For, in the Veneering establishment, from the hall-chairs with the new coat of arms, to the grand pianoforte with the new action, and upstairs again to the new fire-escape, all things were in a state of high varnish3 and polish. And what was observable in the furniture, was observable in the Veneerings — the surface smelt4 a little too much of the workshop and was a trifle sticky.
There was an innocent piece of dinner-furniture that went upon easy castors and was kept over a livery stable-yard in Duke Street, Saint James’s, when not in use, to whom the Veneerings were a source of blind confusion. The name of this article was Twemlow. Being first cousin to Lord Snigsworth, he was in frequent requisition, and at many houses might be said to represent the dining-table in its normal state. Mr and Mrs Veneering, for example, arranging a dinner, habitually6 started with Twemlow, and then put leaves in him, or added guests to him. Sometimes, the table consisted of Twemlow and half a dozen leaves; sometimes, of Twemlow and a dozen leaves; sometimes, Twemlow was pulled out to his utmost extent of twenty leaves. Mr and Mrs Veneering on occasions of ceremony faced each other in the centre of the board, and thus the parallel still held; for, it always happened that the more Twemlow was pulled out, the further he found himself from the center, and nearer to the sideboard at one end of the room, or the window-curtains at the other.
But, it was not this which steeped the feeble soul of Twemlow in confusion. This he was used to,and could take soundings of. The abyss to which he could find no bottom, and from which started forth7 the engrossing8 and ever-swelling difficulty of his life, was the insoluble question whether he was Veneering’s oldest friend, or newest friend. To the excogitation of this problem, the harmless gentleman had devoted9 many anxious hours, both in his lodgings10 over the livery stable-yard, and in the cold gloom, favourable11 to meditation12, of Saint James’s Square. Thus. Twemlow had first known Veneering at his club, where Veneering then knew nobody but the man who made them known to one another, who seemed to be the most intimate friend he had in the world, and whom he had known two days — the bond of union between their souls, the nefarious13 conduct of the committee respecting the cookery of a fillet of veal14, having been accidentally cemented at that date. Immediately upon this, Twemlow received an invitation to dine with Veneering, and dined: the man being of the party. Immediately upon that, Twemlow received an invitation to dine with the man, and dined: Veneering being of the party. At the man’s were a Member, an Engineer, a Payer-off of the National Debt, a Poem on Shakespeare, a Grievance15, and a Public Office, who all seem to be utter strangers to Veneering. And yet immediately after that, Twemlow received an invitation to dine at Veneerings, expressly to meet the Member, the Engineer, the Payer-off of the National Debt, the Poem on Shakespeare, the Grievance, and the Public Office, and, dining, discovered that all of them were the most intimate friends Veneering had in the world, and that the wives of all of them (who were all there) were the objects of Mrs Veneering’s most devoted affection and tender confidence.
Thus it had come about, that Mr Twemlow had said to himself in his lodgings, with his hand to his forehead: ‘I must not think of this. This is enough to soften16 any man’s brain,’— and yet was always thinking of it, and could never form a conclusion.
This evening the Veneerings give a banquet. Eleven leaves in the Twemlow; fourteen in company all told. Four pigeon-breasted retainers in plain clothes stand in line in the hall. A fifth retainer, proceeding17 up the staircase with a mournful air — as who should say, ‘Here is another wretched creature come to dinner; such is life!’— announces, ‘Mis-ter Twemlow!’
Mrs Veneering welcomes her sweet Mr Twemlow. Mr Veneering welcomes his dear Twemlow. Mrs Veneering does not expect that Mr Twemlow can in nature care much for such insipid19 things as babies, but so old a friend must please to look at baby. ‘Ah! You will know the friend of your family better, Tootleums,’ says Mr Veneering, nodding emotionally at that new article, ‘when you begin to take notice.’ He then begs to make his dear Twemlow known to his two friends, Mr Boots and Mr Brewer20 — and clearly has no distinct idea which is which.
But now a fearful circumstance occurs.
‘Mis-ter and Mis-sus Podsnap!’
‘My dear,’ says Mr Veneering to Mrs Veneering, with an air of much friendly interest, while the door stands open, ‘the Podsnaps.’
A too, too smiling large man, with a fatal freshness on him, appearing with his wife, instantly deserts his wife and darts21 at Twemlow with:
‘How do you do? So glad to know you. Charming house you have here. I hope we are not late. So glad of the opportunity, I am sure!’
When the first shock fell upon him, Twemlow twice skipped back in his neat little shoes and his neat little silk stockings of a bygone fashion, as if impelled22 to leap over a sofa behind him; but the large man closed with him and proved too strong.
‘Let me,’ says the large man, trying to attract the attention of his wife in the distance, ‘have the pleasure of presenting Mrs Podsnap to her host. She will be,’ in his fatal freshness he seems to find perpetual verdure and eternal youth in the phrase, ‘she will be so glad of the opportunity, I am sure!’
In the meantime, Mrs Podsnap, unable to originate a mistake on her own account, because Mrs Veneering is the only other lady there, does her best in the way of handsomely supporting her husband’s, by looking towards Mr Twemlow with a plaintive23 countenance24 and remarking to Mrs Veneering in a feeling manner, firstly, that she fears he has been rather bilious25 of late, and, secondly26, that the baby is already very like him.
It is questionable27 whether any man quite relishes28 being mistaken for any other man; but, Mr Veneering having this very evening set up the shirt-front of the young Antinous in new worked cambric just come home, is not at all complimented by being supposed to be Twemlow, who is dry and weazen and some thirty years older. Mrs Veneering equally resents the imputation29 of being the wife of Twemlow. As to Twemlow, he is so sensible of being a much better bred man than Veneering, that he considers the large man an offensive ass30.
In this complicated dilemma31, Mr Veneering approaches the large man with extended hand and, smilingly assures that incorrigible32 personage that he is delighted to see him: who in his fatal freshness instantly replies:
‘Thank you. I am ashamed to say that I cannot at this moment recall where we met, but I am so glad of this opportunity, I am sure!’
Then pouncing33 upon Twemlow, who holds back with all his feeble might, he is haling him off to present him, as Veneering, to Mrs Podsnap, when the arrival of more guests unravels34 the mistake. Whereupon, having re-shaken hands with Veneering as Veneering, he re-shakes hands with Twemlow as Twemlow, and winds it all up to his own perfect satisfaction by saying to the last-named, ‘Ridiculous opportunity — but so glad of it, I am sure!’
Now, Twemlow having undergone this terrific experience, having likewise noted35 the fusion5 of Boots in Brewer and Brewer in Boots, and having further observed that of the remaining seven guests four discrete36 characters enter with wandering eyes and wholly declined to commit themselves as to which is Veneering, until Veneering has them in his grasp; — Twemlow having profited by these studies, finds his brain wholesomely37 hardening as he approaches the conclusion that he really is Veneering’s oldest friend, when his brain softens38 again and all is lost, through his eyes encountering Veneering and the large man linked together as twin brothers in the back drawing-room near the conservatory39 door, and through his ears informing him in the tones of Mrs Veneering that the same large man is to be baby’s godfather.
‘Dinner is on the table!’
Thus the melancholy40 retainer, as who should say, ‘Come down and be poisoned, ye unhappy children of men!’
Twemlow, having no lady assigned him, goes down in the rear, with his hand to his forehead. Boots and Brewer, thinking him indisposed, whisper, ‘Man faint. Had no lunch.’ But he is only stunned41 by the unvanquishable difficulty of his existence.
Revived by soup, Twemlow discourses42 mildly of the Court Circular with Boots and Brewer. Is appealed to, at the fish stage of the banquet, by Veneering, on the disputed question whether his cousin Lord Snigsworth is in or out of town? Gives it that his cousin is out of town. ‘At Snigsworthy Park?’ Veneering inquires. ‘At Snigsworthy,’ Twemlow rejoins. Boots and Brewer regard this as a man to be cultivated; and Veneering is clear that he is a renumerative article. Meantime the retainer goes round, like a gloomy Analytical43 Chemist: always seeming to say, after ‘Chablis, sir?’—‘You wouldn’t if you knew what it’s made of.’
The great looking-glass above the sideboard, reflects the table and the company. Reflects the new Veneering crest44, in gold and eke45 in silver, frosted and also thawed46, a camel of all work. The Heralds’ College found out a Crusading ancestor for Veneering who bore a camel on his shield (or might have done it if he had thought of it), and a caravan47 of camels take charge of the fruits and flowers and candles, and kneel down be loaded with the salt. Reflects Veneering; forty, wavy-haired, dark, tending to corpulence, sly, mysterious, filmy — a kind of sufficiently48 well-looking veiledprophet, not prophesying49. Reflects Mrs Veneering; fair, aquilinenosed and fingered, not so much light hair as she might have, gorgeous in raiment and jewels, enthusiastic, propitiatory50, conscious that a corner of her husband’s veil is over herself. Reflects Podsnap; prosperously feeding, two little light-coloured wiry wings, one on either side of his else bald head, looking as like his hairbrushes as his hair, dissolving view of red beads51 on his forehead, large allowance of crumpled52 shirt-collar up behind. Reflects Mrs Podsnap; fine woman for Professor Owen, quantity of bone, neck and nostrils53 like a rocking-horse, hard features, majestic54 head-dress in which Podsnap has hung golden offerings. Reflects Twemlow; grey, dry, polite, susceptible55 to east wind, First-Gentleman-in-Europe collar and cravat56, cheeks drawn57 in as if he had made a great effort to retire into himself some years ago, and had got so far and had never got any farther. Reflects mature young lady; raven58 locks, and complexion59 that lights up well when well powdered — as it is — carrying on considerably60 in the captivation of mature young gentleman; with too much nose in his face, too much ginger61 in his whiskers, too much torso in his waistcoat, too much sparkle in his studs, his eyes, his buttons, his talk, and his teeth. Reflects charming old Lady Tippins on Veneering’s right; with an immense obtuse62 drab oblong face, like a face in a tablespoon, and a dyed Long Walk up the top of her head, as a convenient public approach to the bunch of false hair behind, pleased to patronize Mrs Veneering opposite, who is pleased to be patronized. Reflects a certain ‘Mortimer’, another of Veneering’s oldest friends; who never was in the house before, and appears not to want to come again, who sits disconsolate63 on Mrs Veneering’s left, and who was inveigled64 by Lady Tippins (a friend of his boyhood) to come to these people’s and talk, and who won’t talk. Reflects Eugene, friend of Mortimer; buried alive in the back of his chair, behind a shoulder — with a powder-epaulette on it — of the mature young lady, and gloomily resorting to the champagne65 chalice66 whenever proffered67 by the Analytical Chemist. Lastly, the looking-glass reflects Boots and Brewer, and two other stuffed Buffers69 interposed between the rest of the company and possible accidents.
The Veneering dinners are excellent dinners — or new people wouldn’t come — and all goes well. Notably70, Lady Tippins has made a series of experiments on her digestive functions, so extremely complicated and daring, that if they could be published with their results it might benefit the human race. Having taken in provisions from all parts of the world, this hardy71 old cruiser has last touched at the North Pole, when, as the ice-plates are being removed, the following words fall from her:
‘I assure you, my dear Veneering —’
(Poor Twemlow’s hand approaches his forehead, for it would seem now, that Lady Tippins is going to be the oldest friend.)
‘I assure you, my dear Veneering, that it is the oddest affair! Like the advertising72 people, I don’t ask you to trust me, without offering a respectable reference. Mortimer there, is my reference, and knows all about it.’
Mortimer raises his drooping73 eyelids74, and slightly opens his mouth. But a faint smile, expressive75 of ‘What’s the use!’ passes over his face, and he drops his eyelids and shuts his mouth.
‘Now, Mortimer,’ says Lady Tippins, rapping the sticks of her closed green fan upon the knuckles76 of her left hand — which is particularly rich in knuckles, ‘I insist upon your telling all that is to be told about the man from Jamaica.’
‘Give you my honour I never heard of any man from Jamaica, except the man who was a brother,’ replies Mortimer.
‘Tobago, then.’
‘Nor yet from Tobago.’
‘Except,’ Eugene strikes in: so unexpectedly that the mature young lady, who has forgotten all about him, with a start takes the epaulette out of his way: ‘except our friend who long lived on ricepudding and isinglass, till at length to his something or other, his physician said something else, and a leg of mutton somehow ended in daygo.’
A reviving impression goes round the table that Eugene is coming out. An unfulfilled impression, for he goes in again.
‘Now, my dear Mrs Veneering,’ quoth Lady Tippins, I appeal to you whether this is not the basest conduct ever known in this world? I carry my lovers about, two or three at a time, on condition that they are very obedient and devoted; and here is my oldest lover-in-chief, the head of all my slaves, throwing off his allegiance before company! And here is another of my lovers, a rough Cymon at present certainly, but of whom I had most hopeful expectations as to his turning out well in course of time, pretending that he can’t remember his nursery rhymes! On purpose to annoy me, for he knows how I doat upon them!’
A grisly little fiction concerning her lovers is Lady Tippins’s point. She is always attended by a lover or two, and she keeps a little list of her lovers, and she is always booking a new lover, or striking out an old lover, or putting a lover in her black list, or promoting a lover to her blue list, or adding up her lovers, or otherwise posting her book. Mrs Veneering is charmed by the humour, and so is Veneering. Perhaps it is enhanced by a certain yellow play in Lady Tippins’s throat, like the legs of scratching poultry77.
‘I banish78 the false wretch18 from this moment, and I strike him out of my Cupidon (my name for my Ledger79, my dear,) this very night. But I am resolved to have the account of the man from Somewhere, and I beg you to elicit80 it for me, my love,’ to Mrs Veneering, ‘as I have lost my own influence. Oh, you perjured81 man!’ This to Mortimer, with a rattle82 of her fan.
‘We are all very much interested in the man from Somewhere,’ Veneering observes.
Then the four Buffers, taking heart of grace all four at once, say:
‘Deeply interested!’
‘Quite excited!’
‘Dramatic!’
‘Man from Nowhere, perhaps!’
And then Mrs Veneering — for the Lady Tippins’s winning wiles83 are contagious84 — folds her hands in the manner of a supplicating85 child, turns to her left neighbour, and says, ‘Tease! Pay! Man from Tumwhere!’ At which the four Buffers, again mysteriously moved all four at once, explain, ‘You can’t resist!’
‘Upon my life,’ says Mortimer languidly, ‘I find it immensely embarrassing to have the eyes of Europe upon me to this extent, and my only consolation86 is that you will all of you execrate87 Lady Tippins in your secret hearts when you find, as you inevitably88 will, the man from Somewhere a bore. Sorry to destroy romance by fixing him with a local habitation, but he comes from the place, the name of which escapes me, but will suggest itself to everybody else here, where they make the wine.’
Eugene suggests ‘Day and Martin’s.’
‘No, not that place,’ returns the unmoved Mortimer, ‘that’s where they make the Port. My man comes from the country where they make the Cape2 Wine. But look here, old fellow; its not at all statistical89 and it’s rather odd.’
It is always noticeable at the table of the Veneerings, that no man troubles himself much about the Veneerings themselves, and that any one who has anything to tell, generally tells it to anybody else in preference.
‘The man,’ Mortimer goes on, addressing Eugene, ‘whose name is Harmon, was only son of a tremendous old rascal90 who made his money by Dust.’
‘Red velveteens and a bell?’ the gloomy Eugene inquires.
‘And a ladder and basket if you like. By which means, or by others, he grew rich as a Dust Contractor91, and lived in a hollow in a hilly country entirely92 composed of Dust. On his own small estate the growling93 old vagabond threw up his own mountain range, like an old volcano, and its geological formation was Dust. Coal-dust, vegetable-dust, bone-dust, crockery dust, rough dust and sifted94 dust — all manner of Dust.’
A passing remembrance of Mrs Veneering, here induces Mortimer to address his next half-dozen words to her; after which he wanders away again, tries Twemlow and finds he doesn’t answer, ultimately takes up with the Buffers who receive him enthusiastically.
‘The moral being — I believe that’s the right expression — of this exemplary person, derived95 its highest gratification from anathematizing his nearest relations and turning them out of doors. Having begun (as was natural) by rendering96 these attentions to the wife of his bosom97, he next found himself at leisure to bestow98 a similar recognition on the claims of his daughter. He chose a husband for her, entirely to his own satisfaction and not in the least to hers, and proceeded to settle upon her, as her marriage portion, I don’t know how much Dust, but something immense. At this stage of the affair the poor girl respectfully intimated that she was secretly engaged to that popular character whom the novelists and versifiers call Another, and that such a marriage would make Dust of her heart and Dust of her life — in short, would set her up, on a very extensive scale, in her father’s business. Immediately, the venerable parent — on a cold winter’s night, it is said — anathematized and turned her out.’
Here, the Analytical Chemist (who has evidently formed a very low opinion of Mortimer’s story) concedes a little claret to the Buffers; who, again mysteriously moved all four at once, screw it slowly into themselves with a peculiar99 twist of enjoyment100, as they cry in chorus, ‘Pray go on.’
‘The pecuniary101 resources of Another were, as they usually are, of a very limited nature. I believe I am not using too strong an expression when I say that Another was hard up. However, he married the young lady, and they lived in a humble102 dwelling103, probably possessing a porch ornamented104 with honeysuckle and woodbine twining, until she died. I must refer you to the Registrar105 of the District in which the humble dwelling was situated106, for the certified107 cause of death; but early sorrow and anxiety may have had to do with it, though they may not appear in the ruled pages and printed forms. Indisputably this was the case with Another, for he was so cut up by the loss of his young wife that if he outlived her a year it was as much as he did.’
There is that in the indolent Mortimer, which seems to hint that if good society might on any account allow itself to be impressible, he, one of good society, might have the weakness to be impressed by what he here relates. It is hidden with great pains, but it is in him. The gloomy Eugene too, is not without some kindred touch; for, when that appalling108 Lady Tippins declares that if Another had survived, he should have gone down at the head of her list of lovers — and also when the mature young lady shrugs109 her epaulettes, and laughs at some private and confidential110 comment from the mature young gentleman — his gloom deepens to that degree that he trifles quite ferociously111 with his dessert-knife.
Mortimer proceeds.
‘We must now return, as novelists say, and as we all wish they wouldn’t, to the man from Somewhere. Being a boy of fourteen, cheaply educated at Brussels when his sister’s expulsion befell, it was some little time before he heard of it — probably from herself, for the mother was dead; but that I don’t know. Instantly, he absconded112, and came over here. He must have been a boy of spirit and resource, to get here on a stopped allowance of five sous a week; but he did it somehow, and he burst in on his father, and pleaded his sister’s cause. Venerable parent promptly113 resorts to anathematization, and turns him out. Shocked and terrified boy takes flight, seeks his fortune, gets aboard ship, ultimately turns up on dry land among the Cape wine: small proprietor114, farmer, grower — whatever you like to call it.’
At this juncture115, shuffling116 is heard in the hall, and tapping is heard at the dining-room door. Analytical Chemist goes to the door, confers angrily with unseen tapper, appears to become mollified by descrying117 reason in the tapping, and goes out.
‘So he was discovered, only the other day, after having been expatriated about fourteen years.’
A Buffer68, suddenly astounding118 the other three, by detaching himself, and asserting individuality, inquires: ‘How discovered, and why?’
‘Ah! To be sure. Thank you for reminding me. Venerable parent dies.’
Same Buffer, emboldened119 by success, says: ‘When?’
‘The other day. Ten or twelve months ago.’
Same Buffer inquires with smartness, ‘What of?’ But herein perishes a melancholy example; being regarded by the three other Buffers with a stony120 stare, and attracting no further attention from any mortal.
‘Venerable parent,’ Mortimer repeats with a passing remembrance that there is a Veneering at table, and for the first time addressing him —‘dies.’
The gratified Veneering repeats, gravely, ‘dies’; and folds his arms, and composes his brow to hear it out in a judicial121 manner, when he finds himself again deserted122 in the bleak123 world.
‘His will is found,’ said Mortimer, catching124 Mrs Podsnap’s rockinghorse’s eye. ‘It is dated very soon after the son’s flight. It leaves the lowest of the range of dust-mountains, with some sort of a dwelling-house at its foot, to an old servant who is sole executor, and all the rest of the property — which is very considerable — to the son. He directs himself to be buried with certain eccentric ceremonies and precautions against his coming to life, with which I need not bore you, and that’s all — except —’ and this ends the story.
The Analytical Chemist returning, everybody looks at him. Not because anybody wants to see him, but because of that subtle influence in nature which impels125 humanity to embrace the slightest opportunity of looking at anything, rather than the person who addresses it.
‘— Except that the son’s inheriting is made conditional126 on his marrying a girl, who at the date of the will, was a child of four or five years old, and who is now a marriageable young woman. Advertisement and inquiry127 discovered the son in the man from Somewhere, and at the present moment, he is on his way home from there — no doubt, in a state of great astonishment128 — to succeed to a very large fortune, and to take a wife.’
Mrs Podsnap inquires whether the young person is a young person of personal charms? Mortimer is unable to report.
Mr Podsnap inquires what would become of the very large fortune, in the event of the marriage condition not being fulfilled? Mortimer replies, that by special testamentary clause it would then go to the old servant above mentioned, passing over and excluding the son; also, that if the son had not been living, the same old servant would have been sole residuary legatee.
Mrs Veneering has just succeeded in waking Lady Tippins from a snore, by dexterously129 shunting a train of plates and dishes at her knuckles across the table; when everybody but Mortimer himself becomes aware that the Analytical Chemist is, in a ghostly manner, offering him a folded paper. Curiosity detains Mrs Veneering a few moments.
Mortimer, in spite of all the arts of the chemist, placidly130 refreshes himself with a glass of Madeira, and remains131 unconscious of the Document which engrosses132 the general attention, until Lady Tippins (who has a habit of waking totally insensible), having remembered where she is, and recovered a perception of surrounding objects, says: ‘Falser man than Don Juan; why don’t you take the note from the commendatore?’ Upon which, the chemist advances it under the nose of Mortimer, who looks round at him, and says:
‘What’s this?’
Analytical Chemist bends and whispers.
‘WHO?’ Says Mortimer.
Analytical Chemist again bends and whispers.
Mortimer stares at him, and unfolds the paper. Reads it, reads it twice, turns it over to look at the blank outside, reads it a third time.
‘This arrives in an extraordinarily133 opportune134 manner,’ says Mortimer then, looking with an altered face round the table: ‘this is the conclusion of the story of the identical man.’
‘Already married?’ one guesses.
‘Declines to marry?’ another guesses.
‘Codicil among the dust?’ another guesses.
‘Why, no,’ says Mortimer; ‘remarkable thing, you are all wrong. The story is completer and rather more exciting than I supposed. Man’s drowned!’
点击收听单词发音
1 lawfully | |
adv.守法地,合法地;合理地 | |
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2 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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3 varnish | |
n.清漆;v.上清漆;粉饰 | |
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4 smelt | |
v.熔解,熔炼;n.银白鱼,胡瓜鱼 | |
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5 fusion | |
n.溶化;熔解;熔化状态,熔和;熔接 | |
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6 habitually | |
ad.习惯地,通常地 | |
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7 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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8 engrossing | |
adj.使人全神贯注的,引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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9 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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10 lodgings | |
n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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11 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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12 meditation | |
n.熟虑,(尤指宗教的)默想,沉思,(pl.)冥想录 | |
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13 nefarious | |
adj.恶毒的,极坏的 | |
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14 veal | |
n.小牛肉 | |
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15 grievance | |
n.怨愤,气恼,委屈 | |
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16 soften | |
v.(使)变柔软;(使)变柔和 | |
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17 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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18 wretch | |
n.可怜的人,不幸的人;卑鄙的人 | |
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19 insipid | |
adj.无味的,枯燥乏味的,单调的 | |
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20 brewer | |
n. 啤酒制造者 | |
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21 darts | |
n.掷飞镖游戏;飞镖( dart的名词复数 );急驰,飞奔v.投掷,投射( dart的第三人称单数 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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22 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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23 plaintive | |
adj.可怜的,伤心的 | |
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24 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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25 bilious | |
adj.胆汁过多的;易怒的 | |
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26 secondly | |
adv.第二,其次 | |
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27 questionable | |
adj.可疑的,有问题的 | |
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28 relishes | |
n.滋味( relish的名词复数 );乐趣;(大量的)享受;快乐v.欣赏( relish的第三人称单数 );从…获得乐趣;渴望 | |
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29 imputation | |
n.归罪,责难 | |
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30 ass | |
n.驴;傻瓜,蠢笨的人 | |
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31 dilemma | |
n.困境,进退两难的局面 | |
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32 incorrigible | |
adj.难以纠正的,屡教不改的 | |
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33 pouncing | |
v.突然袭击( pounce的现在分词 );猛扑;一眼看出;抓住机会(进行抨击) | |
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34 unravels | |
解开,拆散,散开( unravel的第三人称单数 ); 阐明; 澄清; 弄清楚 | |
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35 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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36 discrete | |
adj.个别的,分离的,不连续的 | |
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37 wholesomely | |
卫生地,有益健康地 | |
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38 softens | |
(使)变软( soften的第三人称单数 ); 缓解打击; 缓和; 安慰 | |
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39 conservatory | |
n.温室,音乐学院;adj.保存性的,有保存力的 | |
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40 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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41 stunned | |
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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42 discourses | |
论文( discourse的名词复数 ); 演说; 讲道; 话语 | |
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43 analytical | |
adj.分析的;用分析法的 | |
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44 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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45 eke | |
v.勉强度日,节约使用 | |
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46 thawed | |
解冻 | |
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47 caravan | |
n.大蓬车;活动房屋 | |
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48 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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49 prophesying | |
v.预告,预言( prophesy的现在分词 ) | |
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50 propitiatory | |
adj.劝解的;抚慰的;谋求好感的;哄人息怒的 | |
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51 beads | |
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链 | |
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52 crumpled | |
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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53 nostrils | |
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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54 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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55 susceptible | |
adj.过敏的,敏感的;易动感情的,易受感动的 | |
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56 cravat | |
n.领巾,领结;v.使穿有领结的服装,使结领结 | |
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57 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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58 raven | |
n.渡鸟,乌鸦;adj.乌亮的 | |
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59 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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60 considerably | |
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
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61 ginger | |
n.姜,精力,淡赤黄色;adj.淡赤黄色的;vt.使活泼,使有生气 | |
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62 obtuse | |
adj.钝的;愚钝的 | |
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63 disconsolate | |
adj.忧郁的,不快的 | |
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64 inveigled | |
v.诱骗,引诱( inveigle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65 champagne | |
n.香槟酒;微黄色 | |
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66 chalice | |
n.圣餐杯;金杯毒酒 | |
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67 proffered | |
v.提供,贡献,提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68 buffer | |
n.起缓冲作用的人(或物),缓冲器;vt.缓冲 | |
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69 buffers | |
起缓冲作用的人(或物)( buffer的名词复数 ); 缓冲器; 减震器; 愚蠢老头 | |
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70 notably | |
adv.值得注意地,显著地,尤其地,特别地 | |
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71 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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72 advertising | |
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的 | |
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73 drooping | |
adj. 下垂的,无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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74 eyelids | |
n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 );眼睛也不眨一下;不露声色;面不改色 | |
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75 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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76 knuckles | |
n.(指人)指关节( knuckle的名词复数 );(指动物)膝关节,踝v.(指人)指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 );(指动物)膝关节,踝 | |
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77 poultry | |
n.家禽,禽肉 | |
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78 banish | |
vt.放逐,驱逐;消除,排除 | |
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79 ledger | |
n.总帐,分类帐;帐簿 | |
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80 elicit | |
v.引出,抽出,引起 | |
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81 perjured | |
adj.伪证的,犯伪证罪的v.发假誓,作伪证( perjure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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82 rattle | |
v.飞奔,碰响;激怒;n.碰撞声;拨浪鼓 | |
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83 wiles | |
n.(旨在欺骗或吸引人的)诡计,花招;欺骗,欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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84 contagious | |
adj.传染性的,有感染力的 | |
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85 supplicating | |
v.祈求,哀求,恳求( supplicate的现在分词 ) | |
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86 consolation | |
n.安慰,慰问 | |
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87 execrate | |
v.憎恶;厌恶;诅咒 | |
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88 inevitably | |
adv.不可避免地;必然发生地 | |
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89 statistical | |
adj.统计的,统计学的 | |
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90 rascal | |
n.流氓;不诚实的人 | |
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91 contractor | |
n.订约人,承包人,收缩肌 | |
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92 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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93 growling | |
n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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94 sifted | |
v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 );筛滤;细查;详审 | |
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95 derived | |
vi.起源;由来;衍生;导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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96 rendering | |
n.表现,描写 | |
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97 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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98 bestow | |
v.把…赠与,把…授予;花费 | |
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99 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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100 enjoyment | |
n.乐趣;享有;享用 | |
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101 pecuniary | |
adj.金钱的;金钱上的 | |
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102 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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103 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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104 ornamented | |
adj.花式字体的v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105 registrar | |
n.记录员,登记员;(大学的)注册主任 | |
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106 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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107 certified | |
a.经证明合格的;具有证明文件的 | |
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108 appalling | |
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的 | |
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109 shrugs | |
n.耸肩(以表示冷淡,怀疑等)( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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110 confidential | |
adj.秘(机)密的,表示信任的,担任机密工作的 | |
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111 ferociously | |
野蛮地,残忍地 | |
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112 absconded | |
v.(尤指逃避逮捕)潜逃,逃跑( abscond的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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113 promptly | |
adv.及时地,敏捷地 | |
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114 proprietor | |
n.所有人;业主;经营者 | |
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115 juncture | |
n.时刻,关键时刻,紧要关头 | |
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116 shuffling | |
adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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117 descrying | |
v.被看到的,被发现的,被注意到的( descried的过去分词 ) | |
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118 astounding | |
adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊,使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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119 emboldened | |
v.鼓励,使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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120 stony | |
adj.石头的,多石头的,冷酷的,无情的 | |
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121 judicial | |
adj.司法的,法庭的,审判的,明断的,公正的 | |
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122 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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123 bleak | |
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的 | |
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124 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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125 impels | |
v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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126 conditional | |
adj.条件的,带有条件的 | |
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127 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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128 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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129 dexterously | |
adv.巧妙地,敏捷地 | |
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130 placidly | |
adv.平稳地,平静地 | |
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131 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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132 engrosses | |
v.使全神贯注( engross的第三人称单数 ) | |
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133 extraordinarily | |
adv.格外地;极端地 | |
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134 opportune | |
adj.合适的,适当的 | |
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