"Did they?" I answered languidly; "that was no doubt a mere9 heathen superstition10 on their part."
"Oh, no," he retorted with flashing eyes: "it was no superstition. It was solemn fact. Wounds would never heal at such times, and broken limbs would set with difficulty. You see, in the old clays, we knew a good deal about wounds, of course—far more than nowadays. We were all warriors11 then. We fought and hacked12 each other. We were often liable to get severely13 injured. Stone hatchets14 cut a man up so awkwardly."
"Why," I cried, "now you come to mention it, I remember the year I was working at Etna, the Sicilians at Catania all declared that sprains15 and cuts and rheumatic affections would never get well before or during eruptive periods. I hardly believed them at the time, I confess; but if two people so widely apart in race and space as you and the Sicilians both say so, I dare say there may really be something in it."
"There is something in it," Kalaua echoed gravely. "I know it by experience."
"An atmospheric16 or electric condition, no doubt," I said, lighting17 a cigarette.
"Our fathers used to think," Kalaua corrected slowly, "that Pélé's daughter was the goddess of disease; and when Pélé was angrily searching for a victim, or when Pélé's son, the humpbacked god, who lives with his mother among the ashes of the crater18, was in search of a fresh wife among the daughters of men, then, our heathen forefathers19 used to say, the goddess of disease went forth20 through the land to prick21 the people with the goads22 and thorns that she pushed into their flesh and their veins23 and their marrow24. Pélé had many sons and daughters; all of them worked the will of their mother. The goddess of disease was the eldest25 and noblest—she searched everywhere for a victim for her mother."
"And did she ever get one?" I asked with curdling26 blood.
"Yes," Kalaua answered. "The Hawaiians are brave. Sometimes the people would suffer so much from Pélé's daughter that some one among them, a noble-minded youth, would willingly offer himself up as a propitiation to Pélé. Then Pélé's wrath27 would be appeased28 for the time, and the eruptions29 would cease, and the land would have slumber30. But those, we know, were only foolish old heathen ideas. Nowadays of course the Hawaiians are wiser.
"Yes," I replied, smiling and withdrawing my cigarette. "The Hawaiians nowadays are nominally31 Christian32."
The phrase seemed to excite Kalaua's suspicions. "We know now," he went on more quietly, with a searching look, "that eruptions are due to purely33 natural causes."
"I hope," I said, "if an eruption's coming, I shall be well enough anyhow to get out and watch it. The doctor promised soon to let me have a pair of crutches34."
Kalaua smiled. "If an eruption comes at all," he answered, with the air of a man who speaks of what he knows, "it'll come, I take it, on Saturday next, and you won't be well enough to get out by then. The moon will be full on Saturday at midnight. Eruptions come oftenest at the full moon. Our fathers had a foolish old reason for that, they said that Pélé and her son had a grudge35 against the moon, and strove always to put it out with their belching36 fire, for eclipses, they thought in their ignorance and folly37, were caused by Pélé's humpbacked son trying to strangle the moon in its cradle."
"Why," I said, "that's likely enough, when one comes to think of it."
Kalaua gazed at me in speechless amazement38. "That Pélé's son is the cause of eclipses!" he cried, astonished.
"No, no," I answered. "No such nonsense as that. But the connection may be real between phases of the moon and volcanic39 phenomena40. The moon's attraction must be just as powerful on the lava41 in a volcano as on the water in the sea. There may be a sort of spring-tide tendency towards eruptions so to speak. And curiously enough, since you mention eclipses, there's going to be an eclipse of the moon on Saturday."
Kalaua's face changed suddenly at the word. "An eclipse!" he cried, with intense solemnity. "An eclipse of the moon! On Saturday!—impossible!"
"No, not impossible," I said. "I see it by the almanac."
"Not total?" Kalaua asked excitedly.
"Yes, total." I answered, amused at his excitement. "You think that will bring an eruption in its train?"
"Eclipses always bring eruptions," Kalaua said solemnly. "Our fathers told us so, and we ourselves have proved it."
"Well, you may be right:" I replied smiling; "we really know so little about these things as yet that it's impossible to dogmatize in any particular instance. But for my own part, I believe there's no counting upon eruptions. Sometimes they come and sometimes they don't! They're like the weather—exactly like the weather—products of pure law, yet wholly unaccountable."
Kalaua rose width great resolution. "An eclipse of the moon!" he repeated to himself aloud in Hawaiian. "Kea, Kea, come here and listen! An eclipse on Saturday! How very strange, Kea! That's earlier than any of us at all expected. How lucky we made our arrangements so well beforehand, or else this thing might have taken us all quite unprepared. There'll be an eruption. We must look out for that! I must go at once and tell Maloka!"
Maloka, then, the mysterious bridegroom, lived quite near! Kalaua could go out at a minute's notice, and speak to him easily. I longed to ask him who Maloka was, where he lived, and what he did, but a certain sense of shame and propriety42 restrained me. After all, Kalaua was my host. I had no business to go prying43 into the private affairs of a native family who had been kind enough to extend to me their friendly hospitality.
Kalaua left the room and went out hurriedly. I turned on my bed and tried to sleep. But try as I would, my leg still kept me persistently44 awake. Frank was soon snoring soundly in his own room next door. I envied him his rest, and gave myself up to a sleepless45 night with what resignation I could manage to summon.
Gradually, as the night wore on I began to doze46. A numb47 drowsiness48 stole slowly over me. I almost slept, I fancy; at any rate, I closed my eyes and ceased to think about anything in particular. For half an hour I was practically unconscious. Then on a sudden, as I lay there dozing49, a slight noise attracted my attention. I opened my eyes and stared out silently. The door of my bedroom was pushed gently open. A hand held it gingerly ajar for a while. A brown head was thrust in at the slit50, and then another. "Softly!" a voice murmured low in Hawaiian. I lay still, and never moved a thread or muscle of my face, but gazing across dimly through my closed eyelids51 I could see that one of the men was Kalaua; the other, I imagined, was a perfect stranger. My heart beat fast. Strange thoughts thronged52 me. "Surely," I said to myself, "this must be Maloka."
I was dying with curiosity to learn something more about that unknown bridegroom. But I dared not move. I dared not speak. A solemn awe53 seemed to thrill and overcome me.
"Is he asleep?" the stranger asked in a low voice.
"Yes, fast asleep," Kalaua replied in Hawaiian. "Can he understand if he hears?" the stranger said again.
"Not much, if anything," Kalaua answered. "He has only been such a short time in Hawaii."
I was glad they under-estimated my knowledge of their language. It enabled me to learn what they were talking about.
"Then we can speak with safety," the stranger went on.
Kalaua nodded, went out once more, and closed the door softly behind him. They both seated themselves as far as I could guess, on chairs in the sitting-room54. Oh, how I longed to hear the rest of their conversation! It was quite irresistible55. Curiosity got the better of my native prudence56. I couldn't catch a word of what they were saying with any distinctness where I lay on the bed. I must rise and listen. I undid57 the splints that bound up my leg; crawled carefully across the room without jerking or hurting it; and throwing myself down at the bedroom door, bent58 eagerly though cautiously down to the key-hole.
Even so, I could catch but little.
Kalaua and the stranger were conversing59 in low and earnest tones in their native language. Though I could understand Hawaiian pretty well by this time, I found it hard to follow so rapid and familiar a colloquy60 between two Hawaiians in half-whispered accents.
They spoke61 of many things I didn't understand. But one thing I was sure I caught from time to time quite distinctly, and that was the oft-repeated name, Maloka. They were talking of Maloka, Maloka, Maloka. Was this Maloka? I asked myself more than once. If so, I should like to take a good look at the man who has to be Kea's future husband.
Why all this mystery? This midnight meeting? Why couldn't Kea be quietly married like any one else? Why couldn't Kea's lover come to the house at a reasonable hour, like all the rest of humanity? I must clear up this question, one way or the other. It was very wrong of me, no doubt; but in my anxiety to learn the whole truth of the case, I held my eye for a second to the key-hole. The stranger's face was turned towards me now. I recognized him in a moment. He was one of the four tall, stately natives who had stood by Kalaua's side on the brink62 of the precipice63 that awful day when Kea rescued me. This, then, was Maloka!
My blood ran cold. Kea married to this cold stern creature!
But no. A minute later I caught their words once more. The stranger himself was speaking this time. "And you went down and told Maloka exactly when and where to expect her?" he asked seriously.
"Yes," Kalaua answered. "It's all arranged. I told Maloka. I went out at once to see him and to tell him."
A sudden thrill passed through me irresistibly64. Wrong again. This, then, was not Maloka after all! But Maloka, whoever he was, lived quite near. It had taken Kalaua only half an hour or so apparently65 to go to his house and tell him the story of the expected eruption.
"She may well be honoured," the stranger murmured. "So great a marriage is indeed an honour to any girl in Hawaii."
They whispered together for a few minutes longer in a lower voice, even more mysteriously, but I could catch very little of all they said, except that now and then the words "marriage," "bridegroom," "bride," and "distinction" fell upon my ears quite unmistakably. Once, to my surprise, my own name, too, came into their colloquy. I strained my ears to catch the meaning. They repeated it once more. Strange! I couldn't quite understand what they meant, but I seemed to be somehow mixed up with the mystery. Was this—could it be, some wonderful heathen plot or contrivance to carry me off and marry me perforce against my will to Kea?
"She rescued him," I heard Kalaua say in a very stern tone: the next words I couldn't quite catch, then he added more distinctly, "and she must marry him."
"It is the law of our forefathers," the strange Hawaiian repeated. "Life for life. Bride for husband."
"For fifty years have I served faithfully," Kalaua said, "and now I may surely be honoured in the marriages of my family."
"Good," the other man answered. "You will see to the bride; and I for my part will take every care that the bridegroom is ready."
"Don't fear for me," Kalaua replied. "The daughters of the Hawaiians shrink not from their duty."
He rose, and walked across the room in the opposite direction from that of the door where I still sat crouching66 on the ground in my night-shirt, with my broken leg extended sideways in front of me. He went up to the wall and pushed aside a picture that hung from a nail near the ceiling before me. Behind it was a small brass67 knob. He took a little key from his pocket, which he fitted into the midst of the knob, and suddenly, with a spring a door opened. It was the door of a cupboard or small recess68 let into the wall, and in it I saw for the twinkling of an eye an apparition69 of something brilliantly red and yellow. I knew in a second what that thing was. It was the royal robe of sacred feathers that Kalaua had worn as his priest's costume when he solemnly dedicated70 me to the anger of Pélé.
Behind it, two horrible goggle71 eyes shone forth with lurid72 gleams into the blank room. I knew those too, they were the eyes of the mask—that grinning mask that Kalaua wore as the sign of his priestship.
Hideous73, barbaric, staring things; but Kalaua regarded them with the utmost veneration74.
"Everything is correct," he whispered, looking over the strange paraphernalia75 with a stern look of content and handling them reverently76. "The wedding shall come off, then, duly as arranged. We know the place, the day, and the hour. I answer for the bride: you answer for the bridegroom. All is well. It is an auspicious77 marriage. May they live happily ever after!"
"Such is the prayer of all the Hawaiians," the stranger answered, with the air of a man who recites some liturgy78.
"'EVERYTHING IS CORRECT,' HE WHISPERED."
Kalaua bowed his head solemnly. "Among the faithless," he said, "we at least are faithful."
He shut the door once more, and locked it securely. Then he turned towards the room where I was eagerly watching him through that narrow key-hole. How I knew what was coming next I can never tell, but I did know somehow that they were moving across once more to my hiding place. Fear supplied me with strength and agility79. Dragging my leg after me again with breathless haste, I managed to scramble80 back into my bed somehow, and, pulling the sheet over me, to feign81 sleep, before those two savage82 devotees of a dead religion were once more leaning over the pillow beside me. Next instant, I heard the door pushed cautiously open a second time; and peering afresh through my closed eyelids, I saw Kalaua and his nameless satellite steal over softly to where I lay half dead with terror and excitement.
I closed my eyes and waited, awestruck.
Were they really come to murder me or to carry me off by force? Were they going to marry me against my will to Kea? Did Kalaua mean to put me there and then through some hideous and inhuman83 wedding ceremony? Was I the bridegroom for whom the stranger was to answer? Was this the secret of their sudden kindness to me? Was I bound to atone84 for the saving of my life by accepting in wedlock85 the last daughter and heiress of the priests of Pélé?
But no! My suspicions must surely be wrong. It was Maloka, Maloka, that unknown Maloka, who was destined86 to be the simple little brown maiden's hated bridegroom. I must find out soon who Maloka was; but for the moment, fear got the better of curiosity.
The two Hawaiians approached on tiptoe to my side. My heart beat hard, but I gave no token. I lay as still as death, and breathed heavily. I felt rather than heard them stoop down and look at me.
"Asleep?" asked the stranger.
"Asleep!" Kalaua answered.
"Let us see!" the stranger said, and moved his robe a little. I knew he had drawn87 a knife from his girdle. I felt him raise it but I never cringed.
There was a moment's suspense88—an awful suspense, for I didn't feel sure they hadn't come to murder me—and then, apparently satisfied, the men withdrew; the footsteps retreated as stealthily as they had approached; and the door was closed again noiselessly behind them.
They had only come, after all, to make sure I was asleep and had heard nothing. Whatever this business might be on which they were engaged, they evidently meant to conduct it with the utmost secrecy89. Whatever these things meant, they did not mean murder.
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1
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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rheumatism
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| n.风湿病 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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5
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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8
brewing
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| n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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hacked
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| 生气 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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14
hatchets
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| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
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sprains
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| 扭伤( sprain的名词复数 ) | |
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atmospheric
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| adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的 | |
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17
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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prick
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| v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛 | |
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goads
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| n.赶牲口的尖棒( goad的名词复数 )v.刺激( goad的第三人称单数 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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curdling
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| n.凝化v.（使）凝结( curdle的现在分词 ) | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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28
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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eruptions
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| n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 ) | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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crutches
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| n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑 | |
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grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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belching
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| n. 喷出，打嗝 动词belch的现在分词形式 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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42
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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drowsiness
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| n.睡意；嗜睡 | |
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dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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50
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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51
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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52
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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54
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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55
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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56
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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57
Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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58
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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59
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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60
colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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61
spoke
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| 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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62
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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63
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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64
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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65
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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66
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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67
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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68
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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69
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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70
dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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71
goggle
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| n.瞪眼，转动眼珠，护目镜；v.瞪眼看，转眼珠 | |
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72
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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73
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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74
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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75
paraphernalia
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| n.装备；随身用品 | |
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76
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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77
auspicious
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| adj.吉利的；幸运的，吉兆的 | |
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78
liturgy
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| n.礼拜仪式 | |
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79
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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80
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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81
feign
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| vt.假装，佯作 | |
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82
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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83
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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84
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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85
wedlock
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| n.婚姻，已婚状态 | |
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86
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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87
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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88
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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89
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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