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XVIII THE DECORATION OF INDEPENDENCE
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 That year we celebrated1 Fourth of July in the Wood Yard.
 
The town had decided2 not to have a celebration, though we did not know who had done the actual deciding, and this we used to talk about.
 
“How can the town decide anything?” Delia asked sceptically. “When does it do it?”
 
“Why,” said Margaret Amelia—to whom, her father being a judge, we always turned to explain matters of state, “its principal folks say so.”
 
“Who are its principal folks?” I demanded.
 
“Why,” said Margaret Amelia, “I should think you could tell that. They have the stores and offices and live in the residence part.”
 
I pondered this, for most of the folk in the little town did neither of these things.
 
“Why don’t they have another Fourth of July for the rest, then,” I suggested, “and leave them settle on their own celebration?”
 
330 Margaret Amelia looked shocked.
 
“I guess you don’t know much about the Decoration of Independence,” said she.
 
The Decoration of Independence—we all called it this—was, then, to go by without attention because the Town said so.
 
“The Town,” said Mary Elizabeth, dreamily, “the Town. It sounds like somebody tall, very high, and pointed3 at the top, with the rest of her dark and long and flowy—don’t it?”
 
“City,” she and I were agreed, sounded like somebody light and sitting down with her skirts spread out.
 
“Village” sounded like a little soft hollow, not much of any colour, with a steeple to it.
 
“I like ‘Town’ best,” Mary Elizabeth said. “It sounds more like a mother-woman. ‘City’ sounds like a lady-woman. And ‘Village’ sounds like a grandma-woman. I like ‘Town’ best.”
 
“What I want to do,” Margaret Amelia said restlessly, “is to spend my Fourth of July dollar. I had a Fourth of July dollar ever since Christmas. It’s no fun spending it with no folks and bands and wagons4.”
 
“I’ve got my birthday dollar yet,” I contributed.331 “If I spent it for Fourth of July, I’d be glad of it, but if I spend it for anything else, I’ll want it back.”
 
“I had a dollar,” said Calista, gloomily, “but I used a quarter of it up on the circus. Now I’m glad I did. I wish’t I’d stayed to the sideshow.”
 
“Stitchy Branchitt says,” Betty offered, “that the boys are all going to Poynette and spend their money there. Poynette’s got exercises.”
 
Oh, the boys would get a Fourth. Trust them. But what about us? We could not go to Poynette. We could not rise at three A.M. and fire off fire-crackers6. No fascinating itinerant7 hucksters would come the way of a town that held no celebration. We had nowhere to spend our substance, and to do that was to us what Fourth of July implied.
 
The New Boy came wandering by, eating something. Boys were always eating something that looked better than anything we saw in the candy-shop. Where did they get it? This that he had was soft and pink and chewy, and it rapidly disappeared as he approached us.
 
Margaret Amelia Rodman threw back her332 curls and flashed a sudden radiant smile at the New Boy. She became quite another person from the judicious8, somewhat haughty9 creature whom we knew.
 
“Let’s us get up a Fourth of July celebration,” she said.
 
We held our breath. It never would have occurred to us. But now that she suggested it, why not?
 
The New Boy leaped up on a gate-post and sat looking down at us, chewing.
 
“How?” he inquired.
 
“Get up a partition,” said Margaret Amelia. “Circulate it like for take-a-walk at school or teacher’s present, and all sign.”
 
“And take it to who?” asked the New Boy.
 
Margaret Amelia considered.
 
“My father,” she proposed.
 
The scope of the idea was enormous. Her father was a judge and wore very black clothes every day, and never spoke10 to any of us. Therefore he must be a great man. Doubtless he could do anything.
 
Boys, as we knew them, usually flouted11 everything that we said, but—possibly because of Margaret Amelia’s manner of presentation—this333 suggestion seemed to strike the New Boy favourably12. Afterward13 we learned that this was probably partly owing to the fact that the fare to Poynette was going to eat distressingly14 into the boys’ Fourth money, unless they walked the ten miles.
 
By common consent we had Margaret Amelia and the New Boy draw up the “partition.” But we all spent a long time on it, and at length it read:—
 
“We the Undersigned want there should be a July 4 this year. We the Undersigned would like a big one. But if it can’t be so very big account of no money, We the Undersigned would like one anyway, and hereby respectfully partition about this in the name of the Decoration of Independence.”
 
There was some doubt whether or not to close this document with “Always sincerely” but we decided to add only the names, and these we set out to secure, the New Boy carrying one copy and Margaret Amelia another. I remember that, to honour the occasion, she put on a pale blue crocheted15 shawl of her mother’s and we all trailed in her wake, worshipfully.
 
334 The lists grew amazingly. Long before noon we had to get new papers. By night we had every child that we knew, save Stitchy Branchitt. He had a railroad pass to Poynette, and he favoured the out-of-town celebration. But the personal considerations of economic conditions were as usual sufficient to swing the event, and the next morning I suppose that twenty-five or thirty of us, bearing the names of three or four times as many, marched into Judge Rodman’s office.
 
On the stairs Margaret Amelia had a thought.
 
“Does your father pay taxes?” she inquired of Mary Elizabeth—who was with us, having been sent down town for starch16.
 
“On his watch—he used to,” said Mary Elizabeth, doubtfully. “But he hasn’t got that any more.”
 
“Well, I don’t know,” said Margaret Amelia, “whether we’d really ought to of put down any names that their fathers don’t pay taxes. It may make a difference. I guess you’re the only one we got that their fathers don’t—that he ain’t—”
 
I fancy that what Margaret Amelia had in mind was that Mary Elizabeth’s father was the335 only one who lived meanly; for many of the others must have gone untaxed, but they lived in trim, rented houses, and we knew no difference.
 
Mary Elizabeth was visibly disturbed.
 
“I never thought of that,” she said. “Maybe I better scratch me off.”
 
But there seemed to me to be something indefinably the matter with this.
 
“The Fourth of July is for everybody, isn’t it?” I said. “Didn’t the whole country think of it?”
 
“I think it’s like a town though,” said Margaret Amelia. “The principal folks decided it, I’m sure. And they always pay taxes.”
 
We appealed to the New Boy, as authority superior even to Margaret Amelia. How was this—did the Decoration of Independence mean everybody, or not? Could Mary Elizabeth sign the partition since her father paid no taxes?
 
“Well,” said the New Boy, “it says everybody, don’t it? But nobody ever gets to ride in the parade but distinguished17 citizens—it always says them, you know. I s’pose maybe it meant the folks that pays the taxes, only it didn’t like to put it in.”
 
336 “I better take my name off,” said Mary Elizabeth, decidedly. “It might hurt.”
 
So the New Boy produced a stump18 of pencil, and we found the right paper, and held it up against the wall of the stairway, and Mary Elizabeth scratched her name off.
 
“I won’t come up, then,” she whispered to me, and made her way down the stairs, her head held very high.
 
Judge Rodman was in his office—he makes, I find, my eternal picture of “judge,” short, thick, frock-coated, bearded, bald, spectacled, square-toed, and with his hands full of loose papers and his watch-chain shining.
 
“Bless us,” he said, too, as a judge should.
 
Margaret Amelia was ahead,—still in the pale blue crocheted shawl,—and she and the New Boy laid down the papers, and the judge picked them up, and read. His big pink face flushed the more, and he took off his spectacles and brushed his eyes, and he cleared his throat, and beamed down on us, and stood nodding.... I remember that he had an editorial in his paper the next night called “A Lesson to the Community,” and another, later, “Out of the Mouths of Babes”—for Judge Rodman was a very337 great man, and owned the newspaper and the brewery19 and the principal department store, and had been to the legislature; and his newspaper was always thick with editorials about honouring the flag and reverencing20 authority and the beauties of home life—Miss Messmore used to cut them out and read them to us at General Exercises.
 
So Judge Rodman called a Town meeting in the Engine House, and we all hung about the door downstairs, because they said that if children went to the meeting, they would scrape their feet on the bare floor so that nobody could hear a sound; and so we waited outside until we heard hands clapped and the Doxology sung, and then we knew that it had passed.
 
We were having a new Court House that year, so the Court House yard was not available for exercises: and the school grounds had been sown with grass seed in the beginning of vacation, and the market-place was nothing but a small vacant lot. So there was only one place to have the exercises: the Wood Yard. And as there was very little money to do anything with, it was voted to ask the women to take charge of the celebration and arrange338 something “tasty, up-to-date, and patriotic21,” as Judge Rodman put it. They set themselves to do it. And none of us who were the children then will ever forget that Fourth of July celebration—yet this is not because of what the women planned, nor of anything that the committee of which Judge Rodman was chairman thought to do for the sake of the day.
 
Our discussion of their plans was not without pessimism22.
 
“Of course what they get up won’t be any real good,” the New Boy advanced. “They’ll stick the school organ up on the platform, and that sounds awful skimpy outdoors. And the church choirs23’ll sing. And somebody’ll stand up and scold and go on about nothing. But it’ll get folks here, and balloon men, and stuff to sell, and a band; so I s’pose we can stand the other doin’s.”
 
“And there’s fireworks on the canal bank in the evening,” we reminded him.
 
Fourth of July morning began as usual before it dawned. The New Boy and the ten of his tribe assembled at half past three on the lawn between our house and that of the New Family, and, at a rough estimate, each fired off the cost339 of his fare to Poynette and return. Mary Elizabeth and I awoke and listened, giving occasional ecstatic pulls at our bell. Then we rose and watched the boys go ramping25 on toward other fields, and, we breathed the dim beauty of the hour, and, I think, wondered if it knew that it was Fourth of July, and we went back to bed, conscious that we were missing a good sixth of the day, a treasure which, as usual, the boys were sharing.
 
After her work was done, Mary Elizabeth and I took our bags of torpedoes26 and popped them off on the front bricks. Delia was allowed to have fire-crackers if she did not shoot them off by herself, and she was ardently28 absorbed in them on their horse-block, with her father. Calista had brothers, and had put her seventy-five cents in with their money on condition that she be allowed to stay with them through the day. Margaret Amelia and Betty always stopped at home until annual giant crackers were fired from before their piazza29, with Judge Rodman officiating in his shirt-sleeves, and Mrs. Rodman watching in a starched30 white “wrapper” on the veranda31 and uttering little cries, all under the largest flag that there was in the340 town, floating from the highest flagpole. Mary Elizabeth and I had glimpses of them all in a general survey which we made, resulting in satisfactory proof that the expected merry-go-round, the pop-corn wagon5, a chocolate cart, an ice-cream cone32 man, and a balloon man and woman were already posted expectantly about.
 
“If it wasn’t for them, though,” observed Mary Elizabeth to me, “the town wouldn’t be really acting33 like Fourth of July, do you think so? It just kind of lazes along, like a holiday.”
 
We looked critically at the sunswept street. The general aspect of the time was that people had seized upon it to do a little extra watering, or some postponed34 weeding, or to tinker at the screens.
 
“How could it act, though?” I inquired.
 
“Well,” said Mary Elizabeth, “a river flows, don’t it? And I s’pose a mountain towers. And the sea keeps a-coming in ... and they all act like themselves. Only just a Town don’t take any notice of itself—even on the Fourth.”
 
That afternoon we were all dressed in our white dresses—“Mine used to have a sprig in it,” said Mary Elizabeth, “but it’s so faded out anybody’d ’most say it was white, don’t you341 think so?”—and we children met at the Rodmans’—where Margaret Amelia and Betty appeared in white embroidered35 dresses and blue ribbons and blue stockings, and we marched down the hill, behind the band, to the Wood Yard. The Wood Yard had great flags and poles set at intervals36, with bunting festooned between, and the platform was covered with bunting, and the great open space of the yard was laid with board benches. Place in front was reserved for us, and already the rest of the town packed the Yard and hung about the fences. Stitchy Branchitt had given up his journey to Poynette after all, and had established a lemonade stand at the Wood Yard gate—“a fool thing to do,” the New Boy observed plainly. “He knows we’ve spent all we had, and the big folks never think your stuff’s clean.” But Stitchy was enormously enjoying himself by deafeningly shouting:—
 
“Here’s what you get—here’s what you get—here’s what you get. Cheap—cheap—cheap!”
 
“Quit cheepin’ like some kind o’ bir-r-rd,” said the New Boy, out of one corner of his mouth, as he passed him.
 
342 Just inside the Wood Yard gate I saw, with something of a shock, Mary Elizabeth’s father standing37. He was leaning against the fence, with his arms folded, and as he caught the look of Mary Elizabeth, who was walking with me, he smiled, and I was further surprised to see how kind his eyes were. They were almost like my own father’s eyes. This seemed to me somehow a very curious thing, and I turned and looked at Mary Elizabeth, and thought: “Why, it’s her father—just the same as mine.” It surprised me, too, to see him there. When I came to think of it, I had never before seen him where folk were. Always, unless Mary Elizabeth were with him, he had been walking alone, or sitting down where other people never sat.
 
Judge Rodman was on the platform, and as soon as the band and the choirs would let him—he made several false starts at rhetorical pauses in the music—he introduced a clergyman who had always lived in the town and who prayed for the continuance of peace and the safe conquest of all our enemies. Then Judge Rodman himself made the address, having generously consented to do so when it was proposed343 to keep the money in the town by hiring a local speaker. He began with the Norsemen and descended38 through Queen Isabella and Columbus and the Colonies, making a détour of Sir Walter Raleigh and his cloak, Benedict Arnold, Israel Putnam and Pocahontas, and so by way of Valley Forge and the Delaware to Faneuil Hall and the spirit of 1776. It was a grand flight, filled with what were afterward freely referred to as magnificent passages about the storm, the glory of war, and the love of our fellow-men.
 
(“Supposing you happen to love the enemy,” said Mary Elizabeth, afterward.
 
“Well, a pretty thing that would be to do,” said the New Boy, shocked.
 
“We had it in the Sunday school lesson,” Mary Elizabeth maintained.
 
“Oh, well,” said the New Boy. “I don’t mean about such things. I mean about what you do.”
 
But I remember that Mary Elizabeth still looked puzzled.)
 
Especially was Judge Rodman’s final sentence generally repeated for days afterward:—
 
“At Faneuil Hall,” said the judge, “the344 hour at last had struck. The hands on the face of the clock stood still. ‘The force of Nature could no further go.’ The supreme39 thing had been accomplished40. Henceforth we were embalmed41 in the everlasting42 and unchangeable essence of freedom—freedom—freedom.”
 
Indeed, he held our attention from the first, both because he did not read what he said, and because the ice in the pitcher43 at his elbow had melted before he began and did not require watching.
 
Then came the moment when, having completed his address, he took up the Decoration of Independence, to read it; and began the hunt for his spectacles. We watched him go through his pockets, but we did so with an interest which somewhat abated44 when he began the second round.
 
“What is the Decoration of Independence, anyhow?” I whispered to Mary Elizabeth, our acquaintance with it having been limited to learning it “by heart” in school.
 
“Why, don’t you know?” Mary Elizabeth returned. “It’s that thing Miss Messmore can say so fast. It’s when we was the British.”
 
“Who decorated it?” I wanted to know.
 
345 “George Washington,” replied Mary Elizabeth.
 
“How?” I pressed it. “How’d he do it?”
 
“I don’t know—but I think that’s what he wanted of the cherry blossoms,” said she.
 
At this point Judge Rodman gave up the search.
 
“I deeply regret,” said he, “that I shall be obliged to forego my reading of our national document which, next to the Constitution itself, best embodies45 our unchanging principles.”
 
And then he added something which smote46 the front rows suddenly breathless:—
 
“However, it occurs to me, since this is preeminently the children’s celebration and since I am given to understand that our public schools now bestow47 due and proper attention upon the teaching of civil government, that it will be a fitting thing, a moving thing even, to hear these words of our great foundation spoken in childish tones. Miss Messmore, can you, as teacher of the city schools, in the grades where the idea of our celebration so fittingly originated, among the tender young, can you recommend, madam, perhaps, one of your bright pupils to repeat for us these undying utterances48 whose346 commitment has now become, as I understand it, a part of our public school curriculum?”
 
There was an instant’s pause, and then I heard Margaret Amelia Rodman’s name spoken. Miss Messmore had uttered it. Judge Rodman was repeating it, smiling blandly49 down with a pleased diffidence.
 
“There can be no one more fitted to do this, Judge Rodman,” Miss Messmore had promptly50 said, “than your daughter, Margaret Amelia, at whose suggestion this celebration, indeed, has come about.”
 
Poor Margaret Amelia. In spite of her embroidered gown, her blue ribbons, and her blue stockings, I have seldom seen anyone look so wretched as did she when they made her mount that platform. To give her courage her father met her, and took her hand. And then, in his pride and confidence, something else occurred to him.
 
“Tell us, Margaret Amelia,” he said with a gesture infinitely51 paternal52, “how came the children to think of demanding of us wise-heads that we give observance to this day which we had already voted to let slip past unattended? What spirit moved the children to this act?”
 
347 At first Margaret Amelia merely twisted, and fingered her sash at the side. Margaret Amelia was always called on for visitors’ days, and the like. She could usually command her faculties53 and give a straightforward54 answer, not so much because of what she knew as because of her unfailing self-confidence. Of this her father was serenely55 aware; but, aware also that the situation made unusual demands, he concluded to help her somewhat.
 
“How came the children,” he encouragingly put it, “to think of making this fine effort to save our National holiday this year?”
 
Margaret Amelia straightened slightly. She faced her audience with something of her native confidence, and told them:—
 
“Why,” she said, “we all had some Fourth of July money, and there wasn’t going to be any way to spend it.”
 
A ripple56 of laughter ran round, and Judge Rodman’s placid57 pink turned to purple.
 
“I fear,” he observed gravely, “that the immediate58 nature of the event has somewhat obscured the real significance of the children’s most superior movement. Now, my child! Miss Messmore thinks that you should recite348 for us at least a portion of the Declaration of Independence. Will you do so?”
 
Margaret Amelia looked at him, down at us, away toward the waiting Wood Yard, and then at Miss Messmore.
 
“Is it that about ‘The shades of night were falling fast’?” she demanded.
 
In the roar of laughter that followed, Margaret Amelia ran down, poor child, and sobbed59 on Miss Messmore’s shoulder. I never think of that moment without something of a return of my swelling60 sympathy for her who suffered this species of martyrdom, and so needlessly. I have seen, out of schools and out of certain of our superstitions61, many martyrdoms result, but never one that has touched me more.
 
I do not know whether something of this feeling was in the voice that we next heard speaking, or whether that which animated62 it was only its own bitterness. That voice sounded, clear and low-pitched, through the time’s confusion.
 
“I will read the Declaration of Independence,” it said.
 
And making his way through the crowd, and mounting the platform steps, we saw Mary Elizabeth’s father.
 
349 Instinctively63 I put out my hand to her. But he was wholly himself, and this I think that she knew from the first. He was neatly64 dressed, and he laid his shabby hat on the table and picked up the book with a tranquil65 air of command. I remember how frail66 he looked as he buttoned his worn coat, and began to read.
 
“‘We, the people of the United States—’”
 
It was the first time that I had ever thought of Mary Elizabeth’s father as to be classed with anybody. He had never had employment, he belonged to no business, to no church, to no class of any sort. He merely lived over across the tracks, and he went and came alone. And here he was saying “We, the people of the United States,” just as if he belonged.
 
When my vague fear had subsided67 lest they might stop his reading because he was not a taxpayer68, I listened for the first time in my life to what he read. To be sure, I had—more or less—learned it. Now I listened.
 
“Free and equal,” I heard him say, and I wondered what this meant. “Free and equal.” But there were Mary Elizabeth and I, were we equal? Perhaps, though, it didn’t mean little girls—only grown-ups. But there were Mary350 Elizabeth’s father and mother, and all the other fathers and mothers, they were grown up, and were they equal? And what were they free from, I wondered. Perhaps, though, I didn’t know what these words meant. “Free and equal” sounded like fairies, but folks I was accustomed to think of as burdened, and as different from one another, as Judge Rodman was different from Mary Elizabeth’s father. This, however, was the first time that ever I had caught the word right: Not Decoration, but Declaration of Independence, it seemed!
 
Mary Elizabeth’s father finished, and closed the book, and stood for a moment looking over the Wood Yard. He was very tall and pale, and seeing him with something of dignity in his carriage I realized with astonishment69 that, if he were “dressed up,” he would look just like the men in the choir24, just like the minister himself. Then suddenly he smiled round at us all, and even broke into a moment of soft and pleasant laughter.
 
“It has been a long time,” he said, “since I have had occasion to remember the Declaration of Independence. I am glad to have had it called to my attention. We are in danger of351 forgetting about it—some of us. May I venture to suggest that, when it is taught in the schools, it be made quite clear to whom this document refers. And for the rest, my friends, God bless us all—some day.”
 
“Bless us,” was what Judge Rodman had said. I remember wondering if they meant the same thing.
 
He turned and went down the steps, and at the foot he staggered a little, and I saw with something of pride that it was my father who went to him and led him away.
 
At once the band struck gayly into a patriotic air, and the people on all the benches got to their feet, and the men took off their hats. And above the music I heard Stitchy Branchitt beginning to shout again:—
 
“Here’s what you get—here’s what you get—here’s what you get! Something cheap—cheap—cheap!”
 
When I came home from the fireworks with Delia’s family and Mary Elizabeth, my father and mother were sitting on the veranda.
 
“It’s we who are to blame,” I heard my father saying, “though we’re fine at glossing70 it over.”
 
352 I wondered what had happened, and I sat down on the top step and began to untie71 my last torpedo27 from the corner of my handkerchief. Mary Elizabeth had one left, too, and we had agreed to throw them on the stone window-sills of our rooms as a final salute72.
 
“Let’s ask her now,” said father.
 
Mother leaned toward me.
 
“Dear,” she said, “father has been having a talk with Mary Elizabeth’s father and mother. And—when her father isn’t here any more—which may not be long now, we think ... would you like us to have Mary Elizabeth come and live here?”
 
“With us?” I cried. “With us?”
 
Yes, they meant with us.
 
“To work?” I demanded.
 
“To be,” mother said.
 
“Oh, yes, yes!” I welcomed it. “But her father—where will he be?”
 
“In a little while now,” father said, “he will be free—and perhaps even equal.”
 
I did not understand this wholly. Besides, there was far too much to think about. I turned toward the house of the New Family. A light glowed in Mary Elizabeth’s room. I353 brought down my torpedo on the brick walk, and it exploded merrily, and from Mary Elizabeth’s window came an answering pop.
 
“Then Mary Elizabeth will get free and equal too!” I cried joyously73.
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 celebrated iwLzpz     
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的
参考例句:
  • He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
  • The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
2 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
3 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
4 wagons ff97c19d76ea81bb4f2a97f2ff0025e7     
n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车
参考例句:
  • The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
  • They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。
5 wagon XhUwP     
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车
参考例句:
  • We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
  • The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。
6 crackers nvvz5e     
adj.精神错乱的,癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 );薄脆饼干;(认为)十分愉快的事;迷人的姑娘
参考例句:
  • That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
  • We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 itinerant m3jyu     
adj.巡回的;流动的
参考例句:
  • He is starting itinerant performance all over the world.他正在世界各地巡回演出。
  • There is a general debate nowadays about the problem of itinerant workers.目前,针对流动工人的问题展开了普遍的争论。
8 judicious V3LxE     
adj.明智的,明断的,能作出明智决定的
参考例句:
  • We should listen to the judicious opinion of that old man.我们应该听取那位老人明智的意见。
  • A judicious parent encourages his children to make their own decisions.贤明的父亲鼓励儿女自作抉择。
9 haughty 4dKzq     
adj.傲慢的,高傲的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a haughty look and walked away.他向我摆出傲慢的表情后走开。
  • They were displeased with her haughty airs.他们讨厌她高傲的派头。
10 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
11 flouted ea0b6f5a057e93f4f3579d62f878c68a     
v.藐视,轻视( flout的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • North Vietnam flouted the accords from the day they were signed. 北越从签字那天起就无视协定的存在。 来自辞典例句
  • They flouted all our offers of help and friendship. 他们对我们愿意提供的所有帮助和友谊表示藐视。 来自辞典例句
12 favourably 14211723ae4152efc3f4ea3567793030     
adv. 善意地,赞成地 =favorably
参考例句:
  • The play has been favourably commented by the audience. 本剧得到了观众的好评。
  • The open approach contrasts favourably with the exclusivity of some universities. 这种开放式的方法与一些大学的封闭排外形成了有利的对比。
13 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
14 distressingly 92c357565a0595d2b6ae7f78dd387cc3     
adv. 令人苦恼地;悲惨地
参考例句:
  • He died distressingly by the sword. 他惨死于剑下。
  • At the moment, the world's pandemic-alert system is distressingly secretive. 出于对全人类根本利益的考虑,印尼政府宣布将禽流感病毒的基因数据向所有人开放。
15 crocheted 62b18a9473c261d6b815602f16b0fb14     
v.用钩针编织( crochet的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Mom and I crocheted new quilts. 我和妈妈钩织了新床罩。 来自辞典例句
  • Aunt Paula crocheted a beautiful blanket for the baby. 宝拉婶婶为婴孩编织了一条美丽的毯子。 来自互联网
16 starch YrAyK     
n.淀粉;vt.给...上浆
参考例句:
  • Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
  • I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。
17 distinguished wu9z3v     
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的
参考例句:
  • Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
  • A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。
18 stump hGbzY     
n.残株,烟蒂,讲演台;v.砍断,蹒跚而走
参考例句:
  • He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
  • He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。
19 brewery KWSzJ     
n.啤酒厂
参考例句:
  • The brewery had 25 heavy horses delivering beer in London.啤酒厂有25匹高头大马在伦敦城中运送啤酒。
  • When business was good,the brewery employed 20 people.在生意好的时候,这家酿造厂曾经雇佣过20人。
20 reverencing a4b8357a9ffbbfc0e24d739fc0ae8617     
v.尊敬,崇敬( reverence的现在分词 );敬礼
参考例句:
21 patriotic T3Izu     
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的
参考例句:
  • His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
  • The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。
22 pessimism r3XzM     
n.悲观者,悲观主义者,厌世者
参考例句:
  • He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
  • There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。
23 choirs e4152b67d45e685a4d9c5d855f91f996     
n.教堂的唱诗班( choir的名词复数 );唱诗队;公开表演的合唱团;(教堂)唱经楼
参考例句:
  • They ran the three churches to which they belonged, the clergy, the choirs and the parishioners. 她们管理着自己所属的那三家教堂、牧师、唱诗班和教区居民。 来自飘(部分)
  • Since 1935, several village choirs skilled in this music have been created. 1935以来,数支熟练掌握这种音乐的乡村唱诗班相继建立起来。 来自互联网
24 choir sX0z5     
n.唱诗班,唱诗班的席位,合唱团,舞蹈团;v.合唱
参考例句:
  • The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
  • The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。
25 ramping ae9cf258610b54f50a843cc4d049a1f8     
土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 ); 斜道; 斜路; (装车或上下飞机的)活动梯
参考例句:
  • The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏,闹着玩。
  • Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗?
26 torpedoes d60fb0dc954f93af9c7c38251d008ecf     
鱼雷( torpedo的名词复数 ); 油井爆破筒; 刺客; 掼炮
参考例句:
  • We top off, take on provisions and torpedoes, and go. 我们维修完,装上给养和鱼雷就出发。
  • The torpedoes hit amidship, and there followed a series of crashing explosions. 鱼雷击中了船腹,引起了一阵隆隆的爆炸声。
27 torpedo RJNzd     
n.水雷,地雷;v.用鱼雷破坏
参考例句:
  • His ship was blown up by a torpedo.他的船被一枚鱼雷炸毁了。
  • Torpedo boats played an important role during World War Two.鱼雷艇在第二次世界大战中发挥了重要作用。
28 ardently 8yGzx8     
adv.热心地,热烈地
参考例句:
  • The preacher is disserveing the very religion in which he ardently believe. 那传教士在损害他所热烈信奉的宗教。 来自辞典例句
  • However ardently they love, however intimate their union, they are never one. 无论他们的相爱多么热烈,无论他们的关系多么亲密,他们决不可能合而为一。 来自辞典例句
29 piazza UNVx1     
n.广场;走廊
参考例句:
  • Siena's main piazza was one of the sights of Italy.锡耶纳的主要广场是意大利的名胜之一。
  • They walked out of the cafeteria,and across the piazzadj.他们走出自助餐厅,穿过广场。
30 starched 1adcdf50723145c17c3fb6015bbe818c     
adj.浆硬的,硬挺的,拘泥刻板的v.把(衣服、床单等)浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • My clothes are not starched enough. 我的衣服浆得不够硬。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The ruffles on his white shirt were starched and clean. 白衬衫的褶边浆过了,很干净。 来自辞典例句
31 veranda XfczWG     
n.走廊;阳台
参考例句:
  • She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
  • They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。
32 cone lYJyi     
n.圆锥体,圆锥形东西,球果
参考例句:
  • Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
  • The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。
33 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
34 postponed 9dc016075e0da542aaa70e9f01bf4ab1     
vt.& vi.延期,缓办,(使)延迟vt.把…放在次要地位;[语]把…放在后面(或句尾)vi.(疟疾等)延缓发作(或复发)
参考例句:
  • The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
  • The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。
35 embroidered StqztZ     
adj.绣花的
参考例句:
  • She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
  • She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。
36 intervals f46c9d8b430e8c86dea610ec56b7cbef     
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息
参考例句:
  • The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴,有阵雨。
  • Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。
37 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
38 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
39 supreme PHqzc     
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的
参考例句:
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
40 accomplished UzwztZ     
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的
参考例句:
  • Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
  • Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
41 embalmed 02c056162718f98aeaa91fc743dd71bb     
adj.用防腐药物保存(尸体)的v.保存(尸体)不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 );使不被遗忘;使充满香气
参考例句:
  • Many fine sentiments are embalmed in poetry. 许多微妙的情感保存于诗歌中。 来自辞典例句
  • In books, are embalmed the greatest thoughts of all ages. 伟大思想古今有,载入书中成不朽。 来自互联网
42 everlasting Insx7     
adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的
参考例句:
  • These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
  • He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。
43 pitcher S2Gz7     
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐;(棒球)投手
参考例句:
  • He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
  • Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。
44 abated ba788157839fe5f816c707e7a7ca9c44     
减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 ); 减去; 降价; 撤消(诉讼)
参考例句:
  • The worker's concern about cuts in the welfare funding has not abated. 工人们对削减福利基金的关心并没有减少。
  • The heat has abated. 温度降低了。
45 embodies 6b48da551d6920b8da8eb01ebc400297     
v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 );象征;包括;包含
参考例句:
  • The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
46 smote 61dce682dfcdd485f0f1155ed6e7dbcc     
v.猛打,重击,打击( smite的过去式 )
参考例句:
  • Figuratively, he could not kiss the hand that smote him. 打个比方说,他是不能认敌为友。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • \"Whom Pearl smote down and uprooted, most unmercifully.\" 珠儿会毫不留情地将这些\"儿童\"踩倒,再连根拔起。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
47 bestow 9t3zo     
v.把…赠与,把…授予;花费
参考例句:
  • He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.他希望将那些伟大的荣誉授予这位英雄。
  • What great inspiration wiII you bestow on me?你有什么伟大的灵感能馈赠给我?
48 utterances e168af1b6b9585501e72cb8ff038183b     
n.发声( utterance的名词复数 );说话方式;语调;言论
参考例句:
  • John Maynard Keynes used somewhat gnomic utterances in his General Theory. 约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯在其《通论》中用了许多精辟言辞。 来自辞典例句
  • Elsewhere, particularly in his more public utterances, Hawthorne speaks very differently. 在别的地方,特别是在比较公开的谈话里,霍桑讲的话则完全不同。 来自辞典例句
49 blandly f411bffb7a3b98af8224e543d5078eb9     
adv.温和地,殷勤地
参考例句:
  • There is a class of men in Bristol monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. 布里斯托尔有那么一帮人为此恨透了布兰德利。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
  • \"Maybe you could get something in the stage line?\" he blandly suggested. “也许你能在戏剧这一行里找些事做,\"他和蔼地提议道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
50 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地,敏捷地
参考例句:
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
51 infinitely 0qhz2I     
adv.无限地,无穷地
参考例句:
  • There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
  • The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。
52 paternal l33zv     
adj.父亲的,像父亲的,父系的,父方的
参考例句:
  • I was brought up by my paternal aunt.我是姑姑扶养大的。
  • My father wrote me a letter full of his paternal love for me.我父亲给我写了一封充满父爱的信。
53 faculties 066198190456ba4e2b0a2bda2034dfc5     
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院
参考例句:
  • Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬,但头脑仍然清晰。
  • All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中,你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》
54 straightforward fFfyA     
adj.正直的,坦率的;易懂的,简单的
参考例句:
  • A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
  • I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。
55 serenely Bi5zpo     
adv.安详地,宁静地,平静地
参考例句:
  • The boat sailed serenely on towards the horizon.小船平稳地向着天水交接处驶去。
  • It was a serenely beautiful night.那是一个宁静美丽的夜晚。
56 ripple isLyh     
n.涟波,涟漪,波纹,粗钢梳;vt.使...起涟漪,使起波纹; vi.呈波浪状,起伏前进
参考例句:
  • The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
  • The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来,碎在沙滩上。
57 placid 7A1yV     
adj.安静的,平和的
参考例句:
  • He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
  • You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。
58 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
59 sobbed 4a153e2bbe39eef90bf6a4beb2dba759     
哭泣,啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 ); 哭诉,呜咽地说
参考例句:
  • She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
  • She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。
60 swelling OUzzd     
n.肿胀
参考例句:
  • Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
  • There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。
61 superstitions bf6d10d6085a510f371db29a9b4f8c2f     
迷信,迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Old superstitions seem incredible to educated people. 旧的迷信对于受过教育的人来说是不可思议的。
  • Do away with all fetishes and superstitions. 破除一切盲目崇拜和迷信。
62 animated Cz7zMa     
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的
参考例句:
  • His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
  • We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。
63 instinctively 2qezD2     
adv.本能地
参考例句:
  • As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近,她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
64 neatly ynZzBp     
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
参考例句:
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
65 tranquil UJGz0     
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的
参考例句:
  • The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
  • The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。
66 frail yz3yD     
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的
参考例句:
  • Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了,身体虚弱,不便独居。
  • She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上,看上去特别虚弱。
67 subsided 1bda21cef31764468020a8c83598cc0d     
v.(土地)下陷(因在地下采矿)( subside的过去式和过去分词 );减弱;下降至较低或正常水平;一下子坐在椅子等上
参考例句:
  • After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后,部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚, 暴风雨已经过去,四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
68 taxpayer ig5zjJ     
n.纳税人
参考例句:
  • The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
  • The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。
69 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇,惊异
参考例句:
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
70 glossing 4e24ca1c3fc6290a68555e9b4e2461e3     
v.注解( gloss的现在分词 );掩饰(错误);粉饰;把…搪塞过去
参考例句:
  • The rights and wrongs in any controversy should be clarified without compromise or glossing over. 有争论的问题,要把是非弄明白,不要调和敷衍。 来自互联网
71 untie SjJw4     
vt.解开,松开;解放
参考例句:
  • It's just impossible to untie the knot.It's too tight.这个结根本解不开。太紧了。
  • Will you please untie the knot for me?请你替我解开这个结头,好吗?
72 salute rYzx4     
vi.行礼,致意,问候,放礼炮;vt.向…致意,迎接,赞扬;n.招呼,敬礼,礼炮
参考例句:
  • Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
  • The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。
73 joyously 1p4zu0     
ad.快乐地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门,直扑我的怀抱,欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
  • They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊,那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分


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