THE SLAVE—ABSOLUTE POWER OF THE OVERSEER—NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL CHARMS
OF THE PLACE—ITS BUSINESS-LIKE APPEARANCE—SUPERSTITION3 ABOUT THE
COMIC SLAVE DOCTOR—PRAYING AND FLOGGING—OLD MASTER LOSING ITS
TERRORS—HIS BUSINESS—CHARACTER OF AUNT KATY—SUFFERINGS FROM
HUNGER—OLD MASTER’S HOME—JARGON OF THE PLANTATION—GUINEA
SLAVES—MASTER DANIEL—FAMILY OF COL. LLOYD—FAMILY OF CAPT.
ANTHONY—HIS SOCIAL POSITION—NOTIONS OF RANK AND STATION.
It is generally supposed that slavery, in the state of Maryland, exists in its mildest form, and that it is totally divested5 of those harsh and terrible peculiarities6, which mark and characterize the slave system, in the southern and south-western states of the American union. The argument in favor of this opinion, is the contiguity8 of the free states, and the exposed condition of slavery in Maryland to the moral, religious and humane9 sentiment of the free states.
I am not about to refute this argument, so far as it relates to slavery in that state, generally; on the contrary, I am willing to admit that, to this general point, the arguments is well grounded. Public opinion is, indeed, an unfailing restraint upon the cruelty and barbarity of masters, overseers, and slave-drivers, whenever and wherever it can reach them; but there are certain secluded10 and out-of-the-way places, even in the state of Maryland, seldom visited by a single ray of healthy public sentiment—where[48] slavery, wrapt in its own congenial, midnight darkness, can, and does, develop all its malign12 and shocking characteristics; where it can be indecent without shame, cruel without shuddering13, and murderous without apprehension14 or fear of exposure.
Just such a secluded, dark, and out-of-the-way place, is the “home plantation” of Col. Edward Lloyd, on the Eastern Shore, Maryland. It is far away from all the great thoroughfares, and is proximate to no town or village. There is neither school-house, nor town-house in its neighborhood. The school-house is unnecessary, for there are no children to go to school. The children and grand-children of Col. Lloyd were taught in the house, by a private tutor—a Mr. Page a tall, gaunt sapling of a man, who did not speak a dozen words to a slave in a whole year. The overseers’ children go off somewhere to school; and they, therefore, bring no foreign or dangerous influence from abroad, to embarrass the natural operation of the slave system of the place. Not even the mechanics—through whom there is an occasional out-burst of honest and telling indignation, at cruelty and wrong on other plantations15—are white men, on this plantation. Its whole public is made up of, and divided into, three classes—SLAVEHOLDERS, SLAVES and OVERSEERS. Its blacksmiths, wheelwrights, shoemakers, weavers16, and coopers, are slaves. Not even commerce, selfish and iron-hearted at it is, and ready, as it ever is, to side with the strong against the weak—the rich against the poor—is trusted or permitted within its secluded precincts. Whether with a view of guarding against the escape of its secrets, I know not, but it is a fact, the every leaf and grain of the produce of this plantation, and those of the neighboring farms belonging to Col. Lloyd, are transported to Baltimore in Col. Lloyd’s own vessels17; every man and boy on board of which—except the captain—are owned by him. In return, everything brought to the plantation, comes through the same channel. Thus, even the glimmering18 and unsteady light of trade, which sometimes exerts a civilizing19 influence, is excluded from this “tabooed” spot.[49]
Nearly all the plantations or farms in the vicinity of the “home plantation” of Col. Lloyd, belong to him; and those which do not, are owned by personal friends of his, as deeply interested in maintaining the slave system, in all its rigor20, as Col. Lloyd himself. Some of his neighbors are said to be even more stringent21 than he. The Skinners, the Peakers, the Tilgmans, the Lockermans, and the Gipsons, are in the same boat; being slaveholding neighbors, they may have strengthened each other in their iron rule. They are on intimate terms, and their interests and tastes are identical.
Public opinion in such a quarter, the reader will see, is not likely to very efficient in protecting the slave from cruelty. On the contrary, it must increase and intensify22 his wrongs. Public opinion seldom differs very widely from public practice. To be a restraint upon cruelty and vice23, public opinion must emanate24 from a humane and virtuous25 community. To no such humane and virtuous community, is Col. Lloyd’s plantation exposed. That plantation is a little nation of its own, having its own language, its own rules, regulations and customs. The laws and institutions of the state, apparently26 touch it nowhere. The troubles arising here, are not settled by the civil power of the state. The overseer is generally accuser, judge, jury, advocate and executioner. The criminal is always dumb. The overseer attends to all sides of a case.
There are no conflicting rights of property, for all the people are owned by one man; and they can themselves own no property. Religion and politics are alike excluded. One class of the population is too high to be reached by the preacher; and the other class is too low to be cared for by the preacher. The poor have the gospel preached to them, in this neighborhood, only when they are able to pay for it. The slaves, having no money, get no gospel. The politician keeps away, because the people have no votes, and the preacher keeps away, because the people have no money. The rich planter can afford to learn politics in the parlor27, and to dispense28 with religion altogether.[50]
In its isolation, seclusion29, and self-reliant independence, Col. Lloyd’s plantation resembles what the baronial domains31 were during the middle ages in Europe. Grim, cold, and unapproachable by all genial11 influences from communities without, there it stands; full three hundred years behind the age, in all that relates to humanity and morals.
This, however, is not the only view that the place presents. Civilization is shut out, but nature cannot be. Though separated from the rest of the world; though public opinion, as I have said, seldom gets a chance to penetrate32 its dark domain30; though the whole place is stamped with its own peculiar7, ironlike individuality; and though crimes, high-handed and atrocious, may there be committed, with almost as much impunity33 as upon the deck of a pirate ship—it is, nevertheless, altogether, to outward seeming, a most strikingly interesting place, full of life, activity, and spirit; and presents a very favorable contrast to the indolent monotony and languor34 of Tuckahoe. Keen as was my regret and great as was my sorrow at leaving the latter, I was not long in adapting myself to this, my new home. A man’s troubles are always half disposed of, when he finds endurance his only remedy. I found myself here; there was no getting away; and what remained for me, but to make the best of it? Here were plenty of children to play with, and plenty of places of pleasant resort for boys of my age, and boys older. The little tendrils of affection, so rudely and treacherously35 broken from around the darling objects of my grandmother’s hut, gradually began to extend, and to entwine about the new objects by which I now found myself surrounded.
There was a windmill (always a commanding object to a child’s eye) on Long Point—a tract36 of land dividing Miles river from the Wye a mile or more from my old master’s house. There was a creek37 to swim in, at the bottom of an open flat space, of twenty acres or more, called “the Long Green”—a very beautiful play-ground for the children.[51]
In the river, a short distance from the shore, lying quietly at anchor, with her small boat dancing at her stern, was a large sloop38—the Sally Lloyd; called by that name in honor of a favorite daughter of the colonel. The sloop and the mill were wondrous39 things, full of thoughts and ideas. A child cannot well look at such objects without thinking.
Then here were a great many houses; human habitations, full of the mysteries of life at every stage of it. There was the little red house, up the road, occupied by Mr. Sevier, the overseer. A little nearer to my old master’s, stood a very long, rough, low building, literally40 alive with slaves, of all ages, conditions and sizes. This was called “the Longe Quarter.” Perched upon a hill, across the Long Green, was a very tall, dilapidated, old brick building—the architectural dimensions of which proclaimed its erection for a different purpose—now occupied by slaves, in a similar manner to the Long Quarter. Besides these, there were numerous other slave houses and huts, scattered41 around in the neighborhood, every nook and corner of which was completely occupied. Old master’s house, a long, brick building, plain, but substantial, stood in the center of the plantation life, and constituted one independent establishment on the premises42 of Col. Lloyd.
Besides these dwellings43, there were barns, stables, store-houses, and tobacco-houses; blacksmiths’ shops, wheelwrights’ shops, coopers’ shops—all objects of interest; but, above all, there stood the grandest building my eyes had then ever beheld44, called, by every one on the plantation, the “Great House.” This was occupied by Col. Lloyd and his family. They occupied it; I enjoyed it. The great house was surrounded by numerous and variously shaped out-buildings. There were kitchens, wash-houses, dairies, summer-house, green-houses, hen-houses, turkey-houses, pigeon-houses, and arbors, of many sizes and devices, all neatly45 painted, and altogether interspersed46 with grand old trees, ornamental47 and primitive48, which afforded delightful49 shade in[52] summer, and imparted to the scene a high degree of stately beauty. The great house itself was a large, white, wooden building, with wings on three sides of it. In front, a large portico50, extending the entire length of the building, and supported by a long range of columns, gave to the whole establishment an air of solemn grandeur51. It was a treat to my young and gradually opening mind, to behold52 this elaborate exhibition of wealth, power, and vanity. The carriage entrance to the house was a large gate, more than a quarter of a mile distant from it; the intermediate space was a beautiful lawn, very neatly trimmed, and watched with the greatest care. It was dotted thickly over with delightful trees, shrubbery, and flowers. The road, or lane, from the gate to the great house, was richly paved with white pebbles53 from the beach, and, in its course, formed a complete circle around the beautiful lawn. Carriages going in and retiring from the great house, made the circuit of the lawn, and their passengers were permitted to behold a scene of almost Eden-like beauty. Outside this select inclosure, were parks, where as about the residences of the English nobility—rabbits, deer, and other wild game, might be seen, peering and playing about, with none to molest54 them or make them afraid. The tops of the stately poplars were often covered with the red-winged black-birds, making all nature vocal55 with the joyous56 life and beauty of their wild, warbling notes. These all belonged to me, as well as to Col. Edward Lloyd, and for a time I greatly enjoyed them.
A short distance from the great house, were the stately mansions57 of the dead, a place of somber58 aspect. Vast tombs, embowered beneath the weeping willow59 and the fir tree, told of the antiquities60 of the Lloyd family, as well as of their wealth. Superstition was rife61 among the slaves about this family burying ground. Strange sights had been seen there by some of the older slaves. Shrouded62 ghosts, riding on great black horses, had been seen to enter; balls of fire had been seen to fly there at midnight, and horrid63 sounds had been repeatedly heard. Slaves know[53] enough of the rudiments64 of theology to believe that those go to hell who die slaveholders; and they often fancy such persons wishing themselves back again, to wield65 the lash66. Tales of sights and sounds, strange and terrible, connected with the huge black tombs, were a very great security to the grounds about them, for few of the slaves felt like approaching them even in the day time. It was a dark, gloomy and forbidding place, and it was difficult to feel that the spirits of the sleeping dust there deposited, reigned67 with the blest in the realms of eternal peace.
The business of twenty or thirty farms was transacted68 at this, called, by way of eminence69, “great house farm.” These farms all belonged to Col. Lloyd, as did, also, the slaves upon them. Each farm was under the management of an overseer. As I have said of the overseer of the home plantation, so I may say of the overseers on the smaller ones; they stand between the slave and all civil constitutions—their word is law, and is implicitly70 obeyed.
The colonel, at this time, was reputed to be, and he apparently was, very rich. His slaves, alone, were an immense fortune. These, small and great, could not have been fewer than one thousand in number, and though scarcely a month passed without the sale of one or more lots to the Georgia traders, there was no apparent diminution71 in the number of his human stock: the home plantation merely groaned72 at a removal of the young increase, or human crop, then proceeded as lively as ever. Horse-shoeing, cart-mending, plow-repairing, coopering, grinding, and weaving, for all the neighboring farms, were performed here, and slaves were employed in all these branches. “Uncle Tony” was the blacksmith; “Uncle Harry” was the cartwright; “Uncle Abel” was the shoemaker; and all these had hands to assist them in their several departments.
These mechanics were called “uncles” by all the younger slaves, not because they really sustained that relationship to any, but according to plantation etiquette, as a mark of respect, due[54] from the younger to the older slaves. Strange, and even ridiculous as it may seem, among a people so uncultivated, and with so many stern trials to look in the face, there is not to be found, among any people, a more rigid73 enforcement of the law of respect to elders, than they maintain. I set this down as partly constitutional with my race, and partly conventional. There is no better material in the world for making a gentleman, than is furnished in the African. He shows to others, and exacts for himself, all the tokens of respect which he is compelled to manifest toward his master. A young slave must approach the company of the older with hat in hand, and woe74 betide him, if he fails to acknowledge a favor, of any sort, with the accustomed “tank’ee,” &c. So uniformly are good manners enforced among slaves, I can easily detect a “bogus” fugitive75 by his manners.
Among other slave notabilities of the plantation, was one called by everybody Uncle Isaac Copper76. It is seldom that a slave gets a surname from anybody in Maryland; and so completely has the south shaped the manners of the north, in this respect, that even abolitionists make very little of the surname of a Negro. The only improvement on the “Bills,” “Jacks,” “Jims,” and “Neds” of the south, observable here is, that “William,” “John,” “James,” “Edward,” are substituted. It goes against the grain to treat and address a Negro precisely77 as they would treat and address a white man. But, once in a while, in slavery as in the free states, by some extraordinary circumstance, the Negro has a surname fastened to him, and holds it against all conventionalities. This was the case with Uncle Isaac Copper. When the “uncle” was dropped, he generally had the prefix78 “doctor,” in its stead. He was our doctor of medicine, and doctor of divinity as well. Where he took his degree I am unable to say, for he was not very communicative to inferiors, and I was emphatically such, being but a boy seven or eight years old. He was too well established in his profession to permit questions as to his native skill, or his attainments79. One qualification he undoubtedly80 had—he[55] was a confirmed cripple; and he could neither work, nor would he bring anything if offered for sale in the market. The old man, though lame81, was no sluggard82. He was a man that made his crutches83 do him good service. He was always on the alert, looking up the sick, and all such as were supposed to need his counsel. His remedial prescriptions84 embraced four articles. For diseases of the body, Epsom salts and castor oil; for those of the soul, the Lord’s Prayer, and hickory switches!
I was not long at Col. Lloyd’s before I was placed under the care of Doctor Issac Copper. I was sent to him with twenty or thirty other children, to learn the “Lord’s Prayer.” I found the old gentleman seated on a huge three-legged oaken stool, armed with several large hickory switches; and, from his position, he could reach—lame as he was—any boy in the room. After standing85 awhile to learn what was expected of us, the old gentleman, in any other than a devotional tone, commanded us to kneel down. This done, he commenced telling us to say everything he said. “Our Father”—this was repeated after him with promptness and uniformity; “Who art in heaven”—was less promptly86 and uniformly repeated; and the old gentleman paused in the prayer, to give us a short lecture upon the consequences of inattention, both immediate87 and future, and especially those more immediate. About these he was absolutely certain, for he held in his right hand the means of bringing all his predictions and warnings to pass. On he proceeded with the prayer; and we with our thick tongues and unskilled ears, followed him to the best of our ability. This, however, was not sufficient to please the old gentleman. Everybody, in the south, wants the privilege of whipping somebody else. Uncle Isaac shared the common passion of his country, and, therefore, seldom found any means of keeping his disciples88 in order short of flogging. “Say everything I say;” and bang would come the switch on some poor boy’s undevotional head. “What you looking at there”—“Stop that pushing”—and down again would come the lash.[56]
The whip is all in all. It is supposed to secure obedience89 to the slaveholder, and is held as a sovereign remedy among the slaves themselves, for every form of disobedience, temporal or spiritual. Slaves, as well as slaveholders, use it with an unsparing hand. Our devotions at Uncle Isaac’s combined too much of the tragic90 and comic, to make them very salutary in a spiritual point of view; and it is due to truth to say, I was often a truant91 when the time for attending the praying and flogging of Doctor Isaac Copper came on.
The windmill under the care of Mr. Kinney, a kind hearted old Englishman, was to me a source of infinite interest and pleasure. The old man always seemed pleased when he saw a troop of darkey little urchins92, with their tow-linen shirts fluttering in the breeze, approaching to view and admire the whirling wings of his wondrous machine. From the mill we could see other objects of deep interest. These were, the vessels from St. Michael’s, on their way to Baltimore. It was a source of much amusement to view the flowing sails and complicated rigging, as the little crafts dashed by, and to speculate upon Baltimore, as to the kind and quality of the place. With so many sources of interest around me, the reader may be prepared to learn that I began to think very highly of Col. L.‘s plantation. It was just a place to my boyish taste. There were fish to be caught in the creek, if one only had a hook and line; and crabs93, clams94 and oysters95 were to be caught by wading96, digging and raking for them. Here was a field for industry and enterprise, strongly inviting97; and the reader may be assured that I entered upon it with spirit.
Even the much dreaded98 old master, whose merciless fiat99 had brought me from Tuckahoe, gradually, to my mind, parted with his terrors. Strange enough, his reverence100 seemed to take no particular notice of me, nor of my coming. Instead of leaping out and devouring101 me, he scarcely seemed conscious of my presence. The fact is, he was occupied with matters more weighty and important than either looking after or vexing102 me. He probably thought as[57] little of my advent103, as he would have thought of the addition of a single pig to his stock!
As the chief butler on Col. Lloyd’s plantation, his duties were numerous and perplexing. In almost all important matters he answered in Col. Lloyd’s stead. The overseers of all the farms were in some sort under him, and received the law from his mouth. The colonel himself seldom addressed an overseer, or allowed an overseer to address him. Old master carried the keys of all store houses; measured out the allowance for each slave at the end of every month; superintended the storing of all goods brought to the plantation; dealt out the raw material to all the handicraftsmen; shipped the grain, tobacco, and all saleable produce of the plantation to market, and had the general oversight104 of the coopers’ shop, wheelwrights’ shop, blacksmiths’ shop, and shoemakers’ shop. Besides the care of these, he often had business for the plantation which required him to be absent two and three days.
Thus largely employed, he had little time, and perhaps as little disposition105, to interfere106 with the children individually. What he was to Col. Lloyd, he made Aunt Katy to him. When he had anything to say or do about us, it was said or done in a wholesale107 manner; disposing of us in classes or sizes, leaving all minor108 details to Aunt Katy, a person of whom the reader has already received no very favorable impression. Aunt Katy was a woman who never allowed herself to act greatly within the margin109 of power granted to her, no matter how broad that authority might be. Ambitious, ill-tempered and cruel, she found in her present position an ample field for the exercise of her ill-omened qualities. She had a strong hold on old master she was considered a first rate cook, and she really was very industrious110. She was, therefore, greatly favored by old master, and as one mark of his favor, she was the only mother who was permitted to retain her children around her. Even to these children she was often fiendish in her brutality111. She pursued her son Phil, one day, in[58] my presence, with a huge butcher knife, and dealt a blow with its edge which left a shocking gash112 on his arm, near the wrist. For this, old master did sharply rebuke113 her, and threatened that if she ever should do the like again, he would take the skin off her back. Cruel, however, as Aunt Katy was to her own children, at times she was not destitute114 of maternal115 feeling, as I often had occasion to know, in the bitter pinches of hunger I had to endure. Differing from the practice of Col. Lloyd, old master, instead of allowing so much for each slave, committed the allowance for all to the care of Aunt Katy, to be divided after cooking it, amongst us. The allowance, consisting of coarse corn-meal, was not very abundant—indeed, it was very slender; and in passing through Aunt Katy’s hands, it was made more slender still, for some of us. William, Phil and Jerry were her children, and it is not to accuse her too severely116, to allege117 that she was often guilty of starving myself and the other children, while she was literally cramming118 her own. Want of food was my chief trouble the first summer at my old master’s. Oysters and clams would do very well, with an occasional supply of bread, but they soon failed in the absence of bread. I speak but the simple truth, when I say, I have often been so pinched with hunger, that I have fought with the dog—“Old Nep”—for the smallest crumbs119 that fell from the kitchen table, and have been glad when I won a single crumb120 in the combat. Many times have I followed, with eager step, the waiting-girl when she went out to shake the table cloth, to get the crumbs and small bones flung out for the cats. The water, in which meat had been boiled, was as eagerly sought for by me. It was a great thing to get the privilege of dipping a piece of bread in such water; and the skin taken from rusty121 bacon, was a positive luxury. Nevertheless, I sometimes got full meals and kind words from sympathizing old slaves, who knew my sufferings, and received the comforting assurance that I should be a man some day. “Never mind, honey—better day comin’,” was even then a solace122, a cheering consolation123 to me in my[59] troubles. Nor were all the kind words I received from slaves. I had a friend in the parlor, as well, and one to whom I shall be glad to do justice, before I have finished this part of my story.
I was not long at old master’s, before I learned that his surname was Anthony, and that he was generally called “Captain Anthony”—a title which he probably acquired by sailing a craft in the Chesapeake Bay. Col. Lloyd’s slaves never called Capt. Anthony “old master,” but always Capt. Anthony; and me they called “Captain Anthony Fred.” There is not, probably, in the whole south, a plantation where the English language is more imperfectly spoken than on Col. Lloyd’s. It is a mixture of Guinea and everything else you please. At the time of which I am now writing, there were slaves there who had been brought from the coast of Africa. They never used the “s” in indication of the possessive case. “Cap’n Ant’ney Tom,” “Lloyd Bill,” “Aunt Rose Harry,” means “Captain Anthony’s Tom,” “Lloyd’s Bill,” &c. “Oo you dem long to?” means, “Whom do you belong to?” “Oo dem got any peachy?” means, “Have you got any peaches?” I could scarcely understand them when I first went among them, so broken was their speech; and I am persuaded that I could not have been dropped anywhere on the globe, where I could reap less, in the way of knowledge, from my immediate associates, than on this plantation. Even “MAS’ DANIEL,” by his association with his father’s slaves, had measurably adopted their dialect and their ideas, so far as they had ideas to be adopted. The equality of nature is strongly asserted in childhood, and childhood requires children for associates. Color makes no difference with a child. Are you a child with wants, tastes and pursuits common to children, not put on, but natural? then, were you black as ebony you would be welcome to the child of alabaster124 whiteness. The law of compensation holds here, as well as elsewhere. Mas’ Daniel could not associate with ignorance without sharing its shade; and he could not give his black playmates his company, without giving them his intelligence, as well. Without knowing[60] this, or caring about it, at the time, I, for some cause or other, spent much of my time with Mas’ Daniel, in preference to spending it with most of the other boys.
Mas’ Daniel was the youngest son of Col. Lloyd; his older brothers were Edward and Murray—both grown up, and fine looking men. Edward was especially esteemed125 by the children, and by me among the rest; not that he ever said anything to us or for us, which could be called especially kind; it was enough for us, that he never looked nor acted scornfully toward us. There were also three sisters, all married; one to Edward Winder; a second to Edward Nicholson; a third to Mr. Lownes.
The family of old master consisted of two sons, Andrew and Richard; his daughter, Lucretia, and her newly married husband, Capt. Auld126. This was the house family. The kitchen family consisted of Aunt Katy, Aunt Esther, and ten or a dozen children, most of them older than myself. Capt. Anthony was not considered a rich slaveholder, but was pretty well off in the world. He owned about thirty “head” of slaves, and three farms in Tuckahoe. The most valuable part of his property was his slaves, of whom he could afford to sell one every year. This crop, therefore, brought him seven or eight hundred dollars a year, besides his yearly salary, and other revenue from his farms.
The idea of rank and station was rigidly127 maintained on Col. Lloyd’s plantation. Our family never visited the great house, and the Lloyds never came to our home. Equal non-intercourse was observed between Capt. Anthony’s family and that of Mr. Sevier, the overseer.
Such, kind reader, was the community, and such the place, in which my earliest and most lasting128 impressions of slavery, and of slave-life, were received; of which impressions you will learn more in the coming chapters of this book.
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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contiguity
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| n.邻近，接壤 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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malign
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| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
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shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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weavers
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| 织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 ) | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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civilizing
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| v.使文明，使开化( civilize的现在分词 ) | |
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rigor
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| n.严酷，严格，严厉 | |
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stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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intensify
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| vt.加强；变强；加剧 | |
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23
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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24
emanate
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| v.发自，来自，出自 | |
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25
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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26
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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27
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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28
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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29
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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30
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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31
domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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32
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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33
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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34
languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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35
treacherously
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| 背信弃义地； 背叛地； 靠不住地； 危险地 | |
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36
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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37
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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38
sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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39
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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40
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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41
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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42
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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43
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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44
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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45
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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46
interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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47
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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48
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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49
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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50
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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51
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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52
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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53
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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54
molest
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| vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏 | |
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55
vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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56
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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57
mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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58
somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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59
willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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60
antiquities
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| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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61
rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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62
shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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63
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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64
rudiments
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| n.基础知识，入门 | |
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65
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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66
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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67
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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68
transacted
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| v.办理（业务等）( transact的过去式和过去分词 )；交易，谈判 | |
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69
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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70
implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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71
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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72
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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73
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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74
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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75
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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76
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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77
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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78
prefix
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| n.前缀；vt.加…作为前缀；置于前面 | |
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79
attainments
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| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
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80
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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81
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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82
sluggard
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| n.懒人；adj.懒惰的 | |
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83
crutches
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| n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑 | |
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84
prescriptions
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| 药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划 | |
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85
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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86
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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87
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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88
disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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89
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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90
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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91
truant
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| n.懒惰鬼，旷课者；adj.偷懒的，旷课的，游荡的；v.偷懒，旷课 | |
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92
urchins
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| n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 )；淘气鬼；猬；海胆 | |
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93
crabs
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| n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 ) | |
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94
clams
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| n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 ) | |
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95
oysters
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| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
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96
wading
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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97
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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98
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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99
fiat
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| n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布 | |
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100
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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101
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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102
vexing
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| adj.使人烦恼的，使人恼火的v.使烦恼( vex的现在分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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103
advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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104
oversight
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| n.勘漏，失察，疏忽 | |
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105
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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106
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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107
wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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108
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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109
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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110
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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111
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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112
gash
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| v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝 | |
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113
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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114
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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115
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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116
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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117
allege
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| vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言 | |
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118
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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119
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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120
crumb
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| n.饼屑，面包屑，小量 | |
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121
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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122
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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123
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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124
alabaster
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| adj.雪白的；n.雪花石膏；条纹大理石 | |
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125
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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126
auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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127
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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128
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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