Moreover it would have been disastrous10 for the Wise themselves, had the world accepted their way of life as indis{179}putable truth. Think what would have happened to their characters, already inclined to superiority, if with one accord men had bowed down to their every word and received their maxims11 as beyond the breath of criticism. The point of course, is not one that the Sages13 would have appreciated. Few men can resist the impression (and those few must be cold-blooded, unenthusiastic souls) that all would be well, provided their lightest word was law. What a truly delightful14 world, where one’s judgments15 met only with reverent17 and grateful admiration18! Yet were God to give us the desire of our hearts, we might construct a universe excellent according to our standard, and be left ourselves the only insufferable persons in it. “Sweet are the uses of adversity.”
There was, however, little danger of the Wise being spoilt by approbation19. They may have had a sufficiently20 good conceit21 of themselves, but they cannot possibly have been ignorant that many of their neighbours held them in very different esteem22; and whenever a Wise-man in old Jerusalem put his heart into the effort to guide his brethren into the path of understanding he can have been under few, if any, delusions23 regarding the obstacles in the way. In the last two chapters we have been picturing life as the Wise desired it to be, not as they actually found it. Our next duty is to descend24 from these heights to the plain where opposition25 waited to test what stuff the Wise-men’s dreams were made of. Not without courage, not without patience, were they able to keep these ideals in their hearts.
The discouragements they suffered are written large across the face of the literature. Consider first the reception accorded to their teaching. All the Jews were not lovers of Understanding, nor was Jerusalem a State wherein the dictates26 of celestial27 Wisdom ruled with unquestioned sway. No doubt the note of confidence which pervades28 Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus implies that many people{180} respected the Wise-men’s dignity and paid deference29 to their speeches. But the presence of outspoken30 hostility31 is not a whit32 less clear. They did not preach unchallenged at the entry of the Gates. On the contrary the number and severity of the proverbs denouncing “scorners” show that the irreverent were a vigorous section of the population. We have to bear in mind that the Gateway33 was open to all-comers, and Psalm34 11 (Blessed is the man that sitteth not in the assembly of the scornful) supplies a hint that the scoffer35 (and his friends) may have had an inconvenient36 habit of claiming his own corner of the ground, and that not infrequently it pleased him to be merry at the Wise-man’s expense, now pretending he could not, or would not, hear the sermon (A scorner heareth not rebuke38, Pr. 131), now deriding39 the doctrine40 (I have called and ye have refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded: Ye have set at nought41 all my counsel and would have none of my reproof42, Pr. 124f); now encouraging others to make vexatious interruptions (Cast out the scorner, and contention43 shall go out, Pr. 2210). Sage12-baiting seems to have been a joke that waxed not stale with repetition: “How long,” asks one Wise man pathetically, “how long will scorners delight in their scorning” (Pr. 122)? He that reproveth a scorner getteth himself insult (Pr. 97)—behold a sage by the street-corner, wise in words but by no means so sharp in repartee44, shaking a puzzled head and wondering what the laughter had been about and why his audience had so speedily melted away.
Besides these cynical45 persons—the scorners or intentional46 fools—there were fools-by-birth, whether dull-witted or coarse-natured or both, “Simpletons”, to whom the Wise were perhaps less charitable than is meet. But then “suffering fools gladly” belongs to the apostolic ethic47; and it vexed48 the Wise to think how much breath they had wasted in seeking to teach these folk. Glorious Wisdom stirred no enthusiasm in their obtuse49 souls, and the{181} shafts50 of morality seldom discovered a joint51 in the armour52 of their self-content. Wherefore, concerning these also went up the cry, “How long, ye simpletons, will ye love simplicity” (Pr. 122)? And when we read that the sluggard53 is wiser in his own conceit then seven men that can render a reason (Pr. 2616), who can fail to see a baffled Sage turning wearily and disgustedly away? Towards the dull-witted is due mercy and patience; but oh! those self-satisfied, petty persons, ignorant of their ignorance, into whose mental darkness no new illuminating54 thought can penetrate. These were the prime objects of the Wise-men’s indignation—and legitimately55; for in all ages they have been the curse of society, the mainstay of old abuses, rocks which have to be blasted from the path of progress. Of your charity, then, bear in mind that the Wise did not lecture picked pupils only, but faced the contradictions and stupidities of the highway, and endured the disappointment of seeing men hostile or indifferent to their teaching.
But the point will bear further consideration. Two types of opponents may be distinguished56. First, the actively57 hostile, whose manner of life was in violent contradiction to the Wise-men’s principles, men who must often have hated them for their moralising efforts. In the mirror of the sayings we observe the immoral58, the cruel, the violent, plotters of mischief59 against their neighbours, whose deeds were evil, whose words scorched60 like a fire (Pr. 1627); dishonest dealers61 and pitiless usurers, who robbed the poor and crushed the defenceless (Pr. 2222); men who lured62 others into wickedness; bloodthirsty men, thieves, cut-throats, and reckless outlaws63 (Pr. 111ff). Against these Wisdom, for all its exaltation, must often have seemed powerless. Secondly64, there was the mass of the indifferent, who, being neither very good nor very bad, did not think Wisdom mattered very much or that it was any special concern of theirs: a type with abundant representatives to-day.{182} Why will they not comprehend that it is to them, almost more than to any others, that Wisdom is crying aloud; and that their co-operation is desperately65 needed for the advancement66 of mankind? Why do they saunter so carelessly down the streets of life, sometimes to fall into sore disaster from which a little Wisdom, had they sought it, would have saved them? Why do they always pass “the preacher for next Sunday” without a second thought? Ah! these are they that require a full church and good music and a first-rate sermon. But if they attended, the churches would be full and the choirs67 strong; and sermons have a way of winning home when men are out not for oratory68, but to seek the truth of God.
Certainly the Wise were not ignorant of the problem of the inattentive. Something of disappointment and perplexity lies behind the reiterated70 appeals of the Book of Proverbs: Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings. ... My son, let them not depart from thine eyes. ... Hear, my son, the instruction of a father, and attend to know, for I give you good doctrine. Granted that the exhortation71 tended to become a set phrase, and that “my son” was often spoken to an eager pupil or an attentive69 class in the Wise-man’s house, it was also used in the market place, and for one man that stopped and responded how many passed by unheeding? Doth not Wisdom cry and Understanding put forth72 her voice? In the streets she takes her stand; beside the gates, at the portal of the city, at the entrance of the gates she cries aloud (Pr. 81-3)—frequently, we may suspect, with small result. See, yonder is Alexander ben Simeon, young, confident and well-to-do, proud to think that his parents have called him by the name of the great Greek conqueror73. He comes strolling through the bazaar74 to the gate of the city. There two voices accost75 him. One, that of his friend Aristobulus: “Greeting, Alexander! Hast heard news of the boxing? ’Tis said that Aristonicus is beaten{183} in the Olympic pankcration. ‘By whom?’ By Cleitomachus of Thebes.[79] But I swear it cannot have been by fair means. How sayest thou?” The other voice was that of Judah the Wise, who, perceiving the two young men in talk, approached them hopefully and earnestly, though of course with all necessary dignity. “A wise son,” said he, “maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is a heaviness to his mother. Now, therefore, my sons, hearken unto me, for blessed are they that keep my ways. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness....” Unfortunately the last words were not heard by Alexander and Aristobulus. They were already some distance off, hunting for the man who had spread the rumour76 of the downfall of Egyptian athletics77.
But others besides the young could be deaf to good counsel. Jerusalem had many confident citizens of middle life, into whose soul the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts78 of other things had entered, choking the Word: the rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his imagination (Pr. 1811), said the Wise with a sigh. There is one proverb that suggests where the most grievous personal disappointment of the Wise lay: namely, in those, whether boy or man, who said “I go, Sir; but went not”: Cease, my son, to hear instruction, only to err37 from the words of knowledge (Pr. 1927). Surely there was sorrow in the heart of him who uttered those words of warning?
In the next place consider the hindrances79 that the general conditions of the age placed in the path of morality. These also are not difficult to perceive. The moral corruption80 of the luxurious81 Hellenic cities may have been perfectly82 obvious and the danger unmistakably clear, but dazzling opportunities, political, social, and commercial,{184} also lay waiting there for the young and ambitious Jew. Is it to be wondered if many a lad was ready to make a bid for fortune, and let his morality take its chance? Important families of Jerusalem, with a handsome son who might perhaps win favour at the foreign courts or shekels in their markets, will have had little love for old-fashioned, moralistic Wiseacres, who forsooth were stupid enough to oppose “the onward83 march of progress.”
One passage (Pr. 110-19), addressed to “my son,” urges him not to take up highway robbery as a career: If they say, “Let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk84 privily85 for the innocent without cause” ... consent not thou, but there cannot have been much outlet86 for promising87 youths in that direction; it is perhaps a formal rather than a serious warning. Much more prominent were the sensual temptations to which prosperous persons were exposed, temptation to indulgence in gluttonous88 feasting and drunken revelry. Such vices89 were alluring90 to an extent unknown to us who live in an age when society is no longer slave-ridden, when the wealthy can have as many duties to occupy their energies as the poor, and when it is no longer gentlemanly to be drunk. You cannot make a drunken man wise until you have sobered him. But the evils of intoxication91, though real enough, were less serious in old Jerusalem than in modern cities, and in wine the Wise saw an enemy only where pronounced abuse was present. Complete abstinence is unmooted, and even temperance is demanded in very temperate92 terms. Ben Sirach bestows93 an encomium94 on wine taken in moderation. Wine, says he, is as good as life to men, if thou drink it in its measure. What life is there to a man that is without wine? And it hath been created to make men glad. Wine drunk in season and to satisfy is joy of heart and gladness of soul (E. 3127f). He observes its quarrelsome tendencies, but thinks it necessary only to counsel tact95! Rebuke not thy neighbour at a banquet of{185} wine, neither set him at nought in his mirth. Speak not unto him a word of reproach, and press him not then for repayment96 of a debt (E. 3131). In like manner Proverbs 316, 7 is not suitable as a text for a Temperance address, even if (which is doubtful) it be partly metaphorical97: Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto the bitter in soul: let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery98 no more. Here’s a stick to beat the teetotallers withal! How one can imagine some foolish persons discovering that even a text is worth picking up (if it will serve to throw at an opponent), and pouncing99 gleefully upon these sayings. “Foolish persons”? Yes, “foolish”; for the effects of alcohol in the development of modern society have been, and are, calamitous100 to the material as well as the spiritual progress of the race. Moreover, even the Wise were insistent101 in denunciation of excessive drinking. Said Ben Sirach, Wine drunk largely is bitterness of soul with provocation102 and wrath103.[80] Drunkenness increaseth the rage of a fool unto his hurt; it diminisheth strength and addeth wounds (E. 3129, 30; cp. Pr. 201, 2329ff, quoted pp. 138, 232). There is no possible doubt what their attitude would have been towards the facts of the modern Drink Question. Had they seen one thousandth part of the moral and material losses consequent upon drunkenness and heavy drinking in the great European or American cities, the book of their proverbs would have been replete104 with commands and entreaties105 for reform.
In respect of the relations of the sexes, the morale106 of the post-exilic Jewish state was high. Monogamy was the custom, and the virtuous107 wife received a degree of honour unequalled in the old Oriental world. There are, however, in the proverbs frequent warnings against adultery; but, as the Hebrews were more outspoken than ourselves on such{186} matters, it may be that the prominence108 of the subject points not so much to the prevalence of the offence as to the indignation with which it was regarded. Yet it must be borne in mind that the crowded city life of the period increased temptations to that sin. More serious socially was the evil of venal109 women. Schechter[81] is of opinion that the repeated denunciations of “strange women” exaggerate the low state of morality in Jerusalem, but, with all reasonable allowance for rhetoric110, it is certain that the peril111 was never absent from the streets of Jerusalem, and in the brilliant cities of Egypt and Syria, so close at hand, licence walked unrestrained and unrebuked. The Wise knew only too well how powerful and deadly a foe112 this evil could prove to their hopes for men.[82]
The arch-enemy, not only of Idealism, but of the mildest proposals for reform has ever been the selfish individual. Turn to the proverbs, many of which have already been quoted, about rich men, about money-lenders, false-witnesses, slanderers, oppressive rulers and unjust judges; and it becomes easy to realise how strong was the opposition confronting the preachers of Wisdom.[83]
Finally, recollect113 the gulf114 between a reform in words and its translation into fact. With all our political machinery115 designed to yield better legislation, how difficult it is to give effect to the will of the wiser and nobler members of the community. Ancient society found it incalculably harder to redress116 its wrongs. Grievances117 were not always stifled118; they might be aired in moderation and provided the charge was vague. But, short of revolution, how was it possible to bring adequate pressure to bear on the guilty, strongly entrenched119 in their high offices by birth and wealth and{187} autocratic might? These and similar considerations will suggest the external difficulties of the life in which the Wise were placed.
To the “fightings without,” however, must next be added a tale of “fears within.” The Old Testament120 writers were not unconscious of the intellectual problems of religion. It is true that they do not debate, or often doubt, the existence of God. But the question of the Being of God is, in a sense, academic; the question of His character and relation to men is vital; and this problem the Jews felt as acutely and faced as honestly as any modern men can do. Many of them had encountered realities of experience sterner than most modernists have known—at least until 1914. Some of the Sages, no doubt, were unspeculative persons, content with traditional beliefs. But others there were not blind to any of the poignant121 elements of life. All may have assumed God as a fact, but some realised that only if God be just and holy and merciful, was the ground of morality solid beneath their feet. Men who maintained that in the fear of the Lord and honourable122 conduct is found the key to a successful career, could not ignore the fact that in reality the wicked were frequently prosperous and the good subject to misfortune, injustice123, pain, and bitter hardships. How could such things be in the world of a righteous God? Not until the post-exilic period was it vividly124 realised by a number of Jewish thinkers how obdurate125 these facts are to an optimistic interpretation126 of life, and how they menace not only belief in a gracious God, but also the whole structure of morality. In many of the later Psalms127, and in portions of the Wisdom literature, to which the Book of Proverbs belongs, the stringency128 of the problem is clearly recognised, and the struggle for faith grows correspondingly severe. Men cried to God to sustain their trust despite the awful enigmas130 of suffering and wrong. They wrestled131 agonisingly with the facts, turning now to{188} one, now to another, explanation, if in any wise hope in God might be preserved.
Our consideration of the great subject must here be confined to considering the proverbs of the period. From these it appears that the rank and file of the Wise-men either did not feel the problem in its acutest form or failed to reach those heights of spiritual insight that some of the Jews attained132. In the proverbs a variety of sensible but unsatisfactory arguments are put forward. One method of defence was to challenge or deny the reality of the facts alleged133: There shall no mischief happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil (Pr. 1221)—Say not thou, “I will recompense evil.” Wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee (Pr. 2022)—The Lord is far from the wicked but he heareth the prayer of the righteous (Pr. 1529)—The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, and he thrusteth away the desire of the wicked (Pr. 103). No one capable of sympathy with human perplexity will dismiss such assertions as merely stupid. Pathetically insufficient134 they may be, but these are the words of men convinced that somehow their instinct for God and the moral life is sound; and there is grandeur135 in the unyielding defiance136. Another favourite reply was to insist on the solid rewards of virtue137 or to maintain that in the end it is honesty that pays best: The wicked earneth deceitful wages, but he that soweth righteousness hath a sure reward (Pr. 1118)—He that soweth iniquity138 shall reap calamity139 (Pr. 228). The Wise liked also to dwell on the fear of retribution which is likely to haunt the evil-doer: His own iniquities140 shall take the wicked, and he shall be holden in the cords of his sin (Pr. 522), a retort to the power of which many a villain141, dogged by the thought of exposure, could bear witness. After all, there generally is human justice to be considered, although the divine seem far away. Sometimes The Wise had recourse to the suggestion that the fear of the Lord prolongeth life, but the years of the wicked shall be{189} shortened (Pr. 1027). Some, more daringly, declared that the agony of a single day or hour might redress the balance; thus Ben Sirach: It is an easy thing in the sight of the Lord to reward a man in the day of his death according to his ways. The affliction of an hour causeth forgetfulness of delight, and in the last end of a man is the revelation of his deeds. Call no man blessed before his death[84]; and (yet another suggestion) a man shall be known in his children (E. 1126-28). This further possibility that Justice, if nowhere manifest in a man’s own life, will certainly appear in the fortunes of his descendants, is emphasised also in several Psalms and in passages of the Book of Job (e.g., Job 54), and apparently142 was more satisfying to the Jews than it would be to ourselves. A new argument, too vague to be consoling, is hinted in Pr. 164, where it is declared that God hath made everything for its own end, even the wicked for the day of trouble.
These answers, of course, do not cut deep enough, and their inadequacy143 reflects adversely144 on the value of the Wise-men’s judgments of life. But three important points must be noted145 in extenuation146. First, the best that Israel’s Wisdom had to say on the sore problem was not said in the proverbs to which we are here limiting attention. If anyone desires to know how unflinchingly certain Wise-men and other Jews could face the facts and uphold their faith, he must turn to the Book of Job, to the Psalms, to Daniel and the daring aspirations147 of Apocalyptic148 writers. Secondly, there was as yet among the Jews no active belief in the continuance of personal consciousness after physical death, and thus the moral problem raised by{190} the suffering of good men was immensely harder for them than it is for ourselves. The Hebrews from earliest times had believed vaguely149 that a phantom-like continuation of individuality awaited good and bad alike in the underworld of Sheol; but that existence was not reckoned to be “life” in any real sense; certainly it was not thought that a man could receive the reward of his merits in Sheol, the land of shades. Sheol offered no solution, or even alleviation150, of the moral enigma129 confronting the Wise. If there was to be a Divine vindication151 of morality, in their opinion it must needs be shown on earth, either in the life-time of the sufferer himself or in that of his children. In the period we are considering, reason and intuition were already pointing the Jewish thinkers to a higher doctrine of human immortality152; but no traces of the great liberating153 conception have made their appearance in the proverbs.[85] The attitude of the Wise towards death may be grasped from Ben Sirach’s words: When a man is dead he shall inherit creeping things and beasts and worms (E. 1011)—Thanksgiving perisheth from the dead, as from one that is not; he that is in life shall praise the Lord (E. 1728). Death to Ben Sirach is a great silencing fact, not a mystery provoking thought. Sometimes he speaks of it very quietly: All things that are of the earth turn to the earth again, and all things that are of the waters return to the sea (E. 4011), and he bids men fear it not, seeing that death comes to us all: Fear not the sentence of death. Remember them that have been before thee and that come after. This is the sentence from the Lord over all flesh, and why doest thou refuse when it is the good pleasure of the Most High? Whether thou livest ten or a hundred or a thousand years, there is no inquisition of life in the{191} grave (E. 413, 4). The same unquestioning acquiescence154 appears in the helpless commonplace of the following: O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that is at peace in his possessions, unto the man that is at ease and hath prosperity in all things, and that still hath strength to enjoy luxury. O death, acceptable is thy sentence to a man that is needy155 and that faileth in strength, that is in extreme old age and is distracted about all things, and is perverse156 and hath lost patience (E. 411, 2); and still more grimly in his unconsciously brutal157 counsel to beware of long sorrow for the dead: My son, let thy tears fall over the dead, and as one that suffereth grievously begin lamentation158, and wind up his body according to his due, and neglect not his burial. Make bitter weeping and passionate159 wailing160, and let thy mourning be according to his desert, for one day or two, lest thou be evil spoken of; and so be comforted for thy sorrow. For of sorrow cometh death, and sorrow of heart will bow down the strength. Set not thy heart upon him, forget him, remembering thine own last end. Remember him not, for there is no returning again: him thou shalt not profit, and thou wilt161 hurt thyself (E. 3816ff).
This great difference of outlook would of itself incline one to a lenient162 judgment16 on the imperfections of the proverbs. But thirdly, and chiefly, remember that the Wise-men lived in a world that knew not Jesus, a world in which the supreme163 moral fact had not yet appeared. Therefore they lacked what we possess—the assurance that nothing, tribulation164 or anguish165 or persecution166, or famine, nakedness, peril or sword, can sunder167 the spirit of Man from the love of Him whom to know is life eternal. To them it was not possible, as it is for us, to confront the reality of evil with the greater reality of good, to answer the mystery of present suffering with the deeper mystery of the peace of Christ.
Lastly, the noblest of the proverbs has been kept in reserve till now. Said one of the Sages, perceiving that suffering (be it justly or unjustly incurred) is at least an efficient{192} teacher: My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary at his reproof. For whom the Lord loveth he reproveth, and paineth the son in whom he delighteth (Pr. 311, 12). The author of Hebrews 12, writing to men enduring great distress168 but with the fact of Christ before them, thought fit to quote those words; and we also will do well to ponder them. It is reasonable to believe that hardships (which judged from certain aspects often are unjust), even such terrible hardships as men sometimes endure, are inevitable169 in a world where moral personality is in the making: not otherwise could God Himself make man “in His own image”; not otherwise could even He create beings who should learn to seek the Truth, and to will the Good, in freedom. It is easy to see that courage, to take one instance, cannot be disciplined in sham170 fight, but only in the hazard of real risks. So also, it may be, all other fruits of the Spirit will grow for men nowhere save on the rugged171 slopes of the hill called “Difficulty.” The Wise, therefore, despite their perplexities, were not pessimistic. But, though they resolutely172 drove out despair, they knew depression: Even in laughter the heart may be sorrowful, and the end of mirth be heaviness (Pr. 1413), and A faithful man who can find? (Pr. 206)? To at least one of the Sages God seemed far distant, silent and inscrutable. Thus Pr. 301-4—The Words of Agur, ... I have wearied myself, O God, I have wearied myself, and am consumed, I surely am more foolish than other men, and no wisdom have I acquired to give me knowledge of the Holy One. Who hath ascended173 up into heaven and descended174?... What is his name and his son’s name, if thou knowest? The sturdy rebuke that immediately follows, (Pr. 305-6)—Every word of God is tried. He is a shield to them that trust in Him. Add not thou unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar175, is the sentiment of another and a happier man than Agur.{193}
Such was the world in which the Wise had to labour and to think. How like our own! How sobering in the discipline it imposes on the idealist! To one who reads without consideration of the back-ground the sententiousness of these Jewish proverbs may soon prove irksome. But the fault becomes bearable, and the Wise grow very human, when we recognise that for all their bold words, they were not always confident of their creed176, and that to many an earnest man among them the preaching of morality must at times have seemed a weary and a fruitless task.
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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sublimity
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| 崇高，庄严，气质高尚 | |
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precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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ripen
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| vt.使成熟；vi.成熟 | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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sages
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| n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料） | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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delusions
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| n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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dictates
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| n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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28
pervades
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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29
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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30
outspoken
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| adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的 | |
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31
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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32
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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33
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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34
psalm
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| n.赞美诗，圣诗 | |
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35
scoffer
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| 嘲笑者 | |
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36
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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37
err
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| vi.犯错误，出差错 | |
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38
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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39
deriding
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|
| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的现在分词 ) | |
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40
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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41
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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42
reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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43
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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44
repartee
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| n.机敏的应答 | |
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45
cynical
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|
| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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46
intentional
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|
| adj.故意的，有意（识）的 | |
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47
ethic
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|
| n.道德标准，行为准则 | |
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48
vexed
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|
| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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49
obtuse
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|
| adj.钝的；愚钝的 | |
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50
shafts
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|
| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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51
joint
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|
| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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52
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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53
sluggard
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|
| n.懒人；adj.懒惰的 | |
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54
illuminating
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|
| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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55
legitimately
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|
| ad.合法地；正当地，合理地 | |
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56
distinguished
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|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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57
actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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58
immoral
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|
| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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59
mischief
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|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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60
scorched
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|
| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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61
dealers
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|
| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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62
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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63
outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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64
secondly
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|
| adv.第二，其次 | |
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65
desperately
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|
| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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66
advancement
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|
| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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67
choirs
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|
| n.教堂的唱诗班( choir的名词复数 )；唱诗队；公开表演的合唱团；（教堂）唱经楼 | |
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68
oratory
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|
| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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69
attentive
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|
| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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70
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
exhortation
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|
| n.劝告，规劝 | |
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72
forth
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|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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73
conqueror
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|
| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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74
bazaar
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|
| n.集市，商店集中区 | |
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75
accost
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|
| v.向人搭话，打招呼 | |
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76
rumour
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|
| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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77
athletics
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|
| n.运动，体育，田径运动 | |
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78
lusts
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| 贪求（lust的第三人称单数形式） | |
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79
hindrances
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|
| 阻碍者( hindrance的名词复数 )； 障碍物； 受到妨碍的状态 | |
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80
corruption
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|
| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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81
luxurious
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|
| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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82
perfectly
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|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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83
onward
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|
| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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84
lurk
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|
| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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85
privily
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|
| adv.暗中，秘密地 | |
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86
outlet
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|
| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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87
promising
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|
| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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88
gluttonous
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|
| adj.贪吃的，贪婪的 | |
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89
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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90
alluring
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|
| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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91
intoxication
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|
| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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92
temperate
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|
| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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93
bestows
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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94
encomium
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|
| n.赞颂；颂词 | |
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95
tact
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|
| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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96
repayment
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|
| n.偿还，偿还款；报酬 | |
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97
metaphorical
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|
| a.隐喻的，比喻的 | |
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98
misery
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|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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99
pouncing
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|
| v.突然袭击( pounce的现在分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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100
calamitous
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|
| adj.灾难的，悲惨的；多灾多难；惨重 | |
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101
insistent
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|
| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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102
provocation
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|
| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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103
wrath
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|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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104
replete
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| adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁 | |
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105
entreaties
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|
| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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106
morale
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|
| n.道德准则，士气，斗志 | |
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107
virtuous
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|
| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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108
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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109
venal
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|
| adj.唯利是图的，贪脏枉法的 | |
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110
rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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111
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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112
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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113
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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114
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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115
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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116
redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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117
grievances
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|
| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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118
stifled
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|
| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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119
entrenched
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| adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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120
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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121
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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122
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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123
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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124
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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125
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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126
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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127
psalms
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| n.赞美诗( psalm的名词复数 )；圣诗；圣歌；(中的) | |
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128
stringency
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| n.严格，紧迫，说服力；严格性；强度 | |
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129
enigma
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| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
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130
enigmas
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| n.难于理解的问题、人、物、情况等，奥秘( enigma的名词复数 ) | |
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131
wrestled
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|
| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
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132
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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133
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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134
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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135
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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136
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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137
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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138
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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139
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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140
iniquities
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| n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 )；极不公正 | |
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141
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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142
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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143
inadequacy
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| n.无法胜任，信心不足 | |
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144
adversely
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| ad.有害地 | |
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145
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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146
extenuation
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| n.减轻罪孽的借口；酌情减轻；细 | |
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147
aspirations
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|
| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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148
apocalyptic
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|
| adj.预示灾祸的，启示的 | |
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149
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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150
alleviation
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| n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物 | |
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151
vindication
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| n.洗冤，证实 | |
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152
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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153
liberating
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| 解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 ) | |
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154
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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155
needy
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| adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的 | |
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156
perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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157
brutal
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|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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158
lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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159
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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160
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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161
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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lenient
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| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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tribulation
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| n.苦难，灾难 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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166
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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167
sunder
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| v.分开；隔离；n.分离，分开 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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171
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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