"I've been here for the last two hours; you don't know what a state I have been in all day."
"I know, I know. But to business. Do you know why I have come? Not to talk nonsense, as I did yesterday. I tell you what, we must behave more sensibly in future. I thought a great deal about it last night."
"In what way—in what must we be more sensible? I am ready for my part; but, really, nothing more sensible has happened to me in my life than this, now."
"Really? In the first place, I beg you not to squeeze my hands so; secondly1, I must tell you that I spent a long time thinking about you and feeling doubtful to-day."
"And how did it end?"
"How did it end? The upshot of it is that we must begin all over again, because the conclusion I reached to-day was that I don't know you at all; that I behaved like a baby last night, like a little girl; and, of course, the fact of it is, that it's my soft heart that is to blame—that is, I sang my own praises, as one always does in the end when one analyses one's conduct. And therefore to correct my mistake, I've made up my mind to find out all about you minutely. But as I have no one from whom I can find out anything, you must tell me everything fully3 yourself. Well, what sort of man are you? Come, make haste—begin—tell me your whole history."
"My history!" I cried in alarm. "My history! But who has told you I have a history? I have no history...."
"Then how have you lived, if you have no history?" she interrupted, laughing.
"Absolutely without any history! I have lived, as they say, keeping myself to myself, that is, utterly4 alone—alone, entirely5 alone. Do you know what it means to be alone?"
"But how alone? Do you mean you never saw any one?"
"Oh no, I see people, of course; but still I am alone."
"Why, do you never talk to any one?"
"Who are you then? Explain yourself! Stay, I guess: most likely, like me you have a grandmother. She is blind and will never let me go anywhere, so that I have almost forgotten how to talk; and when I played some pranks7 two years ago, and she saw there was no holding me in, she called me up and pinned my dress to hers, and ever since we sit like that for days together; she knits a stocking, though she's blind, and I sit beside her, sew or read aloud to her—it's such a queer habit, here for two years I've been pinned to her...."
"Well, if you haven't why do you sit at home?..."
"Listen, do you want to know the sort of man I am?"
"Yes, yes!"
"In the strict sense of the word?"
"In the very strictest sense of the word."
"Very well, I am a type!"
"Type, type! What sort of type?" cried the girl, laughing, as though she had not had a chance of laughing for a whole year. "Yes, it's very amusing talking to you. Look, here's a seat, let us sit down. No one is passing here, no one will hear us, and—begin your history. For it's no good your telling me, I know you have a history; only you are concealing10 it. To begin with, what is a type?"
"A type? A type is an original, it's an absurd person!" I said, infected by her childish laughter. "It's a character. Listen; do you know what is meant by a dreamer?"
"A dreamer! Indeed I should think I do know. I am a dreamer myself. Sometimes, as I sit by grandmother, all sorts of things come into my head. Why, when one begins dreaming one lets one's fancy run away with one—why, I marry a Chinese Prince!... Though sometimes it is a good thing to dream! But, goodness knows! Especially when one has something to think of apart from dreams," added the girl, this time rather seriously.
"Excellent! If you have been married to a Chinese Emperor, you will quite understand me. Come, listen.... But one minute, I don't know your name yet."
"At last! You have been in no hurry to think of it!"
"Oh, my goodness! It never entered my head, I felt quite happy as it was...."
"My name is Nastenka."
"Nastenka! And nothing else?"
"Nothing else! Why, is not that enough for you, you insatiable person?"
"Not enough? On the contrary, it's a great deal, a very great deal, Nastenka; you kind girl, if you are Nastenka for me from the first."
"Quite so! Well?"
"Well, listen, Nastenka, now for this absurd history."
I sat down beside her, assumed a pedantically11 serious attitude, and began as though reading from a manuscript:—
"There are, Nastenka, though you may not know it, strange nooks in Petersburg. It seems as though the same sun as shines for all Petersburg people does not peep into those spots, but some other different new one, bespoken12 expressly for those nooks, and it throws a different light on everything. In these corners, dear Nastenka, quite a different life is lived, quite unlike the life that is surging round us, but such as perhaps exists in some unknown realm, not among us in our serious, over-serious, time. Well, that life is a mixture of something purely14 fantastic, fervently15 ideal, with something (alas! Nastenka) dingily16 prosaic17 and ordinary, not to say incredibly vulgar."
"Foo! Good Heavens! What a preface! What do I hear?"
"Listen, Nastenka. (It seems to me I shall never be tired of calling you Nastenka.) Let me tell you that in these corners live strange people—dreamers. The dreamer—if you want an exact definition—is not a human being, but a creature of an intermediate sort. For the most part he settles in some inaccessible18 corner, as though hiding from the light of day; once he slips into his corner, he grows to it like a snail19, or, anyway, he is in that respect very much like that remarkable20 creature, which is an animal and a house both at once, and is called a tortoise. Why do you suppose he is so fond of his four walls, which are invariably painted green, grimy, dismal21 and reeking22 unpardonably of tobacco smoke? Why is it that when this absurd gentleman is visited by one of his few acquaintances (and he ends by getting rid of all his friends), why does this absurd person meet him with such embarrassment23, changing countenance24 and overcome with confusion, as though he had only just committed some crime within his four walls; as though he had been forging counterfeit25 notes, or as though he were writing verses to be sent to a journal with an anonymous27 letter, in which he states that the real poet is dead, and that his friend thinks it his sacred duty to publish his things? Why, tell me, Nastenka, why is it conversation is not easy between the two friends? Why is there no laughter? Why does no lively word fly from the tongue of the perplexed28 newcomer, who at other times may be very fond of laughter, lively words, conversation about the fair sex, and other cheerful subjects? And why does this friend, probably a new friend and on his first visit—for there will hardly be a second, and the friend will never come again—why is the friend himself so confused, so tongue-tied, in spite of his wit (if he has any), as he looks at the downcast face of his host, who in his turn becomes utterly helpless and at his wits' end after gigantic but fruitless efforts to smooth things over and enliven the conversation, to show his knowledge of polite society, to talk, too, of the fair sex, and by such humble29 endeavour, to please the poor man, who like a fish out of water has mistakenly come to visit him? Why does the gentleman, all at once remembering some very necessary business which never existed, suddenly seize his hat and hurriedly make off, snatching away his hand from the warm grip of his host, who was trying his utmost to show his regret and retrieve31 the lost position? Why does the friend chuckle32 as he goes out of the door, and swear never to come and see this queer creature again, though the queer creature is really a very good fellow, and at the same time he cannot refuse his imagination the little diversion of comparing the queer fellow's countenance during their conversation with the expression of an unhappy kitten treacherously33 captured, roughly handled, frightened and subjected to all sorts of indignities34 by children, till, utterly crestfallen35, it hides away from them under a chair in the dark, and there must needs at its leisure bristle36 up, spit, and wash its insulted face with both paws, and long afterwards look angrily at life and nature, and even at the bits saved from the master's dinner for it by the sympathetic housekeeper37?"
"Listen," interrupted Nastenka, who had listened to me all the time in amazement38, opening her eyes and her little mouth. "Listen; I don't know in the least why it happened and why you ask me such absurd questions; all I know is, that this adventure must have happened word for word to you."
"Doubtless," I answered, with the gravest face.
"Well, since there is no doubt about it, go on," said Nastenka, "because I want very much to know how it will end."
"You want to know, Nastenka, what our hero, that is I—for the hero of the whole business was my humble self—did in his corner? You want to know why I lost my head and was upset for the whole day by the unexpected visit of a friend? You want to know why I was so startled, why I blushed when the door of my room was opened, why I was not able to entertain my visitor, and why I was crushed under the weight of my own hospitality?"
"Why, yes, yes," answered Nastenka, "that's the point. Listen. You describe it all splendidly, but couldn't you perhaps describe it a little less splendidly? You talk as though you were reading it out of a book."
"Nastenka," I answered in a stern and dignified39 voice, hardly able to keep from laughing, "dear Nastenka, I know I describe splendidly, but, excuse me, I don't know how else to do it. At this moment, dear Nastenka, at this moment I am like the spirit of King Solomon when, after lying a thousand years under seven seals in his urn26, those seven seals were at last taken off. At this moment, Nastenka, when we have met at last after such a long separation—for I have known you for ages, Nastenka, because I have been looking for some one for ages, and that is a sign that it was you I was looking for, and it was ordained40 that we should meet now—at this moment a thousand valves have opened in my head, and I must let myself flow in a river of words, or I shall choke. And so I beg you not to interrupt me, Nastenka, but listen humbly41 and obediently, or I will be silent."
"No, no, no! Not at all. Go on! I won't say a word!"
"I will continue. There is, my friend Nastenka, one hour in my day which I like extremely. That is the hour when almost all business, work and duties are over, and every one is hurrying home to dinner, to lie down, to rest, and on the way all are cogitating42 on other more cheerful subjects relating to their evenings, their nights, and all the rest of their free time. At that hour our hero—for allow me, Nastenka, to tell my story in the third person, for one feels awfully43 ashamed to tell it in the first person—and so at that hour our hero, who had his work too, was pacing along after the others. But a strange feeling of pleasure set his pale, rather crumpled-looking face working. He looked not with indifference44 on the evening glow which was slowly fading on the cold Petersburg sky. When I say he looked, I am lying: he did not look at it, but saw it as it were without realizing, as though tired or preoccupied45 with some other more interesting subject, so that he could scarcely spare a glance for anything about him. He was pleased because till next day he was released from business irksome to him, and happy as a schoolboy let out from the class-room to his games and mischief46. Take a look at him, Nastenka; you will see at once that joyful47 emotion has already had an effect on his weak nerves and morbidly48 excited fancy. You see he is thinking of something.... Of dinner, do you imagine? Of the evening? What is he looking at like that? Is it at that gentleman of dignified appearance who is bowing so picturesquely49 to the lady who rolls by in a carriage drawn50 by prancing51 horses? No, Nastenka; what are all those trivialities to him now! He is rich now with his own individual life; he has suddenly become rich, and it is not for nothing that the fading sunset sheds its farewell gleams so gaily52 before him, and calls forth53 a swarm54 of impressions from his warmed heart. Now he hardly notices the road, on which the tiniest details at other times would strike him. Now 'the Goddess of Fancy' (if you have read Zhukovsky, dear Nastenka) has already with fantastic hand spun55 her golden warp56 and begun weaving upon it patterns of marvellous magic life—and who knows, maybe, her fantastic hand has borne him to the seventh crystal heaven far from the excellent granite57 pavement on which he was walking his way? Try stopping him now, ask him suddenly where he is standing58 now, through what streets he is going—he will, probably remember nothing, neither where he is going nor where he is standing now, and flushing with vexation he will certainly tell some lie to save appearances. That is why he starts, almost cries out, and looks round with horror when a respectable old lady stops him politely in the middle of the pavement and asks her way. Frowning with vexation he strides on, scarcely noticing that more than one passer-by smiles and turns round to look after him, and that a little girl, moving out of his way in alarm, laughs aloud, gazing open-eyed at his broad meditative59 smile and gesticulations. But fancy catches up in its playful flight the old woman, the curious passers-by, and the laughing child, and the peasants spending their nights in their barges60 on Fontanka (our hero, let us suppose, is walking along the canal-side at that moment), and capriciously weaves every one and everything into the canvas like a fly in a spider's web. And it is only after the queer fellow has returned to his comfortable den30 with fresh stores for his mind to work on, has sat down and finished his dinner, that he comes to himself, when Matrona who waits upon him—always thoughtful and depressed—clears the table and gives him his pipe; he comes to himself then and recalls with surprise that he has dined, though he has absolutely no notion how it has happened. It has grown dark in the room; his soul is sad and empty; the whole kingdom of fancies drops to pieces about him, drops to pieces without a trace, without a sound, floats away like a dream, and he cannot himself remember what he was dreaming. But a vague sensation faintly stirs his heart and sets it aching, some new desire temptingly tickles61 and excites his fancy, and imperceptibly evokes62 a swarm of fresh phantoms63. Stillness reigns64 in the little room; imagination is fostered by solitude65 and idleness; it is faintly smouldering, faintly simmering, like the water with which old Matrona is making her coffee as she moves quietly about in the kitchen close by. Now it breaks out spasmodically; and the book, picked up aimlessly and at random66, drops from my dreamer's hand before he has reached the third page. His imagination is again stirred and at work, and again a new world, a new fascinating life opens vistas67 before him. A fresh dream—fresh happiness! A fresh rush of delicate, voluptuous68 poison! What is real life to him! To his corrupted69 eyes we live, you and I, Nastenka, so torpidly70, slowly, insipidly71; in his eyes we are all so dissatisfied with our fate, so exhausted72 by our life! And, truly, see how at first sight everything is cold, morose73, as though ill-humoured among us.... Poor things! thinks our dreamer. And it is no wonder that he thinks it! Look at these magic phantasms, which so enchantingly, so whimsically, so carelessly and freely group before him in such a magic, animated75 picture, in which the most prominent figure in the foreground is of course himself, our dreamer, in his precious person. See what varied76 adventures, what an endless swarm of ecstatic dreams. You ask, perhaps, what he is dreaming of. Why ask that?—why, of everything ... of the lot of the poet, first unrecognized, then crowned with laurels77; of friendship with Hoffmann, St. Bartholomew's Night, of Diana Vernon, of playing the hero at the taking of Kazan by Ivan Vassilyevitch, of Clara Mowbray, of Effie Deans, of the council of the prelates and Huss before them, of the rising of the dead in 'Robert the Devil' (do you remember the music, it smells of the churchyard!), of Minna and Brenda, of the battle of Berezina, of the reading of a poem at Countess V. D.'s, of Danton, of Cleopatra ei suoi amanti, of a little house in Kolomna, of a little home of one's own and beside one a dear creature who listens to one on a winter's evening, opening her little mouth and eyes as you are listening to me now, my angel.... No, Nastenka, what is there, what is there for him, voluptuous sluggard78, in this life, for which you and I have such a longing79? He thinks that this is a poor pitiful life, not foreseeing that for him too, maybe, sometime the mournful hour may strike, when for one day of that pitiful life he would give all his years of phantasy, and would give them not only for joy and for happiness, but without caring to make distinctions in that hour of sadness, remorse80 and unchecked grief. But so far that threatening has not arrived—he desires nothing, because he is superior to all desire, because he has everything, because he is satiated, because he is the artist of his own life, and creates it for himself every hour to suit his latest whim74. And you know this fantastic world of fairyland is so easily, so naturally created! As though it were not a delusion81! Indeed, he is ready to believe at some moments that all this life is not suggested by feeling, is not mirage82, not a delusion of the imagination, but that it is concrete, real, substantial! Why is it, Nastenka, why is it at such moments one holds one's breath? Why, by what sorcery, through what incomprehensible caprice, is the pulse quickened, does a tear start from the dreamer's eye, while his pale moist cheeks glow, while his whole being is suffused83 with an inexpressible sense of consolation84? Why is it that whole sleepless85 nights pass like a flash in inexhaustible gladness and happiness, and when the dawn gleams rosy86 at the window and daybreak floods the gloomy room with uncertain, fantastic light, as in Petersburg, our dreamer, worn out and exhausted, flings himself on his bed and drops asleep with thrills of delight in his morbidly overwrought spirit, and with a weary sweet ache in his heart? Yes, Nastenka, one deceives oneself and unconsciously believes that real true passion is stirring one's soul; one unconsciously believes that there is something living, tangible87 in one's immaterial dreams! And is it delusion? Here love, for instance, is bound up with all its fathomless88 joy, all its torturing agonies in his bosom89.... Only look at him, and you will be convinced! Would you believe, looking at him, dear Nastenka, that he has never known her whom he loves in his ecstatic dreams? Can it be that he has only seen her in seductive visions, and that this passion has been nothing but a dream? Surely they must have spent years hand in hand together—alone the two of them, casting off all the world and each uniting his or her life with the other's? Surely when the hour of parting came she must have lain sobbing90 and grieving on his bosom, heedless of the tempest raging under the sullen91 sky, heedless of the wind which snatches and bears away the tears from her black eyelashes? Can all of that have been a dream—and that garden, dejected, forsaken92, run wild, with its little moss-grown paths, solitary93, gloomy, where they used to walk so happily together, where they hoped, grieved, loved, loved each other so long, "so long and so fondly?" And that queer ancestral house where she spent so many years lonely and sad with her morose old husband, always silent and splenetic, who frightened them, while timid as children they hid their love from each other? What torments94 they suffered, what agonies of terror, how innocent, how pure was their love, and how (I need hardly say, Nastenka) malicious95 people were! And, good Heavens! surely he met her afterwards, far from their native shores, under alien skies, in the hot south in the divinely eternal city, in the dazzling splendour of the ball to the crash of music, in a palazzo (it must be in a palazzo), drowned in a sea of lights, on the balcony, wreathed in myrtle and roses, where, recognizing him, she hurriedly removes her mask and whispering, 'I am free,' flings herself trembling into his arms, and with a cry of rapture96, clinging to one another, in one instant they forget their sorrow and their parting and all their agonies, and the gloomy house and the old man and the dismal garden in that distant land, and the seat on which with a last passionate97 kiss she tore herself away from his arms numb98 with anguish99 and despair.... Oh, Nastenka, you must admit that one would start, betray confusion, and blush like a schoolboy who has just stuffed in his pocket an apple stolen from a neighbour's garden, when your uninvited visitor, some stalwart, lanky100 fellow, a festive101 soul fond of a joke, opens your door and shouts out as though nothing were happening: 'My dear boy, I have this minute come from Pavlovsk.' My goodness! the old count is dead, unutterable happiness is close at hand—and people arrive from Pavlovsk!"
Finishing my pathetic appeal, I paused pathetically. I remembered that I had an intense desire to force myself to laugh, for I was already feeling that a malignant102 demon103 was stirring within me, that there was a lump in my throat, that my chin was beginning to twitch104, and that my eyes were growing more and more moist.
I expected Nastenka, who listened to me opening her clever eyes, would break into her childish, irrepressible laugh; and I was already regretting that I had gone so far, that I had unnecessarily described what had long been simmering in my heart, about which I could speak as though from a written account of it, because I had long ago passed judgment105 on myself and now could not resist reading it, making my confession106, without expecting to be understood; but to my surprise she was silent, waiting a little, then she faintly pressed my hand and with timid sympathy asked—
"Surely you haven't lived like that all your life?"
"All my life, Nastenka," I answered; "all my life, and it seems to me I shall go on so to the end."
"No, that won't do," she said uneasily, "that must not be; and so, maybe, I shall spend all my life beside grandmother. Do you know, it is not at all good to live like that?"
"I know, Nastenka, I know!" I cried, unable to restrain my feelings longer. "And I realize now, more than ever, that I have lost all my best years! And now I know it and feel it more painfully from recognizing that God has sent me you, my good angel, to tell me that and show it. Now that I sit beside you and talk to you it is strange for me to think of the future, for in the future—there is loneliness again, again this musty, useless life; and what shall I have to dream of when I have been so happy in reality beside you! Oh, may you be blessed, dear girl, for not having repulsed107 me at first, for enabling me to say that for two evenings, at least, I have lived."
"Oh, no, no!" cried Nastenka and tears glistened108 in her eyes. "No, it mustn't be so any more; we must not part like that! what are two evenings?"
"Oh, Nastenka, Nastenka! Do you know how far you have reconciled me to myself? Do you know now that I shall not think so ill of myself, as I have at some moments? Do you know that, maybe, I shall leave off grieving over the crime and sin of my life? for such a life is a crime and a sin. And do not imagine that I have been exaggerating anything—for goodness' sake don't think that, Nastenka: for at times such misery comes over me, such misery.... Because it begins to seem to me at such times that I am incapable109 of beginning a life in real life, because it has seemed to me that I have lost all touch, all instinct for the actual, the real; because at last I have cursed myself; because after my fantastic nights I have moments of returning sobriety, which are awful! Meanwhile, you hear the whirl and roar of the crowd in the vortex of life around you; you hear, you see, men living in reality; you see that life for them is not forbidden, that their life does not float away like a dream, like a vision; that their life is being eternally renewed, eternally youthful, and not one hour of it is the same as another; while fancy is so spiritless, monotonous110 to vulgarity and easily scared, the slave of shadows, of the idea, the slave of the first cloud that shrouds111 the sun, and overcasts112 with depression the true Petersburg heart so devoted113 to the sun—and what is fancy in depression! One feels that this inexhaustible fancy is weary at last and worn out with continual exercise, because one is growing into manhood, outgrowing114 one's old ideals: they are being shattered into fragments, into dust; if there is no other life one must build one up from the fragments. And meanwhile the soul longs and craves115 for something else! And in vain the dreamer rakes over his old dreams, as though seeking a spark among the embers, to fan them into flame, to warm his chilled heart by the rekindled116 fire, and to rouse up in it again all that was so sweet, that touched his heart, that set his blood boiling, drew tears from his eyes, and so luxuriously117 deceived him! Do you know, Nastenka, the point I have reached? Do you know that I am forced now to celebrate the anniversary of my own sensations, the anniversary of that which was once so sweet, which never existed in reality—for this anniversary is kept in memory of those same foolish, shadowy dreams—and to do this because those foolish dreams are no more, because I have nothing to earn them with; you know even dreams do not come for nothing! Do you know that I love now to recall and visit at certain dates the places where I was once happy in my own way? I love to build up my present in harmony with the irrevocable past, and I often wander like a shadow, aimless, sad and dejected, about the streets and crooked118 lanes of Petersburg. What memories they are! To remember, for instance, that here just a year ago, just at this time, at this hour, on this pavement, I wandered just as lonely, just as dejected as to-day. And one remembers that then one's dreams were sad, and though the past was no better one feels as though it had somehow been better, and that life was more peaceful, that one was free from the black thoughts that haunt one now; that one was free from the gnawing119 of conscience—the gloomy, sullen gnawing which now gives me no rest by day or by night. And one asks oneself where are one's dreams. And one shakes one's head and says how rapidly the years fly by! And again one asks oneself what has one done with one's years. Where have you buried your best days? Have you lived or not? Look, one says to oneself, look how cold the world is growing. Some more years will pass, and after them will come gloomy solitude; then will come old age trembling on its crutch120, and after it misery and desolation. Your fantastic world will grow pale, your dreams will fade and die and will fall like the yellow leaves from the trees.... Oh, Nastenka! you know it will be sad to be left alone, utterly alone, and to have not even anything to regret—nothing, absolutely nothing ... for all that you have lost, all that, all was nothing, stupid, simple nullity, there has been nothing but dreams!"
"Come, don't work on my feelings any more," said Nastenka, wiping away a tear which was trickling121 down her cheek. "Now it's over! Now we shall be two together. Now, whatever happens to me, we will never part. Listen; I am a simple girl, I have not had much education, though grandmother did get a teacher for me, but truly I understand you, for all that you have described I have been through myself, when grandmother pinned me to her dress. Of course, I should not have described it so well as you have; I am not educated," she added timidly, for she was still feeling a sort of respect for my pathetic eloquence122 and lofty style; "but I am very glad that you have been quite open with me. Now I know you thoroughly123, all of you. And do you know what? I want to tell you my history too, all without concealment124, and after that you must give me advice. You are a very clever man; will you promise to give me advice?"
"Ah, Nastenka," I cried, "though I have never given advice, still less sensible advice, yet I see now that if we always go on like this that it will be very sensible, and that each of us will give the other a great deal of sensible advice! Well, my pretty Nastenka, what sort of advice do you want? Tell me frankly125; at this moment I am so gay and happy, so bold and sensible, that it won't be difficult for me to find words."
"No, no!" Nastenka interrupted, laughing. "I don't only want sensible advice, I want warm brotherly advice, as though you had been fond of me all your life!"
"Agreed, Nastenka, agreed!" I cried delighted; "and if I had been fond of you for twenty years, I couldn't have been fonder of you than I am now."
"Your hand," said Nastenka.
"Here it is," said I, giving her my hand.
"And so let us begin my history!"
Nastenka's History
"Half my story you know already—that is, you know that I have an old grandmother...."
"If the other half is as brief as that ..." I interrupted, laughing.
"Be quiet and listen. First of all you must agree not to interrupt me, or else, perhaps I shall get in a muddle126! Come, listen quietly.
"I have an old grandmother. I came into her hands when I was quite a little girl, for my father and mother are dead. It must be supposed that grandmother was once richer, for now she recalls better days. She taught me French, and then got a teacher for me. When I was fifteen (and now I am seventeen) we gave up having lessons. It was at that time that I got into mischief; what I did I won't tell you; it's enough to say that it wasn't very important. But grandmother called me to her one morning and said that as she was blind she could not look after me; she took a pin and pinned my dress to hers, and said that we should sit like that for the rest of our lives if, of course, I did not become a better girl. In fact, at first it was impossible to get away from her: I had to work, to read and to study all beside grandmother. I tried to deceive her once, and persuaded Fekla to sit in my place. Fekla is our charwoman, she is deaf. Fekla sat there instead of me; grandmother was asleep in her armchair at the time, and I went off to see a friend close by. Well, it ended in trouble. Grandmother woke up while I was out, and asked some questions; she thought I was still sitting quietly in my place. Fekla saw that grandmother was asking her something, but could not tell what it was; she wondered what to do, undid127 the pin and ran away...."
At this point Nastenka stopped and began laughing. I laughed with her. She left off at once.
"I tell you what, don't you laugh at grandmother. I laugh because it's funny.... What can I do, since grandmother is like that; but yet I am fond of her in a way. Oh, well, I did catch it that time. I had to sit down in my place at once, and after that I was not allowed to stir.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you that our house belongs to us, that is to grandmother; it is a little wooden house with three windows as old as grandmother herself, with a little upper storey; well, there moved into our upper storey a new lodger128."
"Yes, of course," answered Nastenka, "and one who knew how to hold his tongue better than you do. In fact, he hardly ever used his tongue at all. He was a dumb, blind, lame2, dried-up little old man, so that at last he could not go on living, he died; so then we had to find a new lodger, for we could not live without a lodger—the rent, together with grandmother's pension, is almost all we have. But the new lodger, as luck would have it, was a young man, a stranger not of these parts. As he did not haggle130 over the rent, grandmother accepted him, and only afterwards she asked me: 'Tell me, Nastenka, what is our lodger like—is he young or old?' I did not want to lie, so I told grandmother that he wasn't exactly young and that he wasn't old.
"'And is he pleasant looking?' asked grandmother.
"Again I did not want to tell a lie: 'Yes, he is pleasant looking, grandmother,' I said. And grandmother said: 'Oh, what a nuisance, what a nuisance! I tell you this, grandchild, that you may not be looking after him. What times these are! Why a paltry131 lodger like this, and he must be pleasant looking too; it was very different in the old days!'"
"Grandmother was always regretting the old days—she was younger in old days, and the sun was warmer in old days, and cream did not turn so sour in old days—it was always the old days! I would sit still and hold my tongue and think to myself: why did grandmother suggest it to me? Why did she ask whether the lodger was young and good-looking? But that was all, I just thought it, began counting my stitches again, went on knitting my stocking, and forgot all about it.
"Well, one morning the lodger came in to see us; he asked about a promise to paper his rooms. One thing led to another. Grandmother was talkative, and she said: 'Go, Nastenka, into my bedroom and bring me my reckoner.' I jumped up at once; I blushed all over, I don't know why, and forgot I was sitting pinned to grandmother; instead of quietly undoing132 the pin, so that the lodger should not see—I jumped so that grandmother's chair moved. When I saw that the lodger knew all about me now, I blushed, stood still as though I had been shot, and suddenly began to cry—I felt so ashamed and miserable133 at that minute, that I didn't know where to look! Grandmother called out, 'What are you waiting for?' and I went on worse than ever. When the lodger saw, saw that I was ashamed on his account, he bowed and went away at once!
"After that I felt ready to die at the least sound in the passage. 'It's the lodger,' I kept thinking; I stealthily undid the pin in case. But it always turned out not to be, he never came. A fortnight passed; the lodger sent word through Fyokla that he had a great number of French books, and that they were all good books that I might read, so would not grandmother like me to read them that I might not be dull? Grandmother agreed with gratitude134, but kept asking if they were moral books, for if the books were immoral135 it would be out of the question, one would learn evil from them."
"'And what should I learn, grandmother? What is there written in them?'
"'Ah,' she said, 'what's described in them, is how young men seduce136 virtuous137 girls; how, on the excuse that they want to marry them, they carry them off from their parents' houses; how afterwards they leave these unhappy girls to their fate, and they perish in the most pitiful way. I read a great many books,' said grandmother, 'and it is all so well described that one sits up all night and reads them on the sly. So mind you don't read them, Nastenka,' said she. 'What books has he sent?'
"'They are all Walter Scott's novels, grandmother.'
"'Walter Scott's novels! But stay, isn't there some trick about it? Look, hasn't he stuck a love-letter among them?'
"'No, grandmother,' I said, 'there isn't a love-letter.'
"'No, grandmother, there is nothing under the binding.'
"'Well, that's all right.'
"So we began reading Walter Scott, and in a month or so we had read almost half. Then he sent us more and more. He sent us Pushkin, too; so that at last I could not get on without a book and left off dreaming of how fine it would be to marry a Chinese Prince.
"That's how things were when I chanced one day to meet our lodger on the stairs. Grandmother had sent me to fetch something. He stopped, I blushed and he blushed; he laughed, though, said good-morning to me, asked after grandmother, and said, 'Well, have you read the books?' I answered that I had. 'Which did you like best?' he asked. I said, 'Ivanhoe, and Pushkin best of all,' and so our talk ended for that time.
"A week later I met him again on the stairs. That time grandmother had not sent me, I wanted to get something for myself. It was past two, and the lodger used to come home at that time. 'Good-afternoon,' said he. I said good-afternoon, too.
"'Aren't you dull,' he said, 'sitting all day with your grandmother?'
"When he asked that, I blushed, I don't know why; I felt ashamed, and again I felt offended—I suppose because other people had begun to ask me about that. I wanted to go away without answering, but I hadn't the strength.
"'Listen,' he said, 'you are a good girl. Excuse my speaking to you like that, but I assure you that I wish for your welfare quite as much as your grandmother. Have you no friends that you could go and visit?'
"I told him I hadn't any, that I had had no friend but Mashenka, and she had gone away to Pskov.
"'Listen,' he said, 'would you like to go to the theatre with me?'
"'To the theatre. What about grandmother?'
"'But you must go without your grandmother's knowing it,' he said.
"'No,' I said, 'I don't want to deceive grandmother. Good-bye.'
"'Well, good-bye,' he answered, and said nothing more.
"Only after dinner he came to see us; sat a long time talking to grandmother; asked her whether she ever went out anywhere, whether she had acquaintances, and suddenly said: 'I have taken a box at the opera for this evening; they are giving The Barber of Seville. My friends meant to go, but afterwards refused, so the ticket is left on my hands.' 'The Barber of Seville,' cried grandmother; 'why, the same they used to act in old days?'
"'Yes, it's the same barber,' he said, and glanced at me. I saw what it meant and turned crimson141, and my heart began throbbing142 with suspense143.
"'To be sure, I know it,' said grandmother; 'why, I took the part of Rosina myself in old days, at a private performance!'
"'So wouldn't you like to go to-day?' said the lodger. 'Or my ticket will be wasted.'
"'By all means let us go,' said grandmother; why shouldn't we? And my Nastenka here has never been to the theatre.'
"My goodness, what joy! We got ready at once, put on our best clothes, and set off. Though grandmother was blind, still she wanted to hear the music; besides, she is a kind old soul, what she cared most for was to amuse me, we should never have gone of ourselves.
"What my impressions of The Barber of Seville were I won't tell you; but all that evening our lodger looked at me so nicely, talked so nicely, that I saw at once that he had meant to test me in the morning when he proposed that I should go with him alone. Well, it was joy! I went to bed so proud, so gay, my heart beat so that I was a little feverish144, and all night I was raving145 about The Barber of Seville.
"I expected that he would come and see us more and more often after that, but it wasn't so at all. He almost entirely gave up coming. He would just come in about once a month, and then only to invite us to the theatre. We went twice again. Only I wasn't at all pleased with that; I saw that he was simply sorry for me because I was so hardly treated by grandmother, and that was all. As time went on, I grew more and more restless, I couldn't sit still, I couldn't read, I couldn't work; sometimes I laughed and did something to annoy grandmother, at another time I would cry. At last I grew thin and was very nearly ill. The opera season was over, and our lodger had quite given up coming to see us; whenever we met—always on the same staircase, of course—he would bow so silently, so gravely, as though he did not want to speak, and go down to the front door, while I went on standing in the middle of the stairs, as red as a cherry, for all the blood rushed to my head at the sight of him.
"Now the end is near. Just a year ago, in May, the lodger came to us and said to grandmother that he had finished his business here, and that he must go back to Moscow for a year. When I heard that, I sank into a chair half dead; grandmother did not notice anything; and having informed us that he should be leaving us, he bowed and went away.
"What was I to do? I thought and thought and fretted146 and fretted, and at last I made up my mind. Next day he was to go away, and I made up my mind to end it all that evening when grandmother went to bed. And so it happened. I made up all my clothes in a parcel—all the linen147 I needed—and with the parcel in my hand, more dead than alive, went upstairs to our lodger. I believe I must have stayed an hour on the staircase. When I opened his door he cried out as he looked at me. He thought I was a ghost, and rushed to give me some water, for I could hardly stand up. My heart beat so violently that my head ached, and I did not know what I was doing. When I recovered I began by laying my parcel on his bed, sat down beside it, hid my face in my hands and went into floods of tears. I think he understood it all at once, and looked at me so sadly that my heart was torn.
"'Listen,' he began, 'listen, Nastenka, I can't do anything; I am a poor man, for I have nothing, not even a decent berth148. How could we live, if I were to marry you?'
"We talked a long time; but at last I got quite frantic149, I said I could not go on living with grandmother, that I should run away from her, that I did not want to be pinned to her, and that I would go to Moscow if he liked, because I could not live without him. Shame and pride and love were all clamouring in me at once, and I fell on the bed almost in convulsions, I was so afraid of a refusal.
"He sat for some minutes in silence, then got up, came up to me and took me by the hand.
"'Listen, my dear good Nastenka, listen; I swear to you that if I am ever in a position to marry, you shall make my happiness. I assure you that now you are the only one who could make me happy. Listen, I am going to Moscow and shall be there just a year; I hope to establish my position. When I come back, if you still love me, I swear that we will be happy. Now it is impossible, I am not able, I have not the right to promise anything. Well, I repeat, if it is not within a year it will certainly be some time; that is, of course, if you do not prefer any one else, for I cannot and dare not bind139 you by any sort of promise.'
"That was what he said to me, and next day he went away. We agreed together not to say a word to grandmother: that was his wish. Well, my history is nearly finished now. Just a year has past. He has arrived; he has been here three days, and, and
"And what?" I cried, impatient to hear the end.
"And up to now has not shown himself!" answered Nastenka, as though screwing up all her courage. "There's no sign or sound of him."
Here she stopped, paused for a minute, bent150 her head, and covering her face with her hands broke into such sobs151 that it sent a pang152 to my heart to hear them. I had not in the least expected such a dénouement.
"Nastenka," I began timidly in an ingratiating voice, "Nastenka! For goodness' sake don't cry! How do you know? Perhaps he is not here yet...."
"He is, he is," Nastenka repeated. "He is here, and I know it. We made an agreement at the time, that evening, before he went away: when we said all that I have told you, and had come to an understanding, then we came out here for a walk on this embankment. It was ten o'clock; we sat on this seat. I was not crying then; it was sweet to me to hear what he said.... And he said that he would come to us directly he arrived, and if I did not refuse him, then we would tell grandmother about it all. Now he is here, I know it, and yet he does not come!"
And again she burst into tears.
"Good God, can I do nothing to help you in your sorrow?" I cried jumping up from the seat in utter despair. "Tell me, Nastenka, wouldn't it be possible for me to go to him?"
"Would that be possible?" she asked suddenly, raising her head.
"No, of course not," I said pulling myself up; "but I tell you what, write a letter."
"No, that's impossible, I can't do that," she answered with decision, bending her head and not looking at me.
"How impossible—why is it impossible?" I went on, clinging to my idea. "But, Nastenka, it depends what sort of letter; there are letters and letters and.... Ah, Nastenka, I am right; trust to me, trust to me, I will not give you bad advice. It can all be arranged! You took the first step—why not now?"
"I can't. I can't! It would seem as though I were forcing myself on him...."
"Ah, my good little Nastenka," I said, hardly able to conceal9 a smile; "no, no, you have a right to, in fact, because he made you a promise. Besides, I can see from everything that he is a man of delicate feeling; that he behaved very well," I went on, more and more carried away by the logic153 of my own arguments and convictions. "How did he behave? He bound himself by a promise: he said that if he married at all he would marry no one but you; he gave you full liberty to refuse him at once.... Under such circumstances you may take the first step; you have the right; you are in the privileged position—if, for instance, you wanted to free him from his promise...."
"Listen; how would you write?"
"Write what?"
"This letter."
"I tell you how I would write: 'Dear Sir.'..."
"Must I really begin like that, 'Dear Sir'?"
"You certainly must! Though, after all, I don't know, I imagine...."
"Well, well, what next?"
"'Dear Sir,—I must apologize for——' But, no, there's no need to apologize; the fact itself justifies154 everything. Write simply:—
"'I am writing to you. Forgive me my impatience155; but I have been happy for a whole year in hope; am I to blame for being unable to endure a day of doubt now? Now that you have come, perhaps you have changed your mind. If so, this letter is to tell you that I do not repine, nor blame you. I do not blame you because I have no power over your heart, such is my fate!
"'You are an honourable156 man. You will not smile or be vexed157 at these impatient lines. Remember they are written by a poor girl; that she is alone; that she has no one to direct her, no one to advise her, and that she herself could never control her heart. But forgive me that a doubt has stolen—if only for one instant—into my heart. You are not capable of insulting, even in thought, her who so loved and so loves you.'"
"Yes, yes; that's exactly what I was thinking!" cried Nastenka, and her eyes beamed with delight. "Oh, you have solved my difficulties: God has sent you to me! Thank you, thank you!"
"What for? What for? For God's sending me?" I answered, looking delighted at her joyful little face. "Why, yes; for that too."
"Ah, Nastenka! Why, one thanks some people for being alive at the same time with one; I thank you for having met me, for my being able to remember you all my life!"
"Well, enough, enough! But now I tell you what, listen: we made an agreement then that as soon as he arrived he would let me know, by leaving a letter with some good simple people of my acquaintance who know nothing about it; or, if it were impossible to write a letter to me, for a letter does not always tell everything, he would be here at ten o'clock on the day he arrived, where we had arranged to meet. I know he has arrived already; but now it's the third day, and there's no sign of him and no letter. It's impossible for me to get away from grandmother in the morning. Give my letter to-morrow to those kind people I spoke13 to you about: they will send it on to him, and if there is an answer you bring it to-morrow at ten o'clock."
"But the letter, the letter! You see, you must write the letter first! So perhaps it must all be the day after to-morrow."
"The letter ..." said Nastenka, a little confused, "the letter ... but...."
But she did not finish. At first she turned her little face away from me, flushed like a rose, and suddenly I felt in my hand a letter which had evidently been written long before, all ready and sealed up. A familiar sweet and charming reminiscence floated through my mind.
"R, o—Ro; s, i—si; n, a—na," I began.
"Rosina!" we both hummed together; I almost embracing her with delight, while she blushed as only she could blush, and laughed through the tears which gleamed like pearls on her black eyelashes.
"Come, enough, enough! Good-bye now," she said speaking rapidly. "Here is the letter, here is the address to which you are to take it. Good-bye, till we meet again! Till to-morrow!"
She pressed both my hands warmly, nodded her head, and flew like an arrow down her side street. I stood still for a long time following her with my eyes.
"Till to-morrow! till to-morrow!" was ringing in my ears as she vanished from my sight.
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1
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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7
pranks
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| n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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10
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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11
pedantically
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12
bespoken
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| v.预定( bespeak的过去分词 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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13
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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14
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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15
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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dingily
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| adv.暗黑地，邋遢地 | |
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prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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19
snail
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| n.蜗牛 | |
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20
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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22
reeking
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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25
counterfeit
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| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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urn
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| n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮 | |
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27
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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28
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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retrieve
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| vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索 | |
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32
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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33
treacherously
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| 背信弃义地； 背叛地； 靠不住地； 危险地 | |
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34
indignities
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| n.侮辱，轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 ) | |
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35
crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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bristle
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| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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40
ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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41
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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42
cogitating
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| v.认真思考，深思熟虑( cogitate的现在分词 ) | |
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43
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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44
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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45
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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46
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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47
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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48
morbidly
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| adv.病态地 | |
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49
picturesquely
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50
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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51
prancing
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 ) | |
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52
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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53
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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54
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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55
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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56
warp
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| vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见 | |
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57
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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58
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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59
meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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60
barges
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| 驳船( barge的名词复数 ) | |
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61
tickles
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| （使）发痒( tickle的第三人称单数 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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62
evokes
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| 产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63
phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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64
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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65
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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66
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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67
vistas
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| 长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景 | |
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68
voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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69
corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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70
torpidly
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| adv.迟钝地，有气无力的 | |
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71
insipidly
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| adv.没有味道地，清淡地 | |
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72
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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73
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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74
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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75
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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76
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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77
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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78
sluggard
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| n.懒人；adj.懒惰的 | |
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79
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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80
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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81
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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82
mirage
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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83
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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85
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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86
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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87
tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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88
fathomless
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| a.深不可测的 | |
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89
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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90
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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91
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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92
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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93
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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94
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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95
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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96
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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97
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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98
numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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99
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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100
lanky
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| adj.瘦长的 | |
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101
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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102
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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103
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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104
twitch
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| v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛 | |
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105
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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106
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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107
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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108
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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109
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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110
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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111
shrouds
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| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
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112
overcasts
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| v.天阴的，多云的( overcast的第三人称单数 ) | |
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113
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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114
outgrowing
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的现在分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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115
craves
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| 渴望，热望( crave的第三人称单数 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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116
rekindled
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| v.使再燃( rekindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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117
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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118
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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119
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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120
crutch
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| n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱 | |
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121
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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122
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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123
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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124
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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125
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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126
muddle
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| n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱 | |
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127
Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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128
lodger
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| n.寄宿人，房客 | |
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129
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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130
haggle
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| vi.讨价还价，争论不休 | |
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131
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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132
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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133
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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134
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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135
immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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136
seduce
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| vt.勾引，诱奸，诱惑，引诱 | |
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137
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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138
binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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139
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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140
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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141
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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142
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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143
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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144
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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145
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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146
fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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147
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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148
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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149
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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150
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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151
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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152
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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153
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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154
justifies
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| 证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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155
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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156
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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157
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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