RESIDENCE—THE FAMILY—MY AWKWARDNESS AS A FIELD HAND—A CRUEL
BEATING—WHY IT WAS GIVEN—DESCRIPTION OF COVEY—FIRST ADVENTURE AT OX
DRIVING—HAIR BREADTH ESCAPES—OX AND MAN ALIKE PROPERTY—COVEY’S MANNER
DOWN THE SPIRIT—CUNNING AND TRICKERY OF COVEY—FAMILY WORSHIP—SHOCKING
BEYOND DESCRIPTION.
The morning of the first of January, 1834, with its chilling wind and pinching frost, quite in harmony with the winter in my own mind, found me, with my little bundle of clothing on the end of a stick, swung across my shoulder, on the main road, bending my way toward Covey’s, whither I had been imperiously ordered by Master Thomas. The latter had been as good as his word, and had committed me, without reserve, to the mastery of Mr. Edward Covey. Eight or ten years had now passed since I had been taken from my grandmother’s cabin, in Tuckahoe; and these years, for the most part, I had spent in Baltimore, where—as the reader has already seen—I was treated with comparative tenderness. I was now about to sound profounder depths in slave life. The rigors5 of a field, less tolerable than the field of battle, awaited me. My new master was notorious for his fierce and savage6 disposition7, and my only consolation8 in going to live[160] with him was, the certainty of finding him precisely9 as represented by common fame. There was neither joy in my heart, nor elasticity10 in my step, as I started in search of the tyrant’s home. Starvation made me glad to leave Thomas Auld’s, and the cruel lash11 made me dread12 to go to Covey’s. Escape was impossible; so, heavy and sad, I paced the seven miles, which separated Covey’s house from St. Michael’s—thinking much by the solitary13 way—averse to my condition; but thinking was all I could do. Like a fish in a net, allowed to play for a time, I was now drawn14 rapidly to the shore, secured at all points. “I am,” thought I, “but the sport of a power which makes no account, either of my welfare or of my happiness. By a law which I can clearly comprehend, but cannot evade15 nor resist, I am ruthlessly snatched from the hearth16 of a fond grandmother, and hurried away to the home of a mysterious ‘old master;’ again I am removed from there, to a master in Baltimore; thence am I snatched away to the Eastern Shore, to be valued with the beasts of the field, and, with them, divided and set apart for a possessor; then I am sent back to Baltimore; and by the time I have formed new attachments17, and have begun to hope that no more rude shocks shall touch me, a difference arises between brothers, and I am again broken up, and sent to St. Michael’s; and now, from the latter place, I am footing my way to the home of a new master, where, I am given to understand, that, like a wild young working animal, I am to be broken to the yoke18 of a bitter and life-long bondage19.”
With thoughts and reflections like these, I came in sight of a small wood-colored building, about a mile from the main road, which, from the description I had received, at starting, I easily recognized as my new home. The Chesapeake bay—upon the jutting20 banks of which the little wood-colored house was standing21—white with foam22, raised by the heavy north-west wind; Poplar Island, covered with a thick, black pine forest, standing out amid this half ocean; and Kent Point, stretching its sandy, desert-like shores out into the foam-cested bay—were all in[161] sight, and deepened the wild and desolate23 aspect of my new home.
The good clothes I had brought with me from Baltimore were now worn thin, and had not been replaced; for Master Thomas was as little careful to provide us against cold, as against hunger. Met here by a north wind, sweeping24 through an open space of forty miles, I was glad to make any port; and, therefore, I speedily pressed on to the little wood-colored house. The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Covey; Miss Kemp (a broken-backed woman) a sister of Mrs. Covey; William Hughes, cousin to Edward Covey; Caroline, the cook; Bill Smith, a hired man; and myself. Bill Smith, Bill Hughes, and myself, were the working force of the farm, which consisted of three or four hundred acres. I was now, for the first time in my life, to be a field hand; and in my new employment I found myself even more awkward than a green country boy may be supposed to be, upon his first entrance into the bewildering scenes of city life; and my awkwardness gave me much trouble. Strange and unnatural25 as it may seem, I had been at my new home but three days, before Mr. Covey (my brother in the Methodist church) gave me a bitter foretaste of what was in reserve for me. I presume he thought, that since he had but a single year in which to complete his work, the sooner he began, the better. Perhaps he thought that by coming to blows at once, we should mutually better understand our relations. But to whatever motive26, direct or indirect, the cause may be referred, I had not been in his possession three whole days, before he subjected me to a most brutal27 chastisement28. Under his heavy blows, blood flowed freely, and wales were left on my back as large as my little finger. The sores on my back, from this flogging, continued for weeks, for they were kept open by the rough and coarse cloth which I wore for shirting. The occasion and details of this first chapter of my experience as a field hand, must be told, that the reader may see how unreasonable29, as well as how cruel, my new master, Covey, was.[162] The whole thing I found to be characteristic of the man; and I was probably treated no worse by him than scores of lads who had previously30 been committed to him, for reasons similar to those which induced my master to place me with him. But, here are the facts connected with the affair, precisely as they occurred.
On one of the coldest days of the whole month of January, 1834, I was ordered, at day break, to get a load of wood, from a forest about two miles from the house. In order to perform this work, Mr. Covey gave me a pair of unbroken oxen, for, it seems, his breaking abilities had not been turned in this direction; and I may remark, in passing, that working animals in the south, are seldom so well trained as in the north. In due form, and with all proper ceremony, I was introduced to this huge yoke of unbroken oxen, and was carefully told which was “Buck,” and which was “Darby”—which was the “in hand,” and which was the “off hand” ox. The master of this important ceremony was no less a person than Mr. Covey, himself; and the introduction was the first of the kind I had ever had. My life, hitherto, had led me away from horned cattle, and I had no knowledge of the art of managing them. What was meant by the “in ox,” as against the “off ox,” when both were equally fastened to one cart, and under one yoke, I could not very easily divine; and the difference, implied by the names, and the peculiar31 duties of each, were alike Greek to me. Why was not the “off ox” called the “in ox?” Where and what is the reason for this distinction in names, when there is none in the things themselves? After initiating32 me into the “woa,” “back” “gee,” “hither”—the entire spoken language between oxen and driver—Mr. Covey took a rope, about ten feet long and one inch thick, and placed one end of it around the horns of the “in hand ox,” and gave the other end to me, telling me that if the oxen started to run away, as the scamp knew they would, I must hold on to the rope and stop them. I need not tell any one who is acquainted with either the strength of the disposition of an untamed ox, that this order[163] was about as unreasonable as a command to shoulder a mad bull! I had never driven oxen before, and I was as awkward, as a driver, as it is possible to conceive. It did not answer for me to plead ignorance, to Mr. Covey; there was something in his manner that quite forbade that. He was a man to whom a slave seldom felt any disposition to speak. Cold, distant, morose34, with a face wearing all the marks of captious35 pride and malicious36 sternness, he repelled37 all advances. Covey was not a large man; he was only about five feet ten inches in height, I should think; short necked, round shoulders; of quick and wiry motion, of thin and wolfish visage; with a pair of small, greenish-gray eyes, set well back under a forehead without dignity, and constantly in motion, and floating his passions, rather than his thoughts, in sight, but denying them utterance38 in words. The creature presented an appearance altogether ferocious39 and sinister40, disagreeable and forbidding, in the extreme. When he spoke33, it was from the corner of his mouth, and in a sort of light growl41, like a dog, when an attempt is made to take a bone from him. The fellow had already made me believe him even worse than he had been presented. With his directions, and without stopping to question, I started for the woods, quite anxious to perform my first exploit in driving, in a creditable manner. The distance from the house to the woods gate a full mile, I should think—was passed over with very little difficulty; for although the animals ran, I was fleet enough, in the open field, to keep pace with them; especially as they pulled me along at the end of the rope; but, on reaching the woods, I was speedily thrown into a distressing42 plight43. The animals took fright, and started off ferociously44 into the woods, carrying the cart, full tilt45, against trees, over stumps46, and dashing from side to side, in a manner altogether frightful48. As I held the rope, I expected every moment to be crushed between the cart and the huge trees, among which they were so furiously dashing. After running thus for several minutes, my oxen were, finally, brought to a stand, by a tree, against which they dashed [164] themselves with great violence, upsetting the cart, and entangling49 themselves among sundry50 young saplings. By the shock, the body of the cart was flung in one direction, and the wheels and tongue in another, and all in the greatest confusion. There I was, all alone, in a thick wood, to which I was a stranger; my cart upset and shattered; my oxen entangled51, wild, and enraged52; and I, poor soul! but a green hand, to set all this disorder53 right. I knew no more of oxen than the ox driver is supposed to know of wisdom. After standing a few moments surveying the damage and disorder, and not without a presentiment54 that this trouble would draw after it others, even more distressing, I took one end of the cart body, and, by an extra outlay55 of strength, I lifted it toward the axle-tree, from which it had been violently flung; and after much pulling and straining, I succeeded in getting the body of the cart in its place. This was an important step out of the difficulty, and its performance increased my courage for the work which remained to be done. The cart was provided with an ax, a tool with which I had become pretty well acquainted in the ship yard at Baltimore. With this, I cut down the saplings by which my oxen were entangled, and again pursued my journey, with my heart in my mouth, lest the oxen should again take it into their senseless heads to cut up a caper56. My fears were groundless. Their spree was over for the present, and the rascals57 now moved off as soberly as though their behavior had been natural and exemplary. On reaching the part of the forest where I had been, the day before, chopping wood, I filled the cart with a heavy load, as a security against another running away. But, the neck of an ox is equal in strength to iron. It defies all ordinary burdens, when excited. Tame and docile58 to a proverb, when well trained, the ox is the most sullen59 and intractable of animals when but half broken to the yoke.
I now saw, in my situation, several points of similarity with that of the oxen. They were property, so was I; they were to be[165] broken, so was I. Covey was to break me, I was to break them; break and be broken—such is life.
Half the day already gone, and my face not yet homeward! It required only two day’s experience and observation to teach me, that such apparent waste of time would not be lightly overlooked by Covey. I therefore hurried toward home; but, on reaching the lane gate, I met with the crowning disaster for the day. This gate was a fair specimen60 of southern handicraft. There were two huge posts, eighteen inches in diameter, rough hewed61 and square, and the heavy gate was so hung on one of these, that it opened only about half the proper distance. On arriving here, it was necessary for me to let go the end of the rope on the horns of the “in hand ox;” and now as soon as the gate was open, and I let go of it to get the rope, again, off went my oxen—making nothing of their load—full tilt; and in doing so they caught the huge gate between the wheel and the cart body, literally62 crushing it to splinters, and coming only within a few inches of subjecting me to a similar crushing, for I was just in advance of the wheel when it struck the left gate post. With these two hair-breadth escape, I thought I could sucessfully(sic) explain to Mr. Covey the delay, and avert63 apprehended64 punishment. I was not without a faint hope of being commended for the stern resolution which I had displayed in accomplishing the difficult task—a task which, I afterwards learned, even Covey himself would not have undertaken, without first driving the oxen for some time in the open field, preparatory to their going into the woods. But, in this I was disappointed. On coming to him, his countenance66 assumed an aspect of rigid67 displeasure, and, as I gave him a history of the casualties of my trip, his wolfish face, with his greenish eyes, became intensely ferocious. “Go back to the woods again,” he said, muttering something else about wasting time. I hastily obeyed; but I had not gone far on my way, when I saw him coming after me. My oxen now behaved themselves with singular[166] propriety68, opposing their present conduct to my representation of their former antics. I almost wished, now that Covey was coming, they would do something in keeping with the character I had given them; but no, they had already had their spree, and they could afford now to be extra good, readily obeying my orders, and seeming to understand them quite as well as I did myself. On reaching the woods, my tormentor—who seemed all the way to be remarking upon the good behavior of his oxen—came up to me, and ordered me to stop the cart, accompanying the same with the threat that he would now teach me how to break gates, and idle away my time, when he sent me to the woods. Suiting the action to the word, Covey paced off, in his own wiry fashion, to a large, black gum tree, the young shoots of which are generally used for ox goads70, they being exceedingly tough. Three of these goads, from four to six feet long, he cut off, and trimmed up, with his large jack-knife. This done, he ordered me to take off my clothes. To this unreasonable order I made no reply, but sternly refused to take off my clothing. “If you will beat me,” thought I, “you shall do so over my clothes.” After many threats, which made no impression on me, he rushed at me with something of the savage fierceness of a wolf, tore off the few and thinly worn clothes I had on, and proceeded to wear out, on my back, the heavy goads which he had cut from the gum tree. This flogging was the first of a series of floggings; and though very severe, it was less so than many which came after it, and these, for offenses71 far lighter72 than the gate breaking.
I remained with Mr. Covey one year (I cannot say I lived with him) and during the first six months that I was there, I was whipped, either with sticks or cowskins, every week. Aching bones and a sore back were my constant companions. Frequent as the lash was used, Mr. Covey thought less of it, as a means of breaking down my spirit, than that of hard and long continued labor. He worked me steadily73, up to the point of my powers of endurance. From the dawn of day in the morning, till the darkness[167] was complete in the evening, I was kept at hard work, in the field or the woods. At certain seasons of the year, we were all kept in the field till eleven and twelve o’clock at night. At these times, Covey would attend us in the field, and urge us on with words or blows, as it seemed best to him. He had, in his life, been an overseer, and he well understood the business of slave driving. There was no deceiving him. He knew just what a man or boy could do, and he held both to strict account. When he pleased, he would work himself, like a very Turk, making everything fly before him. It was, however, scarcely necessary for Mr. Covey to be really present in the field, to have his work go on industriously74. He had the faculty75 of making us feel that he was always present. By a series of adroitly76 managed surprises, which he practiced, I was prepared to expect him at any moment. His plan was, never to approach the spot where his hands were at work, in an open, manly77 and direct manner. No thief was ever more artful in his devices than this man Covey. He would creep and crawl, in ditches and gullies; hide behind stumps and bushes, and practice so much of the cunning of the serpent, that Bill Smith and I—between ourselves—never called him by any other name than “the snake.” We fancied that in his eyes and his gait we could see a snakish resemblance. One half of his proficiency78 in the art of Negro breaking, consisted, I should think, in this species of cunning. We were never secure. He could see or hear us nearly all the time. He was, to us, behind every stump47, tree, bush and fence on the plantation79. He carried this kind of trickery so far, that he would sometimes mount his horse, and make believe he was going to St. Michael’s; and, in thirty minutes afterward65, you might find his horse tied in the woods, and the snake-like Covey lying flat in the ditch, with his head lifted above its edge, or in a fence corner, watching every movement of the slaves! I have known him walk up to us and give us special orders, as to our work, in advance, as if he were leaving home with a view to being absent several days; and before he got half way to the[168] house, he would avail himself of our inattention to his movements, to turn short on his heels, conceal80 himself behind a fence corner or a tree, and watch us until the going down of the sun. Mean and contemptible81 as is all this, it is in keeping with the character which the life of a slaveholder is calculated to produce. There is no earthly inducement, in the slave’s condition, to incite82 him to labor faithfully. The fear of punishment is the sole motive for any sort of industry, with him. Knowing this fact, as the slaveholder does, and judging the slave by himself, he naturally concludes the slave will be idle whenever the cause for this fear is absent. Hence, all sorts of petty deceptions83 are practiced, to inspire this fear.
But, with Mr. Covey, trickery was natural. Everything in the shape of learning or religion, which he possessed84, was made to conform to this semi-lying propensity85. He did not seem conscious that the practice had anything unmanly, base or contemptible about it. It was a part of an important system, with him, essential to the relation of master and slave. I thought I saw, in his very religious devotions, this controlling element of his character. A long prayer at night made up for the short prayer in the morning; and few men could seem more devotional than he, when he had nothing else to do.
Mr. Covey was not content with the cold style of family worship, adopted in these cold latitudes86, which begin and end with a simple prayer. No! the voice of praise, as well as of prayer, must be heard in his house, night and morning. At first, I was called upon to bear some part in these exercises; but the repeated flogging given me by Covey, turned the whole thing into mockery. He was a poor singer, and mainly relied on me for raising the hymn87 for the family, and when I failed to do so, he was thrown into much confusion. I do not think that he ever abused me on account of these vexations. His religion was a thing altogether apart from his worldly concerns. He knew nothing of it as a holy principle, directing and controlling his daily life,[169] making the latter conform to the requirements of the gospel. One or two facts will illustrate88 his character better than a volume of generalties(sic).
I have already said, or implied, that Mr. Edward Covey was a poor man. He was, in fact, just commencing to lay the foundation of his fortune, as fortune is regarded in a slave state. The first condition of wealth and respectability there, being the ownership of human property, every nerve is strained, by the poor man, to obtain it, and very little regard is had to the manner of obtaining it. In pursuit of this object, pious89 as Mr. Covey was, he proved himself to be as unscrupulous and base as the worst of his neighbors. In the beginning, he was only able—as he said—“to buy one slave;” and, scandalous and shocking as is the fact, he boasted that he bought her simply “as a breeder.” But the worst is not told in this naked statement. This young woman (Caroline was her name) was virtually compelled by Mr. Covey to abandon herself to the object for which he had purchased her; and the result was, the birth of twins at the end of the year. At this addition to his human stock, both Edward Covey and his wife, Susan, were ecstatic with joy. No one dreamed of reproaching the woman, or of finding fault with the hired man—Bill Smith—the father of the children, for Mr. Covey himself had locked the two up together every night, thus inviting90 the result.
But I will pursue this revolting subject no further. No better illustration of the unchaste and demoralizing character of slavery can be found, than is furnished in the fact that this professedly Christian91 slaveholder, amidst all his prayers and hymns92, was shamelessly and boastfully encouraging, and actually compelling, in his own house, undisguised and unmitigated fornication, as a means of increasing his human stock. I may remark here, that, while this fact will be read with disgust and shame at the north, it will be laughed at, as smart and praiseworthy in Mr. Covey, at the south; for a man is no more condemned93 there for buying a woman and devoting her to this life of dishonor,[170] than for buying a cow, and raising stock from her. The same rules are observed, with a view to increasing the number and quality of the former, as of the latter.
I will here reproduce what I said of my own experience in this wretched place, more than ten years ago:
If at any one time of my life, more than another, I was made to drink the bitterest dregs of slavery, that time was during the first six months of my stay with Mr. Covey. We were worked all weathers. It was never too hot or too cold; it could never rain, blow, snow, or hail too hard for us to work in the field. Work, work, work, was scarcely more the order of the day than the night. The longest days were too short for him, and the shortest nights were too long for him. I was somewhat unmanageable when I first went there; but a few months of his discipline tamed me. Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed; my intellect languished94; the disposition to read departed; the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold95 a man transformed into a brute96!
Sunday was my only leisure time. I spent this in a sort of beast-like stupor97, between sleep and wake, under some large tree. At times, I would rise up, a flash of energetic freedom would dart98 through my soul, accompanied with a faint beam of hope, flickered99 for a moment, and then vanished. I sank down again, mourning over my wretched condition. I was sometimes prompted to take my life, and that of Covey, but was prevented by a combination of hope and fear. My sufferings on this plantation seem now like a dream rather than a stern reality.
Our house stood within a few rods of the Chesapeake bay, whose broad bosom100 was ever white with sails from every quarter of the habitable globe. Those beautiful vessels101, robed in purest white, so delightful102 to the eye of freemen, were to me so many shrouded103 ghosts, to terrify and torment69 me with thoughts of my wretched condition. I have often, in the deep stillness of a summer’s Sabbath, stood all alone upon the banks of that noble bay, and traced, with saddened heart and tearful eye, the countless104 number of sails moving off to the mighty105 ocean. The sight of these always affected106 me powerfully. My thoughts would compel utterance; and there, with no audience but the Almighty107, I would pour out my soul’s complaint in my rude way, with an apostrophe to the moving multitude of ships:
“You are loosed from your moorings, and free; I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale108, and I sadly before the bloody109 whip! You are freedom’s swift-winged angels, that fly around the world; I am confined in bands of iron! O, that I were free! O, that I were on one of your gallant110 decks, and under your protecting wing! Alas111! betwixt me[171] and you the turbid112 waters roll. Go on, go on. O that I could also go! Could I but swim! If I could fly! O, why was I born a man, of whom to make a brute! The glad ship is gone; she hides in the dim distance. I am left in the hottest hell of unending slavery. O God, save me! God, deliver me! Let me be free! Is there any God? Why am I a slave? I will run away. I will not stand it. Get caught, or get clear, I’ll try it. I had as well die with ague as with fever. I have only one life to lose. I had as well be killed running as die standing. Only think of it; one hundred miles straight north, and I am free! Try it? Yes! God helping113 me, I will. It cannot be that I shall live and die a slave. I will take to the water. This very bay shall yet bear me into freedom. The steamboats steered114 in a north-east coast from North Point. I will do the same; and when I get to the head of the bay, I will turn my canoe adrift, and walk straight through Delaware into Pennsylvania. When I get there, I shall not be required to have a pass; I will travel without being disturbed. Let but the first opportunity offer, and come what will, I am off. Meanwhile, I will try to bear up under the yoke. I am not the only slave in the world. Why should I fret115? I can bear as much as any of them. Besides, I am but a boy, and all boys are bound to some one. It may be that my misery116 in slavery will only increase my happiness when I get free. There is a better day coming.”
I shall never be able to narrate117 the mental experience through which it was my lot to pass during my stay at Covey’s. I was completely wrecked118, changed and bewildered; goaded119 almost to madness at one time, and at another reconciling myself to my wretched condition. Everything in the way of kindness, which I had experienced at Baltimore; all my former hopes and aspirations120 for usefulness in the world, and the happy moments spent in the exercises of religion, contrasted with my then present lot, but increased my anguish.
I suffered bodily as well as mentally. I had neither sufficient time in which to eat or to sleep, except on Sundays. The overwork, and the brutal chastisements of which I was the victim, combined with that ever-gnawing and soul-devouring thought—“I am a slave—a slave for life—a slave with no rational ground to hope for freedom”—rendered me a living embodiment of mental and physical wretchedness.
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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rigors
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| 严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直 | |
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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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disposition
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consolation
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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drawn
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evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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attachments
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| n.（用电子邮件发送的）附件( attachment的名词复数 )；附着；连接；附属物 | |
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yoke
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bondage
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jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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standing
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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28
chastisement
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| n.惩罚 | |
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29
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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30
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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31
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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32
initiating
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| v.开始( initiate的现在分词 )；传授；发起；接纳新成员 | |
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33
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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34
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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35
captious
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| adj.难讨好的，吹毛求疵的 | |
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36
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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37
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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38
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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39
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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40
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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41
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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42
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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43
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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44
ferociously
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| 野蛮地，残忍地 | |
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45
tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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46
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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47
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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48
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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49
entangling
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| v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的现在分词 ) | |
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50
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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51
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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53
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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54
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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55
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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56
caper
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| v.雀跃，欢蹦；n.雀跃，跳跃；续随子，刺山柑花蕾；嬉戏 | |
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57
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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60
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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61
hewed
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的过去式和过去分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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62
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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63
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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66
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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67
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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68
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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69
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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goads
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| n.赶牲口的尖棒( goad的名词复数 )v.刺激( goad的第三人称单数 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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71
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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72
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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73
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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74
industriously
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75
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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76
adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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77
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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78
proficiency
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| n.精通，熟练，精练 | |
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79
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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80
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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81
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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82
incite
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| v.引起，激动，煽动 | |
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83
deceptions
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| 欺骗( deception的名词复数 )； 骗术，诡计 | |
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84
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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85
propensity
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| n.倾向；习性 | |
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86
latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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87
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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88
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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89
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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90
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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91
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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92
hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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93
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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94
languished
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| 长期受苦( languish的过去式和过去分词 )； 受折磨； 变得（越来越）衰弱； 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐 | |
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95
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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96
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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97
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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98
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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99
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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101
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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102
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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103
shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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104
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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105
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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106
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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107
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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108
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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109
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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110
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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111
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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112
turbid
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| adj.混浊的，泥水的，浓的 | |
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113
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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114
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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115
fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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116
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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117
narrate
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| v.讲，叙述 | |
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118
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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119
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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120
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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