THERE was a message brought, one day, from the worshipful Gervayse Pyncheon to young Matthew Maule, the carpenter, desiring his immediate1 presence at the House of the Seven Gables.
“And what does your master want with me?” said the carpenter to Mr. Pyncheon’s black servant. “Does the house need any repair? Well it may, by this time; and no blame to my father who built it, neither! I was reading the old Colonel’s tombstone, no longer ago than last Sabbath; and, reckoning from that date, the house has stood seven-and-thirty years. No wonder if there should be a job to do on the roof.”
“Don’t know what massa wants,” answered Scipio. “The house is a berry good house, and old Colonel Pyncheon think so too, I reckon;— else why the old man haunt it so, and frighten a poor nigga, As he does?”
“Well, well, friend Scipio; let your master know that I’m coming,” said the carpenter with a laugh. “For a fair, workmanlike job, he’ll find me his man. And so the house is haunted, is it? It will take a tighter workman than I am to keep the spirits out of the Seven Gables. Even if the Colonel would be quiet,” he added, muttering to himself, “my old grandfather, the wizard, will be pretty sure to stick to the Pyncheons as long as their walls hold together.”
“What’s that you mutter to yourself, Matthew Maule?” asked Scipio. “And what for do you look so black at me?”
“No matter, darky.” said the carpenter. “Do you think nobody is to look black but yourself? Go tell your master I’m coming; and if you happen to see Mistress Alice, his daughter, give Matthew Maule’s humble2 respects to her. She has brought a fair face from Italy — fair, and gentle, and proud — has that same Alice Pyncheon!”
“He talk of Mistress Alice!” cried Scipio, as he returned from his errand. “The low carpenter-man! He no business so much as to look at her a great way off!”
This young Matthew Maule, the carpenter, it must be observed, was a person little understood, and not very generally liked, in the town where he resided; not that anything could be alleged3 against his integrity, or his skill and diligence in the handicraft which he exercised. The aversion (as it might justly be called) with which many persons regarded him was partly the result of his own character and deportment, and partly an inheritance.
He was the grandson of a former Matthew Maule, one of the early settlers of the town, and who had been a famous and terrible wizard in his day. This old reprobate4 was one of the sufferers when Cotton Mather, and his brother ministers, and the learned judges, and other wise men, and Sir William Phipps, the sagacious governor, made such laudable efforts to weaken the great enemy of souls, by sending a multitude of his adherents5 up the rocky pathway of Gallows6 Hill. Since those days, no doubt, it had grown to be suspected that, in consequence of an unfortunate overdoing7 of a work praiseworthy in itself, the proceedings8 against the witches had proved far less acceptable to the Beneficent Father than to that very Arch Enemy whom they were intended to distress10 and utterly11 overwhelm. It is not the less certain, however, that awe12 and terror brooded over the memories of those who died for this horrible crime of witchcraft13. Their graves, in the crevices14 of the rocks, were supposed to be incapable15 of retaining the occupants who had been so hastily thrust into them. Old Matthew Maule, especially, was known to have as little hesitation16 or difficulty in rising out of his grave as an ordinary man in getting out of bed, and was as often seen at midnight as living people at noonday. This pestilent wizard (in whom his just punishment seemed to have wrought17 no manner of amendment) had an inveterate18 habit of haunting a certain mansion19, styled the House of the Seven Gables, against the owner of which he pretended to hold an unsettled claim for ground-rent. The ghost, it appears — with the pertinacity20 which was one of his distinguishing characteristics while alive — insisted that he was the rightful proprietor21 of the site upon which the house stood. His terms were, that either the aforesaid ground-rent, from the day when the cellar began to be dug, should be paid down, or the mansion itself given up; else he, the ghostly creditor22, would have his finger in all the affairs of the Pyncheons, and make everything go wrong with them, though it should be a thousand years after his death. It was a wild story, perhaps, but seemed not altogether so incredible to those who could remember what an inflexibly23 obstinate24 old fellow this wizard Maule had been.
Now, the wizard’s grandson, the young Matthew Maule of our story, was popularly supposed to have inherited some of his ancestor’s questionable25 traits. It is wonderful how many absurdities26 were promulgated27 in reference to the young man. He was fabled28, for example, to have a strange power of getting into people’s dreams, and regulating matters there according to his own fancy, pretty much like the stage-manager of a theatre. There was a great deal of talk among the neighbors, particularly the petticoated ones, about what they called the witchcraft of Maule’s eye. Some said that he could look into people’s minds; others, that, by the marvellous power of this eye, he could draw people into his own mind, or send them, if he pleased, to do errands to his grandfather, in the spiritual world; others, again, that it was what is termed an Evil Eye, and possessed29 the valuable faculty30 of blighting31 corn, and drying children into mummies with the heartburn. But, after all, what worked most to the young carpenter’s disadvantage was, first, the reserve and sternness of his natural disposition32, and next, the fact of his not being a church-communicant, and the suspicion of his holding heretical tenets in matters of religion and polity.
After receiving Mr. Pyncheon’s message, the carpenter merely tarried to finish a small job, which he happened to have in hand, and then took his way towards the House of the Seven Gables. This noted34 edifice35, though its style might be getting a little out of fashion, was still as respectable a family residence as that of any gentleman in town. The present owner, Gervayse Pyncheon, was said to have contracted a dislike to the house, in consequence of a shock to his sensibility, in early childhood, from the sudden death of his grandfather. In the very act of running to climb Colonel Pyncheon’s knee, the boy had discovered the old Puritan to be a corpse37. On arriving at manhood, Mr. Pyncheon had visited England, where he married a lady of fortune, and had subsequently spent many years, partly in the mother country, and partly in various cities on the continent of Europe. During this period, the family mansion had been consigned38 to the charge of a kinsman40, who was allowed to make it his home for the time being, in consideration of keeping the premises42 in thorough repair. So faithfully had this contract been fulfilled, that now, as the carpenter approached the house, his practised eye could detect nothing to criticise44 in its condition. The peaks of the seven gables rose up sharply; the shingled45 roof looked thoroughly46 water-tight; and the glittering plaster-work entirely47 covered the exterior48 walls, and sparkled in the October sun, as if it had been new only a week ago.
The house had that pleasant aspect of life which is like the cheery expression of comfortable activity in the human countenance49. You could see, at once, that there was the stir of a large family within it. A huge load of oak-wood was passing through the gateway50, towards the outbuildings in the rear; the fat cook — or probably it might be the housekeeper51 — stood at the side door, bargaining for some turkeys and poultry52 which a countryman had brought for sale. Now and then a maid-servant, neatly53 dressed, and now the shining sable54 face of a slave, might be seen bustling55 across the windows, in the lower part of the house. At an open window of a room in the second story, hanging over some pots of beautiful and delicate flowers — exotics, but which had never known a more genial56 sunshine than that of the New England autumn — was the figure of a young lady, an exotic, like the flowers, and beautiful and delicate as they. Her presence imparted an indescribable grace and faint witchery to the whole edifice. In other respects, it was a substantial, jolly-looking mansion, and seemed fit to be the residence of a patriarch, who might establish his own headquarters in the front gable and assign one of the remainder to each of his six children, while the great chimney in the centre should symbolize57 the old fellow’s hospitable58 heart, which kept them all warm, and made a great whole of the seven smaller ones.
There was a vertical59 sundial on the front gable; and as the carpenter passed beneath it, he looked up and noted the hour.
“Three o’clock!” said he to himself. “My father told me that dial was put up only an hour before the old Colonel’s death. How truly it has kept time these seven-and-thirty years past! The shadow creeps and creeps, and is always looking over the shoulder of the sunshine!”
It might have befitted a craftsman60, like Matthew Maule, on being sent for to a gentleman’s house, to go to the back door, where servants and work-people were usually admitted; or at least to the side entrance, where the better class of tradesmen made application. But the carpenter had a great deal of pride and stiffness in his nature; and, at this moment, moreover, his heart was bitter with the sense of hereditary61 wrong, because he considered the great Pyncheon House to be standing62 on soil which should have been his own. On this very site, beside a spring of delicious water, his grandfather had felled the pine-trees and built a cottage, in which children had been born to him; and it was only from a dead man’s stiffened63 fingers that Colonel Pyncheon had wrested64 away the title-deeds. So young Maule went straight to the principal entrance, beneath a portal of carved oak, and gave such a peal65 of the iron knocker that you would have imagined the stern old wizard himself to be standing at the threshold.
Black Scipio answered the summons in a prodigious66, hurry; but showed the whites of his eyes in amazement67 on beholding68 only the carpenter.
“Lord-a-mercy! what a great man he be, this carpenter fellow.” mumbled70 Scipio, down in his throat. “Anybody think he beat on the door with his biggest hammer!”
“Here I am!” said Maule sternly. “Show me the way to your master’s parlor71.”
As he stept into the house, a note of sweet and melancholy72 music thrilled and vibrated along the passage-way, proceeding9 from one of the rooms above stairs. It was the harpsichord73 which Alice Pyncheon had brought with her from beyond the sea. The fair Alice bestowed74 most of her maiden76 leisure between flowers and music, although the former were apt to droop77, and the melodies were often sad. She was of foreign education, and could not take kindly78 to the New England modes of life, in which nothing beautiful had ever been developed.
As Mr. Pyncheon had been impatiently awaiting Maule’s arrival, black Scipio, of course, lost no time in ushering79 the carpenter into his master’s presence. The room in which this gentleman sat was a parlor of moderate size, looking out upon the garden of the house, and having its windows partly shadowed by the foliage80 of fruit-trees. It was Mr. Pyncheon’s peculiar81 apartment, and was provided with furniture, in an elegant and costly82 style, principally from Paris; the floor (which was unusual at that day) being covered with a carpet, so skilfully83 and richly wrought that it seemed to glow as with living flowers. In one corner stood a marble woman, to whom her own beauty was the sole and sufficient garment. Some pictures — that looked old, and had a mellow84 tinge85 diffused86 through all their artful splendor87 — hung on the walls. Near the fireplace was a large and very beautiful cabinet of ebony, inlaid with ivory; a piece of antique furniture, which Mr. Pyncheon had bought in Venice, and which he used as the treasure-place for medals, ancient coins, and whatever small and valuable curiosities he had picked up on his travels. Through all this variety of decoration, however, the room showed its original characteristics; its low stud, its cross-beam, its chimney-piece, with the old-fashioned Dutch tiles; so that it was the emblem88 of a mind industriously89 stored with foreign ideas, and elaborated into artificial refinement90, but neither larger, nor, in its proper self, more elegant than before.
There were two objects that appeared rather out of place in this very handsomely furnished room. One was a large map, or surveyor’s plan, of a tract36 of land, which looked as if it had been drawn91 a good many years ago, and was now dingy92 with smoke, and soiled, here and there, with the touch of fingers. The other was a portrait of a stern old man, in a Puritan garb93, painted roughly, but with a bold effect, and a remarkably94 strong expression of character.
At a small table, before a fire of English sea-coal, sat Mr. Pyncheon, sipping95 coffee, which had grown to be a very favorite beverage96 with him in France. He was a aged98" target="_blank">middle-aged97 and really handsome man, with a wig99 flowing down upon his shoulders; his coat was of blue velvet100, with lace on the borders and at the button-holes; and the firelight glistened101 on the spacious102 breadth of his waistcoat, which was flowered all over with gold. On the entrance of Scipio, ushering in the carpenter, Mr. Pyncheon turned partly round, but resumed his former position, and proceeded deliberately103 to finish his cup of coffee, without immediate notice of the guest whom he had summoned to his presence. It was not that he intended any rudeness or improper104 neglect — which, indeed, he would have blushed to be guilty of — but it never occurred to him that a person in Maule’s station had a claim on his courtesy, or would trouble himself about it one way or the other.
The carpenter, however, stepped at once to the hearth105, and turned himself about, so as to look Mr. Pyncheon in the face.
“You sent for me,” said he. “Be pleased to explain your business, that I may go back to my own affairs.”
“Ah! excuse me,” said Mr. Pyncheon quietly. “I did not mean to tax your time without a recompense. Your name, I think, is Maule — Thomas or Matthew Maule — a son or grandson of the builder of this house?”
“Matthew Maule,” replied the carpenter —“son of him who built the house — grandson of the rightful proprietor of the soil.”
“I know the dispute to which you allude,” observed Mr. Pyncheon with undisturbed equanimity106. “I am well aware that my grandfather was compelled to resort to a suit at law, in order to establish his claim to the foundation-site of this edifice. We will not, if you please, renew the discussion. The matter was settled at the time, and by the competent authorities — equitably107, it is to be presumed — and, at all events, irrevocably. Yet, singularly enough, there is an incidental reference to this very subject in what I am now about to say to you. And this same inveterate grudge108 — excuse me, I mean no offence — this irritability109, which you have just shown, is not entirely aside from the matter.”
“If you can find anything for your purpose, Mr. Pyncheon,” said the carpenter, “in a man’s natural resentment110 for the wrongs done to his blood, you are welcome to it.”
“I take you at your word, Goodman Maule,” said the owner of the Seven Gables, with a smile, “and will proceed to suggest a mode in which your hereditary resentments111 — justifiable112 or otherwise — may have had a bearing on my affairs. You have heard, I suppose, that the Pyncheon family, ever since my grandfather’s days, have been prosecuting113 a still unsettled claim to a very large extent of territory at the Eastward114?”
“Often,” replied Maule — and it is said that a smile came over his face —“very often — from my father!”
“This claim,” continued Mr. Pyncheon, after pausing a moment, as if to consider what the carpenter’s smile might mean, “appeared to be on the very verge115 of a settlement and full allowance, at the period of my grandfather’s decease. It was well known, to those in his confidence, that he anticipated neither difficulty nor delay. Now, Colonel Pyncheon, I need hardly say, was a practical man, well acquainted with public and private business, and not at all the person to cherish ill-founded hopes, or to attempt the following out of an impracticable scheme. It is obvious to conclude, therefore, that he had grounds, not apparent to his heirs, for his confident anticipation116 of success in the matter of this Eastern claim. In a word, I believe — and my legal advisers117 coincide in the belief, which, moreover, is authorized118, to a certain extent, by the family traditions — that my grandfather was in possession of some deed, or other document, essential to this claim, but which has since disappeared.”
“Very likely,” said Matthew Maule — and again, it is said, there was a dark smile on his face —“but what can a poor carpenter have to do with the grand affairs of the Pyncheon family?”
“Perhaps nothing,” returned Mr. Pyncheon, “possibly much!”
Here ensued a great many words between Matthew Maule and the proprietor of the Seven Gables, on the subject which the latter had thus broached119. It seems (although Mr. Pyncheon had some hesitation in referring to stories so exceedingly absurd in their aspect) that the popular belief pointed120 to some mysterious connection and dependence121, existing between the family of the Maules and these vast unrealized possessions of the Pyncheons. It was an ordinary saying that the old wizard, hanged though he was, had obtained the best end of the bargain in his contest with Colonel Pyncheon; inasmuch as he had got possession of the great Eastern claim, in exchange for an acre or two of garden-ground. A very aged woman, recently dead, had often used the metaphorical122 expression, in her fireside talk, that miles and miles of the Pyncheon lands had been shovelled123 into Maule’s grave; which, by the bye, was but a very shallow nook, between two rocks, near the summit of Gallows Hill. Again, when the lawyers were making inquiry124 for the missing document, it was a by-word that it would never be found, unless in the wizard’s skeleton hand. So much weight had the shrewd lawyers assigned to these fables125, that (but Mr. Pyncheon did not see fit to inform the carpenter of the fact) they had secretly caused the wizard’s grave to be searched. Nothing was discovered, however, except that, unaccountably, the right hand of the skeleton was gone.
Now, what was unquestionably important, a portion of these popular rumors126 could be traced, though rather doubtfully and indistinctly, to chance words and obscure hints of the executed wizard’s son, and the father of this present Matthew Maule. And here Mr. Pyncheon could bring an item of his own personal evidence into play. Though but a child at the time, he either remembered or fancied that Matthew’s father had had some job to perform on the day before, or possibly the very morning of the Colonel’s decease, in the private room where he and the carpenter were at this moment talking. Certain papers belonging to Colonel Pyncheon, as his grandson distinctly recollected127, had been spread out on the table.
Matthew Maule understood the insinuated128 suspicion.
“My father,” he said — but still there was that dark smile, making a riddle129 of his countenance —“my father was an honester man than the bloody130 old Colonel! Not to get his rights back again would he have carried off one of those papers!”
“I shall not bandy words with you,” observed the foreign-bred Mr. Pyncheon, with haughty131 composure. “Nor will it become me to resent any rudeness towards either my grandfather or myself. A gentleman, before seeking intercourse132 with a person of your station and habits, will first consider whether the urgency of the end may compensate133 for the disagreeableness of the means. It does so in the present instance.”
He then renewed the conversation, and made great pecuniary134 offers to the carpenter, in case the latter should give information leading to the discovery of the lost document, and the consequent success of the Eastern claim. For a long time Matthew Maule is said to have turned a cold ear to these propositions. At last, however, with a strange kind of laugh, he inquired whether Mr. Pyncheon would make over to him the old wizard’s homestead-ground, together with the House of the Seven Gables, now standing on it, in requital135 of the documentary evidence so urgently required.
The wild, chimney-corner legend (which, without copying all its extravagances, my narrative136 essentially137 follows) here gives an account of some very strange behavior on the part of Colonel Pyncheon’s portrait. This picture, it must be understood, was supposed to be so intimately connected with the fate of the house, and so magically built into its walls, that, if once it should be removed, that very instant the whole edifice would come thundering down in a heap of dusty ruin. All through the foregoing conversation between Mr. Pyncheon and the carpenter, the portrait had been frowning, clenching138 its fist, and giving many such proofs of excessive discomposure, but without attracting the notice of either of the two colloquists. And finally, at Matthew Maule’s audacious suggestion of a transfer of the seven-gabled structure, the ghostly portrait is averred139 to have lost all patience, and to have shown itself on the point of descending140 bodily from its frame. But such incredible incidents are merely to be mentioned aside.
“Give up this house!” exclaimed Mr. Pyncheon, in amazement at the proposal. “Were I to do so, my grandfather would not rest quiet in his grave!”
“He never has, if all stories are true,” remarked the carpenter composedly. “But that matter concerns his grandson more than it does Matthew Maule. I have no other terms to propose.”
Impossible as he at first thought it to comply with Maule’s conditions, still, on a second glance, Mr. Pyncheon was of opinion that they might at least be made matter of discussion. He himself had no personal attachment141 for the house, nor any pleasant associations connected with his childish residence in it. On the contrary, after seven-and-thirty years, the presence of his dead grandfather seemed still to pervade142 it, as on that morning when the affrighted boy had beheld143 him, with so ghastly an aspect, stiffening144 in his chair. His long abode145 in foreign parts, moreover, and familiarity with many of the castles and ancestral halls of England, and the marble palaces of Italy, had caused him to look contemptuously at the House of the Seven Gables, whether in point of splendor or convenience. It was a mansion exceedingly inadequate146 to the style of living which it would be incumbent147 on Mr. Pyncheon to support, after realizing his territorial148 rights. His steward149 might deign150 to occupy it, but never, certainly, the great landed proprietor himself. In the event of success, indeed, it was his purpose to return to England; nor, to say the truth, would he recently have quitted that more congenial home, had not his own fortune, as well as his deceased wife’s, begun to give symptoms of exhaustion151. The Eastern claim once fairly settled, and put upon the firm basis of actual possession, Mr. Pyncheon’s property — to be measured by miles, not acres — would be worth an earldom, and would reasonably entitle him to solicit152, or enable him to purchase, that elevated dignity from the British monarch153. Lord Pyncheon!— or the Earl of Waldo!— how could such a magnate be expected to contract his grandeur154 within the pitiful compass of seven shingled gables?
In short, on an enlarged view of the business, the carpenter’s terms appeared so ridiculously easy that Mr. Pyncheon could scarcely forbear laughing in his face. He was quite ashamed, after the foregoing reflections, to propose any diminution155 of so moderate a recompense for the immense service to be rendered.
“I consent to your proposition, Maule,” cried he.” Put me in possession of the document essential to establish my rights, and the House of the Seven Gables is your own!”
According to some versions of the story, a regular contract to the above effect was drawn up by a lawyer, and signed and sealed in the presence of witnesses. Others say that Matthew Maule was contented156 with a private written agreement, in which Mr. Pyncheon pledged his honor and integrity to the fulfillment of the terms concluded upon. The gentleman then ordered wine, which he and the carpenter drank together, in confirmation157 of their bargain. During the whole preceding discussion and subsequent formalities, the old Puritan’s portrait seems to have persisted in its shadowy gestures of disapproval158; but without effect, except that, as Mr. Pyncheon set down the emptied glass, he thought be beheld his grandfather frown.
“This sherry is too potent159 a wine for me; it has affected160 my brain already,” he observed, after a somewhat startled look at the picture. “On returning to Europe, I shall confine myself to the more delicate vintages of Italy and France, the best of which will not bear transportation.”
“My Lord Pyncheon may drink what wine he will, and wherever he pleases,” replied the carpenter, as if he had been privy161 to Mr. Pyncheon’s ambitious projects. “But first, sir, if you desire tidings of this lost document, I must crave162 the favor of a little talk with your fair daughter Alice.”
“You are mad, Maule!” exclaimed Mr. Pyncheon haughtily163; and now, at last, there was anger mixed up with his pride. “What can my daughter have to do with a business like this?”
Indeed, at this new demand on the carpenter’s part, the proprietor of the Seven Gables was even more thunder-struck than at the cool proposition to surrender his house. There was, at least, an assignable motive164 for the first stipulation165; there appeared to be none whatever for the last. Nevertheless, Matthew Maule sturdily insisted on the young lady being summoned, and even gave her father to understand, in a mysterious kind of explanation — which made the matter considerably166 darker than it looked before — that the only chance of acquiring the requisite167 knowledge was through the clear, crystal medium of a pure and virgin168 intelligence, like that of the fair Alice. Not to encumber169 our story with Mr. Pyncheon’s scruples170, whether of conscience, pride, or fatherly affection, he at length ordered his daughter to be called. He well knew that she was in her chamber171, and engaged in no occupation that could not readily be laid aside; for, as it happened, ever since Alice’s name had been spoken, both her father and the carpenter had heard the sad and sweet music of her harpsichord, and the airier melancholy of her accompanying voice.
So Alice Pyncheon was summoned, and appeared. A portrait of this young lady, painted by a Venetian artist, and left by her father in England, is said to have fallen into the hands of the present Duke of Devonshire, and to be now preserved at Chatsworth; not on account of any associations with the original, but for its value as a picture, and the high character of beauty in the countenance. If ever there was a lady born, and set apart from the world’s vulgar mass by a certain gentle and cold stateliness, it was this very Alice Pyncheon. Yet there was the womanly mixture in her; the tenderness, or, at least, the tender capabilities173. For the sake of that redeeming174 quality, a man of generous nature would have forgiven all her pride, and have been content, almost, to lie down in her path, and let Alice set her slender foot upon his heart. All that he would have required was simply the acknowledgment that he was indeed a man, and a fellow-being, moulded of the same elements as she.
As Alice came into the room, her eyes fell upon the carpenter, who was standing near its centre, clad in green woollen jacket, a pair of loose breeches, open at the knees, and with a long pocket for his rule, the end of which protruded175; it was as proper a mark of the artisan’s calling as Mr. Pyncheon’s full-dress sword of that gentleman’s aristocratic pretensions176. A glow of artistic177 approval brightened over Alice Pyncheon’s face; she was struck with admiration178 — which she made no attempt to conceal179 — of the remarkable180 comeliness181, strength, and energy of Maule’s figure. But that admiring glance (which most other men, perhaps, would have cherished as a sweet recollection all through life) the carpenter never forgave. It must have been the devil himself that made Maule so subtile in his preception.
“Does the girl look at me as if I were a brute182 beast?” thought he, setting his teeth. “She shall know whether I have a human spirit; and the worse for her, if it prove stronger than her own!”
“My father, you sent for me,” said Alice, in her sweet and harp-like voice. “But, if you have business with this young man, pray let me go again. You know I do not love this room, in spite of that Claude, with which you try to bring back sunny recollections.”
“Stay a moment, young lady, if you please!” said Matthew Maule. “My business with your father is over. With yourself, it is now to begin!”
Alice looked towards her father, in surprise and inquiry.
“Yes, Alice,” said Mr. Pyncheon, with some disturbance183 and confusion. “This young man — his name is Matthew Maule — professes184, so far as I can understand him, to be able to discover, through your means, a certain paper or parchment, which was missing long before your birth. The importance of the document in question renders it advisable to neglect no possible, even if improbable, method of regaining185 it. You will therefore oblige me, my dear Alice, by answering this person’s inquiries186, and complying with his lawful187 and reasonable requests, so far as they may appear to have the aforesaid object in view. As I shall remain in the room, you need apprehend188 no rude nor unbecoming deportment, on the young man’s part; and, at your slightest wish, of course, the investigation189, or whatever we may call it, shall immediately be broken off.”
“Mistress Alice Pyncheon,” remarked Matthew Maule, with the utmost deference190, but yet a half-hidden sarcasm191 in his look and tone, “will no doubt feel herself quite safe in her father’s presence, and under his all-sufficient protection.”
“I certainly shall entertain no manner of apprehension192, with my father at hand,” said Alice with maidenly193 dignity. “Neither do I conceive that a lady, while true to herself, can have aught to fear from whomsoever, or in any circumstances!”
Poor Alice! By what unhappy impulse did she thus put herself at once on terms of defiance194 against a strength which she could not estimate?
“Then, Mistress Alice,” said Matthew Maule, handing a chair — gracefully195 enough, for a craftsman, “will it please you only to sit down, and do me the favor (though altogether beyond a poor carpenter’s deserts) to fix your eyes on mine!”
Alice complied, She was very proud. Setting aside all advantages of rank, this fair girl deemed herself conscious of a power — combined of beauty, high, unsullied purity, and the preservative196 force of womanhood — that could make her sphere impenetrable, unless betrayed by treachery within. She instinctively197 knew, it may be, that some sinister198 or evil potency199 was now striving to pass her barriers; nor would she decline the contest. So Alice put woman’s might against man’s might; a match not often equal on the part of woman.
Her father meanwhile had turned away, and seemed absorbed in the contemplation of a landscape by Claude, where a shadowy and sun-streaked vista200 penetrated201 so remotely into an ancient wood, that it would have been no wonder if his fancy had lost itself in the picture’s bewildering depths. But, in truth, the picture was no more to him at that moment than the blank wall against which it hung. His mind was haunted with the many and strange tales which he had heard, attributing mysterious if not supernatural endowments to these Maules, as well the grandson here present as his two immediate ancestors. Mr. Pyncheon’s long residence abroad, and intercourse with men of wit and fashion — courtiers, worldings, and free-thinkers — had done much towards obliterating202 the grim Puritan superstitions203, which no man of New England birth at that early period could entirely escape. But, on the other hand, had not a whole Community believed Maule’s grandfather to be a wizard? Had not the crime been proved? Had not the wizard died for it? Had he not bequeathed a legacy204 of hatred205 against the Pyncheons to this only grandson, who, as it appeared, was now about to exercise a subtle influence over the daughter of his enemy’s house? Might not this influence be the same that was called witchcraft?
Turning half around, he caught a glimpse of Maule’s figure in the looking-glass. At some paces from Alice, with his arms uplifted in the air, the carpenter made a gesture as if directing downward a slow, ponderous206, and invisible weight upon the maiden.
“Stay, Maule!” exclaimed Mr. Pyncheon, stepping forward. “I forbid your proceeding further!”
“Pray, my dear father, do not interrupt the young man,” said Alice, without changing her position. “His efforts, I assure you, will prove very harmless.”
Again Mr. Pyncheon turned his eyes towards the Claude. It was then his daughter’s will, in opposition207 to his own, that the experiment should be fully43 tried. Henceforth, therefore, he did but consent, not urge it. And was it not for her sake far more than for his own that he desired its success? That lost parchment once restored, the beautiful Alice Pyncheon, with the rich dowry which he could then bestow75, might wed41 an English duke or a German reigning-prince, instead of some New England clergyman or lawyer! At the thought, the ambitious father almost consented, in his heart, that, if the devil’s power were needed to the accomplishment209 of this great object, Maule might evoke210 him. Alice’s own purity would be her safeguard.
With his mind full of imaginary magnificence, Mr. Pyncheon heard a half-uttered exclamation211 from his daughter. It was very faint and low; so indistinct that there seemed but half a will to shape out the words, and too undefined a purport212 to be intelligible213. Yet it was a call for help!— his conscience never doubted it;— and, little more than a whisper to his ear, it was a dismal214 shriek215, and long reechoed so, in the region round his heart! But this time the father did not turn.
After a further interval216, Maule spoke172.
“Behold69 your daughter.” said he.
Mr. Pyncheon came hastily forward. The carpenter was standing erect217 in front of Alice’s chair, and pointing his finger towards the maiden with an expression of triumphant218 power, the limits of which could not be defined, as, indeed, its scope stretched vaguely219 towards the unseen and the infinite. Alice sat in an attitude of profound repose220, with the long brown lashes221 drooping222 over her eyes.
“There she is!” said the carpenter. “Speak to her!”
“Alice! My daughter!” exclaimed Mr. Pyncheon. “My own Alice!”
She did not stir.
“Louder!” said Maule, smiling.
“Alice! Awake!” cried her father. “It troubles me to see you thus! Awake!”
He spoke loudly, with terror in his voice, and close to that delicate ear which had always been so sensitive to every discord223. But the sound evidently reached her not. It is indescribable what a sense of remote, dim, unattainable distance betwixt himself and Alice was impressed on the father by this impossibility of reaching her with his voice.
“Best touch her” said Matthew Maule “Shake the girl, and roughly, too! My hands are hardened with too much use of axe224, saw, and plane — else I might help you!”
Mr. Pyncheon took her hand, and pressed it with the earnestness of startled emotion. He kissed her, with so great a heart-throb in the kiss, that he thought she must needs feel it. Then, in a gust225 of anger at her insensibility, he shook her maiden form with a violence which, the next moment, it affrighted him to remember. He withdrew his encircling arms, and Alice — whose figure, though flexible, had been wholly impassive — relapsed into the same attitude as before these attempts to arouse her. Maule having shifted his position, her face was turned towards him slightly, but with what seemed to be a reference of her very slumber226 to his guidance.
Then it was a strange sight to behold how the man of conventionalities shook the powder out of his periwig; how the reserved and stately gentleman forgot his dignity; how the gold-embroidered waistcoat flickered227 and glistened in the firelight with the convulsion of rage, terror, and sorrow in the human heart that was beating under it.
“Villain!” cried Mr. Pyncheon, shaking his clenched228 fist at Maule. “You and the fiend together have robbed me of my daughter. Give her back, spawn229 of the old wizard, or you shall climb Gallows Hill in your grandfather’s footsteps!”
“Softly, Mr. Pyncheon!” said the carpenter with scornful composure. “Softly, an it please your worship, else you will spoil those rich lace ruffles230 at your wrists! Is it my crime if you have sold your daughter for the mere33 hope of getting a sheet of yellow parchment into your clutch? There sits Mistress Alice quietly asleep. Now let Matthew Maule try whether she be as proud as the carpenter found her awhile since.”
He spoke, and Alice responded, with a soft, subdued231, inward acquiescence232, and a bending of her form towards him, like the flame of a torch when it indicates a gentle draught233 of air. He beckoned234 with his hand, and, rising from her chair — blindly, but undoubtingly, as tending to her sure and inevitable235 centre — the proud Alice approached him. He waved her back, and, retreating, Alice sank again into her seat.
“She is mine!” said Matthew Maule. “Mine, by the right of the strongest spirit!”
In the further progress of the legend, there is a long, grotesque236, and occasionally awe-striking account of the carpenter’s incantations (if so they are to be called), with a view of discovering the lost document. It appears to have been his object to convert the mind of Alice into a kind of telescopic medium, through which Mr. Pyncheon and himself might obtain a glimpse into the spiritual world. He succeeded, accordingly, in holding an imperfect sort of intercourse, at one remove, with the departed personages in whose custody237 the so much valued secret had been carried beyond the precincts of earth. During her trance, Alice described three figures as being present to her spiritualized perception. One was an aged, dignified238, stern-looking gentleman, clad as for a solemn festival in grave and costly attire239, but with a great bloodstain on his richly wrought band; the second, an aged man, meanly dressed, with a dark and malign240 countenance, and a broken halter about his neck; the third, a person not so advanced in life as the former two, but beyond the middle age, wearing a coarse woollen tunic241 and leather breeches, and with a carpenter’s rule sticking out of his side pocket. These three visionary characters possessed a mutual242 knowledge of the missing document. One of them, in truth — it was he with the blood-stain on his band — seemed, unless his gestures were misunderstood, to hold the parchment in his immediate keeping, but was prevented by his two partners in the mystery from disburdening himself of the trust. Finally, when he showed a purpose of shouting forth208 the secret loudly enough to be heard from his own sphere into that of mortals, his companions struggled with him, and pressed their hands over his mouth; and forthwith — whether that he were choked by it, or that the secret itself was of a crimson243 hue244 — there was a fresh flow of blood upon his band. Upon this, the two meanly dressed figures mocked and jeered245 at the much-abashed old dignitary, and pointed their fingers at the stain.
At this juncture246, Maule turned to Mr. Pyncheon.
“It will never be allowed,” said he. “The custody of this secret, that would so enrich his heirs, makes part of your grandfather’s retribution. He must choke with it until it is no longer of any value. And keep you the House of the Seven Gables! It is too dear bought an inheritance, and too heavy with the curse upon it, to be shifted yet awhile from the Colonel’s posterity247.”
Mr. Pyncheon tried to speak, but — what with fear and passion — could make only a gurgling murmur248 in his throat. The carpenter smiled.
“Aha, worshipful sir!— so you have old Maule’s blood to drink!” said he jeeringly249.
“Fiend in man’s shape! why dost thou keep dominion250 over my child?” cried Mr. Pyncheon, when his choked utterance251 could make way. “Give me back my daughter. Then go thy ways; and may we never meet again!”
“Your daughter!” said Matthew Maule. “Why, she is fairly mine! Nevertheless, not to be too hard with fair Mistress Alice, I will leave her in your keeping; but I do not warrant you that she shall never have occasion to remember Maule, the carpenter.”
He waved his hands with an upward motion; and, after a few repetitions of similar gestures, the beautiful Alice Pyncheon awoke from her strange trance. She awoke without the slightest recollection of her visionary experience; but as one losing herself in a momentary252 reverie, and returning to the consciousness of actual life, in almost as brief an interval as the down-sinking flame of the hearth should quiver again up the chimney. On recognizing Matthew Maule, she assumed an air of somewhat cold but gentle dignity, the rather, as there was a certain peculiar smile on the carpenter’s visage that stirred the native pride of the fair Alice. So ended, for that time, the quest for the lost title-deed of the Pyncheon territory at the Eastward; nor, though often subsequently renewed, has it ever yet befallen a Pyncheon to set his eye upon that parchment.
But, alas253 for the beautiful, the gentle, yet too haughty Alice! A power that she little dreamed of had laid its grasp upon her maiden soul. A will, most unlike her own, constrained254 her to do its grotesque and fantastic bidding. Her father as it proved, had martyred his poor child to an inordinate255 desire for measuring his land by miles instead of acres. And, therefore, while Alice Pyncheon lived, she was Maule’s slave, in a bondage256 more humiliating, a thousand-fold, than that which binds257 its chain around the body. Seated by his humble fireside, Maule had but to wave his hand; and, wherever the proud lady chanced to be — whether in her chamber, or entertaining her father’s stately guests, or worshipping at church — whatever her place or occupation, her spirit passed from beneath her own control, and bowed itself to Maule. “Alice, laugh!”— the carpenter, beside his hearth, would say; or perhaps intensely will it, without a spoken word. And, even were it prayer-time, or at a funeral, Alice must break into wild laughter. “Alice, be sad!”— and, at the instant, down would come her tears, quenching258 all the mirth of those around her like sudden rain upon a bonfire. “Alice, dance.”— and dance she would, not in such court-like measures as she had learned abroad, but Some high-paced jig259, or hop-skip rigadoon, befitting the brisk lasses at a rustic260 merry-making. It seemed to be Maule’s impulse, not to ruin Alice, nor to visit her with any black or gigantic mischief261, which would have crowned her sorrows with the grace of tragedy, but to wreak262 a low, ungenerous scorn upon her. Thus all the dignity of life was lost. She felt herself too much abased263, and longed to change natures with some worm!
One evening, at a bridal party (but not her own; for, so lost from self-control, she would have deemed it sin to marry), poor Alice was beckoned forth by her unseen despot, and constrained, in her gossamer264 white dress and satin slippers265, to hasten along the street to the mean dwelling266 of a laboring-man. There was laughter and good cheer within; for Matthew Maule, that night, was to wed the laborer’s daughter, and had summoned proud Alice Pyncheon to wait upon his bride. And so she did; and when the twain were one, Alice awoke out of her enchanted267 sleep. Yet, no longer proud — humbly268, and with a smile all steeped in sadness — she kissed Maule’s wife, and went her way. It was an inclement269 night; the southeast wind drove the mingled270 snow and rain into her thinly sheltered bosom271; her satin slippers were wet through and through, as she trod the muddy sidewalks. The next day a cold; soon, a settled cough; anon, a hectic272 cheek, a wasted form, that sat beside the harpsichord, and filled the house with music! Music in which a strain of the heavenly choristers was echoed! Oh; joy For Alice had borne her last humiliation273! Oh, greater joy! For Alice was penitent274 of her one earthly sin, and proud no more!
The Pyncheons made a great funeral for Alice. The kith and kin39 were there, and the whole respectability of the town besides. But, last in the procession, came Matthew Maule, gnashing his teeth, as if he would have bitten his own heart in twain — the darkest and wofullest man that ever walked behind a corpse! He meant to humble Alice, not to kill her; but he had taken a woman’s delicate soul into his rude gripe, to play with — and she was dead!
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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overdoing
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| v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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inveterate
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| adj.积习已深的，根深蒂固的 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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pertinacity
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| n.执拗，顽固 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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creditor
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| n.债仅人，债主，贷方 | |
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inflexibly
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| adv.不屈曲地，不屈地 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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absurdities
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| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
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promulgated
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| v.宣扬（某事物）( promulgate的过去式和过去分词 )；传播；公布；颁布（法令、新法律等） | |
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fabled
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| adj.寓言中的，虚构的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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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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blighting
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| 使凋萎( blight的现在分词 )； 使颓丧； 损害； 妨害 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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consigned
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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shingled
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| adj.盖木瓦的；贴有墙面板的v.用木瓦盖(shingle的过去式和过去分词形式) | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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poultry
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| n.家禽，禽肉 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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symbolize
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| vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表 | |
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58
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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craftsman
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| n.技工，精于一门工艺的匠人 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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harpsichord
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| n.键琴（钢琴前身） | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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ushering
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 ) | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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81
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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84
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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85
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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86
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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87
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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88
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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89
industriously
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90
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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91
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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92
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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93
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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94
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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95
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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96
beverage
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| n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料 | |
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97
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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98
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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99
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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100
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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101
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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103
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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104
improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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105
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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106
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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107
equitably
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| 公平地 | |
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108
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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109
irritability
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| n.易怒 | |
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110
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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111
resentments
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| （因受虐待而）愤恨，不满，怨恨( resentment的名词复数 ) | |
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112
justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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113
prosecuting
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| 检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师 | |
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114
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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115
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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116
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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117
advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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118
authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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119
broached
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| v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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120
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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121
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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122
metaphorical
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| a.隐喻的，比喻的 | |
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123
shovelled
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| v.铲子( shovel的过去式和过去分词 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份 | |
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124
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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125
fables
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| n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说 | |
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126
rumors
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| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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127
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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128
insinuated
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| v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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129
riddle
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| 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 | |
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130
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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131
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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132
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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133
compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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134
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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135
requital
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| n.酬劳；报复 | |
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136
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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137
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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138
clenching
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 ) | |
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139
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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140
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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141
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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142
pervade
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| v.弥漫，遍及，充满，渗透，漫延 | |
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143
beheld
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| 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 | |
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144
stiffening
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| n. (使衣服等)变硬的材料, 硬化 动词stiffen的现在分词形式 | |
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145
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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146
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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147
incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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148
territorial
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| adj.领土的，领地的 | |
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149
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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150
deign
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| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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151
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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152
solicit
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| vi.勾引；乞求；vt.请求，乞求；招揽(生意) | |
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153
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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154
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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155
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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156
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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157
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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158
disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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159
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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160
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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161
privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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162
crave
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| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
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163
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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164
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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165
stipulation
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| n.契约，规定，条文；条款说明 | |
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166
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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167
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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168
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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169
encumber
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| v.阻碍行动，妨碍，堆满 | |
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170
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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171
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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172
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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173
capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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174
redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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175
protruded
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| 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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176
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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177
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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178
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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179
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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180
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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181
comeliness
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| n. 清秀, 美丽, 合宜 | |
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182
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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183
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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184
professes
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| 声称( profess的第三人称单数 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
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185
regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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186
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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187
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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188
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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189
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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190
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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191
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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192
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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193
maidenly
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| adj. 像处女的, 谨慎的, 稳静的 | |
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194
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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195
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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196
preservative
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| n.防腐剂；防腐料；保护料；预防药 | |
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197
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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198
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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199
potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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200
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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201
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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202
obliterating
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| v.除去( obliterate的现在分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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203
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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204
legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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205
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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206
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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207
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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208
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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209
accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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210
evoke
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| vt.唤起，引起，使人想起 | |
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211
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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212
purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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213
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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214
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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215
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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216
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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217
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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218
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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219
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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220
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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221
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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222
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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223
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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224
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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225
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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226
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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227
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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228
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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229
spawn
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| n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产 | |
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230
ruffles
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| 褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 ) | |
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231
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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232
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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233
draught
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| 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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234
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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235
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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236
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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237
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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238
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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239
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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240
malign
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| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
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241
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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242
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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243
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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244
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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245
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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246
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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247
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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248
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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249
jeeringly
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| adv.嘲弄地 | |
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250
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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251
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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252
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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253
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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254
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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255
inordinate
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| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
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256
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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257
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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258
quenching
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| 淬火，熄 | |
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259
jig
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| n.快步舞（曲）；v.上下晃动；用夹具辅助加工；蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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260
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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261
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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262
wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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263
abased
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| 使谦卑( abase的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到羞耻； 使降低（地位、身份等）； 降下 | |
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264
gossamer
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| n.薄纱，游丝 | |
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265
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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266
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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267
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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268
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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269
inclement
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| adj.严酷的，严厉的，恶劣的 | |
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270
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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271
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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272
hectic
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| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
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273
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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274
penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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