"Of course! I want very much to see the woman saint." I added, "I have read of her advanced state of God-realization. A little article about her appeared years ago in East-West."
"I have met her," Amiyo went on. "She recently visited my own little town of Jamshedpur. At the entreaty2 of a disciple3, Ananda Moyi Ma went to the home of a dying man. She stood by his bedside; as her hand touched his forehead, his death-rattle ceased. The disease vanished at once; to the man's glad astonishment4, he was well."
A few days later I heard that the Blissful Mother was staying at the home of a disciple in the Bhowanipur section of Calcutta. Mr. Wright and I set out immediately from my father's Calcutta home. As the Ford5 neared the Bhowanipur house, my companion and I observed an unusual street scene.
Ananda Moyi Ma was standing6 in an open-topped automobile7, blessing8 a throng9 of about one hundred disciples10. She was evidently on the point of departure. Mr. Wright parked the Ford some distance away, and accompanied me on foot toward the quiet assemblage. The woman saint glanced in our direction; she alit from her car and walked toward us.
"Father, you have come!" With these fervent11 words she put her arm around my neck and her head on my shoulder. Mr. Wright, to whom I had just remarked that I did not know the saint, was hugely enjoying this extraordinary demonstration12 of welcome. The eyes of the one hundred chelas were also fixed13 with some surprise on the affectionate tableau14.
I had instantly seen that the saint was in a high state of samadhi. Utterly15 oblivious16 to her outward garb17 as a woman, she knew herself as the changeless soul; from that plane she was joyously18 greeting another devotee of God. She led me by the hand into her automobile.
"Ananda Moyi Ma, I am delaying your journey!" I protested.
"Father, I am meeting you for the first time in this life, after ages!" she said. "Please do not leave yet."
We sat together in the rear seats of the car. The Blissful Mother soon entered the immobile ecstatic state. Her beautiful eyes glanced heavenward and, half-opened, became stilled, gazing into the near-far inner Elysium. The disciples chanted gently: "Victory to Mother Divine!"
I had found many men of God-realization in India, but never before had I met such an exalted19 woman saint. Her gentle face was burnished20 with the ineffable21 joy that had given her the name of Blissful Mother. Long black tresses lay loosely behind her unveiled head. A red dot of sandalwood paste on her forehead symbolized22 the spiritual eye, ever open within her. Tiny face, tiny hands, tiny feet-a contrast to her spiritual magnitude!
I put some questions to a near-by woman chela while Ananda Moyi Ma remained entranced.
"The Blissful Mother travels widely in India; in many parts she has hundreds of disciples," the chela told me. "Her courageous23 efforts have brought about many desirable social reforms. Although a Brahmin, the saint recognizes no caste distinctions. 45-1 A group of us always travel with her, looking after her comforts. We have to mother her; she takes no notice of her body. If no one gave her food, she would not eat, or make any inquiries24. Even when meals are placed before her, she does not touch them. To prevent her disappearance25 from this world, we disciples feed her with our own hands. For days together she often stays in the divine trance, scarcely breathing, her eyes unwinking. One of her chief disciples is her husband. Many years ago, soon after their marriage, he took the vow26 of silence."
The chela pointed27 to a broad-shouldered, fine-featured man with long hair and hoary28 beard. He was standing quietly in the midst of the gathering29, his hands folded in a disciple's reverential attitude.
Refreshed by her dip in the Infinite, Ananda Moyi Ma was now focusing her consciousness on the material world.
"At present, in Calcutta or Ranchi; but soon I shall be returning to America."
"America?"
"Yes. An Indian woman saint would be sincerely appreciated there by spiritual seekers. Would you like to go?"
"If Father can take me, I will go."
This reply caused her near-by disciples to start in alarm.
"Twenty or more of us always travel with the Blissful Mother," one of them told me firmly. "We could not live without her. Wherever she goes, we must go."
Reluctantly I abandoned the plan, as possessing an impractical31 feature of spontaneous enlargement!
"Please come at least to Ranchi, with your disciples," I said on taking leave of the saint. "As a divine child yourself, you will enjoy the little ones in my school."
"Whenever Father takes me, I will gladly go."
A short time later the Ranchi Vidyalaya was in gala array for the saint's promised visit. The youngsters looked forward to any day of festivity-no lessons, hours of music, and a feast for the climax32!
"Victory! Ananda Moyi Ma, ki jai!" This reiterated33 chant from scores of enthusiastic little throats greeted the saint's party as it entered the school gates. Showers of marigolds, tinkle34 of cymbals35, lusty blowing of conch shells and beat of the mridanga drum! The Blissful Mother wandered smilingly over the sunny Vidyalaya grounds, ever carrying within her the portable paradise.
"It is beautiful here," Ananda Moyi Ma said graciously as I led her into the main building. She seated herself with a childlike smile by my side. The closest of dear friends, she made one feel, yet an aura of remoteness was ever around her-the paradoxical isolation36 of Omnipresence.
"Please tell me something of your life."
"Father knows all about it; why repeat it?" She evidently felt that the factual history of one short incarnation was beneath notice.
I laughed, gently repeating my question.
"Father, there is little to tell." She spread her graceful37 hands in a deprecatory gesture. "My consciousness has never associated itself with this temporary body. Before I came on this earth, Father, 'I was the same.' As a little girl, 'I was the same.' I grew into womanhood, but still 'I was the same.' When the family in which I had been born made arrangements to have this body married, 'I was the same.' And when, passion-drunk, my husband came to me and murmured endearing words, lightly touching38 my body, he received a violent shock, as if struck by lightning, for even then 'I was the same.'
"'Mother,' he said, 'because I have desecrated40 your bodily temple by touching it with the thought of lust-not knowing that within it dwelt not my wife but the Divine Mother-I take this solemn vow: I shall be your disciple, a celibate41 follower42, ever caring for you in silence as a servant, never speaking to anyone again as long as I live. May I thus atone43 for the sin I have today committed against you, my guru.'
"Even when I quietly accepted this proposal of my husband's, 'I was the same.' And, Father, in front of you now, 'I am the same.' Ever afterward44, though the dance of creation change around me in the hall of eternity45, 'I shall be the same.'"
Ananda Moyi Ma sank into a deep meditative46 state. Her form was statue- still; she had fled to her ever-calling kingdom. The dark pools of her eyes appeared lifeless and glassy. This expression is often present when saints remove their consciousness from the physical body, which is then hardly more than a piece of soulless clay. We sat together for an hour in the ecstatic trance. She returned to this world with a gay little laugh.
"Please, Ananda Moyi Ma," I said, "come with me to the garden. Mr. Wright will take some pictures."
"Of course, Father. Your will is my will." Her glorious eyes retained the unchanging divine luster47 as she posed for many photographs.
Time for the feast! Ananda Moyi Ma squatted48 on her blanket-seat, a disciple at her elbow to feed her. Like an infant, the saint obediently swallowed the food after the chela had brought it to her lips. It was plain that the Blissful Mother did not recognize any difference between curries49 and sweetmeats!
As dusk approached, the saint left with her party amidst a shower of rose petals50, her hands raised in blessing on the little lads. Their faces shone with the affection she had effortlessly awakened51.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:" Christ has proclaimed, "this is the first commandment." 45-2
Casting aside every inferior attachment52, Ananda Moyi Ma offers her sole allegiance to the Lord. Not by the hairsplitting distinctions of scholars but by the sure logic53 of faith, the childlike saint has solved the only problem in human life-establishment of unity54 with God. Man has forgotten this stark55 simplicity56, now befogged by a million issues. Refusing a monotheistic love to God, the nations disguise their infidelity by punctilious57 respect before the outward shrines58 of charity. These humanitarian59 gestures are virtuous60, because for a moment they divert man's attention from himself, but they do not free him from his single responsibility in life, referred to by Jesus as the first commandment. The uplifting obligation to love God is assumed with man's first breath of an air freely bestowed61 by his only Benefactor62.
On one other occasion after her Ranchi visit I had opportunity to see Ananda Moyi Ma. She stood among her disciples some months later on the Serampore station platform, waiting for the train.
"Father, I am going to the Himalayas," she told me. "Generous disciples have built me a hermitage in Dehra Dun."
As she boarded the train, I marveled to see that whether amidst a crowd, on a train, feasting, or sitting in silence, her eyes never looked away from God. Within me I still hear her voice, an echo of measureless sweetness:
45-1: I find some further facts of Ananda Moyi Ma's life, printed in East-West. The saint was born in 1893 at Dacca in central Bengal. Illiterate64, she has yet stunned65 the intellectuals by her wisdom. Her verses in Sanskrit have filled scholars with wonderment. She has brought consolation66 to bereaved67 persons, and effected miraculous68 cures, by her mere69 presence.
45-2: Mark 12:30.
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1
permeated
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| 弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透 | |
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entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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disciple
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| n.信徒，门徒，追随者 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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tableau
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| n.画面，活人画（舞台上活人扮的静态画面） | |
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15
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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19
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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20
burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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21
ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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symbolized
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| v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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24
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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25
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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28
hoary
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| adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的 | |
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29
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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30
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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31
impractical
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| adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的 | |
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32
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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33
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
tinkle
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| vi.叮当作响；n.叮当声 | |
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35
cymbals
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| pl.铙钹 | |
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36
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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37
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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38
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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39
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
desecrated
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| 毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
celibate
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| adj.独身的，独身主义的；n.独身者 | |
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42
follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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43
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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44
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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45
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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46
meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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47
luster
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| n.光辉；光泽，光亮；荣誉 | |
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48
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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49
curries
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| n.咖喱食品( curry的名词复数 ) | |
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50
petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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51
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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52
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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53
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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54
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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55
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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56
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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57
punctilious
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| adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的 | |
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58
shrines
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| 圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
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59
humanitarian
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| n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者 | |
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60
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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61
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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63
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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64
illiterate
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| adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲 | |
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65
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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66
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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67
bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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68
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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69
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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