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To be Read at Dusk
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 One, two, three, four, five.  There were five of them.
 
Five couriers, sitting on a bench outside the convent on the summit of the Great St. Bernard in Switzerland, looking at the remote heights, stained by the setting sun as if a mighty1 quantity of red wine had been broached2 upon the mountain top, and had not yet had time to sink into the snow.
 
This is not my simile3.  It was made for the occasion by the stoutest4 courier, who was a German.  None of the others took any more notice of it than they took of me, sitting on another bench on the other side of the convent door, smoking my cigar, like them, and—also like them—looking at the reddened snow, and at the lonely shed hard by, where the bodies of belated travellers, dug out of it, slowly wither5 away, knowing no corruption6 in that cold region.
 
The wine upon the mountain top soaked in as we looked; the mountain became white; the sky, a very dark blue; the wind rose; and the air turned piercing cold.  The five couriers buttoned their rough coats.  There being no safer man to imitate in all such proceedings7 than a courier, I buttoned mine.
 
The mountain in the sunset had stopped the five couriers in a conversation.  It is a sublime8 sight, likely to stop conversation.  The mountain being now out of the sunset, they resumed.  Not that I had heard any part of their previous discourse9; for indeed, I had not then broken away from the American gentleman, in the travellers’ parlour of the convent, who, sitting with his face to the fire, had undertaken to realise to me the whole progress of events which had led to the accumulation by the Honourable10 Ananias Dodger11 of one of the largest acquisitions of dollars ever made in our country.
 
‘My God!’ said the Swiss courier, speaking in French, which I do not hold (as some authors appear to do) to be such an all-sufficient excuse for a naughty word, that I have only to write it in that language to make it innocent; ‘if you talk of ghosts—’
 
‘But I don’t talk of ghosts,’ said the German.
 
‘Of what then?’ asked the Swiss.
 
‘If I knew of what then,’ said the German, ‘I should probably know a great deal more.’
 
It was a good answer, I thought, and it made me curious.  So, I moved my position to that corner of my bench which was nearest to them, and leaning my back against the convent wall, heard perfectly12, without appearing to attend.
 
‘Thunder and lightning!’ said the German, warming, ‘when a certain man is coming to see you, unexpectedly; and, without his own knowledge, sends some invisible messenger, to put the idea of him into your head all day, what do you call that?  When you walk along a crowded street—at Frankfort, Milan, London, Paris—and think that a passing stranger is like your friend Heinrich, and then that another passing stranger is like your friend Heinrich, and so begin to have a strange foreknowledge that presently you’ll meet your friend Heinrich—which you do, though you believed him at Trieste—what do you call that?’
 
‘It’s not uncommon13, either,’ murmured the Swiss and the other three.
 
‘Uncommon!’ said the German.  ‘It’s as common as cherries in the Black Forest.  It’s as common as maccaroni at Naples.  And Naples reminds me!  When the old Marchesa Senzanima shrieks14 at a card-party on the Chiaja—as I heard and saw her, for it happened in a Bavarian family of mine, and I was overlooking the service that evening—I say, when the old Marchesa starts up at the card-table, white through her rouge15, and cries, “My sister in Spain is dead!  I felt her cold touch on my back!”—and when that sister is dead at the moment—what do you call that?’
 
‘Or when the blood of San Gennaro liquefies at the request of the clergy—as all the world knows that it does regularly once a-year, in my native city,’ said the Neapolitan courier after a pause, with a comical look, ‘what do you call that?’
 
‘That!’ cried the German.  ‘Well, I think I know a name for that.’
 
‘Miracle?’ said the Neapolitan, with the same sly face.
 
The German merely smoked and laughed; and they all smoked and laughed.
 
‘Bah!’ said the German, presently.  ‘I speak of things that really do happen.  When I want to see the conjurer, I pay to see a professed16 one, and have my money’s worth.  Very strange things do happen without ghosts.  Ghosts!  Giovanni Baptista, tell your story of the English bride.  There’s no ghost in that, but something full as strange.  Will any man tell me what?’
 
As there was a silence among them, I glanced around.  He whom I took to be Baptista was lighting17 a fresh cigar.  He presently went on to speak.  He was a Genoese, as I judged.
 
‘The story of the English bride?’ said he.  ‘Basta! one ought not to call so slight a thing a story.  Well, it’s all one.  But it’s true.  Observe me well, gentlemen, it’s true.  That which glitters is not always gold; but what I am going to tell, is true.’
 
He repeated this more than once.
 
 
Ten years ago, I took my credentials18 to an English gentleman at Long’s Hotel, in Bond Street, London, who was about to travel—it might be for one year, it might be for two.  He approved of them; likewise of me.  He was pleased to make inquiry19.  The testimony20 that he received was favourable21.  He engaged me by the six months, and my entertainment was generous.
 
He was young, handsome, very happy.  He was enamoured of a fair young English lady, with a sufficient fortune, and they were going to be married.  It was the wedding-trip, in short, that we were going to take.  For three months’ rest in the hot weather (it was early summer then) he had hired an old place on the Riviera, at an easy distance from my city, Genoa, on the road to Nice.  Did I know that place?  Yes; I told him I knew it well.  It was an old palace with great gardens.  It was a little bare, and it was a little dark and gloomy, being close surrounded by trees; but it was spacious23, ancient, grand, and on the seashore.  He said it had been so described to him exactly, and he was well pleased that I knew it.  For its being a little bare of furniture, all such places were.  For its being a little gloomy, he had hired it principally for the gardens, and he and my mistress would pass the summer weather in their shade.
 
‘So all goes well, Baptista?’ said he.
 
‘Indubitably, signore; very well.’
 
We had a travelling chariot for our journey, newly built for us, and in all respects complete.  All we had was complete; we wanted for nothing.  The marriage took place.  They were happy.  I was happy, seeing all so bright, being so well situated24, going to my own city, teaching my language in the rumble25 to the maid, la bella Carolina, whose heart was gay with laughter: who was young and rosy26.
 
The time flew.  But I observed—listen to this, I pray! (and here the courier dropped his voice)—I observed my mistress sometimes brooding in a manner very strange; in a frightened manner; in an unhappy manner; with a cloudy, uncertain alarm upon her.  I think that I began to notice this when I was walking up hills by the carriage side, and master had gone on in front.  At any rate, I remember that it impressed itself upon my mind one evening in the South of France, when she called to me to call master back; and when he came back, and walked for a long way, talking encouragingly and affectionately to her, with his hand upon the open window, and hers in it.  Now and then, he laughed in a merry way, as if he were bantering27 her out of something.  By-and-by, she laughed, and then all went well again.
 
It was curious.  I asked la bella Carolina, the pretty little one, Was mistress unwell?—No.—Out of spirits?—No.—Fearful of bad roads, or brigands28?—No.  And what made it more mysterious was, the pretty little one would not look at me in giving answer, but would look at the view.
 
But, one day she told me the secret.
 
‘If you must know,’ said Carolina, ‘I find, from what I have overheard, that mistress is haunted.’
 
‘How haunted?’
 
‘By a dream.’
 
‘What dream?’
 
‘By a dream of a face.  For three nights before her marriage, she saw a face in a dream—always the same face, and only One.’
 
‘A terrible face?’
 
‘No.  The face of a dark, remarkable-looking man, in black, with black hair and a grey moustache—a handsome man except for a reserved and secret air.  Not a face she ever saw, or at all like a face she ever saw.  Doing nothing in the dream but looking at her fixedly29, out of darkness.’
 
‘Does the dream come back?’
 
‘Never.  The recollection of it is all her trouble.’
 
‘And why does it trouble her?’
 
Carolina shook her head.
 
‘That’s master’s question,’ said la bella.  ‘She don’t know.  She wonders why, herself.  But I heard her tell him, only last night, that if she was to find a picture of that face in our Italian house (which she is afraid she will) she did not know how she could ever bear it.’
 
Upon my word I was fearful after this (said the Genoese courier) of our coming to the old palazzo, lest some such ill-starred picture should happen to be there.  I knew there were many there; and, as we got nearer and nearer to the place, I wished the whole gallery in the crater30 of Vesuvius.  To mend the matter, it was a stormy dismal31 evening when we, at last, approached that part of the Riviera.  It thundered; and the thunder of my city and its environs, rolling among the high hills, is very loud.  The lizards32 ran in and out of the chinks in the broken stone wall of the garden, as if they were frightened; the frogs bubbled and croaked33 their loudest; the sea-wind moaned, and the wet trees dripped; and the lightning—body of San Lorenzo, how it lightened!
 
We all know what an old palace in or near Genoa is—how time and the sea air have blotted34 it—how the drapery painted on the outer walls has peeled off in great flakes35 of plaster—how the lower windows are darkened with rusty36 bars of iron—how the courtyard is overgrown with grass—how the outer buildings are dilapidated—how the whole pile seems devoted37 to ruin.  Our palazzo was one of the true kind.  It had been shut up close for months.  Months?—years!—it had an earthy smell, like a tomb.  The scent38 of the orange trees on the broad back terrace, and of the lemons ripening39 on the wall, and of some shrubs40 that grew around a broken fountain, had got into the house somehow, and had never been able to get out again.  There was, in every room, an aged22 smell, grown faint with confinement41.  It pined in all the cupboards and drawers.  In the little rooms of communication between great rooms, it was stifling42.  If you turned a picture—to come back to the pictures—there it still was, clinging to the wall behind the frame, like a sort of bat.
 
The lattice-blinds were close shut, all over the house.  There were two ugly, grey old women in the house, to take care of it; one of them with a spindle, who stood winding44 and mumbling45 in the doorway46, and who would as soon have let in the devil as the air.  Master, mistress, la bella Carolina, and I, went all through the palazzo.  I went first, though I have named myself last, opening the windows and the lattice-blinds, and shaking down on myself splashes of rain, and scraps47 of mortar48, and now and then a dozing49 mosquito, or a monstrous50, fat, blotchy51, Genoese spider.
 
When I had let the evening light into a room, master, mistress, and la bella Carolina, entered.  Then, we looked round at all the pictures, and I went forward again into another room.  Mistress secretly had great fear of meeting with the likeness52 of that face—we all had; but there was no such thing.  The Madonna and Bambino, San Francisco, San Sebastiano, Venus, Santa Caterina, Angels, Brigands, Friars, Temples at Sunset, Battles, White Horses, Forests, Apostles, Doges, all my old acquaintances many times repeated?—yes.  Dark, handsome man in black, reserved and secret, with black hair and grey moustache, looking fixedly at mistress out of darkness?—no.
 
At last we got through all the rooms and all the pictures, and came out into the gardens.  They were pretty well kept, being rented by a gardener, and were large and shady.  In one place there was a rustic53 theatre, open to the sky; the stage a green slope; the coulisses, three entrances upon a side, sweet-smelling leafy screens.  Mistress moved her bright eyes, even there, as if she looked to see the face come in upon the scene; but all was well.
 
‘Now, Clara,’ master said, in a low voice, ‘you see that it is nothing?  You are happy.’
 
Mistress was much encouraged.  She soon accustomed herself to that grim palazzo, and would sing, and play the harp54, and copy the old pictures, and stroll with master under the green trees and vines all day.  She was beautiful.  He was happy.  He would laugh and say to me, mounting his horse for his morning ride before the heat:
 
‘All goes well, Baptista!’
 
‘Yes, signore, thank God, very well.’
 
We kept no company.  I took la bella to the Duomo and Annunciata, to the Café, to the Opera, to the village Festa, to the Public Garden, to the Day Theatre, to the Marionetti.  The pretty little one was charmed with all she saw.  She learnt Italian—heavens! miraculously55!  Was mistress quite forgetful of that dream? I asked Carolina sometimes.  Nearly, said la bella—almost.  It was wearing out.
 
One day master received a letter, and called me.
 
‘Baptista!’
 
‘Signore!’
 
‘A gentleman who is presented to me will dine here to-day.  He is called the Signor Dellombra.  Let me dine like a prince.’
 
It was an odd name.  I did not know that name.  But, there had been many noblemen and gentlemen pursued by Austria on political suspicions, lately, and some names had changed.  Perhaps this was one.  Altro!  Dellombra was as good a name to me as another.
 
When the Signor Dellombra came to dinner (said the Genoese courier in the low voice, into which he had subsided56 once before), I showed him into the reception-room, the great sala of the old palazzo.  Master received him with cordiality, and presented him to mistress.  As she rose, her face changed, she gave a cry, and fell upon the marble floor.
 
Then, I turned my head to the Signor Dellombra, and saw that he was dressed in black, and had a reserved and secret air, and was a dark, remarkable-looking man, with black hair and a grey moustache.
 
Master raised mistress in his arms, and carried her to her own room, where I sent la bella Carolina straight.  La bella told me afterwards that mistress was nearly terrified to death, and that she wandered in her mind about her dream, all night.
 
Master was vexed57 and anxious—almost angry, and yet full of solicitude58.  The Signor Dellombra was a courtly gentleman, and spoke59 with great respect and sympathy of mistress’s being so ill.  The African wind had been blowing for some days (they had told him at his hotel of the Maltese Cross), and he knew that it was often hurtful.  He hoped the beautiful lady would recover soon.  He begged permission to retire, and to renew his visit when he should have the happiness of hearing that she was better.  Master would not allow of this, and they dined alone.
 
He withdrew early.  Next day he called at the gate, on horseback, to inquire for mistress.  He did so two or three times in that week.
 
What I observed myself, and what la bella Carolina told me, united to explain to me that master had now set his mind on curing mistress of her fanciful terror.  He was all kindness, but he was sensible and firm.  He reasoned with her, that to encourage such fancies was to invite melancholy60, if not madness.  That it rested with herself to be herself.  That if she once resisted her strange weakness, so successfully as to receive the Signor Dellombra as an English lady would receive any other guest, it was for ever conquered.  To make an end, the signore came again, and mistress received him without marked distress61 (though with constraint62 and apprehension63 still), and the evening passed serenely64.  Master was so delighted with this change, and so anxious to confirm it, that the Signor Dellombra became a constant guest.  He was accomplished65 in pictures, books, and music; and his society, in any grim palazzo, would have been welcome.
 
I used to notice, many times, that mistress was not quite recovered.  She would cast down her eyes and droop66 her head, before the Signor Dellombra, or would look at him with a terrified and fascinated glance, as if his presence had some evil influence or power upon her.  Turning from her to him, I used to see him in the shaded gardens, or the large half-lighted sala, looking, as I might say, ‘fixedly upon her out of darkness.’  But, truly, I had not forgotten la bella Carolina’s words describing the face in the dream.
 
After his second visit I heard master say:
 
‘Now, see, my dear Clara, it’s over!  Dellombra has come and gone, and your apprehension is broken like glass.’
 
‘Will he—will he ever come again?’ asked mistress.
 
‘Again?  Why, surely, over and over again!  Are you cold?’ (she shivered).
 
‘No, dear—but—he terrifies me: are you sure that he need come again?’
 
‘The surer for the question, Clara!’ replied master, cheerfully.
 
But, he was very hopeful of her complete recovery now, and grew more and more so every day.  She was beautiful.  He was happy.
 
‘All goes well, Baptista?’ he would say to me again.
 
‘Yes, signore, thank God; very well.’
 
We were all (said the Genoese courier, constraining67 himself to speak a little louder), we were all at Rome for the Carnival68.  I had been out, all day, with a Sicilian, a friend of mine, and a courier, who was there with an English family.  As I returned at night to our hotel, I met the little Carolina, who never stirred from home alone, running distractedly along the Corso.
 
‘Carolina!  What’s the matter?’
 
‘O Baptista!  O, for the Lord’s sake! where is my mistress?’
 
‘Mistress, Carolina?’
 
‘Gone since morning—told me, when master went out on his day’s journey, not to call her, for she was tired with not resting in the night (having been in pain), and would lie in bed until the evening; then get up refreshed.  She is gone!—she is gone!  Master has come back, broken down the door, and she is gone!  My beautiful, my good, my innocent mistress!’
 
The pretty little one so cried, and raved69, and tore herself that I could not have held her, but for her swooning on my arm as if she had been shot.  Master came up—in manner, face, or voice, no more the master that I knew, than I was he.  He took me (I laid the little one upon her bed in the hotel, and left her with the chamber-women), in a carriage, furiously through the darkness, across the desolate70 Campagna.  When it was day, and we stopped at a miserable71 post-house, all the horses had been hired twelve hours ago, and sent away in different directions.  Mark me! by the Signor Dellombra, who had passed there in a carriage, with a frightened English lady crouching72 in one corner.
 
I never heard (said the Genoese courier, drawing a long breath) that she was ever traced beyond that spot.  All I know is, that she vanished into infamous73 oblivion, with the dreaded74 face beside her that she had seen in her dream.
 
 
‘What do you call that?’ said the German courier, triumphantly75.  ‘Ghosts!  There are no ghosts there!  What do you call this, that I am going to tell you?  Ghosts!  There are no ghosts here!’
 
 
I took an engagement once (pursued the German courier) with an English gentleman, elderly and a bachelor, to travel through my country, my Fatherland.  He was a merchant who traded with my country and knew the language, but who had never been there since he was a boy—as I judge, some sixty years before.
 
His name was James, and he had a twin-brother John, also a bachelor.  Between these brothers there was a great affection.  They were in business together, at Goodman’s Fields, but they did not live together.  Mr. James dwelt in Poland Street, turning out of Oxford76 Street, London; Mr. John resided by Epping Forest.
 
Mr. James and I were to start for Germany in about a week.  The exact day depended on business.  Mr. John came to Poland Street (where I was staying in the house), to pass that week with Mr. James.  But, he said to his brother on the second day, ‘I don’t feel very well, James.  There’s not much the matter with me; but I think I am a little gouty.  I’ll go home and put myself under the care of my old housekeeper77, who understands my ways.  If I get quite better, I’ll come back and see you before you go.  If I don’t feel well enough to resume my visit where I leave it off, why you will come and see me before you go.’  Mr. James, of course, said he would, and they shook hands—both hands, as they always did—and Mr. John ordered out his old-fashioned chariot and rumbled78 home.
 
It was on the second night after that—that is to say, the fourth in the week—when I was awoke out of my sound sleep by Mr. James coming into my bedroom in his flannel-gown, with a lighted candle.  He sat upon the side of my bed, and looking at me, said:
 
‘Wilhelm, I have reason to think I have got some strange illness upon me.’
 
I then perceived that there was a very unusual expression in his face.
 
‘Wilhelm,’ said he, ‘I am not afraid or ashamed to tell you what I might be afraid or ashamed to tell another man.  You come from a sensible country, where mysterious things are inquired into and are not settled to have been weighed and measured—or to have been unweighable and unmeasurable—or in either case to have been completely disposed of, for all time—ever so many years ago.  I have just now seen the phantom79 of my brother.’
 
I confess (said the German courier) that it gave me a little tingling80 of the blood to hear it.
 
‘I have just now seen,’ Mr. James repeated, looking full at me, that I might see how collected he was, ‘the phantom of my brother John.  I was sitting up in bed, unable to sleep, when it came into my room, in a white dress, and regarding me earnestly, passed up to the end of the room, glanced at some papers on my writing-desk, turned, and, still looking earnestly at me as it passed the bed, went out at the door.  Now, I am not in the least mad, and am not in the least disposed to invest that phantom with any external existence out of myself.  I think it is a warning to me that I am ill; and I think I had better be bled.’
 
I got out of bed directly (said the German courier) and began to get on my clothes, begging him not to be alarmed, and telling him that I would go myself to the doctor.  I was just ready, when we heard a loud knocking and ringing at the street door.  My room being an attic43 at the back, and Mr. James’s being the second-floor room in the front, we went down to his room, and put up the window, to see what was the matter.
 
‘Is that Mr. James?’ said a man below, falling back to the opposite side of the way to look up.
 
‘It is,’ said Mr. James, ‘and you are my brother’s man, Robert.’
 
‘Yes, Sir.  I am sorry to say, Sir, that Mr. John is ill.  He is very bad, Sir.  It is even feared that he may be lying at the point of death.  He wants to see you, Sir.  I have a chaise here.  Pray come to him.  Pray lose no time.’
 
Mr. James and I looked at one another.  ‘Wilhelm,’ said he, ‘this is strange.  I wish you to come with me!’  I helped him to dress, partly there and partly in the chaise; and no grass grew under the horses’ iron shoes between Poland Street and the Forest.
 
Now, mind! (said the German courier) I went with Mr. James into his brother’s room, and I saw and heard myself what follows.
 
His brother lay upon his bed, at the upper end of a long bed-chamber.  His old housekeeper was there, and others were there: I think three others were there, if not four, and they had been with him since early in the afternoon.  He was in white, like the figure—necessarily so, because he had his night-dress on.  He looked like the figure—necessarily so, because he looked earnestly at his brother when he saw him come into the room.
 
But, when his brother reached the bed-side, he slowly raised himself in bed, and looking full upon him, said these words:
 
‘James, you have seen me before, to-night—and you know it!’
 
And so died!
 
 
I waited, when the German courier ceased, to hear something said of this strange story.  The silence was unbroken.  I looked round, and the five couriers were gone: so noiselessly that the ghostly mountain might have absorbed them into its eternal snows.  By this time, I was by no means in a mood to sit alone in that awful scene, with the chill air coming solemnly upon me—or, if I may tell the truth, to sit alone anywhere.  So I went back into the convent-parlour, and, finding the American gentleman still disposed to relate the biography of the Honourable Ananias Dodger, heard it all out.

该作者的其它作品

A Tale of Two Cities双城记

David Copperfield大卫·科波菲尔

Oliver Twist雾都孤儿








炉边的蟋蟀 The Cricket on the Hearth

荒凉的小屋 Bleak House

董贝父子 Dombey and Son




匹克威克外传 Pickwick Papers

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 broached 6e5998583239ddcf6fbeee2824e41081     
v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 );打开并开始用;用凿子扩大(或修光);(在桶上)钻孔取液体
参考例句:
  • She broached the subject of a picnic to her mother. 她向母亲提起野餐的问题。 来自辞典例句
  • He broached the subject to the stranger. 他对陌生人提起那话题。 来自辞典例句
3 simile zE0yB     
n.直喻,明喻
参考例句:
  • I believe this simile largely speaks the truth.我相信这种比拟在很大程度上道出了真实。
  • It is a trite simile to compare her teeth to pearls.把她的牙齿比做珍珠是陈腐的比喻。
4 stoutest 7de5881daae96ca3fbaeb2b3db494463     
粗壮的( stout的最高级 ); 结实的; 坚固的; 坚定的
参考例句:
  • The screams of the wounded and dying were something to instil fear into the stoutest heart. 受伤者垂死者的尖叫,令最勇敢的人都胆战心惊。
5 wither dMVz1     
vt.使凋谢,使衰退,(用眼神气势等)使畏缩;vi.枯萎,衰退,消亡
参考例句:
  • She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
  • In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天,树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。
6 corruption TzCxn     
n.腐败,堕落,贪污
参考例句:
  • The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
  • The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。
7 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
8 sublime xhVyW     
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的
参考例句:
  • We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
  • Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会,就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。
9 discourse 2lGz0     
n.论文,演说;谈话;话语;vi.讲述,著述
参考例句:
  • We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
  • He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。
10 honourable honourable     
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的
参考例句:
  • I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号,我可担当不起。
  • I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。
11 dodger Ku9z0c     
n.躲避者;躲闪者;广告单
参考例句:
  • They are tax dodgers who hide their interest earnings.他们是隐瞒利息收入的逃税者。
  • Make sure she pays her share she's a bit of a dodger.她自己的一份一定要她付清--她可是有点能赖就赖。
12 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
13 uncommon AlPwO     
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的
参考例句:
  • Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
  • Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。
14 shrieks e693aa502222a9efbbd76f900b6f5114     
n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • shrieks of fiendish laughter 恶魔般的尖笑声
  • For years, from newspapers, broadcasts, the stages and at meetings, we had heard nothing but grandiloquent rhetoric delivered with shouts and shrieks that deafened the ears. 多少年来, 报纸上, 广播里, 舞台上, 会场上的声嘶力竭,装腔做态的高调搞得我们震耳欲聋。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
15 rouge nX7xI     
n.胭脂,口红唇膏;v.(在…上)擦口红
参考例句:
  • Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂,使脸更漂亮。
  • She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮,不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。
16 professed 7151fdd4a4d35a0f09eaf7f0f3faf295     
公开声称的,伪称的,已立誓信教的
参考例句:
  • These, at least, were their professed reasons for pulling out of the deal. 至少这些是他们自称退出这宗交易的理由。
  • Her manner professed a gaiety that she did not feel. 她的神态显出一种她并未实际感受到的快乐。
17 lighting CpszPL     
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光
参考例句:
  • The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
  • The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
18 credentials credentials     
n.证明,资格,证明书,证件
参考例句:
  • He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
  • Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。
19 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听,询问,调查,查问
参考例句:
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
20 testimony zpbwO     
n.证词;见证,证明
参考例句:
  • The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
  • He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
21 favourable favourable     
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的
参考例句:
  • The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
  • We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。
22 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
23 spacious YwQwW     
adj.广阔的,宽敞的
参考例句:
  • Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞,足够建一座游泳池。
  • The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。
24 situated JiYzBH     
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的
参考例句:
  • The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
  • She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。
25 rumble PCXzd     
n.隆隆声;吵嚷;v.隆隆响;低沉地说
参考例句:
  • I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
  • We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定,天要下雨了。
26 rosy kDAy9     
adj.美好的,乐观的,玫瑰色的
参考例句:
  • She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作,生活看上去很美好。
  • She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。
27 bantering Iycz20     
adj.嘲弄的v.开玩笑,说笑,逗乐( banter的现在分词 );(善意地)取笑,逗弄
参考例句:
  • There was a friendly, bantering tone in his voice. 他的声音里流露着友好诙谐的语调。
  • The students enjoyed their teacher's bantering them about their mistakes. 同学们对老师用风趣的方式讲解他们的错误很感兴趣。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
28 brigands 17b2f48a43a67f049e43fd94c8de854b     
n.土匪,强盗( brigand的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They say there are brigands hiding along the way. 他们说沿路隐藏着土匪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The brigands demanded tribute from passing vehicles. 土匪向过往车辆勒索钱财。 来自辞典例句
29 fixedly 71be829f2724164d2521d0b5bee4e2cc     
adv.固定地;不屈地,坚定不移地
参考例句:
  • He stared fixedly at the woman in white. 他一直凝视着那穿白衣裳的女人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The great majority were silent and still, looking fixedly at the ground. 绝大部分的人都不闹不动,呆呆地望着地面。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
30 crater WofzH     
n.火山口,弹坑
参考例句:
  • With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
  • They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。
31 dismal wtwxa     
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的
参考例句:
  • That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
  • My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。
32 lizards 9e3fa64f20794483b9c33d06297dcbfb     
n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外,没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
  • Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗? 来自辞典例句
33 croaked 9a150c9af3075625e0cba4de8da8f6a9     
v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 );用粗的声音说
参考例句:
  • The crow croaked disaster. 乌鸦呱呱叫预报灾难。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • 'she has a fine head for it," croaked Jacques Three. “她有一个漂亮的脑袋跟着去呢,”雅克三号低沉地说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
34 blotted 06046c4f802cf2d785ce6e085eb5f0d7     
涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 ); (用吸墨纸)吸干
参考例句:
  • She blotted water off the table with a towel. 她用毛巾擦干桌上的水。
  • The blizzard blotted out the sky and the land. 暴风雪铺天盖地而来。
35 flakes d80cf306deb4a89b84c9efdce8809c78     
小薄片( flake的名词复数 ); (尤指)碎片; 雪花; 古怪的人
参考例句:
  • It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
  • It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。
36 rusty hYlxq     
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的
参考例句:
  • The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
  • I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用,我的法语又荒疏了。
37 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
38 scent WThzs     
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
参考例句:
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
39 ripening 5dd8bc8ecf0afaf8c375591e7d121c56     
v.成熟,使熟( ripen的现在分词 );熟化;熟成
参考例句:
  • The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • When the summer crop is ripening, the autumn crop has to be sowed. 夏季作物成熟时,就得播种秋季作物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
40 shrubs b480276f8eea44e011d42320b17c3619     
灌木( shrub的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
  • These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。
41 confinement qpOze     
n.幽禁,拘留,监禁;分娩;限制,局限
参考例句:
  • He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
  • The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。
42 stifling dhxz7C     
a.令人窒息的
参考例句:
  • The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热,光景是要下雨。
  • We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里,简直透不过气来。
43 attic Hv4zZ     
n.顶楼,屋顶室
参考例句:
  • Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
  • What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理?
44 winding Ue7z09     
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈
参考例句:
  • A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
  • The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。
45 mumbling 13967dedfacea8f03be56b40a8995491     
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I could hear him mumbling to himself. 我听到他在喃喃自语。
  • He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg. 宴会结束时,他仍在咕哝着医院里的事。说着说着,他在一块冰上滑倒,跌断了左腿。
46 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。
47 scraps 737e4017931b7285cdd1fa3eb9dd77a3     
油渣
参考例句:
  • Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
  • A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。
48 mortar 9EsxR     
n.灰浆,灰泥;迫击炮;v.把…用灰浆涂接合
参考例句:
  • The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
  • The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。
49 dozing dozing     
v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡
参考例句:
  • The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
  • He never falters in his determination. 他的决心从不动摇。
50 monstrous vwFyM     
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的
参考例句:
  • The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升,形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
  • Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人!
51 blotchy blotchy     
adj.有斑点的,有污渍的;斑污
参考例句:
  • her blotchy and swollen face 她的布满斑点的浮肿的脸
  • Blotchy skin is a symptom of many skin diseases. 皮肤上出现污斑是许多皮肤病的症状。 来自互联网
52 likeness P1txX     
n.相像,相似(之处)
参考例句:
  • I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
  • She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。
53 rustic mCQz9     
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬
参考例句:
  • It was nearly seven months of leisurely rustic living before Michael felt real boredom.这种悠闲的乡村生活过了差不多七个月之后,迈克尔开始感到烦闷。
  • We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust.我们希望新鲜的空气和乡村的氛围能帮他调整自己。
54 harp UlEyQ     
n.竖琴;天琴座
参考例句:
  • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
  • He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。
55 miraculously unQzzE     
ad.奇迹般地
参考例句:
  • He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
  • A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。
56 subsided 1bda21cef31764468020a8c83598cc0d     
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
参考例句:
  • After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后,部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚, 暴风雨已经过去,四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
57 vexed fd1a5654154eed3c0a0820ab54fb90a7     
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论
参考例句:
  • The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
  • He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
58 solicitude mFEza     
n.焦虑
参考例句:
  • Your solicitude was a great consolation to me.你对我的关怀给了我莫大的安慰。
  • He is full of tender solicitude towards my sister.他对我妹妹满心牵挂。
59 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。
60 melancholy t7rz8     
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的
参考例句:
  • All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
  • He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过,他感到很郁闷。
61 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
62 constraint rYnzo     
n.(on)约束,限制;限制(或约束)性的事物
参考例句:
  • The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
  • The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。
63 apprehension bNayw     
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑
参考例句:
  • There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑,于是她越来越担心。
  • She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。
64 serenely Bi5zpo     
adv.安详地,宁静地,平静地
参考例句:
  • The boat sailed serenely on towards the horizon.小船平稳地向着天水交接处驶去。
  • It was a serenely beautiful night.那是一个宁静美丽的夜晚。
65 accomplished UzwztZ     
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的
参考例句:
  • Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
  • Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
66 droop p8Zyd     
v.低垂,下垂;凋萎,萎靡
参考例句:
  • The heavy snow made the branches droop.大雪使树枝垂下来。
  • Don't let your spirits droop.不要萎靡不振。
67 constraining cc35429b91ea67e2478332bc4d1c3be7     
强迫( constrain的现在分词 ); 强使; 限制; 约束
参考例句:
  • He was constraining his mind not to wander from the task. 他克制着不让思想在工作时开小差。
  • The most constraining resource in all of these cases is venture capital. 在所有这些情况下最受限制的资源便是投入资本。
68 carnival 4rezq     
n.嘉年华会,狂欢,狂欢节,巡回表演
参考例句:
  • I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
  • Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。
69 raved 0cece3dcf1e171c33dc9f8e0bfca3318     
v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 );愤怒地说;咆哮;痴心地说
参考例句:
  • Andrew raved all night in his fever. 安德鲁发烧时整夜地说胡话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They raved about her beauty. 他们过分称赞她的美。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
70 desolate vmizO     
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂
参考例句:
  • The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
  • We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后,我们都觉得万分孤寂。
71 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。
72 crouching crouching     
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
  • A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
73 infamous K7ax3     
adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的
参考例句:
  • He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
  • I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。
74 dreaded XuNzI3     
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
  • He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》
75 triumphantly 9fhzuv     
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地
参考例句:
  • The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
  • Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。
76 Oxford Wmmz0a     
n.牛津(英国城市)
参考例句:
  • At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
  • This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。
77 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
78 rumbled e155775f10a34eef1cb1235a085c6253     
发出隆隆声,发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 轰鸣着缓慢行进; 发现…的真相; 看穿(阴谋)
参考例句:
  • The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
  • Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了,然而,在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声,持续不断。
79 phantom T36zQ     
n.幻影,虚位,幽灵;adj.错觉的,幻影的,幽灵的
参考例句:
  • I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她,好像她是一个幽灵。
  • He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。
80 tingling LgTzGu     
v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • My ears are tingling [humming; ringing; singing]. 我耳鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My tongue is tingling. 舌头发麻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》


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