The last flame of sunset had gone out on a horizon of ashy paleness, as the light bark of the Indian girl swept up the beach, and its occupant, after making it secure, loitered idly home. Here, undismayed by observation, she was as gracefully2 at ease as a fawn5 in its leafy covert6, and as quickly startled into flight at the tread of a stranger.
So lightly did her moccasined feet press the underbrush that no sound preceded her coming, until she reached the blanketed opening of a wigwam where sat an aged7 Algonquin chief, very grave, very dignified8, very far from being immaculately clean. The young girl was not intimidated9 by this picturesque10 combination of dignity and dirt. Perhaps it was the absence of these qualities in the young cadet that caused her sudden flight from him. Seating herself on a bearskin, not far from her foster-father, she interchanged with him mellow11 syllables12 of greeting. The chief placed a finger upon her moist brow, and inquired the cause of her haste.
"It was the young kinsman13 of the Wild Rose who followed me. His head is beautiful as the sun, but he moves, alas14, yes, he moves more slowly."
"Then, why this haste?" queried15 the Indian, who, though he could boast all the keen and subtle instincts of his race, was apparently16 in some matters as obtuse17 as a white man.
The girl bowed her face upon her slim brown hands.
"I do not like the glances of his eye," she said. "They are strong and dazzling as sunbeams on the water."
The chief smoked in meditative18 silence. "You go too often to the dwelling19 of the Wild Rose, my daughter."
"Ah, yes; but to-night her pink face is dewy wet, I know, and she is alone. The Moon-in-a-black-cloud has gone to the home of her people."
"Then let her seek consolation21 in the slow moving sun. The pale-faced nation are not fit associates for an Algonquin maiden22. Mother Earth has no love for them; they are quick to wash away her lightest finger-touch upon them. They are pale and lifeless as a rock over which the stream washes continually. Their men are afraid of the rain; their women of the sunshine."
"It is even so. The Wild Rose covers her head, and even her hands, when she leaves the house."
"They are degraded, these pale faces, they are poor-spirited, mean, contemptible25; unable to cope with the wild beasts of the forest, they settle down in weak resignation to grow vegetables; nothing stirs them from their state of ignoble26 content except the call to battle, and that is responded to not in defence of the lives of their fathers, their wives and children, but merely to settle some petty quarrel between the chiefs of their nations.
"Ah, they are a strange, servile race! They work with their hands." The Indian paused and looked down at the wrinkled yet shapely members that lay before him. "They look upon the grand forest as their natural enemy, burning, cutting, mutilating, until they have made that odious29 thing 'a clearing,' when a house is built with the dead bodies of the beautiful trees that have fallen by their hand."
"But surely they are not wholly bad," pleaded the girl, her kind heart refusing to accept the belief that even the lowest of humanity could be utterly30 worthless.
The chief was not to be turned from the swift current of his thoughts by idle interruptions.
"Their religion is dead, buried in a book, and they put it from them as easily as they put the book on the shelf. Our religion is alive, broad as the earth, deep as the sky. They go into a house to worship; our temple is fashioned by the great Spirit, and our prayers ascend31 continually like the white smoke from our wigwams. Ah, but they should be pitied not blamed. They are far from the heart of nature--they have ceased to be her children."
"It is money they worship, and the soul of a man becomes like that which he adores. They mourn bitterly for their dead, because they feel how great is the distance between them and the land of spirits. I have heard that there are white men who do not believe that this land exists, but that cannot be true."
There were some depths of degradation32 that even his far-reaching imagination failed to compass. Wanda listened wearily, though she manifested no signs of impatience33.
"The pale-faced women are sometimes very beautiful," she said.
"Yes; but they are strange, unnatural34 creatures. In times of anger they attack their helpless little ones, talking in a harsh voice, pinching, beating, slapping them, doing everything but bite them."
His listener did not shudder35. The Indian, no matter how much his feelings may be stirred, is unaccustomed to evince emotion.
"With us," continued the old man, "an angry woman frequently pulls her husband's hair; for is he not her husband to do with what she likes? but to fall upon her own flesh and blood--that is unnatural and horrible. It is as if she should wilfully36 injure her own person, bruise37 it with stones or sear it with hot irons. Perhaps it is because the pale-faced tribes suffer so much in childhood that they are weak and cowardly in manhood. They shrink and cry like a wounded panther at the touch of pain."
The girl who had not dwelt upon it except in her thoughts was nevertheless filled with a gently uplifting sense of race superiority. Her admiration38 of Rose was tinged39 with pity. Poor garden flower, confined for life to the dull walks and prim40 parterres of a fixed41 enclosure, when she might roam the wild paths of the forest; condemned42 to sleep in a close room, on stifling43 feathers, and bathe in an elongated44 tub, when she might feel the elasticity45 of hemlock46 boughs48 beneath her, inhale49 the perfumed breath of myriad50 trees, and plunge51 at sunrise into the gleaming waters of the lake. It was indeed a pitiable life.
They entered the wigwam, and seated themselves on the rush mats that lay upon the ground. About them were carelessly disposed some dressed skins of the beaver52 and otter53, a brace54 of wild duck, fishing tackle, and the accoutrements of the chase, a rifle, powder-horn and shot pouch55. The chief himself, in his buckskin garment, tightened56 by a wampum belt, his deer-skin moccasins, scarlet57 cloth leggings and blanket, was not the least picturesque object of the interior. Usually reticent58, he found great difficulty to-night in withdrawing his mind from the subject that had taken such violent possession of it.
"The influence of the white race is spreading," he said. "Like the poison vines of the forest it touches all who come near it with fatal effect. The tribe of the Hurons is infected with it, and they are becoming mere27 tillers of the soil--miserable earth-worms! Men were made to be free as the bounding deer or the flowing stream, but they have paled and weakened, they have become wretched grovellers on the ground."
Wanda's large eyes held a smouldering fire of repressed indignation. Her mother had been a Huron.
The story of that dark time, far back in the annals of Canada, when the Huron hunting-grounds in this region were laid waste by the destroyer, had been told her so often that her childish imagination had been filled with horror, and a passionate60 sense of outraged61 justice and impossible revenge stirred within her at the bare mention of her mother's martyred tribe. She did not vent63 her feelings in bitter or retaliatory64 speech--that is the weakness of fairer-faced women--but through her brain rushed like a swift stream a vivid recollection of the tragic65 tale as it fell from the lips of her Huron mother upon her young horror-stricken heart.
Less than two hundred years before, the poetry of Indian life among the peaceful shades of this virgin66 wilderness67 was turned into a tale too ghastly for human imagination, too terrible for human endurance. At that time the Huron settlements on the borders of Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching, and between Nottawasaga and Matchedash bays, numbered from twenty to thirty thousand souls. The picturesque country, thickly dotted with Indian towns, was for many years the scene of Champlain's zealous68 efforts to erect69 in these western wilds the standard of the Cross. While he won, among the Hurons, converts to his faith and a colony to his country, they found in him a leader in a fateful attack upon their ancient and most obdurate70 enemies, the Iroquois. The result of the expedition was failure and discomfiture71, but years afterwards, when Champlain was dead, and the "great-souled and giant-statured Jean de Brebeuf" became known as the apostle of the tribe, this foray brought most disastrous72 consequences upon the unsuspecting Hurons.
Not far from the present site of Barrie was the frontier town of St. Joseph, where the Jesuit Fathers, in view of the perils74 surrounding them, had concentrated their forces in a central stronghold, with a further inland defence at Ste. Marie, near the site of the present town of Penetanguishene. Here, at St. Joseph, after years of incessant75 labour, of discomforts76 and discouragements without parallel in the annals of our country, the ardent77 souls whose enthusiasm for faith and duty had become the dominant78 principle of their life, were swept away in the red tide of blood that was opened by the Iroquois. One still fair morning in the summer of 1648, while most of the warriors79 were absent at the chase, and a company of devout80 worshippers were celebrating Mass in the Mission Chapel81, their brutish enemies descended82 upon their peaceful domains83, and by means of every torture conceivable to the savage84 imagination practically exterminated85 the tribe. Before the century had half-ended the mission post of St. Ignace was similarly invaded by the Iroquois, who, after they wearied of the pastime of hacking86 the flesh off their prisoners with tomahawks and hatchets87, and scorching88 them with red-hot irons, bound them at last to the stake and mercifully allowed the swift-mounting flames to end their sufferings. Whole families were bound in their houses before the town was set on fire, and their wild cries mingled89 with the wilder laughter of their inhuman90 captors. The few who escaped were so wounded and mutilated that before they could reach a place of safety numbers of them died frozen in the woods.
The remembrance of this dark tale never failed to stir the young girl to a sort of slow self-contained fury, but the blood of the peace-loving Hurons was in her veins91, and could not long be dominated by the vengeful propensities92 of her haughty93 Algonquin father. Invariably with the mixture of blood comes the warring of diverse emotions, the dissatisfaction with the present life, the secret yearning94 for something better, the impulse towards something worse. She sighed furtively95, and half-impatiently went outside to tend the evening camp-fire. The blazing branches illuminated96 the starless summer night, and cast a superb glow over the beautiful half-clothed figure crouching97 not far from them. Beyond, the dark blue bay ebbed98 and flowed languidly.
Some days elapsed before Wanda again made her appearance in the neighbourhood of the Commodore's mansion99. This was caused partly by shyness, partly by fear of meeting the bold-eyed youth, whose interest in her had been so painfully apparent. At length Rose, who had noted100 with wonder and a little anxiety this unusual absence, suggested to her brother that they call upon one of her Indian friends. To this Edward demurred101, on the ground that the work in which he happened to be engaged at the time could not possibly wait. But when he learned that the beautiful Wanda was the friend alluded102 to he agreed to go with her at once, saying that the work he was doing could wait as well as not. Such was the manner in which brotherly affection was manifested sixty years ago.
It was a still, almost breathless evening in June. From the meadows, thickly starred with dew, rose the thin high chorus of the crickets, while above, the commingling103 of gray cloud and crimson104 sunset had subsided105 into dusk and golden twilight106, which were giving place to the white radiance of the moon slowly climbing the warm heights of heaven. It was so quiet that the sound of waves and insects seemed like the softest whispers of nature. Rose and Edward had rowed down the bay for Helene, who usually accompanied them on their impromptu107 excursions by lake and wood. Seen in the pale brilliance108 of sky and water her loveliness had an almost unearthly quality, perfectly109 akin1 to the night, but giving her a strange effect of soft remoteness from her friends. The light from a brazier, fitted into a stanchion in the prow110 of the boat, in which some pieces of birch-bark were kindled111, brought the deep dark shadow of the woods into sharp relief, and gave a more vivid brilliance to the immediate112 surroundings; but along the dimly-lit path in the forest all the magical influences of the night held sway. Beneath the tangled113 underbrush they caught glimpses of the rich and fantastic vegetation with which the earth was clothed, while above them, intermingled with the shadows cast by the vaulted114 boughs, played the vivid brightness of the moon. Some of the trees were deeply girdled--a slow method of killing115 them. These lingering deaths affected116 the trio with melancholy117. A wounded inmate118 of the grove59, standing119 in mute and pathetic resignation to its fate, loses first the feeling of the sap that, blood-like, circulates through every limb, then all its leafy honours fade, and its death is slow and inevitable120 as the death of a forsaken121 woman who carries a deep hurt at the heart.
Near where a group of lofty elms lifted their beautiful heads up to the moonlight they found the old chief busily engaged in mending his seine. He greeted them with entire self-possession, rising and giving his hand to each, after which he resumed his occupation in tranquil122 content, as though the duties of hospitality were now over. The young ladies, however, without waiting for any further exhibition of courtesy, seated themselves on a mossy log, and bestowed123 upon their host and his employment the flattering attention, which, if it failed to make an impression upon him, would certainly prove him more--or less--than mortal man. Edward, meantime, finding a convenient bough47 a few feet above his head, amused himself in swinging by his hands, with a view to muscular development. The contrast between the sad dignity of the aged Indian, the lone20 survivor125 of a despised race, and the light-heartedness of the fair boy, upon whom all the hopes of his family centred, struck both girls forcibly. After a few sympathetic inquiries126 regarding the health of the chief, Rose asked after the whereabouts of Wanda.
"She is not here," he replied. "She flies from our home as a bird flies from its cage, returning only when she is weary, or when the shades of night are upon the land."
"Do you know where she is?" inquired Edward, dropping to his feet, and seating himself on a log facing the others.
"Somewhere in the forest," replied the Indian, indicating the direction by a broad sweep of the hand, which might include a thousand acres.
This was sufficiently127 indefinite. "It appears to be characteristic of this young lady that she is either a vanished joy, or just on the point of becoming one. Have you any idea how far away she is?" he asked.
"Something more than twice the flight of an arrow," tranquilly128 answered the Indian--"yes, much more. It used to be that she went short distances, but she now goes a papoose's journey of half a sun--sometimes further." He viewed his impatient guest a moment with gravity, and added, "yes, much further."
"And you trust her all alone?"
"She is an Algonquin maiden. She fears nothing."
"And why is an Algonquin superior to a Huron, for instance?" The young man, leaning idly back, and caressing129 the Indian dog of the chief, pursued his questions without any definite purpose, but merely to draw out his reserved-looking host.
"Why is the fleet deer that spurns130 the soil better than the dull ox that tills it? Or why is the eagle better than the hen that picks up corn in your doorway131? But there was a time when in all the land no Indian could be found who was tame and stupid--what you call civilized132."
"Tell us a legend of that time, will you not?" pleaded Rose, who had been watching in silence for a fitting opportunity to make her favourite request.
"Ah, please do," said Edward, and the three settled themselves comfortably to listen.
"It was a great many moons ago," began the chief, "long before the time of my grandfather. All the Indian races were then as one people, living in peace, and speaking one tongue. Not one of them worked with his hands. The deer, the beaver, the otter, the antelope133, and the bear flourished and fattened134 for all, and were caught with scarcely any skill or effort. The men were never wearied in the chase, nor the women with pounding corn. None of the white races had as yet come upon the earth to molest135 and insult the guardian136 spirits of hill and stream and stately wood, and the red men, then as now, were in the habit of propitiating137 these deities138 by offerings of maize139, bright coloured flowers, or belts of wampum laid upon the mountains, or dropped into caves or streams. Yes, every one lived without fear of his neighbour, and the red ochre with which our tribes paint their faces in war was used only to decorate the pipe of peace.
"One day it happened that a few chosen ones of all these tribes were met together upon a plain, about the distance of four bow-shots across. Very green and shining it looked to the eye, for it was in the Flower-moon, and the great star of day was bright in the heaven. By its clear light they saw, far in the distance, two strange, enormous things moving towards them. But whether these things were writhing140 wreaths of thunder clouds descended to earth, or gigantic trees denuded141 of their foliage142 and suddenly gifted with the power of motion, or whether they were wild beasts of a size never seen before, they could not tell. But presently they found them to be immense creatures in the form of rattlesnakes, poisoning the air with their vile28 effluvia, and destroying every green tree and living thing in their path. Every delicate plant and creeping thing was poisoned by their breath, and the larger animals were devoured143 in the flap of a bird's wing. With them came terrific lightnings that rent the trees and cleft144 the solid rock, and thunders which caused the earth to reel like a man who had drank many times of fire-water. Nearer and nearer they approached, and now the chosen residents of this fair plain were filled with alarm for their lives, and at once began to build fortifications against the terrible intruders. The snakes, who appeared to prefer the flesh of man to that of the other animals, crawled up close to the defence of their enemies, and flung their long horrible bodies against it, but in vain. It was useless to attack them with bows and arrows, on account of the scales which enveloped145 them like an armour146. Those who ventured without the walls were instantly swallowed, while those within, who had fasted many suns, were growing weak from want of food.
"Now there was among them a chief, called the Big Bear, who was very brave and cunning. He had been a hunter of the deer and wolf ever since he had been pronounced a man. No danger was so great that he could not find a trail out of it. So when he began to speak all the people who remained gathered round him.
"'Brothers and chiefs,' he said, 'I perceive that one of our enemies is a woman, because she is less sluggish147 in her movements than the other, and her eyes are bright and deceitful. Besides she cares not to eat all the time, but she will sometimes go to view herself in the river, or when she thinks no one is looking will slyly turn her head to see the graceful3 movements of her tail. Brothers, my plan is this: Let me contrive148 to win the heart of this vain squaw-snake, and then with her aid I shall be able to destroy her husband; afterwards we may compass the destruction of the faithless wife. If I perish it is in a good cause, I am a willing martyr62.'
"This good man proceeded that very night to carry out his noble purpose. The sky was full of shining lights as he mounted the fortification, and bent149 toward her, murmuring: 'Ah, beautiful creature, thy form is graceful as a winding150 stream, and thine eyes are two stars reflected in it. That stupid man-snake, lying in heavy sleep, how can he appreciate you? He is withered151 and worthless as a last year's leaf. As for me I flee to you from the dull women of my tribe, who are like so many dead trees, that stand even after life has left them. You are alive and beautiful in every movement, like the long curving wave that breaks upon the beach.'
"Oh, there is no doubt that Big Bear knew all about the best way to make love, for very soon the squaw-snake began to show great discontent with her husband, to scold him in a high voice, and to wish that he were dead; whereas she greeted Big Bear with much affection, warming her glittering head in his breast, and embracing him several times by coiling round and round him. But she was careful to turn her head away, so as not to poison him by her breath. As for Big Bear, though he was glad to win her love, he wished her not to love him too well as she had a wonderful dexterity152 in snapping off the heads of those whom she admired. Her consent to the death of her husband was easily gained, and she bade him dip the points of two arrows in the poison of her sting. This he did and after retiring within the fortification he levelled one arrow at the head of the husband, while he deposited the other in that of the wicked wife. The horrid153 monsters rolled over in agony, and rent the air with their death-shrieks, while all the people gathering154 about Big Bear, called him their brother, because by his wonderful knowledge of the arts of flirtation155 he had delivered them from great peril73. But the most grievous result of the danger through which they had passed was this, that the poison ejected by the snakes in their death-agonies affected all the tribes of the earth to such an extent that each began to use a different language which could not be comprehended by the others. Since that time a young man of one race very seldom weds156 with the daughter of another, because she does not understand the lies he tells."
"Is it necessary for him to tell her what is not true, in order to marry her?" asked Edward.
"It is customary," replied the chief, gravely returning to his task, without the suspicion of a smile.
"Oh, strange peculiarity157 of the red men," softly exclaimed Helene. She begged for another legend, but the Indian had relapsed into his normal state of imperious dignity; so, after thanking him for the extravaganza, to which they had listened with admirable self-possession, they returned to the beach, the dog plunging158 joyfully159 into the green depths of the forest before them. The great woods were warm, odorous, breathless. Rose pushed back the damp blonde locks from her brow. "I wish you could have seen Wanda," she said. "The girl is quite a beauty. Half wild, of course, but with a sort of barbaric splendour about her that dazzles and bewilders one. You will understand when you see her, why the Indians speak the word 'pale-face' with a contemptuous inflection."
"I suppose," mused124 Edward, "that paleness to them means weakness, lack of blood, vitality160, courage, and all that most becomes a man. Yet as a matter of taste I prefer white to copper161 colour." His blue eyes were bent upon the lily-like face of Helene.
"Wait till you see her," was his sister's laughing response.
"And that will be many moons hence, to use the language of our story-teller, if she continues as elusive162 as the wind. I have had glimpses of her, or rather of the flutter of her vanishing raiment. A being with a wonderfully perfect face, clothed in heterogeneous163 and many-coloured garments, and educated on the amazing fictions with which her foster-father's memory seems to be stored, would be worth waiting to see."
But he had not long to wait. As he stood on the beach in the absence of his companions, who were carefully retracing164 their steps to the wigwam in search of a glove, presumably dropped by the way, he caught sight of the Indian girl, her back turned towards him, lazily rocking herself in his boat. For a moment he thrilled with the excitement of a hunter in the presence of that desirable object, "a splendid shot." Then he crept stealthily forward, sprang into the boat, and before the startled girl could recover from her amazement165, he was rowing her far out on the moonlit bay. "There!" he cried, exultantly166, bending an ardent yet laughing gaze upon her, "now you may run away as fast as you like."
The girl neither spoke167 nor moved. A great fire of resentment168 was burning in her heart, and its flames mounted to her cheeks. "My soul!" he murmured, "how beautiful you are!" She faced him fully4 and fairly, with the magnificent disdain169 of an empress in exile. In some way she gave him the impression that this brilliant little escapade was rather a poor joke after all. "Do me the favour of moving a muscle," he pleaded mockingly, and his request was lavishly170 granted. Before he could guess her intention she was in the water, knocking an oar171 from his hand in her rapid exit, and swimming at an incredible rate of speed for the nearest point of land, from which she sped like a hunted thing to the woods.
Left alone in this unceremonious fashion the young man paddled ruefully after his missing oar, and then struck out boldly after the escaped captive, with the intention of apologizing for what now seemed to him rather a cowardly performance; but the footsteps of the flying maiden left no trace upon the beach. His discomfited172 gaze rested on no living thing save the approaching figures of his sister and her friend, whose humane173 inquiries and frequent jests concerning the half wild, wholly dripping, vision that had crossed their path, contributed in no way to the young man's enjoyment174 of their homeward row.
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1
akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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syllables
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| n.音节( syllable的名词复数 ) | |
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kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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obtuse
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| adj.钝的；愚钝的 | |
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meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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depreciation
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| n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低 | |
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contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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36
wilfully
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| adv.任性固执地；蓄意地 | |
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37
bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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38
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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39
tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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41
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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42
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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43
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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44
elongated
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| v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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46
hemlock
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| n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉 | |
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47
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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48
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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49
inhale
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| v.吸入(气体等)，吸(烟) | |
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50
myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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51
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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52
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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53
otter
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| n.水獭 | |
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54
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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55
pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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56
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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57
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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58
reticent
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| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
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59
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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60
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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61
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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62
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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63
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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64
retaliatory
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| adj.报复的 | |
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65
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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66
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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67
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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68
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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69
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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70
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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71
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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72
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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73
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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74
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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75
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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76
discomforts
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| n.不舒适( discomfort的名词复数 )；不愉快，苦恼 | |
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77
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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78
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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79
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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80
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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81
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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82
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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83
domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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84
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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85
exterminated
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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86
hacking
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| n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动 | |
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87
hatchets
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| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
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88
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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89
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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90
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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91
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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92
propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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93
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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94
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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95
furtively
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| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
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96
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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97
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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98
ebbed
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的过去式和过去分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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99
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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100
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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101
demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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103
commingling
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| v.混合，掺和，合并( commingle的现在分词 ) | |
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104
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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105
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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106
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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107
impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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108
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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109
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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110
prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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111
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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112
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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113
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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114
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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115
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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116
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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117
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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118
inmate
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| n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人 | |
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119
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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120
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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121
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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122
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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123
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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125
survivor
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| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
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126
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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127
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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128
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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129
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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130
spurns
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| v.一脚踢开，拒绝接受( spurn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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131
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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132
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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133
antelope
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| n.羚羊；羚羊皮 | |
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134
fattened
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| v.喂肥( fatten的过去式和过去分词 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值 | |
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135
molest
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| vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏 | |
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136
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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137
propitiating
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| v.劝解，抚慰，使息怒( propitiate的现在分词 ) | |
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138
deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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139
maize
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| n.玉米 | |
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140
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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141
denuded
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| adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物 | |
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142
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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143
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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144
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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145
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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146
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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147
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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148
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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149
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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150
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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151
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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152
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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153
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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154
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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155
flirtation
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| n.调情，调戏，挑逗 | |
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156
weds
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| v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的第三人称单数 ) | |
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157
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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158
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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159
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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160
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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161
copper
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|
| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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162
elusive
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| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
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163
heterogeneous
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| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
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164
retracing
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| v.折回( retrace的现在分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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165
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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166
exultantly
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| adv.狂欢地，欢欣鼓舞地 | |
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167
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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168
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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169
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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170
lavishly
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| adv.慷慨地，大方地 | |
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171
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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172
discomfited
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| v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词)；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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173
humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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174
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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