Suddenly the fixed8 features seemed to move with dark emotion. Strange fantasy! It was but the shadow of the fringed curtain waving betwixt the dead face and the moonlight as the door of the chamber opened and a girl stole softly to the bedside. Was there delusion9 in the moonbeams, or did her gesture and her eye betray a gleam of triumph as she bent10 over the pale corpse, pale as itself, and pressed her living lips to the cold ones of the dead? As she drew back from that long kiss her features writhed11 as if a proud heart were fighting with its anguish12. Again it seemed that the features of the corpse had moved responsive to her own. Still an illusion. The silken curtains had waved a second time betwixt the dead face and the moonlight as another fair young girl unclosed the door and glided13 ghostlike to the bedside. There the two maidens14 stood, both beautiful, with the pale beauty of the dead between them. But she who had first entered was proud and stately, and the other a soft and fragile thing.
“Away!” cried the lofty one. “Thou hadst him living; the dead is mine.”
“Thine!” returned the other, shuddering15. “Well hast thou spoken; the dead is thine.”
The proud girl started and stared into her face with a ghastly look, but a wild-and mournful expression passed across the features of the gentle one, and, weak and helpless, she sank down on the bed, her head pillowed beside that of the corpse and her hair mingling16 with his dark locks. A creature of hope and joy, the first draught17 of sorrow had bewildered her.
“Edith!” cried her rival.
Edith groaned18 as with a sudden compression of the heart, and, removing her cheek from the dead youth’s pillow, she stood upright, fearfully encountering the eyes of the lofty girl.
“Wilt thou betray me?” said the latter, calmly.
“Till the dead bid me speak I will be silent,” answered Edith. “Leave us alone together. Go and live many years, and then return and tell me of thy life. He too will be here. Then, if thou tellest of sufferings more than death, we will both forgive thee.”
“And what shall be the token?” asked the proud girl, as if her heart acknowledged a meaning in these wild words.
“This lock of hair,” said Edith, lifting one of the dark clustering curls that lay heavily on the dead man’s brow.
The two maidens joined their hands over the bosom19 of the corpse and appointed a day and hour far, far in time to come for their next meeting in that chamber. The statelier girl gave one deep look at the motionless countenance21 and departed, yet turned again and trembled ere she closed the door, almost believing that her dead lover frowned upon her. And Edith, too! Was not her white form fading into the moonlight? Scorning her own weakness, she went forth22 and perceived that a negro slave was waiting in the passage with a waxlight, which he held between her face and his own and regarded her, as she thought, with an ugly expression of merriment. Lifting his torch on high, the slave lighted her down the staircase and undid23 the portal of the mansion24. The young clergyman of the town had just ascended25 the steps, and, bowing to the lady, passed in without a word.
Years — many years — rolled on. The world seemed new again, so much older was it grown since the night when those pale girls had clasped their hands across the bosom of the corpse. In the interval26 a lonely woman had passed from youth to extreme age, and was known by all the town as the “Old Maid in the Winding–Sheet.” A taint27 of insanity28 had affected29 her whole life, but so quiet, sad and gentle, so utterly30 free from violence, that she was suffered to pursue her harmless fantasies unmolested by the world with whose business or pleasures she had naught31 to do. She dwelt alone, and never came into the daylight except to follow funerals. Whenever a corpse was borne along the street, in sunshine, rain or snow, whether a pompous32 train of the rich and proud thronged34 after it or few and humble35 were the mourners, behind them came the lonely woman in a long white garment which the people called her shroud. She took no place among the kindred or the friends, but stood at the door to hear the funeral prayer, and walked in the rear of the procession as one whose earthly charge it was to haunt the house of mourning and be the shadow of affliction and see that the dead were duly buried. So long had this been her custom that the inhabitants of the town deemed her a part of every funeral, as much as the coffin-pall or the very corpse itself, and augured36 ill of the sinner’s destiny unless the Old Maid in the Winding–Sheet came gliding37 like a ghost behind. Once, it is said, she affrighted a bridal-party with her pale presence, appearing suddenly in the illuminated38 hall just as the priest was uniting a false maid to a wealthy man before her lover had been dead a year. Evil was the omen39 to that marriage. Sometimes she stole forth by moonlight and visited the graves of venerable integrity and wedded40 love and virgin41 innocence42, and every spot where the ashes of a kind and faithful heart were mouldering43. Over the hillocks of those favored dead would she stretch out her arms with a gesture as if she were scattering44 seeds, and many believed that she brought them from the garden of Paradise, for the graves which she had visited were green beneath the snow and covered with sweet flowers from April to November. Her blessing45 was better than a holy verse upon the tombstone. Thus wore away her long, sad, peaceful and fantastic life till few were so old as she, and the people of later generations wondered how the dead had ever been buried or mourners had endured their grief without the Old Maid in the Winding–Sheet. Still years went on, and still she followed funerals and was not yet summoned to her own festival of death.
One afternoon the great street of the town was all alive with business and bustle46, though the sun now gilded47 only the upper half of the church-spire48, having left the housetops and loftiest trees in shadow. The scene was cheerful and animated49 in spite of the sombre shade between the high brick buildings. Here were pompous merchants in white wigs50 and laced velvet51, the bronzed faces of sea-captains, the foreign garb52 and air of Spanish Creoles, and the disdainful port of natives of Old England, all contrasted with the rough aspect of one or two back-settlers negotiating sales of timber from forests where axe53 had never sounded. Sometimes a lady passed, swelling54 roundly forth in an embroidered55 petticoat, balancing her steps in high-heeled shoes and courtesying with lofty grace to the punctilious56 obeisances57 of the gentlemen. The life of the town seemed to have its very centre not far from an old mansion that stood somewhat back from the pavement, surrounded by neglected grass, with a strange air of loneliness rather deepened than dispelled58 by the throng33 so near it. Its site would have been suitably occupied by a magnificent Exchange or a brick block lettered all over with various signs, or the large house itself might have made a noble tavern59 with the “King’s Arms” swinging before it and guests in every chamber, instead of the present solitude60. But, owing to some dispute about the right of inheritance, the mansion had been long without a tenant61, decaying from year to year and throwing the stately gloom of its shadow over the busiest part of the town.
Such was the scene, and such the time, when a figure unlike any that have been described was observed at a distance down the street.
“I espy62 a strange sail yonder,” remarked a Liverpool captain — “that woman in the long white garment.”
The sailor seemed much struck by the object, as were several others who at the same moment caught a glimpse of the figure that had attracted his notice. Almost immediately the various topics of conversation gave place to speculations63 in an undertone on this unwonted occurrence.
“Can there be a funeral so late this afternoon?” inquired some.
They looked for the signs of death at every door — the sexton, the hearse, the assemblage of black-clad relatives, all that makes up the woeful pomp of funerals. They raised their eyes, also, to the sun-gilt spire of the church, and wondered that no clang proceeded from its bell, which had always tolled65 till now when this figure appeared in the light of day. But none had heard that a corpse was to be borne to its home that afternoon, nor was there any token of a funeral except the apparition66 of the Old Maid in the Winding–Sheet.
“What may this portend67?” asked each man of his neighbor.
All smiled as they put the question, yet with a certain trouble in their eyes, as if pestilence68, or some other wide calamity69, were prognosticated by the untimely intrusion among the living of one whose presence had always been associated with death and woe64. What a comet is to the earth was that sad woman to the town. Still she moved on, while the hum of surprise was hushed at her approach, and the proud and the humble stood aside that her white garment might not wave against them. It was a long, loose robe of spotless purity. Its wearer appeared very old, pale, emaciated70 and feeble, yet glided onward71 without the unsteady pace of extreme age. At one point of her course a little rosy72 boy burst forth from a door and ran with open arms toward the ghostly woman, seeming to expect a kiss from her bloodless lips. She made a slight pause, fixing her eye upon him with an expression of no earthly sweetness, so that the child shivered and stood awestruck rather than affrighted while the Old Maid passed on. Perhaps her garment might have been polluted even by an infant’s touch; perhaps her kiss would have been death to the sweet boy within the year.
“She is but a shadow,” whispered the superstitious74. “The child put forth his arms and could not grasp her robe.”
The wonder was increased when the Old Maid passed beneath the porch of the deserted75 mansion, ascended the moss-covered steps, lifted the iron knocker and gave three raps. The people could only conjecture76 that some old remembrance, troubling her bewildered brain, had impelled77 the poor woman hither to visit the friends of her youth — all gone from their home long since and for ever unless their ghosts still haunted it, fit company for the Old Maid in the Winding–Sheet.
An elderly man approached the steps, and, reverently78 uncovering his gray locks, essayed to explain the matter.
“None, madam,” said he, “have dwelt in this house these fifteen years agone — no, not since the death of old Colonel Fenwicke, whose funeral you may remember to have followed. His heirs, being ill-agreed among themselves, have let the mansion-house go to ruin.”
The Old Maid looked slowly round with a slight gesture of one hand and a finger of the other upon her lip, appearing more shadow-like than ever in the obscurity of the porch. But again she lifted the hammer, and gave, this time, a single rap. Could it be that a footstep was now heard coming down the staircase of the old mansion which all conceived to have been so long untenanted? Slowly, feebly, yet heavily, like the pace of an aged79 and infirm person, the step approached, more distinct on every downward stair, till it reached the portal. The bar fell on the inside; the door was opened. One upward glance toward the church-spire, whence the sunshine had just faded, was the last that the people saw of the Old Maid in the Winding–Sheet.
“Who undid the door?” asked many.
This question, owing to the depth of shadow beneath the porch, no one could satisfactorily answer. Two or three aged men, while protesting against an inference which might be drawn80, affirmed that the person within was a negro and bore a singular resemblance to old C?sar, formerly82 a slave in the house, but freed by death some thirty years before.
“Her summons has waked up a servant of the old family,” said one, half seriously.
“Let us wait here,” replied another; “more guests will knock at the door anon. But the gate of the graveyard83 should be thrown open.”
Twilight84 had overspread the town before the crowd began to separate or the comments on this incident were exhausted85. One after another was wending his way homeward, when a coach — no common spectacle in those days — drove slowly into the street. It was an old-fashioned equipage, hanging close to the ground, with arms on the panels, a footman behind and a grave, corpulent coachman seated high in front, the whole giving an idea of solemn state and dignity. There was something awful in the heavy rumbling86 of the wheels.
The coach rolled down the street, till, coming to the gateway87 of the deserted mansion, it drew up, and the footman sprang to the ground.
“Whose grand coach is this?” asked a very inquisitive88 body.
The footman made no reply, but ascended the steps of the old house, gave three taps with the iron hammer, and returned to open the coach door. An old man possessed89 of the heraldic lore91 so common in that day examined the shield of arms on the panel.
“Azure, a lion’s head erased92, between three flowers de luce,” said he, then whispered the name of the family to whom these bearings belonged. The last inheritor of its honors was recently dead, after a long residence amid the splendor93 of the British court, where his birth and wealth had given him no mean station. “He left no child,” continued the herald90, “and these arms, being in a lozenge, betoken94 that the coach appertains to his widow.”
Further disclosures, perhaps, might have been made had not the speaker been suddenly struck dumb by the stern eye of an ancient lady who thrust forth her head from the coach, preparing to descend95. As she emerged the people saw that her dress was magnificent, and her figure dignified96 in spite of age and infirmity — a stately ruin, but with a look at once of pride and wretchedness. Her strong and rigid97 features had an awe73 about them unlike that of the white Old Maid, but as of something evil. She passed up the steps, leaning on a gold-headed cane98. The door swung open as she ascended, and the light of a torch glittered on the embroidery99 of her dress and gleamed on the pillars of the porch. After a momentary100 pause, a glance backward and then a desperate effort, she went in.
The decipherer of the coat-of-arms had ventured up the lower step, and, shrinking back immediately, pale and tremulous, affirmed that the torch was held by the very image of old C?sar.
“But such a hideous101 grin,” added he, “was never seen on the face of mortal man, black or white. It will haunt me till my dying-day.”
Meantime, the coach had wheeled round with a prodigious102 clatter103 on the pavement and rumbled104 up the street, disappearing in the twilight, while the ear still tracked its course. Scarcely was it gone when the people began to question whether the coach and attendants, the ancient lady, the spectre of old C?sar and the Old Maid herself were not all a strangely-combined delusion with some dark purport105 in its mystery. The whole town was astir, so that, instead of dispersing106, the crowd continually increased, and stood gazing up at the windows of the mansion, now silvered by the brightening moon. The elders, glad to indulge the narrative107 propensity108 of age, told of the long-faded splendor of the family, the entertainments they had given and the guests, the greatest of the land, and even titled and noble ones from abroad, who had passed beneath that portal. These graphic109 reminiscences seemed to call up the ghosts of those to whom they referred. So strong was the impression on some of the more imaginative hearers that two or three were seized with trembling fits at one and the same moment, protesting that they had distinctly heard three other raps of the iron knocker.
“Impossible!” exclaimed others. “See! The moon shines beneath the porch, and shows every part of it except in the narrow shade of that pillar. There is no one there.”
“Did not the door open?” whispered one of these fanciful persons.
“Didst thou see it too?” said his companion, in a startled tone.
But the general sentiment was opposed to the idea that a third visitant had made application at the door of the deserted house. A few, however, adhered to this new marvel110, and even declared that a red gleam like that of a torch had shone through the great front window, as if the negro were lighting111 a guest up the staircase. This too was pronounced a mere112 fantasy.
But at once the whole multitude started, and each man beheld113 his own terror painted in the faces of all the rest.
“What an awful thing is this!” cried they.
A shriek114 too fearfully distinct for doubt had been heard within the mansion, breaking forth suddenly and succeeded by a deep stillness, as if a heart had burst in giving it utterance115. The people knew not whether to fly from the very sight of the house or to rush trembling in and search out the strange mystery. Amid their confusion and affright they were somewhat reassured116 by the appearance of their clergyman, a venerable patriarch, and equally a saint, who had taught them and their fathers the way to heaven for more than the space of an ordinary lifetime. He was a reverend figure with long white hair upon his shoulders, a white beard upon his breast and a back so bent over his staff that he seemed to be looking downward continually, as if to choose a proper grave for his weary frame. It was some time before the good old man, being deaf and of impaired117 intellect, could be made to comprehend such portions of the affair as were comprehensible at all. But when possessed of the facts, his energies assumed unexpected vigor118.
“Verily,” said the old gentleman, “it will be fitting that I enter the mansion-house of the worthy119 Colonel Fenwicke, lest any harm should have befallen that true Christian120 woman whom ye call the ‘Old Maid in the Winding–Sheet.’”
Behold121, then, the venerable clergyman ascending122 the steps of the mansion with a torch-bearer behind him. It was the elderly man who had spoken to the Old Maid, and the same who had afterward123 explained the shield of arms and recognized the features of the negro. Like their predecessors124, they gave three raps with the iron hammer.
“Old C?sar cometh not,” observed the priest. “Well, I wot he no longer doth service in this mansion.”
“Assuredly, then, it was something worse in old C?sar’s likeness,” said the other adventurer.
“Be it as God wills,” answered the clergyman. “See! my strength, though it be much decayed, hath sufficed to open this heavy door. Let us enter and pass up the staircase.”
Here occurred a singular exemplification of the dreamy state of a very old man’s mind. As they ascended the wide flight of stairs the aged clergyman appeared to move with caution, occasionally standing125 aside, and oftener bending his head, as it were in salutation, thus practising all the gestures of one who makes his way through a throng. Reaching the head of the staircase, he looked around with sad and solemn benignity126, laid aside his staff, bared his hoary127 locks, and was evidently on the point of commencing a prayer.
“Reverend sir,” said his attendant, who conceived this a very suitable prelude128 to their further search, “would it not be well that the people join with us in prayer?”
“Well-a-day!” cried the old clergyman, staring strangely around him. “Art thou here with me, and none other? Verily, past times were present to me, and I deemed that I was to make a funeral prayer, as many a time heretofore, from the head of this staircase. Of a truth, I saw the shades of many that are gone. Yea, I have prayed at their burials, one after another, and the Old Maid in the Winding–Sheet hath seen them to their graves.”
Being now more thoroughly129 awake to their present purpose, he took his staff and struck forcibly on the floor, till there came an echo from each deserted chamber, but no menial to answer their summons. They therefore walked along the passage, and again paused, opposite to the great front window, through which was seen the crowd in the shadow and partial moonlight of the street beneath. On their right hand was the open door of a chamber, and a closed one on their left.
The clergyman pointed20 his cane to the carved oak panel of the latter.
“Within that chamber,” observed he, “a whole lifetime since, did I sit by the death-bed of a goodly young man who, being now at the last gasp130 — ” Apparently131, there was some powerful excitement in the ideas which had now flashed across his mind. He snatched the torch from his companion’s hand, and threw open the door with such sudden violence that the flame was extinguished, leaving them no other light than the moonbeams which fell through two windows into the spacious chamber. It was sufficient to discover all that could be known. In a high-backed oaken arm-chair, upright, with her hands clasped across her breast and her head thrown back, sat the Old Maid in the Winding–Sheet. The stately dame132 had fallen on her knees with her forehead on the holy knees of the Old Maid, one hand upon the floor and the other pressed convulsively against her heart. It clutched a lock of hair — once sable133, now discolored with a greenish mould.
As the priest and layman134 advanced into the chamber the Old Maid’s features assumed such a semblance81 of shifting expression that they trusted to hear the whole mystery explained by a single word. But it was only the shadow of a tattered135 curtain waving betwixt the dead face and the moonlight.
“Both dead!” said the venerable man. “Then who shall divulge136 the secret? Methinks it glimmers137 to and fro in my mind like the light and shadow across the Old Maid’s face. And now ’tis gone!”
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1
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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2
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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3
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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5
slumberer
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| 睡眠者，微睡者 | |
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6
shroud
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| n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏 | |
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7
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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8
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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11
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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13
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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14
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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15
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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16
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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draught
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| 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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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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augured
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| v.预示，预兆，预言( augur的过去式和过去分词 )；成为预兆；占卜 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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43
mouldering
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| v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 )；腐烂，崩塌 | |
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44
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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45
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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46
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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47
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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48
spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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49
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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50
wigs
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| n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 ) | |
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51
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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52
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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53
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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54
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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55
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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56
punctilious
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| adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的 | |
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57
obeisances
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| n.敬礼，行礼( obeisance的名词复数 )；敬意 | |
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58
dispelled
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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60
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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61
tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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62
espy
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| v.（从远处等）突然看到 | |
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63
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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64
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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65
tolled
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| 鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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66
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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67
portend
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| v.预兆，预示；给…以警告 | |
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68
pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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69
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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70
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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71
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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72
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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73
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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74
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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75
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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76
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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77
impelled
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| 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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78
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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79
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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80
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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81
semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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82
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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83
graveyard
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| n.坟场 | |
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84
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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85
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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86
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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87
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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88
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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90
herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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92
erased
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| v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除 | |
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93
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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94
betoken
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| v.预示 | |
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95
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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96
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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97
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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98
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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99
embroidery
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| n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品 | |
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100
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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101
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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102
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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103
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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104
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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105
purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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106
dispersing
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| adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式 | |
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107
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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108
propensity
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| n.倾向；习性 | |
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109
graphic
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| adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的 | |
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110
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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111
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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112
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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113
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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114
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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115
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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116
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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117
impaired
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| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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119
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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120
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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121
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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122
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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123
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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124
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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125
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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126
benignity
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| n.仁慈 | |
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127
hoary
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| adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的 | |
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128
prelude
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| n.序言，前兆，序曲 | |
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129
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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130
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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131
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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132
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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133
sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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134
layman
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| n.俗人，门外汉，凡人 | |
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135
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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136
divulge
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| v.泄漏(秘密等)；宣布，公布 | |
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137
glimmers
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| n.微光，闪光( glimmer的名词复数 )v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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