There was a general discussion going on among the guests. All at once I saw our queer friend jump upon his chair, and call out at the top of his voice, anxious for the exclusive attention of the company.
"Listen," the master of the house whispered to me. "He sometimes tells the most curious stories.... Does he interest you?"
I nodded and squeezed myself into the group. The sight of a well-dressed gentleman jumping upon his chair and shouting at the top of his voice did, in fact, draw the attention of all. Many who did not know the queer fellow looked at one another in perplexity, the others roared with laughter.
"I knew Fedosey Nikolaitch. I ought to know Fedosey Nikolaitch better than any one!" cried the queer fellow from his elevation34. "Gentlemen, allow me to tell you something. I can tell you a good story about Fedosey Nikolaitch! I know a story—exquisite!"
"Tell it, Osip Mihalitch, tell it."
"Tell it."
"Listen."
"Listen, listen."
"I begin; but, gentlemen, this is a peculiar story...."
"Very good, very good."
"It's a comic story."
"Very good, excellent, splendid. Get on!"
"But why do you trouble yourself to announce that it's comic?"
"Eh???!"
"In short, the story which it will afford you all pleasure to hear me now relate, gentlemen—the story, in consequence of which I have come into company so interesting and profitable...."
"No puns!"
"This story."
"In short the story—make haste and finish the introduction. The story, which has its value," a fair-haired young man with moustaches pronounced in a husky voice, dropping his hand into his coat pocket and, as though by chance, pulling out a purse instead of his handkerchief.
"The story, my dear sirs, after which I should like to see many of you in my place. And, finally, the story, in consequence of which I have not married."
"Married! A wife! Polzunkov tried to get married!!"
"I confess I should like to see Madame Polzunkov."
"Allow me to inquire the name of the would-be Madame Polzunkov," piped a youth, making his way up to the storyteller.
"And so for the first chapter, gentlemen. It was just six years ago, in spring, the thirty-first of March—note the date, gentlemen—on the eve...."
"Of the first of April!" cried a young man with ringlets.
"You are extraordinarily37 quick at guessing. It was evening. Twilight38 was gathering39 over the district town of N., the moon was about to float out ... everything in proper style, in fact. And so in the very late twilight I, too, floated out of my poor lodging40 on the sly—after taking leave of my restricted granny, now dead. Excuse me, gentlemen, for making use of such a fashionable expression, which I heard for the last time from Nikolay Nikolaitch. But my granny was indeed restricted: she was blind, dumb, deaf, stupid—everything you please.... I confess I was in a tremor41, I was prepared for great deeds; my heart was beating like a kitten's when some bony hand clutches it by the scruff of the neck."
"Excuse me, Monsieur Polzunkov."
"What do you want?"
"Tell it more simply; don't over-exert yourself, please!"
"All right," said Osip Mihalitch, a little taken aback. "I went into the house of Fedosey Nikolaitch (the house that he had bought). Fedosey Nikolaitch, as you know, is not a mere42 colleague, but the full-blown head of a department. I was announced, and was at once shown into the study. I can see it now; the room was dark, almost dark, but candles were not brought. Behold43, Fedosey Nikolaitch walks in. There he and I were left in the darkness...."
"Whatever happened to you?" asked an officer.
"What do you suppose?" asked Polzunkov, turning promptly44, with a convulsively working face, to the young man with ringlets. "Well, gentlemen, a strange circumstance occurred, though indeed there was nothing strange in it: it was what is called an everyday affair—I simply took out of my pocket a roll of paper ... and he a roll of paper."
"Paper notes?"
"Paper notes; and we exchanged."
"I don't mind betting that there's a flavour of bribery45 about it," observed a respectably dressed, closely cropped young gentleman.
"Bribery!" Polzunkov caught him up.
"'Oh, may I be a Liberal,
Such as many I have seen!'
If you, too, when it is your lot to serve in the provinces, do not warm your hands at your country's hearth47.... For as an author said: 'Even the smoke of our native land is sweet to us.' She is our Mother, gentlemen, our Mother Russia; we are her babes, and so we suck her!"
There was a roar of laughter.
"Only would you believe it, gentlemen, I have never taken bribes48?" said Polzunkov, looking round at the whole company distrustfully.
"It really is so, gentlemen...."
But here he stopped, still looking round at every one with a strange expression of face; perhaps—who knows?—at that moment the thought came into his mind that he was more honest than many of all that honourable company.... Anyway, the serious expression of his face did not pass away till the general merriment was quite over.
"And so," Polzunkov began again when all was still, "though I never did take bribes, yet that time I transgressed50; I put in my pocket a bribe46 ... from a bribe-taker ... that is, there were certain papers in my hands which, if I had cared to send to a certain person, it would have gone ill with Fedosey Nikolaitch."
"So then he bought them from you?"
"He did."
"Did he give much?"
"He gave as much as many a man nowadays would sell his conscience for complete, with all its variations ... if only he could get anything for it. But I felt as though I were scalded when I put the money in my pocket. I really don't understand what always comes over me, gentlemen—but I was more dead than alive, my lips twitched51 and my legs trembled; well, I was to blame, to blame, entirely52 to blame. I was utterly53 conscience-stricken; I was ready to beg Fedosey Nikolaitch's forgiveness."
"Well, what did he do—did he forgive you?"
"But I didn't ask his forgiveness.... I only mean that that is how I felt. Then I have a sensitive heart, you know. I saw he was looking me straight in the face. 'Have you no fear of God, Osip Mihailitch?' said he. Well, what could I do? From a feeling of propriety54 I put my head on one side and I flung up my hands. 'In what way,' said I, 'have I no fear of God, Fedosey Nikolaitch?' But I just said that from a feeling of propriety.... I was ready to sink into the earth. 'After being so long a friend of our family, after being, I may say, like a son—and who knows what Heaven had in store for us, Osip Mihailitch?—and all of a sudden to inform against me—to think of that now!... What am I to think of mankind after that, Osip Mihailitch?' Yes, gentlemen, he did read me a lecture! 'Come,' he said, 'you tell me what I am to think of mankind after that, Osip Mihailitch.' 'What is he to think?' I thought; and do you know, there was a lump in my throat, and my voice was quivering, and knowing my hateful weakness, I snatched up my hat. 'Where are you off to, Osip Mihailitch? Surely on the eve of such a day you cannot bear malice55 against me? What wrong have I done you?...' 'Fedosey Nikolaitch,' I said, 'Fedosey Nikolaitch....' In fact, I melted, gentlemen, I melted like a sugar-stick. And the roll of notes that was lying in my pocket, that, too, seemed screaming out: 'You ungrateful brigand56, you accursed thief!' It seemed to weigh a hundredweight ... (if only it had weighed a hundredweight!).... 'I see,' says Fedosey Nikolaitch, 'I see your penitence57 ... you know to-morrow....' 'St. Mary of Egypt's day....' 'Well, don't weep,' said Fedosey Nikolaitch, 'that's enough: you've erred58, and you are penitent59! Come along! Maybe I may succeed in bringing you back again into the true path,' says he ... 'maybe, my modest Penates' (yes,'Penates,' I remember he used that expression, the rascal) 'will warm,' says he, 'your harden ... I will not say hardened, but erring60 heart....' He took me by the arm, gentlemen, and led me to his family circle. A cold shiver ran down my back; I shuddered61! I thought with what eyes shall I present myself—you must know, gentlemen ... eh, what shall I say?—a delicate position had arisen here."
"Not Madame Polzunkov?"
"Marya Fedosyevna, only she was not destined62, you know, to bear the name you have given her; she did not attain that honour. Fedosey Nikolaitch was right, you see, when he said that I was almost looked upon as a son in the house; it had been so, indeed, six months before, when a certain retired63 junker called Mihailo Maximitch Dvigailov, was still living. But by God's will he died, and he put off settling his affairs till death settled his business for him."
"Ough!"
"Well, never mind, gentlemen, forgive me, it was a slip of the tongue. It's a bad pun, but it doesn't matter it's being bad—what happened was far worse, when I was left, so to say, with nothing in prospect64 but a bullet through the brain, for that junker, though he would not admit me into his house (he lived in grand style, for he had always known how to feather his nest), yet perhaps correctly he believed me to be his son."
"Aha!"
"Yes, that was how it was! So they began to cold-shoulder me at Fedosey Nikolaitch's. I noticed things, I kept quiet; but all at once, unluckily for me (or perhaps luckily!), a cavalry65 officer galloped66 into our little town like snow on our head. His business—buying horses for the army—was light and active, in cavalry style, but he settled himself solidly at Fedosey Nikolaitch's, as though he were laying siege to it! I approached the subject in a roundabout way, as my nasty habit is; I said one thing and another, asking him what I had done to be treated so, saying that I was almost like a son to him, and when might I expect him to behave more like a father.... Well, he began answering me. And when he begins to speak you are in for a regular epic67 in twelve cantos, and all you can do is to listen, lick your lips and throw up your hands in delight. And not a ha'p'orth of sense, at least there's no making out the sense. You stand puzzled like a fool—he puts you in a fog, he twists about like an eel16 and wriggles68 away from you. It's a special gift, a real gift—it's enough to frighten people even if it is no concern of theirs. I tried one thing and another, and went hither and thither69. I took the lady songs and presented her with sweets and thought of witty70 things to say to her. I tried sighing and groaning71. 'My heart aches,' I said, 'it aches from love.' And I went in for tears and secret explanations. Man is foolish, you know.... I never reminded myself that I was thirty ... not a bit of it! I tried all my arts. It was no go. It was a failure, and I gained nothing but jeers and gibes72. I was indignant, I was choking with anger. I slunk off and would not set foot in the house. I thought and thought and made up my mind to denounce him. Well, of course, it was a shabby thing—I meant to give away a friend, I confess. I had heaps of material and splendid material—a grand case. It brought me fifteen hundred roubles when I changed it and my report on it for bank notes!"
"Ah, so that was the bribe!"
"Yes, sir, that was the bribe—and it was a bribe-taker who had to pay it—and I didn't do wrong, I can assure you! Well, now I will go on: he drew me, if you will kindly73 remember, more dead than alive into the room where they were having tea. They all met me, seeming as it were offended, that is, not exactly offended, but hurt—so hurt that it was simply.... They seemed shattered, absolutely shattered, and at the same time there was a look of becoming dignity on their faces, a gravity in their expression, something fatherly, parental74 ... the prodigal75 son had come back to them—that's what it had come to! They made me sit down to tea, but there was no need to do that: I felt as though a samovar was toiling76 in my bosom77 and my feet were like ice. I was humbled78, I was cowed. Marya Fominishna, his wife, addressed me familiarly from the first word.
"'How is it you have grown so thin, my boy?'
"'I've not been very well, Marya Fominishna,' I said. My wretched voice shook.
"And then quite suddenly—she must have been waiting for a chance to get a dig at me, the old snake—she said—
"'I suppose your conscience felt ill at ease, Osip Mihalitch, my dear! Our fatherly hospitality was a reproach to you! You have been punished for the tears I have shed.'
"Yes, upon my word, she really said that—she had the conscience to say it. Why, that was nothing to her, she was a terror! She did nothing but sit there and pour out tea. But if you were in the market, my darling, I thought you'd shout louder than any fishwife there.... That's the kind of woman she was. And then, to my undoing79, the daughter, Marya Fedosyevna, came in, in all her innocence80, a little pale and her eyes red as though she had been weeping. I was bowled over on the spot like a fool. But it turned out afterwards that the tears were a tribute to the cavalry officer. He had made tracks for home and taken his hook for good and all; for you know it was high time for him to be off—I may as well mention the fact here; not that his leave was up precisely81, but you see.... It was only later that the loving parents grasped the position and had found out all that had happened.... What could they do? They hushed their trouble up—an addition to the family!
"Well, I could not help it—as soon as I looked at her I was done for; I stole a glance at my hat, I wanted to get up and make off. But there was no chance of that, they took away my hat.... I must confess, I did think of getting off without it. 'Well!' I thought—but no, they latched82 the doors. There followed friendly jokes, winking83, little airs and graces. I was overcome with embarrassment84, said something stupid, talked nonsense, about love. My charmer sat down to the piano and with an air of wounded feeling sang the song about the hussar who leaned upon the sword—that finished me off!
"'Well,' said Fedosey Nikolaitch, 'all is forgotten, come to my arms!'
"I fell just as I was, with my face on his waistcoat.
"'My benefactor85! You are a father to me!' said I. And I shed floods of hot tears. Lord, have mercy on us, what a to-do there was! He cried, his good lady cried, Mashenka cried ... there was a flaxen-headed creature there, she cried too.... That wasn't enough: the younger children crept out of all the corners (the Lord had filled their quiver full) and they howled too.... Such tears, such emotion, such joy! They found their prodigal, it was like a soldier's return to his home. Then followed refreshments86, we played forfeits87, and 'I have a pain'—'Where is it?'—'In my heart'—'Who gave it you?' My charmer blushed. The old man and I had some punch—they won me over and did for me completely.
"I returned to my grandmother with my head in a whirl. I was laughing all the way home; for full two hours I paced up and down our little room. I waked up my old granny and told her of my happiness.
"'But did he give you any money, the brigand?'
"'He did, granny, he did, my dear—luck has come to us all of a heap: we've only to open our hand and take it.'
"I waked up Sofron.
"'Sofron,' I said, 'take off my boots.'
"Sofron pulled off my boots.
"'Come, Sofron, congratulate me now, give me a kiss! I am going to get married, my lad, I am going to get married. You can get jolly drunk to-morrow, you can have a spree, my dear soul—your master is getting married.'
"My heart was full of jokes and laughter. I was beginning to drop off to sleep, but something made me get up again. I sat in thought: to-morrow is the first of April, a bright and playful day—what should I do? And I thought of something. Why, gentlemen, I got out of bed, lighted a candle, and sat down to the writing-table just as I was. I was in a fever of excitement, quite carried away—you know, gentlemen, what it is when a man is quite carried away? I wallowed joyfully88 in the mud, my dear friends. You see what I am like; they take something from you, and you give them something else as well and say, 'Take that, too.' They strike you on the cheek and in your joy you offer them your whole back. Then they try to lure19 you like a dog with a bun, and you embrace them with your foolish paws and fall to kissing them with all your heart and soul. Why, see what I am doing now, gentlemen! You are laughing and whispering—I see it! After I have told you all my story you will begin to turn me into ridicule89, you will begin to attack me, but yet I go on talking and talking and talking! And who tells me to? Who drives me to do it? Who is standing90 behind my back whispering to me, 'Speak, speak and tell them'? And yet I do talk, I go on telling you, I try to please you as though you were my brothers, all my dearest friends.... Ech!"
The laughter which had sprung up by degrees on all sides completely drowned at last the voice of the speaker, who really seemed worked up into a sort of ecstasy91. He paused, for several minutes his eyes strayed about the company, then suddenly, as though carried away by a whirlwind, he waved his hand, burst out laughing himself, as though he really found his position amusing, and fell to telling his story again.
"I scarcely slept all night, gentlemen. I was scribbling92 all night: you see, I thought of a trick. Ech, gentlemen, the very thought of it makes me ashamed. It wouldn't have been so bad if it all had been done at night—I might have been drunk, blundered, been silly and talked nonsense—but not a bit of it! I woke up in the morning as soon as it was light, I hadn't slept more than an hour or two, and was in the same mind. I dressed, I washed, I curled and pomaded my hair, put on my new dress coat and went straight off to spend the holiday with Fedosey Nikolaitch, and I kept the joke I had written in my hat. He met me again with open arms, and invited me again to his fatherly waistcoat. But I assumed an air of dignity. I had the joke I thought of the night before in my mind. I drew a step back.
"'No, Fedosey Nikolaitch, but will you please read this letter,' and I gave it him together with my daily report. And do you know what was in it? Why, 'for such and such reasons the aforesaid Osip Mihalitch asks to be discharged,' and under my petition I signed my full rank! Just think what a notion! Good Lord, it was the cleverest thing I could think of! As to-day was the first of April, I was pretending, for the sake of a joke, that my resentment93 was not over, that I had changed my mind in the night and was grumpy, and more offended than ever, as though to say, 'My dear benefactor, I don't want to know you nor your daughter either. I put the money in my pocket yesterday, so I am secure—so here's my petition for a transfer to be discharged. I don't care to serve under such a chief as Fedosey Nikolaitch. I want to go into a different office and then, maybe, I'll inform.' I pretended to be a regular scoundrel, I wanted to frighten them. And a nice way of frightening them, wasn't it? A pretty thing, gentlemen, wasn't it? You see, my heart had grown tender towards them since the day before, so I thought I would have a little joke at the family—I would tease the fatherly heart of Fedosey Nikolaitch.
"As soon as he took my letter and opened it, I saw his whole countenance change.
"'What's the meaning of this, Osip Mihalitch?'
"And like a little fool I said—
"'The first of April! Many happy returns of the day, Fedosey Nikolaitch!' just like a silly school-boy who hides behind his grandmother's arm-chair and then shouts 'oof' into her ear suddenly at the top of his voice, meaning to frighten her. Yes ... yes, I feel quite ashamed to talk about it, gentlemen! No, I won't tell you."
"Nonsense! What happened then?"
"Nonsense, nonsense! Tell us! Yes, do," rose on all sides.
"There was an outcry and a hullabaloo, my dear friends! Such exclamations94 of surprise! And 'you mischievous95 fellow, you naughty man,' and what a fright I had given them—and all so sweet that I felt ashamed and wondered how such a holy place could be profaned96 by a sinner like me.
"'Well, my dear boy,' piped the mamma, 'you gave me such a fright that my legs are all of a tremble still, I can hardly stand on my feet! I ran to Masha as though I were crazy: "Mashenka," I said, "what will become of us! See how your friend has turned out!" and I was unjust to you, my dear boy. You must forgive an old woman like me, I was taken in! Well, I thought, when he got home last night, he got home late, he began thinking and perhaps he fancied that we sent for him on purpose, yesterday, that we wanted to get hold of him. I turned cold at the thought! Give over, Mashenka, don't go on winking at me—Osip Mihalitch isn't a stranger! I am your mother, I am not likely to say any harm! Thank God, I am not twenty, but turned forty-five.'
"Well, gentlemen, I almost flopped97 at her feet on the spot. Again there were tears, again there were kisses. Jokes began. Fedosey Nikolaitch, too, thought he would make April fools of us. He told us the fiery98 bird had flown up with a letter in her diamond beak99! He tried to take us in, too—didn't we laugh? weren't we touched? Foo! I feel ashamed to talk about it.
"Well, my good friends, the end is not far off now. One day passed, two, three, a week; I was regularly engaged to her. I should think so! The wedding rings were ordered, the day was fixed, only they did not want to make it public for a time—they wanted to wait for the Inspector100's visit to be over. I was all impatience101 for the Inspector's arrival—my happiness depended upon him. I was in a hurry to get his visit over. And in the excitement and rejoicing Fedosey Nikolaitch threw all the work upon me: writing up the accounts, making up the reports, checking the books, balancing the totals. I found things in terrible disorder—everything had been neglected, there were muddles102 and irregularities everywhere. Well, I thought, I must do my best for my father-in-law! And he was ailing103 all the time, he was taken ill, it appears; he seemed to get worse day by day. And, indeed, I grew as thin as a rake myself, I was afraid I would break down. However, I finished the work grandly. I got things straight for him in time.
"Suddenly they sent a messenger for me. I ran headlong—what could it be? I saw my Fedosey Nikolaitch, his head bandaged up in a vinegar compress, frowning, sighing, and moaning.
"'My dear boy, my son,' he said, 'if I die, to whom shall I leave you, my darlings?'
"His wife trailed in with all his children; Mashenka was in tears and I blubbered, too.
"'Oh no,' he said. 'God will be merciful, He will not visit my transgressions104 on you.'
"Then he dismissed them all, told me to shut the door after them, and we were left alone, tête-à-tête.
"'I have a favour to ask of you.'
"'What favour?'
"'Well, my dear boy, there is no rest for me even on my deathbed. I am in want.'
"'Why, I had to pay some of my own money into the Treasury107. I grudge108 nothing for the public weal, my boy! I don't grudge my life. Don't you imagine any ill. I am sad to think that slanderers have blackened my name to you.... You were mistaken, my hair has gone white from grief. The Inspector is coming down upon us and Matveyev is seven thousand roubles short, and I shall have to answer for it.... Who else? It will be visited upon me, my boy: where were my eyes? And how can we get it from Matveyev? He has had trouble enough already: why should I bring the poor fellow to ruin?'
"'Holy saints!' I thought, 'what a just man! What a heart!'
"'And I don't want to take my daughter's money, which has been set aside for her dowry: that sum is sacred. I have money of my own, it's true, but I have lent it all to friends—how is one to collect it all in a minute?'
"I simply fell on my knees before him. 'My benefactor!' I cried, 'I've wronged you, I have injured you; it was slanderers who wrote against you; don't break my heart, take back your money!'
"He looked at me and there were tears in his eyes. 'That was just what I expected from you, my son. Get up! I forgave you at the time for the sake of my daughter's tears—now my heart forgives you freely! You have healed my wounds. I bless you for all time!'
"'Here, father, here's the money. I've only spent fifty roubles.'
"'Well, that's all right,' he said. 'But now every trifle may count; the time is short, write a report dated some days ago that you were short of money and had taken fifty roubles on account. I'll tell the authorities you had it in advance.'
"Well, gentlemen, what do you think? I did write that report, too!"
"Well, what then? What happened? How did it end?"
"As soon as I had written the report, gentlemen, this is how it ended. The next day, in the early morning, an envelope with a government seal arrived. I looked at it and what had I got? The sack! That is, instructions to hand over my work, to deliver the accounts—and to go about my business!"
"How so?"
"That's just what I cried at the top of my voice, 'How so?' Gentlemen, there was a ringing in my ears. I thought there was no special reason for it—but no, the Inspector had arrived in the town. My heart sank. 'It's not for nothing,' I thought. And just as I was I rushed off to Fedosey Nikolaitch.
"'How is this?' I said.
"'What do you mean?' he said.
"'Why, I am dismissed.'
"'Dismissed? how?'
"'Why, look at this!'
"'Well, what of it?'
"'Why, but I didn't ask for it!'
"'Yes, you did—you sent in your papers on the first of—April.' (I had never taken that letter back!)
"'Fedosey Nikolaitch! I can't believe my ears, I can't believe my eyes! Is this you?'
"'It is me, why?'
"'My God!'
"'I am sorry, sir. I am very sorry that you made up your mind to retire from the service so early. A young man ought to be in the service, and you've begun to be a little light-headed of late. And as for your character, set your mind at rest: I'll see to that! Your behaviour has always been so exemplary!'
"'But that was a little joke, Fedosey Nikolaitch! I didn't mean it, I just gave you the letter for your fatherly ... that's all.'
"'That's all? A queer joke, sir! Does one jest with documents like that? Why, you are sometimes sent to Siberia for such jokes. Now, good-bye. I am busy. We have the Inspector here—the duties of the service before everything; you can kick up your heels, but we have to sit here at work. But I'll get you a character——Oh, another thing: I've just bought a house from Matveyev. We are moving in in a day or two. So I expect I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you at our new residence. Bon voyage!'
"I ran home.
"'We are lost, granny!'
"She wailed110, poor dear, and then I saw the page from Fedosey Nikolaitch's running up with a note and a bird-cage, and in the cage there was a starling. In the fullness of my heart I had given her the starling. And in the note there were the words: 'April 1st,' and nothing more. What do you think of that, gentlemen?"
"What happened then? What happened then?"
"What then! I met Fedosey Nikolaitch once, I meant to tell him to his face he was a scoundrel."
"Well?"
"But somehow I couldn't bring myself to it, gentlemen."
点击收听单词发音
1 scrutinize | |
n.详细检查,细读 | |
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2 exterior | |
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的 | |
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3 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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4 magnetism | |
n.磁性,吸引力,磁学 | |
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5 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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6 mobility | |
n.可动性,变动性,情感不定 | |
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7 jeers | |
n.操纵帆桁下部(使其上下的)索具;嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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8 buffoon | |
n.演出时的丑角 | |
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9 buffet | |
n.自助餐;饮食柜台;餐台 | |
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10 buffoons | |
n.愚蠢的人( buffoon的名词复数 );傻瓜;逗乐小丑;滑稽的人 | |
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11 apprehensiveness | |
忧虑感,领悟力 | |
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12 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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13 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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14 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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15 grimaces | |
n.(表蔑视、厌恶等)面部扭曲,鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相,做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
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16 eel | |
n.鳗鲡 | |
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17 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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18 insolence | |
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度 | |
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19 lure | |
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引 | |
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20 entreaty | |
n.恳求,哀求 | |
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21 pester | |
v.纠缠,强求 | |
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22 abject | |
adj.极可怜的,卑屈的 | |
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23 callous | |
adj.无情的,冷淡的,硬结的,起老茧的 | |
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24 passionate | |
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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25 honourable | |
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的 | |
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26 disinterestedly | |
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27 provocative | |
adj.挑衅的,煽动的,刺激的,挑逗的 | |
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28 outwards | |
adj.外面的,公开的,向外的;adv.向外;n.外形 | |
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29 attire | |
v.穿衣,装扮[同]array;n.衣着;盛装 | |
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30 attain | |
vt.达到,获得,完成 | |
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31 risky | |
adj.有风险的,冒险的 | |
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32 heroism | |
n.大无畏精神,英勇 | |
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33 martyr | |
n.烈士,殉难者;vt.杀害,折磨,牺牲 | |
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34 elevation | |
n.高度;海拔;高地;上升;提高 | |
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35 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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36 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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37 extraordinarily | |
adv.格外地;极端地 | |
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38 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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39 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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40 lodging | |
n.寄宿,住所;(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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41 tremor | |
n.震动,颤动,战栗,兴奋,地震 | |
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42 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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43 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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44 promptly | |
adv.及时地,敏捷地 | |
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45 bribery | |
n.贿络行为,行贿,受贿 | |
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46 bribe | |
n.贿赂;v.向…行贿,买通 | |
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47 hearth | |
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面 | |
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48 bribes | |
n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 );向(某人)行贿,贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 );向(某人)行贿,贿赂 | |
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49 guffaws | |
n.大笑,狂笑( guffaw的名词复数 )v.大笑,狂笑( guffaw的第三人称单数 ) | |
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50 transgressed | |
v.超越( transgress的过去式和过去分词 );越过;违反;违背 | |
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51 twitched | |
vt.& vi.(使)抽动,(使)颤动(twitch的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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52 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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53 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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54 propriety | |
n.正当行为;正当;适当 | |
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55 malice | |
n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋 | |
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56 brigand | |
n.土匪,强盗 | |
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57 penitence | |
n.忏悔,赎罪;悔过 | |
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58 erred | |
犯错误,做错事( err的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59 penitent | |
adj.后悔的;n.后悔者;忏悔者 | |
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60 erring | |
做错事的,错误的 | |
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61 shuddered | |
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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62 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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63 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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64 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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65 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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66 galloped | |
(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事 | |
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67 epic | |
n.史诗,叙事诗;adj.史诗般的,壮丽的 | |
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68 wriggles | |
n.蠕动,扭动( wriggle的名词复数 )v.扭动,蠕动,蜿蜒行进( wriggle的第三人称单数 );(使身体某一部位)扭动;耍滑不做,逃避(应做的事等) | |
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69 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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70 witty | |
adj.机智的,风趣的 | |
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71 groaning | |
adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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72 gibes | |
vi.嘲笑,嘲弄(gibe的第三人称单数形式) | |
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73 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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74 parental | |
adj.父母的;父的;母的 | |
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75 prodigal | |
adj.浪费的,挥霍的,放荡的 | |
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76 toiling | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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77 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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78 humbled | |
adj. 卑下的,谦逊的,粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下,贬低 | |
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79 undoing | |
n.毁灭的原因,祸根;破坏,毁灭 | |
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80 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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81 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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82 latched | |
v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 );纠缠;用碰锁锁上(门等);附着(在某物上) | |
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83 winking | |
n.瞬眼,目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮 | |
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84 embarrassment | |
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫 | |
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85 benefactor | |
n. 恩人,行善的人,捐助人 | |
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86 refreshments | |
n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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87 forfeits | |
罚物游戏 | |
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88 joyfully | |
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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89 ridicule | |
v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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90 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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91 ecstasy | |
n.狂喜,心醉神怡,入迷 | |
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92 scribbling | |
n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 );乱画;草草地写;匆匆记下 | |
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93 resentment | |
n.怨愤,忿恨 | |
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94 exclamations | |
n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 );感叹;感叹语;感叹词 | |
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95 mischievous | |
adj.调皮的,恶作剧的,有害的,伤人的 | |
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96 profaned | |
v.不敬( profane的过去式和过去分词 );亵渎,玷污 | |
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97 flopped | |
v.(指书、戏剧等)彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 );(因疲惫而)猛然坐下;(笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地)移动或落下;砸锅 | |
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98 fiery | |
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的 | |
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99 beak | |
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻 | |
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100 inspector | |
n.检查员,监察员,视察员 | |
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101 impatience | |
n.不耐烦,急躁 | |
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102 muddles | |
v.弄乱,弄糟( muddle的第三人称单数 );使糊涂;对付,混日子 | |
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103 ailing | |
v.生病 | |
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104 transgressions | |
n.违反,违法,罪过( transgression的名词复数 ) | |
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105 positively | |
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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106 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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107 treasury | |
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库 | |
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108 grudge | |
n.不满,怨恨,妒嫉;vt.勉强给,不情愿做 | |
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109 scurried | |
v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110 wailed | |
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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