Yet the surges are wont18 to deal very tenderly with these wharves. In summer the sea decks them with floating weeds, and studs them with an armor of shells. In the winter it surrounds them with a smoother mail of ice, and the detached piles stand white and gleaming, like the out-door palace of a Russian queen. How softly and eagerly this coming tide swirls19 round them! All day the fishes haunt their shadows; all night the phosphorescent water glimmers20 by them, and washes with long, refluent waves along their sides, decking their blackness with a spray of stars.
Water seems the natural outlet21 and discharge for every landscape, and when we have followed down this artificial promontory23, a wharf, and have seen the waves on three sides of us, we have taken the first step toward circumnavigating the globe. This is our last terra firma. One step farther, and there is no possible foothold but a deck, which tilts24 and totters25 beneath our feet. A wharf, therefore, is properly neutral ground for all. It is a silent hospitality, understood by all nations. It is in some sort a thing of universal ownership. Having once built it, you must grant its use to everyone; it is no trespass26 to land upon any man's wharf.
The sea, like other beautiful savage27 creatures, derives28 most of its charm from its reserves of untamed power. When a wild animal is subdued29 to abjectness30, all its interest is gone. The ocean is never thus humiliated31. So slight an advance of its waves would overwhelm us, if only the restraining power once should fail, and the water keep on rising! Even here, in these safe haunts of commerce, we deal with the same salt tide which I myself have seen ascend32 above these piers, and which within half a century drowned a whole family in their home upon our Long Wharf.
It is still the same ungoverned ocean which, twice in every twenty-four hours, reasserts its right of way, and stops only where it will. At Monckton, on the Bay of Fundy, the wharves are built forty feet high, and at ebb-tide you may look down on the schooners33 lying aground upon the mud below. In six hours they will be floating at your side. But the motions of the tide are as resistless whether its rise be six feet or forty; as in the lazy stretching of the caged lion's paw you can see all the terrors of his spring.
Our principal wharf, the oldest in the town, has lately been doubled in size, and quite transformed in shape, by an importation of broad acres from the country. It is now what is called "made land,"—a manufacture which has grown so easy that I daily expect to see some enterprising contractor35 set up endwise a bar of railroad iron, and construct a new planet at its summit, which shall presently go spinning off into space and be called an asteroid36. There are some people whom would it be pleasant to colonize37 in that way; but meanwhile the unchanged southern side of the pier11 seems pleasanter, with its boat-builders' shops, all facing sunward,—a cheerful haunt upon a winter's day. On the early maps this wharf appears as "Queen-Hithe," a name more graceful38 than its present cognomen39. "Hithe" or "Hythe" signifies a small harbor, and is the final syllable40 of many English names, as of Lambeth. Hythe is also one of those Cinque-Ports of which the Duke of Wellington was warden41. This wharf was probably still familiarly called Queen-Hithe in 1781, when Washington and Rochambeau walked its length bareheaded between the ranks of French soldiers; and it doubtless bore that name when Dean Berkeley arrived in 1729, and the Rev42. Mr. Honyman and all his flock closed hastily their prayer-books, and hastened to the landing to receive their guest. But it had lost this name ere the days, yet remembered by aged34 men, when the Long Wharf became a market. Beeves were then driven thither43 and tethered, while each hungry applicant44 marked with a piece of chalk upon the creature's side the desired cut; when a sufficient portion had been thus secured, the sentence of death was issued. Fancy the chalk a live coal, or the beast endowed with human consciousness, and no Indian, or Inquisitorial tortures could have been more fearful.
It is like visiting the houses at Pompeii, to enter the strange little black warehouses45 which cover some of our smaller wharves. They are so old and so small it seems as if some race of pygmies must have built them. Though they are two or three stories high, with steep gambrel-roofs, and heavily timbered, their rooms are yet so low that a man six feet high can hardly stand upright beneath the great cross-beams. There is a row of these structures, for instance, described on a map of 1762 as "the old buildings on Lopez' Wharf," and to these another century has probably brought very little change. Lopez was a Portuguese46 Jew, who came to this place, with several hundred others, after the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. He is said to have owned eighty square-rigged vessels48 in this port, from which not one such craft now sails. His little counting-room is in the second storey of the building; its wall-timbers are of oak, and are still sound; the few remaining planks49 are grained to resemble rosewood and mahogany; the fragments of wall-paper are of English make. In the cross-beam, just above your head, are the pigeon-holesonce devoted50 to different vessels, whose names are still recorded above them on faded paper,—"Ship Cleopatra," "Brig Juno," and the like. Many of these vessels measured less than two hundred tons, and it seems as if their owner had built his ships to match the size of his counting-room.
A sterner tradition clings around an old building on a remoter wharf; for men have but lately died who had seen slaves pass within its doors for confinement51. The wharf in those days appertained to a distillery, an establishment then constantly connected with the slave-trade, rum being sent to Africa, and human beings brought back. Occasionally a cargo52 was landed here, instead of being sent to the West Indies or to South Carolina, and this building was fitted up for their temporary quarters. It is but some twenty-five feet square, and must be less than thirty feet in height, yet it is divided into three stories, of which the lowest was used for other purposes, and the two upper were reserved for slaves. There are still to be seen the barred partitions and latticed door, making half the second floor into a sort of cage, while the agent's room appears to have occupied the other half. A similar latticed door—just such as I have seen in Southern slave-pens—secures the foot of the upper stairway. The whole small attic53 constitutes a single room, with a couple of windows, and two additional breathing-holes, two feet square, opening on the yard. It makes one sick to think of the poor creatures who may once have gripped those bars with their hands, or have glared with eager eyes between them; and it makes me recall with delight the day when I once wrenched55 away the stocks and chains from the floor of a pen like this, on the St. Mary's River in Florida. It is almost forty years since this distillery became a mill, and sixty since the slave-trade was abolished. The date "1803" is scrawled56 upon the door of the cage,—the very year when the port of Charleston was reopened for slaves, just before the traffic ceased. A few years more, and such horrors will seem as remote a memory in South Carolina, thank God! as in Rhode Island.
Other wharves are occupied by mast-yards, places that seem like play-rooms for grown men, crammed57 fuller than any old garret with those odds58 and ends in which the youthful soul delights. There are planks and spars and timber, broken rudders, rusty59 anchors, coils of rope, bales of sail-cloth, heaps of blocks, piles of chain-cable, great iron tar-kettles like antique helmets, strange machines for steaming planks, inexplicable60 little chimneys, engines that seem like dwarf-locomotives, windlasses that apparently61 turn nothing, and incipient62 canals that lead nowhere. For in these yards there seems no particular difference between land and water; the tide comes and goes anywhere, and nobody minds it; boats are drawn9 up among burdocks and ambrosia63, and the platform on which you stand suddenly proves to be something afloat. Vessels are hauled upon the ways, each side of the wharf, their poor ribs64 pitiably unclothed, ready for a cumbrous mantua-making of oak and iron. On one side, within a floating boom, lies a fleet of masts and unhewn logs, tethered uneasily, like a herd65 of captive sea-monsters, rocking in the ripples66. A vast shed, that has doubtless looked ready to fall for these dozen years spreads over, half the entrance to the wharf, and is filled with spars, knee-timber, and planks of fragrant67 wood; its uprights are festooned with all manner of great hawsers68 and smaller ropes, and its dim loft69 is piled with empty casks and idle sails. The sun always seems to shine in a ship-yard; there are apt to be more loungers than laborers70, and this gives a pleasant air of repose71; the neighboring water softens72 all harsher sounds, the foot treads upon an elastic73 carpet of embedded74 chips, and pleasant resinous75 odors are in the air.
Then there are wharves quite abandoned by commerce, and given over to small tenements76, filled with families so abundant that they might dispel77 the fears of those alarmists who suspect that children are ceasing to be born. Shrill78 voices resound79 there—American or Irish, as the case may be—through the summer noontides; and the domestic clothes-line forever stretches across the paths where imported slaves once trod, or rich merchandise lay piled. Some of these abodes80 are nestled in the corners of houses once stately, with large windows and carven doorways82. Others occupy separate buildings, almost always of black, unpainted wood, sometimes with the long, sloping roof of Massachusetts, oftener with the quaint83 "gambrel" of Rhode Island. From the busiest point of our main street, I can show you a single cottage, with low gables, projecting eaves, and sheltering sweetbrier, that seems as if it must have strayed hither, a century or two ago, out of some English lane.
Some of the more secluded84 wharves appear wholly deserted85 by men and women, and are tenanted alone by rats and boys,—two amphibious races; either can swim anywhere, or scramble86 and penetrate87 everywhere. The boys launch some abandoned skiff, and, with an oar88 for a sail and another for a rudder, pass from wharf to wharf; nor would it be surprising if the bright-eyed rats were to take similar passage on a shingle90. Yet, after all, the human juveniles91 are the more sagacious brood. It is strange that people should go to Europe, and seek the society of potentates92 less imposing93, when home can endow them with the occasional privilege of a nod from an American boy. In these sequestered94 haunts, I frequently meet some urchin95 three feet high who carries with him an air of consummate96 worldly experience that completely overpowers me, and I seem to shrink to the dimensions of Tom Thumb. Before his calm and terrible glance all disguises fail. You may put on a bold and careless air, and affect to overlook him as you pass; but it is like assuming to ignore the existence of the Pope of Rome, or of the London Times. He knows better. Grown men are never very formidable; they are shy and shamefaced themselves, usually preoccupied97, and not very observing. If they see a man loitering about, without visible aim, they class him as a mild imbecile, and let him go; but boys are nature's detectives, and one does not so easily evade3 their scrutinizing98 eyes. I know full well that, while I study their ways, they are noting mine through a clearer lens, and are probably taking my measure far better than I take theirs. One instinctively99 shrinks from making a sketch100 or memorandum101 while they are by; and if caught in the act, one fondly hopes to pass for some harmless speculator in real estate, whose pencillings may be only a matter of habit, like those casual sums in compound interest which are usually to be found scrawled on the margins102 of the daily papers in Boston reading-rooms.
Our wharves are almost all connected by intricate by-ways among the buildings; and one almost wishes to be a pirate or a smuggler103, for the pleasure of eluding104 the officers of justice through such seductive paths. It is, perhaps, to counteract105 this perilous106 fascination that our new police-office has been established on a wharf. You will see its brick tower rising not ungracefully, as you enter the inner harbor; it looks the better for being almost windowless, though beauty was not the aim of the omission107. A curious stranger is said to have asked one of our city fathers the reason of this peculiarity108. "No use in windows," said the experienced official sadly; "the boys would only break 'em." It seems very unjust to assert that there is no subordination in our American society; the citizens show deference109 to the police, and the police to the boys.
The ancient aspect of these wharves extends itself sometimes to the vessels which lie moored110 beside them. At yonder pier, for instance, has lain for thirteen years a decaying bark, which was suspected of being engaged in the slave-trade. She was run ashore111 and abandoned on Block Island, in the winter of 1854, and was afterwards brought in here. Her purchaser was offered eight thousand dollars for his bargain, but refused it; and here the vessel47 has remained, paying annual wharf dues and charges, till she is worthless. She lies chained at the wharf, and the tide rises and falls within her, thus furnishing a convenient bathing-house for the children, who also find a perpetual gymnasium in the broken shrouds113 that dangle114 from her masts. Turner, when he painted his "slave-ship," could have asked no better model. There is no name upon the stern, and it exhibits merely a carved eagle, with the wings clipped and the head knocked off. Only the lower masts remain, which are of a dismal115 black, as are the tops and mizzen cross-trees. Within the bulwarks117, on each side, stand rows of black blocks, to which the shrouds were once attached; these blocks are called by sailors "dead-eyes," and each stands in weird118 mockery, with its three ominous119 holes, like so many human skulls120 before some palace in Dahomey. Other blocks like these swing more ominously121 yet at the ends of the shrouds, that still hang suspended, waving and creaking and jostling in the wind. Each year the ropes decay, and soon the repulsive122 pendants will be gone. Not so with the iron belaying-pins, a few of which still stand around the mast, so rusted123 into the iron fife-rail that even the persevering124 industry of the children cannot wrench54 them out. It seems as if some guilty stain must cling to their sides, and hold them in. By one of those fitnesses which fortune often adjusts, but which seem incredible in art, the wharf is now used on one side for the storage of slate125, and the hulk is approached through an avenue of gravestones. I never find myself in that neighborhood but my steps instinctively seek that condemned126 vessel, whether by day, when she makes a dark foreground for the white yachts and the summer waves, or by night, when the storm breaks over her desolate127 deck.
If we follow northward128 from "Queen-Hithe" along the shore, we pass into a region where the ancient wharves of commerce, ruined in 1815, have never been rebuilt; and only slender pathways for pleasure voyagers now stretch above the submerged foundations. Once the court end of the town, then its commercial centre, it is now divided between the tenements of fishermen and the summer homes of city households. Still the great old houses remain, with mahogany stairways, carved wainscoting, and painted tiles; the sea has encroached upon their gardens, and only boats like mine approach where English dukes and French courtiers once landed. At the head of yonder private wharf, in that spacious129 and still cheerful abode81, dwelt the beautiful Robinson sisterhood,—the three Quaker belles130 of Revolutionary days, the memory of whose loves might lend romance to this neighborhood forever. One of these maidens131 was asked in marriage by a captain in the English army, and was banished132 by her family to the Narragansett shore, under a flag of truce133, to avoid him; her lover was afterward112 killed by a cannon-ball, in his tent, and she died unwedded. Another was sought by two aspirants134, who came in the same ship to woo her, the one from Philadelphia, the other from New York. She refused them both, and they sailed southward together; but, the wind proving adverse135, they returned, and one lingered till he won her hand. Still another lover was forced into a vessel by his friends, to tear him from the enchanted136 neighborhood; while sailing past the house, he suddenly threw himself into the water,—it must have been about where the end of the wharf now rests,—that he might be rescued, and carried, a passive Leander, into yonder door. The house was first the head-quarters of the English commander, then of the French; and the sentinels of De Noailles once trod where now croquet-balls form the heaviest ordnance137. Peaceful and untitled guests now throng138 in summer where St. Vincents and Northumberlands once rustled139 and glittered; and there is nothing to recall those brilliant days except the painted tiles on the chimney, where there is a choice society of coquettes and beaux, priests and conjurers, beggars and dancers, and every wig140 and hoop141 dates back to the days of Queen Anne.
Sometimes when I stand upon this pier by night, and look across the calm black water, so still, perhaps, that the starry142 reflections seem to drop through it in prolonged javelins143 of light instead of resting on the surface, and the opposite lighthouse spreads its cloth of gold across the bay,—I can imagine that I discern the French and English vessels just weighing anchor; I see De Lauzun and De Noailles embarking144, and catch the last sheen upon their lace, the last glitter of their swords. It vanishes, and I see only the lighthouse gleam, and the dark masts of a sunken ship across the neighboring island. Those motionless spars have, after all, a nearer interest, and, as I saw them sink, I will tell their tale.
That vessel came in here one day last August, a stately, full-sailed bark; nor was it known, till she had anchored, that she was a mass of imprisoned145 fire below. She was the "Trajan," from Rockland, bound to New Orleans with a cargo of lime, which took fire in a gale146 of wind, being wet with sea-water as the vessel rolled. The captain and crew retreated to the deck, and made the hatches fast, leaving even their clothing and provisions below. They remained on deck, after reaching this harbor, till the planks grew too hot beneath their feet, and the water came boiling from the pumps. Then the vessel was towed into a depth of five fathoms147, to be scuttled148 and sunk. I watched her go down. Early impressions from "Peter Parley149" had portrayed150 the sinking of a vessel as a frightful151 plunge152, endangering all around, like a maelstrom153. The actual process was merely a subsidence so calm and gentle that a child might have stood upon the deck till it sank beneath him, and then might have floated away. Instead of a convulsion, it was something stately and very pathetic to the imagination. The bark remained almost level, the bows a little higher than the stern; and her breath appeared to be surrendered in a series of pulsations, as if every gasp154 of the lungs admitted more of the suffocating155 wave. After each long heave, she went visibly a few inches deeper, and then paused. The face of the benign156 Emperor, her namesake, was on the stern; first sank the carven beard, then the rather mutilated nose, then the white and staring eyes, that gazed blankly over the engulfing157 waves. The figure-head was Trajan again, at full length, with the costume of an Indian hunter, and the face of a Roman sage89; this image lingered longer, and then vanished, like Victor Hugo's Gilliatt, by cruel gradations. Meanwhile the gilded158 name upon the taffrail had slowly disappeared also; but even when the ripples began to meet across her deck, still her descent was calm. As the water gained, the hidden fire was extinguished, and the smoke, at first densely159 rising, grew rapidly less. Yet when it had stopped altogether, and all but the top of the cabin had disappeared, there came a new ebullition of steam, like a hot spring, throwing itself several feet in air, and then ceasing.
As the vessel went down, several beams and planks came springing endwise up the hatchway, like liberated160 men. But nothing had a stranger look to me than some great black casks which had been left on deck. These, as the water floated them, seemed to stir and wake, and to become gifted with life, and then got into motion and wallowed heavily about, like hippopotami or any unwieldy and bewildered beasts. At last the most enterprising of them slid somehow to the bulwark116, and, after several clumsy efforts, shouldered itself over; then others bounced out, eagerly following, as sheep leap a wall, and then they all went bobbing away, over the dancing waves. For the wind blew fresh meanwhile, and there were some twenty sail-boats lying-to with reefed sails by the wreck16, like so many sea-birds; and when the loose stuff began to be washed from the deck, they all took wing at once, to save whatever could be picked up,—since at such times, as at a conflagration161 on land, every little thing seems to assume a value,—and at last one young fellow steered162 boldly up to the sinking ship itself, sprang upon the vanishing taffrail for one instant, as if resolved to be the last on board, and then pushed off again. I never saw anything seem so extinguished out of the universe as that great vessel, which had towered so colossal163 above my little boat; it was impossible to imagine that she was all there yet, beneath the foaming164 and indifferent waves. No effort has yet been made to raise her; and a dead eagle seems to have more in common with the living bird than has now this submerged and decaying hulk with the white and winged creature that came sailing into our harbor on that summer day.
It shows what conversational165 resources are always at hand in a seaport166 town, that the boatman with whom I first happened to visit this burning vessel had been thrice at sea on ships similarly destroyed, and could give all the particulars of their fate. I know no class of uneducated men whose talk is so apt to be worth hearing as that of sailors. Even apart from their personal adventures and their glimpses at foreign lands, they have made observations of nature which are far more careful and minute than those of farmers, because the very lives of sailors are always at risk. Their voyages have also made them sociable167 and fond of talk, while the pursuits of most men tend to make them silent; and their constant changes of scene, though not touching168 them very deeply, have really given a certain enlargement to their minds. A quiet demeanor169 in a seaport town proves nothing; the most inconspicuous man may have the most thrilling career to look back upon. With what a superb familiarity do these men treat this habitable globe! Cape22 Horn and the Cape of Good Hope are in their phrase but the West Cape and the East Cape, merely two familiar portals of their wonted home. With what undisguised contempt they speak of the enthusiasm displayed over the ocean yacht-race! That any man should boast of crossing the Atlantic in a schooner of two hundred tons, in presence of those who have more than once reached the Indian Ocean in a fishing-smack of fifty, and have beaten in the homeward race the ships in whose company they sailed! It is not many years since there was here a fishing-skipper, whose surname was "Daredevil," and who sailed from this port to all parts of the world, on sealing voyages, in a sloop170 so small that she was popularly said to go under water when she got outside the lights, and never to reappear until she reached her port.
And not only those who sail on long voyages, but even our local pilots and fishermen, still lead an adventurous171 and untamed life, less softened172 than any other by the appliances of modern days. In their undecked boats they hover173 day and night along these stormy coasts, and at any hour the beating of the long-roll upon the beach may call their full manhood into action. Cowardice174 is sifted175 and crushed out from among them by a pressure so constant; and they are withal truthful176 and steady in their ways, with few vices177 and many virtues178. They are born poor, and remain poor, for their work is hard, with more blanks than prizes; but their life is a life for a man, and though it makes them prematurely179 old, yet their old age comes peacefully and well. In almost all pursuits the advance of years brings something forlorn. It is not merely that the body decays, but that men grow isolated180 and are pushed aside; there is no common interest between age and youth. The old farmer leads a lonely existence, and ceases to meet his compeers except on Sunday; nobody consults him; his experience has been monotonous181, and his age is apt to grow unsocial. The old mechanic finds his tools and his methods superseded182 by those of younger men. But the superannuated183 fisherman graduates into an oracle184; the longer he lives, the greater the dignity of his experience; he remembers the great storm, the great tide, the great catch, the great shipwreck185; and on all emergencies his counsel has weight. He still busies himself about the boats too, and still sails on sunny days to show the youngsters the best fishing-ground. When too infirm for even this, he can at least sun himself beside the landing, and, dreaming over inexhaustible memories, watch the bark of his own life go down.
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1
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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piers
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| n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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profligate
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| adj.行为不检的；n.放荡的人，浪子，肆意挥霍者 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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swirls
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| n.旋转( swirl的名词复数 )；卷状物；漩涡；尘旋v.旋转，打旋( swirl的第三人称单数 ) | |
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glimmers
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| n.微光，闪光( glimmer的名词复数 )v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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tilts
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| （意欲赢得某物或战胜某人的）企图，尝试( tilt的名词复数 ) | |
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totters
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的第三人称单数 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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trespass
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| n./v.侵犯，闯入私人领地 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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derives
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| v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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abjectness
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| 凄惨； 绝望； 卑鄙； 卑劣 | |
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31
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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32
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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33
schooners
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| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
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34
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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35
contractor
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| n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌 | |
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36
asteroid
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| n.小行星；海盘车(动物) | |
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37
colonize
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| v.建立殖民地，拓殖；定居，居于 | |
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38
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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39
cognomen
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| n.姓；绰号 | |
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40
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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41
warden
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| n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人 | |
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42
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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43
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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44
applicant
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| n.申请人，求职者，请求者 | |
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45
warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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46
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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47
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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48
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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49
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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50
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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51
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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52
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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53
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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54
wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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55
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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56
scrawled
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| 乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
crammed
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|
| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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58
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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59
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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60
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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61
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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62
incipient
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| adj.起初的，发端的，初期的 | |
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63
ambrosia
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| n.神的食物；蜂食 | |
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64
ribs
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|
| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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65
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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66
ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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67
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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68
hawsers
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| n.（供系船或下锚用的）缆索，锚链( hawser的名词复数 ) | |
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69
loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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70
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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71
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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72
softens
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| （使）变软( soften的第三人称单数 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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73
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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74
embedded
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| a.扎牢的 | |
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75
resinous
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|
| adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的 | |
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76
tenements
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| n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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77
dispel
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| vt.驱走，驱散，消除 | |
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78
shrill
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|
| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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79
resound
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| v.回响 | |
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80
abodes
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| 住所( abode的名词复数 )； 公寓； （在某地的）暂住； 逗留 | |
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81
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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82
doorways
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| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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83
quaint
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|
| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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84
secluded
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|
| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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85
deserted
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|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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86
scramble
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|
| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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87
penetrate
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|
| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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88
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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89
sage
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|
| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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90
shingle
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|
| n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短 | |
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91
juveniles
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|
| n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 )；扮演少年角色的演员；未成年人 | |
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92
potentates
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| n.君主，统治者( potentate的名词复数 )；有权势的人 | |
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93
imposing
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|
| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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94
sequestered
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|
| adj.扣押的；隐退的；幽静的；偏僻的v.使隔绝，使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 )；扣押 | |
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95
urchin
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|
| n.顽童；海胆 | |
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96
consummate
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|
| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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97
preoccupied
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|
| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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98
scrutinizing
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|
| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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99
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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100
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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101
memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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102
margins
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| 边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数 | |
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103
smuggler
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| n.走私者 | |
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104
eluding
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的现在分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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105
counteract
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|
| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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106
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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107
omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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108
peculiarity
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|
| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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109
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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110
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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111
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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112
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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113
shrouds
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| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
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114
dangle
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| v.(使)悬荡，(使)悬垂 | |
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115
dismal
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|
| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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116
bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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117
bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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118
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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119
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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120
skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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121
ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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122
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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123
rusted
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| v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
persevering
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| a.坚忍不拔的 | |
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125
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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126
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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127
desolate
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|
| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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128
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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129
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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130
belles
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| n.美女( belle的名词复数 )；最美的美女 | |
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131
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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132
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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133
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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134
aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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135
adverse
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| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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136
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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137
ordnance
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| n.大炮，军械 | |
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138
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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139
rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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140
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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141
hoop
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| n.（篮球）篮圈，篮 | |
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142
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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143
javelins
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| n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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144
embarking
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|
| 乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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145
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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146
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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147
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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148
scuttled
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| v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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149
parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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150
portrayed
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| v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
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151
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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152
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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153
maelstrom
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| n.大乱动；大漩涡 | |
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154
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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155
suffocating
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| a.使人窒息的 | |
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benign
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| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
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engulfing
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| adj.吞噬的v.吞没，包住( engulf的现在分词 ) | |
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158
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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159
densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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161
conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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162
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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163
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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165
conversational
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| adj.对话的，会话的 | |
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166
seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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167
sociable
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| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
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168
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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169
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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170
sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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171
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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172
softened
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| （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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173
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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174
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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175
sifted
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| v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审 | |
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truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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177
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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178
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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179
prematurely
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| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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181
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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182
superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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183
superannuated
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| adj.老朽的，退休的；v.因落后于时代而废除，勒令退学 | |
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184
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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185
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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