In which the Quiquendonians Adopt a Heroic Resolution.
We have seen to what a deplorable condition the people of Quiquendone were reduced. Their heads were in a ferment1. They no longer knew or recognized themselves. The most peaceable citizens had become quarrelsome. If you looked at them askance, they would speedily send you a challenge. Some let their moustaches grow, and several — the most belligerent2 — curled them up at the ends.
This being their condition, the administration of the town and the maintenance of order in the streets became difficult tasks, for the government had not been organized for such a state of things. The burgomaster — that worthy3 Van Tricasse whom we have seen so placid4, so dull, so incapable5 of coming to any decision — the burgomaster became intractable. His house resounded6 with the sharpness of his voice. He made twenty decisions a day, scolding his officials, and himself enforcing the regulations of his administration.
Ah, what a change! The amiable7 and tranquil8 mansion9 of the burgomaster, that good Flemish home — where was its former calm? What changes had taken place in your household economy! Madame Van Tricasse had become acrid11, whimsical, harsh. Her husband sometimes succeeded in drowning her voice by talking louder than she, but could not silence her. The petulant12 humour of this worthy dame10 was excited by everything. Nothing went right. The servants offended her every moment. Tatanémance, her sister-inlaw, who was not less irritable13, replied sharply to her. M. Van Tricasse naturally supported Lotchè, his servant, as is the case in all good households; and this permanently14 exasperated15 Madame, who constantly disputed, discussed, and made scenes with her husband.
“What on earth is the matter with us?” cried the unhappy burgomaster. “What is this fire that is devouring16 us? Are we possessed17 with the devil? Ah, Madame Van Tricasse, Madame Van Tricasse, you will end by making me die before you, and thus violate all the traditions of the family!”
The reader will not have forgotten the strange custom by which M. Van Tricasse would become a widower18 and marry again, so as not to break the chain of descent.
Meanwhile, this disposition19 of all minds produced other curious effects worthy of note. This excitement, the cause of which has so far escaped us, brought about unexpected physiological20 changes. Talents, hitherto unrecognized, betrayed themselves. Aptitudes21 were suddenly revealed. Artists, before common-place, displayed new ability. Politicians and authors arose. Orators22 proved themselves equal to the most arduous24 debates, and on every question inflamed25 audiences which were quite ready to be inflamed. From the sessions of the council, this movement spread to the public political meetings, and a club was formed at Quiquendone; whilst twenty newspapers, the “Quiquendone Signal,” the “Quiquendone Impartial,” the “Quiquendone Radical,” and so on, written in an inflammatory style, raised the most important questions.
But what about? you will ask. Apropos26 of everything, and of nothing; apropos of the Oudenarde tower, which was falling, and which some wished to pull down, and others to prop27 up; apropos of the police regulations issued by the council, which some obstinate28 citizens threatened to resist; apropos of the sweeping29 of the gutters30, repairing the sewers31, and so on. Nor did the enraged32 orators confine themselves to the internal administration of the town. Carried on by the current they went further, and essayed to plunge33 their fellow-citizens into the hazards of war.
Quiquendone had had for eight or nine hundred years a casus belli of the best quality; but she had preciously laid it up like a relic34, and there had seemed some probability that it would become effete35, and no longer serviceable.
This was what had given rise to the casus belli.
It is not generally known that Quiquendone, in this cosy36 corner of Flanders, lies next to the little town of Virgamen. The territories of the two communities are contiguous.
Well, in 1185, some time before Count Baldwin’s departure to the Crusades, a Virgamen cow — not a cow belonging to a citizen, but a cow which was common property, let it be observed — audaciously ventured to pasture on the territory of Quiquendone. This unfortunate beast had scarcely eaten three mouthfuls; but the offence, the abuse, the crime — whatever you will — was committed and duly indicted37, for the magistrates38, at that time, had already begun to know how to write.
“We will take revenge at the proper moment,” said simply Natalis Van Tricasse, the thirty-second predecessor39 of the burgomaster of this story, “and the Virgamenians will lose nothing by waiting.”
The Virgamenians were forewarned. They waited thinking, without doubt, that the remembrance of the offence would fade away with the lapse40 of time; and really, for several centuries, they lived on good terms with their neighbours of Quiquendone.
But they counted without their hosts, or rather without this strange epidemic41, which, radically42 changing the character of the Quiquendonians, aroused their dormant43 vengeance44.
It was at the club of the Rue45 Monstrelet that the truculent46 orator23 Schut, abruptly47 introducing the subject to his hearers, inflamed them with the expressions and metaphors48 used on such occasions. He recalled the offence, the injury which had been done to Quiquendone, and which a nation “jealous of its rights” could not admit as a precedent49; he showed the insult to be still existing, the wound still bleeding: he spoke50 of certain special head-shakings on the part of the people of Virgamen, which indicated in what degree of contempt they regarded the people of Quiquendone; he appealed to his fellow-citizens, who, unconsciously perhaps, had supported this mortal insult for long centuries; he adjured51 the “children of the ancient town” to have no other purpose than to obtain a substantial reparation. And, lastly, he made an appeal to “all the living energies of the nation!”
With what enthusiasm these words, so new to Quiquendonian ears, were greeted, may be surmised52, but cannot be told. All the auditors53 rose, and with extended arms demanded war with loud cries. Never had the Advocate Schut achieved such a success, and it must be avowed54 that his triumphs were not few.
The burgomaster, the counsellor, all the notabilities present at this memorable55 meeting, would have vainly attempted to resist the popular outburst. Besides, they had no desire to do so, and cried as loud, if not louder, than the rest,—
“To the frontier! To the frontier!”
As the frontier was but three kilometers from the walls of Quiquendone, it is certain that the Virgamenians ran a real danger, for they might easily be invaded without having had time to look about them.
Meanwhile, Josse Liefrinck, the worthy chemist, who alone had preserved his senses on this grave occasion, tried to make his fellow-citizens comprehend that guns, cannon56, and generals were equally wanting to their design.
They replied to him, not without many impatient gestures, that these generals, cannons57, and guns would be improvised58; that the right and love of country sufficed, and rendered a people irresistible59.
Hereupon the burgomaster himself came forward, and in a sublime60 harangue61 made short work of those pusillanimous62 people who disguise their fear under a veil of prudence63, which veil he tore off with a patriotic64 hand.
At this sally it seemed as if the hall would fall in under the applause.
The vote was eagerly demanded, and was taken amid acclamations.
The cries of “To Virgamen! to Virgamen!” redoubled.
'To Virgamen! to Virgamen!'
The burgomaster then took it upon himself to put the armies in motion, and in the name of the town he promised the honours of a triumph, such as was given in the times of the Romans to that one of its generals who should return victorious66.
Meanwhile, Josse Liefrinck, who was an obstinate fellow, and did not regard himself as beaten, though he really had been, insisted on making another observation. He wished to remark that the triumph was only accorded at Rome to those victorious generals who had killed five thousand of the enemy.
“Well, well!” cried the meeting deliriously67.
“And as the population of the town of Virgamen consists of but three thousand five hundred and seventy-five inhabitants, it would be difficult, unless the same person was killed several times —”
But they did not let the luckless logician68 finish, and he was turned out, hustled69 and bruised70.
“Citizens,” said Pulmacher the grocer, who usually sold groceries by retail71, “whatever this cowardly apothecary72 may have said, I engage by myself to kill five thousand Virgamenians, if you will accept my services!”
“Five thousand five hundred!” cried a yet more resolute73 patriot65.
“Six thousand six hundred!” retorted the grocer.
“Seven thousand!” cried Jean Orbideck, the confectioner of the Rue Hemling, who was on the road to a fortune by making whipped creams.
“Adjudged!” exclaimed the burgomaster Van Tricasse, on finding that no one else rose on the bid.
And this was how Jean Orbideck the confectioner became general-inchief of the forces of Quiquendone.
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1
ferment
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vt.使发酵;n./vt.(使)激动,(使)动乱 | |
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belligerent
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adj.好战的,挑起战争的;n.交战国,交战者 | |
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worthy
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adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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placid
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adj.安静的,平和的 | |
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incapable
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adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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resounded
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v.(指声音等)回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 );产生回响;(指某处)回荡着声音 | |
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amiable
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adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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tranquil
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adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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mansion
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n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
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dame
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n.女士 | |
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acrid
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adj.辛辣的,尖刻的,刻薄的 | |
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petulant
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adj.性急的,暴躁的 | |
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irritable
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adj.急躁的;过敏的;易怒的 | |
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permanently
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adv.永恒地,永久地,固定不变地 | |
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exasperated
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adj.恼怒的 | |
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devouring
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吞没( devour的现在分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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possessed
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adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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widower
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n.鳏夫 | |
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disposition
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n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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physiological
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adj.生理学的,生理学上的 | |
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aptitudes
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(学习方面的)才能,资质,天资( aptitude的名词复数 ) | |
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orators
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n.演说者,演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
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orator
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n.演说者,演讲者,雄辩家 | |
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24
arduous
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adj.艰苦的,费力的,陡峭的 | |
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25
inflamed
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adj.发炎的,红肿的v.(使)变红,发怒,过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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apropos
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adv.恰好地;adj.恰当的;关于 | |
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prop
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vt.支撑;n.支柱,支撑物;支持者,靠山 | |
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obstinate
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adj.顽固的,倔强的,不易屈服的,较难治愈的 | |
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sweeping
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adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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gutters
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(路边)排水沟( gutter的名词复数 ); 阴沟; (屋顶的)天沟; 贫贱的境地 | |
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sewers
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n.阴沟,污水管,下水道( sewer的名词复数 ) | |
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32
enraged
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使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 ); 歜; 激愤 | |
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33
plunge
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v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲 | |
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34
relic
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n.神圣的遗物,遗迹,纪念物 | |
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effete
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adj.无生产力的,虚弱的 | |
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cosy
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adj.温暖而舒适的,安逸的 | |
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indicted
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控告,起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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magistrates
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地方法官,治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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predecessor
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n.前辈,前任 | |
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lapse
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n.过失,流逝,失效,抛弃信仰,间隔;vi.堕落,停止,失效,流逝;vt.使失效 | |
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epidemic
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n.流行病;盛行;adj.流行性的,流传极广的 | |
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radically
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ad.根本地,本质地 | |
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dormant
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adj.暂停活动的;休眠的;潜伏的 | |
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vengeance
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n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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rue
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n.懊悔,芸香,后悔;v.后悔,悲伤,懊悔 | |
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truculent
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adj.野蛮的,粗野的 | |
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abruptly
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adv.突然地,出其不意地 | |
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metaphors
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隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 ) | |
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precedent
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n.先例,前例;惯例;adj.在前的,在先的 | |
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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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51
adjured
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v.(以起誓或诅咒等形式)命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 );祈求;恳求 | |
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52
surmised
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v.臆测,推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 );揣测;猜想 | |
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auditors
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n.审计员,稽核员( auditor的名词复数 );(大学课程的)旁听生 | |
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54
avowed
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adj.公开声明的,承认的v.公开声明,承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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55
memorable
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adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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56
cannon
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n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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cannons
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n.加农炮,大炮,火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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58
improvised
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a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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irresistible
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adj.非常诱人的,无法拒绝的,无法抗拒的 | |
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60
sublime
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adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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61
harangue
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n.慷慨冗长的训话,言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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pusillanimous
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adj.懦弱的,胆怯的 | |
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prudence
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n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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64
patriotic
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adj.爱国的,有爱国心的 | |
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patriot
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n.爱国者,爱国主义者 | |
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victorious
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adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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deliriously
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adv.谵妄(性);发狂;极度兴奋/亢奋;说胡话 | |
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logician
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n.逻辑学家 | |
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69
hustled
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催促(hustle的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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bruised
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[医]青肿的,瘀紫的 | |
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71
retail
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v./n.零售;adv.以零售价格 | |
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apothecary
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n.药剂师 | |
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resolute
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adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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