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首页 » 英文短篇小说 » 伤心咖啡馆之歌 The Ballad of the Sad Café » A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud
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A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud
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       It was raining that morning, and still very dark. When the boy reached the streetcar café he had almost finished his route and he went in for a cup of coffee. The place was an all-night café owned by a bitter and stingy man called Leo. After the raw, empty street, the café seemed friendly and bright: along the counter there were a couple of soldiers, three spinners from the cotton mill, and in a corner a man who sat hunched1 over with his nose and half his face down in a beer mug. The boy wore a helmet such as aviators2 wear. When he went into the café he unbuckled the chin strap3 and raised the right flap up over his pink little ear; often as he drank his coffee someone would speak to him in a friendly way. But this morning Leo did not look into his face and none of the men were talking. He paid and was leaving the café when a voice called out to him:

       "Son! Hey Son!"

       He turned back and the man in the corner was crooking4 his finger and nodding to him. He had brought his face out of the beer mug and he seemed suddenly very happy. The man was long and pale, with a big nose and faded orange hair.

       "Hey Son!"

       The boy went toward him. He was an undersized boy of about twelve, with one shoulder drawn5 higher than the other because of the weight of the paper sack. His face was shallow, freckled6, and his eyes were round child eyes.

       "Yeah Mister?"

       The man laid one hand on the paper boy's shoulders, then grasped the boy's chin and turned his face slowly from one side to the other. The boy shrank back uneasily.

       "Say! What's the big idea?"

       The boy's voice was shrill7; inside the café it was suddenly very quiet.

       The man said slowly. "I love you."

       All along the counter the men laughed. The boy, who had scowled8 and sidled away, did not know what to do. He looked over the counter at Leo, and Leo watched him with a weary, brittle9 jeer10. The boy tried to laugh also. But the man was serious and sad.

       "I did not mean to tease you, Son," he said. "Sit down and have a beer with me. There is something I have to explain."

       Cautiously, out of the corner of his eye, the paper boy questioned the men along the counter to see what he should do. But they had gone back to their beer or their breakfast and did not notice him. Leo put a cup of coffee on the counter and a little jug11 of cream.

       "He is a minor," Leo said.

       The paper boy slid himself up onto the stool. His ear beneath the upturned flap of the helmet was very small and red. The man was nodding at him soberly. "It is important," he said. Then he reached in his hip12 pocket and brought out something which he held up in the palm of his hand for the boy to see.

       "Look very carefully," he said.

       The boy stared, but there was nothing to look at very carefully. The man held in his big, grimy palm a photograph. It was the face of a woman, but blurred14, so that only the hat and the dress she was wearing stood out clearly.

       "See?" the man asked.

       The boy nodded and the man placed another picture in his palm. The woman was standing15 on a beach in a bathing suit. The suit made her stomach very big, and that was the main thing you noticed.

       "Got a good look?" He leaned over closer and finally asked: "You ever seen her before?"

       The boy sat motionless, staring slantwise at the man. "Not so I know of."

       "Very well." The man blew on the photographs and put them back into his pocket. "That was my wife."

       "Dead?" the boy asked.

       Slowly the man shook his head. He pursed his lips as though about to whistle and answered in a long-drawn way: "Nuuu --" he said. "I will explain."

       The beer on the counter before the man was in a large brown mug. He did not pick it up to drink. Instead he bent16 down and, putting his face over the rim13, he rested there for a moment. Then with both hands he tilted17 the mug and sipped19.

       "Some night you'll go to sleep with your big nose in a mug and drown," said Leo. "Prominent transient drowns in beer. That would be a cute death."

       The paper boy tried to signal to Leo. While the man was not looking he screwed up his face and worked his mouth to question soundlessly: "Drunk?" But Leo only raised his eyebrows20 and turned away to put some pink strips of bacon on the grill21. The man pushed the mug away from him, straightened himself, and folded his loose crooked22 hands on the counter. His face was sad as he looked at the paper boy. He did not blink, but from time to time the lids closed down with delicate gravity over his pale green eyes. It was nearing dawn and the boy shifted the weight of the paper sack.

       "I am talking about love," the man said. "With me it is a science."

       The boy half slid down from the stool. But the man raised his forefinger23, and there was something about him that held the boy and would not let him go away.

       "Twelve years ago I married the woman in the photograph. She was my wife for one year, nine months, three days, and two nights. I loved her. Yes. . ." He tightened24 his blurred, rambling25 voice and said again: "I loved her. I thought also that she loved me. I was a railroad engineer. She had all home comforts and luxuries. It never crept into my brain that she was not satisfied. But do you know what happened?"

       "Mgneeow!" said Leo.

       The man did not take his eyes from the boy's face. "She left me. I came in one night and the house was empty and she was gone. She left me."

       "With a fellow?" the boy asked.

       Gently the man placed his palm down on the counter. "Why naturally, Son. A woman does not run off like that alone."

       The café was quiet, the soft rain black and endless in the street outside. Leo pressed down the frying bacon with the prongs of his long fork. "So you have been chasing the floozie for eleven years. You frazzled old rascal26!"

       For the first time the man glanced at Leo. "Please don't be vulgar. Besides, I was not speaking to you." He turned back to the boy and said in a trusting and secretive undertone. "Let's not pay any attention to him. O.K.?"

       The paper boy nodded doubtfully.

       "It was like this," the man continued. "I am a person who feels many things. All my life one thing after another has impressed me. Moonlight. The leg of a pretty girl. One thing after another. But the point is that when I had enjoyed anything there was a peculiar27 sensation as though it was laying around loose in me. Nothing seemed to finish itself up or fit in with the other things. Women? I had my portion of them. The same. Afterwards laying around loose in me. I was a man who had never loved."

       Very slowly he closed his eyelids28, and the gesture was like a curtain drawn at the end of a scene in a play. When he spoke29 again his voice was excited and the words came fast -- the lobes30 of his large, loose ears seemed to tremble.

       "Then I met this woman. I was fifty-one years old and she always said she was thirty. I met her at a filling station and we were married within three days. And do you know what it was like? I just can't tell you. All I had ever felt was gathered together around this woman. Nothing lay around loose in me any more but was finished up by her."

       The man stopped suddenly and stroked his long nose. His voice sank down to a steady and reproachful undertone: "I'm not explaining this right. What happened was this. There were these beautiful feelings and loose little pleasures inside me. And this woman was something like an assembly line for my soul. I run these little pieces of myself through her and I come out complete. Now do you follow me?"

       "What was her name?" the boy asked.

       "Oh," he said. "I called her Dodo. But that is immaterial."

       "Did you try to make her come back?"

       The man did not seem to hear. "Under the circumstances you can imagine how I felt when she left me."

       Leo took the bacon from the grill and folded two strips of it between a bun. He had a gray face, with slitted eyes, and a pinched nose saddled by faint blue shadows. One of the mill workers signaled for more coffee and Leo poured it. He did not give refills on coffee free. The spinner ate breakfast there every morning, but the better Leo knew his customers the stingier he treated them. He nibbled31 his own bun as though he grudged32 it to himself.

       "And you never got hold of her again?"

       The boy did not know what to think of the man, and his child's face was uncertain with mingled33 curiosity and doubt. He was new on the paper route; it was still strange to him to be out in the town in the black, queer early morning.

       "Yes," the man said. "I took a number of steps to get her back. I went around trying to locate her. I went to Tulsa where she had folks. And to Mobile. I went to every town she had ever mentioned to me, and I hunted down every man she had formerly34 been connected with. Tulsa, Atlanta, Chicago, Cheehaw, Memphis. . . the better part of two years I chased around the country trying to lay hold of her."

       "But the pair of them had vanished from the face of the earth!" said Leo.

       "Don't listen to him," the man said confidentially35. "And also just forget those two years. They are not important. What matters is that around the third year a curious thing begun to happen to me."

       "What?" the boy asked.

       The man leaned down and tilted his mug to take a sip18 of beer. But as he hovered36 over the mug his nostrils37 fluttered slightly; he sniffed38 the staleness of the beer and did not drink. "Love is a curious thing to begin with. At first I thought only of getting her back. It was a kind of mania39. But then as time went on I tried to remember her. But do you know what happened?"

       "No," the boy said.

       "When I laid myself down on a bed and tried to think about her my mind became a blank. I couldn't see her. I would take out her pictures and look. No good. Nothing doing. A blank. Can you imagine it?"

       "Say Mac!" Leo called down the counter. "Can you imagine this bozo's mind a blank!"

       Slowly, as though fanning away flies, the man waved his hand. His green eyes were concentrated and fixed40 on the shallow little face of the paper boy.

       "But a sudden piece of glass on a sidewalk. Or a nickel tune41 in a music box. A shadow on a wall at night. And I would remember. It might happen in a street and I would cry or bang my head against a lamppost. You follow me?"

       "A piece of glass. . ." the boy said.

       "Anything. I would walk around and I had no power of how and when to remember her. You think you can put up a kind of shield. But remembering don't come to a man face forward -- it corners around sideways. I was at the mercy of everything I saw and heard. Suddenly instead of me combing the countryside to find her she begun to chase me around in my very soul. She chasing me, mind you! And in my soul."

       The boy asked finally: "What part of the country were you in then?"

       "Ooh," the man groaned42. "I was a sick mortal. It was like smallpox43. I confess, Son, that I boozed. I fornicated. I committed any sin that suddenly appealed to me. I am loath44 to confess it but I will do so. When I recall that period it is all curdled45 in my mind, it was so terrible."

       The man leaned his head down and tapped his forehead on the counter. For a few seconds he stayed bowed over in this position, the back of his stringy neck covered with orange furze, his hands with their long warped46 fingers held palm to palm in an attitude of prayer. Then the man straightened himself; he was smiling and suddenly his face was bright and tremulous and old.

       "It was in the fifth year that it happened," he said. "And with it I started my science."

       Leo's mouth jerked with a pale, quick grin. "Well none of we boys are getting any younger," he said. Then with sudden anger he balled up a dishcloth he was holding and threw it down hard on the floor. "You draggle-tailed old Romeo!"

       "What happened?" the boy asked.

       The old man's voice was high and dear: "Peace," he answered.

       "Huh?"

       "It is hard to explain scientifically, Son," he said. "I guess the logical explanation is that she and I had fleed around from each other for so long that finally we just got tangled47 up together and lay down and quit. Peace. A queer and beautiful blankness. It was spring in Portland and the rain came every afternoon. All evening I just stayed there on my bed in the dark. And that is how the science come to me."

       The windows in the streetcar were pale blue with light. The two soldiers paid for their beers and opened the door -- one of the soldiers combed his hair and wiped off his muddy puttees before they went outside. The three mill workers bent silently over their breakfasts. Leo's clock was ticking on the wall.

       "It is this. And listen carefully. I meditated48 on love and reasoned it out. I realized what is wrong with us. Men fall in love for the first time. And what do they fall in love with?"

       The boy's soft mouth was partly open and he did not answer.

       "A woman," the old man said. "Without science, with nothing to go by, they undertake the most dangerous and sacred experience in God's earth. They fall in love with a woman. Is that correct, Son?"

       "Yeah," the boy said faintly.

       "They start at the wrong end of love. They begin at the climax49. Can you wonder it is so miserable50? Do you know how men should love?"

       The old man reached over and grasped the boy by the collar of his leather jacket. He gave him a gentle little shake and his green eyes gazed down unblinking and grave.

       "Son, do you know how love should be begun?"

       The boy sat small and listening and still. Slowly he shook his head. The old man leaned closer and whispered:

       "A tree. A rock. A cloud."

       It was still raining outside in the street: a mild, gray, endless rain. The mill whistle blew for the six o'clock shift and the three spinners paid and went away. There was no one in the café but Leo, the old man, and the little paper boy.

       "The weather was like this in Portland," he said. "At the time my science was begun. I meditated and I started very cautious. I would pick up something from the street and take it home with me. I bought a goldfish and I concentrated on the goldfish and I loved it. I graduated from one thing to another. Day by day I was getting this technique. On the road from Portland to San Diego --"

       "Aw shut up!" screamed Leo suddenly. "Shut up! Shut up!"

       The old man still held the collar of the boy's jacket; he was trembling and his face was earnest and bright and wild. "For six years now I have gone around by myself and built up my science. And now I am a master, Son. I can love anything. No longer do I have to think about it even. I see a street full of people and a beautiful light comes in me. I watch a bird in the sky. Or I meet a traveler on the road. Everything, Son. And anybody. All stranger and all loved! Do you realize what a science like mine can mean?"

       The boy held himself stiffly, his hands curled tight around the counter edge. Finally he asked: "Did you ever really find that lady?"

       "What? What say, Son?"

       "I mean," the boy asked timidly. "Have you fallen in love with a woman again?"

       The old man loosened his grasp on the boy's collar. He turned away and for the first time his green eyes had a vague and scattered51 look. He lifted the mug from the counter, drank down the yellow beer. His head was shaking slowly from side to side. Then finally he answered: "No, Son. You see that is the last step in my science. I go cautious. And I am not quite ready yet."

       "Well!" said Leo. "Well well well!"

       The old man stood in the open doorway52. "Remember," he said. Framed there in the gray damp light of the early morning he looked shrunken and seedy and frail53. But his smile was bright. "Remember I love you," he said with a last nod. And the door closed quietly behind him.

       The boy did not speak for a long time. He pulled down the bangs on his forehead and slid his grimy little forefinger around the rim of his empty cup. Then without looking at Leo he finally asked:

       "Was he drunk?"

       "No," said Leo shortly.

       The boy raised his clear voice higher. "Then was he a dope fiend?"

       "No."

       The boy looked up at Leo, and his flat little face was desperate, his voice urgent and shrill. "Was he crazy? Do you think he was a lunatic?" The paper boy's voice dropped suddenly with doubt. "Leo? Or not?"

       But Leo would not answer him. Leo had run a night café for fourteen years, and he held himself to be a critic of craziness. There were the town characters and also the transients who roamed in from the night. He knew the manias54 of all of them. But he did not want to satisfy the questions of the waiting child. He tightened his pale face and was silent.

       So the boy pulled down the right flap of his helmet and as he turned to leave he made the only comment that seemed safe to him, the only remark that could not be laughed down and despised:

       "He sure has done a lot of traveling."

The End


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 hunched 532924f1646c4c5850b7c607069be416     
(常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦)耸肩弓身的,伏首前倾的
参考例句:
  • He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
  • Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。
2 aviators eacd926e0a2ed8e8a5c57fc639faa5e8     
飞机驾驶员,飞行员( aviator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Analysis on Sickness Status of 1149 Aviators during Recuperation. 飞行员1149例疗养期间患病情况分析。
  • In America the whole scale is too big, except for aviators. 在美国整个景象的比例都太大了,不过对飞行员来说是个例外。
3 strap 5GhzK     
n.皮带,带子;v.用带扣住,束牢;用绷带包扎
参考例句:
  • She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
  • The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。
4 crooking 0c568d4e7ba69842d0bc9d34ff402e3b     
n.弯曲(木材等的缺陷)v.弯成钩形( crook的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Objective: Observe effect of complex therapy for patients with peritendinitis on the muscle tendon for crooking. 目的:观察综合疗法治疗屈指肌腱腱鞘炎疗效。 来自互联网
5 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
6 freckled 1f563e624a978af5e5981f5e9d3a4687     
adj.雀斑;斑点;晒斑;(使)生雀斑v.雀斑,斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句
7 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫
参考例句:
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
8 scowled b83aa6db95e414d3ef876bc7fd16d80d     
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
  • The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。
9 brittle IWizN     
adj.易碎的;脆弱的;冷淡的;(声音)尖利的
参考例句:
  • The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
  • She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。
10 jeer caXz5     
vi.嘲弄,揶揄;vt.奚落;n.嘲笑,讥评
参考例句:
  • Do not jeer at the mistakes or misfortunes of others.不要嘲笑别人的错误或不幸。
  • The children liked to jeer at the awkward students.孩子们喜欢嘲笑笨拙的学生。
11 jug QaNzK     
n.(有柄,小口,可盛水等的)大壶,罐,盂
参考例句:
  • He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐,保持着平衡往前走。
  • She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。
12 hip 1dOxX     
n.臀部,髋;屋脊
参考例句:
  • The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
13 rim RXSxl     
n.(圆物的)边,轮缘;边界
参考例句:
  • The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
  • She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。
14 blurred blurred     
v.(使)变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 );(使)难以区分;模模糊糊;迷离
参考例句:
  • She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
  • Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
16 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
17 tilted 3gtzE5     
v. 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。
18 sip Oxawv     
v.小口地喝,抿,呷;n.一小口的量
参考例句:
  • She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
  • Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。
19 sipped 22d1585d494ccee63c7bff47191289f6     
v.小口喝,呷,抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He sipped his coffee pleasurably. 他怡然地品味着咖啡。
  • I sipped the hot chocolate she had made. 我小口喝着她调制的巧克力热饮。 来自辞典例句
20 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
21 grill wQ8zb     
n.烤架,铁格子,烤肉;v.烧,烤,严加盘问
参考例句:
  • Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
  • I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。
22 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。
23 forefinger pihxt     
n.食指
参考例句:
  • He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
  • He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。
24 tightened bd3d8363419d9ff838bae0ba51722ee9     
收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)变紧; (使)绷紧; 加紧
参考例句:
  • The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
  • His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机,然后又松开了。
25 rambling MTfxg     
adj.[建]凌乱的,杂乱的
参考例句:
  • We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
  • It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。
26 rascal mAIzd     
n.流氓;不诚实的人
参考例句:
  • If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做,我就认为他是个恶棍。
  • The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。
27 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
28 eyelids 86ece0ca18a95664f58bda5de252f4e7     
n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 );眼睛也不眨一下;不露声色;面不改色
参考例句:
  • She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了,眼睑开始往下垂。
  • Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
29 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。
30 lobes fe8c3178c8180f03dd0fc8ae16f13e3c     
n.耳垂( lobe的名词复数 );(器官的)叶;肺叶;脑叶
参考例句:
  • The rotor has recesses in its three faces between the lobes. 转子在其凸角之间的三个面上有凹槽。 来自辞典例句
  • The chalazal parts of the endosperm containing free nuclei forms several lobes. 包含游离核的合点端胚乳部分形成几个裂片。 来自辞典例句
31 nibbled e053ad3f854d401d3fe8e7fa82dc3325     
v.啃,一点一点地咬(吃)( nibble的过去式和过去分词 );啃出(洞),一点一点咬出(洞);慢慢减少;小口咬
参考例句:
  • She nibbled daintily at her cake. 她优雅地一点一点地吃着自己的蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Several companies have nibbled at our offer. 若干公司表示对我们的出价有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
32 grudged 497ff7797c8f8bc24299e4af22d743da     
怀恨(grudge的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The mean man grudged the food his horse ate. 那个吝啬鬼舍不得喂马。
  • He grudged the food his horse ate. 他吝惜马料。
33 mingled fdf34efd22095ed7e00f43ccc823abdf     
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系]
参考例句:
  • The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
  • The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候,这一男一女就开始交往了。
34 formerly ni3x9     
adv.从前,以前
参考例句:
  • We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
  • This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。
35 confidentially 0vDzuc     
ad.秘密地,悄悄地
参考例句:
  • She was leaning confidentially across the table. 她神神秘秘地从桌子上靠过来。
  • Kao Sung-nien and Wang Ch'u-hou talked confidentially in low tones. 高松年汪处厚两人低声密谈。
36 hovered d194b7e43467f867f4b4380809ba6b19     
鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫
参考例句:
  • A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
  • A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。
37 nostrils 23a65b62ec4d8a35d85125cdb1b4410e     
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
  • The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。
38 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
39 mania 9BWxu     
n.疯狂;躁狂症,狂热,癖好
参考例句:
  • Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
  • Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。
40 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
41 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
42 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
43 smallpox 9iNzJw     
n.天花
参考例句:
  • In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年,他染上了致命的天花。
  • Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗?
44 loath 9kmyP     
adj.不愿意的;勉强的
参考例句:
  • The little girl was loath to leave her mother.那小女孩不愿离开她的母亲。
  • They react on this one problem very slow and very loath.他们在这一问题上反应很慢,很不情愿。
45 curdled 3f42074f4e391f7b63d99d49433e5f7f     
v.(使)凝结( curdle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The milk has curdled. 牛奶凝结了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Terror curdled his blood. 恐惧使他心惊胆颤。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
46 warped f1a38e3bf30c41ab80f0dce53b0da015     
adj.反常的;乖戾的;(变)弯曲的;变形的v.弄弯,变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 );使(行为等)不合情理,使乖戾,
参考例句:
  • a warped sense of humour 畸形的幽默感
  • The board has warped. 木板翘了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
47 tangled e487ee1bc1477d6c2828d91e94c01c6e     
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了,我梳不动。
  • A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。
48 meditated b9ec4fbda181d662ff4d16ad25198422     
深思,沉思,冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 ); 内心策划,考虑
参考例句:
  • He meditated for two days before giving his answer. 他在作出答复之前考虑了两天。
  • She meditated for 2 days before giving her answer. 她考虑了两天才答复。
49 climax yqyzc     
n.顶点;高潮;v.(使)达到顶点
参考例句:
  • The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
  • His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。
50 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
51 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
52 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
53 frail yz3yD     
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的
参考例句:
  • Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了,身体虚弱,不便独居。
  • She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上,看上去特别虚弱。
54 manias a53fb556c0453c4fb031bec991049041     
n.(mania的复数形式)
参考例句:
  • Like all manias, it needed an object of focus and an explanation. 华尔街立刻夸耀这种称之为“新纪元”的现象。 来自互联网
  • But shareholders have frequently in the manias of the moment along with everyone else. 但股东常常会和其他人一样,陷入一时的狂热。 来自互联网


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