SUMMER as it was, the east wind set poor Hepzibah’s few remaining teeth chattering1 in her head, as she and Clifford faced it, on their way up Pyncheon Street, and towards the centre of the town. Not merely was it the shiver which this pitiless blast brought to her frame (although her feet and hands, especially, had never seemed so death-a-cold as now), but there was a moral sensation, mingling3 itself with the physical chill, and causing her to shake more in spirit than in body. The world’s broad, bleak4 atmosphere was all so comfortless! Such, indeed, is the impression which it makes on every new adventurer, even if he plunge6 into it while the warmest tide of life is bubbling through his veins7. What, then, must it have been to Hepzibah and Clifford — so time-stricken as they were, yet so like children in their inexperience — as they left the doorstep, and passed from beneath the wide shelter of the Pyncheon Elm! They were wandering all abroad, on precisely8 such a pilgrimage as a child often meditates9, to the world’s end, with perhaps a sixpence and a biscuit in his pocket. In Hepzibah’s mind, there was the wretched consciousness of being adrift. She had lost the faculty11 of self-guidance; but, in view of the difficulties around her, felt it hardly worth an effort to regain12 it, and was, moreover, incapable13 of making one.
As they proceeded on their strange expedition, she now and then cast a look sidelong at Clifford, and could not but observe that he was possessed14 and swayed by a powerful excitement. It was this, indeed, that gave him the control which he had at once, and so irresistibly15, established over his movements. It not a little resembled the exhilaration of wine. Or, it might more fancifully be compared to a joyous16 piece of music, played with wild vivacity17, but upon a disordered instrument. As the cracked jarring note might always be heard, and as it jarred loudest amidst the loftiest exultation18 of the melody, so was there a continual quake through Clifford, causing him most to quiver while he wore a triumphant19 smile, and seemed almost under a necessity to skip in his gait.
They met few people abroad, even on passing from the retired20 neighborhood of the House of the Seven Gables into what was ordinarily the more thronged23 and busier portion of the town. Glistening24 sidewalks, with little pools of rain, here and there, along their unequal surface; umbrellas displayed ostentatiously in the shop-windows, as if the life of trade had concentrated itself in that one article; wet leaves of the, horse-chestnut or elm-trees, torn off untimely by the blast and scattered25 along the public way; an unsightly, accumulation of mud in the middle of the street, which perversely26 grew the more unclean for its long and laborious27 washing — these were the more definable points of a very sombre picture. In the way of movement and human life, there was the hasty rattle28 of a cab or coach, its driver protected by a waterproof29 cap over his head and shoulders; the forlorn figure of an old man, who seemed to have crept out of some subterranean30 sewer31, and was stooping along the kennel32, and poking33 the wet rubbish with a stick, in quest of rusty34 nails; a merchant or two, at the door of the post-office, together with an editor and a miscellaneous politician, awaiting a dilatory35 mail; a few visages of retired sea-captains at the window of an insurance office, looking out vacantly at the vacant street, blaspheming at the weather, and fretting36 at the dearth37 as well of public news as local gossip. What a treasure-trove to these venerable quidnuncs, could they have guessed the secret which Hepzibah and Clifford were carrying along with them! But their two figures attracted hardly so much notice as that of a young girl, who passed at the same instant, and happened to raise her skirt a trifle too high above her ankles. Had it been a sunny and cheerful day, they could hardly have gone through the streets without making themselves obnoxious38 to remark. Now, probably, they were felt to be in keeping with the dismal39 and bitter weather, and therefore did not stand out in strong relief, as if the sun were shining on them, but melted into the gray gloom and were forgotten as soon as gone.
Poor Hepzibah! Could she have understood this fact, it would have brought her some little comfort; for, to all her other troubles — strange to say!— there was added the womanish and old-maiden-like misery40 arising from a sense of unseemliness in her attire41. Thus, she was fain to shrink deeper into herself, as it were, as if in the hope of making people suppose that here was only a cloak and hood21, threadbare and woefully faded, taking an airing in the midst of the storm, without any wearer!
As they went on, the feeling of indistinctness and unreality kept dimly hovering42 round about her, and so diffusing43 itself into her system that one of her hands was hardly palpable to the touch of the other. Any certainty would have been preferable to this. She whispered to herself, again and again, “Am I awake?— Am I awake?” and sometimes exposed her face to the chill spatter of the wind, for the sake of its rude assurance that she was. Whether it was Clifford’s purpose, or only chance, had led them thither44, they now found themselves passing beneath the arched entrance of a large structure of gray stone. Within, there was a spacious45 breadth, and an airy height from floor to roof, now partially46 filled with smoke and steam, which eddied47 voluminously upward and formed a mimic48 cloud-region over their heads. A train of cars was just ready for a start; the locomotive was fretting and fuming49, like a steed impatient for a headlong rush; and the bell rang out its hasty peal50, so well expressing the brief summons which life vouchsafes51 to us in its hurried career. Without question or delay — with the irresistible52 decision, if not rather to be called recklessness, which had so strangely taken possession of him, and through him of Hepzibah — Clifford impelled53 her towards the cars, and assisted her to enter. The signal was given; the engine puffed54 forth55 its short, quick breaths; the train began its movement; and, along with a hundred other passengers, these two unwonted travellers sped onward56 like the wind.
At last, therefore, and after so long estrangement57 from everything that the world acted or enjoyed, they had been drawn58 into the great current of human life, and were swept away with it, as by the suction of fate itself.
Still haunted with the idea that not one of the past incidents, inclusive of Judge Pyncheon’s visit, could be real, the recluse59 of the Seven Gables murmured in her brother’s ear —
“Clifford! Clifford! Is not this a dream?”
“A dream, Hepzibah!” repeated he, almost laughing in her face. “On the contrary, I have never been awake before!”
Meanwhile, looking from the window, they could see the world racing60 past them. At one moment, they were rattling61 through a solitude62; the next, a village had grown up around them; a few breaths more, and it had vanished, as if swallowed by an earthquake. The spires63 of meeting-houses seemed set adrift from their foundations; the broad-based hills glided64 away. Everything was unfixed from its age-long rest, and moving at whirlwind speed in a direction opposite to their own.
Within the car there was the usual interior life of the railroad, offering little to the observation of other passengers, but full of novelty for this pair of strangely enfranchised66 prisoners. It was novelty enough, indeed, that there were fifty human beings in close relation with them, under one long and narrow roof, and drawn onward by the same mighty67 influence that had taken their two selves into its grasp. It seemed marvellous how all these people could remain so quietly in their seats, while so much noisy strength was at work in their behalf. Some, with tickets in their hats (long travellers these, before whom lay a hundred miles of railroad), had plunged68 into the English scenery and adventures of pamphlet novels, and were keeping company with dukes and earls. Others, whose briefer span forbade their devoting themselves to studies so abstruse69, beguiled70 the little tedium71 of the way with penny-papers. A party of girls, and one young man, on opposite sides of the car, found huge amusement in a game of ball. They tossed it to and fro, with peals72 of laughter that might be measured by mile-lengths; for, faster than the nimble ball could fly, the merry players fled unconsciously along, leaving the trail of their mirth afar behind, and ending their game under another sky than had witnessed its commencement. Boys, with apples, cakes, candy, and rolls of variously tinctured lozenges — merchandise that reminded Hepzibah of her deserted73 shop — appeared at each momentary74 stopping-place, doing up their business in a hurry, or breaking it short off, lest the market should ravish them away with it. New people continually entered. Old acquaintances — for such they soon grew to be, in this rapid current of affairs — continually departed. Here and there, amid the rumble75 and the tumult76, sat one asleep. Sleep; sport; business; graver or lighter77 study; and the common and inevitable78 movement onward! It was life itself!
Clifford’s naturally poignant79 sympathies were all aroused. He caught the color of what was passing about him, and threw it back more vividly80 than he received it, but mixed, nevertheless, with a lurid81 and portentous82 hue83. Hepzibah, on the other hand, felt herself more apart from human kind than even in the seclusion84 which she had just quitted.
“You are not happy, Hepzibah!” said Clifford apart, in a tone of aproach. “You are thinking of that dismal old house, and of Cousin, Jaffrey”— here came the quake through him —“and of Cousin Jaffrey sitting there, all by himself! Take my advice — follow my example — and let such things slip aside. Here we are, in the world, Hepzibah!— in the midst of life!— in the throng22 of our fellow beings! Let you and I be happy! As happy as that youth and those pretty girls, at their game of ball!”
“Happy —” thought Hepzibah, bitterly conscious, at the word, of her dull and heavy heart, with the frozen pain in it —“happy. He is mad already; and, if I could once feel myself broad awake, I should go mad too!”
If a fixed65 idea be madness, she was perhaps not remote from it. Fast and far as they had rattled85 and clattered86 along the iron track, they might just as well, as regarded Hepzibah’s mental images, have been passing up and down Pyncheon Street. With miles and miles of varied87 scenery between, there was no scene for her save the seven old gable-peaks, with their moss88, and the tuft of weeds in one of the angles, and the shop-window, and a customer shaking the door, and compelling the little bell to jingle89 fiercely, but without disturbing Judge Pyncheon! This one old house was everywhere! It transported its great, lumbering90 bulk with more than railroad speed, and set itself phlegmatically91 down on whatever spot she glanced at. The quality of Hepzibah’s mind was too unmalleable to take new impressions so readily as Clifford’s. He had a winged nature; she was rather of the vegetable kind, and could hardly be kept long alive, if drawn up by the roots. Thus it happened that the relation heretofore existing between her brother and herself was changed. At home, she was his guardian92; here, Clifford had become hers, and seemed to comprehend whatever belonged to their new position with a singular rapidity of intelligence. He had been startled into manhood and intellectual vigor93; or, at least, into a condition that resembled them, though it might be both diseased and transitory.
The conductor now applied94 for their tickets; and Clifford, who had made himself the purse-bearer, put a bank-note into his hand, as he had observed others do.
“For the lady and yourself?” asked the conductor. “And how far?”
“As far as that will carry us,” said Clifford. “It is no great matter. We are riding for pleasure merely.”
“You choose a strange day for it, sir!” remarked a gimlet-eyed old gentleman on the other side of the car, looking at Clifford and his companion, as if curious to make them out.” The best chance of pleasure, in an easterly rain, I take it, is in a man’s own house, with a nice little fire in the chimney.”
“I cannot precisely agree with you,” said Clifford, courteously95 bowing to the old gentleman, and at once taking up the clew of conversation which the latter had proffered96. “It had just occurred to me, on the contrary, that this admirable invention of the railroad — with the vast and inevitable improvements to be looked for, both as to speed and convenience — is destined97 to do away with those stale ideas of home and fireside, and substitute something better.”
“In the name of common-sense,” asked the old gentleman rather testily98, “what can be better for a man than his own parlor99 and chimney-corner?”
“These things have not the merit which many good people attribute to them,” replied Clifford. “They may be said, in few and pithy100 words, to have ill served a poor purpose. My impression is, that our wonderfully increased and still increasing facilities of locomotion101 are destined to bring us around again to the nomadic102 state. You are aware, my dear sir — you must have observed it in your own experience — that all human progress is in a circle; or, to use a more accurate and beautiful figure, in an ascending103 spiral curve. While we fancy ourselves going straight forward, and attaining104, at every step, an entirely105 new position of affairs, we do actually return to something long ago tried and abandoned, but which we now find etherealized, refined, and perfected to its ideal. The past is but a coarse and sensual prophecy of the present and the future. To apply this truth to the topic now under discussion. In the early epochs of our race, men dwelt in temporary huts, of bowers106 of branches, as easily constructed as a bird’s-nest, and which they built — if it should be called building, when such sweet homes of a summer solstice rather grew than were made with hands — which Nature, we will say, assisted them to rear where fruit abounded107, where fish and game were plentiful108, or, most especially, where the sense of beauty was to be gratified by a lovelier shade than elsewhere, and a more exquisite109 arrangement of lake, wood, and hill. This life possessed a charm which, ever since man quitted it, has vanished from existence. And it typified something better than itself. It had its drawbacks; such as hunger and thirst, inclement110 weather, hot sunshine, and weary and foot-blistering marches over barren and ugly tracts111, that lay between the sites desirable for their fertility and beauty. But in our ascending spiral, we escape all this. These railroads — could but the whistle be made musical, and the rumble and the jar got rid of — are positively112 the greatest blessing113 that the ages have wrought114 out for us. They give us wings; they annihilate115 the toil116 and dust of pilgrimage; they spiritualize travel! Transition being so facile, what can be any man’s inducement to tarry in one spot? Why, therefore, should he build a more cumbrous habitation than can readily be carried off with him? Why should he make himself a prisoner for life in brick, and stone, and old worm-eaten timber, when he may just as easily dwell, in one sense, nowhere — in a better sense, wherever the fit and beautiful shall offer him a home?”
Clifford’s countenance117 glowed, as he divulged118 this theory; a youthful character shone out from within, converting the wrinkles and pallid119 duskiness of age into an almost transparent120 mask. The merry girls let their ball drop upon the floor, and gazed at him. They said to themselves, perhaps, that, before his hair was gray and the crow’s-feet tracked his temples, this now decaying man must have stamped the impress of his features on many a woman’s heart. But, alas121! no woman’s eye had seen his face while it was beautiful.
“I should scarcely call it an improved state of things,” observed Clifford’s new acquaintance, “to live everywhere and nowhere!”
“Would you not?” exclaimed Clifford, with singular energy. “It is as clear to me as sunshine — were there any in the sky — that the greatest possible stumbling-blocks in the path of human happiness and improvement are these heaps of bricks and stones, consolidated122 with mortar123, or hewn timber, fastened together with spike-nails, which men painfully contrive124 for their own torment125, and call them house and home! The soul needs air; a wide sweep and frequent change of it. Morbid126 influences, in a thousand-fold variety, gather about hearths127, and pollute the life of households. There is no such unwholesome atmosphere as that of an old home, rendered poisonous by one’s defunct128 forefathers129 and relatives. I speak of what I know. There is a certain house within my familiar recollection — one of those peaked-gable (there are seven of them), projecting-storied edifices130, such as you occasionally see in our older towns — a rusty, crazy, creaky, dry-rotted, dingy132, dark, and miserable133 old dungeon134, with an arched window over the porch, and a little shop-door on one side, and a great, melancholy135 elm before it! Now, sir, whenever my thoughts recur136 to this seven-gabled mansion137 (the fact is so very curious that I must needs mention it), immediately I have a vision or image of an elderly man, of remarkably138 stern countenance, sitting in an oaken elbow-chair, dead, stone-dead, with an ugly flow of blood upon his shirt-bosom! Dead, but with open eyes! He taints139 the whole house, as I remember it. I could never flourish there, nor be happy, nor do nor enjoy what God meant me to do and enjoy.”
His face darkened, and seemed to contract, and shrivel itself up, and wither140 into age.
“Never, sir” he repeated. “I could never draw cheerful breath there!”
“I should think not,” said the old gentleman, eyeing Clifford earnestly, and rather apprehensively141. “I should conceive not, sir, with that notion in your head!”
“Surely not,” continued Clifford; “and it were a relief to me if that house could be torn down, or burnt up, and so the earth be rid of it, and grass be sown abundantly over its foundation. Not that I should ever visit its site again! for, sir, the farther I get away from it, the more does the joy, the lightsome freshness, the heart-leap, the intellectual dance, the youth, in short — yes, my youth, my youth!— the more does it come back to me. No longer ago than this morning, I was old. I remember looking in the glass, and wondering at my own gray hair, and the wrinkles, many and deep, right across my brow, and the furrows142 down my cheeks, and the prodigious143 trampling144 of crow’s-feet about my temples! It was too soon! I could not bear it! Age had no right to come! I had not lived! But now do I look old? If so, my aspect belies145 me strangely; for — a great weight being off my mind — I feel in the very heyday146 of my youth, with the world and my best days before me!”
“I trust you may find it so,” said the old gentleman, who seemed rather embarrassed, and desirous of avoiding the observation which Clifford’s wild talk drew on them both. “You have my best wishes for it.”
“For Heaven’s sake, dear Clifford, be quiet!” whispered his sister. “They think you mad.”
“Be quiet yourself, Hepzibah!” returned her brother. “No matter what they think! I am not mad. For the first time in thirty years my thoughts gush147 up and find words ready for them. I must talk, and I will!”
He turned again towards the old gentleman, and renewed the conversation.
“Yes, my dear sir,” said he, “it is my firm belief and hope that these terms of roof and hearth-stone, which have so long been held to embody148 something sacred, are soon to pass out of men’s daily use, and be forgotten. Just imagine, for a moment, how much of human evil will crumble149 away, with this one change! What we call real estate — the solid ground to build a house on — is the broad foundation on which nearly all the guilt150 of this world rests. A man will commit almost any wrong — he will heap up an immense pile of wickedness, as hard as granite151, and which will weigh as heavily upon his soul, to eternal ages — only to build a great, gloomy, dark-chambered mansion, for himself to die in, and for his posterity152 to be miserable in. He lays his own dead corpse153 beneath the underpinning154, as one may say, and hangs his frowning picture on the wall, and, after thus converting himself into an evil destiny, expects his remotest great-grandchildren to be happy there. I do not speak wildly. I have just such a house in my mind’s eye!”
“Then, sir,” said the old gentleman, getting anxious to drop the subject, “you are not to blame for leaving it.”
“Within the lifetime of the child already born,” Clifford went on, “all this will be done away. The world is growing too ethereal and spiritual to bear these enormities a great while longer. To me, though, for a considerable period of time, I have lived chiefly in retirement155, and know less of such things than most men — even to me, the harbingers of a better era are unmistakable. Mesmerism, now! Will that effect nothing, think you, towards purging156 away the grossness out of human life?”
“All a humbug157!” growled158 the old gentleman.”
These rapping spirits, that little Phoebe told us of, the other day,” said Clifford —“what are these but the messengers of the spiritual world, knocking at the door of substance? And it shall be flung wide open!”
“A humbug, again!” cried the old gentleman, growing more and more testy159 at these glimpses of Clifford’s metaphysics. “I should like to rap with a good stick on the empty pates160 of the dolts161 who circulate such nonsense!”
“Then there is electricity — the demon162, the angel, the mighty physical power, the all-pervading intelligence!” exclaimed Clifford. “Is that a humbug, too? Is it a fact — or have I dreamt it — that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time? Rather, the round globe is a vast head, a brain, instinct with intelligence! Or, shall we say, it is itself a thought, nothing but thought, and no longer the substance which we deemed it!”
“If you mean the telegraph,” said the old gentleman, glancing his eye toward its wire, alongside the rail-track, “it is an excellent thing — that is, of course, if the speculators in cotton and politics don’t get possession of it. A great thing, indeed, sir, particularly as regards the detection of bank-robbers and murderers.”
“I don’t quite like it, in that point of view,” replied Clifford. “A bank-robber, and what you call a murderer, likewise, has his rights, which men of enlightened humanity and conscience should regard in so much the more liberal spirit, because the bulk of society is prone163 to controvert164 their existence. An almost spiritual medium, like the electric telegraph, should be consecrated165 to high, deep, joyful166, and holy missions. Lovers, day by, day — hour by hour, if so often moved to do it — might send their heart-throbs from Maine to Florida, with some such words as these ‘I love you forever!’—‘My heart runs over with love!’—‘I love you more than I can!’ and, again, at the next message ‘I have lived an hour longer, and love you twice as much!’ Or, when a good man has departed, his distant friend should be conscious of an electric thrill, as from the world of happy spirits, telling him ‘Your dear friend is in bliss167!’ Or, to an absent husband, should come tidings thus ‘An immortal168 being, of whom you are the father, has this moment come from God!’ and immediately its little voice would seem to have reached so far, and to be echoing in his heart. But for these poor rogues169, the bank-robbers — who, after all, are about as honest as nine people in ten, except that they disregard certain formalities, and prefer to transact170 business at midnight rather than ‘Change-hours — and for these murderers, as you phrase it, who are often excusable in the motives171 of their deed, and deserve to be ranked among public benefactors172, if we consider only its result — for unfortunate individuals like these, I really cannot applaud the enlistment173 of an immaterial and miraculous174 power in the universal world-hunt at their heels!”
“You can’t, hey?” cried the old gentleman, with a hard look.
“Positively, no!” answered Clifford. “It puts them too miserably175 at disadvantage. For example, sir, in a dark, low, cross-beamed, panelled room of an old house, let us suppose a dead man, sitting in an arm-chair, with a blood-stain on his shirt-bosom — and let us add to our hypothesis another man, issuing from the house, which he feels to be over-filled with the dead man’s presence — and let us lastly imagine him fleeing, Heaven knows whither, at the speed of a hurricane, by railroad! Now, sir, if the fugutive alight in some distant town, and find all the people babbling176 about that self-same dead man, whom he has fled so far to avoid the sight and thought of, will you not allow that his natural rights have been infringed177? He has been deprived of his city of refuge, and, in my humble178 opinion, has suffered infinite wrong!”
“You are a strange man; sir” said the old gentleman, bringing his gimlet-eye to a point on Clifford, as if determined179 to bore right into him. “I can’t see through you!”
“No, I’ll be bound you can’t!” cried Clifford, laughing. “And yet, my dear sir, I am as transparent as the water of Maule’s well! But come, Hepzibah! We have flown far enough for once. Let us alight, as the birds do, and perch180 ourselves on the nearest twig181, and consult wither we shall fly next!”
Just then, as it happened, the train reached a solitary182 way-station. Taking advantage of the brief pause, Clifford left the car, and drew Hepzibah along with him. A moment afterwards, the train — with all the life of its interior, amid which Clifford had made himself so conspicuous183 an object — was gliding184 away in the distance, and rapidly lessening185 to a point which, in another moment, vanished. The world had fled away from these two wanderers. They gazed drearily186 about them. At a little distance stood a wooden church, black with age, and in a dismal state of ruin and decay, with broken windows, a great rift10 through the main body of the edifice131, and a rafter dangling187 from the top of the square tower. Farther off was a farm-house, in the old style, as venerably black as the church, with a roof sloping downward from the three-story peak, to within a man’s height of the ground. It seemed uninhabited. There were the relics188 of a wood-pile, indeed, near the door, but with grass sprouting189 up among the chips and scattered logs. The small rain-drops came down aslant190; the wind was not turbulent, but sullen191, and full of chilly192 moisture.
Clifford shivered from head to foot. The wild effervescence of his mood — which had so readily supplied thoughts, fantasies, and a strange aptitude193 of words, and impelled him to talk from the mere2 necessity of giving vent5 to this bubbling-up gush of ideas had entirely subsided194. A powerful excitement had given him energy and vivacity. Its operation over, he forthwith began to sink.
“You must take the lead now, Hepzibah!” murmured he, with a torpid195 and reluctant utterance196. “Do with me as you will!” She knelt down upon the platform where they were standing197 and lifted her clasped hands to the sky. The dull, gray weight of clouds made it invisible; but it was no hour for disbelief — no juncture198 this to question that there was a sky above, and an Almighty199 Father looking from it!
“O God!”— ejaculated poor, gaunt Hepzibah — then paused a moment, to consider what her prayer should be —“O God — our Father — are we not thy children? Have mercy on us!”
收听单词发音 |
1
chattering
|
|
| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
mingling
|
|
| adj.混合的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
bleak
|
|
| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
vent
|
|
| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
plunge
|
|
| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
veins
|
|
| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
precisely
|
|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
meditates
|
|
| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的第三人称单数 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
rift
|
|
| n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
faculty
|
|
| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
regain
|
|
| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
irresistibly
|
|
| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
joyous
|
|
| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
vivacity
|
|
| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
exultation
|
|
| n.狂喜，得意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
triumphant
|
|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
hood
|
|
| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
throng
|
|
| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
thronged
|
|
| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
glistening
|
|
| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
perversely
|
|
| adv. 倔强地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
laborious
|
|
| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
waterproof
|
|
| n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
subterranean
|
|
| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
sewer
|
|
| n.排水沟，下水道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
kennel
|
|
| n.狗舍，狗窝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
poking
|
|
| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
rusty
|
|
| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
dilatory
|
|
| adj.迟缓的，不慌不忙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
fretting
|
|
| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
dearth
|
|
| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
obnoxious
|
|
| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
dismal
|
|
| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
attire
|
|
| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
hovering
|
|
| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
diffusing
|
|
| （使光）模糊，漫射，漫散( diffuse的现在分词 )； （使）扩散； （使）弥漫； （使）传播 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
thither
|
|
| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
spacious
|
|
| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
partially
|
|
| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
eddied
|
|
| 起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
mimic
|
|
| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
fuming
|
|
| 愤怒( fume的现在分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
peal
|
|
| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
vouchsafes
|
|
| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的第三人称单数 )；允诺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
52
irresistible
|
|
| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
impelled
|
|
| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
puffed
|
|
| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
onward
|
|
| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
estrangement
|
|
| n.疏远，失和，不和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
recluse
|
|
| n.隐居者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
racing
|
|
| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
rattling
|
|
| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
spires
|
|
| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
glided
|
|
| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
enfranchised
|
|
| v.给予选举权( enfranchise的过去式和过去分词 )；（从奴隶制中）解放 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
abstruse
|
|
| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
beguiled
|
|
| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
tedium
|
|
| n.单调；烦闷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
peals
|
|
| n.（声音大而持续或重复的）洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 )；隆隆声；洪亮的钟声；钟乐v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
momentary
|
|
| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
rumble
|
|
| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
tumult
|
|
| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
lighter
|
|
| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
poignant
|
|
| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
vividly
|
|
| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
lurid
|
|
| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
portentous
|
|
| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
hue
|
|
| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
seclusion
|
|
| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
rattled
|
|
| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
clattered
|
|
| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
varied
|
|
| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
moss
|
|
| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
jingle
|
|
| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
lumbering
|
|
| n.采伐林木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
phlegmatically
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
guardian
|
|
| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
vigor
|
|
| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
applied
|
|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
courteously
|
|
| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
proffered
|
|
| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
destined
|
|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
testily
|
|
| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
parlor
|
|
| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
pithy
|
|
| adj.(讲话或文章)简练的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
locomotion
|
|
| n.运动，移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
nomadic
|
|
| adj.流浪的；游牧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
ascending
|
|
| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
attaining
|
|
| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
bowers
|
|
| n.（女子的）卧室( bower的名词复数 )；船首锚；阴凉处；鞠躬的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
abounded
|
|
| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
plentiful
|
|
| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
inclement
|
|
| adj.严酷的，严厉的，恶劣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
tracts
|
|
| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
positively
|
|
| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
blessing
|
|
| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
wrought
|
|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
annihilate
|
|
| v.使无效；毁灭；取消 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
toil
|
|
| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
countenance
|
|
| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
divulged
|
|
| v.吐露，泄露( divulge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
pallid
|
|
| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
transparent
|
|
| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
alas
|
|
| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
consolidated
|
|
| a.联合的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
mortar
|
|
| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
contrive
|
|
| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
torment
|
|
| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
morbid
|
|
| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
hearths
|
|
| 壁炉前的地板，炉床，壁炉边( hearth的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
defunct
|
|
| adj.死亡的；已倒闭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
forefathers
|
|
| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
edifices
|
|
| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
edifice
|
|
| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
dingy
|
|
| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
miserable
|
|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
dungeon
|
|
| n.地牢，土牢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
recur
|
|
| vi.复发，重现，再发生 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
mansion
|
|
| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
remarkably
|
|
| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
taints
|
|
| n.变质( taint的名词复数 )；污染；玷污；丑陋或腐败的迹象v.使变质( taint的第三人称单数 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
wither
|
|
| vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
apprehensively
|
|
| adv.担心地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
furrows
|
|
| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
prodigious
|
|
| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
trampling
|
|
| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
belies
|
|
| v.掩饰( belie的第三人称单数 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
heyday
|
|
| n.全盛时期，青春期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
gush
|
|
| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
embody
|
|
| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
crumble
|
|
| vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
guilt
|
|
| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
granite
|
|
| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
posterity
|
|
| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
corpse
|
|
| n.尸体，死尸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
underpinning
|
|
| n.基础材料；基础结构；（学说、理论等的）基础；（人的）腿v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的现在分词 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
retirement
|
|
| n.退休，退职 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
purging
|
|
| 清洗； 清除； 净化； 洗炉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
humbug
|
|
| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
growled
|
|
| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
testy
|
|
| adj.易怒的；暴躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
pates
|
|
| n.头顶，（尤指）秃顶，光顶( pate的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
dolts
|
|
| n.笨蛋，傻瓜( dolt的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
162
demon
|
|
| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
prone
|
|
| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
controvert
|
|
| v.否定；否认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
consecrated
|
|
| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
joyful
|
|
| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
bliss
|
|
| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
immortal
|
|
| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
rogues
|
|
| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
transact
|
|
| v.处理；做交易；谈判 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
motives
|
|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
benefactors
|
|
| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
enlistment
|
|
| n.应征入伍，获得，取得 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
miraculous
|
|
| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
miserably
|
|
| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
babbling
|
|
| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
infringed
|
|
| v.违反（规章等）( infringe的过去式和过去分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
179
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
180
perch
|
|
| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
181
twig
|
|
| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
182
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
183
conspicuous
|
|
| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
184
gliding
|
|
| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
185
lessening
|
|
| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
186
drearily
|
|
| 沉寂地，厌倦地，可怕地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
187
dangling
|
|
| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
188
relics
|
|
| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
189
sprouting
|
|
| v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
190
aslant
|
|
| adv.倾斜地；adj.斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
191
sullen
|
|
| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
192
chilly
|
|
| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
193
aptitude
|
|
| n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
194
subsided
|
|
| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
195
torpid
|
|
| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
196
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
197
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
198
juncture
|
|
| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
199
almighty
|
|
| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |