How Ralph Nickleby’s Auxiliary1 went about hisWork, and how he prospered2 with it.
It was a dark, wet, gloomy night in autumn, when in an upperroom of a mean house situated3 in an obscure street, or rathercourt, near Lambeth, there sat, all alone, a one-eyed mangrotesquely habited, either for lack of better garments or forpurposes of disguise, in a loose greatcoat, with arms half as longagain as his own, and a capacity of breadth and length whichwould have admitted of his winding4 himself in it, head and all,with the utmost ease, and without any risk of straining the old andgreasy material of which it was composed.
So attired5, and in a place so far removed from his usual hauntsand occupations, and so very poor and wretched in its character,perhaps Mrs Squeers herself would have had some difficulty inrecognising her lord: quickened though her natural sagacitydoubtless would have been by the affectionate yearnings andimpulses of a tender wife. But Mrs Squeers’s lord it was; and in atolerably disconsolate6 mood Mrs Squeers’s lord appeared to be, as,helping8 himself from a black bottle which stood on the tablebeside him, he cast round the chamber9 a look, in which very slightregard for the objects within view was plainly mingled10 with someregretful and impatient recollection of distant scenes and persons.
There were, certainly, no particular attractions, either in theroom over which the glance of Mr Squeers so discontentedlywandered, or in the narrow street into which it might have 1048penetrated, if he had thought fit to approach the window. The atticchamber in which he sat was bare and mean; the bedstead, andsuch few other articles of necessary furniture as it contained, wereof the commonest description, in a most crazy state, and of a mostuninviting appearance. The street was muddy, dirty, and deserted12.
Having but one outlet13, it was traversed by few but the inhabitantsat any time; and the night being one of those on which mostpeople are glad to be within doors, it now presented no other signsof life than the dull glimmering14 of poor candles from the dirtywindows, and few sounds but the pattering of the rain, andoccasionally the heavy closing of some creaking door.
Mr Squeers continued to look disconsolately15 about him, and tolisten to these noises in profound silence, broken only by therustling of his large coat, as he now and then moved his arm toraise his glass to his lips. Mr Squeers continued to do this for sometime, until the increasing gloom warned him to snuff the candle.
Seeming to be slightly roused by this exertion16, he raised his eye tothe ceiling, and fixing it upon some uncouth17 and fantastic figures,traced upon it by the wet and damp which had penetrated11 throughthe roof, broke into the following soliloquy:
‘Well, this is a pretty go, is this here! An uncommon18 pretty go!
Here have I been, a matter of how many weeks—hard upon six—afollering up this here blessed old dowager petty larcenerer,’—MrSqueers delivered himself of this epithet19 with great difficulty andeffort,—‘and Dotheboys Hall a-running itself regularly to seed thewhile! That’s the worst of ever being in with a owdacious chap likethat old Nickleby. You never know when he’s done with you, and ifyou’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound.’
This remark, perhaps, reminded Mr Squeers that he was in for 1049a hundred pound at any rate. His countenance20 relaxed, and heraised his glass to his mouth with an air of greater enjoyment21 of itscontents than he had before evinced.
‘I never see,’ soliloquised Mr Squeers in continuation, ‘I neversee nor come across such a file as that old Nickleby. Never! He’sout of everybody’s depth, he is. He’s what you may call a rasper, isNickleby. To see how sly and cunning he grubbed on, day afterday, a-worming and plodding22 and tracing and turning and twiningof hisself about, till he found out where this precious Mrs Peg23 washid, and cleared the ground for me to work upon. Creeping andcrawling and gliding24, like a ugly, old, bright-eyed, stagnation-blooded adder25! Ah! He’d have made a good ’un in our line, but itwould have been too limited for him; his genius would have bustedall bonds, and coming over every obstacle, broke down all beforeit, till it erected26 itself into a monneyment of—Well, I’ll think of therest, and say it when conwenient.’
Making a halt in his reflections at this place, Mr Squeers againput his glass to his lips, and drawing a dirty letter from his pocket,proceeded to con7 over its contents with the air of a man who hadread it very often, and now refreshed his memory rather in theabsence of better amusement than for any specific information.
‘The pigs is well,’ said Mr Squeers, ‘the cows is well, and theboys is bobbish. Young Sprouter has been a-winking, has he? I’llwink him when I get back. “Cobbey would persist in sniffing27 whilehe was a-eating his dinner, and said that the beef was so strong itmade him.”—Very good, Cobbey, we’ll see if we can’t make yousniff a little without beef. “Pitcher was took with another fever,”—of course he was—“and being fetched by his friends, died the dayafter he got home,”—of course he did, and out of aggravation28; it’s 1050part of a deep-laid system. There an’t another chap in the schoolbut that boy as would have died exactly at the end of the quarter:
taking it out of me to the very last, and then carrying his spite tothe utmost extremity29. “The juniorest Palmer said he wished hewas in Heaven.” I really don’t know, I do not know what’s to bedone with that young fellow; he’s always a-wishing somethinghorrid. He said once, he wished he was a donkey, because then hewouldn’t have a father as didn’t love him! Pretty wicious that for achild of six!’
Mr Squeers was so much moved by the contemplation of thishardened nature in one so young, that he angrily put up the letter,and sought, in a new train of ideas, a subject of consolation30.
‘It’s a long time to have been a-lingering in London,’ he said;‘and this is a precious hole to come and live in, even if it has beenonly for a week or so. Still, one hundred pound is five boys, andfive boys takes a whole year to pay one hundred pounds, andthere’s their keep to be substracted, besides. There’s nothing lost,neither, by one’s being here; because the boys’ money comes injust the same as if I was at home, and Mrs Squeers she keeps themin order. There’ll be some lost time to make up, of course. There’llbe an arrear31 of flogging as’ll have to be gone through: still, acouple of days makes that all right, and one don’t mind a littleextra work for one hundred pound. It’s pretty nigh the time to waitupon the old woman. From what she said last night, I suspect thatif I’m to succeed at all, I shall succeed tonight; so I’ll have half aglass more, to wish myself success, and put myself in spirits. MrsSqueers, my dear, your health!’
Leering with his one eye as if the lady to whom he drank hadbeen actually present, Mr Squeers—in his enthusiasm, no doubt— 1051poured out a full glass, and emptied it; and as the liquor was rawspirits, and he had applied32 himself to the same bottle more thanonce already, it is not surprising that he found himself, by thistime, in an extremely cheerful state, and quite enough excited forhis purpose.
What this purpose was soon appeared; for, after a few turnsabout the room to steady himself, he took the bottle under his armand the glass in his hand, and blowing out the candle as if hepurposed being gone some time, stole out upon the staircase, andcreeping softly to a door opposite his own, tapped gently at it.
‘But what’s the use of tapping?’ he said, ‘She’ll never hear. Isuppose she isn’t doing anything very particular; and if she is, itdon’t much matter, that I see.’
With this brief preface, Mr Squeers applied his hand to thelatch of the door, and thrusting his head into a garret far moredeplorable than that he had just left, and seeing that there wasnobody there but an old woman, who was bending over awretched fire (for although the weather was still warm, theevening was chilly), walked in, and tapped her on the shoulder.
‘Well, my Slider,’ said Mr Squeers, jocularly.
‘Is that you?’ inquired Peg.
‘Ah! it’s me, and me’s the first person singular, nominative case,agreeing with the verb “it’s”, and governed by Squeersunderstood, as a acorn33, a hour; but when the h is sounded, the aonly is to be used, as a and, a art, a ighway,’ replied Mr Squeers,quoting at random34 from the grammar. ‘At least, if it isn’t, you don’tknow any better, and if it is, I’ve done it accidentally.’
Delivering this reply in his accustomed tone of voice, in whichof course it was inaudible to Peg, Mr Squeers drew a stool to the 1052fire, and placing himself over against her, and the bottle and glasson the floor between them, roared out again, very loud,‘Well, my Slider!’
‘I hear you,’ said Peg, receiving him very graciously.
‘I’ve come according to promise,’ roared Squeers.
‘So they used to say in that part of the country I come from,’
observed Peg, complacently35, ‘but I think oil’s better.’
‘Better than what?’ roared Squeers, adding some rather stronglanguage in an undertone.
‘No,’ said Peg, ‘of course not.’
‘I never saw such a monster as you are!’ muttered Squeers,looking as amiable36 as he possibly could the while; for Peg’s eyewas upon him, and she was chuckling37 fearfully, as though indelight at having made a choice repartee38, ‘Do you see this? This isa bottle.’
‘I see it,’ answered Peg.
‘Well, and do you see this?’ bawled39 Squeers. ‘This is a glass.’
Peg saw that too.
‘See here, then,’ said Squeers, accompanying his remarks withappropriate action, ‘I fill the glass from the bottle, and I say “Yourhealth, Slider,” and empty it; then I rinse40 it genteelly with a littledrop, which I’m forced to throw into the fire—hallo! we shall havethe chimbley alight next—fill it again, and hand it over to you.’
‘Your health,’ said Peg.
‘She understands that, anyways,’ muttered Squeers, watchingMrs Sliderskew as she dispatched her portion, and choked andgasped in a most awful manner after so doing. ‘Now then, let’shave a talk. How’s the rheumatics?’
Mrs Sliderskew, with much blinking and chuckling, and with 1053looks expressive41 of her strong admiration42 of Mr Squeers, hisperson, manners, and conversation, replied that the rheumaticswere better.
‘What’s the reason,’ said Mr Squeers, deriving43 freshfacetiousness from the bottle; ‘what’s the reason of rheumatics?
What do they mean? What do people have’em for—eh?’
Mrs Sliderskew didn’t know, but suggested that it was possiblybecause they couldn’t help it.
‘Measles, rheumatics, hooping-cough, fevers, agers, andlumbagers,’ said Mr Squeers, ‘is all philosophy together; that’swhat it is. The heavenly bodies is philosophy, and the earthlybodies is philosophy. If there’s a screw loose in a heavenly body,that’s philosophy; and if there’s screw loose in a earthly body,that’s philosophy too; or it may be that sometimes there’s a littlemetaphysics in it, but that’s not often. Philosophy’s the chap forme. If a parent asks a question in the classical, commercial, ormathematical line, says I, gravely, “Why, sir, in the first place, areyou a philosopher?”—“No, Mr Squeers,” he says, “I an’t.” “Then,sir,” says I, “I am sorry for you, for I shan’t be able to explain it.”
Naturally, the parent goes away and wishes he was a philosopher,and, equally naturally, thinks I’m one.’
Saying this, and a great deal more, with tipsy profundity44 and aserio-comic air, and keeping his eye all the time on MrsSliderskew, who was unable to hear one word, Mr Squeersconcluded by helping himself and passing the bottle: to which Pegdid becoming reverence45.
‘That’s the time of day!’ said Mr Squeers. ‘You look twentypound ten better than you did.’
Again Mrs Sliderskew chuckled46, but modesty47 forbade her 1054assenting verbally to the compliment.
‘Twenty pound ten better,’ repeated Mr Squeers, ‘than you didthat day when I first introduced myself. Don’t you know?’
‘Ah!’ said Peg, shaking her head, ‘but you frightened me thatday.’
‘Did I?’ said Squeers; ‘well, it was rather a startling thing for astranger to come and recommend himself by saying that he knewall about you, and what your name was, and why you were livingso quiet here, and what you had boned, and who you boned itfrom, wasn’t it?’
Peg nodded her head in strong assent48.
‘But I know everything that happens in that way, you see,’
continued Squeers. ‘Nothing takes place, of that kind, that I an’tup to entirely49. I’m a sort of a lawyer, Slider, of first-rate standing,and understanding too; I’m the intimate friend and confidentialadwiser of pretty nigh every man, woman, and child that getsthemselves into difficulties by being too nimble with their fingers,I’m—’
Mr Squeers’s catalogue of his own merits andaccomplishments, which was partly the result of a concerted planbetween himself and Ralph Nickleby, and flowed, in part, from theblack bottle, was here interrupted by Mrs Sliderskew.
‘Ha, ha, ha!’ she cried, folding her arms and wagging her head;‘and so he wasn’t married after all, wasn’t he. Not married afterall?’
‘No,’ replied Squeers, ‘that he wasn’t!’
‘And a young lover come and carried off the bride, eh?’ saidPeg.
‘From under his very nose,’ replied Squeers; ‘and I’m told the 1055young chap cut up rough besides, and broke the winders, andforced him to swaller his wedding favour which nearly chokedhim.’
‘Tell me all about it again,’ cried Peg, with a malicious50 relish51 ofher old master’s defeat, which made her natural hideousnesssomething quite fearful; ‘let’s hear it all again, beginning at thebeginning now, as if you’d never told me. Let’s have it everyword—now—now—beginning at the very first, you know, when hewent to the house that morning!’
Mr Squeers, plying52 Mrs Sliderskew freely with the liquor, andsustaining himself under the exertion of speaking so loud byfrequent applications to it himself, complied with this request bydescribing the discomfiture53 of Arthur Gride, with suchimprovements on the truth as happened to occur to him, and theingenious invention and application of which had been veryinstrumental in recommending him to her notice in the beginningof their acquaintance. Mrs Sliderskew was in an ecstasy54 of delight,rolling her head about, drawing up her skinny shoulders, andwrinkling her cadaverous face into so many and such complicatedforms of ugliness, as awakened55 the unbounded astonishment56 anddisgust even of Mr Squeers.
‘He’s a treacherous57 old goat,’ said Peg, ‘and cozened me withcunning tricks and lying promises, but never mind. I’m even withhim. I’m even with him.’
‘More than even, Slider,’ returned Squeers; ‘you’d have beeneven with him if he’d got married; but with the disappointmentbesides, you’re a long way ahead. Out of sight, Slider, quite out ofsight. And that reminds me,’ he added, handing her the glass, ‘ifyou want me to give you my opinion of them deeds, and tell you 1056what you’d better keep and what you’d better burn, why, now’syour time, Slider.’
‘There an’t no hurry for that,’ said Peg, with several knowinglooks and winks58.
‘Oh! very well!’ observed Squeers, ‘it don’t matter to me; youasked me, you know. I shouldn’t charge you nothing, being afriend. You’re the best judge of course. But you’re a bold woman,Slider.’
‘How do you mean, bold?’ said Peg.
‘Why, I only mean that if it was me, I wouldn’t keep papers asmight hang me, littering about when they might be turned intomoney—them as wasn’t useful made away with, and them as was,laid by somewheres, safe; that’s all,’ returned Squeers; ‘buteverybody’s the best judge of their own affairs. All I say is, Slider, Iwouldn’t do it.’
‘Come,’ said Peg, ‘then you shall see ’em.’
‘I don’t want to see ’em,’ replied Squeers, affecting to be out ofhumour; ‘don’t talk as if it was a treat. Show ’em to somebody else,and take their advice.’
Mr Squeers would, very likely, have carried on the farce59 ofbeing offended a little longer, if Mrs Sliderskew, in her anxiety torestore herself to her former high position in his good graces, hadnot become so extremely affectionate that he stood at some risk ofbeing smothered60 by her caresses61. Repressing, with as good a graceas possible, these little familiarities—for which, there is reason tobelieve, the black bottle was at least as much to blame as anyconstitutional infirmity on the part of Mrs Sliderskew—heprotested that he had only been joking: and, in proof of hisunimpaired good-humour, that he was ready to examine the deeds 1057at once, if, by so doing, he could afford any satisfaction or relief ofmind to his fair friend.
‘And now you’re up, my Slider,’ bawled Squeers, as she rose tofetch them, ‘bolt the door.’
Peg trotted62 to the door, and after fumbling63 at the bolt, crept tothe other end of the room, and from beneath the coals which filledthe bottom of the cupboard, drew forth64 a small deal box. Havingplaced this on the floor at Squeers’s feet, she brought, from underthe pillow of her bed, a small key, with which she signed to thatgentleman to open it. Mr Squeers, who had eagerly followed herevery motion, lost no time in obeying this hint: and, throwing backthe lid, gazed with rapture65 on the documents which lay within.
‘Now you see,’ said Peg, kneeling down on the floor beside him,and staying his impatient hand; ‘what’s of no use we’ll burn; whatwe can get any money by, we’ll keep; and if there’s any we couldget him into trouble by, and fret66 and waste away his heart toshreds, those we’ll take particular care of; for that’s what I want todo, and what I hoped to do when I left him.’
‘I thought,’ said Squeers, ‘that you didn’t bear him anyparticular good-will. But, I say, why didn’t you take some moneybesides?’
‘Some what?’ asked Peg.
‘Some money,’ roared Squeers. ‘I do believe the woman hearsme, and wants to make me break a wessel, so that she may havethe pleasure of nursing me. Some money, Slider, money!’
‘Why, what a man you are to ask!’ cried Peg, with somecontempt. ‘If I had taken money from Arthur Gride, he’d havescoured the whole earth to find me—aye, and he’d have smelt67 itout, and raked it up, somehow, if I had buried it at the bottom of 1058the deepest well in England. No, no! I knew better than that. I tookwhat I thought his secrets were hid in: and them he couldn’t affordto make public, let ’em be worth ever so much money. He’s an olddog; a sly, old, cunning, thankless dog! He first starved, and thentricked me; and if I could I’d kill him.’
‘All right, and very laudable,’ said Squeers. ‘But, first andforemost, Slider, burn the box. You should never keep things asmay lead to discovery. Always mind that. So while you pull it topieces (which you can easily do, for it’s very old and rickety) andburn it in little bits, I’ll look over the papers and tell you what theyare.’
Peg, expressing her acquiescence68 in this arrangement, MrSqueers turned the box bottom upwards69, and tumbling thecontents upon the floor, handed it to her; the destruction of thebox being an extemporary device for engaging her attention, incase it should prove desirable to distract it from his ownproceedings.
‘There!’ said Squeers; ‘you poke70 the pieces between the bars,and make up a good fire, and I’ll read the while. Let me see, let mesee.’ And taking the candle down beside him, Mr Squeers, withgreat eagerness and a cunning grin overspreading his face,entered upon his task of examination.
If the old woman had not been very deaf, she must have heard,when she last went to the door, the breathing of two persons closebehind it: and if those two persons had been unacquainted withher infirmity, they must probably have chosen that moment eitherfor presenting themselves or taking to flight. But, knowing withwhom they had to deal, they remained quite still, and now, notonly appeared unobserved at the door—which was not bolted, for 1059the bolt had no hasp—but warily71, and with noiseless footsteps,advanced into the room.
As they stole farther and farther in by slight and scarcelyperceptible degrees, and with such caution that they scarcelyseemed to breathe, the old hag and Squeers little dreaming of anysuch invasion, and utterly72 unconscious of there being any soulnear but themselves, were busily occupied with their tasks. Theold woman, with her wrinkled face close to the bars of the stove,puffing at the dull embers which had not yet caught the wood;Squeers stooping down to the candle, which brought out the fullugliness of his face, as the light of the fire did that of hiscompanion; both intently engaged, and wearing faces of exultationwhich contrasted strongly with the anxious looks of those behind,who took advantage of the slightest sound to cover their advance,and, almost before they had moved an inch, and all was silent,stopped again. This, with the large bare room, damp walls, andflickering doubtful light, combined to form a scene which the mostcareless and indifferent spectator (could any have been present)could scarcely have failed to derive74 some interest from, and wouldnot readily have forgotten.
Of the stealthy comers, Frank Cheeryble was one, and NewmanNoggs the other. Newman had caught up, by the rusty75 nozzle, anold pair of bellows76, which were just undergoing a flourish in theair preparatory to a descent upon the head of Mr Squeers, whenFrank, with an earnest gesture, stayed his arm, and, takinganother step in advance, came so close behind the schoolmasterthat, by leaning slightly forward, he could plainly distinguish thewriting which he held up to his eye.
Mr Squeers, not being remarkably77 erudite, appeared to be 1060considerably puzzled by this first prize, which was in anengrossing hand, and not very legible except to a practised eye.
Having tried it by reading from left to right, and from right to left,and finding it equally clear both ways, he turned it upside downwith no better success.
‘Ha, ha, ha!’ chuckled Peg, who, on her knees before the fire,was feeding it with fragments of the box, and grinning in mostdevilish exultation73. ‘What’s that writing about, eh?’
‘Nothing particular,’ replied Squeers, tossing it towards her.
‘It’s only an old lease, as well as I can make out. Throw it in thefire.’
Mrs Sliderskew complied, and inquired what the next one was.
‘This,’ said Squeers, ‘is a bundle of overdue78 acceptances andrenewed bills of six or eight young gentlemen, but they’re all MPs,so it’s of no use to anybody. Throw it in the fire!’ Peg did as shewas bidden, and waited for the next.
‘This,’ said Squeers, ‘seems to be some deed of sale of the rightof presentation to the rectory of Purechurch, in the valley ofCashup. Take care of that, Slider, literally79 for God’s sake. It’ll fetchits price at the Auction80 Mart.’
‘What’s the next?’ inquired Peg.
‘Why, this,’ said Squeers, ‘seems, from the two letters that’swith it, to be a bond from a curate down in the country, to pay halfa year’s wages of forty pound for borrowing twenty. Take care ofthat, for if he don’t pay it, his bishop81 will very soon be down uponhim. We know what the camel and the needle’s eye means; no manas can’t live upon his income, whatever it is, must expect to go toheaven at any price. It’s very odd; I don’t see anything like it yet.’
‘What’s the matter?’ said Peg.
1061‘Nothing,’ replied Squeers, ‘only I’m looking for—’
Newman raised the bellows again. Once more, Frank, by arapid motion of his arm, unaccompanied by any noise, checkedhim in his purpose.
‘Here you are,’ said Squeers, ‘bonds—take care of them.
Warrant of attorney—take care of that. Two cognovits—take careof them. Lease and release—burn that. Ah! “Madeline Bray—come of age or marry—the said Madeline”—here, burn that!’
Eagerly throwing towards the old woman a parchment that hecaught up for the purpose, Squeers, as she turned her head, thrustinto the breast of his large coat, the deed in which these words hadcaught his eye, and burst into a shout of triumph.
‘I’ve got it!’ said Squeers. ‘I’ve got it! Hurrah82! The plan was agood one, though the chance was desperate, and the day’s our ownat last!’
Peg demanded what he laughed at, but no answer wasreturned. Newman’s arm could no longer be restrained; thebellows, descending83 heavily and with unerring aim on the verycentre of Mr Squeers’s head, felled him to the floor, and stretchedhim on it flat and senseless.
收听单词发音 |
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auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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disconsolately
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| adv.悲伤地，愁闷地；哭丧着脸 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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epithet
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| n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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plodding
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peg
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gliding
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adder
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| n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇 | |
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26
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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28
aggravation
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| n.烦恼，恼火 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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31
arrear
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| n.欠款 | |
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32
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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acorn
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| n.橡实，橡子 | |
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34
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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37
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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38
repartee
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| n.机敏的应答 | |
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39
bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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40
rinse
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| v.用清水漂洗，用清水冲洗 | |
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41
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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42
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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43
deriving
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| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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44
profundity
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| n.渊博；深奥，深刻 | |
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45
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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46
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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48
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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49
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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50
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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51
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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52
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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53
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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54
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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56
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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57
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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58
winks
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| v.使眼色( wink的第三人称单数 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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59
farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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60
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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62
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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63
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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65
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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66
fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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67
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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68
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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69
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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70
poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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71
warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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72
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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73
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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74
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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75
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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76
bellows
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| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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77
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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78
overdue
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| adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的 | |
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79
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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80
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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81
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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82
hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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83
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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