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Chapter 10 Nancy
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It was still hardly six o’clock. Mr. Coningsby had been put to bed, after Nancy had flown to welcome him and her aunt — to rather more than welcome her aunt, perhaps, for Sybil felt in the clinging embrace something she could have believed to be a clutching despair. She looked at the girl intently as they drew apart. Nancy’s face was colourless, her eyes very tired: the new light which had for weeks shone from her was eclipsed, and her movements were heavy and troubled. “Where’s Henry?” Sybil casually1 asked. “O, shut away somewhere,” Nancy said, and shut herself away even more secretly.

Ralph was introduced and taken to have hot drinks and a hot bath. It appeared that he had determined2 to rush across in his car from the house where he was staying, to hurl3 Christmas greetings at his people on Christmas Day, and then to tear back. He was slightly ashamed of the intention, more especially as in the first excited feeling of safety he had told Sybil that he had thought it would please his father.

“That was very nice of you, Ralph,” she said warmly.

“O, I don’t know,” he answered vaguely4. “I mean — he was looking a bit aged5 the other day, I thought, and if a man’s getting on . . . well, I mean he likes people to think about him a bit, I suppose. I mean, it wouldn’t matter two grey Grimalkins to me whether anyone came to see me on Christmas Day or not; there’s always plenty of people about anyhow. But he doesn’t seem to get up to more than about forty per h. at the best, does he?”

“And what’s yours normally?” Sybil said gravely.

“O, I don’t know; say, a lusty sixty,” Ralph meditated6. “But I’m rather a quiet one really, Aunt Sybil. I mean —”

Here he was interrupted, and only given time hastily to explain how the storm had caught and held the car; how he had at last got out and gone a little way to see if there was another road or anything; how he had lost his way back, and then encountered the other two wanderers, with whom he had gone along — partly because they had seemed to be aiming somewhere, partly to give Joanna an arm. “And I must say,” he added quietly and hastily to Sybil, “the set of carols that she sung all the time curdled8 anything in me that the snow didn’t. O, she was a lively little Robin9 Redbreast.”

Sybil thought, as she herself was carried off — quite unnecessarily, she assured them — that there was something not wholly inapplicable in the phrase. The two women were apparently10 the least exhausted11 of all the five. Joanna was sitting on one of the hall chairs, her old red cloak pulled round her, and snow melting and pouring from her on every side. Aaron obviously wasn’t a bit pleased, but nothing could be done. He couldn’t push Joanna and Stephen out into the blizzard12, and no one naturally would help him, and they wouldn’t go. “But I wonder,” Sybil thought, “why they dislike each other so. Is it just family, or is it something special?”

She would not go to bed, certainly not, but hot drinks — yes; and a hot bath — yes; and a complete change — yes. Drinks and baths and changes were exquisite13 delights in themselves; part of an existence in which one beauty was always providing a reason and a place for an entirely14 opposite beauty. As society for solitude15, and walking for sitting down, and one dress for another, and emotions for intellect, and snowstorms for hot drinks, and in general movement for repose16, repose for movement, and even one movement for another, so highly complex was the admirable order of the created universe. It was all rather like Henry’s charming little figures in their perpetual dance; perhaps they were a symbol of it; perhaps that was what was meant by Aaron’s uncertain phrase about being magnetized by the earth. They were the most beautiful things, with that varying light irradiating and striking outward from each, and a kind of gold aureole hanging in the air, which had expanded and heightened while Nancy’s fortune was being tried. As she saw them again in her mind she saw at the same time the faint golden gleam that had possessed17 the air around her brother. She knew where the golden light came from among the images; it came from the figure of the Fool who moved so much the most swiftly, who seemed to be everywhere at once, whose irradiation shone therefore so universally upward that it maintained the circle of gold high over all, under which the many other rays of colour mingled18 and were dominated now by one, now by another. It had been, this afternoon, as if some figure — say, the Fool himself — had come speeding down from his own splendid abode19 of colour to her brother’s side. She contemplated20 the idea; so, one might imagine, only no imagination could compass it, so did the beautiful perfection which was in and beyond all things make haste to sustain its creatures in their mood; immediacy to immediacy. She moved her foot lazily through the water of the bath, and half-pretended, half-believed, that little sparkles of gold rose and floated off as she did so: then she abandoned the fancy hastily. “I’m getting mythical,” she said aloud; “this is the way superstitions21 and the tantum mali arise. Only,” she added, in a charming apology, “I knew I was doing it, and I have left off. sPeople,” she went on thinking, “have killed one another on questions like that — did you or did you not see a golden sparkle? Well, the answer is, no, I didn’t, but I saw the ripples22 in the water, and the top of my toe, and even though it may annoy Lothair, it is a very well-shaped toe. How sweet of Love to have a toe like that!”

She wondered as she dressed where Henry was; she’d rather expected to find him also in the hall. Nancy’s “shut away somewhere” had been obscure — not merely in the meaning but in the tone. It hadn’t been bitter; it hadn’t been plaintive24; it had been much more like an echo of despair. Despair? Had Henry refused to come out or something? Had he a complex about snow? Did it make him go what Ralph — if she had the phrase right — called “ga-ga”? If so, Nancy’s winters — except for the luck of the English climate, to which Lothair (judging from his continual protests about it) had a profound objection — Nancy’s winters might be rather trying. Henry might have to hibernate25. She imagined Nancy teaching her children: “Mother, what animals hibernate?” “Bears, tortoises, hedgehogs, and your father.” Squirrels, snakes? Did snakes and squirrels hibernate? It couldn’t be that; he wouldn’t have become a barrister if the Long Vacation was merely a prelude26 to a sound sleep. So awkward if he could only have summer clients. “Nobody could have much affiance in a barrister who could only take summer clients.”

She reordered her thoughts; this was mere23 dithering. But dithering was rather nice; occasionally she and Nancy had dithered together. Nancy. What was wrong with the child? She had sat down to put on her shoes, and — one off and one on — she turned to her habitual27 resource. She emptied her mind of all thoughts and pictures: she held it empty till the sudden change in it gave her the consciousness of the spreading out of the stronger will within; then she allowed that now unimportant daily mind to bear the image and memory of Nancy into its presence. She did not, in the ordinary sense, “pray for” Nancy; she did not presume to suggest to Omniscience28 that it would be a thoroughly29 good thing if It did; she merely held her own thought of Nancy stable in the midst of Omniscience. She hoped Nancy wouldn’t mind, if she knew. If, she thought, as, the prayer over, she put on her other shoe — if she had believed in a Devil, it would have been awkward to know whether or not it would be permissible30 to offer the Devil to Love in that way. Because the Devil might dislike it very much, and then . . . However, she didn’t believe in the Devil, and Nancy, up to lunch anyhow, had believed in a — if not the — mystery of Love. She determined to go and see if Nancy by any chance would like her to listen. Besides, there was Lothair — who in a strange home would certainly want her to be somewhere about. Also there was Joanna — Sybil rather looked forward to a conversation with Joanna, who seemed to her to have, on the whole, a just view of the world, if rather prejudiced against the enemies of Horus.

On the point of going downstairs, she checked herself. It was possible that Nancy, relieved from anxiety about her father, was not downstairs, but in her own room next door. Sybil considered this, and decided31, if she were, that there would be no harm in venturing a visit; it could easily be ended. She went and knocked. A high, shaking voice said, “Come in.”

Nancy was lying on the bed; she barely looked round as her aunt entered, and, on the point of speaking, gave up the effort.

She looked worse than she had done downstairs; a more complete collapse32 showed in her. Sybil, from the door, beheld33 a dying creature, one in whom the power of Life was on the point of evacuating34 its last defences. But she looked also a creature betrayed, one in whom the power of Life had changed to Death while she was still aware. The storm that had attacked the bodies of others might have crushed her soul; a wan7 recognition of the earth lingered in her eyes before she fell into entire ruin. Sybil came swiftly across the room.

“What’s the matter, darling?” she said.

Nancy made a small movement with one hand, but didn’t answer. Sybil sat down on the bed, and very lightly took the hand in her own. They remained so for some minutes in silence; then, in a voice hardly breathing it, Sybil said:

“All beauty returns. Wait a little.”

Nancy trembled, as if the storm shook her from within; she said “No” in a moan and was silent. But the moan was at least life; the denial was at least consciousness; and Sybil ventured then so far as to put an arm round the girl’s shoulders. There she rested silent again, bending all the power that she had to find what remote relic35 of power still existed somewhere in that strange overthrow36. Time went past, but after a long while Nancy’s fingers had closed ever so little more tightly on Sybil’s hand; her shoulder pressed ever so little more willingly against the encircling arm. The blizzard without struck again and again at the window, and suddenly for the first time Nancy shuddered37 when she heard it. In a horrible stifled38 voice she said, “You don’t know what that is.”

Sybil tightened39 her grasp and gathered Nancy more closely into eternity40. As if the remorseless will of that peace broke her into utterance41, Nancy said, still in the same horrible voice, “It’s Henry killing42 father.”

The executive part of Sybil’s mind had been so disciplined that it was not allowed to be startled. She said, and though her voice was low it was full of profounder wisdom than the words seemed to carry: “He came back with me.”

“If he didn’t,” Nancy answered, “if he’d died out there, if I’d died, the storm would have stopped. It won’t stop, now. It’ll go on for ever. It’s Henry killing father, and he can’t leave off. I’ve stopped him.”

Her brother’s fancy of “great men with clubs” came into Sybil’s mind for a perplexing moment. She dismissed it gently, not to break the deeper labour on which she was engaged. She answered with all the tenderness of her certainty: “You couldn’t do anything at all unless you were let, could you? And if you were let stop it, then stopping it was the most perfect thing that could happen. Only you mustn’t stop now.”

The storm shook and rattled43 at the windows. Nancy jerked violently and cried out: “Nothing can stop it. He’s lost them; he can’t.”

“What is it that’s lost?” Sybil asked commandingly, and the girl answered in almost a shriek44, “The Tarots, the magical leaves.” She went on in a high torment45: “He had them; he beat them up and down; he made the storm to kill father, and I knocked them away, and they’re gone, and nothing can stop the wind and the snow for ever. It’ll find father and it’ll drown the whole world. Hear it dancing! hear it singing! that’s the dance Henry keeps in his little room.”

“I know the dance,” Sybil said instantly. “Nancy, do you hear? I know the dance, and the figures that make the dance. The crown’s gold over them, and there’s a movement that Henry’s not known yet. Do you suppose that storm can ever touch the Fool?”

Why she used the words she didn’t know, but something in them answered the girl in the same terms in which she had cried out. Her face changed; there came into it a dim memory of life. She said, arrested in the midst of terror and death, “The Fool —”

“I saw the gold in the snow,” Sybil said, “and your father was in it and safe. Do you think the Tarots can ever escape while the Fool is here to hold them?”

“They say he doesn’t move,” Nancy breathed.

“But I saw him move,” Sybil answered, eternal peace in her voice, “and there’s no figure anywhere in heaven or earth that can slip from that partner. They are all his for ever.”

“The snow?” Nancy said.

“And you and I and Henry and your father,” Sybil answered. “It is only the right steps we have to mind.” She was not very clear what language she was using; as from the apostles on Pentecost, the single gospel flowed from her in accents she had not practised and syllables46 she had never learned. She added, deeply significant: “Your father came back with me; mayn’t Henry be waiting for you?”

As a proselyte in the streets of Jerusalem, drawn47 from the parts of Libya about Cyrene, hearing a new message in a familiar tongue, Nancy looked up for the first time.

“Why?” she said.

“Do you think the mystery of Love is only between those who like one another?” Sybil said. “Darling, you’re part of the mystery, and you’ll be sent to do mysterious things. Tell me — no, never mind the storm; it’s nothing; it’s under the feet of the Fool — tell me what’s happened.”

Uncertainly at first, and in no sort of order, Nancy began to pour out her story of all that she had known of the Tarots. She broke off, she went back to the beginning and leapt to the end, she confused her own experiences with what Henry had told her, and that again with what she believed Henry to desire, and all of it with her outraged48 will to love. It was confusion, but in the confusion, as if in a distant unity49 of person, went the motionless and yet moving figure of the Fool, and about his feet as he went flowed the innocent and ardent50 desire of the girl who told it to do all that she could — for Henry perhaps, but, even more than for Henry, for the unfathomable mystery of which she had known something and had half hoped, half-despaired to know more.

Sybil herself, being prepared for anything at any moment, as those who have surrendered themselves must naturally be, all amazement51 being concentrated in a single adoring amazement at the mere fact of Love, and leaving no startled surprise for the changes and new beauties that attend It — Sybil herself listened gravely and intelligently to the tale. She saw, not in her own mind so much as in Nancy’s, the whole earth, under the stress of what had been heard and seen, taking on a strange aspect. She saw — but this more in her own mind — the remote figure of the juggler53, standing54 in the void before creation was, and flinging up the glowing balls which came into being as they left his hands, and became planets and stars, and they remained some of them poised55 in the air, but others fell almost at once and dropped down below and soared again, until the creating form was lost behind the flight and the maze52 of the worlds. She saw, as the girl’s excited voice rushed on, the four great figures between whom the earth itself hovered56 — the double manifestation57 of a single fact, the body and soul of human existence, the Emperor and the Empress, and diagonally opposite them, the hierophants male and female, the quadruple security of knowledge and process upon earth. The rushing chariot of the world came from among them, and it again parted, and on one side went the Hermit58, the soul in its delighted solitude of contemplation, and on the other the Lovers, the soul in its delighted society of terrestrial love.

“And earth came out of them,” Nancy said breathlessly. Earth and air and fire and water — the lesser59 elements pouring down from below the Greater Trumps60, but these also in the dance, and in each of those four cataracts61 she saw the figure of the Fool, leaping and dancing in joy. “So I thought it was the Hanged Man, and I screamed.” Nancy had dashed to another part of the tale, and Sybil remembered the crucifixions of her past, and by each of them, where she herself hung and screamed and writhed62, she saw the golden halo and the hands of the Fool holding and easing her, and heard his voice murmuring peace. “And what shall we do? what shall we do?” the young creature babbled63 at last, and, half-risen, clutched hard at Sybil and broke into a storm of tears. But as she wept and agonized65 Sybil’s hands held and eased her and Sybil’s voice murmured peace.

How far her vivid intelligence at the moment believed the tale was another matter. Whether the pieces of painted papyrus66 and the ever-moving images, the story of newly created earth and the swift storm, Henry’s desire and her brother’s firmness, the sight of her own eyes and the vision of the rest, Nancy’s tragic67 despair and Joanna’s wild expectation — whether all these corresponded to some revelation of ultimate things she could not then tell, nor did she much mind. The thing that immediately concerned her was Nancy’s own heart. There was the division; there, justified68 or not, were bewilderment and fear. If it were delusion69 that possessed her, still it was clear that that delusion was too deep and far-reaching to be torn up by a few words of bright encouragement. If it were not delusion, if the strange and half-mystical signs and names of the Greater Trumps had meaning and life, then no doubt in due time of beneficence her own concern with them would be revealed. She held Nancy more closely.

“Dearest,” she said, “your father’s safe. Do you understand that?”

“Yes,” Nancy sobbed70.

“Tell me then — there, darling, quietly; all is well, all is most well — tell me, where’s Henry?”

“In his own room, I suppose,” Nancy said brokenly. “I— I ran away from him — when I knew.”

“Did he want you to — run away?” Sybil asked slowly.

“I don’t know — no,” Nancy said. “But I couldn’t stop. He’d been doing that awful thing — and I was terrified and ran away — and I love him. I can’t live if I don’t find him — and now I never shall.”

“But, darling, that’s not loving him,” Sybil gently protested. “That’s only preferring to live, isn’t it?”

“I don’t care what it is,” Nancy sobbed again. “If I could do anything, I would, but I can’t. Don’t you understand — he tried to kill father? There’s just Death between them, and I’m in the middle of it.”

“Then,” Sybil said, “there’s something that isn’t death, at least. And you might be more important than Death, mightn’t you? In fact, you might be life perhaps.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Nancy said, wresting71 herself free suddenly. “O, go away, Aunt Sybil. I’m going mad. Do go away.”

Sybil sat back on the bed. “Stand still and listen,” she said. “Nancy, you said it yourself, there’s death and there’s you. Are you going to be part of death against Henry and against your father? or are you going to be the life between them? You’ll be power one way or another, don’t doubt that; you’ve got to be. You’ve got to live in them or let them die in you. Make up your mind quickly, for the time’s almost gone.”

“I can’t do anything,” Nancy cried out.

Sybil stood up and went over to her. “Your father came back with me,” she said. “Go and see if Henry still has any idea of going anywhere with you. Go and see what he wants, and if you can give it to him, do. I’ll see to your father and you see to Henry. Do let’s get on to important things.”

“Give it to him!” Nancy exclaimed. “But . . . ”

“Dearest,” Sybil said, “he may not want now what he wanted two hours ago. People change their minds, you know. Yes, honestly. Go and live, go and love. Get farther, get farther now, with Henry if you can. If not — listen, Nancy — if not, and if you loved him, then go and agonize64 to adore the truth of Love. Now.” She gave the girl a little gentle shake, and moved away to the door, where she stopped, looked over her shoulder, said, “I should be as quick as I could, darling,” and went.

Nancy stared after her. “Go to Henry”? “Go and live”? “Go and love”? To be life or death between her lover and her father? Her hands to her cheeks, she stood, brooding over the dark riddle72, seeing dimly some sort of meaning in it. Something had kept her father alive; something held her father and herself — if that something were waiting for her to move? to go to Henry? She couldn’t think what she could do there, or of what, divided and united at once by a terrible truth, they could possibly even speak. Life wasn’t all speaking. Love was being something, in some way. Was she now to be driven to be that, in the way that — who knows what? — chose? Slowly she began to move. Henry probably wouldn’t want her, but . . . She went gradually and uncertainly towards his room.

He was sitting, as she had been lying, in darkness. When she had knocked and got no answer, she had taken the risk of annoying him and had gone in, switching on the light. She saw him sitting by his table and switched it off again. Then she went delicately across the room, kneeled by him, touched him lightly, and said, “Henry!”

He did not answer. In a little she said again, “Darling,” and as still he made no sound she said no more, only went on kneeling by his chair. After many minutes he said, “Go. Go away.”

“I will,” she answered sincerely, “if you want me to, if I can’t help. Can I help?”

“How can you help?” he said. “There’s nothing for any of us but to wait for death. We shall all be with your father soon.”

“He’s back, quite safe,” she said. “Aunt Sybil met him and brought him back.”

“It was a pity; the storm will have to find him out again,” he answered. “Go and be with him till that happens.”

“Must it happen?” she asked, and he laughed.

“Unless you have a trick to lure73 back the chalices74 and the staffs,” he said. “If you can, you can put them in their order and seal up the storm. But since they are rushing and dancing about the sky I can’t tell how you’ll do it. Perhaps if you talked to those that are left —”

“Mightn’t we?” she asked, but he did not understand her.

“Try it,” he mocked her again. “Here are the four princes; take them and talk to them. Perhaps, since you struck all the rest loose, these will tell you where they are. O, to be so near, so near —!”

“I should have done it all the same if I’d known,” she said, “but I didn’t know — not that I should do that. I only wanted to hold your hands still.”

“They’ll be still enough soon,” he mocked, “and so will yours;” and suddenly his hand felt for and caught hers. “They’re beautiful hands,” he said; “though they’ve ruined the world, they’re beautiful hands. Do you know, Nancy, that you’ve done what thousands of priests and scientists have talked about? This is the end of the world. You’ve killed it — you and your beautiful hands. They’ve sent the snow and the wind over the whole world, and it’ll die. The dance is ending: the juggler’s finished with one ball.”

“Love them a little then,” she said, “if you’re sure. If you’re quite sure.”

“Can you bring back the staffs?” he asked, “from the one to the ten? Shall I open the window for you to call or catch them? Maybe one’s on the window-sill now.”

“Can’t the images help?” she asked. “I don’t know, but you should. Isn’t there any way in which they could command the Tarots?”

She felt him stiffen75 in the darkness. “Who told you that?” he said. “I can’t tell. I don’t know anything of what can be done from within. If . . . ”

“If —” she answered, and paused. “I will do anything with you that I can. What would you like me to do?”

His figure turned and leaned towards her. “You?” he said. “But you hated what I was doing, you wanted to save your father — of course you did; I’m not blaming you — but how can you help me now?”

She broke unexpectedly into a laugh, the sound of which surprised some solemn part of her nature, but seemed to bring freedom at once into herself and into the dark room, so that she felt relieved of her lingering fear. “O, Henry darling,” she said, “must those dancers of yours concentrate on my father? Haven’t they any way of doing things without bothering the poor dear? Don’t you think they might manage to save the world and yet leave him alone? Henry sweetest, how serious you are about it all!”

“You can laugh,” he said uncertainly, not as a question nor yet in anger, but as if he were feeling after some strange fact. “You can laugh . . . but I tell you it is the end of the world.”

She scrambled76 to her feet. “I begin to agree with Aunt Sybil,” she said; “it isn’t quite decent to break into the poor thing’s secrets when it’s gone to such trouble to keep them quiet. But since you and I together drove things wrong, shall you and I together see — only see, darling — if we can put them straight?”

“You’re afraid of the Tarots,” he said; “you always have been.”

“Never again,” she said, “or yes — perhaps again. I’ll be afraid again, I’ll fall again, I’ll hate and be angry again. But just for a moment there’s something that runs and laughs and all your Tarots are flying along with it, and why shouldn’t it catch them for us if we ask it very nicely? Only we won’t hurt anyone, will we, if we can help it? Nothing’s important enough for that.”

He got to his feet heavily. “There’s no way anywhere without hurting someone,” he said.

“Darling, how gloomy you are,” she said. “Is this what comes of making blizzards77 and trying to kill your own Nancy’s own father? Perhaps there’s a way everywhere without hurting anyone — unless,” she added, with a touch of sadness clouding the full gaiety that had seized her, “unless they insist on being hurt. But let’s suppose they won’t, and let’s pretend they don’t, and let’s be glad that my father’s safe, and let’s see if the golden dancers can call back the staffs and the cups. I think perhaps we owe the world that.” She kissed him lightly. “It was sweet of you to pick out a nice soothing78 way of doing what you wanted,” she said. “Some magicians would have put him in a barn and set it on fire, or forced him into a river and let him drown. You’ve a nice nature, Henry, only a little perverted79 here and there. All great geniuses are like it, they say. I think you must be a genius, darling; you take your job so solemnly. Like Milton and Michael Angelo and Moses. Do you know, I don’t believe there’s a joke in all the Five Books of Moses. I can’t see very well, Henry, but I think you’re frowning. And I’m talking. And talking and frowning won’t do anything, will they? O, hark at it! Come along, my genius, or we shan’t save the world before your own pet blizzard has spoilt it.”

“There’s no other way,” he said, “but I warn you that you don’t know what may happen. Perhaps even this isn’t a way.”

“Well, perhaps it isn’t,” she answered. “But they are dancing, aren’t they, dearest? And perhaps, if we mean to love —”

“Do you love me still then?” he asked.

“I never loved you more and yet I never loved you less,” she told him. “O, don’t let’s stop to ask riddles80. And, anyhow, I wasn’t thinking of you, so there! Come, darling, or your aunt will be doing something curious. Yours is a remarkable81 family, Henry; you get all het up over your hobbies. And so you shall if you like, bless you! only not just now.”

“Joanna —” he exclaimed, unconsciously following her as she drew him towards the door. “Is she here?”

“She is,” Nancy said, “but we won’t worry about her now. Take me to them, darling, for the dance is in my ears and the light’s in my eyes, and this is why I was born, and there was glory in the beginning and is now and ever shall be, and let’s run, let’s run, for the world’s going quickly and we must be in front of it to-night.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 casually UwBzvw     
adv.漠不关心地,无动于衷地,不负责任地
参考例句:
  • She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
  • I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。
2 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
3 hurl Yc4zy     
vt.猛投,力掷,声叫骂
参考例句:
  • The best cure for unhappiness is to hurl yourself into your work.医治愁苦的最好办法就是全身心地投入工作。
  • To hurl abuse is no way to fight.谩骂决不是战斗。
4 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地,暖昧地
参考例句:
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面,对一切都视而不见。
5 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
6 meditated b9ec4fbda181d662ff4d16ad25198422     
深思,沉思,冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 ); 内心策划,考虑
参考例句:
  • He meditated for two days before giving his answer. 他在作出答复之前考虑了两天。
  • She meditated for 2 days before giving her answer. 她考虑了两天才答复。
7 wan np5yT     
(wide area network)广域网
参考例句:
  • The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。
8 curdled 3f42074f4e391f7b63d99d49433e5f7f     
v.(使)凝结( curdle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The milk has curdled. 牛奶凝结了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Terror curdled his blood. 恐惧使他心惊胆颤。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
9 robin Oj7zme     
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟
参考例句:
  • The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
  • We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟,知道春天要到了。
10 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
11 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
12 blizzard 0Rgyc     
n.暴风雪
参考例句:
  • The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
  • You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。
13 exquisite zhez1     
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的
参考例句:
  • I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
  • I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
14 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
15 solitude xF9yw     
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方
参考例句:
  • People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
  • They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。
16 repose KVGxQ     
v.(使)休息;n.安息
参考例句:
  • Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
  • Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑,即使在睡眠时也是这样。
17 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
18 mingled fdf34efd22095ed7e00f43ccc823abdf     
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系]
参考例句:
  • The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
  • The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候,这一男一女就开始交往了。
19 abode hIby0     
n.住处,住所
参考例句:
  • It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫,才好不容易打听到他的住处。
  • Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍!
20 contemplated d22c67116b8d5696b30f6705862b0688     
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
  • The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。
21 superstitions bf6d10d6085a510f371db29a9b4f8c2f     
迷信,迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Old superstitions seem incredible to educated people. 旧的迷信对于受过教育的人来说是不可思议的。
  • Do away with all fetishes and superstitions. 破除一切盲目崇拜和迷信。
22 ripples 10e54c54305aebf3deca20a1472f4b96     
逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
  • The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。
23 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
24 plaintive z2Xz1     
adj.可怜的,伤心的
参考例句:
  • Her voice was small and plaintive.她的声音微弱而哀伤。
  • Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里,一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
25 hibernate SdNxJ     
v.冬眠,蛰伏
参考例句:
  • Bears often hibernate in caves.熊常在山洞里冬眠。
  • Some warm-blooded animals do not need to hibernate.一些温血动物不需要冬眠。
26 prelude 61Fz6     
n.序言,前兆,序曲
参考例句:
  • The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
  • The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。
27 habitual x5Pyp     
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的
参考例句:
  • He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
  • They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。
28 omniscience bb61d57b9507c0bbcae0e03a6067f84e     
n.全知,全知者,上帝
参考例句:
  • Omniscience is impossible, but we be ready at all times, constantly studied. 无所不知是不可能,但我们应该时刻准备着,不断地进修学习。 来自互联网
  • Thus, the argument concludes that omniscience and omnipotence are logically incompatible. 因此,争论断定那个上帝和全能是逻辑地不兼容的。 来自互联网
29 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
30 permissible sAIy1     
adj.可允许的,许可的
参考例句:
  • Is smoking permissible in the theatre?在剧院里允许吸烟吗?
  • Delay is not permissible,even for a single day.不得延误,即使一日亦不可。
31 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
32 collapse aWvyE     
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷
参考例句:
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
33 beheld beheld     
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟
参考例句:
  • His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
34 evacuating 30406481b40b07bbecb67dbb3ced82f3     
撤离,疏散( evacuate的现在分词 ); 排空(胃肠),排泄(粪便); (从危险的地方)撤出,搬出,撤空
参考例句:
  • The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
  • Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗?
35 relic 4V2xd     
n.神圣的遗物,遗迹,纪念物
参考例句:
  • This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.这石斧是古代的遗物。
  • He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.他把这个男人看成是过去时代的人物。
36 overthrow PKDxo     
v.推翻,打倒,颠覆;n.推翻,瓦解,颠覆
参考例句:
  • After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后,这个国家处于混乱中。
  • The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。
37 shuddered 70137c95ff493fbfede89987ee46ab86     
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动
参考例句:
  • He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车,车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
38 stifled 20d6c5b702a525920b7425fe94ea26a5     
(使)窒息, (使)窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 ); 镇压,遏制; 堵
参考例句:
  • The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
  • The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。
39 tightened bd3d8363419d9ff838bae0ba51722ee9     
收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)变紧; (使)绷紧; 加紧
参考例句:
  • The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
  • His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机,然后又松开了。
40 eternity Aiwz7     
n.不朽,来世;永恒,无穷
参考例句:
  • The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
  • Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞,永世相随。
41 utterance dKczL     
n.用言语表达,话语,言语
参考例句:
  • This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
  • My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽,泣不成声。
42 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
43 rattled b4606e4247aadf3467575ffedf66305b     
慌乱的,恼火的
参考例句:
  • The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
  • Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里,窗户都格格作响。
44 shriek fEgya     
v./n.尖叫,叫喊
参考例句:
  • Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
  • People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧,气愤或疼痛而尖叫。
45 torment gJXzd     
n.折磨;令人痛苦的东西(人);vt.折磨;纠缠
参考例句:
  • He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
  • Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。
46 syllables d36567f1b826504dbd698bd28ac3e747     
n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a word with two syllables 双音节单词
  • 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓,它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
47 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
48 outraged VmHz8n     
a.震惊的,义愤填膺的
参考例句:
  • Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
  • He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。
49 unity 4kQwT     
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调
参考例句:
  • When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结,并非一团和气。
  • We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前,我们必须加强团结。
50 ardent yvjzd     
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的
参考例句:
  • He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
  • Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。
51 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
52 maze F76ze     
n.迷宫,八阵图,混乱,迷惑
参考例句:
  • He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
  • She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时,她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。
53 juggler juggler     
n. 变戏法者, 行骗者
参考例句:
  • Dick was a juggler, who threw mists before your eyes. 迪克是个骗子,他在你面前故弄玄虚。
  • The juggler juggled three bottles. 这个玩杂耍的人可同时抛接3个瓶子。
54 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
55 poised SlhzBU     
a.摆好姿势不动的
参考例句:
  • The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋,准备俯冲。
  • Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张,手悬在电话机上。
56 hovered d194b7e43467f867f4b4380809ba6b19     
鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫
参考例句:
  • A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
  • A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。
57 manifestation 0RCz6     
n.表现形式;表明;现象
参考例句:
  • Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
  • What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。
58 hermit g58y3     
n.隐士,修道者;隐居
参考例句:
  • He became a hermit after he was dismissed from office.他被解职后成了隐士。
  • Chinese ancient landscape poetry was in natural connections with hermit culture.中国古代山水诗与隐士文化有着天然联系。
59 lesser UpxzJL     
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地
参考例句:
  • Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
  • She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及,但程度较轻。
60 trumps 22c5470ebcda312e395e4d85c40b03f7     
abbr.trumpets 喇叭;小号;喇叭形状的东西;喇叭筒v.(牌戏)出王牌赢(一牌或一墩)( trump的过去式 );吹号公告,吹号庆祝;吹喇叭;捏造
参考例句:
  • On the day of the match the team turned up trumps. 比赛那天该队出乎意料地获得胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Every time John is late getting home he trumps up some new excuse. 每次约翰晚回家都会编造个新借口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
61 cataracts a219fc2c9b1a7afeeb9c811d4d48060a     
n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 );白内障
参考例句:
  • The rotor cataracts water over the top of the machines. 回转轮将水从机器顶上注入。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Cataracts of rain flooded the streets. 倾盆大雨弄得街道淹水。 来自辞典例句
62 writhed 7985cffe92f87216940f2d01877abcf6     
(因极度痛苦而)扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He writhed at the memory, revolted with himself for that temporary weakness. 他一想起来就痛悔不已,只恨自己当一时糊涂。
  • The insect, writhed, and lay prostrate again. 昆虫折腾了几下,重又直挺挺地倒了下去。
63 babbled 689778e071477d0cb30cb4055ecdb09c     
v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 );作潺潺声(如流水);含糊不清地说话;泄漏秘密
参考例句:
  • He babbled the secret out to his friends. 他失口把秘密泄漏给朋友了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She babbled a few words to him. 她对他说了几句不知所云的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
64 agonize mxxz6     
v.使受苦,使苦闷
参考例句:
  • Why do you agonize yourself with the thought of your failure?你为何总是对于你的失败念念不忘而自我折磨呢?
  • There's no reason to agonize over telling people you're job hunting.没有理由为告诉他人你正在找工作而感到苦恼。
65 agonized Oz5zc6     
v.使(极度)痛苦,折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 );苦斗;苦苦思索;感到极度痛苦
参考例句:
  • All the time they agonized and prayed. 他们一直在忍受痛苦并且祈祷。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • She agonized herself with the thought of her loss. 她念念不忘自己的损失,深深陷入痛苦之中。 来自辞典例句
66 papyrus hK9xR     
n.古以纸草制成之纸
参考例句:
  • The Egyptians wrote on papyrus.埃及人书写用薄草纸。
  • Since papyrus dries up and crumble,very few documents of ancient Egypt have survived.因草片会干裂成粉末所以古埃及的文件很少保存下来。
67 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。
68 justified 7pSzrk     
a.正当的,有理的
参考例句:
  • She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
  • The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。
69 delusion x9uyf     
n.谬见,欺骗,幻觉,迷惑
参考例句:
  • He is under the delusion that he is Napoleon.他患了妄想症,认为自己是拿破仑。
  • I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.我误认为他要娶我。
70 sobbed 4a153e2bbe39eef90bf6a4beb2dba759     
哭泣,啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 ); 哭诉,呜咽地说
参考例句:
  • She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
  • She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。
71 wresting 56ba79604a43b144708e461886c1dc15     
动词wrest的现在进行式
参考例句:
  • The amphitheater was a sealed off round structure. Swordplay, wresting, gladiatoral and other contests were held there. 该竞技场为四周封闭式结构,可以举行斗剑、格斗、斗兽及其他竞赛项目。
  • This paper introduces mechanism and control system of instrument for wresting training. 本文详细介绍了摔跤训练器的机械机构与控制方法。
72 riddle WCfzw     
n.谜,谜语,粗筛;vt.解谜,给…出谜,筛,检查,鉴定,非难,充满于;vi.出谜
参考例句:
  • The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
  • Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。
73 lure l8Gz2     
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引
参考例句:
  • Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
  • He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。
74 chalices b4f326b6c5a9f6308a44b83e2965635b     
n.高脚酒杯( chalice的名词复数 );圣餐杯;金杯毒酒;看似诱人实则令人讨厌的事物
参考例句:
75 stiffen zudwI     
v.(使)硬,(使)变挺,(使)变僵硬
参考例句:
  • The blood supply to the skin is reduced when muscles stiffen.当肌肉变得僵硬时,皮肤的供血量就减少了。
  • I was breathing hard,and my legs were beginning to stiffen.这时我却气吁喘喘地开始感到脚有点僵硬。
76 scrambled 2e4a1c533c25a82f8e80e696225a73f2     
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞
参考例句:
  • Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
77 blizzards 1471207223cd592610a59597189c4c03     
暴风雪( blizzard的名词复数 ); 暴风雪似的一阵,大量(或大批)
参考例句:
  • Even in the summertime we might be struck by blizzards. 甚至在夏天,我们也可能受到暴风雪的袭击。
  • Blizzards battered Britain for the third day. 大风雪袭击英国已进入第三天。
78 soothing soothing     
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的
参考例句:
  • Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
  • His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。
79 perverted baa3ff388a70c110935f711a8f95f768     
adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 );腐蚀;败坏;使堕落
参考例句:
  • Some scientific discoveries have been perverted to create weapons of destruction. 某些科学发明被滥用来生产毁灭性武器。
  • sexual acts, normal and perverted 正常的和变态的性行为
80 riddles 77f3ceed32609b0d80430e545f553e31     
n.谜(语)( riddle的名词复数 );猜不透的难题,难解之谜
参考例句:
  • Few riddles collected from oral tradition, however, have all six parts. 但是据收集的情况看,口头流传的谜语很少具有这完整的六部分。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
  • But first, you'd better see if you can answer riddles. 但是你首先最好想想你会不会猜谜语。 来自辞典例句
81 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
参考例句:
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。


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