Chapter 73

“I can’t sell to contractors¹ that WP failed to fill contracts for if you guys go back to work and—” “Oh man, don’t you see, Floyd?” The material was too rich for Joe Ben to stay out of. He popped into the circle of light, his eyes blinking glee. “Don’t you see? Oh yeah. See. If we break our contract so you get your contract then they can meet their contracts with the contractors that you are saying we can contract to if we—” “What? Wait a minute—” Hank was trying to keep his amusement from becoming even more obvious. “Joe Ben means, Floyd, that if we let you guys go back to work we’re eliminating our market.” “Yeah, Floyd, see? Oh, I admit it’s deep. If we let you cut their lumber², then our lumber we aim to sell to them . . .” He took another breath and tried to start anew but gave way to a snorting explosion of laughter instead. “Screw all this,” Floyd growled³. “. . . or if we let you keep our lumber”—this was the sort of material that could keep Joe going for days—“from becoming their lumber so your lumber can become their lumber—” “Screw it.” Floyd hunched⁴ his shoulders against the lantern light and clamped his jaw⁵. “Just screw it, Joe Ben.” “You can always sell lumber,” Draeger said simply. “That’s right!” Evenwrite saw an opportunity to regain⁶ lost ground. He took Hank by the arm. “That’s why I say screw all this bull. You can always sell lumber.” “Maybe...” “Goddam you now, Hank, be reasonable. . . .” He drew a deep breath in preparation for another assault on Hank’s stubbornness, but Draeger cut in abruptly⁷. “What are we to tell the people in town?” Hank turned from Evenwrite; something in the tone of Draeger’s question stripped the situation of humor. “What are you gonna what?” “What are we to tell the people in town?” Draeger asked again. “Why, I don’t care what you tell them. I don’t see—” “Are you aware, Hank, that Wakonda Pacific is owned by a firm in San Francisco? Are you aware that last year a net of nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars left your community?” “I don’t see what skin that is—” “These are your friends, Hank, your associates and neighbors. Floyd tells me that you served in Korea.” Draeger’s voice was placid⁸... “Do you ever think that the same loyalty⁹ that your country expected of you overseas could be expected of you here at home? Loyalty to friends and neighbors when they are being threatened by a foreign foe¹⁰? Loyalty to—?” “Loyalty, for the chrissake . . . loyalty?” “That’s right, Hank. I think you know what I’m talking about.” The soothing¹¹ patience of the voice was almost mesmerizing¹², “I’m speaking of the basic loyalty, the true patriotism¹³, the selfless, openhearted, humane¹⁵ concern that you always find welling up from someplace within you—a concern you might have almost forgotten—when you see a fellow human being in need of your help. . . .” “Listen...listen to me, Mister.” Hank’s voice was taut¹⁶. He pushed past Evenwrite and held his lantern close to Draeger’s neat-featured face. “I’m just as concerned as the next guy, just as loyal. If we was to get into it with Russia I’d fight for us right down to the wire. And if Oregon was to get into it with California I’d fight for Oregon. But if somebody—Biggy Newton or the Woodsworker’s union or anybody—gets into it with me,thenI’m for me! When the chips are down, I’m my own patriot¹⁴. I don’t give a goddam the other guy is my own brother wavin’ the American flag and singing the friggin’ ‘Star Spangled Banner’!” Draeger smiled sadly. “And what of self-sacrifice, the true test of any patriot? If you really believed what you say about yourself, Hank, you would be in for some pretty shallow patriotism, some pretty selfish loyalty—” “Call it whatever you want, that’s the way I intend to play it. You can tell my good friends and neighbors Hank Stamper is heartless as a stone if you want. You can tell them I care just as much about them as they did about me layin’ on the barroom floor last night.” The two men held each other’s eyes. “We could tell them that,” Draeger said, still smiling sadly at Hank, “but we both know it would be a lie.” “Yeah, a lie!” Evenwrite burst out of his angry reverie. “Because, goddammit, you can always sell lumber!” “Christ Almighty¹⁷, yes, Floyd!” Hank turned on Evenwrite, relieved in a way to have someone to shout at again. “Sure I can sell lumber. But wake up and die right! use your damn head! Look!” He grabbed the flashlight from the still laughing Joe Ben and shone it down at the surging river; the black water eddied¹⁸ about the beam of light as though it were a solid pole. “Look at that push down there! Look! After just one day of rain! You think I can wrestle¹⁹ those booms of mine through a winter of this? I’ll tell you something, Floyd, old buddy²⁰, to make your trip worth while. Something to make your damn constipated heart burst out singing. We just might not make that deadline, you ever think of that? We still got another half-boom to fill out before we make our run. Another three weeks, and some of it the shittiest type logging in the world; we go up in the state park to finish off with. Steep logging, goddamn hand-logging! just like they did sixty or seventy years ago, because the State won’t let us bring cats and donkeys in for fear we might skin up some of the goddamn mountain greenery. Three weeks of flooding and primitive²¹ logging, an’ we’re liable to fall short. But we’re gonna work our asses²² at it, ain’t we Joby? And you boys are welcome to stand there and talk about men, women, and children, friends and neighbors and loyalty and that crap till the cows come home, stand there and talk about how they are gonna lose their TV sets this winter, and how the poor folks got to eat ...but goddammit I can tell you this, that if they eat it’s gonna be for some reason other’n me, or Joe Ben or the rest, some reason other’n us playin’ Santa Claus! Because I don’t give a goddamn! for my friends and neighbors in town yonder; no more than they give a damn about me.” He stopped. A cut on his lip had reopened, and he licked at it gingerly. For a second, in the circle of the lantern’s saffron light, the men waited. No one looking at the others. Then Draeger said, “Let’s go” and Floyd Evenwrite said, “Yeah, back where there’s still some brotherhood²³ in this world,” and they picked their way in the dark back along the plank²⁴. Behind them Evenwrite heard a choking laugh start up again—“Break our contract to meet your contract so we can sell”—and heard Hank join in the laughter. “The toplofty cocksucker,” he said. “He don’t know it yet, but he’s real due to be brought down a few pegs²⁵.” “Uhuh,” Draeger agreed, but his thoughts were obviously elsewhere. At the boat Evenwrite snapped his fingers. “Damn. We should’ve asked him—” Then stopped cold. “No, no, I’m god-dammed if I will.” “Should have asked him what, Floyd?” “Never mind. Nothing.” “Nothing?” Draeger seemed amused and in even better spirits than before they had made this dumb-ass trip. “Ask him nothing?” “I guess nothing. I knew better. I knew it was like talkin’ to a signpost. We shouldn’t of come. We should of knew better. That’s exactly correct: we should of asked him nothing.” Evenwrite untied²⁷ the back rope with blind, frozen fingers and climbed into the launch. “Darn,” he muttered to himself, feeling his way to the back of the boat. “I should of asked him anyway; he couldn’t of said more than no. And he might of come through, just out of contrariness. Then at least the trip wouldn’t been a complete goose-egg. . . .” Draeger returned to his seat in the front of the boat. “The trip wasn’t a goose-egg, Floyd,” he mused²⁶ aloud, “not a goose-egg by any means.” Then, as an afterthought: “Should have asked them what?” Evenwrite gave the motor rope a furious yank. “For smokes! We should have asked him for smokes is what.” He got the motor started and swung the little running light away from the dark into the murky²⁸ fume²⁹ of rain, turning down river, he realized with a groan³⁰, just in time to buck³¹ the incoming tide. By the time Teddy saw Evenwrite and Draeger crossing the street back to the Snag, all the other men had gone home. From his lair³² of colored light near the front window he watched the way the two men moved after they entered the bar, studying them with veiled intensity³³: Floyd is uncomfortable. Evenwrite examined the wet ruin of his clothes with irritated and jerky pluckings. He is changed some since he came out of the woods and into the white-collar world, like a molting³⁴ chicken that longed terribly to pluck at the annoying itch³⁵ of its feathers, yet feared just as much to be naked. Floyd used to come in from work like the animal he is, wet and weary and not worried about it; a stupid animal, but a comfortable one ...He finally sighed and loosened his belt so he could sit without having his wet slacks cut him in half . . . Now he is just stupid. And scared. Floyd has added to the normal fear of the dark a worse fear: the fear of falling. After folding his pudgy hands across his stomach to try to conceal³⁶ the bulge³⁷ that had been building steadily³⁸ since he had been voted into that white-collar world, Evenwrite sighed again with discomfort³⁹ and disgust, and frowned across the table, where Draeger was still carefully hanging his overcoat. “All right, now, Jonathan . . . all right.” And worst of all, he is too stupid to know he isn’t high enough to fall very far. Draeger finished with his coat, then unhurriedly brushed the rain from his slacks; when he was satisfied he pulled out a chair and sat down and placed his hands on the table, one on top of the other. “All right?” he said, This Mr. Draeger, though, he’s up in a position of some height, looking as neat and composed as Evenwrite looked disarranged. “All right what, Floyd?” So why doesn’t he act afraid of falling? “What? All right what the fuck are we gonna dammittohell do is all right what! I mean to say, I’m waiting, Jonathan. Christ, I been waiting a week for you to show up around here an’ go to earnin’ your pay....I waited yesterday when you said hold off until you looked over the situation, an’ I waited today while you took a little joyride up to the Stamper house, an’ now I want to know what you aim to do!” Draeger reached into the breast pocket of his jacket for his tobacco pouch⁴⁰. “Do you suppose you can hold off until I fill my pipe?” he asked pleasantly. “And order a drink?” Floyd rolled his eyes and sighed again. Teddy came gliding⁴¹ out of his lair to wait beside the table. “I’d like a whisky if you don’t mind,” Draeger said, smiling up at him, “to take off the chill of that little joyride. You, Floyd?” “Nothing, no,” Evenwrite answered. Draeger said “one” with his lips adding, “I. W. Harper’s,” and Teddy melted backward into the throbbing⁴² light. Not any fear of dark, not any fear of falling . . . like he knows something the rest of us don’t. “Now, Floyd.” Draeger puffed⁴³ his pipe to life. “Exactly what is it you expect me to do? You talk as though you expect me to hire a gang of labor⁴⁴ goons and go back up there and burn the Stampers out.” He laughed softly. “That don’t sound like such a bad idea, for my money. Burn his whole by god business, mill, trucks, an’ everything.”  “You’re still thinking in the thirties, Floyd. We’ve learned a few things since then.” “Yeah? Well, I’ve yet to see them. Leastways in the thirties they got results, those old boys did. . . .” “Oh? I’m not so sure. Not the desired results, anyway. Those old boys’ tactics quite often tended to make the opposition⁴⁵ set its jaw and dig in firmer than ever—ah, here we are. . . .” He moved his arm to allow Teddy to place the shot glass of whisky in front of him. “Thank you—and, oh, Teddy—could I have a glass of water?” He turned back to Evenwrite and went on. “And, in this particular case, Floyd—unless I’m completely off base about Hank Stamper—I can think of nothing that would make the opposition set its jaw any firmer than burning his ‘whole by god business.’ . . .” He picked up the shot glass and smiled into its amber⁴⁶ contents reflectively. “No, I don’t think one could choose a worse method against this man. . . .” “I don’t follow you.” “I think you do. You know this man better than I do. If you wanted him to travel east when he had it in his mind to go west, would you get behind him with a whip and try to drive him your way?” Evenwrite thought a moment, then slapped the table. “By god yes, I would! If he was heading toward walking all over me coming west. Yes! Even if it meant—even if it might mean him raising a fuss . . .” “Raising quite a fuss, too, in all likelihood, isn’t that right? A long and costly⁴⁷ fuss, you could be sure. Even if you finally got your way. Because this man obviously thrives on physical opposition. He can understand it. He’s oriented to react like a boxer⁴⁸. If you hit him, he’ll hit back.” “All right, all right! I’m tired of hearin’ what Hank Stamper’ll do. I want to know what you aim to do now that you got him figured so good.” Teddy slid a small glass of water onto the placemat in front of Draeger and stepped back, unnoticed, watching. What is it you aim to do? “To be perfectly⁴⁹ frank, Floyd, I think all we need to do is wait,” he said—What is it you know we don’t?— and tossed down the shot of whisky.

1 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

3 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hunched   

（常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的

参考例句：

• He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
• Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。

5 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

6 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

7 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

8 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

9 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

10 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

11 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

12 mesmerizing   

adj.有吸引力的，有魅力的v.使入迷( mesmerize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I think you must be mesmerizing me, Charles. 查尔斯，我想你一定在对我施催眠术啦。 来自辞典例句
• The attendant one-dimensional wave equation has mesmerizing harmonic properties. 伴生的一元波平衡具有迷人的和谐特性。 来自电影对白

13 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

14 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

15 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

16 taut   

adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的

参考例句：

• The bowstring is stretched taut.弓弦绷得很紧。
• Scarlett's taut nerves almost cracked as a sudden noise sounded in the underbrush near them. 思嘉紧张的神经几乎一下绷裂了，因为她听见附近灌木丛中突然冒出的一个声音。

17 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。

18 eddied   

起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The mist eddied round the old house. 雾气回旋在这栋老房子的四周。

19 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

20 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

21 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

22 asses   

n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人

参考例句：

• Sometimes I got to kick asses to make this place run right. 有时我为了把这个地方搞得像个样子，也不得不踢踢别人的屁股。 来自教父部分
• Those were wild asses maybe, or zebras flying around in herds. 那些也许是野驴或斑马在成群地奔跑。

23 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

24 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

25 pegs   

n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• She hung up the shirt with two (clothes) pegs. 她用两只衣夹挂上衬衫。 来自辞典例句
• The vice-presidents were all square pegs in round holes. 各位副总裁也都安排得不得其所。 来自辞典例句

26 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

27 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。

28 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

29 fume   

n.(usu pl.)(浓烈或难闻的)烟，气，汽

参考例句：

• The pressure of fume in chimney increases slowly from top to bottom.烟道内压力自上而下逐渐增加，底层住户的排烟最为不利。
• Your harsh words put her in a fume.你那些难听的话使她生气了。

30 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

31 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

32 lair   

n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处

参考例句：

• How can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair?不入虎穴，焉得虎子？
• I retired to my lair,and wrote some letters.我回到自己的躲藏处，写了几封信。

33 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

34 molting   

n.蜕皮v.换羽，脱毛( molt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The old cuticle is digested by molting fluid. 旧表皮被蜕皮液消化。 来自辞典例句
• Molting in insects is triggered by rising levels of a hormone called ecdysone. 昆虫的脱皮是由于称为脱皮素激素的含量升高而引起的。 来自辞典例句

35 itch   

n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望

参考例句：

• Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
• He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。

36 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

37 bulge   

n.突出，膨胀，激增；vt.突出，膨胀

参考例句：

• The apple made a bulge in his pocket.苹果把他口袋塞得鼓了起来。
• What's that awkward bulge in your pocket?你口袋里那块鼓鼓囊囊的东西是什么？

38 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

39 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

40 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

41 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

42 throbbing   

a. 跳动的,悸动的

参考例句：

• My heart is throbbing and I'm shaking. 我的心在猛烈跳动，身子在不住颤抖。
• There was a throbbing in her temples. 她的太阳穴直跳。

43 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

44 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

45 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

46 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

47 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

48 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

49 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。