The Hair Fetishist whose unlawful activities bring him sooner or later into the clutches of the police is a neurotic3 who presents to an exaggerated, abnormal extent, a trait we find in all normal human beings.
Every one of us is especially attracted by some part of the human body. The young man who raves4 over his sweetheart's hair, the young woman who blissfully runs her fingers thru her lover's hair are[Pg 18] also hair fetishists. But their craving5 is not strong enough to lead them into committing unlawful, perverse6, socially inacceptable acts.
Another widely spread type of abnormal fetishist described by novelists and psychiatrists7, but which very seldom gains newspaper notoriety, is the foot and shoe fetishist, who buys or steals all sorts of shoes. He too is merely the exaggeration of the man who is delighted by the sight of a Cinderella foot or a slim ankle.
With hair and shoe fetishists, the fetish is more than a mere8 attraction; it is generally a powerful sexual stimulant9. Such fetishists experience, while kissing or caressing10 their fetish, sexual gratification of the autoerotic or of the involuntary type.
Everybody a Fetishist. There are hundreds of varieties of fetishism, normal or abnormal. There is no person living who is not more or less subject to the compulsive attraction of some fetish. There is in every man or every woman something which catches the onlooker's eye first and retains his attention longest.
This varies with every human being. Ask ten men to describe one pretty woman. Every one of them will probably head the list of physical qualities he has observed in her with a different fetish.[Pg 19] One will describe her as a blonde with a beautiful skin, rather tall and well shaped; another will state that she is a well-shaped woman, rather tall and with blonde hair; another will characterise her as a tall woman with an abundance of blonde hair, etc. I knew a man, in no way abnormal, who could not describe a pretty woman, regardless of whatever her build was, without making a gesture of the hand outlining ample breast curves.
Most Common Fetishes. Women's hair, throat, neck, shoulders, arms and breasts seem to be the most frequently mentioned fetishes. Fashion and the law recognise that fact. Whenever women plan to make a physical appeal to men or women, they dress their hair with special care and they wear low neck gowns, thereby11 exhibiting those various fetishes.
It will be noticed that the parts of the body constituting the most widely appreciated fetishes are those with which the nursing child comes in most intimate and continuous contact.
To the child, they mean safety, comfort, caresses12, food. The color of skin or hair, the shape of neck, head and shoulders on which his glances rest while nursing or while being carried about by the mother, are the only ones which will appear[Pg 20] "natural" and safe, hence beautiful, to him in after life.
The breasts from which he derives14 a perfect food, at the right temperature, which flows easily into his stomach and is assimilated without effort, the breasts, whose texture15 and elasticity16 make them pleasant to lean upon while nursing, may eventually become to his simple mind the most valuable part of the female's body.
The Breast and the Bottle. My observations on several hundred men fed at the breast or on the bottle in infancy17, have revealed to me that practically all the men nursed by a woman were greatly attracted to women with well developed breasts.
The majority of men nursed on the bottle, on the other hand, preferred thin, boyish looking girls, some of them even expressing a distinct repugnance18 for rather buxom19 women.
It may be stated that of the few who did not confirm that rule there were several more or less neurotic individuals, whom an unconscious fear of incest (see Chapter V) had conditioned to fear the very type of women by whom they had been nursed.
Arms and hands, which to the nursling mean protection, service, caresses, transportation, etc., derive13 therefrom their great attraction as fetishes.
[Pg 21]
Feminine Fetishes. I have thus far mentioned almost exclusively fetishes from the female body. There are several reasons why feminine fetishes are far more important to both men and women than masculine fetishes. Children of both sexes are exposed to the influence of the mother's fetishes more intimately, more constantly and more "profitably" (nursing), than they are to the influence of the father's fetishes.
Hence masculine fetishes are fewer and less numerous. Woman is less of a fetishist than man. The most frequently mentioned masculine fetishes are the bodily attributes characteristic of strength, and which, hence, would afford most protection to the infant and the female.
No perverse fetishism is observed in women, no abnormal craving driving women into securing unlawfully men's hair or clothing, etc.
Some writers consider transvestite women, women who enjoy masquerading in men's clothes, as clothing fetishists, but such cases are extremely rare and can be accounted for in other ways.
Physiological20 Necessities. There is another reason, a physiological reason, for the great importance which men and women attach to the feminine fetishes. More sexual excitement and a greater[Pg 22] muscular tension are necessary in the male than in the female at the time of the sexual union. The female, being physiologically21 submissive, can wait for her desire to grow under the influence of the male's caresses. The male, on the contrary, has to be aggressive and cannot fulfill22 his biological part unless his desire has been aroused by other sensations than that of the sexual union.
Hence the greater expenditure23 of time and effort on the part of the female to make herself attractive to the male. Hence also the long drawn24 courtship of flirtation25 thru which the female of every animal species endeavors to bring the male to the highest possible point of sexual excitement before surrendering herself to him.
Foot and Shoe Fetishism is more complicated. The mother's feet are the part of her body which the infant, crawling on the floor or attempting to walk, beholds26 most frequently and at the closest range.
That variety of fetish, however, should not be as strong as other fetishes more directly related to the child's nutrition, comfort and safety. When shoe fetishism become compulsive, it is a neurosis due to the repression27 of some erotic desire aroused in child[Pg 23]hood by some striking incident. One case cited by Freud, illustrates28 that process.
"A man to whom the various sex attractions of woman now mean nothing, who in fact, can only be aroused sexually by the sight of a shoe on a foot of a certain form, is able to recall an experience he had in his sixth year and which proved decisive for the fixation of his libido29. One day he sat on a stool beside his governess. She was a shriveled old maid who, that day, on account of some accident, had put a velvet30 slipper31 on her foot and stretched it out on a foot stool.
"After a diffident attempt at normal sexual activity, undertaken at the time of his puberty, a thin, sinewy32 foot like that of his governess, had become the sole object of his desires. The man was carried away irresistibly33 if other features, reminiscent of his governess, appeared in conjunction with the foot. Through this fixation, the man did not become neurotic but perverse, a foot fetishist, as we say."
I wish to call the reader's attention to the expression "after a diffident attempt at normal sexual expression." It indicates a feeling of inferiority, likely to cause failure and also increased by failure which is always in evidence in every neurotic and[Pg 24] which drives him toward easier goals, along the line of least effort.
Some of the Freudians have suggested that foot fetishism is due to the repression of an early craving for the unpleasant odors emitted by perspiring34 feet. As against such a far-fetched explanation, I would offer the fact that foot and shoe are always associated in the unconscious of neurotic patients with the male and female genitals, respectively.
We find the association of shoe and genitals clearly indicated in the old custom of throwing shoes and rice at departing newlyweds (rice symbolising the fertilising seed).
Odors, sounds, tactile35 sensations, etc., may also be powerful fetishes or antifetishes, according to the impression they may have made on the nursling. This will be discussed in more detail in the Chapter entitled "The Senses in Love."
Fetishes may be of a non-Physical Kind. A profession may be a fetish, and so can a mental attitude, in short, anything which in childhood may have been considered as a source of safety, comfort, egotistical gratification, etc.
Age itself, is at times a fetish. Gerontophilia is a neurosis, the victims of which are only attracted to very old men or women, safety, comfort and food[Pg 25] having been assured them probably by a grandfather or grandmother to whom they clung for neurotic reasons.
Many Fetishes are Purely36 Symbolical37. Some women fall in love with a uniform because that type of garment symbolises to them physical strength, virility39, courage, etc.
A uniform fetishist who consulted me during the war had given herself to half a dozen officers who appeared to her irresistible40 until they undressed or donned civilian41 clothes. After which she felt indifferent to them and suffered remorse42.
Antifetishes, parts of the body or their symbols which repel43 us in persons of the opposite sex, can be due either to unpleasant experiences of childhood connected with such parts of the body or to a neurotic fear of incest. A neurotic's resistance to a mother fixation may be so strong that in his (unconscious) fear of committing incest, he shuns44 everything which in any woman reminds him of his mother.
A man whose violent mother and sister fixation had kept him till forty-five away from all women and made him homosexual, felt extremely uneasy and slightly ashamed in the presence of tall blonde women, the mother and sister type. While he never[Pg 26] enjoyed greatly the company of any woman, he felt more at ease with small brunettes.
The Quest of the Fetish means then, in last analysis, the quest of safety. If fetishes are so closely linked with sexuality, it is mainly because a feeling of safety is one of the necessary conditions for sexual potency46 in the male and the female alike.
As soon as fear dominates, the pelvic regions are starved of blood, for the blood is then needed in other parts of the body, head and limbs, for fight or flight. Sexual impotence is the result. This is probably why in primitive47 races we often find the erect48 phallus used as a symbol of safety, as a primitive "fetish" vouchsafing49 imaginary safety and confidence.
This throws an interesting sidelight upon the real meaning of morbid50 fetishism. As I said in one of the preceding paragraphs, every neurotic feels inferior and seeks safety. The hair fetishist, for instance, is inferior in some respect or considers himself inferior, which is about the same and has the same consequences, as far as ultimate mental or physical results are concerned.
The normal hair fetishist seeks a woman whose[Pg 27] hair will symbolise to him the safety he enjoyed close to his mother's hair. The abnormal fetishist will crave51 the possession of hair which alone will place him in turn in possession of safety, a condition in which his sexual cravings will be easily satisfied. Not feeling capable of conquering a woman, however, he will cut off some one's tresses, which will symbolise to him woman, and the safety enjoyed in woman's (his mother's) arms. In that fashion, he also gratifies his craving for the line of least effort. Unwilling52 to face the social, economic, biological responsibilities that go with the possession of a woman, he seeks in the fetish which he steals, an easy, selfish, unsocial form of gratification. That gratification is also a regression, for it leads him back to the autoerotic practices of childhood.
Attraction or Obsession53. In the normal man, then, the fetish is an attraction, influencing his choice of a mate. In the abnormal man it becomes an obsession, the fetish at times becoming infinitely54 more important than the part of the body it suggests, at times causing the elimination55 of the sexual mate which it replaces entirely56.
In the normal man, the fetish, being the bearer of pleasant memories from childhood days, facilitates one's adaption to a life partner. The abnormal in[Pg 28]dividual, unwilling to part with his childhood ways, which were easier and safer, either demands that the life partner be the absolute image of the person from whom he acquired his fetishes or prefers one safe fetish to any life partner.
In the next chapter we shall see how mental and physical, real and symbolic38 fetishes are forced upon us by the various developments of the family romance which is always accompanied by a more or less marked family feud57.
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technically
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| adv.专门地，技术上地 | |
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delinquents
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| n.（尤指青少年）有过失的人，违法的人( delinquent的名词复数 ) | |
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neurotic
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| adj.神经病的，神经过敏的；n.神经过敏者，神经病患者 | |
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raves
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| n.狂欢晚会( rave的名词复数 )v.胡言乱语( rave的第三人称单数 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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psychiatrists
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| n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 ) | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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stimulant
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| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
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caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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thereby
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caresses
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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derives
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| v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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buxom
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| adj.（妇女）丰满的，有健康美的 | |
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physiological
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| adj.生理学的，生理学上的 | |
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physiologically
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| ad.生理上，在生理学上 | |
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fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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flirtation
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| n.调情，调戏，挑逗 | |
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beholds
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| v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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repression
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| n.镇压，抑制，抑压 | |
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illustrates
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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libido
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| n.本能的冲动 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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slipper
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| n.拖鞋 | |
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sinewy
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| adj.多腱的，强壮有力的 | |
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irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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tactile
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| adj.触觉的，有触觉的，能触知的 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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symbolical
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| a.象征性的 | |
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symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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virility
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| n.雄劲，丈夫气 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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shuns
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的第三人称单数 ) | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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vouchsafing
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的现在分词 )；允诺 | |
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morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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crave
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| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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obsession
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| n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感) | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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elimination
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| n.排除，消除，消灭 | |
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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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feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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