The overpowering heat of the day had given place to the lesser2 heat of early evening as the sun sank behind the western edge of the mountain ring. The interior of the ring looked like the inside of some rough-edged, painted flower-pot, with grey, purple, blue-black foundation and sides of green and richest reds and browns, melting to saffron, topaz, amethyst3 and rose, crowned by great peaks which seemed to flicker4 in the terrific heat radiated by the sun-scorched rock. Little golden, pink and crimson5 clouds, faintly stirred by the blessed evening breeze, sailed serenely6 across a sky of deepest blue which stretched, a gorgeous canopy7, above the heads of the men seated on the ground or up the gentle incline rising from the plateau.
Those opposite the steps down which Zarah would have to pass sat with knees to chin, placidly8 chewing kaat or smoking red or black sebel and longer pipes with big, open bowl.
Those to the north and south of the steps sat sidewise, also contentedly9 chewing or smoking, with eyes fixed10 upon the steep path.
There was no laughing, no gambling11, no betting upon the outcome of the different sporting items in the tournament for which they had foregathered. They were strangely quiet, with a certain expectancy12 in their eyes and a vast amount of meaning in their expressive13 gestures as they commented upon and argued about the tales the Nubian had spread anent their mistress’s strange behaviour of the night before.
“Bism ’allah! upon the very edge, with one eye upon the running water into which the Lion thought she desired to[262] throw herself, and one eye upon the white man, who, by the wool! is a man of strong heart, even if he be an infidel.”
Bowlegs laughed as he stretched his circular limbs and pressed himself against his neighbour so as to make room for Yussuf as he came towards them, led by “His Eyes,” down the path made for him through the serried14 ranks.
“Welcome, brother, thou true believer in the shaven crown,” cried the handsome youth who had been swung like a club, and who had not followed the precepts15 of the Prophet to the extent of shaving his head. “Hast heard that the white woman, who holdeth the heart of the man who loveth her and who is loved of the beautiful Zarah, and may Allah guide their footsteps in the crookedness16 of their paths——” As he spoke17 he pushed his way between Bowlegs and Yussuf, and as he looked up into the mutilated face, touched the blind man gently. “Hast heard that the tiger-cat, in her rage, has caused the head of the white woman to be shaven so that, if she were lost in the Robaa-el-Khali, the ostrich18 might even wish to brood upon it as her egg?”
The men shouted in ribald mirth as they bandied jokes, mostly unprintable in their Oriental flavour.
“Yea, and shaven after the setting of the sun,” said the Patriarch bitterly, whilst every man in earshot touched his favourite lucky amulet19 or made the finger gesture against ill-luck. “Behold20, will Zarah’s mocking of Fate surely bring catastrophe21 upon the camp, for what but misfortune can follow the shaving of a crown after the setting of the sun?”
The fine sons of one of the most superstition-ridden races in the world performed divers22 tricks to placate23 the fury of the false god of ill-luck they had raised up in their minds, then continued in their merriment.
“Who has seen the shaven head?”
“No eyes have seen the head, O brother, but mine own eyes have seen Namlah the Busy, seated like a bee in the heart of a golden flower, weaving a kerchief from the infidel’s wondrous24 hair.”
[263]
Bowlegs shouted with laughter.
“Yea! verily! a kerchief to replace the gentle Zarah’s garments, torn asunder25 ’twixt her teeth and fingers in her wrath26 at the white man’s coldness.”
“Or to wipe the tiger-cat’s face, which, wet with tears and hot with anger, was like an over-ripe fruit of the doom27 tree, fallen upon the sand!”
“Or to remove the dust from her chamber28, wrecked29 like unto a house swept by the hurricane, with feathers of many fowl30, liberated31 from the burst cushions, clinging to the silken curtains and her hair.”
Prodded32 by Fate, the handsome youth turned and laid his hand on Yussuf’s arm whilst the men crowded closer yet to listen to their conversation.
“O brother,” he said laughingly, “thou who hast suffered, thou who even now dost pass sleepless33 nights of pain, wilt34 thou not in thy goodness, to quieten the agony of the tiger-cat’s gentle heart, give unto her a few drops of the sweet water prescribed thee by yon old herbalist for sleep?”
Yussuf smiled as best he could for the distortion of his mouth, as he searched in his cummerbund and pulled out a flask35, filled with the strong narcotic36 he took to still the throbbing37 of his torn nerves when the wind blew from the north.
“’Tis overpowerful, little brother. A drop too little and she wakes from her sleep like a tigress bereft38 of her cubs39; a drop too much and she wakes not at all.”
“Twenty drops and what....”
The voice from behind was stilled suddenly as the men rose quickly and stood staring up to the platform outside Zarah’s dwelling40.
Zarah stood looking down.
She stood almost upon the spot from where some years ago she had hurled41 her spear at the fighting dogs, and, killing43 the one intended for a gift to her father’s guest, had followed the decree of Fate, who had tangled44 her life’s thread with those of her white prisoners.
[264]
“Zarah is a very queen of loveliness!”
“Yea! with hair like the setting sun!”
The hawk45-eyed men with the superb sight of those who live in the clear atmosphere of great spaces criticized in detail the Arabian’s garments, which at such a distance would have shown as a white blur46 to the eyes of the westerner, accustomed as he is to an horizon bounded by walls and a sky ever limited by chimney-pots or partially47 obliterated48 by smoke or fog.
“The white man tarries! Would that the Lion were here to tell once again of the calmness of his face in the storm of yester-night.”
“Perchance does his heart fail at the thought of the maiden’s shaven crown.”
“‘She gave her the vinegar to drink on the wings of flies.’” Yussuf touched his sad face as he quoted the proverb. “Verily were the words of wisdom written to describe the refinement50 of the tortures our thrice gentle mistress meteth out to her prisoners.”
There was not a movement, not a whisper from the men when Zarah turned and lifted her hand, but there came a great cry from hundreds of throats as Helen appeared in the doorway51, followed by the two gigantic Abyssinian women.
“Hast seen the shaven crown, brother?”
The handsome youth turned to Yussuf, who stood with his sightless face raised to the skies.
“Nay, blind one,” he replied quietly, all the merriment gone from his face. “I have seen the white woman. She stands behind the dread52 Zarah, her golden hair, even the length of thy longest finger, twining about her head like a crown of flowers upon a young acacia tree. She is like an orchard53 of choice fruit in her beauty. Yea! like an orchard of pomegranates and peaches, and as the gentle incline of the rocks where the evening sun kisseth the oranges and apricots and luscious54 fig42. If it were not that[265] she is of a race of infidels, likewise cursed with a spirit of mockery and a lack of gratitude55, I would e’en woo her in the shadows of the night and make of her my woman.” He moved forward, drawn56 by Helen’s radiant beauty, as she descended57 the steps fanning Zarah with a circular, painted fan of dried palm leaves.
The men stood as though spellbound at the sight of the two beautiful girls.
They forgot the tournament, their wrath, their merriment; they stood speechless, staring, then moved forward in a body as Zarah reached the bottom step and made a way for her up to where an ebony chair, inlaid with gold, stood upon a carpet of many colours.
The expression of Zarah’s sullen58 face was almost as black as the shadows spreading half-way up the mountains; her heavy brows were bent59 above her strange eyes; her crimson mouth set in a line which boded60 no good to those who might thwart61 her.
A chance word, an indiscreet gesture, would be spark enough to start the conflagration62, and Fate, close to Helen Raynor, stood ready to fire the Arabian’s raging jealousy63 as Ralph Trenchard, followed by the Nubian, walked slowly from the men’s quarters towards them.
There was not a sound and scarcely a movement in the vast throng64 of men as they stood looking from one to the other of the three who, even in the desert, made the seemingly inevitable65 love triangle. And so enthralled66 were they, and so oblivious67 were the three who composed the triangle to their surroundings, that no notice was taken of the downtrodden, docile68 women who, headed by Namlah, and imbued69 with the spirit of insubordination which was sweeping70 the camp, also with a fierce desire to see the white woman’s shaven head, crept in ones and twos from behind the rock buttress71 which hid their quarters from the greater part of the plateau.
They stole along the river edge, behind their men, who were too engrossed72 in the picture before them even to bet, let alone to notice the doings of their womenkind.
[266]
They crept up behind the gigantic Abyssinian women who stood behind Zarah’s chair, and turned and looked at them as a couple of Yemen buffaloes73 might turn to inspect an ant heap.
The radiance of the blazing sky seemed to fill the mountain ring for a moment as Ralph Trenchard passed down the path made for him by the men, and stood suddenly clear of them, and exactly opposite Helen as she fanned the Arabian.
The mountains echoed Helen’s name as he called to her, holding out his arms, and her cry of joy as she flung the circular fan with pointed74 edges sideways, so that by mischance it caught in the Arabian’s hair, and ran to her lover.
The rocks echoed Zarah’s screams of wrath and pain and her sharp order to the Abyssinians, and the downtrodden women’s screams of hate, as they swept round the chair headed by Namlah, and cut Helen off.
Zarah shrieked75 in agony as the fan pulled her head down to one side, scratching her face and her shoulder, and beat the arms of the chair and the Abyssinians’ glistening76 bodies as they tried their best to relieve her whilst she fought like a wild cat, with her eyes fixed on the fight which was taking place in front of her.
The women were trying to prevent Helen from reaching her lover, and the men were endeavouring, and none too gently, to push the women on one side, so that the white man they had come to admire and like might meet the woman of his heart. They did it for the sport of the thing, and to assert their authority over their women; also, in their heart of hearts was there a certain amount of admiration77 for Helen’s beauty and courage.
The women who had come to titter and jeer78 at Helen’s bald head were consumed with wrath at their disappointment and fought their men tooth and nail, taking advantage of the scrum to pay off many an old score and avenge79 many a lash80 of the whip or tongue. The men, amused at first, then astounded81, then really angry at this sudden exhibition of women’s rights, slapped their[267] own particular womenfolk with the flat of their hand, then smote82 them smartly with the mihjan, and finally shook them violently until their sleek83 heads seemed like to leave their shoulders and their beautiful teeth to break in their chattering84.
Ralph Trenchard stood at the back of the men who slapped and shook and cursed; Helen stood, looking towards him, towering above the dusky little women like a young acacia tree in the bush.
In spite of the peril85 in which they knew themselves to stand, they smiled across and called messages to each other, which were lost in the universal torrents86 of abuse and vociferous87 yelling, interspersed88 with screams and sounds of slapping and tearing.
Namlah, wedged on the outer circle of the maelstrom89, fought like a fury to get at Helen, screaming abuse, hurling90 her fighting sisters from her path in the excess of her seeming rage, whilst Yussuf, led by “His Eyes,” rattled91 his staff on the shins of the gentler sex as he strove to reach Namlah.
Bowlegs brought about their meeting.
Aided by the mighty92 muscle of his legs, he leapt free of the shrieking93 sisterhood high into the air and, in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a hawk and a field mouse, pounced94 upon his second and obese95 wife, whom he had spied fighting with the best in much torn raiment.
The tremendous impact from above flung her backwards96 against Namlah, who in her turn was flung backwards against Yussuf.
Proceeded a pretty passage of arms and tongues between these two, during which the blind man slipped a silver bottle down the front of Namlah’s torn qamis whilst she belaboured him, and “Yussuf’s Eyes” rained blows upon his mother’s back.
“A?! a?! a?!” she wailed97, as she rolled the flask in the top part of her torn petticoat. “Would’st tear the very tannurah from my limbs, thou wifeless, childless, breaker of the Prophet’s law? Push me forward—ha! thou[268] would’st push me forward, thou rascal98 son of mine, even unto the first line of my fighting sisters. Well, push, push hard, so that I leave the mark of my nails upon the white girl’s face!”
Helen turned at the sound of the woman’s voice and raised herself on tiptoe the better to see, and caught the look in the dusky little woman’s twinkling eye, which in no wise responded to the wrath of her voice and gestures.
“Yea! white woman,” she shrieked, “come nearer to me, or let me come nearer unto thee, if thou art not afraid. I will show thee what manner of woman it is thou did’st mimic99 and mock.”
“Afraid,” cried Helen, forcing a way through the men. “Afraid! Come to me and——”
She reeled back as Namlah flung herself upon her, pushed by her son, who pulled the blind man after him, whilst the men who were not actually engaged in taming their shrews surged round them, shouting in delight.
Namlah landed right on Helen’s chest, to which she clung as a woodpecker to a tree trunk.
“Take this! Ten drops this night before she sleeps—then wait in the shadows,” she whispered; then shrieked: “Ha! thou infidel. I would tear out thine eyes, I——”
“Yussuf’s Eyes” suddenly and forcibly pinched the underpart of his mother’s arm, upon which she yelled, let go her hold on Helen and leapt at him, then slid meekly100 to earth and tried to cover her face with her torn veil, which she spread out to arm’s length as Helen hid the silver flask in her belt.
The sun had set, leaving the sky in a tumult101 of violent colouring, through which, in a small patch of deepest blue, shone one great star. Helen looked up to the banners of gold and red and orange, the curtains of saffron, the trails of rose and wispy102 bands of grey, then looked across at Zarah, who walked slowly towards her, blood trickling103 down her scratched cheek. Her eyes flamed in her white face, which showed over the top of the dead black satin cloak she had wrapped round her like a skin;[269] and Ralph Trenchard, who saw the menace in her sombre eyes and the cruel twist to her mouth, seized the men nearest him and threw them on one side as he raced to get to Helen before the Arabian could reach her.
He was a second too late.
Even as he touched her one of the gigantic Abyssinian women reached her and, lifting her like a straw, carried her to where Zarah stood insolently104, contemptuously watching the scene, whilst Yussuf stepped in front of him and pushed him back as “His Eyes” got tangled up in his feet.
“For God’s sake get out of my way, you fool!” Trenchard shouted, and lifted the dumb youth by the neck of his jubbah and dropped him as Yussuf rushed blindly at him, guided by his voice.
“To-night, when the dog barks thrice,” he whispered, then shouted: “Harm not ‘Mine Eyes’ lest I stray from the right path so that——”
He stopped and turned as Helen’s voice came clearly through the night air.
“Don’t worry about me, Ra! I’m all right; no one can harm me,” she cried; then stepped back quickly as Zarah turned on her and, seizing her by the wrist, pulled her forward.
Held by Yussuf, who whispered without ceasing, Trenchard stood in the centre of a semicircle of men and women with the Patriarch at the end nearest Zarah and Helen, and Namlah, in a most indecorous and dishevelled state, at the other.
The two beautiful girls stood exactly opposite the man they loved, with the gigantic negresses close behind.
“Move not—have patience until the dog barks thrice to-night—make no effort to help—all is well—Allah watches over thee and thine in thy need—nay! make no sign—nothing can be done to her until the morrow.”
Yussuf whispered without ceasing, whilst, sick to the heart at the menace in the air, Ralph Trenchard stood waiting, with what patience he could command.
[270]
Zarah raised her hand and, fully105 aware of the backing she would get from the women, began to speak.
“I am speaking for my children,” she cried, “the children this white woman has mocked and derided106, and for whom she has not had one word of thanks, not one little feeling of gratitude.”
“Na’am, na’am!” wailed Namlah in full acquiescence107.
“For myself I do not mind that she strikes me until the blood runs, but my children I will protect!”
“And I will punish those who hurt my children. Yea! I will make of them a sport, a mock. The white man—nay, Al-Asad, come thou to me—the white man I bear no ill will, for he has worked well among my sons.” She put her hand upon the Nubian’s arm when he ran across to her, and smiled up into his handsome face as she shook her head. “I am mistress here; thou shalt not touch the white man. For the white woman....” She looked at Helen, who looked at her, then across to Ralph Trenchard, who stood with Yussuf’s hand upon his arm and “His Eyes” at his feet. “For the white woman who has derided my children I do now place her amongst them as their servant, and to humiliate110 her even as she has humiliated111 them, do order the Abyssinian Aswad to shave her head this instant, before us all, so that she appears not before mankind without——”
Her words were drowned in the scream which burst uncontrollably from Helen, and the shout from her lover as he flung himself towards her, only to be tripped by the dumb youth at his feet.
“Ra! Ra!” cried Helen, clutching her lovely curls in both hands. “For God’s sake save me, Ra; don’t let them do it, don’t, don’t——” She turned and struck the negress across the face as the Abyssinian caught her by the arm, and struck again and again as Ralph Trenchard tore at the arms of the youth who clung to him like a leech112. Helen made no other sound as she wrenched113 herself[271] free from the woman who held her, nor when, filled with the desire to kill, she flung herself upon Zarah.
The Arabian stepped back quickly and laughed, laughed until the place rang with the sound, then flung off her mantle114 and drove her dagger115 down on to Helen’s heart just as the Patriarch sprang and caught her hand.
Helen turned and ran towards her lover, and struck at Namlah, who suddenly caught her by the knees and held her, screaming abuse.
The men and women stood silent, looking from one to the other of the three principals in the love drama, then turned their attention to the Patriarch, who by that time was speaking.
He made a magnificent picture as he imposed his will upon the furious woman for the welfare of his brethren.
“In the days of thy father the Sheikh, my daughter,” he said, “no blood was spilled, no punishment proclaimed, after the setting of the sun. If thou desirest the death of this woman, then must thou wait until sunrise. Neither shalt thou bring misfortune upon this camp by shaving a head after the setting of the sun; that also must thou order to be done after its rising.”
“Wah! wah!” yelled the men, and smote the women who dared to differ.
“And for fear of the wrath of these women, who should have the whip laid across them for their unseemly behaviour, keep thou the white woman in thy chamber to-night.”
“Yea!” cried Yussuf, walking forward, led by “His Eyes,” until he stood exactly opposite the Arabian, who withdrew a pace before his terrible appearance. “And in the name of thy father, O Zarah, and for fear of the Nubian’s wrath being vented116 upon him before the rising of the sun, I claim the watching of the white man this night. Fear not that he sleeps over-sweetly in my care.” He turned and spat117 in Ralph Trenchard’s direction, then, led by “His Eyes,” strode towards him and seized him by[272] the arm. “Thou infidel,” he cried savagely118, “thou and thy white woman!”
Zarah raised her hand.
“The women to the cooking, the men to the eating, the morrow for the punishment.” She turned and looked at Ralph Trenchard, her eyes filled with a terrible jealousy. “Look upon thy white woman for the last time, for, behold! the morrow thou shalt be taken back across the desert by the road by which thou didst come unto her. She shall work here amongst my people, with her shaven head for a space, then will I send her to the slave market, where her white skin will fetch a great price. Get thou up, Helen R-r-aynor-r!”
She pointed up the steps.
Helen turned and held out her arms.
“Ra! Beloved! I love you!”
The Arabian struck down her arms as Yussuf pulled Ralph Trenchard back.
“Come thou with me, thou infidel!” he cried.
“Get thou up, Helen R-r-aynor-r,” commanded the Arabian.
The stars blazed in the sky as the women scuttled119 back to their quarters and the men talked together.
“Behold, has my acacia tree no luck!” said the handsome youth.
“As saith the proverb of those whose luck changeth not,” replied Bowlegs, as he shook his fist after his retreating, obese and second wife. “‘The misfortune either falls upon the camel or upon the camel driver or upon the owner of the camel.’ Ha! wouldst show me what thou hast learned from the white man?”
He caught the Arab who had sprung at him in a friendly desire to show his pugilistic skill, tossed him on one side like a bundle of clothes, and shouted defiance120 to the whole camp.
So that the tournament, if somewhat impromptu121 and lacking a referee122, took place after all and lasted well into the night.
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1
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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amethyst
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| n.紫水晶 | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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6
serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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9
contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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10
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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11
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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12
expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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13
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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serried
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| adj.拥挤的；密集的 | |
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15
precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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16
crookedness
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| [医]弯曲 | |
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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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ostrich
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| n.鸵鸟 | |
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amulet
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| n.护身符 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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placate
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| v.抚慰，平息(愤怒) | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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prodded
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| v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
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sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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narcotic
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| n.麻醉药，镇静剂；adj.麻醉的，催眠的 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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bereft
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| adj.被剥夺的 | |
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cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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fig
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| n.无花果(树) | |
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43
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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44
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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45
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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46
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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47
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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48
obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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49
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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50
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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51
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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52
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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53
orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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54
luscious
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| adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的 | |
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55
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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56
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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57
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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58
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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59
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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60
boded
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| v.预示，预告，预言( bode的过去式和过去分词 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待 | |
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61
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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62
conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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63
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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64
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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65
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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66
enthralled
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| 迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快 | |
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67
oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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68
docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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69
imbued
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| v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等） | |
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70
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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71
buttress
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| n.支撑物；v.支持 | |
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72
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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73
buffaloes
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| n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓 | |
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74
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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75
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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77
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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78
jeer
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| vi.嘲弄，揶揄；vt.奚落；n.嘲笑，讥评 | |
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79
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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80
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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81
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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82
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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83
sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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84
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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85
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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86
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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87
vociferous
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| adj.喧哗的，大叫大嚷的 | |
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88
interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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89
maelstrom
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| n.大乱动；大漩涡 | |
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90
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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91
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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92
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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93
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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94
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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95
obese
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| adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的 | |
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96
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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97
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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98
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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99
mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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100
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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101
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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102
wispy
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| adj.模糊的；纤细的 | |
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103
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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104
insolently
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| adv.自豪地，自傲地 | |
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105
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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106
derided
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| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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108
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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109
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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110
humiliate
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| v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace | |
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111
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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112
leech
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| n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人 | |
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113
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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114
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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115
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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116
vented
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| 表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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117
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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118
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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119
scuttled
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| v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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120
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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121
impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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122
referee
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| n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人 | |
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