It was in 1835 that Balzac conceived the idea of acquiring some land, situated1 between Sevres and Ville-d’Avray, for the purpose of building a house. He wished in this way to give a guarantee to his mother, evade2 compulsory3 service in the National Guard, and become a landed proprietor4. He had explored all the suburbs of Paris before deciding upon a hillside with a steep slope, as ill adapted to building as to cultivation5. But, having definitely made his choice, he acquired sections from the adjacent holdings of three peasants, thus obtaining a lot forty square rods in extent, to which he naturally hoped to add later on. He calculated that he would not have to spend more than twenty-five thousand francs, which he could borrow — in point of fact, the total cost came to more than ninety thousand — and that the interest to be paid would not come to more than the rent he was then paying for his apartment. The first step was to surround his property with walls, and Balzac then christened it with the name of Les Jardies. He laughed with sheer contentment, foreseeing himself in his mind’s eye already installed in his own abode6, far from Paris, and yet near to it, and beyond the reach of importunate7 visitors and the curiosity of cheap journalism8. Nevertheless Les Jardies cost him as much sarcasm9 and ridicule10 as his monstrous11 walking-stick set with turquoises12. He had given his own plans to his architects, and he himself attentively13 superintended his contractors14 and masons. He experienced all the annoyances15 incident to construction, delays in the work, disputes with the workmen, the worry of raising money and meeting payments, and the impossibility of obtaining exactly what he wished. He was impatient to take possession of his own home, but the completion of it was delayed from month to month; it was to have been ready for occupancy by November 30, 1837, yet on his return from Sardinia in June 1838, it was not yet finished. But he was so eager to move in that in defiance16 of his physician’s orders he installed himself in August, in the midst of all the confusion and with the workmen still all around him. It was a dreadful condition of things, the upturned ground, the empty chambers17, the chill of new plaster, and an irritating sense of things not finished and pushed along in haste; but he was exultant19, and distracted his own attention by admiring the beauty of the surrounding landscape.
How delightful20 it was to live at Les Jardies! It required not more than ten minutes to reach the heart of Paris, the Madeleine, and it cost but ten sous. The Rue21 des Batailles and the Rue Cassini were at the other end of the world, and you must needs spend a couple of francs for the shortest drive which wasted an hour — such was the fashion in which Balzac dreamed! And he would gaze at his acre of ground, bare, ploughed-up clay, without a tree or a blade of grass, and he found no trouble in transforming it mentally into an eden of “plants, fragrance22 and shrubbery.” He planned to fill it with twenty-year magnolias, sixteen-year lindens, twelve-year poplars, birches and grape vines which would yield him fine white grapes the very next year. And then he would earn thirty thousand francs and buy two more acres of land, which he would turn into an orchard23 and kitchen-garden.
The house which was the object of so many witticisms24 was a small three-storied structure, containing on the ground floor a dining-room and parlour, on the next a bed-chamber18 and dressing-room, and on the upper floor Balzac’s working room. A balcony supported by brick pillars completely surrounded the second story, and the staircase — the famous staircase — ascended25 on the outside of the house. The whole was painted brick colour, excepting the corners, which had stone trimmings.
Behind the house itself, at a distance of some sixty feet, were the outhouses, including, on the ground floor, the kitchen, pantry, bathroom, stables, carriage-house and harness-room; on the floor above an apartment to let, and on the top floor the servants’ quarters and a guest chamber. Furthermore, Balzac had a spring of water on his own grounds!
For months all Paris talked of the staircase at Les Jardies which Balzac, great architect that he was, had forgotten to put into the plans for his house. Under the caption26, “Literary Indiscretions,” the following humorous note appeared in La Caricature Provisoire;
“M. de Balzac, after having successively inhabited the four corners of the globe and the twelve wards27 of Paris, seems to have definitely transferred his domicile to the midst of an isolated28 plain in the outskirts29 of Ville-d’Avray; he occupies a house which he has had built there for his own particular accommodation by a direct descendant of the marvellous architect to whom the world owes the cathedral of Cologne. This house, in which no doors or windows are to be found, and which is entered through a square hole cut in the roof, is furnished throughout with an oriental luxury of which even the pashas themselves would be incapable30 of forming an idea. The great novelist’s private study has a floor inlaid with young girl’s teeth and hung with superb cashmere rugs that have been sent him by all the crowned heads of the universe. As to the furniture, the chairs, sofas and divans31, they are one and all stuffed with women’s hair, both blonde and brunette, sent to the author of La Grenadiere by a number of women of thirty who did not hesitate a minute to despoil32 themselves of their most beautiful adornment33 — a sacrifice all the more rare since they have passed the age at which the hair would grow again!”
Balzac removed to Les Jardies as soon as the walls of the dwelling34 had been raised and the floorings laid, and he lived there before there was a piece of furniture in any of the rooms, aside from the few indispensable things. Leon Gozlan has amusingly related the manner in which the novelist supplied their lack by an effort of imagination. He wrote on the walls with charcoal35 what he intended the interior decoration of his house to be: “Here a wainscoting of Parian marble; here a stylobate of cedar36 wood; here a ceiling painted by Eugene Delacroix; here an Aubusson tapestry37; here a mantelpiece of cipolino marble; here doors on the Trianon model; here an inlaid floor of rare tropical woods.”
Leon Gozlan says that “Balzac did not resent pleasantries at the expense of these imaginary furnishings,” and he adds, “he laughed as heartily38 as I, if not more so, the day when I wrote, in characters larger than his own, on the wall of his bed-chamber, which was as empty as any of the others:
“HERE A PAINTING BY RAPHAEL, BEYOND ALL PRICE, AND THE LIKE OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN.’”
Balzac laughed, but Gozlan did not understand that he found more pleasure in desiring things than in actually possessing them, for in the former case he was limited only by the extent of his own desires, which were almost infinite.
Among the various speculative39 schemes which Balzac dreamed of, in connection with Les Jardies, and which were to make his fortune — a dairy, vineyards which were to produce Malaga and Tokay wine, the creation of a village, etc. — particular mention should be made of his plans for the cultivation of pineapples, which we have upon the authority of Theophile Gautier:
“Here was the project,” he tells us, “a hundred thousand square feet of pineapples were to be planted in the grounds of Les Jardies, metamorphosed into hothouses which would require only a moderate amount of heating, thanks to the natural warmth of the situation. The pineapples were expected to sell at five francs each, instead of a louis (twenty francs), which was the ordinary price; in other words, five hundred thousand francs for the season’s crop; from this amount a hundred thousand francs would have to be deducted40 for the cost of cultivation, the glass frames, and the coal; accordingly, there would remain a net profit of four hundred thousand, which would constitute a splendid income for the happy possessor — ‘without having to turn out a page of copy,’ he used to say. This was nothing; Balzac had a thousand projects of the same sort; but the beautiful thing about this one was that we went together to the Boulevard Montmartre to look for a shop in which to sell these pineapples that were not yet even planted. The shop was to be painted black, with gold trimmings, and there was to be a sign proclaiming in enormous letters: PINEAPPLES FROM LES JARDIES.
“However, he yielded to our advice not to hire the shop until the following year, in order to save needless expense.”
When the first satisfaction of being a landed proprietor had passed, Balzac realised that he had added a new burden to those he already carried, and he confided41 to Mme. Carraud: “Yes, the folly42 is committed and it is complete! Don’t talk of it to me; I must needs pay for it, and I am now spending my nights doing so!” Forty thousand francs had been added to his former debts, to say nothing of all sorts of trouble which Les Jardies was still destined43 to cost him.
In spite of his formidable powers of production, which had caused him to be called by Hippolyte Souverain “the most fertile of French novelists,”— a title, by the way, of which he was far from proud — Honore de Balzac could not succeed in freeing himself from debt. Nevertheless, between 1836 and 1839 he published: The Atheist’s Mass, The Interdiction44, The Old Maid, The Cabinet of Antiques, Facino Cane45, Lost Illusions (1st part); The Superior Woman (later The Employees), The Cabinet of Antiques (2d part), The House of Nucingen, Splendours and Miseries46 of Courtezans (1st part), A Daughter of Eve, Beatrix, Lost Illusions (2d part), A Provincial47 Great Man in Paris, The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan, The Village Cure, and to these he added in 1840 Pierrette, Pierre Grassou, and A New Prince of Bohemia. His prices had risen, new illustrated48 editions of his earlier works had been issued, and he was receiving high rates for his short stories, not only from the magazines but from newspapers such as the Figaro, the Presse, the Siecle and the Constitutionnel; yet nothing could extinguish his debts, those debts which he had been so long carrying like a cross. “Why,” said he, “I have been bowed down by this burden for fifteen years, it hampers49 the expansion of my life, it disturbs the action of my heart, it stifles50 my thoughts, it puts a blight51 on my existence, it embarrasses my movements, it checks my inspirations, it weighs upon my conscience, it interferes52 with everything, it has been a drag on my career, it has broken my back, it has made me an old man. My God, have I not paid dearly enough for my right to bask53 in the sunshine! All that calm future, that tranquillity54 of which I stand so much in need, all gambled away in a few hours and exposed to the mercy of Parisian caprice, which for the moment is in a censorious mood!”
Balzac now staked all his hopes upon his first play, Vautrin, which was about to be produced at the Porte Saint-Martin theatre. From the very outset of his literary career his thoughts had steadily55 turned to the drama, and his earliest attempt had been that ill-fated Cromwell, which had failed so ignominiously56 when read to his family. Yet this setback57 had not definitely turned him aside from the stage; and, while he rather despised the theatre as a means of literary expression, he had never ceased to consider it as the most rapid method of earning money and founding a fortune. All the time that he was writing his Human Comedy, one can feel that he was constantly pre-occupied with the composition of plays, of which he drafted the scenarios58 without ever elaborating them. In 1831 he invited Victor Ratier, editor of La Silhouette59, to collaborate60 with him, specifying61, however, “that it was more a question of establishing a literary porkshop than a reputation”; in 1832 he announced to his mother that he had “taken the step of writing two or three plays for stage production!” and he added, “This is the greatest misfortune which could happen to me; but necessity is stronger than I, and it is impossible to extricate62 myself in any other way. I shall try to find some one who will do me the service of signing them, so that I shall not need to compromise my own name.” Thereafter he conceived successively a Marie Touchet, a tragedy in prose entitled Don Philip and Don Carlos, a farce63 comedy, Prudhomme Bigamist, a drama, The Courtiers, written in collaboration64 with Emmanuel Arago and Jules Sandeau, and a high-class comedy, The Grande Mademoiselle, also in collaboration with Sandeau. Then, in 1836, he reverted65 to Marie Touchet, and composed La Gina, a drama in three acts, and Richard the Sponge-Hearted. Finally, in 1839, he wrote for the Renaissance66 Theatre The School of Married Life, with the obscure aid of Lassailly, a five-act play for which he was offered an award of six thousand francs, and which he himself produced in print. But it was never performed, in spite of many promises.
This first unsuccessful attempt at stage production discouraged him at first, yet he never gave up his determination to succeed. He prepared a second play, intending to ask Theophile Gautier to collaborate with him; this second play was Vautrin.
The first performance of Vautrin took place March 14, 1840. Balzac expected that this play would bring him in at least six thousand francs. Tickets had been greatly in demand, and speculators had so completely cornered them that the audience, composed largely of the author’s friends, could not obtain them at the box office. It was a tumultuous evening, and one would have to go back to the great opening nights of Victor Hugo in order to find a parallel case of hostile demonstrations67. Frederik Lemaitre, who played the role of Jacques Collin, had conceived the idea of making himself up to resemble Louis Philippe. The King of France, far from being pleased at seeing himself masquerading as a bandit, suppressed the play, which consequently had only the one performance. It was a disaster, but Balzac bore up valiantly68 under it. Leon Gozlin, who called upon him at Les Jardies on the very day when the royal interdiction reached him, relates that he talked of nothing else but his plans for improving his property. Balzac’s friends, headed by Victor Hugo, tried to use their influence with the government officials, but the latter were powerless to do otherwise than to confirm the order of Louis Philippe; the royal edict had been imperative69. The government offered to pay Balzac an indemnity70, but he proudly refused.
A few months prior to the production of Vautrin, Balzac, then at the height of his financial difficulties and literary labours, had nevertheless courageously71 undertaken the defense72 of a man accused of murder whom he believed to be innocent. This act was in accordance with his conception of his duty as a citizen, and it bore witness to his generosity73 and sense of justice. The case in question was that of a certain notary74, Peytel by name, of Belley, who was accused of the premeditated murder of his wife and man-servant. Balzac had had a slight acquaintance with him in 1831, at the time when Peytel was part owner of the Voleur, to which Balzac contributed. This acquaintance had sufficed him to judge of the man’s character and to conclude that he was incapable of the double crime with which he was charged. Regardless of his own most pressing interests, Balzac, accompanied by Gavarni, set out for Bourg, where the trial and sentence of death had already taken place. He saw the condemned75 man, and the conversations which they had together still further strengthened his opinion. This opinion he set forth76 in a Comment on the Peytel Case, which the Siecle published in its issues of September 15-17, 1839, and with a compelling force of argument and a fervent77 eloquence78 he demonstrated the innocence79 of the unfortunate notary. Nevertheless, the Court of Cassation found no reason for granting a new trial, and Peytel was executed at Bourg, October 28, 1839. This was a bitter blow to Balzac, who had believed that he could save him. Furthermore, his efforts and investigations80 had cost him ten thousand francs!
This was a cruel loss, both in time and in money. His novels were not bringing him in a hundredth part of what he estimated that he ought to be earning, in view of his extraordinary rate of production. He placed the blame upon the unauthorised Belgian reprints, which, according to his calculations, had robbed him of more than a million francs. Literary works were not at that time properly protected, and it was the province of the Society of Men of Letters to demand from the Government an effective defense against the “hideous piracy” of foreign countries. Balzac was admitted to the Society in 1839 — although with no small difficulty, for he had many enemies, and received only fifty-three votes, while forty-five were necessary for election — but it was not long before he had made his influence felt and had been chosen as a member of the committee. Leon Gozlan, who served with him, acknowledged his influence. “Balzac,” he wrote, “brought to the Society a profound, almost diabolical81 knowledge of the chronic82 wretchedness of the profession; a rare and unequalled ability to deal with the aristocrats83 of the publishing world; an unconquerable desire to limit their depredations84, which he had brooded over on the Mount Sinai of a long personal experience; and, above all else, an admirable conviction of the inherent dignity of the man of letters.”
It was Balzac’s ambition to form a sort of author’s league, under the direction of “literary marshals,” of whom he should be the first, and including in its membership all the widely scattered85 men of letters, banded together in defense of their material and moral interests. He himself set an example by requesting the support of the Society against a little sheet entitled Les Ecoles, which had libelled him in a cartoon in which he was represented in prison for debt, wearing his monkish86 robe and surrounded by gay company. The cartoon bore the following legend: “The Reverend Father Seraphitus Mysticus Goriot, of the regular order of the Friars of Clichy, at last taken in by those who have so long been taken in by him.” This was in September, 1839, and on the 22d of the following October Balzac appeared as the representative of the Society of Men of Letters before the trial court of Rouen, in an action which it had begun against the Memorial de Rouen, for having reprinted certain published matter without permission. But he did not limit himself to a struggle from day to day, to discussions in committee meetings, to appeals to the legislature — his ambition was to become himself the law-maker for the writers. In May, 1840, two months after the disastrous87 failure of Vautrin, he offered to the consideration of the Society of Men of Letters a Literary Code, divided into titles, paragraphs, and articles, in which he laid down the principles from which to formulate88 practical rules for the protection of the interests of authors, and for the greater glory of French literature.
Having been appointed a member of the Committee of Official Relations, a committee which had been created at his suggestion for the purpose of seeing that men of letters should exercise a just influence over the government, Balzac drew up in 1841, some highly important Notes to be submitted to Messieurs the Deputies constituting the Committee on the Law of literary Property. But that same year, after having worked upon a Manifesto89 which the Committee was to present to the ruling powers, he handed in his resignation from the Society, on the 5th of October, and it was found impossible to make him reconsider his decision. It may be that he had received some slight which he could not forgive, or perhaps he had decided90 that it was to his interest to retain in his own name the right to authorise the republication of his works.
At this period he had attained91 that supremacy92 of which he had formerly93 dreamed in his humble94 mansarde chamber in the Rue Lesdiguieres, and he wished to have it crowned by some sort of official recognition. He made up his mind to present himself for election to the Academie Francaise, in December, 1839, but withdrew in favour of the candidacy of Victor Hugo, notwithstanding that the latter begged him, in a dignified96 and gracious message, not to do so.
An intercourse97 which, without being especially cordial, was fairly frequent had been established between these two great writers as a result of their joint98 labours on the committee of the Society of Men of Letters. During the month of July, 1839, Victor Hugo breakfasted with Balzac at Les Jardies, in company with Gozlan, for the purpose of discussing the great project of the Manifesto. Gozlan, who formed the third member of this triangular99 party, has left the following delectable100 account of the interview:
“Balzac was picturesquely101 clad in rags; his trousers, destitute102 of suspenders, parted company with his ample fancy waistcoat; his downtrodden shoes parted company with his trousers; his necktie formed a flaring103 bow, the points of which nearly reached his ears, and his beard showed a vigorous four days’ growth. As for Victor Hugo, he wore a gray hat of a very dubious104 shade, a faded blue coat with gilt105 buttons resembling a casserole in colour and shape, a much frayed106 black cravat107, and, as a finishing touch, a pair of green spectacles that would have delighted the heart of the head clerk of a county sheriff, enemy of solar radiation!”
They made the circuit of the property, and Victor Hugo remained politely cold before the dithyrambic praises which Balzac lavished108 on his garden. He smiled only once, and that was at sight of a walnut109 tree, the only tree that the owner of Les Jardies had acquired from the community.
Victor Hugo had revealed to him the enormous profits that he drew from his dramatic writings, and it is easy to believe that Balzac’s persistent110 efforts to have a play produced were due to the momentary111 glimpse of a steady stream of wealth that was thus flashed before his dazzled eyes. After the catastrophe112 of Vautrin, he still pursued his dramatic ambitions with Pamela Giraud and Mercadet, but failed to find any theatre that would consent to produce them. What was worse, the year 1840 was, beyond all others, a frightful113 one for Balzac. He faced his creditors114 like a stag at bay; and all the while he found the burden of Les Jardies becoming constantly heavier. The walls surrounding the property had slipped on their clay foundation and broken down, while Balzac himself had sustained a serious fall on the steep slopes of his garden, and had consequently lost more than a month’s work. Furthermore, he underwent imprisonment115 at Sevres for having refused to take his turn at standing95 guard over his neighbours’ vineyards.
In his distress116 he thought seriously of expatriating himself and setting out for Brazil; and, before coming to a final decision, he awaited only the success or failure of a publishing venture such as he had already undertaken in vain. In the month of July, 1840, he started the Revue Parisienne, of which he was the sole editor, and through which he proclaimed a dictatorial117 authority over the arts and letters, society and the government. He had to abandon it after the third number.
Balzac remained in France, but he was obliged to quit Les Jardies. His creditors looked upon this property as their legitimate118 prey119, and neither ruse120 nor sacrifice could any longer keep it from them. He first made a fictitious121 sale of it to his architect, and then a real one, on the advice of his lawyer. It had cost him more than ninety thousand francs, and he got back only seventeen thousand five hundred. But he had lived there through some beautiful dreams and great hopes.
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situated
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evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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compulsory
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| n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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abode
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importunate
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journalism
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sarcasm
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ridicule
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monstrous
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turquoises
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attentively
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contractors
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annoyances
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defiance
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chambers
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chamber
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exultant
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delightful
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rue
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fragrance
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orchard
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witticisms
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ascended
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caption
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wards
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| 区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态 | |
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isolated
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outskirts
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incapable
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divans
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despoil
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adornment
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dwelling
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charcoal
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cedar
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tapestry
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heartily
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speculative
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deducted
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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44
interdiction
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| n.禁止；封锁 | |
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45
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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46
miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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47
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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48
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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49
hampers
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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stifles
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的第三人称单数 )； 镇压，遏制 | |
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51
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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52
interferes
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| vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉 | |
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53
bask
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| vt.取暖，晒太阳，沐浴于 | |
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54
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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55
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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56
ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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57
setback
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| n.退步，挫折，挫败 | |
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58
scenarios
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| n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本 | |
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59
silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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60
collaborate
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| vi.协作，合作；协调 | |
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61
specifying
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| v.指定( specify的现在分词 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性 | |
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62
extricate
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| v.拯救，救出；解脱 | |
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63
farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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collaboration
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| n.合作，协作；勾结 | |
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65
reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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renaissance
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| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
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demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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indemnity
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| n.赔偿，赔款，补偿金 | |
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courageously
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| ad.勇敢地，无畏地 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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notary
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| n.公证人，公证员 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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chronic
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| adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的 | |
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aristocrats
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| n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 ) | |
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84
depredations
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| n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 ) | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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monkish
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| adj.僧侣的，修道士的，禁欲的 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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formulate
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| v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述 | |
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manifesto
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| n.宣言，声明 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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92
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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93
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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94
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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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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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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97
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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98
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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99
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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100
delectable
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| adj.使人愉快的；美味的 | |
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101
picturesquely
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102
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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103
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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104
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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105
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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106
frayed
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| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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108
lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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109
walnut
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| n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色 | |
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110
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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111
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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112
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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113
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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114
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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115
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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116
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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117
dictatorial
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| adj. 独裁的，专断的 | |
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118
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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119
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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120
ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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121
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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