One late afternoon in early December, when the thick mud and heavy skies of winter had laid hold upon the country, Jerry came into the kitchen carrying a crooked6 nail covered with blood and rust7.
"Looky here, Judy, what I took out'n the side o' Nip's leg. The damn fool hoss'd done gone an' laid hisse'f daown on it. It was in near up to the head. Where's the turpentine?"
"My, it's an ugly lookin' one. Jes thick with rust, hain't it?" she said, as she rummaged9 for the turpentine. "Some heats the nail red hot an' sticks it back into the hole."
"I know, but I kinder hate to do it. I'll soak it well with turpentine an' that'd otta fix it. I can't fer the life of me see haow so many old boards with nails stickin' up in 'em gits laid about in the barnyard. All the time I keep pickin' 'em up, more keeps a-comin'. It looks like they growed there. Is that the turpentine? Give it here. The quicker I git it in the better."
He went out, slamming the door violently in his haste.
The wound healed over and Jerry had almost forgotten to worry about it, when about ten days later he noticed that the horse was not acting10 just like himself. He was nervous and fidgety and there was a stiffness in the injured leg. Looking at the sore he saw that it had broken again and there was a thin trickle11 of ugly looking matter oozing12 from it.
The next morning when he went into the stable to feed the horses, Nip was frothing at the mouth. The stiffness had extended to all his four legs, and he held them extended as if to keep himself from falling. He looked at his master with
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wide, startled eyes that showed much of the whites and from time to time a shiver ran through his body.
Jerry saw himself faced with one of the most serious disasters that can befall a tenant14 farmer. Without going back to the house for his breakfast, he saddled Tuck and galloped15 away in search of Doc Beasley, the veterinary.
They came back a couple of hours later riding side by side. As soon as Jerry laid eyes upon the horse, he knew that he was much worse. The shivers had changed to convulsive shudders16, and pain and terror looked out of the animal's dilated17 eyes.
The veterinary, a lean old grayhound with a face of tanned leather, shook his head.
"You'd best put a bullet into him, Jerry, an' have done with it. I cud cure him, but it'd cost yuh more'n what the hoss's woth. That damned antitoxin fer lockjaw's high's hell an' it takes so much fer a hoss 'tain't practical nohaow. If yuh wanta take a chanct on it's helpin' him, I kin8 give him a shot o' some other stuff that sometimes does the trick. It'll cost yuh five dollars, an' I hain't promisin' that it'll cure him. But onct in a while it does. Anyhaow whether yuh take it or whether yuh don't take it, I won't charge yuh nothin' fer comin' here, 'cause I'm on my way to Joe Patton's sick caow an' I know yuh hain't no millionaire."
"Let's try it, Jerry," implored18 Judith, who had come into the stable behind the men. "It seems a shame not to let him have one chanct."
"All right, Doc," agreed Jerry a bit huskily. "Go ahead an' try what you kin do. If I had the money I'd feel like tryin' the big cure. But I hain't got the money. So that settles it flat."
The horse doctor cleansed20 the wound, took a big syringe from his kit5 satchel21, filled it with a yellowish fluid, and gave the horse an injection in the leg close to the wounded spot.
"There," he said as he replaced the syringe, "if he hain't a heap better agin to-morrer mornin' he hain't a-goin' to git no better. Anyhaow, you hain't got the hardest luck there is, Jerry, ole man. Two o' Jim Summerfield's hawgs has got the
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cholera, an' the whole thirty-odd'll be dead afore the week's gone. So you see you might a had it worst."
With this cold but well meant comfort he was gone.
The next morning when Jerry went into the stable, the horse was down, his jaws22 were locked and he was writhing23 in agony. Tuck, tied at a little distance, looked at him with mild, questioning eyes.
He went to the house for his revolver. Judith said nothing. When she saw him take the gun out of the dresser drawer she did not need to ask what it meant. A few moments later she heard a shot and knew that it was all over for Nip.
It was war time and horse hides were worth four dollars or more. So, although he loathed24 to do it, Jerry skinned the poor animal that for so many years had been his friend and the companion of his labors25. When the carcass was skinned he tied a chain about the hind19 legs, attached the other end to Tuck's harness and, taking the lines in his hand, said, "Git up, Tuck."
Restless and unhappy from the odious26 smell of blood, the horse started uneasily, shied a little and looked around with dilated nostrils27 and eyes that showed the whites. Then, seeing his master, hearing his voice and feeling his familiar hand upon the lines, he went forward with his usual steady step, dragging his dead companion.
Judith, watching sadly from the porch, saw the little procession pass across the pasture. It had snowed during the night and the ground was still white. Against the whiteness the dark figures of the man and horse plodded28 with bowed heads. Behind them trailed a long thing of an evil scarlet29 color. The front legs stood up stiffly in the air. The inert30 head and neck, preternaturally long, trailed behind like a snake. Behind the dragging head a dark streak31 marked its path from the barn.
On the far side of the pasture lay a deep gully. Here Jerry halted Tuck and manœuvered him back and forth32 so as to get the dead animal as near to the brink33 as possible and in the position he wanted. Then he unloosed the chain from the hind
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legs and, using a fence rail as a pry34, worked with the carcass until it went crashing over the brink. The noise startled Tuck, who looked around uneasily.
Returned to the stable he sadly salted the hide, while Tuck, surprised to find an empty stable, nickered and whinneyed and waited impatiently for his friend.
The buzzards did the rest.
For days they hung in the air over the gully. From the kitchen window Judith could see them moving on widespread wings. They would circle a while in one spot, then fly off a little distance and circle again, as though loath3 to give up their habits of search. The motion of these silent creatures, slow and steady, with no perceptible vibration35 of the sweeping36, horizontal wings, was as beautiful as the flight of sea gulls37. When they tilted38, the sunlight caught the under side of the black wings and turned them gleaming silver. Watching the stately grace, the balanced dignity of their movements as they circled alone in the wide emptiness of the winter sky, Judith felt herself enfolded in a deep sense of calm, as though Nature had laid upon her brow a firm, soothing40 hand and told her to be at peace. The flight of the birds added beauty and dignity to the thought of death; and for the first time in her life it seemed a thing to be looked upon with calmness. She was affected41 as she might have been by a Greek tragedy or by Bach's coldly austere42 music. She felt no sense of shrinking, but rather a solemn uplift of the heart in the thought that some day she too would return to the ground; and that always, when she was no longer there to see it, sunshine in winter would be a lovely thing, and other buzzards, foul43 smelling birds though they were, would soar and tilt39 with incomparable grace and stateliness over other dead horses and dead dogs that like her had had their day.
After the buzzards were gone, she was still followed by the thought of death. But it was no longer a beautiful thought. She shrank from it and tried to turn her thoughts to other things.
The horse's death brought them many visits of condolence.
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The men sat around the stove of an evening and told Jerry just what he ought to have done to save the horse and just what they themselves would have done if the horse had been theirs. Having exhausted44 this topic, they drifted to other things: the victories over the Germans, the high and ever climbing cost of flour, the scarcity45 of sugar, the unheard of prices that were being charged for overalls46 and shoes and stoves and hay forks and wire fencing.
"Waal, if we kin git forty cent a paound fer terbaccer this year, 'twon't pan out so bad," opined Uncle Sam Whitmarsh. "An' eggs an' butter is fetchin' a good price."
"You was allus a joker, Sam," said Columbia Gibbs, spitting into the woodbox. "You know dern well there hain't one of us in twenty'll git forty cent fer terbaccer. Mebbe a few lucky ones'll draw a big price; but the most of us'll be on'y too glad to drive back home with ten or twelve. An' if butter an' eggs is high, they hain't high compared with flour an' coffee. Afore the war I cud drive into taown with five, six dozen eggs an' the same number o' paounds o' butter, an' I cud git me a sack o' flour, a couple o' paounds o' sugar, a paound o' coffee an' a paper o' candy fer the young uns. Naow I take in that same lot o' butter an' eggs an' I can't hardly git me a sack o' dirty flour chuck full o' bran an' middlin's. I gotta go 'ithout the coffee an' sugar an' the young uns has gotta go 'ithout the candy."
He looked about the group clinchingly and made a feint of wiping away the streams of tobacco juice that had begun to dribble47 from the corners of his mouth.
"I wisht Roosevelt was back in agin," spoke48 up Gus Dibble. "When he was in the price o' mule49 colts was a heap better. One year I got fifty dollars fer a mule colt. An' las' year I didn't git but forty fer a better one out'n the same mare50. I'd like to see Roosevelt back in."
Two weeks after Nip's death Uncle Amos Crupper received word that his son Bob had been killed, blown to pieces by an exploding shell.
The old man was broken by the news. Bob was his only
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son, the son of the wife of his youth whose memory he had cherished for twenty years. He wandered about restlessly from neighbor to neighbor, seeking comfort and finding none. As he sat hunched51 over the Blackford stove, his usually erect52 shoulders bowed into a semi-circle, it seemed to Judith that winter had descended53 upon him over night, as snow falls on the hills.
She, too, as she went about her work, kept thinking of Bob—and of death.
The thought that he was dead would waylay54 her suddenly, startingly, and she would see him as she had known him in life, his lithe55, muscular body, his boyish smile, his clear eyes, fearless and dreamy.
Once with a dustrag she slapped a fly on the wall. It fell mashed56 and mangled57 to the floor.
It came over her suddenly that he had died like that. With all his health, vigor58, and charm, his power to make women love him, he had died like the fly. Some great, pitiless engine of war had mashed these things out of him and left only a few bits of stinking59 flesh.
"What are we all anyway but flies," she said to herself bitterly.
One morning when it was mild and the sun was shining she went out to clean the rain barrel that had grown slimy with a green scum. Bent60 over with her head and shoulders in the almost empty barrel, she scrubbed the sides vigorously with the scrubbing brush. When she had finished, her wrists felt weak and shaky. Taking hold of the top of the barrel with both hands she tried to tip it to drain away the dirty water and was suddenly aware that it was too heavy for her. She could not understand it. She had dumped the same barrel many times before with the greatest ease. She struggled with it and for the first time in her life felt herself overcome by a sense of physical powerlessness. Some virtue61 had gone out of her long, muscular arms trained from childhood to do heavy work. Her breath came in short, quick gasps62 and she felt her knees weaken and tremble in a way that she had never felt before.
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When at last she succeeded in tipping the barrel and returning it to its place, she sank down on the ground gasping63 with exhaustion64, her knees weak like water beneath her.
After that whenever she drew a full bucket of water from the well or carried slop to the hogs65 or stood too long over the churn or the washtub, she felt creeping over her this strange, tremulous sensation of extreme weakness. Countless66 times before she had known what it was to be tired. But this feeling of sinking knees, of shivering powerlessness was something new, something quite different from anything that she had experienced before in her life.
With it came an increased impatience67 with the chatter68 and wrangles69 of the children, a growing lack of interest in the affairs of the neighbors or even in those of her own household, a desire to retire within herself, to be alone and apart.
Ill luck seemed to love their company that winter and, like a hungry stray dog, would not leave their door. Luke Wolf said it was all because Jerry had torn the shoes from Nip's dead hoofs70 and later used them in shoeing Tuck.
"Nine times out o' ten," he said to Jerry impressively, "if yuh shoe a hoss with shoes taken off'n a dead animal, he'll die afore the year's out. An' if he don't die some other kind o' bad luck'll foller yuh."
Tuck did not die; but, as Luke had prophesied71, other bad luck followed apace. When Jerry hauled the tobacco off to market he was caught in a drenching72 rain, and hundreds of pounds of what would otherwise have been a fine grade of tobacco were changed to the sort that brings a cent or two a pound. The tobacco should have been covered to protect it against such a contingency73. But a tarpaulin74 is an expensive luxury which few tenant farmers can afford to buy. Most of them use their wives' rag carpets. But Judith had no rag carpet.
When Jerry had paid off the help that he had hired during the year and settled the store bill that had been accumulating for many months and bought some tar13 paper to nail over the
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north and east sides of the house, he had a hundred and eighteen dollars left, most of which would have to go to buy another horse. Fortunately the corn crop was a fairly good one that year.
It was a hard winter, a winter of pinching and skimping75 and doing without, doing without sugar, doing without coffee, doing without even the salt meat to which they were accustomed, for hogs were worth too much to be consumed at home. They had to be sold to meet the exorbitant76 cost of shoes and overalls and underwear to keep the children warm.
Since the beginning of the war these things had become of very inferior quality. It seemed as if Jerry was always cobbling the boys' shoes and Judith always putting patches on their overalls. And in an incredibly short time their feet were on the ground again and their knees out. Like all the rest of the women, Judith pinched and contrived77, tried to make clothes for the children out of old garments that were fit only for the ragbag, made flour sacks into pillow slips and even into underwear and carefully saved the smaller pieces of everything for the bedquilts that were always wearing out and having to be replaced.
As she sat by the little glass lamp of an evening making over flour sacks or mending overalls, her face had not the dull, sullen78 look that Jerry remembered from other times, but rather a hard, grim, half defiant79 expression. Watching her covertly81 his own face took on an ugly look.
More and more, as the days went by, she was confirmed in the stand that she had taken after getting up from her last sickbed. She was through forever, she told herself, with having children and with running any risk of having children. She wanted no more children that she could not clothe, that she could hardly feed, that were a long torture to bear and a daily fret82 and anxiety after they were born. Her flesh recoiled83 and her spirit rose in fiery84 protest against any further degradation85 and suffering. Too long she had been led along blindly. Now her eyes were open and she would be a tool no more of man's
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lust and nature's cunning. She would see her path and choose it. She would be mistress of her own body. She would order her future life as seemed best to herself.
It was the imprint86 of these thoughts that Jerry saw on her face as she sat sewing under the lamp; and the covert80 looks that he cast at her were ugly and ill omened.
For her there was stimulation87 mental and physical in such thoughts, and she began to grow stronger. It was this determination stubbornly adhered to and constantly borne in mind that made her arms powerful to rub the coarse clothes up and down on the washboard, that set the dasher thudding against the bottom of the churn more noisily than need be and drew the broom with brisk, emphatic88 strokes across the floor. When she gathered up the dishes she slapped the plates together with the emphasis of one who is indifferent as to whether they crack or not, and when she cleaned house the dust and feathers flew mightily89. At the woodpile she was merciless to the saplings and rotted fence rails that Jerry had dragged up.
Often at the end of a day of such emphatic housekeeping, the old insidious90 weakness would slip into her bones, her knees would tremble and sink and she would drop with sudden exhaustion into the old rocking chair.
As she lay with her head against the bit of patchwork91 that was tied to the back of the chair, her eyes, the only parts of her that were not tired, would wander restlessly about the walls and ceiling. The winter before, in a vain attempt to keep out the cold, she had bought for a quarter a bundle of old newspapers and pasted them over two walls and part of the ceiling. She had intended to buy another bundle and finish the job, but had never gone beyond the intention. The papers had pulled apart over the cracks between the boards, they were yellowed with smoke and blotched with rain; but they still displayed their wealth of pictures. There were pictures of society people grinning and squatting92 on the sand at Palm Beach, pictures of smug, well fed dignitaries of church and state, pictures of business magnates, still smugger, fatter, and more rigorously curried93, pictures of kings and generals pompously94
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pinning medals to the coat lapels of heroes of war, well brushed and subdued95 for the solemn occasion, pictures of dismal96, stuffy97 people who had been given new life by Tanlac or Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, pictures of actresses and movie stars, some simpering and insipid98, others with grace and charm diffused99 over the pure lines of youth, pictures of people who had been killed in automobile100 accidents, pictures of murderers and the murdered.
Her interest was only mildly stirred by all these pictures of strange people in strange walks of life that she would never tread. They seemed, with but few exceptions, solemn and sodden101 creatures in no way to be envied. From them her eyes traveled with heightening interest to the streaky discolorations that the rain beating through the walls had made on the papers. There she never failed to find pictures that beguiled102 the eye and inspired the imagination.
Often when the children were at play out of doors she sat a long time looking at these weird103 freaks of water. At such times her hectic104 energy and the determination that lay back of it were gone, and with the graying twilight105 there came instead dark thoughts of the emptiness and purposelessness of life, of Bob who had died and of the death that lay in wait for her and hers. When the corners grew shadowed and the rats began to peer out of their holes with bright, furtive106 eyes, she would get up with a heavy sigh and begin to mix the batter107 for corn cakes.
As the weeks went by her relations with Jerry grew daily more strained. She rarely spoke to him except to call his attention to an empty woodbox or a broken door hinge or a loose board in the floor or the fact that the boys' feet were on the ground. Daily he grew more morose108 and evil tempered. A brooding animosity looked out of his eyes as he furtively109 followed her movements about the house. At the least excuse this smoldering110 fire broke out into the fierce flame of violent and brutal111 quarreling. The quarrels usually ended by his taking his hat and slamming the door behind him as he went to seek diversion in some neighbor's barnyard. For her there was
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no diversion. When the quarrel was over neither of them could remember what had caused it.
Christmas brought a truce112. By a tacit mutual113 understanding it was agreed between them that on this day, if only for the children's sake, there should be peace and some measure of goodwill114.
The children were up with the dawn, uproariously and gloriously happy over the few ten cent gimcracks that Jerry had brought home the day before and that Judith had stuffed into their stockings. She caught the infection of their happiness, laughed with them over the antics of the Jack115 in the box and the monkey on a stick, and beguiled them with descriptions of Santa Claus and his swift reindeer116, his home built of ice far up in the frozen north, his shop where he and his wife work all year to make playthings for good little boys and girls and his long, exciting gallops117 over the snow on Christmas Eve.
Having done up his morning chores, Jerry, feeling leisurely118 and luxurious119 in clean overalls, stretched himself in the rocking chair and listened contentedly120 to the prattle121 of the mother and children, showed the boys how to spin the tops and fell to carving123 them a whistle apiece to supplement the toys that Santa Claus had brought.
Annie was happy with a doll which she hugged maternally124 to her bosom125, then absent-mindedly dragged about the floor by one leg.
Jerry had killed a hen the day before, and there was a gala dinner of stewed126 chicken, hominy, sweet potatoes, and a boiled pudding with sauce. They all gorged127 mightily.
After dinner Jerry took up his hat and strolled out through the barnyard. Judith was left alone with the children, now grown cross and fretful, the litter of broken toys and clutter128 of dirty dishes.
The dinner had been late, and it was after four o'clock and already growing twilight in the room before she had washed the last greasy129 pan. When she had finished everything and washed the table and hung up the dishrag, she pushed the frowsy strands130 of hair back from her face and sank into the
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rocking chair. Annie began to whimper and, putting her little hand over her stomach, said that she had a pain there. She gave the child a drink of water to help dissolve the colored candy she had eaten, then took her up and rocked her, crooning a song. The boys who had been wrangling131 all afternoon and constantly appealing to her to settle their differences, now fell to fighting, rolling over and over on the littered floor. She got up and slapped them both smartly.
"Naow, then," she said, administering a last cuff132 to Billy, "you'd otta think shame to yerse'ves, the way you been a-actin'. You jes set right to work the both of you an' pick up all them things an' put 'em in the box, an' don't let me hear nary word out'n you."
They subsided133 from loud wails134 to whimpers, then set to work sullenly135 picking up the toys and throwing them noisily at the wooden grocery box in which she had tried to train them to keep their things. When they thought their mother was not looking, they angrily nudged and pinched each other. Then, forgetting enmity, they began to make a glorious game of it and threw the playthings in all directions, trying to hit anything but the inside of the box. She tried to tell herself that they were only children having childish fun; but to her irritable136 nerves they seemed like little fiends. She felt a wild impulse to turn her back on everything, even the sick baby, and flee away along the roads, into the woods, anywhere where there was quiet and peace.
She put up with the turmoil137 for a while, sitting with closed eyes silently rocking the little girl. To the casual eye she looked passive and acquiescent138 enough; but her whole body and soul were one strung up tension of screaming protest. It was not until a tin railway car hit her on the side of the head that she got up and slapped both the boys again and reduced them once more to a sullen putting away of the toys.
Jerry lurched into the house, his hat over one eye, smelling of whiskey. He shambled into a seat by the stove, and she knew by the evil looks he cast at her that he was in an ugly drunk, a strange thing for him who was usually silly and good
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natured under the effects of alcohol. As she caught his glowering139 eye the smoldering sense of injury that she had been nursing all afternoon flared140 into hate and fury. If it came to a test of ugliness she could be more than his match, she told herself and her lips set together in grim lines.
Jerry saw the sinister141 setting of her mouth, and his own face darkened into a black scowl142.
Annie had fallen asleep, and she slipped off the child's shoes and outer clothing and carried her into the other room. When she came back the kitchen was almost dark. Jerry still sat by the stove, his head sunk on his breast.
"Air you a-goin' to do the milkin' to-night?" she asked in a dry, dead voice.
"No, I hain't."
She threw on an old cap and jacket, took up the milk bucket with an emphatic rattle122 and bang and went out, slamming the door so that the house shook.
When she came in again the room was so dark that she could hardly see the outlines of things. The boys had dropped asleep on the old sofa behind the stove. The fire had gone low and the room was chilly143. Jerry still sat by the stove, his head sunk lower on his breast.
She lit the lamp, strained the milk and mixed the corn cake batter, then came by the stove to make up the fire. He bulked obstinately144 between her and the woodbox. For a minute tense with their mutual aversion she stood waiting for him to move.
"Air you a-goin' to move or hain't you?" she asked at last in the same dry, dead voice.
He glanced up at her with a hateful leer, then dropped his head again to his breast.
"I hain't."
For another moment she stood eyeing him with a look of exasperation145 mingled146 with cold despisal. Then red fury burst in her and she grasped the handle of the stove lifter.
"You git out o' that chair, you damn filthy147 haound. Hain't it enough that I gotta spend the hull148 day scrapin' greasy burnt pans an' puttin' up with them pesterin' young uns, 'ithout havin'
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you lurchin' in here with a dirty drunk an' plantin' yer carcass right where I wanta git the supper? I hain't in no humor to put up with none o' yer drunken sulks. You git away from this yer stove an' do it mighty149 quick too."
He did not move nor even glance at her. He bulked big and sullen, a silent affront150.
Trembling all over she uttered a scream of rage and swung the stove lifter in fury. It descended sharply on his skull151.
With a thick curse he sprang up, wrenched152 the stove lifter from her hand and flung it to the other end of the room. It fell into a pan of milk and the milk splashed in every direction. Then, grasping her by the shoulders, he began to shake her. He shook her so violently that her teeth chattered153 and her furious screams of rage came in a shrill154 tremolo hideous155 to hear. Like a tigress she struggled in his grasp. If she had had a knife she would have plunged156 it into him.
Her frenzied157 struggles drew them close to the wall; and it was the sound of her head beating with a hollow noise against the boards that at last penetrated158 his drunken fury and brought him to his senses. With the movement of one who drops hot iron, he let fall his hands from her shoulders and fled out into the darkness, leaving the door swinging open behind him.
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1
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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4
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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rummaged
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查 | |
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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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trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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12
oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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15
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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shudders
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| n.颤动，打颤，战栗( shudder的名词复数 )v.战栗( shudder的第三人称单数 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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20
cleansed
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| 弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
satchel
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| n.(皮或帆布的)书包 | |
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22
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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23
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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24
loathed
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
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25
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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26
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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27
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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28
plodded
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| v.沉重缓慢地走（路）( plod的过去式和过去分词 )；努力从事；沉闷地苦干；缓慢进行（尤指艰难枯燥的工作） | |
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29
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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30
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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31
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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32
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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33
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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34
pry
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| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
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35
vibration
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| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
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36
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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37
gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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38
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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39
tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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40
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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41
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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42
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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43
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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44
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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45
scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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46
overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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47
dribble
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| v.点滴留下，流口水；n.口水 | |
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48
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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49
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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50
mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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51
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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52
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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53
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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54
waylay
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| v.埋伏，伏击 | |
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55
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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56
mashed
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| a.捣烂的 | |
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57
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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58
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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59
stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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60
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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61
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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62
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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63
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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64
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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65
hogs
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| n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人 | |
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66
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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67
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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68
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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69
wrangles
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| n.（尤指长时间的）激烈争吵，口角，吵嘴( wrangle的名词复数 )v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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70
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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71
prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
drenching
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| n.湿透v.使湿透( drench的现在分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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73
contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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74
tarpaulin
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| n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽 | |
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75
skimping
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| v.少用( skimp的现在分词 )；少给；克扣；节省 | |
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76
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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77
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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78
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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79
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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80
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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81
covertly
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| adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
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82
fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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83
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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84
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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85
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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86
imprint
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| n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记 | |
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87
stimulation
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| n.刺激，激励，鼓舞 | |
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88
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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89
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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90
insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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91
patchwork
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| n.混杂物；拼缝物 | |
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92
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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93
curried
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| adj.加了咖喱（或咖喱粉的），用咖哩粉调理的 | |
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94
pompously
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| adv.傲慢地，盛大壮观地；大模大样 | |
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95
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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96
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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97
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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98
insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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99
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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100
automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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101
sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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102
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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103
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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104
hectic
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| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
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105
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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106
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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107
batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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108
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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109
furtively
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| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
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110
smoldering
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| v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 ) | |
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111
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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112
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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113
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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114
goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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115
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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116
reindeer
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| n.驯鹿 | |
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117
gallops
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| （马等）奔驰，骑马奔驰( gallop的名词复数 ) | |
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118
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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119
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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120
contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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121
prattle
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| n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
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122
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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123
carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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124
maternally
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125
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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126
stewed
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| adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧 | |
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127
gorged
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
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128
clutter
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| n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱 | |
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129
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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130
strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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131
wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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132
cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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133
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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134
wails
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| 痛哭，哭声( wail的名词复数 ) | |
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135
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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136
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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137
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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138
acquiescent
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| adj.默许的，默认的 | |
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139
glowering
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| v.怒视( glower的现在分词 ) | |
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140
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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141
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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142
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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143
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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144
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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145
exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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146
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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147
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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148
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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149
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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150
affront
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| n./v.侮辱，触怒 | |
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151
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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152
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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153
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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154
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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155
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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156
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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157
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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158
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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