小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 经典英文小说 » Round the Corner » XXXI NEWS FROM MINNA
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
XXXI NEWS FROM MINNA
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
          “Sir” cries Adams, “I assure you she is as innocent as myself.”         
          JOSEPH ANDREWS.

MRS. FOLYAT found the position of a grandmother entirely1 to her liking—the maximum of opportunity for beatific2 clucking with no responsibility. Annette had three children, Gertrude two, and Minna two, and Mrs. Folyat had already a large collection of their sayings for quotation3 in company, the most popular being an ode addressed by Annette’s second boy to Mr. Gladstone, who had visited our town several times when its allegiance to the Liberal cause began to waver.

Minna brought her two children to stay in Burdley Park. They came for a fortnight and stayed four months. They would have stayed longer but that Francis began to be anxious and, after a good deal of cogitation4, shyly questioned Minna as to her husband’s doings.

“Basil is having a bad year,” said Minna. “We’re horribly poor sometimes. Rents in London are so dear.”

“Even so,” said Francis, “it seems hardly wise to leave him for so long.”

“We have rows.” Minna seemed to be quite cheerful about it. “Poor people always do have rows. They get so afraid, that they can’t enjoy anything else.”

“I was beginning to think that something serious might have happened.”

“Oh, no. I’m still Basil’s ‘darling wife’ when he writes to me, and he is my ‘devoted husband.’”

“Marriage,” said Francis, “is very difficult.”

“Of course it is, to anybody who isn’t an angel like you. . . . I’ll go back and try again.”

[Pg 310]

Francis sucked at his pipe thoughtfully.

“I oughtn’t to tell you this,” he said, “but Annette ran away once.”

“Did she?”

“Yes, after breakfast. She was back again in time to give Bennett his tea.”

 

Two days later Minna returned to London. The day after she had gone, Basil appeared with a drawn5, miserable6 face. He asked Francis if he might speak to him, and Francis, quaking, led him into the study. Basil said he had been abroad. Minna had run away from him with the children.

“She came here,” said Francis. “For all we know, she was writing to you every day and hearing from you. She said she was hearing from you. . . . Only just before she went she spoke7 about your letters. She went back to London yesterday. You ought to be with her. . . . In my opinion you ought to have fetched her back months ago.”

Basil seemed to have a great deal to say, but he gulped8 it down and reached out for the railway guide.

“Yes,” he said. “I suppose we must try again.”

“If you want money,” said Francis, “I would rather you came to me than were obliged to any one else.”

“It isn’t money. Thanks all the same.”

Francis felt his heart sink, but he let it pass. It seemed all the more imperative9 to him that Basil should hurry back to London. He bustled10 him out of the house and saw him to the station.

 

Three weeks passed during which no word came from Minna or Basil. Francis did not write to them, hoping that they were settling their differences—whatever they might be.

One morning when he was up early he took in the letters and found one from Minna addressed to Mary. He watched Mary read it at breakfast. Without looking up she thrust it back into its envelope, her hand trembling so that the paper rustled11, and slipped it into her pocket.

[Pg 311]

“Who’s your letter from,” asked Mrs. Folyat. Francis held his breath.

“It’s from Fawcett’s, the music-publishers. They haven’t got the piece I wanted. Perhaps I didn’t give the name right.”

Francis breathed again.

Mary disappeared soon after breakfast. She went to Serge’s studio. He was out. She waited for him all day and had nothing to eat. She did not even light the gas but sat thinking, thinking on no thought. Serge found her in the dark.

“Why, Mary!” he said.

She held out Minna’s letter, and he sat and read it.

“Have you told anybody at home?”

“No. It’s too awful.”

“It isn’t awful at all. It’s very silly of them to be angry with each other.”

“But divorce. . . . It’s wicked.”

“Nonsense. It may be necessary. It often is. . . . She’ll want a good deal of sympathy.”

“She doesn’t deserve any.”

“How absurd you screwed-up people are! You don’t give sympathy because people deserve it, but because they need it.”

Mary pondered that for a moment or two. Then she asked:

“What did you say I was?”

“Screwed-up.”

Mary said nothing.

“We’d better burn this,” said Serge. “We shall have to be discreet12. Letters nearly always convey wrong impressions.”

“Shall I write to Minna?”

“If you want to. Don’t give her your opinion. She won’t want it.”

“Who is to tell them at home?”

“I will, if you like.”

“That’s what I wanted you to do. . . . I felt that something was happening all the time Minna was here.”

“I’ll go home with you now.”

[Pg 312]

“I think the sooner the better. . . . Something awful might happen.”

 

Serge found his father in the greenhouse and went straight to the point. Francis was in his shirt-sleeves. He laid down his trowel and very slowly put on his coat.

“I knew something was happening, but I never thought it could be as bad as that.”

He sat down heavily and blinked through his spectacles.

“I seem,” he said, “I seem to have brought my children into the world to very little happiness. I suppose Minna ought never to have married a poor man. . . . It’s very queer, Serge, very queer. One reads of these things and the rights and wrongs of them appear to be very simple. They happen in one’s own family and the rights and wrongs don’t appear so simple. . . . If Minna were to come in now, I should be glad to see her. I should at least know that she was safe. . . .”

“The truth is,” said Serge, “that the rights and wrongs don’t matter. You either love people or you don’t. If you love them, you help them. If you don’t, some one else does.”

“I think,” said Francis, “I had better go to London. I always liked Basil. He always liked me. I might be able to make him see reason. . . . Minna says she is innocent. He ought to take her back.”

“My dear father, that isn’t reason. That is nonsense. . . . You’re thinking of what people will say. Public opinion doesn’t matter any more than my opinion or your opinion. If they have fallen so far apart as to wish to break the tie between them it will be quite impossible for them to live together without degradation——”

“You go so fast. I can’t follow you. I don’t see . . .”

“It is always degrading for a man and a woman to live together when they have no love for each other.”

“Dear me!” murmured Francis. “Dear me!” His face wore an expression of immense surprise. He went on muttering to himself in a puzzled way, and finally, with a sort of triumph, as though he had found the solution of his riddle13:

[Pg 313]

“But if they are married?”

“My dear father, you must admit that love and marriage are two very different things. Love is divine, marriage is human.”

“But——”

“Marriage is not a divine ordinance14. It is a respectable human institution contrived15 for the comfortable existence of society.”

“I am thinking of Minna’s children.”

“So am I.”

“She will lose them.”

“That is her affair. Anything is better for them than being brought up in a house with a man and a woman who hate each other.”

“I can’t admit that.”

“As a matter of principle, perhaps not; as a matter of practice, you will, just as you took over Frederic’s mess. . . .”

“How did that turn out?”

“Splendidly.”

Very slowly Francis turned that over in his mind and went back in memory to the day in Mrs. Entwistle’s cottage. It did not bring him any great elucidation16, but it gave him a feeling of confidence in Serge, and, clinging to him, he said:

“What are we to do?”

“If you’ll agree to say nothing to my mother, to write nothing to Basil, and not to bother your head about the rights and wrongs of it, I’ll go to London and see Minna. If there’s a glimmer17 of hope I’ll do everything I can. If there isn’t, I’ll see Minna through. . . . I don’t think I shall come back. I can’t stay in this place much longer. It gobbles men up and doesn’t even have the decency18 to digest them properly. . . . It’s a machine and has no conscience about the past, no concern for the future. It darkens men’s minds so that they live hideously19 and their horrible sins are visited upon their children. No, I shan’t come back. I can’t. . . .”

“There is a great deal of wickedness in this place. It is God’s will,” said Francis.

[Pg 314]

“Men’s will. The will of men cheated and cozened by their own rapacity20. . . . But that is neither here nor there. Will you agree to say nothing to my mother until you hear from me?”

“I’ll promise you that,” said Francis with a little compunction, for he saw how dark would be the days of waiting with such a secret tugging21 at his heart and his wife babbling22 of her children’s marriages. “How did you know? Did Mary tell you?”

“Yes, Mary told me. Mary has been rather a trump23 about it.”

“I shall be able to talk to Mary,” thought Francis, with a sigh of relief.

 

Serge spent the night packing and dismantling24 his studio. He destroyed a great many of his pictures, called up the porter and made him a present of his furniture and the clothes that were left after he had packed two bags.

In the morning he went to fetch Annie Lipsett. He found her just leaving, but made her go back with him to see the boy. Him he hugged and kissed, and then he gave Annie a cheque for fifty pounds for his education.

“And for God’s sake,” he said, “don’t make him a gentleman. Put him to a trade. If he’s any real good he’ll get out of it. If he’s only middling good he’ll stay there and marry and die respectable. If he’s bad—God help you; but he won’t be that.”

Annie said:

“You’re going.”

“Yes. I’m going.”

She was very plucky25 and fought back her tears. Serge took her shoulders in his hands and said:

“You and I have had a queer sort of love, an impersonal26 sort of meeting in Heaven here on earth. I never understood before what it must feel like to be a seraph27—just a head and wings. We’ve been so busy fighting our way up out of a slimy pit that we haven’t had time to think much about each other—only the boy.”

Annie’s tears flowed freely and she clung to his hand and said:

[Pg 315]

“You don’t know what you’ve been to me, but I can tell you now. It was so much to have you for my friend in that time when I had no one. I loved you. . . .”

“I know, I know.”

“But all that sort of love went away afterwards when I had the boy. It has been a great thing for him too. . . .”

“I’ve learned a lot from him.”

“That’s so wonderful about you. You seem to be always learning. And now you’re going. I used to dread28 your going, but now it doesn’t hurt me at all. . . . You will always have me to think gladly of you.”

“And I of you. . . . We’ve made the world richer by a friendship.”

“I want to say thank you,” she said, “but I can’t, not enough.”

“Of course you can’t. . . . Come along.”

 

In a few hours Serge was in the express for London. He had a portfolio29 of pictures and drawings, two bags, and one hundred and twenty pounds in notes. As the train passed out of the dingy30 murk and his eyes lighted on the green, undefiled country, he drew in great breaths and found it hard not to shout for joy in the new zest31 for adventure that had come to him.

“That seraph notion,” he thought, “I wonder where it comes from? That curious hunger for the state of childhood, the pretence32 that it is superior to adult life. . . . Surely it all comes from their incompetence33 in managing their affairs as men and women. They seem to lose their simplicity34. I wonder why? . . . Old Lawrie must be right. Mind, body, spirit. You can’t poison the spirit. That’s God, and He’s beyond contamination. Body and mind are the instruments of the spirit. Poison the mind and the body suffers. . . . That’s right. Yes: old Lawrie’s right. Fear of love and fear of death; the mind hemmed35 in and losing its bright power of reflection, so that it shows only a distorted image of life. . . . No wonder they hate life when it looks like that. . . . It can’t go on for ever. The spirit must break through it all in time . . . in time.”

[Pg 316]

The train rushed along, and he began to think that perhaps the problem was being solved. When men had made it so easy to escape from their cities of captivity36, would not their minds also be freed? Would there not be a gradual adjustment of mind to larger surroundings? Or were the minds of men so clothed with centuries of tyranny that swifter transportation also would be used as an instrument of slavery? . . .

“No,” he thought, “there is a deeper faith in men than they know. They endure heroically because they are sure that in the end their efforts will lead to deliverance.”

As an ironic37 comment upon his reflections the train ran into a real “old particular” London fog and was held up for half an hour outside the station. In that half-hour his thoughts ran swiftly. He had never been to London before, and he was moved by a boyish excitement at the prospect38 of entering it. That he found absurd. It would be hardly at all different from the place he had just left. That had held little for him: this could hold nothing at all. He had no ambition, and often ludicrously had learned the scorn a man can come by who prefers anything to his own advancement39; often he had seen how profitable it was for a man to sacrifice his talent to his vanity, and how incredible to such a man that it could be possible to sacrifice vanity to talent. From all he had heard of London, the greatest city in the world, its subservience40 to ambitious men was as immense as its renown41. In our town, Benskin and his school of little fishes had dubbed42 Serge “amateur” by way of killing43 him. He had liked the isolation44 that had followed, but now he thought that isolation could be of little use to a man, except he could spring from it to greater freedom and a purer joy in his work. “Amateur.” . . . Being interpreted, that means one who loves his work, as its contrary, “professional,” signifies one who works for gain. . . . These cities were professional. They rejected him, as they rejected all amateurs. . . . So be it. Serge felt no bitterness. He was a free man. He asked nothing: he had been given much, first of all the power to enjoy. . . . He chuckled45 to think that the only usefulness the suspicious world of professional [Pg 317]men would allow him lay—apparently—in succouring females in distress46. Knight-errantry, once the loftiest of professions, was descended47 into the hands of the contemned48 amateurs.

“At bottom,” said Serge, “the difference between them and me is that I take women seriously and they don’t.”

 

His stay in London was shorter even than he had thought it would be. He visited Basil first, and found him working desperately49, paintings, charcoal50 drawings, black-and-white, Christmas cards, book illustrations, designs for menus, chocolate boxes—all slipshod, formal, but just neatly51 and obviously charming. Through his teeth he asked Serge what the hell he had come for and went on working. Serge turned over a pile of drawings on the table by the window.

“Benskin would dote on you now. . . . How you must hate art to be able to do them so well!”

Basil grunted52. “I hate everything.”

“You always were extreme.”

Basil laid down his pen.

“Did she send you?”

“No. She doesn’t know I’m in London. I came to you first because I thought your point of view might be helpful when I come to tackle her. I’ve got nothing to go upon except her letter to Mary, which wasn’t particularly illuminating53.”

“It wouldn’t be. It’s just funny to her—just funny, do you hear? I’ve implored54 her, on my knees I’ve begged her just to help me to understand her, to give me some clue as to what it is that she really wants, to keep us from going to smash, and she just sat and listened to me with that slow grin of hers. . . . I frightened her, I think, the last time, and the grin faded from her face, but she became as hard as a stone. . . . She didn’t care. She didn’t care. And I think she wanted to break me. . . . She hasn’t done it. Do you hear? She hasn’t done it!”

“Did you weep?”

[Pg 318]

“I . . . I broke down.”

“Ah! Not a good way of convincing her of your capacity to give her what she wants.”

Basil strode angrily about the studio, waving his arms and shouting.

“It’s not a bit of good. It’s done now. . . . It’s all over. It’s finished.”

“It won’t be finished until you’ve done thinking about it. There doesn’t seem to be much prospect of that.”

“I’m not going to discuss it with you.”

“I don’t want to. What are the facts? You’ve accused her of infidelity. Who’s the man?”

“Fry. . . . His wife’s divorcing him. That’s evidence enough, isn’t it?”

“I’m not concerned with the evidence. I only want to know whether it’s necessary that there should be a divorce.”

“She’s left me.”

“I might persuade her to return.”

“Could you?”

“I might. . . .”

“I’ll forgive her. . . . If she will come to me as a contrite55 woman. . . .”

“That’s slush. If you are going to spend your lives in quarrelling as to which is really the magnanimous party, I shan’t stir a finger. . . . Do you want her?”

“If she . . .”

“If you want her, there can be no conditions. . . .”

“But she . . .”

Serge saw that it was hopeless. Basil was clinging to his grievances56, nursing them, cherishing them. They had become more precious to him than his own happiness, than his wife, than the well-being57 of his children. . . . Still there was hope that on Minna’s side there might be magnanimity and generosity58 enough to uproot59 the thick-set hedge with which Basil had surrounded himself.

 

Minna was in rooms in the Marylebone Road, near Madame Tussaud’s. She had a woman friend with her, a queer inanimate creature who looked as though she had stepped out of the waxworks—a model of Nell Gwynne. [Pg 319]Minna seemed quite happy. She was lying on a sofa eating Turkish delight and reading “Jane Eyre.” She dropped her book as Serge entered and her friend glided60 away.

“I am glad to see you,” she said. “It’s so dull. Isn’t it a beastly business?”

“I’ve just been to see Basil.”

“Is he still weeping?”

Serge ignored that question and asked her another.

“What’s the trouble between you two?”

“Basil says I’m——”

“I know that, but that’s only the outcome of the trouble.”

Minna was interested. She sat up on the sofa with her hands between her knees.

“How clever you are, Serge! No one else has ever thought of that. Everybody else is quarrelling as to whether I did or did not.”

“Did you?”

“No. That comes long after the mischief’s done. The trouble between Basil and me is simply this. Basil wants me to be a mother to him and I can’t. People are simply sickening about mothers. I’m a woman first and a mother afterwards. Being a mother grows out of being a woman. . . . Basil wants me to be a work of art in theory and a mother in practice. I simply couldn’t do it. . . . It’s my own fault. I knew Basil was like that before I married him. I had a sort of blind moment when I thought I could change him. You can’t change people. I can’t change myself. . . . I ought to have left him long ago, but Basil’s the sort of man you can’t leave. He clings. He plays on your nerves and makes you frightened. He looks at you with his big eyes and seems so helpless that you’re afraid to leave him, and you don’t like hurting him. He simply makes you be a mother to him and then takes advantage of it, and things go from bad to worse. . . . London seemed to frighten him, took away all his courage and his ambition. London’s too big for him. He wants to be at the top of the tree all at once, simply because he’s afraid of the climb. . . . We should have done better to stay at home.”

[Pg 320]

“That wouldn’t have made any difference.”

“No, I suppose not. I am I and Basil is Basil and that’s the whole story, and it’s just like a man of that sort to turn round and try to kill you when you won’t let him cling to you any longer.”

Minna’s voice became venomous.

“Grievances again!” thought Serge, and he saw then how impossible was his position. He could not tell Minna of Basil’s willingness to take her back upon conditions. Either of them or both must surrender their grievances if anything were to be done. That seemed to be extremely improbable.

“You will not go back, then?”

“I’m quite willing to go back, if Basil——”

More conditions! Oh, the folly61 of insistence62 upon rights! . . . Serge dropped the subject, accepted the inevitable63 and asked:

“Then it is to go on?”

“That rests with Basil.”

“If he does not withdraw the petition I suppose you will not defend.”

“I shall defend my honour if I have to spend my last penny on it. I’m not going to have mud thrown at me and say ‘Thank you’ for it. I don’t trust Basil. He’s a vindictive64 little beast. He’s sure to say our marriage was happy. . . . Besides, I must think of the children.”

“I wish you would.”

“I do. Their mother’s honour is precious to them.”

“Personally,” said Serge, “I would sell my honour for twopence.”

“Oh! you! . . . But then you don’t care what anybody thinks of you.”

“Not a straw.”

“Then it isn’t any good talking to you. You really are an immoral65 man. . . . If Basil goes for me, I shall go for him. You’d hold up the other cheek, I know, but then you’re not human. I told my children once to think before they struck, and Benny said, ‘I do think, and then I strike. . . .’ I’m like that too. I’m not going to listen to you. I’m not going back to Basil, I’m not going [Pg 321]to lie down and let him weep over my sins in public. He’s a little beast and everybody shall know that he’s a little beast. . . .”

Minna had worked herself up into a state of anger. She was hot and red in the face with it, and looked coarse and unpleasant.

Serge said to himself:

“No wonder knight-errantry is dead, since women have taken upon themselves to be as stupidly selfish as men.”

He made one last effort, and suggested that she should take the more sensible course and leave it to Basil unopposed to set the cumbrous machinery66 of the law in motion, if only for the sake of her father and mother. To that Minna only replied with a brilliant but spiteful caricature of Mrs. Folyat’s state of mind as slowly she digested the unpalatable truth that all marriages were not made in Heaven.

 

Serge wrote to Francis that night and told him that there was no hope, since both Minna and Basil were resolute67 to part. All that could be looked for was that they would injure each other as little as possible in the process. So far as he could see, the pain of uprooting68 was over. The pair were absolutely divorced. Unhappily, they seemed determined69 to call down on each other the disapprobation of the world, in their frenziedly childish desire to hurt each other. . . . Serge begged Francis to make his mother take a reasonable, human view of it, since Minna would need friendliness70 and assistance, and suggested that he should come to an arrangement with Basil’s family for the maintenance of the children.

His letter ended thus:

“Good-bye, my dear father. I was your first disappointment, but in the end you and I recognised each other. That is permanent. It will be with me wherever I go, with you to the end of your life. You are of those who believe that understanding is not given to us. Your belief must be a bitter comfort to you. I believe that men are rapidly coming to an end of their material activity [Pg 322]so that soon they will be forced to find understanding or perish. . . . Do you remember a night when you and I watched the rest acting71 an absurd play, and I said involuntarily, ‘Round the corner’? Modern life is theatrical72. Everybody is playing a part, because they are without understanding. Life for modern men and women is for ever round the corner because they attempt to tackle their affairs with the minds of children, children who believe everything they are told and examine nothing. They play with everything. They can do nothing else. Unhappily, life is a serious business which yields its reward of joy only to simplicity, sincerity73, and purity, or, if you like the old trinity better—faith, hope, and charity. The old beliefs are true—nearly all that you preach, I mean; but from repetition they have become stale and meaningless. They need restatement. . . . I am going back to the sea, not because I believe that the ‘great wide spaces of the earth’—what a lot of twaddle is talked about them!—have a monopoly of truth, but because I must move and keep moving. It is in the air. Perhaps I feel it before other men. The salvation74 of human life lies in movement, circulation. . . . More simply and less philosophically75 I am going because it amuses me to go. I like passing through the world saluting76 the few men of courage and good heart whom one can find, and, of such men, my dear father, I count you not the least.”

Francis kept this letter and through his hours of torment77 often read it. It let in air.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
2 beatific qd4yj     
adj.快乐的,有福的
参考例句:
  • All parents wish their children could have a safe and beatific life.父母都渴望他们的孩子们平安快乐。
  • Perhaps the Beatific Vision itself has some remote kinship with this lowly experience.或许至福幻象本身就同这种平凡的体验有着某种淡薄的血缘关系。
3 quotation 7S6xV     
n.引文,引语,语录;报价,牌价,行情
参考例句:
  • He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
  • The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。
4 cogitation kW7y5     
n.仔细思考,计划,设计
参考例句:
  • After much cogitation he rejected the offer. 做了仔细思考之后,他还是拒绝了邀请。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The existing problems were analyzed from two aspects of cogitation and research. 分析了在含蜡原油低温粘弹性认识上和研究中存在的问题。 来自互联网
5 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
6 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
7 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
8 gulped 4873fe497201edc23bc8dcb50aa6eb2c     
v.狼吞虎咽地吃,吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 );大口地吸(气);哽住
参考例句:
  • He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
  • She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下,似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 imperative BcdzC     
n.命令,需要;规则;祈使语气;adj.强制的;紧急的
参考例句:
  • He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
  • The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。
10 bustled 9467abd9ace0cff070d56f0196327c70     
闹哄哄地忙乱,奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 ); 催促
参考例句:
  • She bustled around in the kitchen. 她在厨房里忙得团团转。
  • The hostress bustled about with an assumption of authority. 女主人摆出一副权威的样子忙来忙去。
11 rustled f68661cf4ba60e94dc1960741a892551     
v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 discreet xZezn     
adj.(言行)谨慎的;慎重的;有判断力的
参考例句:
  • He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
  • It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。
13 riddle WCfzw     
n.谜,谜语,粗筛;vt.解谜,给…出谜,筛,检查,鉴定,非难,充满于;vi.出谜
参考例句:
  • The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
  • Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。
14 ordinance Svty0     
n.法令;条令;条例
参考例句:
  • The Ordinance of 1785 provided the first land grants for educational purposes.1785年法案为教育目的提供了第一批土地。
  • The city passed an ordinance compelling all outdoor lighting to be switched off at 9.00 PM.该市通过一条法令强令晚上九点关闭一切室外照明。
15 contrived ivBzmO     
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的
参考例句:
  • There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
  • The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。
16 elucidation be201a6d0a3540baa2ace7c891b49f35     
n.说明,阐明
参考例句:
  • The advertising copy is the elucidation text,which must be written according to the formula of AIDA. 文案是说明文,应基本遵照AIDA公式来写作。 来自互联网
  • Fourth, a worm hole, elucidation space-time can stretch, compression, rent, also is deduced time-travel this idea. 第四,有了虫洞,就说明时空可以被拉伸、压缩、撕裂,也就推导出了时空旅行这个想法。 来自互联网
17 glimmer 5gTxU     
v.发出闪烁的微光;n.微光,微弱的闪光
参考例句:
  • I looked at her and felt a glimmer of hope.我注视她,感到了一线希望。
  • A glimmer of amusement showed in her eyes.她的眼中露出一丝笑意。
18 decency Jxzxs     
n.体面,得体,合宜,正派,庄重
参考例句:
  • His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
  • Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
19 hideously hideously     
adv.可怕地,非常讨厌地
参考例句:
  • The witch was hideously ugly. 那个女巫丑得吓人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Pitt's smile returned, and it was hideously diabolic. 皮特的脸上重新浮现出笑容,但却狰狞可怕。 来自辞典例句
20 rapacity 0TKx9     
n.贪婪,贪心,劫掠的欲望
参考例句:
  • Here was neither guile nor rapacity. 在她身上没有狡诈和贪婪。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • During the whole process of construction, the operational safty and rapacity of track must be guaranteed. 改建施工期内不影响正线运营安全,也不降低通过能力。 来自互联网
21 tugging 1b03c4e07db34ec7462f2931af418753     
n.牵引感v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉,样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
  • She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他,一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句
22 babbling babbling     
n.胡说,婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 );作潺潺声(如流水);含糊不清地说话;泄漏秘密
参考例句:
  • I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上,她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
23 trump LU1zK     
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
参考例句:
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
24 dismantling 3d7840646b80ddcdce2dd04e396f7138     
(枪支)分解
参考例句:
  • The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
  • The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。
25 plucky RBOyw     
adj.勇敢的
参考例句:
  • The plucky schoolgirl amazed doctors by hanging on to life for nearly two months.这名勇敢的女生坚持不放弃生命近两个月的精神令医生感到震惊。
  • This story featured a plucky heroine.这个故事描述了一个勇敢的女英雄。
26 impersonal Ck6yp     
adj.无个人感情的,与个人无关的,非人称的
参考例句:
  • Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远,没有人情味。
  • His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。
27 seraph Gziw4     
n.六翼天使
参考例句:
  • Seraph is of the highest rank of angels in the Bible.六翼天使是圣经中级别最高的天使。
  • In the Bible,a seraph is a kind of angel.在圣经中,六翼天使是天使的一种。
28 dread Ekpz8     
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
参考例句:
  • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
  • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
29 portfolio 9OzxZ     
n.公事包;文件夹;大臣及部长职位
参考例句:
  • He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
  • He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。
30 dingy iu8xq     
adj.昏暗的,肮脏的
参考例句:
  • It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
  • The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。
31 zest vMizT     
n.乐趣;滋味,风味;兴趣
参考例句:
  • He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
  • He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。
32 pretence pretence     
n.假装,作假;借口,口实;虚伪;虚饰
参考例句:
  • The government abandoned any pretence of reform. 政府不再装模作样地进行改革。
  • He made a pretence of being happy at the party.晚会上他假装很高兴。
33 incompetence o8Uxt     
n.不胜任,不称职
参考例句:
  • He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
  • She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得,本是老板无能,但她却成了替罪羊。
34 simplicity Vryyv     
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯
参考例句:
  • She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
  • The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。
35 hemmed 16d335eff409da16d63987f05fc78f5a     
缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 ); 包围
参考例句:
  • He hemmed and hawed but wouldn't say anything definite. 他总是哼儿哈儿的,就是不说句痛快话。
  • The soldiers were hemmed in on all sides. 士兵们被四面包围了。
36 captivity qrJzv     
n.囚禁;被俘;束缚
参考例句:
  • A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
  • He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。
37 ironic 1atzm     
adj.讽刺的,有讽刺意味的,出乎意料的
参考例句:
  • That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
  • People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”,但他们是在挖苦我。
38 prospect P01zn     
n.前景,前途;景色,视野
参考例句:
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
  • The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
39 advancement tzgziL     
n.前进,促进,提升
参考例句:
  • His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
  • The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。
40 subservience 2bcc2b181232bc66a11e8370e5dd82c9     
n.有利,有益;从属(地位),附属性;屈从,恭顺;媚态
参考例句:
  • I could not make subservience an automatic part of my behavior. 我不能把阿谀奉承化为我自动奉行的处世之道。 来自辞典例句
  • All his actions were in subservience to the general plan. 他的所有行为对整体计划有帮助。 来自互联网
41 renown 1VJxF     
n.声誉,名望
参考例句:
  • His renown has spread throughout the country.他的名声已传遍全国。
  • She used to be a singer of some renown.她曾是位小有名气的歌手。
42 dubbed dubbed     
v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 );把…称为;配音;复制
参考例句:
  • Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
  • Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的? 来自《简明英汉词典》
43 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
44 isolation 7qMzTS     
n.隔离,孤立,分解,分离
参考例句:
  • The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
  • He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后,生活比较孤寂。
45 chuckled 8ce1383c838073977a08258a1f3e30f8     
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
46 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
47 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
48 contemned cbbd655bf02d98d35983c887b48a49de     
v.侮辱,蔑视( contemn的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
49 desperately cu7znp     
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地
参考例句:
  • He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
  • He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
50 charcoal prgzJ     
n.炭,木炭,生物炭
参考例句:
  • We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
  • Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。
51 neatly ynZzBp     
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
参考例句:
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
52 grunted f18a3a8ced1d857427f2252db2abbeaf     
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说
参考例句:
  • She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声,继续看书,不屑抬起头来看一眼。
  • She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。
53 illuminating IqWzgS     
a.富于启发性的,有助阐明的
参考例句:
  • We didn't find the examples he used particularly illuminating. 我们觉得他采用的那些例证启发性不是特别大。
  • I found his talk most illuminating. 我觉得他的话很有启发性。
54 implored 0b089ebf3591e554caa381773b194ff1     
恳求或乞求(某人)( implore的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She implored him to stay. 她恳求他留下。
  • She implored him with tears in her eyes to forgive her. 她含泪哀求他原谅她。
55 contrite RYXzf     
adj.悔悟了的,后悔的,痛悔的
参考例句:
  • She was contrite the morning after her angry outburst.她发了一顿脾气之后一早上追悔莫及。
  • She assumed a contrite expression.她装出一副后悔的表情。
56 grievances 3c61e53d74bee3976a6674a59acef792     
n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 );苦衷;不满;牢骚
参考例句:
  • The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
57 well-being Fe3zbn     
n.安康,安乐,幸福
参考例句:
  • He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
  • My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福,却被误解为多管闲事。
58 generosity Jf8zS     
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为
参考例句:
  • We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
  • We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。
59 uproot 3jCwL     
v.连根拔起,拔除;根除,灭绝;赶出家园,被迫移开
参考例句:
  • The family decided to uproot themselves and emigrate to Australia.他们全家决定离开故土,移居澳大利亚。
  • The trunk of an elephant is powerful enough to uproot trees.大象的长鼻强壮得足以将树木连根拔起。
60 glided dc24e51e27cfc17f7f45752acf858ed1     
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔
参考例句:
  • The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
  • They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
61 folly QgOzL     
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话
参考例句:
  • Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
  • Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。
62 insistence A6qxB     
n.坚持;强调;坚决主张
参考例句:
  • They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
  • His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。
63 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的
参考例句:
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
64 vindictive FL3zG     
adj.有报仇心的,怀恨的,惩罚的
参考例句:
  • I have no vindictive feelings about it.我对此没有恶意。
  • The vindictive little girl tore up her sister's papers.那个充满报复心的小女孩撕破了她姐姐的作业。
65 immoral waCx8     
adj.不道德的,淫荡的,荒淫的,有伤风化的
参考例句:
  • She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
  • It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。
66 machinery CAdxb     
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构
参考例句:
  • Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗?
  • Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。
67 resolute 2sCyu     
adj.坚决的,果敢的
参考例句:
  • He was resolute in carrying out his plan.他坚决地实行他的计划。
  • The Egyptians offered resolute resistance to the aggressors.埃及人对侵略者作出坚决的反抗。
68 uprooting 9889e1175aa6c91384bf739d6a25e666     
n.倒根,挖除伐根v.把(某物)连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 );根除;赶走;把…赶出家园
参考例句:
  • He is hard at work uprooting wild grass in the field. 他正在田里辛苦地芟夷呢。 来自互联网
  • A storm raged through the village, uprooting trees and flattening crops. 暴风雨袭击了村庄,拔起了树木,吹倒了庄稼。 来自互联网
69 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
70 friendliness nsHz8c     
n.友谊,亲切,亲密
参考例句:
  • Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面,我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
  • His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。
71 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
72 theatrical pIRzF     
adj.剧场的,演戏的;做戏似的,做作的
参考例句:
  • The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果,叫人失望。
  • She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。
73 sincerity zyZwY     
n.真诚,诚意;真实
参考例句:
  • His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
  • He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。
74 salvation nC2zC     
n.(尤指基督)救世,超度,拯救,解困
参考例句:
  • Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
  • Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。
75 philosophically 5b1e7592f40fddd38186dac7bc43c6e0     
adv.哲学上;富有哲理性地;贤明地;冷静地
参考例句:
  • He added philosophically that one should adapt oneself to the changed conditions. 他富于哲理地补充说,一个人应该适应变化了的情况。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Harry took his rejection philosophically. 哈里达观地看待自己被拒的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
76 saluting 2161687306b8f25bfcd37731907dd5eb     
v.欢迎,致敬( salute的现在分词 );赞扬,赞颂
参考例句:
  • 'Thank you kindly, sir,' replied Long John, again saluting. “万分感谢,先生。”高个子约翰说着又行了个礼。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
  • He approached the young woman and, without saluting, began at once to converse with her. 他走近那年青女郎,马上就和她攀谈起来了,连招呼都不打。 来自辞典例句
77 torment gJXzd     
n.折磨;令人痛苦的东西(人);vt.折磨;纠缠
参考例句:
  • He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
  • Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533