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CHAPTER XIII KEEPING CHRISTMAS
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Every evening the three Furlongers used to sit by the fire and stare into it. Len would sprawl1 back in his chair with his pipe, and the other two lean forward with needlework and newspapers and cigarettes. They seldom spoke—the wind would howl, and the shadows would creep, and the night drift on through star-strewn silences. At last some one would yawn loudly, and the others laugh—and all go to bed.

Len was worried about Nigel and Janey, and usually devoted2 these evenings and their pipely inspiration to thinking them out in a blundering way. He was not a man given to problems, and hitherto life had held but few. It was an added bitterness that now his problem should be that brother and sister who had always stood to him for all that was simple and beloved.

Nigel, in his strange fears, his subcurrents of emotion, and quickly changing moods, reminded Len of a horse; he did not object to drawing upon his knowledge of horses and their ways for the management of his brother. He humoured him, bore with him, but kept at the same time a tight hand—especially when the boy's seething3 restiveness4 and pain found vent5 in harsh words to Janey. Janey could not bear harsh words now—she had used to be able to pick them off and throw them back in the true sisterly style, but now she winced[Pg 146] and let them stick. Janey perplexed6 Len as much as Nigel, and worried him far more. Her eyes seemed to be growing very large, and her cheeks very hollow. When she smiled her lips twitched7 in a funny way, and when she laughed it grated. Janey cost Len many pipes.

The explanation of Janey was, of course, at Redpale Farm, sitting glumly8 by his winter fireside, just as she sat by hers. The love of Janet Furlonger and Quentin Lowe had entered on a new phase. Quentin was beginning to be dissatisfied. At first Janey had imagined that she would welcome this, but it did not come as she had expected. It brought their love into spasmodic silences. Up till then Quentin and she had always been writing and meeting, but now he wrote to her and met her in strange, sudden jerks of feeling. Sometimes he left her for days without even a line, but she could never doubt him, because when at last they met, his love seemed to burn with even greater torment9 and fierceness than in the months of its more regular expression. He began to give her presents, too—a locket, a ring, a book, which she shrank from, but forced herself to accept because of the evident delight he found in giving.

Once more he was rambling10 restlessly and ineffectively on a quest for independence. His efforts always came to nothing, partly through his own incapacity, but always, too, through a sheer perverseness11 of fate, thwarting12 developments, wrecking13 coincidences—so there really seemed truth in his cry that the stars fought against him.

She began to realise that, much as she had[Pg 147] deplored14 what looked like his permanent satisfaction with a makeshift, she had found in it a kind of vicarious rest. When anxiety and disillusion15 lay like stones at the bottom of her heart, she had comforted herself with the thought of the lightness of his. Now she could do so no longer—she had the burden of his sorrow as well as her own to bear, and for a woman like Janey, this was bound much more than to double her load.

Her anxiety about Nigel was also a pain that bruised16 through the weeks. He was decidedly "queer," and she could not understand his new craze for fiddling17 to children. Sometimes, too, he would be terribly sentimental18, and have fits of more or less maudlin19 affection for her and Leonard. At other times he would be surly, and during his attacks of surliness he would work with desperation, almost with greed, as if he longed to wear himself out. Then he would come in, and throw himself down in a chair, and sleep the sleep of utter exhaustion20 with wide-flung limbs—or he would have a bath by the fire, regardless of any cooking operations she might have on hand, or the difficulty of heating gallons of ice-cold water in a not over-large kettle. Len would be furious with him on these occasions, and tell him that if he wanted a Turkish bath built on to Sparrow Hall he had better say so at once.

"I hope we'll have a happy Christmas," remarked Janey rather plaintively21 to Len one evening late in December.

"Why shouldn't we?" he asked; he was kneeling on the hearthstone, cleaning her boots.

[Pg 148]

"Well, we've been counting on it so. You remember last Christmas, when I said that next time we'd have Nigel with us...."

"And we've got him, haven't we?"

"Yes."

She was silent then, and the next minute he lifted his eyes from the blacking and laughed up at her.

"There's the rub, Janey. We don't know how Nigel will take Christmas."

"No—he'll probably be frightfully sentimental at breakfast, and kiss us both—and then he'll have a boiling bath—and then he'll take his fiddle24 and go out for hours to play to those wretched kids."

"A pretty fair prophecy, I should think."

"He's just like a kid himself," sighed Janey.

"Yes—I think he's getting soft in that way. At any rate, he's taken an uncommon25 fancy to kids. By the bye, that girl he rescued at Grinstead station, Strife's girl, has come home for Christmas. I saw her out with her father this morning, and she'd got her hair up, and looked years older. I expect she'll be getting married soon. Her people will see that she settles down early—they don't want two like her sister."

"What was that?" cried Janey.

"What?"

"I thought I heard some one in the room."

"There's nobody—look, quite empty, except for you and me. You're getting nervy, old girl."

"Perhaps I am."

He stood up, and looked at her closely and[Pg 149] rather anxiously. Then he put his arms round her.

"You're not well, sis—I've noticed it for a long time. I say—there's nothing the matter, is there? You'd tell us if there was, wouldn't you?"

"Of course ... there's nothing," she whispered, as his rough hand stroked her hair. He held her to him very tenderly, he was always gentler and less exacting26 with her than Nigel. Yet, somehow, when she was unhappy it was Nigel she wanted to cling to, whose strong arms she liked to feel round her, whose suffering face she wanted close to hers. She wanted Nigel now.

But Nigel had gone out.

He walked heavily, his arms folded over his chest, his head hanging.

So she was back—and she was grown up—and she would soon be married.

These three contingencies27 had never struck him before. She had gone so inevitably28 out of his life, that he had never troubled to consider her return to Shovelstrode. She had stood so inevitably for adolescence29, unformed and free, that he had never thought of her growing up. And as for marriage, it had seemed a thing alien and incongruous, her girlhood had been virgin30 to his timidest desire.

But she was grown up. She was ready for marriage, and most likely would soon be married. He realised that to some other man would be given, probably readily enough, what he had not dared even think about. A shudder31 passed through him, but the next minute he flung up his head almost triumphantly32. He had had from Tony what she[Pg 150] would never give to another—he had had her free thoughtless comradeship, and she would never give it again. She was grown up now, and unconsciously she would realise her womanhood, put up little barriers, put on little airs. He—he alone—would have the memory of her heedless girlhood innocently displayed—he had what no other man had had, or could have ever.

Christmas came, a moist day, warm and rather hazy34. Janey had decorated Sparrow Hall with holly35 and evergreens36, and had even compounded an ominous37-looking plum-pudding. She was desperately38 anxious that their first Christmas together for four years should be a success—she even ventured to hint the same to Nigel.

"Why," he drawled, "do we keep Christmas? Is it because Christ was born in a manger?"

"Of course not—how queerly you talk!"

"Because that was why we kept it in prison."

"But we aren't in prison here."

"Aren't we?—aren't we, Janey?—would there be any good keeping Christmas if we weren't?"

She laughed uneasily.

"Nigel, you're balmy. Come along and help me make mince-pies. It's all you're good for."

In spite of her fears, Christmas morning passed happily enough, and though the dinner was culinarily a failure, socially it was a huge success. The pudding, having triumphantly defeated the onslaughts of knives, forks and teeth, was accorded a hero's death in the kitchen fire, to the accompaniment of the Dead March on Nigel's fiddle, and[Pg 151] various ritual acts extemporised by Len from memories both military and ecclesiastical. He was preparing a ceremonial funeral for the mince-pies, when he and Janey suddenly realised that Nigel had left the room.

"Now where the devil has he gone?"

Janey sighed.

"Some silly game of his. I hope he'll be back soon."

"Not he!—he's probably off for the day, to fiddle to those blasted kids, if they're not too full of plum-pudding to dance. By Christopher, Janey—he's mad."

The dark was gathering39 stealthily—crawling up from the Kent country in the east, burying the wet winter meadows of Surrey and Sussex in damp and dusk and fogs. In the west a crimson40 furnace smouldered, showing up a black outline of hills. Moisture was everywhere—the roads gleamed with mud, the banks were sticky with damp tangled41 grass, and drops quivered and glistened42 on the bare twigs43 of the hedges.

A great sense of disheartenment was everywhere. It was Christmas day, and hundreds of hearths23 were bright—but outside, away from humanity and its cheerful dreams, all Nature mourned, in the curse of the winter solstice, drowned in the water-flood. Furlonger had left his hearth22 with its cheery flames and loved faces and warm, sweet dreams of goodwill44, and was out alone with Nature, who had no warmth nor love[Pg 152] nor make-believe, only wet winds and winter desolation.

He came to Dormans Land. The blinds were down, and through the chinks he saw the leap and spurt45 of firelight. He stood where three roads met, and the wind swept up from Lingfield, where the first stars had hung their lanterns. He began to play—a dreary46, springless tune47, that struck cold into the hearts of the few it reached through their closed windows. He played the song of Christmas as Nature keeps it—the festival of life's drowning and despair.

No children came to dance. They were happy beside their parents, with sweets and crackers48 and fun. They were keeping Christmas as man keeps it, and drew down the blinds on Nature keeping it outside, and the lone33 fiddler who felt it more congenial to keep it with Nature than to keep it with men.

Nigel stopped playing and looked around him into the gloom. He felt disappointed because the children had not come to dance. He had broken away from his brother and sister because he wanted those dancing children so badly—and they had not come. Perhaps he had better go further up into the village, since the children were not playing in the street as usual, but in their homes.

So he went up, and stood between the church and the Royal Oak. The place seemed deserted—only a great, empty car stood outside the inn. Nigel began to play, but again there was no response. The darkness came fluttering towards[Pg 153] him from the back streets of the village, and seemed to creep right into his heart.

Then suddenly it struck him that he played too doleful a tune for the children. They liked lively airs—they found it hard to dance to those bizarre mournful extempores of his. So he started "O Caro Nome," and when that had jigged49 and rippled50 to an end, he played airs from Flotow's Martha, and then his old favourite, "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls."

The street was still empty. From a cottage close by came the wheeze51 of a harmonium. He stood drearily52 snapping the strings53 with his fingers. Then suddenly he realised how ridiculous he was—playing in the village street, in the damp and the cold and the dark, when he ought to be at home, eating and drinking and singing and joking because Christ was born in a manger.

He turned away—he was a fool. Why did he like seeing children dance?—why did it hurt him so that they were better employed to-day? He did not know. His life, his emotions, his heart, were like the twilight54, a dark and cheerless mystery. He could not understand half what he felt in his own breast. He was himself only a child dancing in the dusk, to an unknown fiddler playing a half-comprehended tune.

The next moment he heard the inn door open behind him, and turning round saw a short, broad figure on the doorstep, wrapped in an enormous motor-coat.

"Will you not play something else?"

The words came heavily, with a teutonic lumber55.[Pg 154] Nigel saw a round, florid face, and dark, very close-cropped hair.

He hesitated—perhaps the stranger was making game of him.

"I have been listening to you for some time, and now I have come to see you. I am surprised. I do not think you are a beggar."

"Not quite," said Nigel.

"Well, play some more."

Again Furlonger hesitated. Then he hoisted56 his fiddle to his shoulder with a short, rather grating, laugh.

He played the Requiem57 from Il Trovatore.

There was silence. The darkness seemed to pass in waves over the sky, each wave engulfing58 it deeper. The wind sobbed59 a strange little tune in the eaves of the inn.

"You have tortured my ears," said the stranger. Nigel flushed angrily—so after all the idea had been to make game of him—"with your damned Verdi."

"How do you mean?"

"You are too good to play Verdi."

"Oh!"

"What are your favourite composers?"

"Gounod—Verdi—Balfe——"

"Ai! Ai! Ach!" and the stranger put his hands over his ears.

Nigel was beginning to be faintly amused.

"Well, what's the matter with 'em?"

"The matter?—they are dead."

"That'll be the matter with us all, sooner or later."

[Pg 155]

"Let us hope it will be sooner for some of us."

Nigel looked into the stranger's face, and again experienced a slight shock of surprise. The eyes in the midst of its florid circumference60 were haunted with despair, grief-stricken and appealing. He suddenly realised that it was not normal for a man to spend Christmas day in lonely petrol prowlings.

"Play some more."

"I can only play Verdi and Balfe and those others."

"Well, I'll try to endure it."

"Look here," said Furlonger, "what's your game? Why should you want me to play when you hate my music?"

"I hate your music, but I like your playing. You are a wonderful player."

"Oh, rats!" and Nigel felt angry, he did not know why.

"I repeat—you are a wonderful player. Who taught you?"

"Carl Hauptmann."

"Hauptmann!—he was a pupil of mine."

"Then you're Eitel von Gleichroeder!"

"I am."

Nigel looked interested. Memories of his life in London revived—music lessons, concerts, musical jargon61, a lost world in which he had once lived, but had now almost forgotten. He seemed to hear Hauptmann's strange, coughing laugh as he chid62 his pupil for what von Gleichroeder had just chidden him now—his abominable63 taste. "You are hobeless, hobeless—you and your Balfe and[Pg 156] your Bellini and your odder vons." Von Gleichroeder he knew would take an even more serious view of the case, as he had a reputation for ultra-modernism in music. Hauptmann's contempt for Balfe and Bellini he carried on to Verdi and Gounod, even Tschaikowsky, while though he was obliged to grant Beethoven supremacy64 with a grudge65, he passed over his works in favour of those of Scriabin, d'Indy, Debussy and Strauss.

"Well, well," said the musician, "play Zampa, play Lucia di Lammermoor, play La Somnambula—any abomination you please—but play."

Nigel, with rather an evil grin, played Zampa.

"Why do you like those things?"

"Because they are pretty tunes66."

"Ach!—and why do you like pretty tunes?"

Nigel stared at him full of hostility67, then his manner changed.

"Because they remind me of—of things I used to feel."

He realised dimly that there was a subtle free-masonry between him and this man. In a way it drew them together, in a way it held them apart.

"What you used to feel. So! that is better. It's your heart they tickle68, not your ears."

Furlonger nodded.

"Do you play for your living?"

"No—I am a farmer."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I play for children to dance."

Von Gleichroeder looked round, and shrugged69 his shoulders. He did not seem particularly surprised.

[Pg 157]

"Would you not like to play for grown-up children to dance? For fashionable society to crowd to hear you, and gather round you like children round a barrel-organ?"

"Fashionable society won't waste much of its time on me. I've been in prison three years for bogus company promoting."

"So! But that is good. Without that attraction you could fill the Bechstein, but with it you can fill the Albert Hall."

"Gammon."

"Not at all. My dear young man, I see a glorious future ahead of you, if you will only trouble to secure it. Come to London and study music——"

"Please don't talk nonsense."

"It is not nonsense. You are wonderfully gifted. I don't say you are a genius, for you are not—but you are wonderfully gifted, and your history will make you interesting to the ladies. With your talent and your history and—and your face, you ought to do really well, if only some enterprising person would take you in hand."

"Which isn't likely."

"I beg your pardon—it is most likely. I will do it."

Nigel was more surprised than grateful.

"No, thank you."

"Do not be proud. It is purely70 a business offer. I expect to make money out of you, and—what do you call it?—credit. Listen here—if you cannot pay my fees, I will give you a year's tuition free of charge, on condition that I have a percentage on[Pg 158] your salaries during the next five years. That is a generous offer—many a young man would give much to have me for professor."

Nigel shook his head.

"Thanks awfully—but I'm not keen on it."

"And why?"

"Well, for one thing, I don't want to make my stinking71 past into an advertisement, and for another I don't want to go back to prison."

"Prison!—that is a strange name for fame and big salaries."

"I'm not thinking of those so much as of what must come before them—all the grind and slavery. My music's the only part of me that has never been in prison, and if I make a trade and treadmill72 out of it, I shall be degrading it just as I have degraded everything else about me."

"It will not be degradation—on the contrary."

"And I don't believe I shall ever make myself a name."

"That remains73 to be seen. I don't expect you to become world-famous, but there is no reason why you should not be exceedingly successful in England, where no one bothers very much about taste or technique. Taste you have none, technique—— Lord help us!—but temperament74—ach, temperament! You have suffered—hein?"

Nigel coloured. He could not answer—because he felt this man had suffered too.

"Of course, you have suffered—you could not play like that if you had not. Without your suffering you would be a clever amateur—just that. But now, because you have suffered, you are[Pg 159] something more. 'Wer nie sein Brod mit Thr?nen ass'—you doubtless know our Goethe's wonderful lines. So"—and his dark, restless eyes looked up almost imploringly75 to the sky—"sorrow has one use in this world."

There was another pause. The village was quite dark now—lights twinkled. High above the frosty exhalations of the dusk, piling walls of smoke-scented mist round the cottages, the stars shone like the lights of celestial76 villages, dotting the dark country of the sky. The Wain hung tilted77 in the north, lonely and ominous, Betelgeuse was bright above Sussex, Aldebaran burned luminous78 and lonely in his quarter. Nigel watched the Sign of Virgo, which had just risen, and glowed over the woods of Langerish. It flickered79 like candles in the wind. Then he dropped his eyes to the darkness round him, and through it came the creak of a harmonium.

"Well?" said von Gleichroeder.

"Well?"

"Will you accept my offer?"

"No, thank you."

"Why?"

"I've given you my reasons." The subtle sense of hostility put insolence80 into his voice.

"They are no reasons."

"They are mine."

The foreigner shrugged his shoulders.

"So be it. I have made my offer—you have refused it. It is your own concern."

He took out his card-case, and presented his card to Furlonger.

[Pg 160]

"In case you change your mind."

This was anti-climax, and Nigel felt irritated.

"I'm not in the habit of changing my mind."

"Just as you please," and von Gleichroeder put back the card-case in his pocket.

"Good evening," he added politely.

"Good evening," mumbled81 Furlonger.

He turned away, and walked down the village to where the foot-path to Wilderwick striped the fields. At the stile he paused, and realised that he had been exceptionally insolent82.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 sprawl 2GZzx     
vi.躺卧,扩张,蔓延;vt.使蔓延;n.躺卧,蔓延
参考例句:
  • In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里,灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
  • He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。
2 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
3 seething e6f773e71251620fed3d8d4245606fcf     
沸腾的,火热的
参考例句:
  • The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
  • The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。
4 restiveness 8a27b53c9322cf7878c0c17c3f830568     
n.倔强,难以驾御
参考例句:
  • There were signs of restiveness among the younger members. 年轻成员流露出了不满的情绪。 来自辞典例句
  • Seeing a faint restiveness in Lincoln's eye, he changed the subject. 他觉察到林肯眼神略带烦躁,便改了话题。 来自互联网
5 vent yiPwE     
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄
参考例句:
  • He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
  • When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时,发动机就会停转。
6 perplexed A3Rz0     
adj.不知所措的
参考例句:
  • The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛,走了又回来,犹豫不决,总怕上当受骗。
  • The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。
7 twitched bb3f705fc01629dc121d198d54fa0904     
vt.& vi.(使)抽动,(使)颤动(twitch的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Her lips twitched with amusement. 她忍俊不禁地颤动着嘴唇。
  • The child's mouth twitched as if she were about to cry. 这小孩的嘴抽动着,像是要哭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 glumly glumly     
adv.忧郁地,闷闷不乐地;阴郁地
参考例句:
  • He stared at it glumly, and soon became lost in thought. 他惘然沉入了瞑想。 来自子夜部分
  • The President sat glumly rubbing his upper molar, saying nothing. 总统愁眉苦脸地坐在那里,磨着他的上牙,一句话也没有说。 来自辞典例句
9 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。
10 rambling MTfxg     
adj.[建]凌乱的,杂乱的
参考例句:
  • We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
  • It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。
11 perverseness 1e73ecc61d03e6d43ccc490ffb696d33     
n. 乖张, 倔强, 顽固
参考例句:
  • A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness spirit. 温良的舌是生命树,乖谬的嘴使人心碎。
  • A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is spirit. 说安慰话的舌头是生命树;奸恶的舌头使人心碎。
12 thwarting 501b8e18038a151c47b85191c8326942     
阻挠( thwart的现在分词 ); 使受挫折; 挫败; 横过
参考例句:
  • The republicans are trying to embarrass the president by thwarting his economic program. 共和党人企图通过阻挠总统的经济计划使其难堪。
  • There were too many men resisting his authority thwarting him. 下边对他这个长官心怀不服的,故意作对的,可多着哩。
13 wrecking 569d12118e0563e68cd62a97c094afbd     
破坏
参考例句:
  • He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟,反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句
14 deplored 5e09629c8c32d80fe4b48562675b50ad     
v.悲叹,痛惜,强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • They deplored the price of motor car, textiles, wheat, and oil. 他们悲叹汽车、纺织品、小麦和石油的价格。 来自辞典例句
  • Hawthorne feels that all excess is to be deplored. 霍桑觉得一切过分的举动都是可悲的。 来自辞典例句
15 disillusion HtTxo     
vt.使不再抱幻想,使理想破灭
参考例句:
  • Do not say anything to disillusion them.别说什么叫他们泄气的话。
  • I'd hate to be the one to disillusion him.我不愿意成为那个让他幻想破灭的人。
16 bruised 5xKz2P     
[医]青肿的,瘀紫的
参考例句:
  • his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
  • She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤,摔得鼻青脸肿。
17 fiddling XtWzRz     
微小的
参考例句:
  • He was fiddling with his keys while he talked to me. 和我谈话时他不停地摆弄钥匙。
  • All you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around. 你今天要看到的只是大量的胡摆乱弄。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦
18 sentimental dDuzS     
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的
参考例句:
  • She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人,她相信姻缘命中注定。
  • We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。
19 maudlin NBwxQ     
adj.感情脆弱的,爱哭的
参考例句:
  • He always becomes maudlin after he's had a few drinks.他喝了几杯酒后总是变得多愁善感。
  • She continued in the same rather maudlin tone.她继续用那种颇带几分伤感的语调说话。
20 exhaustion OPezL     
n.耗尽枯竭,疲惫,筋疲力尽,竭尽,详尽无遗的论述
参考例句:
  • She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
  • His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了,显然是太累了。
21 plaintively 46a8d419c0b5a38a2bee07501e57df53     
adv.悲哀地,哀怨地
参考例句:
  • The last note of the song rang out plaintively. 歌曲最后道出了离别的哀怨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Birds cry plaintively before they die, men speak kindly in the presence of death. 鸟之将死,其鸣也哀;人之将死,其言也善。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
22 hearth n5by9     
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面
参考例句:
  • She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来,在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
  • She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里,打开电灯。
23 hearths b78773a32d02430068a37bdf3c6dc19a     
壁炉前的地板,炉床,壁炉边( hearth的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The soldiers longed for their own hearths. 战士想家。
  • In the hearths the fires down and the meat stopped cooking. 在壁炉的火平息和肉停止做饭。
24 fiddle GgYzm     
n.小提琴;vi.拉提琴;不停拨弄,乱动
参考例句:
  • She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
  • Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。
25 uncommon AlPwO     
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的
参考例句:
  • Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
  • Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。
26 exacting VtKz7e     
adj.苛求的,要求严格的
参考例句:
  • He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
  • The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移,公众的要求更趋严格。
27 contingencies ae3107a781f5a432c8e43398516126af     
n.偶然发生的事故,意外事故( contingency的名词复数 );以备万一
参考例句:
  • We must consider all possible contingencies. 我们必须考虑一切可能发生的事。
  • We must be prepared for all contingencies. 我们要作好各种准备,以防意外。 来自辞典例句
28 inevitably x7axc     
adv.不可避免地;必然发生地
参考例句:
  • In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去,毫无疑问是会散伙的。
  • Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。
29 adolescence CyXzY     
n.青春期,青少年
参考例句:
  • Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
  • The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。
30 virgin phPwj     
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的
参考例句:
  • Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗?
  • There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。
31 shudder JEqy8     
v.战粟,震动,剧烈地摇晃;n.战粟,抖动
参考例句:
  • The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材,他浑身一阵战栗。
  • We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。
32 triumphantly 9fhzuv     
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地
参考例句:
  • The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
  • Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。
33 lone Q0cxL     
adj.孤寂的,单独的;唯一的
参考例句:
  • A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
  • She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。
34 hazy h53ya     
adj.有薄雾的,朦胧的;不肯定的,模糊的
参考例句:
  • We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
  • I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。
35 holly hrdzTt     
n.[植]冬青属灌木
参考例句:
  • I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
  • People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。
36 evergreens 70f63183fe24f27a2e70b25ab8a14ce5     
n.常青树,常绿植物,万年青( evergreen的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The leaves of evergreens are often shaped like needles. 常绿植物的叶常是针形的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The pine, cedar and spruce are evergreens. 松树、雪松、云杉都是常绿的树。 来自辞典例句
37 ominous Xv6y5     
adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的
参考例句:
  • Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
  • There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。
38 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。
39 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
40 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
41 tangled e487ee1bc1477d6c2828d91e94c01c6e     
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了,我梳不动。
  • A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。
42 glistened 17ff939f38e2a303f5df0353cf21b300     
v.湿物闪耀,闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Pearls of dew glistened on the grass. 草地上珠露晶莹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Her eyes glistened with tears. 她的眼里闪着泪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
43 twigs 17ff1ed5da672aa443a4f6befce8e2cb     
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
  • Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。
44 goodwill 4fuxm     
n.善意,亲善,信誉,声誉
参考例句:
  • His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
  • We paid £10,000 for the shop,and £2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店,两千英镑买下了它的信誉。
45 spurt 9r9yE     
v.喷出;突然进发;突然兴隆
参考例句:
  • He put in a spurt at the beginning of the eighth lap.他进入第八圈时便开始冲刺。
  • After a silence, Molly let her anger spurt out.沉默了一会儿,莫莉的怒气便迸发了出来。
46 dreary sk1z6     
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的
参考例句:
  • They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
  • She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。
47 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
48 crackers nvvz5e     
adj.精神错乱的,癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 );薄脆饼干;(认为)十分愉快的事;迷人的姑娘
参考例句:
  • That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
  • We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
49 jigged 23561b2506a3a3bc5412b4e410bc0b57     
v.(使)上下急动( jig的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He jigged up and down with excitement. 他激动得又蹦又跳。
  • He jigged up and down in anger. 他气得又蹦又跳。 来自辞典例句
50 rippled 70d8043cc816594c4563aec11217f70d     
使泛起涟漪(ripple的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The lake rippled gently. 湖面轻轻地泛起涟漪。
  • The wind rippled the surface of the cornfield. 微风吹过麦田,泛起一片麦浪。
51 wheeze Ep5yX     
n.喘息声,气喘声;v.喘息着说
参考例句:
  • The old man managed to wheeze out a few words.老人勉强地喘息着说出了几句话。
  • He has a slight wheeze in his chest.他呼吸时胸部发出轻微的响声。
52 drearily a9ac978ac6fcd40e1eeeffcdb1b717a2     
沉寂地,厌倦地,可怕地
参考例句:
  • "Oh, God," thought Scarlett drearily, "that's just the trouble. "啊,上帝!" 思嘉沮丧地想,"难就难在这里呀。
  • His voice was utterly and drearily expressionless. 他的声调,阴沉沉的,干巴巴的,完全没有感情。
53 strings nh0zBe     
n.弦
参考例句:
  • He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上,随意地拨着吉他的弦。
  • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
54 twilight gKizf     
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期
参考例句:
  • Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
  • Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。
55 lumber a8Jz6     
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动
参考例句:
  • The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
  • They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。
56 hoisted d1dcc88c76ae7d9811db29181a2303df     
把…吊起,升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
  • The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。
57 requiem 3Bfz2     
n.安魂曲,安灵曲
参考例句:
  • I will sing a requiem for the land walkers.我会给陆地上走的人唱首安魂曲。
  • The Requiem is on the list for today's concert.《安魂曲》是这次音乐会的演出曲目之一。
58 engulfing a66aecc2b58afaf86c4bed69d7e0dc83     
adj.吞噬的v.吞没,包住( engulf的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • A photographer had fused the lights,engulfing the entire house darkness. 一位摄影师把电灯的保险丝烧断了,使整栋房子陷于黑暗当中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • A professional photographer had fused the lights,engulfing the entire house in darkness. 一位职业摄影师把保险丝烧断了使整所房子陷于黑暗当中。 来自辞典例句
59 sobbed 4a153e2bbe39eef90bf6a4beb2dba759     
哭泣,啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 ); 哭诉,呜咽地说
参考例句:
  • She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
  • She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。
60 circumference HOszh     
n.圆周,周长,圆周线
参考例句:
  • It's a mile round the circumference of the field.运动场周长一英里。
  • The diameter and the circumference of a circle correlate.圆的直径与圆周有相互关系。
61 jargon I3sxk     
n.术语,行话
参考例句:
  • They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
  • It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.
62 chid b04049d41d42995fdd5279008be90361     
v.责骂,责备( chide的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The nurse chid the little girl for soiling her dress. 保姆温和地责怪了那个小女孩,因为她把自己的衣裙弄脏了。 来自《用法词典》
  • My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconvenience, and I was frequently chid for my singularity. 我不吃肉,带来种种不便,于是常因这种怪癖受到责备。 来自辞典例句
63 abominable PN5zs     
adj.可厌的,令人憎恶的
参考例句:
  • Their cruel treatment of prisoners was abominable.他们虐待犯人的做法令人厌恶。
  • The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。
64 supremacy 3Hzzd     
n.至上;至高权力
参考例句:
  • No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员,无人能胜过她。
  • Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说,她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。
65 grudge hedzG     
n.不满,怨恨,妒嫉;vt.勉强给,不情愿做
参考例句:
  • I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
  • I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。
66 tunes 175b0afea09410c65d28e4b62c406c21     
n.曲调,曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调
参考例句:
  • a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
  • When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时,她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
67 hostility hdyzQ     
n.敌对,敌意;抵制[pl.]交战,战争
参考例句:
  • There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
  • His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。
68 tickle 2Jkzz     
v.搔痒,胳肢;使高兴;发痒;n.搔痒,发痒
参考例句:
  • Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
  • I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。
69 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
70 purely 8Sqxf     
adv.纯粹地,完全地
参考例句:
  • I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
  • This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。
71 stinking ce4f5ad2ff6d2f33a3bab4b80daa5baa     
adj.臭的,烂醉的,讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 );发臭味;名声臭;糟透
参考例句:
  • I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room. 我被推进一间又脏又臭的屋子里。
  • Those lousy, stinking ships. It was them that destroyed us. 是的!就是那些该死的蠢猪似的臭飞船!是它们毁了我们。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻
72 treadmill 1pOyz     
n.踏车;单调的工作
参考例句:
  • The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
  • Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。
73 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
74 temperament 7INzf     
n.气质,性格,性情
参考例句:
  • The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
  • Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。
75 imploringly imploringly     
adv. 恳求地, 哀求地
参考例句:
  • He moved his lips and looked at her imploringly. 他嘴唇动着,哀求地看着她。
  • He broke in imploringly. 他用恳求的口吻插了话。
76 celestial 4rUz8     
adj.天体的;天上的
参考例句:
  • The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
  • Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。
77 tilted 3gtzE5     
v. 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。
78 luminous 98ez5     
adj.发光的,发亮的;光明的;明白易懂的;有启发的
参考例句:
  • There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
  • Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。
79 flickered 93ec527d68268e88777d6ca26683cc82     
(通常指灯光)闪烁,摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
  • These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。
80 insolence insolence     
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度
参考例句:
  • I've had enough of your insolence, and I'm having no more. 我受够了你的侮辱,不能再容忍了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • How can you suffer such insolence? 你怎么能容忍这种蛮横的态度? 来自《简明英汉词典》
81 mumbled 3855fd60b1f055fa928ebec8bcf3f539     
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话,可我没太听清楚。
  • George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。
82 insolent AbGzJ     
adj.傲慢的,无理的
参考例句:
  • His insolent manner really got my blood up.他那傲慢的态度把我的肺都气炸了。
  • It was insolent of them to demand special treatment.他们要求给予特殊待遇,脸皮真厚。


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