The Burg is seated on a rock dominating the town and an immensely deep fosse guards it on the northern side. Nurnberg has been happy in that it was never sacked; had it been it would certainly not be so spick and span perfect as it is at present. The ditch has not been used for centuries, and now its base is spread with tea-gardens and orchards12, of which some of the trees are of quite respectable growth. As we wandered round the wall, dawdling13 in the hot July sunshine, we often paused to admire the views spread before us, and in especial the great plain covered with towns and villages and bounded with a blue line of hills, like a landscape of Claude Lorraine. From this we always turned with new delight to the city itself, with its myriad14 of quaint old gables and acre-wide red roofs dotted with dormer windows, tier upon tier. A little to our right rose the towers of the Burg, and nearer still, standing15 grim, the Torture Tower, which was, and is, perhaps, the most interesting place in the city. For centuries the tradition of the Iron Virgin16 of Nurnberg has been handed down as an instance of the horrors of cruelty of which man is capable; we had long looked forward to seeing it; and here at last was its home.
In one of our pauses we leaned over the wall of the moat and looked down. The garden seemed quite fifty or sixty feet below us, and the sun pouring into it with an intense, moveless heat like that of an oven. Beyond rose the grey, grim wall seemingly of endless height, and losing itself right and left in the angles of bastion and counterscarp. Trees and bushes crowned the wall, and above again towered the lofty houses on whose massive beauty Time has only set the hand of approval. The sun was hot and we were lazy; time was our own, and we lingered, leaning on the wall. Just below us was a pretty sight—a great black cat lying stretched in the sun, whilst round her gambolled17 prettily18 a tiny black kitten. The mother would wave her tail for the kitten to play with, or would raise her feet and push away the little one as an encouragement to further play. They were just at the foot of the wall, and Elias P. Hutcheson, in order to help the play, stooped and took from the walk a moderate sized pebble19.
'See!' he said, 'I will drop it near the kitten, and they will both wonder where it came from.'
'Oh, be careful,' said my wife; 'you might hit the dear little thing!'
'Not me, ma'am,' said Elias P. 'Why, I'm as tender as a Maine cherry-tree. Lor, bless ye. I wouldn't hurt the poor pooty little critter more'n I'd scalp a baby. An' you may bet your variegated20 socks on that! See, I'll drop it fur away on the outside so's not to go near her!' Thus saying, he leaned over and held his arm out at full length and dropped the stone. It may be that there is some attractive force which draws lesser21 matters to greater; or more probably that the wall was not plump but sloped to its base—we not noticing the inclination22 from above; but the stone fell with a sickening thud that came up to us through the hot air, right on the kitten's head, and shattered out its little brains then and there. The black cat cast a swift upward glance, and we saw her eyes like green fire fixed23 an instant on Elias P. Hutcheson; and then her attention was given to the kitten, which lay still with just a quiver of her tiny limbs, whilst a thin red stream trickled24 from a gaping25 wound. With a muffled26 cry, such as a human being might give, she bent27 over the kitten licking its wounds and moaning. Suddenly she seemed to realise that it was dead, and again threw her eyes up at us. I shall never forget the sight, for she looked the perfect incarnation of hate. Her green eyes blazed with lurid28 fire, and the white, sharp teeth seemed to almost shine through the blood which dabbled29 her mouth and whiskers. She gnashed her teeth, and her claws stood out stark30 and at full length on every paw. Then she made a wild rush up the wall as if to reach us, but when the momentum31 ended fell back, and further added to her horrible appearance for she fell on the kitten, and rose with her black fur smeared33 with its brains and blood. Amelia turned quite faint, and I had to lift her back from the wall. There was a seat close by in shade of a spreading plane-tree, and here I placed her whilst she composed herself. Then I went back to Hutcheson, who stood without moving, looking down on the angry cat below.
As I joined him, he said:
'Wall, I guess that air the savagest beast I ever see—'cept once when an Apache squaw had an edge on a half-breed what they nicknamed "Splinters" 'cos of the way he fixed up her papoose which he stole on a raid just to show that he appreciated the way they had given his mother the fire torture. She got that kinder look so set on her face that it jest seemed to grow there. She followed Splinters mor'n three year till at last the braves got him and handed him over to her. They did say that no man, white or Injun, had ever been so long a-dying under the tortures of the Apaches. The only time I ever see her smile was when I wiped her out. I kem on the camp just in time to see Splinters pass in his checks, and he wasn't sorry to go either. He was a hard citizen, and though I never could shake with him after that papoose business—for it was bitter bad, and he should have been a white man, for he looked like one—I see he had got paid out in full. Durn me, but I took a piece of his hide from one of his skinnin' posts an' had it made into a pocket-book. It's here now!' and he slapped the breast pocket of his coat.
Whilst he was speaking the cat was continuing her frantic34 efforts to get up the wall. She would take a run back and then charge up, sometimes reaching an incredible height. She did not seem to mind the heavy fall which she got each time but started with renewed vigour35; and at every tumble her appearance became more horrible. Hutcheson was a kind-hearted man—my wife and I had both noticed little acts of kindness to animals as well as to persons—and he seemed concerned at the state of fury to which the cat had wrought36 herself.
'Wall, now!' he said, 'I du declare that that poor critter seems quite desperate. There! there! poor thing, it was all an accident—though that won't bring back your little one to you. Say! I wouldn't have had such a thing happen for a thousand! Just shows what a clumsy fool of a man can do when he tries to play! Seems I'm too darned slipperhanded to even play with a cat. Say Colonel!' it was a pleasant way he had to bestow37 titles freely—'I hope your wife don't hold no grudge38 against me on account of this unpleasantness? Why, I wouldn't have had it occur on no account.'
He came over to Amelia and apologised profusely39, and she with her usual kindness of heart hastened to assure him that she quite understood that it was an accident. Then we all went again to the wall and looked over.
The cat missing Hutcheson's face had drawn40 back across the moat, and was sitting on her haunches as though ready to spring. Indeed, the very instant she saw him she did spring, and with a blind unreasoning fury, which would have been grotesque41, only that it was so frightfully real. She did not try to run up the wall, but simply launched herself at him as though hate and fury could lend her wings to pass straight through the great distance between them. Amelia, womanlike, got quite concerned, and said to Elias P. in a warning voice:
'Oh! you must be very careful. That animal would try to kill you if she were here; her eyes look like positive murder.'
He laughed out jovially42. 'Excuse me, ma'am,' he said, 'but I can't help laughin'. Fancy a man that has fought grizzlies43 an' Injuns bein' careful of bein' murdered by a cat!'
When the cat heard him laugh, her whole demeanour seemed to change. She no longer tried to jump or run up the wall, but went quietly over, and sitting again beside the dead kitten began to lick and fondle it as though it were alive.
'See!' said I, 'the effect of a really strong man. Even that animal in the midst of her fury recognises the voice of a master, and bows to him!'
'Like a squaw!' was the only comment of Elias P. Hutcheson, as we moved on our way round the city fosse. Every now and then we looked over the wall and each time saw the cat following us. At first she had kept going back to the dead kitten, and then as the distance grew greater took it in her mouth and so followed. After a while, however, she abandoned this, for we saw her following all alone; she had evidently hidden the body somewhere. Amelia's alarm grew at the cat's persistence44, and more than once she repeated her warning; but the American always laughed with amusement, till finally, seeing that she was beginning to be worried, he said:
'I say, ma'am, you needn't be skeered over that cat. I go heeled, I du!' Here he slapped his pistol pocket at the back of his lumbar region. 'Why sooner'n have you worried, I'll shoot the critter, right here, an' risk the police interferin' with a citizen of the United States for carryin' arms contrairy to reg'lations!' As he spoke45 he looked over the wall, but the cat on seeing him, retreated, with a growl46, into a bed of tall flowers, and was hidden. He went on: 'Blest if that ar critter ain't got more sense of what's good for her than most Christians47. I guess we've seen the last of her! You bet, she'll go back now to that busted48 kitten and have a private funeral of it, all to herself!'
Amelia did not like to say more, lest he might, in mistaken kindness to her, fulfil his threat of shooting the cat: and so we went on and crossed the little wooden bridge leading to the gateway49 whence ran the steep paved roadway between the Burg and the pentagonal Torture Tower. As we crossed the bridge we saw the cat again down below us. When she saw us her fury seemed to return, and she made frantic efforts to get up the steep wall. Hutcheson laughed as he looked down at her, and said:
'Goodbye, old girl. Sorry I injured your feelin's, but you'll get over it in time! So long!' And then we passed through the long, dim archway and came to the gate of the Burg.
When we came out again after our survey of this most beautiful old place which not even the well-intentioned efforts of the Gothic restorers of forty years ago have been able to spoil—though their restoration was then glaring white—we seemed to have quite forgotten the unpleasant episode of the morning. The old lime tree with its great trunk gnarled with the passing of nearly nine centuries, the deep well cut through the heart of the rock by those captives of old, and the lovely view from the city wall whence we heard, spread over almost a full quarter of an hour, the multitudinous chimes of the city, had all helped to wipe out from our minds the incident of the slain50 kitten.
We were the only visitors who had entered the Torture Tower that morning—so at least said the old custodian51—and as we had the place all to ourselves were able to make a minute and more satisfactory survey than would have otherwise been possible. The custodian, looking to us as the sole source of his gains for the day, was willing to meet our wishes in any way. The Torture Tower is truly a grim place, even now when many thousands of visitors have sent a stream of life, and the joy that follows life, into the place; but at the time I mention it wore its grimmest and most gruesome aspect. The dust of ages seemed to have settled on it, and the darkness and the horror of its memories seem to have become sentient52 in a way that would have satisfied the Pantheistic souls of Philo or Spinoza. The lower chamber53 where we entered was seemingly, in its normal state, filled with incarnate54 darkness; even the hot sunlight streaming in through the door seemed to be lost in the vast thickness of the walls, and only showed the masonry55 rough as when the builder's scaffolding had come down, but coated with dust and marked here and there with patches of dark stain which, if walls could speak, could have given their own dread56 memories of fear and pain. We were glad to pass up the dusty wooden staircase, the custodian leaving the outer door open to light us somewhat on our way; for to our eyes the one long-wick'd, evil-smelling candle stuck in a sconce on the wall gave an inadequate57 light. When we came up through the open trap in the corner of the chamber overhead, Amelia held on to me so tightly that I could actually feel her heart beat. I must say for my own part that I was not surprised at her fear, for this room was even more gruesome than that below. Here there was certainly more light, but only just sufficient to realise the horrible surroundings of the place. The builders of the tower had evidently intended that only they who should gain the top should have any of the joys of light and prospect58. There, as we had noticed from below, were ranges of windows, albeit59 of mediaeval smallness, but elsewhere in the tower were only a very few narrow slits60 such as were habitual61 in places of mediaeval defence. A few of these only lit the chamber, and these so high up in the wall that from no part could the sky be seen through the thickness of the walls. In racks, and leaning in disorder62 against the walls, were a number of headsmen's swords, great double-handed weapons with broad blade and keen edge. Hard by were several blocks whereon the necks of the victims had lain, with here and there deep notches63 where the steel had bitten through the guard of flesh and shored into the wood. Round the chamber, placed in all sorts of irregular ways, were many implements64 of torture which made one's heart ache to see—chairs full of spikes65 which gave instant and excruciating pain; chairs and couches with dull knobs whose torture was seemingly less, but which, though slower, were equally efficacious; racks, belts, boots, gloves, collars, all made for compressing at will; steel baskets in which the head could be slowly crushed into a pulp66 if necessary; watchmen's hooks with long handle and knife that cut at resistance—this a speciality of the old Nurnberg police system; and many, many other devices for man's injury to man. Amelia grew quite pale with the horror of the things, but fortunately did not faint, for being a little overcome she sat down on a torture chair, but jumped up again with a shriek67, all tendency to faint gone. We both pretended that it was the injury done to her dress by the dust of the chair, and the rusty68 spikes which had upset her, and Mr. Hutcheson acquiesced70 in accepting the explanation with a kind-hearted laugh.
But the central object in the whole of this chamber of horrors was the engine known as the Iron Virgin, which stood near the centre of the room. It was a rudely-shaped figure of a woman, something of the bell order, or, to make a closer comparison, of the figure of Mrs. Noah in the children's Ark, but without that slimness of waist and perfect rondeur of hip71 which marks the aesthetic72 type of the Noah family. One would hardly have recognised it as intended for a human figure at all had not the founder73 shaped on the forehead a rude semblance74 of a woman's face. This machine was coated with rust69 without, and covered with dust; a rope was fastened to a ring in the front of the figure, about where the waist should have been, and was drawn through a pulley, fastened on the wooden pillar which sustained the flooring above. The custodian pulling this rope showed that a section of the front was hinged like a door at one side; we then saw that the engine was of considerable thickness, leaving just room enough inside for a man to be placed. The door was of equal thickness and of great weight, for it took the custodian all his strength, aided though he was by the contrivance of the pulley, to open it. This weight was partly due to the fact that the door was of manifest purpose hung so as to throw its weight downwards75, so that it might shut of its own accord when the strain was released. The inside was honeycombed with rust—nay more, the rust alone that comes through time would hardly have eaten so deep into the iron walls; the rust of the cruel stains was deep indeed! It was only, however, when we came to look at the inside of the door that the diabolical76 intention was manifest to the full. Here were several long spikes, square and massive, broad at the base and sharp at the points, placed in such a position that when the door should close the upper ones would pierce the eyes of the victim, and the lower ones his heart and vitals. The sight was too much for poor Amelia, and this time she fainted dead off, and I had to carry her down the stairs, and place her on a bench outside till she recovered. That she felt it to the quick was afterwards shown by the fact that my eldest77 son bears to this day a rude birthmark on his breast, which has, by family consent, been accepted as representing the Nurnberg Virgin.
When we got back to the chamber we found Hutcheson still opposite the Iron Virgin; he had been evidently philosophising, and now gave us the benefit of his thought in the shape of a sort of exordium.
'Wall, I guess I've been learnin' somethin' here while madam has been gettin' over her faint. 'Pears to me that we're a long way behind the times on our side of the big drink. We uster think out on the plains that the Injun could give us points in tryin' to make a man uncomfortable; but I guess your old mediaeval law-and-order party could raise him every time. Splinters was pretty good in his bluff78 on the squaw, but this here young miss held a straight flush all high on him. The points of them spikes air sharp enough still, though even the edges air eaten out by what uster be on them. It'd be a good thing for our Indian section to get some specimens79 of this here play-toy to send round to the Reservations jest to knock the stuffin' out of the bucks80, and the squaws too, by showing them as how old civilisation81 lays over them at their best. Guess but I'll get in that box a minute jest to see how it feels!'
'Oh no! no!' said Amelia. 'It is too terrible!'
'Guess, ma'am, nothin's too terrible to the explorin' mind. I've been in some queer places in my time. Spent a night inside a dead horse while a prairie fire swept over me in Montana Territory—an' another time slept inside a dead buffler when the Comanches was on the war path an' I didn't keer to leave my kyard on them. I've been two days in a caved-in tunnel in the Billy Broncho gold mine in New Mexico, an' was one of the four shut up for three parts of a day in the caisson what slid over on her side when we was settin' the foundations of the Buffalo82 Bridge. I've not funked an odd experience yet, an' I don't propose to begin now!'
We saw that he was set on the experiment, so I said: 'Well, hurry up, old man, and get through it quick!'
'All right, General,' said he, 'but I calculate we ain't quite ready yet. The gentlemen, my predecessors83, what stood in that thar canister, didn't volunteer for the office—not much! And I guess there was some ornamental84 tyin' up before the big stroke was made. I want to go into this thing fair and square, so I must get fixed up proper first. I dare say this old galoot can rise some string and tie me up accordin' to sample?'
This was said interrogatively to the old custodian, but the latter, who understood the drift of his speech, though perhaps not appreciating to the full the niceties of dialect and imagery, shook his head. His protest was, however, only formal and made to be overcome. The American thrust a gold piece into his hand, saying: 'Take it, pard! it's your pot; and don't be skeer'd. This ain't no necktie party that you're asked to assist in!' He produced some thin frayed85 rope and proceeded to bind86 our companion with sufficient strictness for the purpose. When the upper part of his body was bound, Hutcheson said:
'Hold on a moment, Judge. Guess I'm too heavy for you to tote into the canister. You jest let me walk in, and then you can wash up regardin' my legs!'
Whilst speaking he had backed himself into the opening which was just enough to hold him. It was a close fit and no mistake. Amelia looked on with fear in her eyes, but she evidently did not like to say anything. Then the custodian completed his task by tying the American's feet together so that he was now absolutely helpless and fixed in his voluntary prison. He seemed to really enjoy it, and the incipient87 smile which was habitual to his face blossomed into actuality as he said:
'Guess this here Eve was made out of the rib32 of a dwarf88! There ain't much room for a full-grown citizen of the United States to hustle89. We uster make our coffins90 more roomier in Idaho territory. Now, Judge, you jest begin to let this door down, slow, on to me. I want to feel the same pleasure as the other jays had when those spikes began to move toward their eyes!'
'Oh no! no! no!' broke in Amelia hysterically91. 'It is too terrible! I can't bear to see it!—I can't! I can't!' But the American was obdurate92. 'Say, Colonel,' said he, 'why not take Madame for a little promenade93? I wouldn't hurt her feelin's for the world; but now that I am here, havin' kem eight thousand miles, wouldn't it be too hard to give up the very experience I've been pinin' an' pantin' fur? A man can't get to feel like canned goods every time! Me and the Judge here'll fix up this thing in no time, an' then you'll come back, an' we'll all laugh together!'
Once more the resolution that is born of curiosity triumphed, and Amelia stayed holding tight to my arm and shivering whilst the custodian began to slacken slowly inch by inch the rope that held back the iron door. Hutcheson's face was positively94 radiant as his eyes followed the first movement of the spikes.
'Wall!' he said, 'I guess I've not had enjoyment95 like this since I left Noo York. Bar a scrap96 with a French sailor at Wapping—an' that warn't much of a picnic neither—I've not had a show fur real pleasure in this dod-rotted Continent, where there ain't no b'ars nor no Injuns, an' wheer nary man goes heeled. Slow there, Judge! Don't you rush this business! I want a show for my money this game—I du!'
The custodian must have had in him some of the blood of his predecessors in that ghastly tower, for he worked the engine with a deliberate and excruciating slowness which after five minutes, in which the outer edge of the door had not moved half as many inches, began to overcome Amelia. I saw her lips whiten, and felt her hold upon my arm relax. I looked around an instant for a place whereon to lay her, and when I looked at her again found that her eye had become fixed on the side of the Virgin. Following its direction I saw the black cat crouching97 out of sight. Her green eyes shone like danger lamps in the gloom of the place, and their colour was heightened by the blood which still smeared her coat and reddened her mouth. I cried out:
'The cat! look out for the cat!' for even then she sprang out before the engine. At this moment she looked like a triumphant98 demon99. Her eyes blazed with ferocity, her hair bristled100 out till she seemed twice her normal size, and her tail lashed101 about as does a tiger's when the quarry102 is before it. Elias P. Hutcheson when he saw her was amused, and his eyes positively sparkled with fun as he said:
'Darned if the squaw hain't got on all her war paint! Jest give her a shove off if she comes any of her tricks on me, for I'm so fixed everlastingly103 by the boss, that durn my skin if I can keep my eyes from her if she wants them! Easy there, Judge! don't you slack that ar rope or I'm euchered!'
At this moment Amelia completed her faint, and I had to clutch hold of her round the waist or she would have fallen to the floor. Whilst attending to her I saw the black cat crouching for a spring, and jumped up to turn the creature out.
But at that instant, with a sort of hellish scream, she hurled104 herself, not as we expected at Hutcheson, but straight at the face of the custodian. Her claws seemed to be tearing wildly as one sees in the Chinese drawings of the dragon rampant105, and as I looked I saw one of them light on the poor man's eye, and actually tear through it and down his cheek, leaving a wide band of red where the blood seemed to spurt106 from every vein107.
With a yell of sheer terror which came quicker than even his sense of pain, the man leaped back, dropping as he did so the rope which held back the iron door. I jumped for it, but was too late, for the cord ran like lightning through the pulley-block, and the heavy mass fell forward from its own weight.
As the door closed I caught a glimpse of our poor companion's face. He seemed frozen with terror. His eyes stared with a horrible anguish108 as if dazed, and no sound came from his lips.
And then the spikes did their work. Happily the end was quick, for when I wrenched109 open the door they had pierced so deep that they had locked in the bones of the skull110 through which they had crushed, and actually tore him—it—out of his iron prison till, bound as he was, he fell at full length with a sickly thud upon the floor, the face turning upward as he fell.
I rushed to my wife, lifted her up and carried her out, for I feared for her very reason if she should wake from her faint to such a scene. I laid her on the bench outside and ran back. Leaning against the wooden column was the custodian moaning in pain whilst he held his reddening handkerchief to his eyes. And sitting on the head of the poor American was the cat, purring loudly as she licked the blood which trickled through the gashed111 socket112 of his eyes.
I think no one will call me cruel because I seized one of the old executioner's swords and shore her in two as she sat.
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honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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gulch
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| n.深谷，峡谷 | |
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maple
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| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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dawdling
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| adj.闲逛的，懒散的v.混（时间）( dawdle的现在分词 ) | |
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myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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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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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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gambolled
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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variegated
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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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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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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lurid
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dabbled
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| v.涉猎( dabble的过去式和过去分词 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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30
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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31
momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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32
rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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33
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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34
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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35
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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36
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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37
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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38
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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39
profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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40
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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41
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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42
jovially
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| adv.愉快地，高兴地 | |
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43
grizzlies
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| 北美洲灰熊( grizzly的名词复数 ) | |
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44
persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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45
spoke
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| 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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46
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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47
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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48
busted
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| adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词 | |
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49
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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50
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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51
custodian
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| n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守 | |
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52
sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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53
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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54
incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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55
masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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56
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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57
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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58
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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59
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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60
slits
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| n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子 | |
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61
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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62
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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63
notches
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| n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级 | |
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64
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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65
spikes
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| n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划 | |
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66
pulp
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| n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆 | |
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67
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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68
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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69
rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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70
acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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72
aesthetic
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| adj.美学的，审美的，有美感 | |
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73
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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74
semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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75
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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76
diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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77
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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78
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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79
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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80
bucks
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| n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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81
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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82
buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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83
predecessors
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| 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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84
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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85
frayed
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| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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86
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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87
incipient
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| adj.起初的，发端的，初期的 | |
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88
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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89
hustle
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| v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌) | |
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90
coffins
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| n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物 | |
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91
hysterically
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| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
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92
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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93
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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94
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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95
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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96
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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97
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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98
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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99
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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100
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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101
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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102
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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103
everlastingly
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| 永久地，持久地 | |
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104
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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105
rampant
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| adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的 | |
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106
spurt
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| v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆 | |
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107
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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108
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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109
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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110
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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111
gashed
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| v.划伤，割破( gash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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112
socket
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| n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口 | |
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