The revolutionaries of 1848, unwilling2 or unable to imitate the bloodthirsty follies3 of their predecessors4, consoled themselves by imitating their ludicrous follies. They took it into their heads to give the people a series of grand allegorical festivals.
Despite the terrible condition of the finances, the Provisional Government had decided5 that a sum of one or two millions should be spent upon celebrating the Feast of Concord in the Champ-de-Mars.
According to the programme, which was published in advance and faithfully followed out, the Champ-de-Mars was to be filled with figures representing all sorts of persons, virtues8, political institutions, and even public services. France, Germany and Italy, hand in hand; Equality, Liberty and Fraternity, also hand in hand; Agriculture, Commerce, the Army, the Navy and, above all, the Republic; the last of colossal9 dimensions. A car was to be drawn10 by sixteen plough-horses: "this car," said the programme aforesaid, "will be of a simple and rustic11 shape, and will carry three trees, an oak, a[175] laurel, and an olive tree, symbolizing12 strength, honour, and plenty; and, moreover, a plough in the midst of a group of flowers and ears of corn. Ploughmen and young girls dressed in white will surround the car, singing patriotic13 hymns14." We were also promised oxen with gilded15 horns, but did not get them.
The National Assembly had not the smallest desire to see all these beautiful things; it even feared lest the immense gathering16 of people which was sure to be occasioned should produce some dangerous riot. Accordingly, it put the date as far back as possible; but the preparations were made, there was no possibility of going back from it, and the date was fixed17 for the 21st of May.
On that day I went early to the Assembly, which was to proceed on foot, in a body, to the Champ-de-Mars. I had put my pistols in my pockets, and in talking to my colleagues I discovered that most of them were secretly armed, like myself: one had taken a sword-stick, another a dagger18; nearly all carried some weapon of defence. Edmond de La Fayette showed me a weapon of a peculiar19 kind. It was a ball of lead sewn into a short leathern thong20 which could easily be fastened to the arm: one might have called it a portable club. La Fayette declared that this little instrument was being widely carried by the National Assembly, especially since the 15th of May. It was thus that we proceeded to this Feast of Concord.[176]
A sinister21 rumour22 ran that some great danger awaited the Assembly when it should cross through the crowd of the Champ-de-Mars and take up its place on the stage reserved for it outside the Military College. As a matter of fact, nothing could have been easier than to make it the object of an unexpected attack during this progress, which it made on foot and, so to speak, unguarded. Its real safeguard lay in the recollection of the 15th of May, and that sufficed. It very rarely happens, whatever opportunity may present itself, that a body is affronted23 the day after its triumph. Moreover, the French never do two things at a time. Their minds often change their object, but they are always devoted24 wholly to that occupying them at the moment, and I believe there is no precedent25 of their making an insurrection in the middle of a fête or even of a ceremony. On this day, therefore, the people seemed to enter willingly into the fictitious26 idea of its happiness, and for a moment to place on one side the recollection of its miseries27 and its hatreds29. It was animated30, without being turbulent. The programme had stated that a "fraternal confusion" was to prevail. There was, it is true, extreme confusion, but no disorder31; for we are strange people: we cannot do without the police when we are orderly, and so soon as we start a revolution, the police seem superfluous32. The sight of this popular joyfulness33 enraptured34 the moderate and sincere Republicans, and made them almost maudlin35. Carnot observed[177] to me, with that silliness which the honest democrat36 always mingles37 with his virtue7:
"Believe me, my dear colleague, one should always trust the people."
I remember rather brusquely replying, "Ah! why didn't you tell me that before the 15th?"
The Executive Commission occupied one half of the immense stage that had been erected38 along the Military College, and the National Assembly the other. There first defiled39 past us the different emblems40 of all nations, which took an enormous time, because of the fraternal confusion of which the programme spoke41. Then came the car, and then the young girls dressed in white. There were at least three hundred of them, who wore their virginal costume in so virile42 a fashion that they might have been taken for boys dressed up as girls. Each had been given a big bouquet43 to carry, which they were so gallant44 as to throw to us as they passed. As these gossips were the owners of very nervous arms, and were more accustomed, I should think, to using the laundress's beetle45 than to strewing46 flowers, the bouquets47 fell down upon us in a very hard and uncomfortable hail-storm.
One tall girl left her companions and, stopping in front of Lamartine, recited an ode to his glory. Gradually she grew excited in talking, so much so that she pulled a terrible face and began to make the most alarming contortions48. Never had enthusiasm seemed to me to come so near to epilepsy.[178] When she had finished, the people insisted at all costs that Lamartine should kiss her; she offered him two fat cheeks, streaming with perspiration49, which he touched with the tip of his lips and with indifferent bad grace.
The only serious portion of the fête was the review. I have never seen so many armed men in one spot in my life, and I believe that few have seen more. Apart from the innumerable crowd of sight-seers in the Champ-de-Mars, one saw an entire people under arms. The Moniteur estimated the number of National Guards and soldiers of the line who were there at three hundred thousand. This seemed to me to be exaggerated, but I do not think that the number could be reduced to less than two hundred thousand.
The spectacle of those two hundred thousand bayonets will never leave my memory. As the men who carried them were tightly pressed against one another, so as to be able to keep within the slopes of the Champ-de-Mars, and as we, from our but slightly raised position, could only throw an almost horizontal glance upon them, they formed, to our eyes, a flat and lightly undulating surface, which flashed in the sun and made the Champ-de-Mars resemble a great lake filled with liquid steel.
All these men marched past us in succession, and we noticed that this army numbered many more muskets50 than uniforms. Only the legions from the wealthier parts of the town presented a large number[179] of National Guards clad in military uniform. They were the first to appear, and shouted, "Long live the National Assembly!" with much enthusiasm. In the legions from the suburbs, which formed in themselves veritable armies, one saw little but jackets and blouses, though this did not prevent them from marching with a very warlike aspect. Most of them, as they passed us, were content to shout, "Long live the Democratic Republic!" or to sing the Marseillaise or the song of the Girondins. Next came the legions of the outskirts51, composed of peasants, badly equipped, badly armed, and dressed in blouses like the workmen of the suburbs, but filled with a very different spirit to that of the latter, as they showed by their cries and gestures. The battalions52 of the Garde Mobile uttered various exclamations53, which left us full of doubt and anxiety as to the intention of these lads, or rather children, who at that time more than any other held our destinies in their hands.
I witnessed this long parade with a heart filled with sadness. Never at any time had so many arms been placed at once into the hands of the people. It will be easily believed that I shared neither the simple confidence nor the stupid happiness of my friend Carnot; I foresaw, on the contrary, that all the bayonets I saw glittering in the sun would soon be raised against each other, and I[180] felt that I was at a review of the two armies of the civil war that was just concluded. In the course of that day I still heard frequent shouts of "Long live Lamartine!" although his great popularity was already waning55. In fact, one might say it was over, were it not that in every crowd one meets with a large number of belated individuals who are stirred with the enthusiasm of yesterday, like the provincials56 who begin to adopt the Paris mode on the day when the Parisians abandon it.
Lamartine hastened to withdraw from this last ray of his sun: he retired57 long before the ceremony was finished. He looked weary and care-worn. Many members of the Assembly, also overcome with fatigue58, followed his example, and the review ended in front of almost empty benches. It had begun early and ended at night-fall.
The whole time elapsing between the review of the 21st of May and the days of June was filled with the anxiety caused by the approach of these latter days. Every day fresh alarms came and called out the army and the National Guard; the artisans and shopkeepers no longer lived at home, but in the public places and under arms. Each one fervently59 desired to avoid the necessity of a conflict, and all vaguely60 felt that this necessity was becoming more inevitable61 from day to day. The National Assembly was so constantly possessed62 by this thought that one might have said that it read the words "Civil War" written on the four walls of the House.[181]
On all sides great efforts of prudence63 and patience were being made to prevent, or at least delay, the crisis. Members who in their hearts were most hostile to the revolution were careful to restrain any expressions of sympathy or antipathy64; the old parliamentary orators65 were silent, lest the sound of their voices should give umbrage66; they left the rostrum to the new-comers, who themselves but rarely occupied it, for the great debates had ceased. As is common in all assemblies, that which most disturbed the members' minds was that of which they spoke least, though it was proved that each day they thought of it. All sorts of measures to help the misery67 of the people were proposed and discussed. We even entered readily into an examination of the different socialistic systems, and each strove in all good faith to discover in these something applicable to, or at least compatible with, the ancient laws of Society.
During this time, the national workshops continued to fill; their population already exceeded one hundred thousand men. It was felt that we could not live if they were kept on, and it was feared that we should perish if we tried to dismiss them. This burning question of the national workshops was treated daily, but superficially and timidly; it was constantly touched upon, but never firmly taken in hand.
On the other hand, it was clear that, outside the Assembly, the different parties, while dreading69 the[182] contest, were actively70 preparing for it. The wealthy legions of the National Guard offered banquets to the army and to the Garde Mobile, in which they mutually urged each other to unite for the common defence.
The workmen of the suburbs, on their side, were secretly amassing71 that great number of cartridges72 which enabled them later to sustain so long a contest. As to the muskets, the Provisional Government had taken care that these should be supplied in profusion73; one could safely say that there was not a workman who did not possess at least one, and sometimes several.
The danger was perceived afar off as well as near at hand. The provinces grew indignant and irritated with Paris; for the first time for sixty years they ventured to entertain the idea of resisting it; the people armed themselves and encouraged each other to come to the assistance of the Assembly; they sent it thousands of addresses congratulating it on its victory of the 15th of May. The ruin of commerce, universal war, the dread68 of Socialism made the Republic more and more hateful in the eyes of the provinces. This hatred28 manifested itself especially beneath the secrecy74 of the ballot75. The electors were called upon to re-elect in twenty-one departments; and in general they elected the men who in their eyes represented the Monarchy76 in some form or other. M. Molé was elected at Bordeaux, and M. Thiers at Rouen.[183]
It was then that suddenly, for the first time, the name of Louis Napoleon came into notice. The Prince was elected at the same time in Paris and in several departments. Republicans, Legitimists and demagogues gave him their votes; for the nation at that time was like a frightened flock of sheep, which runs in all directions without following any road. I little thought, when I heard that Louis Napoleon had been nominated, that exactly a year later I should be his minister. I confess that I beheld77 the return of the old parliamentary leaders with considerable apprehension78 and regret; not that I failed to do justice to their talent and discretion79, but I feared lest their approach should drive back towards the Mountain the moderate Republicans who were coming towards us. Moreover, I knew them too well not to see that, so soon as they had returned to political life, they would wish to lead it, and that it would not suit them to save the country unless they could govern it. Now an enterprise of this sort seemed to me both premature80 and dangerous. Our duty and theirs was to assist the moderate Republicans to govern the Republic without seeking to govern it indirectly81 ourselves, and especially without appearing to have this in view.
For my part, I never doubted but that we were on the eve of a terrible struggle; nevertheless, I did not fully6 understand our danger until after a conversation that I had about this time with the celebrated82 Madame Sand. I met her at an English[184]man's of my acquaintance: Milnes,[10] a member of Parliament, who was then in Paris. Milnes was a clever fellow who did and, what is rarer, said many foolish things. What a number of those faces I have seen in my life of which one can say that the two profiles are not alike: men of sense on one side, fools on the other. I have always seen Milnes infatuated with something or somebody. This time he was smitten83 with Madame Sand, and notwithstanding the seriousness of events, had insisted on giving her a literary déje?ner. I was present at this repast, and the image of the days of June, which followed so closely after, far from effacing84 the remembrance of it from my mind, recalls it.
The company was anything but homogeneous. Besides Madame Sand, I met a young English lady, very modest and very agreeable, who must have found the company invited to meet her somewhat singular; some more or less obscure writers; and Mérimée. Milnes placed me next to Madame Sand. I had never spoken to her, and I doubt whether I had ever seen her (I had lived little in the world of literary adventurers which she frequented). One of my friends asked her one day what she thought of my book on America, and she answered, "Monsieur, I am only accustomed to read the books which are presented to me by their authors." I was strongly prejudiced against Madame Sand, for I[185] loathe85 women who write, especially those who systematically86 disguise the weaknesses of their sex, instead of interesting us by displaying them in their true character. Nevertheless, she pleased me. I thought her features rather massive, but her expression admirable: all her mind seemed to have taken refuge in her eyes, abandoning the rest of her face to matter; and I was particularly struck at meeting in her with something of the naturalness of behaviour of great minds. She had a real simplicity87 of manner and language, which she mingled88, perhaps, with some little affectation of simplicity in her dress. I confess that, more adorned89, she would have appeared still more simple. We talked for a whole hour of public affairs; it was impossible to talk of anything else in those days. Besides, Madame Sand at that time was a sort of politician, and what she said on the subject struck me greatly; it was the first time that I had entered into direct and familiar communication with a person able and willing to tell me what was happening in the camp of our adversaries90. Political parties never know each other: they approach, touch, seize, but never see one another. Madame Sand depicted91 to me, in great detail and with singular vivacity92, the condition of the Paris workmen, their organization, their numbers, their arms, their preparations, their thoughts, their passions, their terrible resolves. I thought the picture overloaded93, but it was not, as subsequent events clearly proved. She seemed to be alarmed for herself at[186] the popular triumph, and to take the greatest pity upon the fate that awaited us.
"Try to persuade your friends, monsieur," she said, "not to force the people into the streets by alarming or irritating them. I also wish that I could instil94 patience into my own friends; for if it comes to a fight, believe me, you will all be killed."
With these consoling words we parted, and I have never seen her since.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] The Right Honble. Monckton Milnes, the late Lord Houghton.—A.T. de M.
点击收听单词发音
1 concord | |
n.和谐;协调 | |
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2 unwilling | |
adj.不情愿的 | |
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3 follies | |
罪恶,时事讽刺剧; 愚蠢,蠢笨,愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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4 predecessors | |
n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 );前辈;(被取代的)原有事物;前身 | |
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5 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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6 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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7 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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8 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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9 colossal | |
adj.异常的,庞大的 | |
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10 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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11 rustic | |
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬 | |
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12 symbolizing | |
v.象征,作为…的象征( symbolize的现在分词 ) | |
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13 patriotic | |
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的 | |
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14 hymns | |
n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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15 gilded | |
a.镀金的,富有的 | |
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16 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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17 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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18 dagger | |
n.匕首,短剑,剑号 | |
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19 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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20 thong | |
n.皮带;皮鞭;v.装皮带 | |
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21 sinister | |
adj.不吉利的,凶恶的,左边的 | |
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22 rumour | |
n.谣言,谣传,传闻 | |
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23 affronted | |
adj.被侮辱的,被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 );相遇 | |
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24 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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25 precedent | |
n.先例,前例;惯例;adj.在前的,在先的 | |
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26 fictitious | |
adj.虚构的,假设的;空头的 | |
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27 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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28 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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29 hatreds | |
n.仇恨,憎恶( hatred的名词复数 );厌恶的事 | |
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30 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
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31 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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32 superfluous | |
adj.过多的,过剩的,多余的 | |
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33 joyfulness | |
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34 enraptured | |
v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35 maudlin | |
adj.感情脆弱的,爱哭的 | |
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36 democrat | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士;民主党党员 | |
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37 mingles | |
混合,混入( mingle的第三人称单数 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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38 ERECTED | |
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
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39 defiled | |
v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 );污染;弄脏;纵列行进 | |
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40 emblems | |
n.象征,标记( emblem的名词复数 ) | |
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41 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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42 virile | |
adj.男性的;有男性生殖力的;有男子气概的;强有力的 | |
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43 bouquet | |
n.花束,酒香 | |
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44 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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45 beetle | |
n.甲虫,近视眼的人 | |
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46 strewing | |
v.撒在…上( strew的现在分词 );散落于;点缀;撒满 | |
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47 bouquets | |
n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 );(酒的)芳香 | |
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48 contortions | |
n.扭歪,弯曲;扭曲,弄歪,歪曲( contortion的名词复数 ) | |
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49 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
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50 muskets | |
n.火枪,(尤指)滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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51 outskirts | |
n.郊外,郊区 | |
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52 battalions | |
n.(陆军的)一营(大约有一千兵士)( battalion的名词复数 );协同作战的部队;军队;(组织在一起工作的)队伍 | |
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53 exclamations | |
n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 );感叹;感叹语;感叹词 | |
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54 regiments | |
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物 | |
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55 waning | |
adj.(月亮)渐亏的,逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 );(月)亏;变小;变暗淡 | |
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56 provincials | |
n.首都以外的人,地区居民( provincial的名词复数 ) | |
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57 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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58 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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59 fervently | |
adv.热烈地,热情地,强烈地 | |
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60 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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61 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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62 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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63 prudence | |
n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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64 antipathy | |
n.憎恶;反感,引起反感的人或事物 | |
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65 orators | |
n.演说者,演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
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66 umbrage | |
n.不快;树荫 | |
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67 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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68 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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69 dreading | |
v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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70 actively | |
adv.积极地,勤奋地 | |
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71 amassing | |
v.积累,积聚( amass的现在分词 ) | |
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72 cartridges | |
子弹( cartridge的名词复数 ); (打印机的)墨盒; 录音带盒; (唱机的)唱头 | |
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73 profusion | |
n.挥霍;丰富 | |
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74 secrecy | |
n.秘密,保密,隐蔽 | |
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75 ballot | |
n.(不记名)投票,投票总数,投票权;vi.投票 | |
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76 monarchy | |
n.君主,最高统治者;君主政体,君主国 | |
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77 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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78 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
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79 discretion | |
n.谨慎;随意处理 | |
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80 premature | |
adj.比预期时间早的;不成熟的,仓促的 | |
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81 indirectly | |
adv.间接地,不直接了当地 | |
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82 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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83 smitten | |
猛打,重击,打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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84 effacing | |
谦逊的 | |
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85 loathe | |
v.厌恶,嫌恶 | |
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86 systematically | |
adv.有系统地 | |
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87 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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88 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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89 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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90 adversaries | |
n.对手,敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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91 depicted | |
描绘,描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 ); 描述 | |
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92 vivacity | |
n.快活,活泼,精神充沛 | |
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93 overloaded | |
a.超载的,超负荷的 | |
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94 instil | |
v.逐渐灌输 | |
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