SHE comes not yet! her cheerful form, not yet it sparkles in our mournful sky. She comes not yet! the shadowy stars seem sad and lustreless1 without their Queen. She comes not yet!’
‘She comes not yet! her sacred form, not yet it summons to our holy feast. She comes not yet! our brethren far wait mute and motionless the saintly beam. She comes not yet!’
‘WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO HERALD LIGHT.’
‘She comes, she comes! her beauteous form sails with soft splendour in the glittering air. She comes, she comes! The beacons4 fire, and tell the nation that the month begins! She comes, she comes!’
‘WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, TO TELL THE NATION THAT THE MONTH BEGINS.’
Instantly the holy watchers fired the beacons on the mountain top, and anon a thousand flames blazed round the land. From Caucasus to Lebanon, on every peak a crown of light.
‘Sire! a Tatar has arrived from Hamadan, who will see none but thyself. I have told him your Highness was engaged, and sent him to the Lord Honain; but all denial is lost upon him. And as I thought perhaps the Lady Miriam——’
‘From Hamadan? You did well, Pharez. Admit him.’
The Tatar entered.
‘Well, Sir; good news, I hope!’
‘Sire, pardon me, the worst. I come from the Lord Abner, with orders to see the Caliph, and none else.’
‘Well, Sir, you see the Caliph. Your mission? What of the Viceroy?’
‘Sire, he bade me tell thee, that, the moment the beacon3 that announced the Feast of the New Moon was fired on Caucasus, the dreaded5 monarch7 of Karasmé, the great Alp Arslan, entered thy kingdom, and now overruns all Persia.’
‘Hah! and Abner?’
‘Is in the field, and prays for aid.’
‘He shall have it. This is indeed great news! When left you Hamadan?’
‘Night and day I have journeyed upon the swiftest dromedary. The third morn sees me at Bagdad.’
‘You have done your duty. See this faithful courier be well tended, Pharez. Summon the Lord Honain.’
‘Alp Arslan! Hah! a very famous warrior8. The moment the beacon was fired. No sudden impulse then, but long matured. I like it not.’
‘Sire,’ said Pharez, re-entering, ‘a Tatar has arrived from the frontiers of the province, who will see none but thyself. I have told him your Highness was deeply busied, and as methinks he brings but the same news, I——’
‘‘Tis very likely; yet never think, good Pharez. I’ll see the man.’ The Tatar entered.
‘Well, Sir, how now! from whom?’
‘From Mozul. The Governor bade me see the Caliph and none else, and tell your Highness that the moment the beacon that announced the Feast of the New Moon was fired on the mountains, the fell rebel Abidan raised the standard of Judah in the province, and proclaimed war against your Majesty9.’
‘In any force?’
‘The royal power keeps within their walls.’
‘Sufficient answer. Part of the same movement. We shall have some trouble. Hast summoned Honain?’
‘I have, Sire.’
‘Go, see this messenger be duly served, and, Pharez, come hither: let none converse10 with them. You understand?’
‘Your Highness may assure yourself.’
‘Abidan come to life. He shall not escape so well this time. I must see Scherirah. I much suspect——what’s this? More news!’
A third Tatar entered.
‘May it please your Highness, this Tatar has arrived from the Syrian frontier.’
‘Sire! pardon me; I bear but sad intelligence.’
‘Out with the worst!’
‘I come from the Lord Medad.’
‘Ah! no, dread6 Sire, Lord Medad has no thought but for thy glory. Alas14! alas! he has now to guard it against fearful odds15. Lord Medad bade me see the Caliph and none else, and tell your Highness, that the moment the beacon which announced the Feast of the New Moon was fired on Lebanon, the Sultan of Roum and the old Arabian Caliph unfurled the standard of their Prophet, in great array, and are now marching towards Bagdad.’
‘A clear conspiracy16! Has Honain arrived? Summon a council of the Vizirs instantly. The world is up against me. Well! I’m sick of peace. They shall not find me napping!’
‘You see, my lords,’ said Alroy, ere the council broke up, ‘we must attack them singly. There can be no doubt of that. If they join, we must combat at great odds. ‘Tis in detail that we must route them. I will myself to Persia. Ithamar must throw himself between the Sultan and Abidan, Medad fall back on Ithamar. Scherirah must guard the capital. Honain, you are Regent. And so farewell. I shall set off to-night. Courage, brave companions. ‘Tis a storm, but many a cedar17 survives the thunderbolt.’
The council broke up.
‘My own Scherirah!’ said the Caliph, as they retired18, ‘stay awhile. I would speak with you alone. Honain,’ continued Alroy, following the Grand Vizir out of the chamber19, and leaving Scherirah alone, ‘Honain, I have not yet interchanged a word with you in private. What think you of all this?’
‘Sire, I am prepared for the worst, but hope the best.’
‘‘Tis wise. If Abner could only keep that Karasmian in check! I am about to speak with Scherirah alone. I do suspect him much.’
‘I’ll answer for his treason.’
‘Hah! I do suspect him. Therefore I give him no command. I would not have him too near his old companion, eh? We will garrison20 the city with his rebels.’
‘Sire, these are not moments to be nice. Scherirah is a valiant21 captain, a very valiant captain, but lend me thy signet ring, I pray thee, Sire.’
Alroy turned pale.
‘No, Sir, it has left me once, and never shall again. You have touched upon a string that makes me sad. There is a burden on my conscience, why, or what, I know not. I am innocent, you know I am innocent, Honain!’
‘I’ll answer for your Highness. He who has enough of the milk of human kindness to spare a thing like Scherirah, when he stands in his way, may well be credited for the nobler mercy that spared his better.’
‘Ah me! there’s madness in the thought. Why is he not here? Had I but followed; tush! tush! Go see the Queen, and tell her all that has happened. I’ll to Scherirah.’
The Caliph returned.
‘Your Highness is too considerate.’
‘You see, Scherirah, how the wind blows, brave heart. There’s much to do, no doubt. I am in sad want of some right trusty friend, on whose devoted23 bosom24 I can pillow all my necessities. I was thinking of sending you against this Arslan, but perhaps ‘tis better that I should go myself. These are moments one should not seem to shrink, and yet we know not how affairs may run; no, we know not. The capital, the surrounding province: one disaster and these false Moslemin may rise against us. I should stay here, but if I leave Scherirah, I leave myself. I feel that deeply; ‘tis a consolation26. It may be that I must fall back upon the city. Be prepared, Scherirah. Let me fall back upon supporting friends. You have a great trust. Oh! use it wisely! Worthily27 I am sure you must do.’
‘Your Highness may rest assured I have no other thought but for your weal and glory. Doubt not my devotion, Sire. I am not one of those mealy-mouthed youths, full of their own deeds and lip-worship, Sire, but I have a life devoted to your service, and ready at all times to peril28 all things.’
‘I know that, Scherirah, I know it; I feel it deeply. What think you of these movements?’
‘They are not ill combined, and yet I doubt not your Majesty will prove your fortunes most triumphant29.’
‘Think you the soldiery are in good cue?’ ‘I’ll answer for my own. They are rough fellows, like myself, a little too blunt, perhaps, your Highness. We are not holiday guards, but we know our duty, and we will do it.’
‘That’s well, that’s all I want. I shall review the troops before I go. Let a donative be distributed among them; and, ‘by-the-bye, I have always forgotten it, your legion should be called the Legion of Syria. We owe our fairest province to their arms.’
‘I shall convey to them your Highness’ wish. Were it possible, ‘twould add to their devotion.’
‘I do not wish it. They are my very children. Sup at the Serail to-night, Scherirah. We shall be very private. Yet let us drink together ere we part. We are old friends, you know. Hast not forgotten our ruined city?’
Alroy entered the apartment of Schirene. ‘My soul! thou knowest all?’
She sprang forward and threw her arms around his neck.
‘Fear not, my life, we’ll not disgrace our Queen. ‘Twill be quick work. Two-thirds of them have been beaten before, and for the new champion, our laurels30 must not fade, and his blood shall nourish fresh ones.’
‘Dearest, dearest Alroy, go not thyself, I pray thee. May not Asriel conquer?’
‘I hope so, in my company. For a time we part, a short one. ‘Tis our first parting: may it be our last!’
‘Oh! no, no, no: oh! say not we must part.’
‘I will not quit thee, no! I will not quit thee. What business has Schirene without Alroy? Hast thou not often told me I am thy inspiration? In the hour of danger shall I be wanting? Never! I will not quit thee; no, I will not quit thee.’
‘Thou art ever present in my thoughts, my soul. In the battle I shall think of her for whom alone I conquer.’
‘Nay33, nay, I’ll go, indeed I must, Alroy. I’ll be no hindrance34, trust me, sweet boy, I will not. I’ll have no train, no, not a single maid. Credit me, I know how a true soldier’s wife should bear herself. I’ll watch thee sleeping, and I’ll tend thee wounded, and when thou goest forth36 to combat I’ll gird thy sabre round thy martial37 side, and whisper triumph with victorious38 kisses.’
‘My own Schirene, there’s victory in thine eyes. We’ll beat them, girl.’
‘Abidan, doubly false Abidan! would he were doubly hanged! Ere she died, the fatal prophetess foretold39 this time, and gloated on his future treachery.’
‘Think not of him.’
‘And the Karasmian; think you he is very strong?’ ‘Enough, love, for our glory. He is a potent40 warrior: I trust that Abner will not rob us of our intended victory.’
‘So you triumph, I care not by whose sword. Dost go indeed to-morrow?’
‘At break of dawn. I pray thee stay, my sweet!’ ‘Never! I will not quit thee. I am quite prepared. At break of dawn? ‘Tis near on midnight now. I’ll lay me down upon this couch awhile, and travel in my litter. Art sure Alp Arslan is himself in the field?’
‘Quite sure, my sweet.’
‘Confusion on his crown! We’ll conquer. Goes Asriel with us?’ ‘Ay!’
‘Do, my best heart; I’ll to my cabinet, and at break of dawn I’ll wake thee with a kiss.’
The Caliph repaired to his cabinet, where his secretaries were occupied in writing. As he paced the chamber, he dictated42 to them the necessary instructions.
‘Who is the officer on guard?’
‘Benaiah, Sire.’
‘I remember him. He saved me a broken skull43 upon the Tigris. This is for him. The Queen accompanies us. She is his charge. These papers for the Vizir. Let the troops be under arms by daybreak. This order of the day for the Lord Asriel. Send this instantly to Hamadan. Is the Tatar despatched to Medad? ‘Tis well. You have done your duty. Now to rest. Pharez?’
‘My lord.’
‘I shall not sleep to-night. Give me my drink. Go rest, good boy. I have no wants. Good night.’
‘Good night, my gracious lord!’
‘Let me ponder! I am alone. I am calm, and yet my spirit is not quick. I am not what I was. Four-and-twenty hours ago who would have dreamed of this? All at stake again! Once more in the field, and struggling at once for empire and existence! I do lack the mighty44 spirit of my former days. I am not what I was. I have little faith. All about me seems changed, and dull, and grown mechanical. Where are those flashing eyes and conquering visages that clustered round me on the battle eve, round me, the Lord’s anointed? I see none such. They are changed, as I am. Why! this Abidan was a host, and now he fights against me. She spoke46 of the prophetess; I remember that woman was the stirring trumpet of our ranks, and now where is she? The victim of my justice! And where is he, the mightier47 far, the friend, the counsellor, the constant guide, the master of my boyhood; the firm, the fond, the faithful guardian48 of all my bright career; whose days and nights were one unbroken study to make me glorious? Alas! I feel more like a doomed50 and desperate renegade than a young hero on the eve of battle, flushed with the memory of unbroken triumphs!
‘Hah! what awful form art thou that risest from the dusky earth before me? Thou shouldst be one I dare not name, yet will: the likeness51 of Jabaster. Away! why frownest thou upon me? I did not slay52 thee. Do I live, or dream, or what? I see him, ay! I see thee. I fear thee not, I fear nothing. I am Alroy.
‘Speak, oh speak! I do conjure53 thee, mighty spectre, speak. By all the memory of the past, although ‘tis madness, I do conjure thee, let me hear again the accents of my boyhood.’
‘Alroy, Alroy, Alroy!’
‘Meet me on the plain of Nehauend.’
‘‘Tis gone! As it spoke it vanished. It was Jabaster! God of my fathers, it was Jabaster! Life is growing too wild. My courage is broken! I could lie down and die. It was Jabaster! The voice sounds in my ear like distant thunder: “Meet me on the plain of Nehauend.” I’ll not fail thee, noble ghost, although I meet my doom49. Jabaster! Have I seen Jabaster! Indeed! indeed! Methinks I’m mad. Hah! What’s that?’
An awful clap of thunder broke over the palace, followed by a strange clashing sound that seemed to come from one of the chambers54. The walls of the Serail rocked.
‘An earthquake!’ exclaimed Alroy. ‘Would that the earth would open and swallow all! Hah! Pharez, has it roused thee, too? Pharez, we live in strange times.’
‘Your Highness is very pale.’
‘And so art thou, lad! Wouldst have me merry? Pale! we may well be pale, didst thou know all. Hah! that awful sound again! I cannot bear it, Pharez, I cannot bear it. I have borne many things, but this I cannot.’
‘My lord, ‘tis in the Armoury.’
‘Run, see. No, I’ll not be alone. Where’s Benaiah? Let him go. Stay with me, Pharez, stay with me. I pray thee stay, my child.’
Pharez led the Caliph to a couch, on which Alroy lay pale and trembling. In a few minutes he inquired whether Benaiah had returned.
‘Even now he comes, Sire.’
‘Well, how is it?’
‘Sire! a most awful incident. As the thunder broke over the palace, the sacred standard fell from its resting-place, and has shivered into a thousand pieces. Strange to say, the sceptre of Solomon can neither be found nor traced.’
‘Say nothing of the past, as ye love me, lads. Let none enter the Armoury. Leave me, Benaiah, leave me, Pharez.’
They retired. Alroy watched their departure with a glance of inexpressible anguish55. The moment that they had disappeared, he flew to the couch, and throwing himself upon his knees, and, covering his face with his hands, burst into passionate56 tears, and exclaimed, ‘O! my God, I have deserted57 thee, and now thou hast deserted me!’
Sleep crept over the senses of the exhausted58 and desperate Caliph. He threw himself upon the divan59, and was soon buried in profound repose60. He might have slept an hour; he awoke suddenly. From the cabinet in which he slept, you entered a vast hall, through a lofty and spacious61 arch, generally covered with drapery, which was now withdrawn62. To the astonishment64 of Alroy, this presence-chamber appeared at this moment to blaze with light. He rose from his couch, he advanced; he perceived, with feelings of curiosity and fear, that the hall was filled with beings, terrible indeed to behold65, but to his sight more terrible than strange. In the colossal66 and mysterious forms that lined the walls of the mighty chamber, and each of which held in its extended arm a streaming torch, he recognised the awful Afrites. At the end of the hall, upon a sumptuous67 throne, surrounded by priests and courtiers, there was seated a monarch, on whom Alroy had before gazed, Solomon the Great! Alroy beheld68 him in state and semblance69 the same Solomon, whose sceptre the Prince of the Captivity70 had seized in the royal tombs of Judah.
The strange assembly seemed perfectly71 unconscious of the presence of the child of Earth, who, with a desperate courage, leant against a column of the arch, and watched, with wonder, their mute and motionless society. Nothing was said, nothing done. No one moved, no one, even by gesture, seemed sensible of the presence of any other apparition72 save himself.
Suddenly there advanced from the bottom of the hall, near unto Alroy, a procession. Pages and dancing girls, with eyes of fire and voluptuous73 gestures, warriors74 with mighty arms, and venerable forms with ample robes and flowing beards. And, as they passed, even with all the activity of their gestures, they made no sound; neither did the musicians, whereof there was a great band playing upon harps76 and psalteries, and timbrels and cornets, break, in the slightest degree, the almighty77 silence.
This great crowd poured on in beautiful order, the procession never terminating, yet passing thrice round the hall, bowing to him that was upon the throne, and ranging themselves in ranks before the Afrites.
And there came in twelve forms, bearing a great seal: the stone green, and the engraven characters of living flame, and the characters were those on the talisman78 of Jabaster, which Alroy still wore next to his heart. And the twelve forms placed the great seal before Solomon, and humbled79 themselves, and the King bowed. At the same moment Alroy was sensible of a pang80 next to his heart. He instantly put his hand to the suffering spot, and lo! the talisman crumbled81 into dust.
The procession ceased; a single form advanced. Recent experience alone prevented Alroy from sinking before the spectre of Jabaster. Such was the single form. It advanced, bearing the sceptre. It advanced, it knelt before the throne, it offered the sceptre to the crowned and solemn vision. And the form of Solomon extended its arm, and took the sceptre, and instantly the mighty assembly vanished!
Alroy advanced immediately into the chamber, but all was dark and silent. A trumpet sounded. He recognised the note of his own soldiery. He groped his way to a curtain, and, pulling it aside, beheld the first streak83 of dawn.
Once more upon his charger, once more surrounded by his legions, once more his senses dazzled and inflamed84 by the waving banners and the inspiring trumpets85, once more conscious of the power still at his command, and the mighty stake for which he was about to play, Alroy in a great degree recovered his usual spirit and self-possession. His energy returned with his excited pulse, and the vastness of the impending86 danger seemed only to stimulate87 the fertility of his genius.
He pushed on by forced marches towards Media, at the head of fifty thousand men. At the end of the second day’s march, fresh couriers arrived from Abner, informing him that, unable to resist the valiant and almost innumerable host of the King of Karasmé, he had entirely88 evacuated89 Persia, and had concentrated his forces in Louristan. Alroy, in consequence of this information, despatched orders to Scherirah, to join him with his division instantly, and leave the capital to its fate.
They passed again the mountains of Kerrund, and joined Abner and the army of Media, thirty thousand strong, on the river Abzah. Here Alroy rested one night, to refresh his men, and on the ensuing morn pushed on to the Persian frontier, unexpectedly attacked the advanced posts of Alp Arslan, and beat them back with great loss into the province. But the force of the King of Karasmé was so considerable, that the Caliph did not venture on a general engagement, and therefore he fell back, and formed in battle array upon the neighbouring plain of Nehauend, the theatre of one of his earliest and most brilliant victories, where he awaited the hourly-expected arrival of Scherirah.
The King of Karasmé, who was desirous of bringing affairs to an issue, and felt confident in his superior force, instantly advanced. In two or three days at farthest, it was evident that a battle must be fought that would decide the fate of the East.
On the morn ensuing their arrival at Nehauend, while the Caliph was out hunting, attended only by a few officers, he was suddenly attacked by an ambushed91 band of Karasmians. Alroy and his companions defended themselves with such desperation that they at length succeeded in beating off their assailants, although triple their number. The leader of the Karasmians, as he retreated, hurled92 a dart93 at the Caliph, which must have been fatal, had not a young officer of the guard interposed his own breast, and received the deadly wound. The party, in confusion, returned with all speed to the camp, Alroy himself bearing the expiring victim of desperate loyalty94 and military enthusiasm.
The bleeding officer was borne to the royal pavilion, and placed upon the imperial couch. The most skilful95 leech96 was summoned; he examined the wound, but shook his head. The dying warrior was himself sensible of his desperate condition. His agony could only be alleviated97 by withdrawing the javelin98, which would occasion his immediate82 decease. He desired to be left alone with his Sovereign.
‘Sire!’ said the officer, ‘I must die; and I die without a pang. To die in your service, I have ever considered the most glorious end. Destiny has awarded it to me;, and if I have not met my fate upon the field of battle, it is some consolation that my death has preserved the most valuable of lives. Sire! I have a sister.’
‘Waste not thy strength, dear friend, in naming her. Rest assured I shall ever deem thy relatives my own.’
‘I doubt it not. Would I had a thousand lives for such a master! I have a burden on my conscience, Sire, nor can I die in peace unless I speak of it.’
‘Speak, speak freely. If thou hast injured any one, and the power or wealth of Alroy can redeem99 thy oppressed spirit, he will not spare, he will not spare, be assured of that.’
‘Noble, noble master, I must be brief; for, although, while this javelin rests within my body, I yet may live, the agony is great. Sire, the deed of which I speak doth concern thee.’
‘Ay!’
‘I was on guard the day Jabaster died.’
‘Powers of heaven! I am all ear. Speak on, speak on!’
‘He died self-strangled, so they say?’
‘So they ever told me.’
‘Thou art innocent, thou art innocent! I thank my God, my King is innocent!’
‘Rest assured of that, as there is hope in Israel. Tell me all.’
‘The Queen came with the signet ring. To such authority I yielded way. She entered, and after her, the Lord Honain. I heard high words! I heard Jabaster’s voice. He struggled, yes! he struggled; but his mighty form, wounded and fettered100, could not long resist. Foul101 play, foul play, Sire! What could I do against such adversaries102? They left the chamber with a stealthy step. Her eyes met mine. I never could forget that fell and glittering visage.’
‘Thou ne’er hast spoken of this awful end?’
‘To none but thee. And why I speak it now I cannot tell, save that it seems some inspiration urges me; and methinks they who did this may do even feller works, if such there be.’
‘Thou hast robbed me of all peace and hope of peace; and yet I thank thee. Now I know the worth of life. I have never loved to think of that sad day; and yet, though I have sometimes dreamed of villainous work, the worst were innocence103 to thy dread tale.’
‘Tis told; and now I pray thee secure thy secret, by drawing from my agonised frame this javelin.’
‘Trusty heart, ‘tis a sad office.’
‘I die with joy if thou performest it.’
‘‘Tis done.’
‘God save Alroy.’
While Alroy, plunged104 in thought, stood over the body of the officer, there arose a flourish of triumphant music, and a eunuch, entering the pavilion, announced the arrival of Schirene from Kerrund. Almost immediately afterwards, the Princess descending105 from her litter, entered the tent; Alroy tore off his robe, and threw it over the corpse106.
‘My own,’ exclaimed the Princess, as she ran up to the Caliph. ‘I have heard all. Be not alarmed for me. I dare look upon a corpse. You know I am a soldier’s bride. I am used to blood.’
‘Alas!’
‘Why so pale? Thou dost not kiss me! Has this unhinged thee so? ‘Tis a sad deed; and yet tomorrow’s dawn may light up thousands to as grim a fate. Why? thou tremblest! Alas! kind soul! The single death of this fond, faithful heart hath quite upset my love. Yet art thou used to battle. Why! this is foolishness. Art not glad to see me? What, not one smile! And I have come to fight for thee! I will be kissed!’
She flung herself upon his neck. Alroy faintly returned her embrace, and bore her to a couch. He clapped his hands, and two soldiers entered and bore away the corpse.
‘The pavilion, Schirene, is now fitter for thy presence. Rest thyself; I shall soon return.’ Thus speaking, he quitted her.
He quitted her; but her humbled look of sorrowful mortification107 pierced to his heart. He thought of all her love and all her loveliness, he called to mind all the marvellous story of their united fortunes. He felt that for her and her alone he cared to live, that without her quick sympathy, even success seemed unendurable. His judgment108 fluctuated in an eddy109 of passion and reason. Passion conquered. He dismissed from his intelligence all cognizance of good and evil; he determined110, under all circumstances, to cling ever to her; he tore from his mind all memory of the late disclosure. He returned to the pavilion with a countenance111 beaming with affection; he found her weeping, he folded her in his arms, he kissed her with a thousand kisses, and whispered between each kiss his ardent112 love.
‘Twas midnight. Schirene reposed113 in the arms of Alroy. The Caliph, who was restless and anxious for the arrival of Scherirah, was scarcely slumbering114 when the sound of a voice thoroughly116 aroused him. He looked around; he beheld the spectre of Jabaster. His hair stood on end, his limbs seemed to loosen, a cold dew crept over his frame, as he gazed upon the awful form within a yard of his couch. Unconsciously he disembarrassed his arms of their fair burden, and, rising on the couch, leant forward.
‘Alroy, Alroy, Alroy!’
‘I am here.’
‘Who is that?’ exclaimed the Princess, wakening.
In a frenzy118 of fear, Alroy, quite forgetting the spectre, turned and pressed his hand over her eyes. When he again looked round the apparition was invisible.
‘What wouldst thou, Alroy?’
‘Nothing, sweet! A soldier’s wife must bear strange sights, yet I would save you some. One of my men, forgetful you were here, burst into my tent in such a guise119 as scarce would suit a female eye. I must away, my child. I’ll call thy slaves. One kiss! Farewell! but for a time.’
‘“To-morrow Israel will be avenged.” What! in Karasmian blood? I have no faith. No matter. All is now beyond my influence. A rushing destiny carries me onward120. I cannot stem the course, nor guide the vessel121. How now! Who is the officer on guard?’
‘Benomi, Sire, thy servant.’
‘Send to the Viceroy. Bid him meet me here. Who is this?’
‘A courier from the Lord Scherirah, Sire, but just arrived. He passed last night the Kerrund mountains, Sire, and will be with you by the break of day.’
‘Good news. Go fetch Abner. Haste! He’ll find me here anon. I’ll visit the camp awhile. Well, my brave fellows, you have hither come to conquer again with Alroy. You have fought before, I warrant, on the plain of Nehauend. ‘Tis a rich soil, and shall be richer with Karasmian gore122.’
‘God save your Majesty! Our lives are thine.’
‘Please you, my little ruler,’ said a single soldier, addressing Alroy; ‘pardon my bluntness, but I knew you before you were a Caliph.’
‘I was a-saying, I hope you will lead us in the charge to-morrow. Some say you will not.’
‘They say falsely.’
‘I thought so. I’ll ever answer for my little ruler, but then the Queen?’
‘Is a true soldier’s wife, and lives in the camp.’
‘That’s brave! There, I told you so, comrades; you would not believe me, but I knew our little ruler before you did. I lived near the gate at Hamadan, please your Highness: old Shelomi’s son.’
‘Give me thy hand; a real friend. What is’t ye eat here, boys? Let me taste your mess. I’faith I would my cook could dress me such a pilau! Tis admirable!’
The soldiers gathered round their chieftain with eyes beaming with adoration124. ‘Twas a fine picture, the hero in the centre, the various groups around, some conversing125 with him, some cooking, some making coffee, all offering him by word or deed some testimonial of their devotion, and blending with that devotion the most perfect frankness.
‘We shall beat them, lads!’
‘There is no fear with you, you always conquer.’
‘I do my best, and so do you. A good general without good troops is little worth.’
‘I’faith that’s true. One must have good troops. What think you of Alp Arslan?’
‘I think he may give us as much trouble as all our other enemies together, and that’s not much.’
‘Brave, brave! God save Alroy!’
Benomi approached, and announced that the Viceroy was in attendance.
‘I must quit you, my children,’ said Alroy. ‘We’ll sup once more together when we have conquered.’
‘God save you, Sire; and we will confound your enemies.’
‘Good night, my lads. Ere the dawn break we may have hot work.’
‘We are ready, we are ready. God save Alroy.’
‘They are in good cue, and yet ‘twas a different spirit that inspired our early days. That I strongly feel. These are men true to a leader who has never failed them, and confident in a cause that leads to plunder126. They are but splendid mercenaries.
No more. Oh! where are now the fighting men of Judah! Where are the men who, when they drew their scimitars, joined in a conquering psalm127 of holy triumph! Last eve of battle you would have thought the field a mighty synagogue. Priests and altars, flaming sacrifices, and smoking censers, groups of fiery128 zealots hanging with frenzy on prophetic lips, and sealing with their blood and holiest vows130 a solemn covenant132 to conquer Canaan. All is changed, as I am. How now, Abner? You are well muffled133!’
‘Is it true Scherirah is at hand?’
‘I doubt not all is right. Would that the dawn would break!’
‘The enemy is advancing. Some of their columns are in sight. My scouts134 have dodged135 them. They intend doubtless to form upon the plain.’
‘They are in sight, eh! Then we will attack them at once ere they are formed. Rare, rare! We’ll beat them yet. Courage, dear brother. Scherirah will be here at dawn in good time, very good time: very, very good time.’
‘I like the thought’
‘The men are in good heart. At break of dawn, charge with thirty thousand cavalry136 upon their forming ranks. I’ll take the right, Asriel the left. It shall be a family affair, dear Abner. How is Miriam?’
‘I heard this morn, quite well. She sends you her love and prayers. The Queen is here?’
‘She came this eve. Quite well.’
‘She must excuse all courtesy.’
‘Say nothing. She is a soldier’s wife. She loves thee well, dear Abner.’
‘I know that. I hope my sword may guard her children’s throne.’
‘Well, give thy orders. Instant battle, eh?’
‘Indeed I think so.’
‘I’ll send couriers to hurry Scherirah. All looks well. Reserve the guard.’
‘Ay, ay! Farewell, dear Sire. When we meet again, I trust your enemies may be your slaves!’
At the first streak of dawn the Hebrew cavalry, with the exception of the Guard, charged the advancing columns of the Karasmians with irresistible137 force, and cut them in pieces. Alp Arslan rallied his troops, and at length succeeded in forming his main body in good order. Alroy and Asriel led on their divisions, and the battle now became general. It raged for several hours, and was on both sides well maintained. The slaughter138 of the Karasmians was great, but their stern character and superior numbers counterbalanced for a time all the impetuosity of the Hebrews and all the energy of their leaders. This day Alroy threw into the shade all his former exploits. Twelve times he charged at the head of the Sacred Guard, and more than once penetrated140 to the very pavilion of Alp Arslan.
In vain he endeavoured singly, and hand to hand, to meet that famous chieftain. Both monarchs141 fought in the ranks, and yet Fate decided142 that their scimitars should never cross. Four hours before noon, it was evident to Alroy, that, unless Scherirah arrived, he could not prevail against the vast superiority of numbers. He was obliged early to call his reserve into the field, and although the number of the slain143 on the side of Arslan exceeded any in the former victories of the Hebrews, still the Karasmians maintained an immense front, which was constantly supplied by fresh troops. Confident in his numbers, and aware of the weakness of his antagonists144, Arslan contented145 himself with acting146 on the defensive147, and wearying his assailants by resisting their terrible and repeated charge.
For a moment, Alroy at the head of the Sacred Guard had withdrawn from the combat. Abner and Asriel still maintained the fight, and the Caliph was at the same time preparing for new efforts, and watching with anxiety for the arrival of Scherirah. In the fifth hour, from an eminence148 he marked with exultation149 the advancing banners of his expected succours. Confident now that the day was won, he announced the exhilarating intelligence to his soldiers; and, while they were excited by the animating150 tidings, led them once more to the charge. It was irresistible; Scherirah seemed to have arrived only for the pursuit, only in time to complete the victory. What then was the horror, the consternation151 of Alroy, when Benaiah, dashing up to him, informed him that the long-expected succours consisted of the united forces of Scherirah and Abidan, and had attacked him in the rear. Human genius could afford no resource. The exhausted Hebrews, whose energies had been tasked to the utmost, were surrounded. The Karasmians made a general and simultaneous advance. In a few minutes the Hebrew army was thrown into confusion. The stoutest152 warriors threw away their swords in despair. Every one thought only of self-preservation. Even Abner fled towards Hamadan. Asriel was slain. Alroy, finding it was all over, rushed to his pavilion at the head of about three hundred of the guards, seized the fainting Schirene, threw her before him on his saddle, and cutting his way through all obstacles, dashed into the desert.
For eight-and-forty hours they never stopped. Their band was soon reduced one-third. On the morning of the third day they dismounted and refreshed themselves at a well. Half only regained153 their saddles. Schirene never spoke. On they rushed again, each hour losing some exhausted co-mate. At length, on the fifth day, about eighty strong, they arrived at a grove154 of palm-trees. Here they dismounted. And Alroy took Schirene in his arms, and the shade seemed to revive her. She opened her eyes, and pressed his hand and smiled. He gathered her some dates, and she drank some water.
Again they mounted, and, proceeding157 at a less rapid pace, they arrived towards evening at the ruined city, whither Alroy all this time had been directing his course. Dashing down the great street, they at length entered the old amphitheatre. They dismounted. Alroy made a couch with their united cloaks for Schirene. Some collected fuel, great store of which was found, and kindled158 large fires. Others, while it was yet light, chased the gazelles, and were sufficiently159 fortunate to provide their banquet, or fetched water from the well known to their leader. In an hour’s time, clustering round their fires in groups, and sharing their rude fare, you might have deemed them, instead of the discomfited160 and luxurious161 guards of a mighty monarch, the accustomed tenants162 of this wild abode163.
‘Come, my lads,’ said Alroy, as he rubbed his hands over the ascending164 flame, ‘at any rate, this is better than the desert.’
After all his exertions166, Alroy fell into profound and dreamless sleep. When he awoke, the sun had been long up. Schirene was still slumbering. He embraced her, and she opened her eyes and smiled.
‘You are now a bandit’s bride,’ he said. ‘How like you our new life?’
‘Well! with thee.’
‘Rest here, my sweetest: I must rouse our men, and see how fortune speeds.’ So saying, and tripping lightly over many a sleeping form, he touched Benaiah.
‘So! my brave captain of the guard, still napping! Come! stir, stir.’
Benaiah jumped up with a cheerful face. ‘I am ever ready, Sire.’
‘I know it; but remember I am no more a king, only a co-mate. Away with me, and let us form some order.’
The companions quitted the amphitheatre and reconnoitred the adjoining buildings. They found many stores, the remains167 of old days, mats, tents, and fuel, drinking-bowls, and other homely168 furniture. They fixed169 upon a building for their stable, and others for the accommodation of their band. They summoned their companions to the open place, the scene of Hassan Subah’s fate, where Alroy addressed them and explained to them his plans. They were divided into companies; each man had his allotted170 duty. Some were placed on guard at different parts; some were sent out to the chase, or to collect dates from the Oasis171; others led the horses to the contiguous pasture, or remained to attend to their domestic arrangements. The amphitheatre was cleared out. A rude but convenient pavilion was formed for Schirene. They covered its ground with mats, and each emulated172 the other in his endeavours to study her accommodation. Her kind words and inspiring smiles animated173 at the same time their zeal129 and their invention.
They soon became accustomed to their rough but adventurous174 life. Its novelty pleased them, and the perpetual excitement of urgent necessity left them no time to mourn over their terrible vicissitudes175. While Alroy lived, hope indeed never deserted their sanguine176 bosoms177. And such was the influence of his genius, that the most desponding felt that to be discomfited with him, was preferable to conquest with another. They were a faithful and devoted band, and merry faces were not wanting when at night they assembled in the amphitheatre for their common meal.
No sooner had Alroy completed his arrangements than he sent forth spies in all directions to procure178 intelligence, and especially to communicate, if possible, with Ithamar and Medad, provided that they still survived and maintained themselves in any force.
A fortnight passed away without the approach of any stranger; at the end of which, there arrived four personages at their haunt, not very welcome to their chief, who, however, concealed179 his chagrin180 at their appearance. These were Kisloch the Kourd, and Calidas the Indian, and their inseparable companions, the Guebre and the Negro.
‘Noble Captain,’ said Kisloch, ‘we trust that you will permit us to enlist181 in the band. This is not the first time we have served under your orders in this spot. Old co-mates, i’faith, who have seen the best and the worst. We suspected where you might be found, although, thanks to the ever felicitous182 invention of man, it is generally received that you died in battle. I hope your Majesty is well,’ added Kisloch, bowing to Schirene.
‘You are welcome, friends,’ replied Alroy; ‘I know your worth. You have seen, as you say, the best and the worst, and will, I trust, see better. Died in battle, eh! that’s good.’
‘‘Tis so received,’ said Calidas.
‘And what news of our friends?’
‘Not over good, but strange.’
‘How so?’
‘Hamadan is taken.’
‘I am prepared; tell me all.’
‘Old Bostenay and the Lady Miriam are borne prisoners to Bagdad.’
‘Prisoners?’
‘But so; all will be well with them, I trow. The Lord Honain is in high favour with the conqueror183, and will doubtless protect them.’
‘Honain in favour?’
‘Even so. He made terms for the city, and right good ones.’
‘There is no doubt. All may yet be well, Sir.’
‘Let us act, not hope. Where’s Abner?’
‘Dead.’
‘How?’
‘In battle.’
‘Art sure?’
‘I saw him fall, and fought beside him.’
‘A soldier’s death is all our fortune now. I am glad he was not captured. Where’s Medad, Ithamar?’
‘Fled into Egypt.’
‘We have no force whatever, then?’
‘None but your guards here.’
‘Very high. He’ll make good terms for us.’
‘This is strange news.’
‘Very, but true.’
‘Well! you are welcome! Share our fare; ‘tis rough, and somewhat scanty186; but we have feasted, and may feast again. Fled into Egypt, eh?’
‘Ay! Sir.’
‘Schirene, shouldst like to see the Nile?’
‘I have heard of crocodiles.’
If the presence of Kisloch and his companions were not very pleasing to Alroy, with the rest of the band they soon became great favourites. Their local knowledge, and their experience of desert life, made them valuable allies, and their boisterous187 jocularity and unceasing merriment were not unwelcome in the present monotonous188 existence of the fugitives189. As for Alroy himself, he meditated190 an escape to Egypt. He determined to seize the first opportunity of procuring191 some camels, and then, dispersing192 his band, with the exception of Benaiah and a few faithful retainers, he trusted that, disguised as merchants, they might succeed in crossing Syria, and entering Africa by Palestine. With these plans and prospects193, he became each day more cheerful and more sanguine as to the future. He had in his possession some valuable jewels, which he calculated upon disposing of at Cairo for a sum sufficient for all his purposes; and having exhausted all the passions of life while yet a youth, he looked forward to the tranquil195 termination of his existence in some poetic196 solitude197 with his beautiful companion.
One evening, as they returned from the Oasis, Alroy guiding the camel that bore Schirene, and ever and anon looking up in her inspiring face, her sanguine spirit would have indulged in a delightful198 future.
‘There is no toil with love,’ replied Alroy.
‘And we were made for love, and not for empire,’ rejoined Schirene.
‘The past is a dream,’ said Alroy. ‘So sages45 teach us; but, until we act, their wisdom is but wind. I feel it now. Have we ever lived in aught but deserts, and fed on aught but dates? Methinks ‘tis very natural. But that I am tempted199 by the security of distant lands, I could remain here a free and happy outlaw200. Time, custom, and necessity form our natures. When I first met Scherirah in these ruins, I shrank with horror from degraded man; and now I sigh to be his heir. We must not think!’
‘No, love, we’ll only hope,’ replied Schirene; and they passed through the gates.
The night was beautiful, the air was still warm and sweet. Schirene gazed upon the luminous201 heavens. ‘We thought not of these skies when we were at Bagdad,’ she exclaimed; ‘and yet, my life, what was the brightness of our palaces compared to these? All is left to us that man should covet202, freedom, beauty, and youth. I do believe, ere long, Alroy, we shall look back upon the wondrous203 past as on another and a lower world. Would that this were Egypt! Tis my only wish.’
‘And it shall soon be gratified. All will soon be arranged. A few brief days, and then Schirene will mount her camel for a longer ride than just to gather dates. You’ll make a sorry traveller, I fear!’
‘Not I; I’ll tire you all.’
They reached the circus, and seated themselves round the blazing fire. Seldom had Alroy, since his fall, appeared more cheerful. Schirene sang an Arab air to the band, who joined in joyous204 chorus. It was late ere they sought repose; and they retired to their rest, sanguine and contented.
A few hours afterwards, at the break of dawn, Alroy was roused from his slumbers205 by a rude pressure on his breast. He started; a ferocious206 soldier was kneeling over him; he would have spurned208 him; he found his hand manacled. He would have risen; his feet were bound. He looked round for Schirene, and called her name; he was answered only by a shriek209. The amphitheatre was filled with Karasmian troops. His own men were surprised and overpowered. Kisloch and the Guebre had been on guard. He was raised from the ground, and flung upon a camel, which was instantly trotted210 out of the circus. On every side he beheld a wild scene of disorder211 and dismay. He was speechless from passion and despair. The camel was dragged into the desert. A body of cavalry instantly surrounded it, and they set off at a rapid pace. The whole seemed the work of an instant.
How many days had passed Alroy knew not. He had taken no account of time. Night and day were to him the same. He was in a stupor212. But the sweetness of the air and the greenness of the earth at length partially213 roused his attention. He was just conscious that they had quitted the desert. Before him was a noble river; he beheld the Euphrates from the very spot he had first viewed it in his pilgrimage. The strong association of ideas called back his memory. A tear stole down his cheek; the bitter drop stole to his parched214 lips; he asked the nearest horseman for water. The guard gave him a wetted sponge, with which he contrived215 with difficulty to wipe his lips, and then he let it fall to the ground. The Karasmian struck him.
They arrived at the river. The prisoner was taken from the camel and placed in a covered boat. After some hours they stopped and disembarked at a small village. Alroy was placed upon an ass11 with his back to its head. His clothes were soiled and tattered216. The children pelted217 him with mud. An old woman, with a fanatic218 curse, placed a crown of paper on his brow. With difficulty his brutal219 guards prevented their victim from being torn to pieces. And in such fashion, towards noon of the fourteenth day, David Alroy again entered Bagdad.
The intelligence of the capture of Alroy spread through the agitated220 city. The Moolahs bustled221 about as if they had received a fresh demonstration224 of the authenticity225 of the prophetic mission. All the Dervishes began begging. The men discussed affairs in the coffee-houses, and the women chatted at the fountains.79
‘They may say what they like, but I wish him well,’ said a fair Arab, as she arranged her veil. ‘He may be an impostor, but he was a very handsome one.’
‘All the women are for him, that’s the truth,’ responded a companion; ‘but then we can do him no good.’
‘We can tear their eyes out,’ said a third.
‘And what do you think of Alp Arslan, truly?’ inquired a fourth.
‘Only think of the Princess!’ said a sixth.
‘Well! she has had a glorious time of it,’ said a seventh.
‘Nothing was too good for her,’ said an eighth.
‘I like true love,’ said a ninth.
‘Well! I hope he will be too much for them all yet,’ said a tenth.
‘I should not wonder,’ said an eleventh.
‘He can’t,’ said a twelfth, ‘he has lost his sceptre.’
‘You don’t say so?’ said a thirteenth.
‘It is too true,’ said a fourteenth.
‘Do you think he was a wizard?’ said a fifteenth. ‘I vow131, if there be not a fellow looking at us behind those trees.’
‘Impudent scoundrel!’ said a sixteenth. ‘I wish it were Alroy. Let us all scream, and put down our veils.’
And the group ran away.
Two stout soldiers were playing chess80 in a coffee-house.
‘May I slay my mother,’ said one, ‘but I cannot make a move. I fought under him at Nehauend; and though I took the amnesty, I have half a mind now to seize my sword and stab the first Turk that enters.’
‘‘Twere but sheer justice,’ said his companion. ‘By my father’s blessing227, he was the man for a charge. They may say what they like, but compared with him, Alp Arslan is a white-livered Giaour.’
‘Here is confusion to him and to thy last move. There’s the dirhem, I can play no more. May I slay my mother, though, but I did not think he would let himself be taken.’
‘By the blessing of my father, nor I; but then he was asleep.’
‘That makes a difference. He was betrayed.’
‘All brave men are. They say Kisloch and his set pocket their fifty thousand by the job.’
‘May each dirhem prove a plague-spot!’
‘Amen! Dost remember Abner?’
‘May I slay my mother if I ever forget him. He spoke to his men like so many lambs. What has become of the Lady Miriam?’
‘She is here.’
‘That will cut Alroy.’
‘He was ever fond of her. Dost remember she gained Adoram’s life?’
‘Oh! she could do anything next to the Queen.’
‘Before her, I say, before her. He has refused the Queen, he never refused the Lady Miriam.’
‘Because she asked less.’
‘Dost know it seemed to me that things never went on so well after Jabaster’s death?’
‘So say I. There was a something, eh?’
‘You have well described it. Every man felt the same. I have often mentioned it to my comrades. Say what you like, said I, but slay my mother if ever since the old man strangled himself, things did not seem, as it were, in their natural propinquity. ‘Twas the phrase I used.’
‘A choice one. Unless there is a natural propinquity, the best-arranged matters will fall out. However, the ass sees farther than his rider, and so it was with Alroy, the best commander I ever served under, all the same.’
‘Let us go forth and see how affairs run.’
‘That will we. There are a good many of our stout fellows about; we might do something yet.’
‘Who knows?’
A subterranean230 dungeon231 of the citadel232 of Bagdad held in its gloomy limits the late lord of Asia. The captive did not sigh, or weep, or wail233. He did not speak. He did not even think. For several days he remained in a state of stupor. On the morning of the fourth day, he almost unconsciously partook of the wretched provision which his gaolers brought him. Their torches, round which the bats whirled and flapped their wings, and twinkled their small eyes, threw a ghastly glare over the nearer walls of the dungeon, the extremity235 of which defied the vision of the prisoner; and, when the gaolers retired, Alroy was in complete darkness.
The image of the past came back to him. He tried in vain to penetrate139 the surrounding gloom. His hands were manacled, his legs also were loaded with chains. The notion that his life might perhaps have been cruelly spared in order that he might linger on in this horrible state of conscious annihilation filled him with frenzy. He would have dashed his fetters236 against his brow, but the chain restrained him. He flung himself upon the damp and rugged237 ground. His fall disturbed a thousand obscene things. He heard the quick glide238 of a serpent, the creeping retreat of the clustering scorpions239, and the swift escape of the dashing rats. His mighty calamities240 seemed slight when compared with these petty miseries241. His great soul could not support him under these noisome242 and degrading incidents. He sprang, in disgust, upon his feet, and stood fearful of moving, lest every step should introduce him to some new abomination. At length, exhausted nature was unable any longer to sustain him. He groped his way to the rude seat, cut in the rocky wall, which was his only accommodation. He put forth his hand. It touched the slimy fur of some wild animal, that instantly sprang away, its fiery eyes sparkling in the dark. Alroy recoiled243 with a sensation of woe244-begone dismay. His shaken nerves could not sustain him under this base danger, and these foul and novel trials. He could not refrain from an exclamation245 of despair; and, when he remembered that he was now far beyond the reach of all human solace246 and sympathy, even all human aid, for a moment his mind seemed to desert him; and he wrung247 his hands in forlorn and almost idiotic248 woe. An awful thing it is, the failure of the energies of a master-mind. He who places implicit249 confidence in his genius will find himself some day utterly250 defeated and deserted. ‘Tis bitter! Every paltry251 hind35 seems but to breathe to mock you. Slow, indeed, is such a mind to credit that the never-failing resource can at least be wanting. But so it is. Like a dried-up fountain, the perennial252 flow and bright fertility have ceased, and ceased for ever. Then comes the madness of retrospection.
The days of childhood, his sweet sister’s voice and smiling love, their innocent pastimes, and the kind solicitude254 of faithful servants, all the soft detail of mild domestic life: these were the sights and memories that flitted in wild play before the burning vision of Alroy, and rose upon his tortured mind. Empire and glory, his sacred nation, his imperial bride; these, these were nothing. Their worth had vanished with the creative soul that called them into action. The pure sympathies of nature alone remained, and all his thought and grief, all his intelligence, all his emotion, were centred in his sister.
It was the seventh morning. A guard entered at an unaccustomed hour, and, sticking a torch into a niche255 in the wall, announced that a person was without who had permission to speak to the prisoner. They were the first human accents that had met the ear of Alroy during his captivity, which seemed to him an age, a long dark period, that cancelled all things. He shuddered257 at the harsh tones. He tried to answer, but his unaccustomed lips refused their office. He raised his heavy arms, and endeavoured to signify his consciousness of what had been uttered. Yet, indeed, he had not listened to the message without emotion. He looked forward to the grate with strange curiosity; and, as he looked, he trembled. The visitor entered, muffled in a dark caftan. The guard disappeared; and the caftan falling to the ground, revealed Honain.
‘My beloved Alroy,’ said the brother of Jabaster; and he advanced, and pressed him to his bosom. Had it been Miriam, Alroy might have at once expired; but the presence of this worldly man called back his worldliness. The revulsion of his feelings was wonderful. Pride, perhaps even hope, came to his aid; all the associations seemed to counsel exertion165; for a moment he seemed the same Alroy.
‘I rejoice to find at least thee safe, Honain.’
‘I also, if my security may lead to thine.’
‘Still whispering hope!’
‘Despair is the conclusion of fools.’
‘O Honain! ‘tis a great trial. I can play my part, and yet methinks ‘twere better we had not again met. How is Schirene?’
‘Thinking of thee.’
‘Tis something that she can think. My mind has gone. Where’s Miriam?’
‘Free.’
‘That’s something. Thou hast done that. Good, good Honain, be kind to that sweet child, if only for my sake. Thou art all she has left.’
‘She hath thee.’
‘Her desolation.’
‘Live and be her refuge.’
‘How’s that? These walls! Escape? No, no; it is impossible.’
‘I do not deem it so.’
‘Terms! We might have made them on the plain of Nehauend. Terms! Terms with a captive victim?’
‘Why victim?’
‘Is Arslan then so generous?’
‘He is a beast, more savage261 than the boar that grinds its tusks262 within his country’s forests.’
‘Why speakest thou then of hope?’
‘I spoke of certainty. I did not mention hope.’
‘Dear Honain, my brain is weak; but I can bear strange things, or else I should not be here. I feel thy thoughtful friendship; but indeed there need no winding263 words to tell my fate. Pr’ythee speak out.’
‘In a word, thy life is safe.’
‘What! spared?’
‘If it please thee.’
‘Please me? Life is sweet. I feel its sweetness. I want but little. Freedom and solitude are all I ask. My life spared! I’ll not believe it. Thou hast done this deed, thou mighty man, that masterest all souls. Thou hast not forgotten me; thou hast not forgotten the days gone by, thou hast not forgotten thine own Alroy! Who calls thee worldly is a slanderer264. O Honain! thou art too faithful!’
‘I have no thought but for thy service, Prince.’
‘Call me not Prince, call me thine own Alroy. My life spared! ‘Tis wonderful! When may I go? Let no one see me. Manage that, Honain. Thou canst manage all things. I am for Egypt. Thou hast been to Egypt, hast thou not, Honain?’
‘A very wondrous land, ‘twill please thee much.’
‘When may I go? Tell me when I may go. When may I quit this dark and noisome cell? ‘Tis worse than all their tortures, dear Honain. Air and light, and I really think my spirit never would break, but this horrible dungeon—— I scarce can look upon thy face, sweet friend. ‘Tis serious.’
‘Wouldst thou have me gay?’
‘Yes! if we are free.’
‘Alroy! thou art a great spirit, the greatest that I e’er knew, have ever read of. I never knew thy like, and never shall.’
‘Tush, tush, sweet friend, I am a broken reed, but still I am free. This is no time for courtly phrases. Let’s go, and go at once.’
‘A moment, dear Alroy. I am no flatterer. What I said came from my heart, and doth concern us much and instantly. I was saying thou hast no common mind, Alroy; indeed thou hast a mind unlike all others. Listen, my Prince. Thou hast read mankind deeply and truly. Few have seen more than thyself, and none have so rare a spring of that intuitive knowledge of thy race, which is a gem90 to which experience is but a jeweller, and without which no action can befriend us.’
‘Well, well!’
‘A moment’s calmness. Thou hast entered Bagdad in triumph, and thou hast entered the same city with every contumely which the base spirit of our race could cast upon its victim. ‘Twas a great lesson.’
‘I feel it so.’
‘Alas! ‘tis true.’
‘But to believe is nothing unless we act. Speculation268 should only sharpen practice. The time hath come to prove thy lusty faith in this philosophy. I told thee we could make terms. I have made them. To-morrow it was doomed Alroy should die—and what a death! A death of infinite torture! Hast ever seen a man impaled270?’81
‘Hah!’
‘To view it is alone a doom.’
‘God of Heaven!’
‘It is so horrible, that ‘tis ever marked, that when this direful ceremony occurs, the average deaths in cities greatly increase. ‘Tis from the turning of the blood in the spectators, who yet from some ungovernable madness cannot refrain from hurrying to the scene. I speak with some authority. I speak as a physician.’
‘Speak no more, I cannot endure it.’
‘To-morrow this doom awaited thee. As for Schirene——’
‘Not for her, oh! surely not for her?’
‘No, they were merciful. She is a Caliph’s daughter. ‘Tis not forgotten. The axe271 would close her life. Her fair neck would give slight trouble to the headsman’s art. But for thy sister, but for Miriam, she is a witch, a Jewish witch! They would have burnt her alive!’
‘I’ll not believe it, no, no, I’ll not believe it: damnable, bloody272 demons222! When I had power I spared all, all but——ah, me! ah, me! why did I live?’
‘Thou dost forget thyself; I speak of that which was to have been, not of that which is to be. I have stepped in and communed with the conqueror. I have made terms.’
‘What are they, what can they be?’
‘Easy. To a philosopher like Alroy an idle ceremony.’
‘Be brief, be brief.’
‘Thou seest thy career is a great scandal to the Moslemin. I mark their weakness, and I have worked upon it. Thy mere273 defeat or death will not blot274 out the stain upon their standard and their faith. The public mind is wild with fantasies since Alroy rose. Men’s opinions flit to and fro with that fearful change that bodes275 no stable settlement of states. None know what to cling to, or where to place their trust. Creeds276 are doubted, authority disputed. They would gladly account for thy success by other than human means, yet must deny thy mission. There also is the fame of a fair and mighty Princess, a daughter of their Caliphs, which they would gladly clear. I mark all this, observe and work upon it. So, could we devise some means by which thy lingering followers277 could be for ever silenced, this great scandal fairly erased278, and the public frame brought to a sounder and more tranquil pulse, why, they would concede much, much, very much.’
‘Thy meaning, not thy means, are evident.’
‘They are in thy power.’
‘Thou wilt280 be summoned at to-morrow’s noon before this Arslan. There in the presence of the assembled people who are now with him as much as they were with thee, thou wilt be accused of magic, and of intercourse281 with the infernal powers. Plead guilty.’
‘Well! is there more?’
‘Some trifle. They will then examine thee about the Princess. It is not difficult to confess that Alroy won the Caliph’s daughter by an irresistible spell, and now ‘tis broken.’
‘So, so. Is that all?’
‘The chief. Thou canst then address some phrases to the Hebrew prisoners, denying thy Divine mission, and so forth, to settle the public mind, observe, upon this point for ever.’
‘Ay, ay, and then——?’
‘No more, except for form. (Upon the completion of the conditions, mind, you will be conveyed to what land you please, with such amount of treasure as you choose.) There is no more, except, I say, for form, I would, if I were you (‘twill be expected), I would just publicly affect to renounce282 our faith, and bow before their Prophet.’
‘Hah! Art thou there? Is this thy freedom? Get thee behind me, tempter! Never, never, never! Not a jot283, not a jot: I’ll not yield a jot. Were my doom one everlasting284 torture, I’d spurn207 thy terms! Is this thy high contempt of our poor kind, to outrage286 my God! to prove myself the vilest287 of the vile, and baser than the basest? Rare philosophy! O Honain! would we had never met!’
‘Or never parted. True. Had my word been taken, Alroy would ne’er have been betrayed.’
‘No more; I pray thee, sir, no more. Leave me.’
‘Were this a palace, I would. Harsh words are softened288 by a friendly ear, when spoken in affliction.’
‘Say what they will, I am the Lord’s anointed. As such I should have lived, as such at least I’ll die.’
‘And Miriam?’
‘The Lord will not desert her: she ne’er deserted Him.’
‘Schirene?’
‘Schirene! why! for her sake alone I will die a hero. Shall it be said she loved a craven slave, a base impostor, a vile renegade, a villainous dealer289 in drugs and charms? Oh! no, no, no! if only for her sake, her sweet, sweet sake, my end shall be like my great life. As the sun I rose, like him I set. Still the world is warm with my bright fame, and my last hour shall not disgrace my noon, stormy indeed, but glorious!’
Honain took the torch from the niche, and advanced to the grate. It was not fastened: he drew it gently open, and led forward a veiled and female figure. The veiled and female figure threw herself at the feet of Alroy, who seemed lost to what was passing. A soft lip pressed his hand. He started, his chains clanked.
‘Alroy!’ softly murmured the kneeling female.
‘What voice is that?’ wildly exclaimed the Prince of the Captivity. ‘It falls upon my ear like long-forgotten music. I’ll not believe it. No! I’ll not believe it. Art thou Schirene?’
‘I am that wretched thing they called thy bride.’
‘Oh! this indeed is torture! What impalement290 can equal this sharp moment? Look not on me, let not our eyes meet! They have met before, like to the confluence291 of two shining rivers blending in one great stream of rushing light. Bear off that torch, sir. Let impenetrable darkness cover our darker fortunes.’
‘Alroy.’
‘She speaks again. Is she mad, as I am, that thus she plays with agony?’
‘Sire,’ said Honain advancing, and laying his hand gently on the arm of the captive, ‘I pray thee moderate this passion. Thou hast some faithful friends here, who would fain commune in calmness for thy lasting285 welfare.’
‘Welfare! He mocks me.’
‘I beseech292, thee, Sire, be calm. If, indeed, I speak unto that great Alroy whom all men fear and still may fear, I pray remember, ‘tis not in palaces or in the battle-field alone that the heroic soul can conquer and command. Scenes like these are the great proof of a superior soul. While we live, our body is a temple where our genius pours forth its godlike inspiration, and while the altar is not overthrown293, the deity294 may still work marvels295. Then rouse thyself, great Sire; bethink thee that, a Caliph or a captive, there is no man within this breathing world like to Alroy. Shall such a being fall without a struggle, like some poor felon296, who has naught297 to trust to but the dull shuffling298 accident of Chance? I, too, am a prophet, and I feel thou still wilt conquer.’
‘Give me my sceptre, then, give me the sceptre! I speak to the wrong brother! It was not thou, it was not thou that gavest it me.’
‘Gain it once more. The Lord deserted David for a time; still he pardoned him, and still he died a king.’
‘A woman worked his fall.’
‘But thee a woman raises. This great Princess, has she not suffered too? Yet her spirit is still unbroken. List to her counsel: it is deep and fond.’
‘So was our love.’
‘And is, my Alroy!’ exclaimed the Princess. ‘Be calm, I pray thee! For my sake be calm; I am calm for thine. Thou hast listened to all Honain has told thee, that wise man, my Alroy, who never erred299.
‘Tis but a word he counsels, an empty word, a most unmeaning form. But speak it, and thou art free, and Alroy and Schirene may blend again their glorious careers and lives of sweet fruition. Dost thou not remember when, walking in the garden of our joy, and palled300 with empire, how often hast thou sighed for some sweet isle301 unknown to man, where thou mightst pass thy days with no companion but my faithful self, and no adventures but our constant loves? O my beloved, that life may still be thine! And dost thou falter302? Dost call thyself forlorn with such fidelity303, and deem thyself a wretch234, when Paradise with all its beauteous gates but woos thy entrance? Oh! no, no, no, no! thou hast forgot Schirene: I fear me much, thy over-fond Schirene, who doats upon thy image in thy chains more than she did when those sweet hands of thine were bound with gems304 and played with her bright locks!’
‘She speaks of another world. I do remember something. Who has sent this music to a dungeon? My spirit softens305 with her melting words. My eyes are moist. I weep! ‘Tis pleasant. Sorrow is joy compared with my despair. I never thought to shed a tear again. My brain is cooler.’
‘Weep, weep, I pray thee weep; but let me kiss away thy tears, my soul! Didst think thy Schirene had deserted thee? Ah! that was it that made my bird so sad. It shall be free, and fly in a sweet sky, and feed on flowers with its faithful mate. Ah me! I am once more happy with my boy. There was no misery306 but thy absence, sweet! Methinks this dungeon is our bright kiosk! Is that the sunbeam, or thy smile, my love, that makes the walls so joyful307?’
‘Did I smile? I’ll not believe it.’
‘Indeed you did. Ah! see he smiles again. Why this is freedom! There is no such thing as sorrow. Tis a lie to frighten fools!’
‘Why, Honain, what’s this? ‘Twould seem I am really joyful. There’s inspiration in her very breath. I am another being. Nay! waste not kisses on those ugly fetters.’
‘Methinks they are gold.’
They were silent. Schirene drew Alroy to his rough seat, and gently placing herself on his knees, threw her arms round his neck, and buried her face in his breast. After a few minutes she raised her head, and whispered in his ear in irresistible accents of sweet exultation, ‘We shall be free to-morrow!’
‘To-morrow! is the trial so near?’ exclaimed the captive, with an agitated voice and changing countenance. ‘To-morrow!’ He threw Schirene aside somewhat hastily, and sprang from his seat. ‘To-morrow! would it were over! To-morrow! Methinks there is within that single word the fate of ages! Shall it be said to-morrow that Alroy—— Hah! what art thou that risest now before me? Dread, mighty spirit, thou hast come in time to save me from perdition. Take me to thy bosom, ‘tis not stabbed. They did not stab thee. Thou seest me here communing with thy murderers. What then? I am innocent. Ask them, dread ghost, and call upon their fiendish souls to say I am pure. They would make me dark as themselves, but shall not.’
‘Honain, Honain!’ exclaimed the Princess in a terrible whisper as she flew to the Physician. ‘He is wild again. Calm him, calm him. Mark! how he stands with his extended arms, and fixed vacant eyes, muttering most awful words! My spirit fails me. It is too fearful.’
The Physician advanced and stood by the side of Alroy, but in vain attempted to catch his attention. He ventured to touch his arm. The Prince started, turned round, and recognising him, exclaimed in a shrieking308 voice, ‘Off, fratricide!’
Honain recoiled, pale and quivering. Schirene sprang to his arm. ‘What said he, Honain? Thou dost not speak. I never saw thee pale before. Art thou, too, mad?’
‘Would I were!’
‘All men are growing wild. I am sure he said something. I pray thee tell me what was it?’
‘Ask him.’
‘I dare not. Tell me, tell me, Honain!’
‘That I dare not.’
‘Was it a word?’
‘Ay! a word to wake the dead. Let us begone.’
‘Without our end? Coward! I’ll speak to him. My own Alroy,’ sweetly whispered the Princess, as she advanced before him.
‘What, has the fox left the tigress! Is’t so, eh? Are there no judgments309? Are the innocent only haunted? I am innocent! I did not strangle thee! He said rightly, “Beware, beware! they who did this may do even feller deeds.” And here they are quick at their damned work. Thy body suffered, great Jabaster, but me they would strangle body and soul!’
The Princess shrieked310, and fell into the arms of the advancing Honain, who bore her out of the dungeon.
After the fall of Hamadan, Bostenay and Miriam had been carried prisoners to Bagdad. Through the interference of Honain, their imprisonment311 had been exempted312 from the usual hardships, but they were still confined to their chambers in the citadel. Hitherto all the endeavours of Miriam to visit her brother had been fruitless. Honain was the only person to whom she could apply for assistance, and he, in answer to her importunities, only regretted his want of power to aid her. In vain had she attempted, by the offer of some remaining jewels, to secure the co-operation of her guards, with whom her loveliness and the softness of her manners had already ingratiated her. She had not succeeded even in communicating with Alroy. But after the unsuccessful mission of Honain to the dungeon, the late Vizier visited the sister of the captive, and, breaking to her with delicate skill the intelligence of the impending catastrophe313, he announced that he had at length succeeded in obtaining for her the desired permission to visit her brother; and, while she shuddered at the proximity314 of an event for which she had long attempted to prepare herself, Honain, with some modifications315, whispered the means by which he flattered himself that it might yet be averted316. Miriam listened to him in silence, nor could he, with all his consummate317 art, succeed in extracting from her the slightest indication of her own opinion as to their expediency318. They parted, Honain as sanguine as the wicked ever are.
As Miriam dreaded, both for herself and for Alroy, the shock of an unexpected meeting, she availed herself of the influence of Honain to send Caleb to her brother, to prepare him for her presence, and to consult him as to the desirable moment. Caleb found his late master lying exhausted on the floor of his dungeon. At first he would not speak or even raise his head, nor did he for a long time apparently319 recognise the faithful retainer of his uncle. But at length he grew milder, and when he fully320 comprehended who the messenger was, and the object of his mission, he at first seemed altogether disinclined to see his sister, but in the end postponed321 their meeting for the present, and, pleading great exhaustion322, fixed for that sad interview the first hour of dawn.
The venerable Bostenay had scarcely ever spoken since the fall of his nephew; indeed it was but too evident that his faculties323, even if they had not entirely deserted him, were at least greatly impaired324. He never quitted his couch; he took no notice of what occurred. He evinced no curiosity, scarcely any feeling. If indeed he occasionally did mutter an observation, it was generally of an irritable325 character, nor truly did he appear satisfied if anyone approached him, save Miriam, from whom alone he would accept the scanty viands326 which he ever appeared disinclined to touch. But his devoted niece, amid all her harrowing affliction, could ever spare to the protector of her youth a placid327 countenance, a watchful328 eye, a gentle voice, and a ready hand. Her religion and her virtue329, the strength of her faith, and the inspiration of her innocence, supported this pure and hapless lady amid all her undeserved and unparalleled sorrows.
It was long past midnight; the young widow of Abner reposed upon a couch in a soft slumber115. The amiable330 Beruna and the beautiful Bathsheba, the curtains drawn63, watched the progress of the night.
‘Shall I wake her?’ said the beautiful Bathsheba. ‘Methinks the stars are paler! She bade me rouse her long before the dawn.’
‘Her sleep is too benign331! Let us not wake her,’ replied the amiable Beruna. ‘We rouse her only to sorrow.’
‘May her dreams at least be happy;’ rejoined the beautiful Bathsheba. ‘She sleeps tranquilly332, as a flower.’
‘The veil has fallen from her head,’ said the amiable Beruna. ‘I will replace it lightly on her brow. Is that well, my Bathsheba?’
‘It is well, sweet Beruna. Her face shrouded333 by the shawl is like a pearl in its shell. See! she moves!’
‘Bathsheba!’
‘I am here, sweet lady.’
‘Is it near dawn?’
‘Not yet, sweet lady; it is yet night. It is long past the noon of night, sweet lady; methinks I scent334 the rising breath of morn; but still ‘tis night, and the young moon shines like a sickle335 in the heavenly field, amid the starry336 harvest.’
‘Beruna, gentle girl, give me thy arm. I’ll rise.’
‘Since our calamities,’ said Miriam, ‘I have never enjoyed such tranquil slumber. My dreams were slight, but soothing338. I saw him, but he smiled. Have I slept long, sweet girls? Ye are very watchful.’
‘Dear lady, let me bring thy shawl. The air is fresh——’
‘But sweet; I thank thee, no. My brow is not so cool as to need a covering. ‘Tis a fair night!’
Miriam gazed upon the wide prospect194 of the moonlit capital. The elevated position of the citadel afforded an extensive view of the mighty groups of buildings-each in itself a city, broken only by some vast and hooded339 cupola, the tall, slender, white minarets340 of the mosques342, or the black and spiral form of some lonely cypress—through which the rushing Tigris, flooded with light, sent forth its broad and brilliant torrent343. All was silent; not a single boat floated on the fleet river, not a solitary344 voice broke the stillness of slumbering millions. She gazed and, as she gazed, she could not refrain from contrasting the present scene, which seemed the sepulchre of all the passions of our race, with the unrivalled excitement of that stirring spectacle which Bagdad exhibited on the celebration of the marriage of Alroy. How different then, too, was her position from her present, and how happy! The only sister of a devoted brother, the lord and conqueror of Asia, the bride of his most victorious captain, one worthy345 of all her virtues346, and whose youthful valour had encircled her brow with a diadem347. To Miriam, exalted348 station had brought neither cares nor crimes. It had, as it were, only rendered her charity universal, and her benevolence349 omnipotent350. She could not accuse herself, this blessed woman—she could not accuse herself, even in this searching hour of self-knowledge—she could not accuse herself, with all her meekness351, and modesty352, and humility353, of having for a moment forgotten her dependence354 on her God, or her duty to her neighbour.
But when her thoughts recurred355 to that being from whom they were indeed scarcely ever absent; and when she remembered him, and all his life, and all the thousand incidents of his youth, mysteries to the world, and known only to her, but which were indeed the prescience of his fame, and thought of all his surpassing qualities and all his sweet affection, his unrivalled glory and his impending fate, the tears, in silent agony, forced their way down her pale and pensive356 cheek. She bowed her head upon Bathsheba’s shoulder, and sweet Beruna pressed her quivering hand.
The moon set, the stars grew white and ghastly, and vanished one by one. Over the distant plain of the Tigris, the scene of the marriage pomp, the dark purple horizon shivered into a rich streak of white and orange. The solemn strain of the Muezzin sounded from the minarets. Some one knocked at the door. It was Caleb.
‘I am ready,’ said Miriam; and for a moment she covered her face with her right hand. ‘Think of me, sweet maidens; pray for me!’
Leaning on Caleb, and lighted by a gaoler, bearing torches, Miriam descended357 the damp and broken stairs that led to the dungeon. She faltered358 as she arrived at the grate. She stopped, and leant against the cold and gloomy wall. The gaoler and Caleb preceded her. She heard the voice of Alroy. It was firm and sweet. Its accents reassured359 her. Caleb came forth with a torch, and held it to her feet; and, as he bent360 down, he said, ‘My lord bade me beg you to be of good heart, for he is.’
The gaoler, having stuck his torch in the niche, withdrew. Miriam desired Caleb to stay without. Then, summoning up all her energies, she entered the dreadful abode. Alroy was standing361 to receive her. The light fell full upon his countenance. It smiled. Miriam could no longer restrain herself. She ran forward, and pressed him to her heart.
‘O, my best, my long beloved,’ whispered Alroy; ‘such a meeting indeed leads captivity captive!’
But the sister could not speak. She leant her head upon his shoulder, and closed her eyes, that she might not weep.
‘Courage, dear heart; courage, courage!’ whispered the captive. ‘Indeed I am happy!’
‘My brother, my brother!’
‘Had we met yesterday, you would have found me perhaps a little vexed362. But to-day I am myself again. Since I crossed the Tigris, I know not that I have felt such self-content. I have had sweet dreams, dear Miriam, full of solace. And, more than dreams, the Lord has pardoned me, I truly think.’
‘O, my brother! your words are full of comfort; for, indeed, I too have dreamed, and dreamed of consolation. My spirit, since our fall, has never been more tranquil.’
‘Indeed I am happy.’
‘Say so again, my David; let me hear again these words of solace!’
‘Indeed, ‘tis very true, my faithful friend. It is not spoken in kind mockery to make you joyous. For know, last eve, whether the Lord repented363 of his wrath364, or whether some dreadful trials, of which I will not speak, and wish not to remember, had made atonement for my manifold sins, but so it was, that, about the time my angel Miriam sent her soothing message, a feeling of repose came over me, such as I long have coveted365. Anon, I fell into a slumber, deep and sweet, and, instead of those wild and whirling images that of late have darted366 from my brain when it should rest, glimpses of empire and conspiracy, snatches of fierce wars and mocking loves, I stood beside our native fountain’s brink367, and gathered flowers with my earliest friend. As I placed the fragrant368 captives in your flowing locks, there came Jabaster, that great, injured man, no longer stern and awful, but with benignant looks, and full of love. And he said, “David, the Lord hath marked thy faithfulness, in spite of the darkness of thy dungeon.” So he vanished. He spoke, my sister, of some strange temptations by heavenly aid withstood. No more of that. I awoke. And lo! I heard my name still called. Full of my morning dream, I thought it was you, and I answered, “Dear sister, art thou here?” But no one answered; and then, reflecting, my memory recognised those thrilling tones that summoned Alroy in Jabaster’s cave.’ ‘The Daughter of the Voice?’ ‘Even that sacred messenger. I am full of faith. The Lord hath pardoned me. Be sure of that.’
‘I cannot doubt it, David. You have done great things for Israel; no one in these latter days has risen like you. If you have fallen, you were young, and strangely tempted.’
‘Yet Israel, Israel! Did I not feel a worthier369 leader will yet arise, my heart would crack. I have betrayed my country!’
‘Oh no, no, no! You have shown what we can do and shall do. Your memory alone is inspiration. A great career, although baulked of its end, is still a landmark370 of human energy. Failure, when sublime371, is not without its purpose. Great deeds are great legacies372, and work with wondrous usury373. By what Man has done, we learn what Man can do; and gauge374 the power and prospects of our race.’
‘Never! the memory of great actions never dies. The sun of glory, though awhile obscured, will shine at last. And so, sweet brother, perchance some poet, in some distant age, within whose veins376 our sacred blood may flow, his fancy fired with the national theme, may strike his harp75 to Alroy’s wild career, and consecrate377 a name too long forgotten?’
‘May love make thee a prophetess!’ exclaimed Alroy, as he bent down his head and embraced her. ‘Do not tarry,’ he whispered. ‘‘Tis better that we should part in this firm mood.’
She sprang from him, she clasped her hands. ‘We will not part,’ she exclaimed, with energy; ‘I will die with thee.’
‘Blessed girl, be calm! Do not unman me.’
‘I am calm. See! I do not weep. Not a tear, not a tear. They are all in my heart.’
‘Go, go, my Miriam, angel of light. Tarry no longer; I pray thee go. I would not think of the past. Let all my mind be centred in the present. Thy presence calls back our bygone days, and softens me too much. My duty to my uncle. Go, dear one, go!’
‘And leave thee, leave thee to——Oh! my David, thou hast seen, thou hast heard——Honain?’
‘I am silent. Yet ‘tis madness! Oh! my brother, thou hast a fearful trial.’
‘The God of Israel is my refuge. He saved our fathers in the fiery furnace. He will save me.’
‘I am full of faith. I pray thee let me stay.’
‘I would be silent; I would be alone. I cannot speak, Miriam. I ask one favour, the last and dearest, from her who has never had a thought but for my wishes; blessed being, leave me.’
‘I go. O Alroy, farewell! Let me kiss you. Again, once more! Let me kneel and bless you. Brother, beloved brother, great and glorious brother, I am worthy of you: I will not weep. I am prouder in this dread moment of your love than all your foes379 can be of their hard triumph!’
Beruna and Bathsheba received their mistress when she returned to her chamber. They marked her desolate380 air. She was silent, pale, and cold. They bore her to her couch, whereon she sat with a most listless and unmeaning look; her quivering lips parted, her eyes fixed upon the ground in vacant abstraction, and her arms languidly folded before her. Beruna stole behind her, and supported her back with pillows, and Bathsheba, unnoticed, wiped the slight foam381 from her mouth. Thus Miriam remained for several hours, her faithful maidens in vain watching for any indication of her self-consciousness.
Suddenly a trumpet sounded.
Neither of them answered, since they were aware that it betokened383 the going forth of Alroy to his trial.
Miriam remained in the same posture384, and with the same expression of wild inquiry385. Another trumpet sounded, and after that a shout of the people. Then she raised up her arms to heaven, and bowed her head, and died.
‘Has the second trumpet sounded?’
‘To be sure: run, run for a good place. Where is Abdallah?’
‘Selling sherbet in the square. We shall find him. Has Alroy come forth?’
‘Yes! he goes the other way. We shall be too late. Only think of Abdallah selling sherbet!’
‘Father, let me go?’
‘You will be in the way; you are too young; you will see nothing. Little boys should stay at home.’
‘No, they should not. I will go. You can put me on your shoulders.’
‘Where is Ibrahim? Where is Ali? We must all keep together. We shall have to fight for it. I wish Abdallah were here. Only think of his selling sherbet!’
‘Keep straight forward. That is right. It is no use going that way. The bazaar386 is shut. There is Fakreddin, there is Osman Effendi. He has got a new page.’
‘So he has, I declare; and a very pretty boy too.’
‘I am sure I do not know. Never ask questions, my dear. Little boys never should.’
‘Yes, they should. I hope they will impale him alive. I shall be so disappointed if they do not.’
‘Keep to the left. Dash through the Butchers’ bazaar: that is open. All right, all right. Did you push me, sir?’
‘Suppose I did push you, sir, what then, sir?’
‘Come along, don’t quarrel. That is a Karasmian. They think they are to do what they like. We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is nothing like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout shoulders. Only think of his selling sherbet!’
The Square of the Grand Mosque341, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan by appointment, was the destined387 scene of the pretended trial of Alroy. Thither388 by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by a crimson389 cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the swelling390 multitude pressed like the gathering391 waves of ocean, but, whenever the tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage Karasmians appeased392 the ungovernable element by raising their battle-axes, and brutally393 breaking the crowns and belabouring the shoulders of their nearest victims. As the morning advanced, the terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with awnings394, were crowded with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the marriage of Alroy, there had never been such a merry morn as the day of his impalement.
At one end of the circle was erected395 a magnificent throne. Half way between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back, stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous396 to behold, who, clothed in white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final ceremony.
The flourish of trumpets, the clash of cymbals397, and the wild beat of the tambour, announced the arrival of Alp Arslan from the Serail. An avenue to the circle had been preserved through the multitude. The royal procession might be traced as it wound through the populace, by the sparkling and undulating line of plumes398 of honour, and the dazzling forms of the waving streamers, on which were inscribed399 the names of Allah and the Prophet. Suddenly, amid the bursts of music, and the shouts of the spectators, many of whom on the terraces humbled themselves on their knees, Alp Arslan mounted the throne, around which ranged themselves his chief captains, and a deputation of the Mullahs, and Imams, and Cadis, and other principal personages of the city.
The King of Karasmé was tall in stature400, and somewhat meagre in form. He was fair, or rather sandy-coloured, with a red beard, and blue eyes, and a flat nose. The moment he was seated, a trumpet was heard in the distance from an opposite quarter, and it was soon understood throughout the assembly that the great captive was about to appear.
A band of Karasmian guards first entered the circle, and ranged themselves round the cord, with their backs to the spectators. After them came fifty of the principal Hebrew prisoners, with their hands bound behind them, but evidently more for form than security. To these succeeded a small covered wagon401 drawn by mules402, and surrounded by guards, from which was led forth, his legs relieved from their manacles, but his hands still in heavy chains, David Alroy!
A universal buzz of blended sympathy, and wonder, and fear, and triumph arose, throughout the whole assembly. Each man involuntarily stirred. The vast populace moved to and fro in agitation403. His garments soiled and tattered, his head bare, and his long locks drawn off his forehead, pale and thin, but still unsubdued, the late conqueror and Caliph of Bagdad threw around a calm and imperial glance upon those who were but recently his slaves.
The trumpets again sounded, order was called, and a crier announced that his Highness Alp Arslan, the mighty Sovereign of Karasmé, their Lord, Protector, and King, and avenger404 of Allah and the Prophet, against all rebellious405 and evil-minded Jews and Giaours, was about to speak. There was a deep and universal silence, and then sounded a voice high as the eagle’s in a storm.
‘David Alroy!’ said his conqueror, ‘you are brought hither this day neither for trial nor for judgment. Captured in arms against your rightful sovereign, you are of course prepared, like other rebels, for your doom. Such a crime alone deserves the most avenging406 punishments. What then do you merit, who are loaded with a thousand infamies407, who have blasphemed Allah and the Prophet, and, by the practice of magic arts and the aid of the infernal powers, have broken the peace of kingdoms, occasioned infinite bloodshed, outraged408 all law, religion, and decency409, misled the minds of your deluded410 votaries411, and especially by a direct compact with Eblis, by horrible spells and infamous412 incantations, captivated the senses of an illustrious Princess, heretofore famous for the practice of every virtue, and a descendant of the Prophet himself.
‘Behold these stakes of palm-wood, sharper than a lance! The most terrible retribution that human ingenuity413 has devised for the guilty awaits you. But your crimes baffle all human vengeance414. Look forward for your satisfactory reward to those infernal powers by whose dark co-operation you have occasioned such disasters. Your punishment is public, that all men may know that the guilty never escape, and that, if your heart be visited by the slightest degree of compunction for your numerous victims, you may this day, by the frank confession415 of the irresistible means by which you seduced416 them, exonerate417 your victims from the painful and ignominious418 end with which, through your influence they are now threatened. Mark, O assembled people, the infinite mercy of the Vicegerent of Allah! He allows the wretched man to confess his infamy419, and to save by his confession, his unfortunate victims. I have said it. Glory to Allah!’
And the people shouted, ‘He has said it, he has said it! Glory to Allah! He is great, he is great! and Mahomed is his prophet!’
‘Am I to speak?’ enquired420 Alroy, when the tumult421 had subsided422. The melody of his voice commanded universal attention.
Alp Arslan nodded his head in approbation423.
‘King of Karasmé! I stand here accused of many crimes. Now hear my answers. ‘Tis said I am a rebel. My answer is, I am a Prince as thou art, of a sacred race, and far more ancient. I owe fealty424 to no one but to my God, and if I have broken that I am yet to learn that Alp Arslan is the avenger of His power. As for thy God and Prophet, I know not them, though they acknowledge mine. ‘Tis well understood in every polity, my people stand apart from other nations, and ever will, in spite of suffering. So much for blasphemy425; I am true to a deep faith of ancient days, which even the sacred writings of thy race still reverence426. For the arts magical I practised, and the communion with infernal powers ‘tis said I held, know, King, I raised the standard of my faith by the direct commandment of my God, the great Creator of the universe. What need of magic, then? What need of paltering with petty fiends, when backed by His omnipotence427? My magic was His inspiration. Need I prove why, with such aid, my people crowded round me? The time will come when from out our ancient seed, a worthier chief will rise, not to be quelled428 even by thee, Sire.
‘For that unhappy Princess of whom something was said (with no great mercy, as it seemed to me), that lady is my wife, my willing wife; the daughter of a Caliph, still my wife, although your stakes may make her soon a widow. I stand not here to account for female fancies. Believe me, Sire, she gave her beauty to my raptured429 arms with no persuasions430 but such as became a soldier and a king. It may seem strange to thee upon thy throne that the flower of Asia should be plucked by one so vile as I am. Remember, the accidents of Fortune are most strange. I was not always what I am. We have met before. There was a day, and that too not long since, when, but for the treachery of some knaves431 I mark here, Fortune seemed half inclined to reverse our fates. Had I conquered, I trust I should have shown more mercy.’
The King of Karasmé was the most passionate of men. He had made a speech according to the advice and instructions of his councillors, who had assured him that the tone he adopted would induce Alroy to confess all that he required, and especially to vindicate432 the reputation of the Princess Schirene, who had already contrived to persuade Alp Arslan that she was the most injured of her sex. The King of Karasmé stamped thrice on the platform of his throne, and exclaimed with great fire, ‘By my beard, ye have deceived me! The dog has confessed nothing!’
All the councillors and chief captains, and the Mullahs, and the Imams, and the Cadis, and the principal personages of the city were in consternation. They immediately consulted together, and, after much disputation, agreed that, before they proceeded to extremities433, it was expedient434 to prove what the prisoner would not confess. A venerable Sheikh, clothed in flowing robes of green, with a long white beard, and a turban like the tower of Babel, then rose. His sacred reputation procured435 silence while he himself delivered a long prayer, supplicating436 Allah and the Prophet to confound all blaspheming Jews and Giaours, and to pour forth words of truth from the mouths of religious men. And then the venerable Sheikh summoned all witnesses against David Alroy. Immediately advanced Kisloch the Kourd, to whom, being placed in an eminent437 position, the Cadi of Bagdad drawing forth a scroll438 from his velvet439 bag, read a deposition440, wherein the worthy Kisloch stated that he first became acquainted with the prisoner, David Alroy, in some ruins in the desert, the haunt of banditti, of whom Alroy was the chief; that he, Kisloch, was a reputable merchant, and that his caravan had been plundered441 by these robbers, and he himself captured; that, on the second night of his imprisonment, Alroy appeared to him in the likeness of a lion, and on the third, of a bull with fiery eyes; that he was in the habit of constantly transforming himself; that he frequently raised spirits; that, at length, on one terrible night, Eblis himself came in great procession, and presented Alroy with the sceptre of Solomon Ben Daoud; and that the next day Alroy raised his standard, and soon after massacred Hassan Subah and his Seljuks, by the visible aid of many terrible demons.
Calidas the Indian, the Guebre, and the Negro, and a few congenial spirits, were not eclipsed in the satisfactory character of their evidence by the luminous testimony442 of Kisloch the Kourd. The irresistible career of the Hebrew conqueror was undeniably accounted for, and the honour of Moslem25 arms and the purity of Moslem faith were established in their pristine443 glory and all their unsullied reputation. David Alroy was proved to be a child of Eblis, a sorcerer, and a dealer in charms and magical poisons. The people listened with horror and with indignation. They would have burst through the guards and torn him in pieces, had not they been afraid of the Karasmian battle-axes. So they consoled themselves with the prospect of his approaching tortures.
The Cadi of Bagdad bowed himself before the King of Karasmé, and whispered at a respectful distance in the royal ear. The trumpets sounded, the criers enjoined444 silence, and the royal lips again moved.
‘Hear, O ye people, and be wise. The chief Cadi is about to read the deposition of the royal Princess Schirene, chief victim of the sorcerer.’
And the deposition was read, which stated that David Alroy possessed445, and wore next to his heart, a talisman, given him by Eblis, the virtue of which was so great that, if once it were pressed to the heart of any woman, she was no longer mistress of her will. Such had been the unhappy fate of the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful.
‘Is it so written?’ enquired the captive.
‘It is so written,’ replied the Cadi, ‘and bears the imperial signature of the Princess.’
The King of Karasmé started from his throne, and in his rage nearly descended its steps. His face was like scarlet447, his beard was like a flame. A favourite minister ventured gently to restrain the royal robe.
‘Kill the dog on the spot,’ muttered the King of Karasmé.
‘The Princess is herself here,’ said the Cadi, ‘to bear witness to the spells of which she was a victim, but from which, by the power of Allah and the Prophet, she is now released.’
Alroy started!
‘Advance, royal Princess,’ said the Cadi, ‘and, if the deposition thou hast heard be indeed true, condescend448 to hold up the imperial hand that adorned449 it with thy signature.’
A band of eunuchs near the throne gave way; a female figure veiled to her feet appeared. She held up her hand amid the breathless agitation of the whole assembly; the ranks of the eunuchs again closed; a shriek was heard, and the veiled figure disappeared.
‘I am ready for thy tortures, King,’ said Alroy, in a tone of deep depression. His firmness appeared to have deserted him. His eyes were cast upon the ground. Apparently he was buried in profound thought, or had delivered himself up to despair.
‘Prepare the stakes,’ said Alp Arslan.
A slave advanced and offered Alroy a scroll. He recognised the Nubian who belonged to Honain. His former minister informed him that he was at hand, that the terms he offered in the dungeon might even yet be granted; that if Alroy would, as he doubted not, as he entreated451 him, accept them, he was to place the scroll in his bosom, but that if he were still inexorable, still madly determined on a horrible and ignominious end, he was to tear the scroll and throw it in to the arena452. Instantly Alroy took the scroll, and with great energy tore it into a thousand pieces. A puff453 of wind carried the fragments far and wide. The mob fought for these last memorials of David Alroy, and this little incident occasioned a great confusion.
In the meantime the negroes prepared the instruments of torture and of death.
‘The obstinacy454 of this Jewish dog makes me mad,’ said the King of Karasmé to his courtiers. ‘I will hold some parley455 with him before he dies.’ The favourite minister entreated his sovereign to be content; but the royal beard grew so red, and the royal eyes flashed forth such terrible sparks of fire, that even the favourite minister at length gave way.
The trumpet sounded, the criers called silence, and the voice of Alp Arslan was again heard.
‘Thou dog, dost see what is preparing for thee? Dost know what awaits thee in the halls of thy master Eblis? Can a Jew be influenced even by false pride? Is not life sweet? Is it not better to be my slipper-bearer than to be impaled?’
‘Magnanimous Alp Arslan,’ replied Alroy in a tone of undisguised contempt; ‘thinkest thou that any torture can be equal to the recollection that I have been conquered by thee?’
‘By my beard, he mocks me!’ exclaimed the Karasmian monarch, ‘he defies me! Touch not my robe. I will parley with him. Ye see no farther than a hooded hawk456, ye sons of a blind mother. This is a sorcerer; he hath yet some master spell; he will yet save himself. He will fly into the air, or sink into the earth. He laughs at our tortures.’ The King of Karasmé precipitately457 descended the steps of his throne, followed by his favourite minister, and his councillors, and chief captains, and the Cadis, and the Mullahs, and the Imams, and the principal personages of the city.
‘Sorcerer!’ exclaimed Alp Arslan, ‘insolent sorcerer! base son of a base mother! dog of dogs! dost thou defy us? Does thy master Eblis whisper hope? Dost thou laugh at our punishments? Wilt thou fly into the air? wilt thou sink into the earth? eh, eh? Is it so, is it so?’ The breathless monarch ceased, from the exhaustion of passion. He tore his beard out by the roots, he stamped with uncontrollable rage.
‘Thou art wiser than thy councillors, royal Arslan; I do defy thee. My master, although not Eblis, has not deserted me. I laugh at thy punishments. Thy tortures I despise. I shall both sink into the earth and mount into the air. Art thou answered?’
‘By my beard,’ exclaimed the enraged458 Arslan, ‘I am answered. Let Eblis save thee if he can;’ and the King of Karasmé, the most famous master of the sabre in Asia, drew his blade like lightning from its sheath, and took off the head of Alroy at a stroke. It fell, and, as it fell, a smile of triumphant derision seemed to play upon the dying features of the hero, and to ask of his enemies, ‘Where now are all your tortures?’
The End
The End
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1 lustreless | |
adj.无光泽的,无光彩的,平淡乏味的 | |
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2 herald | |
vt.预示...的来临,预告,宣布,欢迎 | |
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3 beacon | |
n.烽火,(警告用的)闪火灯,灯塔 | |
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4 beacons | |
灯塔( beacon的名词复数 ); 烽火; 指路明灯; 无线电台或发射台 | |
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5 dreaded | |
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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6 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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7 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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8 warrior | |
n.勇士,武士,斗士 | |
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9 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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10 converse | |
vi.谈话,谈天,闲聊;adv.相反的,相反 | |
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11 ass | |
n.驴;傻瓜,蠢笨的人 | |
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12 knave | |
n.流氓;(纸牌中的)杰克 | |
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13 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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14 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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15 odds | |
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别 | |
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16 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
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17 cedar | |
n.雪松,香柏(木) | |
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18 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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19 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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20 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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21 valiant | |
adj.勇敢的,英勇的;n.勇士,勇敢的人 | |
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22 lapse | |
n.过失,流逝,失效,抛弃信仰,间隔;vi.堕落,停止,失效,流逝;vt.使失效 | |
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23 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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24 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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25 Moslem | |
n.回教徒,穆罕默德信徒;adj.回教徒的,回教的 | |
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26 consolation | |
n.安慰,慰问 | |
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27 worthily | |
重要地,可敬地,正当地 | |
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28 peril | |
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物 | |
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29 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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30 laurels | |
n.桂冠,荣誉 | |
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31 trump | |
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
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32 trumpet | |
n.喇叭,喇叭声;v.吹喇叭,吹嘘 | |
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33 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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34 hindrance | |
n.妨碍,障碍 | |
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35 hind | |
adj.后面的,后部的 | |
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36 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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37 martial | |
adj.战争的,军事的,尚武的,威武的 | |
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38 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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39 foretold | |
v.预言,预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40 potent | |
adj.强有力的,有权势的;有效力的 | |
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41 drowsy | |
adj.昏昏欲睡的,令人发困的 | |
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42 dictated | |
v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 );口授;支配;摆布 | |
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43 skull | |
n.头骨;颅骨 | |
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44 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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45 sages | |
n.圣人( sage的名词复数 );智者;哲人;鼠尾草(可用作调料) | |
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46 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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47 mightier | |
adj. 强有力的,强大的,巨大的 adv. 很,极其 | |
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48 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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49 doom | |
n.厄运,劫数;v.注定,命定 | |
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50 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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51 likeness | |
n.相像,相似(之处) | |
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52 slay | |
v.杀死,宰杀,杀戮 | |
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53 conjure | |
v.恳求,祈求;变魔术,变戏法 | |
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54 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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55 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
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56 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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57 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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58 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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59 divan | |
n.长沙发;(波斯或其他东方诗人的)诗集 | |
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60 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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61 spacious | |
adj.广阔的,宽敞的 | |
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62 withdrawn | |
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出 | |
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63 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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64 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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65 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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66 colossal | |
adj.异常的,庞大的 | |
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67 sumptuous | |
adj.豪华的,奢侈的,华丽的 | |
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68 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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69 semblance | |
n.外貌,外表 | |
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70 captivity | |
n.囚禁;被俘;束缚 | |
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71 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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72 apparition | |
n.幽灵,神奇的现象 | |
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73 voluptuous | |
adj.肉欲的,骄奢淫逸的 | |
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74 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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75 harp | |
n.竖琴;天琴座 | |
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76 harps | |
abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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77 almighty | |
adj.全能的,万能的;很大的,很强的 | |
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78 talisman | |
n.避邪物,护身符 | |
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79 humbled | |
adj. 卑下的,谦逊的,粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下,贬低 | |
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80 pang | |
n.剧痛,悲痛,苦闷 | |
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81 crumbled | |
(把…)弄碎, (使)碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 衰落; 坍塌; 损坏 | |
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82 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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83 streak | |
n.条理,斑纹,倾向,少许,痕迹;v.加条纹,变成条纹,奔驰,快速移动 | |
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84 inflamed | |
adj.发炎的,红肿的v.(使)变红,发怒,过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85 trumpets | |
喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 ); 小号; 喇叭形物; (尤指)绽开的水仙花 | |
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86 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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87 stimulate | |
vt.刺激,使兴奋;激励,使…振奋 | |
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88 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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89 evacuated | |
撤退者的 | |
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90 gem | |
n.宝石,珠宝;受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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91 ambushed | |
v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 );埋伏着 | |
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92 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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93 dart | |
v.猛冲,投掷;n.飞镖,猛冲 | |
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94 loyalty | |
n.忠诚,忠心 | |
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95 skilful | |
(=skillful)adj.灵巧的,熟练的 | |
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96 leech | |
n.水蛭,吸血鬼,榨取他人利益的人;vt.以水蛭吸血;vi.依附于别人 | |
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97 alleviated | |
减轻,缓解,缓和( alleviate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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98 javelin | |
n.标枪,投枪 | |
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99 redeem | |
v.买回,赎回,挽回,恢复,履行(诺言等) | |
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100 fettered | |
v.给…上脚镣,束缚( fetter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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101 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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102 adversaries | |
n.对手,敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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103 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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104 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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105 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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106 corpse | |
n.尸体,死尸 | |
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107 mortification | |
n.耻辱,屈辱 | |
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108 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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109 eddy | |
n.漩涡,涡流 | |
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110 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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111 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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112 ardent | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的 | |
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113 reposed | |
v.将(手臂等)靠在某人(某物)上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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114 slumbering | |
微睡,睡眠(slumber的现在分词形式) | |
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115 slumber | |
n.睡眠,沉睡状态 | |
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116 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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117 avenged | |
v.为…复仇,报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 );为…报复 | |
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118 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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119 guise | |
n.外表,伪装的姿态 | |
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120 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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121 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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122 gore | |
n.凝血,血污;v.(动物)用角撞伤,用牙刺破;缝以补裆;顶 | |
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124 adoration | |
n.爱慕,崇拜 | |
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125 conversing | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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126 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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127 psalm | |
n.赞美诗,圣诗 | |
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128 fiery | |
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的 | |
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129 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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130 vows | |
誓言( vow的名词复数 ); 郑重宣布,许愿 | |
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131 vow | |
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓 | |
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132 covenant | |
n.盟约,契约;v.订盟约 | |
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133 muffled | |
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) | |
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134 scouts | |
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员 | |
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135 dodged | |
v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 );回避 | |
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136 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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137 irresistible | |
adj.非常诱人的,无法拒绝的,无法抗拒的 | |
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138 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
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139 penetrate | |
v.透(渗)入;刺入,刺穿;洞察,了解 | |
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140 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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141 monarchs | |
君主,帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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142 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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143 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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144 antagonists | |
对立[对抗] 者,对手,敌手( antagonist的名词复数 ); 对抗肌; 对抗药 | |
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145 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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146 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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147 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
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148 eminence | |
n.卓越,显赫;高地,高处;名家 | |
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149 exultation | |
n.狂喜,得意 | |
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150 animating | |
v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 );驱动;使栩栩如生地动作;赋予…以生命 | |
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151 consternation | |
n.大为吃惊,惊骇 | |
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152 stoutest | |
粗壮的( stout的最高级 ); 结实的; 坚固的; 坚定的 | |
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153 regained | |
复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 ); 赢回; 重回; 复至某地 | |
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154 grove | |
n.林子,小树林,园林 | |
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155 toils | |
网 | |
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156 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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157 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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158 kindled | |
(使某物)燃烧,着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 ); 激起(感情等); 发亮,放光 | |
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159 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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160 discomfited | |
v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词);使狼狈;使挫折;挫败 | |
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161 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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162 tenants | |
n.房客( tenant的名词复数 );佃户;占用者;占有者 | |
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163 abode | |
n.住处,住所 | |
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164 ascending | |
adj.上升的,向上的 | |
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165 exertion | |
n.尽力,努力 | |
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166 exertions | |
n.努力( exertion的名词复数 );费力;(能力、权力等的)运用;行使 | |
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167 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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168 homely | |
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的 | |
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169 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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170 allotted | |
分配,拨给,摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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171 oasis | |
n.(沙漠中的)绿洲,宜人的地方 | |
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172 emulated | |
v.与…竞争( emulate的过去式和过去分词 );努力赶上;计算机程序等仿真;模仿 | |
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173 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
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174 adventurous | |
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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175 vicissitudes | |
n.变迁,世事变化;变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 );盛衰兴废 | |
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176 sanguine | |
adj.充满希望的,乐观的,血红色的 | |
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177 bosoms | |
胸部( bosom的名词复数 ); 胸怀; 女衣胸部(或胸襟); 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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178 procure | |
vt.获得,取得,促成;vi.拉皮条 | |
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179 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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180 chagrin | |
n.懊恼;气愤;委屈 | |
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181 enlist | |
vt.谋取(支持等),赢得;征募;vi.入伍 | |
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182 felicitous | |
adj.恰当的,巧妙的;n.恰当,贴切 | |
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183 conqueror | |
n.征服者,胜利者 | |
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184 dexterous | |
adj.灵敏的;灵巧的 | |
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185 caravan | |
n.大蓬车;活动房屋 | |
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186 scanty | |
adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的 | |
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187 boisterous | |
adj.喧闹的,欢闹的 | |
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188 monotonous | |
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的 | |
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189 fugitives | |
n.亡命者,逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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190 meditated | |
深思,沉思,冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 ); 内心策划,考虑 | |
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191 procuring | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的现在分词 );拉皮条 | |
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192 dispersing | |
adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式 | |
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193 prospects | |
n.希望,前途(恒为复数) | |
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194 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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195 tranquil | |
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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196 poetic | |
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的 | |
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197 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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198 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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199 tempted | |
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词) | |
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200 outlaw | |
n.歹徒,亡命之徒;vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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201 luminous | |
adj.发光的,发亮的;光明的;明白易懂的;有启发的 | |
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202 covet | |
vt.垂涎;贪图(尤指属于他人的东西) | |
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203 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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204 joyous | |
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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205 slumbers | |
睡眠,安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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206 ferocious | |
adj.凶猛的,残暴的,极度的,十分强烈的 | |
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207 spurn | |
v.拒绝,摈弃;n.轻视的拒绝;踢开 | |
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208 spurned | |
v.一脚踢开,拒绝接受( spurn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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209 shriek | |
v./n.尖叫,叫喊 | |
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210 trotted | |
小跑,急走( trot的过去分词 ); 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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211 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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212 stupor | |
v.昏迷;不省人事 | |
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213 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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214 parched | |
adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干 | |
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215 contrived | |
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的 | |
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216 tattered | |
adj.破旧的,衣衫破的 | |
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217 pelted | |
(连续地)投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 ); 连续抨击; 攻击; 剥去…的皮 | |
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218 fanatic | |
n.狂热者,入迷者;adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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219 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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220 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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221 bustled | |
闹哄哄地忙乱,奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 ); 催促 | |
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222 demons | |
n.恶人( demon的名词复数 );恶魔;精力过人的人;邪念 | |
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223 demon | |
n.魔鬼,恶魔 | |
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224 demonstration | |
n.表明,示范,论证,示威 | |
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225 authenticity | |
n.真实性 | |
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226 pitcher | |
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐;(棒球)投手 | |
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227 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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228 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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229 cleave | |
v.(clave;cleaved)粘着,粘住;坚持;依恋 | |
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230 subterranean | |
adj.地下的,地表下的 | |
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231 dungeon | |
n.地牢,土牢 | |
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232 citadel | |
n.城堡;堡垒;避难所 | |
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233 wail | |
vt./vi.大声哀号,恸哭;呼啸,尖啸 | |
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234 wretch | |
n.可怜的人,不幸的人;卑鄙的人 | |
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235 extremity | |
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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236 fetters | |
n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 );束缚v.给…上脚镣,束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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237 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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238 glide | |
n./v.溜,滑行;(时间)消逝 | |
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239 scorpions | |
n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 ) | |
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240 calamities | |
n.灾祸,灾难( calamity的名词复数 );不幸之事 | |
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241 miseries | |
n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 );痛苦的事;穷困;常发牢骚的人 | |
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242 noisome | |
adj.有害的,可厌的 | |
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243 recoiled | |
v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 );退缩;报应;返回 | |
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244 woe | |
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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245 exclamation | |
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词 | |
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246 solace | |
n.安慰;v.使快乐;vt.安慰(物),缓和 | |
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247 wrung | |
绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 ); 握紧(尤指别人的手); 把(湿衣服)拧干; 绞掉(水) | |
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248 idiotic | |
adj.白痴的 | |
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249 implicit | |
a.暗示的,含蓄的,不明晰的,绝对的 | |
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250 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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251 paltry | |
adj.无价值的,微不足道的 | |
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252 perennial | |
adj.终年的;长久的 | |
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253 anatomy | |
n.解剖学,解剖;功能,结构,组织 | |
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254 solicitude | |
n.焦虑 | |
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255 niche | |
n.壁龛;合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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256 shudder | |
v.战粟,震动,剧烈地摇晃;n.战粟,抖动 | |
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257 shuddered | |
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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258 bribe | |
n.贿赂;v.向…行贿,买通 | |
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259 skulls | |
颅骨( skull的名词复数 ); 脑袋; 脑子; 脑瓜 | |
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260 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 | |
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261 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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262 tusks | |
n.(象等动物的)长牙( tusk的名词复数 );獠牙;尖形物;尖头 | |
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263 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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264 slanderer | |
造谣中伤者 | |
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265 vile | |
adj.卑鄙的,可耻的,邪恶的;坏透的 | |
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266 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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267 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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268 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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269 impale | |
v.用尖物刺某人、某物 | |
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270 impaled | |
钉在尖桩上( impale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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271 axe | |
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减 | |
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272 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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273 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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274 blot | |
vt.弄脏(用吸墨纸)吸干;n.污点,污渍 | |
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275 bodes | |
v.预示,预告,预言( bode的第三人称单数 );等待,停留( bide的过去分词 );居住;(过去式用bided)等待 | |
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276 creeds | |
(尤指宗教)信条,教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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277 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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278 erased | |
v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 );抹去;清除 | |
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279 riddle | |
n.谜,谜语,粗筛;vt.解谜,给…出谜,筛,检查,鉴定,非难,充满于;vi.出谜 | |
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280 wilt | |
v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎;(指人)疲倦,衰弱 | |
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281 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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282 renounce | |
v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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283 jot | |
n.少量;vi.草草记下;vt.匆匆写下 | |
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284 everlasting | |
adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的 | |
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285 lasting | |
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持 | |
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286 outrage | |
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒 | |
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287 vilest | |
adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 );可耻的;极坏的;非常讨厌的 | |
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288 softened | |
(使)变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 ); 缓解打击; 缓和; 安慰 | |
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289 dealer | |
n.商人,贩子 | |
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290 impalement | |
刺穿,刺刑,围住 | |
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291 confluence | |
n.汇合,聚集 | |
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292 beseech | |
v.祈求,恳求 | |
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293 overthrown | |
adj. 打翻的,推倒的,倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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294 deity | |
n.神,神性;被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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295 marvels | |
n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 );令人惊奇的事物(或事例);不平凡的成果;成就v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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296 felon | |
n.重罪犯;adj.残忍的 | |
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297 naught | |
n.无,零 [=nought] | |
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298 shuffling | |
adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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299 erred | |
犯错误,做错事( err的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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300 palled | |
v.(因过多或过久而)生厌,感到乏味,厌烦( pall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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301 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
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302 falter | |
vi.(嗓音)颤抖,结巴地说;犹豫;蹒跚 | |
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303 fidelity | |
n.忠诚,忠实;精确 | |
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304 gems | |
growth; economy; management; and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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305 softens | |
(使)变软( soften的第三人称单数 ); 缓解打击; 缓和; 安慰 | |
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306 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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307 joyful | |
adj.欢乐的,令人欢欣的 | |
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308 shrieking | |
v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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309 judgments | |
判断( judgment的名词复数 ); 鉴定; 评价; 审判 | |
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310 shrieked | |
v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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311 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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312 exempted | |
使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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313 catastrophe | |
n.大灾难,大祸 | |
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314 proximity | |
n.接近,邻近 | |
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315 modifications | |
n.缓和( modification的名词复数 );限制;更改;改变 | |
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316 averted | |
防止,避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 ); 转移 | |
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317 consummate | |
adj.完美的;v.成婚;使完美 [反]baffle | |
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318 expediency | |
n.适宜;方便;合算;利己 | |
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319 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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320 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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321 postponed | |
vt.& vi.延期,缓办,(使)延迟vt.把…放在次要地位;[语]把…放在后面(或句尾)vi.(疟疾等)延缓发作(或复发) | |
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322 exhaustion | |
n.耗尽枯竭,疲惫,筋疲力尽,竭尽,详尽无遗的论述 | |
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323 faculties | |
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院 | |
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324 impaired | |
adj.受损的;出毛病的;有(身体或智力)缺陷的v.损害,削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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325 irritable | |
adj.急躁的;过敏的;易怒的 | |
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326 viands | |
n.食品,食物 | |
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327 placid | |
adj.安静的,平和的 | |
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328 watchful | |
adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
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329 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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330 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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331 benign | |
adj.善良的,慈祥的;良性的,无危险的 | |
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332 tranquilly | |
adv. 宁静地 | |
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333 shrouded | |
v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 );保密 | |
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334 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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335 sickle | |
n.镰刀 | |
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336 starry | |
adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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337 maidens | |
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球 | |
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338 soothing | |
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的 | |
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339 hooded | |
adj.戴头巾的;有罩盖的;颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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340 minarets | |
n.(清真寺旁由报告祈祷时刻的人使用的)光塔( minaret的名词复数 ) | |
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341 mosque | |
n.清真寺 | |
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342 mosques | |
清真寺; 伊斯兰教寺院,清真寺; 清真寺,伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 ) | |
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343 torrent | |
n.激流,洪流;爆发,(话语等的)连发 | |
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344 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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345 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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346 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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347 diadem | |
n.王冠,冕 | |
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348 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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349 benevolence | |
n.慈悲,捐助 | |
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350 omnipotent | |
adj.全能的,万能的 | |
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351 meekness | |
n.温顺,柔和 | |
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352 modesty | |
n.谦逊,虚心,端庄,稳重,羞怯,朴素 | |
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353 humility | |
n.谦逊,谦恭 | |
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354 dependence | |
n.依靠,依赖;信任,信赖;隶属 | |
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355 recurred | |
再发生,复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 ); 治愈 | |
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356 pensive | |
a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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357 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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358 faltered | |
(嗓音)颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 ); 支吾其词; 蹒跚; 摇晃 | |
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359 reassured | |
adj.使消除疑虑的;使放心的v.再保证,恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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360 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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361 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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362 vexed | |
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论 | |
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363 repented | |
对(自己的所为)感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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364 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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365 coveted | |
adj.令人垂涎的;垂涎的,梦寐以求的v.贪求,觊觎(covet的过去分词);垂涎;贪图 | |
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366 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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367 brink | |
n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘,边沿 | |
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368 fragrant | |
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的 | |
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369 worthier | |
应得某事物( worthy的比较级 ); 值得做某事; 可尊敬的; 有(某人或事物)的典型特征 | |
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370 landmark | |
n.陆标,划时代的事,地界标 | |
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371 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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372 legacies | |
n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 );遗留之物;遗留问题;后遗症 | |
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373 usury | |
n.高利贷 | |
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374 gauge | |
v.精确计量;估计;n.标准度量;计量器 | |
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375 reviled | |
v.辱骂,痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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376 veins | |
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理 | |
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377 consecrate | |
v.使圣化,奉…为神圣;尊崇;奉献 | |
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378 profane | |
adj.亵神的,亵渎的;vt.亵渎,玷污 | |
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379 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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380 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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381 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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382 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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383 betokened | |
v.预示,表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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384 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
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385 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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386 bazaar | |
n.集市,商店集中区 | |
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387 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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388 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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389 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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390 swelling | |
n.肿胀 | |
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391 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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392 appeased | |
安抚,抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 ); 绥靖(满足另一国的要求以避免战争) | |
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393 brutally | |
adv.残忍地,野蛮地,冷酷无情地 | |
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394 awnings | |
篷帐布 | |
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395 ERECTED | |
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
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396 hideous | |
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的 | |
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397 cymbals | |
pl.铙钹 | |
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398 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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399 inscribed | |
v.写,刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 );内接 | |
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400 stature | |
n.(高度)水平,(高度)境界,身高,身材 | |
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401 wagon | |
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车 | |
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402 mules | |
骡( mule的名词复数 ); 拖鞋; 顽固的人; 越境运毒者 | |
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403 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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404 avenger | |
n. 复仇者 | |
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405 rebellious | |
adj.造反的,反抗的,难控制的 | |
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406 avenging | |
adj.报仇的,复仇的v.为…复仇,报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 );为…报复 | |
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407 infamies | |
n.声名狼藉( infamy的名词复数 );臭名;丑恶;恶行 | |
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408 outraged | |
a.震惊的,义愤填膺的 | |
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409 decency | |
n.体面,得体,合宜,正派,庄重 | |
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410 deluded | |
v.欺骗,哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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411 votaries | |
n.信徒( votary的名词复数 );追随者;(天主教)修士;修女 | |
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412 infamous | |
adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的 | |
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413 ingenuity | |
n.别出心裁;善于发明创造 | |
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414 vengeance | |
n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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415 confession | |
n.自白,供认,承认 | |
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416 seduced | |
诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 ); 勾引; 诱使堕落; 使入迷 | |
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417 exonerate | |
v.免除责任,确定无罪 | |
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418 ignominious | |
adj.可鄙的,不光彩的,耻辱的 | |
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419 infamy | |
n.声名狼藉,出丑,恶行 | |
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420 enquired | |
打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 ); 询问; 问问题; 查问 | |
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421 tumult | |
n.喧哗;激动,混乱;吵闹 | |
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422 subsided | |
v.(土地)下陷(因在地下采矿)( subside的过去式和过去分词 );减弱;下降至较低或正常水平;一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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423 approbation | |
n.称赞;认可 | |
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424 fealty | |
n.忠贞,忠节 | |
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425 blasphemy | |
n.亵渎,渎神 | |
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426 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
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427 omnipotence | |
n.全能,万能,无限威力 | |
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428 quelled | |
v.(用武力)制止,结束,镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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429 raptured | |
欢天喜地的,狂喜的,销魂的 | |
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430 persuasions | |
n.劝说,说服(力)( persuasion的名词复数 );信仰 | |
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431 knaves | |
n.恶棍,无赖( knave的名词复数 );(纸牌中的)杰克 | |
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432 vindicate | |
v.为…辩护或辩解,辩明;证明…正确 | |
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433 extremities | |
n.端点( extremity的名词复数 );尽头;手和足;极窘迫的境地 | |
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434 expedient | |
adj.有用的,有利的;n.紧急的办法,权宜之计 | |
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435 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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436 supplicating | |
v.祈求,哀求,恳求( supplicate的现在分词 ) | |
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437 eminent | |
adj.显赫的,杰出的,有名的,优良的 | |
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438 scroll | |
n.卷轴,纸卷;(石刻上的)漩涡 | |
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439 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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440 deposition | |
n.免职,罢官;作证;沉淀;沉淀物 | |
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441 plundered | |
掠夺,抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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442 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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443 pristine | |
adj.原来的,古时的,原始的,纯净的,无垢的 | |
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444 enjoined | |
v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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445 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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446 forgery | |
n.伪造的文件等,赝品,伪造(行为) | |
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447 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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448 condescend | |
v.俯就,屈尊;堕落,丢丑 | |
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449 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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450 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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451 entreated | |
恳求,乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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452 arena | |
n.竞技场,运动场所;竞争场所,舞台 | |
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453 puff | |
n.一口(气);一阵(风);v.喷气,喘气 | |
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454 obstinacy | |
n.顽固;(病痛等)难治 | |
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455 parley | |
n.谈判 | |
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456 hawk | |
n.鹰,骗子;鹰派成员 | |
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457 precipitately | |
adv.猛进地 | |
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458 enraged | |
使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 ); 歜; 激愤 | |
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