When Mr Pecksniff and the two young ladies got into the heavy coach at the end of the lane, they found it empty, which was a great comfort; particularly as the outside was quite full and the passengers looked very frosty. For as Mr Pecksniff justly observed—when he and his daughters had burrowed2 their feet deep in the straw, wrapped themselves to the chin, and pulled up both windows—it is always satisfactory to feel, in keen weather, that many other people are not as warm as you are. And this, he said, was quite natural, and a very beautiful arrangement; not confined to coaches, but extending itself into many social ramifications3. ‘For’ (he observed), ‘if every one were warm and well-fed, we should lose the satisfaction of admiring the fortitude4 with which certain conditions of men bear cold and hunger. And if we were no better off than anybody else, what would become of our sense of gratitude5; which,’ said Mr Pecksniff with tears in his eyes, as he shook his fist at a beggar who wanted to get up behind, ‘is one of the holiest feelings of our common nature.’
His children heard with becoming reverence6 these moral precepts7 from the lips of their father, and signified their acquiescence8 in the same, by smiles. That he might the better feed and cherish that sacred flame of gratitude in his breast, Mr Pecksniff remarked that he would trouble his eldest9 daughter, even in this early stage of their journey, for the brandy-bottle. And from the narrow neck of that stone vessel10 he imbibed11 a copious12 refreshment13.
‘What are we?’ said Mr Pecksniff, ‘but coaches? Some of us are slow coaches’—
‘Goodness, Pa!’ cried Charity.
‘Some of us, I say,’ resumed her parent with increased emphasis, ‘are slow coaches; some of us are fast coaches. Our passions are the horses; and rampant14 animals too—!’
‘Really, Pa,’ cried both the daughters at once. ‘How very unpleasant.’
‘And rampant animals too’ repeated Mr Pecksniff with so much determination, that he may be said to have exhibited, at the moment a sort of moral rampancy15 himself;’—and Virtue16 is the drag. We start from The Mother’s Arms, and we run to The Dust Shovel17.’
When he had said this, Mr Pecksniff, being exhausted18, took some further refreshment. When he had done that, he corked19 the bottle tight, with the air of a man who had effectually corked the subject also; and went to sleep for three stages.
The tendency of mankind when it falls asleep in coaches, is to wake up cross; to find its legs in its way; and its corns an aggravation20. Mr Pecksniff not being exempt21 from the common lot of humanity found himself, at the end of his nap, so decidedly the victim of these infirmities, that he had an irresistible22 inclination23 to visit them upon his daughters; which he had already begun to do in the shape of divers24 random25 kicks, and other unexpected motions of his shoes, when the coach stopped, and after a short delay the door was opened.
‘Now mind,’ said a thin sharp voice in the dark. ‘I and my son go inside, because the roof is full, but you agree only to charge us outside prices. It’s quite understood that we won’t pay more. Is it?’
‘All right, sir,’ replied the guard.
‘Is there anybody inside now?’ inquired the voice.
‘Three passengers,’ returned the guard.
‘Then I ask the three passengers to witness this bargain, if they will be so good,’ said the voice. ‘My boy, I think we may safely get in.’
In pursuance of which opinion, two people took their seats in the vehicle, which was solemnly licensed26 by Act of Parliament to carry any six persons who could be got in at the door.
‘That was lucky!’ whispered the old man, when they moved on again. ‘And a great stroke of policy in you to observe it. He, he, he! We couldn’t have gone outside. I should have died of the rheumatism27!’
Whether it occurred to the dutiful son that he had in some degree over-reached himself by contributing to the prolongation of his father’s days; or whether the cold had effected his temper; is doubtful. But he gave his father such a nudge in reply, that that good old gentleman was taken with a cough which lasted for full five minutes without intermission, and goaded28 Mr Pecksniff to that pitch of irritation29, that he said at last—and very suddenly:
‘There is no room! There is really no room in this coach for any gentleman with a cold in his head!’
‘Mine,’ said the old man, after a moment’s pause, ‘is upon my chest, Pecksniff.’
The voice and manner, together, now that he spoke30 out; the composure of the speaker; the presence of his son; and his knowledge of Mr Pecksniff; afforded a clue to his identity which it was impossible to mistake.
‘Hem! I thought,’ said Mr Pecksniff, returning to his usual mildness, ‘that I addressed a stranger. I find that I address a relative, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Mr Jonas—for they, my dear children, are our travelling companions—will excuse me for an apparently31 harsh remark. It is not my desire to wound the feelings of any person with whom I am connected in family bonds. I may be a Hypocrite,’ said Mr Pecksniff, cuttingly; ‘but I am not a Brute32.’
‘Pooh, pooh!’ said the old man. ‘What signifies that word, Pecksniff? Hypocrite! why, we are all hypocrites. We were all hypocrites t’other day. I am sure I felt that to be agreed upon among us, or I shouldn’t have called you one. We should not have been there at all, if we had not been hypocrites. The only difference between you and the rest was—shall I tell you the difference between you and the rest now, Pecksniff?’
‘If you please, my good sir; if you please.’
‘Why, the annoying quality in you, is,’ said the old man, ‘that you never have a confederate or partner in your juggling33; you would deceive everybody, even those who practise the same art; and have a way with you, as if you—he, he, he!—as if you really believed yourself. I’d lay a handsome wager34 now,’ said the old man, ‘if I laid wagers35, which I don’t and never did, that you keep up appearances by a tacit understanding, even before your own daughters here. Now I, when I have a business scheme in hand, tell Jonas what it is, and we discuss it openly. You’re not offended, Pecksniff?’
‘Offended, my good sir!’ cried that gentleman, as if he had received the highest compliments that language could convey.
‘Are you travelling to London, Mr Pecksniff?’ asked the son.
‘Yes, Mr Jonas, we are travelling to London. We shall have the pleasure of your company all the way, I trust?’
‘Oh! ecod, you had better ask father that,’ said Jonas. ‘I am not a-going to commit myself.’
Mr Pecksniff was, as a matter of course, greatly entertained by this retort. His mirth having subsided36, Mr Jonas gave him to understand that himself and parent were in fact travelling to their home in the metropolis37; and that, since the memorable38 day of the great family gathering39, they had been tarrying in that part of the country, watching the sale of certain eligible40 investments, which they had had in their copartnership eye when they came down; for it was their custom, Mr Jonas said, whenever such a thing was practicable, to kill two birds with one stone, and never to throw away sprats, but as bait for whales. When he had communicated to Mr Pecksniff these pithy41 scraps42 of intelligence, he said, ‘That if it was all the same to him, he would turn him over to father, and have a chat with the gals43;’ and in furtherance of this polite scheme, he vacated his seat adjoining that gentleman, and established himself in the opposite corner, next to the fair Miss Mercy.
The education of Mr Jonas had been conducted from his cradle on the strictest principles of the main chance. The very first word he learnt to spell was ‘gain,’ and the second (when he got into two syllables), ‘money.’ But for two results, which were not clearly foreseen perhaps by his watchful44 parent in the beginning, his training may be said to have been unexceptionable. One of these flaws was, that having been long taught by his father to over-reach everybody, he had imperceptibly acquired a love of over-reaching that venerable monitor himself. The other, that from his early habits of considering everything as a question of property, he had gradually come to look, with impatience45, on his parent as a certain amount of personal estate, which had no right whatever to be going at large, but ought to be secured in that particular description of iron safe which is commonly called a coffin46, and banked in the grave.
‘Well, cousin!’ said Mr Jonas—‘Because we are cousins, you know, a few times removed—so you’re going to London?’
Miss Mercy replied in the affirmative, pinching her sister’s arm at the same time, and giggling47 excessively.
‘Lots of beaux in London, cousin!’ said Mr Jonas, slightly advancing his elbow.
‘Indeed, sir!’ cried the young lady. ‘They won’t hurt us, sir, I dare say.’ And having given him this answer with great demureness48 she was so overcome by her own humour, that she was fain to stifle49 her merriment in her sister’s shawl.
‘Merry,’ cried that more prudent50 damsel, ‘really I am ashamed of you. How can you go on so? You wild thing!’ At which Miss Merry only laughed the more, of course.
‘I saw a wildness in her eye, t’other day,’ said Mr Jonas, addressing Charity. ‘But you’re the one to sit solemn! I say—You were regularly prim51, cousin!’
‘Oh! The old-fashioned fright!’ cried Merry, in a whisper. ‘Cherry my dear, upon my word you must sit next him. I shall die outright52 if he talks to me any more; I shall, positively53!’ To prevent which fatal consequence, the buoyant creature skipped out of her seat as she spoke, and squeezed her sister into the place from which she had risen.
‘Don’t mind crowding me,’ cried Mr Jonas. ‘I like to be crowded by gals. Come a little closer, cousin.’
‘No, thank you, sir,’ said Charity.
‘There’s that other one a-laughing again,’ said Mr Jonas; ‘she’s a-laughing at my father, I shouldn’t wonder. If he puts on that old flannel54 nightcap of his, I don’t know what she’ll do! Is that my father a-snoring, Pecksniff?’
‘Yes, Mr Jonas.’
‘Tread upon his foot, will you be so good?’ said the young gentleman. ‘The foot next you’s the gouty one.’
Mr Pecksniff hesitating to perform this friendly office, Mr Jonas did it himself; at the same time crying:
‘Come, wake up, father, or you’ll be having the nightmare, and screeching55 out, I know.—Do you ever have the nightmare, cousin?’ he asked his neighbour, with characteristic gallantry, as he dropped his voice again.
‘Sometimes,’ answered Charity. ‘Not often.’
‘The other one,’ said Mr Jonas, after a pause. ‘Does she ever have the nightmare?’
‘I don’t know,’ replied Charity. ‘You had better ask her.’
‘She laughs so,’ said Jonas; ‘there’s no talking to her. Only hark how she’s a-going on now! You’re the sensible one, cousin!’
‘Tut, tut!’ cried Charity.
‘Oh! But you are! You know you are!’
‘Mercy is a little giddy,’ said Miss Charity. But she’ll sober down in time.’
‘It’ll be a very long time, then, if she does at all,’ rejoined her cousin. ‘Take a little more room.’
‘I am afraid of crowding you,’ said Charity. But she took it notwithstanding; and after one or two remarks on the extreme heaviness of the coach, and the number of places it stopped at, they fell into a silence which remained unbroken by any member of the party until supper-time.
Although Mr Jonas conducted Charity to the hotel and sat himself beside her at the board, it was pretty clear that he had an eye to ‘the other one’ also, for he often glanced across at Mercy, and seemed to draw comparisons between the personal appearance of the two, which were not unfavourable to the superior plumpness of the younger sister. He allowed himself no great leisure for this kind of observation, however, being busily engaged with the supper, which, as he whispered in his fair companion’s ear, was a contract business, and therefore the more she ate, the better the bargain was. His father and Mr Pecksniff, probably acting56 on the same wise principle, demolished57 everything that came within their reach, and by that means acquired a greasy58 expression of countenance59, indicating contentment, if not repletion60, which it was very pleasant to contemplate61.
When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas subscribed62 for two sixpenny-worths of hot brandy-and-water, which the latter gentleman considered a more politic63 order than one shillingsworth; there being a chance of their getting more spirit out of the innkeeper under this arrangement than if it were all in one glass. Having swallowed his share of the enlivening fluid, Mr Pecksniff, under pretence64 of going to see if the coach were ready, went secretly to the bar, and had his own little bottle filled, in order that he might refresh himself at leisure in the dark coach without being observed.
These arrangements concluded, and the coach being ready, they got into their old places and jogged on again. But before he composed himself for a nap, Mr Pecksniff delivered a kind of grace after meat, in these words:
‘The process of digestion65, as I have been informed by anatomical friends, is one of the most wonderful works of nature. I do not know how it may be with others, but it is a great satisfaction to me to know, when regaling on my humble66 fare, that I am putting in motion the most beautiful machinery67 with which we have any acquaintance. I really feel at such times as if I was doing a public service. When I have wound myself up, if I may employ such a term,’ said Mr Pecksniff with exquisite68 tenderness, ‘and know that I am Going, I feel that in the lesson afforded by the works within me, I am a Benefactor69 to my Kind!’
As nothing could be added to this, nothing was said; and Mr Pecksniff, exulting70, it may be presumed, in his moral utility, went to sleep again.
The rest of the night wore away in the usual manner. Mr Pecksniff and Old Anthony kept tumbling against each other and waking up much terrified, or crushed their heads in opposite corners of the coach and strangely tattooed71 the surface of their faces—Heaven knows how—in their sleep. The coach stopped and went on, and went on and stopped, times out of number. Passengers got up and passengers got down, and fresh horses came and went and came again, with scarcely any interval72 between each team as it seemed to those who were dozing73, and with a gap of a whole night between every one as it seemed to those who were broad awake. At length they began to jolt74 and rumble75 over horribly uneven76 stones, and Mr Pecksniff looking out of window said it was to-morrow morning, and they were there.
Very soon afterwards the coach stopped at the office in the city; and the street in which it was situated77 was already in a bustle78, that fully79 bore out Mr Pecksniff’s words about its being morning, though for any signs of day yet appearing in the sky it might have been midnight. There was a dense80 fog too; as if it were a city in the clouds, which they had been travelling to all night up a magic beanstalk; and there was a thick crust upon the pavement like oilcake; which, one of the outsides (mad, no doubt) said to another (his keeper, of course), was Snow.
Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys81 and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy82; now skipping over a kennel83, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent84 to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration85 and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. That is to say, Mr Pecksniff told them so; for as to anything they could see of the Monument, or anything else but the buildings close at hand, they might as well have been playing blindman’s buff at Salisbury.
Mr Pecksniff looked about him for a moment, and then knocked at the door of a very dingy86 edifice87, even among the choice collection of dingy edifices88 at hand; on the front of which was a little oval board like a tea-tray, with this inscription—‘Commercial Boarding-House: M. Todgers.’
It seemed that M. Todgers was not up yet, for Mr Pecksniff knocked twice and rang thrice, without making any impression on anything but a dog over the way. At last a chain and some bolts were withdrawn89 with a rusty90 noise, as if the weather had made the very fastenings hoarse91, and a small boy with a large red head, and no nose to speak of, and a very dirty Wellington boot on his left arm, appeared; who (being surprised) rubbed the nose just mentioned with the back of a shoe-brush, and said nothing.
‘Still a-bed my man?’ asked Mr Pecksniff.
‘Still a-bed!’ replied the boy. ‘I wish they wos still a-bed. They’re very noisy a-bed; all calling for their boots at once. I thought you was the Paper, and wondered why you didn’t shove yourself through the grating as usual. What do you want?’
Considering his years, which were tender, the youth may be said to have preferred this question sternly, and in something of a defiant92 manner. But Mr Pecksniff, without taking umbrage93 at his bearing put a card in his hand, and bade him take that upstairs, and show them in the meanwhile into a room where there was a fire.
‘Or if there’s one in the eating parlour,’ said Mr Pecksniff, ‘I can find it myself.’ So he led his daughters, without waiting for any further introduction, into a room on the ground-floor, where a table-cloth (rather a tight and scanty94 fit in reference to the table it covered) was already spread for breakfast; displaying a mighty95 dish of pink boiled beef; an instance of that particular style of loaf which is known to housekeepers96 as a slack-baked, crummy quartern; a liberal provision of cups and saucers; and the usual appendages97.
Inside the fender were some half-dozen pairs of shoes and boots, of various sizes, just cleaned and turned with the soles upwards98 to dry; and a pair of short black gaiters, on one of which was chalked—in sport, it would appear, by some gentleman who had slipped down for the purpose, pending99 his toilet, and gone up again—‘Jinkins’s Particular,’ while the other exhibited a sketch100 in profile, claiming to be the portrait of Jinkins himself.
M. Todgers’s Commercial Boarding-House was a house of that sort which is likely to be dark at any time; but that morning it was especially dark. There was an odd smell in the passage, as if the concentrated essence of all the dinners that had been cooked in the kitchen since the house was built, lingered at the top of the kitchen stairs to that hour, and like the Black Friar in Don Juan, ‘wouldn’t be driven away.’ In particular, there was a sensation of cabbage; as if all the greens that had ever been boiled there, were evergreens101, and flourished in immortal102 strength. The parlour was wainscoted, and communicated to strangers a magnetic and instinctive103 consciousness of rats and mice. The staircase was very gloomy and very broad, with balustrades so thick and heavy that they would have served for a bridge. In a sombre corner on the first landing, stood a gruff old giant of a clock, with a preposterous104 coronet of three brass105 balls on his head; whom few had ever seen—none ever looked in the face—and who seemed to continue his heavy tick for no other reason than to warn heedless people from running into him accidentally. It had not been papered or painted, hadn’t Todgers’s, within the memory of man. It was very black, begrimed, and mouldy. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers’s up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar106 growth were reared there.
Mr Pecksniff and his fair daughters had not stood warming themselves at the fire ten minutes, when the sound of feet was heard upon the stairs, and the presiding deity107 of the establishment came hurrying in.
M. Todgers was a lady, rather a bony and hard-featured lady, with a row of curls in front of her head, shaped like little barrels of beer; and on the top of it something made of net—you couldn’t call it a cap exactly—which looked like a black cobweb. She had a little basket on her arm, and in it a bunch of keys that jingled108 as she came. In her other hand she bore a flaming tallow candle, which, after surveying Mr Pecksniff for one instant by its light, she put down upon the table, to the end that she might receive him with the greater cordiality.
‘Mr Pecksniff!’ cried Mrs Todgers. ‘Welcome to London! Who would have thought of such a visit as this, after so—dear, dear!—so many years! How do you do, Mr Pecksniff?’
‘As well as ever; and as glad to see you, as ever;’ Mr Pecksniff made response. ‘Why, you are younger than you used to be!’
‘You are, I am sure!’ said Mrs Todgers. ‘You’re not a bit changed.’
‘What do you say to this?’ cried Mr Pecksniff, stretching out his hand towards the young ladies. ‘Does this make me no older?’
‘Not your daughters!’ exclaimed the lady, raising her hands and clasping them. ‘Oh, no, Mr Pecksniff! Your second, and her bridesmaid!’
Mr Pecksniff smiled complacently109; shook his head; and said, ‘My daughters, Mrs Todgers. Merely my daughters.’
‘Ah!’ sighed the good lady, ‘I must believe you, for now I look at ‘em I think I should have known ‘em anywhere. My dear Miss Pecksniffs, how happy your Pa has made me!’
She hugged them both; and being by this time overpowered by her feelings or the inclemency110 of the morning, jerked a little pocket handkerchief out of the little basket, and applied111 the same to her face.
‘Now, my good madam,’ said Mr Pecksniff, ‘I know the rules of your establishment, and that you only receive gentlemen boarders. But it occurred to me, when I left home, that perhaps you would give my daughters house room, and make an exception in their favour.’
‘Perhaps?’ cried Mrs Todgers ecstatically. ‘Perhaps?’
‘I may say then, that I was sure you would,’ said Mr Pecksniff. ‘I know that you have a little room of your own, and that they can be comfortable there, without appearing at the general table.’
‘Dear girls!’ said Mrs Todgers. ‘I must take that liberty once more.’
Mrs Todgers meant by this that she must embrace them once more, which she accordingly did with great ardour. But the truth was that the house being full with the exception of one bed, which would now be occupied by Mr Pecksniff, she wanted time for consideration; and so much time too (for it was a knotty112 point how to dispose of them), that even when this second embrace was over, she stood for some moments gazing at the sisters, with affection beaming in one eye, and calculation shining out of the other.
‘I think I know how to arrange it,’ said Mrs Todgers, at length. ‘A sofa bedstead in the little third room which opens from my own parlour.—Oh, you dear girls!’
Thereupon she embraced them once more, observing that she could not decide which was most like their poor mother (which was highly probable, seeing that she had never beheld113 that lady), but that she rather thought the youngest was; and then she said that as the gentlemen would be down directly, and the ladies were fatigued114 with travelling, would they step into her room at once?
It was on the same floor; being, in fact, the back parlour; and had, as Mrs Todgers said, the great advantage (in London) of not being overlooked; as they would see when the fog cleared off. Nor was this a vainglorious115 boast, for it commanded at a perspective of two feet, a brown wall with a black cistern116 on the top. The sleeping apartment designed for the young ladies was approached from this chamber117 by a mightily118 convenient little door, which would only open when fallen against by a strong person. It commanded from a similar point of sight another angle of the wall, and another side of the cistern. ‘Not the damp side,’ said Mrs Todgers. ‘That is Mr Jinkins’s.’
In the first of these sanctuaries119 a fire was speedily kindled120 by the youthful porter, who, whistling at his work in the absence of Mrs Todgers (not to mention his sketching121 figures on his corduroys with burnt firewood), and being afterwards taken by that lady in the fact, was dismissed with a box on his ears. Having prepared breakfast for the young ladies with her own hands, she withdrew to preside in the other room; where the joke at Mr Jinkins’s expense seemed to be proceeding122 rather noisily.
‘I won’t ask you yet, my dears,’ said Mr Pecksniff, looking in at the door, ‘how you like London. Shall I?’
‘We haven’t seen much of it, Pa!’ cried Merry.
‘Indeed,’ said Mr Pecksniff, ‘that’s true. We have our pleasure, and our business too, before us. All in good time. All in good time!’
Whether Mr Pecksniff’s business in London was as strictly124 professional as he had given his new pupil to understand, we shall see, to adopt that worthy125 man’s phraseology, ‘all in good time.’
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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burrowed
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的过去式和过去分词 )；翻寻 | |
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ramifications
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| n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 ) | |
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fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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rampant
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| adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的 | |
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rampancy
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| 繁茂 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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corked
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| adj.带木塞气味的，塞着瓶塞的v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的过去式 ) | |
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aggravation
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| n.烦恼，恼火 | |
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exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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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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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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random
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licensed
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| adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词) | |
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rheumatism
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| n.风湿病 | |
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28
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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29
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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30
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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31
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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32
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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33
juggling
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| n. 欺骗, 杂耍(=jugglery) adj. 欺骗的, 欺诈的 动词juggle的现在分词 | |
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34
wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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35
wagers
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| n.赌注，用钱打赌( wager的名词复数 )v.在（某物）上赌钱，打赌( wager的第三人称单数 )；保证，担保 | |
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36
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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37
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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38
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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39
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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40
eligible
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| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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41
pithy
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| adj.(讲话或文章)简练的 | |
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42
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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43
gals
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| abbr.gallons （复数）加仑（液量单位）n.女孩，少女( gal的名词复数 ) | |
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44
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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45
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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46
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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47
giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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48
demureness
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| n.demure（拘谨的，端庄的）的变形 | |
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49
stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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50
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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51
prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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52
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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53
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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54
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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55
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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56
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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57
demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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58
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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59
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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60
repletion
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| n.充满，吃饱 | |
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61
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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62
subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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63
politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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64
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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66
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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67
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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68
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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69
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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70
exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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71
tattooed
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| v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击 | |
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72
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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73
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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74
jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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75
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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76
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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77
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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78
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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79
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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80
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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81
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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82
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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83
kennel
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| n.狗舍，狗窝 | |
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84
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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85
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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86
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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87
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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88
edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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89
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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90
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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91
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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92
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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93
umbrage
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| n.不快；树荫 | |
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94
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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95
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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96
housekeepers
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| n.（女）管家( housekeeper的名词复数 ) | |
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97
appendages
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| n.附属物( appendage的名词复数 )；依附的人；附属器官；附属肢体（如臂、腿、尾等） | |
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98
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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99
pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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100
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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101
evergreens
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| n.常青树，常绿植物，万年青( evergreen的名词复数 ) | |
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102
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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103
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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104
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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105
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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106
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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107
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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108
jingled
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| 喝醉的 | |
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109
complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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110
inclemency
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| n.险恶，严酷 | |
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111
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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112
knotty
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| adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的 | |
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113
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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114
fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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115
vainglorious
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| adj.自负的；夸大的 | |
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116
cistern
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| n.贮水池 | |
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117
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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118
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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119
sanctuaries
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| n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所 | |
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120
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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121
sketching
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| n.草图 | |
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122
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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123
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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124
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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125
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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