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CHAPTER V
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The light took a golden tincture before dusk, and nature rested.  Mellow1 sunshine cast long shadows, interspersed2 with a tender radiance; the cottages and house-places were still; and peace brooded over hamlet and homestead, for the day’s work was done.

The 10th of July sank to lovely close, and through a blue dusk one window glimmered3 on the confines of the village.

Toward it walked a man, and in his pocket he carried a little parcel.  Once he hesitated, and seemed disposed to hurl5 his gift into the hedge and return whence he came.  But he held on, and presently reached the cottage door and knocked at it.

“Might I come in an’ have a tell, Mrs. Thorn?” he asked in a deep voice.

There was a moment of silence, then a fluttered uprising.

“Yes, if you’m in a mind to, Mr. Lethbridge.”
p. 187BENJAMIN’S MESS

p. 189When Farmer Yelland died, everybody in Postbridge village was sorry—for theirselves, but not for him, mind you.  Because if ever a good man went straight to glory ’twas Michael Yelland.  He’d had his ups an’ downs like the best an’ worst of us; but though the poor old gentleman weern’t overblessed in his life,—nor yet his only son for that matter,—yet ’twas made up to him in a manner of speaking, for never a farm in Dartymoor did better.  His things were always the first to be ready for market; his grass was always ready to cut a week ahead of his neighbours, an’ he always had fine weather to cut it in; while as for his corn an’ roots—why, at the Agricultural Show to Ashburton, it comed to be a joke all over the countryside, for first prize always went to Yelland as a regular thing.  The Lord looks after His own, you see, in His own partickler way.  An’ such a patient, large-hearted man as he was!  When Sarah Yelland, his wife, was took off, after clacking nonsense for fifty year, us all thanked God in our hearts for her good man.  For ’tweern’t a happy marriage, an’ he’d had more to put up with unbeknownst p. 190in his home circle than falls to the lot of many of us.  But not an unkind word did he ever say either afore or after she died.  Never would grumble7 about it, but kept his thoughts to hisself.  I mind I met him in the churchyard six months after he’d buried his wife, an’ he was smoking his old clay pipe an’ seeing about a granite8 gravestone for the tomb.

“So there her lies at peace,” I said in my civil way.

An’ farmer takes his pipe out of his mouth an’ spits ’pon the grave, but not with any rude meaning.

“Yes, John,” he says to me.  “There Sarah lies, poor old dear—at peace, I hope, I’m sure.  Anyway, if she’s so peaceful as I be since her’s gone, she’ll do very well.”

Two year after that he was in the pit beside her, an’ the space left ’pon the stone was filled up with his vartues.

Then Nicholas Yelland—his son—a lad five-an’-twenty years old an’ a bit cross in the grain—found hisself master of Cator Court, as the place was called.  We shook our heads, for he was known to us as a chap pretty near spoilt by over-educating.  Old Yelland had got his patience an’ sense from the land, an’ his wisdom an’ sweetness of disposition9 out of no other book than the Bible; but his p. 191missis had great notions for her one an’ only child, an’ she wanted more than the Bible could teach him; which, in my judgement, is to cry out for better bread than can be made of wheat.  Farmering weern’t a grand enough trade for him, she thought; so she kept nagging10 an’ nagging by day an’ night, till, in self-defence, the old man sent his lad to Tavistock Grammar School—a very great seat of larning in them days, by all accounts.  Yet what they didn’t teach him was worth knowing too, for manners he never larned, nor yet his duty to his neighbour.  He comed home at seventeen with some Latin, ’twas said, though ’twas only rumoured11 like, an’ a very pretty way of reading the lessons to church on Sundays; but when he returned, the first thing as he told his faither was, “I be a Radical12 in politics evermore, an’ I ban’t going to touch my hat again to nobody living.  One man’s so good as another.”

“So he be, Nick,” said his faither.  “An’ a darned sight better, too, for that matter.  The world will larn ’e that, if nothing else.  I’m sorry ever I sent ’e to school, if they’ve taught ’e such tomfoolery there.  But life will unlarn ’e, I hope.  To touch your hat to your betters ban’t no sign of weakness in you, but a sign of sense: Lord Luscombe hisself takes off his hat to the King, an’ the King takes off his’n to God A’mighty13.  ’Tis the p. 192laws of Nature,” said farmer, “an’ if you break the laws o’ Nature, you’ll damn soon get broke yourself, as everybody finds out after they’m turned fifty, if not sooner.”

But Yelland died, as I tell ’e, an’ the young man comed to his own.  With all his airs an’ graces, he knowed when he was well off, an’ of course followed his faither’s footsteps an’ stuck to the land, despite his mother’s hopes, as planned an’ prayed with her last breath for him to be a lawyer.  Though why a lawyer should be a greater man than a farmer, you’d have to ax a lawyer to tell ’e.  An’ I won’t say that Nicholas was a bad farmer.  He’d got sense, though no broad-mindedness.  The difference between him an’ his faither was showed by a path-field as ran through Cator Court lands and was very much used by folks coming up from Widecombe to Postbridge and the farms round about, because it saved foot-passengers a good mile of walking, an’ it had been there time out of mind.  But there weren’t no right of way with it all the same, an’ farmer he always used to shut it up one day a year to make good his claim in the eye of the law.  He wouldn’t have turned back the leastest little one he’d found on the field-path, for ’twas his pride an’ pleasure always to make life easier for man, woman an’ child when the chance offered.  An’ the boys had the filbert nuts an’ the girls had the p. 193mushrooms; an’ he never minded, bless you; he liked ’em to be there.

Well, this here carmudgeon of a young Yelland—first thing he done, out of pure sourness of disposition, was to shut up the field-path an’ stick up a lot o’ scowling14 nonsense ’bout “trespassers would be prosecuted15.”  So much for his radical ideas an’ everybody being equal!  But it’s always that sort who talk loudest about the rights of men, be the sharpest about the rights of property.  Belted Earls will throw open their beautiful parks, but you won’t catch common men doing it.  An’ the boys knocked young Yelland’s boards down with stones, an’ broke his hedges; an’ the Widecombe people, as didn’t care a snap of the finger for the man, took their even way as usual.  He spent half his time storming up an’ down the great meadow in the farm-bottom, where Webburn river goes clattering16 to meet Dart6; but he only turned back women an’ children, for he was a little chap—thin an’ not overstrong—so men just told him to get out of their road, else they’d knock him upsy-edgeways into the hedge.

But of course such a state of things couldn’t last.  There comed a terrible day when he turned back Mr. Matthew’s wife—Matthew being the miller17 to Widecombe an’ a churchwarden, an’ a man of high renown18 in general.  Then us had a proper tantara, p. 194an’ Matthew he took the opinion of Lawyer Pearce, an’ Pearce he had a tell with young Yelland, an’ parson Courtenay of Postbridge, he also done what he could; which was nought19.  They might so well have talked to a fuzz-bush as Nicholas.  He stuck out his chin—he was a underhung toad20, like a bulldog—and he said that rights was rights an’ land was land; an’ he turned on parson, like an adder21, and said: “If you’ll open a footpath22 through your vegetable garden an’ let all Postbridge walk up an’ down it when your gooseberries be ripe, then I’ll do the same with my meadow, an’ not sooner.”

But parson, whose heart was in gooseberries, said the cases weren’t similar; an’ Nicholas held out they were.

Matters was let sink for a bit after that, but the upshot made a story, an’ people laugh yet when you tell ’em about it.

You must know that young Yelland was courting just then, an’ he’d got his hands so full with Mary Jane Arscott, the stone-breaker’s darter, that for lack of leisure—nought else—he didn’t watch his path-field so sharp as usual.  The storm died down a bit, an’ by the time that the matter of Mary Jane had come to a head, things were fallen back into the old way.  All the notice-boards was knocked down—most of ’em had floated along the river; an’ the people went to an’ fro on p. 195Yelland’s path, just as if his faither was still alive.  He’d only made a lot of enemies by his foolish conduct, an’ that thought made him so grim as a ghost, an’ poor company for every living soul.

Well, this Mary Jane was a very fine woman—rather on the big side for a girl of twenty-two; but the small men always look for a large, helpful pattern of maiden23, an’ Nicholas was as much in love with her as he could be with any mortal she, despite her humble24 circumstances.  Her liked him too, up to a certain point; but ’twas the sort of fondness a maiden naturally gets for any young man who be very well-to-do, an’ have a fine house an’ land an’ a prosperous business.  ’Tis hard to make up your mind about such a man, specially25 if he’m a trifle undersized an’ underhung, an’ not generally well liked by the neighbours.  But, for all that, Mary Jane Arscott kept his beautiful farm in her eye an’ seed her way pretty clear, if it hadn’t been for a young youth by the name of Benjamin Pearn.  But for him no doubt she’d have said “yes” long ago—perhaps afore Nicholas had had time to get out his proposal of marriage, for she comed of very pauper26 stock, an’ had never known comfort in her life.  But this here Ben Pearn chanced to have just what t’other man lacked—a comely27 countenance28 an’ a fine, manly29 frame to him.  A blue-eyed, sandy-headed man—hard as nails an’ fairly p. 196prosperous for a chap only turned four or five-an’-twenty.  He was a shepherd in springtime; an’ looked after the common lands; an’ he was verger of the church; an’ he kept bees; an’ he’d lend a hand at thatching or painting of sign-boards, or harvesting, or any mortal thing.  But his father had been a famous poacher, though of course I ban’t bringing that up against the man.  Yet, with all his cleverness, he was a fool when he failed in love, as a many afore him.  ’Twas love for Mary Jane found out the soft spot in him, an’ showed that he was a thought weak in his head, for all his business, and could do an underhand deed, like anybody else in the same fix.  For when we’m struck on a maid, if us can’t see how to fight fair in it, us all fights foul30 without a blush.  Which shows love ban’t a Bible vartue, but just a savage31 strain in the blood, if you come to think of it.  Besides, you can’t forget his father was a poacher.

Between these two men, Ben an’ Nicholas, it rested, an’ Mary Jane took her time to make up her mind.  She was in love with Benjamin’s self an’ Yelland’s farm.  That’s how it stood.  She didn’t want to miss the farm, an’ she didn’t want to miss Benjamin; but her couldn’t have both; an’ her found it a bit difficult to make up her mind, though Lord He knows her faither an’ mother done their best to make it up for her.  They had an eye p. 197on the gert chimney-corners to Cator Court, no doubt.

Then things happened that helped Mary Jane to decide.

The rights of it got out long after, but what took place was this, for I heard it direct from Nicholas.  Whatever else he was, he was a truth-teller.  One fine evening in late summer, when Yelland was walking down his field-path in a devil of a gale32, because he found that folks had been breaking his hedge again for the hazel-nuts an’ running all about the meadow after mushrooms, there comed by Ben Pearn, an’ he marked the trouble an’ spoke33.

“’Tis a shame to see what you get for your goodness in letting folks go up an’ down your field-path, Mr. Yelland,” he says.

But Nick looked at him sideways, for he knowed Ben was his rival, an’ didn’t feel like trusting him a yard.

“They wouldn’t be here if I could help it.  But seemingly I can’t,” he answered back.

Ben nodded.

“The law won’t help ’e?  ’Tis a crying shame; but if I was you, I’d help myself an’ hang the law.”

“I’ve tried often enough, surely.  I’ve done every mortal thing that I can think of.  I wish to God us was allowed to use man-traps, like landowners did in the old time.  But the law’s got so weak as water p. 198nowadays.  A man mayn’t even shoot a burglar, they tell me.  ’Twill be a penal34 offence next to ax a housebreaker to leave the family Bible behind him.”

“Well, there’s man-traps an’ man-traps.  The meadow be yours to do what you please with, ban’t it?” says Ben, very artful like.

“It did ought to be.”

“You can graze sheep in it?”

“Yes.”

“Or cattle?”

“Of course.  What’s that to do with the matter?”

“You might even let your great red Devon bull, as takes so many prizes an’ have got such a douce an’ all of a temper, run loose there, if you was minded to—eh?”

“By Gor!” said Nick Yelland.  “If that ban’t an idea!”

“I judge you wouldn’t have no more trouble then, Nicholas.  Better’n notice-boards.  He’d work quicker, too.  One sight of him would be enough for most people.”

“Thank you,” said the farmer.  “Thank you very much.  You’m a quick-witted chap, for sartain, an’ I’m greatly obliged to you.  I’ll turn him in this very evening, an’ be damned to everybody.”

An’ so he did, an’ next day that gert bull was p. 199wallowing in a pool o’ mud in the middle of the meadow an’ wondering at his luck.

An’ when young Ben left Yelland he went straight down to see Mary Jane Arscott.  A crooked35 game he played, sure enough!

They had a bit of love-making by the river, for she lived in a cot down that way; an’ then Ben arranged to meet her next day an’ go out upon Bellever Tor an’ pick whortleberries.  But he never said no word touching36 his talk with Nicholas Yelland.

Well, the girl started pretty early from her mother’s cottage down the valley and came up as a matter of course over the path-field past Cator Court; an’ for that matter, Yelland had long since given her special permission to do so.  Her was halfway37 across the great meadow, with nothing in her thoughts but mushrooms an’ whortleberries an’ Benjamin Pearn, when there comed a sound very high-pitched an’ ugly.  It got louder an’ deeper till she heard a proper bellow38, an’ there, right ahead, she seed Nick Yelland’s great red Devon bull, a-pawing an’ a-prancing as if he was trying to dance the sailor’s hornpipe.  If he’d been a thought farther off, no harm could have come, for the path-way ran nigh the hedge; but as it was, Mary Jane had a narrow squeak39, for she’d roamed a bit to pick mushrooms, an’ when the old bull went for her, she’d got fifty p. 200yards to get to the hedge, an’ he’d got a bit more than a hundred to catch her.  He was in a good temper, I believe, an’ never really tried to hurt her; but what’s a joke to a bull may be mighty serious earnest for a twelve-stone female.

She dropped her basket an’ ran for her life.  She weren’t built for running, but nature will do a great deal, even for the roundest of us, in a pinch like this, an’ for once her got over the ground in very fine fashion.  She’d reached within ten yards of the hedge, when she heard a shout, an’ a man came tearing along; but he was too late.  Mary Jane went head first into the hazel hedge, screaming to the Everlasting40 to spare her; an’ the bull’s horn just gave her the ghost of a touch—enough to swear by after—as she went through, all ends up.  She weren’t really hurt, an’ only took a chair a thought gingerly for a day or two; but by God! her temper didn’t heal so easy, I promise you—not by no means; an’ presently, when the man as had shouted an’ runned to help her took the poor maiden home, she let him know what she thought about the world in general an’ Nicholas Yelland in particular, so soon as she had got wind enough to tell with.

Of course the man was Benjamin Pearn.  An’ he knowed really that the path-field ran nigh the hedge, an’ he’d been dead sure as Mary Jane would p. 201not get into no real danger.  Besides, he had planned to be there in plenty of time, an’ it wasn’t till he actually seed Mary Jane flying an’ the bull a-bellowing after her with his tail up an’ his head down, that he knowed what he’d done.  Then he rushed out from the hedge, where he was hid, an’ thanked his stars in secret, for everything had happened just ezacally as he wanted it to—though I don’t suppose he ever wished for the maiden to have such a narrow shave.

“To think!” gasped41 Mary Jane.  “To think as I might be a lifeless jelly this moment but for my own legs!  As ’tis, that gert beast’s horn have horched me somewheres, an’ I may die of it yet.  An’ if you’m a man, Benjamin Pearn, you’ll go an’ get your gun an’ shutt him.”

“God’s goodness! you don’t mean Mr. Yelland?” said Ben.

“No, I don’t; you can leave him to me,” the maiden answered; “I won’t have no living soul come between me an’ Nicholas Yelland now.  He’ll be sorry as he was born afore his dinnertime, if I’ve got a tongue in my head; an’ he shall have all Postbridge hooting42 at him in the open street—an’ Widecombe too—come to-morrow.  But ’tis your part to shutt thicky beastly bull wi’ a gun; an’ if you love me, you’ll do it.  He shan’t take no more prizes, if I can stop him.”

p. 202“As to shooting the bull, they’d put me in prison for it,—not that I’d mind that if you’d have me when I comed out,” said Ben, very eager like.  “But,” he added as an after-thought, “the dashed luck of it is, I haven’t got a gun.”

Her black eyes flashed an’ her gipsy-dark face growed darker still.  She still panted an’ puffed43 a bit.  But Ben confessed arter that she never looked so lovely afore or since as she did when he pulled her out of the brambles in the hedge an’ comforted her.

“You’d best to borrow a gun, then,” she told him.  “Anyway, I won’t marry you while that bull’s alive; an’ if you was a man, you’d never sleep again till you’d put a bullet through it.”

Same afternoon she went up with her mother to Cator Court an’ gave Nicholas Yelland the whole law an’ the prophets, by all accounts.  I seem his ears must have tingled44 to hear her; but he was a pretty cool hand; an’ when she’d talked herself out of breath an’ falled back on torrents45 an’ oceans of tears; an’ when her mother had also said what she comed to say, which was mere4 tinkling46 brass47 after Mary Jane, Nick popped in a word or two edgeways.

“If you’ll be so very kind as to hold your noise a minute,—the pair of you,—I’ll tell you how the bull got in the field,” he said.  “’Twasn’t my idea at all.  Ben Pearn put me up to it.  So you’ve got p. 203to thank him, not me.  I didn’t know as you was coming that way to-day, God’s my Judge, or I’d have been at the stile to meet you an’ see you over the meadow safe; but Pearn knowed you was coming, an’ any fool can see that he wanted to kill you.”

“He axed me to come,” said Mary Jane.

“Did he?  Then ’tis him you’ve got to thank, not me.  ’Tis only by the mercy of Heaven he ban’t a murderer.”

“You’d better look after him, then,” said Mary Jane, thoughtful like, “for I’ve told un to kill your bull.”

“Let un,” answered Nicholas, very cunning.  “I’ve a good mind to shoot the old devil myself for daring to run after you.”

Then Mrs. Arscott struck the iron while it was hot, an’ afore she left that farm parlour, Mary Jane had named the day!

’Twas rather a funny case of a chap over-reaching himself in a love affair.  You see, Ben Pearn was so blessed soft-headed, that he couldn’t look on to the end of the game like any cleverer man might.  He said to his silly self, ‘I’ll make her hate the chap, so she’d like to scratch his eyes out’; but he never seed that the end must be differ’nt; he never remembered that Nicholas Yelland had a tongue in his head same as other people.

p. 204So Ben was sent off with a flea48 in his ear, an’ the world laughed at him, an’ he changed his opinion about marriage an’ growed to be a hard an’ fast bachelor, an’ a very great lover of saving money.  But as for Mary Jane, she did her husband a power of good an’ enlarged his mind every way.  An’ when they got a family, young Yelland’s nature comed very well through the usual ups an’ downs of life.  He fancied hisself less, an’ thought of his little people an’ his good lady first, an’ growed a bit more like his faither before him.  Not, of course, that he was the man his faither was.  But what chap ever be, for that matter?  I never see none.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 mellow F2iyP     
adj.柔和的;熟透的;v.变柔和;(使)成熟
参考例句:
  • These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节,苹果就熟透了。
  • The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时,色彩变得柔和了。
2 interspersed c7b23dadfc0bbd920c645320dfc91f93     
adj.[医]散开的;点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
  • The grass was interspersed with beds of flowers. 草地上点缀着许多花坛。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
3 glimmered 8dea896181075b2b225f0bf960cf3afd     
v.发闪光,发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • "There glimmered the embroidered letter, with comfort in its unearthly ray." 她胸前绣着的字母闪着的非凡的光辉,将温暖舒适带给他人。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
  • The moon glimmered faintly through the mists. 月亮透过薄雾洒下微光。 来自辞典例句
4 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
5 hurl Yc4zy     
vt.猛投,力掷,声叫骂
参考例句:
  • The best cure for unhappiness is to hurl yourself into your work.医治愁苦的最好办法就是全身心地投入工作。
  • To hurl abuse is no way to fight.谩骂决不是战斗。
6 dart oydxK     
v.猛冲,投掷;n.飞镖,猛冲
参考例句:
  • The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
  • Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。
7 grumble 6emzH     
vi.抱怨;咕哝;n.抱怨,牢骚;咕哝,隆隆声
参考例句:
  • I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
  • He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。
8 granite Kyqyu     
adj.花岗岩,花岗石
参考例句:
  • They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
  • The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。
9 disposition GljzO     
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署
参考例句:
  • He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
  • He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。
10 nagging be0b69d13a0baed63cc899dc05b36d80     
adj.唠叨的,挑剔的;使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评(某人)( nag的现在分词 );不断地烦扰或伤害(某人);无休止地抱怨;不断指责
参考例句:
  • Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
  • I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 rumoured cef6dea0bc65e5d89d0d584aff1f03a6     
adj.谣传的;传说的;风
参考例句:
  • It has been so rumoured here. 此间已有传闻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • It began to be rumoured that the jury would be out a long while. 有人传说陪审团要退场很久。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
12 radical hA8zu     
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的
参考例句:
  • The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
  • She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。
13 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的;巨大的
参考例句:
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
14 scowling bbce79e9f38ff2b7862d040d9e2c1dc7     
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里,穿着灰色的衣服,漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
15 prosecuted Wk5zqY     
a.被起诉的
参考例句:
  • The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
  • The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。
16 clattering f876829075e287eeb8e4dc1cb4972cc5     
发出咔哒声(clatter的现在分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Typewriters keep clattering away. 打字机在不停地嗒嗒作响。
  • The typewriter was clattering away. 打字机啪嗒啪嗒地响着。
17 miller ZD6xf     
n.磨坊主
参考例句:
  • Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
  • The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。
18 renown 1VJxF     
n.声誉,名望
参考例句:
  • His renown has spread throughout the country.他的名声已传遍全国。
  • She used to be a singer of some renown.她曾是位小有名气的歌手。
19 nought gHGx3     
n./adj.无,零
参考例句:
  • We must bring their schemes to nought.我们必须使他们的阴谋彻底破产。
  • One minus one leaves nought.一减一等于零。
20 toad oJezr     
n.蟾蜍,癞蛤蟆
参考例句:
  • Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
  • Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。
21 adder izOzmL     
n.蝰蛇;小毒蛇
参考例句:
  • The adder is Britain's only venomous snake.蝰蛇是英国唯一的一种毒蛇。
  • An adder attacked my father.一条小毒蛇攻击了我父亲。
22 footpath 9gzzO     
n.小路,人行道
参考例句:
  • Owners who allow their dogs to foul the footpath will be fined.主人若放任狗弄脏人行道将受处罚。
  • They rambled on the footpath in the woods.他俩漫步在林间蹊径上。
23 maiden yRpz7     
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的
参考例句:
  • The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
  • The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。
24 humble ddjzU     
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低
参考例句:
  • In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见,他将在选举中获胜。
  • Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。
25 specially Hviwq     
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地
参考例句:
  • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
  • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
26 pauper iLwxF     
n.贫民,被救济者,穷人
参考例句:
  • You lived like a pauper when you had plenty of money.你有大把钱的时候,也活得像个乞丐。
  • If you work conscientiously you'll only die a pauper.你按部就班地干,做到老也是穷死。
27 comely GWeyX     
adj.漂亮的,合宜的
参考例句:
  • His wife is a comely young woman.他的妻子是一个美丽的少妇。
  • A nervous,comely-dressed little girl stepped out.一个紧张不安、衣着漂亮的小姑娘站了出来。
28 countenance iztxc     
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同
参考例句:
  • At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
  • I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地,仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。
29 manly fBexr     
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地
参考例句:
  • The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
  • He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务,并希望别人效之。
30 foul Sfnzy     
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规
参考例句:
  • Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
  • What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气!
31 savage ECxzR     
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人
参考例句:
  • The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
  • He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。
32 gale Xf3zD     
n.大风,强风,一阵闹声(尤指笑声等)
参考例句:
  • We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
  • According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报,明天有大风。
33 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
34 penal OSBzn     
adj.刑罚的;刑法上的
参考例句:
  • I hope you're familiar with penal code.我希望你们熟悉本州法律规则。
  • He underwent nineteen years of penal servitude for theft.他因犯了大窃案受过十九年的苦刑。
35 crooked xvazAv     
adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的
参考例句:
  • He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指,示意我们到他那儿去。
  • You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。
36 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
37 halfway Xrvzdq     
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途
参考例句:
  • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路,天就黑了。
  • In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。
38 bellow dtnzy     
v.吼叫,怒吼;大声发出,大声喝道
参考例句:
  • The music is so loud that we have to bellow at each other to be heard.音乐的声音实在太大,我们只有彼此大声喊叫才能把话听清。
  • After a while,the bull began to bellow in pain.过了一会儿公牛开始痛苦地吼叫。
39 squeak 4Gtzo     
n.吱吱声,逃脱;v.(发出)吱吱叫,侥幸通过;(俚)告密
参考例句:
  • I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声!
  • We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛,不过是侥幸取胜。
40 everlasting Insx7     
adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的
参考例句:
  • These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
  • He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。
41 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
42 hooting f69e3a288345bbea0b49ddc2fbe5fdc6     
(使)作汽笛声响,作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 ); 倒好儿; 倒彩
参考例句:
  • He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
  • The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。
43 puffed 72b91de7f5a5b3f6bdcac0d30e24f8ca     
adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧
参考例句:
  • He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟,狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了,便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
44 tingled d46614d7855cc022a9bf1ac8573024be     
v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • My cheeks tingled with the cold. 我的脸颊冻得有点刺痛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The crowd tingled with excitement. 群众大为兴奋。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
45 torrents 0212faa02662ca7703af165c0976cdfd     
n.倾注;奔流( torrent的名词复数 );急流;爆发;连续不断
参考例句:
  • The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
46 tinkling Rg3zG6     
n.丁当作响声
参考例句:
  • I could hear bells tinkling in the distance. 我能听到远处叮当铃响。
  • To talk to him was like listening to the tinkling of a worn-out musical-box. 跟他说话,犹如听一架老掉牙的八音盒子丁冬响。 来自英汉文学
47 brass DWbzI     
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器
参考例句:
  • Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
48 flea dgSz3     
n.跳蚤
参考例句:
  • I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more.如果他再来打扰的话,我就要对他不客气了。
  • Hunter has an interest in prowling around a flea market.亨特对逛跳蚤市场很感兴趣。


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