He came back at dinner-time, red and glowing, to tell Thomas Idle what he had seen. Thomas, on his back reading, listened with great composure, and asked him whether he really had gone up those hills, and bothered himself with those views, and walked all those miles?
‘Because I want to know,’ added Thomas, ‘what you would say of it, if you were obliged to do it?’
‘It would be different, then,’ said Francis. ‘It would be work, then; now, it’s play.’
‘Play!’ replied Thomas Idle, utterly4 repudiating5 the reply. ‘Play! Here is a man goes systematically6 tearing himself to pieces, and putting himself through an incessant7 course of training, as if he were always under articles to fight a match for the champion’s belt, and he calls it Play! Play!’ exclaimed Thomas Idle, scornfully contemplating8 his one boot in the air. ‘You can’t play. You don’t know what it is. You make work of everything.’
The bright Goodchild amiably9 smiled.
‘So you do,’ said Thomas. ‘I mean it. To me you are an absolutely terrible fellow. You do nothing like another man. Where another fellow would fall into a footbath of action or emotion, you fall into a mine. Where any other fellow would be a painted butterfly, you are a fiery10 dragon. Where another man would stake a sixpence, you stake your existence. If you were to go up in a balloon, you would make for Heaven; and if you were to dive into the depths of the earth, nothing short of the other place would content you. What a fellow you are, Francis!’ The cheerful Goodchild laughed.
‘It’s all very well to laugh, but I wonder you don’t feel it to be serious,’ said Idle. ‘A man who can do nothing by halves appears to me to be a fearful man.’
‘Tom, Tom,’ returned Goodchild, ‘if I can do nothing by halves, and be nothing by halves, it’s pretty clear that you must take me as a whole, and make the best of me.’
With this philosophical11 rejoinder, the airy Goodchild clapped Mr. Idle on the shoulder in a final manner, and they sat down to dinner.
‘By-the-by,’ said Goodchild, ‘I have been over a lunatic asylum12 too, since I have been out.’
‘He has been,’ exclaimed Thomas Idle, casting up his eyes, ‘over a lunatic asylum! Not content with being as great an Ass13 as Captain Barclay in the pedestrian way, he makes a Lunacy Commissioner14 of himself—for nothing!’
‘An immense place,’ said Goodchild, ‘admirable offices, very good arrangements, very good attendants; altogether a remarkable15 place.’
‘And what did you see there?’ asked Mr. Idle, adapting Hamlet’s advice to the occasion, and assuming the virtue16 of interest, though he had it not.
‘The usual thing,’ said Francis Goodchild, with a sigh. ‘Long groves17 of blighted19 men-and-women-trees; interminable avenues of hopeless faces; numbers, without the slightest power of really combining for any earthly purpose; a society of human creatures who have nothing in common but that they have all lost the power of being humanly social with one another.’
‘Take a glass of wine with me,’ said Thomas Idle, ‘and let us be social.’
‘In one gallery, Tom,’ pursued Francis Goodchild, ‘which looked to me about the length of the Long Walk at Windsor, more or less—’
‘Probably less,’ observed Thomas Idle.
‘In one gallery, which was otherwise clear of patients (for they were all out), there was a poor little dark-chinned, meagre man, with a perplexed20 brow and a pensive21 face, stooping low over the matting on the floor, and picking out with his thumb and forefinger22 the course of its fibres. The afternoon sun was slanting23 in at the large end-window, and there were cross patches of light and shade all down the vista24, made by the unseen windows and the open doors of the little sleeping-cells on either side. In about the centre of the perspective, under an arch, regardless of the pleasant weather, regardless of the solitude25, regardless of approaching footsteps, was the poor little dark-chinned, meagre man, poring over the matting. “What are you doing there?” said my conductor, when we came to him. He looked up, and pointed26 to the matting. “I wouldn’t do that, I think,” said my conductor, kindly27; “if I were you, I would go and read, or I would lie down if I felt tired; but I wouldn’t do that.” The patient considered a moment, and vacantly answered, “No, sir, I won’t; I’ll—I’ll go and read,” and so he lamely28 shuffled29 away into one of the little rooms. I turned my head before we had gone many paces. He had already come out again, and was again poring over the matting, and tracking out its fibres with his thumb and forefinger. I stopped to look at him, and it came into my mind, that probably the course of those fibres as they plaited in and out, over and under, was the only course of things in the whole wide world that it was left to him to understand—that his darkening intellect had narrowed down to the small cleft30 of light which showed him, “This piece was twisted this way, went in here, passed under, came out there, was carried on away here to the right where I now put my finger on it, and in this progress of events, the thing was made and came to be here.” Then, I wondered whether he looked into the matting, next, to see if it could show him anything of the process through which he came to be there, so strangely poring over it. Then, I thought how all of us, God help us! in our different ways are poring over our bits of matting, blindly enough, and what confusions and mysteries we make in the pattern. I had a sadder fellow-feeling with the little dark-chinned, meagre man, by that time, and I came away.’
Mr. Idle diverting the conversation to grouse31, custards, and bride-cake, Mr. Goodchild followed in the same direction. The bride-cake was as bilious32 and indigestible as if a real Bride had cut it, and the dinner it completed was an admirable performance.
The house was a genuine old house of a very quaint33 description, teeming34 with old carvings35, and beams, and panels, and having an excellent old staircase, with a gallery or upper staircase, cut off from it by a curious fence-work of old oak, or of the old Honduras Mahogany wood. It was, and is, and will be, for many a long year to come, a remarkably36 picturesque37 house; and a certain grave mystery lurking38 in the depth of the old mahogany panels, as if they were so many deep pools of dark water—such, indeed, as they had been much among when they were trees—gave it a very mysterious character after nightfall.
When Mr. Goodchild and Mr. Idle had first alighted at the door, and stepped into the sombre, handsome old hall, they had been received by half-a-dozen noiseless old men in black, all dressed exactly alike, who glided39 up the stairs with the obliging landlord and waiter—but without appearing to get into their way, or to mind whether they did or no—and who had filed off to the right and left on the old staircase, as the guests entered their sitting-room40. It was then broad, bright day. But, Mr. Goodchild had said, when their door was shut, ‘Who on earth are those old men?’ And afterwards, both on going out and coming in, he had noticed that there were no old men to be seen.
Neither, had the old men, or any one of the old men, reappeared since. The two friends had passed a night in the house, but had seen nothing more of the old men. Mr. Goodchild, in rambling41 about it, had looked along passages, and glanced in at doorways42, but had encountered no old men; neither did it appear that any old men were, by any member of the establishment, missed or expected.
Another odd circumstance impressed itself on their attention. It was, that the door of their sitting-room was never left untouched for a quarter of an hour. It was opened with hesitation43, opened with confidence, opened a little way, opened a good way,—always clapped-to again without a word of explanation. They were reading, they were writing, they were eating, they were drinking, they were talking, they were dozing44; the door was always opened at an unexpected moment, and they looked towards it, and it was clapped-to again, and nobody was to be seen. When this had happened fifty times or so, Mr. Goodchild had said to his companion, jestingly: ‘I begin to think, Tom, there was something wrong with those six old men.’
Night had come again, and they had been writing for two or three hours: writing, in short, a portion of the lazy notes from which these lazy sheets are taken. They had left off writing, and glasses were on the table between them. The house was closed and quiet. Around the head of Thomas Idle, as he lay upon his sofa, hovered45 light wreaths of fragrant46 smoke. The temples of Francis Goodchild, as he leaned back in his chair, with his two hands clasped behind his head, and his legs crossed, were similarly decorated.
They had been discussing several idle subjects of speculation47, not omitting the strange old men, and were still so occupied, when Mr. Goodchild abruptly48 changed his attitude to wind up his watch. They were just becoming drowsy49 enough to be stopped in their talk by any such slight check. Thomas Idle, who was speaking at the moment, paused and said, ‘How goes it?’
‘One,’ said Goodchild.
As if he had ordered One old man, and the order were promptly50 executed (truly, all orders were so, in that excellent hotel), the door opened, and One old man stood there.
He did not come in, but stood with the door in his hand.
‘One of the six, Tom, at last!’ said Mr. Goodchild, in a surprised whisper.—‘Sir, your pleasure?’
‘Sir, your pleasure?’ said the One old man.
‘I didn’t ring.’
‘The bell did,’ said the One old man.
He said Bell, in a deep, strong way, that would have expressed the church Bell.
‘I had the pleasure, I believe, of seeing you, yesterday?’ said Goodchild.
‘I cannot undertake to say for certain,’ was the grim reply of the One old man.
‘I think you saw me? Did you not?’
‘Saw you?’ said the old man. ‘O yes, I saw you. But, I see many who never see me.’
A chilled, slow, earthy, fixed51 old man. A cadaverous old man of measured speech. An old man who seemed as unable to wink52, as if his eyelids53 had been nailed to his forehead. An old man whose eyes—two spots of fire—had no more motion than if they had been connected with the back of his skull54 by screws driven through it, and rivetted and bolted outside, among his grey hair.
The night had turned so cold, to Mr. Goodchild’s sensations, that he shivered. He remarked lightly, and half apologetically, ‘I think somebody is walking over my grave.’
‘No,’ said the weird55 old man, ‘there is no one there.’
Mr. Goodchild looked at Idle, but Idle lay with his head enwreathed in smoke.
‘No one there?’ said Goodchild.
‘There is no one at your grave, I assure you,’ said the old man.
He had come in and shut the door, and he now sat down. He did not bend himself to sit, as other people do, but seemed to sink bolt upright, as if in water, until the chair stopped him.
‘My friend, Mr. Idle,’ said Goodchild, extremely anxious to introduce a third person into the conversation.
‘I am,’ said the old man, without looking at him, ‘at Mr. Idle’s service.’
‘If you are an old inhabitant of this place,’ Francis Goodchild resumed.
‘Yes.’
‘Perhaps you can decide a point my friend and I were in doubt upon, this morning. They hang condemned56 criminals at the Castle, I believe?’
‘I believe so,’ said the old man.
‘Are their faces turned towards that noble prospect57?’
‘Your face is turned,’ replied the old man, ‘to the Castle wall. When you are tied up, you see its stones expanding and contracting violently, and a similar expansion and contraction58 seem to take place in your own head and breast. Then, there is a rush of fire and an earthquake, and the Castle springs into the air, and you tumble down a precipice59.’
His cravat60 appeared to trouble him. He put his hand to his throat, and moved his neck from side to side. He was an old man of a swollen61 character of face, and his nose was immoveably hitched62 up on one side, as if by a little hook inserted in that nostril63. Mr. Goodchild felt exceedingly uncomfortable, and began to think the night was hot, and not cold.
‘A strong description, sir,’ he observed.
‘A strong sensation,’ the old man rejoined.
Again, Mr. Goodchild looked to Mr. Thomas Idle; but Thomas lay on his back with his face attentively64 turned towards the One old man, and made no sign. At this time Mr. Goodchild believed that he saw threads of fire stretch from the old man’s eyes to his own, and there attach themselves. (Mr. Goodchild writes the present account of his experience, and, with the utmost solemnity, protests that he had the strongest sensation upon him of being forced to look at the old man along those two fiery films, from that moment.)
‘I must tell it to you,’ said the old man, with a ghastly and a stony65 stare.
‘What?’ asked Francis Goodchild.
‘You know where it took place. Yonder!’
Whether he pointed to the room above, or to the room below, or to any room in that old house, or to a room in some other old house in that old town, Mr. Goodchild was not, nor is, nor ever can be, sure. He was confused by the circumstance that the right forefinger of the One old man seemed to dip itself in one of the threads of fire, light itself, and make a fiery start in the air, as it pointed somewhere. Having pointed somewhere, it went out.
‘You know she was a Bride,’ said the old man.
‘I know they still send up Bride-cake,’ Mr. Goodchild faltered66. ‘This is a very oppressive air.’
‘She was a Bride,’ said the old man. ‘She was a fair, flaxen-haired, large-eyed girl, who had no character, no purpose. A weak, credulous67, incapable68, helpless nothing. Not like her mother. No, no. It was her father whose character she reflected.
‘Her mother had taken care to secure everything to herself, for her own life, when the father of this girl (a child at that time) died—of sheer helplessness; no other disorder—and then He renewed the acquaintance that had once subsisted69 between the mother and Him. He had been put aside for the flaxen-haired, large-eyed man (or nonentity) with Money. He could overlook that for Money. He wanted compensation in Money.
‘So, he returned to the side of that woman the mother, made love to her again, danced attendance on her, and submitted himself to her whims71. She wreaked72 upon him every whim70 she had, or could invent. He bore it. And the more he bore, the more he wanted compensation in Money, and the more he was resolved to have it.
‘But, lo! Before he got it, she cheated him. In one of her imperious states, she froze, and never thawed73 again. She put her hands to her head one night, uttered a cry, stiffened74, lay in that attitude certain hours, and died. And he had got no compensation from her in Money, yet. Blight18 and Murrain on her! Not a penny.
‘He had hated her throughout that second pursuit, and had longed for retaliation75 on her. He now counterfeited76 her signature to an instrument, leaving all she had to leave, to her daughter—ten years old then—to whom the property passed absolutely, and appointing himself the daughter’s Guardian77. When He slid it under the pillow of the bed on which she lay, He bent78 down in the deaf ear of Death, and whispered: “Mistress Pride, I have determined79 a long time that, dead or alive, you must make me compensation in Money.”’
‘So, now there were only two left. Which two were, He, and the fair flaxen-haired, large-eyed foolish daughter, who afterwards became the Bride.
‘He put her to school. In a secret, dark, oppressive, ancient house, he put her to school with a watchful80 and unscrupulous woman. “My worthy81 lady,” he said, “here is a mind to be formed; will you help me to form it?” She accepted the trust. For which she, too, wanted compensation in Money, and had it.
‘The girl was formed in the fear of him, and in the conviction, that there was no escape from him. She was taught, from the first, to regard him as her future husband—the man who must marry her—the destiny that overshadowed her—the appointed certainty that could never be evaded82. The poor fool was soft white wax in their hands, and took the impression that they put upon her. It hardened with time. It became a part of herself. Inseparable from herself, and only to be torn away from her, by tearing life away from her.
‘Eleven years she had lived in the dark house and its gloomy garden. He was jealous of the very light and air getting to her, and they kept her close. He stopped the wide chimneys, shaded the little windows, left the strong-stemmed ivy83 to wander where it would over the house-front, the moss84 to accumulate on the untrimmed fruit-trees in the red-walled garden, the weeds to over-run its green and yellow walks. He surrounded her with images of sorrow and desolation. He caused her to be filled with fears of the place and of the stories that were told of it, and then on pretext85 of correcting them, to be left in it in solitude, or made to shrink about it in the dark. When her mind was most depressed86 and fullest of terrors, then, he would come out of one of the hiding-places from which he overlooked her, and present himself as her sole resource.
‘Thus, by being from her childhood the one embodiment her life presented to her of power to coerce87 and power to relieve, power to bind88 and power to loose, the ascendency over her weakness was secured. She was twenty-one years and twenty-one days old, when he brought her home to the gloomy house, his half-witted, frightened, and submissive Bride of three weeks.
A submissive bride
‘He had dismissed the governess by that time—what he had left to do, he could best do alone—and they came back, upon a rain night, to the scene of her long preparation. She turned to him upon the threshold, as the rain was dripping from the porch, and said:
‘“O sir, it is the Death-watch ticking for me!”
‘“Well!” he answered. “And if it were?”
‘“O sir!” she returned to him, “look kindly on me, and be merciful to me! I beg your pardon. I will do anything you wish, if you will only forgive me!”
‘That had become the poor fool’s constant song: “I beg your pardon,” and “Forgive me!”
‘She was not worth hating; he felt nothing but contempt for her. But, she had long been in the way, and he had long been weary, and the work was near its end, and had to be worked out.
‘“You fool,” he said. “Go up the stairs!”
‘She obeyed very quickly, murmuring, “I will do anything you wish!” When he came into the Bride’s Chamber89, having been a little retarded90 by the heavy fastenings of the great door (for they were alone in the house, and he had arranged that the people who attended on them should come and go in the day), he found her withdrawn91 to the furthest corner, and there standing92 pressed against the paneling as if she would have shrunk through it: her flaxen hair all wild about her face, and her large eyes staring at him in vague terror.
‘“What are you afraid of? Come and sit down by me.”
‘“I will do anything you wish. I beg your pardon, sir. Forgive me!” Her monotonous93 tune94 as usual.
‘“Ellen, here is a writing that you must write out to-morrow, in your own hand. You may as well be seen by others, busily engaged upon it. When you have written it all fairly, and corrected all mistakes, call in any two people there may be about the house, and sign your name to it before them. Then, put it in your bosom95 to keep it safe, and when I sit here again to-morrow night, give it to me.”
‘“I will do it all, with the greatest care. I will do anything you wish.”
‘“Don’t shake and tremble, then.”
‘“I will try my utmost not to do it—if you will only forgive me!”
‘Next day, she sat down at her desk, and did as she had been told. He often passed in and out of the room, to observe her, and always saw her slowly and laboriously96 writing: repeating to herself the words she copied, in appearance quite mechanically, and without caring or endeavouring to comprehend them, so that she did her task. He saw her follow the directions she had received, in all particulars; and at night, when they were alone again in the same Bride’s Chamber, and he drew his chair to the hearth97, she timidly approached him from her distant seat, took the paper from her bosom, and gave it into his hand.
‘It secured all her possessions to him, in the event of her death. He put her before him, face to face, that he might look at her steadily98; and he asked her, in so many plain words, neither fewer nor more, did she know that?
‘There were spots of ink upon the bosom of her white dress, and they made her face look whiter and her eyes look larger as she nodded her head. There were spots of ink upon the hand with which she stood before him, nervously99 plaiting and folding her white skirts.
‘He took her by the arm, and looked her, yet more closely and steadily, in the face. “Now, die! I have done with you.”
‘She shrunk, and uttered a low, suppressed cry.
‘“I am not going to kill you. I will not endanger my life for yours. Die!”
‘He sat before her in the gloomy Bride’s Chamber, day after day, night after night, looking the word at her when he did not utter it. As often as her large unmeaning eyes were raised from the hands in which she rocked her head, to the stern figure, sitting with crossed arms and knitted forehead, in the chair, they read in it, “Die!” When she dropped asleep in exhaustion100, she was called back to shuddering101 consciousness, by the whisper, “Die!” When she fell upon her old entreaty102 to be pardoned, she was answered “Die!” When she had out-watched and out-suffered the long night, and the rising sun flamed into the sombre room, she heard it hailed with, “Another day and not dead?—Die!”
‘Shut up in the deserted103 mansion104, aloof105 from all mankind, and engaged alone in such a struggle without any respite106, it came to this—that either he must die, or she. He knew it very well, and concentrated his strength against her feebleness. Hours upon hours he held her by the arm when her arm was black where he held it, and bade her Die!
‘It was done, upon a windy morning, before sunrise. He computed107 the time to be half-past four; but, his forgotten watch had run down, and he could not be sure. She had broken away from him in the night, with loud and sudden cries—the first of that kind to which she had given vent—and he had had to put his hands over her mouth. Since then, she had been quiet in the corner of the paneling where she had sunk down; and he had left her, and had gone back with his folded arms and his knitted forehead to his chair.
‘Paler in the pale light, more colourless than ever in the leaden dawn, he saw her coming, trailing herself along the floor towards him—a white wreck108 of hair, and dress, and wild eyes, pushing itself on by an irresolute109 and bending hand.
‘“O, forgive me! I will do anything. O, sir, pray tell me I may live!”
‘“Die!”
‘“Are you so resolved? Is there no hope for me?”
‘“Die!”
‘Her large eyes strained themselves with wonder and fear; wonder and fear changed to reproach; reproach to blank nothing. It was done. He was not at first so sure it was done, but that the morning sun was hanging jewels in her hair—he saw the diamond, emerald, and ruby110, glittering among it in little points, as he stood looking down at her—when he lifted her and laid her on her bed.
‘She was soon laid in the ground. And now they were all gone, and he had compensated111 himself well.
‘He had a mind to travel. Not that he meant to waste his Money, for he was a pinching man and liked his Money dearly (liked nothing else, indeed), but, that he had grown tired of the desolate112 house and wished to turn his back upon it and have done with it. But, the house was worth Money, and Money must not be thrown away. He determined to sell it before he went. That it might look the less wretched and bring a better price, he hired some labourers to work in the overgrown garden; to cut out the dead wood, trim the ivy that drooped114 in heavy masses over the windows and gables, and clear the walks in which the weeds were growing mid-leg high.
‘He worked, himself, along with them. He worked later than they did, and, one evening at dusk, was left working alone, with his bill-hook in his hand. One autumn evening, when the Bride was five weeks dead.
‘“It grows too dark to work longer,” he said to himself, “I must give over for the night.”
‘He detested115 the house, and was loath116 to enter it. He looked at the dark porch waiting for him like a tomb, and felt that it was an accursed house. Near to the porch, and near to where he stood, was a tree whose branches waved before the old bay-window of the Bride’s Chamber, where it had been done. The tree swung suddenly, and made him start. It swung again, although the night was still. Looking up into it, he saw a figure among the branches.
‘It was the figure of a young man. The face looked down, as his looked up; the branches cracked and swayed; the figure rapidly descended117, and slid upon its feet before him. A slender youth of about her age, with long light brown hair.
‘“What thief are you?” he said, seizing the youth by the collar.
‘The young man, in shaking himself free, swung him a blow with his arm across the face and throat. They closed, but the young man got from him and stepped back, crying, with great eagerness and horror, “Don’t touch me! I would as lieve be touched by the Devil!”
‘He stood still, with his bill-hook in his hand, looking at the young man. For, the young man’s look was the counterpart of her last look, and he had not expected ever to see that again.
‘“I am no thief. Even if I were, I would not have a coin of your wealth, if it would buy me the Indies. You murderer!”
‘“What!”
‘“I climbed it,” said the young man, pointing up into the tree, “for the first time, nigh four years ago. I climbed it, to look at her. I saw her. I spoke118 to her. I have climbed it, many a time, to watch and listen for her. I was a boy, hidden among its leaves, when from that bay-window she gave me this!”
‘He showed a tress of flaxen hair, tied with a mourning ribbon.
‘“Her life,” said the young man, “was a life of mourning. She gave me this, as a token of it, and a sign that she was dead to every one but you. If I had been older, if I had seen her sooner, I might have saved her from you. But, she was fast in the web when I first climbed the tree, and what could I do then to break it!”
‘In saying those words, he burst into a fit of sobbing119 and crying: weakly at first, then passionately120.
‘“Murderer! I climbed the tree on the night when you brought her back. I heard her, from the tree, speak of the Death-watch at the door. I was three times in the tree while you were shut up with her, slowly killing121 her. I saw her, from the tree, lie dead upon her bed. I have watched you, from the tree, for proofs and traces of your guilt122. The manner of it, is a mystery to me yet, but I will pursue you until you have rendered up your life to the hangman. You shall never, until then, be rid of me. I loved her! I can know no relenting towards you. Murderer, I loved her!”
‘The youth was bare-headed, his hat having fluttered away in his descent from the tree. He moved towards the gate. He had to pass—Him—to get to it. There was breadth for two old-fashioned carriages abreast123; and the youth’s abhorrence124, openly expressed in every feature of his face and limb of his body, and very hard to bear, had verge125 enough to keep itself at a distance in. He (by which I mean the other) had not stirred hand or foot, since he had stood still to look at the boy. He faced round, now, to follow him with his eyes. As the back of the bare light-brown head was turned to him, he saw a red curve stretch from his hand to it. He knew, before he threw the bill-hook, where it had alighted—I say, had alighted, and not, would alight; for, to his clear perception the thing was done before he did it. It cleft the head, and it remained there, and the boy lay on his face.
‘He buried the body in the night, at the foot of the tree. As soon as it was light in the morning, he worked at turning up all the ground near the tree, and hacking126 and hewing127 at the neighbouring bushes and undergrowth. When the labourers came, there was nothing suspicious, and nothing suspected.
‘But, he had, in a moment, defeated all his precautions, and destroyed the triumph of the scheme he had so long concerted, and so successfully worked out. He had got rid of the Bride, and had acquired her fortune without endangering his life; but now, for a death by which he had gained nothing, he had evermore to live with a rope around his neck.
‘Beyond this, he was chained to the house of gloom and horror, which he could not endure. Being afraid to sell it or to quit it, lest discovery should be made, he was forced to live in it. He hired two old people, man and wife, for his servants; and dwelt in it, and dreaded129 it. His great difficulty, for a long time, was the garden. Whether he should keep it trim, whether he should suffer it to fall into its former state of neglect, what would be the least likely way of attracting attention to it?
‘He took the middle course of gardening, himself, in his evening leisure, and of then calling the old serving-man to help him; but, of never letting him work there alone. And he made himself an arbour over against the tree, where he could sit and see that it was safe.
‘As the seasons changed, and the tree changed, his mind perceived dangers that were always changing. In the leafy time, he perceived that the upper boughs130 were growing into the form of the young man—that they made the shape of him exactly, sitting in a forked branch swinging in the wind. In the time of the falling leaves, he perceived that they came down from the tree, forming tell-tale letters on the path, or that they had a tendency to heap themselves into a churchyard mound131 above the grave. In the winter, when the tree was bare, he perceived that the boughs swung at him the ghost of the blow the young man had given, and that they threatened him openly. In the spring, when the sap was mounting in the trunk, he asked himself, were the dried-up particles of blood mounting with it: to make out more obviously this year than last, the leaf-screened figure of the young man, swinging in the wind?
‘However, he turned his Money over and over, and still over. He was in the dark trade, the gold-dust trade, and most secret trades that yielded great returns. In ten years, he had turned his Money over, so many times, that the traders and shippers who had dealings with him, absolutely did not lie—for once—when they declared that he had increased his fortune, Twelve Hundred Per Cent.
‘He possessed132 his riches one hundred years ago, when people could be lost easily. He had heard who the youth was, from hearing of the search that was made after him; but, it died away, and the youth was forgotten.
‘The annual round of changes in the tree had been repeated ten times since the night of the burial at its foot, when there was a great thunder-storm over this place. It broke at midnight, and roared until morning. The first intelligence he heard from his old serving-man that morning, was, that the tree had been struck by Lightning.
‘It had been riven down the stem, in a very surprising manner, and the stem lay in two blighted shafts133: one resting against the house, and one against a portion of the old red garden-wall in which its fall had made a gap. The fissure134 went down the tree to a little above the earth, and there stopped. There was great curiosity to see the tree, and, with most of his former fears revived, he sat in his arbour—grown quite an old man—watching the people who came to see it.
‘They quickly began to come, in such dangerous numbers, that he closed his garden-gate and refused to admit any more. But, there were certain men of science who travelled from a distance to examine the tree, and, in an evil hour, he let them in!—Blight and Murrain on them, let them in!
‘They wanted to dig up the ruin by the roots, and closely examine it, and the earth about it. Never, while he lived! They offered money for it. They! Men of science, whom he could have bought by the gross, with a scratch of his pen! He showed them the garden-gate again, and locked and barred it.
‘But they were bent on doing what they wanted to do, and they bribed135 the old serving-man—a thankless wretch113 who regularly complained when he received his wages, of being underpaid—and they stole into the garden by night with their lanterns, picks, and shovels136, and fell to at the tree. He was lying in a turret-room on the other side of the house (the Bride’s Chamber had been unoccupied ever since), but he soon dreamed of picks and shovels, and got up.
‘He came to an upper window on that side, whence he could see their lanterns, and them, and the loose earth in a heap which he had himself disturbed and put back, when it was last turned to the air. It was found! They had that minute lighted on it. They were all bending over it. One of them said, “The skull is fractured;” and another, “See here the bones;” and another, “See here the clothes;” and then the first struck in again, and said, “A rusty137 bill-hook!”
‘He became sensible, next day, that he was already put under a strict watch, and that he could go nowhere without being followed. Before a week was out, he was taken and laid in hold. The circumstances were gradually pieced together against him, with a desperate malignity138, and an appalling139 ingenuity140. But, see the justice of men, and how it was extended to him! He was further accused of having poisoned that girl in the Bride’s Chamber. He, who had carefully and expressly avoided imperilling a hair of his head for her, and who had seen her die of her own incapacity!
‘There was doubt for which of the two murders he should be first tried; but, the real one was chosen, and he was found Guilty, and cast for death. Bloodthirsty wretches141! They would have made him Guilty of anything, so set they were upon having his life.
‘His money could do nothing to save him, and he was hanged. I am He, and I was hanged at Lancaster Castle with my face to the wall, a hundred years ago!’
At this terrific announcement, Mr. Goodchild tried to rise and cry out. But, the two fiery lines extending from the old man’s eyes to his own, kept him down, and he could not utter a sound. His sense of hearing, however, was acute, and he could hear the clock strike Two. No sooner had he heard the clock strike Two, than he saw before him Two old men!
Two.
The eyes of each, connected with his eyes by two films of fire: each, exactly like the other: each, addressing him at precisely142 one and the same instant: each, gnashing the same teeth in the same head, with the same twitched143 nostril above them, and the same suffused144 expression around it. Two old men. Differing in nothing, equally distinct to the sight, the copy no fainter than the original, the second as real as the first.
‘At what time,’ said the Two old men, ‘did you arrive at the door below?’
‘At Six.’
‘And there were Six old men upon the stairs!’
Mr. Goodchild having wiped the perspiration145 from his brow, or tried to do it, the Two old men proceeded in one voice, and in the singular number:
‘I had been anatomised, but had not yet had my skeleton put together and re-hung on an iron hook, when it began to be whispered that the Bride’s Chamber was haunted. It was haunted, and I was there.
‘We were there. She and I were there. I, in the chair upon the hearth; she, a white wreck again, trailing itself towards me on the floor. But, I was the speaker no more, and the one word that she said to me from midnight until dawn was, ‘Live!’
‘The youth was there, likewise. In the tree outside the window. Coming and going in the moonlight, as the tree bent and gave. He has, ever since, been there, peeping in at me in my torment146; revealing to me by snatches, in the pale lights and slatey shadows where he comes and goes, bare-headed—a bill-hook, standing edgewise in his hair.
‘In the Bride’s Chamber, every night from midnight until dawn—one month in the year excepted, as I am going to tell you—he hides in the tree, and she comes towards me on the floor; always approaching; never coming nearer; always visible as if by moon-light, whether the moon shines or no; always saying, from mid-night until dawn, her one word, “Live!”
‘But, in the month wherein I was forced out of this life—this present month of thirty days—the Bride’s Chamber is empty and quiet. Not so my old dungeon147. Not so the rooms where I was restless and afraid, ten years. Both are fitfully haunted then. At One in the morning. I am what you saw me when the clock struck that hour—One old man. At Two in the morning, I am Two old men. At Three, I am Three. By Twelve at noon, I am Twelve old men, One for every hundred per cent. of old gain. Every one of the Twelve, with Twelve times my old power of suffering and agony. From that hour until Twelve at night, I, Twelve old men in anguish148 and fearful foreboding, wait for the coming of the executioner. At Twelve at night, I, Twelve old men turned off, swing invisible outside Lancaster Castle, with Twelve faces to the wall!
‘When the Bride’s Chamber was first haunted, it was known to me that this punishment would never cease, until I could make its nature, and my story, known to two living men together. I waited for the coming of two living men together into the Bride’s Chamber, years upon years. It was infused into my knowledge (of the means I am ignorant) that if two living men, with their eyes open, could be in the Bride’s Chamber at One in the morning, they would see me sitting in my chair.
‘At length, the whispers that the room was spiritually troubled, brought two men to try the adventure. I was scarcely struck upon the hearth at midnight (I come there as if the Lightning blasted me into being), when I heard them ascending149 the stairs. Next, I saw them enter. One of them was a bold, gay, active man, in the prime of life, some five and forty years of age; the other, a dozen years younger. They brought provisions with them in a basket, and bottles. A young woman accompanied them, with wood and coals for the lighting150 of the fire. When she had lighted it, the bold, gay, active man accompanied her along the gallery outside the room, to see her safely down the staircase, and came back laughing.
‘He locked the door, examined the chamber, put out the contents of the basket on the table before the fire—little recking of me, in my appointed station on the hearth, close to him—and filled the glasses, and ate and drank. His companion did the same, and was as cheerful and confident as he: though he was the leader. When they had supped, they laid pistols on the table, turned to the fire, and began to smoke their pipes of foreign make.
‘They had travelled together, and had been much together, and had an abundance of subjects in common. In the midst of their talking and laughing, the younger man made a reference to the leader’s being always ready for any adventure; that one, or any other. He replied in these words:
‘“Not quite so, Dick; if I am afraid of nothing else, I am afraid of myself.”
‘His companion seeming to grow a little dull, asked him, in what sense? How?
‘“Why, thus,” he returned. “Here is a Ghost to be disproved. Well! I cannot answer for what my fancy might do if I were alone here, or what tricks my senses might play with me if they had me to themselves. But, in company with another man, and especially with Dick, I would consent to outface all the Ghosts that were ever of in the universe.”
‘“I had not the vanity to suppose that I was of so much importance to-night,” said the other.
‘“Of so much,” rejoined the leader, more seriously than he had spoken yet, “that I would, for the reason I have given, on no account have undertaken to pass the night here alone.”
‘It was within a few minutes of One. The head of the younger man had drooped when he made his last remark, and it drooped lower now.
‘“Keep awake, Dick!” said the leader, gaily151. “The small hours are the worst.”
‘He tried, but his head drooped again.
‘“Dick!” urged the leader. “Keep awake!”
‘“I can’t,” he indistinctly muttered. “I don’t know what strange influence is stealing over me. I can’t.”
‘His companion looked at him with a sudden horror, and I, in my different way, felt a new horror also; for, it was on the stroke of One, and I felt that the second watcher was yielding to me, and that the curse was upon me that I must send him to sleep.
‘“Get up and walk, Dick!” cried the leader. “Try!”
‘It was in vain to go behind the slumber’s chair and shake him. One o’clock sounded, and I was present to the elder man, and he stood transfixed before me.
‘To him alone, I was obliged to relate my story, without hope of benefit. To him alone, I was an awful phantom152 making a quite useless confession153. I foresee it will ever be the same. The two living men together will never come to release me. When I appear, the senses of one of the two will be locked in sleep; he will neither see nor hear me; my communication will ever be made to a solitary154 listener, and will ever be unserviceable. Woe155! Woe! Woe!’
As the Two old men, with these words, wrung156 their hands, it shot into Mr. Goodchild’s mind that he was in the terrible situation of being virtually alone with the spectre, and that Mr. Idle’s immoveability was explained by his having been charmed asleep at One o’clock. In the terror of this sudden discovery which produced an indescribable dread128, he struggled so hard to get free from the four fiery threads, that he snapped them, after he had pulled them out to a great width. Being then out of bonds, he caught up Mr. Idle from the sofa and rushed down-stairs with him.
‘What are you about, Francis?’ demanded Mr. Idle. ‘My bedroom is not down here. What the deuce are you carrying me at all for? I can walk with a stick now. I don’t want to be carried. Put me down.’
Mr. Goodchild put him down in the old hall, and looked about him wildly.
‘What are you doing? Idiotically plunging157 at your own sex, and rescuing them or perishing in the attempt?’ asked Mr. Idle, in a highly petulant158 state.
‘The One old man!’ cried Mr. Goodchild, distractedly,—‘and the Two old men!’
Mr. Idle deigned159 no other reply than ‘The One old woman, I think you mean,’ as he began hobbling his way back up the staircase, with the assistance of its broad balustrade.
‘I assure you, Tom,’ began Mr. Goodchild, attending at his side, ‘that since you fell asleep—’
‘Come, I like that!’ said Thomas Idle, ‘I haven’t closed an eye!’
With the peculiar160 sensitiveness on the subject of the disgraceful action of going to sleep out of bed, which is the lot of all mankind, Mr. Idle persisted in this declaration. The same peculiar sensitiveness impelled161 Mr. Goodchild, on being taxed with the same crime, to repudiate162 it with honourable163 resentment164. The settlement of the question of The One old man and The Two old men was thus presently complicated, and soon made quite impracticable. Mr. Idle said it was all Bride-cake, and fragments, newly arranged, of things seen and thought about in the day. Mr. Goodchild said how could that be, when he hadn’t been asleep, and what right could Mr. Idle have to say so, who had been asleep? Mr. Idle said he had never been asleep, and never did go to sleep, and that Mr. Goodchild, as a general rule, was always asleep. They consequently parted for the rest of the night, at their bedroom doors, a little ruffled165. Mr. Goodchild’s last words were, that he had had, in that real and tangible166 old sitting-room of that real and tangible old Inn (he supposed Mr. Idle denied its existence?), every sensation and experience, the present record of which is now within a line or two of completion; and that he would write it out and print it every word. Mr. Idle returned that he might if he liked—and he did like, and has now done it.
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1
perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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2
misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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3
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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4
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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5
repudiating
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的现在分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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6
systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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7
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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8
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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9
amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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10
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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11
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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12
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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13
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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14
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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15
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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16
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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17
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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18
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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19
blighted
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| adj.枯萎的，摧毁的 | |
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20
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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21
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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22
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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23
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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24
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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25
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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26
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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27
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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28
lamely
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| 一瘸一拐地，不完全地 | |
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29
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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30
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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31
grouse
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| n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦 | |
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32
bilious
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| adj.胆汁过多的；易怒的 | |
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33
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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34
teeming
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| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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35
carvings
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| n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物 | |
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36
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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37
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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38
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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39
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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40
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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41
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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42
doorways
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| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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43
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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44
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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45
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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46
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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47
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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48
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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49
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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50
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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51
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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52
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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53
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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54
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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55
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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56
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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57
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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58
contraction
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| n.缩略词，缩写式，害病 | |
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59
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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60
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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61
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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62
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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63
nostril
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| n.鼻孔 | |
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64
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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65
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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66
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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67
credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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68
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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69
subsisted
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| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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71
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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72
wreaked
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| 诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
thawed
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| 解冻 | |
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74
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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75
retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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76
counterfeited
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| v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的过去分词 ) | |
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77
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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78
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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79
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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80
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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81
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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82
evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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83
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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84
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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85
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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86
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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87
coerce
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| v.强迫，压制 | |
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88
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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89
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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90
retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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91
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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92
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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93
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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94
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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95
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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96
laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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97
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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98
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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99
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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100
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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101
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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102
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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103
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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104
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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105
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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106
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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107
computed
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| adj.[医]计算的，使用计算机的v.计算，估算( compute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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109
irresolute
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| adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的 | |
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110
ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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111
compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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112
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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113
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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114
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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117
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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118
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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119
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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120
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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121
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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122
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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123
abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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124
abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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125
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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126
hacking
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| n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动 | |
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127
hewing
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的现在分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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128
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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129
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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130
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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131
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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132
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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133
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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134
fissure
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| n.裂缝；裂伤 | |
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135
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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136
shovels
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| n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份 | |
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137
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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138
malignity
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| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
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139
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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140
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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141
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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142
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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143
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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144
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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145
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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146
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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147
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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148
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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149
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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150
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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151
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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152
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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153
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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154
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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155
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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156
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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157
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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158
petulant
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| adj.性急的，暴躁的 | |
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159
deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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160
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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161
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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162
repudiate
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| v.拒绝，拒付，拒绝履行 | |
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163
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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164
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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165
ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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166
tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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