Theme no poet gladly sung,
Fair to old and foul1 to young,
Scorn not thou the love of parts,
And the articles of arts.
Grandeur2 of the perfect sphere
Thanks the atoms that cohere3.
What right have I to write on Prudence, whereof I have little, and that of the negative sort? My prudence consists in avoiding and going without, not in the inventing of means and methods, not in adroit5 steering6, not in gentle repairing. I have no skill to make money spend well, no genius in my economy, and whoever sees my garden discovers that I must have some other garden. Yet I love facts, and hate lubricity, and people without perception. Then I have the same title to write on prudence, that I have to write on poetry or holiness. We write from aspiration7 and antagonism8, as well as from experience. We paint those qualities which we do not possess. The poet admires the man of energy and tactics; the merchant breeds his son for the church or the bar: and where a man is not vain and egotistic, you shall find what he has not by his praise. Moreover, it would be hardly honest in me not to balance these fine lyric9 words of Love and Friendship with words of coarser sound, and, whilst my debt to my senses is real and constant, not to own it in passing.
Prudence is the virtue10 of the senses. It is the science of appearances. It is the outmost action of the inward life. It is God taking thought for oxen. It moves matter after the laws of matter. It is content to seek health of body by complying with physical conditions, and health of mind by the laws of the intellect.
The world of the senses is a world of shows; it does not exist for itself, but has a symbolic11 character; and a true prudence or law of shows recognizes the copresence of other laws, and knows that its own office is subaltern; knows that it is surface and not centre where it works. Prudence is false when detached. It is legitimate12 when it is the Natural History of the soul incarnate13; when it unfolds the beauty of laws within the narrow scope of the senses.
There are all degrees of proficiency14 in knowledge of the world. It is sufficient, to our present purpose, to indicate three. One class live to the utility of the symbol; esteeming16 health and wealth a final good. Another class live above this mark to the beauty of the symbol; as the poet, and artist, and the naturalist17, and man of science. A third class live above the beauty of the symbol to the beauty of the thing signified; these are wise men. The first class have common sense; the second, taste; and the third, spiritual perception. Once in a long time, a man traverses the whole scale, and sees and enjoys the symbol solidly; then also has a clear eye for its beauty, and, lastly, whilst he pitches his tent on this sacred volcanic18 isle19 of nature, does not offer to build houses and barns thereon, reverencing20 the splendor21 of the God which he sees bursting through each chink and cranny.
The world is filled with the proverbs and acts and winkings of a base prudence, which is a devotion to matter, as if we possessed22 no other faculties23 than the palate, the nose, the touch, the eye and ear; a prudence which adores the Rule of Three, which never subscribes24, which never gives, which seldom lends, and asks but one question of any project, — Will it bake bread? This is a disease like a thickening of the skin until the vital organs are destroyed. But culture, revealing the high origin of the apparent world, and aiming at the perfection of the man as the end, degrades every thing else, as health and bodily life, into means. It sees prudence not to be a several faculty25, but a name for wisdom and virtue conversing26 with the body and its wants. Cultivated men always feel and speak so, as if a great fortune, the achievement of a civil or social measure, great personal influence, a graceful27 and commanding address, had their value as proofs of the energy of the spirit. If a man lose his balance, and immerse himself in any trades or pleasures for their own sake, he may be a good wheel or pin, but he is not a cultivated man.
The spurious prudence, making the senses final, is the god of sots and cowards, and is the subject of all comedy. It is nature’s joke, and therefore literature’s. The true prudence limits this sensualism by admitting the knowledge of an internal and real world. This recognition once made, — the order of the world and the distribution of affairs and times being studied with the co-perception of their subordinate place, will reward any degree of attention. For our existence, thus apparently28 attached in nature to the sun and the returning moon and the periods which they mark, — so susceptible29 to climate and to country, so alive to social good and evil, so fond of splendor, and so tender to hunger and cold and debt, — reads all its primary lessons out of these books.
Prudence does not go behind nature, and ask whence it is. It takes the laws of the world, whereby man’s being is conditioned, as they are, and keeps these laws, that it may enjoy their proper good. It respects space and time, climate, want, sleep, the law of polarity, growth, and death. There revolve30 to give bound and period to his being, on all sides, the sun and moon, the great formalists in the sky: here lies stubborn matter, and will not swerve31 from its chemical routine. Here is a planted globe, pierced and belted with natural laws, and fenced and distributed externally with civil partitions and properties which impose new restraints on the young inhabitant.
We eat of the bread which grows in the field. We live by the air which blows around us, and we are poisoned by the air that is too cold or too hot, too dry or too wet. Time, which shows so vacant, indivisible, and divine in its coming, is slit32 and peddled33 into trifles and tatters. A door is to be painted, a lock to be repaired. I want wood, or oil, or meal, or salt; the house smokes, or I have a headache; then the tax; and an affair to be transacted34 with a man without heart or brains; and the stinging recollection of an injurious or very awkward word, — these eat up the hours. Do what we can, summer will have its flies: if we walk in the woods, we must feed mosquitos: if we go a-fishing, we must expect a wet coat. Then climate is a great impediment to idle persons: we often resolve to give up the care of the weather, but still we regard the clouds and the rain.
We are instructed by these petty experiences which usurp35 the hours and years. The hard soil and four months of snow make the inhabitant of the northern temperate36 zone wiser and abler than his fellow who enjoys the fixed37 smile of the tropics. The islander may ramble38 all day at will. At night, he may sleep on a mat under the moon, and wherever a wild date-tree grows, nature has, without a prayer even, spread a table for his morning meal. The northerner is perforce a householder. He must brew39, bake, salt, and preserve his food, and pile wood and coal. But as it happens that not one stroke can labor40 lay to, without some new acquaintance with nature; and as nature is inexhaustibly significant, the inhabitants of these climates have always excelled the southerner in force. Such is the value of these matters, that a man who knows other things can never know too much of these. Let him have accurate perceptions. Let him, if he have hands, handle; if eyes, measure and discriminate41; let him accept and hive every fact of chemistry, natural history, and economics; the more he has, the less is he willing to spare any one. Time is always bringing the occasions that disclose their value. Some wisdom comes out of every natural and innocent action. The domestic man, who loves no music so well as his kitchen clock, and the airs which the logs sing to him as they burn on the hearth42, has solaces43 which others never dream of. The application of means to ends insures victory and the songs of victory, not less in a farm or a shop than in the tactics of party or of war. The good husband finds method as efficient in the packing of fire-wood in a shed, or in the harvesting of fruits in the cellar, as in Peninsular campaigns or the files of the Department of State. In the rainy day, he builds a work-bench, or gets his tool-box set in the corner of the barn-chamber, and stored with nails, gimlet, pincers, screwdriver44, and chisel45. Herein he tastes an old joy of youth and childhood, the cat-like love of garrets, presses, and corn-chambers, and of the conveniences of long housekeeping. His garden or his poultry-yard tells him many pleasant anecdotes47. One might find argument for optimism in the abundant flow of this saccharine48 element of pleasure in every suburb and extremity49 of the good world. Let a man keep the law, — any law, — and his way will be strown with satisfactions. There is more difference in the quality of our pleasures than in the amount.
On the other hand, nature punishes any neglect of prudence. If you think the senses final, obey their law. If you believe in the soul, do not clutch at sensual sweetness before it is ripe on the slow tree of cause and effect. It is vinegar to the eyes, to deal with men of loose and imperfect perception. Dr. Johnson is reported to have said, — “If the child says he looked out of this window, when he looked out of that, — whip him.” Our American character is marked by a more than average delight in accurate perception, which is shown by the currency of the byword, “No mistake.” But the discomfort50 of unpunctuality, of confusion of thought about facts, of inattention to the wants of to-morrow, is of no nation. The beautiful laws of time and space, once dislocated by our inaptitude, are holes and dens51. If the hive be disturbed by rash and stupid hands, instead of honey, it will yield us bees. Our words and actions to be fair must be timely. A gay and pleasant sound is the whetting52 of the scythe53 in the mornings of June; yet what is more lonesome and sad than the sound of a whetstone or mower’s rifle, when it is too late in the season to make hay? Scatter-brained and “afternoon men” spoil much more than their own affair, in spoiling the temper of those who deal with them. I have seen a criticism on some paintings, of which I am reminded when I see the shiftless and unhappy men who are not true to their senses. The last Grand Duke of Weimar, a man of superior understanding, said: — “I have sometimes remarked in the presence of great works of art, and just now especially, in Dresden, how much a certain property contributes to the effect which gives life to the figures, and to the life an irresistible54 truth. This property is the hitting, in all the figures we draw, the right centre of gravity. I mean, the placing the figures firm upon their feet, making the hands grasp, and fastening the eyes on the spot where they should look. Even lifeless figures, as vessels55 and stools, — let them be drawn56 ever so correctly, — lose all effect so soon as they lack the resting upon their centre of gravity, and have a certain swimming and oscillating appearance. The Raphael, in the Dresden gallery, (the only greatly affecting picture which I have seen,) is the quietest and most passionless piece you can imagine; a couple of saints who worship the Virgin57 and Child. Nevertheless, it awakens58 a deeper impression than the contortions59 of ten crucified martyrs60. For, beside all the resistless beauty of form, it possesses in the highest degree the property of the perpendicularity61 of all the figures.” This perpendicularity we demand of all the figures in this picture of life. Let them stand on their feet, and not float and swing. Let us know where to find them. Let them discriminate between what they remember and what they dreamed, call a spade a spade, give us facts, and honor their own senses with trust.
But what man shall dare tax another with imprudence? Who is prudent63? The men we call greatest are least in this kingdom. There is a certain fatal dislocation in our relation to nature, distorting our modes of living, and making every law our enemy, which seems at last to have aroused all the wit and virtue in the world to ponder the question of Reform. We must call the highest prudence to counsel, and ask why health and beauty and genius should now be the exception, rather than the rule, of human nature? We do not know the properties of plants and animals and the laws of nature through our sympathy with the same; but this remains64 the dream of poets. Poetry and prudence should be coincident. Poets should be lawgivers; that is, the boldest lyric inspiration should not chide65 and insult, but should announce and lead, the civil code, and the day’s work. But now the two things seem irreconcilably66 parted. We have violated law upon law, until we stand amidst ruins, and when by chance we espy67 a coincidence between reason and the phenomena68, we are surprised. Beauty should be the dowry of every man and woman, as invariably as sensation; but it is rare. Health or sound organization should be universal. Genius should be the child of genius, and every child should be inspired; but now it is not to be predicted of any child, and nowhere is it pure. We call partial half-lights, by courtesy, genius; talent which converts itself to money; talent which glitters to-day, that it may dine and sleep well to-morrow; and society is officered by men of parts, as they are properly called, and not by divine men. These use their gifts to refine luxury, not to abolish it. Genius is always ascetic69; and piety70 and love. Appetite shows to the finer souls as a disease, and they find beauty in rites71 and bounds that resist it.
We have found out fine names to cover our sensuality withal, but no gifts can raise intemperance72. The man of talent affects to call his transgressions73 of the laws of the senses trivial, and to count them nothing considered with his devotion to his art. His art never taught him lewdness74, nor the love of wine, nor the wish to reap where he had not sowed. His art is less for every deduction75 from his holiness, and less for every defect of common sense. On him who scorned the world, as he said, the scorned world wreaks76 its revenge. He that despiseth small things will perish by little and little. Goethe’s Tasso is very likely to be a pretty fair historical portrait, and that is true tragedy. It does not seem to me so genuine grief when some tyrannous Richard the Third oppresses and slays77 a score of innocent persons, as when Antonio and Tasso, both apparently right, wrong each other. One living after the maxims78 of this world, and consistent and true to them, the other fired with all divine sentiments, yet grasping also at the pleasures of sense, without submitting to their law. That is a grief we all feel, a knot we cannot untie79. Tasso’s is no infrequent case in modern biography. A man of genius, of an ardent80 temperament81, reckless of physical laws, self-indulgent, becomes presently unfortunate, querulous, a “discomfortable cousin,” a thorn to himself and to others.
The scholar shames us by his bifold life. Whilst something higher than prudence is active, he is admirable; when common sense is wanted, he is an encumbrance82. Yesterday, Caesar was not so great; to-day, the felon83 at the gallows’ foot is not more miserable84. Yesterday, radiant with the light of an ideal world, in which he lives, the first of men; and now oppressed by wants and by sickness, for which he must thank himself. He resembles the pitiful drivellers, whom travellers describe as frequenting the bazaars85 of Constantinople, who skulk86 about all day, yellow, emaciated87, ragged88, sneaking89; and at evening, when the bazaars are open, slink to the opium-shop, swallow their morsel90, and become tranquil91 and glorified92 seers. And who has not seen the tragedy of imprudent genius, struggling for years with paltry93 pecuniary94 difficulties, at last sinking, chilled, exhausted95, and fruitless, like a giant slaughtered96 by pins?
Is it not better that a man should accept the first pains and mortifications of this sort, which nature is not slack in sending him, as hints that he must expect no other good than the just fruit of his own labor and self-denial? Health, bread, climate, social position, have their importance, and he will give them their due. Let him esteem15 Nature a perpetual counsellor, and her perfections the exact measure of our deviations97. Let him make the night night, and the day day. Let him control the habit of expense. Let him see that as much wisdom may be expended98 on a private economy as on an empire, and as much wisdom may be drawn from it. The laws of the world are written out for him on every piece of money in his hand. There is nothing he will not be the better for knowing, were it only the wisdom of Poor Richard; or the State-Street prudence of buying by the acre to sell by the foot; or the thrift99 of the agriculturist, to stick a tree between whiles, because it will grow whilst he sleeps; or the prudence which consists in husbanding little strokes of the tool, little portions of time, particles of stock, and small gains. The eye of prudence may never shut. Iron, if kept at the ironmonger’s, will rust62; beer, if not brewed100 in the right state of the atmosphere, will sour; timber of ships will rot at sea, or, if laid up high and dry, will strain, warp101, and dry-rot; money, if kept by us, yields no rent, and is liable to loss; if invested, is liable to depreciation102 of the particular kind of stock. Strike, says the smith, the iron is white; keep the rake, says the haymaker, as nigh the scythe as you can, and the cart as nigh the rake. Our Yankee trade is reputed to be very much on the extreme of this prudence. It takes bank-notes, — good, bad, clean, ragged, — and saves itself by the speed with which it passes them off. Iron cannot rust, nor beer sour, nor timber rot, nor calicoes go out of fashion, nor money stocks depreciate103, in the few swift moments in which the Yankee suffers any one of them to remain in his possession. In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.
Let him learn a prudence of a higher strain. Let him learn that every thing in nature, even motes104 and feathers, go by law and not by luck, and that what he sows he reaps. By diligence and self-command, let him put the bread he eats at his own disposal, that he may not stand in bitter and false relations to other men; for the best good of wealth is freedom. Let him practise the minor105 virtues106. How much of human life is lost in waiting! let him not make his fellow-creatures wait. How many words and promises are promises of conversation! let his be words of fate. When he sees a folded and sealed scrap107 of paper float round the globe in a pine ship, and come safe to the eye for which it was written, amidst a swarming108 population, let him likewise feel the admonition to integrate his being across all these distracting forces, and keep a slender human word among the storms, distances, and accidents that drive us hither and thither109, and, by persistency110, make the paltry force of one man reappear to redeem111 its pledge, after months and years, in the most distant climates.
We must not try to write the laws of any one virtue, looking at that only. Human nature loves no contradictions, but is symmetrical. The prudence which secures an outward well-being112 is not to be studied by one set of men, whilst heroism113 and holiness are studied by another, but they are reconcilable. Prudence concerns the present time, persons, property, and existing forms. But as every fact hath its roots in the soul, and, if the soul were changed, would cease to be, or would become some other thing, the proper administration of outward things will always rest on a just apprehension114 of their cause and origin, that is, the good man will be the wise man, and the single-hearted, the politic115 man. Every violation116 of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar117, but is a stab at the health of human society. On the most profitable lie, the course of events presently lays a destructive tax; whilst frankness invites frankness, puts the parties on a convenient footing, and makes their business a friendship. Trust men, and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great, though they make an exception in your favor to all their rules of trade.
So, in regard to disagreeable and formidable things, prudence does not consist in evasion118, or in flight, but in courage. He who wishes to walk in the most peaceful parts of life with any serenity119 must screw himself up to resolution. Let him front the object of his worst apprehension, and his stoutness120 will commonly make his fear groundless. The Latin proverb says, that “in battles the eye is first overcome.” Entire self-possession may make a battle very little more dangerous to life than a match at foils or at football. Examples are cited by soldiers, of men who have seen the cannon121 pointed122, and the fire given to it, and who have stepped aside from the path of the ball. The terrors of the storm are chiefly confined to the parlour and the cabin. The drover, the sailor, buffets123 it all day, and his health renews itself at as vigorous a pulse under the sleet124, as under the sun of June.
In the occurrence of unpleasant things among neighbours, fear comes readily to heart, and magnifies the consequence of the other party; but it is a bad counsellor. Every man is actually weak, and apparently strong. To himself, he seems weak; to others, formidable. You are afraid of Grim; but Grim also is afraid of you. You are solicitous125 of the good-will of the meanest person, uneasy at his ill-will. But the sturdiest offender126 of your peace and of the neighbourhood, if you rip up his claims, is as thin and timid as any; and the peace of society is often kept, because, as children say, one is afraid, and the other dares not. Far off, men swell127, bully128, and threaten; bring them hand to hand, and they are a feeble folk.
It is a proverb, that ‘courtesy costs nothing’; but calculation might come to value love for its profit. Love is fabled129 to be blind; but kindness is necessary to perception; love is not a hood46, but an eye-water. If you meet a sectary, or a hostile partisan130, never recognize the dividing lines; but meet on what common ground remains, — if only that the sun shines, and the rain rains for both; the area will widen very fast, and ere you know it the boundary mountains, on which the eye had fastened, have melted into air. If they set out to contend, Saint Paul will lie, and Saint John will hate. What low, poor, paltry, hypocritical people an argument on religion will make of the pure and chosen souls! They will shuffle131, and crow, crook132, and hide, feign133 to confess here, only that they may brag134 and conquer there, and not a thought has enriched either party, and not an emotion of bravery, modesty135, or hope. So neither should you put yourself in a false position with your contemporaries, by indulging a vein136 of hostility137 and bitterness. Though your views are in straight antagonism to theirs, assume an identity of sentiment, assume that you are saying precisely138 that which all think, and in the flow of wit and love roll out your paradoxes139 in solid column, with not the infirmity of a doubt. So at least shall you get an adequate deliverance. The natural motions of the soul are so much better than the voluntary ones, that you will never do yourself justice in dispute. The thought is not then taken hold of by the right handle, does not show itself proportioned, and in its true bearings, but bears extorted140, hoarse141, and half witness. But assume a consent, and it shall presently be granted, since, really, and underneath142 their external diversities, all men are of one heart and mind.
Wisdom will never let us stand with any man or men on an unfriendly footing. We refuse sympathy and intimacy143 with people, as if we waited for some better sympathy and intimacy to come. But whence and when? To-morrow will be like to-day. Life wastes itself whilst we are preparing to live. Our friends and fellow-workers die off from us. Scarcely can we say, we see new men, new women, approaching us. We are too old to regard fashion, too old to expect patronage144 of any greater or more powerful. Let us suck the sweetness of those affections and consuetudes that grow near us. These old shoes are easy to the feet. Undoubtedly145, we can easily pick faults in our company, can easily whisper names prouder, and that tickle146 the fancy more. Every man’s imagination hath its friends; and life would be dearer with such companions. But, if you cannot have them on good mutual147 terms, you cannot have them. If not the Deity148, but our ambition, hews149 and shapes the new relations, their virtue escapes, as strawberries lose their flavor in garden-beds.
Thus truth, frankness, courage, love, humility150, and all the virtues, range themselves on the side of prudence, or the art of securing a present well-being. I do not know if all matter will be found to be made of one element, as oxygen or hydrogen, at last, but the world of manners and actions is wrought151 of one stuff, and, begin where we will, we are pretty sure in a short space to be mumbling152 our ten commandments.
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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cohere
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| vt.附着，连贯，一致 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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adroit
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| adj.熟练的，灵巧的 | |
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steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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aspiration
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| n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出 | |
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antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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lyric
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| n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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proficiency
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| n.精通，熟练，精练 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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esteeming
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| v.尊敬( esteem的现在分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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reverencing
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| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的现在分词 )；敬礼 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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subscribes
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| v.捐助( subscribe的第三人称单数 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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revolve
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| vi.(使)旋转；循环出现 | |
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swerve
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| v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离 | |
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slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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peddled
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| （沿街）叫卖( peddle的过去式和过去分词 )； 兜售； 宣传； 散播 | |
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transacted
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| v.办理（业务等）( transact的过去式和过去分词 )；交易，谈判 | |
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usurp
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| vt.篡夺，霸占；vi.篡位 | |
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36
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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37
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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38
ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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39
brew
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| v.酿造，调制 | |
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40
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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41
discriminate
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| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
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42
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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43
solaces
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| n.安慰，安慰物( solace的名词复数 ) | |
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44
screwdriver
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| n.螺丝起子；伏特加橙汁鸡尾酒 | |
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45
chisel
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| n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿 | |
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46
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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47
anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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48
saccharine
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| adj.奉承的，讨好的 | |
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49
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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50
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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51
dens
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| n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋 | |
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52
whetting
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| v.（在石头上）磨（刀、斧等）( whet的现在分词 )；引起，刺激（食欲、欲望、兴趣等） | |
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53
scythe
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| n. 长柄的大镰刀，战车镰； v. 以大镰刀割 | |
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54
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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55
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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56
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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57
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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58
awakens
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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59
contortions
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| n.扭歪，弯曲；扭曲，弄歪，歪曲( contortion的名词复数 ) | |
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60
martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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61
perpendicularity
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| n.垂直，直立；垂直度 | |
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62
rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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63
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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64
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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65
chide
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| v.叱责；谴责 | |
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66
irreconcilably
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| （观点、目标或争议）不可调和的，不相容的 | |
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67
espy
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| v.（从远处等）突然看到 | |
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68
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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69
ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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70
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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71
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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72
intemperance
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| n.放纵 | |
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73
transgressions
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| n.违反，违法，罪过( transgression的名词复数 ) | |
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74
lewdness
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| n. 淫荡, 邪恶 | |
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75
deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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76
wreaks
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| 诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的第三人称单数 ) | |
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77
slays
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的第三人称单数 ) | |
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78
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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79
untie
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| vt.解开，松开；解放 | |
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80
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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81
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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82
encumbrance
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| n.妨碍物，累赘 | |
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83
felon
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| n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的 | |
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84
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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85
bazaars
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| （东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场 | |
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86
skulk
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| v.藏匿；潜行 | |
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87
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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88
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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89
sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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90
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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91
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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92
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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93
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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94
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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95
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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96
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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97
deviations
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| 背离，偏离( deviation的名词复数 )； 离经叛道的行为 | |
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98
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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99
thrift
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| adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约 | |
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100
brewed
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| 调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡） | |
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101
warp
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| vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见 | |
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102
depreciation
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| n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低 | |
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103
depreciate
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| v.降价，贬值，折旧 | |
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104
motes
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| n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点 | |
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105
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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106
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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107
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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108
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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109
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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110
persistency
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| n. 坚持(余辉, 时间常数) | |
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111
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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112
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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113
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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114
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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115
politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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116
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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117
liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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118
evasion
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| n.逃避，偷漏(税) | |
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119
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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120
stoutness
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| 坚固，刚毅 | |
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121
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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122
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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123
buffets
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| （火车站的）饮食柜台( buffet的名词复数 )； （火车的）餐车； 自助餐 | |
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124
sleet
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| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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125
solicitous
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| adj.热切的，挂念的 | |
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126
offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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127
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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128
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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129
fabled
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| adj.寓言中的，虚构的 | |
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130
partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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131
shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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132
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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133
feign
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| vt.假装，佯作 | |
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134
brag
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| v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的 | |
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135
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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136
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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137
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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138
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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139
paradoxes
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| n.似非而是的隽语，看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 )；用于语言文学中的上述隽语；有矛盾特点的人[事物，情况] | |
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140
extorted
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| v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解 | |
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141
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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142
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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143
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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144
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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145
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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146
tickle
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| v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒 | |
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147
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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148
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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149
hews
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的第三人称单数 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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150
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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151
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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152
mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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