |
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56 unnatural | |
adj.不自然的;反常的 | |
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57 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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58 effusively | |
adv.变溢地,热情洋溢地 | |
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59 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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60 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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61 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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62 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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63 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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64 assented | |
同意,赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65 zest | |
n.乐趣;滋味,风味;兴趣 | |
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66 consolations | |
n.安慰,慰问( consolation的名词复数 );起安慰作用的人(或事物) | |
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67 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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68 cynical | |
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的 | |
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69 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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70 stanzas | |
节,段( stanza的名词复数 ) | |
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71 improvised | |
a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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72 complimentary | |
adj.赠送的,免费的,赞美的,恭维的 | |
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73 heartily | |
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很 | |
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74 risky | |
adj.有风险的,冒险的 | |
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75 allusion | |
n.暗示,间接提示 | |
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76 resolute | |
adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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77 twitching | |
n.颤搐 | |
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78 scoffing | |
n. 嘲笑, 笑柄, 愚弄 v. 嘲笑, 嘲弄, 愚弄, 狼吞虎咽 | |
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79 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
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80 bucolic | |
adj.乡村的;牧羊的 | |
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81 gunpowder | |
n.火药 | |
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82 fixedly | |
adv.固定地;不屈地,坚定不移地 | |
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83 plume | |
n.羽毛;v.整理羽毛,骚首弄姿,用羽毛装饰 | |
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84 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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85 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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86 insolence | |
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度 | |
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87 philosophic | |
adj.哲学的,贤明的 | |
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88 jealousy | |
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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89 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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90 constrained | |
adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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91 interfered | |
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉 | |
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92 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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93 indignity | |
n.侮辱,伤害尊严,轻蔑 | |
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94 dishonoured | |
a.不光彩的,不名誉的 | |
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95 bruises | |
n.瘀伤,伤痕,擦伤( bruise的名词复数 ) | |
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96 amicable | |
adj.和平的,友好的;友善的 | |
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97 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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98 revel | |
vi.狂欢作乐,陶醉;n.作乐,狂欢 | |
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99 remonstrance | |
n抗议,抱怨 | |
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100 aggrieved | |
adj.愤愤不平的,受委屈的;悲痛的;(在合法权利方面)受侵害的v.令委屈,令苦恼,侵害( aggrieve的过去式);令委屈,令苦恼,侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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