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Chapter 12
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PADRON ‘NTONI, now that he had no one but Alessio to help him with the boat, had to hire some one by the day Cousin Nunzio, perhaps, who had a sick wife and a large family of children; or the son of La Locca, who came whining1 to him behind the door that his mother was starving, and that his uncle Crucifix would give them nothing, because, he said, the cholera2 had ruined him, so many of his debtors3 had died and had cheated him out of his money, and he had taken the cholera himself. “But he hadn’t died,” added the son of La Locca, and shook his head ruefully. “ Now we might have plenty to live on, I and my mother and all the family, if he had died. We stayed two days with Vespa, nursing him, and it seemed as if he were dying every minute, but he didn’t die after all.” However, the money that the Malavoglia gained day by day was often not enough to pay Cousin Nunzio or the son of La Locca, and they were obliged to take up those precious coins so painfully put together to buy back the house by the medlar-tree. Every time Mena went to take the stocking from under the mattress4 she and her grandfather sighed. La Locca’s son was not to blame, poor fellow he would have done four men’s work sooner than not give the full worth of his wages it was the fish, that would not let them-selves be caught. And when they came ruefully home empty, rowing, with loosened sails, he said to Padron ‘Ntoni: “ Give me wood to split, or fag-ots to bind6; I will work until midnight, if you say so, as I did with my uncle. I don’t want to steal the wages from you.”

So Padron ‘Ntoni, after having thought the mat-ter over carefully, consulted Mena as to what was to be done. She was clear-headed, like her moth-er, and she was the only one left for him to consult the only one left of so many! The best thing was to sell the Provvidenza, which brought in nothing, and only ate up the wages of Cousin Nunzio or the son of La Locca to no purpose; and the money put aside for the house was melting away, little by little. The Provvidenza was old, and always needed to be mended every now and then to keep her afloat. Later, if ‘Ntoni came back and brought better fortune once more among them, they might buy a new boat and call that also the Prov-videnza.

On Sunday he went to the piazza7, after the mass, to speak to Goosefoot about it. Cousin Tino shrug-ged his shoulders, shook his head, said that the Provvidenza was good for nothing but to put under the pot, and talking in this way he drew him down to the shore. The patches, he said, could be seen under the paint, like some women he knew of with wrinkles under their stays; and went on kicking her in the hull9 with his lame5 foot. Besides, the trade was going badly; rather than buy, every-body was trying to sell their boats, much better than the Provvidenza. And who was going to buy her? Padron Cipolla didn’t want old stuff like that. This was an affair for Uncle Crucifix. But at this moment Uncle Crucifix had something else on his hands with that demon-ridden Vespa, who was tormenting10 his soul out running after all the marriageable men in the place. At last, for old friendship’s sake, he agreed to go and speak to Uncle Crucifix about it, if he found him in a good humor if Padron ‘Ntoni were really anxious to sell’ the Provvidenza for an old song; for, after all, he, Goosefoot, could make Uncle Crucifix do anything he liked. In fact, when he did speak of it drawing him aside towards the horse —trough Uncle Crucifix replied with shrugs11 and frantic12 shakings of his head, till he looked like one possessed13, and tried to slip out of Goosefoot’s hands. Cousin Tino, poor man, did his best caught him by the coat and held him by force; shook him, to make him give his attention; put his arm round his neck, and whispered in his ear: “ Yes, you are an ass8 if you let slip such a chance! Going for an old song, I tell you! Padron ‘Ntoni sells her because he can’t manage her any longer, now his grandson is gone. But you could put her into the hands of Cousin Nunzio, or of your own nephew, who are dying of hunger, and will work for next to nothing. Every soldo she gains will come into your pocket. I tell you, you are a fool. The boat is in perfectly14 good condition good as new. Old Pa-dron ‘Ntoni knew very well what he was about when he had her built. This is a real ready money business as good as that of the lupins, take my word for it!”

But Uncle Crucifix wouldn’t listen to him almost crying, with his yellow hatchet-face uglier than ever since he had nearly died of the cholera and tried to get away, even to the point of leaving his jacket in Uncle Tino’s hands.

“I don’t care about it,” said he; “I don’t care about anything. You don’t know all the trouble I have, Cousin Tino! Everybody wants to suck my blood like so many leeches15. Here’s Vanni Pizzuti running after Vespa, too; they’re like a pack of hunting-dogs.”

“Why don’t you marry her yourself? After all, is she not your own blood, she and her field? It will not be another mouth to feed, not at all! She has a clever pair of hands of her own, she is well worth the. bread she eats, that woman. You’ll have a servant without wages, and the land will be yours. Listen, Uncle Crucifix: you’ll have another affair here as good as that of the lupins.”

Padron ‘Ntoni meanwhile waited for the answer before Pizzuti’s shop, and watched the two who were discussing his affairs, like a soul in purgatory16. Now it seemed as if everything were at an end, now they began again, and he tried to guess wheth-er or no Uncle Crucifix would consent to the bar-gain. Goosefoot came and told him how much he had been able to obtain for him, then went back to Uncle Crucifix going backward and forward in the piazza like the shuttle in the loom17, dragging his club-foot behind him, until he had succeeded in bringing them to an agreement.

“Capital!” he said to Padron ‘Ntoni; then to Uncle Crucifix, “ For an old song, I tell you!” And in this way he managed the sale of all the tackle, which, of course, was no longer of any use to the Malavoglia, now that they had no boat; but it seemed to Padron ‘Ntoni that they took away his very heart from within him, as he saw them carry away the nets, the baskets, the oars18, the rope everything.

“I’ll manage to get you a position by the day, and your grandson Alessio too, never fear,” said Goosefoot to Padron ‘Ntoni; “but you mustn’t expect high wages, you know! i Strength of youth and wisdom of age/ For my assistance in the bar-gaining I trust to your good-will.”

“In time of famine one eats barley20 bread,” an-swered Padron ‘Ntoni. “ Necessity has no nobil-ity.”

“That’s right, that’s right! I understand,” replied Goosefoot, and away he went, in good earnest, to speak to Padron Cipolla at the drug-store, where Don Silvestro had at last succeeded in enticing21 him, as well as Master Filippo and a few other big-wigs, to talk over the affairs of the Commune for after all, the money was theirs, and it is silly not to take one’s proper place in the government when one is rich and pays more taxes than all the rest put together.

“You, who are rich, can afford a bit of bread to that poor old Padron ‘Ntoni,” suggested Goosefoot. “It will cost you nothing to take him on by the day, him and his grandson Alessio. You know that he understands his business better than any one else ‘n the place, and he will be content with little, fox’ they are absolutely without bread. It is an affair worth gold to you, Padron Fortunato; it is indeed.”

Padron Fortunato, caught as he was just at that propitious23 moment, could not refuse; but after hig-gling and screwing over the price for, now that the times were so bad, he really hadn’t work for any more men he at last made a great favor of taking on Padron ‘Ntoni.

“Yes, I’ll take him if he’ll come and speak to me himself. Will you believe that they are out of temper because I broke off my son’s marriage with Mena? A fine thing I should have made of it! And to be angry about it! What could I do?”

Don Silvestro, Master Filippo, Goosefoot himself all of them, in fact hastened to say that Pa-dron Fortunate was quite right.

Mena, meanwhile, did not even put her nose at the window, for it was not seemly to do so now that her mother was dead and she had a black kerchief on her head; and, besides, she had to look after the little one and to be a mother to her, and she had no one to help her in the housework, so that she had to go to the tank to wash and to the fountain, and to take the men their luncheon24 when they were at work on land; so that she was not Sant’Agata any longer, as in the days when no one ever saw her and she was all day long at the loom. In these days she had but little time for the loom. Don Michel.e, since the day when the Zuppidda had given him such a talking to from her terrace, and had threatened to put out his eyes with her distaff, never failed to pass by the black street; and some-times he passed two or three times a day, looking after Barbara, because he wasn’t going to have peo-pie say that he was afraid of the Zuppidda or of her distaff; and when he passed the house where the Malavoglia lived he slackened his pace, and looked in to see the pretty girls who were growing up at the Malavoglia’s.

In the evening, when the men came back from sea, they found everything ready for them: the pot boiling on the fire, the cloth ready on the table that table that was so large for them, now that they were so few, that they felt lost at it. They shut the door and ate their supper in peace; then they sat down on the door-step to rest after the fatigues25 of the day. At all events, they had enough for the day’s needs, and were not obliged to touch the money that was accumulating for the house. Pa-dron ‘Ntoni had always that house in his mind, with its closed windows and the medlar-tree rising above the wall. Maruzza had not been able to die in that house, nor perhaps should he die there; but the money was beginning to grow again, and his boys at least would go back there some day or other, now that Alessio was growing into a man, and was a good boy, and one of the true Malavoglia stamp. When they had bought back the house, and married the girls, if they might get a boat again they would have nothing more to wish for, and Pa-dron ‘Ntoni might close his eyes in peace.

Nunziata and Anna, their cousin, came to sit on the stones with them in the evenings to talk over old times, for they, too, were left lonely and deso-late, so that they seemed like one family. Nun-ziata felt as if she were at home in the house, and came with her brood running after her, like a hen with her chickens. Alessio, sitting clown by her, would say, “ Did you finish your linen26?” or “Are you going on Monday to Master Filippo to help with the vintage? Now that the olive harvest is coming you’ll always find a day’s work somewhere, even when you haven’t any washing to do; and you can take your brother, too; they’ll give him two soldi a day.” Nunziata talked to him gravely, and asked his advice with regard to her plans, and they talked apart together, as if they had already been a gray-haired old couple.

“They have grown wise in their youth because they have had so much trouble,” said Padron ‘Ntoni. “Wisdom comes of suffering.”

Alessio, with his arms round his knees like his grandfather, asked Nunziata, “ Will you have me for a husband when I grow up?”

“Plenty of time yet to think about that,” replied she.

“Yes, there’s time, but one must begin to think about it now, so that one may settle what is to be done. First, of course, we must marry Mena, and Lia when she is grown up. Lia wants to be dressed like a woman now, and you have your boys to find places for. We must buy a boat first; the boat will help us to buy the house. Grandfather wants to buy back the house by the medlar, and I should like that best, too, for I know my way all about it, even in the dark, without running against anything; and the court is large, so that there’s plenty of room for the tackle; and in two minutes one is at the sea. Then, when my sisters are mar-ried, grandfather can stay with us, and we’ll put him in the big room that opens on the court, where the sun comes in; so, when he isn’t able to go to sea any longer, poor old man! he can sit by the door in the court, and in the summer the medlar-tree will make a shade for him. We’ll take the room on the garden. You’ll like that? The kitch-en is close by, so you’ll have everything under your hand, won’t you? When my brother ‘Ntoni comes back we’ll give him that room, and we’ll take the one up-stairs; there are only the steps to climb to reach the kitchen and the garden.”

“In the kitchen there must be a new hearth,” said Nunziata. “The last time we cooked any-thing there, when poor Cousin Maruzza was too unhappy to do it herself, we had to prop22 up the pot with stones.”

“Yes, I remember,” said Alessio, sitting with his chin in his hands, and nodding gravely, with wide dreamy eyes as if he saw Nunziata at the fire and his poor mother weeping beside the bed.

“And you, too,” said he, “can find your way in the dark about the house by the medlar, you have been there so often. Mamma always said you were a good girl.”

“Now they have sown onions in the garden, and they’re grown as big as oranges.”

“Do you like onions?”

“I must; I have no choice. They help the bread down, and they are cheap. When we haven’t mon-ey enough to buy macaroni we always eat them I and my little ones.”

“For that they sell so well. Uncle Crucifix doesn’t care about planting cabbages or lettuce27 at the house by the medlar, because he has them at his own house, and so he puts nothing there but onions. But we’ll plant broccoli28 and cauliflower. Won’t they be good, eh?”

The girl, with her arms across her knees, curled upon the threshold, looked out with dreaming eyes, as well as the boy; then after a while she began to sing, and Alessio listened with all his ears. At last she said, “ There’s plenty of time yet.”

“Yes,” assented29 Alessio; “first we must marry Mena and Lia, and we must find places for the boys, but we must begin to talk it over now.”

“When Nunziata sings,” said Mena, coming to the door, “ it is a sign that it will be fair weather, and we can go tomorrow to wash.”

Cousin Anna was in the same mind, for her field and vineyard was the washing-tank, and her feast-days were those on which she had her hands full of clothes to be washed; all the more now that her son Rocco was feasting himself every day, after his fashion, at the tavern30, trying to drown his regret for the Mangiacarubbe, who had thrown him over for Brasi Cipolla, like a coquette as she was.

“’ It’s a long lane that has no turning/ “ said Padron ‘Ntoni. “Perhaps this may bring your son Rocco to his senses. And it will be good for my ‘Ntoni, too, to be away from home for a while; for when he comes back, and is tired of wandering about the world, everything will seem as it should be, and he will not complain any more. And if we succeed in once more putting our own boat at sea and it’s putting our own beds in the old places that we know so well you will see what pleasant times we shall have resting on the door-steps there, when we are tired after our day’s work, when the day has been a good one. And how bright the light will look in that room where you have seen it so often, and have known all the faces that were dearest to you on earth! But now so many are gone, and never have come back, that it seems as if the room would be always dark, and the door shut, as if those who are gone had taken the key with them forever. ‘Ntoni should not have gone away,” added the old man, after a long silence. “ He knew that I was old, and that when I am gone the children will have no one left.”

“If we buy the house by the medlar while he is gone,” said Mena, “he won’t know it, and will come here to find us.”

Padron ‘Ntoni shook his head sadly. “ But there’s time enough yet,” he said at last, like Nun-ziata; and Cousin Anna added, “If ‘Ntoni comes back rich he can buy the house.”

Padron ‘Ntoni answered nothing, but the whole place knew that ‘Ntoni would come back rich, now he had been gone so long in search of fortune; and many envied him already, and wanted to go in search of fortune too, like him. In fact they were not far wrong. They would only leave a few women to fret31 after them, and the only ones who hadn’t the heart to leave their women were that stupid son of La Locca, whose mother was what everybody knew she was, and Rocco Spatu, whose soul was at the tavern. Fortunately for the women, Padron ‘Ntoni’s ‘Ntoni was suddenly discovered to have come back, by night, in a bark from Catania, ashamed to show himself, as he had no shoes. If it were true that he had come back rich he had nowhere to put his money, for his clothes were all rags and tatters. But his family received him as affectionately as if he had come back loaded with gold. His sisters hung round his neck, crying and laughing for joy, and ‘Ntoni did not know Lia again, so tall she was, and they all said to him, “Now you won’t leave us again, will you?”

The grandfather blew his nose and growled32, “Now I can die in peace now that these children will not be left alone in the world.”

But for a whole week ‘Ntoni never showed himself in the street. Every one laughed when they saw him, and Goosefoot went about saying, “ Have you seen the grand fortune that Padron ‘Ntoni’s ‘Ntoni has brought home?” And those who had not been in such a terrible hurry to make up their bundles of shirts and stockings, to leave their homes like a lot of fools, could not contain themselves for laughing.

Whoever goes in search of fortune and does not find it is a fool. Everybody knows that. Don Sil-vestro, Uncle Crucifix, Padron Cipolla, Master Fi-lippo, were not fools, and everybody did their best to please them, because poor people always stand with their mouths open staring at the rich and fortunate, and work for them like Cousin Mosca’s ass, instead of kicking the cart to pieces and run-ning off to roll on the grass with heels in the air.

The druggist was quite right when he said that it was high time to kick the world to pieces and make it over again. And he himself, with his big beard and his fine talk about making the world over again, was one of those who had known how to make a fortune, and to hold on to it too, and he had nothing to do but to stand at his door and chat with this one and that one; for when he had done pounding that little bit of dirty water in his mortar33 his work was finished for the day. That fine trade he had learned of his father to make money out of the water in the cistern34. But ‘Ntoni’s grandfather had taught him a trade which was nothing but breaking one’s arms and one’s back all day long, and risking one’s life, and dying of hun-ger, and never having. a day to one’s self when one could lie on the grass in the sun, as even Mosca’s ass could sometimes do; a real thieves’ trade, that wore one’s soul out, by Our Lady! And he for one was tired of it, and would rather be like Rocco Spatu, who at least didn’t work. And for that mat-ter he cared nothing for Barbara, nor Sara, nor any other girl in the world. They care for nothing but fishing for husbands to work worse than dogs to give them their living, and buy silk handker-chiefs for them to wear when they stand at their doors of a Sunday with their hands on their full stomachs. He’d rather stand there himself, Sunday and Monday too, and all the other days in the week, since there was no good in working all the time for nothing. So ‘Ntoni had learned to spout35 as well as the druggist that much at least he had brought back from abroad for now his eyes were open like a kitten’s when it is nine days old. “The hen that goes in the street comes home with a full crop.” If he hadn’t filled his crop with anything else, he had filled it with wisdom, and he went about telling all he had learned in the piazza in Pizzuti’s shop, and also at Santuzza’s tavern. Now he went openly to the tavern, for after all he was grown up, and his grandfather wasn’t likely to come there after him and pull his ears, and he should know very well what to say to anybody who tried to hin-der him from going there after the little pleasure that there was to be had.

His grandfather, poor man, instead of pulling his ears, tried to touch his feelings. “See,” he said, “now you have come, we shall soon be able to man-age to get back the house.” Always that same old song about the house. “Uncle Crucifix has prom-ised not to sell it to any one else. Your mother, poor dear, was not able to die there. We can get the dowry for Mena on the house. Then, with God’s help, we can set up another boat; because, I must tell you, that at my age it is hard to go out by the clay, and obey other people, when one has been used to command. You were also born of masters. Would you rather that we should buy the boat first with the money, instead of the house? Now you are grown up, and can have your choice, because you have seen more of the world, and should be wiser than I am now I am old. What would you rather do?”

He would rather do nothing, that’s what he would rather do. What did he care about the boat or the house? Then there would come another bad year, another cholera, some other misfortune, and eat up the boat and the house, and they would have to begin all over again, like the ants. A fine thing! And when they had got the boat and the house, could they leave off working, or could they eat meat and macaroni every day? While instead, down there where he had been,, there were people that went about in carriages every day; that’s what they did. People beside whom Don Franco and the town-clerk were themselves no better than beasts of burden, working, as they did, all day long, spoiling paper and beating dirty water in a mortar. At least he wanted to know why there should be peo-ple in the world who had nothing to do but to enjoy themselves, and were born with silver spoons in their mouths, and others who had nothing, and must drag a cart with their teeth all their lives. Besides which, that idea of going out by the day was not at all to his taste; he was born a master his grandfather had said so himself. He to be ordered about by a lot of people who had risen from nothing, who, as everybody in the place knew, had put their money together soldo after soldo, sweating and struggling! He had gone out by the day only because his grandfather took him, and he hadn’t strength of mind to refuse. But when the overseer stood over him like a dog, and called out from the stern, “ Now, then, boy, what are you at?” he felt tempted36 to hit him over the head with the oar19, and he preferred to weave baskets or to mend nets, sitting on the beach, with his back against a stone, for then if he folded his arms for a minute nobody called out at him.

Thither37 came also Rocco Spatu to yawn and stretch his arms, and Vanni Pizzuti, between one customer and another, in his idle moments; and Goosefoot came there too, for his business was to mix himself up with every conversation that he could find in search of bargaining;6 and they talked of all that happened in the place.

6 Senseru a sort of very small brokerage, upon which a tiny percentage is paid.

From one thing to another they got talking of Uncle Crucifix, who had, they said, lost more than thirty scudi, through people that had died of the cholera and had left pledges in his hands. Now, Dumb-bell, not knowing what to do with all these ear-rings and finger-rings that had remained on his hands, had made up his mind to marry Vespa; the thing was certain, they had been seen to go togeth-er to write themselves up at the Municipality, in Don Silvestro’s presence.

“It is not true that he is marrying on account of the jewellery,” said Goosefoot, who was in a position to know; “the things are of gold or of silver, and he could go and sell them by weight in the city; he would have got back a good percentage on the money he had lent on them. He marries Vespa because she took him to the Municipality to show him the paper that she had had drawn38 up, ready to be signed before the notary39, with Cousin Spatu here, now that the Mangiacarubbe has drop-ped him for Brasi Cipolla. Excuse me. Eh, Cous-in Rocco?”

“Oh, I don’t mind, Cousin Tino,” answered Roc-co Spatu. “ It is nothing to me; for whoever trusts to one of those false cats of womankind is worse than a pig. I don’t want any sweetheart except Santuzza, who lets me have my wine on credit when I like, and she is worth two of the Mangiacarubbe any day of the week. A good handful, eh, Cousin -Tino?”

“Pretty hostess, heavy bill,” said Pizzuti, spitting in the sand.

“They all look out for husbands to work for them,” added ‘Ntoni. “ They’re all alike.”

“And,” continued Goosefoot, “ Uncle Crucifix ran off panting to the notary, with his heart in his mouth. So he had to take the Wasp40 after all.”

Here the apothecary41, who had come down to the beach to smoke his pipe, joined in the conversation, and went on pounding in his usual way upon his usual theme that the world ought to be put in a mortar and pounded to pieces, and made all over again. But this time he really might as well have pounded dirty water in his mortar, for not one of them understood a word he said, unless, perhaps, it were ‘Ntoni. He at least had seen the world, and opened his eyes, like the kittens; when he was a soldier they had taught him to read, and for that reason he, too, went to the drug— shop door and listened when the newspaper was read, and stayed to talk with the druggist, who was a good-natured fellow, and did not give himself airs like his wife, who kept calling out to him, “Why will you mix yourself up with what doesn’t concern you?”

“One must let the women talk, and manage things quietly,” said Don Franco, as soon as his wife was safe up-stairs. He didn’t mind taking counsel even with those who went barefoot, provided they didn’t put their feet on the chairs, and explained to them word for word all that there was printed in the newspaper, following it with his ringer, telling them that the world ought to go, as it was written down there.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 whining whining     
n. 抱怨,牢骚 v. 哭诉,发牢骚
参考例句:
  • That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
  • The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着(要进来)。
2 cholera rbXyf     
n.霍乱
参考例句:
  • The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
  • Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。
3 debtors 0fb9580949754038d35867f9c80e3c15     
n.债务人,借方( debtor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Never in a debtors' prison? 从没有因债务坐过牢么? 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
4 mattress Z7wzi     
n.床垫,床褥
参考例句:
  • The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
  • The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。
5 lame r9gzj     
adj.跛的,(辩解、论据等)无说服力的
参考例句:
  • The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
  • I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。
6 bind Vt8zi     
vt.捆,包扎;装订;约束;使凝固;vi.变硬
参考例句:
  • I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
  • He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。
7 piazza UNVx1     
n.广场;走廊
参考例句:
  • Siena's main piazza was one of the sights of Italy.锡耶纳的主要广场是意大利的名胜之一。
  • They walked out of the cafeteria,and across the piazzadj.他们走出自助餐厅,穿过广场。
8 ass qvyzK     
n.驴;傻瓜,蠢笨的人
参考例句:
  • He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
  • An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。
9 hull 8c8xO     
n.船身;(果、实等的)外壳;vt.去(谷物等)壳
参考例句:
  • The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
  • The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。
10 tormenting 6e14ac649577fc286f6d088293b57895     
使痛苦的,使苦恼的
参考例句:
  • He took too much pleasure in tormenting an ugly monster called Caliban. 他喜欢一味捉弄一个名叫凯列班的丑妖怪。
  • The children were scolded for tormenting animals. 孩子们因折磨动物而受到责骂。
11 shrugs d3633c0b0b1f8cd86f649808602722fa     
n.耸肩(以表示冷淡,怀疑等)( shrug的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany shrugs off this criticism. 匈牙利总理久尔恰尼对这个批评不以为然。 来自互联网
  • She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. 她表达地耸肩而且拿她的拿铁的啜饮。 来自互联网
12 frantic Jfyzr     
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的
参考例句:
  • I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
  • He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。
13 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
14 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
15 leeches 1719980de08011881ae8f13c90baaa92     
n.水蛭( leech的名词复数 );蚂蟥;榨取他人脂膏者;医生
参考例句:
  • The usurers are leeches;they have drained us dry. 高利贷者是吸血鬼,他们吸干了我们的血汗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Does it run in the genes to live as leeches? 你们家是不是遗传的,都以欺压别人为生? 来自电影对白
16 purgatory BS7zE     
n.炼狱;苦难;adj.净化的,清洗的
参考例句:
  • Every step of the last three miles was purgatory.最后3英里时每一步都像是受罪。
  • Marriage,with peace,is this world's paradise;with strife,this world's purgatory.和谐的婚姻是尘世的乐园,不和谐的婚姻则是人生的炼狱。
17 loom T8pzd     
n.织布机,织机;v.隐现,(危险、忧虑等)迫近
参考例句:
  • The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
  • The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。
18 oars c589a112a1b341db7277ea65b5ec7bf7     
n.桨,橹( oar的名词复数 );划手v.划(行)( oar的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
  • The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 oar EH0xQ     
n.桨,橹,划手;v.划行
参考例句:
  • The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
  • The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。
20 barley 2dQyq     
n.大麦,大麦粒
参考例句:
  • They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
  • He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。
21 enticing ctkzkh     
adj.迷人的;诱人的
参考例句:
  • The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力,使人难以拒绝。
  • Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短,但浑圆可爱;两臂丰腴,也很动人。
22 prop qR2xi     
vt.支撑;n.支柱,支撑物;支持者,靠山
参考例句:
  • A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
  • The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。
23 propitious aRNx8     
adj.吉利的;顺利的
参考例句:
  • The circumstances were not propitious for further expansion of the company.这些情况不利于公司的进一步发展。
  • The cool days during this week are propitious for out trip.这种凉爽的天气对我们的行程很有好处。
24 luncheon V8az4     
n.午宴,午餐,便宴
参考例句:
  • We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
  • I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。
25 fatigues e494189885d18629ab4ed58fa2c8fede     
n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 );杂役;厌倦;(士兵穿的)工作服
参考例句:
  • The patient fatigues easily. 病人容易疲劳。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Instead of training the men were put on fatigues/fatigue duty. 那些士兵没有接受训练,而是派去做杂务。 来自辞典例句
26 linen W3LyK     
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的
参考例句:
  • The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
  • Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。
27 lettuce C9GzQ     
n.莴苣;生菜
参考例句:
  • Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿,我好做色拉。
  • The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。
28 broccoli 1sbzm     
n.绿菜花,花椰菜
参考例句:
  • She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
  • They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的,而菜花都是白色的。
29 assented 4cee1313bb256a1f69bcc83867e78727     
同意,赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
  • "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对,”汤姆表示赞同地说,“他们不杀女人——真伟大!
30 tavern wGpyl     
n.小旅馆,客栈;小酒店
参考例句:
  • There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
  • Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。
31 fret wftzl     
v.(使)烦恼;(使)焦急;(使)腐蚀,(使)磨损
参考例句:
  • Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急,我们能准时到那里。
  • She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.
32 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
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:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
33 mortar 9EsxR     
n.灰浆,灰泥;迫击炮;v.把…用灰浆涂接合
参考例句:
  • The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
  • The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。
34 cistern Uq3zq     
n.贮水池
参考例句:
  • The cistern is empty but soon fills again.蓄水池里现在没水,但不久就会储满水的。
  • The lavatory cistern overflowed.厕所水箱的水溢出来了
35 spout uGmzx     
v.喷出,涌出;滔滔不绝地讲;n.喷管;水柱
参考例句:
  • Implication in folk wealth creativity and undertaking vigor spout.蕴藏于民间的财富创造力和创业活力喷涌而出。
  • This acts as a spout to drain off water during a rainstorm.在暴风雨季,这东西被用作喷管来排水。
36 tempted b0182e969d369add1b9ce2353d3c6ad6     
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词)
参考例句:
  • I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚,但还是没开口。
  • I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。
37 thither cgRz1o     
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的
参考例句:
  • He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
  • He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。
38 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
39 notary svnyj     
n.公证人,公证员
参考例句:
  • She is the town clerk and a certified public accountant and notary public.她身兼城镇文书、执业会计师和公证人数职。
  • That notary is authorised to perform the certain legal functions.公证人被授权执行某些法律职能。
40 wasp sMczj     
n.黄蜂,蚂蜂
参考例句:
  • A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
  • Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。
41 apothecary iMcyM     
n.药剂师
参考例句:
  • I am an apothecary of that hospital.我是那家医院的一名药剂师。
  • He was the usual cut and dry apothecary,of no particular age and color.他是那种再普通不过的行医者,说不出多大年纪,相貌也没什么值得一提的。


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