With keen remorse1, deep sighs, and trembling fears
Repentant2 groans3, and unavailing tears,
This child of misery4 resigns her breath,
And sinks, despondent5, in the arms of death.
Released from Bridewell, we now see this victim to her own indiscretion breathe her last sad sigh, and expire in all the extremity6 of penury7 and wretchedness. The two quacks8, whose injudicious treatment, has probably accelerated her death, are vociferously9 supporting the infallibility of their respective medicines, and each charging the other with having poisoned her. The meagre figure is a portrait of Dr. Misaubin, a foreigner, at that time in considerable practice.
These disputes, it has been affirmed, sometimes happen at a consultation10 of regular physicians, and a patient has been so unpolite as to die before they could determine on the name of his disorder11.
“About the symptoms how they disagree,
But how unanimous about the fee!”
While the maid servant is entreating12 them to cease quarrelling, and assist her dying mistress, the nurse plunders13 her trunk of the few poor remains14 of former grandeur15. Her little boy, turning a scanty16 remnant of meat hung to roast by a string; the linen17 hanging to dry; the coals deposited in a corner; the candles, bellows18, and gridiron hung upon nails; the furniture of the room; and indeed every accompaniment; exhibit a dreary19 display of poverty and wretchedness. Over the candles hangs a cake of Jew’s Bread, once perhaps the property of her Levitical lover, and now used as a fly-trap. The initials of her name, M. H. are smoked upon the ceiling as a kind of memento20 mori to the next inhabitant. On the floor lies a paper inscribed21 “anodyne necklace,” at that time deemed a sort of charm against the disorders22 incident to children; and near the fire, a tobacco-pipe, and paper of pills.
A picture of general, and at this awful moment, indecent confusion, is admirably represented. The noise of two enraged23 quacks disputing in bad English; the harsh, vulgar scream of the maid servant; the table falling, and the pot boiling over, must produce a combination of sounds dreadful and dissonant24 to the ear. In this pitiable situation, without a friend to close her dying eyes, or soften25 her sufferings by a tributary26 tear; forlorn, destitute27, and deserted28, the heroine of this eventful history expires! her premature29 death, brought on by a licentious30 life, seven years of which had been devoted31 to debauchery and dissipation, and attended by consequent infamy32, misery, and disease. The whole story affords a valuable lesson to the young and inexperienced, and proves this great, this important truth, that a deviation33 from virtue34 is a departure from happiness.
The emaciated35 appearance of the dying figure, the boy’s thoughtless inattention, and the rapacious36, unfeeling eagerness of the old nurse, are naturally and forcibly delineated.
The figures are well grouped; the curtain gives depth, and forms a good back-ground to the doctor’s head; the light is judiciously37 distributed, and each accompaniment highly appropriate.

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收听单词发音

1
remorse
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n.痛恨,悔恨,自责 | |
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2
repentant
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adj.对…感到悔恨的 | |
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3
groans
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n.呻吟,叹息( groan的名词复数 );呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
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4
misery
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n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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5
despondent
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adj.失望的,沮丧的,泄气的 | |
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6
extremity
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n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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7
penury
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n.贫穷,拮据 | |
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8
quacks
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abbr.quacksalvers 庸医,骗子(16世纪习惯用水银或汞治疗梅毒的人)n.江湖医生( quack的名词复数 );江湖郎中;(鸭子的)呱呱声v.(鸭子)发出嘎嘎声( quack的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9
vociferously
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adv.喊叫地,吵闹地 | |
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10
consultation
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n.咨询;商量;商议;会议 | |
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11
disorder
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n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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12
entreating
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恳求,乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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13
plunders
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掠夺,抢劫( plunder的第三人称单数 ) | |
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14
remains
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n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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15
grandeur
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n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
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16
scanty
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adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的 | |
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17
linen
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n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的 | |
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18
bellows
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n.风箱;发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的名词复数 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的第三人称单数 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫 | |
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19
dreary
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adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的 | |
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20
memento
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n.纪念品,令人回忆的东西 | |
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21
inscribed
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v.写,刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 );内接 | |
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22
disorders
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n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 );凌乱;骚乱;(身心、机能)失调 | |
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23
enraged
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使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 ); 歜; 激愤 | |
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24
dissonant
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adj.不和谐的;不悦耳的 | |
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25
soften
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v.(使)变柔软;(使)变柔和 | |
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26
tributary
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n.支流;纳贡国;adj.附庸的;辅助的;支流的 | |
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27
destitute
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adj.缺乏的;穷困的 | |
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28
deserted
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adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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29
premature
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adj.比预期时间早的;不成熟的,仓促的 | |
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30
licentious
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adj.放纵的,淫乱的 | |
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31
devoted
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adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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32
infamy
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n.声名狼藉,出丑,恶行 | |
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33
deviation
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n.背离,偏离;偏差,偏向;离题 | |
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34
virtue
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n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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35
emaciated
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adj.衰弱的,消瘦的 | |
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36
rapacious
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adj.贪婪的,强夺的 | |
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37
judiciously
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adv.明断地,明智而审慎地 | |
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