Four days out of M'Sakidanga, if native report be true, there is a trickling1 stream that meanders2 down from N'Gombi country. Native report says that this is navigable even in the dry season.
The missionaries3 at Bonginda ridicule4 this report; and Arburt, the young chief of the station, with a gentle laugh in his blue eyes, listened one day to the report of Elebi about a fabulous5 land at the end of this river, and was kindly6 incredulous.
"If it be that ivory is stored in this place," he said in the vernacular7, "or great wealth lies for the lifting, go to Sandi, for this ivory belongs to the Government. But do you, Elebi, fix your heart more upon God's treasures in heaven, and your thoughts upon your unworthiness to merit a place in His kingdom, and let the ivory go."
Elebi was known to Sanders as a native evangelist of the tornado8 type, a thunderous, voluble sub-minister of the service; he had, in his ecstatic moments, made many converts. But there were days of reaction, when Elebi sulked in his mud hut, and reviewed Christianity calmly.
It was a service, this new religion. You could not work yourself to a frenzy10 in it, and then have done with the thing for a week. You must needs go on, on, never tiring, never departing from the straight path, exercising irksome self-restraint, leaving undone11 that which you would rather do.
"Religion is prison," grumbled12 Elebi, after his interview, and shrugged13 his broad, black shoulders.
In his hut he was in the habit of discarding his European coat for the loin cloth and the blanket, for Elebi was a savage14--an imitative savage--but still barbarian15. Once, preaching on the River of Devils, he had worked himself up to such a pitch of enthusiastic fervour that he had smitten16 a scoffer17, breaking his arm, and an outraged18 Sanders had him arrested, whipped, and fined a thousand rods. Hereafter Elebi had figured in certain English missionary19 circles as a Christian9 martyr20, for he had lied magnificently, and his punishment had been represented as a form of savage persecution21.
But the ivory lay buried three days' march beyond the Secret River; thus Elebi brooded over the log that smouldered in his hut day and night. Three days beyond the river, branching off at a place where there were two graves, the country was reputably full of devils, and Elebi shuddered22 at the thought; but, being a missionary and a lay evangelist, and, moreover, the proud possessor of a copy of the Epistle to the Romans (laboriously rendered into the native tongue), he had little to fear. He had more to fear from a certain White Devil at a far-away headquarters, who might be expected to range the lands of the Secret River, when the rains had come and gone.
It was supposed that Elebi had one wife, conforming to the custom of the white man, but the girl who came into the hut with a steaming bowl of fish in her hands was not the wife that the missionaries recognised as such.
"Sikini," he said, "I am going a journey by canoe."
"In the blessed service?" asked Sikini, who had come under the influence of the man in his more elated periods.
"The crackling of a fire is like a woman's tongue," quoted Elebi; "and it is easier to keep the lid on a boiling pot than a secret in a woman's heart."
Elebi had the river proverbs at his finger-tips, and the girl laughed, for she was his favourite wife, and knew that in course of time the information would come to her.
"Sikini," said the man suddenly, "you know that I have kept you when the Blood Taker would have me put you away."
(Arburt had a microscope and spent his evenings searching the blood of his flock for signs of trynosomiasis.)
"You know that for your sake I lied to him who is my father and my protector, saying: 'There shall be but one wife in my house, and that Tombolo, the coast woman.'"
The girl nodded, eyeing him stolidly23.
"Therefore I tell you that I am going beyond the Secret River, three days' march, leaving the canoe at a place where there are two graves."
"What do you seek?" she asked.
"There are many teeth in that country," he said; "dead ivory that the people brought with them from a distant country, and have hidden, fearing one who is a Breaker of Stones.[4] I shall come back rich, and buy many wives who shall wait upon you and serve you, and then I will no longer be Christian, but will worship the red fetish as my father did, and his father."
"Go," she said, nodding thoughtfully.
He told her many things that he had not revealed to Arburt--of how the ivory came, of the people who guarded it, of the means by which he intended to secure it.
Next morning before the mission lo-koli sounded, he had slipped away in his canoe; and Arburt, when the news came to him, sighed and called him a disappointing beggar--for Arburt was human. Sanders, who was also human, sent swift messengers to arrest Elebi, for it is not a good thing that treasure-hunting natives should go wandering through a strange country, such excursions meaning war, and war meaning, to Sanders at any rate, solemn official correspondence, which his soul loathed24.
Who would follow the fortunes of Elebi must paddle in his wake as far as Okau, where the Barina meets the Lapoi, must take the left river path, past the silent pool of the White Devil, must follow the winding25 stream till the elephants' playing ground be reached. Here the forest has been destroyed for the sport of the Great Ones; the shore is strewn with tree trunks, carelessly uprooted26 and as carelessly tossed aside by the gambolling27 mammoth28. The ground is innocent of herbage or bush; it is a flat wallow of mud, with the marks of pads where the elephant has passed.
Elebi drew his canoe up the bank, carefully lifted his cooking-pot, full of living fire, and emptied its contents, heaping thereon fresh twigs30 and scraps31 of dead wood. Then he made himself a feast, and went to sleep.
A wandering panther came snuffling and howling in the night, and Elebi rose and replenished32 the fire. In the morning he sought for the creek33 that led to the Secret River, and found it hidden by the hippo grass.
Elebi had many friends in the N'Gombi country. They were gathered in the village of Tambango--to the infinite embarrassment34 of the chief of that village--for Elebi's friends laid hands upon whatsoever35 they desired, being strangers and well armed, and, moreover, outnumbering the men of the village three to one. One, O'Sako, did the chief hold in greatest dread36, for he said little, but stalked tragically37 through the untidy street of Tambango, a bright, curved execution knife in the crook38 of his left arm. O'Sako was tall and handsome. One broad shoulder gleamed in its nakedness, and his muscular arms were devoid39 of ornamentation. His thick hair was plastered with clay till it was like a European woman's, and his body was smeared40 with ingola dust.
Once only he condescended41 to address his host.
"You shall find me three young men against the Lord Elebi's arrival, and they shall lead us to the land of the Secret River."
"But, master," pleaded the chief, "no man may go to the Secret River, because of the devils."
"Three men," said O'Sako softly; "three young men swift of foot, with eyes like the N'Gombi, and mouths silent as the dead."
"---- the devils," repeated the chief weakly, but O'Sako stared straight ahead and strode on.
When the sun blazed furiously on the rim42 of the world in a last expiring effort, and the broad river was a flood of fire, and long shadows ran through the clearings, Elebi came to the village. He came unattended from the south, and he brought with him no evidence of his temporary sojourn43 in the camps of civilisation44. Save for his loin cloth, and his robe of panther skin thrown about his shoulders, he was naked.
There was a palaver45 house at the end of the village, a thatched little wattle hut perched on a tiny hill, and the Lord Elebi gathered there his captains and the chief of the village. He made a speech.
"Cala, cala," he began--and it means "long ago," and is a famous opening to speeches--"before the white man came, and when the Arabi came down from the northern countries to steal women and ivory, the people of the Secret River buried their 'points' in a Place of Devils. Their women they could not bury, so they lost them. Now all the people of the Secret River are dead. The Arabi killed some, Bula Matadi killed others, but the sickness killed most of all. Where their villages were the high grass has grown, and in their gardens only the weaver46 bird speaks. Yet I know of this place, for there came to me a vision and a voice that said----"
The rest of the speech from the European standpoint was pure blasphemy47, because Elebi had had the training of a lay preacher, and had an easy delivery.
When he had finished, the chief of the village of Tambangu spoke48. It was a serious discourse49 on devils. There was no doubt at all that in the forest where the cach was there was a veritable stronghold of devildom. Some had bad faces and were as tall as the gum-trees--taller, for they used whole trees for clubs; some were small, so small that they travelled on the wings of bees, but all were very potent50, very terrible, and most effective guardians51 of buried treasure. Their greatest accomplishment52 lay in leading astray the traveller: men went into the forest in search of game or copal or rubber, and never came back, because there were a thousand ways in and no way out.
Elebi listened gravely.
"Devils of course there are," he said, "including the Devil, the Old One, who is the enemy of God. I have had much to do with the casting out of devils--in my holy capacity as a servant of the Word. Of the lesser53 devils I know nothing, though I do not doubt they live. Therefore I think it would be better for all if we offered prayer."
On his instruction the party knelt in full view of the village, and Elebi prayed conventionally but with great earnestness that the Powers of Darkness should not prevail, but that the Great Work should go on triumphantly54.
After which, to make doubly sure, the party sacrificed two fowls55 before a squat56 bete that stood before the chief's door, and a crazy witch-doctor anointed Elebi with human fat.
"We will go by way of Ochori," said Elebi, who was something of a strategist. "These Ochori folk will give us food and guides, being a cowardly folk and very fearful."
He took farewell of the old chief and continued his journey, with O'Sako and his warriors57 behind him. So two days passed. An hour's distance from the city of the Ochori he called a conference.
"Knowing the world," he said, "I am acquainted with the Ochori, who are slaves: you shall behold58 their chief embrace my feet. Since it is fitting that one, such as I, who know the ways of white men and their magic, should be received with honour; let us send forward a messenger to say that the Lord Elebi comes, and bid them kill so many goats against our coming."
"That is good talk," said O'Sako, his lieutenant59, and a messenger was despatched.
Elebi with his caravan60 followed slowly.
It is said that Elebi's message came to Bosambo of Monrovia, chief of the Ochori, when he was in the despondent61 mood peculiar62 to men of action who find life running too smoothly63.
It was Bosambo's practice--and one of which his people stood in some awe--to reflect aloud in English in all moments of crisis, or on any occasion when it was undesirable64 that his thoughts should be conveyed abroad.
He listened in silence, sitting before the door of his hut and smoking a short wooden pipe, whilst the messenger described the quality of the coming visitor, and the unparalleled honour which was to fall upon the Ochori.
Said Bosambo at the conclusion of the recital65, "Damn nigger."
The messenger was puzzled by the strange tongue.
"Lord Chief," he said, "my master is a great one, knowing the ways of white men."
"I also know something of white men," said Bosambo calmly, in the River dialect, "having many friends, including Sandi, who married my brother's wife's sister, and is related to me. Also," said Bosambo daringly, "I have shaken hands with the Great White King who dwells beyond the big water, and he has given me many presents."
With this story the messenger went back to the slowly advancing caravan, and Elebi was impressed and a little bewildered.
"It is strange," he said, "no man has ever known an Ochori chief who was aught but a dog and the son of a dog--let us see this Bosambo. Did you tell him to come out and meet me?"
"No," replied the messenger frankly66, "he was such a great one, and was so haughty67 because of Sandi, who married his brother's wife's sister; and so proud that I did not dare tell him."
There is a spot on the edge of the Ochori city where at one time Sanders had caused to be erected68 a warning sign, and here Elebi found the chief waiting and was flattered. There was a long and earnest conference in the little palaver house of the city, and here Elebi told as much of his story as was necessary, and Bosambo believed as much as he could.
"And what do you need of me and my people?" asked Bosambo at length.
"Lord chief," said Elebi, "I go a long journey, being fortified69 with the blessed spirit of which you know nothing, that being an especial mystery of the white men."
"There is no mystery which I did not know," said Bosambo loftily, "and if you speak of spirits, I will speak of certain saints, also of a Virgin70 who is held in high respect by white men."
"If you speak of the blessed Paul----" began Elebi, a little at sea.
"Not only of Paul but Peter, John, Luke, Matthew, Antonio, and Thomas," recited Bosambo rapidly. He had not been a scholar at the Catholic mission for nothing. Elebi was nonplussed71.
"We will let these magic matters rest," said Elebi wisely; "it is evident to me that you are a learned man. Now I go to seek some wonderful treasures. All that I told you before was a lie. Let us speak as brothers. I go to the wood of devils, where no man has been for many years. I beg you, therefore, to give me food and ten men for carriers."
"Food you can have but no men," said Bosambo, "for I have pledged my word to Sandi, who is, as you know, the husband of my brother's wife's sister, that no man of mine should leave this country."
With this Elebi had to be content, for a new spirit had come to the Ochori since he had seen them last, and there was a defiance72 in the timid eyes of these slaves of other days which was disturbing. Besides, they seemed well armed.
In the morning the party set forth73 and Bosambo, who took no risks, saw them started on their journey. He observed that part of the equipment of the little caravan were two big baskets filled to the brim with narrow strips of red cloth.
"This is my magic," said Elebi mysteriously, when he was questioned, "it is fitting that you should know its power."
Bosambo yawned in his face with great insolence74.
Clear of Ochori by one day's march, the party reached the first straggling advance guard of the Big Forest. A cloud of gum-trees formed the approach to the wood, and here the magic of Elebi's basket of cloth strips became revealed.
Every few hundred yards the party stopped, and Elebi tied one of the strips to a branch of a tree.
"In this way," he communicated to his lieutenant, "we may be independent of gods, and fearless of devils, for if we cannot find the ivory we can at least find our way back again."
(There had been such an experiment made by the missionaries in traversing the country between Bonguidga and the Big River, but there were no devils in that country.)
In two days' marches they came upon a place of graves. There had been a village there, for Isisi palms grew luxuriously75, and pushing aside the grass they came upon a rotting roof. Also there were millions of weaver birds in the nut-palms, and a choked banana grove76.
The graves, covered with broken cooking pots, Elebi found, and was satisfied.
In the forest, a league beyond the dead village, they came upon an old man, so old that you might have lifted him with a finger and thumb.
"Where do the young men go in their strength?" he mumbled77 childishly; "into the land of small devils? Who shall guide them back to their women? None, for the devils will confuse them, opening new roads and closing the old. Oh, Ko Ko!"
"Father," said Elebi, dangling79 strips of red flannel80 from his hand, "this is white man's magic, we come back by the way we go."
Then the old man fell into an insane fit of cursing, and threw at them a thousand deaths, and Elebi's followers81 huddled82 back in frowning fear.
"You have lived too long," said Elebi gently, and passed his spear through the old man's neck.
* * * * *
They found the ivory two days' journey beyond the place of killing83. It was buried under a mound84, which was overgrown with rank vegetation, and there was by European calculation some 50,000 worth.
"We will go back and find carriers," said Elebi, "taking with us as many of the teeth as we can carry."
Two hours later the party began its return journey, following the path where at intervals85 of every half-mile a strip of scarlet86 flannelette hung from a twig29.
There were many paths they might have taken, paths that looked as though they had been made by the hand of man, and Elebi was glad that he had blazed the way to safety.
For eight hours the caravan moved swiftly, finding its direction with no difficulty; then the party halted for the night.
Elebi was awakened87 in the night by a man who was screaming, and he leapt up, stirring the fire to a blaze.
"It is the brother of Olambo of Kinshassa, he has the sickness mongo," said an awe-stricken voice, and Elebi called a council.
"There are many ways by which white men deal with this sickness," he said wisely, "by giving certain powders and by sticking needles into arms, but to give medicine for the sickness when madness comes is useless--so I have heard the fathers at the station say, because madness only comes when the man is near death."
"He was well last night," said a hushed voice. "There are many devils in the forest, let us ask him what he has seen."
So a deputation went to the screaming, writhing88 figure that lay trussed and tied on the ground, and spoke with him. They found some difficulty in gaining an opening, for he jabbered89 and mouthed and laughed and yelled incessantly90.
"On the question of devils," at last Elebi said.
"Devils," screeched91 the madman. "Yi! I saw six devils with fire in their mouths--death to you, Elebi! Dog----"
He said other things which were not clean.
"If there were water here," mused92 Elebi, "we might drown him; since there is only the forest and the earth, carry him away from the camp, and I will make him silent."
So they carried the lunatic away, eight strong men swaying through the forest, and they came back, leaving Elebi alone with his patient. The cries ceased suddenly and Elebi returned, wiping his hands on his leopard93 skin.
"Let us sleep," said Elebi, and lay down.
Before the dawn came up the party were on the move.
They marched less than a mile from their camping ground and then faltered94 and stopped.
"There is no sign, lord," the leader reported, and Elebi called him a fool and went to investigate.
But there was no red flannel, not a sign of it. They went on another mile without success.
"We have taken the wrong path, let us return," said Elebi, and the party retraced95 its steps to the camp they had abandoned. That day was spent in exploring the country for three miles on either side, but there was no welcome blaze to show the trail.
"We are all N'Gombi men," said Elebi, "let us to-morrow go forward, keeping the sun at our back; the forest has no terrors for the N'Gombi folk--yet I cannot understand why the white man's magic failed."
"Devils!" muttered his lieutenant sullenly96.
Elebi eyed him thoughtfully.
"Devils sometimes desire sacrifices," he said with significance, "the wise goat does not bleat97 when the priest approaches the herd98."
In the morning a great discovery was made. A crumpled99 piece of flannel was found on the outskirts100 of the camp. It lay in the very centre of a path, and Elebi shouted in his joy.
Again the caravan started on the path. A mile farther along another little red patch caught his eye, half a mile beyond, another.
Yet none of these were where he had placed them, and they all bore evidence of rude handling, which puzzled the lay brother sorely. Sometimes the little rags would be missing altogether, but a search party would come upon one some distance off the track, and the march would go on.
Near sunset Elebi halted suddenly and pondered. Before him ran his long shadow; the sun was behind him when it ought to have been in front.
"We are going in the wrong direction," he said, and the men dropped their loads and stared at him.
"Beyond any doubt," said Elebi after a pause, "this is the work of devils--let us pray."
He prayed aloud earnestly for twenty minutes, and darkness had fallen before he had finished.
They camped that night on the spot where the last red guide was, and in the morning they returned the way they had come. There was plenty of provision, but water was hard to come by, and therein lay the danger. Less than a mile they had gone before the red rags had vanished completely, and they wandered helplessly in a circle.
"This is evidently a matter not for prayer, but for sacrifice," concluded Elebi, so they slew101 one of the guides.
Three nights later, O'Sako, the friend of Elebi, crawled stealthily to the place where Elebi was sleeping, and settled the dispute which had arisen during the day as to who was in command of the expedition.
* * * * *
"Master," said Bosambo of Monrovia, "all that you ordered me to do, that I did."
Sanders sat before the chief's hut in his camp chair and nodded.
"When your word came that I should find Elebi--he being an enemy of the Government and disobeying your word--I took fifty of my young men and followed on his tracks. At first the way was easy, because he had tied strips of cloth to the trees to guide him on the backward journey, but afterwards it was hard, for the N'Kema that live in the wood----"
"Monkeys?" Sanders raised his eyebrows102.
"Monkeys, master," Bosambo nodded his head, "the little black monkeys of the forest who love bright colours--they had come down from their trees and torn away the cloths and taken them to their houses after the fashion of the monkey people. Thus Elebi lost himself and with him his men, for I found their bones, knowing the way of the forest."
"What else did you find?" asked Sanders.
"Nothing, master," said Bosambo, looking him straight in the eye.
"That is probably a lie!" said Sanders.
Bosambo thought of the ivory buried beneath the floor of his hut and did not contradict him.
[Footnote 4: Bula Matidi, i.e., "Stone Breaker," is the native name for the Congo Government.]
收听单词发音 |
1
trickling
|
|
| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
meanders
|
|
| 曲径( meander的名词复数 )； 迂回曲折的旅程 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
missionaries
|
|
| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
ridicule
|
|
| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
fabulous
|
|
| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
vernacular
|
|
| adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
tornado
|
|
| n.飓风，龙卷风 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
frenzy
|
|
| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
undone
|
|
| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
grumbled
|
|
| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
barbarian
|
|
| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
smitten
|
|
| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
scoffer
|
|
| 嘲笑者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
outraged
|
|
| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
missionary
|
|
| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
martyr
|
|
| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
persecution
|
|
| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
shuddered
|
|
| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
stolidly
|
|
| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
loathed
|
|
| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
winding
|
|
| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
uprooted
|
|
| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
gambolling
|
|
| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
mammoth
|
|
| n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
twig
|
|
| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
twigs
|
|
| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
scraps
|
|
| 油渣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
replenished
|
|
| 补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
creek
|
|
| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
embarrassment
|
|
| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
whatsoever
|
|
| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
tragically
|
|
| adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
crook
|
|
| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
devoid
|
|
| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
smeared
|
|
| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
condescended
|
|
| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
rim
|
|
| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
sojourn
|
|
| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
civilisation
|
|
| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
palaver
|
|
| adj.壮丽堂皇的；n.废话，空话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
weaver
|
|
| n.织布工；编织者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
blasphemy
|
|
| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
spoke
|
|
| 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： |
|
|
|
|
49
discourse
|
|
| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
potent
|
|
| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
guardians
|
|
| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
accomplishment
|
|
| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
lesser
|
|
| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
triumphantly
|
|
| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
fowls
|
|
| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
squat
|
|
| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
warriors
|
|
| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
lieutenant
|
|
| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
caravan
|
|
| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
despondent
|
|
| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
smoothly
|
|
| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
undesirable
|
|
| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
recital
|
|
| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
haughty
|
|
| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
ERECTED
|
|
| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
fortified
|
|
| adj. 加强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
virgin
|
|
| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
nonplussed
|
|
| adj.不知所措的，陷于窘境的v.使迷惑( nonplus的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
insolence
|
|
| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
luxuriously
|
|
| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
grove
|
|
| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
mumbled
|
|
| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
miserably
|
|
| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
dangling
|
|
| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
flannel
|
|
| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
followers
|
|
| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
huddled
|
|
| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
killing
|
|
| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
mound
|
|
| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
intervals
|
|
| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
awakened
|
|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
writhing
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
jabbered
|
|
| v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的过去式和过去分词 )；急促兴奋地说话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
incessantly
|
|
| ad.不停地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
screeched
|
|
| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
mused
|
|
| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
leopard
|
|
| n.豹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
faltered
|
|
| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
retraced
|
|
| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
sullenly
|
|
| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
bleat
|
|
| v.咩咩叫，(讲)废话，哭诉；n.咩咩叫，废话，哭诉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
herd
|
|
| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
crumpled
|
|
| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
outskirts
|
|
| n.郊外，郊区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
slew
|
|
| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |