The next morning we started down Stony Brook, towards the Rackett River, intending to pitch our tents at night on the banks of Tupper's Lake, twenty-three miles distant. Before leaving the Spectacle Ponds, we visited a little island at the north end of the middle pond, containing perhaps half an acre. This island has a few Norway pines upon it, is of a loose sandy soil, and at the highest portion is some twenty feet above the level of the water. It is a great resort for turtle in the season of depositing their eggs. We found thousands of their eggs, some on the surface and some buried in the sand, and if one in a dozen of them brings forth4 a turtle, there will be no lack of the animal in the neighborhood. Stony Brook is a sluggish5, tortuous6 stream, large enough to float our little boats, and goes meandering7 most of the way for five miles among natural meadows, overflowed8 at high water, or thinly timbered prairie, when it enters the Rackett. I discovered on a former visit to this wilderness9, when the water was very low, a spring that came boiling up near the centre of the stream, with a volume large enough almost to carry a mill. It was at a point where a high sandy bluff10, along which the stream swept, terminated. As we approached this spot, I suggested to Spalding, who was in the bow of the boat, to prepare his rod and fly. We approached carefully along the willows11 on the opposite shore, until in a position from which he could throw in the direction I indicated. In the then stage of the water, there was no appearance of a spring, or any indication marking it as a spot where the trout would be at all likely to congregate12, and Spalding was half inclined to believe that I was practising upon his want of knowledge of the habits of the fish of this region. I had said nothing about the spring, or the habit of the trout in gathering13 wherever a cold stream enters a river, or a spring comes gushing14 up in its bed.
"I don't believe there's a trout within half a mile of us," he said, as he adjusted his rod and fly.
"Never mind," I replied, "throw your fly across towards that boulder15 on the bank, and trail it home, and you'll see."
"Well," said he, "here goes;" and he threw in the direction indicated.
The fly had scarcely touched the water when a trout, weighing a pound or over, struck it with a rush that carried him clear out of the water. After a little play he was landed safely in the boat, and another, and another, followed at almost every throw. Not once did the fly touch the water that it was not risen to by a fish.
"By Jove!" said Spalding, as he handed me the landing-net to take in his third or fourth trout, "this is sport. You use the net, and I'll trail them to you. Let us make hay while the sun shines. The other boat will soon be along, and Smith will be for dipping his spoon into my dish. I want to astonish him when he comes."
We had secured eight beautiful fish when the Doctor and Smith rounded the point above us. We motioned them back, and their boat lay upon its oars16. Spalding kept on throwing his fly and trailing the trout to me to secure with the landing-net."
"Hallo!" shouted Smith, "hold on there; fair play, my friends, give me a hand in," and he fell to adjusting his rod and flies.
"Keep back, you lubber," replied Spalding; "what do you know about trout-fishing? You'll frighten them all away by your awkwardness."
"No you don't!" shouted Smith, his rod now adjusted. "drop down, boatman, and we'll see who is the lubber. Wait, Spalding! Don't throw, if you are a true man, until we can take a fair start, and then the one that comes out second best pays the piper."
The boat dropped down to the proper position, and the Doctor, who was seated in the stern, held it in place by pressing his paddle into the sand at the bottom, while the boatman handled the landing net.
"Now!" exclaimed Smith, as the flies dropped upon the water together above the cold spring. There was no lack of trout, for one rose to the fly at every cast.
"I say," said the Doctor, "how many have you in your boat?"
"Sixteen," I replied, after counting them.
"We've got eight, and I bar any more fishing. The law has reached its limit. No wanton waste of the good things of God, you know."
The rods were unjointed and laid away, and such a string of trout as we had, is rarely seen outside of the Saranac woods. We procured17 fresh grass in which to lay our fish, and green boughs18 to cover them, and floated on down the stream, entering the Rackett at nine o'clock. The Rackett is a most beautiful river. To me at least it is so, for it flows on its tortuous and winding19 way for a hundred or more miles through an unbroken forest, with all the old things standing20 in their primeval grandeur21 along its banks. The woodman's axe22 has not marred23 the loveliness of its surroundings, and no human hand has for all that distance been laid upon its mane, or harnessed it to the great wheel, making it a slave, compelling it to be utilitarian24, to grind corn or throw the shuttle and spin. It moves on towards the mighty25 St. Lawrence as wild, and halterless, and free, as when the Great Spirit sent it forward on its everlasting26 flow. The same scenery, and the same voices are seen and heard along its banks now as then; and, while man, in his restlessness, has changed almost everything else, the Rackett and the things that pertained27 to it when the earth was young, remain unchanged. But this will not be so long. Civilization is pushing its way even towards this wild and, for all agricultural purposes, sterile28 region, and before many years even the Rackett will be within its ever-extending circle. When that time shall have arrived, where shall we go to find the woods, the wild things, the old forests, and hear the sounds which belong to nature in its primeval state? Whither shall we flee from civilization, to take off the harness and be free, for a season, from the restraints, the conventionalities of society, and rest from the hard struggles, the cares and toils30, the strifes and competitions of life? Had I my way, I would mark out a circle of a hundred miles in diameter, and throw around it the protecting aegis31 of the constitution. I would make it a forest forever. It should be a misdemeanor to chop down a tree, and a felony to clear an acre within its boundaries. The old woods should stand here always as God made them, growing on until the earthworm ate away their roots, and the strong winds hurled32 them to the ground, and new woods should be permitted to supply the place of the old so long as the earth remained. There is room enough for civilization in regions better fitted for it. It has no business among these mountains, these rivers and lakes, these gigantic boulders33, these tangled34 valleys and dark mountain gorges35. Let it go where labor36 will garner37 a richer harvest, and industry reap a better reward for its toil29. It will be of stinted38 growth at best here.
"I like these old woods," said a gentleman, whom I met on the Rackett last year; "I like them, because one can do here just what he pleases. He can wear a shirt a week, have holes in his pantaloons, and be out at elbows, go with his boots unblacked, drink whisky in the raw, chew plug tobacco, and smoke a black pipe, and not lose his position in society. Now," continued he, "tho' I don't choose to do any of these things, yet I love the freedom, now and then, of doing just all of them if I choose, without human accountability. The truth is, that it is natural as well as necessary for every man to be a vagabond occasionally, to throw off the restraints imposed upon him by the necessities and conventionalities of civilization, and turn savage39 for a season,—and what place is left for such transformation40, save these northern forests?"
The idea was somewhat quaint41, but to me it smacked42 of philosophy, and I yielded it a hearty43 assent44. I would consecrate45 these old forests, these rivers and lakes, these mountains and valleys to the Vagabond Spirit, and make them a place wherein a man could turn savage and rest, for a fortnight or a month, from the toils and cares of life.
We entered TUPPER'S LAKE towards six o'clock, and saw our white tents pitched upon the left bank, some half a mile above the outlet46, where a little stream, cold almost as icewater, comes down from a spring a short way back in the forest. This lake, some ten miles long, and from one to three in width, is one of the most beautiful sheets of water that the eye of man ever looked upon. The scenery about it is less bold than that of some of the other lakes of this region. The hills rise with a gentle acclivity from the shore; behind them and far off rise rugged47 mountain ranges; and further still, the lofty peaks of the Adirondacks loom48 up in dim and shadowy outline against the sky. From every point and in every direction, are views of placid49 and quiet beauty rarely equalled; valleys stretching away among the highlands; gaps in the hills, through which the sunlight pours long after the shadows of the forest have elsewhere thrown themselves across the lake; islands, some bold and rocky, rising in barren desolation, right up from the deep water; some covered with a dense50 and thrifty51 growth of evergreen52 trees, with a soil matchless in fertility; and some partaking of both the sterile and productive; beautiful bays stealing around bold promontories53, and hiding away among the old woods. These are the features of this beautiful sheet of water, which none see but to admire, none visit but to praise; and it lies here all alone, surrounded by the old hills and forests, bold bluffs54, and rocky shores, all as God made them, with no mark of the hand of man about it, save in a single spot on a secluded55 bay, where lives a solitary56 family in a log house, surrounded by an acre or two, from which the forest has been cleared away.
"Will somebody tell me," said Smith, as we sat on the logs in front of our tent after supper, smudging away the musquitoes with our pipes, "will somebody tell me what we came into this wilderness among these musquitoes, and frogs, and owls57 for? Mind you, I am not discontented; I enjoy it hugely; but what I want to know is why I do so? I desire to understand the philosophy of the thing."
"As the question involves, in some sense, a physiological58 fact," replied the Doctor, "it comes within the range of my professional duties to understand and be able to answer it, for you must know that the enjoyments59 of this region are primarily physical. Now I've a theory which is this—that every man has a certain amount of vagabondism in his composition that will be pretty certain to break out in spots occasionally. At all events it is so with me, and from my observation of men, I am strong in the faith that it is so with every one who is neither more nor less than human. It is all a mistake to suppose that I come off here, enduring a heap of hardship and toil, simply for the love of fishing and hunting, though I confess to a weakness to a certain extent that way. The charm of this region consists in the fact, that it is the best place to play the vagabond, and in which to do the savage for a season, that I know of. You can go bareheaded or barefooted, without a coat or neckerchief, get as ragged60 and untidy as you please, without subjecting yourself to remark, or offending the nice sense of propriety61 pertaining62 to conventional life. You are not responsible for what you say or do, provided always that you do not offend against the abstract rules of decency63, or the requirements of natural decorum. You can lay around loose; the lazier you are the better the boatman in your employ likes it. If you choose to drift leisurely64 and quietly under the shadow of the hills along the shore, examining the rocks that lie there like a ruined wall, or explore the beautiful and secluded bays that hide around behind the bluffs, or lay off under the shade of the fir trees on the islands, or smoke your cigar or pipe by the beautiful spring that comes bubbling up by the side of some moss-covered boulder, or from beneath the tangled roots of some gnarled birch or maple65, you can do any or all of these, and have a man to help you for twelve shillings a day and board, or you can do it just about as well alone.
"You remember LONESOME ROCK, in the Lower Saranac, a great boulder that lifts its head some ten or fifteen feet above the surface, away out near the middle of the lake, around which the water is of unknown depth. This rock, which is always dark and bare, is, as you will remember, of conical shape, sharp pointed66 at the top, and stands up about the size of a small hay-stack, in the midst of the waters. Do you remember the account that somebody gives in a ragged but terse67 kind of verse, of the 'gentleman in black,' who, as he walked about,
'Backward and forward he switched his long rail,
As a gentleman switches his cane68?'
And of whose dress it was facetiously69 said:
'His coat was red and his breeches were blue,
With a hole behind for his tail to stick through.'
another author said of him on one of his fishing excursions, that
'His rod, it was a sturdy mountain oak,
His line, a cable which no storm e'er broke,
His hook he baited with a dragon's tail,
And sat upon a rock and bob'd for whale!'
Well, like the ebony gentleman, you can, if you choose, sit upon Lonesome Rock enjoying your meditations70, and bobbing, not for whale, for whatever other fish may be found in the Lower Saranac, I believe there are no whale; but you can bob for trout; whether you will catch any or not will depend very much on circumstances. It is a capital place to cast the fly from, or to sink your hook with a bait, and if the trout do not choose to bite, whose fault is that, I should like to know?
"And this reminds me of an anecdote71 told me by a gentleman I met in June of last year, on the Rackett River among the black flies, of an adventure he met with on Lonesome Rock last season. He had been trolling around the lake in a boat alone, without much success, and concluded he would try deep fishing from this rock, as he had heard that the trout were in the habit of congregating72 around its base. So he rowed to the rock, and, as he supposed, secured his boat, and climbing up its side seated himself on his boat cushion, on the top. He caught one fine fish at the first throw, and took it for granted that he was going to have a good time of it among the trout. When he mounted the rock, about eleven o'clock, the sky was overcast73, and he caught three or four trout of good size in the course of half an hour; but the sun coming out bright and clear, the fish altered their minds, and refused to have anything more to do with his hook. He finally concluded to give up the business, and seek the cooling shadows of the forest trees along the shore. But his boat was gone; and upon looking around he saw it drifting before a light breeze a quarter of a mile distant. Now when you remember that all around the lake was a wilderness, save a single spot at the head of the bay, where Martin's house stands, three or four miles distant, and when you remember also that no boat might be passing during the next twenty-four hours, you will comprehend that his position was none of the pleasantest. There he sat upon the top of his rock, with scarcely room to turn around, with a wide sweep of deep water between him and the nearest land, the fish utterly74 refusing to bite, and the sun blazing down upon him with heat like a furnace, as it crept with its snail's pace across the sky. At first he was inclined to smile at his ridiculous situation, all alone there on the rock; but as the wind died away, and the sun poured his burning rays right down upon him, and he panted and sweat under its sweltering influences, he began to feel a little more serious. Hours glided75 away, and the sun crept slowly along down the heavens, but still no boat made its appearance.
"The sun hid itself behind the hills on the West, and still he was alone. The shadows crept up the mountain peaks that stand up like grim giants away off in the East, and twilight76 began to throw its grey mantle77 over the lake; still he was alone. The darkness began to gather around him; the forests along the shore to lose their distinctness and to stand in sombre and shadowy outline above the water; still no prospect78 of relief presented itself. The twilight faded from the West, the stars stole out in the heavens, the milky79 way stretched its belt of light across the sky, and there he sat alone still on his rock, the night dews falling around him, and the night voices of the forest coming solemnly out over the water. Things had now assumed a serious aspect. He could not stretch his limbs save by standing erect80, and it seemed inevitable81 that he must watch the stars during the night, as he had watched the sun during the day. To sleep there was out of the question. There was no room for a sleeping posture82, and the danger of rolling down the rock into the water kept him wide awake. At length the pleasant sound of oars, and voices in jolly converse83, fell upon his ear, and he shouted. Two sportsmen were returning from the Upper Lakes, and right welcome was the answer they returned to his call. He was glad enough to be released from his rock, upon which, as he said, 'he had made up his mind that he should be compelled to roost, like a turkey on the ridge84 of a barn, for the night.'
"To go back from this digression," continued the Doctor, "I repeat that every man has a vein85 of the vagabond, a streak86 of the savage in him, which can never be clean wiped out. Educate him, polish him as you may, it will be in him still, and he will love to go off into the old woods at times, to lay around loose for a season, vagabondising among the wild and savage things of the wilderness. It is but indulging the original instincts of our nature. True, he will not relish87 his savage ways a great while. His old habits will lead him back to civilization, to the luxury of a well-furnished room, the quiet of an easy chair, and the repose88 of a soft bed. In a word to 'clean up' and shave and dress, so that when he looks into a glass he will see the shadow of a gentleman."
点击收听单词发音
1 stony | |
adj.石头的,多石头的,冷酷的,无情的 | |
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2 brook | |
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让 | |
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3 trout | |
n.鳟鱼;鲑鱼(属) | |
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4 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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5 sluggish | |
adj.懒惰的,迟钝的,无精打采的 | |
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6 tortuous | |
adj.弯弯曲曲的,蜿蜒的 | |
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7 meandering | |
蜿蜒的河流,漫步,聊天 | |
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8 overflowed | |
溢出的 | |
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9 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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10 bluff | |
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗 | |
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11 willows | |
n.柳树( willow的名词复数 );柳木 | |
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12 congregate | |
v.(使)集合,聚集 | |
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13 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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14 gushing | |
adj.迸出的;涌出的;喷出的;过分热情的v.喷,涌( gush的现在分词 );滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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15 boulder | |
n.巨砾;卵石,圆石 | |
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16 oars | |
n.桨,橹( oar的名词复数 );划手v.划(行)( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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17 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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18 boughs | |
大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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19 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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20 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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21 grandeur | |
n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
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22 axe | |
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减 | |
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23 marred | |
adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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24 utilitarian | |
adj.实用的,功利的 | |
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25 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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26 everlasting | |
adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的 | |
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27 pertained | |
关于( pertain的过去式和过去分词 ); 有关; 存在; 适用 | |
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28 sterile | |
adj.不毛的,不孕的,无菌的,枯燥的,贫瘠的 | |
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29 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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30 toils | |
网 | |
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31 aegis | |
n.盾;保护,庇护 | |
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32 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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33 boulders | |
n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 );巨砾;(受水或天气侵蚀而成的)巨石;漂砾 | |
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34 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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35 gorges | |
n.山峡,峡谷( gorge的名词复数 );咽喉v.(用食物把自己)塞饱,填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 );作呕 | |
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36 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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37 garner | |
v.收藏;取得 | |
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38 stinted | |
v.限制,节省(stint的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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39 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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40 transformation | |
n.变化;改造;转变 | |
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41 quaint | |
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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42 smacked | |
拍,打,掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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44 assent | |
v.批准,认可;n.批准,认可 | |
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45 consecrate | |
v.使圣化,奉…为神圣;尊崇;奉献 | |
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46 outlet | |
n.出口/路;销路;批发商店;通风口;发泄 | |
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47 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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48 loom | |
n.织布机,织机;v.隐现,(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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49 placid | |
adj.安静的,平和的 | |
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50 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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51 thrifty | |
adj.节俭的;兴旺的;健壮的 | |
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52 evergreen | |
n.常青树;adj.四季常青的 | |
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53 promontories | |
n.岬,隆起,海角( promontory的名词复数 ) | |
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54 bluffs | |
恐吓( bluff的名词复数 ); 悬崖; 峭壁 | |
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55 secluded | |
adj.与世隔绝的;隐退的;偏僻的v.使隔开,使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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56 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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57 owls | |
n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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58 physiological | |
adj.生理学的,生理学上的 | |
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59 enjoyments | |
愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 ); 令人愉快的事物; 享有; 享受 | |
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60 ragged | |
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的 | |
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61 propriety | |
n.正当行为;正当;适当 | |
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62 pertaining | |
与…有关系的,附属…的,为…固有的(to) | |
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63 decency | |
n.体面,得体,合宜,正派,庄重 | |
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64 leisurely | |
adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的 | |
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65 maple | |
n.槭树,枫树,槭木 | |
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66 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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67 terse | |
adj.(说话,文笔)精炼的,简明的 | |
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68 cane | |
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的 | |
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69 facetiously | |
adv.爱开玩笑地;滑稽地,爱开玩笑地 | |
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70 meditations | |
默想( meditation的名词复数 ); 默念; 沉思; 冥想 | |
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71 anecdote | |
n.轶事,趣闻,短故事 | |
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72 congregating | |
(使)集合,聚集( congregate的现在分词 ) | |
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73 overcast | |
adj.阴天的,阴暗的,愁闷的;v.遮盖,(使)变暗,包边缝;n.覆盖,阴天 | |
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74 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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75 glided | |
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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76 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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77 mantle | |
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红 | |
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78 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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79 milky | |
adj.牛奶的,多奶的;乳白色的 | |
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80 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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81 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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82 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
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83 converse | |
vi.谈话,谈天,闲聊;adv.相反的,相反 | |
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84 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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85 vein | |
n.血管,静脉;叶脉,纹理;情绪;vt.使成脉络 | |
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86 streak | |
n.条理,斑纹,倾向,少许,痕迹;v.加条纹,变成条纹,奔驰,快速移动 | |
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87 relish | |
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味 | |
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88 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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