Now what several Princes had done before, it chanced that the King of Glottenberg also did; and Giraldo, to all appearance much pleased, accepted the command, and prayed the Princess to visit him; for, he said, this picture was to be larger and more elaborate than the rest, and therefore needed more study of her. So the Princess went many times, and the portrait destined4 for the King of Glottenberg (who was said to be seeking a suitable alliance for his eldest5 son) grew before her eyes into the [pg 177] most perfect and beautiful presentment of her which the skill of Giraldo had ever accomplished6, surpassing even that first picture which he had painted by King Rudolf's command. The King made no doubt that, so soon as the picture had reached the Court of Glottenberg, an embassy would come from there to demand the hand of his sister for the Crown Prince, a proposal which he would have received with much pleasure and gratification.
"I do not think," said Osra, tossing her head, "that any such embassy will come, sire. For four or five pictures have been already painted by Signor Giraldo in like manner, but no embassies have come. It seems that my poor features do not find approval in the Courts of Europe."
Her tone, it must be confessed, was full of contempt. For the Princess Osra knew that she was beautiful, as indeed all beautiful ladies are, by the benevolence7 of heaven, permitted to know. How much greater mischief8 might they work, if such knowledge were denied them!
"That's true enough," cried Rudolf. "And I do not understand the meaning of it. But it will not be so at Glottenberg. For my good brother the King has eyes in his [pg 178] head, and his son sees no less well. I met them on my travels, and I can speak to it. Most certainly an embassy will come from Glottenberg before we are a month older!"
Yet, strange to say, the same thing followed on the despatch of the portrait (which Giraldo sent by a certain trusty messenger, whom he was accustomed to employ) as had happened before; no embassy came, and the King of Glottenberg excused himself from paying a visit to Strelsau, which he and his son had promised on the invitation of King Rudolf. Therefore Rudolf was very vexed9, and Osra also, thinking herself scorned, was very sore at heart, although she bore herself more proudly than before. But, being very greatly disturbed in her mind concerning her beauty, she went herself again to Giraldo and charged him to paint her once more.
"This picture," she said, "is for my own eyes, and mine alone. Therefore, signor, paint it faithfully, and spare me not. For if a woman be ugly, it is well she should know it, and it seems that nobody in the kingdom will tell me the truth, although I get hints enough of it from abroad." And [pg 179] she frowned and flushed and was very sadly out of temper, as any beautiful lady would most naturally be in such a case.
Giraldo bowed very low, seeking to hide the sudden red that dyed his cheek, and to conceal10 the great joy which the command of the Princess gave him. For by reason of having painted the Princess so often, of having studied her face so curiously11, and of having spent so much time in her company, listening to her conversation, and enjoying her wit and grace, this hapless young man had become so deeply and desperately13 her lover, that he no longer cared to use his brush in the service of any other lady or lord, but stayed at Strelsau solely14 that he might again and again depict15 the face that he loved; and, save when she sat before him, he seemed now unable to ply12 his art at all, and had he not received so many commands for pictures of her, he would have sat all day long idle, thinking of her; which, indeed, was what he did in the intervals16 between his labour on her portraits. But she, not imagining such presumption17 and folly18 on his part, thought that he was glad merely because she would pay him well; so she promised him more and more, if he would but paint her faithfully. And he gave [pg 180] her his word that he would paint her in every respect most faithfully.
"I desire to know," said she, "what I am in truth like; for my mirror says one thing, and the King of Glottenberg——"
But here she stopped, remembering that such matters were not fit for Giraldo's ears. Yet he must have understood, for a strange, cunning, exultant19 smile came on his lips as he turned away and set himself to mix the colours on his palette. Thus he began this last picture and the Princess came every day and stayed long, so that Giraldo might be able to render her likeness20 in every most minute respect with perfect fidelity.
"For," she thought resentfully, "either I have no eyes, or they have none in Glottenberg."
When she had been visiting Giraldo thus for hard on a month, and the picture was nearly finished, and was at once the most lovely and the most faithful of all that Giraldo had painted, it chanced that letters came to the King from a nobleman of France who was well known to him, and had known the Princess well also, the Marquis de Mérosailles. And the Marquis wrote to the King in the greatest indignation [pg 181] and scorn, upbraiding21 the King and saying:
"What is this, sire? Do you keep a madman at your Court, and call him a painter? I have been at Glottenberg; and when I spoke22 there, as it is my humble23 duty and true delight to speak everywhere, of the incomparable beauty of your Majesty's sister the Princess Osra, the King, his son, and all the company, did nothing but laugh. I fought three duels24 with gentlemen of the Court on this account, and two of them I, heaven helping25 me, wounded, and one, by some devil's trick, wounded me. After this, the matter coming to the King's ear, he sent for me, and excused the laughter by showing me a picture done by a rascal26 called Giraldo at your Court, the picture was named after your Majesty's most matchless sister; but, as I am a true son of the Church, it was like the devil's daughter, and, on my honour and conscience, it squinted27 most villainously. I pray you, sire, find out the meaning of this thing; and receive most humble duty and homage28 from your devoted29 servant, and, since your graciousness so wills it, most obliged and obedient friend, Henri Marquis de Mérosailles. I kiss the hand of the Princess."
[pg 182] When King Rudolf had read this letter, he grew very thoughtful, and, unknown to Giraldo, he sent and caught the messenger whom Giraldo was wont30 to entrust31 with the pictures, and who carried the picture of which M. de Mérosailles wrote to Glottenberg; and the King interrogated32 the messenger most closely, but got nothing from him, save that he himself never beheld33 the pictures which he carried, but received them most carefully packed from Giraldo, and so delivered them without undoing34 the coverings, and then by Giraldo's strict orders returned at once, and did not wait until the recipient35 had inspected the picture. So that the fellow did not know anything about the picture that had gone to Glottenberg, except that it was certainly the same as Giraldo had entrusted36 to his hands. But the King was not satisfied, and, learning that his sister was at that moment at Giraldo's house, being painted afresh by him, he called half-a-dozen of his gentlemen, and set out on horseback for the place where Giraldo lived in the street that runs from the Cathedral towards the western gate of Strelsau. To this day the house stands there.
The Princess sat and Giraldo painted. [pg 183] Behind the Princess was a window, looking on to the street, and behind Giraldo was a second door, which led into an inner room. On Giraldo's easel stood the nearly finished picture; Giraldo's eyes were alight both with love and with triumph, as he turned from the Princess to the picture, and from the picture to the Princess again; and she, seeing something of his admiration37, said with a blush:
"Is it indeed faithful, signor?" For it seemed even to herself a marvellously lovely picture.
"No, madame," answered he. "For my imperfect hand cannot be faithful to perfection."
"I pray you, do not flatter me. Have you indeed shewn every fault of my face?"
"If there be a fault in your face, madame, there it is also in my picture," said Giraldo.
The Princess was silent for a moment, then she said:
"It is better, is it not, than the picture you painted for the King of Glottenberg?"
Giraldo painted a stroke or two before he answered carelessly:
"Indeed, madame, it is more faithful [pg 184] than that which the King of Glottenberg has."
"Then less beautiful?" asked Osra with a petulant38 smile.
"Nay39, I do not say that; not less beautiful," he answered.
"Perhaps he would like this one better, and give me his in exchange; for I never saw his after it was finished. I think I will ask the King to write to him."
Giraldo had turned round suddenly as the Princess made this suggestion; she had spoken half in sport, half in continuing chagrin40 at the blindness shewn by the Court of Glottenberg. Now he stood staring at her with wide-open alarmed eyes; and he dropped his brushes on to the floor.
"What ails41 you, signor?" she cried. "I did but suggest exchanging the pictures."
He tried to regain42 his composure, as he stooped to pick up his brushes.
"The King of Glottenberg's picture is the best for him to have," said he sullenly43. "This one, madame, I painted for you yourself, and for you alone."
"I pay the price and can do what I will with the picture," returned the Princess haughtily44. "If I desire, I will give it to the King of Glottenberg."
[pg 185] Giraldo had now turned very pale, and, forgetful of the picture, stood gazing fixedly45 at the Princess. For he could no longer hold down in secrecy47 and silence the passion that possessed48 him, but it was declared in his eyes and in the trembling of his limbs; so that the Princess rose from her chair and shrank away from him in alarm, regretting that she had dismissed her ladies, in order to be less restrained in talk with the painter; and she tried to cry out, that they might hear her where they were in an adjoining room, but her cry froze on her lips at the sight of Giraldo's passion. And he cried in a hoarse49 whisper:
"He shall not have the picture, he shall not have it!" As he spoke he moved nearer to the Princess, who still shrank away from him, being now in very great alarm, and thinking that surely he had run mad. Yet she looked at him, and, looking, saw whence his madness came; and she felt pity for him, and held out her clasped hands towards him, saying in a very soft voice, and with eyes that grew sad and tender:
"Ah, signor, signor, am I always to have lovers, and never a friend?"
At this the unfortunate painter was overcome, [pg 186] and dropping his head between his hands he gave a deep half-stifled50 sob51, and then he cried:
"God's curse on me, for having slandered53 the beauty that I love!" And then he sobbed54 again.
But the Princess wondered greatly what he meant by his strange cry, and turned her eyes again on him in bewildered questioning; saying, as she pointed55 to the picture:
"There is no slander52 here, signor, unless too much praise be slander."
Giraldo made her no answer in words, but, springing towards her, caught her by the wrist, and drew her across the room to the door behind his easel. With feverish56 haste he unlocked it and passed through. The Princess, although now free from his grip, followed him in a strange fascination57. Giraldo drew the door close behind him; and at that moment the Princess gave a cry, half a scream, half laughter. For facing her she saw, each on its easel, three, four, five, six pictures of herself, each beautiful and painted most lovingly; and the last of the six was the picture that had been painted by order of the King of Glottenberg. For she knew it by the attire58, [pg 187] although the face had not been finished when she had last seen it. A sudden enlightenment pierced her mind, and she knew that Giraldo had not sent the pictures for which she had sat to him, but kept them himself, and sent others to his patrons. This strange conviction found its sure confirmation59 in a seventh easel which stood apart from the rest, on the other side of the room; for it supported what was in all respects a copy of the portrait on which Giraldo was now engaged, save that by cunning touches he had imparted to the face an alien and fearful aspect; for here, although the features had their shape and perfect grace, yet it was the face of a devil that looked out of the canvas, a face that a man would not have gazing at him from the wall on to the bed where he sought to sleep.
But when Giraldo saw her eyes fixed46 on this picture, he cried:
"That is for you—the other is mine. Are they not your features? The King of Glottenberg should not have even your features. But you shall have them, and if a devil looks out through such a fair mask, is it not so with all fair women that lead men to destruction? There is your true picture, Princess Osra!" And he flung himself on [pg 188] a couch with a mad cry of rage, and then a groan60 of despair.
The Princess Osra looked at him, and at the beautiful pictures, and then at the picture that was like her and yet like a devil. First she pitied the painter, and then marvelled61 at the wonderful mad skill, which so transformed her without drawing a line that could be called untrue. Thus thinking, she stood for a while, grave and puzzled. But then the humour struck her, as it struck her House always in great things and in small; it seemed to her most ludicrous that the pictures should all be resting here in Giraldo's house, while the Princes who had commanded portraits of her had received nothing but distorted parodies62 of her face, to the end that they might be disgusted and, abandoning the alliance they had projected, leave her still at Strelsau, to be painted times out of number and most fruitlessly by this mad painter. And these thoughts gaining the mastery over the others, in spite of the sad plight63 of unhappy Signor Giraldo, her lips curved into a bow, her eyes gleamed in dancing merriment, and a moment later she broke into a glad gleeful laugh, that rose and rippled64, and fell to soft delighted murmurings. As she [pg 189] looked again at the picture that was like her and also like a devil, her mirth grew and grew at the ingenuity65 of the work and the mocking devilry so cunningly made out of her face. Small wonder was it to her now that the embassies had not come.
The Princess Osra thus stood laughing, and presently Signor Giraldo looked up. When he had listened and looked for a few moments, his wild mood caught the infection from her, so that, springing to his feet, he also began to laugh loudly, like a man who cannot restrain his amusement, but is carried away by it beyond all bounds and restraints. Thus Giraldo laughed loudly, long, and fiercely; for there was madness in his laugh. And the Princess heard the madness; even while she still laughed, her eyes opened in wonder; alarm came on her face, her merry laugh quivered, trembled, choked in her throat, and at last died away into dumbness; yet her lips hung apart frozen in the shape of laughter, while no laughter came. But as her laugh thus ended in mute horror, his grew louder yet and wilder, and its peal66 rang through the room, as he gasped67 between his spasms68 of horrid69 mirth, "You, you, you!" and pointed at the picture which he had touched to devilishness. [pg 190] But she shrank away, and stood crouched70 against the wall; for she knew now that he was mad, but did not know to what his fury might next lead him. Then he caught up a knife that lay on the sill of the window, and, now smiling as though in grim quiet amusement, strode across to the row of pictures, and reached up to them, knife in hand. But Osra suddenly sprang forward, crying:
"Do not hurt them."
"These?" he asked, turning to her with a sneer71. "These? I'll destroy them all, for they are no longer beautiful to me, but that one only is beautiful, because it is true." And he wrenched72 his arm away from the detaining hand she had laid upon it. Falling back in terror, she watched him cutting and slashing73 each of the pictures, until the face was utterly74 destroyed. And she feared that when he had finished with the pictures, he would turn upon her; therefore she flung herself on the couch, hiding her face for fear of some horrible fate; she murmured low to herself, "Not my face, O God, not my face!" and she pressed her face down into the cushions of the couch, while he, muttering and grumbling75 to himself, cut the pictures into strips and [pg 191] ribbons, and strewed76 the fragments at his feet on the floor. This done, he turned to the devil's face that he loved, and poured out to it, as though it had been a cruel idol77 he worshipped, a flood of wild passionate78 reproachful words, that Osra shivered to hear, and the purport79 of which she dared tell none, though for all her prayers she could not herself forget one of them.
At last he came to her again, and plucked her roughly and rudely from the couch where she lay, and dragged her behind him back to the door again and through it; and they stood together in front of the last picture, whose paint was still wet from his hand. The painted face smiled down on the trembling pale girl with its smile of careless serene81 dignity, so that now even to herself it seemed hardly to be her picture. For it was the true presentment of a King's daughter, and she no better than a helpless frightened girl. It seemed to reproach her; and suddenly she drew herself to her height, and turned on Giraldo, saying: "You shall not touch it."
She stept forward, so that she stood between him and the picture, raising her hand, and forbidding him to approach it with his knife. And now the picture seemed more [pg 192] to be hers, although while it smiled she frowned.
But at this moment there came through the window that opened on the street the clatter82 of horses' hoofs83. At the sound Giraldo arrested the motion that he had already made to fling himself on the Princess; whether to kill her, or only to thrust her away from in front of the picture she did not know. Running to the window, he looked out, and called in seeming glee: "It is the King come to see my pictures!" And he looked proud and happy. Going to the door of the room, he flung it open, and stood there waiting for the King and the gentlemen who attended the King. They were not long in coming, for Rudolf was full of anger, impatience84, and curiosity, and ran swiftly up the staircase. His gentlemen pressed into the room behind him, and Giraldo drew back, keeping his face to the King and bowing again and again. But the King and the rest saw the knife in his hand; and ragged80 strips of painted canvas hung here and there on his clothes, while the Princess, pale and proud, stood guarding the picture on the easel. The King, in spite of his wonder, was not turned from the purpose which had brought him to the [pg 193] painter's house, but with a quick step darted85 up to Giraldo and thrust the letter of the Marquis de Mérosailles into his hand, bidding him in a sharp peremptory86 tone to read it and give what explanation he could of the contents. Giraldo fell to reading it, while the King turned to his sister in order to ask her why she seemed agitated87, and stood so obstinately88 in front of her own picture; but at that instant one of the gentlemen, whose name was Ladislas, gave a cry of surprise; for he had looked through the door into the inner room, and seen the havoc89 and destruction that Giraldo had made, and also the strange and terrible picture which alone had escaped the knife. The King, wondering, followed Ladislas to the threshold of the inner room and passed it, while his gentlemen, full of curiosity, crowded close on his heels after him.
The Princess Osra, thinking herself safe, found her anger and terror pass away as her mirth had passed before. Now she felt in her heart that pity which borders on tenderness, and which she could never refuse to a man who loved her, let the folly of his love and of the extravagances into which it drove him be as great as it would. Turning towards Giraldo, she saw him fretting90 [pg 194] his puckered91 brow with his hand, and vainly seeking to compel his disordered brain to understand M. de Mérosailles' letter. So she was very sorry for him, and, knowing the sudden hot temper to which the careless King was subject, she glided92 swiftly across to the painter, and whispered: "Escape and hide. Hide for a few days. He will be furious now, but he will soon forget. Don't wait now, but escape, signor. Some harm will happen to you here;" and in her eager pleading with him she laid her hand on his arm, and looked up in his face with imploring93 eyes. But he looked at her with dazed vacant stare, muttering, "I cannot read the letter;" then a wistful smile came on his face, and he thrust the letter towards her, saying: "Madame, will you read it for me?" And at that moment they heard the King swear an angry oath; for he had seen the mad picture of his sister.
"No, no, not now," whispered Osra, beseeching94 Giraldo. "Not now, signor. Listen, the King is angry! Escape now, and we will read the letter afterwards." She was as earnest as though she had loved him and were praying him to save himself for the sake of her love.
[pg 195] Giraldo looked into her softened95 eyes; suddenly giving a little cry, as if a great joy had come to him unexpectedly and contrary to all likelihood, he dropped M. de Mérosailles' letter, and sprang to where his brushes lay on the floor; seizing them and his palette, he gave another swift glance at the Princess, and then, turning to the picture, began to paint with marvellous dexterity96 and deftness97 and with the sudden confidence of a man inspired to the work. As he worked, his brow grew smoother, the tension of his strained face relaxed, happiness dawned in his eyes, and a smile broke on his lips; and Osra watched him with a tender sorrowful gaze. Still he painted, and he was painting when the King burst in from the other room in a great rage, carrying his sword drawn98 in his hand; for he had sworn by Our Lady and St. Peter to kill the rogue99 who had done the Princess such wrong and so slandered her beauty. And his gentlemen came in with him, all very ready to see Giraldo killed, but each eager that the King should leave the task to him. Yet when they entered and saw Giraldo painting as though he were rapt by some ecstasy100 and had forgotten all that had passed, nay, even their very presence, they [pg 196] paused in unwilling101 and constrained102 hesitation103. Osra raised her hand to bid them stay still where they were, and not interfere104 with Giraldo's painting. For now she desired above all things on earth that he should be left to finish his task. For he thought that he had read more than pity and more than tenderness in Osra's eyes; he had seemed to see love there, and thus he had cried out in joy, and thus he was now painting as never had even he, for all his skill, painted before. His unerring hand, moving lightly to and fro, imparted the sweetness of his delusive105 vision to the canvas, so that the eyes of the portrait glowed with wonderful and beautiful love and gentleness. Presently Giraldo began to sing very softly to himself a sweet happy old song, that peasants sang to peasant girls in the fields outside his native Verona on summer evenings. His head was thrown back in triumph and exultation106 as he sang and worked, tasting the luxury of love, and glorying in the tribute that his genius paid to her whom he loved. Thus came a moment of great joy to the soul of Giraldo the painter; for a man's love and a man's work are, when they seem to prosper107, of all things the sweetest, and their union in one his life's consummation.
[pg 197] It was done. He laid down the brush, and drew back a step, looking at what he had done. The Princess came softly and slowly, as though attracted against her will, and she stood by him; for she saw that this picture was now, beyond all compare, the most perfect and beautiful of all that he or any other man had painted of her; and she loved him for thus glorifying108 her. But, before many moments had gone by, a sudden start and shiver ran through Giraldo's body. The spell of his entranced ecstasy broke; his eyes fell from the masterpiece that he had made, and wandered to those who stood about him—to the gentlemen who did not know whether to wonder or to laugh, to the angry face of the King and the naked sword in his hand, at last to Osra, whose eyes were still on the picture. His exultation vanished, and with it went, as it seemed to them, his madness. Reason dawned for a moment in his eyes, but was quenched109 in an instant by shame and despair. For he knew that all there had seen that other picture and knew now what he had done; and suddenly with a stifled cry he flung himself full length on the floor at Osra's feet.
"Let us wait," said she gently. "He will be himself again soon."
[pg 198] But the King was too angry to listen.
"He has made us fools before half Europe," he cried angrily, "and he shall not live to talk of it. And you—have you seen the picture yonder?"
"Yes, I have seen it," said she. "But he does not now think that picture like me, but this one." And she turned to the gentlemen, and desired them to raise Giraldo and lay him on a couch, and they obeyed. Then she knelt by his head; and, after a while he opened his eyes, seeming sound of sense in everything except that he believed she loved him, so that he began to whisper to her as lovers whisper to their loves, very tenderly and low. And the King, with his gentlemen, stood a little way off. But the Princess said nothing to Giraldo, neither refusing his love, nor yet saying what was false; yet she suffered him to talk to her, and to reach up his hand and gently touch a lock of hair that strayed on her forehead. And he, sighing in utter happiness and contentment, closed his eyes again, and lay back very quietly on the couch.
"Let us go," said she rising. "I will send a physician." And she bade one of the gentlemen lock the inner room, and give her the key, and she and the King and [pg 199] they all then departed, and sent his servants to tend Giraldo; and Osra caused the King's physician also to be summoned. But Giraldo did no more than linger some few days alive; for the most of them he was in a high fever, his brain being wild; and he raved110 about the Princess, sometimes railing at her, sometimes praising her; yet once or twice he awoke, calm and happy as he had been when she knelt by him, and having for his only delusion111 the thought that she still knelt there and was breathing words of love into his ear. And in this last merciful error, in respect of which the physicians humoured him, one day a week later, he passed away and was at peace.
Then the Princess came, attended by one gentleman in whom she placed confidence, and she destroyed the evil picture that Giraldo had painted, and having caused a fire to be made, burnt up the pieces of it, and all the ruins of the pictures that Giraldo had destroyed. But that on which he had last worked so happily, and with such a triumph of art, she carried with her to the palace; and presently she caused copies to be made of it, and sent one to each of the Princes by whom Giraldo had been commanded to paint her picture, and with it the money he [pg 200] had received, the whole of which was found untouched in a cabinet in his house. But the picture itself she hung in her own chamber112, and would often look at it, feeling great sorrow for the fate of Giraldo the painter.
Yet King Rudolf could not be prevailed upon to pity the young man, saying that for his part he should have to be mad before the love of a woman should drive him mad; and he cursed Giraldo for an insolent113 knave114, declaring that he did well to die of his own accord. And because M. de Mérosailles had gallantly115 defended his sister's beauty in three duels, he sent him by the hand of a high officer his Order of the Red Rose, which M. de Mérosailles wore with great pride at the Court of Versailles.
But when the copies of the last picture reached the Courts to which they were addressed, together with the money and a brief history of Giraldo's mad doings, the Princes turned their thoughts again to the matter of the alliance, and several embassies set out for Strelsau; so that Princess Osra said, with a smile that was half-sad, half-amused, and very whimsical:
"I am much troubled by reason of the loss of Signor Giraldo my painter."
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grudging
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| adj.勉强的，吝啬的 | |
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despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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conceal
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curiously
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ply
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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solely
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depict
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| vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述 | |
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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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presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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folly
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exultant
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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upbraiding
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| adj.& n.谴责（的）v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的现在分词 ) | |
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22
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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23
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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duels
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| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
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25
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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27
squinted
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| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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28
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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30
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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31
entrust
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| v.信赖，信托，交托 | |
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32
interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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33
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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34
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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35
recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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36
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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38
petulant
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| adj.性急的，暴躁的 | |
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39
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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40
chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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41
ails
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| v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
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42
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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43
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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44
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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45
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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46
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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47
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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48
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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49
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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50
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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51
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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52
slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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53
slandered
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| 造谣中伤( slander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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57
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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58
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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60
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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parodies
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| n.拙劣的模仿( parody的名词复数 )；恶搞；滑稽的模仿诗文；表面上模仿得笨拙但充满了机智用来嘲弄别人作品的作品v.滑稽地模仿，拙劣地模仿( parody的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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66
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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67
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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spasms
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| n.痉挛( spasm的名词复数 )；抽搐；（能量、行为等的）突发；发作 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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72
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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73
slashing
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| adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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74
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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75
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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76
strewed
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| v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 )；散落于；点缀；撒满 | |
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77
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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78
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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80
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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81
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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82
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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83
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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84
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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85
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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86
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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87
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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88
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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89
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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90
fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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91
puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92
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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93
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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94
beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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95
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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96
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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97
deftness
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98
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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99
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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100
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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101
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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102
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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103
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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104
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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105
delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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106
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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107
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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108
glorifying
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| 赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣 | |
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109
quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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110
raved
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| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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111
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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112
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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113
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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114
knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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115
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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