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CHAPTER V
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 So it was that in 1912 the second thrilling event happened.
 
Young Daniel Birge, proprietor1 of Birge’s General Dry Goods Store, successor to Submit Curler, left his office, a built-up perch2 back of the shoe counter, to meet Thurley Precore at four o’clock.
 
The four clerks knew he was going to meet Thurley, that he had been meeting her and would continue to do so every pleasant afternoon, and they might as well ask any questions they wished before this hour, because business did not enter their handsome young proprietor’s head again until he was forced to re-enter the store the next morning.
 
The clerks, three of whom were under twenty and in love with Dan and one of whom was nearing fifty and longed to put him “dead to rights,” exchanged knowing glances as they watched Dan stalk out of the store humming a popular air and nodding a jaunty3 good night.
 
Birge’s Corners naturally had expected something of Dan Birge—who wouldn’t of the only son of a saloon keeper and man of money, according to the Corners’ estimate, who had been brought up at the Hotel Button and permitted to do as he liked? Having so far escaped the gallows4, Dan had proceeded to shock the natives as much as was possible. He began at sixteen, when, “like a streak5 of grease lightnin’,” according to Prince Hawkins, he started in to educate himself by mail order courses,[50] having skipped school and defied teachers years without end. With the Birge determination, once started in any direction, Dan no longer haunted the barroom or the blacksmith’s shop; he went to Betsey Pilrig’s house, where her adopted daughter, Thurley Precore, welcomed and studied with him.
 
Lorraine McDowell, the minister’s daughter, would have been only too glad to teach Dan Birge, the gossips had it, but Dan had never known Lorraine existed from the day Thurley had first “sung for her supper.”
 
Too proud to admit such was the case, Lorraine had sensibly set to work to be as useful as any minister’s daughter ought to be in a small town, and if she had her own particular form of heartache when she saw Dan and Thurley walking or riding together or taking supper at the Hotel Button, she kept it well concealed7 and smiled upon them and every one else alike.
 
After Dan had been “learning” for two years, while his father bragged8 that his son would outrival college professors—and all by mail, too—the older Birge died from an apoplectic9 stroke, leaving Dan his heir with the flourishing tavern10, blacksmith’s shop and real estate office to take in hand.
 
This was the only time that Dan had been known to consult any one—and every one knew Thurley had put him up to doing it, to say nothing of his being under age—but he went to the minister and they had a long talk, after which a sign “Closed” was across the saloon doorway11, and carpenters came from out of town to make the place over into such a store as the Corners had never dreamed of possessing.
 
“My father was an honest saloon keeper, I guess,” Dan had told Thurley, “but that business don’t suit me—nor you,” he added tenderly. “I’m going to keep[51] a dry goods store that will curdle12 all the milk in the South Wales emporium. I’m eighteen, Thurley, and when I’m twenty-one and rid of trustees, I’ll ask you to marry me, and, when I’m twenty-two, we’ll be married.”
 
At which Thurley, admiring his audacity13, had waived14 the question and began to suggest what lines of goods had best be carried.
 
It was only natural that the older generation could not understand a modern youth who would pay ten hard-earned dollars for a bull puppy, and then name her Zaza and pay two dollars more for a brass-studded collar and be willing to settle all claims for partially15 chewed up rubbers or boots for which the said Zaza seemed to have a penchant16!
 
Neither did they see the necessity of Dan’s trips to New York to buy goods. Submit Curler had never done it, and, if one could “learn by mail,” why not buy as well? Nor did they see the reason for Dan’s red and white canoe, the “Water Demon,” fitted with an awning17 and striped cushions and a thirty-five dollar talking machine in the center of it, and why, when every one ought to be at work, Dan and Thurley would drift along the lake to the tune18 of “Dearie” or “Are You Coming Out To-night, Mary Ann?” while Zaza, unasked guest, would swim out and try to upset the cargo19. And when Dan engaged two rooms and had a private bathroom installed at the Hotel Button and built a small balcony opening out of his sitting room, the younger generation fell down and worshipped blindly, while the older generation said a Birge never “built a cupola no place without wanting to get out on it and look down on every one,” and, “there was as much sense in all his notions as there would be in putting a deaf mute at a telephone switchboard.”
 
When Dan was quoted as saying he did not “feel right[52] unless his suits were made by a New York tailor,” and, without consulting any one, bought a scarlet20 roadster and talked of building two-family houses as an investment, to say nothing of the twenty thousand dollar house with an iron deer in the front yard and steam heat that he would build when he married Thurley Precore—the older generation tilted21 their chairs back and recalled the story of the negro about to be hung, who said upon approaching the gallows, “Dis am gwine to be a powerful lesson to dis nigger!”
 
Yet the town had to admit that Dan built up the Corners more than any of his ancestors or contemporaries. He ventured money in a moving picture show and made it pay, mollifying the churches by turning over the proceeds of the Passion Play for a new carpet for a Sunday-school room and new front steps for the rival denomination22. He installed an ice cream soda23 fountain in Oyster24 Jim’s store, lending the old man the money, and started the vogue25 for modern sidewalks and a town clock—and even a manicure! There was no telling to what lengths he might have gone, if he had not been so in love with Thurley that she occupied his thoughts twenty-three and a half hours out of the twenty-four, but he managed to do wonders with the remaining half hour. The town often said he no doubt would have borrowed their farm teams to make polo ponies26, and it was suspected that he was striving frantically27 to “get up a board of health.”
 
Certain it was that Dan was not afraid to spend his money—some declared it was a hundred thousand and some a hundred and ten thousand. And, most glorious achievement of all, he liberally pensioned Submit Curler, whose eyes were too dim to tell basting28 thread from sewing silk.
 
[53]
 
When Dan would try to convince Ali Baba of some needed modern enterprise, Ali Baba would retort angrily, “Who made you so wise and your elders fools? Be careful or you’ll catch brain fever and be as bald as a badger29!”
 
To which Dan would answer good-naturedly, “No doubt of it—didn’t you know that grass never grows on a busy street?”
 
Which would leave Ali Baba chuckling30, “Land sakes and Mrs. Davis, if that boy hasn’t a little Irish in him—dead dog eat a hatchet31!”
 
No one could say Dan underpaid or cheated any person with whom he had dealings. His store had an up-to-date, live air and one could find bargains and articles which had never been seen in former days. Also, when travelling men came to sell him and he entertained them at his attempted bachelor apartments, they would suggest a game of penny-ante and something to drink, and the boy would inform them with no shrinking indecision, “I was raised watching men make fools of themselves,” and bid them good night.
 
When he married Thurley Precore, the town gossiped, Dan would meet his match, and, in concluding their jeremiad32, said they doubted whether Thurley would marry him after all, but if, for spite, he married Lorraine, who, goodness knows, would jump sky high if she ever had the chance, Dan Birge would be the same bully33 his father had been to his wife—there never was a Birge who didn’t have to boss the job or quit!
 
None of this bothered Dan, not even the vituperation of himself when he encouraged a family of Sicilian bootmakers to rent one of his cottages and began to pay to have his shoes shined. Nothing bothered Dan except the fear lest Thurley should not marry him; that only bothered[54] him at stray moments when a wilful34 impulse led her to break an engagement with him and run off to sing at some entertainment at South Wales.
 
As he strode along the main street, Zaza heeling him, he whistled “Bonnie Sweet Bessie” and shouted out a hullo to every one he passed, regardless of age or rank. There was something delightfully35 irrepressible about Dan. Perhaps the fact that every girl in town was or had been or was planning to be in love with him might have aided his buoyancy, as well as the knowledge that the older generation still looked at him with horrified36 disapproval37 and yet were powerless to control so much as a single one of Zaza’s barks.
 
He made his way up the winding38 path leading to the burial ground, one of those picturesque39 spots with weeping willows41, wild roses and a tottering42 old fence, and scraggly berry bushes growing insolently43 without.
 
“Oh, Thurley,” he began, calling before he reached the summit.
 
“Ship ahoy!” sang back a strong, sweet voice. Presently he came upon a tall, blue-eyed girl with thick braids of dark hair. She was sitting under a willow40 tree, a book thrown carelessly at one side.
 
“Thurley, dearest,” he began, sitting down and kissing her, “I thought four o’clock would never come.”
 
“Did you make mistakes in change?” She put her hand on his shoulder. “If the clerks could see their lord and master now,” and she rumpled44 up his hair.
 
“Bother the clerks and the whole darned town—I’ve made you promise to marry me, Thurley, and you’re not going to make me keep it a secret. Why don’t we tell every one right away? What’s the use of keeping it to ourselves, when we are both sure of ourselves and the happiest things alive?”
 
[55]
 
Thurley laughed indulgently. “It’s just me, Dan. I want to be terribly sure of myself.”
 
He took her hands in his. “You are! You love me. You’ve always cared for me, as I have for you—’way back ten years ago when you joined the gang! I have all the money we need and you may have it all. Say we won’t keep it a secret! I’m dead tired of the Hotel Button; it gets on my nerves these days. Mrs. Hawkins has been mighty45 white to me—when I know what a spoiled nuisance I must have been—but she’s a perfect litany of woe46. I can hear her now, ‘Wal, there wuz two funerals down to South Wales to-day—an’ I meant to make a lemon pie but there wuz no lemons!’ Or else she gets on another tactic—of borrowers—and she greets a chap with, ‘Don’t never talk about borrowers, Dan Birge; my curtain frames has been as far as the next township, and sometimes I ain’t set eyes on my ice cream freezer from May to November!’ And if I’m trying extra hard to think about business—and I’m really thinking about you—she starts in about somebody’s second cousin’s divorce and soliloquizes, ‘We’re all members of one human family and God never meant for man and wife to live together like cat and dog.’ And I’ve never known it to fail that I was hurrying to get away to meet some one—and it was ’most always you—that she didn’t drag me into her sitting room to see some of her damned—excuse me, Thurley—embroidery that she’s going stone blind by doing and listen to her explain, ‘These two doilies is just alike, only one is blue with flowers and the other is pink with stars and anchors—they’re a weddin’ present for Mrs. P. L. Flanigan—her second wedding, too; she’s been on the stage since she could lisp, supported Madame Modjeska all through the West and then married a no good Irish comedian48.... Oh, Dan, don’t be[56] in a hurry! Look at this one—ain’t it a work of art, if I do say so—clover is like sweet peas, awful hard to embroider47 natural.’”
 
Dan paused, out of breath.
 
“Yes,” Thurley said soberly, “but she has her meals on time, and you eat them.”
 
“My Swedish appetite is always with me, no joke; but what of that? Do you think I expect you to drudge50 like Prince Hawkins’ wife? Not much. We are going to have a maid, no hired girl, but a trained maid, and we’ll pay her five and maybe six dollars a week, and a wash-woman besides that.”
 
“The town will say I’m lazy. Lorraine McDowell does all the work at the parsonage and visits the poor families besides.”
 
“That’s very fine in Lorraine, but she isn’t my Thurley. You just couldn’t pin yourself down to routine, could you?” He looked at her admiringly. “The best you can do is to pin the other chap down to it—like you did me. It is you who made me study and make good; I was a spoiled kid with more money than was good for me and no one with a grain of faith as to my future. They were holding their breath until I’d get into a scrape and they could go at me without gloves. Well, I didn’t, unless they call loving Thurley Precore and being engaged to her a scrape! Of course they’ve patted me on the shoulder now and said decent things, but I’m twenty-two and a man, and they can’t do otherwise. I guess you said about all there was to say when you told me, ‘The best vault51 in which to keep your fortune is a good education.’”
 
Thurley leaned over to kiss him on the forehead. “You’re a wonder,” she whispered, “but, really, wouldn’t Lorraine make you happier?”
 
[57]
 
His face clouded with an injured expression. “Why drag in Lorraine? She’d like to drag herself in,” he admitted candidly52, “and I guess every one knows it, but you don’t fall in love to suit the other fellow—and I don’t love Lorraine.”
 
“She’s so pretty and frail53, and you’re such a big, strong gypsy lad,” mused54 Thurley, pulling sprays of feathery grass idly, “and I’m such a big, strong gypsy lass that we’re not contrasts. We’re too much alike, Dan; too selfish in the same way. Every one is bound to be selfish in some way or other, but when you both hit the same trail, it usually ends in a crash ... please, wait until I finish. Then we’re too fond of having our own ways. I’d like it if you became Daniel Precore instead of my becoming Thurley Birge; yes, I truly would. I don’t want to promise to love, honor and obey any one—not a bit of it. I want to do what I dreamed of as a child—those dreams kept me alive, Dan. I want to sing, not in the town, but in New York, London, Paris. I’ve read of girls from the country who made good, and I can sing, Dan! It is not silly for me to say it. Besides, there is little else I can do!”
 
“I know it,” he said in a muffled55 tone, “but why not sing just for me? I’ll always listen.”
 
“That’s the trouble. I want to sing for thousands of strangers; I want to be famous, Dan, and yet, I want you for my pal56. Don’t you see that it doesn’t go together as it should? For me to stay here as your wife, and for me to travel all over the world and be on the stage—and all that would go with it. I wouldn’t be your wife unless I was sure to be the right wife. Dear old boy, you shrug57 your shoulders every time I try to explain it. But I’m different from Lorraine and the other girls. I’m selfish and generous all in one, quick tempered and patient by[58] turns. I hate to fuss about details. Domesticity drives me mad, poor Granny Pilrig can tell you! I’d sit up half the night to learn a song or read a book, and then I’d want to be hideously58 lazy the next morning. Sometimes I feel as if I were floating in the air, flying with absolutely divine ease and bliss59 just because of something deep inside myself—I haven’t the faintest idea what it is. I can sing on hilltops and laugh in the grayest of drizzles60. Everything can be in glorious purples and golden colors. And when the sun is actually bright and every one is congratulating every one on the weather, I find myself old, tired, black within. I want to cry, scream, go away from every one and neither speak nor move. That’s what they call temperament61, I understand, and you, Dan boy,” Thurley’s lovable mouth curved into smiles, “you could never say that is a good basis for a happy marriage—particularly to a gentleman with a ‘Swedish appetite’ and one who likes to be amused when he comes home tired out from a bargain sale of kitchen oilcloth!”
 
“Well, what is the basis for a happy marriage? Mrs. Hawkins says ‘young folks should set down and talk about what they each like to eat before the engagement is announced!’ I guess we can pass that up.”
 
“Did you know what Mrs. Hawkins said about me, as being a good wife for you? It’s funny! She told Granny and Granny told me. She said, ‘I bet Thurley would dust the divil out of her cut glass and rustle62 into her georgette crêpes to get to a singing bee; but cook that boy a square meal, darn a sock, stand a bit of the Birge temper—never!’”
 
“She’s just a meddlesome63 old woman,” Dan began angrily.
 
“She’s truthful64 and she likes us both. Don’t let’s rush ahead and be married until we are sure, and until you try[59] once more to see if you don’t love Lorraine; it seems so cruel when she cares so hard.”
 
“If she writes me any more silly notes about maple65 sugar socials on her everlasting66 pink paper and smelling of shampoo powders, I’ll stop speaking to her,” he declared. “Let’s settle it to-day, Thurley—announce our engagement in the Saturday Gazette. Everything I have or ever will have is yours. I love you; I’ll do what you say and be as you would have me. Darling, you’ve no one in this world to look out for you and I’ve no one to look out for. Let me take care of you! Please, I care so hard.” His dark, handsome face was very close to hers and, suddenly, he laid his head on her shoulder, smothering67 a sob49.
 
Thurley’s sunrise, rose-red self went out to him in sympathy. “Does it mean so much?”
 
“Just—everything,” was the incoherent answer.
 
“Then—I will.” Tears came into her blue eyes. “I couldn’t make you wait any longer. Look at me.” She lifted his face between her hands and they looked into each other’s eyes for a long, wonderful instant. “Dan, it may be a mistake, but I think I do love you even if I’m not willing to be a house-and-garden wife and stop my singing.... I’d perish if I stopped singing, so promise me you’ll never ask it.”
 
“Not in church and parlors68 and like that,” he said unwillingly69, “but my wife isn’t going to sing on the stage.”
 
Thurley’s brows drew together in perplexity. “Well, maybe no one will ever ask me,” she evaded70. “We won’t quarrel about it until they do—only I’d fight you pretty hard if you tried to stop my singing—it means even more than you do!”
 
“It won’t after we are married,” he asserted jealously,[60] “and I won’t wait long for you either. We’ll live at the hotel until the house is ready. I want to begin the plans to-morrow.”
 
“Oh, Dan, a year anyway! Whatever will Granny do?”
 
“Move her into the hotel,” he promised generously. “But you’ve got to marry me in September! Let’s go over to Philena’s grave and pledge it.”
 
“I don’t think I deserve you, you’re so much in earnest, but I am sort of playing a lovely, interesting part—a wonderful part, too, but I’d really like to have strangers here to see how well I do it,” Thurley tried to explain as they came up to a white cross newer than the surrounding markers on which was engraved71:
 
Philena, beloved grandchild of Betsey Pilrig,
Young, beautiful and good, God numbered her among His angels
At the early age of fifteen!
 
“Now promise,” Dan insisted, holding her hands.
 
“I promise,” Thurley answered. Leaning over the cross, they kissed each other with tender solemnity.
 
“Shall we sit here and talk,” Thurley asked, “or walk back?”
 
“Anything you like. You’re so beautiful to-day, Thurley, I wonder if you realize how beautiful you are! I’m going to make you wear the proper sort of clothes and send right off for your ring.”
 
Thurley glanced at her pink cotton blouse and white wash skirt in disdain72. “I hate bothering over clothes and yet I’d like rich, weird73 creations just dropped from the skies. I never could sit and sew like—”
 
“Lorraine, I suppose!” Dan laughed in spite of himself. “I want to walk over to the Gazette office and put[61] our engagement notice in. I wouldn’t want that to go by another week, if I had to get out an extry. I believe I’d make them get out an extry, too!”
 
“Did the Gazette ever get out an extry for anything?” she asked.
 
“The nearest they ever came to it was when Ali Baba was learning to ride a wheel and he ran into a barrel of tar6 pitch within half an hour of four o’clock! Come on, sweetheart, we can begin planning furniture.”
 
Thurley lingered near an old tombstone with the engraving74:
 
Naked as from the earth we came,
And crept to life at first,
We to the earth return again,
And mingle75 with our dust.
“I love a graveyard76,” she said pensively77. “I like to sing in one.”
 
“Sing for me now.” Dan was anxious to comply with her slightest wish.
 
“This is a queer one to sing, up here,” she answered, beginning,
 
The ship goes sailing down the bay,
Good-by, my lover good-by—
Dan was not thinking of the song; he was thinking of Thurley as his bespoken78 wife and of his and Thurley’s life together. Singing was to be a minor79 thing which should take place while babies were rocked to sleep or perhaps on Easter Sunday for the special anthem80. Dan had no idea of allowing her to remain a paid soloist—but it would do to tell her so later!
 
“Bravo,” he said as she finished. “Shall we go along?” tucking her arm under his with a masterful air.
 
[62]
 
They trudged81 down the pathway to the road. Some children were picking the last berries from the dusty bushes; when they caught sight of Thurley, they ran towards her, saying,
 
“Miss Clergy82 heard you sing. Her carriage just went on. She had Ali Baba stop so’s she could hear. She stuck her head out the window and asked him your name and Dan’s name and he told her, and then she stuck her head in and he drove on.”
 
“There’s an old woman who ought to be ashamed to act like she has for years and years,” Dan began.
 
But Thurley did not answer. Presently she said, “So—I had an audience even in a graveyard. Dan, do you know Miss Clergy never asks questions about any one? She must have liked my voice!”
 
“She’ll never get the chance to hear it again! I’ll race you to that first oak—”
 
Thurley shook her head. “Wait, Dan, I feel queer inside ... as if something might come of it, I don’t know just what.”
 
“Are you going to let a crazy old woman’s listening to you sing stop our getting to the newspaper office in time to announce our engagement?”
 
“Dan, do you realize that we are both ‘Corners’ people and they never do get along? A house or a store on the corner always attracts the most attention and gets the most notice paid to it and that is why your father’s people founded these Corners and you have to be a Corners person—people just naturally pay you attention or you know why ... and I’m a Corners person, too.”
 
“I said I was not going to listen to your nonsense. I’ll kiss you right in sight of this farmer’s team,” he warned. “You’re going to belong to me and that is all that matters.”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 proprietor zR2x5     
n.所有人;业主;经营者
参考例句:
  • The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
  • The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。
2 perch 5u1yp     
n.栖木,高位,杆;v.栖息,就位,位于
参考例句:
  • The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
  • Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。
3 jaunty x3kyn     
adj.愉快的,满足的;adv.心满意足地,洋洋得意地;n.心满意足;洋洋得意
参考例句:
  • She cocked her hat at a jaunty angle.她把帽子歪戴成俏皮的样子。
  • The happy boy walked with jaunty steps.这个快乐的孩子以轻快活泼的步子走着。
4 gallows UfLzE     
n.绞刑架,绞台
参考例句:
  • The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
  • Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。
5 streak UGgzL     
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
参考例句:
  • The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
  • Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹?
6 tar 1qOwD     
n.柏油,焦油;vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于
参考例句:
  • The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
  • We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。
7 concealed 0v3zxG     
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的
参考例句:
  • The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
  • I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。
8 bragged 56622ccac3ec221e2570115463345651     
v.自夸,吹嘘( brag的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He bragged to his friends about the crime. 他向朋友炫耀他的罪行。
  • Mary bragged that she could run faster than Jack. 玛丽夸口说她比杰克跑得快。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 apoplectic seNya     
adj.中风的;愤怒的;n.中风患者
参考例句:
  • He died from a stroke of apoplexy.他死于中风。
  • My father was apoplectic when he discovered the truth.我父亲在发现真相后勃然大怒。
10 tavern wGpyl     
n.小旅馆,客栈;小酒店
参考例句:
  • There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
  • Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。
11 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
12 curdle LYOzM     
v.使凝结,变稠
参考例句:
  • The sauce should not boil or the egg yolk will curdle.调味汁不能煮沸,不然蛋黄会凝结的。
  • The sight made my blood curdle.那景象使我不寒而栗。
13 audacity LepyV     
n.大胆,卤莽,无礼
参考例句:
  • He had the audacity to ask for an increase in salary.他竟然厚着脸皮要求增加薪水。
  • He had the audacity to pick pockets in broad daylight.他竟敢在光天化日之下掏包。
14 waived 5fb1561b535ff0e477b379c4a7edcd74     
v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 );搁置;推迟;放弃(权利、要求等)
参考例句:
  • He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题,开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句
15 partially yL7xm     
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲
参考例句:
  • The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
  • The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静,宵禁部分解除。
16 penchant X3Nzi     
n.爱好,嗜好;(强烈的)倾向
参考例句:
  • She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
  • He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。
17 awning LeVyZ     
n.遮阳篷;雨篷
参考例句:
  • A large green awning is set over the glass window to shelter against the sun.在玻璃窗上装了个绿色的大遮棚以遮挡阳光。
  • Several people herded under an awning to get out the shower.几个人聚集在门栅下避阵雨
18 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
19 cargo 6TcyG     
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物
参考例句:
  • The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
  • A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。
20 scarlet zD8zv     
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的
参考例句:
  • The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
  • The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了,深红的颜色变成了绯红,绯红又变为浅红。
21 tilted 3gtzE5     
v. 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。
22 denomination SwLxj     
n.命名,取名,(度量衡、货币等的)单位
参考例句:
  • The firm is still operating under another denomination.这家公司改用了名称仍在继续营业。
  • Litre is a metric denomination.升是公制单位。
23 soda cr3ye     
n.苏打水;汽水
参考例句:
  • She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
  • I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。
24 oyster w44z6     
n.牡蛎;沉默寡言的人
参考例句:
  • I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎,它味道真美。
  • I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时,我发现我相当喜欢吃。
25 Vogue 6hMwC     
n.时髦,时尚;adj.流行的
参考例句:
  • Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
  • Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。
26 ponies 47346fc7580de7596d7df8d115a3545d     
矮种马,小型马( pony的名词复数 ); £25 25 英镑
参考例句:
  • They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
  • She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。
27 frantically ui9xL     
ad.发狂地, 发疯地
参考例句:
  • He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
  • She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。
28 basting 8d5dc183572d4f051f15afeb390ee908     
n.疏缝;疏缝的针脚;疏缝用线;涂油v.打( baste的现在分词 );粗缝;痛斥;(烤肉等时)往上抹[浇]油
参考例句:
  • Pam was in the middle of basting the turkey. 帕姆正在往烤鸡上淋油。 来自辞典例句
  • Moreover, roasting and basting operations were continually carried on in front of the genial blaze. 此外,文火上还不断地翻烤着肉食。 来自辞典例句
29 badger PuNz6     
v.一再烦扰,一再要求,纠缠
参考例句:
  • Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
  • If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他,我相信他会同意。
30 chuckling e8dcb29f754603afc12d2f97771139ab     
轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时,我能听见他的轻声发笑。
  • He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
31 hatchet Dd0zr     
n.短柄小斧;v.扼杀
参考例句:
  • I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
  • Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。
32 jeremiad m34xc     
n.悲欢;悲诉
参考例句:
  • Throughout literary history,many people have written works which have added to the tradition of the American jeremiad.在整个文学史上,很多人的作品都为传统美国悲叹文学添砖加瓦。
  • Jeremiad wreathes upon my feeling,while shadow of shiver covers my mood.悲叹盘旋在我的脑海里,而颤抖的阴影覆盖了我的思绪。
33 bully bully     
n.恃强欺弱者,小流氓;vt.威胁,欺侮
参考例句:
  • A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
  • The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。
34 wilful xItyq     
adj.任性的,故意的
参考例句:
  • A wilful fault has no excuse and deserves no pardon.不能宽恕故意犯下的错误。
  • He later accused reporters of wilful distortion and bias.他后来指责记者有意歪曲事实并带有偏见。
35 delightfully f0fe7d605b75a4c00aae2f25714e3131     
大喜,欣然
参考例句:
  • The room is delightfully appointed. 这房子的设备令人舒适愉快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The evening is delightfully cool. 晚间凉爽宜人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
36 horrified 8rUzZU     
a.(表现出)恐惧的
参考例句:
  • The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
  • We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。
37 disapproval VuTx4     
n.反对,不赞成
参考例句:
  • The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
  • They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。
38 winding Ue7z09     
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈
参考例句:
  • A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
  • The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。
39 picturesque qlSzeJ     
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的
参考例句:
  • You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
  • That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。
40 willow bMFz6     
n.柳树
参考例句:
  • The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
  • The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。
41 willows 79355ee67d20ddbc021d3e9cb3acd236     
n.柳树( willow的名词复数 );柳木
参考例句:
  • The willows along the river bank look very beautiful. 河岸边的柳树很美。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Willows are planted on both sides of the streets. 街道两侧种着柳树。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
42 tottering 20cd29f0c6d8ba08c840e6520eeb3fac     
adj.蹒跚的,动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 );踉跄;蹒跚;摇摇欲坠
参考例句:
  • the tottering walls of the castle 古城堡摇摇欲坠的墙壁
  • With power and to spare we must pursue the tottering foe. 宜将剩勇追穷寇。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
43 insolently 830fd0c26f801ff045b7ada72550eb93     
adv.自豪地,自傲地
参考例句:
  • No does not respect, speak insolently,satire, etc for TT management team member. 不得发表对TT管理层人员不尊重、出言不逊、讽刺等等的帖子。 来自互联网
  • He had replied insolently to his superiors. 他傲慢地回答了他上司的问题。 来自互联网
44 rumpled 86d497fd85370afd8a55db59ea16ef4a     
v.弄皱,使凌乱( rumple的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She rumpled his hair playfully. 她顽皮地弄乱他的头发。
  • The bed was rumpled and strewn with phonograph records. 那张床上凌乱不堪,散放着一些唱片。 来自辞典例句
45 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的;巨大的
参考例句:
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
46 woe OfGyu     
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌
参考例句:
  • Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
  • A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸,自认福是福。
47 embroider 9jtz7     
v.刺绣于(布)上;给…添枝加叶,润饰
参考例句:
  • The editor would take a theme and embroider upon it with drollery.编辑会将一篇文章,以调侃式的幽默笔调加以渲染。
  • She wants to embroider a coverlet with flowers and birds.她想给床罩绣上花鸟。
48 comedian jWfyW     
n.喜剧演员;滑稽演员
参考例句:
  • The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
  • The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。
49 sob HwMwx     
n.空间轨道的轰炸机;呜咽,哭泣
参考例句:
  • The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
  • The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答,也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。
50 drudge rk8z2     
n.劳碌的人;v.做苦工,操劳
参考例句:
  • I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作!
  • I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷,倒运,走投无路的苦力,只会拖累你。
51 vault 3K3zW     
n.拱形圆顶,地窖,地下室
参考例句:
  • The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
  • The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。
52 candidly YxwzQ1     
adv.坦率地,直率而诚恳地
参考例句:
  • He has stopped taking heroin now,but admits candidly that he will always be a drug addict.他眼下已经不再吸食海洛因了,不过他坦言自己永远都是个瘾君子。
  • Candidly,David,I think you're being unreasonable.大卫,说实话我认为你不讲道理。
53 frail yz3yD     
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的
参考例句:
  • Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了,身体虚弱,不便独居。
  • She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上,看上去特别虚弱。
54 mused 0affe9d5c3a243690cca6d4248d41a85     
v.沉思,冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 );沉思自语说(某事)
参考例句:
  • \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们,”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道:‘我们这是在干什么?” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
55 muffled fnmzel     
adj.(声音)被隔的;听不太清的;(衣服)裹严的;蒙住的v.压抑,捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 );用厚厚的衣帽包着(自己)
参考例句:
  • muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
  • There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
56 pal j4Fz4     
n.朋友,伙伴,同志;vi.结为友
参考例句:
  • He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
  • Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着,小子,我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。
57 shrug Ry3w5     
v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)
参考例句:
  • With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩,走出了房间。
  • I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。
58 hideously hideously     
adv.可怕地,非常讨厌地
参考例句:
  • The witch was hideously ugly. 那个女巫丑得吓人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Pitt's smile returned, and it was hideously diabolic. 皮特的脸上重新浮现出笑容,但却狰狞可怕。 来自辞典例句
59 bliss JtXz4     
n.狂喜,福佑,天赐的福
参考例句:
  • It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
  • He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴,因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。
60 drizzles 0795d9268f9aeb16d93bed28edc86359     
蒙蒙细雨,毛毛雨( drizzle的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • "Grain lain" day-bringing gentle drizzles-was not far off. “谷雨”节一天近一天了。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕
  • It drizzles sometimes, moistening the thirsty fields lightly and selflessly. 它大多是毛毛细雨,轻柔而又无私地滋润着干涸的大地。
61 temperament 7INzf     
n.气质,性格,性情
参考例句:
  • The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
  • Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。
62 rustle thPyl     
v.沙沙作响;偷盗(牛、马等);n.沙沙声声
参考例句:
  • She heard a rustle in the bushes.她听到灌木丛中一阵沙沙声。
  • He heard a rustle of leaves in the breeze.他听到树叶在微风中发出的沙沙声。
63 meddlesome 3CDxp     
adj.爱管闲事的
参考例句:
  • By this means the meddlesome woman cast in a bone between the wife and the husband.这爱管闲事的女人就用这种手段挑起他们夫妻这间的不和。
  • Get rid of that meddlesome fool!让那个爱管闲事的家伙走开!
64 truthful OmpwN     
adj.真实的,说实话的,诚实的
参考例句:
  • You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心,他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
  • I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。
65 maple BBpxj     
n.槭树,枫树,槭木
参考例句:
  • Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
  • The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
66 everlasting Insx7     
adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的
参考例句:
  • These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
  • He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。
67 smothering f8ecc967f0689285cbf243c32f28ae30     
(使)窒息, (使)透不过气( smother的现在分词 ); 覆盖; 忍住; 抑制
参考例句:
  • He laughed triumphantly, and silenced her by manly smothering. 他胜利地微笑着,以男人咄咄逼人的气势使她哑口无言。
  • He wrapped the coat around her head, smothering the flames. 他用上衣包住她的头,熄灭了火。
68 parlors d00eff1cfa3fc47d2b58dbfdec2ddc5e     
客厅( parlor的名词复数 ); 起居室; (旅馆中的)休息室; (通常用来构成合成词)店
参考例句:
  • It had been a firm specializing in funeral parlors and parking lots. 它曾经是一个专门经营殡仪馆和停车场的公司。
  • I walked, my eyes focused into the endless succession of barbershops, beauty parlors, confectioneries. 我走着,眼睛注视着那看不到头的、鳞次栉比的理发店、美容院、糖果店。
69 unwillingly wjjwC     
adv.不情愿地
参考例句:
  • He submitted unwillingly to his mother. 他不情愿地屈服于他母亲。
  • Even when I call, he receives unwillingly. 即使我登门拜访,他也是很不情愿地接待我。
70 evaded 4b636015da21a66943b43217559e0131     
逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 ); 避开; 回避; 想不出
参考例句:
  • For two weeks they evaded the press. 他们有两周一直避而不见记者。
  • The lion evaded the hunter. 那狮子躲开了猎人。
71 engraved be672d34fc347de7d97da3537d2c3c95     
v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的过去式和过去分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中)
参考例句:
  • The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
  • It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美,背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
72 disdain KltzA     
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑
参考例句:
  • Some people disdain labour.有些人轻视劳动。
  • A great man should disdain flatterers.伟大的人物应鄙视献媚者。
73 weird bghw8     
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的
参考例句:
  • From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来,他好像有点怪。
  • His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
74 engraving 4tyzmn     
n.版画;雕刻(作品);雕刻艺术;镌版术v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的现在分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中)
参考例句:
  • He collected an old engraving of London Bridge. 他收藏了一张古老的伦敦桥版画。 来自辞典例句
  • Some writing has the precision of a steel engraving. 有的字体严谨如同钢刻。 来自辞典例句
75 mingle 3Dvx8     
vt.使混合,使相混;vi.混合起来;相交往
参考例句:
  • If we mingle with the crowd,we should not be noticed.如果我们混在人群中,就不会被注意到。
  • Oil will not mingle with water.油和水不相融。
76 graveyard 9rFztV     
n.坟场
参考例句:
  • All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
  • Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。
77 pensively 0f673d10521fb04c1a2f12fdf08f9f8c     
adv.沉思地,焦虑地
参考例句:
  • Garton pensively stirred the hotchpotch of his hair. 加顿沉思着搅动自己的乱发。 来自辞典例句
  • "Oh, me,'said Carrie, pensively. "I wish I could live in such a place." “唉,真的,"嘉莉幽幽地说,"我真想住在那种房子里。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
78 bespoken 8a016953f5ddcb26681c5eb3a0919f2d     
v.预定( bespeak的过去分词 );订(货);证明;预先请求
参考例句:
  • We have bespoken three tickets for tomorrow. 我们已经预定了三张明天的票。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • We have bespoken two tickets for tomorrow. 我们已预订两张明天的票。 来自互联网
79 minor e7fzR     
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修
参考例句:
  • The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
  • I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。
80 anthem vMRyj     
n.圣歌,赞美诗,颂歌
参考例句:
  • All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
  • As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上,唱起了国歌。
81 trudged e830eb9ac9fd5a70bf67387e070a9616     
vt.& vi.跋涉,吃力地走(trudge的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
  • He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
82 clergy SnZy2     
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员
参考例句:
  • I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望,我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
  • All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。


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