IMPERCEPTIBLY, like a little star at dawn, my brother Kolia faded away. Grandmother, he, and I slept in a small shed on planks1 covered with various rags. On the other side of the chinky wall of the out-house was the family poultry-house. We could hear the sleepy, overfed fowls2 fluttering and clucking in the evening, and the golden, shrill-voiced cock awoke us in the morning.
“Oh, I should like to tear you to pieces!” grandmother would grumble3 when they woke her.
I was already awake, watching the sunbeams falling through the chinks upon my bed, and the silver specks4 of dust which danced in them. These little specks seemed to me just like the words in a fairy-tale. Mice had gnawed5 the planks, and red beetles6 with black spots ran about there.
Sometimes, to escape from the stifling7 fumes8 which arose from the soil in the fowl-house, I crept out of the wooden hut, climbed to the roof, and watched the people of the house waking up, eyeless, large, and swollen9 with sleep. Here appeared the hairy noddle of the boatman Phermanov, a surly drunkard, who gazed at the sun with blear, running eyes and grunted10 like a bear. Then grandfather came hurrying out into the yard and hastened to the wash-house to wash himself in cold water. The garrulous11 cook of the land — lord, a sharp-nosed woman, thickly covered with freckles12, was like a cuckoo. The landlord himself was like an old fat dove. In fact, they were all like some bird, animal, or wild beast.
Although the morning was so pleasant and bright, it made me feel sad, and I wanted to get away into the fields where no one came, for I had already learned that human creatures always spoil a bright day.
One day when I was lying on the roof grandmother called me, and said in a low voice, shaking her head as she lay on her bed:
“Kolia is dead.”
The little boy had slipped from the pillow, and lay livid, lanky13 on the felt cover. His night-shirt had worked itself up round his neck, leaving bare his swollen stomach and crooked14 legs. His hands were curiously15 folded behind his back, as if he had been trying to lift himself up. His head was bent16 on one side.
“Thank God he has gone!” said grandmother as she did her hair. “What would have become of the poor little wretch17 had he lived?”
Treading almost as if he were dancing, grandfather made his appearance, and cautiously touched the closed eyes of the child with his fingers.
Grandmother asked him angrily:
“What do you mean by touching18 him with unwashen hands?”
He muttered:
“There you are! He gets born, lives, and eats, and all for nothing.”
“You are half asleep,” grandmother cut him short.
He looked at her vacantly, and went out in the yard, saying:
“I am not going to give him a funeral; you can do what you like about it.”
“Phoo! you miserable19 creature!”
I went out, and did not return until it was close upon evening. They buried Kolia on the morning of the following day, and during the mass I sat by the reopened grave with my dog and Yaz’s father. He had dug the grave cheaply, and kept praising himself for it before my face.
“I have only done this out of friendship; for any one else I should have charged so many rubles.”
Looking into the yellow pit, from which arose a heavy odor, I saw some moist black planks at one side. At my slightest movement the heaps of sand around the grave fell to the bottom in a thin stream, leaving wrinkles in the sides. I moved on purpose, so that the sand would hide those boards.
“No larks20 now!” said Yaz’s father, as he smoked.
Grandmother carried out the little coffin21. The “trashy peasant” sprang into the hole, took the coffin from her, placed it beside the black boards, and, jumping out of the grave, began to hurl22 the earth into it with his feet and his spade. Grandfather and grandmother also helped him in silence. There were neither priests nor beggars there; only we four amid a dense23 crowd of crosses. As she gave the sexton his money, grandmother said reproachfully:
“But you have disturbed Varina’s coffin.”
“What else could I do? If I had not done that, I should have had to take some one else’s piece of ground. But there’s nothing to worry about.”
Grandmother prostrated24 herself on the grave, sobbed25 and groaned26, and went away, followed by grandfather, his eyes hidden by the peak of his cap, clutching at his worn coat.
“They have sown the seed in unplowed ground,” he said suddenly, running along in front, just like a crow on the plowed27 field.
“What does he mean?” I asked grandmother.
“God bless him! He has his thoughts,” she answered.
It was hot. Grandmother went heavily; her feet sank in the warm sand. She halted frequently, mopping her perspiring28 face with her handkerchief.
“That black thing in the grave,” I asked her, “was it mother’s coffin?”
“Yes,” she said angrily. “Ignorant dog! It is not a year yet, and our Varia is already decayed! It is the sand that has done it; it lets the water through. If that had to happen, it would have been better to — ”
“Shall we all decay?”
“All. Only the saints escape it.”
“You — you will not decay!”
She halted, set my cap straight, and said to me seriously:
“Don’t think about it; it is better not. Do you hear?’
But I did think of it. How offensive and revolting death was! How odious29! I felt very badly about it
When we reached home grandfather had already prepared the samovar and laid the table.
“Come and have some tea. I expect you are hot,” he said. “I have put in my own tea as well. This is for us all.”
He went to grandmother and patted her on the shoulder.
“Well, Mother, well?”
Grandmother held up her hands.
“Whatever does it all mean?”
“This is what it means: God is angry with us; He is tearing everything away from us bit by bit. If families lived together in unity30, like fingers on a hand —”
It was long since he had spoken so gently and peaceably. I listened, hoping that the old man would extinguish my sense of injury, and help me to forget the yellow pit and the black moist boards in protuberance in its side. But grandmother cut him short harshly:
“Leave off, Father! You have been uttering words like that all your life, and I should like to know who is the better for them? All your life you have eaten into every one as rust32 corrodes33 iron.”
Grandfather muttered, looked at her, and held his tongue.
In the evening, at the gate, I told Ludmilla sorrowfully about what I had seen in the morning, but it did not seem to make much impression on her.
“Orphans are better off. If my father and mother were to die, I should leave my sister to look after my brother, and I myself would go into a convent for the rest of my life. Where else should I go? I don’t expect to get married, being lame34 and unable to work. Besides, I might bring crippled children into the world.”
She spoke31 wisely, like all the women of our street, and it must have been from that evening that I lost interest in her. In fact, my life took a turn which caused me to see her very seldom.
A few days after the death of my brother, grandfather said to me:
“Go to bed early this evening, while it is still light, and I will call you. We will go into the forest and get some logs.”
“And I will come and gather herbs,” declared grandmother.
The forest of fir — and birch — trees stood on a marsh35 about three versts distant from the village. Abounding36 in withered37 and fallen trees, it stretched in one direction to the Oka, and in the other to the high road to Moscow. Beyond it, with its soft, black bristles38 looking like a black tent, rose the fir-thicket39 on the “Ridge of Savelov.”
All this property belonged to Count Shuvalov, and was badly guarded. The inhabitants of Kunavin regarded it as their own, carried away the fallen trees and cut off the dried wood, and on occasion were not squeamish about cutting down living trees. In the autumn, when they were laying in a stock of wood for the winter, people used to steal out here by the dozen, with hatchets40 and ropes on their backs.
And so we three went out at dawn over the silver-green, dewy fields. On our left, beyond the Oka, above the ruddy sides of the Hill of Dyatlov, above white Nijni–Novgorod, on the hillocks in the gardens, on the golden domes41 of churches, rose the lazy Russian sun in its leisurely42 manner. A gentle wind blew sleepily from the turbid43 Oka; the golden buttercups, bowed down by the dew, sway to and fro; lilac-colored bells bowed dumbly to the earth; everlasting44 flowers of different colors stuck up dryly in the barren turf; the blood-red blossoms of the flower called “night beauty” opened like stars. The woods came to meet us like a dark army; the fir-trees spread out their wings like large birds; the birches looked like maidens45. The acrid46 smell of the marshes47 flowed over the fields. My dog ran beside me with his pink tongue hanging out, often halting and snuffing the air, and shaking his fox-like head, as if in perplexity. Grandfather, in grand — mother’s short coat and an old peakless cap, blinking and smiling at something or other, walked as cautiously as if he were bent on stealing. Grandmother, wearing a blue blouse, a black skirt, and a white handkerchief about her head, waddled48 comfortably. It was difficult to hurry when walking behind her.
The nearer we came to the forest, the more animated49 grandfather became. Walking with his nose in the air and muttering, he began to speak, at first disjointedly and inarticulately, and afterward50 happily and beautifully, almost as if he had been drinking.
“The forests are the Lord’s gardens. No one planted them save the wind of God and the holy breath of His mouth. When I was working on the boats in my youth I went to Jegoulya. Oh, Lexei, you will never have the experiences I have had! There are forests along the Oka, from Kasimov to Mouron, and there are forests on the Volga, too, stretching as far as the Urals. Yes; it is all so boundless51 and wonderful.”
Grandmother looked at him askance, and winked52 at me, and he, stumbling over the hillocks, let fall some disjointed, dry words that have remained forever fixed53 in my memory.
“We were taking some empty oil-casks from Saratov to Makara on the Yamarka, and we had with us as skipper Kyril of Poreshka. The mate was a Tatar — Asaph, or some such name. When we reached Jegulia the wind was right in our faces, blowing with all its force; and as it remained in the same quarter and tossed us about, we went on shore to cook some food for ourselves. It was Maytime. The sea lay smooth around the land, and the waves just floated on her, like a flock of birds — like thousands of swans which sport on the Caspian Sea. The hills of Jegulia are green in the springtime; the sun floods the earth with gold. We rested; we became friendly; we seemed to be drawn54 to one another. It was gray and cold on the river, but on shore it was warm and fragrant55. At eventide our Kyril — he was a harsh man and well on in years — stood up, took off his cap, and said: ‘Well, children, I am no longer either chief or servant. Go away by yourselves, and I will go to the forest.’ We were all startled. What was it that he was saying? We ought not to be left without some one responsible to be master. You see, people can’t get on without a head, although it is only on the Volga, which is like a straight road. It is possible to lose one’s way, for people alone are only like a senseless beast, and who cares what becomes of them? We were frightened; but he — he had made up his mind. T have no desire to go on living as your shepherd; I am going into the forest.’ Some of us had half a mind to seize and keep him by force, but the others said, ‘Wait!’ Then the Tatar mate set up a cry: T shall go, too!’ It was very bad luck. The Tatar had not been paid by the proprietors56 for the last two journeys; in fact, he had done half of a third one without pay, and that was a lot of money to lose in those days. We wrangled57 over the matter until night, and then seven of our company left us, leaving only sixteen or fourteen of us. That’s what your forests do for people!” “Did they go and join the brigands59?”
“Maybe, or they may have become hermits60. We did not inquire into the matter then.”
Grandmother crossed herself.
“Holy Mother of God! When one thinks of people, one cannot help being sorry for them.”
“We are all given the same powers of reason, you know, where the devil draws.”
We entered the forest by a wet path between marshy61 hillocks and frail62 fir-trees. I thought that it must be lovely to go and live in the woods as Kyril of Poreshka had done. There are no chattering63 human creatures there, no fights or drunkenness. There I should be able to forget the repulsive64 greediness of grandfather and mother’s sandy grave, all of which things hurt me, and weighed on my heart with an oppressive heaviness. When we came to a dry place grandmother said:
“We must have a snack now. Sit down.”
In her basket there were rye bread, onions, cucumbers, salt, and curds65 wrapped in a cloth. Grandfather looked at all this in confusion and blinked.
“But I did not bring anything to eat, good Mother.”
“There is enough for us all.”
We sat down, leaning against the mast-like trunk of a fir-tree. The air was laden66 with a resinous67 odor; from the fields blew a gentle wind; the shave-grass waved to and fro. Grandmother plucked the herbs with her dark hands, and told me about the medicinal properties of St. John’s-wort, betony, and rib-wort, and of the secret power of bracken. Grandfather hewed69 the fallen trees in pieces, and it was my part to carry the logs and put them all in one place; but I stole away unnoticed into the thicket after grandmother. She looked as if she were floating among the stout70, hardy71 tree-trunks, and as if she were diving when she stooped to the earth, which was strewn with fir-cones. She talked to herself as she went along.
“We have come too early again. There will be hardly any mushrooms. Lord, how badly Thou lookest after the poor! Mushrooms are the treat of the poor.”
I followed her silently and cautiously, not to attract her attention. I did not wish to interrupt her conversation with God, the herbs, and the frogs. But she saw me.
“Have you run away from grandfather?” And stooping to the black earth, splendidly decked in flowered vestments, she spoke of the time when God, enraged72 with mankind, flooded the earth with water and drowned all living creatures. “But the sweet Mother of God had beforehand collected the seeds of everything in a basket and hidden them, and when it was all over, she begged the sun: ‘Dry the earth from end to end, and then will all the people sing thy praises.’ The sun dried the earth, and she sowed the seed. God looked. Once more the earth was covered with living creatures, herbs, cattle, and people. ‘Who has done this against My will?’ He asked. And here she confessed, and as God had been sorry Himself to see the earth bare, He said to her, ‘You have done well.’ ”
I liked. this story, but it surprised me, and I said very gravely:
“But was that really so? The Mother of God was born long after the flood.”
It was now grandmother’s turn to be surprised.
“Who told you that?’
“It was written in the books at school.”
This reassured73 her, and she gave me the advice:
“Put all that aside; forget it. It is only out of books; they are lies, those books.” And laughing softly, gayly, “Think for a moment, silly! God was; and His Mother was not? Then of whom was He born?”
“I don’t know.”
“Good! You have learned enough to be able to say 1 don’t know.’ ”
“The priest said that the Mother of God was bom of Joachim and Anna.”
Then grandmother was angry. She faced about, and looked sternly into my eyes.
“If that is what you think, I will slap you.” But in the course of a few minutes she explained to me. “The Blessed Virgin74 always existed before any one and anything. Of Her was God born, and then — ”
“And Christ, what about Him?”
Grandmother was silent, shutting her eyes in her confusion.
“And what about Christ? Eh? thV
I saw that I was victor, that I had caused the divine mysteries to be a snare75 to her, and it was not a pleasant thought.
We went farther and farther into the forest, into the dark-blue haze76 pierced by the golden rays of the sun. There was a peculiar77 murmur78, dreamy, and arousing dreams. The crossbill chirped79, the titmouses uttered their bell-like notes, . the goldfinch piped, the cuckoo laughed, the jealous song of the chaffinch was heard unceasingly, and that strange bird, the hawfinch, sang pensively80. Emerald-green frogs hopped81 around our feet; among the roots, guarding them, lay an adder82, with his golden head raised; the squirrel cracked nuts, his furry83 tail peeping out among the fir-trees. The deeper one went into the forest, the more one saw.
Among the trunks of the fir-trees appeared transparent84, aerial figures of gigantic people, which dis appeared into the green mass through which the blue and silver sky shone. Under one’s feet there was a splendid carpet of moss85, sown with red bilberries, and moor-berries shone in the grass like drops of blood. Mushrooms tantalized86 one with their strong smell.
“Holy Virgin, bright earthly light,” prayed grandmother, drawing a deep breath.
In the forest she was like the mistress of a house with all her family round her. She ambled87 along like a bear, seeing and praising everything and giving thanks. It seemed as if a certain warmth flowed from her through the forest, and when the moss, crushed by her feet, raised itself and stood up in her wake, it was peculiarly pleasing to me to see it.
As I walked along I thought how nice it would be to be a brigand58; to rob the greedy and give the spoil to the poor; to make them all happy and satisfied, neither envying nor scolding one another, like bad-tempered88 curs. It was good to go thus to grand — mother’s God, to her Holy Virgin, and tell them all the truth about the bad lives people led, and how clumsily and offensively they buried one another in rubbishy sand. And there was so much that was un necessarily repulsive and torturing on earth! If the Holy Virgin believed what I said, let her give me such an intelligence as would enable me to construct everything differently and improve the condition of things. It did not matter about my not being grown-up. Christ had been only a year older than I was when the wise men listened to Him.
Once in my preoccupation I fell into a deep pit, hurting my side and grazing the back of my neck. Sitting at the bottom of this pit in the cold mud, which was as sticky as resin68, I realized with a feeling of intense humiliation89 that I should not be able to get out by myself, and I did not like the idea of frightening grandmother by calling out. However, I had to call her in the end. She soon dragged me out, and, crossing herself, said:
“The Lord be praised! It is a lucky thing that the bear’s pit was empty. What would have happened to you if the master of the house had been lying there?” And she cried through her laughter.
Then she took me to the brook90, washed my wounds and tied them up with strips of her chemise, after laying some healing leaves upon them, and took me into the railway signal-box, for I had not the strength to get all the way home.
And so it happened that almost every day I said to grandmother:
“Let us go into the forest.”
She used to agree willingly, and thus we lived all the summer and far into the autumn, gathering91 herbs, berries, mushrooms, and nuts. Grandmother sold what we gathered, and by this means we were able to keep ourselves.
“Lazy beggars!” shrieked92 grandfather, though we never had food from him.
The forest called up a feeling of peace and solace93 in my heart, and in that feeling all my griefs were swallowed up, and all that was unpleasant was obliterated94. During that time also my senses acquired a peculiar keenness, my hearing and sight became more acute, my memory more retentive95, my storehouse of impressions widened.
And the more I saw of grandmother, the more she amazed me. I had been accustomed to regard her as a higher being, as the very best and the wisest creature upon the earth, and she was continually strengthening this conviction. For instance, one evening we had been gathering white mushrooms, and when we arrived at the edge of the forest on our way home grandmother sat down to rest while I went behind the tree to see if there were any more mushrooms. Suddenly I heard her voice, and this is what I saw: she was seated by the footpath96 calmly putting away the root of a mushroom, while near her, with his tongue hanging out, stood a gray, emaciated97 dog.
“You go away now! Go away!” said grandmother. “Go, and God be with you!”
Not long before that Valek had poisoned my dog, and I wanted very much to have this one. I ran to the path. The dog hunched98 himself strangely without moving his neck, and, looking at me with his green, hungry eyes, leaped into the forest, with his tail between his legs. His movements were not those of a dog, and when I whistled, he hurled99 himself wildly into the bushes.
“You saw?” said grandmother, smiling. “At first I was deceived. I thought it was a dog. I looked again and saw that I was mistaken. He had the fangs100 of a wolf, and the neck, too. I was quite frightened. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘if you are a wolf, take yourself off!’ It is a good thing that wolves are not dangerous in the summer.”
She was never afraid in the forest, and always found her way home unerringly. By the smell of the grass she knew what kind of mushrooms ought to be found in such and such a place, what sort in another, and often examined me in the subject.
“What sort of trees do this and that fungus101 love? How do you distinguish the edible102 from the poisonous?”
By hardly visible scratches on the bark of a tree she showed me where the squirrel had made his home in a hollow, and I would climb up and ravage103 the nest of tlie animal, robbing him of his winter store of nuts. Sometimes there were as many as ten pounds in one nest. And one day, when I was thus engaged, a hunter planted twenty-seven shot in the right side of my body. Grandmother got eleven of them out with a needle, but the rest remained under my skin for many years, coming out by degrees.
Grandmother was pleased with me for bearing pain patiently.
“Brave boy!” she praised me. “He who is most patient will be the cleverest.”
Whenever she had saved a little money from the sale of mushrooms and nuts, she used to lay it on window-sills as “secret alms,” and she herself went about in rags and patches even on Sundays.
“You go about worse than a beggar. You put me to shame,” grumbled104 grandfather.
“What does it matter to you? I am not your daughter. I am not looking for a husband.”
Their quarrels had become more frequent.
“I am not more sinful than others,” cried grandfather in injured tones, “but my punishment is greater.”
Grandmother used to tease him.
“The devils know what every one is worth.” And she would say to me privately105: “My old man is frightened of devils. See how quickly he is aging! It is all from fear; eh, poor man!”
I had become very hardy during the summer, and quite savage106 through living in the forest, and I had lost all interest in the life of my contemporaries, such as Ludmilla. She seemed to me to be tiresomely107 sensible.
One day grandfather returned from the town very wet. It was autumn, and the rains were falling. Shaking himself on the threshold like a sparrow, he said triumphantly108:
“Well, young rascal109, you are going to a new situation tomorrow.”
“Where now?” asked grandmother, angrily.
“To your sister Matrena, to her son.”
“O Father, you have done very wrong.”
“Hold your tongue, fool! They will make a man of him.”
Grandmother let her head droop110 and said nothing more.
In the evening I told Ludmilla that I was going to live in the town.
“They are going to take me there soon,” she informed me, thoughtfully. “Papa wants my leg to be taken off altogether. Without it I should get well.”
She had grown very thin during the summer; the skin of her face had assumed a bluish tint111, and her eyes had grown larger.
“Are you afraid?” I asked her.
“Yes,” she replied, and wept silently.
I had no means of consoling her, for I was frightened myself at the prospect112 of life in town. We sat for a long time in painful silence, pressed close against each other. If it had been summer, I should have asked grandmother to come begging with me, as she had done when she was a girl. We might have taken Ludmilla with us; I could have drawn her along in a little cart. But it was autumn. A damp wind blew up the streets, the sky was heavy with rain-clouds, the earth frowned. It had begun to look dirty and unhappy.
收听单词发音 |
1
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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grumble
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| vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声 | |
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specks
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| n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
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gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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beetles
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| n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 ) | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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garrulous
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| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
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freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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lanky
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| adj.瘦长的 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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larks
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| n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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plowed
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| v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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29
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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30
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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31
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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32
rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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33
corrodes
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| v.使腐蚀，侵蚀( corrode的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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35
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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36
abounding
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| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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37
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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38
bristles
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| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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40
hatchets
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| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
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41
domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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42
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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43
turbid
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| adj.混浊的，泥水的，浓的 | |
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44
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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45
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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46
acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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47
marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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48
waddled
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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50
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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51
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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52
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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53
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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57
wrangled
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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brigand
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| n.土匪，强盗 | |
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59
brigands
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| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
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60
hermits
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| （尤指早期基督教的）隐居修道士，隐士，遁世者( hermit的名词复数 ) | |
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61
marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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62
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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63
chattering
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| 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 | |
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64
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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curds
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| n.凝乳( curd的名词复数 ) | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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resinous
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| adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的 | |
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resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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hewed
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的过去式和过去分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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74
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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76
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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77
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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78
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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chirped
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 ) | |
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80
pensively
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| adv.沉思地，焦虑地 | |
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81
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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82
adder
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| n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇 | |
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83
furry
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| adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的 | |
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84
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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85
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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86
tantalized
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| v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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87
ambled
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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88
bad-tempered
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| adj.脾气坏的 | |
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89
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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90
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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91
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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92
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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93
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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95
retentive
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| v.保留的，有记忆的；adv.有记性地，记性强地；n.保持力 | |
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96
footpath
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| n.小路，人行道 | |
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97
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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98
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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99
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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100
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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101
fungus
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| n.真菌，真菌类植物 | |
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102
edible
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| n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的 | |
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103
ravage
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| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
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104
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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105
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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106
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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107
tiresomely
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| adj. 令人厌倦的，讨厌的 | |
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108
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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109
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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110
droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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111
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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112
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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