Johnson’s wife was a quiet little woman, with brown hair and gentle ways. His affection for her was the one positive trait in his character. Together they would lay out the shop window every Monday morning, the spotless shirts in their green cardboard boxes below, the neckties above hung in rows over the brass10 rails, the cheap studs glistening11 from the white cards at either side, while in the background were the rows of cloth caps and the bank of boxes in which the more valuable hats were screened from the sunlight. She kept the books and sent out the bills. No one but she knew the joys and sorrows which crept into his small life. She had shared his exultations when the gentleman who was going to India had bought ten dozen shirts and an incredible number of collars, and she had been as stricken as he when, after the goods had gone, the bill was returned from the hotel address with the intimation that no such person had lodged12 there. For five years they had worked, building up the business, thrown together all the more closely because their marriage had been a childless one. Now, however, there were signs that a change was at hand, and that speedily. She was unable to come downstairs, and her mother, Mrs. Peyton, came over from Camberwell to nurse her and to welcome her grandchild.
Little qualms13 of anxiety came over Johnson as his wife’s time approached. However, after all, it was a natural process. Other men’s wives went through it unharmed, and why should not his? He was himself one of a family of fourteen, and yet his mother was alive and hearty14. It was quite the exception for anything to go wrong. And yet in spite of his reasonings the remembrance of his wife’s condition was always like a sombre background to all his other thoughts.
Dr. Miles of Bridport Place, the best man in the neighbourhood, was retained five months in advance, and, as time stole on, many little packets of absurdly small white garments with frill work and ribbons began to arrive among the big consignments15 of male necessities. And then one evening, as Johnson was ticketing the scarfs in the shop, he heard a bustle16 upstairs, and Mrs. Peyton came running down to say that Lucy was bad and that she thought the doctor ought to be there without delay.
It was not Robert Johnson’s nature to hurry. He was prim6 and staid and liked to do things in an orderly fashion. It was a quarter of a mile from the corner of the New North Road where his shop stood to the doctor’s house in Bridport Place. There were no cabs in sight so he set off upon foot, leaving the lad to mind the shop. At Bridport Place he was told that the doctor had just gone to Harman Street to attend a man in a fit. Johnson started off for Harman Street, losing a little of his primness17 as he became more anxious. Two full cabs but no empty ones passed him on the way. At Harman Street he learned that the doctor had gone on to a case of measles18, fortunately he had left the address—69 Dunstan Road, at the other side of the Regent’s Canal. Robert’s primness had vanished now as he thought of the women waiting at home, and he began to run as hard as he could down the Kingsland Road. Some way along he sprang into a cab which stood by the curb19 and drove to Dunstan Road. The doctor had just left, and Robert Johnson felt inclined to sit down upon the steps in despair.
Fortunately he had not sent the cab away, and he was soon back at Bridport Place. Dr. Miles had not returned yet, but they were expecting him every instant. Johnson waited, drumming his fingers on his knees, in a high, dim lit room, the air of which was charged with a faint, sickly smell of ether. The furniture was massive, and the books in the shelves were sombre, and a squat20 black clock ticked mournfully on the mantelpiece. It told him that it was half-past seven, and that he had been gone an hour and a quarter. Whatever would the women think of him! Every time that a distant door slammed he sprang from his chair in a quiver of eagerness. His ears strained to catch the deep notes of the doctor’s voice. And then, suddenly, with a gush21 of joy he heard a quick step outside, and the sharp click of the key in the lock. In an instant he was out in the hall, before the doctor’s foot was over the threshold.
“If you please, doctor, I’ve come for you,” he cried; “the wife was taken bad at six o’clock.”
He hardly knew what he expected the doctor to do. Something very energetic, certainly—to seize some drugs, perhaps, and rush excitedly with him through the gaslit streets. Instead of that Dr. Miles threw his umbrella into the rack, jerked off his hat with a somewhat peevish23 gesture, and pushed Johnson back into the room.
“Let’s see! You DID engage me, didn’t you?” he asked in no very cordial voice.
“Oh, yes, doctor, last November. Johnson the outfitter, you know, in the New North Road.”
“Yes, yes. It’s a bit overdue,” said the doctor, glancing at a list of names in a note-book with a very shiny cover. “Well, how is she?”
“I don’t——”
“Ah, of course, it’s your first. You’ll know more about it next time.”
“Mrs. Peyton said it was time you were there, sir.”
“My dear sir, there can be no very pressing hurry in a first case. We shall have an all-night affair, I fancy. You can’t get an engine to go without coals, Mr. Johnson, and I have had nothing but a light lunch.”
“We could have something cooked for you—something hot and a cup of tea.”
“Thank you, but I fancy my dinner is actually on the table. I can do no good in the earlier stages. Go home and say that I am coming, and I will be round immediately afterwards.”
A sort of horror filled Robert Johnson as he gazed at this man who could think about his dinner at such a moment. He had not imagination enough to realise that the experience which seemed so appallingly25 important to him, was the merest everyday matter of business to the medical man who could not have lived for a year had he not, amid the rush of work, remembered what was due to his own health. To Johnson he seemed little better than a monster. His thoughts were bitter as he sped back to his shop.
“You’ve taken your time,” said his mother-in-law reproachfully, looking down the stairs as he entered.
“I couldn’t help it!” he gasped27. “Is it over?”
“Over! She’s got to be worse, poor dear, before she can be better. Where’s Dr. Miles!”
“He’s coming after he’s had dinner.” The old woman was about to make some reply, when, from the half-opened door behind a high whinnying voice cried out for her. She ran back and closed the door, while Johnson, sick at heart, turned into the shop. There he sent the lad home and busied himself frantically28 in putting up shutters29 and turning out boxes. When all was closed and finished he seated himself in the parlour behind the shop. But he could not sit still. He rose incessantly30 to walk a few paces and then fell back into a chair once more. Suddenly the clatter31 of china fell upon his ear, and he saw the maid pass the door with a cup on a tray and a smoking teapot.
“Who is that for, Jane?” he asked.
“For the mistress, Mr. Johnson. She says she would fancy it.”
There was immeasurable consolation32 to him in that homely33 cup of tea. It wasn’t so very bad after all if his wife could think of such things. So light-hearted was he that he asked for a cup also. He had just finished it when the doctor arrived, with a small black leather bag in his hand.
“Well, how is she?” he asked genially34.
“Oh, she’s very much better,” said Johnson, with enthusiasm.
“Dear me, that’s bad!” said the doctor. “Perhaps it will do if I look in on my morning round?”
“No, no,” cried Johnson, clutching at his thick frieze35 overcoat. “We are so glad that you have come. And, doctor, please come down soon and let me know what you think about it.”
The doctor passed upstairs, his firm, heavy steps resounding36 through the house. Johnson could hear his boots creaking as he walked about the floor above him, and the sound was a consolation to him. It was crisp and decided37, the tread of a man who had plenty of self-confidence. Presently, still straining his ears to catch what was going on, he heard the scraping of a chair as it was drawn38 along the floor, and a moment later he heard the door fly open and someone come rushing downstairs. Johnson sprang up with his hair bristling39, thinking that some dreadful thing had occurred, but it was only his mother-in-law, incoherent with excitement and searching for scissors and some tape. She vanished again and Jane passed up the stairs with a pile of newly aired linen40. Then, after an interval41 of silence, Johnson heard the heavy, creaking tread and the doctor came down into the parlour.
“That’s better,” said he, pausing with his hand upon the door. “You look pale, Mr. Johnson.”
“Oh no, sir, not at all,” he answered deprecatingly, mopping his brow with his handkerchief.
“There is no immediate24 cause for alarm,” said Dr. Miles. “The case is not all that we could wish it. Still we will hope for the best.”
“Is there danger, sir?” gasped Johnson.
“Well, there is always danger, of course. It is not altogether a favourable42 case, but still it might be much worse. I have given her a draught43. I saw as I passed that they have been doing a little building opposite to you. It’s an improving quarter. The rents go higher and higher. You have a lease of your own little place, eh?”
“Yes, sir, yes!” cried Johnson, whose ears were straining for every sound from above, and who felt none the less that it was very soothing44 that the doctor should be able to chat so easily at such a time. “That’s to say no, sir, I am a yearly tenant45.”
“Ah, I should get a lease if I were you. There’s Marshall, the watchmaker, down the street. I attended his wife twice and saw him through the typhoid when they took up the drains in Prince Street. I assure you his landlord sprung his rent nearly forty a year and he had to pay or clear out.”
“Did his wife get through it, doctor?”
“Oh yes, she did very well. Hullo! hullo!”
He slanted46 his ear to the ceiling with a questioning face, and then darted47 swiftly from the room.
It was March and the evenings were chill, so Jane had lit the fire, but the wind drove the smoke downwards48 and the air was full of its acrid49 taint50. Johnson felt chilled to the bone, though rather by his apprehensions51 than by the weather. He crouched52 over the fire with his thin white hands held out to the blaze. At ten o’clock Jane brought in the joint53 of cold meat and laid his place for supper, but he could not bring himself to touch it. He drank a glass of the beer, however, and felt the better for it. The tension of his nerves seemed to have reacted upon his hearing, and he was able to follow the most trivial things in the room above. Once, when the beer was still heartening him, he nerved himself to creep on tiptoe up the stair and to listen to what was going on. The bedroom door was half an inch open, and through the slit22 he could catch a glimpse of the clean-shaven face of the doctor, looking wearier and more anxious than before. Then he rushed downstairs like a lunatic, and running to the door he tried to distract his thoughts by watching what; was going on in the street. The shops were all shut, and some rollicking boon54 companions came shouting along from the public-house. He stayed at the door until the stragglers had thinned down, and then came back to his seat by the fire. In his dim brain he was asking himself questions which had never intruded55 themselves before. Where was the justice of it? What had his sweet, innocent little wife done that she should be used so? Why was nature so cruel? He was frightened at his own thoughts, and yet wondered that they had never occurred to him before.
As the early morning drew in, Johnson, sick at heart and shivering in every limb, sat with his great coat huddled56 round him, staring at the grey ashes and waiting hopelessly for some relief. His face was white and clammy, and his nerves had been numbed57 into a half conscious state by the long monotony of misery58. But suddenly all his feelings leapt into keen life again as he heard the bedroom door open and the doctor’s steps upon the stair. Robert Johnson was precise and unemotional in everyday life, but he almost shrieked59 now as he rushed forward to know if it were over.
One glance at the stern, drawn face which met him showed that it was no pleasant news which had sent the doctor downstairs. His appearance had altered as much as Johnson’s during the last few hours. His hair was on end, his face flushed, his forehead dotted with beads60 of perspiration61. There was a peculiar62 fierceness in his eye, and about the lines of his mouth, a fighting look as befitted a man who for hours on end had been striving with the hungriest of foes63 for the most precious of prizes. But there was a sadness too, as though his grim opponent had been overmastering him. He sat down and leaned his head upon his hand like a man who is fagged out.
“I thought it my duty to see you, Mr. Johnson, and to tell you that it is a very nasty case. Your wife’s heart is not strong, and she has some symptoms which I do not like. What I wanted to say is that if you would like to have a second opinion I shall be very glad to meet anyone whom you might suggest.”
Johnson was so dazed by his want of sleep and the evil news that he could hardly grasp the doctor’s meaning. The other, seeing him hesitate, thought that he was considering the expense.
“Smith or Hawley would come for two guineas,” said he. “But I think Pritchard of the City Road is the best man.”
“Oh, yes, bring the best man,” cried Johnson.
“Pritchard would want three guineas. He is a senior man, you see.”
“I’d give him all I have if he would pull her through. Shall I run for him?”
“Yes. Go to my house first and ask for the green baize bag. The assistant will give it to you. Tell him I want the A. C. E. mixture. Her heart is too weak for chloroform. Then go for Pritchard and bring him back with you.”
It was heavenly for Johnson to have something to do and to feel that he was of some use to his wife. He ran swiftly to Bridport Place, his footfalls clattering64 through the silent streets and the big dark policemen turning their yellow funnels65 of light on him as he passed. Two tugs66 at the night-bell brought down a sleepy, half-clad assistant, who handed him a stoppered glass bottle and a cloth bag which contained something which clinked when you moved it. Johnson thrust the bottle into his pocket, seized the green bag, and pressing his hat firmly down ran as hard as he could set foot to ground until he was in the City Road and saw the name of Pritchard engraved67 in white upon a red ground. He bounded in triumph up the three steps which led to the door, and as he did so there was a crash behind him. His precious bottle was in fragments upon the pavement.
For a moment he felt as if it were his wife’s body that was lying there. But the run had freshened his wits and he saw that the mischief68 might be repaired. He pulled vigorously at the night-bell.
“Well, what’s the matter?” asked a gruff voice at his elbow. He started back and looked up at the windows, but there was no sign of life. He was approaching the bell again with the intention of pulling it, when a perfect roar burst from the wall.
“I can’t stand shivering here all night,” cried the voice. “Say who you are and what you want or I shut the tube.”
Then for the first time Johnson saw that the end of a speaking-tube hung out of the wall just above the bell. He shouted up it,—
“I want you to come with me to meet Dr. Miles at a confinement69 at once.”
“How far?” shrieked the irascible voice.
“The New North Road, Hoxton.”
“My consultation70 fee is three guineas, payable71 at the time.”
“All right,” shouted Johnson. “You are to bring a bottle of A. C. E. mixture with you.”
“All right! Wait a bit!”
Five minutes later an elderly, hard-faced man, with grizzled hair, flung open the door. As he emerged a voice from somewhere in the shadows cried,—
“Mind you take your cravat72, John,” and he impatiently growled73 something over his shoulder in reply.
The consultant74 was a man who had been hardened by a life of ceaseless labour, and who had been driven, as so many others have been, by the needs of his own increasing family to set the commercial before the philanthropic side of his profession. Yet beneath his rough crust he was a man with a kindly75 heart.
“We don’t want to break a record,” said he, pulling up and panting after attempting to keep up with Johnson for five minutes. “I would go quicker if I could, my dear sir, and I quite sympathise with your anxiety, but really I can’t manage it.”
So Johnson, on fire with impatience76, had to slow down until they reached the New North Road, when he ran ahead and had the door open for the doctor when he came. He heard the two meet outside the bed-room, and caught scraps77 of their conversation. “Sorry to knock you up—nasty case—decent people.” Then it sank into a mumble78 and the door closed behind them.
Johnson sat up in his chair now, listening keenly, for he knew that a crisis must be at hand. He heard the two doctors moving about, and was able to distinguish the step of Pritchard, which had a drag in it, from the clean, crisp sound of the other’s footfall. There was silence for a few minutes and then a curious drunken, mumbling79 sing-song voice came quavering up, very unlike anything which he had heard hitherto. At the same time a sweetish, insidious80 scent81, imperceptible perhaps to any nerves less strained than his, crept down the stairs and penetrated82 into the room. The voice dwindled83 into a mere26 drone and finally sank away into silence, and Johnson gave a long sigh of relief, for he knew that the drug had done its work and that, come what might, there should be no more pain for the sufferer.
But soon the silence became even more trying to him than the cries had been. He had no clue now as to what was going on, and his mind swarmed84 with horrible possibilities. He rose and went to the bottom of the stairs again. He heard the clink of metal against metal, and the subdued85 murmur86 of the doctors’ voices. Then he heard Mrs. Peyton say something, in a tone as of fear or expostulation, and again the doctors murmured together. For twenty minutes he stood there leaning against the wall, listening to the occasional rumbles87 of talk without being able to catch a word of it. And then of a sudden there rose out of the silence the strangest little piping cry, and Mrs. Peyton screamed out in her delight and the man ran into the parlour and flung himself down upon the horse-hair sofa, drumming his heels on it in his ecstasy88.
But often the great cat Fate lets us go only to clutch us again in a fiercer grip. As minute after minute passed and still no sound came from above save those thin, glutinous89 cries, Johnson cooled from his frenzy90 of joy, and lay breathless with his ears straining. They were moving slowly about. They were talking in subdued tones. Still minute after minute passing, and no word from the voice for which he listened. His nerves were dulled by his night of trouble, and he waited in limp wretchedness upon his sofa. There he still sat when the doctors came down to him—a bedraggled, miserable91 figure with his face grimy and his hair unkempt from his long vigil. He rose as they entered, bracing92 himself against the mantelpiece.
“Is she dead?” he asked.
“Doing well,” answered the doctor.
And at the words that little conventional spirit which had never known until that night the capacity for fierce agony which lay within it, learned for the second time that there were springs of joy also which it had never tapped before. His impulse was to fall upon his knees, but he was shy before the doctors.
“Can I go up?”
“In a few minutes.”
“I’m sure, doctor, I’m very—I’m very——” he grew inarticulate. “Here are your three guineas, Dr. Pritchard. I wish they were three hundred.”
“So do I,” said the senior man, and they laughed as they shook hands.
Johnson opened the shop door for them and heard their talk as they stood for an instant outside.
“Looked nasty at one time.”
“Very glad to have your help.”
“Delighted, I’m sure. Won’t you step round and have a cup of coffee?”
“No, thanks. I’m expecting another case.”
The firm step and the dragging one passed away to the right and the left. Johnson turned from the door still with that turmoil93 of joy in his heart. He seemed to be making a new start in life. He felt that he was a stronger and a deeper man. Perhaps all this suffering had an object then. It might prove to be a blessing94 both to his wife and to him. The very thought was one which he would have been incapable95 of conceiving twelve hours before. He was full of new emotions. If there had been a harrowing there had been a planting too.
“Can I come up?” he cried, and then, without waiting for an answer, he took the steps three at a time.
Mrs. Peyton was standing96 by a soapy bath with a bundle in her hands. From under the curve of a brown shawl there looked out at him the strangest little red face with crumpled97 features, moist, loose lips, and eyelids98 which quivered like a rabbit’s nostrils99. The weak neck had let the head topple over, and it rested upon the shoulder.
“Kiss it, Robert!” cried the grandmother. “Kiss your son!”
But he felt a resentment100 to the little, red, blinking creature. He could not forgive it yet for that long night of misery. He caught sight of a white face in the bed and he ran towards it with such love and pity as his speech could find no words for.
“Thank God it is over! Lucy, dear, it was dreadful!”
“But I’m so happy now. I never was so happy in my life.”
Her eyes were fixed101 upon the brown bundle.
“You mustn’t talk,” said Mrs. Peyton.
“But don’t leave me,” whispered his wife.
So he sat in silence with his hand in hers. The lamp was burning dim and the first cold light of dawn was breaking through the window. The night had been long and dark but the day was the sweeter and the purer in consequence. London was waking up. The roar began to rise from the street. Lives had come and lives had gone, but the great machine was still working out its dim and tragic102 destiny.
点击收听单词发音
1 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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2 cringing | |
adj.谄媚,奉承 | |
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3 pliable | |
adj.易受影响的;易弯的;柔顺的,易驾驭的 | |
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4 snug | |
adj.温暖舒适的,合身的,安全的;v.使整洁干净,舒适地依靠,紧贴;n.(英)酒吧里的私房 | |
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5 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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6 prim | |
adj.拘泥形式的,一本正经的;n.循规蹈矩,整洁;adv.循规蹈矩地,整洁地 | |
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7 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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8 lust | |
n.性(淫)欲;渴(欲)望;vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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9 civilisation | |
n.文明,文化,开化,教化 | |
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10 brass | |
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器 | |
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11 glistening | |
adj.闪耀的,反光的v.湿物闪耀,闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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12 lodged | |
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
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13 qualms | |
n.不安;内疚 | |
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14 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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15 consignments | |
n.托付货物( consignment的名词复数 );托卖货物;寄售;托运 | |
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16 bustle | |
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹 | |
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17 primness | |
n.循规蹈矩,整洁 | |
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18 measles | |
n.麻疹,风疹,包虫病,痧子 | |
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19 curb | |
n.场外证券市场,场外交易;vt.制止,抑制 | |
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20 squat | |
v.蹲坐,蹲下;n.蹲下;adj.矮胖的,粗矮的 | |
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21 gush | |
v.喷,涌;滔滔不绝(说话);n.喷,涌流;迸发 | |
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22 slit | |
n.狭长的切口;裂缝;vt.切开,撕裂 | |
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23 peevish | |
adj.易怒的,坏脾气的 | |
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24 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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25 appallingly | |
毛骨悚然地 | |
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26 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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27 gasped | |
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要 | |
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28 frantically | |
ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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29 shutters | |
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门 | |
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30 incessantly | |
ad.不停地 | |
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31 clatter | |
v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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32 consolation | |
n.安慰,慰问 | |
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33 homely | |
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的 | |
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34 genially | |
adv.亲切地,和蔼地;快活地 | |
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35 frieze | |
n.(墙上的)横饰带,雕带 | |
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36 resounding | |
adj. 响亮的 | |
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37 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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38 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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39 bristling | |
a.竖立的 | |
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40 linen | |
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的 | |
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41 interval | |
n.间隔,间距;幕间休息,中场休息 | |
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42 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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43 draught | |
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计 | |
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44 soothing | |
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的 | |
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45 tenant | |
n.承租人;房客;佃户;v.租借,租用 | |
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46 slanted | |
有偏见的; 倾斜的 | |
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47 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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48 downwards | |
adj./adv.向下的(地),下行的(地) | |
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49 acrid | |
adj.辛辣的,尖刻的,刻薄的 | |
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50 taint | |
n.污点;感染;腐坏;v.使感染;污染 | |
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51 apprehensions | |
疑惧 | |
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52 crouched | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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54 boon | |
n.恩赐,恩物,恩惠 | |
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55 intruded | |
n.侵入的,推进的v.侵入,侵扰,打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 );把…强加于 | |
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56 huddled | |
挤在一起(huddle的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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57 numbed | |
v.使麻木,使麻痹( numb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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59 shrieked | |
v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60 beads | |
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链 | |
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61 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
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62 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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63 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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64 clattering | |
发出咔哒声(clatter的现在分词形式) | |
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65 funnels | |
漏斗( funnel的名词复数 ); (轮船,火车等的)烟囱 | |
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66 tugs | |
n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 );猛拖;拖船v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 ) | |
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67 engraved | |
v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的过去式和过去分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中) | |
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68 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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69 confinement | |
n.幽禁,拘留,监禁;分娩;限制,局限 | |
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70 consultation | |
n.咨询;商量;商议;会议 | |
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71 payable | |
adj.可付的,应付的,有利益的 | |
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72 cravat | |
n.领巾,领结;v.使穿有领结的服装,使结领结 | |
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73 growled | |
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说 | |
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74 consultant | |
n.顾问;会诊医师,专科医生 | |
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75 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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76 impatience | |
n.不耐烦,急躁 | |
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77 scraps | |
油渣 | |
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78 mumble | |
n./v.喃喃而语,咕哝 | |
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79 mumbling | |
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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80 insidious | |
adj.阴险的,隐匿的,暗中为害的,(疾病)不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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81 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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82 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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83 dwindled | |
v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84 swarmed | |
密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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85 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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86 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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87 rumbles | |
隆隆声,辘辘声( rumble的名词复数 ) | |
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88 ecstasy | |
n.狂喜,心醉神怡,入迷 | |
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89 glutinous | |
adj.粘的,胶状的 | |
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90 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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91 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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92 bracing | |
adj.令人振奋的 | |
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93 turmoil | |
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱 | |
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94 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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95 incapable | |
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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96 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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97 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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98 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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99 nostrils | |
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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100 resentment | |
n.怨愤,忿恨 | |
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101 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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102 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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