"Between Eveena, daughter of Esmo dent11 Ecasfen, and —— [13] reclamomorta (the alleged12 arch-traveller), covenant13: Eveena will live with —— in wedlock14 for two years, foregoing during that period the liberty to quit his house, or to receive any one therein save by his permission. In consideration whereof he will maintain her, clothing her to her satisfaction, at a cost not exceeding five staltau by the year. He will provide for any child or children she may bear while living with him, or within twice twelve dozen days thereafter. And if at any time he shall dismiss her or permit her to leave him, or if she shall desire to leave him after the expiration15 of eight years, he will ensure to her for her life an annual payment of fifteen staltau. Neither shall appeal to a court of law or public authority against the other on account of anything done during the time they shall live together, except for attempt to kill or for grave bodily injury."
Such is the form of marriage covenant employed in Mars. The occasion was unfit for discussion, and I simply intimated my acceptance of the covenants17, oo which Eveena and myself forthwith were instructed to write our names where they appear in the above translation. The official then inquired whether I recognised the lady standing18 beside me as Eveena, daughter of Esmo. It then struck me that, though I felt pretty certain of her identity, marriage under such conditions might occasionally lead to awkward mistakes. There was no such difference between my bride and her companions as, but for her dress and her agitation, would have enabled me positively19 to distinguish them, veiled and silent as all were. I expressed no doubt, however, and the official then proceeded to affix20 his own stamp to the document; and then lifting up that on which our names had actually been written, showed that, by some process I hardly understand, the signature had been executed and the agreement filled up in triplicate, the officer preserving one copy, the others being given to the bride and bridegroom respectively. The ladies then retired21, Esmo, his son, and the official remaining, when two ambau brought in a tray of refreshments22. The official tasted each article offered to him, evidently more as a matter of form than of pleasure. I took this opportunity to ask some questions regarding the Martial23 cuisine24, and learnt that all but the very simplest cookery is performed by professional confectioners, who supply twice a day the households in their vicinity; unmarried men taking their meals at the shop. The preparation of fruit, roasted grain, beverages26 consisting of juices mixed with a prepared nectar, and the vegetables from the garden, which enter into the composition of every meal, are the only culinary cares of the ladies of the family. Everything can be warmed or freshened on the stove which forms a part of that electric machinery27 by which in every household the baths and lights are supplied and the house warmed at night. The ladies have therefore very little household work, and the greater part of this is performed under their superintendence by the animals, which are almost as useful as any human slaves on earth, with the one unquestionable advantage that they cannot speak, and therefore cannot be impertinent, inquisitive28, or treacherous29. No fermented30 liquors form part of the Martial diet; but some narcotics31 resembling haschisch and opium32 are much relished33. When the official had retired, I said to my host—
"I thought it best to raise no question or objection in signing the contract put before me with your sanction; but you must be aware, in the first place, that I have no means here of performing the pecuniary34 part of the covenant, no means of providing either maintenance or pin-money."
The explanation of the latter phrase, which was immediately demanded, produced not a little amusement, after which Esmo replied gravely—
"It will be very easy for you, if necessary, to realise a competence35 in the course of half a year. A book relating your adventures, and describing the world you have left, would bring you in a very comfortable fortune; and you might more than double this by giving addresses in each of our towns, which, if only from the curiosity our people would entertain to see you with their own eyes, would attract crowded audiences. You could get a considerable sum for the exclusive right to take your likeness37; and, if you chose to explain it, you might fix your own price on the novel motive38 power you have introduced. But there is another point in regard to the contract which you have overlooked, but which I was bound to bear in mind. What you have promised is, I believe, what Eveena would have obtained from any suitor she was likely to accept. But since you left the matter entirely39 to my discretion40, I am bound to make it impossible that you should be a loser; and this document (and he handed me a small slip very much like that which contained the marriage covenant) imposes on my estate the payment of an income for Eveena's life equal to that you have promised her."
With much reluctance41 I found myself obliged to accept a dowry which, however natural and proper on Earth, was, I felt, unusual in Mars. I may say that such charges do not interfere42 with the free sale of land. They are registered in the proper office, and the State trustee collects them from the owner for the time being as quit-rents are collected in Great Britain or land revenue in India. Turning to another but kindred question, I said—
"Your marriage contract, like our own laws, appears to favour the weaker sex more than strict theoretical equality would permit. This is quite right and practically inevitable43; but it hardly agrees with the theory which supposes bride and bridegroom, husband and wife, to enter on and maintain a coequal voluntary partnership44."
"How so?" he inquired.
"The right of divorce," I said, "at the end of two years belongs to the wife alone. The husband cannot divorce her except under a heavy penalty."
"Observe," he answered, "that there is a grave practical inequality which even theory can hardly ignore. The wife parts with something by the very fact of marriage. At the end of two years, when she has borne two, three, or four children, her value in marriage is greatly lessened45. Her capacity of maintaining herself, in the days when women did work, was found practically to be even smaller than before marriage. You may say that this really amounts to a recognition by custom of the natural inequality denied by law; but at any rate, it is an inequality which it was scarcely possible to overlook. Examine the practical working of the covenants, and you will find that in affecting to treat unequals as equals they merely make the weaker the slave of the stronger."
"Surely," I said, "husband and wife are so far equal, where neither is tied to the children, that each can make the other heartily47 glad to assent to a divorce."
"Perhaps, where law interferes48 to enforce monogamy, and thereby49 to create an artificial equality of mutual50 dependence51. But our law cannot dictate52 to equals, whose sex it ignores, the terms or numbers of partnership. So, the terms of the contract being voluntary, men of course insist on excluding legal interference in household quarrels; and before the prohibitive clause was generally adopted, legal interposition did more harm than good. As you will find, equality before the law gives absolute effect to the real inequality, and chiefly through its coarsest element, superior physical force. The liberty that is a necessary logical consequence of equality takes from the woman her one natural safeguard—the man's need of her goodwill54, if not of her affection."
"In our world," I replied, "I always held that even slaves, so they be household slaves, are secure against gross cruelty. The owner cannot make life a burden to them without imperilling his own. To reduce the question to its lowest terms—malice will always be a match for muscle, and poison an efficient antidote55 to the ferula."
"So," rejoined Esmo, "our men have perceived, and consequently they have excepted attempts to murder, as the women have excepted serious bodily injury, from the general rule prohibiting appeals to a court of law."
"And," said I, "are there many such appeals?"
"Not one in two years," he replied; "and for a simple reason. Our law, as matter of course and of common sense, puts murder, attempted or accomplished56, on the same footing, and visits both with its supreme57 penalty. Consequently, a wife detected in such an attempt is at her husband's mercy; and if he consent to spare her life, she must submit to any infliction59, however it may transgress60 the covenanted61 limit. In fact, if he find her out in such an attempt, he may do anything but put her to death on his own authority."
"Still," I answered, "as long as she remains62 in the house, she must have frequent opportunity of repeating her attempt at revenge; and to live in constant fear of assassination63 would break down the strongest nerves."
"Our physicians," he said, "are more skilful64 in antidotes65 than our women in poisons, even when the latter have learned chemistry. No poisonous plants are grown near our houses; and as wives never go out alone, they have little chance of getting hold of any fatal drug. I believe that very few attempts to poison are successful, and that many women have suffered very severely66 on mere46 suspicion."
"And what," I asked, "is the legal definition of 'grave bodily injury'?"
"Injury," he said, "of which serious traces remain at the end of twenty-four days; the destruction of a limb, or the deprivation67, partial or total, of a sense. I have often thought bitterly," he continued, "of that boasted logic53 and liberality of our laws under which my daughters might have to endure almost any maltreatment from their husbands, so long as these have but the sense not to employ weapons that leave almost ineffaceable marks. This is one main reason why we so anxiously avoid giving them save to those who are bound by the ties of our faith to treat them as kindly68 as children—for whom, at the worst, they remain sisters of the Order. If women generally had parents, our marriage law could never have carried out the fiction of equality to its logical perfection and practical monstrosity."
"Equality, then, has given your women a harder life and a worse position than that of those women in our world who are, not only by law but by fact and custom, the slaves of their husbands?"
"Yes, indeed," he said; "and our proverbs, though made by men, express this truth with a sharpness in which there is little exaggeration. Our school textbooks tell us that action and reaction are equal and opposite; and this familiar phrase gives meaning to the saw, Pelmavè dakal dakè, 'She is equal, the thing struck to the hammer,' meaning that woman's equality to man is no more effective than the reaction of the leather on the mallet69. 'Bitterer smiles of twelve than tears of ten' (referring to the age of marriage). Thleen delkint treen lalfe zevleen, ''Twixt fogs and clouds she dreams of stars.'"
"What does that mean?"
"Would you not render it in the terminology70 of the hymn71 you translated for us, 'Between Purgatory72 and Hell, one dream of Heaven?' Still puzzled? 'Between the harshness of school and the misery73 of marriage, the illusions of the bride.' Again, Zefoo zevleel, zave marneel, clafte cratheneel, 'A child [cries] for the stars, a maiden4 for the matron's dress, a woman for her shroud74.'"
"Do you mean to say that that is not exaggerated?"
"I suppose it is, as women are even less given to suicide than men. That is perhaps the ugliest proverb of its kind. I will only quote one more, and that is two-edged—
"'Fool he who heeds75 a woman's tears, to woman's tongue replies;
Fool she who braves man's hand—but when was man or woman wise?'"
Here Zulve came to the door and made a sign to her husband. Waiting courteously76 to ascertain77 that I had finished speaking, and until his son had somewhat ceremoniously taken leave of me, he led me to the door of a chamber78 next to that I had hitherto occupied. Pausing here himself, he motioned me to go on, and the door parting, I found myself in a room I had not before entered, about the same size as my own and similarly furnished, but differently coloured, now communicating with it by a door which I knew had not previously79 existed. Here were Eveena's mother and sister, dressed as usual.
Eveena herself had exchanged her maiden white for the light pink of a young matron, but was closely veiled in a similar material. Her mother and sister kissed her with much emotion, though without the tears and lamentations, real or affected80, with which—alike among the nomads81 of Asia and the most cultivated races of Europe—even those relatives who have striven hardest to marry a daughter or sister think it necessary to celebrate the fulfilment of their hopes, and the termination of their often prolonged and wearisome labours. I was then left alone with my bride, who remained half-seated, half-crouching on the cushions in a corner of the room. I could not help feeling keenly how much a marriage so unceremonious and with so little previous acquaintance, or rather so great a reserve and distance in our former intercourse82, intensified83 the awkwardness many a man on Earth feels when first left alone with the partner of his future life. But a single glance at the small drooping84 figure half-hidden in the cushions brought the reflection that a situation, embarrassing to the bridegroom, must be in the last degree alarming and distressing85 to the bride. But for her visit to the Astronaut we should have been almost strangers; I could hardly have recognised even her voice. I must, however, speak; and naturally my first sentence was a half-articulate request that she would remove her veil.
"No," she whispered, rising, "you must do that."
Taking off the glove of her left hand, she came up to me shyly and slowly, and placed it in my right—a not unmeaning ceremony. Having obeyed her instruction, my lips touched for the first time the brow of my young wife. That she was more than shy and startled, was even painfully agitated86 and frightened, became instantly apparent now that her countenance87 was visible. What must be the state of Martial brides in general, when the signature of the contract immediately places them at the disposal of an utter stranger, it was beyond the power of my imagination to conceive, if their feelings were at all to be measured by Eveena's under conditions sufficiently88 trying, but certainly far better than theirs. Nothing was so likely to quiet her as perfect calmness on my side; and, though with a heart beating almost as fast as her own, if with very different emotions, I led her gently back to her place, and resting on a cushion just out of reach, began to talk to her. Choosing as the easiest subject our adventure of yesterday, I asked what could have induced her to place herself in a situation so dangerous.
"Do not be angry with me now," she pleaded. "I am exceedingly fond of flowers; they have been my only amusement except the training of my pets. You can see how little women have to do, how little occupation or interest is permitted us. The rearing of rare flowers, or the creation of new ones, is almost the only employment in which we can find exercise for such intelligence as we possess. I had never seen before the flower that grew on that shelf. I believe, indeed, that it only grows on a few of our higher mountains below the snow-line, and I was anxious to bring it home and see what could be made of it in the garden. I thought it might be developed into something almost as beautiful as that bright leenoo you admired so greatly in my flower-bed."
"But," said I, "the two flowers are not of the same shape or colour; and, though I am not learned in botany, I should say hardly belong to the same family."
"No," she said. "But with care, and with proper management of our electric apparatus89, I accomplished this year a change almost as great. I can show you in my flower-bed one little white flower, of no great beauty and conical in shape, from which I have produced in two years another, saucer-shaped, pink, and of thrice the size, almost exactly realising an imaginary flower, drawn90 by my sister-in-law to represent one of which she had dreamed. We can often produce the very shape, size, and colour we wish from something that at first seems to have no likeness to it whatever; and I have been told that a skilful farmer will often obtain a fruit, or, what is more difficult, an animal, to answer exactly the ideal he has formed."
"Some of our breeders," I said, "profess25 to develop a sort of ideal of any given species; but it takes many generations, by picking and choosing those that vary in the right direction, to accomplish anything of the kind; and, after all, the difference between the original and the improved form is mere development, not essential change."
She hardly seemed to understand this, but answered—
"The seedling91 or rootlet would be just like the original plant, if we did not from the first control its growth by means of our electric frames. But if you will allow me, I will show you to-morrow what I have done in my own flower-bed, and you will have opportunities of seeing afterwards how very much more is done by agriculturists with much more time and much more potent92 electricities."
"At any rate," I said, "if I had known your object, you certainly should have had the flowers for which you risked so much: and if I remain here three days longer, I promise you plenty of specimens93 for your experiment."
"You do not mean to go back to the Astronaut?" she asked, with an air of absolute consternation94.
"I had not intended to do so," I replied, "for it seems to be perfectly95 safe under your father's seal and your stringent96 laws of property. But now, if time permit, I must get these flowers to which you tell me I am so deeply indebted."
"You are very kind," returned Eveena earnestly, "but I entreat97 you not to venture there again. I should be utterly98 miserable99 while you were running such a risk again, and for such a trifle."
"It is no such terrible risk to me, and to please you is not quite a trifle. Besides, I ought to deserve my prize better than I have yet done. But you seem to have some especial spite against the unlucky vessel100 that brought me here; and that," I added, smiling, "seems hardly gracious in a bride of an hour."
"No, no!" she murmured, evidently much distressed101; "but the vessel that brought you here may take you away."
"I will not pain you yet by saying that I hope it may. At all events, it shall not do so till you are content that it should."
She made no answer, and seemed for some time to hesitate, as if afraid or unwilling102 to say something which rose irrepressibly to her lips. A few persuasive103 words, however, encouraged her, and she found her voice, though with a faltering104 accent, which greatly surprised me when I learned at last the purport105 of her request.
"I do not understand," she said, "your ideas or customs, but I know they are different from ours. I have found at least that they make you much more indulgent and tender to women than our own; and I hope, therefore, you will forgive me if I ask more than I have any right to do."
"I could scarcely refuse my bride's first request, whatever it might be. But your hesitation106 and your apologies might make me fear that you are about to ask something which one or both of us may wish hereafter had neither been asked nor granted."
She still hesitated and faltered107, till I began to fancy that her wish must have a much graver import than I at first supposed. Perhaps to treat the matter lightly and sportively would be the course most likely to encourage her to explain it.
"What is it, child," I asked, "which you think the stranger of another world more likely to grant than one of your own race, and which is so extravagant108, nevertheless, that you tremble to ask it even from me? Is it too much to be bound not to appeal against me to the law, which cannot yet determine whether I am a reality or a fiction? Or have I proved my arm a little too substantial? Must the giant promise not to exercise the masculine prerogative109 of physical force safely conceded to the dwarf110? Fie, Eveena! I am almost afraid to touch you, lest I should hurt you unawares; lest tenderness itself should transgress the limit of legal cruelty, and do grave bodily harm to a creature so much more like a fairy than a woman!"
"No, no!" she expostulated, not at all reciprocating111 the jesting tone in which I spoke112. "If you would consent to give such a promise, it is just one of those we should wish unmade. How could I ask you to promise that I may behave as ill as I please? I dare say I shall be frightened to tears when you are angry; but I shall never wish you to retain your anger rather than vent36 it and forgive. The proverb says, 'Who punishes pardons; who hates awaits.' No, pray do not play with me; I am so much in earnest. I know that I don't understand where and why your thoughts and ways are so unlike ours. But—but—I thought—I fancied—you seemed to hold the tie between man and wife something more—faster—more lasting113—than—our contract has made it."
"Certainly! With us it lasts for life at least; and even here, where it may be broken at pleasure, I should not have thought that, on the very bridal eve, the coldest heart could willingly look forward to its dissolution."
She was too innocent of such a thought—perhaps too much absorbed by her own purpose—to catch the hint of unjust reproach.
"Well, then," she said, with a desperate effort, in a voice that trembled between the fear of offending by presumption114 or exaction115, and the desire to give utterance116 to her wish—"I want … will you say that—if by that time you do not think that I have been too faulty, too undeserving—that I shall go with you when you quit this world?" And, her eagerness at last overpowering her shyness, she looked up anxiously into my face.
We wholly misconceived each other. She drooped117 in bitter disappointment, mistaking my blank surprise for displeasure; her words brought over my mind a rush of that horror with which I ever recall the scenes I witnessed but too often at Indian funerals.
"That, of course, will rest with yourself. But even should I hereafter deserve and win such love as would prompt the wish, I trust you will never dream of cutting short your life because—in the ordinary course of nature—mine should end long before the term of yours."
Her face again brightened, and she looked up more shyly but not less earnestly.
"I did not make my meaning clear," she replied. "I spoke not, as my father sometimes speaks, of leaving this world, when he means to remind us that death is only a departure to another; though that was, not so long ago, the only meaning the words could bear. I was thinking of your journey, and I want you to take me with you when you go."
"You have quite settled in your own mind that I shall go! And in truth you have now removed, as you yesterday created, the only obstacle. If you would not go with me, I might, rather than give you up, have given up the whole purpose of my enterprise, and have left my friends, and the world from which I came, ignorant whether it had ever been accomplished. But if you accompany me, I shall certainly try to regain118 my own planet."
"Then," she said hopefully, but half confidently, "when you go, if I have not given you cause of lasting displeasure, you will take me with you? Most men do not think much of promises, especially of promises made to women; but I have heard you speak as if to break a plighted119 word were a thing impossible."
"I promise," I returned earnestly, very much moved by a proof of real affection such as I had no right to expect, and certainly had not anticipated. "I give you the word of one who has never lied, that if, when the time comes, you wish to go with me, you shall. But by that time, you will probably have a better idea what are the dangers you are asking to share."
"What can that matter?" she answered. "I suppose in almost any case we should escape or die together? To leave me here is to inflict58 certainly, and at once, the worst that can possibly befall me; to take me gives me the hope of living or dying with you; and even if I were killed, I should be with you, and feel that you were kind to me, to the last."
"I little thought," said I, hesitating long for some expression of tenderness, which the language of Mars refuses to furnish,—"I little thought to find in a world of which selfishness seems to be the paramount120 principle, and the absence of real love even between man and woman the most prevalent characteristic, a wife so true to the best and deepest meaning of wedlock. Still less could I have hoped to find such a wife in one who had scarcely spoken to me twenty-four hours before our marriage. If my unexampled adventure had had no other reward—if I had cared nothing for the triumph of discovering a new world with all its wonders—Eveena, this discovery alone is reward in full for all my studies, toils121, and perils122. For all I have done and risked already, for all the risks of the future, I am tenfold repaid in winning you."
She looked up at these words with an expression in which there was more of bewilderment and incredulity than of satisfaction, evidently touched by the earnestness of my tone, but scarcely understanding my words better than if I had spoken in my own tongue. It would not be worth while to record the next hour's conversation; I would only note the strong and painful impression it left upon my mind. There was in Eveena's language and demeanour a timidity—a sort of tentative fearful venturing as on dangerous ground, feeling her way, as it were, in almost every sentence—which could not be wholly attributed to the shyness of a very young and very suddenly wedded123 bride. There was enough and to spare of this shyness; but more of the sheer physical or nervous fear of a child suddenly left in hands whose reputed severity has thoroughly124 frightened her; not daring to give offence by silence, but afraid at each word to give yet more fatal offence in speaking. Longer experience of a world in which even the first passion of love is devoid125 of tenderness—in which asserted equality has long since deprived women of that claim to indulgence which can only rest on acknowledged weakness—taught me but too well the meaning of this fearful, trembling anxiety to please, or rather not to offend. I suppose that even a brutal126 master hardly likes to see a child cower127 in his presence as if constantly expecting a blow; and this cowering128 was so evident in my bride's demeanour, that, after trying for a couple of hours to coax129 her into confidence and unreserved feminine fluency130, I began to feel almost impatient. It was fortunate that, just as my tone involuntarily betrayed to her quick and watchful131 ear some shade of annoyance132, just as I caught a furtive133 upward glance that seemed to ask what error she had committed and how it might be repaired, a scratching on the door startled her. She did not, however, venture to disengage herself from the hand which now held her own, but only moved half-imperceptibly aside with a slight questioning look and gesture, as if tacitly asking to be released. As I still held her fast, she was silent, till the unnoticed scratching had been two or three times repeated, and then half-whispered, "Shall I tell them to come in?" When I released her, there appeared to my surprise at her call, no human intruder, but one of the ambau, bearing on a tray a goblet135, which, as he placed it on a table beside us, I perceived to contain a liquid rather different from any yet offered me. The presence of these mute servants is generally no more heeded136 than that of our cats and dogs; but I now learnt that Martial ideas of delicacy137 forbid them, even as human servants would be forbidden, to intrude134 unannounced on conjugal138 privacy. When the little creature had departed, I tasted the liquid, but its flavour was so unpleasant that I set down the vessel immediately. Eveena, however, took it up, and drinking a part of it, with an effort to control the grimace139 of dislike it provoked, held it up to me again, so evidently expecting and inviting140 me to share it that courtesy permitted no further demur141. A second sign or look, when I set it down unemptied, induced me to finish the draught142. Regarding the matter as some trivial but indispensable ceremonial, I took no further notice of it; but, thankful for the diversion it had given to my thoughts, continued my endeavours to soothe143 and encourage my fair companion. After a few minutes it seemed as if she were somewhat suddenly gaining courage and confidence. At the same time I myself became aware of a mental effect which I promptly144 ascribed to the draught. Nor was I wrong. It contained one of those drugs which I have mentioned; so rarely used in this house that I had never before seen or tasted any of them, but given, as matter of course, on any occasion that is supposed to involve unusual agitation or make an exceptional call on nerves or spirits. But for the influence of this cup I should still have withheld145 the remark which, nevertheless, I had resolved to make as soon as I could hope to do so without annoying or alarming Eveena.
"Are you afraid of me?" I asked somewhat abruptly146. The question may have startled her, but I was more startled by the answer.
"Of course," she said in a tone which would have been absolutely matter of fact, except that the doubt evidently surprised her. "Ought I not to be so? But what made you ask? And what had I done to displease147 you, just before they sent us the 'courage cup'?"
"I did not mean to show anything like displeasure," I replied. "But I was thinking then, and I may tell you now, that you remind me not of the women of my own Earth, but of petted children suddenly transferred to a harsh school. You speak and look like such a child, as if you expected each moment at least to be severely scolded, if not beaten, without knowing your fault."
"Not yet," she murmured, with a smile which seemed to me more painful than tears would have been. "But please don't speak as if I should fear anything so much as being scolded by you. We have a saying that 'the hand may bruise148 the skin, the tongue can break the heart.'"
"True enough," I said; "only on Earth it is mostly woman's tongue that breaks the heart, and men must not in return bruise the skin."
"Why not?" she asked. "You said to my mother the other day that Arga (the fretful child of Esmo's adoption) deserved to be beaten."
"Women are supposed," I answered, "to be amenable149 to milder influences; and a man must be drunk or utterly brutal before he could deal harshly with a creature so gentle and so fragile as yourself."
"Don't spoil me," she said, with a pretty half-mournful, half-playful glance. "'A petted bride makes an unhappy wife.' Surely it is no true kindness to tempt16 us to count on an indulgence that cannot last."
"There is among us," I rejoined, "a saying about 'breaking a butterfly on the wheel'—as if one spoke of driving away the tiny birds that nestle and feed in your flowers with a hammer. To apply your proverbs to yourself would be to realise this proverb of ours. Can you not let me pet and spoil my little flower-bird at least till I have tamed her, and trust me to chastise150 her as soon as she shall give reason—if I can find a tendril or flower-stem light enough for the purpose?"
"Will you promise to use a hammer when you wish to be rid of her?" said she, glancing up for one moment through her drooping lashes151 with a look exactly attuned152 to the mingled153 archness and pathos154 of her tone.
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instinctively
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denser
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wont
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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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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agitation
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portfolio
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inscribed
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crimson
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assent
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dent
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alleged
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covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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14
wedlock
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| n.婚姻，已婚状态 | |
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15
expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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16
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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17
covenants
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| n.（有法律约束的）协议( covenant的名词复数 )；盟约；公约；（向慈善事业、信托基金会等定期捐款的）契约书 | |
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18
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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19
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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20
affix
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| n.附件，附录 vt.附贴，盖(章)，签署 | |
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21
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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22
refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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23
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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24
cuisine
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| n.烹调，烹饪法 | |
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25
profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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26
beverages
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| n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 ) | |
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27
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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28
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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29
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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30
fermented
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| v.（使）发酵( ferment的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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31
narcotics
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| n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒 | |
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32
opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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33
relished
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| v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望 | |
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34
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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35
competence
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| n.能力，胜任，称职 | |
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36
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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37
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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38
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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39
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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40
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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41
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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42
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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43
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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44
partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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45
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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46
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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47
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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48
interferes
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| vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉 | |
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49
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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50
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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51
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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52
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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53
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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54
goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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55
antidote
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| n.解毒药，解毒剂 | |
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56
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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57
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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58
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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59
infliction
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| n.（强加于人身的）痛苦，刑罚 | |
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60
transgress
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| vt.违反，逾越 | |
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61
covenanted
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| v.立约，立誓( covenant的过去分词 ) | |
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62
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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63
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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64
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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65
antidotes
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| 解药( antidote的名词复数 )； 解毒剂； 对抗手段； 除害物 | |
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66
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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67
deprivation
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| n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困 | |
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68
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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69
mallet
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| n.槌棒 | |
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70
terminology
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| n.术语；专有名词 | |
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71
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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72
purgatory
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| n.炼狱；苦难；adj.净化的，清洗的 | |
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73
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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74
shroud
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| n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏 | |
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75
heeds
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|
| n.留心，注意，听从( heed的名词复数 )v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的第三人称单数 ) | |
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76
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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77
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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78
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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79
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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80
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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81
nomads
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|
| n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活 | |
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82
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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83
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
drooping
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|
| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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85
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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86
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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87
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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88
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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89
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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90
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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91
seedling
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| n.秧苗，树苗 | |
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92
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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93
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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94
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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95
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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96
stringent
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|
| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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97
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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98
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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99
miserable
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|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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100
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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101
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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102
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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103
persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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104
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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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
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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107
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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108
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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109
prerogative
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| n.特权 | |
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110
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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111
reciprocating
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|
| adj.往复的；来回的；交替的；摆动的v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的现在分词 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动 | |
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112
spoke
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| 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 | |
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113
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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114
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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115
exaction
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| n.强求，强征；杂税 | |
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116
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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117
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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119
plighted
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| vt.保证，约定（plight的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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120
paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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121
toils
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| 网 | |
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122
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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123
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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124
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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125
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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126
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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127
cower
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| v.畏缩，退缩，抖缩 | |
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128
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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129
coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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130
fluency
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| n.流畅，雄辩，善辩 | |
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131
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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132
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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133
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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134
intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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135
goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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136
heeded
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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137
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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138
conjugal
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| adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的 | |
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139
grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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140
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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141
demur
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| v．表示异议，反对 | |
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142
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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143
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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144
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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145
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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146
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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147
displease
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| vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气 | |
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148
bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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149
amenable
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| adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的 | |
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150
chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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151
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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152
attuned
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| v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 )；调音 | |
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153
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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154
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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