After making a hasty meal at the house, I started, full of pleasing anticipations2, for the wood; for how pleasant a place it was to be in! What a wild beauty and fragrance3 and melodiousness5 it possessed6 above all forests, because of that mystery that drew me to it! And it was mine, truly and absolutely — as much mine as any portion of earth’s surface could belong to any man — mine with all its products: the precious woods and fruits and fragrant8 gums that would never be trafficked away; its wild animals that man would never persecute9; nor would any jealous savage10 dispute my ownership or pretend that it was part of his hunting-ground. As I crossed the savannah I played with this fancy; but when I reached the ridgy11 eminence12, to look down once more on my new domain13, the fancy changed to a feeling so keen that it pierced to my heart and was like pain in its intensity14, causing tears to rush to my eyes. And caring not in that solitude15 to disguise my feelings from myself, and from the wide heaven that looked down and saw me — for this is the sweetest thing that solitude has for us, that we are free in it, and no convention holds us — I dropped on my knees and kissed the stony17 ground, then casting up my eyes, thanked the Author of my being for the gift of that wild forest, those green mansions18 where I had found so great a happiness!
Elated with this strain of feeling, I reached the wood not long after noon; but no melodious4 voice gave me familiar and expected welcome; nor did my invisible companion make itself heard at all on that day, or, at all events, not in its usual bird-like warbling language. But on this day I met with a curious little adventure and heard something very extraordinary, very mysterious, which I could not avoid connecting in my mind with the unseen warbler that so often followed me in my rambles20.
It was an exceedingly bright day, without cloud, but windy, and finding myself in a rather open part of the wood, near its border, where the breeze could be felt, I sat down to rest on the lower part of a large branch, which was half broken, but still remained attached to the trunk of the tree, while resting its terminal twigs22 on the ground. Just before me, where I sat, grew a low, wide-spreading plant, covered with broad, round, polished leaves; and the roundness, stiffness, and perfectly23 horizontal position of the upper leaves made them look like a collection of small platforms or round table-tops placed nearly on a level. Through the leaves, to the height of a foot or more above them, a slender dead stem protruded24, and from a twig21 at its summit depended a broken spider’s web. A minute dead leaf had become attached to one of the loose threads and threw its small but distinct shadow on the platform leaves below; and as it trembled and swayed in the current of air, the black spot trembled with it or flew swiftly over the bright green surfaces, and was seldom at rest. Now, as I sat looking down on the leaves and the small dancing shadow, scarcely thinking of what I was looking at, I noticed a small spider, with a flat body and short legs, creep cautiously out on to the upper surface of a leaf. Its pale red colour barred with velvet25 black first drew my attention to it, for it was beautiful to the eye; and presently I discovered that this was no web-spinning, sedentary spider, but a wandering hunter, that captured its prey26, like a cat, by stealing on it concealed27 and making a rush or spring at the last. The moving shadow had attracted it and, as the sequel showed, was mistaken for a fly running about over the leaves and flitting from leaf to leaf. Now began a series of wonderful manoeuvres on the spider’s part, with the object of circumventing30 the imaginary fly, which seemed specially31 designed to meet this special case; for certainly no insect had ever before behaved in quite so erratic32 a manner. Each time the shadow flew past, the spider ran swiftly in the same direction, hiding itself under the leaves, always trying to get near without alarming its prey; and then the shadow would go round and round in a small circle, and some new strategic move on the part of the hunter would be called forth33. I became deeply interested in this curious scene; I began to wish that the shadow would remain quiet for a moment or two, so as to give the hunter a chance. And at last I had my wish: the shadow was almost motionless, and the spider moving towards it, yet seeming not to move, and as it crept closer I fancied that I could almost see the little striped body quivering with excitement. Then came the final scene: swift and straight as an arrow the hunter shot himself on to the fly-like shadow, then wiggled round and round, evidently trying to take hold of his prey with fangs34 and claws; and finding nothing under him, he raised the fore7 part of his body vertically35, as if to stare about him in search of the delusive36 fly; but the action may have simply expressed astonishment38. At this moment I was just on the point of giving free and loud vent16 to the laughter which I had been holding in when, just behind me, as if from some person who had been watching the scene over my shoulder and was as much amused as myself at its termination, sounded a clear trill of merry laughter. I started up and looked hastily around, but no living creature was there. The mass of loose foliage39 I stared into was agitated40, as if from a body having just pushed through it. In a moment the leaves and fronds41 were motionless again; still, I could not be sure that a slight gust42 of wind had not shaken them. But I was so convinced that I had heard close to me a real human laugh, or sound of some living creature that exactly simulated a laugh, that I carefully searched the ground about me, expecting to find a being of some kind. But I found nothing, and going back to my seat on the hanging branch, I remained seated for a considerable time, at first only listening, then pondering on the mystery of that sweet trill of laughter; and finally I began to wonder whether I, like the spider that chased the shadow, had been deluded43, and had seemed to hear a sound that was not a sound.
On the following day I was in the wood again, and after a two or three hours’ ramble19, during which I heard nothing, thinking it useless to haunt the known spots any longer, I turned southwards and penetrated44 into a denser45 part of the forest, where the undergrowth made progress difficult. I was not afraid of losing myself; the sun above and my sense of direction, which was always good, would enable me to return to the starting-point.
In this direction I had been pushing resolutely46 on for over half an hour, finding it no easy matter to make my way without constantly deviating47 to this side or that from the course I wished to keep, when I came to a much more open spot. The trees were smaller and scantier48 here, owing to the rocky nature of the ground, which sloped rather rapidly down; but it was moist and overgrown with mosses49, ferns, creepers, and low shrubs51, all of the liveliest green. I could not see many yards ahead owing to the bushes and tall fern fronds; but presently I began to hear a low, continuous sound, which, when I had advanced twenty or thirty yards further, I made out to be the gurgling of running water; and at the same moment I made the discovery that my throat was parched53 and my palms tingling54 with heat. I hurried on, promising55 myself a cool draught56, when all at once, above the soft dashing and gurgling of the water, I caught yet another sound — a low, warbling note, or succession of notes, which might have been emitted by a bird. But it startled me nevertheless — bird-like warbling sounds had come to mean so much to me — and pausing, I listened intently. It was not repeated, and finally, treading with the utmost caution so as not to alarm the mysterious vocalist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart with a quantity of feathery foliage of a shrub52 growing about its roots, I saw that just beyond the tree the ground was more open still, letting in the sunlight from above, and that the channel of the stream I sought was in this open space, about twenty yards from me, although the water was still hidden from sight. Something else was there, which I did see; instantly my cautious advance was arrested. I stood gazing with concentrated vision, scarcely daring to breathe lest I should scare it away.
It was a human being — a girl form, reclining on the moss50 among the ferns and herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm was doubled behind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the other arm was held extended before her, the hand raised towards a small brown bird perched on a pendulous57 twig just beyond its reach. She appeared to be playing with the bird, possibly amusing herself by trying to entice58 it on to her hand; and the hand appeared to tempt59 it greatly, for it persistently60 hopped61 up and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirting62 its wings and tail, and always appearing just on the point of dropping on to her finger. From my position it was impossible to see her distinctly, yet I dared not move. I could make out that she was small, not above four feet six or seven inches in height, in figure slim, with delicately shaped little hands and feet. Her feet were bare, and her only garment was a slight chemise-shaped dress reaching below her knees, of a whitish-gray colour, with a faint lustre63 as of a silky material. Her hair was very wonderful; it was loose and abundant, and seemed wavy64 or curly, falling in a cloud on her shoulders and arms. Dark it appeared, but the precise tint65 was indeterminable, as was that of her skin, which looked neither brown nor white. All together, near to me as she actually was, there was a kind of mistiness66 in the figure which made it appear somewhat vague and distant, and a greenish grey seemed the prevailing67 colour. This tint I presently attributed to the effect of the sunlight falling on her through the green foliage; for once, for a moment, she raised herself to reach her finger nearer to the bird, and then a gleam of unsubdued sunlight fell on her hair and arm, and the arm at that moment appeared of a pearly whiteness, and the hair, just where the light touched it, had a strange lustre and play of iridescent68 colour.
I had not been watching her more than three seconds before the bird, with a sharp, creaking little chirp69, flew up and away in sudden alarm; at the same moment she turned and saw me through the light leafy screen. But although catching70 sight of me thus suddenly, she did not exhibit alarm like the bird; only her eyes, wide open, with a surprised look in them, remained immovably fixed71 on my face. And then slowly, imperceptibly — for I did not notice the actual movement, so gradual and smooth it was, like the motion of a cloud of mist which changes its form and place, yet to the eye seems not to have moved — she rose to her knees, to her feet, retired72, and with face still towards me, and eyes fixed on mine, finally disappeared, going as if she had melted away into the verdure. The leafage was there occupying the precise spot where she had been a moment before — the feathery foliage of an acacia shrub, and stems and broad, arrow-shaped leaves of an aquatic73 plant, and slim, drooping74 fern fronds, and they were motionless and seemed not to have been touched by something passing through them. She had gone, yet I continued still, bent75 almost double, gazing fixedly76 at the spot where I had last seen her, my mind in a strange condition, possessed by sensations which were keenly felt and yet contradictory77. So vivid was the image left on my brain that she still seemed to be actually before my eyes; and she was not there, nor had been, for it was a dream, an illusion, and no such being existed, or could exist, in this gross world; and at the same time I knew that she had been there — that imagination was powerless to conjure78 up a form so exquisite79.
With the mental image I had to be satisfied, for although I remained for some hours at that spot, I saw her no more, nor did I hear any familiar melodious sound. For I was now convinced that in this wild solitary80 girl I had at length discovered the mysterious warbler that so often followed me in the wood. At length, seeing that it was growing late, I took a drink from the stream and slowly and reluctantly made my way out of the forest and went home.
Early next day I was back in the wood full of delightful81 anticipations, and had no sooner got well among the trees than a soft, warbling sound reached my ears; it was like that heard on the previous day just before catching sight of the girl among the ferns. So soon! thought I, elated, and with cautious steps I proceeded to explore the ground, hoping again to catch her unawares. But I saw nothing; and only after beginning to doubt that I had heard anything unusual, and had sat down to rest on a rock, the sound was repeated, soft and low as before, very near and distinct. Nothing more was heard at this spot, but an hour later, in another place, the same mysterious note sounded near me. During my remaining time in the forest I was served many times in the same way, and still nothing was seen, nor was there any change in the voice.
Only when the day was near its end did I give up my quest, feeling very keenly disappointed. It then struck me that the cause of the elusive37 creature’s behaviour was that she had been piqued82 at my discovery of her in one of her most secret hiding-places in the heart of the wood, and that it had pleased her to pay me out in this manner.
On the next day there was no change; she was there again, evidently following me, but always invisible, and varied83 not from that one mocking note of yesterday, which seemed to challenge me to find her a second time. In the end I was vexed84, and resolved to be even with her by not visiting the wood for some time. A display of indifference85 on my part would, I hoped, result in making her less coy in the future.
Next day, firm in my new resolution, I accompanied Kua-ko and two others to a distant spot where they expected that the ripening86 fruit on a cashew tree would attract a large number of birds. The fruit, however, proved still green, so that we gathered none and killed few birds. Returning together, Kua-ko kept at my side, and by and by, falling behind our companions, he complimented me on my good shooting, although, as usual, I had only wasted the arrows I had blown.
“Soon you will be able to hit,” he said; “hit a bird as big as a small woman”; and he laughed once more immoderately at the old joke. At last, growing confidential87, he said that I would soon possess a zabatana of my own, with arrows in plenty. He was going to make the arrows himself, and his uncle Otawinki, who had a straight eye, would make the tube. I treated it all as a joke, but he solemnly assured me that he meant it.
Next morning he asked me if I was going to the forest of evil fame, and when I replied in the negative, seemed surprised and, very much to my surprise, evidently disappointed. He even tried to persuade me to go, where before I had been earnestly recommended not to go, until, finding that I would not, he took me with him to hunt in the woods. By and by he returned to the same subject: he could not understand why I would not go to that wood, and asked me if I had begun to grow afraid.
“No, not afraid,” I replied; “but I know the place well, and am getting tired of it.” I had seen everything in it — birds and beasts — and had heard all its strange noises.
“Yes, heard,” he said, nodding his head knowingly; “but you have seen nothing strange; your eyes are not good enough yet.”
I laughed contemptuously and answered that I had seen everything strange the wood contained, including a strange young girl; and I went on to describe her appearance, and finished by asking if he thought a white man was frightened at the sight of a young girl.
What I said astonished him; then he seemed greatly pleased, and, growing still more confidential and generous than on the previous day, he said that I would soon be a most important personage among them, and greatly distinguish myself. He did not like it when I laughed at all this, and went on with great seriousness to speak of the unmade blowpipe that would be mine — speaking of it as if it had been something very great, equal to the gift of a large tract29 of land, or the governorship of a province, north of the Orinoco. And by and by he spoke88 of something else more wonderful even than the promise of a blow-pipe, with arrows galore, and this was that young sister of his, whose name was Oalava, a maid of about sixteen, shy and silent and mild-eyed, rather lean and dirty; not ugly, nor yet prepossessing. And this copper-coloured little drab of the wilderness89 he proposed to bestow90 in marriage on me! Anxious to pump him, I managed to control my muscles and asked him what authority he — a young nobody, who had not yet risen to the dignity of buying a wife for himself — could have to dispose of a sister in this offhand91 way? He replied that there would be no difficulty: that Runi would give his consent, as would also Otawinki, Piake, and other relations; and last, and least, according to the matrimonial customs of these latitudes92, Oalava herself would be ready to bestow her person — queyou, worn figleaf-wise, necklace of accouri teeth, and all — on so worthy93 a suitor as myself. Finally, to make the prospect94 still more inviting95, he added that it would not be necessary for me to subject myself to any voluntary tortures to prove myself a man and fitted to enter into the purgatorial96 state of matrimony. He was a great deal too considerate, I said, and, with all the gravity I could command, asked him what kind of torture he would recommend. For me — so valorous a person — “no torture,” he answered magnanimously. But he — Kua-ko — had made up his mind as to the form of torture he meant to inflict97 some day on his own person. He would prepare a large sack and into it put fire-ants — “As many as that!” he exclaimed triumphantly98, stooping and filling his two hands with loose sand. He would put them in the sack, and then get into it himself naked, and tie it tightly round his neck, so as to show to all spectators that the hellish pain of innumerable venomous stings in his flesh could be endured without a groan99 and with an unmoved countenance100. The poor youth had not an original mind, since this was one of the commonest forms of self-torture among the Guayana tribes. But the sudden wonderful animation101 with which he spoke of it, the fiendish joy that illumined his usually stolid102 countenance, sent a sudden disgust and horror through me. But what a strange inverted103 kind of fiendishness is this, which delights at the anticipation1 of torture inflicted104 on oneself and not on an enemy! And towards others these savages105 are mild and peaceable! No, I could not believe in their mildness; that was only on the surface, when nothing occurred to rouse their savage, cruel instincts. I could have laughed at the whole matter, but the exulting106 look on my companion’s face had made me sick of the subject, and I wished not to talk any more about it.
But he would talk still — this fellow whose words, as a rule, I had to take out of his mouth with a fork, as we say; and still on the same subject, he said that not one person in the village would expect to see me torture myself; that after what I would do for them all — after delivering them from a great evil — nothing further would be expected of me.
I asked him to explain his meaning; for it now began to appear plain that in everything he had said he had been leading up to some very important matter. It would, of course, have been a great mistake to suppose that my savage was offering me a blow-pipe and a marketable virgin107 sister from purely108 disinterested109 motives110.
In reply he went back to that still unforgotten joke about my being able eventually to hit a bird as big as a small woman with an arrow. Out of it all came, when he went on to ask me if that mysterious girl I had seen in the wood was not of a size to suit me as a target when I had got my hand in with a little more practice. That was the great work I was asked to do for them — that shy, mysterious girl with the melodious wild-bird voice was the evil being I was asked to slay111 with poisoned arrows! This was why he now wished me to go often to the wood, to become more and more familiar with her haunts and habits, to overcome all shyness and suspicion in her; and at the proper moment, when it would be impossible to miss my mark, to plant the fatal arrow! The disgust he had inspired in me before, when gloating over anticipated tortures, was a weak and transient feeling to what I now experienced. I turned on him in a sudden transport of rage, and in a moment would have shattered on his head the blow-pipe I was carrying in my hand, but his astonished look as he turned to face me made me pause and prevented me from committing so fatal an indiscretion. I could only grind my teeth and struggle to overcome an almost overpowering hatred112 and wrath113. Finally I flung the tube down and bade him take it, telling him that I would not touch it again if he offered me all the sisters of all the savages in Guayana for wives.
He continued gazing at me mute with astonishment, and prudence114 suggested that it would be best to conceal28 as far as possible the violent animosity I had conceived against him. I asked him somewhat scornfully if he believed that I should ever be able to hit anything — bird or human being — with an arrow. “No,” I almost shouted, so as to give vent to my feelings in some way, and drawing my revolver, “this is the white man’s weapon; but he kills men with it — men who attempt to kill or injure him — but neither with this nor any other weapon does he murder innocent young girls treacherously115.” After that we went on in silence for some time; at length he said that the being I had seen in the wood and was not afraid of was no innocent young girl, but a daughter of the Didi, an evil being; and that so long as she continued to inhabit the wood they could not go there to hunt, and even in other woods they constantly went in fear of meeting her. Too much disgusted to talk with him, I went on in silence; and when we reached the stream near the village, I threw off my clothes and plunged116 into the water to cool my anger before going in to the others.
1 anticipation | |
n.预期,预料,期望 | |
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2 anticipations | |
预期( anticipation的名词复数 ); 预测; (信托财产收益的)预支; 预期的事物 | |
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3 fragrance | |
n.芬芳,香味,香气 | |
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4 melodious | |
adj.旋律美妙的,调子优美的,音乐性的 | |
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5 melodiousness | |
n.melodious(音调悦耳的)的变形 | |
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6 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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7 fore | |
adv.在前面;adj.先前的;在前部的;n.前部 | |
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8 fragrant | |
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的 | |
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9 persecute | |
vt.迫害,虐待;纠缠,骚扰 | |
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10 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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11 ridgy | |
adj.有脊的;有棱纹的;隆起的;有埂的 | |
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12 eminence | |
n.卓越,显赫;高地,高处;名家 | |
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13 domain | |
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
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14 intensity | |
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度 | |
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15 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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16 vent | |
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄 | |
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17 stony | |
adj.石头的,多石头的,冷酷的,无情的 | |
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18 mansions | |
n.宅第,公馆,大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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19 ramble | |
v.漫步,漫谈,漫游;n.漫步,闲谈,蔓延 | |
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20 rambles | |
(无目的地)漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 ); (喻)漫谈; 扯淡; 长篇大论 | |
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21 twig | |
n.小树枝,嫩枝;v.理解 | |
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22 twigs | |
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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23 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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24 protruded | |
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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26 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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27 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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28 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
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29 tract | |
n.传单,小册子,大片(土地或森林) | |
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30 circumventing | |
v.设法克服或避免(某事物),回避( circumvent的现在分词 );绕过,绕行,绕道旅行 | |
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31 specially | |
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地 | |
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32 erratic | |
adj.古怪的,反复无常的,不稳定的 | |
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33 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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34 fangs | |
n.(尤指狗和狼的)长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 );(蛇的)毒牙;罐座 | |
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35 vertically | |
adv.垂直地 | |
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36 delusive | |
adj.欺骗的,妄想的 | |
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37 elusive | |
adj.难以表达(捉摸)的;令人困惑的;逃避的 | |
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38 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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39 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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40 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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41 fronds | |
n.蕨类或棕榈类植物的叶子( frond的名词复数 ) | |
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42 gust | |
n.阵风,突然一阵(雨、烟等),(感情的)迸发 | |
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43 deluded | |
v.欺骗,哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44 penetrated | |
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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45 denser | |
adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的 | |
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46 resolutely | |
adj.坚决地,果断地 | |
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47 deviating | |
v.偏离,越轨( deviate的现在分词 ) | |
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48 scantier | |
adj.(大小或数量)不足的,勉强够的( scanty的比较级 ) | |
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49 mosses | |
n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式 | |
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50 moss | |
n.苔,藓,地衣 | |
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51 shrubs | |
灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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52 shrub | |
n.灌木,灌木丛 | |
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53 parched | |
adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干 | |
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54 tingling | |
v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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55 promising | |
adj.有希望的,有前途的 | |
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56 draught | |
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计 | |
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57 pendulous | |
adj.下垂的;摆动的 | |
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58 entice | |
v.诱骗,引诱,怂恿 | |
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59 tempt | |
vt.引诱,勾引,吸引,引起…的兴趣 | |
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60 persistently | |
ad.坚持地;固执地 | |
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61 hopped | |
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 ); 单足蹦跳; 齐足(或双足)跳行; 摘葎草花 | |
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62 flirting | |
v.调情,打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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63 lustre | |
n.光亮,光泽;荣誉 | |
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64 wavy | |
adj.有波浪的,多浪的,波浪状的,波动的,不稳定的 | |
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65 tint | |
n.淡色,浅色;染发剂;vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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66 mistiness | |
n.雾,模糊,不清楚 | |
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67 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
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68 iridescent | |
adj.彩虹色的,闪色的 | |
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69 chirp | |
v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫 | |
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70 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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71 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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72 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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73 aquatic | |
adj.水生的,水栖的 | |
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74 drooping | |
adj. 下垂的,无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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75 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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76 fixedly | |
adv.固定地;不屈地,坚定不移地 | |
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77 contradictory | |
adj.反驳的,反对的,抗辩的;n.正反对,矛盾对立 | |
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78 conjure | |
v.恳求,祈求;变魔术,变戏法 | |
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79 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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80 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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81 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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82 piqued | |
v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 );激起(好奇心) | |
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83 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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84 vexed | |
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论 | |
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85 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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86 ripening | |
v.成熟,使熟( ripen的现在分词 );熟化;熟成 | |
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87 confidential | |
adj.秘(机)密的,表示信任的,担任机密工作的 | |
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88 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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89 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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90 bestow | |
v.把…赠与,把…授予;花费 | |
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91 offhand | |
adj.临时,无准备的;随便,马虎的 | |
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92 latitudes | |
纬度 | |
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93 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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94 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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95 inviting | |
adj.诱人的,引人注目的 | |
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96 purgatorial | |
adj.炼狱的,涤罪的 | |
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97 inflict | |
vt.(on)把…强加给,使遭受,使承担 | |
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98 triumphantly | |
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地 | |
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99 groan | |
vi./n.呻吟,抱怨;(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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100 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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101 animation | |
n.活泼,兴奋,卡通片/动画片的制作 | |
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102 stolid | |
adj.无动于衷的,感情麻木的 | |
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103 inverted | |
adj.反向的,倒转的v.使倒置,使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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104 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105 savages | |
未开化的人,野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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106 exulting | |
vi. 欢欣鼓舞,狂喜 | |
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107 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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108 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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109 disinterested | |
adj.不关心的,不感兴趣的 | |
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110 motives | |
n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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111 slay | |
v.杀死,宰杀,杀戮 | |
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112 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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113 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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114 prudence | |
n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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115 treacherously | |
背信弃义地; 背叛地; 靠不住地; 危险地 | |
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116 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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