To illustrate11 the argument, recollect12 that skeleton of dates, William the Conqueror13 1066 ... which not so long ago did duty in our schools for the record of the glory of England. What could have been more ineffective{215} for revealing the soul of history? Now-a-days, the tale is better told but, even so, be the events narrated14 never so graphically15, unless they are conceived in relation to ourselves we are little benefited. To use the famous simile16 of the prophet, bone may come to its bone, and sinews be upon them, and flesh come up and skin cover them above, until the very semblance10 of men rises before our eyes; but there will be no breath in them. Only when it is realised how out of the living past has grown the living present, only then enters the breath of God into the men of old and they live and stand up upon their feet, an exceeding great army—to our aid in the shaping of what is to be. History is profitable in so far as its significance for the present is understood.[100] Thus, with fine insight, the Jews perceived that even their majestic17 Law would be of no avail if it were heard only as the recital18 of words delivered long ago at Sinai, and accordingly the exhortation19 ascribed to Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy comes to its climax20 in this deep saying: The commandment is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say “Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it down unto us, and make us hear it, that we may do it?”... But the Word is very nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.[101]
And so also in like manner this account of the history behind the Jewish proverbs has not been told in order to evoke21 for a brief moment nerveless phantoms22 of the Wise in ancient Israel, but with the hope that a voice would be heard saying even of this Word “It is very nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” What is the significance for us of these men and their experiences?
Consider some of the features of this Movement, if so precise a term may for convenience be applied23 to the easy,{216} natural, teaching of Wisdom. In the first place observe the thorough and effective contact established by the teachers of Wisdom with the people they sought to reach. One of the main problems confronting Christianity is the severance25 of the potential influence of its Churches from the life of the people; verily Mahomet sits waiting for the mountain. What then? Ought the Churches to be abandoned, and men go a-worshipping in the market-place? “Impractical—at the best it would soon lose its effect—the experiment has been made, with sadly limited results”: a thousand valid26 objections! But the problem must not be dismissed so lightly with a bare consideration of its obvious difficulties, for the issues at stake are too serious; the bulk of the population live perilously28 free from the stimulus30 of any Ideal, whether self-sought or impressed from without by the teaching of others. Seeing then that the Wise succeeded where we have missed the mark, their ways must at least deserve a scrutiny31; here is a method by which the poor were preached to, and religion stood daily in the streets and morals in the market-place; here is idealism put in language the unlearned could both comprehend and recollect. Indeed the proverb was wonderfully suited to their needs, for even its riddles32 were easily solved, not darkening counsel but devised only to awaken33 curiosity and so assist the slow and simple mind. Of course a slavish imitation of the Wise-men’s procedure is out of the question in modern circumstances, but slavish imitation is not suggested. Said Sir Joshua Reynolds when urging the students of the Royal Academy to the study of the Old Masters, “The more extensive your acquaintance is with the works of those who have excelled, the more extensive will be your powers of invention.” There is a force of idealism latent in almost all men, but it requires to be brought to the surface, examined, criticised and judiciously34 directed to the attainment35 of practical objects; otherwise the greater{217} part of its potential energy will never be brought into action; and in this easy-going land of ours there is more than normal scope for increased discipline of the mind. We can afford to think much harder than we have ever yet done without losing the virtue36 of humorous, tolerant good-nature. As Mr. Clutton Brock has said recently, “The fact that some thinking is bad is not a reason why we should not think at all. The Germans have been encouraged by their bad thinking to exercise certain virtues37 perversely38 and to bad ends, but still to exercise them in a manner which has astonished the world; while we have been little encouraged by thinking, good or bad, to exercise any virtues.”[102] There is ample room for more outspoken39 interest in the ends and principles of human life, more earnest and stringent40 consideration of the problems of social organisation—provided our discussions be undertaken, not in the spirit of silly contention41, mere42 bolstering43 up of unconsidered prejudice, but in a sincerity44 that will be both more critical and yet more humbly45 eager, for truth’s sake, to learn one from another. For it is not division of opinion, or even real conflict of interest that prevents and retards46 reform, so much as the dead weight of ignorance, of indifference47 and of paltry48 pride in argument—the very sins which in the past were the prime cause of the evils that call for remedy.
No less than the ancient Hebrews we moderns stand in need of the exhortation to let Wisdom enter into our hearts and knowledge be pleasant unto our souls (cp. Pr. 210). Neither with all our heart, nor even with all our mind, far less with all our soul, have we yet sought her whose ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace (Pr. 317); nor have we understood sufficiently49 that she is a tree of life to all that lay hold on her, and happy is every one that retaineth her (Pr. 318). Says a later Jewish proverb,{218} Lackest thou Wisdom, what hast thou acquired? Hast acquired Wisdom, what lackest thou? (C. 93.)
Secondly50, the constant intimate contact that the Wise maintained with the actualities of men’s ordinary experience was beneficial not only to the taught but to the teachers. It kept the Wise in touch with work-a-day problems (the most difficult of tasks for the idealistic thinker), and so helped to make their toil51 productive. It taught them how to bring Heavenly Wisdom down from the right hand of God that she might dwell with men, and make their homes pure and loving, and their business just, and their pleasures clean. And herein is a thought of no little encouragement for preachers and teachers in these days of not overcrowded Churches. Somehow it seems that personal contact is invaluable52 in the moral and spiritual education of man. That is why the leading article, with its scores of thousands of readers, may sometimes have less effect than a good sermon heard by a few hundred. The Press addresses us from an Olympian but distant Fleet Street, thundering at us—but in cold print; whereas the parson and the teacher, if he is a true man, somewhere and to some few is a neighbour and a friend. However excellent the Manual of Ethics54, it will not serve to influence the lives of many. The Son of Man, it seems, must come eating and drinking and teaching in our streets.
In the next place, this Movement is an interesting and important example of independent as opposed to systematic55 instruction, illustrating56 both the weaknesses as well as the strength of pronounced individualism, and supporting the opinion that, if only one safeguard be present, the advantages of individualism outweigh57 its dangers. Teachers less restricted than the Wise it is difficult to imagine. Each was free to develop his own opinions on the nature of life and the principles of success and failure, even to the point of open agnosticism. What prevents{219} such licence from becoming chaos58? The reply indicated by the Wisdom Movement is that freedom, even extreme freedom, of judgment59 in matters of conduct and faith will not result in chaos provided there is an underlying60 unity61 of aim. All the Wise were lovers of Wisdom. They conceived their theme in different fashions, but they had all the same intention—to teach and to practise Wisdom and not Folly62; hence, despite the diversity in their proverbs, the shifting standpoints, the variety of ethical64 standards, even the contradictions of advice, their teaching was ultimately effective. If we had had space to consider their work in relation to other movements in the intellectual life of that period, both in Palestine and also in the wider world, it would have been easy to show that the immaturities in the Wise-men’s thoughts, the uncertainties66 of their faith and ethic53 (the very points on which the cynical67 would pounce68 as evidence of failure) on a wider and wiser survey of the facts were in reality co-operating influences, clearing the way for a deeper, fuller, faith. Truth is eternal, but men’s apprehension69 of it is progressive; and it should be insisted that, given the presence of one fundamental purpose so that an ultimate unity of spirit must necessarily exist, divergence70 of opinion, even on matters of high importance, does not indicate weakness or indecision or decay, but rather is a sign of vitality71 and hope. The reason for this is obvious. Final statements can be made only with regard to the conceptions of the abstract sciences, such as mathematics, or to the judgments72 we can sometimes pass on lost causes; and on the other hand power to perceive the imperfection of present attainment has ever been, and still is, the prime condition of human progress: “God,” said John Robinson, minister of the Pilgrim Fathers, “has yet more truth to break forth73 out of His Word.”
The bearing on modern Christianity is not far to seek. A doctor recently remarked to the present writer{220} that one had only to enter the several Churches of a certain town to discover that Christians74 were now in hopeless confusion, ignorant as to what they did or did not believe, and that if the professed75 followers76 of the faith could not state their doctrine77 coherently, others might well be excused from attempting the task of ascertaining78 what Christianity now meant. The argument is not unusual, but it is profoundly mistaken. It might have been retorted that divergencies of medical opinion (and many patients will bear witness that they are neither slight nor few) are no indication whatever of the essential unsoundness of the science of medicine, but rather the guarantee of its advance into more accurate knowledge. Moreover had the critic been in actual touch with the feeling and activities of the Churches in question, he would have recognised that the points of disagreement, though important, were not upon the vital question of faith in God and general attitude towards life; so that whilst he personally might still have been unable to accept Christian24 belief, he could not possibly have formulated79 such an indictment80 as appears above. The real peril29 of Christian theology has not been vagueness, but the Hellenic tendency to essay the definition of all things to the last iota81. But from the perils82 inherent in that attitude Christianity has been delivered by the passionate83 instinct of mankind for truth, and by the reforming energy of great individuals; and will be delivered, so long as the Church has faith in the guiding Spirit of God.
There is value in the Wise-men’s witness to the intimate relation between faith and morality. The religion of Israel in its higher development is magnificent in its clear recognition that the claim of God upon man is absolute, complete and not partial—if there be one God, Creator of heaven and earth, then certainly He besets84 us behind and before and lays His hand upon us—and that the love of God and the love of our fellow-men must be indissolubly related, faith{221} being the inspiration of morality, and moral action the necessary outcome of faith. With these sublime85 beliefs, proclaimed by Prophets and Psalmists, the Wise were in accord: they also in their more homely86 fashion recognised the universality of the Divine claim, and its operation in the realm of moral duty. Perhaps those thoughts may seem to some readers only elementary and obvious ideas on spiritual things. But they ought to be regarded not as elementary (and therefore of small account) but as fundamental and vital conceptions. Every student of comparative religion would testify how great and terrible a gulf in human life was crossed when first a Hebrew Prophet conceived the thought that God desireth mercy and not sacrifice, not ceremonial worship but philanthropy (in the true sense of the word), and how glorious a hope for the future of religion then dawned upon our race. Moreover the fact remains87 that, even if to many these thoughts of God and the nature of His service may be no novelty, even if they have grasped the idea in its full significance and are conscious of its exact bearing on manifold contemporary affairs, there is still room for its reaffirmation. Said a soldier in France, after a discussion about Christianity to which he had listened intently and with some surprise, “But, as I understand it, religion is all talk about heaven. What’s it got to do with morality?” Religion has got to do with morality, and morality, like the demand for truth and the instinct for the beautiful, penetrates88 life through and through to its least details. Christianity is not a bargain with the Deity89 entailing90 magical immunity91 from hardship in this life and special privileges in the next. It is such an attitude of the essential personality as should wholly determine our activities in each and every aspect life can present to us, both now and hereafter. The scope of religion is as wide as our interests; and what could serve more happily to remind us of that fact than these Jewish{222} proverbs which, beginning with the fear of God, range from kings to labourers, from merry men to broken hearts, from dreams of perfect justice to cynical observations on the uses and advantages of bribes92? Wisdom is indeed ubiquitous: Divers63 weights and false balances are an abomination unto the Lord, say the Wise in the busy mart; and then in the hour of leisure and of plenty It is not good to eat much honey—and all this in the name of transcendent Wisdom, whose fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; Wisdom that was set up from everlasting93, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
Incidentally we have also to note how thoroughly94 these proverbs, by reason of the range of interest of which we have just been speaking, and by the sensible attitude they endeavour to preserve, illustrate the Humanism of the Bible; for surely the most ungenerous of critics would not accuse them of being unpractical or absorbed in supra-mundane matters. The point has already been emphasised, and therefore we will not dwell upon it again, except to remark its importance as one instance of a general principle: that Idealism to be effective must needs grow out of the soil of commonsense95. There is a degree beyond which existing facts must not be disregarded. For example, men have not mastered the art of flight by ignoring gravitation, but by having studied its laws and conquered the difficulties they present. In the admirable words of a friend of the writer, “Christian opinion is peculiarly liable to the danger of running counter to the average common sense in the midst of which it finds itself; that is a natural alternative to simply falling into line with current common sense views.... Thought that has its head in the clouds must have its feet planted firmly in sound common sense, if its heart is to be in the right place.... No one can think of Jesus as the devotee of a faddist96 cult27. He entered whole-heartedly into the common joys and sorrows and into the{223} common interests of the people: their wedding-feasts and their mourning for dead friends and their longing97 for freedom from the Roman yoke98.... He entered by the open door of common sense, and led out the spirit of man into a larger life than it had ever conceived.”[103] Omitting the superlative “ever,” these words in italics are wonderfully apposite in reference to the genius of the Wisdom Movement in Israel.
There is value for us in the confidence which the Wise-men showed in their attitude towards life. They, like ourselves, lived in an age when all things were being put to trial, and doubt and perplexity were rife99. They were aware that even their instinctive100 fundamental ideas were under challenge, aware that the path they followed was unfinished; and yet, as the general tone of the proverbs indicates, they lived with firmness and decision, and therefore achieved much. They were wise indeed in that they perceived the issue between good and evil to be clear enough for a man to choose which of the twain he will pursue. Having chosen, these men did not content themselves with expressing a timorous101 hope that the moralistic view of life might ultimately be proved correct; they did battle for righteousness, valiantly102 and practically. So with ourselves. Stringent and systematic application of the test of reason is a most necessary attitude to preserve, but it is not a whit103 less necessary, despite our uncertainty104 regarding ultimate problems of existence, early in life to form a definite idea whither we wish to direct our steps. To do so is the only highway to an effective life. Nor is it unreasonable105 to demand from men that much resolution, for Good and Evil do present themselves quite distinctly as alternative routes. Of course, all the coward in us and all the sluggard106 prompts a protest for delay: we see a hundred reasons for postponing107 judgment, or for arranging a compromise{224} between the claimants; “our philosophy is unsettled; we have neither proved God to our complete satisfaction, nor has He clearly justified108 His ways to us: so that surely it is not reasonable to insist that we make choice (and therefore, we take it, the subsidiary matter of our unwillingness109 need not arise)—let us drift a little longer through these puzzling mists.” Nothing but a bold decision for Wisdom or for Folly ever clears those mists away. To shirk the challenge (as some do all their lives) is easy and at first may seem the natural course to adopt, but it entails110 a heavy penalty. It deprives us of any firm criterion of judgment, and we must needs go fumbling111 with the golden opportunities which come but return not. Take then the Wise for an example. Uncertainty they felt, but uncertainty did not paralyse their power, because they met perplexities in the open field of action. From us, as from them, many secrets of creation are concealed112; but some things are certainly evil and some are pure and good. A blessing113 and a curse are set before us, and the difference between them is in no way obscure. We ought to choose the blessing; and then, in faith that the Good is really and ultimately the True, act vigorously in support of our belief. Wisdom we know and Folly we know; Christ we have seen and the fruits of wickedness: in the name of sanity114 how much clearer need the issue be?
Passing from the methods and manner of the Movement, it is encouraging to turn for a moment to the thought of its success. When we measure the might of the forces making against Wisdom, the numbers and influence of those bent115 on pleasure or on riches with scant116 regard, or none at all, for nobler possibilities in life, it is wonderful that the ideals of the Wise should have become known to vast numbers of men in alien lands, and that, enshrined in the Bible, their influence should still remain unexhausted. Had the memory of them continued in honour only for a century{225} or two and been restricted to the limits of the Jewish communities, even that would have been a result exceeding what had once seemed probable. For Hellenism was a monstrous118 flood apparently119 capable of sweeping120 away far larger obstacles than all Judaism combined—priests, prophets, and Wise-men—could raise against its onset121. But Wisdom and Law and Prophets survived the deluge122, quite unharmed and indeed strengthened by the trial they had undergone. Why was it so? How comes it to pass that the Wise after all do not toil in vain; that the Crucified conquers; that St. Paul, who in his lifetime can establish no more than a few struggling Churches, eventually commands the intellect of Greece and subdues123 the power of Rome? Surely because, in the words of yet another great passage in the Hebrew Scriptures124, Elisha’s vision in beleaguered125 Dothan was no mirage126 in the eyes of a famine-haunted man, but truth of truth, and the mountains of Reality which compass the City of Human Faith are full of the chariots of the Lord of Hosts. Christianity is not dying, nor is the Church doomed127, nor is the work of idealists in this generation of no avail. Rather he is blind that imagines so, blind to the armies that in the soul of Man do battle for the one eternal God.
Such are some of the reflections prompted by the history of the Wisdom Movement. We come now to what those unacquainted with the events we have been describing may have imagined to be the only, as it is the most obvious and perhaps the most important, gift the Jewish Sages128 have left for our inheriting—the proverbs themselves, considered apart from their origin or use in relation to any particular historical events. Not all the sayings are of value in themselves, for some are trivial and some are obsolete129, some have been said better, and a few were better left unsaid. But there remain many having permanent interest, and many that speak deep and undying truth, truth which we, no{226} less than our fathers, have need to learn, and which those who come after us will have to learn or suffer loss. Had we chosen to use such proverbs as texts whereon to build discussion, illustration or enforcement of their thoughts and counsels, they are enough to fill not one but many volumes of this size. For stirring subjects would open up on every side. How shrewd, for example, are these Jewish maxims130 in their insistence131 that principle should precede practice, that success in life is won not by experiment unguided by fixed purpose but by the early adoption132 of certain great principles which our experiences will continually test and interpret, clarify and confirm! How sensible in their demand for the use of unsparing criticism—both the discipline of self-imposed criticism, and the humility133 that will receive, and, if necessary, assent134 to the reproof135 of others! How true the instinct which taught them to feel that real Wisdom is not merely an intellectual affair; so that they bid men seek not learning but rather the power to use it for right purposes, not knowledge of fact so much as the understanding mind. It is of profound importance in life this distinction between intelligence and knowledge. As the late Lord Cromer remarked to one of his friends soon after the outbreak of the European war, “I believe that Germany will live in history as the supreme136 example of the failure to distinguish Wisdom from Learning.” It is Wisdom that the Jewish Sages preached. And how wise they were in the emphasis they lay on the necessity of application in the difficult task of awakening137 and cultivating the dormant138 powers of the mind.[104] Above all, how more than wise, how humane139, are they in depicting140 Wisdom in lovely colours, not as cold and repellent, but as warm and welcoming, an infinitely141 desirable, compassionate{227} Friend of Humanity! How much we have still to learn from them in that respect, we who are not yet wholly delivered from an age that of set purpose hid the fascinating light of knowledge under a bushel of dull and unimaginative discipline, making education seem a thing to be endured;—till we grew up—and depicting Morality as an All-seeing Eye, unblinkingly on the watch for our misdemeanours, a sort of inescapable Super-Spy! And again, treating the proverbs from this general point of view, what inexhaustible variety of themes would be at our disposal—education, commerce, responsibility, virtue and vice65, hardships, luxury, marriage and friendship, idleness and diligence; in fact we might talk “of shoes and ships and sealing-wax, of cabbages and kings”; an embarras de richesses.
The remaining pages of this volume will be given to a review of certain of the Jewish proverbs, grouped under several topics. The principle on which these topics and the proverbs used in their illustration have been selected is chiefly the avoidance of repetition, so far as has proved reasonably convenient. Obviously, many most suitable subjects, such as the personal virtues, and many sayings that might fittingly be quoted in exposition of the themes actually chosen for the following pages, have already been utilised in our account of the Wisdom Movement. These then, with a few exceptions, will not be reproduced again, partly because there is little need to draw upon them, the stock of Jewish proverbs being far from exhausted117, but mainly because it is to be hoped that their wit and wisdom for ourselves and for all men did not pass unnoticed and unconsidered in the historical setting. The sins of omission142 of which the following pages are guilty are patent even to the author. If they rouse the reader into making a better selection for himself, good and again good.{228}
To preserve a thread of connection with what precedes, we may commence by reviewing first Nature and then Humour in the Jewish sayings, both of which subjects have not only a certain general interest, but will help further to show how the proverbs can contribute to our realisation of the Humanism of the Bible.
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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kin
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jealousy
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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distresses
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| n.悲痛( distress的名词复数 )；痛苦；贫困；危险 | |
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gulf
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fixed
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predecessors
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semblance
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illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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recollect
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conqueror
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narrated
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graphically
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| adv.通过图表；生动地，轮廓分明地 | |
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simile
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majestic
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recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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exhortation
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climax
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evoke
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| vt.唤起，引起，使人想起 | |
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phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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severance
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| n.离职金；切断 | |
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valid
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cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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perilously
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| adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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stimulus
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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riddles
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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judiciously
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attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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perversely
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| adv. 倔强地 | |
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outspoken
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| adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的 | |
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stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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42
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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bolstering
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| v.支持( bolster的现在分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助 | |
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44
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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45
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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46
retards
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| 使减速( retard的第三人称单数 )； 妨碍； 阻止； 推迟 | |
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47
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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48
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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49
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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50
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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51
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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52
invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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53
ethic
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| n.道德标准，行为准则 | |
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54
ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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55
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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56
illustrating
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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57
outweigh
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| vt.比...更重，...更重要 | |
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58
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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59
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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60
underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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61
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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62
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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63
divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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64
ethical
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| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
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65
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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66
uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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67
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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68
pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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69
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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70
divergence
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| n.分歧，岔开 | |
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71
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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72
judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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73
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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74
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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75
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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76
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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77
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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78
ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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79
formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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80
indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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81
iota
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| n.些微，一点儿 | |
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82
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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83
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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84
besets
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| v.困扰( beset的第三人称单数 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌 | |
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85
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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86
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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87
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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88
penetrates
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| v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透 | |
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89
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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90
entailing
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| 使…成为必要( entail的现在分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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91
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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92
bribes
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| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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93
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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94
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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95
commonsense
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| adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的 | |
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96
faddist
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| n.趋于时尚者，好新奇的人 | |
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97
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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98
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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99
rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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100
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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101
timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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102
valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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103
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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104
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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105
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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106
sluggard
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| n.懒人；adj.懒惰的 | |
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107
postponing
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| v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 ) | |
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108
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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109
unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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110
entails
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| 使…成为必要( entail的第三人称单数 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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111
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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112
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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113
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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114
sanity
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| n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确 | |
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115
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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116
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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117
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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118
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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119
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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120
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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121
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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122
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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123
subdues
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| 征服( subdue的第三人称单数 )； 克制； 制服 | |
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124
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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125
beleaguered
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| adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰 | |
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126
mirage
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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127
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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128
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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129
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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130
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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131
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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132
adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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133
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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134
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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135
reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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136
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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137
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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138
dormant
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| adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的 | |
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139
humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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140
depicting
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| 描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述 | |
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141
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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142
omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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