For all these reasons, and for others less easily and briefly9 statable, I find the early morning to be my most ghostly time. Any house would be more or less haunted, to me, in the early morning; and a haunted house could scarcely address me to greater advantage than then.
I walked on into the village, with the desertion of this house upon my mind, and I found the landlord of the little inn, sanding his door-step. I bespoke10 breakfast, and broached11 the subject of the house.
“Is it haunted?” I asked.
The landlord looked at me, shook his head, and answered, “I say nothing.”
“Then it is haunted?”
p. 125“Well!” cried the landlord, in an outburst of frankness that had the appearance of desperation—“I wouldn’t sleep in it.”
“Why not?”
“If I wanted to have all the bells in a house ring, with nobody to ring ’em; and all the doors in a house bang, with nobody to bang ’em; and all sorts of feet treading about, with no feet there; why, then,” said the landlord, “I’d sleep in that house.”
“Is anything seen there?”
The landlord looked at me again, and then, with his former appearance of desperation, called down his stable-yard for “Ikey!”
The call produced a high-shouldered young fellow, with a round red face, a short crop of sandy hair, a very broad humorous mouth, a turned-up nose, and a great sleeved waistcoat of purple bars, with mother-of-pearl buttons, that seemed to be growing upon him, and to be in a fair way—if it were not pruned—of covering his head and overunning his boots.
“This gentleman wants to know,” said the landlord, “if anything’s seen at the Poplars.”
“’Ooded woman with a howl,” said Ikey, in a state of great freshness.
“Do you mean a cry?”
“I mean a bird, sir.”
“I seen the howl.”
“Never the woman?”
“Not so plain as the howl, but they always keeps together.”
“Has anybody ever seen the woman as plainly as the owl?”
“Lord bless you, sir! Lots.”
“Who?”
“Lord bless you, sir! Lots.”
“The general-dealer opposite, for instance, who is opening his shop?”
“Perkins? Bless you, Perkins wouldn’t go a-nigh the place. No!” observed the young man, with considerable feeling; “he an’t overwise, an’t Perkins, but he an’t such a fool as that.”
(Here, the landlord murmured his confidence in Perkins’s knowing better.)
“Who is—or who was—the hooded woman with the owl? Do you know?”
“Well!” said Ikey, holding up his cap with one hand while he scratched his head with the other, “they say, in general, that she was murdered, and the howl he ’ooted the while.”
This very concise13 summary of the facts was all I could learn, except that a young man, as hearty14 and likely a young man as ever I see, had been took with fits and held down in ’em, after seeing the hooded woman. Also, that a personage, dimly described as “a hold chap, a p. 126sort of one-eyed tramp, answering to the name of Joby, unless you challenged him as Greenwood, and then he said, ‘Why not? and even if so, mind your own business,’” had encountered the hooded woman, a matter of five or six times. But, I was not materially assisted by these witnesses: inasmuch as the first was in California, and the last was, as Ikey said (and he was confirmed by the landlord), Anywheres.
Now, although I regard with a hushed and solemn fear, the mysteries, between which and this state of existence is interposed the barrier of the great trial and change that fall on all the things that live; and although I have not the audacity15 to pretend that I know anything of them; I can no more reconcile the mere16 banging of doors, ringing of bells, creaking of boards, and such-like insignificances, with the majestic17 beauty and pervading18 analogy of all the Divine rules that I am permitted to understand, than I had been able, a little while before, to yoke19 the spiritual intercourse20 of my fellow-traveller to the chariot of the rising sun. Moreover, I had lived in two haunted houses—both abroad. In one of these, an old Italian palace, which bore the reputation of being very badly haunted indeed, and which had recently been twice abandoned on that account, I lived eight months, most tranquilly21 and pleasantly: notwithstanding that the house had a score of mysterious bedrooms, which were never used, and possessed22, in one large room in which I sat reading, times out of number at all hours, and next to which I slept, a haunted chamber23 of the first pretensions24. I gently hinted these considerations to the landlord. And as to this particular house having a bad name, I reasoned with him, Why, how many things had bad names undeservedly, and how easy it was to give bad names, and did he not think that if he and I were persistently25 to whisper in the village that any weird-looking, old drunken tinker of the neighbourhood had sold himself to the Devil, he would come in time to be suspected of that commercial venture! All this wise talk was perfectly26 ineffective with the landlord, I am bound to confess, and was as dead a failure as ever I made in my life.
To cut this part of the story short, I was piqued27 about the haunted house, and was already half resolved to take it. So, after breakfast, I got the keys from Perkins’s brother-in-law (a whip and harness maker28, who keeps the Post Office, and is under submission29 to a most rigorous wife of the Doubly Seceding30 Little Emmanuel persuasion), and went up to the house, attended by my landlord and by Ikey.
Within, I found it, as I had expected, transcendently dismal31. The slowly changing shadows waved on it from the heavy trees, were doleful in the last degree; the house was ill-placed, ill-built, ill-planned, and ill-fitted. It was damp, it was not free from dry rot, there was a flavour of rats in it, and it was the gloomy victim of that indescribable decay which settles on all the work of man’s hands whenever it’s not turned to man’s account. The kitchens and offices p. 127were too large, and too remote from each other. Above stairs and below, waste tracts32 of passage intervened between patches of fertility represented by rooms; and there was a mouldy old well with a green growth upon it, hiding like a murderous trap, near the bottom of the back-stairs, under the double row of bells. One of these bells was labelled, on a black ground in faded white letters, Master B. This, they told me, was the bell that rang the most.
“Rang the bell,” said Ikey.
I was rather struck by the prompt dexterity34 with which this young man pitched his fur cap at the bell, and rang it himself. It was a loud, unpleasant bell, and made a very disagreeable sound. The other bells were inscribed35 according to the names of the rooms to which their wires were conducted: as “Picture Room,” “Double Room,” “Clock Room,” and the like. Following Master B.’s bell to its source I found that young gentleman to have had but indifferent third-class accommodation in a triangular36 cabin under the cock-loft37, with a corner fireplace which Master B. must have been exceedingly small if he were ever able to warm himself at, and a corner chimney-piece like a pyramidal staircase to the ceiling for Tom Thumb. The papering of one side of the room had dropped down bodily, with fragments of plaster adhering to it, and almost blocked up the door. It appeared that Master B., in his spiritual condition, always made a point of pulling the paper down. Neither the landlord nor Ikey could suggest why he made such a fool of himself.
Except that the house had an immensely large rambling38 loft at top, I made no other discoveries. It was moderately well furnished, but sparely. Some of the furniture—say, a third—was as old as the house; the rest was of various periods within the last half-century. I was referred to a corn-chandler in the market-place of the county town to treat for the house. I went that day, and I took it for six months.
It was just the middle of October when I moved in with my maiden39 sister (I venture to call her eight-and-thirty, she is so very handsome, sensible, and engaging). We took with us, a deaf stable-man, my bloodhound Turk, two women servants, and a young person called an Odd Girl. I have reason to record of the attendant last enumerated40, who was one of the Saint Lawrence’s union Female Orphans41, that she was a fatal mistake and a disastrous42 engagement.
The year was dying early, the leaves were falling fast, it was a raw cold day when we took possession, and the gloom of the house was most depressing. The cook (an amiable43 woman, but of a weak turn of intellect) burst into tears on beholding44 the kitchen, and requested that her silver watch might be delivered over to her sister (2 Tuppintock’s Gardens, Liggs’s Walk, Clapham Rise), in the event of anything happening to her from the damp. Streaker45, the housemaid, feigned46 p. 128cheerfulness, but was the greater martyr47. The Odd Girl, who had never been in the country, alone was pleased, and made arrangements for sowing an acorn48 in the garden outside the scullery window, and rearing an oak.
We went, before dark, through all the natural—as opposed to supernatural—miseries incidental to our state. Dispiriting reports ascended49 (like the smoke) from the basement in volumes, and descended50 from the upper rooms. There was no rolling-pin, there was no salamander (which failed to surprise me, for I don’t know what it is), there was nothing in the house, what there was, was broken, the last people must have lived like pigs, what could the meaning of the landlord be? Through these distresses51, the Odd Girl was cheerful and exemplary. But within four hours after dark we had got into a supernatural groove52, and the Odd Girl had seen “Eyes,” and was in hysterics.
My sister and I had agreed to keep the haunting strictly53 to ourselves, and my impression was, and still is, that I had not left Ikey, when he helped to unload the cart, alone with the women, or any one of them, for one minute. Nevertheless, as I say, the Odd Girl had “seen Eyes” (no other explanation could ever be drawn54 from her), before nine, and by ten o’clock had had as much vinegar applied55 to her as would pickle56 a handsome salmon57.
I leave a discerning public to judge of my feelings, when, under these untoward58 circumstances, at about half-past ten o’clock Master B.’s bell began to ring in a most infuriated manner, and Turk howled until the house resounded59 with his lamentations!
I hope I may never again be in a state of mind so unchristian as the mental frame in which I lived for some weeks, respecting the memory of Master B. Whether his bell was rung by rats, or mice, or bats, or wind, or what other accidental vibration60, or sometimes by one cause, sometimes another, and sometimes by collusion, I don’t know; but, certain it is, that it did ring two nights out of three, until I conceived the happy idea of twisting Master B.’s neck—in other words, breaking his bell short off—and silencing that young gentleman, as to my experience and belief, for ever.
But, by that time, the Odd Girl had developed such improving powers of catalepsy, that she had become a shining example of that very inconvenient61 disorder62. She would stiffen63, like a Guy Fawkes endowed with unreason, on the most irrelevant64 occasions. I would address the servants in a lucid65 manner, pointing out to them that I had painted Master B.’s room and balked66 the paper, and taken Master B.’s bell away and balked the ringing, and if they could suppose that that confounded boy had lived and died, to clothe himself with no better behaviour than would most unquestionably have brought him and the sharpest particles of a birch-broom into close acquaintance in the present imperfect state of existence, could they also suppose a mere poor human being, such as I was, capable by p. 129those contemptible67 means of counteracting68 and limiting the powers of the disembodied spirits of the dead, or of any spirits?—I say I would become emphatic69 and cogent70, not to say rather complacent71, in such an address, when it would all go for nothing by reason of the Odd Girl’s suddenly stiffening72 from the toes upward, and glaring among us like a parochial petrifaction73.
Streaker, the housemaid, too, had an attribute of a most discomfiting74 nature. I am unable to say whether she was of an unusually lymphatic temperament75, or what else was the matter with her, but this young woman became a mere Distillery for the production of the largest and most transparent76 tears I ever met with. Combined with these characteristics, was a peculiar77 tenacity78 of hold in those specimens79, so that they didn’t fall, but hung upon her face and nose. In this condition, and mildly and deplorably shaking her head, her silence would throw me more heavily than the Admirable Crichton could have done in a verbal disputation for a purse of money. Cook, likewise, always covered me with confusion as with a garment, by neatly80 winding81 up the session with the protest that the Ouse was wearing her out, and by meekly82 repeating her last wishes regarding her silver watch.
As to our nightly life, the contagion83 of suspicion and fear was among us, and there is no such contagion under the sky. Hooded woman? According to the accounts, we were in a perfect Convent of hooded women. Noises? With that contagion downstairs, I myself have sat in the dismal parlour, listening, until I have heard so many and such strange noises, that they would have chilled my blood if I had not warmed it by dashing out to make discoveries. Try this in bed, in the dead of the night: try this at your own comfortable fire-side, in the life of the night. You can fill any house with noises, if you will, until you have a noise for every nerve in your nervous system.
I repeat; the contagion of suspicion and fear was among us, and there is no such contagion under the sky. The women (their noses in a chronic84 state of excoriation85 from smelling-salts) were always primed and loaded for a swoon, and ready to go off with hair-triggers. The two elder detached the Odd Girl on all expeditions that were considered doubly hazardous86, and she always established the reputation of such adventures by coming back cataleptic. If Cook or Streaker went overhead after dark, we knew we should presently hear a bump on the ceiling; and this took place so constantly, that it was as if a fighting man were engaged to go about the house, administering a touch of his art which I believe is called The Auctioneer, to every domestic he met with.
It was in vain to do anything. It was in vain to be frightened, for the moment in one’s own person, by a real owl, and then to show the owl. It was in vain to discover, by striking an accidental discord87 on the piano, that Turk always howled at particular notes and combinations. p. 130It was in vain to be a Rhadamanthus with the bells, and if an unfortunate bell rang without leave, to have it down inexorably and silence it. It was in vain to fire up chimneys, let torches down the well, charge furiously into suspected rooms and recesses88. We changed servants, and it was no better. The new set ran away, and a third set came, and it was no better. At last, our comfortable housekeeping got to be so disorganised and wretched, that I one night dejectedly said to my sister: “Patty, I begin to despair of our getting people to go on with us here, and I think we must give this up.”
My sister, who is a woman of immense spirit, replied, “No, John, don’t give it up. Don’t be beaten, John. There is another way.”
“And what is that?” said I.
“John,” returned my sister, “if we are not to be driven out of this house, and that for no reason whatever, that is apparent to you or me, we must help ourselves and take the house wholly and solely89 into our own hands.”
“But, the servants,” said I.
“Have no servants,” said my sister, boldly.
Like most people in my grade of life, I had never thought of the possibility of going on without those faithful obstructions90. The notion was so new to me when suggested, that I looked very doubtful. “We know they come here to be frightened and infect one another, and we know they are frightened and do infect one another,” said my sister.
“With the exception of Bottles,” I observed, in a meditative91 tone.
(The deaf stable-man. I kept him in my service, and still keep him, as a phenomenon of moroseness92 not to be matched in England.)
“To be sure, John,” assented93 my sister; “except Bottles. And what does that go to prove? Bottles talks to nobody, and hears nobody unless he is absolutely roared at, and what alarm has Bottles ever given, or taken! None.”
This was perfectly true; the individual in question having retired94, every night at ten o’clock, to his bed over the coach-house, with no other company than a pitchfork and a pail of water. That the pail of water would have been over me, and the pitchfork through me, if I had put myself without announcement in Bottles’s way after that minute, I had deposited in my own mind as a fact worth remembering. Neither had Bottles ever taken the least notice of any of our many uproars95. An imperturbable96 and speechless man, he had sat at his supper, with Streaker present in a swoon, and the Odd Girl marble, and had only put another potato in his cheek, or profited by the general misery97 to help himself to beefsteak pie.
“And so,” continued my sister, “I exempt98 Bottles. And considering, John, that the house is too large, and perhaps too lonely, to be kept well in hand by Bottles, you, and me, I propose that we cast about among our friends for a certain selected number of the most reliable and willing—form a Society here for three months—wait upon ourselves p. 131and one another—live cheerfully and socially—and see what happens.”
I was so charmed with my sister, that I embraced her on the spot, and went into her plan with the greatest ardour.
We were then in the third week of November; but, we took our measures so vigorously, and were so well seconded by the friends in whom we confided99, that there was still a week of the month unexpired, when our party all came down together merrily, and mustered100 in the haunted house.
I will mention, in this place, two small changes that I made while my sister and I were yet alone. It occurring to me as not improbable that Turk howled in the house at night, partly because he wanted to get out of it, I stationed him in his kennel101 outside, but unchained; and I seriously warned the village that any man who came in his way must not expect to leave him without a rip in his own throat. I then casually102 asked Ikey if he were a judge of a gun? On his saying, “Yes, sir, I knows a good gun when I sees her,” I begged the favour of his stepping up to the house and looking at mine.
“She’s a true one, sir,” said Ikey, after inspecting a double-barrelled rifle that I bought in New York a few years ago. “No mistake about her, sir.”
“Ikey,” said I, “don’t mention it; I have seen something in this house.”
“No, sir?” he whispered, greedily opening his eyes. “’Ooded lady, sir?”
“Don’t be frightened,” said I. “It was a figure rather like you.”
“Lord, sir?”
“Ikey!” said I, shaking hands with him warmly: I may say affectionately; “if there is any truth in these ghost-stories, the greatest service I can do you, is, to fire at that figure. And I promise you, by Heaven and earth, I will do it with this gun if I see it again!”
The young man thanked me, and took his leave with some little precipitation, after declining a glass of liquor. I imparted my secret to him, because I had never quite forgotten his throwing his cap at the bell; because I had, on another occasion, noticed something very like a fur cap, lying not far from the bell, one night when it had burst out ringing; and because I had remarked that we were at our ghostliest whenever he came up in the evening to comfort the servants. Let me do Ikey no injustice103. He was afraid of the house, and believed in its being haunted; and yet he would play false on the haunting side, so surely as he got an opportunity. The Odd Girl’s case was exactly similar. She went about the house in a state of real terror, and yet lied monstrously104 and wilfully105, and invented many of the alarms she spread, and made many of the sounds we heard. I had had my eye on the two, and I know it. It is not necessary for me, here, to account for this preposterous106 state of mind; I content myself with remarking that it is familiarly known to every intelligent man who p. 132has had fair medical, legal, or other watchful107 experience; that it is as well established and as common a state of mind as any with which observers are acquainted; and that it is one of the first elements, above all others, rationally to be suspected in, and strictly looked for, and separated from, any question of this kind.
To return to our party. The first thing we did when we were all assembled, was, to draw lots for bedrooms. That done, and every bedroom, and, indeed, the whole house, having been minutely examined by the whole body, we allotted108 the various household duties, as if we had been on a gipsy party, or a yachting party, or a hunting party, or were shipwrecked. I then recounted the floating rumours109 concerning the hooded lady, the owl, and Master B.: with others, still more filmy, which had floated about during our occupation, relative to some ridiculous old ghost of the female gender110 who went up and down, carrying the ghost of a round table; and also to an impalpable Jackass, whom nobody was ever able to catch. Some of these ideas I really believe our people below had communicated to one another in some diseased way, without conveying them in words. We then gravely called one another to witness, that we were not there to be deceived, or to deceive—which we considered pretty much the same thing—and that, with a serious sense of responsibility, we would be strictly true to one another, and would strictly follow out the truth. The understanding was established, that any one who heard unusual noises in the night, and who wished to trace them, should knock at my door; lastly, that on Twelfth Night, the last night of holy Christmas, all our individual experiences since that then present hour of our coming together in the haunted house, should be brought to light for the good of all; and that we would hold our peace on the subject till then, unless on some remarkable112 provocation113 to break silence.
We were, in number and in character, as follows:
First—to get my sister and myself out of the way—there were we two. In the drawing of lots, my sister drew her own room, and I drew Master B.’s. Next, there was our first cousin John Herschel, so called after the great astronomer114: than whom I suppose a better man at a telescope does not breathe. With him, was his wife: a charming creature to whom he had been married in the previous spring. I thought it (under the circumstances) rather imprudent to bring her, because there is no knowing what even a false alarm may do at such a time; but I suppose he knew his own business best, and I must say that if she had been my wife, I never could have left her endearing and bright face behind. They drew the Clock Room. Alfred Starling, an uncommonly115 agreeable young fellow of eight-and-twenty for whom I have the greatest liking116, was in the Double Room; mine, usually, and designated by that name from having a dressing-room within it, with two large and cumbersome117 windows, which no wedges I was ever able to make, would keep from shaking, in any weather, p. 133wind or no wind. Alfred is a young fellow who pretends to be “fast” (another word for loose, as I understand the term), but who is much too good and sensible for that nonsense, and who would have distinguished118 himself before now, if his father had not unfortunately left him a small independence of two hundred a year, on the strength of which his only occupation in life has been to spend six. I am in hopes, however, that his Banker may break, or that he may enter into some speculation119 guaranteed to pay twenty per cent.; for, I am convinced that if he could only be ruined, his fortune is made. Belinda Bates, bosom120 friend of my sister, and a most intellectual, amiable, and delightful121 girl, got the Picture Room. She has a fine genius for poetry, combined with real business earnestness, and “goes in”—to use an expression of Alfred’s—for Woman’s mission, Woman’s rights, Woman’s wrongs, and everything that is woman’s with a capital W, or is not and ought to be, or is and ought not to be. “Most praiseworthy, my dear, and Heaven prosper122 you!” I whispered to her on the first night of my taking leave of her at the Picture-Room door, “but don’t overdo123 it. And in respect of the great necessity there is, my darling, for more employments being within the reach of Woman than our civilisation124 has as yet assigned to her, don’t fly at the unfortunate men, even those men who are at first sight in your way, as if they were the natural oppressors of your sex; for, trust me, Belinda, they do sometimes spend their wages among wives and daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, and grandmothers; and the play is, really, not all Wolf and Red Riding-Hood, but has other parts in it.” However, I digress.
Belinda, as I have mentioned, occupied the Picture Room. We had but three other chambers125: the Corner Room, the Cupboard Room, and the Garden Room. My old friend, Jack111 Governor, “slung his hammock,” as he called it, in the Corner Room. I have always regarded Jack as the finest-looking sailor that ever sailed. He is gray now, but as handsome as he was a quarter of a century ago—nay, handsomer. A portly, cheery, well-built figure of a broad-shouldered man, with a frank smile, a brilliant dark eye, and a rich dark eyebrow126. I remember those under darker hair, and they look all the better for their silver setting. He has been wherever his union namesake flies, has Jack, and I have met old shipmates of his, away in the Mediterranean127 and on the other side of the Atlantic, who have beamed and brightened at the casual mention of his name, and have cried, “You know Jack Governor? Then you know a prince of men!” That he is! And so unmistakably a naval128 officer, that if you were to meet him coming out of an Esquimaux snow-hut in seal’s skin, you would be vaguely129 persuaded he was in full naval uniform.
Jack once had that bright clear eye of his on my sister; but, it fell out that he married another lady and took her to South America, where she died. This was a dozen years ago or more. He brought down with him to our haunted house a little cask of salt beef; for, he p. 134is always convinced that all salt beef not of his own pickling, is mere carrion130, and invariably, when he goes to London, packs a piece in his portmanteau. He had also volunteered to bring with him one “Nat Beaver131,” an old comrade of his, captain of a merchantman. Mr. Beaver, with a thick-set wooden face and figure, and apparently132 as hard as a block all over, proved to be an intelligent man, with a world of watery133 experiences in him, and great practical knowledge. At times, there was a curious nervousness about him, apparently the lingering result of some old illness; but, it seldom lasted many minutes. He got the Cupboard Room, and lay there next to Mr. Undery, my friend and solicitor134: who came down, in an amateur capacity, “to go through with it,” as he said, and who plays whist better than the whole Law List, from the red cover at the beginning to the red cover at the end.
I never was happier in my life, and I believe it was the universal feeling among us. Jack Governor, always a man of wonderful resources, was Chief Cook, and made some of the best dishes I ever ate, including unapproachable curries135. My sister was pastrycook and confectioner. Starling and I were Cook’s Mate, turn and turn about, and on special occasions the chief cook “pressed” Mr. Beaver. We had a great deal of out-door sport and exercise, but nothing was neglected within, and there was no ill-humour or misunderstanding among us, and our evenings were so delightful that we had at least one good reason for being reluctant to go to bed.
We had a few night alarms in the beginning. On the first night, I was knocked up by Jack with a most wonderful ship’s lantern in his hand, like the gills of some monster of the deep, who informed me that he “was going aloft to the main truck,” to have the weathercock down. It was a stormy night and I remonstrated136; but Jack called my attention to its making a sound like a cry of despair, and said somebody would be “hailing a ghost” presently, if it wasn’t done. So, up to the top of the house, where I could hardly stand for the wind, we went, accompanied by Mr. Beaver; and there Jack, lantern and all, with Mr. Beaver after him, swarmed137 up to the top of a cupola, some two dozen feet above the chimneys, and stood upon nothing particular, coolly knocking the weathercock off, until they both got into such good spirits with the wind and the height, that I thought they would never come down. Another night, they turned out again, and had a chimney-cowl off. Another night, they cut a sobbing138 and gulping139 water-pipe away. Another night, they found out something else. On several occasions, they both, in the coolest manner, simultaneously140 dropped out of their respective bedroom windows, hand over hand by their counterpanes, to “overhaul” something mysterious in the garden.
The engagement among us was faithfully kept, and nobody revealed anything. All we knew was, if any one’s room were haunted, no one looked the worse for it.
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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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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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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bespoke
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| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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broached
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| v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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hooded
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| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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concise
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| adj.简洁的，简明的 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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17
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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pervading
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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19
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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20
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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21
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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23
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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24
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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25
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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26
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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27
piqued
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| v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 )；激起（好奇心） | |
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28
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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29
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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30
seceding
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| v.脱离，退出( secede的现在分词 ) | |
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31
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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32
tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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33
hooted
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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35
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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36
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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37
loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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38
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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39
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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40
enumerated
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
orphans
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| 孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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42
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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43
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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44
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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45
streaker
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| n.(1970年代出现的)裸跑者 | |
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46
feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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47
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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48
acorn
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| n.橡实，橡子 | |
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49
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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51
distresses
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| n.悲痛( distress的名词复数 )；痛苦；贫困；危险 | |
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52
groove
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| n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯 | |
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53
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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54
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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55
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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56
pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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57
salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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58
untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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59
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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60
vibration
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| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
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61
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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62
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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63
stiffen
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| v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬 | |
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64
irrelevant
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| adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的 | |
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65
lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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66
balked
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| v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑 | |
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67
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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68
counteracting
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| 对抗，抵消( counteract的现在分词 ) | |
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69
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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70
cogent
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| adj.强有力的，有说服力的 | |
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71
complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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72
stiffening
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| n. (使衣服等)变硬的材料, 硬化 动词stiffen的现在分词形式 | |
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73
petrifaction
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| n.石化，化石；吓呆；惊呆 | |
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74
discomfiting
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| v.使为难( discomfit的现在分词 )；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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75
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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76
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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77
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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78
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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79
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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80
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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81
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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82
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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83
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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84
chronic
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| adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的 | |
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85
excoriation
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| n.严厉的责难；苛责；表皮脱落；抓痕 | |
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86
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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87
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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88
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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89
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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90
obstructions
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| n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠 | |
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91
meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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92
moroseness
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93
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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95
uproars
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| 吵闹，喧嚣，骚乱( uproar的名词复数 ) | |
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96
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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97
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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98
exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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99
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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100
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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101
kennel
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| n.狗舍，狗窝 | |
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102
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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103
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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104
monstrously
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105
wilfully
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| adv.任性固执地；蓄意地 | |
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106
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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107
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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108
allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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109
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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110
gender
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| n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性 | |
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111
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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112
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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113
provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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114
astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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115
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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116
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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117
cumbersome
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| adj.笨重的，不便携带的 | |
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118
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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119
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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120
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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121
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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122
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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123
overdo
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| vt.把...做得过头，演得过火 | |
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124
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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125
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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126
eyebrow
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| n.眉毛，眉 | |
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127
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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128
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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129
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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130
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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131
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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132
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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133
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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134
solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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135
curries
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| n.咖喱食品( curry的名词复数 ) | |
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136
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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137
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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138
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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139
gulping
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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140
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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