?catherina, as the best contemporary authority, Nicephorus Bryennius, calls her (though later writers often say Catherina), descended9 from the Bulgarian royal family, which had fallen from its high estate when “Basil the Bulgarian-slayer” had won a definitive10 victory over the nation. Bryennius makes her a daughter of the King Samuel, and we have in a later chronicle a picture of Samuel’s daughters which would dispose us to imagine ?catherina as a very fiery11 and interesting personality. When, in the presence of Basil, they were brought face to face with the woman whose husband had killed their brother, the Emperor and his officers had great difficulty in preventing a very violent and undignified scene. The dates, however, make it improbable that ?catherina was one of the daughters of Samuel—others more probably suggest that she was his niece, or182 grand-niece—and in character she seems rather to have been gentle and religious. She was brought from her remote provincial home and made Augusta, but she proved to be one of the quiet and retiring Empresses who leave no mark in the chronicles. The only reference to her is that, in 1059, she encouraged her husband, who had met with a serious accident or illness, to resign, and she herself took the veil of the nun13. One suspects that her husband’s policy of curtailing14 the funds of the luxurious15 and innumerable monks16 alarmed her, and she was ready to believe that, as rumour18 maintained, the wild boar which led him into grave peril19 in 1059 was no ordinary animal. He resigned, and ?catherina, changing her name to Helena, retired20 with her daughter Maria to a quiet mansion21, where they practised monastic discipline and were esteemed22 so holy that ?catherina was eventually buried in the cemetery23 of the monks of Studion.
With the next Empress, Eudocia, we return to the more familiar and more piquant24 type of Byzantine princess: the woman who unites with her subservience25 to the Church a skill in casuistry which protects her human inclinations26 from the harsher control of the Church’s ascetic27 standards. Eudocia Macrembolitissa, or Eudocia the daughter of Macrembolites, a distinguished28 noble of Constantinople, had some beauty and no little wit, as well as good birth and breeding. In the reign of Michael IV. and Zoe she had been wooed and won by a handsome and learned, if not very warlike, commander named Constantine Ducas, and had in the subsequent twenty years of changing rulers borne three sons and three daughters to her elderly husband. Constantine was at least ten years older than she, and had no higher ambition than to be regarded as a prince of letters and rhetoric29. It must, therefore, have been an agreeable surprise to Eudocia to learn, in 1059, that the retiring Emperor had transferred his crown to her husband, and she was henceforth to be the mistress of the sacred palace.183 She was then, probably, in her later thirties. She was entitled Augusta, and the imperial dignity was conferred also on her six children, of whom the youngest was born after her coronation.
During the eight years of her husband’s reign Eudocia remained a silent witness of his futility30 and unpopularity. He retained his pedantry31, and sought the laurels33 of learning and eloquence34, while formidable enemies threatened the Empire on every side. In 1067 he perceived that his inglorious reign was about to end, and summoned Eudocia, the nobles and the patriarch to his couch. The nobles were commanded to swear to maintain the throne of Eudocia and her sons, and Eudocia was compelled to swear a portentous35 oath that she would not marry again. Possibly Constantine felt that he was not imposing36 a very heavy sacrifice on a woman who approached her fiftieth year, and it was plainly to the interest of his sons that she should not marry. Eudocia signed the written oath, and it was entrusted37 to the patriarch Xiphilin to keep in the great church.
The regency of Eudocia lasted about seven months, during which she emulated38 the conduct of Zoe and Theodora. She received ambassadors, heard trials and paid more direct and closer attention to the affairs of the Empire than her late husband had done. Two things, however, concerned her and illustrated40 the weakness of woman-rule at Constantinople. The Turks and other hostile neighbours were raiding the provinces with greater vigour41, and the nobles were making this a pretext42 for intrigue43 to replace Eudocia with an Emperor. Before the year was out Eudocia decided44 to marry again and sought a means of evading45 the oath which the patriarch grimly guarded.
The story of her outwitting the patriarch is, as we find it in the later chronicles, in the finest vein46 of Byzantine melodrama47. She took into her confidence one of the wiliest eunuchs of her Court, who assured her that it was quite easy to induce the patriarch to release184 her. This Xiphilin, the patriarch at the time, was himself as casuistic as he was religious. Originally a noble, he had voluntarily embraced the black robe of the monk17, and had been withdrawn48 from the monastery49 to rule the Eastern Church. He had in Constantinople a brother named Bardas, whose gallantries and sybaritic ways were notorious. When the eunuch proposed the subject of marriage, Xiphilin sternly maintained that the oath was binding50 and that Eudocia must remain a widow, but when the astute51 eunuch regretted that such was his view, since it was his brother Bardas whom Eudocia wished to marry, Xiphilin reconsidered the matter. It is not for us to analyse his reasoning. It is enough that in a short time he declared to the assembled Senators that the oath was unjust and invalid52, a mere53 wanton outrage54 on the part of a jealous man, and he handed the precious document back to Eudocia to destroy. His feelings may be imagined when, a few hours later, he heard that the Empress was married, not to his brother, but to Romanus Diogenes.
The contemporary writer Psellus gives a more sober version, but, although Psellus was one of Eudocia’s chief ministers at the time, there can be little doubt that his vanity and policy have somewhat tempered the veracity55 of his narrative56. Eudocia, he says, came to him in tears to complain that the cares of Empire were an intolerable burden for a single woman’s shoulders, and she wished to marry. The story is, perhaps, not inconsistent with the story of her outwitting the patriarch. In any case, the second marriage of Eudocia had an element of romance.
In the state prison of Constantinople at the time was a handsome young noble and commander named Romanus Diogenes, who ran some risk of losing his head for high treason. Distinguished by birth and in person, and a man of great spirit, he reflected that the throne of the Eastern Empire had been reached by less able men than he, and cherished a daydream57 of wearing185 the purple. At the death of Constantine in 1067, when there was much discussion of the empty throne and the imperial widow, he imprudently confessed his ambition to those about him in the remote province of Thrace, which he governed; he was denounced in the capital; and he was brought in bonds to Constantinople and put on trial. He had then completed his thirtieth year: a tall, comely58, broad-shouldered man, with the dark skin of a Cappadocian and very winning eyes. Constantinople looked with sympathy on the manly59, but impetuous, young noble. He was connected by birth with the greatest families of the Asiatic provinces, and he pleaded that it was only his concern for the safety of the menaced Empire that had wrung60 from him words of dissatisfaction. His treason was, however, apparent, and he was found guilty and restored to jail.
Eudocia was probably present at the trial of Romanus, and noted61 the handsome form and flashing eye. She professed62 afterwards that the trial was unsatisfactory and must be revised, and the young commander found himself acquitted63 and free to return to his native province. The time was not yet ripe for the marriage project; in fact, one of the historians states that Romanus was already married, and went to join his wife and family in Cappadocia. About Christmas (1067), however, he received an order from Eudocia to return to Constantinople, and may or may not have been surprised to hear that she proposed to marry and crown him. His wife and family seem to have been deserted64 with great cheerfulness—unless we prefer to regard the statement in the chronicle as an error24—and Eudocia secretly prepared for the marriage. Senators were bribed65 to support the proposal, and, on 31st December, the patriarch was won by the stratagem66 which I have already described. That very night Romanus was introduced, fully67 armed, into186 the palace and secretly wedded68 to the Empress, and on the first day of the new year the young Emperor and his middle-aged12 Empress were ceremoniously presented to the people. For a moment it seemed as if the fierce Varangian guards were about to avenge71 what they regarded as a violation72 of the oath to the dead Constantine, but Eudocia prevailed on her elder sons to assure the guards that they had consented to the marriage, and the trouble was averted73 for the time.
It was, however, in face of considerable hostility75 that Eudocia and Romanus entered upon their task of governing the Empire. The clergy76 were naturally hostile, since their leader had been tricked into an ignominious77 concession78; more distinguished nobles than Romanus envied his elevation79; and courtiers who were attached to the fortunes of Eudocia’s elder sons regarded the new Emperor, and the possible issue of the new marriage, with sullen80 distrust. Michael Psellus, the historian who boasts that he guided Eudocia’s counsels in regard to the marriage, is transparently81 hostile to Romanus, and his historical work is largely responsible for the traditional prejudice against that brave and spirited, but injudicious and unfortunate, monarch82. Psellus was not merely the chief student of philosophy in Constantinople, but an ambitious and successful courtier. His great repute in letters and philosophy gave him a commanding position in the Court of Eudocia, who had herself some literary ambition,25 and his secret and sinuous83 counsels must have deeply influenced the later course of the careers of Romanus and Eudocia. A philosopher-statesman was the great ideal which Plato, whose works he revived, had urged upon the Greeks, but the fortunes of Psellus remain so even throughout the various revolutions he outlived that one187 is tempted84 to compare him rather with Talleyrand than with Plato’s ideal.
EUDOCIA AND ROMANUS IV
FROM AN IVORY IN THE BIBLIOTHèQUE NATIONALE, PARIS
Into this atmosphere of culture the robust85 Romanus was little fitted to enter, and some disdain86 must have been felt of his uncultivated ways. On the other hand, the brother of the late Constantine, John Ducas, who bore the dignity of C?sar and jealously guarded the position of his nephews, was not less hostile to Romanus. The boys had received the purple before the death of their father, and the time was rapidly approaching when, with the assistance of their uncle and Psellus, they might begin to exercise their power. To this plan Romanus was a considerable obstacle. When we further learn that Romanus was gravely conscious of his duty to restore the strength and discipline of the army, and diverted funds from the entertainment of idle citizens to the pay and equipment of his troops, we realize that the life of the palace was preparing for one more of those tragic87 revolutions which punctuate88 the history of the Byzantine Empire.
From this Court atmosphere of pedantry and intrigue Romanus turned to the field of battle; he would strengthen his position by winning such laurels as his vigorous and warlike character seemed to promise him. Two months after his coronation a fresh invasion of the Turks was announced, and he led a large army out to meet them. After nearly a year’s absence he returned with some report of victories, but there had in the same year been heavy losses, and his success was not decisive enough to override89 the intrigues90 of his opponents. Already, we are told, he found Eudocia colder. Her attitude is attributed to his arrogance91 and boastfulness; we may suppose that it was just as much due to an instinctive92 irritation93 when her robust husband strode into the philosophic94 atmosphere of the palace with the smell of the camp clinging to him and the language of war on his lips. In two or three months he was off once more to the field, leaving Eudocia to her master of philosophy188 and her brother-in-law. Into their hands she placed the more virile95 cares of State, while she enlarged libraries, cultivated men of letters and fostered the higher ambition of making verses. Her eldest96 son, Michael, was associated with her in her cultural work.
When Romanus returned in the following winter, still without decisive success, he seems to have concluded that it would be better to remain in Constantinople, and the campaign of the third year was entrusted to his generals, but in the spring of 1071 he again prepared to take the field. Nothing but a crushing victory over the enemies of the Empire would enable him to silence his enemies in the Court and capital. Eudocia seems by this time to have wavered between admiration97 of her young and manly spouse98 and repugnance99 to his more robust standards of life. She was now certainly over fifty, and had never been particularly sensuous100, but we cannot doubt that she had married Romanus for love and that that love was not yet extinct. As he set out from port for his last crossing to Asia a singular dark-plumaged pigeon circled his royal galley101. He directed that it should be caught and sent to the Empress; and it was said in later years that Eudocia nervously102 recognized in the rare bird an omen70 of the evil fortune that was about to befall her husband.
And in the course of the summer stragglers made their way hastily to Constantinople with the news that Romanus had been heavily defeated and his large army shattered. The Emperor himself had been slain103, some said, but at length there came men who had seen him captured and borne away, a prisoner, by the Turks. The hour of the malcontents had come, and a council was summoned to discuss the situation. It was at once decided that no effort would be made to save Romanus—some of the authorities declare that it was the treachery of the C?sar’s son, acting104 on the instructions of his father, which led to the reverse—but the eldest son, Michael, should be appointed ruling Emperor, together with his mother.
189 That Eudocia at once surrendered her husband becomes quite clear from the subsequent course of events. The new administration had hardly settled to its work when Eudocia received a joyful105 letter from her husband announcing that he was free, and on his way to Constantinople. How the Turk had entirely106 falsified his repute for barbarity, treated Romanus as a brother king in misfortune, and eventually released him on promise of a ransom107, is a familiar and attractive picture in the history of the time. Romanus was hastening to the arms of his beloved wife. Eudocia is described by contemporary writers as “distracted” and eager to consult those about her as to her conduct. Of wifely feeling she did not exhibit one sincere particle, and, however we may remind ourselves of the inevitable108 coldness of a woman in her sixth decade of life, her conduct is somewhat repellent. Had she known that the C?sar was bent109 on bringing her to a common ruin with her husband, she might at least have purchased some loyalty110 to him, in the usual Byzantine fashion; but she was either ignorant or powerless, and she accepted the counsel that Romanus should be disowned and repelled111 by force from his Empire.
John Ducas, however, concluded that the opportunity was convenient for the removal of both Emperor and Empress. A decree was issued to the provinces to arrest the advance of Romanus, and the guards were marshalled. At this date the mercenary troops in charge of the palace were the famous and formidable Varangian guards, in whom modern authorities recognize the blue-eyed giants of distant Scandinavia and even of Britain. Romanus had favoured the native troops of the Empire rather than these foreign mercenaries, and they at once accepted the command of the C?sar. One half of them went to the apartments of Michael, and declared him sole Emperor of the Romans; the other body went in search of Eudocia, with orders to transfer her to a monastery.
190 Eudocia at once concluded that the end of her rule had come when she heard the jubilant clash of axe112 on shield, the deep guttural voices, raised in song, of the northern soldiers, and their heavy tread across the gardens and terraces. Fearing for her life, she hid herself in some sort of hut in the grounds of her palace, but the door was presently flung open and she looked on the fierce hairy faces and shining weapons of the Varangians. She was prostrate113 with terror when the C?sar arrived, to give her the comparative consolation114 that her life would be spared, but her empire was over. From the palace, spoiled of all the ensigns of royalty115, we follow her along the short and painful route that we have seen so many proud rulers of the sacred palace take. At the Bucoleon quays116 a swift galley waited to take her to the Asiatic shore, where she was lodged117 in a monastery which she herself had founded. A further message soon came, ordering her to take the black veil, and the frail118 and unfortunate woman bade farewell to all the glories of imperial life. It was only four years since she had been left in control of the Empire by her first husband.
Shortly afterwards she was summoned to bury Romanus, and with him the last flickering119 hope of a return to power. He had collected an army and resolved to fight for his throne, and the troops of Ducas at length pinned him in a town of Cilicia. In order to end the civil war John now sent an assurance that the life of Romanus would be spared if he would resign his claim and enter a monastery; nay120, three archbishops were sent to give him a solemn testimony122 that John had sworn and would fulfil his oath. Frail as the most formidable oaths had become in Eastern Christendom, Romanus opened the gates and yielded to the sons of the C?sar. The rest of the story is a chapter of nauseous horror, and concerns us, fortunately, only in outline. Romanus was conveyed across Asia Minor123, in the robe of a monk, with studied insult. Most of the chroniclers affirm that191 poison was administered to him, but that his powerful constitution prevented it from doing more than add to his misery124. At length his eyes were cut out with more than ordinary brutality125, the roughest and most elementary attention to his bleeding sockets126 was refused, and he was borne once more on a mule127, dying by inches in the most ghastly conceivable fashion, across Asia Minor. He reached the island of Prote in time to die on the soil that was already watered by so many imperial tears, and the chroniclers add that Eudocia gave a splendid funeral to the remains128 of the man whom she had transferred from the jail to the palace, less than four years before, in the full pride of a magnificent manhood.
I have said that with the remains of Romanus she buried her last hope of returning to power, yet some seven years afterwards a strange message reached her in her cloister129, recalling the memory, if not the hope, of imperial power. Her son Michael proved an ineffective ruler. The tradition of culture which had lingered in the palace since the days of Psellus absorbed all his energy, and he could not be diverted from the dialogues of Plato or the iridescent130 dreams of Plotinus by mere conspiracies131 against his throne or invasions of his Empire. Indeed, it was with difficulty, sometimes, that they could drag him to table or persuade him to refrain from spending the night over his books. The irony132 of the situation was that, while the Greek writings over which he lingered urged that a profound study of philosophy was the fittest education of monarchs133, Michael remained as helpless and heedless as a boy, precisely134 on account of his studies. Fortunately, he had the casual inspiration to call to the palace a wily eunuch, named Nicephorus, who become the virtual ruler. Nicephoritzes—as the people, using the diminutive135 form of his name, called the pale and shrunken little eunuch—soon displaced the C?sar John, and, as was the invariable custom of his kind, enriched himself at the expense of the impoverished136 and decaying provinces.
192 Under Nicephoritzes Eudocia had no chance of a return to power. He had endeavoured to persuade her first husband, the Emperor Constantine, that she was unfaithful to him, and had been driven from office during her regency. But the Empress’s quarters in the palace were not vacant; a new type of Empress was added to the long and varied137 gallery. Shortly before his accession to the supreme138 throne Michael had married a princess of one of the tribes that had settled in Asia Minor. The father of the Empress Maria is conflictingly described as a king of the Iberians and the Alans, and is said to have been a ruler of great fame and power; but he is not named, and it seems that he was not powerful enough to avert74 or temper the tragedy of his daughter’s career. Her dowry had been her beauty. I have complained at times of the lamentable139 indifference140 of the male historians of Constantinople to the physical features of the Empresses, and the lack of portraits which might bring the living figure with any fulness or accuracy before the imagination. We now, however, approach a period, the history of which has been written for us by a woman, the famous Anna Comnena, and her pen happily wanders at times back to the age of Eudocia, of which her husband, Nicephorus Bryennius, was the chief historian.
Unhappily, the art of which Anna Comnena was so patently proud did not include skill in portraiture141. Maria was the most beautiful woman of her time, and, although her interests become opposed to those of Anna and her family, and the learned princess was capable of malignant142 hatred143, Anna Comnena rises to the height of superlative when her pen delineates the figure of Maria. Her grace of form and beauty of face were beyond the artist’s power to convey; though one must add that Anna not infrequently uses that formula, in order to enhance the artistic144 wonder of her own descriptions. Maria, she says, was tall and graceful145 as a cypress146; her body was white as snow, save for the roses193 that bloomed in her cheeks, and the luminous147 blue eyes which shone beneath the perfect and lofty arch of her auburn eyebrows148. To this vague poetical149 description we may add at once that the beautiful young princess was not wholly devoid150 of the spirit of her tribe, and was prepared for romantic adventure in support of the imperial dignity.
The seven years of Michael’s reign do not interest us. The Emperor lived in the remote solitude151 of his exalted152 studies; Maria enjoyed the superb luxury of her position, and brought a prince into the world for the greater security of her throne; Eudocia languished153 in the royal monastery of the Virgin154 across the straits. Usurpers rose and fell, and the defrauded156 people spoke157 with bitterness of the young pedant32 who let his ministers rob them while he studied the divine maxims158 of Plato. Another princess, daughter of Robert of Lombardy, was introduced from the West, but she was, like Maria’s son, to whom she was betrothed159, a child of tender years, looking with strange blue eyes on the vast palaces she would one day govern—they said—and the boy who shyly shrank from her companionship.
At last, in 1078, a more fortunate rebel advanced on Constantinople, the clergy and nobles were bribed to espouse160 his cause, and Michael fled to the Blachern? palace in the suburbs. Maria accompanied him, and what we know of her character emboldens161 us to fancy her urging the distracted scholar to draw a sword on behalf of his throne. His friends, however, found it impossible to move him, and, yielding to the usurper155, he was conducted on an ass39 to the monastery at Studion, where he might prosecute162 his studies with even greater leisure. The new Emperor had so genial163 a disdain for him that he made him titular164 Bishop121 of Ephesus, and allowed him to return and live in the capital.
Maria, in accordance with custom, entered the suburban165 monastery at Petrion. She did not, however, take the vows166 of the religious life, and it was not long before194 the interesting news came that the new Emperor designed to marry her. Nicephorus Botaneiates was an elderly voluptuary, who had seized the throne only because so little energy was needed for the task. For the administration of public business he had two slaves of his own household, of Slavonian extraction, who at once put an end to the life of Nicephoritzes and diverted the stream of gold to their own pockets. For their master the pleasures of the table and the couch sufficed. He had brought to the throne an obscure Empress named Berdena, but she died shortly afterwards, and the aged Sybarite consulted his ministers. To their cold and impartial167 judgment168 it seemed that political considerations must rule the choice and they were divided between the claims of Maria and those of Eudocia. It is true that Nicephorus had been twice married, that Eudocia was a nun, and that Maria was not yet a widow; but such difficulties were never beyond the casuistic resources of the Constantinopolitan clergy. The Emperor must marry, since the sacred ritual of the Court demanded the presence of an Empress.
The politicians favoured the suit of Eudocia, and she was actually informed that Nicephorus wished to marry her, and expressed her cordial willingness to sacrifice her monastic estate in view of such august considerations. Nicephorus, however, was, as I said, a Sybarite, and even advanced age did not blur169 his experienced eye to the charms of Maria. We may, therefore, suppose that Nicephorus was neither surprised nor pained when a certain very holy monk appeared at the monastery of the Virgin and sternly forbade Eudocia to quit her black robe. It may be that the monk was one of the chaplains of the monastery; it is at least clear that his zeal170 did not take him to the monastery at Petrion, where Maria resided. The beautiful young Empress was recalled from her prayers and fasts and conducted to the side of the Emperor in the palace chapel171. The patriarch, who seems to have had some scruples172, was not summoned195 to perform the ceremony, and Nicephorus noticed with irritation that the priest who was called hesitated to come to the sanctuary173; Nicephorus had no dispensation for a third marriage, and Maria’s husband still lived. A courtier, however, had foreseen the difficulty and had a more accommodating priest at hand. The irregular knot was tied, or regarded as tied, and Maria returned to enjoy, with her son, the pleasures of the Emperor’s luxurious Court.
It is, perhaps, no alleviation174 of the conduct of Maria, in purchasing her crown by an invalid marriage to an elderly sensualist, to say that—the chroniclers assure us—quite a number of noble ladies at Constantinople were eager to be chosen. Eudocia, her youngest daughter, Zoe, and many other ladies had been pressed upon the notice of Nicephorus. It is merely one more indication of the inferiority of character, both in men and women, in the Byzantine Empire. But Maria was not destined175 to enjoy long the throne which she had purchased. Contemptible176 as the reign of Michael had been, it was succeeded by one far more contemptible, and sullen murmurs177 filled the palace and the city. Men told each other how the aged Emperor, who ought to be thinking of eternity178, changed his splendid robes ten times a day, anointed his jaded179 frame with the most costly180 unguents, and sat down, day after day, to the most superb banquets that the Empire could afford; while the two barbaric slaves whom he had made his chief ministers ground the despairing provinces and disgusted the nobles. Within a year or two of Maria’s return to power, the customary, inevitable revolt arose, and she was driven back to her monastery.
This revolution, however, introduces us to the strong women of the Comnenian house and must commence a fresh chapter. Of Eudocia we hear no more. If we accept the statement of one of the chroniclers, that she had married in the reign of Michael IV. (1034–1041), she must now have reached her seventh decade of life, and196 would probably not long survive her last disappointment. Her readiness, in her later sixties, and after seven years of monastic life, to accept the embraces of a roué like Nicephorus, in return for the crown, is a sufficient measure of her character; her violation of her oath to her first husband, and her desertion of her second husband, point to the same feebly vicious and unattractive type of personality. Through the favour of Nicephorus she was permitted to leave the suburban monastery, and spend her last years in considerable comfort in the city.
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deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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territorial
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| adj.领土的，领地的 | |
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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definitive
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| adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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curtailing
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| v.截断，缩短( curtail的现在分词 ) | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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subservience
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| n.有利，有益；从属（地位），附属性；屈从，恭顺；媚态 | |
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inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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28
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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29
rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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30
futility
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| n.无用 | |
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31
pedantry
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| n.迂腐，卖弄学问 | |
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32
pedant
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| n.迂儒；卖弄学问的人 | |
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33
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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34
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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35
portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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36
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
emulated
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| v.与…竞争( emulate的过去式和过去分词 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿 | |
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39
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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40
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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41
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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42
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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43
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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44
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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45
evading
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| 逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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46
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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47
melodrama
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| n.音乐剧；情节剧 | |
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48
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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49
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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50
binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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51
astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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52
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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53
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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54
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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55
veracity
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| n.诚实 | |
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56
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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57
daydream
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| v.做白日梦，幻想 | |
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58
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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59
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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60
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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61
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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62
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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63
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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64
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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65
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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66
stratagem
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| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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67
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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68
wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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70
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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71
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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72
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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73
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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74
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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75
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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76
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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77
ignominious
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| adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的 | |
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78
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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79
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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80
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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81
transparently
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| 明亮地，显然地，易觉察地 | |
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82
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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83
sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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84
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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85
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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86
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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87
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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88
punctuate
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| vt.加标点于；不时打断 | |
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89
override
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| vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于 | |
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90
intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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91
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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92
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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93
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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94
philosophic
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|
| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
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95
virile
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|
| adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的 | |
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96
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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97
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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98
spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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99
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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100
sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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101
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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102
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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103
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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104
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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105
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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106
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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107
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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108
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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109
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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110
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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111
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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112
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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113
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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114
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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115
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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116
quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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117
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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118
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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119
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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120
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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121
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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122
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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123
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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124
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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125
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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126
sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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127
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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128
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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129
cloister
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| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
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130
iridescent
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| adj.彩虹色的，闪色的 | |
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131
conspiracies
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| n.阴谋，密谋( conspiracy的名词复数 ) | |
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132
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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133
monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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134
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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135
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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136
impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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137
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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138
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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139
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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140
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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141
portraiture
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| n.肖像画法 | |
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142
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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143
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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144
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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145
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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146
cypress
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| n.柏树 | |
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147
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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148
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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149
poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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150
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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151
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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152
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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153
languished
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| 长期受苦( languish的过去式和过去分词 )； 受折磨； 变得（越来越）衰弱； 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐 | |
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154
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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155
usurper
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| n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
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156
defrauded
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| v.诈取，骗取( defraud的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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157
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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158
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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159
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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160
espouse
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| v.支持，赞成，嫁娶 | |
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161
emboldens
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的第三人称单数 ) | |
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162
prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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163
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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titular
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| adj.名义上的，有名无实的；n.只有名义（或头衔）的人 | |
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165
suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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166
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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167
impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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168
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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169
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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170
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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171
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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172
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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173
sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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174
alleviation
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| n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物 | |
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175
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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176
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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177
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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178
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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179
jaded
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| adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的 | |
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180
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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