The Merrow, or if you write it in the Irish, Moruadh or Murrúghach, from muir, sea, and oigh, a maid, is not
uncommon1, they say, on the wilder coasts. The fishermen do not like to see them, for it always means coming
gales2. The male Merrows (if you can use such a phrase—I have never heard the masculine of Merrow) have green teeth, green hair, pig's eyes, and red noses; but their women are beautiful, for all their fish tails and the little duck-like scale between their fingers. Sometimes they prefer, small blame to them, good-looking fishermen to their sea lovers. Near Bantry, in the last century, there is said to have been a woman covered all over with scales like a fish, who was
descended3 from such a marriage. Sometimes they come out of the sea, and wander about the shore in the shape of little hornless cows. They have, when in their own shape, a red cap, called a cohullen druith, usually covered with feathers. If this is stolen, they cannot again go down under the waves.
Red is the colour of magic in every country, and has been so from the very earliest times. The caps of fairies and magicians are well-nigh always red.
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收听单词发音
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1
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 |
参考例句： |
- Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
- Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。
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2
gales
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| 龙猫 |
参考例句： |
- I could hear gales of laughter coming from downstairs. 我能听到来自楼下的阵阵笑声。
- This was greeted with gales of laughter from the audience. 观众对此报以阵阵笑声。
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3
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 |
参考例句： |
- A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
- The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
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