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CHAPTER II
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 The doctor was a man about forty years of age, robust1, with every appearance of a strong character. In the buttonhole of the frock coat he wore was a red rosette, the decoration of some order. Confused and nervous as George was, he got a vague impression of the physician’s richly furnished office, with its bronzes, marbles and tapestries2.
The doctor signaled to the young man to be seated in the chair before his desk. George complied, and then, as he wiped away the perspiration3 from his forehead, stammered4 out a few words, explaining his errand. Of course, he said, it could not be true, but it was a man’s duty not to take any chances in such a matter. “I have not been a man of loose life,” he added; “I have not taken so many chances as other men.”
The doctor cut him short with the brief remark that one chance was all that was necessary. Instead of discussing such questions, he would make an examination. “We do not say positively5 in these cases until we have made a blood test. That is the one way to avoid the possibility of mistake.”
A drop of blood was squeezed out of George’s finger on to a little glass plate. The doctor retired6 to an adjoining room, and the victim sat alone in the office, deriving7 no enjoyment8 from the works of art which surrounded him, but feeling like a prisoner who sits in the dock with his life at stake while the jury deliberates.
The doctor returned, calm and impassive, and seated himself in his office-chair.
“Well, doctor?” asked George. He was trembling with terror.
“Well,” was the reply, “there is no doubt whatever.”
George wiped his forehead. He could not credit the words. “No doubt whatever? In what sense?”
“In the bad sense,” said the other.
He began to write a prescription9, without seeming to notice how George turned page with terror. “Come,” he said, after a silence, “you must have known the truth pretty well.”
“No, no, sir!” exclaimed George.
“Well,” said the other, “you have syphilis.”
George was utterly10 stunned11. “My God!” he exclaimed.
The doctor, having finished his prescription, looked up and observed his condition. “Don’t trouble yourself, sir. Out of every seven men you meet upon the street, in society, or at the theater, there is at least one who has been in your condition. One out of seven—fifteen per cent!”
George was staring before him. He spoke12 low, as if to himself. “I know what I am going to do.”
“And I know also,” said the doctor, with a smile. “There is your prescription. You are going to take it to the drugstore and have it put up.”
George took the prescription, mechanically, but whispered, “No, sir.”
“Yes, sir, you are going to do as everybody else does.”
“No, because my situation is not that of everybody else. I know what I am going to do.”
Said the doctor: “Five times out of ten, in the chair where you are sitting, people talk like that, perfectly13 sincerely. Each one believes himself more unhappy than all the others; but after thinking it over, and listening to me, they understand that this disease is a companion with whom one can live. Just as in every household, one gets along at the cost of mutual14 concessions15, that’s all. Come, sir, I tell you again, there is nothing about it that is not perfectly ordinary, perfectly natural, perfectly common; it is an accident which can happen to any one. It is a great mistake that people speak if this as the ‘French Disease,’ for there is none which is more universal. Under the picture of this disease, addressing myself to those who follow the oldest profession in the world, I would write the famous phrase: ‘Here is your master. It is, it was, or it must be.’”
George was putting the prescription into the outside pocket of his coat, stupidly, as if he did not know what he was doing. “But, sir,” he exclaimed, “I should have been spared!”
“Why?” inquired the other. “Because you are a man of position, because you are rich? Look around you, sir. See these works of art in my room. Do you imagine that such things have been presented to me by chimney-sweeps?”
“But, Doctor,” cried George, with a moan, “I have never been a libertine16. There was never any one, you understand me, never any one could have been more careful in his pleasures. If I were to tell you that in all my life I have only had two mistresses, what would you answer to that?”
“I would answer, that a single one would have been sufficient to bring you to me.”
“No, sir!” cried George. “It could not have been either of those women.” He went on to tell the doctor about his first mistress, and then about Lizette. Finally he told about Henriette, how much he adored her. He could really use such a word—he loved her most tenderly. She was so good—and he had thought himself so lucky!
As he went on, he could hardly keep from going to pieces. “I had everything,” he exclaimed, “everything a man needed! All who knew me envied me. And then I had to let those fellows drag me off to that miserable17 supper-party! And now here I am! My future is ruined, my whole existence poisoned! What is to become of me? Everybody will avoid me—I shall be a pariah18, a leper!”
He paused, and then in sudden wild grief exclaimed, “Come, now! Would it not be better that I should take myself out of the way? At least, I should not suffer any more. You see that there could not be any one more unhappy than myself—not any one, I tell you, sir, not any one!” Completely overcome, he began to weep in his handkerchief.
The doctor got up, and went to him. “You must be a man,” he said, “and not cry like a child.”
“But sir,” cried the young man, with tears running down his cheeks, “if I had led a wild life, if I had passed my time in dissipation with chorus girls, then I could understand it. Then I would say that I had deserved it.”
The doctor exclaimed with emphasis, “No, no! You would not say it. However, it is of no matter—go on.”
“I tell you that I would say it. I am honest, and I would say that I had deserved it. But no, I have worked, I have been a regular grind. And now, when I think of the shame that is in store for me, the disgusting things, the frightful19 catastrophes20 to which I am condemned22—”
“What is all this you are telling me?” asked the doctor, laughing.
“Oh, I know, I know!” cried the other, and repeated what his friend had told him about the man in a wheel-chair. “And they used to call me handsome Raoul! That was my name—handsome Raoul!”
“Now, my dear sir,” said the doctor, cheerfully, “wipe your eyes one last time, blow your nose, put your handkerchief into your pocket, and hear me dry-eyed.”
George obeyed mechanically. “But I give you fair warning,” he said, “you are wasting your time.”
“I tell you—” began the other.
“I know exactly what you are going to tell me!” cried George.
“Well, in that case, there is nothing more for you to do here—run along.”
“Since I am here,” said the patient submissively, “I will hear you.”
“Very well, then. I tell you that if you have the will and the perseverance23, none of the things you fear will happen to you.”
“Of course, it is your duty to tell me that.”
“I will tell you that there are one hundred thousand like you in Paris, alert, and seemingly well. Come, take what you were just saying—wheel-chairs. One doesn’t see so many of them.”
“No, that’s true,” said George.
“And besides,” added the doctor, “a good many people who ride in them are not there for the cause you think. There is no more reason why you should be the victim of a catastrophe21 than any of the one hundred thousand. The disease is serious, nothing more.”
“You admit that it is a serious disease?” argued George.
“Yes.”
“One of the most serious?”
“Yes, but you have the good fortune—”
“The GOOD fortune?”
“Relatively, if you please. You have the good fortune to be infected with one of the diseases over which we have the most certain control.”
“Yes, yes,” exclaimed George, “but the remedies are worse than the disease.”
“You deceive yourself,” replied the other.
“You are trying to make me believe that I can be cured?”
“You can be.”
“And that I am not condemned?”
“I swear it to you.”
“You are not deceiving yourself, you are not deceiving me? Why, I was told—”
The doctor laughed, contemptuously. “You were told, you were told! I’ll wager24 that you know the laws of the Chinese concerning party-walls.”
“Yes, naturally,” said George. “But I don’t see what they have to do with it.”
“Instead of teaching you such things,” was the reply, “it would have been a great deal better to have taught you about the nature and cause of diseases of this sort. Then you would have known how to avoid the contagion25. Such knowledge should be spread abroad, for it is the most important knowledge in the world. It should be found in every newspaper.”
This remark gave George something of a shock, for his father had owned a little paper in the provinces, and he had a sudden vision of the way subscribers would have fallen off, if he had printed even so much as the name of this vile26 disease.
“And yet,” pursued the doctor, “you publish romances about adultery!”
“Yes,” said George, “that’s what the readers want.”
“They don’t want the truth about venereal diseases,” exclaimed the other. “If they knew the full truth, they would no longer think that adultery was romantic and interesting.”
He went on to give his advice as to the means of avoiding such diseases. There was really but one rule. It was: To love but one woman, to take her as a virgin27, and to love her so much that she would never deceive you. “Take that from me,” added the doctor, “and teach it to your son, when you have one.”
George’s attention was caught by this last sentence.
“You mean that I shall be able to have children?” he cried.
“Certainly,” was the reply.
“Healthy children?”
“I repeat it to you; if you take care of yourself properly for a long time, conscientiously29, you have little to fear.”
“That’s certain?”
“Ninety-nine times out of a hundred.”
George felt as if he had suddenly emerged from a dungeon30. “Why, then,” he exclaimed, “I shall be able to marry!”
“You will be able to marry,” was the reply.
“You are not deceiving me? You would not give me that hope, you would not expose me? How soon will I be able to marry?”
“In three or four years,” said the doctor.
“What!” cried George in consternation31. “In three or four years? Not before?”
“Not before.”
“How is that? Am I going to be sick all that time? Why, you told me just now—”
Said the doctor: “The disease will no longer be dangerous to you, yourself—but you will be dangerous to others.”
“But,” the young man cried, in despair, “I am to be married a month from now.”
“That is impossible.”
“But I cannot do any differently. The contract is ready! The banns have been published! I have given my word!”
“Well, you are a great one!” the doctor laughed. “Just now you were looking for your revolver! Now you want to be married within the month.”
“But, Doctor, it is necessary!”
“But I forbid it.”
“As soon as I knew that the disease is not what I imagined, and that I could be cured, naturally I didn’t want to commit suicide. And as soon as I make up my mind not to commit suicide, I have to take up my regular life. I have to keep my engagements; I have to get married.”
“No,” said the doctor.
“Yes, yes!” persisted George, with blind obstinacy32. “Why, Doctor, if I didn’t marry it would be a disaster. You are talking about something you don’t understand. I, for my part—it is not that I am anxious to be married. As I told you, I had almost a second family. Lizette’s little brothers adored me. But it is my aunt, an old maid; and, also, my mother is crazy about the idea. If I were to back out now, she would die of chagrin33. My aunt would disinherit me, and she is the one who has the family fortune. Then, too, there is my father-in-law, a regular dragoon for his principles—severe, violent. He never makes a joke of serious things, and I tell you it would cost me dear, terribly dear. And, besides, I have given my word.”
“You must take back your word.”
“You still insist?” exclaimed George, in despair. “But then, suppose that it were possible, how could I take back my signature which I put at the bottom of the deed? I have pledged myself to pay in two months for the attorney’s practice I have purchased!”
“Sir,” said the doctor, “all these things—”
“You are going to tell me that I was lacking in prudence34, that I should never have disposed of my wife’s dowry until after the honeymoon35!”
“Sir,” said the doctor, again, “all these considerations are foreign to me. I am a physician, and nothing but a physician, and I can only tell you this: If you marry before three or four years, you will be a criminal.”
George broke out with a wild exclamation36. “No sir, you are not merely a physician! You are also a confessor! You are not merely a scientist; and it is not enough for you that you observe me as you would some lifeless thing in your laboratory, and say, ‘You have this; science says that; now go along with you.’ All my existence depends upon you. It is your duty to listen to me, because when you know everything you will understand me, and you will find some way to cure me within a month.”
“But,” protested the doctor, “I wear myself out telling you that such means do not exist. I shall not be certain of your cure, as much as any one can be certain, in less than three or four years.”
George was almost beside himself. “I tell you you must find some means! Listen to me, sir—if I don’t get married I don’t get the dowry! And will you tell me how I can pay the notes I have signed?”
“Oh,” said the doctor, dryly, “if that is the question, it is very simple—I will give you a plan to get out of the affair. You will go and get acquainted with some rich man; you will do everything you can to gain his confidence; and when you have succeeded, you will plunder37 him.”
George shook his head. “I am not in any mood for joking.”
“I am not joking,” replied his adviser38. “Rob that man, assassinate39 him even—that would be no worse crime than you would commit in taking a young girl in good health in order to get a portion of her dowry, when at the same time you would have to expose her to the frightful consequences of the disease which you would give her.”
“Frightful consequences?” echoed George.
“Consequences of which death would not be the most frightful.”
“But, sir, you were saying to me just now—”
“Just now I did not tell you everything. Even reduced, suppressed a little by our remedies, the disease remains40 mysterious, menacing, and in its sum, sufficiently41 grave. So it would be an infamy42 to expose your fiancee in order to avoid an inconvenience, however great that might be.”
But George was still not to be convinced. Was it certain that this misfortune would befall Henriette, even with the best attention?
Said the other: “I do not wish to lie to you. No, it is not absolutely certain, it is probable. And there is another truth which I wish to tell you now: our remedies are not infallible. In a certain number of cases—a very small number, scarcely five per cent—they have remained without effect. You might be one of those exceptions, your wife might be one. What then?”
“I will employ a word you used just now, yourself. We should have to expect the worst catastrophes.”
George sat in a state of complete despair.
“Tell me what to do, then,” he said.
“I can tell you only one thing: don’t marry. You have a most serious blemish43. It is as if you owed a debt. Perhaps no one will ever come to claim it; on the other hand, perhaps a pitiless creditor44 will come all at once, presenting a brutal45 demand for immediate46 payment. Come now—you are a business man. Marriage is a contract; to marry without saying anything—that means to enter into a bargain by means of passive dissimulation47. That’s the term, is it not? It is dishonesty, and it ought to come under the law.”
George, being a lawyer, could appreciate the argument, and could think of nothing to say to it.
“What shall I do?” he asked.
The other answered, “Go to your father-in-law and tell him frankly48 the truth.”
“But,” cried the young man, wildly, “there will be no question then of three or four years’ delay. He will refuse his consent altogether.”
“If that is the case,” said the doctor, “don’t tell him anything.”
“But I have to give him a reason, or I don’t know what he will do. He is the sort of man to give himself to the worst violence, and again my fiancee would be lost to me. Listen, doctor. From everything I have said to you, you may perhaps think I am a mercenary man. It is true that I want to get along in the world, that is only natural. But Henriette has such qualities; she is so much better than I, that I love her, really, as people love in novels. My greatest grief—it is not to give up the practice I have bought—although, indeed, it would be a bitter blow to me; my greatest grief would be to lose Henriette. If you could only see her, if you only knew her—then you would understand. I have her picture here—”
The young fellow took out his card-case. And offered a photograph to the doctor, who gently refused it. The other blushed with embarrassment49.
“I beg your pardon,” he said, “I am ridiculous. That happens to me, sometimes. Only, put yourself in my place—I love her so!” His voice broke.
“My dear boy,” said the doctor, feelingly, “that is exactly why you ought not to marry her.”
“But,” he cried, “if I back out without saying anything they will guess the truth, and I shall be dishonored.”
“One is not dishonored because one is ill.”
“But with such a disease! People are so stupid. I myself, yesterday—I should have laughed at anyone who had got into such a plight50; I should have avoided him, I should have despised him!” And suddenly George broke down again. “Oh!” he cried, “if I were the only one to suffer; but she—she is in love with me. I swear it to you! She is so good; and she will be so unhappy!”
The doctor answered, “She would be unhappier later on.”
“It will be a scandal!” George exclaimed.
“You will avoid one far greater,” the other replied.
Suddenly George set his lips with resolution. He rose from his seat. He took several twenty-franc pieces from his pocket and laid them quietly upon the doctor’s desk—paying the fee in cash, so that he would not have to give his name and address. He took up his gloves, his cane51 and his hat, and rose.
“I will think it over,” he said. “I thank you, Doctor. I will come back next week as you have told me. That is—probably I will.”
He was about to leave.
The doctor rose, and he spoke in a voice of furious anger. “No,” he said, “I shan’t see you next week, and you won’t even think it over. You came here knowing what you had; you came to ask advice of me, with the intention of paying no heed52 to it, unless it conformed to your wishes. A superficial honesty has driven you to take that chance in order to satisfy your conscience. You wanted to have somebody upon whom you could put off, bye and bye, the consequences of an act whose culpability53 you understand! No, don’t protest! Many of those who come here think and act as you think, and as you wish to act; but the marriage made against my will has generally been the source of such calamities54 that now I am always afraid of not having been persuasive55 enough, and it even seems to me that I am a little to blame for these misfortunes. I should have been able to prevent them; they would not have happened if those who are the authors of them knew what I know and had seen what I have seen. Swear to me, sir, that you are going to break off that marriage!”
George was greatly embarrassed, and unwilling56 to reply. “I cannot swear to you at all, Doctor; I can only tell you again that I will think it over.”
“That WHAT over?”
“What you have told me.”
“What I have told you is true! You cannot bring any new objections; and I have answered those which you have presented to me; therefore, your mind ought to be made up.”
Groping for a reply, George hesitated. He could not deny that he had made inquiry57 about these matters before he had come to the doctor. But he said that he was not al all certain that he had this disease. The doctor declared it, and perhaps it was true, but the most learned physicians were sometimes deceived.
He remembered something he had read in one of the medical books. “Dr. Ricord maintains that after a certain period the disease is no longer contagious58. He has proven his contentions59 by examples. Today you produce new examples to show that he is wrong! Now, I want to do what’s right, but surely I have the right to think it over. And when I think it over, I realize that all the evils with which you threaten me are only probable evils. In spite of your desire to terrify me, you have been forced to admit that possibly my marriage would not have any troublesome consequence for my wife.”
The doctor found difficulty in restraining himself. But he said, “Go on. I will answer you afterwards.”
And George blundered ahead in his desperation. “Your remedies are powerful, you tell me; and for the calamities of which you speak to befall me, I would have to be among the rare exceptions—also my wife would have to be among the number of those rare exceptions. If a mathematician60 were to apply the law of chance to these facts, the result of his operation would show but slight chance of a catastrophe, as compared with the absolute certainty of a series of misfortunes, sufferings, troubles, tears, and perhaps tragic61 accidents which the breaking of my engagement would cause. So I say that the mathematician—who is, even more than you, a man of science, a man of a more infallible science—the mathematician would conclude that wisdom was not with you doctors, but with me.”
“You believe it, sir!” exclaimed the other. “But you deceive yourself.” And he continued, driving home his point with a finger which seemed to George to pierce his very soul. “Twenty cases identical with your own have been patiently observed, from the beginning to the end. Nineteen times the woman was infected by her husband; you hear me, sir, nineteen times out of twenty! You believe that the disease is without danger, and you take to yourself the right to expose your wife to what you call the chance of your being one of those exceptions, for whom our remedies are without effect. Very well; it is necessary that you should know the disease which your wife, without being consulted, will run a chance of contracting. Take that book, sir; it is the work of my teacher. Read it yourself. Here, I have marked the passage.”
He held out the open book; but George could not lift a hand to take it.
“You do not wish to read it?” the other continued. “Listen to me.” And in a voice trembling with passion, he read: “‘I have watched the spectacle of an unfortunate young woman, turned into a veritable monster by means of a syphilitic infection. Her face, or rather let me say what was left of her face, was nothing but a flat surface seamed with scars.’”
George covered his face, exclaiming, “Enough, sir! Have mercy!”
But the other cried, “No, no! I will go to the very end. I have a duty to perform, and I will not be stopped by the sensibility of your nerves.”
He went on reading: “‘Of the upper lip not a trace was left; the ridge62 of the upper gums appeared perfectly bare.’” But then at the young man’s protests, his resolution failed him. “Come,” he said, “I will stop. I am sorry for you—you who accept for another person, for the woman you say you love, the chance of a disease which you cannot even endure to hear described. Now, from whom did that woman get syphilis? It is not I who am speaking, it is the book. ‘From a miserable scoundrel who was not afraid to enter into matrimony when he had a secondary eruption63.’ All that was established later on—‘and who, moreover, had thought it best not to let his wife be treated for fear of awakening64 her suspicions!’”
The doctor closed the book with a bang. “What that man has done, sir, is what you want to do.”
George was edging toward the door; he could no longer look the doctor in the eye. “I should deserve all those epithets65 and still more brutal ones if I should marry, knowing that my marriage would cause such horrors. But that I do not believe. You and your teachers—you are specialists, and consequently you are driven to attribute everything to the disease you make the subject of your studies. A tragic case, an exceptional case, holds a kind of fascination66 for you; you think it can never be talked about enough.”
“I have heard that argument before,” said the doctor, with an effort at patience.
“Let me go on, I beg you,” pleaded George. “You have told me that out of every seven men there is one syphilitic. You have told me that there are one hundred thousand in Paris, coming and going, alert, and apparently67 well.”
“It is true,” said the doctor, “that there are one hundred thousand who are actually at this moment not visibly under the influence of the disease. But many thousands have passed into our hospitals, victims of the most frightful ravages68 that our poor bodies can support. These—you do not see them, and they do not count for you. But again, if it concerned no one but yourself, you might be able to argue thus. What I declare to you, what I affirm with all the violence of my conviction, is that you have not the right to expose a human creature to such chances—rare, as I know, but terrible, as I know still better. What have you to answer to that?”
“Nothing,” stammered George, brought to his knees at last. “You are right about that. I don’t know what to think.”
“And in forbidding you marriage,” continued the doctor, “is it the same as if I forbade it forever? Is it the same as if I told you that you could never be cured? On the contrary, I hold out to you every hope; but I demand of you a delay of three or four years, because it will take me that time to find out if you are among the number of those unfortunate ones whom I pity with all my heart, for whom the disease is without mercy; because during that time you will be dangerous to your wife and to your children. The children I have not yet mentioned to you.”
Here the doctor’s voice trembled slightly. He spoke with moving eloquence69. “Come, sir, you are an honest man; you are too young for such things not to move you; you are not insensible to duty. It is impossible that I shan’t be able to find a way to your heart, that I shan’t be able to make you obey me. My emotion in speaking to you proves that I appreciate your suffering, that I suffer with you. It is in the name of my sincerity70 that I implore71 you. You have admitted it—that you have not the right to expose your wife to such miseries72. But it is not only your wife that you strike; you may attack in her your own children. I exclude you for a moment from my thought—you and her. It is in the name of these innocents that I implore you; it is the future, it is the race that I defend. Listen to me, listen to me! Out of the twenty households of which I spoke, only fifteen had children; these fifteen had twenty-eight. Do you know how many out of these twenty-eight survived? Three, sir! Three out of twenty-eight! Syphilis is above everything a murderer of children. Herod reigns73 in France, and over all the earth, and begins each year his massacre74 of the innocents; and if it be not blasphemy75 against the sacredness of life, I say that the most happy are those who have disappeared. Visit our children’s hospitals! We know too well the child of syphilitic parents; the type is classical; the doctors can pick it out anywhere. Those little old creatures who have the appearance of having already lived, and who have kept the stigmata of all out infirmities, of all our decay. They are the victims of fathers who have married, being ignorant of what you know—things which I should like to go and cry out in the public places.”
The doctor paused, and then in a solemn voice continued: “I have told you all, without exaggeration. Think it over. Consider the pros76 and cons28; sum up the possible misfortunes and the certain miseries. But disregard yourself, and consider that there are in one side of the scales the misfortunes of others, and in the other your own. Take care that you are just.”
George was at last overcome. “Very well,” he said, “I give way. I won’t get married. I will invent some excuse; I will get a delay of six months. More than that, I cannot do.”
The doctor exclaimed, “I need three years—I need four years!”
“No, Doctor!” persisted George. “You can cure me in less time than that.”
The other answered, “No! No! No!”
George caught him by the hand, imploringly77. “Yes! Science in all powerful!”
“Science is not God,” was the reply. “There are no longer any miracles.”
“If only you wanted to do it!” cried the young man, hysterically78. “You are a learned man; seek, invent, find something! Try some new plan with me; give me double the dose, ten times the does; make me suffer. I give myself up to you; I will endure everything—I swear it! There ought to be some way to cure me within six months. Listen to me! I tell you I can’t answer for myself with that delay. Come; it is in the name of my wife, in the name of my children, that I implore you. Do something for them!”
The doctor had reached the limit of his patience. “Enough, sir!” he cried. “Enough!”
But nothing could stop the wretched man. “On my knees!” he cried. “I put myself on my knees before you! Oh! If only you would do it! I would bless you; I would adore you, as one adores a god! All my gratitude79, all my life—half my fortune! For mercy’s sake, Doctor, do something; invent something; make some discovery—have pity!”
The doctor answered gravely, “Do you wish me to do more for you than for the others?”
George answered, unblushingly, ‘answered, unblushingly, “Yes!” He was beside himself with terror and distress80.
The other’s reply was delivered in a solemn tone. “Understand, sir, for every one of out patients we do all that we can, whether it be the greatest personage, or the last comer to out hospital clinic. We have no secrets in reserve for those who are more fortunate, or less fortunate than the others, and who are in a hurry to be cured.”
George gazed at him for a moment in bewilderment and despair, and then suddenly bowed his head. “Good-by, Doctor,” he answered.
“Au revoir, sir,” the other corrected—with what proved to be prophetic understanding. For George was destined81 to see him again—even though he had made up his mind to the contrary!

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 robust FXvx7     
adj.强壮的,强健的,粗野的,需要体力的,浓的
参考例句:
  • She is too tall and robust.她个子太高,身体太壮。
  • China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道,中国希望保持经济强势增长,以减少贫困和失业状况。
2 tapestries 9af80489e1c419bba24f77c0ec03cf54     
n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 );绣帷,织锦v.用挂毯(或绣帷)装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • The wall of the banqueting hall were hung with tapestries. 宴会厅的墙上挂有壁毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The rooms were hung with tapestries. 房间里都装饰着挂毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 perspiration c3UzD     
n.汗水;出汗
参考例句:
  • It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了,我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
  • The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。
4 stammered 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721     
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠,结结巴巴地说,“你是什么意思?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
5 positively vPTxw     
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实
参考例句:
  • She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
  • The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。
6 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
7 deriving 31b45332de157b636df67107c9710247     
v.得到( derive的现在分词 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取
参考例句:
  • I anticipate deriving much instruction from the lecture. 我期望从这演讲中获得很多教益。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He anticipated his deriving much instruction from the lecture. 他期望从这次演讲中得到很多教益。 来自辞典例句
8 enjoyment opaxV     
n.乐趣;享有;享用
参考例句:
  • Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同,我们这次访问更加愉快了。
  • After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话,这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。
9 prescription u1vzA     
n.处方,开药;指示,规定
参考例句:
  • The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
  • The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。
10 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
11 stunned 735ec6d53723be15b1737edd89183ec2     
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
  • The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。
12 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
13 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
14 mutual eFOxC     
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的
参考例句:
  • We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
  • Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。
15 concessions 6b6f497aa80aaf810133260337506fa9     
n.(尤指由政府或雇主给予的)特许权( concession的名词复数 );承认;减价;(在某地的)特许经营权
参考例句:
  • The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工,公司将不得不作出一些让步。
  • The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。
16 libertine 21hxL     
n.淫荡者;adj.放荡的,自由思想的
参考例句:
  • The transition from libertine to prig was so complete.一个酒徒色鬼竟然摇身一变就成了道学先生。
  • I believe John is not a libertine any more.我相信约翰不再是个浪子了。
17 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
18 pariah tSUzv     
n.被社会抛弃者
参考例句:
  • Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿,汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
  • His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。
19 frightful Ghmxw     
adj.可怕的;讨厌的
参考例句:
  • How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊!
  • We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。
20 catastrophes 9d10f3014dc151d21be6612c0d467fd0     
n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 );灾难;不幸事件;困难
参考例句:
  • Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
  • The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句
21 catastrophe WXHzr     
n.大灾难,大祸
参考例句:
  • I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
  • This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。
22 condemned condemned     
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
  • The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。
23 perseverance oMaxH     
n.坚持不懈,不屈不挠
参考例句:
  • It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
  • Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。
24 wager IH2yT     
n.赌注;vt.押注,打赌
参考例句:
  • They laid a wager on the result of the race.他们以竞赛的结果打赌。
  • I made a wager that our team would win.我打赌我们的队会赢。
25 contagion 9ZNyl     
n.(通过接触的疾病)传染;蔓延
参考例句:
  • A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
  • The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。
26 vile YLWz0     
adj.卑鄙的,可耻的,邪恶的;坏透的
参考例句:
  • Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢?
  • Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。
27 virgin phPwj     
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的
参考例句:
  • Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗?
  • There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。
28 cons eec38a6d10735a91d1247a80b5e213a6     
n.欺骗,骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗,哄骗( con的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前,应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》
29 conscientiously 3vBzrQ     
adv.凭良心地;认真地,负责尽职地;老老实实
参考例句:
  • He kept silent,eating just as conscientiously but as though everything tasted alike. 他一声不吭,闷头吃着,仿佛桌上的饭菜都一个味儿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She discharged all the responsibilities of a minister conscientiously. 她自觉地履行部长的一切职责。 来自《简明英汉词典》
30 dungeon MZyz6     
n.地牢,土牢
参考例句:
  • They were driven into a dark dungeon.他们被人驱赶进入一个黑暗的地牢。
  • He was just set free from a dungeon a few days ago.几天前,他刚从土牢里被放出来。
31 consternation 8OfzB     
n.大为吃惊,惊骇
参考例句:
  • He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害,感到非常震惊。
  • Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。
32 obstinacy C0qy7     
n.顽固;(病痛等)难治
参考例句:
  • It is a very accountable obstinacy.这是一种完全可以理解的固执态度。
  • Cindy's anger usually made him stand firm to the point of obstinacy.辛迪一发怒,常常使他坚持自见,并达到执拗的地步。
33 chagrin 1cyyX     
n.懊恼;气愤;委屈
参考例句:
  • His increasingly visible chagrin sets up a vicious circle.他的明显的不满引起了一种恶性循环。
  • Much to his chagrin,he did not win the race.使他大为懊恼的是他赛跑没获胜。
34 prudence 9isyI     
n.谨慎,精明,节俭
参考例句:
  • A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
  • The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。
35 honeymoon ucnxc     
n.蜜月(假期);vi.度蜜月
参考例句:
  • While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
  • The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。
36 exclamation onBxZ     
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词
参考例句:
  • He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
  • The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号,以引起读者的注意。
37 plunder q2IzO     
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠
参考例句:
  • The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
  • Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。
38 adviser HznziU     
n.劝告者,顾问
参考例句:
  • They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
  • Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
39 assassinate tvjzL     
vt.暗杀,行刺,中伤
参考例句:
  • The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
  • A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。
40 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
41 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
42 infamy j71x2     
n.声名狼藉,出丑,恶行
参考例句:
  • They may grant you power,honour,and riches but afflict you with servitude,infamy,and poverty.他们可以给你权力、荣誉和财富,但却用奴役、耻辱和贫穷来折磨你。
  • Traitors are held in infamy.叛徒为人所不齿。
43 blemish Qtuz5     
v.损害;玷污;瑕疵,缺点
参考例句:
  • The slightest blemish can reduce market value.只要有一点最小的损害都会降低市场价值。
  • He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。
44 creditor tOkzI     
n.债仅人,债主,贷方
参考例句:
  • The boss assigned his car to his creditor.那工头把自己的小汽车让与了债权人。
  • I had to run away from my creditor whom I made a usurious loan.我借了高利贷不得不四处躲债。
45 brutal bSFyb     
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的
参考例句:
  • She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
  • They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼,骨子里却是野蛮残忍。
46 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
47 dissimulation XtrxX     
n.掩饰,虚伪,装糊涂
参考例句:
  • A habit of dissimulation is a hindrance, and a poorness to him. 在他这样的一个人,一种掩饰的习惯是一种阻挠,一个弱点。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Still we have our limits beyond which we call dissimulation treachery. 不过我们仍然有自己的限度,超过这个界限,就是虚伪与背信弃义。 来自辞典例句
48 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
49 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫
参考例句:
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
50 plight 820zI     
n.困境,境况,誓约,艰难;vt.宣誓,保证,约定
参考例句:
  • The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
  • She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。
51 cane RsNzT     
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的
参考例句:
  • This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
  • English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。
52 heed ldQzi     
v.注意,留意;n.注意,留心
参考例句:
  • You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
  • For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。
53 culpability e7529dc2faf94dc34775af32bfdda275     
n.苛责,有罪
参考例句:
  • As if the estrangement between them had come of any culpability of hers. 姐弟俩疏远的责任竟仿佛落到了她的身上! 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
  • The offence, as now defined in English law, covers a wide spectrum of culpability. 英国法律规定,违法包括很多种过失行为。 来自互联网
54 calamities 16254f2ca47292404778d1804949fef6     
n.灾祸,灾难( calamity的名词复数 );不幸之事
参考例句:
  • They will only triumph by persevering in their struggle against natural calamities. 他们只有坚持与自然灾害搏斗,才能取得胜利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • One moment's false security can bring a century of calamities. 图一时之苟安,贻百年之大患。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
55 persuasive 0MZxR     
adj.有说服力的,能说得使人相信的
参考例句:
  • His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
  • The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。
56 unwilling CjpwB     
adj.不情愿的
参考例句:
  • The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
  • His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。
57 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听,询问,调查,查问
参考例句:
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
58 contagious TZ0yl     
adj.传染性的,有感染力的
参考例句:
  • It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
  • He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。
59 contentions 8e5be9e0da735e6c66757d2c55b30896     
n.竞争( contention的名词复数 );争夺;争论;论点
参考例句:
  • Direct tests on individual particles do not support these contentions. 对单个粒子所作的直接试验并不支持这些论点。 来自辞典例句
  • His contentions cannot be laughed out of court. 对他的争辩不能一笑置之。 来自辞典例句
60 mathematician aoPz2p     
n.数学家
参考例句:
  • The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
  • The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。
61 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。
62 ridge KDvyh     
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭
参考例句:
  • We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
  • The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。
63 eruption UomxV     
n.火山爆发;(战争等)爆发;(疾病等)发作
参考例句:
  • The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
  • The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。
64 awakening 9ytzdV     
n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的
参考例句:
  • the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
  • People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。
65 epithets 3ed932ca9694f47aefeec59fbc8ef64e     
n.(表示性质、特征等的)词语( epithet的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He insulted me, using rude epithets. 他用粗话诅咒我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He cursed me, using a lot of rude epithets. 他用上许多粗鲁的修饰词来诅咒我。 来自辞典例句
66 fascination FlHxO     
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋
参考例句:
  • He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
  • His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。
67 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
68 ravages 5d742bcf18f0fd7c4bc295e4f8d458d8     
劫掠后的残迹,破坏的结果,毁坏后的残迹
参考例句:
  • the ravages of war 战争造成的灾难
  • It is hard for anyone to escape from the ravages of time. 任何人都很难逃避时间的摧残。
69 eloquence 6mVyM     
n.雄辩;口才,修辞
参考例句:
  • I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。
  • The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。
70 sincerity zyZwY     
n.真诚,诚意;真实
参考例句:
  • His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
  • He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。
71 implore raSxX     
vt.乞求,恳求,哀求
参考例句:
  • I implore you to write. At least tell me you're alive.请给我音讯,让我知道你还活着。
  • Please implore someone else's help in a crisis.危险时请向别人求助。
72 miseries c95fd996533633d2e276d3dd66941888     
n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 );痛苦的事;穷困;常发牢骚的人
参考例句:
  • They forgot all their fears and all their miseries in an instant. 他们马上忘记了一切恐惧和痛苦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • I'm suffering the miseries of unemployment. 我正为失业而痛苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
73 reigns 0158e1638fbbfb79c26a2ce8b24966d2     
n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 );君主统治时期;任期;当政期
参考例句:
  • In these valleys night reigns. 夜色笼罩着那些山谷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The Queen of Britain reigns, but she does not rule or govern. 英国女王是国家元首,但不治国事。 来自辞典例句
74 massacre i71zk     
n.残杀,大屠杀;v.残杀,集体屠杀
参考例句:
  • There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中,这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
  • If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀,大屠杀就有可能再次发生!
75 blasphemy noyyW     
n.亵渎,渎神
参考例句:
  • His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.他的著作被定为淫秽作品,是对上帝的亵渎。
  • You have just heard his blasphemy!你刚刚听到他那番亵渎上帝的话了!
76 pros pros     
abbr.prosecuting 起诉;prosecutor 起诉人;professionals 自由职业者;proscenium (舞台)前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 );赞成的理由;抵偿物;交换物
参考例句:
  • The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前,应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》
77 imploringly imploringly     
adv. 恳求地, 哀求地
参考例句:
  • He moved his lips and looked at her imploringly. 他嘴唇动着,哀求地看着她。
  • He broke in imploringly. 他用恳求的口吻插了话。
78 hysterically 5q7zmQ     
ad. 歇斯底里地
参考例句:
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。
  • She sobbed hysterically, and her thin body was shaken. 她歇斯底里地抽泣着,她瘦弱的身体哭得直颤抖。
79 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
80 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
81 destined Dunznz     
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的
参考例句:
  • It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
  • The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。


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