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Chapter 7
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   A VOICE near his foot said: "Got a cigarette?" He drew quickly back and trod on an arm. A voice said imperatively1: "Water, quick," as if whoever it was thought he could take a stranger unawares, and make him fork out.
   "Got a cigarette?"
   "No." He said weakly: "I have nothing at all," and imagined he could feel enmity fuming2 up all round him like smoke. He moved again. Somebody said: "Look out for the bucket." That was where the stench came from. He stood perfectly3 still and waited for his sight to return. Outside the rain began to stop: it dropped haphazardly4 and the thunder moved away. You could count forty now between the lightning flash and the roll. Forty miles, superstition5 said. Half-way to the sea, or half-way to the mountains. He felt around with his foot, trying to find [115] enough space to sit down—but there seemed to be no room at all. When the lightning went on he could see the hammocks at the edge of the courtyard.
   "Got something to eat?" a voice said, and when he didn't answer, "Got something to eat?"
   "No."
   "Got any money?" another voice said.
   "No."
   Suddenly, from about five feet away, there came a tiny scream—a woman's. A tired voice said: "Can't you be quiet?" Among the furtive6 movements came again the muffled7 painless cries. He realized with horror that pleasure was going on even in this crowded darkness. Again he put out his foot and began to edge his way inch by inch away from the grille. Behind the human voices another noise went permanently8 on: it was like a small machine, an electric belt set at a certain tempo9. It filled any silences that there were, louder than human breath. It was the mosquitoes.
   He had moved perhaps six feet from the grille, and his eyes began to distinguish heads—perhaps the sky was clearing: they hung around him like gourds10. A voice said: "Who are you?" He made no reply, feeling panic, edging in: suddenly he found himself against the back wall: the stone was wet against his hand—the cell could not have been more than twelve feet deep. He found he could just sit down if he kept his feet drawn11 up under him. An old man lay slumped12 against his shoulder: he told his age from the feather-weight lightness of the bones, the feeble uneven13 flutter of the breath. He was either somebody close to birth or death—and he could hardly be a child in this place. He said suddenly: "Is that you, Catarina?" and his breath went out in a long patient sigh, as if he had been waiting for a long while and could afford to wait a lot longer.
   The priest said: "No. Not Catarina." When he spoke14 everybody became suddenly silent, listening, as if what he said had importance: then the voices and movements began again. But the sound of his own voice, the sense of communication with a neighbour, calmed him.
   "You wouldn't be," the old man said. "I didn't really think you were. She'll never come."
   "Is she your wife?"
   [116] "What's that you're saying? I haven't got a wife."
   "Catarina."
   "She's my daughter." Everybody was listening again: except the two invisible people who were concerned only in their hooded15 and cramped16 pleasure.
   "Perhaps they won't allow her here."
   "She'll never try," the old hopeless voice pronounced with absolute conviction. The priest's feet began to ache, drawn up under his haunches. He said: "If she loves you ..." Somewhere across the huddle18 of dark shapes the woman cried again—that finished cry of protest and abandonment and pleasure.
   "It's the priests who've done it," the old man said.
   "The priests?"
   "The priests."
   "Why the priests?"
   "The priests."
   A low voice near his knees said: "The old man's crazy. What's the use of asking him questions?"
   "Is that you, Catarina?" He added: "I don't really believe it, you know. It's just a question."
   "Now I've got something to complain about," the voice went on. "A mans got to defend his honour. You'll admit that, won't you?"
   "I don't know anything about honour."
   "I was in the cantina and the man I'm telling you about came up to me and said: 'Your mother's a whore.' Well, I couldn't do anything about it: he'd got his gun on him. All I could do was wait. He drank too much beer—I knew he would—and when he was staggering I followed him out. I had a bottle and I smashed it against a wall. You see, I hadn't got my gun. His family's got influence with the jefe or I'd never be here."
   "It's a terrible thing to kill a man."
   "You talk like a priest."
   "It was the priests who did it," the old man said. "You're right, there."
   "What does he mean?"
   "What does it matter what an old man like that means? I'd like to tell you about something else. …"
   A woman's voice said: "They took the child away from him."
   [117] "Why?"
   "It was a bastard20. They acted quite correctly."
   At the word bastard his heart moved painfully: it was as when a man in love hears a stranger name a flower which is also the name of a woman. Bastard: the word filled him with miserable21 happiness. It brought his own child nearer: he could see her under the tree by the rubbish-dump, unguarded. He repeated "Bastard?" as he might have repeated her name—with tenderness disguised as indifference22.
   "They said he was no fit father. But, of course, when the priests fled, she had to go to him. Where else could she go?" It was like a happy ending until she said: "Of course she hated him. They'd taught her about things." He could imagine the small set mouth of an educated woman. What was she doing here?
   "Why is he in prison?"
   "He had a crucifix."
   The stench from the pail got worse all the time: the night stood round them like a wall, without ventilation, and he could hear somebody making water, drumming on the tin sides. He said: "They had no business ..."
   "They were doing what was right, of course. It was a mortal sin."
   "No right to make her hate him."
   "They know what's right."
   He said: "They were bad priests to do a thing like that. The sin was over. It was their duty to teach—well, love."
   "You don't know what's right. The priests know."
   He said after a moment's hesitation23, very distinctly: "I am a priest."
   It was like the end: there was no need to hope any longer. The ten years' hunt was over at last. There was silence all round him. This place was very like the world: overcrowded with lust24 and crime and unhappy love: it stank25 to heaven; but he realized that after all it was possible to find peace there, when you knew for certain that the time was short.
   "A priest?" the woman said at last.
   "Yes."
   "Do they know?"
   "Not yet."
   [118] He could feel a hand fumbling26 at his sleeve. A voice said: "You shouldn't have told us. Father, there are all sorts here. Murderers ..."
   The voice which had described the crime to him said: "You've no cause to abuse me. Because I kill a man it doesn't mean ..." Whispering started everywhere. The voice said bitterly: "I'm not an informer just because when a man says: 'Your mother's a whore ...' "
   The priest said: "There's no need for anyone to inform on me. That would be a sin. When it's daylight they'll discover for themselves."
   "They'll shoot you, father," the woman's voice said.
   "Yes."
   "Are you afraid?"
   "Yes. Of course."
   A new voice spoke, in the corner from which the sounds of pleasure had come. It said roughly and obstinately28: "A man isn't afraid of a thing like that."
   "No?" the priest said.
   "A bit of pain. What do you expect? It has to come."
   "All the same," the priest said, "I am afraid."
   "Toothache is worse."
   "We can't all be brave men."
   The voice said with contempt: "You believers are all the same. Christianity makes you cowards."
   "Yes. Perhaps you are right. You see I am a bad priest and a bad man. To die in a state of mortal sin"—he gave an uneasy chuckle—"it makes you think."
   "There. It's as I say. Believing in God makes cowards." The voice was triumphant29, as if it had proved something.
   "So then?" the priest said.
   "Better not to believe—and be a brave man."
   "I see—yes. And, of course, if one believed the Governor did not exist or the jefe, if we could pretend that this prison was not a prison at all but a garden, how brave we could be then."
   "That's just foolishness."
   "But when we found that the prison was a prison, and the Governor up there in the square undoubtedly30 existed, well, it wouldn't much matter if we'd been brave for an hour or two."
   [119] "Nobody could say that this prison was not a prison."
   "No? You don't think so? I can see you don't listen to the politicians." His feet were giving him great pain: he had cramp17 in the soles, but he could bring no pressure on the muscles to relieve them. It was not yet midnight: the hours of darkness stretched ahead interminably.
   The woman said suddenly: "Think. We have a martyr31 here ..."
   The priest giggled32: he couldn't stop himself. He said: "I don't think martyrs33 are like this." He became suddenly serious, remembering Maria's words—it wouldn't be a good thing to bring mockery on the Church. He said: "Martyrs are holy men. It is wrong to think that just because one dies ... no. I tell you I am in a state of mortal sin. I have done things I couldn't talk to you about: I could only whisper them in the confessional." Everybody, when he spoke, listened attentively35 to him as if he were addressing them in church: he wondered where the inevitable36 Judas was sitting now, but he wasn't aware of Judas as he had been in the forest hut. He was moved by an enormous and irrational37 affection for the inhabitants of this prison. A phrase came to him: "God so loved the world ... " He said: "My children, you must never think the holy martyrs are like me. You have a name for me. Oh, I've heard you use it before now. I am a whisky priest. I am in here now because they found a bottle of brandy in my pocket." He tried to move his feet from under him: the cramp had passed: now they were lifeless: all feeling gone. Oh, well, let them stay. He wouldn't have to use them often again.
   The old man was muttering, and the priest's thoughts went back to Brigida. The knowledge of the world lay in her like the dark explicable spot in an X-ray photograph: he longed—with a breathless feeling in the breast—to save her, but he knew the surgeon's decision—the ill was incurable39.
   The woman's voice said pleadingly: "A little drink, father ... it's not so important." He wondered why she was here—probably for having a holy picture in her house. She had the tiresome40 intent note of a pious41 woman. They were extraordinarily42 foolish over pictures. Why not burn them? One didn't need a picture. … He said sternly: "Oh, I am not only a drunkard." He had always been worried by the fate of pious [120] women: as much as politicians, they fed on illusion: he was frightened for them. They came to death so often in a state of invincible43 complacency, full of uncharity. It was one's duty, if one could, to rob them of their sentimental44 notions of what was good ... He said in hard accents: "I have a child."
   What a worthy45 woman she was! her voice pleaded in the darkness: he couldn't catch what she said, but it was something about the Good Thief. He said: "My child, the thief repented47. I haven't repented." He remembered her coming into the hut, the dark malicious48 knowing look with the sunlight at her back. He said: "I don't know how to repent46." That was true: he had lost the faculty49. He couldn't say to himself that he wished his sin had never existed, because the sin seemed to him now so unimportant— and he loved the fruit of it. He needed a confessor to draw his mind slowly down the drab passages which led to horror, grief, and repentance50.
   The woman was silent now: he wondered whether after all he had been too harsh with her. If it helped her faith to believe that he was a martyr ... but he rejected the idea: one was pledged to truth. He shifted an inch or two on his hams and said: "What time does it get light?"
   "Four ... five ..." a man replied. "How can we tell, father? We haven't clocks."
   "Have you been here long?"
   "Three weeks."
   "Are you kept here all day?"
   "Oh, no. They let us out to clean the yard."
   He thought: That is when I shall be discovered—unless it's earlier: for surely one of these people will betray me first. A long train of thought began, which led him to announce after a while: "They are offering a reward for me. Five hundred, six hundred pesos, I'm not sure." Then he was silent again. He couldn't urge any man to inform against him—that would be tempting51 him to sin—but at the same time if there was an informer here, there was no reason why the wretched creature should be bilked of his reward. To commit so ugly a sin—it must count as murder—and to have no compensation in this world ... He thought simply: it wouldn't be fair.
   "Nobody here," a voice said, "wants their blood money." Again he was touched by an extraordinary affection. He was [121] just one criminal among a herd52 of criminals ... he had a sense of companionship which he had never received in the old days when pious people came kissing his black cotton glove.
   The pious woman's voice leapt hysterically53 out at him: "It is so stupid to tell them that. You don't know the sort of wretches54 who are here, father. Thieves, murderers …"
   "Well," an angry voice said, "why are you here?"
   "I had good books in my house," she announced, with unbearable55 pride. He had done nothing to shake her complacency. He said: "They are everywhere. It's no different here."
   "Good books?"
   He giggled. "No, no. Thieves, murderers ... Oh, well, my child, if you had more experience you would know there are worse things to be." The old man seemed to be uneasily asleep: his head lay sideways against the priest's shoulder, and he muttered angrily. God knows, it had never been easy to move in this place, but the difficulty seemed to increase as the night wore on and limbs stiffened56. He couldn't twitch57 his shoulder now without waking the old man to another night of suffering. Well, he thought, it was my kind who robbed him: it's only fair to be made a little uncomfortable. … He sat silent and rigid38 against the damp wall, with his dead feet like leprosy under his haunches. The mosquitoes droned on: it was no good defending yourself by striking at the air: they pervaded58 the whole place like an element. Somebody as well as the old man had somewhere fallen asleep and was snoring, a curious note of satisfaction, as though he had eaten and drunk well at a good dinner and was now taking a snooze. … The priest tried to calculate the hour: how much time had passed since he had met the beggar in the plaza59? It was probably not long after midnight: there would be hours more of this.
   It was, of course, the end, but at the same time you had to be prepared for everything, even escape. If God intended him to escape he could snatch him away from in front of a firing squad60. But God was merciful: there was only one reason, surely, which would make Him refuse His peace—if there was any peace—that he could still be of use in saving a soul, his own or another's. But what good could he do now? They had him on the run: he dared not enter a village in case somebody else should pay with his life: perhaps a man who was in mortal [122] sin and unrepentant: it was impossible to say what souls might not be lost simply because he was obstinate27 and proud and wouldn't admit defeat. He couldn't even say Mass any longer —he had no wine. It had all gone down the dry gullet of the Chief of Police. It was—appallingly—complicated. He was still afraid of death; he would be more afraid of death yet when the morning came, but it was beginning to attract him by its simplicity62.
   The pious woman was whispering to him: she must have somehow edged her way nearer: she was saying: "Father, will you hear my confession34?"
   "My dear child, here! It's quite impossible. Where would be the secrecy63?"
   "It's been so long ..."
   "Say an act of contrition64 for your sins. You must trust God, my dear, to make allowances ..."
   "I wouldn't mind suffering …"
   "Well, you are here."
   "That's nothing. In the morning my sister will have raised the money for my fine."
   Somewhere against the far wall pleasure began again: it was unmistakable: the movements, the breathlessness, and then the cry. The pious woman said aloud with fury: "Why won't they stop it? The brutes65, the animals!"
   "What's the good of your saying an act of contrition now in this state of mind?"
   "But the ugliness ..."
   "Don't believe that. It's dangerous. Because suddenly we discover that our sins have so much beauty."
   "Beauty," she said with disgust. "Here. In this cell. With strangers all round."
   Such a lot of beauty. Saints talk about the beauty of suffering. Well, we are not saints, you and I. Suffering to us is just ugly. Stench and crowding and pain. That is beautiful in that corner—to them. It needs a lot of learning to see things with a saint's eye: a saint gets a subtle taste for beauty and can look down on poor ignorant palates like theirs. But we can't afford to."
   "It's a mortal sin."
   [123] "We don't know. It may be. But I'm a bad priest, you see. I know—from experience—how much beauty Satan carried down with him when he fell. Nobody ever said the fallen angels were the ugly ones. Oh, no, they were just as quick and light and ..."
   Again the cry came, an expression of intolerable pleasure. The woman said: "Stop them. It's a scandal." He felt fingers on his knee, grasping, digging. He said: "We're all fellow prisoners. I want drink at this moment more than anything, more than God. That's a sin too."
   "Now," the woman said, "I can see you're a bad priest. I wouldn't believe it before. I do now. You sympathize with these animals. If your bishop66 heard you ..."
   "Ah, he's a very long way off."
   He thought of the old man now—in the capital: living in one of those ugly comfortable pious houses, full of images and holy pictures, saying Mass on Sundays at one of the cathedral altars.
   "When I get out of here, I shall write ..."
   He couldn't help laughing: she had no sense of change at all. He said: "If he gets the letter he'll be interested—to hear I'm alive." But again he became serious. It was more difficult to feel pity for her than for the half-caste who a week ago had tagged him through the forest; but her case might be worse. He had so much excuse—poverty and fever and innumerable humiliations. He said: "Try not to be angry. Pray for me instead."
   "The sooner you are dead the better."
   He couldn't see her in the darkness, but there were plenty of faces he could remember from the old days which fitted the voice. When you visualized67 a man or woman carefully, you could always begin to feel pity ... that was a quality God's image carried with it ... when you saw the lines at the corners of the eyes, the shape of the mouth, how the hair grew, it was impossible to hate. Hate was just a failure of imagination. He began again to feel an enormous responsibility for this pious woman. "You and Padre José," she said. "It's people like you who make people mock—at real religion." She had, after all, as many excuses as the half-caste. He saw the kind of salon68 in [124] which she spent her days, with the rocking-chair and the family photographs, meeting no one. He said gently: "You are not married, are you?"
   "Why do you want to know?"
   "And you never had a vocation69?"
   "They wouldn't believe it," she said bitterly.
   He thought: Poor woman, she's had nothing, nothing at all. If only one could find the right word ... he leant hopelessly back, moving carefully so as not to wake the old man. But the right words never came to him. He was more out of touch with her kind than he had ever been: he would have known what to say to her in the old days, feeling no pity at all, speaking with half a mind a platitude70 or two. Now he felt useless: he was a criminal and ought only to talk to criminals: he had done wrong again, trying to break down her complacency. He might just as well have let her go on thinking him a martyr.
   His eyes closed and immediately he began to dream. He was being pursued: he stood outside a door banging on it, begging for admission, but nobody answered—there was a word, a password, which would save him, but he had forgotten it. He tried desperately72 at random—cheese and child, California, excellency, milk, Vera Cruz. His feet had gone to sleep and he knelt outside the door. Then he knew why he wanted to get in: he wasn't being pursued after all: that was a mistake. His child lay beside him bleeding to death and this was a doctor's s house. He banged on the door and shouted: "Even if I can't think of the right word, haven't you a heart?" The child was dying and looked up at him with middle-aged73 complacent74 wisdom. She said: "You animal," and he woke again crying. He couldn't have slept for more than a few seconds because the woman was still talking about the vocation the nuns76 had refused to recognize. He said: "That made you suffer, didn't it? To suffer like that—perhaps it was better than being a nun75 and happy," and immediately after he had spoken he thought: A silly remark, what does it mean? Why can't I find something to say to her which she could remember? He gave up the effort: this place was very like the world elsewhere: people snatched at causes of pleasure and pride in cramped and disagreeable surroundings: there was no time to do anything worth doing, and always one dreamed of escape ...
   [125] He didn't sleep again: he was striking yet another bargain with God. This time, if he escaped from the prison, he would escape altogether. He would go north, over the border. His escape was so improbable that, if it happened, it couldn't be anything else but a sign—an indication that he was doing more harm by his example than good by his occasional confessions77. The old man moved against his shoulder and the night just stayed around them. The darkness was always the same and there were no clocks—there was nothing to indicate time passing. The only punctuation78 of the night was the sound of urination.
 
   Suddenly, he realized that he could see a face, and then another: he had begun to forget that it would ever be another day, just as one forgets that one will ever die. It comes suddenly on one in a screeching79 brake or a whistle in the air, the knowledge that time moves and comes to an end. All the voices slowly became faces—there were no surprises: the confessional teaches you to recognize the shape of a voice—the loose lip or the weak chin and the false candour of the too straightforward80 eyes. He saw the pious woman a few feet away—uneasily dreaming with her prim81 mouth open, showing strong teeth like tombs: the old man: the boaster in the corner, and his woman asleep untidily across his knees. Now that the day was at last here, he was the only one awake, except for a small Indian boy who squatted82 cross-legged near the door with an expression of interested happiness, as if he had never known such friendly company. Over the courtyard the whitewash83 became visible upon the opposite wall. He began formally to pay his farewell to the world: he couldn't put any heart into it. His corruption84 was less evident to his sense than his death. One bullet, he thought, is almost certain to go directly through the heart—a squad must contain one accurate marksman. Life would go out in a "fraction of a second" (that was the phrase), but all night he had been realizing that time depends on clocks and the passage of light. There were no clocks and the light wouldn't change. Nobody really knew how long a second of pain could be. It might last a whole purgatory—or for ever. For some reason he thought of a man he had once shrived who was on the point of death with cancer—his relatives had had [126] to mule85 their faces, the smell of the rotting interior was so appalling61. He wasn't a saint. Nothing in life was as ugly as death.
   A voice in the yard called: "Montez:" He sat on upon his dead feet; he thought automatically: "This suit isn't good for much more": it was smeared86 and fouled87 by the cell floor and his fellow prisoners: he had obtained it at great risk in a store down by the river, pretending to be a small farmer with ideas above his station. Then he remembered he wouldn't need it much longer—it came with an odd shock, like locking the door of one's house for the last time. The voice repeated impatiently: "Montez."
   He remembered that that, for the moment, was his name. He looked up from his ruined suit and saw the sergeant88 unlocking the cell door. "Here, Montez." He let the old man's head fall gently back against the sweating wall and tried to stand up, but his feet crumpled89 like pastry90. "Do you want to sleep all day?" the sergeant complained testily91: something had irritated him: he wasn't as friendly as he had been the night before. He let out a kick at a sleeping man and beat on the cell door: "Come on. Wake up, all of you. Out into the yard." Only the Indian boy obeyed, sliding unobtrusively out, with his look of alien happiness. The sergeant complained: "The dirty hounds. Do they want us to wash them? You, Montez." Life began to return painfully to his feet. He managed to reach the door.
   The yard had come sluggishly92 to life. A queue of men were bathing their faces at a single tap; a man in a vest and pants sat on the ground hugging a rifle. "Get out into the yard and wash," the sergeant yelled at them, but when the priest stepped out he snapped at him: "Not you, Montez."
   "Not me."
   "We've got other plans for you," the sergeant said.
   The priest stood waiting while his fellow prisoners filed out into the yard. One by one they went past him: he looked at their feet and not their faces, standing93 like a temptation at the door. Nobody said a word: a woman's feet went draggingly by in black worn low-heeled shoes. He whispered without looking up: "Pray for me."
   [127] "What's that you said, Montez?"
   He couldn't think of a lie: he felt as if ten years had exhausted94 his whole stock of deceit.
   "What's that you said?"
   The shoes had stopped moving. The woman's voice said: "He was begging." She added mercilessly: "He ought to have more sense. I've nothing for him." Then she went on, flatfooted, into the yard.
   "Did you sleep well, Montez?" the sergeant badgered him.
   "Not very well."
   "What do you expect?" the sergeant said. "It'll teach you to like brandy too well, won't it?"
   "Yes." He wondered how much longer all these preliminaries would take.
   "Well, if you spend all your money on brandy, you've got to do a bit of work in return for a night's lodging95. Fetch the pails out of the cells and mind you don't spill them—this place stinks96 enough as it is."
   "Where do I take them to?"
   The sergeant pointed97 to the door of the excusado beyond the tap. "Report to me when you've finished that," he said, and went bellowing98 orders back into the yard.
   The priest bent99 down and took the pail: it was full and very heavy: he went bowed with the weight across the yard: sweat got into his eyes. He wiped them free and saw one behind another in the washing queue faces he knew—the hostages. There was Miguel, whom he had seen taken away: he remembered the mother screaming out and the lieutenant100's tired anger and the sun coming up. They saw him at the same time: he put down the heavy pail and looked at them. Not to recognize them would have been like a hint, a claim, a demand to them to go on suffering and let him escape. Miguel had been beaten up: there was a sore under his eye—flies buzzed round it as they buzz round a mule's raw flank. Then the queue moved on: they looked at the ground and passed him: strangers took their place. He prayed silently: O God, send them someone more worthwhile to suffer for. It seemed to him a damnable mockery that they should sacrifice themselves for a whisky priest with a bastard child. The soldier sat in his pants with his gun [128] between his knees paring his nails and biting off the loose skin. In an odd way he felt abandoned because they had shown no sign of recognition.
   The excusado was a cesspool with two planks101 across it on which a man could stand. He emptied the pail and went back across the yard to the row of cells. There were six: one by one he took the pails: once he had to stop and retch: splash, splash, to and fro across the yard. He came to the last cell. It wasn't empty: a man lay back against the wall: the early sun just reached his feet. Flies buzzed around a mound102 of vomit103 on the floor. The eyes opened and watched the priest stooping over the pail: two fangs104 protruded105. ...
   The priest moved quickly and splashed the floor. The half-caste said in that too—familiar nagging106 tone: "Wait a moment. You cant19 do that in here." He explained proudly: "I'm not a prisoner. I'm a guest." The priest made a motion of apology (he was afraid to speak) and moved again. "Wait a moment," the half-caste commanded him again. "Come here."
   The priest stood stubbornly, half-turned away, near the door. "Come here," the half-caste said. "You're a prisoner, aren't you?—and I'm a guest—of the Governor. Do you want me to shout for a policeman? Then do as you're told: come here." It seemed as if God were deciding ... finally. He came, pail in hand, and stood beside the large flat naked foot, and the half-caste looked up at him from the shadow of the wall, asking him sharply and anxiously: "What are you doing here?"
   "Cleaning up."
   "You know what I mean."
   "I was caught with a bottle of brandy," the priest said, trying to roughen his voice.
   "I know you," the half-caste said, "I couldn't believe my eyes, but when you speak ..."
   "I don't think …"
   "That priest's voice," the half-caste said with disgust. He was like a dog of a different breed: he couldn't help his hackles' rising. The big toe moved plumply and inimically. The priest put down the pail. He argued hopelessly: "You're drunk."
   "Beer, beer," the half-caste said, "nothing but beer. They [129] promised me the best of everything, but you can't trust them. Don't I know the jefe's got his own brandy locked away?"
   "I must empty the pail."
   "If you move, I'll shout. I've got so many things to think about," the half-caste complained bitterly. The priest waited: there was nothing else to do: he was at the man's mercy—a silly phrase, for those malarial107 eyes had never known what mercy is. He was saved at any rate from the indignity108 of pleading.
   "You see," the mestizo carefully explained, "I'm comfortable here." His yellow toes curled luxuriously109 beside the vomit. "Good food, beer, company, and this roof doesn't leak. You don't have to tell me what'll happen after—they'll kick me out like a dog, like a dog." He became shrill110 and indignant. "What have they got you here for? That's what I want to know. It looks crooked111 to me. It's my job, isn't it, to find you? Who's going to have the reward if they've got you already? The jefe, I shouldn't wonder, or that bastard sergeant." He brooded unhappily: "You can't trust a soul these days."
   "And there's a Red Shirt," the priest said.
   "A Red Shirt?"
   "He really caught me."
   "Mother of God," the mestizo said, "and they'll all have the ear of the Governor." He looked beseechingly112 up. He said: "You're an educated man. Advise me."
   The priest said: "It would be murder, a mortal sin."
   "I don't mean that. I mean about the reward. You see, as long as they don't know, well, I'm comfortable here. A man deserves a few weeks' holiday. And you can't escape far, can you? It would be better, wouldn't it, to catch you out of here? In the town somewhere? I mean nobody else could claim ..." He said furiously: "A poor man has so much to think about."
   "I dare say," the priest said, "they'd give you something even here."
   "Something," the mestizo said, levering himself up against the wall; "why shouldn't I have it all?"
   "What's going on in here?" the sergeant said. He stood in the doorway113, in the sunlight, looking in.
   [130] The priest said slowly: "He wanted me to clean up his vomit. I said you hadn't told me ..."
   "Oh, he's a guest," the sergeant said. "He's got to be treated right. You do as he says."
   The mestizo smirked114. He said: "And another bottle of beer, sergeant?"
   Not yet," the sergeant said. "You've got to look round the town first."
   The priest picked up the pail and went back across the yard, leaving them arguing. He felt as if a gun were levelled at his back: he went into the excusado and emptied the pail: then came out again into the sun—the gun was levelled at his breast. The two men stood in the cell door talking. He walked across the yard: they watched him come. The sergeant said to the mestizo: "You say you're bilious115 and can't see properly this morning. You clean up your own vomit then. If you don't do your job ..." Behind the sergeant's back the mestizo gave him a cunning and unreassuring wink116. Now that the immediate71 fear was over, he felt only regret. God had decided117. He had to go on with life, go on making decisions, acting118 on his own advice, making plans. …
   It took him another half-hour to finish cleaning the cells, throwing a bucket of water over each floor; he watched the pious woman disappear—as if for ever—through the archway to where her sister waited with the fine: they were both tied up in black shawls like something bought in the market, something hard and dry and second-hand119. Then he reported again to the sergeant, who inspected the cells and criticized his work and ordered him to throw more water down, and then suddenly got tired of the whole business and told him he could go to the jefe for permission to leave. So he waited another hour on the bench outside the jefe's door, watching the sentry120 move lackadaisically121 to and fro in the hot sun.
   And when at last a policeman led him in, it wasn't the jefe who sat at the desk, but the lieutenant. The priest stood not far from his own portrait on the wall and waited. Once he glanced quickly and nervously122 up at the old scrumpled newspaper cutting and thought with relief: It's not very like me now. What an unbearable creature he must have been in those days—and yet in those days he had been comparatively [131] innocent. That was another mystery: it sometimes seemed to him that venial123 sins—impatience, an unimportant lie, pride, a neglected opportunity—cut off from grace more completely than the worst sins of all. Then, in his innocence124, he had felt no love for anyone: now in his corruption he had learnt ...
   "Well," the lieutenant said, "has he cleaned up the cells?" He didn't take his eyes from his papers. He said: "Tell the sergeant I want two dozen men with properly cleaned rifles—within two minutes." He looked abstractedly up at the priest and said: "Well, what are you waiting for?"
   "For permission, Excellency, to go away."
   "I am not an excellency. Learn to call things by their right names." He said sharply: "Have you been here before?"
   "Never."
   "Your name is Montez. I seem to come across too many people of that name in these days. Relations of yours?" He sat watching him closely, as if memory were beginning to work.
   The priest said hurriedly: "My cousin was shot at Concepcion."
   "That was not my fault."
   "I only meant—we were much alike. Our fathers were twins. Not half an hour between them. I thought your Excellency seemed to think ..."
   "As I remember him, he was quite different. A tall thin man ... narrow shoulders ..."
   The priest said hurriedly: "Perhaps only to the family eye …"
   "But then I only saw him once." It was almost as if the lieutenant had something on his conscience, as he sat with his dark Indian-blooded hands restless on the pages, brooding. ... He said: "Where are you going?"
   "God knows."
   "You are all alike, you people. You never learn the truth—that God knows nothing." Some tiny scrap125 of life like a grain of smut went racing126 across the page in front of him: he pressed his finger down on it and said: "You had no money for your fine?" and watched another smut edge out between the leaves, scurrying127 for refuge: in this heat there was no end to life.
   "No."
   "How will you live?"
   [132] "Some work perhaps ..."
   "You are getting too old for work." He put his hand suddenly in his pocket and pulled out a five-peso piece. "There," he said. "Get out of here, and don't let me see your face again. Mind that."
   The priest held the coin in his fist—the price of a Mass. He said with astonishment128: "You're a good man."


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 imperatively f73b47412da513abe61301e8da222257     
adv.命令式地
参考例句:
  • Drying wet rice rapidly and soaking or rewetting dry rice kernels imperatively results in severe fissuring. 潮湿米粒快速干燥或干燥籽粒浸水、回潮均会产生严重的裂纹。 来自互联网
  • Drying wet rice kernels rapidly, Soaking or Rewetting dry rice Kernels imperatively results in severe fissuring. 潮湿米粒的快速干燥,干燥籽粒的浸水或回潮均会带来严重的裂纹。 来自互联网
2 fuming 742478903447fcd48a40e62f9540a430     
愤怒( fume的现在分词 ); 大怒; 发怒; 冒烟
参考例句:
  • She sat in the car, silently fuming at the traffic jam. 她坐在汽车里,心中对交通堵塞感到十分恼火。
  • I was fuming at their inefficiency. 我正因为他们效率低而发火。
3 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
4 haphazardly zrVz8Z     
adv.偶然地,随意地,杂乱地
参考例句:
  • The books were placed haphazardly on the shelf. 书籍乱七八糟地堆放在书架上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It is foolish to haphazardly adventure. 随便冒险是愚蠢的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
5 superstition VHbzg     
n.迷信,迷信行为
参考例句:
  • It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
  • Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。
6 furtive kz9yJ     
adj.鬼鬼崇崇的,偷偷摸摸的
参考例句:
  • The teacher was suspicious of the student's furtive behaviour during the exam.老师怀疑这个学生在考试时有偷偷摸摸的行为。
  • His furtive behaviour aroused our suspicion.他鬼鬼祟祟的行为引起了我们的怀疑。
7 muffled fnmzel     
adj.(声音)被隔的;听不太清的;(衣服)裹严的;蒙住的v.压抑,捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 );用厚厚的衣帽包着(自己)
参考例句:
  • muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
  • There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 permanently KluzuU     
adv.永恒地,永久地,固定不变地
参考例句:
  • The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
  • The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
9 tempo TqEy3     
n.(音乐的)速度;节奏,行进速度
参考例句:
  • The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
  • They waltz to the tempo of the music.他们跟着音乐的节奏跳华尔兹舞。
10 gourds 1636ce21bb8431b34145df5b9c485150     
n.葫芦( gourd的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Dried gourds are sometimes used as ornaments. 干葫芦有时用作饰品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The villagers use gourds for holding water. 村民们用葫芦盛水。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
12 slumped b010f9799fb8ebd413389b9083180d8d     
大幅度下降,暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 ); 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]
参考例句:
  • Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
  • The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上,疲惫得睡着了。
13 uneven akwwb     
adj.不平坦的,不规则的,不均匀的
参考例句:
  • The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
  • The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。
14 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
15 hooded hooded     
adj.戴头巾的;有罩盖的;颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的
参考例句:
  • A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
  • Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘,用华丽的手巾包着头,突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句
16 cramped 287c2bb79385d19c466ec2df5b5ce970     
a.狭窄的
参考例句:
  • The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤,但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
  • working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作
17 cramp UoczE     
n.痉挛;[pl.](腹)绞痛;vt.限制,束缚
参考例句:
  • Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔,手指也写麻了。
  • The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来,让别人帮着上了岸。
18 huddle s5UyT     
vi.挤作一团;蜷缩;vt.聚集;n.挤在一起的人
参考例句:
  • They like living in a huddle.他们喜欢杂居在一起。
  • The cold wind made the boy huddle inside his coat.寒风使这个男孩卷缩在他的外衣里。
19 cant KWAzZ     
n.斜穿,黑话,猛扔
参考例句:
  • The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
  • He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。
20 bastard MuSzK     
n.坏蛋,混蛋;私生子
参考例句:
  • He was never concerned about being born a bastard.他从不介意自己是私生子。
  • There was supposed to be no way to get at the bastard.据说没有办法买通那个混蛋。
21 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
22 indifference k8DxO     
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎
参考例句:
  • I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
  • He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
23 hesitation tdsz5     
n.犹豫,踌躇
参考例句:
  • After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天,他终于直说了。
  • There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。
24 lust N8rz1     
n.性(淫)欲;渴(欲)望;vi.对…有强烈的欲望
参考例句:
  • He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
  • Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念,就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。
25 stank d2da226ef208f0e46fdd722e28c52d39     
n. (英)坝,堰,池塘 动词stink的过去式
参考例句:
  • Her breath stank of garlic. 她嘴里有股大蒜味。
  • The place stank of decayed fish. 那地方有烂鱼的臭味。
26 fumbling fumbling     
n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理
参考例句:
  • If he actually managed to the ball instead of fumbling it with an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动,经常这样结束。
  • If he actually managed to secure the ball instead of fumbling it awkwardly an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-50提议有时。他从off-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动,经常这样结束。
27 obstinate m0dy6     
adj.顽固的,倔强的,不易屈服的,较难治愈的
参考例句:
  • She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了,不会让任何人帮她的。
  • The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。
28 obstinately imVzvU     
ad.固执地,顽固地
参考例句:
  • He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
  • Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。
29 triumphant JpQys     
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的
参考例句:
  • The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
  • There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。
30 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地,无疑地
参考例句:
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
31 martyr o7jzm     
n.烈士,殉难者;vt.杀害,折磨,牺牲
参考例句:
  • The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
  • The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。
32 giggled 72ecd6e6dbf913b285d28ec3ba1edb12     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
33 martyrs d8bbee63cb93081c5677dc671dc968fc     
n.martyr的复数形式;烈士( martyr的名词复数 );殉道者;殉教者;乞怜者(向人诉苦以博取同情)
参考例句:
  • the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
  • They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
34 confession 8Ygye     
n.自白,供认,承认
参考例句:
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。
35 attentively AyQzjz     
adv.聚精会神地;周到地;谛;凝神
参考例句:
  • She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时,她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着,把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
36 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的
参考例句:
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
37 irrational UaDzl     
adj.无理性的,失去理性的
参考例句:
  • After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
  • There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。
38 rigid jDPyf     
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的
参考例句:
  • She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
  • The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严,几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。
39 incurable incurable     
adj.不能医治的,不能矫正的,无救的;n.不治的病人,无救的人
参考例句:
  • All three babies were born with an incurable heart condition.三个婴儿都有不可治瘉的先天性心脏病。
  • He has an incurable and widespread nepotism.他们有不可救药的,到处蔓延的裙带主义。
40 tiresome Kgty9     
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
  • He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜,令人生厌。
41 pious KSCzd     
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的
参考例句:
  • Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。
  • Her mother was a pious Christian.她母亲是一个虔诚的基督教徒。
42 extraordinarily Vlwxw     
adv.格外地;极端地
参考例句:
  • She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
  • The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨,大海出奇地宁静。
43 invincible 9xMyc     
adj.不可征服的,难以制服的
参考例句:
  • This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
  • The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致,他们就是不可战胜的。
44 sentimental dDuzS     
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的
参考例句:
  • She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人,她相信姻缘命中注定。
  • We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。
45 worthy vftwB     
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。
46 repent 1CIyT     
v.悔悟,悔改,忏悔,后悔
参考例句:
  • He has nothing to repent of.他没有什么要懊悔的。
  • Remission of sins is promised to those who repent.悔罪者可得到赦免。
47 repented c24481167c6695923be1511247ed3c08     
对(自己的所为)感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He repented his thoughtlessness. 他后悔自己的轻率。
  • Darren repented having shot the bird. 达伦后悔射杀了那只鸟。
48 malicious e8UzX     
adj.有恶意的,心怀恶意的
参考例句:
  • You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
  • Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。
49 faculty HhkzK     
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员
参考例句:
  • He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
  • He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。
50 repentance ZCnyS     
n.懊悔
参考例句:
  • He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。
  • Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。
51 tempting wgAzd4     
a.诱人的, 吸引人的
参考例句:
  • It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
  • It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。
52 herd Pd8zb     
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起
参考例句:
  • She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
  • He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见,只是人云亦云。
53 hysterically 5q7zmQ     
ad. 歇斯底里地
参考例句:
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。
  • She sobbed hysterically, and her thin body was shaken. 她歇斯底里地抽泣着,她瘦弱的身体哭得直颤抖。
54 wretches 279ac1104342e09faf6a011b43f12d57     
n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 );可怜的人;恶棍;坏蛋
参考例句:
  • The little wretches were all bedraggledfrom some roguery. 小淘气们由于恶作剧而弄得脏乎乎的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The best courage for us poor wretches is to fly from danger. 对我们这些可怜虫说来,最好的出路还是躲避危险。 来自辞典例句
55 unbearable alCwB     
adj.不能容忍的;忍受不住的
参考例句:
  • It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
  • The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。
56 stiffened de9de455736b69d3f33bb134bba74f63     
加强的
参考例句:
  • He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去,这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
  • She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。
57 twitch jK3ze     
v.急拉,抽动,痉挛,抽搐;n.扯,阵痛,痉挛
参考例句:
  • The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
  • I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。
58 pervaded cf99c400da205fe52f352ac5c1317c13     
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • A retrospective influence pervaded the whole performance. 怀旧的影响弥漫了整个演出。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The air is pervaded by a smell [smoking]. 空气中弥散着一种气味[烟味]。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
59 plaza v2yzD     
n.广场,市场
参考例句:
  • They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
  • The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。
60 squad 4G1zq     
n.班,小队,小团体;vt.把…编成班或小组
参考例句:
  • The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
  • A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。
61 appalling iNwz9     
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的
参考例句:
  • The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
  • Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。
62 simplicity Vryyv     
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯
参考例句:
  • She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
  • The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。
63 secrecy NZbxH     
n.秘密,保密,隐蔽
参考例句:
  • All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
  • Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。
64 contrition uZGy3     
n.悔罪,痛悔
参考例句:
  • The next day he'd be full of contrition,weeping and begging forgiveness.第二天,他就会懊悔不已,哭着乞求原谅。
  • She forgave him because his contrition was real.她原谅了他是由于他的懊悔是真心的。
65 brutes 580ab57d96366c5593ed705424e15ffa     
兽( brute的名词复数 ); 畜生; 残酷无情的人; 兽性
参考例句:
  • They're not like dogs; they're hideous brutes. 它们不像狗,是丑陋的畜牲。
  • Suddenly the foul musty odour of the brutes struck his nostrils. 突然,他的鼻尖闻到了老鼠的霉臭味。 来自英汉文学
66 bishop AtNzd     
n.主教,(国际象棋)象
参考例句:
  • He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
  • Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。
67 visualized 052bbebb5da308bd361d83e229771079     
直观的,直视的
参考例句:
  • I had visualized scientists as bearded old men. 我曾经把科学家想像成长满胡子的老人。
  • "I visualized mangled and inadequate branches for my fires. 我想像中出现了砍得乱七八糟的树枝子,供不上壁炉烧的。 来自名作英译部分
68 salon VjTz2Z     
n.[法]沙龙;客厅;营业性的高级服务室
参考例句:
  • Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗?
  • You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。
69 vocation 8h6wB     
n.职业,行业
参考例句:
  • She struggled for years to find her true vocation.她多年来苦苦寻找真正适合自己的职业。
  • She felt it was her vocation to minister to the sick.她觉得照料病人是她的天职。
70 platitude NAwyY     
n.老生常谈,陈词滥调
参考例句:
  • The talk is no more than a platitude. 这番话无非是老生常谈。
  • His speech is full of platitude. 他的讲话充满了陈词滥调。
71 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
72 desperately cu7znp     
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地
参考例句:
  • He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
  • He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
73 middle-aged UopzSS     
adj.中年的
参考例句:
  • I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
  • The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。
74 complacent JbzyW     
adj.自满的;自鸣得意的
参考例句:
  • We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
  • She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。
75 nun THhxK     
n.修女,尼姑
参考例句:
  • I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
  • She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。
76 nuns ce03d5da0bb9bc79f7cd2b229ef14d4a     
n.(通常指基督教的)修女, (佛教的)尼姑( nun的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Ah Q had always had the greatest contempt for such people as little nuns. 小尼姑之流是阿Q本来视如草芥的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Nuns are under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 修女须立誓保持清贫、贞洁、顺从。 来自辞典例句
77 confessions 4fa8f33e06cadcb434c85fa26d61bf95     
n.承认( confession的名词复数 );自首;声明;(向神父的)忏悔
参考例句:
  • It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
78 punctuation 3Sbxk     
n.标点符号,标点法
参考例句:
  • My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
  • A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。
79 screeching 8bf34b298a2d512e9b6787a29dc6c5f0     
v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 );发出粗而刺耳的声音;高叫
参考例句:
  • Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
  • the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景
80 straightforward fFfyA     
adj.正直的,坦率的;易懂的,简单的
参考例句:
  • A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
  • I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。
81 prim SSIz3     
adj.拘泥形式的,一本正经的;n.循规蹈矩,整洁;adv.循规蹈矩地,整洁地
参考例句:
  • She's too prim to enjoy rude jokes!她太古板,不喜欢听粗野的笑话!
  • He is prim and precise in manner.他的态度一本正经而严谨
82 squatted 45deb990f8c5186c854d710c535327b0     
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。
参考例句:
  • He squatted down beside the footprints and examined them closely. 他蹲在脚印旁仔细地观察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He squatted in the grass discussing with someone. 他蹲在草地上与一个人谈话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
83 whitewash 3gYwJ     
v.粉刷,掩饰;n.石灰水,粉刷,掩饰
参考例句:
  • They tried hard to whitewash themselves.他们力图粉饰自己。
  • What he said was a load of whitewash.他所说的是一大堆粉饰之词。
84 corruption TzCxn     
n.腐败,堕落,贪污
参考例句:
  • The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
  • The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。
85 mule G6RzI     
n.骡子,杂种,执拗的人
参考例句:
  • A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代。
  • He is an old mule.他是个老顽固。
86 smeared c767e97773b70cc726f08526efd20e83     
弄脏; 玷污; 涂抹; 擦上
参考例句:
  • The children had smeared mud on the walls. 那几个孩子往墙上抹了泥巴。
  • A few words were smeared. 有写字被涂模糊了。
87 fouled e3aea4b0e24d5219b3ee13ab76c137ae     
v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 );弄脏;击球出界;(通常用废物)弄脏
参考例句:
  • Blue suit and reddish-brown socks!He had fouled up again. 蓝衣服和红褐色短袜!他又搞错了。
  • The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories. 整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
88 sergeant REQzz     
n.警官,中士
参考例句:
  • His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
  • How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹?
89 crumpled crumpled     
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
  • She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。
90 pastry Q3ozx     
n.油酥面团,酥皮糕点
参考例句:
  • The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
  • The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。
91 testily df69641c1059630ead7b670d16775645     
adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地
参考例句:
  • He reacted testily to reports that he'd opposed military involvement. 有报道称他反对军队参与,对此他很是恼火。 来自柯林斯例句
92 sluggishly d76f4d1262958898317036fd722b1d29     
adv.懒惰地;缓慢地
参考例句:
  • The river is silted up and the water flows sluggishly. 河道淤塞,水流迟滞。
  • Loaded with 870 gallons of gasoline and 40 gallons of oil, the ship moved sluggishly. 飞机载着八百七十加仑汽油和四十加仑机油,缓慢地前进了。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
93 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
94 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
95 lodging wRgz9     
n.寄宿,住所;(大学生的)校外宿舍
参考例句:
  • The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
  • Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?
96 stinks 6254e99acfa1f76e5581ffe6c369f803     
v.散发出恶臭( stink的第三人称单数 );发臭味;名声臭;糟透
参考例句:
  • The whole scheme stinks to high heaven—don't get involved in it. 整件事十分卑鄙龌龊——可别陷了进去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The soup stinks of garlic. 这汤有大蒜气味。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
97 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
98 bellowing daf35d531c41de75017204c30dff5cac     
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的现在分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫
参考例句:
  • We could hear he was bellowing commands to his troops. 我们听见他正向他的兵士大声发布命令。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He disguised these feelings under an enormous bellowing and hurraying. 他用大声吼叫和喝采掩饰着这些感情。 来自辞典例句
99 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
100 lieutenant X3GyG     
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员
参考例句:
  • He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
  • He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官,递上了一张简短的便条进去。
101 planks 534a8a63823ed0880db6e2c2bc03ee4a     
(厚)木板( plank的名词复数 ); 政纲条目,政策要点
参考例句:
  • The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
  • We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。
102 mound unCzhy     
n.土墩,堤,小山;v.筑堤,用土堆防卫
参考例句:
  • The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
  • The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。
103 vomit TL9zV     
v.呕吐,作呕;n.呕吐物,吐出物
参考例句:
  • They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
  • She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛,开始呕吐起来。
104 fangs d8ad5a608d5413636d95dfb00a6e7ac4     
n.(尤指狗和狼的)长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 );(蛇的)毒牙;罐座
参考例句:
  • The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
105 protruded ebe69790c4eedce2f4fb12105fc9e9ac     
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The child protruded his tongue. 那小孩伸出舌头。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The creature's face seemed to be protruded, because of its bent carriage. 那人的脑袋似乎向前突出,那是因为身子佝偻的缘故。 来自英汉文学
106 nagging be0b69d13a0baed63cc899dc05b36d80     
adj.唠叨的,挑剔的;使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评(某人)( nag的现在分词 );不断地烦扰或伤害(某人);无休止地抱怨;不断指责
参考例句:
  • Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
  • I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
107 malarial 291eb45ca3cfa4c89750acdc0a97a43c     
患疟疾的,毒气的
参考例句:
  • Malarial poison had sallowed his skin. 疟疾病毒使他皮肤成灰黄色。
  • Standing water like this gives malarial mosquitoes the perfect place to breed. 像这样的死水给了传染疟疾的蚊子绝佳的繁殖地点。
108 indignity 6bkzp     
n.侮辱,伤害尊严,轻蔑
参考例句:
  • For more than a year we have suffered the indignity.在一年多的时间里,我们丢尽了丑。
  • She was subjected to indignity and humiliation.她受到侮辱和羞辱。
109 luxuriously 547f4ef96080582212df7e47e01d0eaf     
adv.奢侈地,豪华地
参考例句:
  • She put her nose luxuriously buried in heliotrope and tea roses. 她把自己的鼻子惬意地埋在天芥菜和庚申蔷薇花簇中。 来自辞典例句
  • To be well dressed doesn't mean to be luxuriously dressed. 穿得好不一定衣着豪华。 来自辞典例句
110 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫
参考例句:
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
111 crooked xvazAv     
adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的
参考例句:
  • He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指,示意我们到他那儿去。
  • You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。
112 beseechingly c092e88c28d2bb0ccde559d682617827     
adv. 恳求地
参考例句:
  • She stood up, and almost beseechingly, asked her husband,'shall we go now?" 她站起身来,几乎是恳求似地问丈夫:“我们现在就走吧?”
  • Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. 纳西莎伤心地哭了起来,乞求地盯着斯内普。
113 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
114 smirked e3dfaba83cd6d2a557bf188c3fc000e9     
v.傻笑( smirk的过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He smirked at Tu Wei-yueh. 他对屠维岳狞笑。 来自子夜部分
  • He smirked in acknowledgement of their uncouth greetings, and sat down. 他皮笑肉不笑地接受了他的粗鲁的招呼,坐了下来。 来自辞典例句
115 bilious GdUy3     
adj.胆汁过多的;易怒的
参考例句:
  • The quality or condition of being bilious.多脂肪食物使有些人患胆汁病。
  • He was a bilious old gentleman.他是一位脾气乖戾的老先生。
116 wink 4MGz3     
n.眨眼,使眼色,瞬间;v.眨眼,使眼色,闪烁
参考例句:
  • He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
  • The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间,那颗卫星就消失了。
117 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
118 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
119 second-hand second-hand     
adj.用过的,旧的,二手的
参考例句:
  • I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
  • They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。
120 sentry TDPzV     
n.哨兵,警卫
参考例句:
  • They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
  • The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。
121 lackadaisically a6130714249ad07884d695cabd909b56     
adv.无精打采地,不决断地,不热心地
参考例句:
  • He was hanging around the house lackadaisically. 他无精打采地在房子周围转来转去。 来自互联网
  • Crepuscular, the setting sun lies lackadaisically horizon, incompact give out gentle ray slow. 黄昏,夕阳懒洋洋的卧在天边,不紧不慢地发出暖和的射线。 来自互联网
122 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地,不安地
参考例句:
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇,努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
123 venial jicwD     
adj.可宽恕的;轻微的
参考例句:
  • The venial sins are relatively minor and more easily forgiven.可宽恕的罪都是比较微小且易被原谅的。
  • Her poverty had been a venial fault for two gallant gentlemen.她的贫穷对那两位殷勤的绅士而言,只是一个微不足道的缺点。
124 innocence ZbizC     
n.无罪;天真;无害
参考例句:
  • There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
  • The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。
125 scrap JDFzf     
n.碎片;废料;v.废弃,报废
参考例句:
  • A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
  • Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。
126 racing 1ksz3w     
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的
参考例句:
  • I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
  • The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。
127 scurrying 294847ddc818208bf7d590895cd0b7c9     
v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • We could hear the mice scurrying about in the walls. 我们能听见老鼠在墙里乱跑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • We were scurrying about until the last minute before the party. 聚会开始前我们一直不停地忙忙碌碌。 来自辞典例句
128 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇,惊异
参考例句:
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。


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