The Assistant Commissioner2 walked along a short and narrow street like a wet, muddy trench3, then crossing a very broad thoroughfare entered a public edifice4, and sought speech with a young private secretary (unpaid5) of a great personage.
This fair, smooth-faced young man, whose symmetrically arranged hair gave him the air of a large and neat schoolboy, met the Assistant Commissioner's request with a doubtful look, and spoke6 with bated breath.
`Would he see you? I don't know about that. He has walked over from the House an hour ago to talk with the Permanent Under-Secretary, and now he's ready to walk back again. He might have sent for him; but he does it for the sake of a little exercise, I suppose. It's all the exercise he can find time for while this session lasts. I don't complain; I rather enjoy these little strolls. He leans on my arm, and doesn't open his lips. But, I say, he's very tired, and - well - not in the sweetest of tempers just now.'
`It's in connection with that Greenwich affair.'
`Oh! I say! He's very bitter against you people. But I will go and see, if you insist.'
`Do. That's a good fellow,' said the Assistant Commissioner.
The unpaid secretary admired this pluck. Composing for himself an innocent face, he opened a door, and went in with the assurance of a nice and privileged child. And presently he reappeared, with a nod to the Assistant Commissioner, who passing through the same door left open for him, found himself with the great personage in a large room.
Vast in bulk and stature7, with a long white face, which, broadened at the base by a big double chin, appeared egg-shaped in the fringe of greyish whisker, the great personage seemed an expanding man. Unfortunate from a tailoring point of view, the crossfolds in the middle of a buttoned black coat added to the impression, as if the fastenings of the garment were tried to the utmost. From the head, set upward on a thick neck, the eyes, with puffy lower lids, stared with a haughty8 droop9 on each side of a hooked, aggressive nose, nobly salient in the vast pale circumference10 of the face. A shiny silk hat and a pair of worn gloves lying ready at the end of a long table looked expanded, too, enormous.
He stood on the hearthrug in big, roomy boots, and uttered no word of greeting.
`I would like to know if this is the beginning of another dynamite11 campaign;' he asked at once in a deep, very smooth voice. `Don't go into details. I have no time for that.'
The Assistant Commissioner's figure before this big and rustic12 Presence had the frail13 slenderness of a reed addressing an oak. And indeed the unbroken record of that man's descent surpassed in the number of centuries the age of the oldest oak in the country.
`No. As far as one can be positive about anything I can assure you that it is not.'
`Yes. But your idea of assurances over there,' said the great man, with a contemptuous wave of his hand towards a window giving on the broad thoroughfare, `seem to consist mainly in making the Secretary of State look a fool. I have been told positively14 in this very room less than a month ago that nothing of the sort was even possible.'
The Assistant Commissioner glanced in the direction of the window calmly.
`You will allow me to remark, Sir Ethelred, that so far I have had no opportunity to give you assurances of any kind.'
The haughty droop of the eyes was focused now upon the Assistant Commissioner.
`True,' confessed the deep, smooth voice. `I sent for Heat. You are still rather a novice15 in your new berth16. And how are you getting on over there?'
`I believe I am learning something every day.'
`Of course, of course. I hope you will get on.'
`Thank you, Sir Ethelred. I've learned something today, and even within the last hour or so. There is much in this affair of a kind that does not meet the eye in a usual anarchist17 outrage18, even if one looked into it as deep as can be. That's why I am here.'
The great man put his arms akimbo, the backs of his big hands resting on his hips19.
`Very well. Go on. Only no details, pray. Spare me the details.'
`You shall not be troubled with them, Sir Ethelred,' the AssistantCommissioner began, with a calm and untroubled assurance. While he was speaking the hands on the face of the clock behind the great man 5 back - a heavy, glistening20 affair of massive scrolls21 in the same dark marble as the mantelpiece, and with a ghostly, evanescent tick - had moved through the space of seven minutes. He spoke with a studious fidelity22 to a parenthetical manner, into which every little fact - that is, every detail - fitted with delightful23 ease. Not a murmur24 nor even a movement hinted at interruption. The great Personage might have been the statue of one of his own princely ancestors stripped of a Crusader's war harness, and put into an ill-fitting frockcoat. The Assistant Commissioner felt as though he were at liberty to talk for an hour. But he kept his head, and at the end of the time mentioned above he broke off with a sudden conclusion, which, reproducing the opening statement, pleasantly surprised Sir Ethelred by its apparent swiftness and force.
`The kind of thing which meets us under the surface of this affair, otherwise without gravity, is unusual - in this precise form at least - and requires special treatment.'
The tone of Sir Ethelred was deepened, full of conviction. `I should think so - involving the Ambassador of a foreign power!' `Oh! The Ambassador!' protested the other, erect25 and slender, allowing himself a mere26 half smile, `It would be stupid of me to advance anything of the kind. And it is absolutely unnecessary, because if I am right in my surmises27, whether ambassador or hall porter it's a mere detail.'
Sir Ethelred opened a wide mouth, like a cavern28, into which the hooked nose seemed anxious to peer; there came from it a subdued29 rolling sound, as from a distant organ with the scornful indignation stop.
`No! These people are too impossible. What do they mean by importing their methods of Crim-Tartary here? A Turk would have more decency30.'
`You forget, Sir Ethelred, that strictly31 speaking we know nothing positively - as yet.'
`No! But how would you define it? Shortly?'
`Barefaced audacity32 amounting to childishness of a peculiar33 sort.'
`We can't put up with the innocence34 of nasty little children,' said the great and expanded personage, expanding a little more as it were. The haughty, drooping35 glance struck crushingly the carpet at the Assistant Commissioner's feet. `They'll have to get a hard rap on the knuckles36 over this affair. We must be in a position to - What is your general idea, stated shortly? No need to go into details.'
`No, Sir Ethelred. In principle, I should lay it down that the existence of secret agents should not be tolerated, as tending to augment37 the positive dangers of the evil against which they are used. That the spy will fabricate his information is a mere commonplace. But in the sphere of political and revolutionary action, relying partly on violence, the professional spy has every facility to fabricate the very facts themselves, and will spread the double evil of emulation38 in one direction, and of panic, hasty legislation, unreflecting hate, in the other. However, this is an imperfect world--'
The deep-voiced Presence on the hearthrug, motionless, with big elbows stuck out, said hastily:
`Yes, Sir Ethelred - An imperfect world. Therefore directly the character of this affair suggested itself to me, I thought it should be dealt with with special secrecy40, and ventured to come over here.'
`That's right,' approved the great Personage, glancing down complacently41 over his double chin. `I am glad there's somebody over at your shop who thinks that the Secretary of State may be trusted now and then.'
The Assistant Commissioner had an amused smile. `I was really thinking that it might be better at this stage for Heat to be replaced by--'
`What! Heat? An ass1 - eh?' exclaimed the great man with distinct animosity.
`Not at all. Pray, Sir Ethelred, don't put that unjust interpretation42 on my remarks.'
`Then what? Too clever by half?'
`Neither - at least not as a rule. All the grounds of my surmises I have from him. The only thing I've discovered by myself is that he has been making use of that man privately43. Who could blame him? He's an old police hand. He told me virtually that he must have tools to work with. It occurred to me that this tool should be surrendered to the Special Crimes division as a whole, instead of remaining the private property of Chief Inspector44 Heat. I extended my conception of our departmental duties to the suppression of the secret agent. But Chief Inspector Heat is an old departmental hand. He would accuse me of perverting45 its morality and attacking its efficiency. He would define it bitterly as protection extended to the criminal class of revolutionists. It would mean just that to him.'
`Yes. But what do you mean?'
`I mean to say, first, that there's but poor comfort in being able to declare that any given act of violence - damaging property or destroying life - is not the work of anarchism at all, but of something else altogether - some species of authorized46 scoundrelism. This, I fancy, is much more frequent than we suppose. Next, it's obvious that the existence of these people in the pay of foreign governments destroys in a measure the efficiency of our supervision47. A spy of that sort can afford to be more reckless than the most reckless of conspirators48. His occupation is free from all restraint. He's without as much faith as is necessary for complete negation49, and without that much law as is implied in lawlessness. Thirdly, the existence of these spies amongst the revolutionary groups, which we are reproached for harbouring here, does away with all certitude. You have received a reassuring50 statement from Chief Inspector Heat some time ago. It was by no means groundless - and yet this episode happens. I call it an episode, because this affair, I make bold to say, is episodic; it is no part of any general scheme, however wild. The very peculiarities51 which surprise and perplex Chief Inspector Heat establish its character in my eyes. I am keeping clear of details, Sir Ethelred.'
The Personage on the hearthrug had been listening with profound attention.
`Just so. Be as concise52 as you can.'
The Assistant Commissioner intimated by an earnest, deferential53 gesture that he was anxious to be concise.
`There is a peculiar stupidity and feebleness in the conduct of this affair which gives me excellent hopes of getting behind it and finding there something else than an individual freak of fanaticism54. For it is a planned thing, undoubtedly55. The actual perpetrator seems to have been led by the hand to the spot, and then abandoned hurriedly to his own devices. The inference is that he was imported from abroad for the purpose of committing this outrage. At the same time one is forced to the conclusion that he did not know enough English to ask his way, unless one were to accept the fantastic theory that he was a deaf mute. I wonder now - But this is idle. He has destroyed himself by an accident, obviously. Not an extraordinary accident. But an extraordinary little fact remains56: the address on his clothing discovered by the merest accident, too. It is an incredible little fact, so incredible that the explanation which will account for it is bound to touch the bottom of this affair. Instead of instructing Heat to go on with this case, my intention is to seek this explanation personally - by myself, I mean - where it may be picked up. That is in a certain shop in Brett Street, and on the lips of a certain secret agent once upon a time the confidential57 and trusted spy of the late Baron58 Stott-Wartenheim, Ambassador of a Great Power to the Court of St James's.'
The Assistant Commissioner paused, then added: `Those fellows are a perfect pest.' In order to raise his drooping glance to the speaker's face, the Personage on the hearthrug had gradually tilted59 his head farther back, which gave him an aspect of extraordinary haughtiness60.
`Why not leave it to Heat?'
`Because he is an old departmental hand. They have their own morality. My line of inquiry61 would appear to him an awful perversion62 of duty. For him the plain duty is to fasten the guilt upon as many prominent anarchists63 as he can on some slight indications he had picked up in the course of his investigation64 on the spot; whereas I, he would say, am bent65 upon vindicating their innocence. I am trying to be as lucid as I can in presenting this obscure matter to you without details.'
`He would, would he?' muttered the proud head of Sir Ethelred from its lofty elevation66.
`I am afraid so - with an indignation and disgust of which you or I can have no idea. He's an excellent servant. We must not put an undue67 strain on his loyalty68. That's always a mistake. Besides, I want a free hand - a freer hand than it would be perhaps advisable to give Chief Inspector Heat. I haven't the slightest wish to spare this man Verloc. He will, I imagine, be extremely startled to find his connection with this affair, whatever it may be, brought home to him so quickly. Frightening him will not be very difficult. But our true objective lies behind him somewhere. I want your authority to give him such assurances of personal safety as I may think proper.'
`Certainly,' said the Personage on the hearthrug. `Find out as much as you can; find it out in your own way.
`I must set about it without loss of time, this very evening,' said the Assistant Commissioner.
Sir Ethelred shifted one hand under his coat tails, and tilting69 back his head looked at him steadily70.
`We'll have a late sitting tonight,' he said. `Come to the House with your discoveries if we are not gone home. I'll warn Toodles to look out for you. He'll take you into my room.'
The numerous family and the wide connections of the youthful looking Private Secretary cherished for him the hope of an austere71 and exalted72 destiny. Meantime, the social sphere he adorned73 in his hours of idleness chose to pet him under the above nickname. And Sir Ethelred, hearing it on the lips of his wife and girls every day (mostly at breakfast-time), had conferred upon it the dignity of unsmiling adoption74.
The Assistant Commissioner was surprised and gratified extremely.
`I shall certainly bring my discoveries to the House on the chance of you having the time to--'
`I won't have the time,' interrupted the great Personage. `But I will see you. I haven't the time now - And you are going yourself?'
`Yes, Sir Ethelred. I think it the best way.'
The Personage had tilted his head so far back that, in order to keep the Assistant Commissioner under his observation, he had to nearly close his eyes.
`H'm. Ha! And how do you propose - Will you assume a disguise?'
`Hardly a disguise! I'll change my clothes, of course.'
`Of course,' repeated the great man, with a sort of absent-minded loftiness. He turned his big head slowly, and over his shoulder gave a haughty, oblique75 stare to the ponderous76 marble timepiece with the sly, feeble tick. The gilt77 hands had taken the opportunity to steal through no less than five and twenty minutes behind his back.
The Assistant Commissioner, who could not see them, grew a little nervous in the interval78. But the great man presented to him a calm and undismayed face.
`Very well,' he said, and paused, as if in deliberate contempt of the official clock. `But what first put you in motion in this direction?'
`I have been always of opinion,' began the Assistant Commissioner.
`Ah. Yes! Opinion. That's of course. But the immediate79 motive80?'
`What shall I say, Sir Ethelred? A new man's antagonism81 to old methods. A desire to know something at first hand. Some impatience82. It's my old work, but the harness is different. It has been chafing83 me a little in one or two tender places.'
`I hope you'll get on over there,' said the great man, kindly84, extending his hand, soft to the touch, but broad and powerful like the hand of a glorified85 farmer. The Assistant Commissioner shook it, and withdrew.
In the outer room Toodles, who had been waiting perched on the edge of a table, advanced to meet him, subduing87 his natural buoyancy.
`Well? Satisfactory?' he asked, with airy importance.
`Perfectly88. You've earned my undying gratitude,' answered the Assistant Commissioner, whose long face looked wooden in contrast with the peculiar character of the other's gravity, which seemed perpetually ready to break into ripples89 and chuckles91.
`That's all right. But, seriously, you can't imagine how irritated he is by the attacks on his Bill for the Nationalization of Fisheries. They call it the beginning of social revolution. Of course, it is a revolutionary measure. But these fellows have no decency. The personal attacks--'
`I read the papers,' remarked the Assistant Commissioner.
`Odious? Eh? And you have no notion what a mass of work he has got to get through every day. He does it all himself. Seems unable to trust any one with these Fisheries.'
`And yet he's given a whole half hour to the consideration of my very small sprat,' interjected the Assistant Commissioner.
`Small! Is it? I'm glad to hear that. But it's a pity you didn't keep away, then. This fight takes it out of him frightfully. The man's getting exhausted92. I feel it by the way he leans on my arm as we walk over. And, I say, is he safe in the streets? Mullins has been marching his men up here this afternoon. There's a constable93 stuck by every lamp-post, and every second person we meet between this and Palace Yard is an obvious tec. It will get on his nerves presently. I say, these foreign scoundrels aren't likely to throw something at him - are they? It would be a national calamity94. The country can't spare him.'
`Not to mention yourself. He leans on your arm,' suggested the Assistant Commissioner, soberly. `You would both go.'
`It would be an easy way for a young man to go down into history. Not so many British Ministers have been assassinated95 as to make it a minor96 incident. But seriously now--'
`I am afraid that if you want to go down into history you'll have to do something for it. Seriously, there's no danger whatever for both of you but from overwork.'
The sympathetic Toodles welcomed this opening for a chuckle90.
`The Fisheries won't kill me. I am used to late hours,' he declared, with ingenuous97 levity98. But, feeling an instant compunction, he began to assume an air of statesmanlike moodiness99, as one draws on a glove. `His massive intellect will stand any amount of work. It's his nerves that I am afraid of. The reactionary100 gang, with that abusive brute101 Cheeseman at their head, insult him every night.'
`If he will insist on beginning a revolution!' murmured the Assistant Commissioner.
`The time has come, and he is the only man great enough for the work,' protested the revolutionary Toodles, flaring102 up under the calm, speculative103 gaze of the Assistant Commissioner. Somewhere in a corridor a distant bell tinkled104 urgently, and with devoted105 vigilance the young man pricked106 up his ears at the sound. `He's ready to go now,' he exclaimed in a whisper, snatched up his hat, and vanished from the room.
The Assistant Commissioner went out by another door in a less elastic107 manner. Again he crossed the wide thoroughfare, walked along a narrow street, and re-entered hastily his own departmental buildings. He kept up this accelerated pace to the door of his private room. Before he had closed it fairly his eyes sought his desk. He stood still for a moment, then walked up, looked all round on the floor, sat down in his chair, rang a bell, and waited.
`Chief Inspector Heat gone yet?'
`Yes, sir. Went away half an hour ago.'
He nodded. `That will do.' And sitting still, with his hat pushed off his forehead, he thought that it was just like Heat's confounded cheek to carry off quietly the only piece of material evidence. But he thought this without animosity. Old and valued servants will take liberties. The piece of overcoat with the address sewn on was certainly not a thing to leave about. Dismissing from his mind this manifestation108 of Chief Inspector Heat's mistrust, he wrote and dispatched a note to his wife, charging her to make his apologies to Michaelis's great lady, with whom they were engaged to dine that evening.
The short jacket and the low, round hat he assumed in a sort of curtained alcove109 containing a washstand, a row of wooden pegs110 and a shelf, brought out wonderfully the length of his grave, brown face. He stepped back into the full light of the room, looking like the vision of a cool, reflective Don Quixote, with the sunken eyes of a dark enthusiast111 and a very deliberate manner. He left the scene of his daily labours quickly like an unobtrusive shadow. His descent into the street was like the descent into a slimy aquarium112 from which the water had been run off. A murky113, gloomy dampness enveloped114 him. The walls of the houses were wet, the mud of the roadway glistened115 with an effect of phosphorescence, and when he emerged into the Strand117 out of a narrow street by the side of Charing118 Cross Station the genius of the locality assimilated him. He might have been but one more of the queer foreign fish that can be seen of an evening about there flitting round the dark corners.
He came to a stand on the very edge of the pavement, and waited. His exercised eyes had made out in the confused movement of lights and shows thronging119 the roadway the crawling approach of a hansom. He gave no sign; but when the low step gliding120 along the kerbstone came to his feet he dodged121 in skilfully122 in front of the big turning wheel,'and spoke up through the little trap door almost before the man gazing supinely ahead from his perch86 was aware of having been boarded by a fare.
It was not a long drive. It ended by signal abruptly123, nowhere in particular, between two lamp-posts before a large drapery establishment - a long range of shops already lapped up in sheets of corrugated124 iron for the night. Tendering a coin through the trap door the fare slipped out and away, leaving an effect of uncanny, eccentric ghostliness upon the driver's mind. But the size of the coin was satisfactory to his touch, and his education not being literary, he remained untroubled by the fear of finding it presently turned to a dead leaf in his pocket. Raised above the world of fares by the nature of his calling, he contemplated125 their action with a limited interest. The sharp pulling of his horse right round expressed his philosophy.
Meantime, the Assistant Commissioner was already giving his order to a waiter in a little Italian restaurant round the corner - one of those traps for the hungry, long and narrow, baited with a perspective of mirrors and white napery; without air, but with an atmosphere of their own - an atmosphere of fraudulent cookery mocking an abject126 mankind in the most pressing of its miserable127 necessities. In this immoral128 atmosphere the Assistant Commissioner, reflecting upon his enterprise, seemed to lose some more of his identity. He had a sense of loneliness, of evil freedom. It was rather pleasant. When, after paying for his short meal, he stood up and waited for his change, he saw himself in the sheet of glass, and was struck by his foreign appearance. He contemplated his own image with a melancholy129 and Inquisitive130 gaze, then by sudden inspiration raised the collar of his jacket. This arrangement appeared to him commendable131, and he completed it by giving an upward twist to the ends of his black moustache. He was satisfied by the subtle modification132 of his personal aspect caused by these small changes. `That'll do very well,' he thought. `I'll get a little wet, a little splashed--'
He became aware of the waiter at his elbow and of a small pile of silver coins on the edge of the table before him. The waiter kept one eye on it, while his other eye followed the long back of a tall, not very young girl, who passed up to a distant table looking perfectly sightless and altogether unapproachable. She seemed to be an habitual133 customer.
On going out the Assistant Commissioner made to himself the observation that the patrons of the place had lost in the frequentation of fraudulent cookery all their national and private characteristics. And this was strange, since the Italian restaurant is such a peculiarly British institution. But these people were as denationalized as the dishes set before them with every circumstance of unstamped respectability. Neither was their personality stamped in any way, professionally, socially or racially. They seemed created for the Italian restaurant, unless the Italian restaurant had been perchance created for them. But that last hypothesis was unthinkable, since one could not place them anywhere outside those special establishments. One never met these enigmatical persons elsewhere. It was impossible to form a precise idea what occupations they followed by day and where they went to bed at night. And he himself had become unplaced. It would have been impossible for anybody to guess his occupation. As to going to bed, there was a doubt even in his own mind. Not indeed in regard to his domicile itself, but very much so in respect of the time when he would be able to return there. A pleasurable feeling of independence possessed134 him when he heard the glass doors swing to behind his back with a sort of imperfect baffled thud. He advanced at once into an immensity of greasy135 slime and damp plaster Interspersed136 with lamps, and enveloped, oppressed, penetrated137, choked, and suffocated138 by the blackness of a wet London night, which is composed of soot139 and drops of water.
Brett Street was not very far away. It branches off, narrow, from the side of an open triangular140 space surrounded by dark and mysterious houses, temples of petty commerce emptied of traders for the night. Only a fruiterer's stall at the corner made a violent blaze of light and colour. Beyond all was black, and the few people passing in that direction vanished at one stride beyond the glowing heaps of oranges and lemons. No footsteps echoed. They would never be heard of again. The adventurous141 head of the Special Crimes Department watched these disappearances142 from a distance with an interested eye. He felt light-hearted, as though he had been ambushed143 all alone in a jungle many thousands of miles away from departmental desks and official inkstands. This joyousness144 and dispersion of thought before a task of some importance seems to prove that this world of ours is not such a very serious affair after all. For the Assistant Commissioner was not constitutionally inclined to levity.
The policeman on the beat projected his sombre and moving form against the luminous145 glory of oranges and lemons, and entered Brett Street without haste. The Assistant Commissioner, as though he were a member of the criminal classes, lingered out of sight, awaiting his return. But this constable seemed to be lost for ever to the force. He never returned: must have gone out at the other end of Brett Street.
The Assistant Commissioner, reaching this conclusion, entered the street in his turn, and came upon a large van arrested in front of the dimly lit window-panes of a carter's eating-house. The man was refreshing146 himself inside, and the horses, their big heads lowered to the ground, fed out of nose-bags steadily. Farther on, on the opposite side of the street, another suspect patch of dim light issued from Mr Verloc's shop front, hung with papers, heaving with vague piles of cardboard boxes and the shapes of books. The Assistant Commissioner stood observing it across the roadway. There could be no mistake. By the side of the front window, encumbered147 by the shadows of nondescript things, the door, standing148 ajar, let escape on the pavement a narrow, clear streak149 of gaslight within.
Behind the Assistant Commissioner the van and horses, merged116 into one mass, seemed something alive - a square-backed black monster blocking half the street, with sudden iron-shod stampings, fierce jingles150, and heavy, blowing sighs. The harshly festive151, ill-omened glare of a large and prosperous public-house faced the other end of Brett Street across a wide road. This barrier of blazing lights, opposing the shadows gathered about the humble152 abode153 of Mr Verloc's domestic happiness, seemed to drive the obscurity of the street back upon itself, make it more sullen154, brooding, and sinister155.
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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unpaid
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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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stature
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haughty
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droop
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circumference
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dynamite
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rustic
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frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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novice
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berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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anarchist
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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glistening
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scrolls
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| n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕 | |
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fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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23
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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24
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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25
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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26
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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27
surmises
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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28
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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29
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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30
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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31
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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32
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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33
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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34
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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35
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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36
knuckles
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| n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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37
augment
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| vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张 | |
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38
emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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39
lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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40
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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41
complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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42
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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43
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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44
inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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45
perverting
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| v.滥用( pervert的现在分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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46
authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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47
supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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48
conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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49
negation
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| n.否定；否认 | |
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50
reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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51
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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52
concise
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| adj.简洁的，简明的 | |
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53
deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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54
fanaticism
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| n.狂热，盲信 | |
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55
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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56
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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57
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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58
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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59
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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60
haughtiness
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| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
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61
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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62
perversion
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| n.曲解；堕落；反常 | |
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63
anarchists
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| 无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 ) | |
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64
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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65
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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66
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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67
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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68
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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69
tilting
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| 倾斜，倾卸 | |
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70
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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71
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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72
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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73
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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74
adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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75
oblique
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| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
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76
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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77
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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78
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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79
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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80
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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81
antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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82
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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83
chafing
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| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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84
kindly
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|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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85
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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86
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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87
subduing
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| 征服( subdue的现在分词 )； 克制； 制服； 色变暗 | |
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88
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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89
ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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90
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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91
chuckles
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的名词复数 ) | |
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92
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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93
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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94
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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95
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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96
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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97
ingenuous
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|
| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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98
levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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99
moodiness
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| n.喜怒无常；喜怒无常，闷闷不乐；情绪 | |
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100
reactionary
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| n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的 | |
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101
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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102
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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103
speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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104
tinkled
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| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
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105
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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106
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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107
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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108
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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109
alcove
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| n.凹室 | |
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110
pegs
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| n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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111
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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112
aquarium
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| n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸 | |
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113
murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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114
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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117
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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118
charing
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| n.炭化v.把…烧成炭，把…烧焦( char的现在分词 )；烧成炭，烧焦；做杂役女佣 | |
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119
thronging
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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120
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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121
dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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122
skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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123
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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124
corrugated
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| adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词) | |
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125
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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126
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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127
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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128
immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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129
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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130
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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131
commendable
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| adj.值得称赞的 | |
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132
modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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133
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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134
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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135
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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136
interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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137
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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138
suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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139
soot
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| n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟 | |
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140
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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141
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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142
disappearances
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| n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案 | |
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143
ambushed
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| v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着 | |
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144
joyousness
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| 快乐，使人喜悦 | |
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145
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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146
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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147
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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148
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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149
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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150
jingles
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| 叮当声( jingle的名词复数 )； 节拍十分规则的简单诗歌 | |
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151
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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152
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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153
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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154
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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155
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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