Susan and her sisters enjoyed the service. They usually did. The large church, nearly filled with people dressed in their multi-coloured best, the deep-toned organ, the hearty9 singing in which they joined, the bright light from the electric lamps—all this was a weekly source of pleasure to girls who had nice dresses to wear on the Sabbath day. The sermon might consist of denunciations of the popular way of living. They listened to it with interest and agreed that the parson was, from his point of view, perfectly10 right. But he, so to speak, was looking at life theoretically, while they were compelled to regard it from the practical standpoint of daily bread. If he expounded11 doctrine12, they appeared engrossed13 in his words, and followed his meaning with a fair degree of understanding. What they liked best were the hymns15; and when the service was over, and they mingled16 with the contented17 home-going crowds, they felt that they were, after all, not very far from the Kingdom.
Susan went to bed immediately after going home, not omitting to bind19 up her head once more. She wished to be up early in the morning. Her father talked to her for a while from his part of the room, a cloth partition placing no obstacles in the way of conversation; but though he was very anxious to hear about the sermon, so that he might give his opinion on the parson’s theology, she soon shut him up by saying she wished to go to sleep. Then silence reigned20 unbroken, but for the barking of the dogs in the lane; for by nine o’clock practically all the inmates21 of the yard had retired22, after a day spent for the most part in lolling about and avoiding any unnecessary work.
At half-past four in the morning Susan was awake. She hurried out of the hot, stifling23 room to wash her face under the water-pipe, then went in again to dress. She was ready by five o’clock. Her dress fitted her nicely; and though blue was perhaps not the colour that best suited her complexion24, it was more striking than white would have been, and she wanted to attract attention. She wore a pink sash, and her hat was trimmed with pink roses and ribbons. Her high-heeled shoes were gorgeous with buckles25. When fully arrayed, and after she had gulped26 down her cup of coffee, she turned herself round and round to be admired. Catherine and Eliza surveyed her critically.
“You is all right, Sue,” said the first, and her younger sister agreed. Her mother smiled, then went about her business. Her father was vocal27 in his praise.
“Ef I was a young man,” he said approvingly, “I would fall in love wid you. Dat frock suit you’ figure. Everybody gwine to dance wid you, an’ you mustn’t fo’got to bring somet’ing nice fo’ me.”
Susan, satisfied with this appreciation28, promised to bring home for him a part of whatever she might get; and Letitia coming in just then, both girls went out to catch the electric car that should take them to the railway station.
It was not yet six o’clock, so the air was still comparatively cool. It was a public holiday, consequently they met numbers of other pleasure-seekers like themselves, all gaily29 dressed. They caught the car, and it took them by a circuitous30 route to the station, going first towards the north of the city for nearly a mile, then south again, then east to where the railway station stands. On the way they passed handsome villas31; those were the houses, they thought, where the rich people lived, people so much above their own station in life that they never dreamt of envying them. The white and the higher classes of fair coloured people belonged to one world. They belonged to another. But envy and hatred32 did not embitter33 the relations of one class with another, though their interests in life were superficially as different as was the yard-room or little front house from the spacious34-looking residence with its garden of tropical shrubs35 and flowers blooming in front of it.
They alighted at the railway station, and found it crowded. Every colour of the rainbow was represented in the dresses of the women and the neckties of the men; and a stranger not accustomed to a West Indian crowd might well have thought that there could have been no greater confusion at the Tower of Babel. Everybody talked and nobody listened. Everybody gesticulated. Laughing, pushing, screaming, scrambling36 through the iron gates, the good-humoured picnickers made towards the platform, and then began to fight their way into the train. In vain the guards shouted. In vain they tried to direct the passengers. Discipline and order were thrown to the winds on this holiday morning, when the chief thought of every one was to obtain all the fun and excitement that the day could afford.
In the struggle for a good seat Susan was nearly separated from her friend. But by a vigorous use of their elbows they managed to keep together; and when at last, breathless but triumphant37, they were seated, they began to look about them to see if any of their friends were near. Susan saw many persons whom she knew. Amongst these was Hezekiah, and him she stared out of countenance38. She nodded to the others, and commenced with lively anticipation39 to discuss the prospects40 of the picnic with Letitia, when the train, with a sudden jerk, pulled out of the station.
Slowly at first, then quickly, and crowded to its utmost capacity, it ran out of the city and into the open, sunlit country. The transition was abrupt41. Within a minute Kingston had been left behind, and broad fields and forests soon appeared on either side, all steeped in the early morning light and still green and fresh with the dews of the night. The hot and dusty city lay baking in the sun behind the pleasure-seekers; the country, with its wonderful beauty of deep blue skies, giant trees, and variegated42 green; with its dark-gleaming rivulets43, placid44 streams and leaping waterfalls, unrolled itself before them. Peeping out of the windows, they could see the cattle and horses browsing45 in the pastures, the distant skyline broken by a long chain of dream-like verdure-clothed mountains, the long, delicate tendrils of parasitic46 plants waving gently in the breeze, and clumps47 of water-hyacinths glowing in the ponds or in some quiet backwater of a stream. All, all was beautiful. A majestic48 peace pervaded49 the spacious countryside, and the great yellow sun of the tropics lighted it up with splendour. There was something alluring50, enticing51 about it all; something enervating52 too in its luscious53 appealing beauty. But Susan and Letitia gave no thought to it all, nor did many of the people in the train. Their minds were centred upon one subject—this picnic to which they were speeding and which was to afford them a whole day’s intensest pleasure.
“Cumberland Pen!” The guard shouted the name of the station, the train slowed down and stopped, the doors of the carriages were thrown open, and then the scramble54 and hubbub55 began once more. Parcels were grabbed at and secured, and then—a phenomenon which one observes in every country and on every occasion among passengers on a train—every one pushed forward to alight as quickly as possible, and as though a second longer spent upon the train would lead to the most unpleasant results.
The siding was soon crowded, and already a straggling stream of human beings was pouring towards the Cumberland Pen gate, where stood two men who collected the tickets and indulged in arguments with those who pretended to be scandalized at the amount they were called upon to pay as entrance fee. It was quick work at this gate in spite of the chaffing and arguing; then other trains came in from Kingston, and soon more than a thousand persons were assembled on a grassy56 sward, spacious and fairly smooth, and shaded here and there by leafy trees that grew singly or in cool inviting57 clumps. But shade trees were not in demand just now, except as convenient places for the storing of parcels and baskets filled with refreshments58, which some of the more prudent60 or more fastidious picnickers had brought with them. These impedimenta put away for the present, the pleasure-lovers broke into groups, and a loud cry for music arose.
Then rose the piercing squeal61 of the clarionettes, the squeak62 of fiddles63, the blare of cornets and the bang of a big drum. There was noise enough, and the dancers called it music. The young men took off their jackets and waved them wildly in the air to show their appreciation of the band. Girls with arms akimbo swayed their bodies to and fro, keeping time with the tune64. Thus encouraged, the musicians redoubled their efforts and the discord65 was infernal; but partners were rapidly selected, places taken, and in a few minutes there were nearly five hundred couples dancing on the sward and under the now burning, blistering66 rays of the forenoon sun.
Susan was in her element. Quadrilles followed lancers, polkas followed quadrilles, and mentoes, a sublimated67 West African, phallic dance, followed the polkas and were the most popular with a certain section of the people. The girls danced these, swaying on their hips68. Some of the women, however, and amongst these was Susan, did not care to dance these mentoes, on the ground that they were not quite proper. So while mentoes were being danced, Susan sat at the foot of a tree fanning herself, and trying to mop up with her wet handkerchief the flood of perspiration69 that streamed from her face.
Gazing intently at the dancers during one of these intervals70, she did not notice that a man had approached her, till she heard herself addressed.
“Young lady,” said the stranger, “you not dancing?”
“No,” she answered shortly, without looking round to see who the speaker might be.
“Why?”
“I don’t dance mento.”
“But why you don’t?”
The persistency71 of her questioner annoyed her; it was common enough for girls to be accosted72 by strangers at a picnic; but she did not want to make any more acquaintances that day, for the simple reason that she was tired. The stranger, however, was not to be denied. He deliberately73 sat down near her, and resumed the conversation.
“Well,” said he, “allow me to introduce meself. My name is Samuel Josiah Jones from Spanish Town. I been watchin’ you all the time you been sitting here; an’ when I see a beautiful young female not enjoying herself, I think I ought to do the consequential74.”
Susan had not the faintest idea of what the consequential might be, but the word pleased her. Besides, Samuel Josiah Jones had called her beautiful, and such a compliment predisposed her to be kind. As she did not exactly know what to reply, she looked at him with an inquiring air; but that did not in the least disconcert Mr. Jones, who blandly75 went on.
“My name,” he repeated, “is Samuel Josiah Jones.” (He plainly expected the repetition of his name to have a talismanic76 effect.) “Spanish Town is my paternity. Where you come from?”
“Kingston,” said Susan briefly77; then she added, “What is that to you?”
“Oh, don’t be vex,” said Jones appealingly. “Don’t expostulate with me. I don’t ask you for nothing. But you didn’t introduce you’self properly, so I interrogated78 you. You angry?”
Susan saying nothing in reply, Jones’s voice became more confidential79.
“I wouldn’t tell you a lie. I have had a few good drinks to-day. But me head is strong, an’ when I see a young lady like you, I would rather die than disgrace meself.
“If a young man can’t behave himself in the company of ladies,” he continued, still speaking confidentially80, “he ought not to frequent their company. Don’t you think I am right?”
Susan was obliged to nod her agreement.
Pleased with this, his voice took on a triumphant ring.
“Quite so,” he resumed. “As I tell these boys here, sobriety is the great thing; sobriety an’ temperance. Take a drink when y’u want one; but don’t disgrace you’self—like me.”
“But you not disgracin’ you’self,” said Susan, flattered by the respect he professed81 for her, but a little puzzled by his last sentence.
“No,” said Jones, “that is what I say. I don’t disgrace meself. I set a good example. I don’t want no man to say that Samuel Josiah Jones disgrace himself in public.”
Mr. Jones leaned back against the tree, obviously proud of the example he was setting, and quite as obviously pleased with the world and himself. Susan looked at him curiously82. He was a young man of her own complexion; that is to say, dark brown. His features were good, his face frank and lively, and when he spoke83 two big gold teeth gleamed brightly, showing that Mr. Jones did not belong to the common classes. He was tall, and flashily dressed, his necktie reminding one of a Scotch84 plaid of the most pronounced pattern. A gorgeous fob hung out of the trousers pocket in which he kept his watch. It was plain to Susan that he was a young man of some importance, and by the words he used she judged him to be a man of considerable education. She was pleased too he had recognized that she was a young lady, for some “fast and forward young men” of her acquaintance had not always been ready to do that. She was rather glad now that he had persisted in talking to her. His preference for her company was a distinct compliment.
She saw that his sobriety had been tempered with a fair quantity of strong drink. He had himself said so. But temperance folk were held in strong contempt by her, and she had always heard her aunt quote with great approval Paul’s advice to Timothy, that he should take a little wine for his stomach’s sake. Miss Proudleigh faithfully followed this advice herself: every night before going to bed she drank, not a little wine, but a little rum and water; and Susan’s parents would have done the same had they been able to afford it. So she thought more highly of Mr. Jones for being able to enjoy himself in the free and independent manner which his appearance denoted. She was about to continue the conversation when Letitia came up.
The latter stared at Jones, not exactly surprised, for on such a day a girl might pick up half a dozen new acquaintances. Susan introduced her, and Jones, rising with great dignity, assured her that his name was Samuel Josiah Jones, and asked her to take a seat.
“I not sitting down,” said Letitia, shaking her head. “I came to henquire if Sue are going to ’ave her lunch.” (Letitia was very careful of her diction in company.)
“Lunch?” said Jones; “lunch? Of course! The inner man must be replenished85. We will have lunch immediate18. Miss Susan, arise!”
Miss Susan arose, as bidden, and seeing that Letitia showed no objection to accepting Mr. Jones’s hospitality, she followed the young man to the spot where refreshments were being sold.
Under a tree, and protected by a barricade86 of dealboard tables and low wooden benches, were a number of women and a man, retailers87 of refreshments, and all busy attending to the crowd of customers that surrounded them. Quick-tempered and aggressive, the women bustled88 about with their sleeves drawn89 up above their elbows, and the upper part of their skirts tucked up into bundles around their waists. Within the enclosure, huge pots steamed and bubbled on improvised90 fireplaces; and barrels and boxes containing aerated91 waters, and beer and whisky and Jamaica rum, stood invitingly92 open.
The smell of stewed93 beef mingled with that of stewed salt-fish, and the heavy odour of cocoa-nut oil rose from two five-gallon cans in which rice and red peas were boiling. The women ladled the food into coarse earthenware94 and enamelled plates as it was ordered, and the man served the liquors.
Jones and the girls sat down to a lunch of stewed fish and rice-and-peas. He ordered whisky for himself, and asked his companions what they would have. After some hesitation95, they decided96 on beer, this being a luxury they did not often enjoy. He called for two glasses of “the best beer,” and the girls gulped the stuff down, declaring with grimaces97 that it tasted bitter.
Letitia noticed that Jones paid a good deal of attention to Susan. “I wonder if him speaking ’er up?” was her thought, but presently she ceased to think, the beer having set her head a-swimming. Susan felt dizzy too, and had to cling to Jones for support when they rose from the table.
He offered an arm to each of the girls, and gallantly98 escorted them back to the tree. They sat there for a little while, Jones talking, Susan and Letitia hearing nothing.
The pipes still screamed, and the fiddles squeaked100, and the dancers continued dancing. A good many persons had strolled down to the river that ran through the pen, to bathe. Here and there some sat on stones or logs of wood, resting; contented-looking cows cropped the grass within a stone’s throw of the picnickers, no longer frightened by the unusual noise; children climbed the trees to hunt for mangoes; big green lizards101 pursued their prey102 among the stones and leaves; and down on men and beasts and trees came the fiery103 rays of the now vertical104 sun, scorching105, blistering, burning, but powerless to exhaust the energy of the musicians or to put an end to the dance.
“This sun,” remarked Jones, “is the hottest sun I feel for a long time. It make me sweat like a bull. But I come to dance, an’ I must dance. What you say?”
His words were addressed to Susan, who faintly murmured in reply, “Too hot.”
Two or three minutes passed in silence, and then the beer, acting106 in conjunction with the heat and the exertion107 of the morning, completed its work. Reclining against the tree, Susan slept. Letitia, who was not so easily affected108 by strong drinks as her friend, laughed at first; then, finding it dull sitting there, asked Jones what he intended to do.
“Remain here,” he said. “A gentleman must behave gentlemanly. Can’t leave this female alone when she is not in her senses.”
“All right,” said Letitia; “I goin’ to dance. I will come back later. Tell Susan so when she ’wake.”.
Jones nodded, then stretched his legs out more comfortably, covered his face with his handkerchief, and disposed himself to reflect on his own superior manners, while Letitia walked away.
He dozed109, and for an hour both of them lay there, recumbent in the sun.
Jones woke first. Although desiring to be gentlemanly, his first impulse was to go and join the dancers; for a chance meeting at a picnic did not, he felt, compel him to remain constantly in attendance upon one young woman. Instead of doing so, however, he bent over and shook Susan slightly. She opened her eyes, yawned loudly, stretched her arms above her head, yawned again, then remarked, “I seems to ’ave been sleepin’, Mr. Jones.”
“Yes,” he said. “You been sleepin’ all the time. An’ I been watching you, in case any of these common young men wanted to take any liberty with you. I wouldn’t move a foot while you reposed110.”
“Thank you,” said Susan; “but I mustn’t keep y’u back from dancin’.”
“Don’t mention,” said Jones; “it would be preposterous111 to leave you in a somnolescent state. Will you take some more beer?”
She shook her head firmly. “It make me giddy,” she confessed.
“All right, then, you stay here till I come. I am goin’ for a rum; I soon be back.”
He went off to the refreshment59 stand, and Susan followed him with her eyes. He was showing her a lot of attention: did he mean anything? She quickly persuaded herself that he did; otherwise why should he have remained with her all the time? It might be her good fortune to get another intended in place of Tom. She thought of the yard-room and the shop with disgust. This fellow was evidently well off, decent looking, generous. . . . She smiled when he returned, and readily rose when he suggested that they should take a little walk and then have a dance.
“Y’u like Spanish Town, Mr. Jones?” she asked him as they moved away.
“So, so,” he replied; “but I been living in Kingston these last ten years—up in Allman Town.”
“Funny I never see y’u,” said Susan, though there seemed nothing really funny in her not having before met one particular person in a city of over sixty thousand souls.
“That is so,” Jones agreed; “it is a peculiar112 incident. And here we have become acquainted just when I am goin’ away.”
“Goin’ away?” Susan asked, surprised. “Where?”
“Panama. They wants mechanics down there. An’ Mr. Hewet, an American man that was down here three months ago hiring labourers, send for me. They wants a man like me to help them dig the canal,” he proceeded grandiloquently113. “Fifteen dollars a week, an’ quarters. Here I can’t earn much more than thirty shillin’s, an’ I have so many people to boss me that sometimes I don’t know what to do.
“This is a worthless country,” he continued. “No prospects at all. It is much better foreign. I don’t think I will bother come back to Jamaica.”
So he wasn’t “speaking her up” after all! The disappointment she felt was keener than she would have thought possible. Her hastily constructed castle in the air came toppling down, and only the shop and the yard-room remained in their sordid114 reality.
Tom had gone to Panama. Jones was going. She knew that every week scores and hundreds of other people went, and that the dream of almost everybody she had met was to go to Colon115 or Port Limon, or “anywhere,” as one man told the steamship116 clerk to whom he applied117 for a decker’s ticket. “Anywhere.” Anywhere outside of Jamaica. That was the wish of thousands of persons in all classes and ranks of society, and she had caught the general infection.
She too wanted to go away. She had heard of the riches of Panama and Costa Rica, and had often talked about those places with her friends. Life there, they believed, was free as air; money almost to be had for the asking. True, returning emigrants118 told of fearful fevers, and unsympathetic policemen, and months of continuous rain, and the dark impenetrable jungle; but the bright fantastic picture painted by imagination cast no shadow in spite of all these dreadful tales. The emigrants who returned to Jamaica almost invariably went back. The fascination119 of the semi-civilized Central American countries, once felt, was too often irresistible120. Hundreds of forgotten graves in Central America contained the bones of men and women who had gone thither121 with high hopes of enriching themselves; but still the exodus122 continued. The restless longing123 for change, for new scenes, for a new life, acted as a spur to discontent.
Susan had become silent and depressed124. Jones noticed this and asked her:
“You tired?”
“No,” she said, “I was thinkin’!”
“What was you thinkin’ about?”
She hesitated, then said quite frankly125:
“I would like to go to Colon.”
Jones pushed back his jippi jappa hat and stared at her. So she was dissatisfied with Jamaica also! Half-jestingly he asked her:
“You want to go with me?”
She, on her part, surprised by the question, looked at him with eager eyes. Her heart beat quickly, her face lit up with excitement.
“But y’u don’t mean it?” she asked.
Now he really did not know whether he meant it or not. He was a very impulsive126 man, who did most things on the spur of the moment. He was also a very gallant99 man, and wasted much of his substance on “females.” He had no permanent connexion with any one of them just then, however; and on Susan asking him whether he really wanted to take her with him or not, it occurred to him that it might be a very fine thing indeed to land in Colon with so attractive a companion.
The idea was worth playing with. “A man,” he answered Susan, “say a lot of things he don’t mean. But y’u don’t answer me question yet. You would like to come with me?”
She made up her mind to a straightforward127 reply. “I wouldn’t mind, if——”
“If what?”
“If y’u would treat me good.”
“Oh,” he remonstrated128. “Do you think a gentlemanly man like me would treat y’u bad? I never do such a thing in me life!”
“I don’t think y’u would,” Susan graciously replied. “You don’t look like those sort of young men at all.”
This compliment pleased Jones immensely. “You are intrinsically correct,” he assured her. “Not a female have a word to say against Samuel Josiah Jones. An’ you will find when you get to Colon what sort of man I am.”
“Then you goin’ to take me?” Susan asked quickly.
“Of course! Don’t y’u want to go?”
Her heart gave one great bound. Here was the opportunity come to her at last!
“All right,” she exclaimed. “I will come. When you goin’?”
“Three weeks’ time. I give notice at the Railway already, but I have to fix up me business. Where y’u live in Kingston?”
“Luke Lane. Y’u must come wid me to-night, let me introduce you to me parents. The place don’t too nice, but you mustn’t mind dat.”
“Certainly not. You are nice, an’ that is enough.”
He felt that something more was required of him—something that a lover in one of the novels he had read would have thought appropriate to the occasion. At the moment only one thing in the way of what he called poetry came to his memory; but still it was poetry, and therefore suitable. He repeated it, standing14 still and looking fondly in Susan’s face:
“Fleecy looks and black complexion
?Do not alter Nature’s claim,
?Skin may differ, but affection
?Dwells in white and black the same.”
He expected applause. As Susan did not know what the verse was intended for, she simply answered, “Yes.”
“Let us go and tell Letitia,” she added, catching129 hold of his arm and dragging him with her in her excitement. Nothing loth, he followed, and soon they found Letitia, to whom the good tidings were told. Hezekiah heard it too. He was standing near by when Susan was speaking to her friend, and Susan spoke loudly on purpose that he might hear.
“I goin’ in three weeks’ time. I not comin’ back to Jamaica at all! Sam going to get three pounds a week! What a good luck, eh, Letitia? What a luck!”
Hezekiah heard it all, and saw Jones in the flesh, smiling with the consciousness of irresistible masculine attractions and great potential wealth. Hezekiah could not doubt, and so that night he did exactly what Susan had calculated on his doing. Not only Maria and her mother, but everybody else that he met in Blake Lane was told that Susan had got another intended with plenty of money, and was going to Colon.
“Dis world don’t level,”[1] was Maria’s bitter comment on Susan’s undeserved good fortune.
[1]
Fortune is not fair.
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1
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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psalm
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| n.赞美诗，圣诗 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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expounded
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| 论述，详细讲解( expound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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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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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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reigned
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inmates
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retired
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stifling
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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buckles
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| 搭扣，扣环( buckle的名词复数 ) | |
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gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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embitter
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| v.使苦；激怒 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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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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39
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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40
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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41
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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43
rivulets
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| n.小河，小溪( rivulet的名词复数 ) | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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browsing
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| v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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parasitic
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| adj.寄生的 | |
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clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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51
enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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52
enervating
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| v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的现在分词 ) | |
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luscious
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| adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的 | |
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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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56
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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58
refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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squeal
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| v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音 | |
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squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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fiddles
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| n.小提琴( fiddle的名词复数 )；欺诈；（需要运用手指功夫的）细巧活动；当第二把手v.伪造( fiddle的第三人称单数 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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blistering
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| adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡 | |
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sublimated
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| v.（使某物质）升华( sublimate的过去式和过去分词 )；使净化；纯化 | |
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hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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70
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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71
persistency
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| n. 坚持(余辉, 时间常数) | |
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72
accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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consequential
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| adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的 | |
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75
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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76
talismanic
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| adj.护身符的，避邪的 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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79
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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81
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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82
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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83
spoke
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| 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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84
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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85
replenished
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| 补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满 | |
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86
barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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retailers
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| 零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 ) | |
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88
bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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89
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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aerated
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| v.使暴露于空气中，使充满气体( aerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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invitingly
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| adv. 动人地 | |
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93
stewed
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| adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧 | |
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94
earthenware
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| n.土器，陶器 | |
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95
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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96
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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97
grimaces
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| n.（表蔑视、厌恶等）面部扭曲，鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
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98
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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99
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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squeaked
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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101
lizards
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| n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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102
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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103
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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104
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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105
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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106
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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107
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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108
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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109
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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111
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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112
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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113
grandiloquently
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114
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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115
colon
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| n.冒号，结肠，直肠 | |
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116
steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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117
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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118
emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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119
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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120
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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121
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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122
exodus
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| v.大批离去，成群外出 | |
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123
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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124
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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125
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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126
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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127
straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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128
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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