its narrow length. On each table stood a couple of glass jars containing the mangled3 vestiges4 of the crayfish, mussels, frogs, and guinea-pigs, upon which the students
had been working, and down the side of the room, facing the windows, were shelves bearing bleached5 dissections in spirit, surmounted7 by a row of beautifully executed
anatomical drawings in white wood frames and overhanging a row of cubical lockers8. All the doors of the laboratory were panelled with blackboard, and on these were the
half-erased diagrams of the previous day’s work. The laboratory was empty, save for the demonstrator, who sat near the preparation-room door, and silent, save for a
low, continuous murmur9, and the clicking of the rocker microtome at which he was working. But scattered10 about the room were traces of numerous students: hand-bags,
polished boxes of instruments, in one place a large drawing covered by newspaper, and in another a prettily11 bound copy of “News from 217Nowhere,” a book oddly at
variance12 with its surroundings. These things had been put down hastily as the students had arrived and hurried at once to secure their seats in the adjacent lecture-
theatre. Deadened by the closed door, the measured accents of the professor sounded as a featureless muttering.
Presently, faint through the closed windows came the sound of the Oratory1 clock striking the hour of eleven. The clicking of the microtome ceased, and the demonstrator
looked at his watch, rose, thrust his hands into his pockets, and walked slowly down the laboratory towards the lecture-theatre door. He stood listening for a moment,
and then his eye fell on the little volume by William Morris. He picked it up, glanced at the title, smiled, opened it, looked at the name on the fly-leaf, ran the
leaves through with his hand, and put it down. Almost immediately the even murmur of the lecturer ceased, there was a sudden burst of pencils rattling13 on the desks in
the lecture-theatre, a stirring, a scraping of feet, and a number of voices speaking together. Then a firm footfall approached the door, which began to open, and stood
ajar, as some indistinctly heard question arrested the new-comer.
The demonstrator turned, walked slowly back past the microtome and left the laboratory by the preparation-room door. As he did so, first one, and then several students
carrying note-books, 218entered the laboratory from the lecture-theatre, and distributed themselves among the little tables, or stood in a group about the doorway14.
They were an exceptionally heterogeneous15 assembly,—for while Oxford16 and Cambridge still recoil17 from the blushing prospect18 of mixed classes, the College of Science
anticipated America in the matter years ago,—mixed socially, too, for the prestige of the College is high, and its scholarships, free of any age limit, dredge deeper
even than do those of the Scotch19 universities. The class numbered one and twenty, but some remained in the theatre questioning the professor, copying the blackboard
diagrams before they were washed off, or examining the special specimens21 he had produced to illustrate22 the day’s teaching. Of the nine who had come into the
laboratory, three were girls, one of whom, a little fair woman wearing spectacles and dressed in greyish green, was peering out of the window at the fog, while the
other two, both wholesome-looking, plain-faced school-girls, unrolled and put on the brown holland aprons24 they wore while dissecting25. Of the men, two went down the
laboratory and sat down in their places, one a pallid26, dark-bearded man who had once been a tailor, the other a pleasant-featured, ruddy young man of twenty, dressed
in a well-fitting brown suit, young Wedderburn, the son of Wedderburn the eye-specialist. The others formed a little knot near the theatre door. 219One of these, a
dwarfed27, spectacled figure with a hunch28 back, sat on a bent29 wood stool, two others, one a short, dark youngster, and the other a flaxen-haired, reddish-complexioned
young man, stood leaning side by side against the slate30 sink, while the fourth stood facing them and maintained the larger share of the conversation.
This last person was named Hill. He was a sturdily built young fellow of the same age as Wedderburn, he had a white face, dark grey eyes, hair of an indeterminate
colour, and prominent, irregular features. He talked rather louder than was needful, and thrust his hands deeply into his pockets. His collar was frayed31 and blue with
the starch32 of a careless laundress, his clothes were evidently ready-made, and there was a patch on the side of his boot near the toe. And as he talked or listened to
the others, he glanced now and again towards the lecture-theatre door. They were discussing the depressing peroration33 of the lecture they had just heard, the last
lecture it was in the introductory course in Zo?logy. “From ovum to ovum is the goal of the higher vertebrata,” the lecturer had said in his melancholy34 tones, and so
had neatly35 rounded off the sketch36 of comparative anatomy37 he had been developing. The spectacled hunchback had repeated it, with noisy appreciation38, had tossed it
towards the fair-haired student with an evident provocation39, and had started one of those vague, rambling40 discussions 220on generalities so unaccountably dear to the
student mind all the world over.
“That is our goal, perhaps,—I admit it,—as far as science goes,” said the fair-haired student, rising to the challenge. “But there are things above science.”
“Science,” said Hill, confidently, “is systematic41 knowledge. Ideas that don’t come into the system must anyhow—be loose ideas.” He was not quite sure whether
“The thing I cannot understand,” said the hunchback, at large, “is whether Hill is a materialist43 or not.”
“There is one thing above matter,” said Hill, promptly44, feeling he had a better thing this time, aware too of some one in the doorway behind him, and raising his
“So we have your gospel at last,” said the fair-haired student. “It’s all a delusion, is it? All our aspirations46 to lead something more than dogs’ lives, all our
work for anything beyond ourselves. But see how inconsistent you are! Your socialism, for instance. Why do you trouble about the interests of the race? Why do you
concern yourself about the beggar in the gutter47? Why are you bothering yourself to lend that book”—he indicated William Morris by a 221movement of the head—“to
every one in the lab?”
“Girl,” said the hunchback, indistinctly, and glanced guiltily over his shoulder.
The girl in brown, with the brown eyes, had come into the laboratory, and stood on the other side of the table behind him with her rolled-up apron23 in one hand, looking
over her shoulder, listening to the discussion. She did not notice the hunchback, because she was glancing from Hill to his interlocutor. Hill’s consciousness of her
presence betrayed itself to her only in his studious ignorance of the fact; but she understood that and it pleased her. “I see no reason,” said he, “why a man
should live like a brute48 because he knows of nothing beyond matter, and does not expect to exist a hundred years hence.”
“Why shouldn’t he?” said the fair-haired student.
“Why should he?” said Hill.
“What inducement has he?”
“That’s the way with all you religious people. It’s all a business of inducements. Cannot a man seek after righteousness for righteousness’ sake?”
There was a pause. The fair man answered with a kind of vocal49 padding, “But—you see—inducement—when I said inducement—” to gain time. And then the hunchback came
to his rescue and inserted a question. He was a terrible person in the debating society with his questions, 222and they invariably took one form,—a demand for a
definition. “What’s your definition of righteousness?” said the hunchback, at this stage.
Hill experienced a sudden loss of complacency at this question, but even as it was asked, relief came in the person of Brooks50, the laboratory attendant, who entered by
the preparation-room door, carrying a number of freshly-killed guinea-pigs by their hind-legs. “This is the last batch51 of material this session,” said the youngster
who had not previously52 spoken. Brooks advanced up the laboratory, smacking53 down a couple of guinea-pigs at each table, and the discussion perished abruptly54 as the
students who were not already in their places hurried to them to secure the choice of a specimen20. There was a noise of keys rattling on split rings as lockers were
opened, and dissecting instruments taken out. Hill was already standing55 by his table, and his box of scalpels was sticking out of his pocket. The girl in brown came a
step towards him, and leaning over his table, said softly, “Did you see that I returned your book, Mr. Hill?”
During the whole scene, she and the book had been vividly56 present in his consciousness, but he made a clumsy pretence57 of looking at the book and seeing it for the
first time. “Oh, yes,” he said, taking it up. “I see. Did you like it?”
“I want to ask you some questions about it—sometime.”
223“Certainly,” said Hill. “I shall be glad.” He stopped awkwardly. “You liked it?” he said.
“It’s a wonderful book. Only some things I don’t understand.”
Then suddenly the laboratory was hushed by a curious braying58 noise. It was the demonstrator. He was at the blackboard ready to begin the day’s instruction, and it was
his custom to demand silence by a sound midway between the “Er” of common intercourse59, and the blast of a trumpet60. The girl in brown slipped back to her place, it
was immediately in front of Hill’s, and Hill, forgetting her forthwith, took a note-book out of the drawer of his table, turned over its leaves hastily, drew a stumpy
pencil from his pocket, and prepared to make a copious62 note of the coming demonstration63. For demonstrations64 and lectures are the sacred text of the College students.
Hill was the son of a Landport cobbler, and had been hooked by a chance blue paper the authorities had thrown out to the Landport Technical College. He kept himself in
London on his allowance of a guinea a week, and found that with proper care this also covered his clothing allowance, an occasional waterproof66 collar, that is, and ink
and needles and cotton and such-like necessaries for a man about town. This was his first year and his 224first session, but the brown old man in Landport had already
got himself detested67 in many public-houses by boasting of his son “the professor.” Hill was a vigorous youngster, with a serene68 contempt for the clergy69 of all
denominations70, and a fine ambition to reconstruct the world. He regarded his scholarship as a brilliant opportunity. He had begun to read at seven, and had read
steadily71 whatever came in his way, good or bad, since then. His worldly experience had been limited to the Island of Portsea, and acquired chiefly in the wholesale
boot factory in which he had worked by day, after passing the seventh standard of the Board School. He had a considerable gift of speech, as the College Debating
Society, which met amidst the crushing machines and mine models in the Metallurgical Theatre downstairs, already recognised, recognised by a violent battering72 of desks
whenever he rose. And he was just at that fine emotional age when life opens at the end of a narrow pass, like a broad valley at one’s feet, full of the promise of
wonderful discoveries and tremendous achievements. And his own limitations, save that he knew that he knew neither Latin or French, were all unknown to him.
At first his interest had been divided pretty equally between his biological work at the College and social and theological theorising, an employment which he took in
deadly earnest. Of a night, when the big museum library was not open, he 225would sit on the bed of his room in Chelsea with his coat and a muffler on, and write out
the lecture notes and revise his dissection6 memoranda73 until Thorpe called him out by a whistle,—the landlady74 objected to open the door to attic75 visitors,—and then
the two would go prowling about the shadowy, shiny, gas-lit streets, talking, very much in the fashion of the sample just given, of the God Idea and Righteousness and
Carlyle and the Reorganisation of Society. And in the midst of it all, Hill, arguing not only for Thorpe but for the casual passer-by, would lose the thread of his
argument, glancing at some pretty, painted face that looked meaningly at him as he passed. Science and Righteousness! But once or twice lately there had been signs
that a third interest was creeping into his life, and he had found his attention wandering from the fate of the mesoblastic somites or the probable meaning of the
blastopore, to the thought of the girl with the brown eyes who sat at the table before him.
She was a paying student; she descended76 inconceivable social altitudes to speak to him. At the thought of the education she must have had and the accomplishments77 she
must possess, the soul of Hill became abject78 within him. She had spoken to him first over a difficulty about the alisphenoid of a rabbit’s skull79, and he had found
that, in biology at least, he had no reason for self-abasement. And from that, after the manner of young 226people starting from any starting-point, they got to
generalities, and while Hill attacked her upon the question of socialism,—some instinct told him to spare her a direct assault upon her religion,—she was gathering
resolution to undertake what she told herself was his ?sthetic education. She was a year or two older than he, though the thought never occurred to him. The loan of “
News from Nowhere” was the beginning of a series of cross loans. Upon some absurd first principle of his, Hill had never “wasted time” upon poetry, and it seemed an
appalling80 deficiency to her. One day in the lunch hour, when she chanced upon him alone in the little museum where the skeletons were arranged, shamefully81 eating the
bun that constituted his midday meal, she retreated and returned, to lend him, with a slightly furtive82 air, a volume of Browning. He stood sideways towards her and
took the book rather clumsily, because he was holding the bun in the other hand. And in the retrospect83 his voice lacked the cheerful clearness he could have wished.
That occurred after the examination in comparative anatomy, on the day before the College turned out its students and was carefully locked up by the officials, for the
Christmas holidays. The excitement of cramming84 for the first trial of strength had for a little while dominated Hill to the exclusion85 of his other interests. In the
forecasts of the 227result in which every one indulged, he was surprised to find that no one regarded him as a possible competitor for the Harvey Commemoration Medal,
of which this and the two subsequent examinations disposed. It was about this time that Wedderburn, who so far had lived inconspicuously on the uttermost margin87 of
Hill’s perceptions, began to take on the appearance of an obstacle. By a mutual88 agreement the nocturnal prowlings with Thorpe ceased for the three weeks before the
examination, and his landlady pointed89 out that she really could not supply so much lamp-oil at the price. He walked to and fro from the College with little slips of
mnemonics90 in his hand, lists of crayfish appendages91, rabbits’ skull-bones, and vertebrate nerves, for example, and became a positive nuisance to foot-passengers in
the opposite direction.
But by a natural reaction Poetry and the girl with the brown eyes ruled the Christmas holiday. The pending92 results of the examination became such a secondary
consideration that Hill marvelled93 at his father’s excitement. Even had he wished it, there was no comparative anatomy to read in Landport, and he was too poor to buy
books, but the stock of poets in the library was extensive and Hill’s attack was magnificently sustained. He saturated94 himself with the fluent numbers of Longfellow
and Tennyson, and fortified95 himself with Shakespeare, found a kindred soul in Pope and a master in Shelley, and heard and fled the siren 228voices of Eliza Cook and
Mrs. Hemans. But he read no more Browning, because he hoped for the loan of other volumes from Miss Haysman when he returned to London.
He walked from his lodgings96 to the College with that volume of Browning in his shiny black bag, and his mind teeming97 with the finest general propositions about poetry.
Indeed he framed first this little speech and then that with which to grace the return. The morning was an exceptionally pleasant one for London, there was a clear,
hard frost and undeniable blue in the sky, a thin haze98 softened99 every outline, and warm shafts100 of sunlight struck between the houseblocks and turned the sunny side of
the street to amber101 and gold. In the hall of the College he pulled off his glove and signed his name with fingers so stiff with cold that the characteristic dash under
the signature he cultivated became a quivering line. He imagined Miss Haysman about him everywhere. He turned at the staircase, and there, below, he saw a crowd
struggling at the foot of the notice board. This, possibly, was the biology list. He forgot Browning and Miss Haysman for the moment, and joined the scrimmage. And at
last with his cheek flattened102 against the sleeve of the man on the step above him, he read the list:
“Class I.
H. J. Somers Wedderburn.
William Hill.”
229And thereafter followed a second class that is outside our present sympathies. It was characteristic that he did not trouble to look for Thorpe on the Physics list,
but backed out of the struggle at once, and in a curious emotional state between pride over common second-class humanity and acute disappointment at Wedderburn’s
success, went on his way upstairs. At the top, as he was hanging up his coat in the passage, the zo?logical demonstrator, a young man from Oxford, who secretly
regarded him as a blatant103 “mugger” of the very worst type, offered his heartiest104 congratulations.
At the laboratory door Hill stopped for a second to get his breath, and then entered. He looked straight up the laboratory and saw all five girl students grouped in
their places, and Wedderburn, the once retiring Wedderburn, leaning rather gracefully106 against the window, playing with the blind tassel107 and talking, apparently108, to the
five of them. Now Hill could talk bravely enough and even overbearingly to one girl, and he could have made a speech to a roomful of girls, but this business of
standing at ease and appreciating, fencing, and returning quick remarks round a group, was, he knew, altogether beyond him. Coming up the staircase his feelings for
Wedderburn had been generous, a certain admiration109 perhaps, a willingness to shake his hand conspicuously86 and heartily110 as one who had fought but the first round. But
before Christmas Wedderburn had never gone up 230to that end of the room to talk. In a flash Hill’s mist of vague excitement condensed abruptly to a vivid dislike of
Wedderburn. Possibly his expression changed. As he came up to his place Wedderburn nodded carelessly to him, and the others glanced round. Miss Haysman looked at him
and away again, the faintest touch of her eyes. “I can’t agree with you, Mr. Wedderburn,” she said.
“I must congratulate you on your first class, Mr. Hill,” said the spectacled girl in green, turning round and beaming at him.
“It’s nothing,” said Hill, staring at Wedderburn and Miss Haysman talking together, and eager to hear what they talked about.
“We poor folks in the second class don’t think so,” said the girl in spectacles.
What was it Wedderburn was saying? Something about William Morris! Hill did not answer the girl in spectacles, and the smile died out of his face. He could not hear
and failed to see how he could “cut in.” Confound Wedderburn! He sat down, opened his bag, hesitated whether to return the volume of Browning forthwith, in the sight
of all, and instead drew out his new note-books for the short course in elementary botany that was now beginning, and which would terminate in February. As he did so a
fat heavy man with a white face and pale grey eyes, Bindon, the professor of Botany who came up from Kew for January and February, came in by the lecture-theatre
231door and passed, rubbing his hands together and smiling in silent affability, down the laboratory.
In the subsequent six weeks Hill experienced some very rapid and curiously111 complex emotional developments. For the most part he had Wedderburn in focus—a fact that
Miss Haysman never suspected. She told Hill (for in the comparative privacy of the museum she talked a good deal to him of socialism and Browning and general
propositions) that she had met Wedderburn at the house of some people she knew, and “He’s inherited his cleverness; for his father, you know, is the great eye-
specialist.”
“My father is a cobbler,” said Hill, quite irrelevantly112, and perceived the want of dignity even as he said it. But the gleam of jealousy113 did not offend her. She
conceived herself the fundamental source of it. He suffered bitterly from a sense of Wedderburn’s unfairness and a realisation of his own handicap. Here was this
Wedderburn had picked up a prominent man for a father, and instead of his losing so many marks on the score of that advantage, it was counted to him for righteousness!
And while Hill had to introduce himself and talk to Miss Haysman clumsily over mangled guinea-pigs in the laboratory, this Wedderburn, in some backstairs way, had
access to her social altitudes, and could converse114 in a polished 232argot that Hill understood perhaps, but felt incapable115 of speaking. Not of course that he wanted
to. Then it seemed to Hill that for Wedderburn to come there day after day with cuffs116 unfrayed, neatly tailored, precisely117 barbered, quietly perfect, was in itself an
ill-bred, sneering118 sort of proceeding119. Moreover, it was a stealthy thing for Wedderburn to behave insignificantly120 for a space, to mock modesty121, to lead Hill to fancy
that he himself was beyond dispute the man of the year, and then suddenly to dart122 in front of him, and incontinently to swell123 up in this fashion. In addition to these
things Wedderburn displayed an increasing disposition124 to join in any conversational125 grouping that included Miss Haysman, and would venture, and indeed seek occasion to
pass opinions derogatory to Socialism and Atheism126. He goaded127 Hill to incivilities by neat, shallow, and exceedingly effective personalities128 about the socialist
leaders, until Hill hated Bernard Shaw’s graceful105 egotisms, William Morris’s limited editions and luxurious129 wall-papers, and Walter Crane’s charmingly absurd ideal
working-men, about as much as he hated Wedderburn. The dissertations130 in the laboratory that had been his glory in the previous term, became a danger, degenerated131 into
inglorious tussles132 with Wedderburn, and Hill kept to them only out of an obscure perception that his honour was involved. In the Debating Society Hill knew quite
clearly that, to a thunderous 233accompaniment of banged desks, he could have pulverised Wedderburn. Only Wedderburn never attended the Debating Society to be
pulverised, because—nauseous affectation!—he “dined late.”
You must not imagine that these things presented themselves in quite such a crude form to Hill’s perception. Hill was a born generaliser. Wedderburn to him was not so
much an individual obstacle as a type, the salient angle of a class. The economic theories that, after infinite ferment133, had shaped themselves in Hill’s mind, became
abruptly concrete at the contact. The world became full of easy-mannered, graceful, gracefully dressed, conversationally134 dexterous135, finally shallow Wedderburns,
Bishops136 Wedderburn, Wedderburns, M.P., Professors Wedderburn, Wedderburn landlords, all with finger-bowl shibboleths137 and epigrammatic cities of refuge from a sturdy
debater. And every one ill clothed or ill dressed, from the cobbler to the cab runner, was a man and a brother, a fellow-sufferer, to Hill’s imagination. So that he
became, as it were, a champion of the fallen and oppressed, albeit138 to outward seeming only a self-assertive, ill-mannered young man, and an unsuccessful champion at
that. Again and again, a skirmish over the afternoon tea that the girl-students had inaugurated, left Hill with flushed cheeks and a tattered139 temper, and the Debating
234You will understand now how it was necessary, if only in the interests of humanity, that Hill should demolish141 Wedderburn in the forthcoming examination and outshine
him in the eyes of Miss Haysman, and you will perceive, too, how Miss Haysman fell into some common feminine misconceptions. The Hill-Wedderburn quarrel, for in his
unostentatious way Wedderburn reciprocated142 Hill’s ill-veiled rivalry143, became a tribute to her indefinable charm. She was the Queen of Beauty in a tournament of
scalpels and stumpy pencils. To her confidential144 friend’s secret annoyance145, it even troubled her conscience, for she was a good girl, and painfully aware, from Ruskin
and contemporary fiction, how entirely146 men’s activities are determined147 by women’s attitudes. And if Hill never by any chance mentioned the topic of love to her, she
So the time came on for the second examination, and Hill’s increasing pallor confirmed the general rumour149 that he was working hard. In the A?rated Bread Shop near
South Kensington Station you would see him, breaking his bun and sipping150 his milk, with his eyes intent upon a paper of closely written notes. In his bedroom there
were propositions about buds and stems round his looking-glass, a diagram to catch his eye, if soap should chance to spare it, above his washing-basin. He missed
several meetings of 235the Debating Society, but he found the chance encounters with Miss Haysman in the spacious151 ways of the adjacent Art Museum, or in the little
Museum at the top of the College, or in the College corridors, more frequent and very restful. In particular they used to meet in a little gallery full of wrought-iron
chests and gates, near the Art Library, and there Hill used to talk, under the gentle stimulus152 of her flattering attention, of Browning and his personal ambitions. A
characteristic she found remarkable153 in him was his freedom from avarice154. He contemplated155 quite calmly the prospect of living all his life on an income below a hundred
pounds a year. But he was determined to be famous, to make, recognisably in his own proper person, the world a better place to live in. He took Bradlaugh and John
Burns for his leaders and models, poor, even impecunious156, Great Men. But Miss Haysman thought that such lives were deficient157 on the ?sthetic side, by which, though she
did not know it, she meant good wall-paper and upholstery, pretty books, tasteful clothes, concerts, and meals nicely cooked and respectfully served.
At last came the day of the second examination, and the professor of botany, a fussy158 conscientious159 man, rearranged all the tables in the long narrow laboratory to
prevent copying, and put his demonstrator on a chair on a table 236(where he felt, he said, like a Hindoo god) to see all the cheating, and stuck a notice outside the
door, “Door Closed,” for no earthly reason that any human being could discover. And all the morning from ten to one the quill160 of Wedderburn shrieked161 defiance162 at Hill
’s, and the quills163 of the others chased their leaders in a tireless pack. So also it was in the afternoon. Wedderburn was a little quieter than usual, and Hill’s
face was hot all day, and his overcoat bulged164 with text-books and note-books against the last moment’s revision. And the next day, in the morning and in the
afternoon, was the practical examination, when sections had to be cut and slides identified. In the morning Hill was depressed165 because he knew he had cut a thick
section, and in the afternoon came the Mysterious Slip.
It was just the kind of thing that the botanical professor was always doing. Like the income tax, it offered a premium166 to the cheat. It was a preparation under the
microscope, a little glass slip, held in its place on the stage of the instrument by light steel clips, and the inscription167 set forth61 that the slip was not to be
moved. Each student was to go in turn to it, sketch it, write in his book of answers what he considered it to be, and return to his place. Now to move such a slip is a
thing one can do by a chance movement of the finger, and in a fraction of a second. 237The professor’s reason for decreeing that the slip should not be moved depended
on the fact that the object he wanted identified was characteristic of a certain tree stem. In the position in which it was placed it was a difficult thing to
recognise, but once the slip was moved so as to bring other parts of the preparation into view, its nature was obvious enough.
Hill came to this, flushed from a contest with staining reagents, sat down on the little stool before the microscope, turned the mirror to get the best light, and then
out of sheer habit shifted the slip. At once he remembered the prohibition168, and with an almost continuous motion of his hands, moved it back, and sat paralysed with
astonishment169 at his action.
Then slowly he turned his head. The professor was out of the room, the demonstrator sat aloft on his impromptu170 rostrum, reading the “Q. Jour. Mi. Sci.,” the rest of
the examinees were busy and with their backs to him. Should he own up to the accident now? He knew quite clearly what the thing was. It was a lenticel, a
characteristic preparation from the elder-tree. His eye roved over his intent fellow-students and Wedderburn suddenly glanced over his shoulder at him with a queer
expression in his eyes. The mental excitement that had kept Hill at an abnormal pitch of vigour171 these two days gave way to a curious nervous tension. His book of
238answers was beside him. He did not write down what the thing was, but with one eye at the microscope he began making a hasty sketch of it. His mind was full of this
grotesque172 puzzle in ethics173 that had suddenly been sprung upon him. Should he identify it? Or should he leave this question unanswered? In that case Wedderburn would
probably come out first in the botanical list. How could he tell now whether he might not have identified the thing without shifting it? It was possible that
Wedderburn had failed to recognise it, of course. Suppose Wedderburn, too, had shifted the slide? He looked up at the clock. There were fifteen minutes in which to
make up his mind. He gathered up his book of answers and the coloured pencils he used in illustrating174 his replies, and walked back to his seat.
He read through his manuscript and then sat thinking and gnawing175 his knuckle176. It would look queer now if he owned up. He must beat Wedderburn. He forgot the examples
of those starry177 gentlemen, John Burns and Bradlaugh. Besides, he reflected, the glimpse of the rest of the slip he had had, was after all quite accidental, forced upon
him by chance, a kind of providential revelation rather than an unfair advantage. It was not nearly so dishonest to avail himself of that as it was of Broome, who
believed in the efficacy of prayer, to pray daily for a First-Class. 239“Five minutes more,” said the demonstrator, folding up his paper and becoming observant. Hill
watched the clock hands until two minutes remained, then he opened the book of answers, and with hot ears and an affectation of ease, gave his drawing of the lenticel
its name.
When the second pass list appeared, the previous positions of Wedderburn and Hill were reversed, and the spectacled girl in green who knew the demonstrator in private
life (where he was practically human) said that in the result of the two examinations taken together, Hill had the advantage of a mark, 167 to 166, out of a possible
200. Every one admired Hill in a way, though the suspicion of “mugging” clung to him. But Hill was to find congratulations and Miss Haysman’s enhanced opinion of
him, and even the decided178 decline in the crest179 of Wedderburn tainted180 by an unhappy memory. He felt a remarkable access of energy at first, and the note of a Democracy
marching to Triumph returned to his Debating Society speeches; he worked at his comparative anatomy with tremendous zeal181 and effect, and he went on with his ?sthetic
education. But through it all, a vivid little picture was continually coming before his mind’s eye, of a sneakish person manipulating a slide....
No human being had witnessed the act, and he was cocksure that no Higher Power existed to 240see it, but for all that it worried him. Memories are not dead things, but
alive; they dwindle182 in disuse, but they harden and develop in all sorts of queer ways if they are being continually fretted184. Curiously enough, though at the time he
perceived clearly that the shifting was accidental, as the days wore on his memory became confused about it, until at last he was not sure, although he assured himself
that he was sure, whether the movement had been absolutely involuntary. Then it is possible that Hill’s dietary was conducive185 to morbid186 conscientiousness,—a
breakfast frequently eaten in a hurry, a midday bun, and, at such hours after five as chanced to be convenient, such meat as his means determined, usually in a
chophouse in a back street off the Brompton Road. Occasionally he treated himself to threepenny and ninepenny classics, and they usually represented a suppression of
potatoes or chops. It is indisputable that outbreaks of self-abasement and emotional revival187 have a distinct relation to periods of scarcity188. But apart from this
influence on the feelings, there was in Hill a distinct aversion to falsity, that the blasphemous189 Landport cobbler had inculcated by strap190 and tongue from his earliest
years. Of one fact about professed191 Atheists I am convinced: they may be, they usually are, fools, void of subtlety192, revilers of holy institutions, brutal193 speakers, and
mischievous194 knaves195; but they lie with difficulty. If it were not so, if they had 241the faintest grasp of the idea of compromise, they would simply be liberal
Churchmen. And, moreover, this memory poisoned his regard for Miss Haysman. For she now preferred him to Wedderburn so evidently that he felt sure he cared for her,
and began reciprocating196 her attentions by timid marks of personal regard,—at one time he even bought a bunch of violets, carried it about in his pocket, and produced
it with a stumbling explanation, withered197 and dead, in the gallery of old iron. It poisoned, too, the denunciation of capitalist dishonesty that had been one of his
life’s pleasures. And, lastly, it poisoned his triumph over Wedderburn. Previously he had been Wedderburn’s superior in his own eyes, and had raged simply at a want
of recognition. Now he began to fret183 at the darker suspicion of a positive inferiority. He fancied he found justification198 for his position in Browning; but they
vanished on analysis. At last, moved curiously enough by exactly the same motive199 forces that had resulted in his dishonesty, he went to Professor Bindon and made a
clean breast of the whole affair. As Hill was a paid student, Professor Bindon did not ask him to sit down, and he stood before the Professor’s desk as he made his
“It’s a curious story,” said Professor Bindon, slowly realising how the thing reflected on himself, and then letting his anger rise. “A most remarkable story. I
can’t understand your doing it, and 242I can’t understand this avowal201. You’re a type of student—Cambridge men would never dream—I suppose I ought to have thought
—Why did you cheat?”
“I didn’t—cheat,” said Hill.
“But you have just been telling me you did.”
“I thought I explained—”
“Either you cheated or you did not cheat.”
“I said my motion was involuntary—”
“I am not a metaphysician, I am a servant of science—of fact. You were told not to move the slip. You did move the slip. If that is not cheating—”
“If I was a cheat,” said Hill, with the note of hysterics in his voice, “should I come here and tell you?”
“Your repentance202, of course, does you credit,” said Professor Bindon; “but it does not alter the original facts.”
“No, sir,” said Hill, giving in, in utter self-abasement.
“Even now you cause an enormous amount of trouble. The examination list will have to be revised.”
“I suppose so, sir.”
“Suppose so! Of course it must be revised. And I don’t see how I can conscientiously203 pass you.”
“Not pass me!” said Hill. “Fail me!”
“It’s the rule in all examinations. Or where 243should we be? What else did you expect? You don’t want to shirk the consequences of your own acts?”
“I thought perhaps,” said Hill. And then, “Fail me! I thought, as I told you, you would simply deduct204 the marks given for that slip—”
“Impossible!” said Bindon. “Besides, it would still leave you above Wedderburn. Deduct only the marks! Preposterous205! The Departmental Regulations distinctly say—”
“But it’s my own admission, sir.”
“The Regulations say nothing whatever of the manner in which the matter comes to light. They simply provide—”
“It will ruin me. If I fail this examination, they won’t renew my scholarship.”
“You should have thought of that before.”
“But, sir, consider all my circumstances—”
“I cannot consider anything. Professors in this College are machines. The Regulations will not even let us recommend our students for appointments. I am a machine,
and you have worked me. I have to do—”
“It’s very hard, sir.”
“Possibly it is.”
“If I am to be failed this examination I might as well go home at once.”
“That is as you think proper.” Bindon’s voice softened a little, he perceived he had been unjust, and, provided he did not contradict himself, 244he was disposed to
amelioration. “As a private person,” he said, “I think this confession of yours goes far to mitigate206 your offence. But you have set the machinery207 in motion, you
know, and now it must take its course. I—I am really sorry you gave way.”
A wave of emotion prevented Hill from answering. Suddenly very vividly he saw the heavily-lined face of the old Landport cobbler, his father. “Good God!—What a fool
I have been!” he said hotly and abruptly.
“I hope,” said Bindon, “that it will be a lesson to you.”
But curiously enough they were not thinking of quite the same indiscretion.
There was a pause.
“I would like a day to think, sir, and then I will let you know—about going home, I mean,” said Hill, moving towards the door.
The next day Hill’s place was vacant. The spectacled girl in green was, as usual, first with the news. Wedderburn and Miss Haysman were talking of the Meistersingers,
when she came up to them.
“Have you heard?” she said.
“Heard what?”
“There was cheating in the examination.”
“Cheating!” said Wedderburn, with his face suddenly hot. “How?”
245“That slide—”
“Moved? Never!”
“It was. That slide that we weren’t to move—”
“Nonsense!” said Wedderburn. “Why! How could they find out? Who do they say—”
“It was Mr. Hill.”
“Hill!”
“Mr. Hill!”
“Not—surely not the immaculate Hill?” said Wedderburn, recovering.
“I don’t believe it,” said Miss Haysman. “How do you know?”
“I didn’t,” said the girl in spectacles. “But I know it now for a fact. Mr. Hill went and confessed to Professor Bindon himself.”
“By Jove!” said Wedderburn. “Hill of all people—But I am always inclined to distrust these philanthropists-on-principle—”
“Are you quite sure?” said Miss Haysman, with a catch in her breath.
“Quite. It’s dreadful, isn’t it? But you know, what can you expect? His father is a cobbler—”
Then Miss Haysman astonished the girl in spectacles.
“I don’t care. I will not believe it,” she said, flushing darkly under her warm-tinted skin. “I will not believe it until he has told me so himself—face to face.
I would scarcely believe it then,” 246and abruptly she turned her back on the girl in spectacles, and walked to her own place.
“It’s true, all the same,” said the girl in spectacles, peering and smiling at Wedderburn.
But Wedderburn did not answer her. She was, indeed, one of those people who are destined208 to make unanswered remarks.
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1
oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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2
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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3
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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vestiges
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| 残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不 | |
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bleached
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| 漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的 | |
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dissection
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| n.分析；解剖 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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8
lockers
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| n.寄物柜( locker的名词复数 ) | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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12
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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13
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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14
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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15
heterogeneous
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| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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17
recoil
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| vi.退却，退缩，畏缩 | |
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18
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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19
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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20
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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21
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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22
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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aprons
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| 围裙( apron的名词复数 )； 停机坪，台口（舞台幕前的部份） | |
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25
dissecting
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| v.解剖（动物等）( dissect的现在分词 )；仔细分析或研究 | |
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26
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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27
dwarfed
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| vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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28
hunch
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| n.预感，直觉 | |
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29
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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30
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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31
frayed
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| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
starch
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| n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆 | |
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33
peroration
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| n.（演说等之）结论 | |
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34
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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35
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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36
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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37
anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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38
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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39
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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40
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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41
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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42
fatuity
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| n.愚蠢，愚昧 | |
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43
materialist
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| n. 唯物主义者 | |
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44
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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45
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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46
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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47
gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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48
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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49
vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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50
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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51
batch
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| n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量 | |
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52
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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53
smacking
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| 活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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55
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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57
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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58
braying
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| v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的现在分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
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59
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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60
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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61
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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62
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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63
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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64
demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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65
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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66
waterproof
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| n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水 | |
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67
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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69
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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70
denominations
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| n.宗派( denomination的名词复数 )；教派；面额；名称 | |
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71
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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72
battering
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| n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 ) | |
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73
memoranda
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| n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式 | |
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74
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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76
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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77
accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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78
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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79
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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80
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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81
shamefully
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| 可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地 | |
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82
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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83
retrospect
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| n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯 | |
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84
cramming
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| n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课 | |
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85
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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86
conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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87
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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88
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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89
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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90
mnemonics
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| n.记忆术 | |
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91
appendages
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| n.附属物( appendage的名词复数 )；依附的人；附属器官；附属肢体（如臂、腿、尾等） | |
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92
pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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93
marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
saturated
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| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
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95
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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96
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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97
teeming
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| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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98
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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99
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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100
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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101
amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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102
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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103
blatant
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| adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的 | |
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104
heartiest
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| 亲切的( hearty的最高级 )； 热诚的； 健壮的； 精神饱满的 | |
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105
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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106
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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107
tassel
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| n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须 | |
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108
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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109
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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110
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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111
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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112
irrelevantly
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| adv.不恰当地，不合适地；不相关地 | |
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113
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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114
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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115
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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116
cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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117
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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118
sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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119
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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120
insignificantly
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121
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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122
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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123
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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124
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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125
conversational
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| adj.对话的，会话的 | |
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126
atheism
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| n.无神论，不信神 | |
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127
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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128
personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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129
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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130
dissertations
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| 专题论文，学位论文( dissertation的名词复数 ) | |
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131
degenerated
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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132
tussles
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| n.扭打，争斗( tussle的名词复数 ) | |
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133
ferment
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| vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱 | |
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134
conversationally
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| adv.会话地 | |
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135
dexterous
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| adj.灵敏的；灵巧的 | |
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136
bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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137
shibboleths
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| n.（党派、集团等的）准则( shibboleth的名词复数 )；教条；用语；行话 | |
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138
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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139
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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140
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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141
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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142
reciprocated
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| v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的过去式和过去分词 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动 | |
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143
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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144
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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145
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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146
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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147
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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148
omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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149
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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150
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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151
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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152
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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153
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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154
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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155
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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156
impecunious
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| adj.不名一文的，贫穷的 | |
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157
deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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158
fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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159
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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160
quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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161
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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162
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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163
quills
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| n.（刺猬或豪猪的）刺( quill的名词复数 )；羽毛管；翮；纡管 | |
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164
bulged
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| 凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物） | |
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165
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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166
premium
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| n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的 | |
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167
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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168
prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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169
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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170
impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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171
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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172
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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173
ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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174
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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175
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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176
knuckle
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| n.指节；vi.开始努力工作；屈服，认输 | |
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177
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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178
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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179
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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180
tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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181
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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182
dwindle
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| v.逐渐变小（或减少） | |
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183
fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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184
fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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185
conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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186
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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187
revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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188
scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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189
blasphemous
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| adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的 | |
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190
strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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191
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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192
subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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193
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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194
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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195
knaves
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| n.恶棍，无赖( knave的名词复数 )；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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196
reciprocating
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| adj.往复的；来回的；交替的；摆动的v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的现在分词 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动 | |
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197
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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198
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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199
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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200
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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201
avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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202
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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203
conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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204
deduct
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| vt.扣除，减去 | |
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205
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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206
mitigate
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| vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和 | |
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207
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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208
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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