"If your intentions are never known beforehand," he said, "still your habit of going forth8 alone in places to which your steps might easily be dogged, where you might be shot from an ambush9 or drowned by a sudden attack from a submarine vessel10, will soon be pretty generally understood, if, as I fear, a regular watch is set upon your life. At least let me know what your intentions are before starting, and make your absences as irregular and sudden as possible. The less they are known beforehand, even in your own household, the better."
"Is it midnight still in the Council Chamber11?" I asked.
"Very nearly so. She who has told so much can tell us no more. The clue that placed her in mental relations with the danger did not extend to its authorship. We have striven hard to find in every conceivable direction some material key to the plot, some object which, having been in contact with the persons of those we suspect, probably at the time when their plans were arranged, might serve as a link between her thoughts and theirs; but as yet unsuccessfully. Either her vision is darkened, or the connection we have sought to establish is wanting. But you know who is your unsparing personal enemy; and, after the Sovereign himself, no man in this world is so powerful; while the Sovereign himself is, owing to the restraints of his position, less active, less familiar with others, less acquainted with what goes on out of his own sight. Again I say we can avenge14; but against secret murder our powers only avail to deter15. If we would save, it must be by the use of natural precautions."
What he said made me desirous of some conversation with Eveena before I started on a meditated16 visit to the Palace. If I could not tell her the whole truth, she knew something; and I thought it possible on this occasion so far to enlighten her as to consult with her how the secret of my intended journeys should in future be kept. But I found no chance of speaking to her until, shortly before my departure, I was called upon to decide one of the childish disputes which constantly disturbed my temper and comfort. Mere17 fleabites they were; but fleas18 have often kept me awake a whole night in a Turkish caravanserai, and half-a-dozen mosquitos inside an Indian tent have broken up the sleep earned on a long day's march or a sharply contested battlefield. I need only say that I extorted20 at last from Eveena a clear statement of the trifle at issue, which flatly contradicted those of the four participants in the squabble. She began to suggest a means of proving the truth, and they broke into angry clamour. Silencing them all peremptorily21, I drew Eveena into my own chamber, and, when assured that we were unheard, reproved her for proposing to support her own word by evidence.
"Do you think," I said, "that any possible proof would induce me to doubt you, or add anything to the assurance I derive22 from your word?"
"But," she urged, "that cannot be just to others. They must feel it very hard that your love for me makes you take all I say for truth." "Not my love, but my knowledge. 'Be not righteous overmuch.' Don't forget that they know the truth as well as you."
I would hear no more, and passed to the matter I had at heart….
Earnestly, and in a sense sincerely, as upon my second audience I had thanked the Campta for his munificent23 gifts, no day passed that I would not thankfully have renounced24 the wealth he had bestowed25 if I could at the same time have renounced what was, in intention and according to Martial ideas, the most gracious and most remarkable26 of his favours. On the present occasion I thought for a moment that such renunciation might have been possible.
The Prince had, after our first interview, observed with regard to every point of my story on which I had been carefully silent a delicacy27 of reserve very unusual among Martialists, and quite unintelligible28 to his Court and officers. To-day the conversation in public turned again upon my voyage. Endo and another studiously directed it to the method of steering30, and the intentional31 diminution32 of speed in my descent, corresponding to its gradual increase at the commencement of the journey—points at which they hoped to find some opening to the mystery of the motive33 force. The Prince relieved me from some embarrassment34 by requesting me as usual to attend him to his private cabinet.
He said:—"I have not, as you must be aware, pressed you to disclose a secret which, for some reason or other, you are evidently anxious to preserve. Of course the exclusive possession of a motive power so marvellous as that employed in your voyage is of almost incalculable pecuniary35 value, and it is perfectly36 right that you should use your own discretion37 with regard to the time and the terms of its communication."
"Pardon me," I interposed, "if I interrupt you, Prince, to prevent any misconception. It is not with a view to profit that I have carefully avoided giving any clue whatever to my secret. Tour munificence38 would render it most ungrateful and unjust in me to haggle39 over the price of any service I could render you; and I should be greedy indeed if I desired greater wealth than you have bestowed. If I may say so without offending, I earnestly wish that you would permit me, by resigning your gifts, to retain in my own eyes the right to keep my secret without seeming undutiful or unthankful."
"I have said," he replied, "that on that point you misconceive our respective positions. No one supposes that you are indebted to us for anything more than it was the duty of the Sovereign to give, as a mark of the universal admiration40 and respect, to our guest from another world; still less could any imagine that on such a trifle could be founded any claim to a secret so invaluable41. You will offend me much and only if you ever again speak of yourself as bound by personal obligation to me or mine. But as we are wishful to buy, so I cannot understand any reluctance42 on your part to sell your secret on your own terms."
"I think, Prince," I replied, "that I have already asked you what you would think of a subject of your own, who should put such a power into the hands of enemies as formidable to you as you would be to the races of the Earth."
"And I think," he rejoined with a smile, "that I reminded you how little my judgment43 would matter to one possessed44 of such a power. I have gathered from your conversation how easily we might conquer a world as far behind us in destructive powers as in general civilisation45. But why should you object? You can make your own terms both for yourself and for any of your race for whom you feel an especial interest."
"A traitor46 is none the less a despicable and loathsome47 wretch48 because his Prince cannot punish him. I am bound by no direct tie of loyalty49 to any Terrestrial sovereign. I was born the subject of one of the greatest monarchs50 of the Earth; I left his country at an early age, and my youth was passed in the service of less powerful rulers, to one at least of whom I long owed the same military allegiance that binds52 your guards and officers to yourself. But that obligation also is at an end. Nevertheless, I cannot but recognise that I owe a certain fealty53 to the race to which I belong, a duty to right and justice. Even if I thought, which I do not think, that the Earth would be better governed and its inhabitants happier under your rule, I should have no right to give them up to a conquest I know they would fiercely and righteously resist. If—pardon me for saying it—you, Prince, would commit no common crime in assailing54 and slaughtering55 those who neither have wronged nor can wrong you, one of themselves would be tenfold more guilty in sharing your enterprise."
"You shall ensure," he replied, "the good government of your own world as you will. You shall rule it with all the authority possessed by the Regents under me, and by the laws which you think best suited to races very different from our own. You shall be there as great and absolute as I am here, paying only an obedience56 to me and my successors which, at so immense a distance, can be little more than formal."
"Is it to acquire a merely formal power that a Prince like yourself would risk the lives of your own people, and sacrifice those of millions of another race?"
"To tell you the truth," he replied, "I count on commanding the expedition myself; and perhaps I care more for the adventure than for its fruits. You will not expect me to be more chary57 of the lives of others than of my own?"
"I understand, and as a soldier could share, perhaps, a feeling natural to a great, a capable, and an ambitious Prince. But alike as soldier and subject it is my duty to resist, not to aid, such an ambition. My life is at your disposal, but even to save my life I could not betray the lives of hundreds of millions and the future of a whole world."
"I fail to understand you fully12," he said, abandoning with a sigh a hope that had evidently been the object of long and eager day-dreams. "But in no case would I try to force from you what you will not give or sell; and if you speak sincerely—and I suppose you must do so, since I can see no motive but those you assign that could induce you to refuse my offer—I must believe in the existence of what I have heard of now and then but deemed incredible—men who are governed by care for other things than their own interests, who believe in right and wrong, and would rather suffer injustice58 than commit it."
"You may be sure, Prince," I replied, perhaps imprudently, "that there are such men in your own world, though they are perhaps among those who are least known and least likely to be seen at your Court."
"If you know them," he said, "you will render me no little service in bringing them to my knowledge."
"It is possible," I ventured to observe, "that their distinguishing excellences60 are connected with other distinctions which might render it a disservice to them to indicate their peculiar61 character, I will not say to yourself, but to those around you."
"I hardly understand you," he rejoined. "Take, however, my assurance that nothing you say here shall, without your own consent, be used elsewhere. It is no light gratification, no trifling62 advantage to me, to find one man who has neither fear nor interest that can induce him to lie to me; to whom I can speak, not as sovereign to subject, but as man to man, and of whose private conversation my courtiers and officials are not yet suspicious or jealous. You shall never repent63 any confidence you give to me."
My interest in and respect for the strange character so manifestly suited for, so intensely weary of, the grandest position that man could fill, increased with each successive interview. I never envied that greatness which seems to most men so enviable. The servitude of a constitutional King, so often a puppet in the hands of the worst and meanest of men—those who prostitute their powers as rulers of a State to their interests as chiefs of a faction—must seem pitiable to any rational manhood. But even the autocracy64 of the Sultan or the Czar seems ill to compensate65 the utter isolation66 of the throne; the lonely grandeur67 of one who can hardly have a friend, since he can never have an equal, among those around him. I do not wonder that a tinge68 of melancholo-mania is so often perceptible in the chiefs of that great House whose Oriental absolutism is only "tempered by assassination69." But an Earthly sovereign may now and then meet his fellow-sovereigns, whether as friends or foes70, on terms of frank hatred71 or loyal openness. His domestic relations, though never secure and simple as those of other men, may relieve him at times from the oppressive sense of his sublime72 solitude73; and to his wife, at any rate, he may for a few minutes or hours be the husband and not the king. But the absolute Ruler of this lesser74 world had neither equal friends nor open foes, neither wife nor child. How natural then his weariness of his own life; how inevitable75 his impatient scorn of those to whom that life was devoted76! A despot not even accountable to God—a Prince who, till he conversed77 with me, never knew that the universe contained his equal or his like—it spoke78 much, both for the natural strength and soundness of his intellect and for the excellence59 of his education, that he was so sane79 a man, so earnest, active, and just a ruler. His reign13 was signalised by a better police, a more even administration of justice, a greater efficiency, judgment, and energy in the execution of great works of public utility, than his realm had known for a thousand years; and his duty was done as diligently80 and conscientiously81 as if he had known that conscience was the voice of a supreme82 Sovereign, and duty the law of an unerring and unescapable Lawgiver. Alone among a race of utterly83 egotistical cowards, he had the courage of a soldier, and the principles, or at least the instincts, worthy84 of a Child of the Star. With him alone could I have felt a moment's security from savage85 attempts to extort19 by terror or by torture the secret I refused to sell; and I believe that his generous abstinence from such an attempt was as exasperating86 as it was incomprehensible to his advisers87, and chiefly contributed to involve him in the vengeance88 which baffled greed and humbled89 personal pride had leagued to wreak90 upon myself, as on those with whose welfare and safety my own were inextricably intertwined. It was a fortunate, if not a providential, combination of circumstances that compelled the enemies of the Star, primarily on my account, to interweave with their scheme of murderous persecution91 and private revenge an equally ruthless and atrocious treason against the throne and person of their Monarch51.
My audience had detained me longer than I had expected, and the evening mist had fairly closed in before I returned. Entering, not as usual through the grounds and the peristyle, but by the vestibule and my own chamber, and hidden by my half-open window, I overheard an exceedingly characteristic discussion on the incident of the morning.
"Serve her right!" Leenoo was saying. "That she should for once get the worst of it, and be disbelieved to sharpen the sting!"
"How do you know?" asked Enva. "I don't feel so sure we have heard the last of it."
"Eveena did not seem to have liked her half-hour," answered Leenoo spitefully. "Besides, if he did not disbelieve her story, he would have let her prove it."
"Is that your reliance?" broke in Eunané. "Then you are swinging on a rotten branch. I would not believe my ears if, for all that all of us could invent against her, I heard him so much as ask Eveena, 'Are you speaking the truth?'"
"It is very uneven92 measure," muttered Enva.
"Uneven!" cried Eunané. "Now, I think I have the best right to be jealous of her place; and it does sting me that, when he takes me for his companion out of doors, or makes most of me at home, it is so plain that he is taking trouble, as if he grudged93 a soft word or a kiss to another as something stolen from her. But he deals evenly, after all. If he were less tender of her we should have to draw our zones tighter. But he won't give us the chance to say, 'Teach the amba with stick and the esve with sugar.'"
"I do say it. She is never snubbed or silenced; and if she has had worse than what he calls 'advice' to-day, I believe it is the first time. She has never 'had cause to wear the veil before the household' [to hide blushes or tears], or found that his 'lips can give sharper sting than their kiss can heal,' like the rest of us."
"What for? If he wished to find her in fault he would have to watch her dreams. Do you expect him to be harder to her than to us? He don't 'look for stains with a microscope.' None of us can say that he 'drinks tears for taste.' None of us ever 'smarted because the sun scorched94 him.' Would you have him 'tie her hands for being white'?" [punish her for perfection].
"She is never at fault because he never believes us against her," returned Leenoo.
"How often would he have been right? I saw nothing of to-day's quarrel, but I know beforehand where the truth lay. I tell you this: he hates the sandal more than the sin, but, strange as it seems, he hates a falsehood worse still; and a falsehood against Eveena—If you want to feel 'how the spear-grass cuts when the sheath bursts,' let him find you out in an experiment like this! You congratulate yourself, Leenoo, that you have got her into trouble. Elnerve that you are!—if you have, you had better have poisoned his cup before his eyes. For every tear he sees her shed he will reckon with us at twelve years' usury95."
"You have made her shed some," retorted Enva.
"Yes," said Eunané, "and if he knew it, I should like half a year's penance96 in the black sash" [as the black sheep or scapegoat97 of her Nursery] "better than my next half-hour alone with him. When I was silly enough to tie the veil over her mouth" [take the lead in sending her to Coventry] "the day after we came here, I expected to pay for it, and thought the fruit worth the scratches. But when he came in that evening, nodded and spoke kindly98 to us, but with his eyes seeking for her; when he saw her at last sitting yonder with her head down, I saw how his face darkened at the very idea that she was vexed99, and I thought the flash was in the cloud. When she sprang up as he called her, and forced a smile before he looked into her face, I wished I had been as ugly as Minn oo, that I might have belonged to the miseries100, worst-tempered man living, rather than have so provoked the giant."
"But what did he do?"
"Well that he don't hear you!" returned Eunané. "But I can answer;—nothing. I shivered like a leveloo in the wind when he came into my room, but I heard nothing about Eveena. I told Eivé so next day—you remember Eivé would have no part with us? 'And you were called the cleverest girl in your Nursery!' she said; 'you have just tied your own hands and given your sandal into Eveena's. Whenever she tells him, you will drink the cup she chooses to mix for you, and very salt you will find it.'"
"Crach!" (tush or stuff), said Eiralé contemptuously. "We have 'filled her robe with pins' for half a year since then, and she has never been able to make him count them."
"Able!" returned Eunané sharply, "do you know no better? Well, I chose to fancy she was holding this over me to keep me in her power. One day she spoke—choosing her words so carefully—to warn me how I was sure to anger Clasfempta" (the master of the household) "by pushing my pranks101 so often to the verge102 of safety and no farther. I answered her with a taunt103, and, of course, that evening I was more perverse104 than ever, till even he could stand it no longer. When he quoted—
"'More lightly treat whom haste or heat to headlong trespass105 urge;
The heaviest sandals fit the feet that ever tread the verge'—
"I was well frightened. I saw that the bough106 had broken short of the end, and that for once Clasfempta could mean to hurt. But Eveena kept him awhile, and when he came to me, she had persuaded him that I was only mischievous107, not malicious108, teasing rather than trespassing109. But his last words showed that he was not so sure of that. 'I have treated you this time as a child whose petulance110 is half play; but if you would not have your teasing returned with interest, keep it clipped; and—keep it for me.' I have often tormented111 her since then, but I could not for shame help you to spite her."
"Crach!" said Enva. "Eveena might think it wise to make friends with you; but would she bear to be slighted and persecuted112 a whole summer if she could help herself? You know that—
"Man's control in woman's hand
Sorest tries the household band.
Closer favourite's kisses cling,
Favourite's fingers sharper sting.'"
"Very likely," replied Eunané. "I cannot understand any more than you can why Eveena screens instead of punishing us; why she endures what a word to him would put down under her sandal; but she does. Does she cast no shadow because it never darkens his presence to us? And after all, her mind is not a deeper darkness to me than his. He enjoys life as no man here does; but what he enjoys most is a good chance of losing it; while those who find it so tedious guard it like watch-dragons. When the number of accidents made it difficult to fill up the Southern hunt at any price, the Campta's refusal to let him go so vexed him that Eveena was half afraid to show her sense of relief. You would think he liked pain—the scars of the kargynda are not his only or his deepest ones—if he did not catch at every excuse to spare it. And, again, why does he speak to Eveena as to the Campta, and to us as to children—'child' is his softest word for us? Then, he is patient where you expect no mercy, and severe where others would laugh. When Enva let the electric stove overheat the water, so that he was scalded horribly in his bath, we all counted that he would at least have paid her back the pain twice over. But as soon as Eveena and Eivé had arranged the bandages, he sent for her. We could scarcely bring you to him, Enva; but he put out the only hand he could move to stroke your hair as he does Eivé's, and spoke for once with real tenderness, as if you were the person to be pitied! Any one else would have laughed heartily113 at the figure her esve made with half her tail pulled out. But not all Eveena's pleading could obtain pardon for me."
"That was caprice, not even dealing," said Leenoo. "You were not half so bad as Enva."
"He made me own that I was," replied Eunané. "It never occurred to him to suppose or say that she did it on purpose. But I was cruel on purpose to the bird, if I were not spiteful to its mistress. 'Don't you feel,' he said, 'that intentional cruelty is what no ruler, whether of a household or of a kingdom, has a right to pass over? If not, you can hardly be fit for a charge that gives animals into your power.' I never liked him half so well; and I am sure I deserved a severer lesson. Since then, I cannot help liking114 them both; though it is mortifying115 to feel that one is nothing before her."
"It is intolerable," said Enva bitterly; "I detest116 her."
"Is it her fault?" asked Eunané with some warmth. "They are so like each other and so unlike us, that I could fancy she came from his own world. I went to her next day in her own room."
"Ay," interjected Leenoo with childish spite, "'kiss the foot and 'scape the sandal.'"
"Think so," returned Eunané quietly, "if you like. I thought I owed her some amends117. Well, she had her bird in her lap, and I think she was crying over it. But as soon as she saw me she put it out of sight. I began to tell her how sorry I was about it, but she would not let me go on. She kissed me as no one ever kissed me since my school friend Ernie died three years ago; and she cried more over the trouble I had brought on myself than over her pet. And since then," Eunané went on with a softened118 voice, "she has showed me how pretty its ways are, how clever it is, how fond of her, and she tries to make it friends with me…. Sometimes I don't wonder she is so much to him and he to her. She was brought up in the home where she was born. Her father is one of those strange people; and I fancy there is something between her and Clasfempta more than…."
I could not let this go on; and stepping back from the window as if I had but just returned, I called Eunané by name. She came at once, a little surprised at the summons, but suspecting nothing. But the first sight of my face startled her; and when, on the impulse of the moment, I took her hands and looked straight into her eyes, her quick intelligence perceived at once that I had heard at least part of the conversation.
"Ah," she said, flushing and hanging her head, "I am caught now, but"—in a tone half of relief—"I deserve it, and I won't pretend to think that you are angry only because Eveena is your favourite. You would not allow any of us to be spited if you could help it, and it is much worse to have spited her."
I led her by the hand across the peristyle into her own chamber, and when the window closed behind us, drew her to my side.
"So you would rather belong to the worst master of your own race than to me?"
"Not now," she answered. "That was my first thought when I saw how you felt for Eveena, and knew how angry you would be when you found how we—I mean how I—had used her, and I remembered how terribly strong you were. I know you better now. It is for women to strike with five fingers" (in unmeasured passion); "only, don't tell Eveena. Besides," she murmured, colouring, with drooping119 eyelids120, "I had rather be beaten by you than caressed121 by another."
"Eunané, child, you might well say you don't understand me. I could not have listened to your talk if I had meant to use it against you; and with you I have no cause to be displeased122. Nay123" (as she looked up in surprise), "I know you have not used Eveena kindly, but I heard from yourself that you had repented124. That she, who could never be coaxed125 or compelled to say what made her unhappy, or even to own that I had guessed it truly, has fully forgiven you, you don't need to be told."
"Indeed, I don't understand," the girl sobbed126. "Eveena is always so strangely soft and gentle—she would rather suffer without reason than let us suffer who deserve it. But just because she is so kind, you must feel the more bitterly for her. Besides," she went on, "I was so jealous—as if you could compare me with her—even after I had felt her kindness. No! you cannot forgive for her, and you ought not."
"Child," I answered, sadly enough, for my conscience was as ill at ease as hers, with deeper cause, "I don't tell you that your jealousy127 was not foolish and your petulance culpable128; but I do say that neither Eveena nor I have the heart—perhaps I have not even the right—to blame you. It is true that I love Eveena as I can love no other in this world or my own. How well she deserves that love none but I can know. So loving her, I would not willingly have brought any other woman into a relation which could make her dependent upon or desirous of such love as I cannot give. You know how this relation to you and the others was forced upon me. When I accepted it, I thought I could give you as much affection as you would find elsewhere. How far and why I wronged Eveena is between her and myself. I did not think that I could be wronging you."
Very little of this was intelligible29 to Eunané. She felt a tenderness she had never before received; but she could not understand my doubt, and she replied only to my last words.
"Wrong us! How could you? Did we ask whether you had another wife, or who would be your favourite? Did you promise to like us, or even to be kind to us? You might have neglected us altogether, made one girl your sole companion, kept all indulgences, all favours, for her; and how would you have wronged us? If you had turned on us when she vexed you, humbled us to gratify her caprice, ill-used us to vent3 your temper, other men would have done the same. Who else would have treated us as you have done? Who would have been careful to give each of us her share in every pleasure, her turn in every holiday, her employment at home, her place in your company abroad? Who would have inquired into the truth of our complaints and the merits of our quarrels; would have made so many excuses for our faults, given us so many patient warnings?… Wronged us! There may be some of us who don't like you; there is not one who could bear to be sent away, not one who would exchange this house for the palace of the campta though you pronounce him kingly in nature as in power."
She spoke as she believed, if she spoke in error. "If so, my child, why have you all been so bitter against Eveena? Why have you yourself been jealous of one who, as you admit, has been a favourite only in a love you did not expect?"
"But we saw it, and we envied her so much love, so much respect," she replied frankly130. "And for myself,"—she coloured, faltered131, and was silent. "For yourself, my child?"
"I was a vain fool," she broke out impetuously. "They told me that I was beautiful, and clever, and companionable. I fancied I should be your favourite, and hold the first place; and when I saw her, I would not see her grace and gentleness, or observe her soft sweet voice, and the charms that put my figure and complexion132 to shame, and the quiet sense and truth that were worth twelvefold my quickness, my memory, and my handiness. I was disappointed and mortified133 that she should be preferred. Oh, how you must hate me, Clasfempta; for I hate myself while I tell you what I have been!"
According to European doctrine134, my fealty to Eveena must then have been in peril. And yet, warmly as I felt for Eunané, the element in her passionate135 confession136 that touched me most was her recognition of Eveena's superiority; and as I soothed137 and comforted the half-childish penitent138, I thought how much it would please Eveena that I had at last come to an understanding with the companion she avowedly139 liked the best.
"But, Eunané," I said at last, "do you remember what you were saying when I called you—called you on purpose to stop you? You said that there was something between Eveena and myself more than—-more than what? What did you mean? Speak frankly, child; I know that this time you were not going to scald me on purpose."
"I don't know quite what I meant," she replied simply. "But the first time you took me out, I heard the superintendent140 say some strange things; and then he checked himself when he found your companion was not Eveena. Then Eivé—I mean—you use expressions sometimes in talking to Eveena that we never heard before. I think there is some secret between you."
"And if there be, Eunané, were you going to betray it—to set Enva and Leenoo on to find it out?"
"I did not think," she said. "I never do think before I get into trouble. I don't say, forgive me this time; but I will hold my tongue for the future."
By this time our evening meal was ready. As I led Eunané to her place, Eveena looked up with some little surprise. It was rarely that, especially on returning from absence, I had sought any other company than hers. But there was no tinge of jealousy or doubt in her look. On the contrary, as, with her entire comprehension of every expression of my face, and her quickness to read the looks of others, she saw in both countenances141 that we were on better terms than ever before, her own brightened at the thought. As I placed myself beside her, she stole her hand unobserved into mine, and pressed it as she whispered—
"You have found her out at last. She is half a child as yet; but she has a heart—and perhaps the only one among them."
"The four," as I called them, looked up as we approached with eager malice:—bitterly disappointed, when they saw that Eunané had won something more than pardon. Whatever penance they had dreaded142, their own escape ill compensated143 the loss of their expected pleasure in the pain and humiliation144 of a finer nature. Eunané's look, timidly appealing to her to ratify129 our full reconciliation145, answered by Eveena's smile of tender, sisterly sympathy, enhanced and completed their discomfiture146.
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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10
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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11
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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12
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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13
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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14
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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15
deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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16
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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17
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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18
fleas
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| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
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19
extort
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| v.勒索，敲诈，强要 | |
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20
extorted
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| v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解 | |
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21
peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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22
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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23
munificent
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| adj.慷慨的，大方的 | |
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24
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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25
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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27
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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28
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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29
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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30
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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31
intentional
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| adj.故意的，有意（识）的 | |
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32
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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33
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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34
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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35
pecuniary
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|
| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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36
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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37
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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38
munificence
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| n.宽宏大量，慷慨给与 | |
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39
haggle
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| vi.讨价还价，争论不休 | |
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40
admiration
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|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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41
invaluable
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|
| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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42
reluctance
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|
| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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43
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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44
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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45
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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46
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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47
loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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48
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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49
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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50
monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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51
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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52
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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53
fealty
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| n.忠贞，忠节 | |
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54
assailing
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| v.攻击( assail的现在分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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55
slaughtering
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 ) | |
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56
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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57
chary
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| adj.谨慎的，细心的 | |
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58
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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59
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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60
excellences
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| n.卓越( excellence的名词复数 )；（只用于所修饰的名词后）杰出的；卓越的；出类拔萃的 | |
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61
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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62
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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63
repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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64
autocracy
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| n.独裁政治，独裁政府 | |
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65
compensate
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|
| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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66
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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67
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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68
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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69
assassination
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|
| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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70
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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71
hatred
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|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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72
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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73
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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74
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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75
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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76
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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77
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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78
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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79
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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80
diligently
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| ad.industriously;carefully | |
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81
conscientiously
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|
| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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82
supreme
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|
| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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83
utterly
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|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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84
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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85
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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86
exasperating
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|
| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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87
advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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88
vengeance
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|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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89
humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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90
wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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91
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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92
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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93
grudged
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| 怀恨（grudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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94
scorched
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|
| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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95
usury
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| n.高利贷 | |
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96
penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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97
scapegoat
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| n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊 | |
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98
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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99
vexed
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|
| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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100
miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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101
pranks
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| n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
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102
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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103
taunt
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| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
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104
perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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105
trespass
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| n./v.侵犯，闯入私人领地 | |
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106
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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107
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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108
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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109
trespassing
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| [法]非法入侵 | |
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110
petulance
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| n.发脾气，生气，易怒，暴躁，性急 | |
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111
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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112
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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113
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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114
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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115
mortifying
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| adj.抑制的，苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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116
detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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117
amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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118
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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119
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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120
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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121
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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122
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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123
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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124
repented
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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126
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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127
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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128
culpable
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| adj.有罪的，该受谴责的 | |
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129
ratify
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| v.批准，认可，追认 | |
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130
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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131
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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132
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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133
mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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134
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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135
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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136
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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137
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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138
penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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139
avowedly
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| adv.公然地 | |
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140
superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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141
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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142
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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143
compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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144
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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145
reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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146
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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