Following my downfall of tobacco, I had given up my rich apartments in Twenty-second Street; and while I retained my membership, I went no more to the two or three clubs into which I’d been received. In truth, these Custom House days I seldom strolled as far northward14 as Twenty-third Street; but taking a couple of moderate rooms to the south of Washington Square, I stuck to them or to the park in front as much as ever I might; passing a lonely life and meeting none I’d known before.
One sun-filled September afternoon, being free at that hour, I was occupying a bench in Washington Square, amusing my idleness with the shadows chequered across the walk by an overspreading tree. A sound caught my ear; I looked up to be mildly amazed by the appearance of Betelnut Jack. It was seldom my chief was found so far from his eyrie in the Bowery; evidently he was seeking me. His first words averred15 as much.
“I was over to your rooms,” remarked Betelnut Jack; “they told me you were here.”
Then he gave me a pure Havana—for we of the Customs might smoke what cigars we would—lighted another and betook himself to a few moments of fragrant16, wordless tranquility. I was aware, of course, that Betelnut Jack had a purpose in coming; but curiosity was never among my vices17, and I did not ask his mission. With a feeling of indifference18, I awaited its development in his own good way and time.
Betelnut Jack was more apt to listen than talk; but upon this Washington Square afternoon, he so far departed those habits of taciturnity commonly his own as to furnish the weight of conversation. He did not hurry to his business, but rambled19 among a score of topics. He even described to me by what accident he arrived at his by-name of Betelnut Jack. He said he was a sailor in his youth. Then he related how he went on deep water ships to India and to the China seas; how he learned to chew betel from the Orientals; how after he came ashore20 he was still addicted21 to betel; how a physician, ignorant of betel and its crimson22 consequences, fell into vast excitement over what he concevied to be a perilous23 hemorrhage; and how before Jack could explain, seized on him and hurried him into a near-by drug shop. When he understood his mistake, the physician took it in dudgeon, and was inclined to blame Jack for those sanguinary yet fraudulent symptoms. One result of the adventure was to re-christen him “Betelnut Jack,” the name still sticking, albeit24 he had for long abandoned betel as a taste outgrown25.
Betelnut Jack continued touching26 his career in New York; always with caution, however, slurring27 some parts and jumping others; from which I argued that portions of my chief’s story were made better by not being divulged28. It occurred, too, as a deduction29 drawn30 from his confidences that Betelnut Jack had been valorous as a Know-Nothing; and he spoke31 with rapture32 of the great prize-fighter, Tom Hyer, who beat Yankee Sullivan; and then of the fistic virtues33 of the brave Bill Poole, coming near to tears as he set forth34 the latter’s murder in Stanwix Hall.
Also, I gathered that Betelnut Jack had been no laggard35 at hurling36 stones and smashing windows in the Astor Place riot of 1849.
“And the soldiers killed one hundred and thirty-four,” sighed Betelnut Jack, when describing the battle; “and wounded four times as many more. And all, mind you! for a no-good English actor with an Irish name!” This last in accents of profound disgust.
In the end Betelnut Jack began to wax uneasy; it was apparent how he yearned37 for his nest in the familiar Bowery. With that he came bluntly to the purpose.
“To-morrow, early,” he said, “take one of the women inspectors38 and go down to quarantine. Some time in the course of the day, the steamship40 ‘Wolfgang,’ from Bremen, will arrive. Go aboard at once. In the second cabin you will find a tall, gray, old German; thin, with longish hair. He may have on dark goggles41; if he hasn’t, you will observe that he is blind of the right eye. His daughter, a girl of twenty-three, will be with him. Her hair will be done up in that heavy roll which hair-dressers call the ‘waterfall,’ and hang in a silk close-meshed net low on her neck. Hidden in the girl’s hair are diamonds of a Berlin value of over one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. You will search the old man, and have the woman inspector39 search the girl. Don’t conduct yourselves as though you knew what you were looking for. Tell your assistant to find the girl’s diamonds naturally; let her work to them by degrees, not swoop42 on them.”
Then Betelnut Jack disposed himself for homeward flight. I asked how he became aware of the jewels and the place of their concealment43.
“Never mind that now,” was his reply; “you’ll know later. But get the diamonds; they’re there and you must not fail. I’ve come for you, as you’re more capable of doing the gentleman than some of the others, and this is a case where a dash of refinement44 won’t hurt the trick.”
With that Betelnut Jack lounged over to Fourth Street and disappeared towards Broadway and the Bowery further east.
Following my chief’s departure, I continued in idle contemplation of the shadows. This occupation did not forbid a mental looking up and down of what would be my next day’s work. The prospect45 was far from refreshing46. When one is under thirty, a proposal to plunder47 a girl—a beautiful girl, doubtless—of her diamonds, does not appeal to one. There would be woe48, tears, lamentations, misery49 with much wringing50 of hands. I began to call myself a villain51.
Then, as against her, and defensive52 of myself, I argued the outlaw53 character of the girl’s work. Be she beautiful or be she favored ill, still she is breaking the law. It was our oath to seize the gems54; whatever of later wrong was acted, at best or worst, it was no wrong done her. In truth! when she was at last left free and at liberty, she would be favored beyond her deserts; for those Customs laws which she was cheating spoke of grates and keys and bars and bolts.
In this wise, and as much as might be, I comforted myself against the disgrace of an enterprise from which I naturally recoiled55, hardening myself as to the poor girl marked to be our prey56. I confess I gained no great success; say what I might, I contemned57 myself.
While thus ruminating58 that dishonor into which I conceived myself to have fallen, I recalled a story written by Edgar Allen Poe. It is a sketch59 wherein a wicked man is ever followed and thwarted61 by one who lives his exact semblance1 in each line of face and form. This doppel-ganger, as the Germans name him, while the same with himself in appearance and dress, is his precise opposite in moral nature. This struggle between the haunted one and his weird, begins in boyhood and continues till middle age. At the last, frantic62 under a final opposition63, the haunted one draws sword and slays64 his enemy. Too late, as he wipes the blood from his blade, he finds that he has killed his better self; too late he sees that from that time to the end, the present will have no hope, the future hold no heaven; that he must sink and sink and sink, until he is grasped by those hands outstretched of hell to forever have him for their horrid65 own. I wondered if I were not like that man unhappy; I asked if I did not, by these various defenses and apologies which I made ever for my wickedness, work towards the death of my better nature whose destruction when it did come would mean the departure forever of my soul’s chance.
I stood up and shook myself in a canine66 way. Decidedly, loneliness was making me morbid68! However that may have been, I passed a far from happy afternoon.
Fairly speaking, these contentions69 shook me somewhat in my resolves. There were moments when I determined70 to refuse my diamond-hunting commission and resign my place. I even settled the style of my resignation; it should be full of sarcasm71.
But alas72! these white dreams faded; in the end I was ready to execute the orders of Betelnut Jack; and that which decided67 me was surely the weakest thought of all. Somehow, I had in my thoughts put down the coming German maiden73 as beautiful; Betelnut Jack had said her age was twenty-three, which helped me to this thought of girlish loveliness. Thus, my imaginings worked in favor of the girl.
But next the thought fell blackly that she would some day—probably a near day—love some man unknown and marry him. Possibly this lover she already knew; perhaps he was here and she on her way to meet him! This will sound like jest; it will earn derision from healthful, balanced spirits; and yet I tell but the truth.
I experienced a vague, resentful jealousy74, hated this imagined lover of a girl I’d never met, and waxed contemptuous of aught of leniency75 towards one or both. I would do as Betelnut Jack ordered; I would go down to quarantine on the morrow; and I would find the diamonds.
It was late in the afternoon when with a woman assistant, I boarded the “Wolfgang” in the Narrows. My aged76 German was readily picked up; his daughter was with him. And her beauty was as I’d painted on the canvas of my thoughts. Yet when I beheld the loveliness which should have melted me, I recalled that lover to whose arms she might be coming and was hardened beyond recall. I told the inspectress to take her into her private room and find the diamonds. With that, I turned my back and strolled to the forward deck. Even at that distance I heard the shriek77 of the girl when her treasure was discovered.
“There will be less for the lover!” I thought.
When my woman assistant—accomplice might be the truer term—joined me, she had the jewels. They were in a long eel-skin receptacle, sewed tightly, and had been secreted78 in the girl’s hair as described by Betelnut Jack. I took the gems, and buttoning them in my coat, told my aide—who with a feminine fashion of bitterness seemed exultant79 over having deprived another of her gew-gaws—to arrest the girl, hold her until the boat docked, frighten her with tales of fetters80 and dungeons81 and clanging bars, and at the last to lose her on the wharf82. It would be nine o’clock of the night by then, and murk dark; this loss of her prisoner would seem to come honestly about.
If I were making a romance, rather than bending to a relation of cold, gray, hard, untender facts, I would at this crisis defy Betelnut Jack, rescue the beautiful girl, restore her jewels, love her, win her, wed60 her, and with her true, dear arms about me, live happy ever after. As it was, however, I did nothing of that good sort. My aide obeyed directions in a mood at once thorough, blithe83, and spiteful, and never more did I set eyes on the half-blind father or the tearful, pretty, poor victim of our diamond hunting. Lost in the crush and bustle84 of the wharf, they were never found, never looked for, and never rendered themselves.
I had considered what profit from these jewels might accrue85 to the ring and the means by which it would be arrived at. I took it for granted that some substitutional arts—when paste would take the places of old mine gems—would be resorted to as in the excellent instance of The Emperor’s Cigars. But Betelnut Jack shook his careful head; there would be no hokus-pokus of substitution; there were good reasons. Also, there was another way secure. If our profits were somewhat shaved, our safety would be augmented86; and Betelnut Jack’s watchword was “Safety first!” I was bound to acquiesce87; I the more readily did so since, like Lorns and Quin, I had grown to perfect confidence in the plans of Betelnut Jack. However, when now I had brushed aside etiquette88 and broken the ice of the matter with my chief, I asked how he meant to manoeuver in the affair.
“Wait!” retorted Betelnut Jack, and that was the utmost he would say.
In due time came the usual auction89 and the gems were sold. They were snapped up by a syndicate of wise folk of Maiden Lane who paid therefor into the hands of the government the even sum of one hundred thousand dollars.
Still I saw not how our ring would have advantage; no way could open for us to handle those one hundred thousand dollars in whole or in part. I was in error; a condition whereof I was soon to be made pleasantly aware.
On the day following the sale, and while the price paid still slept unbanked in the Customs boxes of proof-steel, there came one to see our canny90 chief. It is useless to waste description on this man. Suffice it that he was in fact and in appearance as skulkingly the coward scoundrel as might anywhere be met. This creeping creature was shown into the private rooms of Betelnut Jack. A moment later, I was sent for.
Betelnut Jack was occupying a chair; he wore an air of easy confidence; and over that, a sentiment of contempt for his visitor. This latter was posed in the middle of the room; and while an apprehension92 of impending93 evil showed on his face, he made cringing94 and deprecatory gestures with shoulders hunched95 and palms turned outward.
“Sit down,” observed Betelnut Jack, pushing a chair towards me. When I was seated, he spoke on. “Since it was you who found the diamonds, I thought it right to have you present now. You asked me once how I knew in advance of those gems and their scheme of concealment. To-day you may learn. This is the gentleman who gave me the information. He did it to obtain the reward—to receive that great per cent, of the seizure’s proceeds which is promised the informer by the law. His information was right; he is entitled to the reward. That is what he is here for; he has come to be paid.” Then to the hangdog, cringing one: “Pretty good day’s work for you, eh? Over fifty thousand dollars for a little piece of information is stiff pay!” The hangdog one bowed lower and a smirk96 of partial confidence began to broaden his face. “And now you’ve come for your money—fifty odd thousand!”
“If you please, sir! yes, sir!” More and wider smirks97.
“All right!” retorted Betelnut Jack. “You shall have it, friend; but not now—not to-day.”
“Then when?” and the smirk fled.
“To-morrow,” said Betelnut Jack. “To-morrow, next day, any day in fact when you bring before me to be witnesses of the transaction the father, the sister, and your wife.”
Across the face of the hangdog one spread a pallor that was as the whiteness of death. There burned the fires of a hot agony in his eyes as though a dirk had slowly pierced him. His voice fell in a husky whisper.
“You would cheat me!”
“No; I would do you perfect justice,” replied Betelnut Jack. “Not a splinter do you finger until you bring your people. Your wife and her sister and their father shall know this story, and stand here while the money is paid. Not a stiver else! Now, go!”
Betelnut Jack’s tones were as remorseless as a storm; they offered nothing to hope; the hangdog one heard and crept away with a look on his face that was but ill to see. Once the door was closed behind him, Betelnut Jack turned with a cheerful gleam to me.
“That ends him! It’s as you guess. This informer is the son-in-law of the old German. He married the elder daughter. They came over four years ago and live in Hoboken. Then the father and the younger sister were to come. They put their whole fortune into the diamonds, aiming to cheat the Customs and manage a profit; and the girl wrote their plans and how they would hide the jewels to her sister. It was she who told her husband—this fellow who’s just sneaked98 out. He came to me and betrayed them; he was willing to ruin the old man and the girl to win riches for himself. But he’s gone; he’ll not return; we’ve seen and heard the last of them; one fears the jail, the other the wrath99 of his wife; and that’s the end.” Then Betelnut Jack, as he lighted a cigar, spoke the word which told to folk initiate100 of a division of spoil on the morrow. As I arose, he said: “Ask Lorns to come here.”
“Well,” remarked the Old Cattleman when the Sour Gentleman was done, “I don’t want to say nothin’ to discourage you-all, but if I’d picked up your hand that time I wouldn’t have played it. I shorely would have let that Dutch girl keep her beads101. Didn’t the thing ha’nt you afterwards?”
“It gave me a deal of uneasiness,” responded the Sour Gentleman. “I am not proud of my performance. And yet, I don’t see what else I might have done. Those diamonds were as good as in the hands of Betelnut Jack from the moment the skulking91 brother-in-law brought him the information.”
“It’s one relief,” observed the Red Nosed Gentleman, “to know how that scoundrel came off no richer by his treachery.”
“What I observes partic’lar in the narration,” said the Old Cattleman, “is how luck is the predominatin’ feacher throughout. The girl an’ her old pap has bad luck in losin’ the gewgaw’s. You-all customs sharps has good luck in havin’ the news brought to your hand as to where them diamonds is hid, by a coyote whom you can bluff102 plumb103 outen the play at the finish. As for the coyote informer, why he has luck in bein’ allowed to live.
“An’ speakin’ of luck, seein’ that in this yere story-tellin’ arrangement that seems to have grown up in our midst, I’m the next chicken on the roost, I’ll onfold to you gents concernin’ ‘The Luck of Cold-sober Simms.’”
点击收听单词发音
1 semblance | |
n.外貌,外表 | |
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2 triangular | |
adj.三角(形)的,三者间的 | |
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3 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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4 sluggish | |
adj.懒惰的,迟钝的,无精打采的 | |
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5 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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6 hawk | |
n.鹰,骗子;鹰派成员 | |
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7 owl | |
n.猫头鹰,枭 | |
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8 rapacious | |
adj.贪婪的,强夺的 | |
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9 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
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10 rusty | |
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的 | |
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11 weird | |
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的 | |
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12 voracious | |
adj.狼吞虎咽的,贪婪的 | |
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13 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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14 northward | |
adv.向北;n.北方的地区 | |
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15 averred | |
v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 );证实;证明…属实;作为事实提出 | |
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16 fragrant | |
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的 | |
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17 vices | |
缺陷( vice的名词复数 ); 恶习; 不道德行为; 台钳 | |
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18 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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19 rambled | |
(无目的地)漫游( ramble的过去式和过去分词 ); (喻)漫谈; 扯淡; 长篇大论 | |
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20 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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21 addicted | |
adj.沉溺于....的,对...上瘾的 | |
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22 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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23 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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24 albeit | |
conj.即使;纵使;虽然 | |
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25 outgrown | |
长[发展] 得超过(某物)的范围( outgrow的过去分词 ); 长[发展]得不能再要(某物); 长得比…快; 生长速度超过 | |
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26 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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27 slurring | |
含糊地说出( slur的现在分词 ); 含糊地发…的声; 侮辱; 连唱 | |
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28 divulged | |
v.吐露,泄露( divulge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29 deduction | |
n.减除,扣除,减除额;推论,推理,演绎 | |
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30 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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31 spoke | |
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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32 rapture | |
n.狂喜;全神贯注;着迷;v.使狂喜 | |
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33 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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34 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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35 laggard | |
n.落后者;adj.缓慢的,落后的 | |
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36 hurling | |
n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的现在分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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37 yearned | |
渴望,切盼,向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38 inspectors | |
n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 );(英国公共汽车或火车上的)查票员;(警察)巡官;检阅官 | |
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39 inspector | |
n.检查员,监察员,视察员 | |
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40 steamship | |
n.汽船,轮船 | |
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41 goggles | |
n.护目镜 | |
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42 swoop | |
n.俯冲,攫取;v.抓取,突然袭击 | |
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43 concealment | |
n.隐藏, 掩盖,隐瞒 | |
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44 refinement | |
n.文雅;高尚;精美;精制;精炼 | |
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45 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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46 refreshing | |
adj.使精神振作的,使人清爽的,使人喜欢的 | |
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47 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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48 woe | |
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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49 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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50 wringing | |
淋湿的,湿透的 | |
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51 villain | |
n.反派演员,反面人物;恶棍;问题的起因 | |
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52 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
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53 outlaw | |
n.歹徒,亡命之徒;vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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54 gems | |
growth; economy; management; and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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55 recoiled | |
v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 );退缩;报应;返回 | |
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56 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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57 contemned | |
v.侮辱,蔑视( contemn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58 ruminating | |
v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 );反复考虑;反刍;倒嚼 | |
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59 sketch | |
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述 | |
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60 wed | |
v.娶,嫁,与…结婚 | |
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61 thwarted | |
阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 ); 使受挫折; 挫败; 横过 | |
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62 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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63 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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64 slays | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的第三人称单数 ) | |
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65 horrid | |
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的 | |
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66 canine | |
adj.犬的,犬科的 | |
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67 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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68 morbid | |
adj.病的;致病的;病态的;可怕的 | |
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69 contentions | |
n.竞争( contention的名词复数 );争夺;争论;论点 | |
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70 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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71 sarcasm | |
n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic) | |
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72 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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73 maiden | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
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74 jealousy | |
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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75 leniency | |
n.宽大(不严厉) | |
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76 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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77 shriek | |
v./n.尖叫,叫喊 | |
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78 secreted | |
v.(尤指动物或植物器官)分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 );隐匿,隐藏 | |
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79 exultant | |
adj.欢腾的,狂欢的,大喜的 | |
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80 fetters | |
n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 );束缚v.给…上脚镣,束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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81 dungeons | |
n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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82 wharf | |
n.码头,停泊处 | |
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83 blithe | |
adj.快乐的,无忧无虑的 | |
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84 bustle | |
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹 | |
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85 accrue | |
v.(利息等)增大,增多 | |
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86 Augmented | |
adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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87 acquiesce | |
vi.默许,顺从,同意 | |
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88 etiquette | |
n.礼仪,礼节;规矩 | |
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89 auction | |
n.拍卖;拍卖会;vt.拍卖 | |
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90 canny | |
adj.谨慎的,节俭的 | |
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91 skulking | |
v.潜伏,偷偷摸摸地走动,鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 ) | |
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92 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
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93 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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94 cringing | |
adj.谄媚,奉承 | |
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95 hunched | |
(常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦)耸肩弓身的,伏首前倾的 | |
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96 smirk | |
n.得意地笑;v.傻笑;假笑着说 | |
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97 smirks | |
n.傻笑,得意的笑( smirk的名词复数 )v.傻笑( smirk的第三人称单数 ) | |
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98 sneaked | |
v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 );偷偷溜走;(儿童向成人)打小报告;告状 | |
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99 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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100 initiate | |
vt.开始,创始,发动;启蒙,使入门;引入 | |
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101 beads | |
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链 | |
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102 bluff | |
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗 | |
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103 plumb | |
adv.精确地,完全地;v.了解意义,测水深 | |
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