"Ah! How so?"
And forthwith his Highness began.
This princely quarrel originated, it seems, in a slight jostling concerning the proprietorship4 of a barren islet in a very remote quarter of the lagoon5. At the outset the matter might have been easily adjusted, had the parties but exchanged a few amicable6 words. But each disdaining7 to visit the other, to discuss so trivial an affair, the business of negotiating an understanding was committed to certain plenipos, men with lengthy8 tongues, who scorned to utter a word short of a polysyllable.
Now, the more these worthies9 penetrated10 into the difficulty, the wider became the breach11; till what was at first a mere12 gap, became a yawning gulf13.
But that which had perhaps tended more than any thing else to deepen the variance of the kings, was hump-backed Bello's dispatching to Odo, as his thirtieth plenipo, a diminutive14 little negotiator, who all by himself, in a solitary15 canoe, sailed over to have audience of Media; into whose presence he was immediately ushered16.
Darting17 one glance at him, the king turned to his chieftains, and said:—"By much straining of your eyes, my lords, can you perceive this insignificant18 manikin? What! are there no tall men in Dominora, that King Bello must needs send this dwarf19 hither?"
And charging his attendents to feed the embassador extraordinary with the soft pap of the cocoanut, and provide nurses during his stay, the monarch20 retired21 from the arbor22 of audience.
"As I am a man," shouted the despised plenipo, raising himself on his toes, "my royal master will resent this affront23!—A dwarf, forsooth!— Thank Oro, I am no long-drawn giant! There is as much stuff in me, as in others; what is spread out in their clumsy carcasses, in me is condensed. I am much in little! And that much, thou shalt know full soon, disdainful King of Odo!"
"Speak not against our lord the king," cried the attendants.
"And speak not ye to me, ye headless spear poles!"
And so saying, under sufferance of being small, the plenipo was permitted to depart unmolested; for all his bravadoes, fobbing his credentials24 and affronts25.
Apprized of his servant's ignoble26 reception, the choleric27 Bello burst forth3 in a storm of passion; issuing orders for, one thousand conch shells to be blown, and his warriors28 to assemble by land and by sea.
But bethinking him of the hostilities29 that might ensue, the sagacious Media hit upon an honorable expedient30 to ward31 off an event for which he was then unprepared. With all haste he dispatched to the hump- backed king a little dwarf of his own; who voyaging over to Dominora in a canoe, sorry and solitary as that of Bello's plenipo, in like manner, received the same insults. The effect whereof, was, to strike a balance of affronts; upon the principle, that a blow given, heals one received.
Nevertheless, these proceedings32 but amounted to a postponement33 of hostilities; for soon after, nothing prevented the two kings from plunging34 into war, but the following judicious35 considerations. First: Media was almost afraid of being beaten. Second: Bello was almost afraid to conquer. Media, because he was inferior in men and arms; Bello, because, his aggrandizement36 was already a subject of warlike comment among the neighboring kings.
Indeed, did the old chronicler Braid-Beard speak truth, there were some tribes in Mardi, that accounted this king of Dominora a testy37, quarrelsome, rapacious38 old monarch; the indefatigable39 breeder of contentions40 and wars; the elder brother of this household of nations, perpetually essaying to lord it over the juveniles41; and though his patrimonial42 dominions44 were situated45 to the north of the lagoon, not the slightest misunderstanding took place between the rulers of the most distant islands, than this doughty46 old cavalier on a throne, forthwith thrust his insolent47 spear into the matter, though it in no wise concerned him, and fell to irritating all parties by his gratuitous48 interference.
Especially was he officious in the concerns of Porpheero, a neighboring island, very large and famous, whose numerous broad valleys were divided among many rival kings:—the king of Franko, a small-framed, poodle-haired, fine, fiery49 gallant50; finical in his tatooing; much given to the dance and glory;—the king of Ibeereea, a tall and stately cavalier, proud, generous, punctilious51, temperate52 in wine; one hand forever on his javelin53, the other, in superstitious54 homage55, lifted to his gods; his limbs all over marks of stakes and crosses;—the king of Luzianna; a slender, dark-browed thief; at times wrapped in a moody56 robe, beneath which he fumbled57 something, as if it were a dagger58; but otherwise a sprightly59 troubadour, given to serenades and moonlight;—-the many chiefs of sunny Latianna; minstrel monarchs60, full of song and sentiment; fiercer in love than war; glorious bards61 of freedom; but rendering62 tribute while they sang;—the priest-king of Vatikanna; his chest marked over with antique tatooings; his crown, a cowl; his rusted63 scepter swaying over falling towers, and crumbling64 mounds65; full of the superstitious past; askance, eyeing the suspicious time to come;—the king of Hapzaboro; portly, pleasant; a lover of wild boar's meat; a frequent quaffer66 from the can; in his better moods, much fancying solid comfort;—the eight-and- thirty banded kings, chieftains, seigniors, and oligarchies67 of the broad hill and dale of Tutoni; clubbing together their domains69, that none might wrest70 his neighbor's; an earnest race; deep thinkers, deeper drinkers; long pipes, long heads; their wise ones given to mystic cogitations, and consultations71 with the devil;—the twin kings of Zandinavia; hardy72, frugal73 mountaineers; upright of spine74 and heart; clad in skins of bears;—the king of Jutlanda; much like their Highnesses of Zandinavia; a seal-skin cap his crown; a fearless sailor of his frigid75 seas;—the king of Muzkovi; a shaggy, icicled White-bear of a despot in the north; said to reign76 over millions of acres of glaciers77; had vast provinces of snow-drifts, and many flourishing colonies among the floating icebergs78. Absolute in his rule as Predestination in metaphysics, did he command all his people to give up the ghost, it would be held treason to die last. Very precise and foppish79 in his imperial tastes was this monarch. Disgusted with the want of uniformity in the stature80 of his subjects, he was said to nourish thoughts of killing81 off all those below his prescribed standard—six feet, long measure. Immortal82 souls were of no account in his fatal wars; since, in some of his serf-breeding estates, they were daily manufactured to order.
Now, to all the above-mentioned monarchs, old Bello would frequently dispatch heralds83; announcing, for example, his unalterable resolution, to espouse84 the cause of this king, against that; at the very time, perhaps, that their Serene85 Superfluities, instead of crossing spears, were touching86 flagons. And upon these occasions, the kings would often send back word to old Bello, that instead of troubling himself with their concerns, he might far better attend to his own; which, they hinted, were in a sad way, and much needed reform.
The royal old warrior's pretext87 for these and all similar proceedings, was the proper adjustment in Porpheero, of what he facetiously88 styled the "Equipoise of Calabashes;" which he stoutly89 swore was essential to the security of the various tribes in that country.
"But who put the balance into thy hands, King Bello?" cried the indignant nations.
"Oro!" shouted the hump-backed king, shaking his javelin.
Superadded to the paternal90 interest which Bello betrayed in the concerns of the kings of Porpheero, according to our chronicler, he also manifested no less interest in those of the remotest islands. Indeed, where he found a rich country, inhabited by a people, deemed by him barbarous and incapable91 of wise legislation, he sometimes relieved them from their political anxieties, by assuming the dictatorship over them. And if incensed92 at his conduct, they flew to their spears, they were accounted rebels, and treated accordingly. But as old Mohi very truly observed,—herein, Bello was not alone; for throughout Mardi, all strong nations, as well as all strong men, loved to govern the weak. And those who most taunted93 King Bello for his political rapacity94, were open to the very same charge. So with Vivenza, a distant island, at times very loud in denunciations of Bello, as a great national brigand95. Not yet wholly extinct in Vivenza, were its aboriginal96 people, a race of wild Nimrods and hunters, who year by year were driven further and further into remoteness, till as one of their sad warriors said, after continual removes along the log, his race was on the point of being remorselessly pushed off the end.
Now, Bello was a great geographer97, and land surveyor, and gauger98 of the seas. Terraqueous Mardi, he was continually exploring in quest of strange empires. Much he loved to take the altitude of lofty mountains, the depth of deep rivers, the breadth of broad isles99. Upon the highest pinnacles100 of commanding capes101 and promontories102, he loved to hoist103 his flag. He circled Mardi with his watch-towers: and the distant voyager passing wild rocks in the remotest waters, was startled by hearing the tattoo104, or the reveille, beating from hump- backed Bello's omnipresent drum. Among Antartic glaciers, his shrill105 bugle106 calls mingled107 with the scream of the gulls108; and so impressed seemed universal nature with the sense of his dominion43, that the very clouds in heaven never sailed over Dominora without rendering the tribute of a shower; whence the air of Dominora was more moist than that of any other clime.
In all his grand undertakings109, King Bello was marvelously assisted by his numerous fleets of war-canoes; his navy being the largest in Mardi. Hence his logicians swore that the entire Lagoon was his; and that all prowling whales, prowling keels, and prowling sharks were invaders110. And with this fine conceit111 to inspire them, his poets- laureat composed some glorious old saltwater odes, enough to make your very soul sing to hear them.
But though the rest of Mardi much delighted to list to such noble minstrelsy, they agreed not with Bello's poets in deeming the lagoon their old monarch's hereditary112 domain68.
Once upon a time, the paddlers of the hump-backed king, meeting upon the broad lagoon certain canoes belonging to the before-mentioned island of Vivenza; these paddlers seized upon several of their occupants; and feeling their pulses, declared them born men of Dominora; and therefore, not free to go whithersoever they would; for, unless they could somehow get themselves born over again, they must forever remain subject to Bello. Shed your hair; nay113, your skin, if you will, but shed your allegiance you can not; while you have bones, they are Bello's. So, spite of all expostulations and attempts to prove alibis114, these luckless paddlers were dragged into the canoes of Dominora, and commanded to paddle home their captors.
Whereof hearing, the men of Vivenza were thrown into a great ferment115; and after a mighty116 pow-wow over their council fire, fitting out several double-keeled canoes, they sallied out to sea, in quest of those, whom they styled the wholesale117 corsairs of Dominora.
But lucky perhaps it was, that at this juncture118, in all parts of Mardi, the fleets of the hump-backed king, were fighting, gunwale and gunwale, alongside of numerous foes120; else there had borne down upon the canoes of the men of Vivenza so tremendous an armada, that the very swell121 under its thousand prows122 might have flooded their scattered123 proas forever out of sight.
As it was, Bello dispatched a few of his smaller craft to seek out, and incidentally run down the enemy; and without returning home, straightway proceed upon more important enterprises.
But it so chanced, that Bello's crafts, one by one meeting the foe119, in most cases found the canoes of Vivenza much larger than their own; and manned by more men, with hearts bold as theirs; whence, in the ship- duels124 that ensued, they were worsted; and the canoes of Vivenza, locking their yard-arms into those of the vanquished125, very courteously126 gallanted them into their coral harbors.
Solely127 imputing128 these victories to their superior intrepidity129 and skill, the people of Vivenza were exceedingly boisterous130 in their triumph; raising such obstreperous131 peans, that they gave themselves hoarse132 throats; insomuch, that according to Mohi, some of the present generation are fain to speak through their noses.
点击收听单词发音
1 variance | |
n.矛盾,不同 | |
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2 recital | |
n.朗诵,独奏会,独唱会 | |
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3 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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4 proprietorship | |
n.所有(权);所有权 | |
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5 lagoon | |
n.泻湖,咸水湖 | |
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6 amicable | |
adj.和平的,友好的;友善的 | |
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7 disdaining | |
鄙视( disdain的现在分词 ); 不屑于做,不愿意做 | |
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8 lengthy | |
adj.漫长的,冗长的 | |
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9 worthies | |
应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 ); 值得做某事; 可尊敬的; 有(某人或事物)的典型特征 | |
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10 penetrated | |
adj. 击穿的,鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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11 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
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12 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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13 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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14 diminutive | |
adj.小巧可爱的,小的 | |
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15 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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16 ushered | |
v.引,领,陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 darting | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的现在分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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18 insignificant | |
adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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19 dwarf | |
n.矮子,侏儒,矮小的动植物;vt.使…矮小 | |
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20 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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21 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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22 arbor | |
n.凉亭;树木 | |
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23 affront | |
n./v.侮辱,触怒 | |
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24 credentials | |
n.证明,资格,证明书,证件 | |
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25 affronts | |
n.(当众)侮辱,(故意)冒犯( affront的名词复数 )v.勇敢地面对( affront的第三人称单数 );相遇 | |
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26 ignoble | |
adj.不光彩的,卑鄙的;可耻的 | |
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27 choleric | |
adj.易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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28 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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29 hostilities | |
n.战争;敌意(hostility的复数);敌对状态;战事 | |
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30 expedient | |
adj.有用的,有利的;n.紧急的办法,权宜之计 | |
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31 ward | |
n.守卫,监护,病房,行政区,由监护人或法院保护的人(尤指儿童);vt.守护,躲开 | |
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32 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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33 postponement | |
n.推迟 | |
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34 plunging | |
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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35 judicious | |
adj.明智的,明断的,能作出明智决定的 | |
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36 aggrandizement | |
n.增大,强化,扩大 | |
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37 testy | |
adj.易怒的;暴躁的 | |
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38 rapacious | |
adj.贪婪的,强夺的 | |
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39 indefatigable | |
adj.不知疲倦的,不屈不挠的 | |
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40 contentions | |
n.竞争( contention的名词复数 );争夺;争论;论点 | |
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41 juveniles | |
n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 );扮演少年角色的演员;未成年人 | |
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42 patrimonial | |
adj.祖传的 | |
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43 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
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44 dominions | |
统治权( dominion的名词复数 ); 领土; 疆土; 版图 | |
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45 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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46 doughty | |
adj.勇猛的,坚强的 | |
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47 insolent | |
adj.傲慢的,无理的 | |
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48 gratuitous | |
adj.无偿的,免费的;无缘无故的,不必要的 | |
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49 fiery | |
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的 | |
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50 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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51 punctilious | |
adj.谨慎的,谨小慎微的 | |
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52 temperate | |
adj.温和的,温带的,自我克制的,不过分的 | |
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53 javelin | |
n.标枪,投枪 | |
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54 superstitious | |
adj.迷信的 | |
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55 homage | |
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬 | |
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56 moody | |
adj.心情不稳的,易怒的,喜怒无常的 | |
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57 fumbled | |
(笨拙地)摸索或处理(某事物)( fumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 乱摸,笨拙地弄; 使落下 | |
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58 dagger | |
n.匕首,短剑,剑号 | |
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59 sprightly | |
adj.愉快的,活泼的 | |
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60 monarchs | |
君主,帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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61 bards | |
n.诗人( bard的名词复数 ) | |
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62 rendering | |
n.表现,描写 | |
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63 rusted | |
v.(使)生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64 crumbling | |
adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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65 mounds | |
土堆,土丘( mound的名词复数 ); 一大堆 | |
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66 quaffer | |
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67 oligarchies | |
n.寡头统治的政府( oligarchy的名词复数 );寡头政治的执政集团;寡头统治的国家 | |
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68 domain | |
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
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69 domains | |
n.范围( domain的名词复数 );领域;版图;地产 | |
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70 wrest | |
n.扭,拧,猛夺;v.夺取,猛扭,歪曲 | |
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71 consultations | |
n.磋商(会议)( consultation的名词复数 );商讨会;协商会;查找 | |
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72 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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73 frugal | |
adj.节俭的,节约的,少量的,微量的 | |
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74 spine | |
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊 | |
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75 frigid | |
adj.寒冷的,凛冽的;冷淡的;拘禁的 | |
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76 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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77 glaciers | |
冰河,冰川( glacier的名词复数 ) | |
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78 icebergs | |
n.冰山,流冰( iceberg的名词复数 ) | |
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79 foppish | |
adj.矫饰的,浮华的 | |
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80 stature | |
n.(高度)水平,(高度)境界,身高,身材 | |
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81 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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82 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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83 heralds | |
n.使者( herald的名词复数 );预报者;预兆;传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 );宣布(好或重要) | |
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84 espouse | |
v.支持,赞成,嫁娶 | |
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85 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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86 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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87 pretext | |
n.借口,托词 | |
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88 facetiously | |
adv.爱开玩笑地;滑稽地,爱开玩笑地 | |
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89 stoutly | |
adv.牢固地,粗壮的 | |
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90 paternal | |
adj.父亲的,像父亲的,父系的,父方的 | |
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91 incapable | |
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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92 incensed | |
盛怒的 | |
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93 taunted | |
嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 ); 嘲弄; 辱骂; 奚落 | |
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94 rapacity | |
n.贪婪,贪心,劫掠的欲望 | |
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95 brigand | |
n.土匪,强盗 | |
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96 aboriginal | |
adj.(指动植物)土生的,原产地的,土著的 | |
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97 geographer | |
n.地理学者 | |
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98 gauger | |
n.收税官 | |
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99 isles | |
岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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100 pinnacles | |
顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 ); 顶点; 尖顶; 小尖塔 | |
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101 capes | |
碎谷; 斗篷( cape的名词复数 ); 披肩; 海角; 岬 | |
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102 promontories | |
n.岬,隆起,海角( promontory的名词复数 ) | |
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103 hoist | |
n.升高,起重机,推动;v.升起,升高,举起 | |
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104 tattoo | |
n.纹身,(皮肤上的)刺花纹;vt.刺花纹于 | |
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105 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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106 bugle | |
n.军号,号角,喇叭;v.吹号,吹号召集 | |
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107 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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108 gulls | |
n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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109 undertakings | |
企业( undertaking的名词复数 ); 保证; 殡仪业; 任务 | |
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110 invaders | |
入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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111 conceit | |
n.自负,自高自大 | |
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112 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
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113 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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114 alibis | |
某人在别处的证据( alibi的名词复数 ); 不在犯罪现场的证人; 借口; 托辞 | |
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115 ferment | |
vt.使发酵;n./vt.(使)激动,(使)动乱 | |
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116 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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117 wholesale | |
n.批发;adv.以批发方式;vt.批发,成批出售 | |
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118 juncture | |
n.时刻,关键时刻,紧要关头 | |
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119 foe | |
n.敌人,仇敌 | |
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120 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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121 swell | |
vi.膨胀,肿胀;增长,增强 | |
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122 prows | |
n.船首( prow的名词复数 ) | |
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123 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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124 duels | |
n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 );竞争,斗争 | |
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125 vanquished | |
v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 );战胜;克服;抑制 | |
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126 courteously | |
adv.有礼貌地,亲切地 | |
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127 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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128 imputing | |
v.把(错误等)归咎于( impute的现在分词 ) | |
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129 intrepidity | |
n.大胆,刚勇;大胆的行为 | |
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130 boisterous | |
adj.喧闹的,欢闹的 | |
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131 obstreperous | |
adj.喧闹的,不守秩序的 | |
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132 hoarse | |
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的 | |
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