`... All idealization makes life poorer. To beautify it is to take away its character of complexity1 - it is to destroy it. Leave that to the moralists, my boy. History is made by men, but they do not make it in their heads. The ideas that are born in their consciousness play an insignificant2 part in the march of events. History is dominated and determined3 by the tool and the production - by the force of economic conditions. Capitalism4 has made socialism, and the laws made by the capitalist for the protection of property are responsible for anarchism. No one can tell what form the social organization may take in the future. Then why indulge in prophetic phantasies? At best they can only interpret the mind of the prophet, and can have no objective value. Leave that pastime to the moralists, my boy.'
Michaelis, the ticket-of-leave apostle, was speaking in an even voice, a voice that wheezed5 as if deadened and oppressed by the layer of fat on his chest. He had come out of a highly hygienic prison round like a tub, with an enormous stomach and distended6 cheeks of a pale, semi-transparent complexion7, as though for fifteen years the servants of an outraged8 society had made a point of stuffing him with fattening9 foods in a damp and lightless cellar. And ever since he had never managed to get his weight down as much as an ounce.
It was said that for three seasons running a very wealthy old lady had sent him for a cure to Marienbad - where he was about to share the public curiosity once with a crowned head - but the police on that occasion ordered him to leave within twelve hours. His martyrdom was continued by forbidding him all access to the healing waters. But he was resigned now as much as an ounce.
It was said that for three seasons running a very wealthy old lady had sent him for a cure to Marienbad - where he was about to share the public curiosity once with a crowned head - but the police on that occasion ordered him to leave within twelve months. His martyrdom was continued by forbidding him all access to the healing waters. But he was resigned now.
With his elbow presenting no appearance of a joint10, but more like a bend in a dummy's limb, thrown over the back of a chair, he leaned forward slightly over his short and enormous thighs to spit into the grate.
`Yes! I had the time to think things out a little,' he added without emphasis. `Society has given me plenty of time for meditation11.'
On the other side of the fireplace, in the horse-hair armchair where Mrs Verloc's mother was generally privileged to sit, Karl Yundt giggled13 grimly, with a faint black grimace14 of a toothless mouth. The terrorist, as he called himself, was old and bald, with a narrow, snow-white wisp of a goatee hanging limply from his chin. An extraordinary expression of underhand malevolence15 survived in his extinguished eyes. When he rose painfully the thrusting forward of a skinny groping hand deformed17 by gouty swellings suggested the effort of a moribund18 murderer summoning all his remaining strength for a last stab. He leaned on a thick stick, which trembled under his other hand. `I have always dreamed,' he mouthed, fiercely, `of a band of men absolute in their resolve to discard all scruples19 in the choice of means, strong enough to give themselves frankly20 the name of destroyers, and free from the taint21 of that resigned pessimism22 which rots the world. No pity for anything on earth, including themselves, and death enlisted23 for good and all in the service of humanity - that's what I would have liked to see.
His little bald head quivered, imparting a comical vibration24 to the wisp of white goatee. His enunciation25 would have been almost totally unintelligible26 to a stranger. His worn-out passion, resembling in its impotent fierceness the excitement of a senile sensualist, was badly served by a dried throat and toothless gums which seemed to catch the tip of his tongue. Mr Verloc, established in the corner of the sofa at the other end of the room, emitted two hearty28 grunts30 of assent31.
The old terrorist turned slowly his head on his skinny neck from side to side.
`And I could never get as many as three such men together. So much for your rotten pessimism,' he snarled32 at Michaelis, who uncrossed his thick legs similar to bolsters33, and slid his feet abruptly34 under his chair in sign of exasperation35.
He a pessimist36! Preposterous37! He cried out that the charge was outrageous38. He was so far from pessimism that he saw already the end of all private property coming along logically, unavoidably, by the mere39 development of its inherent viciousness. The possessors of property had not only to face the awakened40 proletariat, but they had also to fight amongst themselves. Yes. Struggle, warfare41, was the condition of private ownership. It was fatal. Ah! he did not depend upon emotional excitement to keep up his belief, no declamations, no anger, no visions of blood-red flags waving, or metaphorical42 lurid43 suns of vengeance44 rising above the horizon of a doomed45 society. Not he! Cold reason, he boasted, was the basis of his optimism. Yes optimism--His laborious46 wheezing47 stopped, then, after a gasp48 or two, he added:
`Don't you think that, if I had not been the optimist49 I am, I could not have found in fifteen years some means to cut my throat? And, in the last instance, there were always the walls of my cell to dash my head against.'
The shortness of breath took all fire, all animation50 out of his voice; his great, pale cheeks hung like filled pouches51, motionless, without a quiver; but in his blue eyes, narrowed as if peering, there was the same look of confident shrewdness, a little crazy in its fixity, they must have had while the indomitable optimist sat thinking at night in his cell. Before him, Karl Yundt remained standing52, one wing of his faded greenish havelock thrown back cavalierly over his shoulder. Seated in front of the fireplace, Comrade Ossipon, ex-medical student, the principal writer of the F.P. leaflets, stretched out his robust53 legs, keeping the soles of his boots turned up to the glow in the grate. A bush of crinkly yellow hair topped his red, freckled54 face, with a flattened55 nose and prominent mouth cast in the rough mould of the Negro type. His almond-shaped eyes leered languidly over the high cheek-bones. He wore a grey flannel56 shirt, the loose ends of a black silk tie hung down the buttoned breast of his serge coat; and his head resting on the back of his chair, his throat largely exposed, he raised to his lips a cigarette in a long wooden tube, puffing57 jets of smoke straight up at the ceiling.
Michaelis pursued his idea - the idea of his solitary58 reclusion59 - the thought vouchsafed60 to his captivity61 and growing like a faith revealed in visions. He talked to himself, indifferent to the sympathy or hostility62 of his hearers, indifferent indeed to their presence, from the habit he had acquired of thinking aloud hopefully in the solitude63 of the four whitewashed64 walls of his cell, in the sepulchral65 silence of the great blind pile of bricks near a river, sinister66 and ugly like a colossal67 mortuary for the socially drowned.
He was no good in discussion, not because any amount of argument could shake his faith, but because the mere fact of hearing another voice disconcerted him painfully, confusing his thoughts at once - these thoughts that for so many years, in a mental solitude more barren than a waterless desert, no living voice had ever combated, commented, or approved.
No one interrupted him now, and he made again the confession68 of his faith, mastering him irresistible69 and complete like an act of grace: the secret of fate discovered in the material side of life; the economic condition of the world responsible for the past and shaping the future; the source of all ideas, guiding the mental development of mankind and the very impulses of their passion--A harsh laugh from Comrade Ossipon cut the tirade70 dead short in a sudden faltering71 of the tongue and a bewildered unsteadiness of the apostle's mildly exalted72 eyes. He closed them slowly for a moment, as if to collect his routed thoughts. A silence fell; but what with the two gas-jets over the table and the glowing grate the little parlour behind Mr Verloc's shop had become frightfully hot. Mr Verloc, getting off the sofa with ponderous74 reluctance75, opened the door leading into the kitchen to get more air, and thus disclosed the innocent Stevie, seated very good and quiet at a deal table, drawing circles, circles; innumerable circles, concentric, eccentric; a coruscating76 whirl of circles that by their tangled77 multitude of repeated curves, uniformity of form, and confusion of intersecting lines suggested a rendering78 of cosmic chaos79, the symbolism of a mad art attempting the inconceivable. The artist never turned his head; and in all his soul's application to the task his back quivered, his thin neck, sunk into a deep hollow at the base of the skull80, seemed ready to snap.
Mr Verloc, after a grunt29 of disapproving81 surprise, returned to the sofa. Alexander Ossipon got up, tall in his threadbare blue serge suit under the low ceiling, shook off the stiffness of long immobility, and strolled away into the kitchen (down two steps) to look over Stevie's shoulder. He came back, pronouncing oracularly: `Very good. Very characteristic, perfectly82 typical.'
`What's very good?' grunted83, inquiringly, Mr Verloc, settled again in the corner of the sofa. The other explained his meaning negligently84, with a shade of condescension85 and a toss of his head towards the kitchen:
`Typical of this form of degeneracy - these drawings, I mean.'
`You would call that lad a degenerate86, would you?' mumbled87 Mr Verloc.
Comrade Alexander Ossipon - nicknamed the Doctor, ex-medical student without a degree; afterwards wandering lecturer to working-men's associations upon the socialistic aspects of hygiene88; author of a popular quasi-medical study (in the form of a cheap pamphlet seized promptly89 by the police) entitled The Corroding90 Vices91 of the Middle Classes; special delegate of the more or less mysterious Red Committee, together with Karl Yundt and Michaelis, for the work of literary propaganda - turned upon the obscure familiar of at least two Embassies that glance of insufferable, hopelessly dense92 sufficiency which nothing but the frequentation of science can give to the dullness of common mortals.
`That's what he may be called scientifically. Very good type, too, altogether, of that sort of degenerate. It's good enough to glance at the lobes93 of his ears. If you read Lombroso--'
Mr Verloc, moody94 and spread largely on the sofa, continued to look down the row of his waistcoat buttons; but his cheeks became tinged95 by a faint blush. Of late even the merest derivative of the word science (a term in itself inoffensive and of indefinite meaning) had the curious power of evoking96 a definitely offensive mental vision of Mr Vladimir, in his body as he lived, with an almost supernatural clearness. And this phenomenon deserving justly to be classed amongst the marvels97 of science, induced in Mr Verloc an emotional state of dread98 and exasperation tending to express itself in violent swearing. But he said nothing. It was Karl Yundt who was heard, implacable to his last breath.
Comrade Ossipon met the shock of this blasphemy99 by an awful, vacant stare. And the other, his extinguished eyes without gleams blackening the deep shadows under the great, bony forehead, mumbled, catching100 the tip of his tongue between his lips at every second word as though he were chewing it angrily:
`Did you ever see such an idiot? For him the criminal is the prisoner. Simple, is it not? What about those who shut him up there - forced him in there? Exactly. Forced him in there. And what is crime? Does he know that, this imbecile who has made his way in this world of gorged101 fools by looking at the ears and teeth of a lot of poor, luckless devils? Teeth and ears mark the criminal? Do they? And what about the law that marks him still better - the pretty branding instrument invented by the overfed to protect themselves against the hungry? Red-hot applications on their vile12 skins - hey? Can't you smell and hear from here the thick hide of the people burn and sizzle? That's how criminals are made for your Lombrosos to write their silly stuff about.'
The knob of his stick and his legs shook together with passion, whilst the trunk, draped in the wings of the havelock, preserved his historic attitude of defiance102. He seemed to sniff103 the tainted104 air of social cruelty, to strain his ear for its atrocious sounds. There was an extraordinary force of suggestion in this posturing105. The all but moribund veteran of dynamite106 wars had been a great actor in his time - actor on platforms, in secret assemblies, in private interviews. The famous terrorist had never in his life raised personally as much as his little finger against the social edifice107. He was no man of action; he was not even an orator108 of torrential eloquence109, sweeping110 the masses along in the rushing noise and foam111 of a great enthusiasm. With a more subtle intention, he took the part of an insolent112 and venomous evoker113 of sinister impulses which lurk114 in the blind envy and exasperated115 vanity of ignorance, in the suffering and misery116 of poverty, in all the hopeful and noble illusions of righteous anger, pity, and revolt. The shadow of his evil gift clung to him yet like the smell of a deadly drug in an old vial of poison, emptied now, useless, ready to be thrown away upon the rubbish-heap of things that had served their time.
Michaelis, the ticket-of-leave apostle, smiled vaguely117 with his glued lips; his pasty moon face drooped118 under the weight of melancholy119 assent. He had been a prisoner himself. His own skin had sizzled under the red-hot brand, he murmured softly. But Comrade Ossipon, nicknamed the Doctor, had got over the shock by that time.
`You don't understand,' he began, disdainfully, but stopped short, intimidated120 by the dead blackness of the cavernous eyes in the face turned slowly towards him with a blind stare, as if guided only by the sound. He gave the discussion up, with a slight shrug121 of the shoulders.
Stevie, accustomed to move about disregarded, had got up from the kitchen table, carrying off his drawing to bed with him. He had reached the parlour door in time to receive in full the shock of Karl Yundt's eloquent122 imagery. The sheet of paper covered with circles dropped out of his fingers, and he remained staring at the old terrorist, as if rooted suddenly to the spot by his morbid123 horror and dread of physical pain. Stevie knew very well that hot iron applied124 to one's skin hurt very much. His scared eyes blazed with indignation: it would hurt terribly. His mouth dropped open.
Michaelis by staring unwinkingly at the fire had regained125 that sentiment of isolation126 necessary for the continuity of his thought. His optimism had begun to flow from his lips. He saw Capitalism doomed in its cradle, born with the poison of the principle of competition in its system. The great capitalists devouring127 the little capitalists, concentrating the power and the tools of production in great masses, perfecting industrial processes, and in the madness of self-aggrandizement only preparing, organizing, enriching, making ready the lawful128 inheritance of the suffering proletariat. Michaelis pronounced the great word `Patience' - and his clear blue glance, raised to the low ceiling of Mr Verloc's parlour, had a character of seraphic trustfulness. In the doorway129 Stevie, calmed, seemed sunk in hebetude.
Comrade Ossipon's face twitched130 with exasperation. `Then it's no use doing anything - no use whatever.'
`I don't say that,' protested Michaelis, gently. His vision of truth had grown so intense that the sound of a strange voice failed to rout73 it this time. He continued to look down at the red coals. Preparation for the future was necessary, and he was willing to admit that the great change would perhaps come in the upheaval131 of a revolution. But he argued that revolutionary propaganda was a delicate work of high conscience. It was the education of the masters of the world. It should be as careful as the education given to kings. He would have it advance its tenets cautiously, even timidly, in our ignorance of the effect that may be produced by any given economic change upon the happiness, the morals, the intellect, the history of mankind. For history is made with tools, not with ideas; and everything is changed by economic conditions - art, philosophy, love, virtue132 - truth itself!
The coals in the grate settled down with a slight crash; and Michaelis, the hermit133 of visions in the desert of a penitentiary134, got up impetuously. Round like a distended balloon, he opened his short, thick arms, as if in a pathetically hopeless attempt to embrace and hug to his breast a self-regenerated universe. He gasped135 with ardour.
`The future is as certain as the past - slavery, feudalism, individualism, collectivism. This is the statement of a law, not an empty prophecy.'
The disdainful pout136 of Comrade Ossipon's thick lips accentuated137 the Negro type of his face.
`Nonsense,' he said, calmly enough. `There is no law and no certainty. The teaching propaganda be hanged. What the people knows does not matter, were its knowledge ever so accurate. The only thing that matters to us is the emotional state of the masses. Without emotion there is no action.'
He paused, then added with modest firmness:
`I am speaking now Co you scientifically - scientifically - Eh? What did you say, Verloc?'
`Nothing,' growled138 from the sofa Mr Verloc, who, provoked by the abhorrent139 sound, had merely muttered a `Damn.'
The venomous spluttering of the old terrorist without teeth was heard.
`Do you know how I would call the nature of the present economic conditions? I would call it cannibalistic. That's what it is! They are nourishing their greed on the quivering flesh and the warm blood of the people - nothing else.'
Stevie swallowed the terrifying statement with an audible gulp140, and at once, as though it had been swift poison, sank limply in a sitting posture141 on the steps of the kitchen door.
Michaelis gave no signs of having heard anything. His lips seemed glued together for good; not a quiver passed over his heavy cheeks. With troubled eyes he looked for his round, hard hat, and put it on his round head. His round and obese142 body seemed to float low between the chairs under the sharp elbow of Karl Yundt. The old terrorist, raising an uncertain and clawlike hand, gave a swaggering tilt143 to a black felt sombrero shading the hollows and ridges144 of his wasted face. He got in motion slowly, striking the floor with hi stick at every step. It was rather an affair to get him out of the house because, now and then, he would stop, as if to think, and did not offer to move again till impelled145 forward by Michaelis. The gentle apostle grasped his arm with brotherly care; and behind them, his hands in his pockets, the robust Ossipon yawned vaguely. A blue cap with a patent leather peak set well at the back of his yellow bush of hair gave him the aspect of a Norwegian sailor bored with the world after a thundering spree. Mr Verloc saw his guests off the premises146, attending them bareheaded, his heavy overcoat hanging open, his eyes on the ground.
He closed the door behind their backs with restrained violence, turned the key, shot the bolt. He was not satisfied with his friends. In the light of Mr Vladimir's philosophy of bomb throwing they appeared hopelessly futile147. The part of Mr Verloc in revolutionary politics having been to observe, he could not all at once, either in his own home or in larger assemblies, take the initiative of action. He had to be cautious. Moved by the just indignation of a man well over forty, menaced in what is dearest to him - his repose148 and his security - he asked himself scornfully what else could have been expected from such a lot, this Karl Yundt, this Michaelis - this Ossipon.
Pausing in his intention to turn off the gas burning in the middle of the shop, Mr Verloc descended149 into the abyss of moral reflections. With the insight of a kindred temperament150 he pronounced his verdict. A lazy lot - this Karl Yundt, nursed by a blear-eyed old woman, a woman he had years ago enticed151 away from a friend, and afterwards had tried more than once to shake off into the gutter152. Jolly lucky for Yundt that she had persisted in coming up time after time, or else there would have been no one now to help him out of the bus by the Green Park railings, where that spectre took its constitutional crawl every fine morning. When that indomitable snarling153 old witch died the swaggering spectre would have to vanish, too - there would be an end to fiery154 Karl Yundt. And Mr Verloc's morality was offended also by the optimism of Michaelis, annexed155 by his wealthy old lady, who had taken lately to sending him to a cottage she had in the country. The ex-prisoner could moon about the shady lanes for days together in a delicious and humanitarian156 idleness. As to Ossipon, that beggar was sure to want for nothing as long as there were silly girls with savings-bank books in the world. And Mr Verloc, temperamentally identical with his associates, drew fine distinctions in his mind on the strength of insignificant differences. He drew them with a certain complacency, because the instinct of conventional respectability was strong within him, being only overcome by his dislike of all kinds of recognized labour - a temperamental defect which he shared with a large proportion of revolutionary reformers of a given social state. For obviously one does not revolt against the advantages and opportunities of that state, but against the price which must be paid for the same in the coin of accepted morality, self-restraint, and coil. The majority of revolutionists are the enemies of discipline and fatigue157 mostly. There are natures, too, to whose sense of justice the price exacted looms158 up monstrously159 enormous, odious160, oppressive, worrying,humiliating, extortionate, intolerable. Those are the fanatics161. The remaining portion of social rebels is accounted for by vanity, the mother of all noble and vile illusions, the companion of poets, reformers, charlatans162, prophets, and incendiaries.
Lost for a whole minute in the abyss of meditation, Mr Verloc did not reach the depth of these abstract considerations. Perhaps he was not able. In any case he had not the time. He was pulled up painfully by the sudden recollection of Mr Vladimir, another of his associates, whom in virtue of subtle moral affinities163 he was capable of judging correctly. He considered him as dangerous. A shade of envy crept into his thoughts. Loafing was all very well for these fellows, who knew not Mr Vladimir, and had women to fall back upon; whereas he had a woman to provide for--At this point, by a simple association of ideas, Mr Verloc was brought face to face with the necessity of going to bed some time or other that evening. Then why not go now - at once? He sighed. The necessity was not so normally pleasurable as it ought to have been for a man of his age and temperament. He dreaded164 the demon165 of sleeplessness166, which he felt had marked him for its own. He raised his arm, and turned off the flaring167 gas-jet above his head.
A bright band of light fell through the parlour door into the part of the shop behind the counter. It enabled Mr Verloc to ascertain168 at a glance the number of silver coins in the till. These were but few; and for the first time since he opened his shop he took a commercial survey of its value. This survey was unfavourable. He had gone into trade for no commercial reasons. He had been guided in the selection of this peculiar169 line of business by an instinctive170 leaning towards shady transactions, where money is picked up easily. Moreover, it did not take him out of his own sphere - the sphere which Is watched by the police. On the contrary, it gave him a publicly confessed standing in that sphere, and as Mr Verloc had unconfessed relations which made him familiar with yet careless of the police, there was a distinct advantage in such a situation. But as a means of livelihood171 it was by itself insufficient172.
He took the cash-box out of the drawer, and turning to leave the shop, became aware that Stevie was still downstairs.
What on earth is he doing there? Mr Verloc asked himself. What's the meaning of these antics? He looked dubiously173 at his brother-in-law, but did not ask him for information. Mr Verloc's intercourse174 with Stevie was limited to the casual mutter of a morning, after breakfast, `My boots,' and even that was more a communication at large of a need than a direct order or request. Mr Verloc perceived with some surprise that he did not know really what to say to Stevie. He stood still in the middle of the parlour, and looked into the kitchen in silence. Nor yet did he know what would happen if he did say anything. And this appeared very queer to Mr Verloc in view of the fact, borne upon him suddenly, that he had to provide for this fellow, too. He had never given a moment's thought till then to that aspect of Stevie's existence.
Positively he did not know how to speak to the lad. He watched him gesticulating and murmuring in the kitchen. Stevie prowled round the table like an excited animal in a cage. A tentative `Hadn't you better go to bed now?' produced no effect whatever; and Mr Verloc, abandoning the stony175 contemplation of his brother-in-law's behaviour, crossed the parlour wearily, cash- box in hand. The cause of the general lassitude he felt while climbing the stairs being purely176 mental, he became alarmed by its inexplicable177 character. He hoped he was not sickening for anything. He stopped on the dark landing to examine his sensations. But a slight and continuous sound of snoring pervading178 the obscurity interfered179 with their clearness. The sound came from his mother-in-law's room. Another one to provide for, he thought - and on this thought walked into the bedroom.
Mrs Verloc had fallen asleep with the lamp (no gas was laid upstairs) turned up full on the table by the side of the bed. The light thrown down by the shade fell dazzlingly on the white pillow sunk by the weight of her head reposing180 with closed eyes and dark hair done up in several plaits for the night. She woke up with the sound of her name in her ears, and saw her husband standing over her.
`Winnie! Winnie!'
At first she did not stir, lying very quiet and looking at the cash-box in Mr Verloc's hand. But when she understood that her brother was `capering all over the place downstairs' she swung out in one sudden movement on to the edge of the bed. Her bare feet, as if poked181 through the bottom of an unadorned, sleeved calico sack buttoned tightly at neck and wrists, felt over the rug for the slippers182 while she looked upward into her husband's face.
`I don't know how to manage him,' Mr Verloc explained, peevishly183. `Won't do to leave him downstairs alone with the lights.'
She said nothing, glided184 across the room swiftly, and the door closed upon her white form.
Mr Verloc deposited the cash-box on the night table, and began the operation of undressing by flinging his overcoat on to a distant chair. His coat and waistcoat followed. He walked about the room in his stockinged feet, and his burly figure, with the hands worrying nervously185 at his throat, passed and repassed across the long strip of looking-glass in the door of his wife's wardrobe. Then after slipping his braces186 off his shoulders he pulled up violently the venetian blind, and leaned his forehead against the cold window-pane - a fragile film of glass stretched between him and the enormity of cold, black, wet, muddy, inhospitable accumulation of bricks, slates187, and stones, things in themselves unlovely and unfriendly to man.
Mr Verloc felt the latent unfriendliness of all out of doors with a force approaching to positive bodily anguish188. There is no occupation that fails a man more completely than that of a secret agent of police. It's like your horse suddenly falling dead under you in the midst of an uninhabited and thirsty plain. The comparison occurred to Mr Verloc because he had sat astride various army horses in his time, and had now the sensation of an incipient189 fall. The prospect190 was as black as the window-pane against which he was leaning his forehead. And suddenly the face of Mr Vladimir, clean-shaved and witty191, appeared enhaloed in the glow of its rosy192 complexion like a sort of pink seal impressed on the fatal darkness.
This luminous193 and mutilated vision was so ghastly physically194 that Mr Verloc started away from the window, letting down the venetian blind with a great rattle195. Discomposed and speechless with the apprehension196 of more such visions, he beheld197 his wife re-enter the room and get into bed in a calm, businesslike manner which made him feel hopelessly lonely in the world. Mrs Verloc expressed her surprise at seeing him up yet.
`I don't feel very well,' he muttered, passing his hands over his moist brow.
`Giddiness?'
`Yes. Not at all well.'
Mrs Verloc, with all the placidity198 of an experienced wife, expressed a confident opinion as to the cause, and suggested the usual remedies; but her husband, rooted in the middle of the room, shook his lowered head sadly.
`You'll catch cold standing there,' she observed.
Mr Verloc made an effort, finished undressing, and got into bed. Down below in the quiet, narrow street measured footsteps approached the house, then died away, unhurried and firm, as if the passer-by had started to pace out all eternity199, from gas-lamp to gas-lamp in a night without end; and the drowsy200 ticking of the old clock on the landing became distinctly audible in the bedroom.
Mrs Verloc, on her back, and staring at the ceiling, made a remark. `Takings very small today.'
Mr Verloc, in the same position, cleared his throat as if for an important statement, but merely inquired:
`Did you turn off the gas downstairs?'
`Yes; I did,' answered Mrs Verloc, conscientiously201. `That poor boy is in a very excited state tonight,' she murmured, after a pause which lasted for three ticks of the clock.
Mr Verloc cared nothing for Stevie's excitement, but he felt horribly wakeful, and dreaded facing the darkness and silence that would follow the extinguishing of the lamp. This dread led him to make the remark that Stevie had disregarded his suggestion to go to bed. Mrs Verloc, falling into the trap, started to demonstrate at length to her husband that this was not `impudence' of any sort, but simply excitement'. There was no young man of his age in London more willing and docile202 than Stephen, she affirmed; none more affectionate and ready to please, and even useful, as long as people did not upset his poor head. Mrs Verloc, turning towards her recumbent husband, raised herself on her elbow, and hung over him in her anxiety that he should believe Stevie to be a useful member of the family. That ardour of protecting compassion203 exalted morbidly204 in her childhood by the misery of another child tinged her sallow cheeks with a faint dusky blush, made her big eyes gleam under the dark lids. Mrs Verloc then looked younger; she looked as young as Winnie used to look, and much more animated205 than the Winnie of the Belgravian mansion206 days had ever allowed herself to appear to gentlemen lodgers207. Mr Verloc's anxieties had prevented him from attaching any sense to what his wife was saying. It was as if her voice was talking on the other side of a very thick wall. It was her aspect that recalled him to himself.
He appreciated this woman, and the sentiment of this appreciation208, stirred by a display of something resembling emotion, only added another pang209 to his mental anguish. When her voice ceased he moved uneasily, and said:
`I haven't been feeling well for the last few days.'
He might have meant this as an opening to a complete confidence; but Mrs Verloc laid her head on the pillow again, and staring upward, went on:
`That boy hears too much of what is talked about here. If I had known they were coming tonight I would have seen to it that he went to bed at the same time I did. He was out of his mind with something he overheard about eating people's flesh and drinking blood. What's the good of talking like that?'
There was a note of indignant scorn in her voice. Mr Verloc was fully16 responsive now.
`Ask Karl Yundt,' he growled, savagely210.
Mrs Verloc, with great decision, pronounced Karl Yundt `a disgusting old man'. She declared openly her affection for Michaelis. Of the robust Ossipon, in whose presence she always felt uneasy behind an attitude of stony reserve, she said nothing whatever. And continuing to talk of that brother, who had been for so many years an object of care and fears:
`He isn't fit to hear what's said here. He believes it's all true. He knows no better. He gets into his passions over it.'
Mr Verloc made no comment.
`He glared at me, as if he didn't know who I was, when I went downstairs. His heart was going like a hammer. He can't help being ##excitable. I woke mother up, and asked her to sit with him till he went to sleep. It isn't his fault. He's no trouble when he's left alone.'
Mr Verloc made no comment.
`I wish he had never been to school,' Mrs Verloc began again, brusquely. `He's always taking away those newspapers from the window to read. He gets a red face poring over them. We don't get rid of a dozen numbers in a month. They only take up room in the front window. And Mr Ossipon brings every week a pile of these F.P. tracts211 to sell at a halfpenny each. I wouldn't give a halfpenny for the whole lot. It's silly reading - that's what it is. There's no sale for it. The other day Stevie got hold of one, and there was a story in it of a German soldier officer tearing half-off the ear of a recruit, and nothing was done to him for it. The brute212! I couldn't do anything with Stevie that afternoon. The story was enough, too, to make one's blood boil. But what's the use of printing things like that? We aren't German slaves here, thank God. It's not our business - is it?'
Mr Verloc made no reply.
`I had to take the carving213 knife from the boy,' Mrs Verloc continued, a little sleepily now. `He was shouting and stamping and sobbing214. He can't stand the notion of any cruelty. He would have stuck that officer like a pig if he had seen him then. It's true, too! Some people don't deserve much mercy.' Mrs Verloc's voice ceased, and the expression of her motionless eyes became more and more contemplative and veiled during the long pause. `Comfortable, dear?' she asked in a faint, far-away voice. `Shall I put out the light now?'
The dreary215 conviction that there was no sleep for him held Mr Verloc mute and hopelessly inert216 in his fear of darkness. He made a great effort.
`Yes. Put it out,' he said at last in a hollow tone.
收听单词发音 |
1
complexity
|
|
| n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
insignificant
|
|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
capitalism
|
|
| n.资本主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
wheezed
|
|
| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
distended
|
|
| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
complexion
|
|
| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
outraged
|
|
| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
fattening
|
|
| adj.（食物）要使人发胖的v.喂肥( fatten的现在分词 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
joint
|
|
| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
meditation
|
|
| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
vile
|
|
| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
giggled
|
|
| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
grimace
|
|
| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
malevolence
|
|
| n.恶意，狠毒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
deformed
|
|
| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
moribund
|
|
| adj.即将结束的，垂死的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
scruples
|
|
| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
taint
|
|
| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
pessimism
|
|
| n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
enlisted
|
|
| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
vibration
|
|
| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
enunciation
|
|
| n.清晰的发音；表明，宣言；口齿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
unintelligible
|
|
| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
ass
|
|
| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
hearty
|
|
| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
grunt
|
|
| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
grunts
|
|
| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
assent
|
|
| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
snarled
|
|
| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
bolsters
|
|
| n.长枕( bolster的名词复数 )；垫子；衬垫；支持物v.支持( bolster的第三人称单数 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
exasperation
|
|
| n.愤慨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
pessimist
|
|
| n.悲观者；悲观主义者；厌世 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
preposterous
|
|
| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
outrageous
|
|
| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
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： |
|
|
|
|
41
warfare
|
|
| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
metaphorical
|
|
| a.隐喻的，比喻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
lurid
|
|
| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
doomed
|
|
| 命定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
laborious
|
|
| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
wheezing
|
|
| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的现在分词 )；哮鸣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
gasp
|
|
| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
optimist
|
|
| n.乐观的人，乐观主义者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
animation
|
|
| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
pouches
|
|
| n.（放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的）小袋( pouch的名词复数 )；（袋鼠等的）育儿袋；邮袋；（某些动物贮存食物的）颊袋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
robust
|
|
| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
freckled
|
|
| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
flattened
|
|
| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
flannel
|
|
| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
puffing
|
|
| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
reclusion
|
|
| n.隐居遁世，隐居生活；隐退 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
vouchsafed
|
|
| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
captivity
|
|
| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
hostility
|
|
| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
whitewashed
|
|
| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
sepulchral
|
|
| adj.坟墓的，阴深的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
sinister
|
|
| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
colossal
|
|
| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
irresistible
|
|
| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
tirade
|
|
| n.冗长的攻击性演说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
faltering
|
|
| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
exalted
|
|
| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
rout
|
|
| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
ponderous
|
|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
reluctance
|
|
| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
coruscating
|
|
| v.闪光，闪烁( coruscate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
tangled
|
|
| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
rendering
|
|
| n.表现，描写 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
chaos
|
|
| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
skull
|
|
| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
disapproving
|
|
| adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
grunted
|
|
| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
negligently
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
condescension
|
|
| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
degenerate
|
|
| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
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： |
|
|
|
|
88
hygiene
|
|
| n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
corroding
|
|
| 使腐蚀，侵蚀( corrode的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
vices
|
|
| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
dense
|
|
| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
lobes
|
|
| n.耳垂( lobe的名词复数 )；（器官的）叶；肺叶；脑叶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
moody
|
|
| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
tinged
|
|
| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
evoking
|
|
| 产生，引起，唤起( evoke的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
marvels
|
|
| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
blasphemy
|
|
| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
catching
|
|
| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
gorged
|
|
| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
sniff
|
|
| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
tainted
|
|
| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
posturing
|
|
| 做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
dynamite
|
|
| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
edifice
|
|
| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
orator
|
|
| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
eloquence
|
|
| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
foam
|
|
| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
insolent
|
|
| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
evoker
|
|
| 产生，引起； 唤起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
lurk
|
|
| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
exasperated
|
|
| adj.恼怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
drooped
|
|
| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
intimidated
|
|
| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
shrug
|
|
| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
eloquent
|
|
| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
morbid
|
|
| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
applied
|
|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
regained
|
|
| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
isolation
|
|
| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
devouring
|
|
| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
lawful
|
|
| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
twitched
|
|
| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
upheaval
|
|
| n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
hermit
|
|
| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
penitentiary
|
|
| n.感化院；监狱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
pout
|
|
| v.撅嘴；绷脸；n.撅嘴；生气，不高兴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
accentuated
|
|
| v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
growled
|
|
| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
abhorrent
|
|
| adj.可恶的，可恨的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
gulp
|
|
| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
posture
|
|
| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
obese
|
|
| adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
tilt
|
|
| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
ridges
|
|
| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
impelled
|
|
| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
premises
|
|
| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
futile
|
|
| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
repose
|
|
| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
temperament
|
|
| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
enticed
|
|
| 诱惑，怂恿( entice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
gutter
|
|
| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
snarling
|
|
| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
fiery
|
|
| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
annexed
|
|
| [法] 附加的，附属的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
humanitarian
|
|
| n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
fatigue
|
|
| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
looms
|
|
| n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
monstrously
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
odious
|
|
| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
fanatics
|
|
| 狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
charlatans
|
|
| n.冒充内行者，骗子( charlatan的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
affinities
|
|
| n.密切关系( affinity的名词复数 )；亲近；（生性）喜爱；类同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
dreaded
|
|
| 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： |
|
|
|
|
165
demon
|
|
| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
sleeplessness
|
|
| n.失眠，警觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
flaring
|
|
| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
ascertain
|
|
| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
instinctive
|
|
| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
livelihood
|
|
| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
insufficient
|
|
| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
dubiously
|
|
| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
stony
|
|
| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
purely
|
|
| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
inexplicable
|
|
| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
pervading
|
|
| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
179
interfered
|
|
| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
180
reposing
|
|
| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
181
poked
|
|
| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
182
slippers
|
|
| n. 拖鞋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
183
peevishly
|
|
| adv．暴躁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
184
glided
|
|
| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
185
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
186
braces
|
|
| n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
187
slates
|
|
| （旧时学生用以写字的）石板( slate的名词复数 )； 板岩； 石板瓦； 石板色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
188
anguish
|
|
| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
189
incipient
|
|
| adj.起初的，发端的，初期的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
190
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
191
witty
|
|
| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
192
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
193
luminous
|
|
| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
194
physically
|
|
| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
195
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
196
apprehension
|
|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
197
beheld
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
198
placidity
|
|
| n.平静，安静，温和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
199
eternity
|
|
| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
200
drowsy
|
|
| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
201
conscientiously
|
|
| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
202
docile
|
|
| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
203
compassion
|
|
| n.同情，怜悯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
204
morbidly
|
|
| adv.病态地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
205
animated
|
|
| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
206
mansion
|
|
| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
207
lodgers
|
|
| n.房客，租住者( lodger的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
208
appreciation
|
|
| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
209
pang
|
|
| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
210
savagely
|
|
| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
211
tracts
|
|
| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
212
brute
|
|
| n.野兽，兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
213
carving
|
|
| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
214
sobbing
|
|
| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
215
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
216
inert
|
|
| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |