For several days this impression satisfied him completely. He discovered, strangely enough, that his restlessness had left him, that once more he was able to give to his work his former energy and interest. It was as though some power had raised its finger and a storm had stilled, leaving calm, unruffled skies.
He did not attempt to analyze1 this; he did not even make an effort to contemplate2 it. His critical faculty3 was stricken dumb and it asked no questions of him. At a touch his entire life had changed. Reality or vision, he had caught a glimpse of something so entirely4 different from anything his imagination or experience had ever suggested to him, that at first he could do no more than permit passively its influences to adjust themselves to his being.
Curiosity, speculation5, longing6,--all the more active emotions remained in abeyance7 while outwardly, for three days, Harry8 Thorpe occupied himself only with the needs of the Fighting Forty at Camp One.
In the early morning he went out with the gang. While they chopped or heaved, he stood by serene9. Little questions of expediency10 he solved. Dilemmas11 he discussed leisurely12 with Tim Shearer13. Occasionally he lent a shoulder when the peaveys lacked of prying14 a stubborn log from its bed. Not once did he glance at the nooning sun. His patience was quiet and sure. When evening came he smoked placidly15 outside the office, listening to the conversation and laughter of the men, caressing16 one of the beagles, while the rest slumbered17 about his feet, watching dreamily the night shadows and the bats. At about nine o'clock he went to bed, and slept soundly. He was vaguely18 conscious of a great peace within him, a great stillness of the spirit, against which the metallic19 events of his craft clicked sharply in vivid relief. It was the peace and stillness of a river before it leaps.
Little by little the condition changed. The man felt vague stirrings of curiosity. He speculated aimlessly as to whether or not the glade20, the moonlight, the girl, had been real or merely the figments of imagination. Almost immediately the answer leaped at him from his heart. Since she was so certainly flesh and blood, whence did she come? what was she doing there in the wilderness22? His mind pushed the query23 aside as unimportant, rushing eagerly to the essential point: When could he see her again? How find for the second time the vision before which his heart felt the instant need of prostrating24 itself. His placidity25 had gone. That morning he made some vague excuse to Shearer and set out blindly down the river.
He did not know where he was going, any more than did the bull moose plunging26 through the trackless wilderness to his mate. Instinct, the instinct of all wild natural creatures, led him. And so, without thought, without clear intention even,--most would say by accident,--he saw her again. It was near the "pole trail"; which was less like a trail than a rail-fence.
For when the snows are deep and snowshoes not the property of every man who cares to journey, the old-fashioned "pole trail" comes into use. It is merely a series of horses built of timber across which thick Norway logs are laid, about four feet from the ground, to form a continuous pathway. A man must be a tight-rope walker to stick to the pole trail when ice and snow have sheathed27 its logs. If he makes a misstep, he is precipitated28 ludicrously into feathery depths through which he must flounder to the nearest timber horse before he can remount. In summer, as has been said, it resembles nothing so much as a thick one-rail fence of considerable height, around which a fringe of light brush has grown.
Thorpe reached the fringe of bushes, and was about to dodge29 under the fence, when he saw her. So he stopped short, concealed30 by the leaves and the timber horse.
She stood on a knoll31 in the middle of a grove32 of monster pines. There was something of the cathedral in the spot. A hush33 dwelt in the dusk, the long columns lifted grandly to the Roman arches of the frond34, faint murmurings stole here and there like whispering acolytes35. The girl stood tall and straight among the tall, straight pines like a figure on an ancient tapestry36. She was doing nothing--just standing37 there--but the awe38 of the forest was in her wide, clear eyes.
The great sweet feeling clutched the young man's throat again. But while the other,--the vision of the frost-work glade and the spirit-like figure of silence,--had been unreal and phantasmagoric, this was of the earth. He looked, and looked, and looked again. He saw the full pure curve of her cheek's contour, neither oval nor round, but like the outline of a certain kind of plum. He appreciated the half-pathetic downward droop39 of the corners of her mouth,--her red mouth in dazzling, bewitching contrast to the milk-whiteness of her skin. He caught the fineness of her nose, straight as a Grecian's, but with some faint suggestion about the nostrils40 that hinted at piquance. And the waving corn silk of her altogether charming and unruly hair, the superb column of her long neck on which her little head poised41 proudly like a flower, her supple42 body, whose curves had the long undulating grace of the current in a swift river, her slender white hand with the pointed43 fingers--all these he saw one after the other, and his soul shouted within him at the sight. He wrestled44 with the emotions that choked him. "Ah, God! Ah, God!" he cried softly to himself like one in pain. He, the man of iron frame, of iron nerve, hardened by a hundred emergencies, trembled in every muscle before a straight, slender girl, clad all in brown, standing alone in the middle of the ancient forest.
In a moment she stirred slightly, and turned. Drawing herself to her full height, she extended her hands over her head palm outward, and, with an indescribably graceful45 gesture, half mockingly bowed a ceremonious adieu to the solemn trees. Then with a little laugh she moved away in the direction of the river.
At once Thorpe proved a great need of seeing her again. In his present mood there was nothing of the awe-stricken peace he had experienced after the moonlight adventure. He wanted the sight of her as he had never wanted anything before. He must have it, and he looked about him fiercely as though to challenge any force in Heaven or Hell that would deprive him of it. His eyes desired to follow the soft white curve of her cheek, to dance with the light of her corn-silk hair, to delight in the poetic46 movements of her tall, slim body, to trace the full outline of her chin, to wonder at the carmine47 of her lips, red as a blood-spot on the snow. These things must be at once. The strong man desired it. And finding it impossible, he raged inwardly and tore the tranquillities of his heart, as on the shores of the distant Lake of Stars, the bull-moose trampled48 down the bushes in his passion.
So it happened that he ate hardly at all that day, and slept ill, and discovered the greatest difficulty in preserving the outward semblance49 of ease which the presence of Tim Shearer and the Fighting Forty demanded.
And next day he saw her again, and the next, because the need of his heart demanded it, and because, simply enough, she came every afternoon to the clump50 of pines by the old pole trail.
Now had Thorpe taken the trouble to inquire, he could have learned easily enough all there was to be known of the affair. But he did not take the trouble. His consciousness was receiving too many new impressions, so that in a manner it became bewildered. At first, as has been seen, the mere21 effect of the vision was enough; then the sight of the girl sufficed him. But now curiosity awoke and a desire for something more. He must speak to her, touch her hand, look into her eyes. He resolved to approach her, and the mere thought choked him and sent him weak.
When he saw her again from the shelter of the pole trail, he dared not, and so stood there prey51 to a novel sensation,--that of being baffled in an intention. It awoke within him a vast passion compounded part of rage at himself, part of longing for that which he could not take, but most of love for the girl. As he hesitated in one mind but in two decisions, he saw that she was walking slowly in his direction.
Perhaps a hundred paces separated the two. She took them deliberately52, pausing now and again to listen, to pluck a leaf, to smell the fragrant53 balsam and fir tops as she passed them. Her progression was a series of poses, the one of which melted imperceptibly into the other without appreciable54 pause of transition. So subtly did her grace appeal to the sense of sight, that out of mere sympathy the other senses responded with fictions of their own. Almost could the young man behind the trail savor55 a faint fragrance56, a faint music that surrounded and preceded her like the shadows of phantoms57. He knew it as an illusion, born of his desire, and yet it was a noble illusion, for it had its origin in her.
In a moment she had reached the fringe of brush about the pole trail. They stood face to face.
She gave a little start of surprise, and her hand leaped to her breast, where it caught and stayed. Her childlike down-drooping mouth parted a little more, and the breath quickened through it. But her eyes, her wide, trusting, innocent eyes, sought his and rested.
He did not move. The eagerness, the desire, the long years of ceaseless struggle, the thirst for affection, the sob58 of awe at the moonlit glade, the love,--all these flamed in his eyes and fixed59 his gaze in an unconscious ardor60 that had nothing to do with convention or timidity. One on either side of the spike-marked old Norway log of the trail they stood, and for an appreciable interval61 the duel62 of their glances lasted,--he masterful, passionate63, exigent; she proud, cool, defensive64 in the aloofness65 of her beauty. Then at last his prevailed. A faint color rose from her neck, deepened, and spread over her face and forehead. In a moment she dropped her eyes.
"Don't you think you stare a little rudely--Mr. Thorpe?" she asked.
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1
analyze
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| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
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contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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abeyance
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| n.搁置，缓办，中止，产权未定 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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expediency
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| n.适宜；方便；合算；利己 | |
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dilemmas
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| n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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shearer
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| n.剪羊毛的人；剪切机 | |
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prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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prostrating
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的现在分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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placidity
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| n.平静，安静，温和 | |
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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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sheathed
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| adj.雕塑像下半身包在鞘中的；覆盖的；铠装的；装鞘了的v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的过去式和过去分词 )；包，覆盖 | |
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precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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29
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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frond
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| n.棕榈类植物的叶子 | |
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acolytes
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| n.助手( acolyte的名词复数 )；随从；新手；（天主教）侍祭 | |
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tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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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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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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41
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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wrestled
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| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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carmine
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| n.深红色，洋红色 | |
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48
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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51
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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52
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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53
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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savor
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| vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味 | |
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fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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57
phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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58
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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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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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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61
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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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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64
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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65
aloofness
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| 超然态度 | |
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