“Spider” she was called because of the peculiar5 dance she had originated. It was against all classical precedents6, but of so exceptional a character that in a night, a single hour, as it were, she found herself from a humble7 little apprentice8 the most celebrated9 geisha in Kioto, that paradise of geishas.
It was a day of golden fortune for Matsuda, who owned the girl. She had been bound to his service since the age of seven with bonds as drastic as if the days of slavery still existed.
Harsh, cunning, even cruel to the many girls in his employ, Matsuda had yet one vulnerable point. That was his overwhelming affection for the geisha he had married, and she was afflicted10 with a malady11 of the brain. Some said it was due to the death of her many children, all of whom had succumbed12 to an infectious disease. From whatever misfortune, the gentle Okusama, as they called her in the geisha-house, was at intervals13 blank-minded. Still she, the harmless, gentle creature, was loved by the geishas; and, as far as it lay in her power, she was their friend, and often saved them from the wrath14 of Matsuda. It was into her empty bosom15 the little Moonlight had crept and found a warm and loving home. With a yearning16 as deep as though the child were her own, the wife of Matsuda watched over the child. It was under her tutelage that Moonlight learned all the arts of an accomplished17 geisha. In her time the wife of Matsuda had been very famous, too, and no one knew better than she, soft of mind and witless as she was at times, the dances and the songs of the geisha-house.
Matsuda had watched with some degree of irritation18, not unmixed with a peculiar jealousy19, his wife’s absorption in the tiny Moonlight. He did not approve of gentle treatment toward a mere20 apprentice. It was only by harsh measures that a girl could properly learn the severe profession. Later, when she had mastered all the intricate arts and graces, then, perhaps, one might prove lenient21. It was no uncommon22 thing for a geisha to be pampered23 and spoiled, but an apprentice, never!
However, the child seemed to make happier the lot of the beloved Okusama, and there was nothing to be done about the matter.
Disliking the child, Matsuda nevertheless recognized from the first her undoubted beauty, the thing which had induced him, in fact, to pay an exceptional price to her guardians24 for her. He had little faith in her future as a geisha, however, since his wife chose to pet and protect her. How was it possible for her to learn from the poor, witless Okusama? When the latter joyously25 jabbered26 of the little one’s wonderful progress, Matsuda would smile or grunt27 surlily.
Then, one day, walking in the woods, he had come, unexpectedly, upon the posturing28 child, tossing her little body from side to side like a wind-blown flower, while his wife picked two single notes upon the samisen. Matsuda watched them dumb-smitten. Was it possible, he asked himself, that the Okusama had discovered what he had overlooked? But he brushed the thought aside. These were merely the precocious29 antics of a spoiled child. They would not be pretty in one grown to womanhood. There was much to do in the geisha-house. The fame of his gardens must be kept assiduously before the public. Matsuda had no time for the little Moonlight, save, chidingly30, to frown upon her when she was not in the presence of the Okusama. And so, almost unobserved by the master of the geisha-house, Moonlight came to the years of maidenhood31.
One night the House of Slender Pines was honored by the unexpected advent32 of most exalted33 guests. The chief geishas were absent at an entertainment, and Matsuda was in despair. He was forced, consequently, to put the novices34 into service, and while he bit his nails frenziedly at the awkward movements of the apprentices35, Moonlight slipped to his side and whispered in his ear that she was competent to dance as beautifully as the chief geishas. As he stared at her in wrathful irritation, his wife glided36 to his other side and joined the girl in pleading. Gruffly he consented. Matters could not be much worse. What mattered it now? He was already disgraced in the eyes of the most high. Well, then, let this pet apprentice do her foolish dance.
Moonlight seized her opportunity with the gay avidity of the gambler who tosses his all upon a final chance. At the risk of meeting the fearful displeasure of her master, the ridicule37, disdain38, and even hatred39 of the older geishas, whom it was her duty to imitate, the girl danced before the most critical audience in Kioto.
Her triumph was complete. It may have been the novelty or mystery of her dance, the hypnotic perfection of her art; it may have been her own surpassing beauty—no one sought to analyze40 the source of her peculiar power. Before the smiling, coaxing41 witchery of her eyes and lips they fell figuratively, and indeed literally42, upon their knees.
She became the mad furore and fashion of the hour. Poets indited43 lyrics44 to her respective features. Princes flung gifts at her feet. People traveled from the several quarters of the empire to see her. And at this most dangerous period of her career the young Lord Saito Gonji, last of one of the most illustrious families in Japan, crossed her path.
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1
poetical
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adj.似诗人的;诗一般的;韵文的;富有诗意的 | |
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2
repelling
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v.击退( repel的现在分词 );使厌恶;排斥;推开 | |
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3
hovers
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鸟( hover的第三人称单数 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫 | |
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4
solely
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adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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5
peculiar
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adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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6
precedents
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引用单元; 范例( precedent的名词复数 ); 先前出现的事例; 前例; 先例 | |
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7
humble
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adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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8
apprentice
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n.学徒,徒弟 | |
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9
celebrated
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adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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10
afflicted
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使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
malady
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n.病,疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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12
succumbed
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不再抵抗(诱惑、疾病、攻击等)( succumb的过去式和过去分词 ); 屈从; 被压垮; 死 | |
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13
intervals
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n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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14
wrath
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n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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15
bosom
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n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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16
yearning
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a.渴望的;向往的;怀念的 | |
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17
accomplished
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adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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18
irritation
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n.激怒,恼怒,生气 | |
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19
jealousy
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n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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20
mere
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adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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21
lenient
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adj.宽大的,仁慈的 | |
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22
uncommon
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adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的 | |
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23
pampered
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adj.饮食过量的,饮食奢侈的v.纵容,宠,娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
guardians
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监护人( guardian的名词复数 ); 保护者,维护者 | |
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25
joyously
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ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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26
jabbered
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v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的过去式和过去分词 );急促兴奋地说话 | |
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27
grunt
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v.嘟哝;作呼噜声;n.呼噜声,嘟哝 | |
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28
posturing
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做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 ) | |
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29
precocious
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adj.早熟的;较早显出的 | |
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30
chidingly
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Chidingly | |
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31
maidenhood
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n. 处女性, 处女时代 | |
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32
advent
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n.(重要事件等的)到来,来临 | |
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33
exalted
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adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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34
novices
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n.新手( novice的名词复数 );初学修士(或修女);(修会等的)初学生;尚未赢过大赛的赛马 | |
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35
apprentices
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学徒,徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 ) | |
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36
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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37
ridicule
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v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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38
disdain
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n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑 | |
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39
hatred
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n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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40
analyze
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vt.分析,解析 (=analyse) | |
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41
coaxing
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v.哄,用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 );巧言骗取;哄劝,劝诱;“锻炼”效应 | |
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42
literally
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adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实 | |
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43
indited
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v.写(文章,信等)创作,赋诗,创作( indite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
lyrics
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n.歌词 | |
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