"I would give something," he said, "to know what wind blows these knaves9 here. From every petty castle in the Earl's feu the retainers seem hurrying here. Is he bent10, I wonder, on settling once and for all his quarrels with the Baton11 of Wortham? or can he be intending to make a clear sweep of the woods? Ah! here comes my gossip Hubert; he may tell me the meaning of this gathering12."
Leaping to his feet, the speaker started at a brisk walk to meet a jovial-looking personage coming down from the direction of the castle. The new comer was dressed in the attire13 of a falconer, and two dogs followed at his heels.
"Ah, Master Cuthbert," he said, "what brings you so near to the castle? It is not often that you favour us with your presence."
"I am happier in the woods, as you well know, and was on my way thither14 but now, when I paused at the sight of all these troopers flocking in to Evesham. What enterprise has Sir Walter on hand now, think you?"
"The earl keeps his own counsel," said the falconer, "but methinks a shrewd guess might be made at the purport15 of the gathering. It was but three days since that his foresters were beaten back by the landless men, whom they caught in the very act of cutting up a fat buck16. As thou knowest, my lord though easy and well-disposed to all, and not fond of harassing17 and driving the people as are many of his neighbours, is yet to the full as fanatical anent his forest privileges as the worst of them. They tell me that when the news came in of the poor figure that his foresters cut with broken bows and draggled plumes—for the varlets had soused them in a pond of not over savoury water—he swore a great oath that he would clear the forest of the bands. It may be, indeed, that this gathering is for the purpose of falling in force upon that evil-disposed and most treacherous18 baron19, Sir John of Wortham, who has already begun to harry20 some of the outlying lands, and has driven off, I hear, many heads of cattle. It is a quarrel which will have to be fought out sooner or later, and the sooner the better, say I. Although I am no man of war, and love looking after my falcons21 or giving food to my dogs far more than exchanging hard blows, yet would I gladly don the buff and steel coat to aid in levelling the keep of that robber and tyrant22, Sir John of Wortham."
"Thanks, good Hubert," said the lad. "I must not stand gossiping here. The news you have told me, as you know, touches me closely, for I would not that harm should come to the forest men."
"Let it not out, I beseech23 thee, Cuthbert, that the news came from me, for temperate24 as Sir Walter is at most times, he would, methinks, give me short shift did he know that the wagging of my tongue might have given warning through which the outlaws25 of the Chase should slip through his fingers."
"Fear not, Hubert; I can be mum when the occasion needs. Can you tell me farther, when the bands now gathering are likely to set forth26?"
"In brief breathing space," the falconer replied. "Those who first arrived I left swilling27 beer, and devouring28 pies and other provisions cooked for them last night, and from what I hear, they will set forth as soon as the last comer has arrived. Whichever be their quarry29, they will try to fall upon it before the news of their arrival is bruited30 abroad."
With a wave of his hand to the falconer the boy started. Leaving the road, and striking across the slightly undulated country dotted here and there by groups of trees, the lad ran at a brisk trot31, without stopping to halt or breathe, until after half an hour's run he arrived at the entrance of a building, whose aspect proclaimed it to be the abode32 of a Saxon franklin of some importance. It would not be called a castle, but was rather a fortified33 house, with a few windows looking without, and surrounded by a moat crossed by a drawbridge, and capable of sustaining anything short of a real attack. Erstwood had but lately passed into Norman hands, and was indeed at present owned by a Saxon. Sir William de Lance, the father of the lad who is now entering its portals, was a friend and follower34 of the Earl of Evesham; and soon after his lord had married Gweneth the heiress of all these fair lands—given to him by the will of the king, to whom by the death of her father she became a ward—Sir William had married Editha, the daughter and heiress of the franklin of Erstwood, a cousin and dear friend of the new Countess of Evesham.
In neither couple could the marriage at first have been called one of inclination35 on the part of the ladies, but love came after marriage. Although the knights37 and barons38 of the Norman invasion would, no doubt, be considered rude and rough in these days of broadcloth and civilization, yet their manners were gentle and polished by the side of those of the rough though kindly39 Saxon franklins; and although the Saxon maids were doubtless as patriotic40 as their fathers and mothers, yet the female mind is greatly led by gentle manners and courteous41 address. Thus then, when bidden or forced to give their hands to the Norman knights, they speedily accepted their lot, and for the most part grew contented42 and happy enough. In their changed circumstances it was pleasanter to ride by the side of their Norman husbands, surrounded by a gay cavalcade43, to hawk44 and to hunt, than to discharge the quiet duties of mistress of a Saxon farm-house. In many cases, of course, their lot was rendered wretched by the violence and brutality45 of their lords; but in the majority they were well satisfied with their lot, and these mixed marriages did more to bring the peoples together and weld them in one, than all the laws and decrees of the Norman sovereigns.
This had certainly been the case with Editha, whose marriage with Sir William had been one of the greatest happiness. She had lost him, three years before the story begins, fighting in Normandy, in one of the innumerable wars in which our first Norman kings were constantly involved. On entering the gates of Erstwood, Cuthbert had rushed hastily to the room where his mother was sitting with three or four of her maidens46, engaged in work.
"I want to speak to you at once, mother," he said.
"What is it now, my son?" said his mother, who was still young and very comely47. Waving her hand to the girls, they left her.
"Mother," he said, when they were alone, "I fear me that Sir Walter is about to make a great raid upon the outlaws. Armed men have been coming in all the morning from the castles round, and if it be not against the Baron de Wortham that these preparations are intended, and methinks it is not, it must needs be against the landless men."
"What would you do, Cuthbert?" his mother asked anxiously. "It will not do for you to be found meddling48 in these matters. At present you stand well in the favour of the Earl, who loves you for the sake of his wife, to whom you are kin4, and of your father, who did him good liegeman's service."
"But, mother, I have many friends in the wood. There is Cnut, their chief, your own first cousin, and many others of our friends, all good men and true, though forced by the cruel Norman laws to refuge in the woods."
"What would you do?" again his mother asked.
"You had best go on foot, my son. Doubtless men have been set to see that none from the Saxon homesteads carry the warning to the woods. The distance is not beyond your reach, for you have often wandered there, and on foot you can evade50 the eye of the watchers; but one thing, my son, you must promise, and that is, that in no case, should the Earl and his bands meet with the outlaws, will you take part in any fray51 or struggle."
"That will I willingly, mother," he said. "I have no cause for offence against the castle or the forest, and my blood and my kin are with both. I would fain save shedding of blood in a quarrel like this. I hope that the time may come when Saxon and Norman may fight side by side, and I maybe there to see."
A few minutes later, having changed his blue doublet for one of more sober and less noticeable colour, Cuthbert started for the great forest, which then stretched to within a mile of Erstwood. In those days a large part of the country was covered with forest, and the policy of the Normans in preserving these woods for the chase, tended to prevent the increase of cultivation52.
The farms and cultivated lands were all held by Saxons, who although nominally53 handed over to the nobles to whom William and his successors had given the fiefs, saw but little of their Norman masters. These stood, indeed, much in the position in which landlords stand to their tenants54, payment being made, for the most part, in produce. At the edge of the wood the trees grew comparatively far apart, but as Cuthbert proceeded farther into its recesses55, the trees in the virgin56 forest stood thick and close together. Here and there open glades58 ran across each other, and in these his sharp eye, accustomed to the forest, could often see the stags starting away at the sound of his footsteps.
It was a full hour's journey before Cuthbert reached the point for which he was bound. Here, in an open space, probably cleared by a storm ages before, and overshadowed by giant trees, was a group of men of all ages and appearances. Some were occupied in stripping the skin off a buck which hung from the bough59 of one of the trees. Others were roasting portions of the carcass of another deer. A few sat apart, some talking, others busy in making arrows, while a few lay asleep on the greensward. As Cuthbert entered the clearing, several of the party rose to their feet.
"Ah, Cuthbert," shouted a man of almost gigantic stature61, who appeared to be one of the leaders of the party, "what brings you here, lad, so early? You are not wont62 to visit us till even, when you can lay your crossbow at a stag by moonlight."
"No, no, Cousin Cnut," Cuthbert said, "thou canst not say that I have ever broken the forest laws, though I have looked on often and often, whilst you have done so."
"The abettor is as bad as the thief," laughed Cnut, "and if the foresters caught us in the act, I wot they would make but little difference whether it was the shaft63 of my longbow or the quarrel from thy crossbow which brought down the quarry. But again, lad, why comest thou here? for I see by the sweat on your face and by the heaving of your sides that you have run fast and far."
"I have, Cnut; I have not once stopped for breathing since I left Erstwood. I have come to warn you of danger. The earl is preparing for a raid."
Cnut laughed somewhat disdainfully.
"He has raided here before, and I trow has carried off no game. The landless men of the forest can hold their own against a handful of Norman knights and retainers in their own home."
"Ay," said Cuthbert, "but this will be no common raid. This morning bands from all the holds within miles round are riding in, and at least 500 men-at-arms are likely to do chase today."
"Is it so?" said Cnut, while exclamations65 of surprise, but not of apprehension66, broke from those standing67 round. "If that be so, lad, you have done us good service indeed. With fair warning we can slip through the fingers of ten times 500 men, but if they came upon us unawares, and hemmed68 us in it would fare but badly with us, though we should, I doubt not give a good account of them before their battle-axes and maces ended the strife69. Have you any idea by which road they will enter the forest, or what are their intentions?"
"I know not," Cuthbert said; "all that I gathered was that the earl intended to sweep the forest, and to put an end to the breaches70 of the laws, not to say of the rough treatment that his foresters have met with at your hands. You had best, methinks, be off before Sir Walter and his heavily-armed men are here. The forest, large as it is, will scarce hold you both, and methinks you had best shift your quarters to Langholm Chase until the storm has passed."
"To Langholm be it, then," said Cnut, "though I love not the place. Sir John of Wortham is a worse neighbour by far than the earl. Against the latter we bear no malice71, he is a good knight36 and a fair lord; and could he free himself of the Norman notions that the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and the fishes of the water, all belong to Normans, and that we Saxons have no share in them, I should have no quarrel with him. He grinds not his neighbours, he is content with a fair tithe72 of the produce, and as between man and man is a fair judge without favour. The baron is a fiend incarnate73; did he not fear that he would lose by so doing, he would gladly cut the throats, or burn, or drown, or hang every Saxon within twenty miles of his hold. He is a disgrace to his order, and some day when our band gathers a little stronger, we will burn his nest about his ears."
"It will be a hard nut to crack," Cuthbert said, laughing. "With such arms as you have in the forest the enterprise would be something akin60 to scaling the skies."
"Ladders and axes will go far, lad, and the Norman men-at-arms have learned to dread74 our shafts75. But enough of the baron; if we must be his neighbours for a time, so be it."
"You have heard, my mates," he said, turning to his comrades gathered around him, "what Cuthbert tells us. Are you of my opinion, that it is better to move away till the storm is past, than to fight against heavy odds76, without much chance of either booty or victory?"
A general chorus proclaimed that the outlaws approved of the proposal for a move to Langholm Chase. The preparations were simple. Bows were taken down from the boughs77 on which they were hanging, quivers slung78 across the backs, short cloaks thrown over the shoulders. The deer was hurriedly dismembered, and the joints79 fastened to a pole slung on the shoulders of two of the men. The drinking-cups, some of which were of silver, looking strangely out of place among the rough horn implements80 and platters, were bundled together, carried a short distance and dropped among some thick bushes for safety; and then the band started for Wortham.
With a cordial farewell and many thanks to Cuthbert, who declined their invitations to accompany them, the retreat to Langholm commenced.
Cuthbert, not knowing in which direction the bands were likely to approach, remained for a while motionless, intently listening.
It was answered in three different directions, and Cuthbert, who knew every path and glade57 of the forest, was able pretty accurately82 to surmise83 those by which the various bands were commencing to enter the wood.
Knowing that they were still a long way off, he advanced as rapidly as he could in the direction in which they were coming. When by the sound of distant voices and the breaking of branches he knew that one at least of the parties was near at hand, he rapidly climbed a thick tree and ensconced himself in the branches, and there watched, secure and hidden from the sharpest eye, the passage of a body of men-at-arms fully64 a hundred strong, led by Sir Walter himself, accompanied by some half dozen of his knights.
When they had passed, Cuthbert again slipped down the tree and made at all speed for home. He reached it, so far as he knew without having been observed by a single passer-by.
After a brief talk with his mother, he started for the castle, as his appearance there would divert any suspicion that might arise; and it would also appear natural that seeing the movements of so large a body of men, he should go up to gossip with his acquaintances there.
When distant a mile from Evesham, he came upon a small party.
On a white palfrey rode Margaret, the little daughter of the earl. She was accompanied by her nurse and two retainers on foot.
Cuthbert—who was a great favourite with the earl's daughter, for whom he frequently brought pets, such as nests of young owlets, falcons, and other creatures—was about to join the party when from a clump84 of trees near burst a body of ten mounted men.
Without a word they rode straight at the astonished group. The retainers were cut to the ground before they had thought of drawing a sword in defence.
The nurse was slain85 by a blow with a battle-axe, and Margaret, snatched from her palfrey, was thrown across the saddle-bow of one of the mounted men, who then with his comrades dashed off at full speed.
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1
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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3
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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8
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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knaves
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| n.恶棍，无赖( knave的名词复数 )；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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10
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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baton
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| n.乐队用指挥杖 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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14
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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16
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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17
harassing
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| v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人） | |
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18
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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falcons
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| n.猎鹰( falcon的名词复数 ) | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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swilling
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| v.冲洗( swill的现在分词 )；猛喝；大口喝；（使）液体流动 | |
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28
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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bruited
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| v.传播（传说或谣言）( bruit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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41
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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42
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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43
cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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44
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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45
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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46
maidens
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| 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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47
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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48
meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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50
evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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51
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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52
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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53
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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55
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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56
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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57
glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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glades
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| n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
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59
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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60
akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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62
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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63
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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64
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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65
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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66
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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67
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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68
hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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69
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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70
breaches
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| 破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背 | |
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71
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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72
tithe
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| n.十分之一税；v.课什一税，缴什一税 | |
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73
incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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74
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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75
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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76
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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77
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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78
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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79
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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80
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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81
bugle
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| n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集 | |
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82
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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83
surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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84
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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85
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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