FREEMAN—COMBAT BETWEEN AN OVERSEER AND A SLAVEWOMAN—THE ADVANTAGES
OF RESISTANCE—ALLOWANCE DAY ON THE HOME PLANTATION1—THE SINGING
OF SLAVES—AN EXPLANATION—THE SLAVES FOOD AND CLOTHING—NAKED
CHILDREN—LIFE IN THE QUARTER—DEPRIVATION OF SLEEP—NURSING CHILDREN
CARRIED TO THE FIELD—DESCRIPTION OF THE COWSKIN—THE ASH-CAKE—MANNER
OF MAKING IT—THE DINNER HOUR—THE CONTRAST.
The heart-rending incidents, related in the foregoing chapter, led me, thus early, to inquire into the nature and history of slavery. Why am I a slave? Why are some people slaves, and others masters? Was there ever a time this was not so? How did the relation commence? These were the perplexing questions which began now to claim my thoughts, and to exercise the weak powers of my mind, for I was still but a child, and knew less than children of the same age in the free states. As my questions concerning these things were only put to children a little older, and little better informed than myself, I was not rapid in reaching a solid footing. By some means I learned from these inquiries2 that “God, up in the sky,” made every body; and that he made white people to be masters and mistresses, and black people to be slaves. This did not satisfy me, nor lessen3 my interest in the subject. I was told, too, that God was good, and that He knew what was best for me, and best for everybody. This was less satisfactory than the first statement; because it came, point blank, against all my[70] notions of goodness. It was not good to let old master cut the flesh off Esther, and make her cry so. Besides, how did people know that God made black people to be slaves? Did they go up in the sky and learn it? or, did He come down and tell them so? All was dark here. It was some relief to my hard notions of the goodness of God, that, although he made white men to be slaveholders, he did not make them to be bad slaveholders, and that, in due time, he would punish the bad slaveholders; that he would, when they died, send them to the bad place, where they would be “burnt up.” Nevertheless, I could not reconcile the relation of slavery with my crude notions of goodness.
Then, too, I found that there were puzzling exceptions to this theory of slavery on both sides, and in the middle. I knew of blacks who were not slaves; I knew of whites who were not slaveholders; and I knew of persons who were nearly white, who were slaves. Color, therefore, was a very unsatisfactory basis for slavery.
Once, however, engaged in the inquiry4, I was not very long in finding out the true solution of the matter. It was not color, but crime, not God, but man, that afforded the true explanation of the existence of slavery; nor was I long in finding out another important truth, viz: what man can make, man can unmake. The appalling5 darkness faded away, and I was master of the subject. There were slaves here, direct from Guinea; and there were many who could say that their fathers and mothers were stolen from Africa—forced from their homes, and compelled to serve as slaves. This, to me, was knowledge; but it was a kind of knowledge which filled me with a burning hatred6 of slavery, increased my suffering, and left me without the means of breaking away from my bondage7. Yet it was knowledge quite worth possessing. I could not have been more than seven or eight years old, when I began to make this subject my study. It was with me in the woods and fields; along the shore of the river, and wherever my boyish wanderings led me; and though I was, at that time,[71] quite ignorant of the existence of the free states, I distinctly remember being, even then, most strongly impressed with the idea of being a freeman some day. This cheering assurance was an inborn8 dream of my human nature a constant menace to slavery—and one which all the powers of slavery were unable to silence or extinguish.
Up to the time of the brutal9 flogging of my Aunt Esther—for she was my own aunt—and the horrid10 plight11 in which I had seen my cousin from Tuckahoe, who had been so badly beaten by the cruel Mr. Plummer, my attention had not been called, especially, to the gross features of slavery. I had, of course, heard of whippings and of savage12 rencontres between overseers and slaves, but I had always been out of the way at the times and places of their occurrence. My plays and sports, most of the time, took me from the corn and tobacco fields, where the great body of the hands were at work, and where scenes of cruelty were enacted13 and witnessed. But, after the whipping of Aunt Esther, I saw many cases of the same shocking nature, not only in my master’s house, but on Col. Lloyd’s plantation. One of the first which I saw, and which greatly agitated14 me, was the whipping of a woman belonging to Col. Lloyd, named Nelly. The offense15 alleged16 against Nelly, was one of the commonest and most indefinite in the whole catalogue of offenses17 usually laid to the charge of slaves, viz: “impudence18.” This may mean almost anything, or nothing at all, just according to the caprice of the master or overseer, at the moment. But, whatever it is, or is not, if it gets the name of “impudence,” the party charged with it is sure of a flogging. This offense may be committed in various ways; in the tone of an answer; in answering at all; in not answering; in the expression of countenance19; in the motion of the head; in the gait, manner and bearing of the slave. In the case under consideration, I can easily believe that, according to all slaveholding standards, here was a genuine instance of impudence. In Nelly there were all the necessary conditions for committing the offense. She was[72] a bright mulatto, the recognized wife of a favorite “hand” on board Col. Lloyd’s sloop20, and the mother of five sprightly21 children. She was a vigorous and spirited woman, and one of the most likely, on the plantation, to be guilty of impudence. My attention was called to the scene, by the noise, curses and screams that proceeded from it; and, on going a little in that direction, I came upon the parties engaged in the skirmish. Mr. Siever, the overseer, had hold of Nelly, when I caught sight of them; he was endeavoring to drag her toward a tree, which endeavor Nelly was sternly resisting; but to no purpose, except to retard22 the progress of the overseer’s plans. Nelly—as I have said—was the mother of five children; three of them were present, and though quite small (from seven to ten years old, I should think) they gallantly23 came to their mother’s defense24, and gave the overseer an excellent pelting25 with stones. One of the little fellows ran up, seized the overseer by the leg and bit him; but the monster was too busily engaged with Nelly, to pay any attention to the assaults of the children. There were numerous bloody26 marks on Mr. Sevier’s face, when I first saw him, and they increased as the struggle went on. The imprints27 of Nelly’s fingers were visible, and I was glad to see them. Amidst the wild screams of the children—“Let my mammy go”—“let my mammy go”—there escaped, from between the teeth of the bullet-headed overseer, a few bitter curses, mingled28 with threats, that “he would teach the d—d b—h how to give a white man impudence.” There is no doubt that Nelly felt herself superior, in some respects, to the slaves around her. She was a wife and a mother; her husband was a valued and favorite slave. Besides, he was one of the first hands on board of the sloop, and the sloop hands—since they had to represent the plantation abroad—were generally treated tenderly. The overseer never was allowed to whip Harry29; why then should he be allowed to whip Harry’s wife? Thoughts of this kind, no doubt, influenced her; but, for whatever reason, she nobly resisted, and, unlike most of the slaves,[73] seemed determined30 to make her whipping cost Mr. Sevier as much as possible. The blood on his (and her) face, attested31 her skill, as well as her courage and dexterity32 in using her nails. Maddened by her resistance, I expected to see Mr. Sevier level her to the ground by a stunning33 blow; but no; like a savage bull-dog—which he resembled both in temper and appearance—he maintained his grip, and steadily34 dragged his victim toward the tree, disregarding alike her blows, and the cries of the children for their mother’s release. He would, doubtless, have knocked her down with his hickory stick, but that such act might have cost him his place. It is often deemed advisable to knock a man slave down, in order to tie him, but it is considered cowardly and inexcusable, in an overseer, thus to deal with a woman. He is expected to tie her up, and to give her what is called, in southern parlance35, a “genteel flogging,” without any very great outlay36 of strength or skill. I watched, with palpitating interest, the course of the preliminary struggle, and was saddened by every new advantage gained over her by the ruffian. There were times when she seemed likely to get the better of the brute37, but he finally overpowered her, and succeeded in getting his rope around her arms, and in firmly tying her to the tree, at which he had been aiming. This done, and Nelly was at the mercy of his merciless lash38; and now, what followed, I have no heart to describe. The cowardly creature made good his every threat; and wielded39 the lash with all the hot zest40 of furious revenge. The cries of the woman, while undergoing the terrible infliction41, were mingled with those of the children, sounds which I hope the reader may never be called upon to hear. When Nelly was untied42, her back was covered with blood. The red stripes were all over her shoulders. She was whipped—severely whipped; but she was not subdued44, for she continued to denounce the overseer, and to call him every vile45 name. He had bruised46 her flesh, but had left her invincible47 spirit undaunted. Such floggings are seldom repeated by the same overseer. They prefer to whip those[74] who are most easily whipped. The old doctrine48 that submission49 is the very best cure for outrage50 and wrong, does not hold good on the slave plantation. He is whipped oftenest, who is whipped easiest; and that slave who has the courage to stand up for himself against the overseer, although he may have many hard stripes at the first, becomes, in the end, a freeman, even though he sustain the formal relation of a slave. “You can shoot me but you can’t whip me,” said a slave to Rigby Hopkins; and the result was that he was neither whipped nor shot. If the latter had been his fate, it would have been less deplorable than the living and lingering death to which cowardly and slavish souls are subjected. I do not know that Mr. Sevier ever undertook to whip Nelly again. He probably never did, for it was not long after his attempt to subdue43 her, that he was taken sick, and died. The wretched man died as he had lived, unrepentant; and it was said—with how much truth I know not—that in the very last hours of his life, his ruling passion showed itself, and that when wrestling with death, he was uttering horrid oaths, and flourishing the cowskin, as though he was tearing the flesh off some helpless slave. One thing is certain, that when he was in health, it was enough to chill the blood, and to stiffen52 the hair of an ordinary man, to hear Mr. Sevier talk. Nature, or his cruel habits, had given to his face an expression of unusual savageness53, even for a slave-driver. Tobacco and rage had worn his teeth short, and nearly every sentence that escaped their compressed grating, was commenced or concluded with some outburst of profanity. His presence made the field alike the field of blood, and of blasphemy54. Hated for his cruelty, despised for his cowardice55, his death was deplored56 by no one outside his own house—if indeed it was deplored there; it was regarded by the slaves as a merciful interposition of Providence57. Never went there a man to the grave loaded with heavier curses. Mr. Sevier’s place was promptly58 taken by a Mr. Hopkins, and the change was quite a relief, he being a very different man. He was, in[75] all respects, a better man than his predecessor59; as good as any man can be, and yet be an overseer. His course was characterized by no extraordinary cruelty; and when he whipped a slave, as he sometimes did, he seemed to take no especial pleasure in it, but, on the contrary, acted as though he felt it to be a mean business. Mr. Hopkins stayed but a short time; his place much to the regret of the slaves generally—was taken by a Mr. Gore60, of whom more will be said hereafter. It is enough, for the present, to say, that he was no improvement on Mr. Sevier, except that he was less noisy and less profane61.
I have already referred to the business-like aspect of Col. Lloyd’s plantation. This business-like appearance was much increased on the two days at the end of each month, when the slaves from the different farms came to get their monthly allowance of meal and meat. These were gala days for the slaves, and there was much rivalry62 among them as to who should be elected to go up to the great house farm for the allowance, and, indeed, to attend to any business at this (for them) the capital. The beauty and grandeur63 of the place, its numerous slave population, and the fact that Harry, Peter and Jake the sailors of the sloop—almost always kept, privately64, little trinkets which they bought at Baltimore, to sell, made it a privilege to come to the great house farm. Being selected, too, for this office, was deemed a high honor. It was taken as a proof of confidence and favor; but, probably, the chief motive65 of the competitors for the place, was, a desire to break the dull monotony of the field, and to get beyond the overseer’s eye and lash. Once on the road with an ox team, and seated on the tongue of his cart, with no overseer to look after him, the slave was comparatively free; and, if thoughtful, he had time to think. Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work. A silent slave is not liked by masters or overseers. “Make a noise,” “make a noise,” and “bear a hand,” are the words usually addressed to the slaves when there is silence amongst them. This may account for the almost constant singing[76] heard in the southern states. There was, generally, more or less singing among the teamsters, as it was one means of letting the overseer know where they were, and that they were moving on with the work. But, on allowance day, those who visited the great house farm were peculiarly excited and noisy. While on their way, they would make the dense67 old woods, for miles around, reverberate68 with their wild notes. These were not always merry because they were wild. On the contrary, they were mostly of a plaintive69 cast, and told a tale of grief and sorrow. In the most boisterous70 outbursts of rapturous sentiment, there was ever a tinge71 of deep melancholy72. I have never heard any songs like those anywhere since I left slavery, except when in Ireland. There I heard the same wailing73 notes, and was much affected74 by them. It was during the famine of 1845-6. In all the songs of the slaves, there was ever some expression in praise of the great house farm; something which would flatter the pride of the owner, and, possibly, draw a favorable glance from him.
I am going away to the great house farm,
O yea! O yea! O yea!
My old master is a good old master,
O yea! O yea! O yea!
This they would sing, with other words of their own improvising—jargon to others, but full of meaning to themselves. I have sometimes thought, that the mere75 hearing of those songs would do more to impress truly spiritual-minded men and women with the soul-crushing and death-dealing76 character of slavery, than the reading of whole volumes of its mere physical cruelties. They speak to the heart and to the soul of the thoughtful. I cannot better express my sense of them now, than ten years ago, when, in sketching77 my life, I thus spoke78 of this feature of my plantation experience:
I did not, when a slave, understand the deep meanings of those rude, and apparently79 incoherent songs. I was myself within the circle, so that I neither saw or heard as those without might see and hear. They told a tale which was[77] then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones, loud, long and deep, breathing the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish80. Every tone was a testimony81 against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed82 my spirits, and filled my heart with ineffable83 sadness. The mere recurrence84, even now, afflicts85 my spirit, and while I am writing these lines, my tears are falling. To those songs I trace my first glimmering86 conceptions of the dehumanizing character of slavery. I can never get rid of that conception. Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds. If any one wishes to be impressed with a sense of the soul-killing power of slavery, let him go to Col. Lloyd’s plantation, and, on allowance day, place himself in the deep, pine woods, and there let him, in silence, thoughtfully analyze87 the sounds that shall pass through the chambers88 of his soul, and if he is not thus impressed, it will only be because “there is no flesh in his obdurate89 heart.”
The remark is not unfrequently made, that slaves are the most contended and happy laborers90 in the world. They dance and sing, and make all manner of joyful91 noises—so they do; but it is a great mistake to suppose them happy because they sing. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows, rather than the joys, of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears. Such is the constitution of the human mind, that, when pressed to extremes, it often avails itself of the most opposite methods. Extremes meet in mind as in matter. When the slaves on board of the “Pearl” were overtaken, arrested, and carried to prison—their hopes for freedom blasted—as they marched in chains they sang, and found (as Emily Edmunson tells us) a melancholy relief in singing. The singing of a man cast away on a desolate92 island, might be as appropriately considered an evidence of his contentment and happiness, as the singing of a slave. Sorrow and desolation have their songs, as well as joy and peace. Slaves sing more to make themselves happy, than to express their happiness.
It is the boast of slaveholders, that their slaves enjoy more of the physical comforts of life than the peasantry of any country in the world. My experience contradicts this. The men and the women slaves on Col. Lloyd’s farm, received, as their monthly[78] allowance of food, eight pounds of pickled pork, or their equivalent in fish. The pork was often tainted93, and the fish was of the poorest quality—herrings, which would bring very little if offered for sale in any northern market. With their pork or fish, they had one bushel of Indian meal—unbolted—of which quite fifteen per cent was fit only to feed pigs. With this, one pint94 of salt was given; and this was the entire monthly allowance of a full grown slave, working constantly in the open field, from morning until night, every day in the month except Sunday, and living on a fraction more than a quarter of a pound of meat per day, and less than a peck of corn-meal per week. There is no kind of work that a man can do which requires a better supply of food to prevent physical exhaustion95, than the field-work of a slave. So much for the slave’s allowance of food; now for his raiment. The yearly allowance of clothing for the slaves on this plantation, consisted of two tow-linen96 shirts—such linen as the coarsest crash towels are made of; one pair of trowsers of the same material, for summer, and a pair of trowsers and a jacket of woolen97, most slazily put together, for winter; one pair of yarn98 stockings, and one pair of shoes of the coarsest description. The slave’s entire apparel could not have cost more than eight dollars per year. The allowance of food and clothing for the little children, was committed to their mothers, or to the older slavewomen having the care of them. Children who were unable to work in the field, had neither shoes, stockings, jackets nor trowsers given them. Their clothing consisted of two coarse tow-linen shirts—already described—per year; and when these failed them, as they often did, they went naked until the next allowance day. Flocks of little children from five to ten years old, might be seen on Col. Lloyd’s plantation, as destitute99 of clothing as any little heathen on the west coast of Africa; and this, not merely during the summer months, but during the frosty weather of March. The little girls were no better off than the boys; all were nearly in a state of nudity.[79]
As to beds to sleep on, they were known to none of the field hands; nothing but a coarse blanket—not so good as those used in the north to cover horses—was given them, and this only to the men and women. The children stuck themselves in holes and corners, about the quarters; often in the corner of the huge chimneys, with their feet in the ashes to keep them warm. The want of beds, however, was not considered a very great privation. Time to sleep was of far greater importance, for, when the day’s work is done, most of the slaves have their washing, mending and cooking to do; and, having few or none of the ordinary facilities for doing such things, very many of their sleeping hours are consumed in necessary preparations for the duties of the coming day.
The sleeping apartments—if they may be called such—have little regard to comfort or decency100. Old and young, male and female, married and single, drop down upon the common clay floor, each covering up with his or her blanket,—the only protection they have from cold or exposure. The night, however, is shortened at both ends. The slaves work often as long as they can see, and are late in cooking and mending for the coming day; and, at the first gray streak101 of morning, they are summoned to the field by the driver’s horn.
More slaves are whipped for oversleeping than for any other fault. Neither age nor sex finds any favor. The overseer stands at the quarter door, armed with stick and cowskin, ready to whip any who may be a few minutes behind time. When the horn is blown, there is a rush for the door, and the hindermost one is sure to get a blow from the overseer. Young mothers who worked in the field, were allowed an hour, about ten o’clock in the morning, to go home to nurse their children. Sometimes they were compelled to take their children with them, and to leave them in the corner of the fences, to prevent loss of time in nursing them. The overseer generally rides about the field on horseback. A cowskin and a hickory stick are his constant companions. The[80] cowskin is a kind of whip seldom seen in the northern states. It is made entirely102 of untanned, but dried, ox hide, and is about as hard as a piece of well-seasoned live oak. It is made of various sizes, but the usual length is about three feet. The part held in the hand is nearly an inch in thickness; and, from the extreme end of the butt103 or handle, the cowskin tapers104 its whole length to a point. This makes it quite elastic105 and springy. A blow with it, on the hardest back, will gash106 the flesh, and make the blood start. Cowskins are painted red, blue and green, and are the favorite slave whip. I think this whip worse than the “cat-o’nine-tails.” It condenses the whole strength of the arm to a single point, and comes with a spring that makes the air whistle. It is a terrible instrument, and is so handy, that the overseer can always have it on his person, and ready for use. The temptation to use it is ever strong; and an overseer can, if disposed, always have cause for using it. With him, it is literally107 a word and a blow, and, in most cases, the blow comes first.
As a general rule, slaves do not come to the quarters for either breakfast or dinner, but take their “ash cake” with them, and eat it in the field. This was so on the home plantation; probably, because the distance from the quarter to the field, was sometimes two, and even three miles.
The dinner of the slaves consisted of a huge piece of ash cake, and a small piece of pork, or two salt herrings. Not having ovens, nor any suitable cooking utensils108, the slaves mixed their meal with a little water, to such thickness that a spoon would stand erect109 in it; and, after the wood had burned away to coals and ashes, they would place the dough110 between oak leaves and lay it carefully in the ashes, completely covering it; hence, the bread is called ash cake. The surface of this peculiar66 bread is covered with ashes, to the depth of a sixteenth part of an inch, and the ashes, certainly, do not make it very grateful to the teeth, nor render it very palatable111. The bran, or coarse part of the meal, is baked with the fine, and bright scales run through the bread.[81] This bread, with its ashes and bran, would disgust and choke a northern man, but it is quite liked by the slaves. They eat it with avidity, and are more concerned about the quantity than about the quality. They are far too scantily112 provided for, and are worked too steadily, to be much concerned for the quality of their food. The few minutes allowed them at dinner time, after partaking of their coarse repast, are variously spent. Some lie down on the “turning row,” and go to sleep; others draw together, and talk; and others are at work with needle and thread, mending their tattered113 garments. Sometimes you may hear a wild, hoarse114 laugh arise from a circle, and often a song. Soon, however, the overseer comes dashing through the field. “Tumble up! Tumble up, and to work, work,” is the cry; and, now, from twelve o’clock (mid-day) till dark, the human cattle are in motion, wielding115 their clumsy hoes; hurried on by no hope of reward, no sense of gratitude116, no love of children, no prospect117 of bettering their condition; nothing, save the dread118 and terror of the slave-driver’s lash. So goes one day, and so comes and goes another.
But, let us now leave the rough usage of the field, where vulgar coarseness and brutal cruelty spread themselves and flourish, rank as weeds in the tropics; where a vile wretch51, in the shape of a man, rides, walks, or struts119 about, dealing blows, and leaving gashes120 on broken-spirited men and helpless women, for thirty dollars per month—a business so horrible, hardening and disgraceful, that, rather, than engage in it, a decent man would blow his own brains out—and let the reader view with me the equally wicked, but less repulsive121 aspects of slave life; where pride and pomp roll luxuriously122 at ease; where the toil123 of a thousand men supports a single family in easy idleness and sin. This is the great house; it is the home of the LLOYDS! Some idea of its splendor124 has already been given—and, it is here that we shall find that height of luxury which is the opposite of that depth of poverty and physical wretchedness that we have just now been contemplating125. But, there is this difference in the two extremes;[82] viz: that in the case of the slave, the miseries126 and hardships of his lot are imposed by others, and, in the master’s case, they are imposed by himself. The slave is a subject, subjected by others; the slaveholder is a subject, but he is the author of his own subjection. There is more truth in the saying, that slavery is a greater evil to the master than to the slave, than many, who utter it, suppose. The self-executing laws of eternal justice follow close on the heels of the evil-doer here, as well as elsewhere; making escape from all its penalties impossible. But, let others philosophize; it is my province here to relate and describe; only allowing myself a word or two, occasionally, to assist the reader in the proper understanding of the facts narrated127.
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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inborn
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| adj.天生的，生来的，先天的 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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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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plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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offenses
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| n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势 | |
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impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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sprightly
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| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
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retard
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| n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速 | |
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gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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25
pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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26
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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27
imprints
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| n.压印( imprint的名词复数 )；痕迹；持久影响 | |
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28
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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29
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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30
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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31
attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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32
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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33
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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34
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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35
parlance
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| n.说法；语调 | |
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36
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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37
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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38
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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39
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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40
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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41
infliction
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| n.（强加于人身的）痛苦，刑罚 | |
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42
untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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43
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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44
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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45
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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46
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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47
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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48
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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49
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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50
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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51
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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52
stiffen
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| v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬 | |
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53
savageness
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| 天然，野蛮 | |
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54
blasphemy
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| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
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55
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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56
deplored
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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58
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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59
predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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60
gore
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| n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶 | |
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61
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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62
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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63
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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64
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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65
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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66
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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67
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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68
reverberate
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| v.使回响，使反响 | |
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69
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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70
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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71
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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72
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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73
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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74
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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75
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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76
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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77
sketching
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| n.草图 | |
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78
spoke
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| 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 | |
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79
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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80
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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81
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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82
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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83
ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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84
recurrence
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| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
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85
afflicts
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的名词复数 ) | |
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86
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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87
analyze
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| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
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88
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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89
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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90
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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91
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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92
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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93
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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94
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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95
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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96
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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97
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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98
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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99
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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100
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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101
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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102
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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103
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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104
tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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105
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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106
gash
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| v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝 | |
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107
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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108
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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109
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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110
dough
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| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
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111
palatable
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| adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的 | |
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112
scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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113
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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114
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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115
wielding
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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116
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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117
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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118
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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119
struts
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| （框架的）支杆( strut的名词复数 )； 支柱； 趾高气扬的步态； （尤指跳舞或表演时）卖弄 | |
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120
gashes
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| n.深长的切口（或伤口）( gash的名词复数 )v.划伤，割破( gash的第三人称单数 ) | |
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121
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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122
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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123
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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124
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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125
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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126
miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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127
narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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