Very swiftly it was becoming clear to Thurley that fame, even the great, dazzling fame of which the workaday world reads with awe7, merely meant one had a different standard of values; that all emotions such as joy, sorrow, anger, renunciation, cowardice9, heroism10 and so on were relative. Tom Jones and wife and child in Skiddeoot, Missouri, might attain11 as great joy over acquiring a terrifically green-colored bungalow12 and veneered mahogany to decorate the parlor13, while Mrs. Tom was to have a woman to wash, and Mr. Tom membership in the Skiddeoot bowling14 club—quite as much joy as Ernestine Christian15 when she stayed at Buckingham Palace an honored guest and had on her dressing16 table the miniatures of the young princes and a certain jewelled box given her by the king of Italy. The lives of these luminaries17, when one came to know them on equal footing, were composed of a multitude of trivial details, the same as were the Joneses’ of Skiddeoot—the proper breakfast food, annoyance18 of a thunder shower, the wrong-sized-gaiters, the intense dislike of parsnips, the fondness for Japanese prints, the staunch conviction as to when the world was to[135] end, the way to eat one’s melons (in Skiddeoot it would be porridge), the best style of spring motor car (in Skiddeoot it would be whether to have the Ford19 wheels red or yellow)—and so on through an endless list of things about which physical and mental existence is centered.
Thurley had been exceptionally spared the grind and slow advancement20 of the average artist. On the other hand, she had experienced both grind and decidedly depressing experiences during her travels in the box-car. She was now placed, as it were, in the front ranks of the artistic21 world and allowed to gaze about, investigate, presume, acquire knowledge, as much as her own possibilities would permit. Her possibilities being above the average, Thurley, inside of the few months in New York, had come to the settled conviction that folks were really just folks no matter how they were dressed, and the artists quite the same as the population of Birge’s Corners, only in a different setting and with a different set of values.
It was rather disappointing to come to the conclusion, not at all romantic and stimulating22 or in keeping with the conclusions Caleb Patmore’s “Victorious Victoria” had arrived at in an amazingly short space of time. It was like a child’s suddenly being put on everyday relations With Santa Claus himself and finding out, besides his ability to ride reindeer23 skyward, and, toy-laden, shoot down narrow chimneys, that he had a gouty foot the same as Oyster24 Jim’s, was rather caustic25 if his eggs were overdone26, was a Republican, body, boots and breeches, the same as Ali Baba, and, if he lost three games of cribbage straight running, was distinctly “peeved.”
So Thurley advanced beyond the illusions of the uninitiated. Before she came into Bliss27 Hobart’s dominion28 she had been one of the public, the sort of public who[136] believe newspaper reports of opera singers having frolicsome29 boa-constrictors as family pets, to welcome them when they stagger home under van-loads of orchids30 from the evening’s work! She saw now with the clear, innocent eyes of youth, which is so often wiser than dictatorial31 and narrow middle age, that the common lot was the universal lot and that in the sum total of all things the famous ones were spared no more nor less nor given greater qualities of endurance or supreme32 power.
Had the invitation to the “family” dinner come a week ago, Thurley would have hesitated before accepting. But Ernestine Christian’s personality—as yet it was not Ernestine Christian’s real self since she betrayed that to no one—had woven a big-sister armor about Thurley’s wild-rose self. She was eager to become one of the family, unconscious of the honor for which many had sighed and bribed33 for in vain. She showed the note to Miss Clergy and became very flapperlike on the subject of her costume.
“Wear any you like,” Miss Clergy said fondly. “Dear me, I sha’n’t go. I’m an old lady, sleepy as an infant by half after eight.”
“Must I always be alone?” Thurley protested.
Miss Clergy, whose girlhood had been bounded on all sides by the “Polite Letter Writer” and “Godey’s Lady’s Book,” hesitated. “Take a maid,” she urged.
“For protection? Goodness, no! Why, I’ve walked at midnight in the darkest road at home, when Philena would be taken very ill and we had to have the north end doctor. I’ll go alone—and wear my green velvet34.”
“If you want more dresses—” began Miss Clergy cheerily. When one had a wild-rose girl with the voice of a lark35, revenge just naturally lost its grim and ugly aspects.
But Thurley shook her head and vanished, singing snatches of her exercises and finding out that she was not so tired as she had fancied; the languor36 had magically vanished. She propped37 Hobart’s tantalizing38 note on her dressing table as she did her hair.
Thurley—
Come and be christened at seven-thirty. The family must know the baby.
B. H.
Thurley deliberately39 powdered her face and added a soup?on of superfluous40 rouge41. She was thinking, “Now I shall know the real man, the real Bliss Hobart,” dropping into a hum instead of singing aloud, always a symptom of rare joy.
Presently she appeared to say good night to Miss Clergy, a radiant young person looking, as Caleb Patmore said afterwards, “an up-to-date historical romance bound in green velvet and silver lace.” But she was disappointed in Hobart’s apartment, for she realized at a glance it was only more of his “setting”; that here he existed as Bliss Hobart the critic and master, not Bliss Hobart the man. It was equally as awesome42 as his studio offices, but in a more distinguished43, definite style. There was rare, decorative44 wall paper, with shellacked panels set in the yellow, marbleized walls reproducing the design made by David for the great Napoleon. Black, velvety45 carpet covered the tiled floors, the chairs were of deep mouse color edged with gold fringe, there were pale gray hangings against shell pink satin screens and a tiled Portuguese46 mantel of blue and yellow.
She found Ernestine Christian and Caleb Patmore waging a lively argument, with Bliss Hobart enjoying it[138] hugely. Nor did they stop after Thurley’s bashful entrance and Hobart’s introduction,
“The family infant! Remember, ‘children should be seen and not heard.’ There’s the chair for you, and if you are very ‘pie’ and don’t contradict your elders, you’ll be rewarded later.”
Thurley accepted the r?le gladly. It was evident they considered her a promising47 infant. Some day she would be able to tell them the same half-patronizing things or be introducing some other prodigy48 into the family in equally clever, blasé fashion. That first and memorable49 dinner party was more of an education than all the lessons Thurley had endured since her New York advent50. Here she saw the demonstration51 of the theories taught her regarding form, cleverness and so on. Long before the evening was ended, she felt she could now dispense52 with the social secretary, the beauty doctor and the gymnast. She had only to observe her “family” and practise the results of the observation before her mirror.
“We are waiting for Polly Harris and Collin Hedley,” Hobart remarked during a lull53 in the battle. “Polly is as punctual as an alarm clock, but Collin would not be on time at his own funeral, if it were possible. We always give him a half hour leeway and never mind because Polly is such fun when she rages.”
Thurley murmured some reply, and then Caleb Patmore, who had been looking at her almost rudely, began anew his argument. Despite his depraved ideas regarding novel writing, Thurley liked him. He had the clean-cut business air which she admired, rather than the air of the proverbial long-haired novelist with a hemstitched neck scarf.
“Of course we respect Daphne,” he said grudgingly54. “For five years she has made her living writing[139] poetry—poetry—and how many can say as much? No bribes55 of the corset makers56 for limerick advertisements ever tempted57 her, but now she has sensibly surrendered in favor of marrying one Oscar Human, Indiana plumber58 at large. The only remarkable59 thing about it is that Oscar Human would marry a failure poetess who must have forgotten how to cook a boiled dinner or be interested in the new style nickel fittings! Well, luck to Daphne Rhodes, but what good was it all? A starved, embittered60 space filler, she admitted, soothing61 a makeup62 man’s difficulties by rounding out the page with a plump sonnet63.”
Ernestine walked over to the mantel in order to look as majestic64 as possible, so Hobart called out. She was very lovely in her crystal colored satin with silvery panels and those interesting, homely65 hands of hers clasped awkwardly.
“You do love fleshpots, Caleb, no matter whether an Indiana plumber or an editor bestows66 them. You’ll have Daphne taking orders for your next novel, I dare say—a premium67 with every new kitchen sink Oscar installs! You wretch68! I’ve no doubt Daphne is going to be happy, at least her experience as a poetess will mercifully teach her never to let this Oscar know how commonplace he is. Therein will lie the success of the union. As soon as Polly comes, we’ll decide on the wedding present. For my part, I think Daphne has done a brave thing to hold to the best in herself, and, when she saw she was unable to attain her goal, to drop back gracefully69 into the house-and-garden rank and file.”
Caleb shrugged70 his shoulders. “Well, long ago I became tired of being a literary chameleon71 and trying to match up every editor’s bark! I found out what the reading public wanted and I have given it to them—great[140] hunks of it! I haven72’t come out so badly, eh? Now, Daphne could have done the same.” He leaned back in his chair looking defiantly73 at Ernestine.
“You are trying to make me the man in the divorce case; his wife took the furniture and the five children and he took the blame. But I challenge you, Caleb, to prove that you have ever really written a good story—a story you felt and loved and were willing to fight for until it was printed.”
“You’ve never gone through my attic74 trunks,” he reminded. “Besides, the public doesn’t like highbrow stories. They like stories about people who are capable of wearing pink underwear, and a villain75 must be a villain if found carrying a riding crop. Just when I am settled in my mind concerning my next heroine, Ernestine breaks out with uplift, as annoying as to have a motor stuffed with relatives drive up to the door at dinner time,” he informed Hobart. “Can’t you lend a hand?”
“How can I, when I want to stay friends with you both? By Jove, there’s the bell; they’ve arrived.”
Ernestine blew Caleb a kiss and murmured, “If one cannot write au naturel, I presume it must be au gratin!”
Then there swept into the room two of the strangest and most delightful76 persons Thurley had ever seen. Collin Hedley came first, a fair-haired, boyish man with eyes so joyous77 and brilliant one could not look at them for long, and the bristly head of the plebeian78 with deep incurvation of the temples. He was most carelessly dressed, but no one would have noticed that as long as his eyes smiled; he had a mad Van Dyke79 beard and a lovable yet combative80 mouth which might or might not prophesy81 many things.
But it was Polly Harris who captivated Thurley’s heart and made her forget her shyness. Polly had the fashion[141] of bombarding one’s self-consciousness. She could have changed the saying, “A cat may look at a king” to “a cat may order a king.” Even Bliss Hobart lost dignity in her presence.
“Polly can teach you to write vers libre on your cuff82 and tell a Chicago art patron from a Pittsburg coal dealer83 at a distance of fifty yards,” was Hobart’s universal recommendation. But Polly Harris could do a great deal more.
She reminded one, although her age was less than Ernestine’s, of October sunshine, partly because she was a tiny, wood-brown thing, an oddity, a fact she well knew, flat-chested as a boy, with tanned skin, eyes like topazes, if she were happy, and her brown hair bobbed like a child’s and fastened with a ridiculous velvet bow. Her dresses were inevitably84 the same—since her income was likewise—Polly’s regimentals, they called them, brown corduroy for winter, made in semi-smock, semi-Eton-jacket style with an abbreviated85 skirt and stout86 little boots laced as if for a walking tour. In the summer Polly appeared in brown cotton made in similar fashion and when she was dragged to some formal affair she would be induced to wear her “heirloom,” a brocaded brown velvet which Ernestine had brought from Paris. Polly was just Polly with her crisp little voice, a heart of gold and a tongue which could be sharp as a battle lance or as tender as pink rosebuds87.
“The only sprite in captivity,” the family dubbed her, pitying her impossible aim—to write grand opera—and never hinting what tragedy lay before her when the tanned face would wrinkle and the bobbed hair turn gray. It was as probable that Polly Harris could write a grand opera as that Betsey Pilrig could lead the Russian ballet—but Polly, as so often happens in the case[142] of “captured sprites,” saw none of the absurdity88 encasing her ambitions.
No one knew just how she lived, for she had the fierce pride of failures. “Sure ’nuff” successes or “comers” are always more amenable89 to loans and helping90 hands. In her sky parlor, the tiptop room in a bohemian New York rooming house, Polly somehow wrested91 from fate and the world at large a living. Limericks and hack92 work of hideous93 monotony and starvation wage with the pride of her family behind her! Her father had been an Ohio judge and her grandfather a senator, while Polly, alone and without resources, had wilfully94 burned family bridges some years before and drifted to New York to write her operas.
Even Polly admitted the first operas were hopeless, bravely burning them as one does old love letters. But grand opera remained her goal; nothing less would or could satisfy her. After seven desperate years of work and insufficient95 means, Polly had become one of the family of the very great and was envied by all; it meant, however, that she took from this family not one jot96 of aid or influence nor permitted them to know whether “we are eating to-day or we are moving our belt strap97 into the next hole.”
Sometimes the family outwitted Polly Harris and helped her in spite of herself, but more often they knew it was kindest to not try. So they did the finest thing of all because the girl’s fine self deserved and demanded it—they took her in as one of them and talked of the day her operas should be sung, listening to her pitiful dreams as kindly98 as they would have listened to Wagner could he have been among them telling of his Rhinegold! Polly had become a character in artistic New York and when the near-great enviously99 urged her to make use of[143] the truly great, to accept some easy position as secretary or companion to this celebrity100 or that, Polly’s eyes would change to angry, storm things and she would turn on them with the threat that they would still see her win out, some day the great theme would come to her and the world admit her success! Then she would repay the beloved family for their kindness in not forcing old clothes and baskets of food, loans of money—as one tipped a maid. Polly would be famous, as famous as Ernestine Christian or Bliss or the lazy deceiver of a Caleb or Collin Hedley whom Polly loved in strange fashion although he was honestly unconscious of the fact.
Until then painting lamp shades at night, writing wretched verse for some wretched publication, doing a child’s song cycle for almost the cost of the music paper, harmonizing impossible marching songs, substituting at a Harlem movie house as the piano player—none of these was too mean for Polly to do since they sustained her until the day the great theme should whisper itself!
“The thing which keeps Polly afloat,” Ernestine had declared, “is that she is glad for every one else who wins out—it has made her so sunny hearted she just can’t go under.”
Polly approached Thurley with open arms, saying in her crisp fashion, “Bliss tells me you have never known father, mother nor telephone number and we can baby you all we like,” bending down unexpectedly to kiss her.
Before Thurley answered, Polly whirled around to demand, “Listen, every one, I’ve come to the conclusion we should all be thankful for anything that makes cold chills go up and down our spines,” dashing into some nonsensical adventure told in her own fashion.
Hobart waited until the conclusion, after which he[144] offered Thurley his arm and led the way into the dining room which proved to be an enclosed sort of terrace with wonderfully imitated flowering shrubs101, green striped awnings102, a lily pool fountain giving a touch of the unreal and illusive103. Wicker chairs, artificial ascension lilies and Canterbury bells were in profusion104. The room was called the “village green,” Caleb whispered to Thurley, and on nights when the thermometer skidded105 below zero, Hobart delighted to come into this exquisite106 little oasis107 of almost tropical heat and make his guests forget the sleet108 and frost without. Two chairs were tipped against their well appointed places, one for Mark Wirth, the dancer, and one for Sam Sparling, the actor, Thurley learned, a family custom always observed.
As they sat about the table, Thurley between Polly and Collin, Polly remarked na?vely:
“I’m trying to get Collin to tell me why women who dabble109 in water colors always paint ‘Pharaoh’s Horses’ with chests like inflated110, tuppenny balloons?”
“How can a mere8 painter of fried egg sunsets answer?” he retorted. “Oh, I say, about Daphne’s wedding present—Polly doesn’t want to send it.”
At which a chorus of “why nots” issued, to which Polly said forcibly:
“Because it will remind her of what she can never have. Pick out some nice, golden oak and green plush article which will do credit to the establishment of one Oscar Human, plumber at large. It will be salve on a throbbing111 wound. Daphne will think, bless her amateurish112 old heart, that it is our choice and being typical of the golden oak and green plush atmosphere which must always be hers, she’ll still feel one of us! But that green metal desk set with silver trim—horrors, think of its shivering with loneliness in Oscar’s back parlor!”
“Right,” Hobart added, “I’ll get the picture of a wistful tabby cat staring at oysters113 fairly shivering in their shells and a battenberg doily underneath—no, that would be too broad—we’ll get—I say, here’s our infant fresh from Birge’s Corners and Birge’s Corners’ brides—nearly one herself if the truth were known! What ho, Thurley, what would you propose to give a Birge’s Corners’ bride that would meet the town’s approval?”
Flushing as she thought of Lorraine’s chest of linens114, the new house which was to cost twenty thousand dollars—and then of Ernestine’s necklace which cost that alone—Thurley, without hesitation115, answered, “Why, a cut glass punch bowl with the silver hooks all around it for the little glasses!”
“The infant is christened,” Hobart pronounced after the applause ended. “I nominate a shopping committee of Ernestine Christian and Thurley Precore.”
During the rest of the supper party Thurley remained a spectator until Hobart whispered that she sing for them and she rose, for the first time in her life, reluctant to obey.
“She has not done well,” she heard Hobart saying as she finished, “stage fright—too few of us—too small a room—the opera stage, five thousand people and she would sing as if her throat were copper116 lined—however—”
Polly Harris finished the sentence for him. “However, if Ernestine wisely realizes the limitations of the pianoforte, Thurley Precore will never have to realize the limitations of her voice.”
Caleb took Ernestine and Thurley home in his machine, Collin and Polly following in the former’s roadster. Being the infant, Thurley was left at her hotel first[146] of all with fond good nights and quips about the sandman’s speedy arrival! She regretted that she was not allowed to whirl about taking Polly home and then Collin and then Ernestine and, finally, to be left alone with this rich, willful novelist-slacker and have him tell about his world even as Ernestine had hinted of hers.
As she undressed, the memories of the evening being rehearsed by her dramatic self and shamedly admitting she had been a stupid country lass who had not sung one-tenth as well as she could, Thurley realized another valuable thing, one which the public does not take the pains to decipher, that artists, in order to be successes, must, per se, acquire definite and almost narrow ways and methods of living such as dressing, recreation and so on, their personalities117 must crystallize and become impenetrable to the onslaught of the personalities which they will undertake to interpret or create. Here, in part, lies the secret of fame. Once one has one’s own self quite modelled and secure from invasion, the tortures of creation and interpretation118 become but the day’s work just as the man with grimy hands polishes the most expensive limousine119 body and returns homeward via a street car.
The members of the family had distinct and original personalities—true, they did not seem to be the complement120 of their forms of artistic achievement; Collin’s pictures never reminded one of Collin nor Ernestine’s programs have many of her own favorites, but back of their work, a haven to temperament121, stood these people’s personalities which carried them bravely on the tidal wave of success. Whether or not something else stood behind these personalities and formed the universal trinity of expression was to be determined122 later—when one did not suggest cut glass punch bowls with hooks as wedding gifts!
But as Thurley lay down to sleep, too excited to remember Birge’s Corners, she determined with amusing worldliness to set to work developing her own personality, to both pamper123 and crystallize it, pitting it against this wild rose Thurley who blushed and who sneezed—unpoetic truth—just when she should not!
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
tardiness
|
|
| n.缓慢；迟延；拖拉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
fatiguing
|
|
| a.使人劳累的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
dubbed
|
|
| v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
clergy
|
|
| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
archaic
|
|
| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
cowardice
|
|
| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
heroism
|
|
| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
attain
|
|
| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
bungalow
|
|
| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
parlor
|
|
| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
bowling
|
|
| n.保龄球运动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
dressing
|
|
| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
luminaries
|
|
| n.杰出人物，名人（luminary的复数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
annoyance
|
|
| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
Ford
|
|
| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
advancement
|
|
| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
artistic
|
|
| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
stimulating
|
|
| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
reindeer
|
|
| n.驯鹿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
oyster
|
|
| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
caustic
|
|
| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
overdone
|
|
| v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
bliss
|
|
| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
dominion
|
|
| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
frolicsome
|
|
| adj.嬉戏的，闹着玩的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
orchids
|
|
| n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
dictatorial
|
|
| adj. 独裁的，专断的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
supreme
|
|
| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
bribed
|
|
| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
velvet
|
|
| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
lark
|
|
| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
languor
|
|
| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
propped
|
|
| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
tantalizing
|
|
| adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
superfluous
|
|
| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
rouge
|
|
| n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
awesome
|
|
| adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
decorative
|
|
| adj.装饰的，可作装饰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
velvety
|
|
| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
Portuguese
|
|
| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
promising
|
|
| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
prodigy
|
|
| n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
memorable
|
|
| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
advent
|
|
| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
demonstration
|
|
| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
dispense
|
|
| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
lull
|
|
| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
grudgingly
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
bribes
|
|
| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
makers
|
|
| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
plumber
|
|
| n.(装修水管的)管子工 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
embittered
|
|
| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
soothing
|
|
| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
makeup
|
|
| n.组织；性格；化装品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
sonnet
|
|
| n.十四行诗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
majestic
|
|
| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
homely
|
|
| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
bestows
|
|
| 赠给，授予( bestow的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
premium
|
|
| n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
wretch
|
|
| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
gracefully
|
|
| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
chameleon
|
|
| n.变色龙，蜥蜴；善变之人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
haven
|
|
| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
defiantly
|
|
| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
attic
|
|
| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
villain
|
|
| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
joyous
|
|
| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
plebeian
|
|
| adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
dyke
|
|
| n.堤，水坝，排水沟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
combative
|
|
| adj.好战的；好斗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
prophesy
|
|
| v.预言；预示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
cuff
|
|
| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
dealer
|
|
| n.商人，贩子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
inevitably
|
|
| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
abbreviated
|
|
| adj. 简短的，省略的 动词abbreviate的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
rosebuds
|
|
| 蔷薇花蕾，妙龄少女，初入社交界的少女( rosebud的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
absurdity
|
|
| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
amenable
|
|
| adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
helping
|
|
| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
wrested
|
|
| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
hack
|
|
| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
hideous
|
|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
wilfully
|
|
| adv.任性固执地；蓄意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
insufficient
|
|
| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
jot
|
|
| n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
strap
|
|
| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
enviously
|
|
| adv.满怀嫉妒地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
celebrity
|
|
| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
shrubs
|
|
| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
awnings
|
|
| 篷帐布 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
illusive
|
|
| adj.迷惑人的，错觉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
profusion
|
|
| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
skidded
|
|
| v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
oasis
|
|
| n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
sleet
|
|
| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
dabble
|
|
| v.涉足，浅赏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
inflated
|
|
| adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
throbbing
|
|
| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
amateurish
|
|
| n.业余爱好的，不熟练的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
oysters
|
|
| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
linens
|
|
| n.亚麻布( linen的名词复数 )；家庭日用织品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
hesitation
|
|
| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
copper
|
|
| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
personalities
|
|
| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
interpretation
|
|
| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
limousine
|
|
| n.豪华轿车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
complement
|
|
| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
temperament
|
|
| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
pamper
|
|
| v.纵容，过分关怀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |