All nature was joyous1 and brilliant, and bright and beautiful. Morning was still very young—about an hour old. Sounds of the most cheerful, light-hearted character floated over the waters and echoed through the woods, as birds and beasts hurried to and fro with all the bustling2 energy that betokened3 preparation and search for breakfast. Fish leaped in the pools with a rapidity that brought forcibly to mind that wise saying, “The more hurry, the less speed;” for they appeared constantly to miss their mark, although they jumped twice their own length out of the water in the effort.
Ducks and geese sprang from their liquid beds with an amazing amount of unnecessary sputter4, as if they had awakened5 to the sudden consciousness of being late for breakfast, then alighted in the water again with a squash, on finding (probably) that it was too early for that meal, but, observing other flocks passing and repassing on noisy wing, took to flight again, unable, apparently6, to restrain their feelings of delight at the freshness of the morning air, the brightness of the rising sun, and the sweet perfume of the dewy verdure, as the mists cleared away over the tree-tops and lost themselves in the blue sky. Everything seemed instinct not only with life, but with a large amount of superabundant energy. Earth, air, sky, animal, vegetable, and mineral, solid, and liquid, all were either actually in a state of lively, exulting7 motion, or had a peculiarly sprightly8 look about them, as if nature had just burst out of prison en masse, and gone raving9 mad with joy.
Such was the delectable10 state of things the morning on which two canoes darted11 from the camp of the Knisteneux, amid many expressions of good-will. One canoe contained our two friends, Charley and Jacques; the other, Redfeather and his wife Wabisca.
A few strokes of the paddle shot them out into the stream, which carried them rapidly away from the scene of their late festivities. In five minutes they swept round a point which shut them out from view, and they were swiftly descending13 those rapid rivers that had cost Charley and Jacques so much labour to ascend14.
“Look out for rocks ahead, Mr Charles,” cried Jacques, as he steered15 the light bark into the middle of a rapid, which they had avoided when ascending16 by making a portage. “Keep well to the left o’ yon swirl17. Parbleu, if we touch the rock there, it’ll be all over with us.”
“All right,” was Charley’s laconic18 reply. And so it proved, for their canoe, after getting fairly into the run of the rapid, was evidently under the complete command of its expert crew, and darted forward amid the foaming20 waters like a thing instinct with life. Now it careered and plunged21 over the waves where the rough bed of the stream made them more than usually turbulent. Anon it flew with increased rapidity through a narrow gap where the compressed water was smooth and black, but deep and powerful, rendering23 great care necessary to prevent the canoe’s frail24 sides from being dashed on the rocks. Then it met a curling wave, into which it plunged like an impetuous charger, and was checked for a moment by its own violence. Presently an eddy25 threw the canoe a little out of its course, disconcerting Charley’s intention of shaving a rock which lay in their track, so that he slightly grazed it in passing.
“Ah, Mr Charles,” said Jacques, shaking his head, “that was not well done; an inch more would have sent us down the rapids like drowned cats.”
“True,” replied Charley, somewhat crestfallen26; “but you see the other inch was not lost, so we’re not much the worse for it.”
“Well, after all, it was a ticklish27 bit, and I should have guessed that your experience was not up to it quite. I’ve seen many a man in my day who wouldn’t ha’ done it half so slick, an’ yet ha’ thought no small beer of himself; so you needn’t be ashamed, Mr Charles. But Wabisca beats you, for all that,” continued the hunter, glancing hastily over his shoulder at Redfeather, who followed closely in their wake, he and his modest-looking wife guiding their little craft through the dangerous passage with the utmost sangfroid28 and precision.
“We’ve about run them all now,” said Jacques, as they paddled over a sheet of still water which intervened between the rapid they had just descended29 and another which thundered about a hundred yards in advance.
“I was so engrossed30 with the one we have just come down,” said Charley, “that I quite forgot this one.”
“Quite right, Mr Charles,” said Jacques, in an approving tone, “quite right. I holds that a man should always attend to what he’s at, an’ to nothin’ else. I’ve lived long in the woods now, and that fact becomes more and more sartin every day. I’ve know’d chaps, now, as timersome as settlement girls, that were always in such a mortal funk about what was to happen, or might happen, that they were never fit for anything that did happen; always lookin’ ahead, and never around them. Of coorse, I don’t mean that a man shouldn’t look ahead at all, but their great mistake was that they looked out too far ahead, and always kep’ their eyes nailed there, just as if they had the fixin’ o’ everything, an’ Providence31 had nothin’ to do with it at all. I mind a Canadian o’ that sort that travelled in company with me once. We were goin’ just as we are now, Mr Charles, two canoes of us—him and a comrade in one, and me and a comrade in t’other. One night we got to a lot o’ rapids that came one after another for the matter o’ three miles or thereabouts. They were all easy ones, however, except the last; but it was a tickler, with a sharp turn o’ the land that hid it from sight till ye were right into it, with a foamin’ current, and a range o’ ragged32 rocks that stood straight in front o’ ye, like the teeth of a cross-cut saw. It was easy enough, however, if a man knew it, and was a cool hand. Well, the pauvre Canadian was in a terrible takin’ about this shoot long afore he came to it. He had run it often enough in boats where he was one of a half-dozen men, and had nothin’ to do but look on; but he had never steered down it before. When he came to the top o’ the rapids, his mind was so filled with this shoot that he couldn’t attend to nothin’, and scraped agin’ a dozen rocks in almost smooth water, so that when he got little more than half-way down, the canoe was as rickety as if it had just come off a six months’ cruise. At last we came to the big rapid, and after we’d run down our canoe I climbed the bank to see them do it. Down they came, the poor Canadian white as a sheet, and his comrade, who was brave enough, but knew nothin’ about light craft, not very comfortable. At first he could see nothin’ for the point, but in another moment round they went, end on, for the big rocks. The Canadian gave a great yell when he saw them, and plunged at the paddle till I thought he’d have capsized altogether. They ran it well enough, straight between the rocks (more by good luck than good guidance), and sloped down to the smooth water below; but the canoe had got such a battering33 in the rapids above, where an Injin baby could have steered it in safety, that the last plunge22 shook it all to pieces. It opened up, and lay down flat on the water; while the two men fell right through the bottom, screechin’ like mad, and rolling about among shreds34 o’ birch-bark!”
While Jacques was thus descanting philosophically35 on his experiences in time past, they had approached the head of the second rapid, and in accordance with the principles just enunciated36, the stout37 backwoodsman gave his undivided attention to the work before him. The rapid was short and deep, so that little care was required in descending it, excepting at one point, where the stream rushed impetuously between two rocks about six yards asunder38. Here it was requisite39 to keep the canoe as much in the middle of the stream as possible.
Just as they began to feel the drag of the water, Redfeather was heard to shout in a loud, warning tone, which caused Jacques and Charley to back their paddles hurriedly.
“What can the Injin mean, I wonder?” said Jacques, in a perplexed40 tone. “He don’t look like a man that would stop us at the top of a strong rapid for nothin’.”
“It’s too late to do that now, whatever is his reason,” said Charley, as he and his companion struggled in vain to paddle up stream.
“It’s o’ no use, Mr Charles; we must run it now—the current’s too strong to make head against. Besides, I do think the man has only seen a bear, or somethin’ o’ that sort, for I see he’s ashore41, and jumpin’ among the bushes like a caribou42.”
Saying this, they turned the canoe’s head down stream again, and allowed it to drift, merely retarding43 its progress a little with the paddles.
Suddenly Jacques uttered a sharp exclamation44. “Mon Dieu!” said he, “it’s plain enough now. Look there!”
Jacques pointed45 as he spoke46 to the narrows which they were now approaching with tremendous speed, which increased every instant. A heavy tree lay directly across the stream, reaching from rock to rock, and placed in such a way that it was impossible for a canoe to descend12 without being dashed in pieces against it. This was the more curious that no trees grew in the immediate47 vicinity, so that this one must have been designedly conveyed there.
“There has been foul48 work here,” said Jacques, in a deep tone. “We must dive, Mr Charles; there’s no chance any way else, and that’s but a poor one.”
This was true. The rocks on each side rose almost perpendicularly49 out of the water, so that it was utterly50 impossible to run ashore, and the only way of escape, as Jacques said, was by diving under the tree—a thing involving great risk, as the stream immediately below was broken by rocks, against which it dashed in foam19, and through which the chances of steering51 one’s way in safety by means of swimming were very slender indeed.
Charley made no reply, but with tightly-compressed lips, and a look of stern resolution on his brow, threw off his coat, and hastily tied his belt tightly round his waist. The canoe was now sweeping52 forward with lightning speed; in a few minutes it would be dashed to pieces.
At that moment a shout was heard in the woods, and Redfeather darting53 out, rushed over the ledge54 of rock on which one end of the tree rested, seized the trunk in his arms, and exerting all his strength, hurled55 it over into the river. In doing so he stumbled, and ere he could recover himself a branch caught him under the arm as the tree fell over, and dragged him into the boiling stream. This accident was probably the means of saving his life, for just as he fell the loud report of a gun rang through the woods, and a bullet passed through his cap. For a second or two both man and tree were lost in the foam, while the canoe dashed past in safety. The next instant Wabisca passed the narrows in her small craft, and steered for the tree. Redfeather, who had risen and sunk several times, saw her as she passed, and making a violent effort, he caught hold of the gunwale, and was carried down in safety.
“I’ll tell you what it is,” said Jacques, as the party stood on a rock promontory56 after the events just narrated57: “I would give a dollar to have that fellow’s nose and the sights o’ my rifle in a line at any distance short of two hundred yards.”
“It was Misconna,” said Redfeather. “I did not see him, but there’s not another man in the tribe that could do that.”
“I’m thankful we escaped, Jacques. I never felt so near death before, and had it not been for the timely aid of our friend here, it strikes me that our wild life would have come to an abrupt58 close.—God bless you, Redfeather,” said Charley, taking the Indian’s hand in both of his and kissing it.
Charley’s ebullition of feeling was natural. He had not yet become used to the dangers of the wilderness59 so as to treat them with indifference60. Jacques, on the other hand, had risked his life so often that escape from danger was treated very much as a matter of course, and called forth61 little expression of feeling. Still, it must not be inferred from this that his nature had become callous62. The backwoodsman’s frame was hard and unyielding as iron, but his heart was as soft still as it was on the day on which he first donned the hunting-shirt, and there was much more of tenderness than met the eye in the squeeze that he gave Redfeather’s hand on landing.
As the four travellers encircled the fire that night, under the leafy branches of the forest, and smoked their pipes in concert, while Wabisca busied herself in clearing away the remnants of their evening meal, they waxed communicative, and stories, pathetic, comic, and tragic63, followed each other in rapid succession.
“Now, Redfeather,” said Charley, while Jacques rose and went down to the luggage to get more tobacco, “tell Jacques about the way in which you got your name. I am sure he will feel deeply interested in that story—at least I am certain that Harry64 Somerville and I did when you told it to us the day we were wind-bound on Lake Winnipeg.”
Redfeather made no reply for a few seconds. “Will Mr Charles speak for me?” he said at length; “his tongue is smooth and quick.”
“A doubtful kind of compliment,” said Charley, laughing; “but I will, if you don’t wish to tell it yourself.”
“And don’t mention names. Do not let him know that you speak of me or my friends,” said the Indian, in a low whisper, as Jacques returned and sat down by the fire again.
Charley gave him a glance of surprise; but being prevented from asking questions, he nodded in reply, and proceeded to relate to his friend the story that has been recounted in a previous chapter. Redfeather leaned back against a tree, and appeared to listen intently.
Charley’s powers of description were by no means inconsiderable, and the backwoodsman’s face assumed a look of good-humoured attention as the story proceeded. But when the narrator went on to tell of the meditated65 attack and the midnight march, his interest was aroused, the pipe which he had been smoking was allowed to go out, and he gazed at his young friend with the most earnest attention. It was evident that the hunter’s spirit entered with deep sympathy into such scenes; and when Charley described the attack, and the death of the trapper’s wife, Jacques seemed unable to restrain his feelings. He leaned his elbows on his knees, buried his face in his hands, and groaned66 aloud.
“Mr Charles,” he said, in a deep voice, when the story was ended, “there are two men I would like to meet with in this world before I die: one is the young Injin who tried to save that girl’s life, the other is the cowardly villain67 that took it. I don’t mean the one who finished the bloody68 work; my rifle sent his accursed spirit to its own place—”
“Your rifle!” cried Charley, in amazement69.
“Ay, mine! It was my wife who was butchered by these savage70 dogs on that dark night. Oh, what avails the strength o’ that right arm!” said Jacques bitterly, as he lifted up his clenched71 fist; “it was powerless to save her—the sweet girl who left her home and people to follow me, a rough hunter, through the lonesome wilderness!”
He covered his face again, and groaned in agony of spirit, while his whole frame quivered with emotion.
Jacques remained silent, and his sympathising friends refrained from intruding72 on a sorrow which they felt they had no power to relieve.
At length he spoke. “Yes,” said he; “I would give much to meet with the man who tried to save her. I saw him do it twice; but the devils about him were too eager to be balked73 of their prey74.”
Charley and the Indian exchanged glances. “That Indian’s name,” said the former, “was Redfeather!”
“What!” exclaimed the trapper, jumping to his feet, and grasping Redfeather, who had also risen, by the two shoulders, stared wildly into his face; “was it you that did it?”
Redfeather smiled, and held out his hand, which the other took and wrung75 with an energy that would have extorted76 a cry of pain from any one but an Indian. Then dropping it suddenly and clinching77 his hands, he exclaimed:—
“I said that I would like to meet the villain who killed her—yes, I said it in passion, when your words had roused all my old feelings again; but I am thankful—I bless God that I did not know this sooner—that you did not tell me of it when I was at the camp, for I verily believe that I would not only have fixed78 him, but half the warriors79 o’ your tribe too, before they had settled me!”
It need scarcely be added that the friendship which already subsisted80 between Jacques and Redfeather was now doubly cemented; nor will it create surprise when we say that the former, in the fullness of his heart, and from sheer inability to find adequate outlets81 for the expression of his feelings, offered Redfeather in succession all the articles of value he possessed82, even to his much-loved rifle, and was seriously annoyed at their not being accepted. At last he finished off by assuring the Indian that he might look out for him soon at the missionary83 settlement, where he meant to stay with him evermore in the capacity of hunter, fisherman, and jack-of-all-trades to the whole clan84.
点击收听单词发音
1 joyous | |
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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2 bustling | |
adj.喧闹的 | |
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3 betokened | |
v.预示,表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4 sputter | |
n.喷溅声;v.喷溅 | |
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5 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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6 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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7 exulting | |
vi. 欢欣鼓舞,狂喜 | |
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8 sprightly | |
adj.愉快的,活泼的 | |
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9 raving | |
adj.说胡话的;疯狂的,怒吼的;非常漂亮的;令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话;疯话adv.胡言乱语地;疯狂地 | |
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10 delectable | |
adj.使人愉快的;美味的 | |
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11 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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12 descend | |
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降 | |
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13 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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14 ascend | |
vi.渐渐上升,升高;vt.攀登,登上 | |
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15 steered | |
v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 );操纵;控制;引导 | |
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16 ascending | |
adj.上升的,向上的 | |
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17 swirl | |
v.(使)打漩,(使)涡卷;n.漩涡,螺旋形 | |
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18 laconic | |
adj.简洁的;精练的 | |
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19 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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20 foaming | |
adj.布满泡沫的;发泡 | |
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21 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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22 plunge | |
v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲 | |
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23 rendering | |
n.表现,描写 | |
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24 frail | |
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的 | |
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25 eddy | |
n.漩涡,涡流 | |
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26 crestfallen | |
adj. 挫败的,失望的,沮丧的 | |
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27 ticklish | |
adj.怕痒的;问题棘手的;adv.怕痒地;n.怕痒,小心处理 | |
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28 sangfroid | |
n.沉着冷静 | |
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29 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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30 engrossed | |
adj.全神贯注的 | |
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31 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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32 ragged | |
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的 | |
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33 battering | |
n.用坏,损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 ) | |
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34 shreds | |
v.撕碎,切碎( shred的第三人称单数 );用撕毁机撕毁(文件) | |
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35 philosophically | |
adv.哲学上;富有哲理性地;贤明地;冷静地 | |
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36 enunciated | |
v.(清晰地)发音( enunciate的过去式和过去分词 );确切地说明 | |
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38 asunder | |
adj.分离的,化为碎片 | |
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39 requisite | |
adj.需要的,必不可少的;n.必需品 | |
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40 perplexed | |
adj.不知所措的 | |
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41 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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42 caribou | |
n.北美驯鹿 | |
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43 retarding | |
使减速( retard的现在分词 ); 妨碍; 阻止; 推迟 | |
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44 exclamation | |
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词 | |
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45 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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46 spoke | |
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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47 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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48 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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49 perpendicularly | |
adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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50 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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51 steering | |
n.操舵装置 | |
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52 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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53 darting | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的现在分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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54 ledge | |
n.壁架,架状突出物;岩架,岩礁 | |
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55 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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56 promontory | |
n.海角;岬 | |
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57 narrated | |
v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58 abrupt | |
adj.突然的,意外的;唐突的,鲁莽的 | |
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59 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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60 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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61 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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62 callous | |
adj.无情的,冷淡的,硬结的,起老茧的 | |
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63 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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64 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
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65 meditated | |
深思,沉思,冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 ); 内心策划,考虑 | |
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66 groaned | |
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
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67 villain | |
n.反派演员,反面人物;恶棍;问题的起因 | |
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68 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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69 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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70 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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71 clenched | |
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72 intruding | |
v.侵入,侵扰,打扰( intrude的现在分词);把…强加于 | |
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73 balked | |
v.畏缩不前,犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 );(指马)不肯跑 | |
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74 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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75 wrung | |
绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 ); 握紧(尤指别人的手); 把(湿衣服)拧干; 绞掉(水) | |
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76 extorted | |
v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 );曲解 | |
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77 clinching | |
v.(尤指两人)互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的现在分词 );解决(争端、交易),达成(协议) | |
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78 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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79 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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80 subsisted | |
v.(靠很少的钱或食物)维持生活,生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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81 outlets | |
n.出口( outlet的名词复数 );经销店;插座;廉价经销店 | |
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82 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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83 missionary | |
adj.教会的,传教(士)的;n.传教士 | |
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84 clan | |
n.氏族,部落,宗族,家族,宗派 | |
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