THE Czar had not so suddenly left the ball-room of the New Palace, when the fete he was giving to the civil and military authorities and principal people of Moscow was at the height of its brilliancy, without ample cause; for he had just received information that serious events were taking place beyond the frontiers of the Ural. It had become evident that a formidable rebellion threatened to wrest1 the Siberian provinces from the Russian crown.
Asiatic Russia, or Siberia, covers a superficial area of 1,790,208 square miles, and contains nearly two millions of inhabitants. Extending from the Ural Mountains, which separate it from Russia in Europe, to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, it is bounded on the south by Turkestan and the Chinese Empire; on the north by the Arctic Ocean, from the Sea of Kara to Behring’s Straits. It is divided into several governments or provinces, those of Tobolsk, Yeniseisk, Irkutsk, Omsk, and Yakutsk; contains two districts, Okhotsk and Kamtschatka; and possesses two countries, now under the Muscovite dominion2 — that of the Kirghiz and that of the Tshouktshes. This immense extent of steppes, which includes more than one hundred and ten degrees from west to east, is a land to which criminals and political offenders3 are banished5.
Two governor-generals represent the supreme6 authority of the Czar over this vast country. The higher one resides at Irkutsk, the far capital of Eastern Siberia. The River Tchouna separates the two Siberias.
No rail yet furrows7 these wide plains, some of which are in reality extremely fertile. No iron ways lead from those precious mines which make the Siberian soil far richer below than above its surface. The traveler journeys in summer in a kibick or telga; in winter, in a sledge8.
An electric telegraph, with a single wire more than eight thousand versts in length, alone affords communication between the western and eastern frontiers of Siberia. On issuing from the Ural, it passes through Ekaterenburg, Kasirnov, Tioumen, Ishim, Omsk, Elamsk, Kolyvan, Tomsk, Krasnoiarsk, Nijni-Udinsk, Irkutsk, Verkne-Nertschink, Strelink, Albazine, Blagowstenks, Radde, Orlomskaya, Alexandrowskoe, and Nikolaevsk; and six roubles and nineteen copecks are paid for every word sent from one end to the other. From Irkutsk there is a branch to Kiatka, on the Mongolian frontier; and from thence, for thirty copecks a word, the post conveys the dispatches to Pekin in a fortnight.
It was this wire, extending from Ekaterenburg to Nikolaevsk, which had been cut, first beyond Tomsk, and then between Tomsk and Kolyvan.
This was why the Czar, to the communication made to him for the second time by General Kissoff, had answered by the words, “A courier this moment!”
The Czar remained motionless at the window for a few moments, when the door was again opened. The chief of police appeared on the threshold.
“Enter, General,” said the Czar briefly9, “and tell me all you know of Ivan Ogareff.”
“He is an extremely dangerous man, sire,” replied the chief of police.
“He ranked as colonel, did he not?”
“Yes, sire.”
“Was he an intelligent officer?”
“Very intelligent, but a man whose spirit it was impossible to subdue10; and possessing an ambition which stopped at nothing, he became involved in secret intrigues11, and was degraded from his rank by his Highness the Grand Duke, and exiled to Siberia.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Two years since. Pardoned after six months of exile by your majesty12’s favor, he returned to Russia.”
“And since that time, has he not revisited Siberia?”
“Yes, sire; but he voluntarily returned there,” replied the chief of police, adding, and slightly lowering his voice, “there was a time, sire, when NONE returned from Siberia.”
“Well, whilst I live, Siberia is and shall be a country whence men CAN return.”
The Czar had the right to utter these words with some pride, for often, by his clemency13, he had shown that Russian justice knew how to pardon.
The head of the police did not reply to this observation, but it was evident that he did not approve of such half-measures. According to his idea, a man who had once passed the Ural Mountains in charge of policemen, ought never again to cross them. Now, it was not thus under the new reign14, and the chief of police sincerely deplored15 it. What! no banishment16 for life for other crimes than those against social order! What! political exiles returning from Tobolsk, from Yakutsk, from Irkutsk! In truth, the chief of police, accustomed to the despotic sentences of the ukase which formerly17 never pardoned, could not understand this mode of governing. But he was silent, waiting until the Czar should interrogate18 him further. The questions were not long in coming.
“Did not Ivan Ogareff,” asked the Czar, “return to Russia a second time, after that journey through the Siberian provinces, the object of which remains19 unknown?”
“He did.”
“And have the police lost trace of him since?”
“No, sire; for an offender4 only becomes really dangerous from the day he has received his pardon.”
The Czar frowned. Perhaps the chief of police feared that he had gone rather too far, though the stubbornness of his ideas was at least equal to the boundless20 devotion he felt for his master. But the Czar, disdaining21 to reply to these indirect reproaches cast on his policy, continued his questions. “Where was Ogareff last heard of?”
“In the province of Perm.”
“In what town?”
“At Perm itself.”
“What was he doing?”
“He appeared unoccupied, and there was nothing suspicious in his conduct.”
“Then he was not under the surveillance of the secret police?”
“No, sire.”
“When did he leave Perm?”
“About the month of March?”
“To go . . .?”
“Where, is unknown.”
“And it is not known what has become of him?”
“No, sire; it is not known.”
“Well, then, I myself know,” answered the Czar. “I have received anonymous22 communications which did not pass through the police department; and, in the face of events now taking place beyond the frontier, I have every reason to believe that they are correct.”
“Do you mean, sire,” cried the chief of police, “that Ivan Ogareff has a hand in this Tartar rebellion?”
“Indeed I do; and I will now tell you something which you are ignorant of. After leaving Perm, Ivan Ogareff crossed the Ural mountains, entered Siberia, and penetrated23 the Kirghiz steppes, and there endeavored, not without success, to foment24 rebellion amongst their nomadic25 population. He then went so far south as free Turkestan; there, in the provinces of Bokhara, Khokhand, and Koondooz, he found chiefs willing to pour their Tartar hordes27 into Siberia, and excite a general rising in Asiatic Russia. The storm has been silently gathering28, but it has at last burst like a thunderclap, and now all means of communication between Eastern and Western Siberia have been stopped. Moreover, Ivan Ogareff, thirsting for vengeance29, aims at the life of my brother!”
The Czar had become excited whilst speaking, and now paced up and down with hurried steps. The chief of police said nothing, but he thought to himself that, during the time when the emperors of Russia never pardoned an exile, schemes such as those of Ivan Ogareff could never have been realized. Approaching the Czar, who had thrown himself into an armchair, he asked, “Your majesty has of course given orders so that this rebellion may be suppressed as soon as possible?”
“Yes,” answered the Czar. “The last telegram which reached Nijni-Udinsk would set in motion the troops in the governments of Yenisei, Irkutsk, Yakutsk, as well as those in the provinces of the Amoor and Lake Baikal. At the same time, the regiments30 from Perm and Nijni-Novgorod, and the Cossacks from the frontier, are advancing by forced marches towards the Ural Mountains; but some weeks must pass before they can attack the Tartars.”
“And your majesty’s brother, his Highness the Grand Duke, is now isolated31 in the government of Irkutsk, and is no longer in direct communication with Moscow?”
“That is so.”
“But by the last dispatches, he must know what measures have been taken by your majesty, and what help he may expect from the governments nearest Irkutsk?”
“He knows that,” answered the Czar; “but what he does not know is, that Ivan Ogareff, as well as being a rebel, is also playing the part of a traitor32, and that in him he has a personal and bitter enemy. It is to the Grand Duke that Ogareff owes his first disgrace; and what is more serious is, that this man is not known to him. Ogareff’s plan, therefore, is to go to Irkutsk, and, under an assumed name, offer his services to the Grand Duke. Then, after gaining his confidence, when the Tartars have invested Irkutsk, he will betray the town, and with it my brother, whose life he seeks. This is what I have learned from my secret intelligence; this is what the Grand Duke does not know; and this is what he must know!”
“Well, sire, an intelligent, courageous33 courier . . .”
“I momentarily expect one.”
“And it is to be hoped he will be expeditious,” added the chief of police; “for, allow me to add, sire, that Siberia is a favorable land for rebellions.”
“Do you mean to say. General, that the exiles would make common cause with the rebels?” exclaimed the Czar.
“Excuse me, your majesty,” stammered34 the chief of police, for that was really the idea suggested to him by his uneasy and suspicious mind.
“I believe in their patriotism36,” returned the Czar.
“There are other offenders besides political exiles in Siberia,” said the chief of police.
“The criminals? Oh, General, I give those up to you! They are the vilest37, I grant, of the human race. They belong to no country. But the insurrection, or rather, the rebellion, is not to oppose the emperor; it is raised against Russia, against the country which the exiles have not lost all hope of again seeing — and which they will see again. No, a Russian would never unite with a Tartar, to weaken, were it only for an hour, the Muscovite power!”
The Czar was right in trusting to the patriotism of those whom his policy kept, for a time, at a distance. Clemency, which was the foundation of his justice, when he could himself direct its effects, the modifications38 he had adopted with regard to applications for the formerly terrible ukases, warranted the belief that he was not mistaken. But even without this powerful element of success in regard to the Tartar rebellion, circumstances were not the less very serious; for it was to be feared that a large part of the Kirghiz population would join the rebels.
The Kirghiz are divided into three hordes, the greater, the lesser39, and the middle, and number nearly four hundred thousand “tents,” or two million souls. Of the different tribes some are independent and others recognize either the sovereignty of Russia or that of the Khans of Khiva, Khokhand, and Bokhara, the most formidable chiefs of Turkestan. The middle horde26, the richest, is also the largest, and its encampments occupy all the space between the rivers Sara Sou, Irtish, and the Upper Ishim, Lake Saisang and Lake Aksakal. The greater horde, occupying the countries situated40 to the east of the middle one, extends as far as the governments of Omsk and Tobolsk. Therefore, if the Kirghiz population should rise, it would be the rebellion of Asiatic Russia, and the first thing would be the separation of Siberia, to the east of the Yenisei.
It is true that these Kirghiz, mere35 novices41 in the art of war, are rather nocturnal thieves and plunderers of caravans42 than regular soldiers. As M. Levchine says, “a firm front or a square of good infantry43 could repel44 ten times the number of Kirghiz; and a single cannon45 might destroy a frightful46 number.”
That may be; but to do this it is necessary for the square of good infantry to reach the rebellious47 country, and the cannon to leave the arsenals48 of the Russian provinces, perhaps two or three thousand versts distant. Now, except by the direct route from Ekaterenburg to Irkutsk, the often marshy49 steppes are not easily practicable, and some weeks must certainly pass before the Russian troops could reach the Tartar hordes.
Omsk is the center of that military organization of Western Siberia which is intended to overawe the Kirghiz population. Here are the bounds, more than once infringed51 by the half-subdued nomads52, and there was every reason to believe that Omsk was already in danger. The line of military stations, that is to say, those Cossack posts which are ranged in echelon53 from Omsk to Semipolatinsk, must have been broken in several places. Now, it was to be feared that the “Grand Sultans,” who govern the Kirghiz districts would either voluntarily accept, or involuntarily submit to, the dominion of Tartars, Mussulmen like themselves, and that to the hate caused by slavery was not united the hate due to the antagonism54 of the Greek and Mussulman religions. For some time, indeed, the Tartars of Turkestan had endeavored, both by force and persuasion55, to subdue the Kirghiz hordes.
A few words only with respect to these Tartars. The Tartars belong more especially to two distinct races, the Caucasian and the Mongolian. The Caucasian race, which, as Abel de Remusat says, “is regarded in Europe as the type of beauty in our species, because all the nations in this part of the world have sprung from it,” includes also the Turks and the Persians. The purely56 Mongolian race comprises the Mongols, Manchoux, and Thibetans.
The Tartars who now threatened the Russian Empire, belonged to the Caucasian race, and occupied Turkestan. This immense country is divided into different states, governed by Khans, and hence termed Khanats. The principal khanats are those of Bokhara, Khokhand, Koondooz, etc. At this period, the most important and the most formidable khanat was that of Bokhara. Russia had already been several times at war with its chiefs, who, for their own interests, had supported the independence of the Kirghiz against the Muscovite dominion. The present chief, Feofar-Khan, followed in the steps of his predecessors57.
The khanat of Bokhara has a population of two million five hundred thousand inhabitants, an army of sixty thousand men, trebled in time of war, and thirty thousand horsemen. It is a rich country, with varied58 animal, vegetable, and mineral products, and has been increased by the accession of the territories of Balkh, Aukoi, and Meimaneh. It possesses nineteen large towns. Bokhara, surrounded by a wall measuring more than eight English miles, and flanked with towers, a glorious city, made illustrious by Avicenna and other learned men of the tenth century, is regarded as the center of Mussulman science, and ranks among the most celebrated59 cities of Central Asia. Samarcand, which contains the tomb of Tamerlane and the famous palace where the blue stone is kept on which each new khan must seat himself on his accession, is defended by a very strong citadel60. Karschi, with its triple cordon61, situated in an oasis62, surrounded by a marsh50 peopled with tortoises and lizards63, is almost impregnable, Is-chardjoui is defended by a population of twenty thousand souls. Protected by its mountains, and isolated by its steppes, the khanat of Bokhara is a most formidable state; and Russia would need a large force to subdue it.
The fierce and ambitious Feofar now governed this corner of Tartary. Relying on the other khans — principally those of Khokhand and Koondooz, cruel and rapacious64 warriors65, all ready to join an enterprise so dear to Tartar instincts — aided by the chiefs who ruled all the hordes of Central Asia, he had placed himself at the head of the rebellion of which Ivan Ogareff was the instigator66. This traitor, impelled67 by insane ambition as much as by hate, had ordered the movement so as to attack Siberia. Mad indeed he was, if he hoped to rupture68 the Muscovite Empire. Acting69 under his suggestion, the Emir — which is the title taken by the khans of Bokhara — had poured his hordes over the Russian frontier. He invaded the government of Semipolatinsk, and the Cossacks, who were only in small force there, had been obliged to retire before him. He had advanced farther than Lake Balkhash, gaining over the Kirghiz population on his way. Pillaging70, ravaging71, enrolling72 those who submitted, taking prisoners those who resisted, he marched from one town to another, followed by those impedimenta of Oriental sovereignty which may be called his household, his wives and his slaves — all with the cool audacity73 of a modern Ghengis-Khan. It was impossible to ascertain74 where he now was; how far his soldiers had marched before the news of the rebellion reached Moscow; or to what part of Siberia the Russian troops had been forced to retire. All communication was interrupted. Had the wire between Kolyvan and Tomsk been cut by Tartar scouts75, or had the Emir himself arrived at the Yeniseisk provinces? Was all the lower part of Western Siberia in a ferment76? Had the rebellion already spread to the eastern regions? No one could say. The only agent which fears neither cold nor heat, which can neither be stopped by the rigors77 of winter nor the heat of summer, and which flies with the rapidity of lightning — the electric current — was prevented from traversing the steppes, and it was no longer possible to warn the Grand Duke, shut up in Irkutsk, of the danger threatening him from the treason of Ivan Ogareff.
A courier only could supply the place of the interrupted current. It would take this man some time to traverse the five thousand two hundred versts between Moscow and Irkutsk. To pass the ranks of the rebels and invaders78 he must display almost superhuman courage and intelligence. But with a clear head and a firm heart much can be done.
“Shall I be able to find this head and heart?” thought the Czar.
点击收听单词发音
1 wrest | |
n.扭,拧,猛夺;v.夺取,猛扭,歪曲 | |
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2 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
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3 offenders | |
n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 );犯规者;罪犯;妨害…的人(或事物) | |
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4 offender | |
n.冒犯者,违反者,犯罪者 | |
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5 banished | |
v.放逐,驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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7 furrows | |
n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 );(脸上的)皱纹v.犁田,开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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8 sledge | |
n.雪橇,大锤;v.用雪橇搬运,坐雪橇往 | |
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9 briefly | |
adv.简单地,简短地 | |
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10 subdue | |
vt.制服,使顺从,征服;抑制,克制 | |
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11 intrigues | |
n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 );神秘气氛;引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 );激起…的好奇心 | |
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12 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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13 clemency | |
n.温和,仁慈,宽厚 | |
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14 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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15 deplored | |
v.悲叹,痛惜,强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 banishment | |
n.放逐,驱逐 | |
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17 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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18 interrogate | |
vt.讯问,审问,盘问 | |
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19 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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20 boundless | |
adj.无限的;无边无际的;巨大的 | |
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21 disdaining | |
鄙视( disdain的现在分词 ); 不屑于做,不愿意做 | |
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22 anonymous | |
adj.无名的;匿名的;无特色的 | |
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23 penetrated | |
adj. 击穿的,鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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24 foment | |
v.煽动,助长 | |
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25 nomadic | |
adj.流浪的;游牧的 | |
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26 horde | |
n.群众,一大群 | |
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27 hordes | |
n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 );部落 | |
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28 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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29 vengeance | |
n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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30 regiments | |
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物 | |
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31 isolated | |
adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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32 traitor | |
n.叛徒,卖国贼 | |
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33 courageous | |
adj.勇敢的,有胆量的 | |
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34 stammered | |
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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36 patriotism | |
n.爱国精神,爱国心,爱国主义 | |
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37 vilest | |
adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 );可耻的;极坏的;非常讨厌的 | |
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38 modifications | |
n.缓和( modification的名词复数 );限制;更改;改变 | |
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39 lesser | |
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地 | |
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40 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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41 novices | |
n.新手( novice的名词复数 );初学修士(或修女);(修会等的)初学生;尚未赢过大赛的赛马 | |
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42 caravans | |
(可供居住的)拖车(通常由机动车拖行)( caravan的名词复数 ); 篷车; (穿过沙漠地带的)旅行队(如商队) | |
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43 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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44 repel | |
v.击退,抵制,拒绝,排斥 | |
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45 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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46 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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47 rebellious | |
adj.造反的,反抗的,难控制的 | |
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48 arsenals | |
n.兵工厂,军火库( arsenal的名词复数 );任何事物的集成 | |
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49 marshy | |
adj.沼泽的 | |
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50 marsh | |
n.沼泽,湿地 | |
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51 infringed | |
v.违反(规章等)( infringe的过去式和过去分词 );侵犯(某人的权利);侵害(某人的自由、权益等) | |
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52 nomads | |
n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 );流浪者;游牧生活;流浪生活 | |
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53 echelon | |
n.梯队;组织系统中的等级;v.排成梯队 | |
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54 antagonism | |
n.对抗,敌对,对立 | |
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55 persuasion | |
n.劝说;说服;持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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56 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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57 predecessors | |
n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 );前辈;(被取代的)原有事物;前身 | |
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58 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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59 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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60 citadel | |
n.城堡;堡垒;避难所 | |
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61 cordon | |
n.警戒线,哨兵线 | |
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62 oasis | |
n.(沙漠中的)绿洲,宜人的地方 | |
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63 lizards | |
n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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64 rapacious | |
adj.贪婪的,强夺的 | |
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65 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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66 instigator | |
n.煽动者 | |
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67 impelled | |
v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68 rupture | |
n.破裂;(关系的)决裂;v.(使)破裂 | |
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69 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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70 pillaging | |
v.抢劫,掠夺( pillage的现在分词 ) | |
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71 ravaging | |
毁坏( ravage的现在分词 ); 蹂躏; 劫掠; 抢劫 | |
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72 enrolling | |
v.招收( enrol的现在分词 );吸收;入学;加入;[亦作enrol]( enroll的现在分词 );登记,招收,使入伍(或入会、入学等),参加,成为成员;记入名册;卷起,包起 | |
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73 audacity | |
n.大胆,卤莽,无礼 | |
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74 ascertain | |
vt.发现,确定,查明,弄清 | |
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75 scouts | |
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员 | |
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76 ferment | |
vt.使发酵;n./vt.(使)激动,(使)动乱 | |
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77 rigors | |
严格( rigor的名词复数 ); 严酷; 严密; (由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体)僵直 | |
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78 invaders | |
入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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