As he trod the stone stairs, when he was still outside the door, with no one but Maso near him, the influence seemed to have begun its work by the mere19 nearness of anticipation20.
‘Welcome, Tito mio,’ said the old man’s voice, before Tito had spoken. There was a new vigour22 in the voice, a new cheerfulness in the blind face, since that first interview more than two months ago. ‘You have brought fresh manuscript, doubtless; but since we were talking last night I have had new ideas: we must take a wider scope — we must go back upon our footsteps.’
Tito paying his homage23 to Romola as he advanced, went, as his custom was, straight to Bardo’s chair, and put his hand in the palm that was held to receive it, placing himself on the cross-legged leather seat with scrolled24 ends, close to Bardo’s elbow.
‘Yes,’ he said in his gentle way; ‘I have brought the new manuscript, but that can wait your pleasure. I have young limbs, you know, and can walk back up the hill without any difficulty.’
He did not look at Romola as he said this, but he knew quite well that her eyes were fixed25 on him with delight.
‘That is well said, my son.’ Bardo had already addressed Tito in this way once or twice of late. ‘And I perceive with gladness that you do not shrink from labour, without which, the poet has wisely said, life has given nothing to mortals. It is too often the “palma sine pulvere,” the prize of glory without the dust of the race, that attracts young ambition. But what says the Greek? “In the morning of life, work; in the mid-day, give counsel; in the evening, pray.” It is true, I might be thought to have reached that helpless evening; but not so, while I have counsel within me which is yet unspoken. For my mind, as I have often said, was shut up as by a dam; the plenteous waters lay dark and motionless; but you, my Tito, have opened a duct for them, and they rush forward with a force that surprises myself. And now, what I want is, that we should go over our preliminary ground again, with a wider scheme of comment and illustration: otherwise I may lose opportunities which I now see retrospectively, and which may never occur again. You mark what I am saying, Tito?’
He had just stooped to reach his manuscript, which had rolled down, and Bardo’s jealous ear was alive to the slight movement.
Tito might have been excused for shrugging his shoulders at the prospect26 before him, but he was not naturally impatient; moreover, he had been bred up in that laborious27 erudition, at once minute and copious28, which was the chief intellectual task of the age; and with Romola near, he was floated along by waves of agreeable sensation that made everything seem easy.
‘Assuredly,’ he said; ‘you wish to enlarge your comments on certain passages we have cited.’
‘Not only so; I wish to introduce an occasional excursus, where we have noticed an author to whom I have given special study; for I may die too soon to achieve any separate work. And this is not a time for scholarly integrity and wellsifted learning to lie idle, when it is not only rash ignorance that we have to fear, but when there are men like Calderino, who, as Poliziano has well shown, have recourse to impudent29 falsities of citation30 to serve the ends of their vanity and secure a triumph to their own mistakes. Wherefore, my Tito, I think it not well that we should let slip the occasion that lies under our hands. And now we will turn back to the point where we have cited the passage from Thucydides, and I wish you, by way of preliminary, to go with me through all my notes on the Latin translation made by Lorenzo Valla, for which the incomparable Pope Nicholas V. — with whose personal notice I was honoured while I was yet young, and when he was still Thomas of Sarzana — paid him (I say not unduly) the sum of five hundred gold scudi. But inasmuch as Valla, though otherwise of dubious31 fame, is held in high honour for his severe scholarship, whence the epigrammatist has jocosely32 said of him that since he went among the shades, Pluto33 himself has not dared to speak in the ancient languages, it is the more needful that his name should not be as a stamp warranting false wares34; and therefore I would introduce an excursus on Thucydides, wherein my castigations35 of Valla’s text may find a fitting place. My Romola, thou wilt36 reach the needful volumes — thou knowest them — on the fifth shelf of the cabinet.’
Tito rose at the same moment with Romola, saying, ‘I will reach them, if you will point them out,’ and followed her hastily into the adjoining small room, where the walls were also covered with ranges of books in perfect order.
‘There they are,’ said Romola, pointing upward; ‘every book is just where it was when my father ceased to see them.’
Tito stood by her without hastening to reach the books. They had never been in this room together before.
‘I hope,’ she continued, turning her eyes full on Tito, with a look of grave confidence — ‘I hope he will not weary you; this work makes him so happy.’
‘And me too, Romola — if you will only let me say, I love you — if you will only think me worth loving a little.’
His speech was the softest murmur37, and the dark beautiful face, nearer to hers than it had ever been before, was looking at her with besecching tenderness.
‘I do love you,’ murmured Romola; she looked at him with the same simple majesty38 as ever, but her voice had never in her life before sunk to that murmur. It seemed to them both that they were looking at each other a long while before her lips moved again; yet it was but a moment till she said, ‘I know now what it is to be happy.’
The faces just met, and the dark curls mingled39 for an instant with the rippling40 gold. Quick as lightning after that, Tito set his foot on a projecting ledge41 of the book-shelves and reached down the needful volumes. They were both contented42 to be silent and separate, for that first blissful experience of mutual43 consciousness was all the more exquisite44 for being unperturbed by immediate sensation.
It had all been as rapid as the irreversible mingling45 of waters, for even the eager and jealous Bardo had not become impatient.
‘You have the volumes, my Romola?’ the old man said, as they came near him again. ‘And now you will get your pen ready; for, as Tito marks off the scholia we determine on extracting, it will be well for you to copy them without delay — numbering them carefully, mind, to correspond with the numbers in the text which he will write.’
Romola always had some task which gave her a share in this joint46 work. Tito took his stand at the leggio, where he both wrote and read, and she placed herself at a table just in front of him, where she was ready to give into her father’s hands anything that he might happen to want, or relieve him of a volume that he had done with. They had always been in that position since the work began, yet on this day it seemed new; it was so different now for them to be opposite each other; so different for Tito to take a book from her, as she lifted it from her father’s knee. Yet there was no finesse47 to secure an additional look or touch. Each woman creates in her own likeness48 the love-tokens that are offered to her; and Romola’s deep calm happiness encompassed49 Tito like the rich but quiet evening light which dissipates all unrest.
They had been two hours at their work, and were just desisting because of the fading light, when the door opened and there entered a figure strangely incongruous with the current of their thoughts and with the suggestions of every object around them. It was the figure of a short stout50 black-eyed woman, about fifty, wearing a black velvet51 berretta, or close cap, embroidered52 with pearls, under which surprisingly massive black braids surmounted53 the little bulging54 forehead, and fell in rich plaited curves over the ears, while an equally surprising carmine55 tint56 on the upper region of the fat cheeks contrasted with the surrounding sallowness. Three rows of pearls and a lower necklace of gold reposed57 on the horizontal cushion of her neck; the embroidered border of her trailing black-velvet gown and her embroidered long-drooping sleeves of rose-coloured damask, were slightly faded, but they conveyed to the initiated59 eye the satisfactory assurance that they were the splendid result of six months’ labour by a skilled workman; and the rose-coloured petticoat, with its dimmed white fringe and seed-pearl arabesques60, was duly exhibited in order to suggest a similar pleasing reflection. A handsome coral rosary hung from one side of an inferential belt, which emerged into certainty with a large clasp of silver wrought61 in niello; and, on the other side, where the belt again became inferential, hung a scarsella, or large purse, of crimson62 velvet, stitched with pearls. Her little fat right hand, which looked as if it had been made of paste, and had risen out of shape under partial baking, held a small book of devotions, also splendid with velvet, pearls and silver.
The figure was already too familiar to Tito to be startling, for Monna Brigida was a frequent visitor at Bardo’s, being excepted from the sentence of banishment64 passed on feminine triviality, on the ground of her cousinship to his dead wife and her early care for Romola, who now looked round at her with an affectionate smile, and rose to draw the leather seat to a due distance from her father’s chair, that the coming gush65 of talk might not be too near his ear.
‘La cugina’ said Bardo, interrogatively, detecting the short steps and the sweeping66 drapery.
‘Yes, it is your cousin,’ said Monna Brigida, in an alert voice, raising her fingers smilingly to Tito, and then lifting up her face to be kissed by Romola. ‘Always the troublesome cousin breaking in on your wisdom,’ she went on, seating herself and beginning to fan herself with the white veil hanging over her arm. ‘Well, well; if I didn’t bring you some news of the world now and then, I do believe you’d forget there was anything in life but these mouldy ancients, who want sprinkling with holy water if all I hear about them it true. Not but what the world is bad enough nowadays, for the scandals that turn up under one’s nose at every corner — I don’t want to hear and see such things, but one can’t go about with one’s head in a bag; and it was only yesterday — well, well, you needn’t burst out at me, Bardo, I’m not going to tell anything; if I’m not as wise as the three kings, I know how many legs go into one boot. But, nevertheless, Florence is a wicked city — is it not true, Messer Tito? for you go into the world. Not but what one must sin a little — Messer Domeneddio expects that of us, else what are the blessed sacraments for? And what I say is, we’ve got to reverence67 the saints, and not to set ourselves up as if we could be like them, else life would be unbearable68; as it will be if things go on after this new fashion. For what do you think? I’ve been at the wedding to-day — Dianora Acciajoli’s with the young Albizzi that there has been so much talk of — and everybody wondered at its being to-day instead of yesterday; but, cieli! such a wedding as it was might have been put off till the next Quaresima for a penance69. For there was the bride looking like a white nun70 — not so much as a pearl about her — and the bridegroom as solemn as San Giuseppe. It’s true! And half the people invited were Piagnoni — they call them Piagnoni now, these new saints of Fra Girolamo’s making. And to think of two families like the Albizzi and the Acciajoli taking up such notions, when they could afford to wear the best! Well, well, they invited me — but they could do no other, seeing my husband was Luca Antonio’s uncle by the mother’s side — and a pretty time I had of it while we waited under the canopy71 in front of the house, before they let us in. I couldn’t stand in my clothes, it seemed, without giving offence; for there was Monna Berta, who has had worse secrets in her time than any I could tell of myself, looking askance at me from under her hood72 like a pinzochera, and telling me to read the Frate’s book about widows, from which she had found great guidance. Holy Madonna! it seems as if widows had nothing to do now but to buy their coffins73, and think it a thousand years till they get into them, instead of enjoying themselves a little when they’ve got their hands free for the first time. And what do you think was the music we had, to make our dinner lively? A long discourse74 from Fra Domenico of San Marco, about the doctrines75 of their blessed Fra Girolamo — the three doctrines we are all to get by heart; and he kept marking them off on his fingers till he made my flesh creep: and the first is, Florence, or the Church — I don’t know which, for first he said one and then the other — shall be scourged76; but if he means the pestilence77, the Signory ought to put a stop to such preaching, for it’s enough to raise the swelling78 under one’s arms with fright: but then, after that, he says Florence is to be regenerated79; but what will be the good of that when we’re all dead of the plague, or something else? And then, the third thing, and what he said oftenest, is, that it’s all to be in our days: and he marked that off on his thumb, till he made me tremble like the very jelly before me. They had jellies, to be sure, with the arms of the Albizzi and the Acciajoli raised on them in all colours; they’ve not turned the world quite upside down yet. But all their talk is, that we are to go back to the old ways: for up starts Francesco Valori, that I’ve danced with in the Via Larga when he was a bachelor and as fond of the Medici as anybody, and he makes a speech about the old times, before the Florentines had left off crying “Popolo” and begun to cry “Palle” — as if that had anything to do with a wedding! — and how we ought to keep to the rules the Signory laid down heaven knows when, that we were not to wear this and that, and not to eat this and that — and how our manners were corrupted80 and we read bad books; though he can’t say 4hat of me —’
‘Stop, cousin!’ said Bardo, in his imperious tone, for he had a remark to make, and only desperate measures could arrest the rattling81 lengthiness82 of Monna Brigida’s discourse. But now she gave a little start, pursed up her mouth, and looked at him with round eyes.
‘Francesco Valori is not altogether wrong,’ Bardo went on. ‘Bernardo, indeed, rates him not highly, and is rather of opinion that he christens private grudges83 by the name of public zeal84; though I must admit that my good Bernardo is too slow of belief in that unalloyed patriotism85 which was found in all its lustre86 amongst the ancients. But it is true Tito, that our manners have degenerated87 somewhat from that noble frugality88 which, as has been well seen in the public acts of our citizens, is the parent of true magnificence. For men, as I hear, will now spend on the transient show of a Giostra sums which would suffice to found a library, and confer a lasting89 possession on mankind. Still, I conceive, it remains90 true of us Florentines that we have more of that magnanimous sobriety which abhors91 a trivial lavishness92 that it may be grandly open-handed on grand occasions, than can be found in any other city of Italy; for I understand that the Neapolitan and Milanese courtiers laugh at the scarcity93 of our plate, and think scorn of our great families for borrowing from each other that furniture of the table at their entertainments. But in the vain laughter of folly94 wisdom hears half its applause.’
‘Laughter, indeed!’ burst forth95 Monna Brigida again, the moment Bardo paused. ‘If anyhody wanted to hear laughter at the wedding to-day they were disappointed, for when young Niccolo Macchiavelli tried to make a joke, and told stories out of Franco Sacchetti’s book, how it was no use for the Signoria to make rules for us women, because we were cleverer than all the painters, and architects, and doctors of logic96 in the world, for we could make black look white, and yellow look pink, and crooked97 look straight, and, if anything was forbidden, we could find a new name for it — Holy Virgin98! the Piagnoni looked more dismal99 than before, and somebody said Sacchetti’s book was wicked. Well, I don’t read it — they can’t accuse me of reading anything. Save me from going to a wedding again, if that’s to be the fashion; for all of us who were not Piagnoni were as comfortable as wet chickens. I was never caught in a worse trap but once before, and that was when I went to hear their precious Frate last Quaresima in San Lorenzo. Perhaps I never told you about it, Messer Tito? — it almost freezes my blood when I think of it. How he rated us poor women! and the men, too, to tell the truth, but I didn’t mind that so much. He called us cows, and lumps of flesh, and wantons, and mischief-makers — and I could just bear that, for there were plenty others more fleshy and spiteful than I was, though every now and then his voice shook the very bench under me like a trumpet100; but then he came to the false hair, and, O misericordia! he made a picture — I see it now — of a young woman lying a pale corpse101, and us light-minded widows — of course he meant me as well as the rest, for I had my plaits on, for if one is getting old, one doesn’t want to look as ugly as the Befana, — us widows rushing up to the corpse, like bare-pated vultures as we were, and cutting off its young dead hair to deck our old heads with. Oh, the dreams I had after that! And then he cried, and wrung102 his hands at us, and I cried too. And to go home, and to take off my jewels, this very clasp, and everything, and to make them into a packet, fu tutt’uno; and I was within a hair of sending them to the Good Men of St Martin to give to the poor, but, by heaven’s mercy, I bethought me of going first to my confessor, Fra Cristoforo, at Santa Croce, and he told me how it was all the work of the devil, this preaching and prophesying103 of their Fra Girolamo, and the Dominicans were trying to turn the world upside down, and I was never to go and hear him again, else I must do penance for it; for the great preachers Fra Mariano and Fra Menico had shown how Fra Girolamo preached lies — and that was true, for I hear them both in the Duomo — and how the Pope’s dream of San Francesco propping104 up the Church with his arms was being fulfilled still, and the Dominicans were beginning to pull it down. Well and good: I went away con7 Dio, and made myself easy. I am not going to be frightened by a Frate Predicatore again. And all I say is, I wish it hadn’t been the Dominicans that poor Dino joined years ago, for then I should have been glad when I heard them say he was come back —’
‘Silenzio!’ said Bardo, in a loud agitated105 voice, while Romola half started from her chair, clasped her hands, and looked round at Tito, as if now she might appeal to him. Monna Brigida gave a little scream, and bit her lip.
‘Donna!’ said Bardo, again, ‘hear once more my will. Bring no reports about that name to this house; and thou, Romola, I forbid thee to ask. My son is dead.’
Bardo’s whole frame seemed vibrating with passion, and no one dared to break silence again. Monna Brigida lifted her shoulders and her hands in mute dismay; then she rose as quietly as possible, gave many significant nods to Tito and Romola, motioning to them that they were not to move, and stole out of the room like a culpable106 fat spaniel who has barked unseasonably.
Meanwhile, Tito’s quick mind had been combining ideas with lightning-like rapidity. Bardo’s son was not really dead, then, as he had supposed: he was a monk107; he was ‘come back: ‘ and Fra Luca — yes! it was the likeness to Bardo and Romola that had made the face seem half-known to him. If he were only dead at Fiesole at that moment! This importunate108 selfish wish inevitably109 thrust itself before every other thought. It was true that Bardo’s rigid63 will was a sufficient safeguard against any intercourse110 between Romola and her brother; but not against the betrayal of what he knew to others, especially when the subject was suggested by the coupling of Romola’s name with that of the very Tito Melema whose description he had carried round his neck as an index. No! nothing but Fra Luca’s death could remove all danger; but his death was highly probable, and after the momentary111 shock of the discovery, Tito let his mind fall back in repose58 on that confident hope.
They had sat in silence, and in a deepening twilight112 for many minutes, when Romola ventured to say —
‘Shall I light the lamp, father, and shall we go on?’
‘No, my Romola, we will work no more to-night. Tito, come and sit by me here.’
Tito moved from the reading-desk, and seated himself on the other side of Bardo, close to his left elbow.
‘Come nearer to me, figliuola mia,’ said Bardo again, after a moment’s pause. And Romola seated herself on a low stool and let her arm rest on her father’s right knee, that he might lay his hand on her hair, as he was fond of doing
‘Tito, I never told you that I had once a son,’ said Bardo, forgetting what had fallen from him in the emotion raised by their first interview. The old man had been deeply shaken, and was forced to pour out his feelings in spite of pride. ‘But he left me — he is dead to me. I have disowned him for ever. He was a ready scholar as you are, but more fervid113 and impatient, and yet sometimes rapt and self-absorbed, like a flame fed by some fitful source; showing a disposition from the very first to turn away his eyes from the clear lights of reason and philosophy, and to prostrate114 himself under the influences of a dim mysticism which eludes115 all rules of human duty as it eludes all argument. And so it ended. We will speak no more of him: he is dead to me. I wish his face could be blotted116 from that world of memory in which the distant seems to grow clearer and the near to fade.’
Bardo paused, but neither Romola nor Tito dared to speak — his voice was too tremulous, the poise117 of his feelings too doubtful. But he presently raised his hand and found Tito’s shoulder to rest it on, while he went on speaking, with an effort to be calmer.
‘But you have come to me, Tito — not quite too late. I will lose no time in vain regret. When you are working by my side I seem to have found a son again.’
The old man, preoccupied118 with the governing interest of his life, was only thinking of the much-meditated book which had quite thrust into the background the suggestion, raised by Bernardo del Nero’s warning, of a possible marriage between Tito and Romola. But Tito could not allow the moment to pass unused.
‘Will you let me be always and altogether your son? Will you let me take care of Romola — be her husband? I think she will not deny me. She has said she loves me. I know I am not equal to her in birth — in anything; but I am no longer a destitute119 stranger.’
‘Is it true, my Romola?’ said Bardo, in a lower tone, an evident vibration16 passing through him and dissipating the saddened aspect of his features.
‘Yes, father,’ said Romola, firmly. ‘I love Tito — I wish to marry him, that we may both be your children and never part.’
Tito’s hand met hers in a strong clasp for the first time, while she was speaking, but their eyes were fixed anxiously on her father.
‘Why should it not be?’ said Bardo, as if arguing against any opposition120 to his assent121, rather than assenting122. ‘It would be a happiness to me; and thou, too, Romola, wouldst be the happier for it.’
He stroked her long hair gently and bent123 towards her.
‘Ah, I have been apt to forget that thou needest some other love than mine. And thou wilt be a noble wife. Bernardo thinks I shall hardly find a husband for thee. And he is perhaps right. For thou art not like the herd124 of thy sex: thou art such a woman as the immortal125 poets had a vision of when they sang the lives of the heroes — tender but strong, like thy voice, which has been to me instead of the light in the years of my blindness . . . And so thou lovest him?’
He sat upright again for a minute, and then said, in the same tone as before, ‘Why should it not be? I will think of it; I will talk with Bernardo.’
Tito felt a disagreeable chill at this answer, for Bernardo del Nero’s eyes had retained their keen suspicion whenever they looked at him, and the uneasy remembrance of Fra Luca converted all uncertainty126 into fear.
‘Speak for me, Romola,’ he said, pleadingly. ‘Messer Bernardo is sure to be against me.’
‘No, Tito,’ said Romola, ‘my godfather will not oppose what my father firmly wills. And it is your will that I should marry Tito — is it not true, father? Nothing has ever come to me before that I have wished for strongly: I did not think it possible that I could care so much for anything that could happen to myself.’
It was a brief and simple plea; but it was the condensed story of Romola’s self-repressing colourless young life, which had thrown all its passion into sympathy with aged127 sorrows, aged ambition, aged pride and indignation. It had never occurred to Romola that she should not speak as directly and emphatically of her love for Tito as of any other subject.
‘Romola mia!’ said her father fondly, pausing on the words, ‘it is true thou hast never urged on me any wishes of thy own. And I have no will to resist thine; rather, my heart met Tito’s entreaty128 at its very first utterance129. Nevertheless, I must talk with Bernardo about the measures needful to be observed. For we must not act in haste, or do anything unbeseeming my name. I am poor, and held of little account by the wealthy of our family — nay130, I may consider myself a lonely man — but I must nevertheless remember that generous birth has its obligations. And I would not be reproached by my fellow-citizens for rash haste in bestowing131 my daughter. Bartolommeo Scala gave his Alessandra to the Greek Marullo, but Marullo’s lineage was well known, and Scala himself is of no extraction. I know Bernardo will hold that we must take time: he will, perhaps, reproach me with want of due forethought. Be patient, my children: you are very young.’
No more could be said, and Romola’s heart was perfectly132 satisfied. Not so Tito’s. If the subtle mixture of good and evil prepares suffering for human truth and purity, there is also suffering prepared for the wrong-doer by the same mingled conditions. As Tito kissed Romola on their parting that evening, the very strength of the thrill that moved his whole being at the sense that this woman, whose beauty it was hardly possible to think of as anything but the necessary consequence of her noble nature, loved him with all the tenderness that spoke21 in her clear eyes, brought a strong reaction of regret that he had not kept himself free from that first deceit which had dragged him into the danger of being disgraced before her. There was a spring of bitterness mingling with that fountain of sweets. Would the death of Fra Luca arrest it? He hoped it would.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
joyousness
|
|
| 快乐，使人喜悦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
devotedness
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
plunge
|
|
| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
vice
|
|
| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
con
|
|
| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
meritorious
|
|
| adj.值得赞赏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
exertion
|
|
| n.尽力，努力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
compliance
|
|
| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
supremely
|
|
| adv.无上地，崇高地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
accomplishments
|
|
| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
vibration
|
|
| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
vibrations
|
|
| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
rhythmic
|
|
| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
anticipation
|
|
| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
vigour
|
|
| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
homage
|
|
| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
scrolled
|
|
| adj.具有涡卷装饰的v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的过去式和过去分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
laborious
|
|
| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
copious
|
|
| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
impudent
|
|
| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
citation
|
|
| n.引用，引证，引用文；传票 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
dubious
|
|
| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
jocosely
|
|
| adv.说玩笑地，诙谐地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
33
Pluto
|
|
| n.冥王星 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
wares
|
|
| n. 货物, 商品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
castigations
|
|
| n.严厉的责骂、批评或惩罚( castigation的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
36
wilt
|
|
| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
majesty
|
|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
rippling
|
|
| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
ledge
|
|
| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
contented
|
|
| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
mutual
|
|
| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
mingling
|
|
| adj.混合的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
joint
|
|
| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
finesse
|
|
| n.精密技巧，灵巧，手腕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
likeness
|
|
| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
encompassed
|
|
| v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
velvet
|
|
| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
embroidered
|
|
| adj．绣花的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
surmounted
|
|
| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
bulging
|
|
| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
carmine
|
|
| n.深红色，洋红色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
tint
|
|
| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
reposed
|
|
| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
repose
|
|
| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
initiated
|
|
| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
arabesques
|
|
| n.阿拉伯式花饰( arabesque的名词复数 )；错综图饰；阿拉伯图案；阿拉贝斯克芭蕾舞姿（独脚站立，手前伸，另一脚一手向后伸） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
61
wrought
|
|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
crimson
|
|
| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
rigid
|
|
| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
banishment
|
|
| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
gush
|
|
| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
reverence
|
|
| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
unbearable
|
|
| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
penance
|
|
| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
nun
|
|
| n.修女，尼姑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
canopy
|
|
| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
hood
|
|
| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
coffins
|
|
| n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
discourse
|
|
| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
doctrines
|
|
| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
scourged
|
|
| 鞭打( scourge的过去式和过去分词 )； 惩罚，压迫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
pestilence
|
|
| n.瘟疫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
swelling
|
|
| n.肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
regenerated
|
|
| v.新生，再生( regenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
corrupted
|
|
| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
rattling
|
|
| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
lengthiness
|
|
| n.冗长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
83
grudges
|
|
| 不满，怨恨，妒忌( grudge的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
zeal
|
|
| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
patriotism
|
|
| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
lustre
|
|
| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
degenerated
|
|
| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
frugality
|
|
| n.节约，节俭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
lasting
|
|
| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
abhors
|
|
| v.憎恶( abhor的第三人称单数 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
lavishness
|
|
| n.浪费，过度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
93
scarcity
|
|
| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
logic
|
|
| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
crooked
|
|
| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
virgin
|
|
| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
dismal
|
|
| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
trumpet
|
|
| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
corpse
|
|
| n.尸体，死尸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
wrung
|
|
| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
prophesying
|
|
| v.预告，预言( prophesy的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
propping
|
|
| 支撑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
agitated
|
|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
culpable
|
|
| adj.有罪的，该受谴责的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
monk
|
|
| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
importunate
|
|
| adj.强求的；纠缠不休的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
inevitably
|
|
| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
momentary
|
|
| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
fervid
|
|
| adj.热情的；炽热的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
prostrate
|
|
| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
eludes
|
|
| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的第三人称单数 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
blotted
|
|
| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
poise
|
|
| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
preoccupied
|
|
| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
destitute
|
|
| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
opposition
|
|
| n.反对，敌对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
assent
|
|
| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
assenting
|
|
| 同意，赞成( assent的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
herd
|
|
| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
immortal
|
|
| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
uncertainty
|
|
| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
entreaty
|
|
| n.恳求，哀求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
nay
|
|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
bestowing
|
|
| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |