Theirs all the grossness, all the superstition3
Of a most gross and superstitious4 age —
May He be praised that sent the healthful tempest
And scatter’d all these pestilential vapours!
But that we owed them all to yonder Harlot
Throned on the seven hills with her cup of gold,
I will as soon believe, with kind Sir Roger,
That old Moll White took wing with cat arid5 broomstick,
And raised the last night’s thunder.
Old play.
The village described in the Benedictine’s manuscript by the name of Kennaquhair, bears the same Celtic termination which occurs in Traquhair, Caquhair, and other compounds. The learned Chalmers derives6 this word Quhair, from the winding7 course of a stream; a definition which coincides, in a remarkable8 degree, with the serpentine9 turns of the river Tweed near the village of which we speak. It has been long famous for the splendid Monastery10 of Saint Mary, founded by David the First of Scotland, in whose reign11 were formed, in the same county, the no less splendid establishments of Melrose, Jedburgh, and Kelso. The donations of land with which the King endowed these wealthy fraternities procured12 him from the Monkish13 historians the epithet14 of Saint, and from one of his impoverished15 descendants the splenetic censure16, “that he had been a sore saint for the Crown.”
It seems probable, notwithstanding, that David, who was a wise as well as a pious17 monarch18, was not moved solely19 by religious motives20 to those great acts of munificence22 to the church, but annexed23 political views to his pious generosity24. His possessions in Northumberland and Cumberland became precarious25 after the loss of the Battle of the Standard; and since the comparatively fertile valley of Teviot-dale was likely to become the frontier of his kingdom, it is probable he wished to secure at least a part of these valuable possessions by placing them in the hands of the monks, whose property was for a long time respected, even amidst the rage of a frontier war. In this manner alone had the King some chance of ensuring protection and security to the cultivators of the soil; and, in fact, for several ages the possessions of these Abbeys were each a sort of Goshen, enjoying the calm light of peace and immunity26, while the rest of the country, occupied by wild clans27 and marauding barons28, was one dark scene of confusion, blood, and unremitted outrage29.
But these immunities30 did not continue down to the union of the crowns. Long before that period the wars betwixt England and Scotland had lost their original character of international hostilities31, and had become on the part of the English, a struggle for subjugation32, on that of the Scots a desperate and infuriated defence of their liberties. This introduced on both sides a degree of fury and animosity unknown to the earlier period of their history; and as religious scruples33 soon gave way to national hatred34 spurred by a love of plunder35, the patrimony36 of the Church was no longer sacred from incursions on either side. Still, however, the tenants37 and vassals38 of the great Abbeys had many advantages over those of the lay barons, who were harassed39 by constant military duty, until they became desperate, and lost all relish40 for the arts of peace. The vassals of the church, on the other hand, were only liable to be called to arms on general occasions, and at other times were permitted in comparative quiet to possess their farms and feus. 20 They of course exhibited superior skill in every thing that related to the cultivation41 of the soil, and were therefore both wealthier and better informed than the military retainers of the restless chiefs and nobles in their neighbourhood.
The residence of these church vassals was usually in a small village or hamlet, where, for the sake of mutual42 aid and protection, some thirty or forty families dwelt together. This was called the Town, and the land belonging to the various families by whom the Town was inhabited, was called the Township. They usually possessed43 the land in common, though in various proportions, according to their several grants. The part of the Township properly arable44, and kept as such continually under the plough, was called in-field. Here the use of quantities of manure45 supplied in some degree the exhaustion46 of the soil, and the feuars raised tolerable oats and bear, 21 usually sowed on alternate ridges47, on which the labour of the whole community was bestowed48 without distinction, the produce being divided after harvest, agreeably to their respective interests.
There was, besides, out-field land, from which it was thought possible to extract a crop now and then, after which it was abandoned to the “skiey influences,” until the exhausted49 powers of vegetation were restored. These out-field spots were selected by any feuar at his own choice, amongst the sheep-walks and hills which were always annexed to the Township, to serve as pasturage to the community. The trouble of cultivating these patches of out-field, and the precarious chance that the crop would pay the labour, were considered as giving a right to any feuar, who chose to undertake the adventure, to the produce which might result from it.
There remained the pasturage of extensive moors50, where the valleys often afforded good grass, and upon which the whole cattle belonging to the community fed indiscriminately during the summer, under the charge of the Town-herd, who regularly drove them out to pasture in the morning, and brought them back at night, without which precaution they would have fallen a speedy prey51 to some of the Snatchers in the neighbourhood. These are things to make modern agriculturists hold up their hands and stare; but the same mode of cultivation is not yet entirely52 in desuetude53 in some distant parts of North Britain, and may be witnessed in full force and exercise in the Zetland Archipelago.
The habitations of the church-feuars were not less primitive54 than their agriculture. In each village or town were several small towers, having battlements projecting over the side walls, and usually an advanced angle or two with shot-holes for flanking the door-way, which was always defended by a strong door of oak, studded with nails, and often by an exterior55 grated door of iron. These small peel-houses were ordinarily inhabited by the principal feuars and their families; but, upon the alarm of approaching danger, the whole inhabitants thronged56 from their own miserable57 cottages, which were situated58 around, to garrison59 these points of defence. It was then no easy matter for a hostile party to penetrate60 into the village, for the men were habituated to the use of bows and fire-arms, and the towers being generally so placed, that the discharge from one crossed that of another, it was impossible to assault any of them individually.
The interior of these houses was usually sufficiently61 wretched, for it would have been folly62 to have furnished them in a manner which could excite the avarice63 of their lawless neighbours. Yet the families themselves exhibited in their appearance a degree of comfort, information, and independence, which could hardly have been expected. Their infield supplied them with bread and home-brewed ale, their herds64 and flocks with beef and mutton (the extravagance of killing65 lambs or calves66 was never thought of). Each family killed a mart, or fat bullock, in November, which was salted up for winter use, to which the good wife could, upon great occasions, add a dish of pigeons or a fat capon — the ill-cultivated garden afforded “lang-cale,”— and the river gave salmon67 to serve as a relish during the season of Lent.
Of fuel they had plenty, for the bogs68 afforded turf; and the remains69 of the abused woods continued to give them logs for burning, as well as timber for the usual domestic purposes. In addition to these comforts, the good-man would now and then sally forth70 to the greenwood, and mark down a buck71 of season with his gun or his cross-bow; and the Father Confessor seldom refused him absolution for the trespass72, if duly invited to take his share of the smoking haunch. Some, still bolder, made, either with their own domestics, or by associating themselves with the moss-troopers, in the language of shepherds, “a start and overloup;” and the golden ornaments73 and silken head-gear — worn by the females of one or two families of note, were invidiously traced by their neighbours to such successful excursions. This, however, was a more inexplicable74 crime in the eyes of the Abbot and Community of Saint Mary’s, than the borrowing one of the “gude king’s deer;” and they failed not to discountenance and punish, by every means in their power, offences which were sure to lead to severe retaliation75 upon the property of the church, and which tended to alter the character of their peaceful vassalage76.
As for the information possessed by those dependents of the Abbacies, they might have been truly said to be better fed than taught, even though their fare had been worse than it was. Still, however, they enjoyed opportunities of knowledge from which others were excluded. The monks were in general well acquainted with their vassals and tenants, and familiar in the families of the better class among them, where they were sure to be received with the respect due to their twofold character of spiritual father and secular77 landlord. Thus it often happened, when a boy displayed talents and inclination78 for study, one of the brethren, with a view to his being bred to the church, or out of good-nature, in order to pass away his own idle time, if he had no better motive21, initiated79 him into the mysteries of reading and writing, and imparted to him such other knowledge as he himself possessed. And the heads of these allied80 families, having more time for reflection, and more skill, as well as stronger motives for improving their small properties, bore amongst their neighbours the character of shrewd, intelligent men, who claimed respect on account of their comparative wealth, even while they were despised for a less warlike and enterprising turn than the other Borderers. They lived as much as they well could amongst themselves, avoiding the company of others, and dreading81 nothing more than to be involved in the deadly feuds82 and ceaseless contentions83 of the secular landholders.
Such is a general picture of these communities. During the fatal wars in the commencement of Queen Mary’s reign, they had suffered dreadfully by the hostile invasions. For the English, now a Protestant people, were so far from sparing the church-lands, that they forayed them with more unrelenting severity than even the possessions of the laity84. But the peace of 1550 had restored some degree of tranquillity86 to those distracted and harassed regions, and matters began again gradually to settle upon the former footing. The monks repaired their ravaged87 shrines88 — the feuar again roofed his small fortalice which the enemy had ruined — the poor labourer rebuilt his cottage — an easy task, where a few sods, stones, and some pieces of wood from the next copse, furnished all the materials necessary. The cattle, lastly, were driven out of the wastes and thickets89 in which the remnant of them had been secreted90; and the mighty91 bull moved at the head of his seraglio and their followers92, to take possession of their wonted pastures. There ensued peace and quiet, the state of the age and nation considered, to the Monastery of Saint Mary, and its dependencies, for several tranquil85 years.
点击收听单词发音
1 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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2 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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3 superstition | |
n.迷信,迷信行为 | |
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4 superstitious | |
adj.迷信的 | |
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5 arid | |
adj.干旱的;(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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6 derives | |
v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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7 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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8 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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9 serpentine | |
adj.蜿蜒的,弯曲的 | |
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10 monastery | |
n.修道院,僧院,寺院 | |
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11 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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12 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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13 monkish | |
adj.僧侣的,修道士的,禁欲的 | |
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14 epithet | |
n.(用于褒贬人物等的)表述形容词,修饰语 | |
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15 impoverished | |
adj.穷困的,无力的,用尽了的v.使(某人)贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 );使(某物)贫瘠或恶化 | |
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16 censure | |
v./n.责备;非难;责难 | |
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17 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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18 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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19 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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20 motives | |
n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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21 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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22 munificence | |
n.宽宏大量,慷慨给与 | |
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23 annexed | |
[法] 附加的,附属的 | |
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24 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
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25 precarious | |
adj.不安定的,靠不住的;根据不足的 | |
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26 immunity | |
n.优惠;免除;豁免,豁免权 | |
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27 clans | |
宗族( clan的名词复数 ); 氏族; 庞大的家族; 宗派 | |
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28 barons | |
男爵( baron的名词复数 ); 巨头; 大王; 大亨 | |
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29 outrage | |
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒 | |
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30 immunities | |
免除,豁免( immunity的名词复数 ); 免疫力 | |
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31 hostilities | |
n.战争;敌意(hostility的复数);敌对状态;战事 | |
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32 subjugation | |
n.镇压,平息,征服 | |
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33 scruples | |
n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 );顾虑,顾忌v.感到于心不安,有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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35 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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36 patrimony | |
n.世袭财产,继承物 | |
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37 tenants | |
n.房客( tenant的名词复数 );佃户;占用者;占有者 | |
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38 vassals | |
n.奴仆( vassal的名词复数 );(封建时代)诸侯;从属者;下属 | |
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39 harassed | |
adj. 疲倦的,厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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40 relish | |
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味 | |
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41 cultivation | |
n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成 | |
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42 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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43 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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44 arable | |
adj.可耕的,适合种植的 | |
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45 manure | |
n.粪,肥,肥粒;vt.施肥 | |
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46 exhaustion | |
n.耗尽枯竭,疲惫,筋疲力尽,竭尽,详尽无遗的论述 | |
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47 ridges | |
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊 | |
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48 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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50 moors | |
v.停泊,系泊(船只)( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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51 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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52 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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53 desuetude | |
n.废止,不用 | |
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54 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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55 exterior | |
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的 | |
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56 thronged | |
v.成群,挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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58 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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59 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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60 penetrate | |
v.透(渗)入;刺入,刺穿;洞察,了解 | |
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61 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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62 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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63 avarice | |
n.贪婪;贪心 | |
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64 herds | |
兽群( herd的名词复数 ); 牧群; 人群; 群众 | |
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65 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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66 calves | |
n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子,腓;腿肚子( calf的名词复数 );牛犊;腓;小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 );(冰川)崩解;生(小牛等),产(犊);使(冰川)崩解 | |
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67 salmon | |
n.鲑,大马哈鱼,橙红色的 | |
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68 bogs | |
n.沼泽,泥塘( bog的名词复数 );厕所v.(使)陷入泥沼, (使)陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 );妨碍,阻碍 | |
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69 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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70 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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71 buck | |
n.雄鹿,雄兔;v.马离地跳跃 | |
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72 trespass | |
n./v.侵犯,闯入私人领地 | |
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73 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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74 inexplicable | |
adj.无法解释的,难理解的 | |
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75 retaliation | |
n.报复,反击 | |
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76 vassalage | |
n.家臣身份,隶属 | |
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77 secular | |
n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的 | |
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78 inclination | |
n.倾斜;点头;弯腰;斜坡;倾度;倾向;爱好 | |
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79 initiated | |
n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始,创始,启蒙,介绍加入 | |
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80 allied | |
adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
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81 dreading | |
v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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82 feuds | |
n.长期不和,世仇( feud的名词复数 ) | |
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83 contentions | |
n.竞争( contention的名词复数 );争夺;争论;论点 | |
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84 laity | |
n.俗人;门外汉 | |
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85 tranquil | |
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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86 tranquillity | |
n. 平静, 安静 | |
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87 ravaged | |
毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 ); 蹂躏; 劫掠; 抢劫 | |
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88 shrines | |
圣地,圣坛,神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
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89 thickets | |
n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 );丛状物 | |
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90 secreted | |
v.(尤指动物或植物器官)分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 );隐匿,隐藏 | |
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91 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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92 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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