I am very well aware that in following upon this track, one is ever liable to deceive oneself, to impose upon others, picking out and adducing such proverbs as conform to a preconceived theory, passing over those which would militate against it. Quite allowing that there is such a danger which needs to be guarded against, and also that there are a multitude of these sayings which cannot be made to illustrate3 difference, for they rest on the[48] broad foundation of the universal humanity, underlying4 and deeper than that which is peculiar5 and national, I am yet persuaded that enough remain, and such as may with perfect good faith be adduced, to confirm these assertions; I am convinced that we may learn from the proverbs current among a people, what is nearest and dearest to their hearts, the aspects under which they contemplate6 life, how honour and dishonour7 are distributed among them, what is of good, what of evil report in their eyes, with very much more which it can never be unprofitable to know.
To begin, then, with the proverbs of Greece. That which strikes one most in the study of these, and which the more they are studied, the more fills the thoughtful student with wonder, is the evidence they yield of a leavening8 through and through of the entire nation with the most intimate knowledge of its own mythology9, history, and poetry. The infinite multitude of slight and fine allusions11 to the legends of their gods and heroes, to the earlier incidents of their own history, to the Homeric narrative12, the delicate side glances at all these which the Greek proverbs constantly embody13, [39] assume an acquaintance, indeed a familiarity, with all this on their parts among whom they passed current, which almost exceeds belief. In many and most important respects, the Greek proverbs considered as a whole are inferior to those of many nations of [49]modern Christendom. This is nothing wonderful; Christianity would have done little for the world, would have proved very ineffectual for the elevating, purifying, and deepening of man’s life, if it had been otherwise. But, with all this, as bearing testimony15 to the high intellectual training of the people who employed them, to a culture not restricted to certain classes, but which must have been diffused16 through the whole nation, no other collection can bear the remotest comparison with this.
Roman proverbs.
It is altogether different with the Roman proverbs. These, the genuine Roman, the growth of their own soil, are very far fewer in number than the Greek, as was indeed to be expected from the far less subtle and less fertile genius of the people. Hardly any of them are legendary17 or mythological18; which again agrees with the fact that the Italian pantheon was very scantily19 peopled as compared with the Greek. Very few have much poetry about them, or any very rare delicacy20 or refinement21 of feeling. In respect of love indeed, not the Roman only, but Greek and Roman alike, are immeasurably inferior to those which many modern nations could supply. Thus a proverb of such religious depth and beauty as our own, Marriages are made in heaven, it would have been quite impossible for all heathen antiquity22 to have produced, or even remotely to have approached. [40]
[50]
In the setting out not of love, but of friendship, and of the claims which it makes, the blessings23 which it brings, is exhibited whatever depth and tenderness they may have. [41] This indeed, as has been truly observed, [42] was only to be expected, seeing how much higher an ideal of that existed than of this, the full realization24 of which was reserved for the modern Christian14 world. Yet the Roman proverbs are not without other substantial merits of their own. A vigorous moral sense speaks out in many; [43] and even when this is not so prominent, they wear often a thoroughly25 old Roman aspect; being business-like and practical, frugal26 and severe, wise saws such as the elder Cato must have loved, such as must have been often upon his lips; [44] while in the number that relate to farming, they bear singular witness to that strong and lively interest in agricultural pursuits,[51] which was so remarkable27 a feature in the old Italian life. [45]
Number of Spanish proverbs.
It will not be possible to pass under even this hastiest review more than two or three of the modern families of proverbs. Let us turn first to the proverbs of Spain. I put these in the foremost rank, because the Spanish literature, poor in many provinces wherein other literatures are rich, is probably richer in this province than any other in the world, certainly than any other in the western world; and this I should be inclined to believe, both as respects the quantity and the quality. [46] In respect of quantity, the mere28 number of Spanish proverbs is astonishing. A collection I have been using while preparing these lectures, contains between seven and eight thousand, and yet does not contain all; for I have searched it in vain for several with which from other sources I had become acquainted. Nay29, it must be very far indeed[52] from exhausting the entire stock, seeing that there exists a manuscript collection brought together by a distinguished30 Spanish scholar, in which the proverbs have attained31 to the almost incredible amount of from five and twenty to thirty thousand. [47]
Spanish characteristics.
And in respect of their quality, it needs only to call to mind some of those, so rich in humour, so double-shotted with homely32 sense, wherewith the Squire33 in Don Quixote adorns34 his discourse35; being oftentimes indeed not the fringe and border, but the main woof and texture36 of it: and then, if we assume that the remainder are not altogether unlike these, we shall, I think, feel that it would be difficult to rate them more highly than they deserve. And some are in a loftier vein37; for taking, as we have a right to do, Cervantes himself as the truest exponent38 of the Spanish character, we should be prepared to trace in the proverbs of Spain a grave thoughtfulness, a stately humour, to find them breathing the very spirit of chivalry39 and honour, and indeed of freedom too;—for in[53] Spain, as throughout so much of Europe, it is despotism, and not freedom, which is new. Nor are we disappointed in these our expectations. How eminently40 chivalresque, for instance, the following: White hands cannot hurt. [48] What a grave humour lurks41 in this: The ass1 knows well in whose face he brays42. [49] What a stately apathy43, how proud a looking of calamity44 in the face, speaks out in the admonition which this one contains: When thou seest thine house in flames, approach and warm thyself by it; [50] what a spirit of freedom, which refuses to be encroached on even by the highest, is embodied45 in another: The king goes as far as he may, not as far as he would; [51] what Castilian pride in the following: Every layman46 in Castile might make a king, every clerk a pope. The Spaniard’s contempt for his peninsular neighbours finds its emphatic47 utterance48 in another: Take from a Spaniard all his good qualities, and there remains49 a Portuguese50.
We may too, I think, remark how a nation will occasionally in its proverbs indulge in a fine irony51 upon itself, and show that it is perfectly52 aware of its own weaknesses, follies53, and faults. This the Spaniards must be allowed to do in their proverb, Succours of Spain, either late, or never. [52] However [54]largely and confidently promised, these succours of Spain either do not arrive at all, or only arrive after the opportunity in which they could have served have passed away. Certainly any one who reads the despatches of England’s Great Captain during the Peninsular War will find in almost every page of them that which abundantly justifies54 this proverb, will own that those who made it read themselves aright, and could not have designated broken pledges, unfulfilled promises of aid, tardy55 and thus ineffectual assistance, by an happier title than Succours of Spain. And then again what a fearful glimpse of those blood feuds56 which, having once begun, seem as if they could never end, blood touching57 blood, and violence evermore provoking its like, have we in the following: Kill, and thou shalt be killed, and they shall kill him who kills thee. [53]
The Italians also are eminently rich in proverbs; and yet if ever I have been tempted58 to retract59 or seriously to modify what I shall have occasion by-and-bye to affirm in regard of a nobler life and spirit as predominating in proverbs, it has been after the study of some Italian collection. “The Italian proverbs,” it has been said not without too much reason, though perhaps also with overmuch severity, [55] “have taken a tinge60 from their deep and politic61 genius, and their wisdom seems wholly concentrated in their personal interests. I think every tenth proverb in an Italian collection is some cynical62 or some selfish maxim63, a book of the world for worldlings.” [54] Certainly many of them are shrewd enough, and only too shrewd; “ungracious,” inculcating an universal suspicion, teaching to look everywhere for a foe64, to expect, as the Greeks said, a scorpion65 under every stone, glorifying66 artifice67 and cunning as the true guides and only safe leaders through the perplexed68 labyrinth69 of life, [55] and altogether seeming dictated70 as by the very spirit of Machiavel himself.
Proverbs on revenge.
And worse than this is the glorification71 of revenge which speaks out in too many of them. I know nothing of its kind calculated to give one a more shuddering72 sense of horror than the series which might be drawn73 together of Italian proverbs on this matter; especially when we take them with the commentary which Italian history supplies, and which shows them no empty words, but the deepest utterances74 of the nation’s heart. There is no misgiving75 in these about the right of entertaining so deadly a guest in the bosom76; on the contrary, one of them, exalting77 the sweetness of revenge, declares, Revenge is a morsel78 for God. [56] There is nothing in them, (it would be far better if there were,) of blind and headlong passion, but [56] rather a spirit of deliberate calculation, which makes the blood run cold. Thus one gives this advice: Wait time and place to act thy revenge, for it is never well done in a hurry; [57] while another proclaims an immortality79 of hatred80, which no spaces of intervening time shall have availed to weaken: Revenge of an hundred years old hath still its sucking teeth. [58] We may well be thankful that we have in England, at least as far as I am aware, no sentiments parallel to these, embodied as the permanent convictions of the national mind.
How curious again is the confession81 which speaks out in another Italian proverb, that the maintenance of the Romish system and the study of Holy Scripture82 cannot go together. It is this: With the Gospel one becomes an heretic. [59] No doubt with the study of the Word of God one does become an heretic, in the Italian sense of the word; and therefore it is only prudently83 done to put all obstacles in the way of that study, to assign three years’ and four years’ imprisonment84 with hard labour to as many as shall dare to peruse85 it; yet certainly it is not a little remarkable that such a confession should have embodied itself in the popular utterances of the nation.
Italian proverbs.
But while it must be freely owned that the charges brought just now against the Italian proverbs[57] are sufficiently86 borne out by too many, they are not all to be included in the common shame. Very many there are not merely of a delicate refinement of beauty, as this, expressive87 of the freedom in regard of thine and mine which will exist between true friends: Friends tie their purses with a spider’s thread; [60] of a subtle wisdom which has not degenerated88 into cunning and deceit; but also of a nobler stamp; honour and honesty, plain dealing89 and uprightness, have here their praises too, and are not seldom pronounced to be in the end more than a match for all cunning and deceit. How excellent in this sense is the following: For an honest man half his wits is enough, the whole are too little for a knave90; [61] the ways, that is, of truth and uprightness are so simple and plain, that a little wit is abundantly sufficient for those that walk in them; the ways of falsehood and fraud are so perplexed and tangled91, that sooner or later all the wit of the cleverest rogue92 will not preserve him from being entangled93 therein. How often and how wonderfully has this found its confirmation94 in the lives of evil men; so true it is, to employ another proverb and a very deep one from the same quarter, that The devil is subtle, yet weaves a coarse web. [62]
[58]
Again, what description of Egypt as it now is, or indeed generally of the East, could set us at the heart of its moral condition, could make us to understand all which long centuries of oppression and misrule have made of it and of its people, what could do this so effectually as the collection of Arabic proverbs now current in Egypt, which the traveller Burckhardt gathered, and which, after his death, were published with his name? [63] In other books, others describe the modern Egyptians, but here they unconsciously describe themselves. The selfishness, the utter extinction95 of all public spirit, the servility, which no longer as with an inward shame creeps into men’s acts, but utters itself boldly as the avowed96 law of their lives, the sense of the oppression of the strong, of the insecurity of the weak, and, generally, the whole character of life, alike outward and inward, as poor, mean, sordid98, and ignoble99, with only a few faintest glimpses of that romance which one usually attaches to the East; all this, as we study these documents, rises up before us in truest, though in painfullest, outline.
Thus only in a land where rulers, being evil themselves, feel all goodness to be their instinctive100 foe, and themselves therefore entertain an instinctive hostility101 to it, where they punish but never reward,[59] where not to be noticed by them is the highest ambition of those under their yoke102, in no other land could a proverb like the following, Do no good, and thou shalt find no evil, have ever come to the birth. How settled a conviction that wrong, and not right, was the lord paramount103 of the world must have grown up in men’s spirits, before such a word as this, (I know of no sadder one,) could have found utterance from their lips. [64]
Irish proverb.
I have taken a wide circuit of nations; with the proverb of a people nearer home I must bring this branch of the subject to an end. It is one, and a very characteristic one, which the poet Spenser, who long dwelt in Ireland, records as current in his time among the Irish; in which were contained their offer of service to their native chiefs, with a statement of what they expected in return: Spend me, and defend me. Their leaders in all times have taken them only too well at their word in respect of the first half of the proverb, and have not failed prodigally105 to spend them; although their undertakings106 to defend have issued exactly as must ever issue all promises on the part of others to defend men from those evils, from which none can really protect them but themselves.
Other families of proverbs would each of them [60] tell its own tale, give up its own secret; but I must not seek from this point of view to question them further. I would rather bring now to your notice that even where they do not spring, as they cannot all, from the centre of a people’s heart, nor declare to us the secretest things which are there, but dwell more on the surface of things, in this case also they have often local or national features, which to study and trace out may prove both curious and instructive. Of how many, for example, we may note the manner in which they clothe themselves in an outward form and shape, borrowed from, or suggested by, the peculiar scenery or circumstances or history of their own land; so that they could scarcely have come into existence, not certainly in the shape which they now wear, anywhere besides. Thus our own, Make hay while the sun shines, is truly English, and could have had its birth only under such variable skies as ours,—not, at any rate, in those southern lands where, during the summer time at least, the sun always shines. In the same way there is a fine Cornish proverb in regard of obstinate107 wrongheads, who will take no counsel except from calamities108, who dash themselves to pieces against obstacles, which with a little prudence109 and foresight110 they might easily have avoided. It is this: He who will not be ruled by the rudder, must be ruled by the rock. It sets us at once upon some rocky and wreck-strewn coast; we feel that it could never have been the proverb of an inland people. And[61] this, Do not talk Arabic in the house of a Moor111, [65]—that is, because there thy imperfect knowledge will be detected at once,—this we should confidently affirm to be Spanish, wherever we met it. So also a traveller with any experience in the composition of Spanish sermons and Spanish ollas could make no mistake in respect of the following: A sermon without Augustine is as a stew112 without bacon. [66] German proverbs. Thus Big and empty, like the Heidelberg tun, [67] could have its home only in Germany; that enormous vessel113, known as the Heidelberg tun, constructed to contain nearly 300,000 flasks114, having now stood empty for hundreds of years. As regards, too, the following, Not every parish-priest can wear Dr. Luther’s shoes, [68] we could be in no doubt to what people it appertains. And this, The world is a carcase, and they who gather round it are dogs, plainly proclaims itself as belonging to those Eastern lands, where the unowned dogs prowling about the streets of a city are the natural scavengers, that would assemble round a carcase thrown in the way. So too the form which our own proverb, Man’s extremity115, God’s opportunity, or as we sometimes have it, When need is highest, help is nighest assumes among the Jews, namely this,[62] When the tale of bricks is doubled, Moses comes, [69] plainly roots itself in the early history of that nation, being an allusion10 to Exod. v. 9–19, and without a knowledge of that history would be unintelligible116 altogether. The same may be said of this: We must creep into Ebal, and leap into Gerizim; in other words, we must be slow to curse, and swift to bless. (Deut. xxvii. 12, 13.)
But while it is thus with some, which are bound by the very conditions of their existence to a narrow and peculiar sphere, or at all events move more naturally and freely in it than elsewhere, there are others on the contrary which we meet all the world over. True cosmopolites, they seem to have travelled from land to land, and to have made themselves an home equally in all. The Greeks obtained them probably from the older East, and again imparted them to the Romans; and from these they have found their way into all the languages of the western world.
Much, I think, might be learned from knowing what those truths are, which are so felt to be true by all nations, that all have loved to possess them in these compendious117 forms, wherein they may pass readily from mouth to mouth: which, thus cast into some happy form, have commended themselves to almost all people, and have become a portion of the common stock of the world’s wisdom, in every land making for themselves a recognition and an home. Such a proverb, for instance, is [63] Man proposes, God disposes; [70] one which I am inclined to believe that every nation in Europe possesses, so deeply upon all men is impressed the sense of Hamlet’s words, if not the words themselves:
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.”
Proverbs compared.
Sometimes the proverb does not actually in so many words repeat itself in various tongues. We have indeed exactly the same thought; but it takes an outward shape and embodiment, varying according to the various countries and periods in which it has been current: we have proverbs totally diverse from one another in their form and appearance, but which yet, when we look a little deeper into them, prove to be at heart one and the same, all these their differences being thus only, so to speak, variations of the same air. These are almost always an amusing, often an instructive, study; and to trace this likeness118 in difference has an interest lively enough. Thus the forms of the proverb, which brings out the absurdity119 of those reproving others for a defect or a sin, to whom the same cleaves120 in an equal or in a greater degree, have sometimes no visible connexion at all, or the very slightest, with one another; yet for all this the proverb is at heart and essentially121 but one.[64] We say in English: The kiln122 calls the oven, “Burnt house;”—the Italians: The pan says to the pot “Keep off, or you’ll smutch me;” [71]—the Spaniards: The raven123 cried to the crow, “Avaunt, blackamoor;” [72]— the Germans: One ass nicknames another, Long-ears; [73]— while it must be owned there is a certain originality124 in the Catalan version of the proverb: Death said to the man with his throat cut, “How ugly you look.” Under how rich a variety of forms does one and the same thought array itself here.
Let me quote another illustration of the same fact. We probably take for granted that Coals to Newcastle is a thoroughly English expression of the absurdity of sending to a place that which already abounds125 there, water to the sea, faggots to the wood:—and English of course it is in the outward garment which it wears; but in its innermost being it belongs to the whole world and to all times. Thus the Greeks said: Owls126 to Athens, [74] Attica abounding127 with these birds; the Rabbis: Enchantments128 to Egypt, Egypt being of old esteemed129 the head quarters of all magic; the Orientals: Pepper to Hindostan; and in the middle ages they had this proverb: Indulgences to Rome, Rome being the centre and source of this spiritual traffic; and these by no means exhaust the list.
Various proverbs.
Let me adduce some other variations of the same descriptions, though not running through quite so[65] many languages. Thus compare the German, Who lets one sit on his shoulders, shall have him presently sit on his head, [75] with the Italian, If thou suffer a calf130 to be laid on thee, within a little they’ll clap on the cow, [76] and, again, with the Spanish, Give me where I may sit down; I will make where I may lie down. [77] They all three plainly contain one and the same hint that undue131 liberties are best resisted at the outset, being otherwise liable to be followed up by other and greater ones; but this under how rich and humorous a variety of forms. Not very different are these that follow. We say: Daub yourself with honey, and you’ll be covered with flies; the Danes: Make yourself an ass, and you’ll have every man’s sack on your shoulders; while the French: Who makes himself a sheep, the wolf devours132 him; [78] and the Persians: Be not all sugar, or the world will gulp133 thee down; [79] to which they add, however, as its necessary complement134, nor yet all wormwood, or the world will spit thee out. Or again, we are content to say without a figure: The receiver’s as bad as the thief; but the French: He sins as much[66] who holds the sack, as he who puts into it; [80] and the Germans: He who holds the ladder is as guilty as he who mounts the wall. [81] We say: A stitch in time saves nine; the Spaniards: Who repairs not his gutter135, repairs his whole house. [82] We say: Misfortunes never come single; the Italians have no less than three proverbs to express the same popular conviction: Blessed is that misfortune which comes single; and again: One misfortune is the vigil of another; and again: A misfortune and a friar are seldom alone. [83] Or once more, the Russians say: Call a peasant, “Brother,” he’ll demand to be called, “Father;” the Italians: Reach a peasant your finger, he’ll grasp your fist. [84] Many languages have this proverb: God gives the cold according to the cloth; [85] it is very beautiful, but attains136 not to the tender beauty of our own: God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.
And, as in that last example, so not seldom will there be an evident superiority of a proverb in one language over one, which however resembles it closely in another. Moving in the same sphere, it [67]will yet be richer, fuller, deeper. Thus our own, A burnt child fears the fire, is good; but that of many tongues, A scalded dog fears cold water, is better still. Ours does but express that those who have suffered once will henceforward be timid in respect of that same thing from which they have suffered; but that other the tendency to exaggerate such fears, so that now they shall fear even where no fear is. And the fact that so it will be, clothes itself in an almost infinite variety of forms. Thus one Italian proverb says: A dog which has been beaten with a stick, is afraid of its shadow; and another, which could only have had its birth in the sunny South, where the glancing but harmless lizard137 so often darts138 across your path: Whom a serpent has bitten a lizard alarms. [86] With a little variation from this, the Jewish Rabbis had said long before: One bitten by a serpent, is afraid of a rope’s end; even that which bears so remote a resemblance to a serpent as this does, shall now inspire him with terror; and the Cingalese, still expressing the same thought, but with imagery borrowed from their own tropic clime: The man who has received a beating from a firebrand, runs away at sight of a firefly.
Rabbinical proverb.
Some of our Lord’s sayings contain the same lessons which the proverbs of the Jewish Rabbis contained already; for He was willing to bring forth139 even from his treasury140 things old as well as new; but it is very instructive to observe how they[68] acquire in his mouth a dignity and decorum which, it may be, they wanted before. We are all familiar with that word in the Sermon on the Mount, “Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” The Rabbis had a proverb to match, lively and piquant141 enough, but certainly lacking the gravity of this, and which never could have fallen from the same lips: If thy neighbour call thee ass, put a packsaddle on thy back; do not, that is, withdraw thyself from the wrong, but rather go forward to meet it. But thus, in least as in greatest, it was His to make all things new.
Sometimes a proverb, without changing its shape altogether, will yet on the lips of different nations be slightly modified; and these modifications142, slight as often they are, may not the less be eminently characteristic. Thus in English we say, Progress of ingratitude143. The river past, and God forgotten, to express with how mournful a frequency He whose assistance was invoked145, it may have been earnestly, in the moment of peril146, is remembered no more, so soon as by his help the danger has been surmounted147. The Spaniards have the proverb too; but it is with them: The river past, the saint forgotten, [87] the saints being in Spain more prominent objects of invocation than God. And the Italian form of it sounds a still sadder depth of ingratitude: The peril past, the saint mocked; [88] the vows148 made to [69] him in peril remaining unperformed in safety; and he treated something as, in Greek story, Juno was treated by Mandrabulus the Samian; who, having under her auspices149 and through her direction discovered a gold mine, in his instant gratitude144 vowed97 to her a golden ram104; which he presently exchanged in intention for a silver one; and again this for a very small brass150 one; and this for nothing at all; the rapidly descending151 scale of whose gratitude, with the entire disappearance152 of his thank-offering, might very profitably live in our memories, as so perhaps it would be less likely to repeat itself in our lives.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
ass
|
|
| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
applied
|
|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
illustrate
|
|
| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
underlying
|
|
| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
contemplate
|
|
| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
dishonour
|
|
| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
leavening
|
|
| n.酵母，发酵，发酵物v.使（面团）发酵( leaven的现在分词 )；在…中掺入改变的因素 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
mythology
|
|
| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
allusion
|
|
| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
allusions
|
|
| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
narrative
|
|
| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
embody
|
|
| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
diffused
|
|
| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
legendary
|
|
| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
mythological
|
|
| adj.神话的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
scantily
|
|
| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
delicacy
|
|
| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
refinement
|
|
| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
antiquity
|
|
| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
blessings
|
|
| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
realization
|
|
| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
frugal
|
|
| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
nay
|
|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
attained
|
|
| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
homely
|
|
| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
squire
|
|
| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
adorns
|
|
| 装饰，佩带( adorn的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
discourse
|
|
| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
texture
|
|
| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
vein
|
|
| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
exponent
|
|
| n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
chivalry
|
|
| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
eminently
|
|
| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
lurks
|
|
| n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
brays
|
|
| n.驴叫声，似驴叫的声音( bray的名词复数 )；（喇叭的）嘟嘟声v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的第三人称单数 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
apathy
|
|
| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
calamity
|
|
| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
embodied
|
|
| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
layman
|
|
| n.俗人，门外汉，凡人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
emphatic
|
|
| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
Portuguese
|
|
| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
irony
|
|
| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
follies
|
|
| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
justifies
|
|
| 证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
tardy
|
|
| adj.缓慢的，迟缓的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
feuds
|
|
| n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
retract
|
|
| vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
tinge
|
|
| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
politic
|
|
| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
cynical
|
|
| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
maxim
|
|
| n.格言，箴言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
foe
|
|
| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
scorpion
|
|
| n.蝎子，心黑的人，蝎子鞭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
glorifying
|
|
| 赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
artifice
|
|
| n.妙计，高明的手段；狡诈，诡计 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
perplexed
|
|
| adj.不知所措的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
labyrinth
|
|
| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
dictated
|
|
| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
glorification
|
|
| n.赞颂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
shuddering
|
|
| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
utterances
|
|
| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
misgiving
|
|
| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
exalting
|
|
| a.令人激动的，令人喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
morsel
|
|
| n.一口，一点点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
immortality
|
|
| n.不死，不朽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
scripture
|
|
| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
prudently
|
|
| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
imprisonment
|
|
| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
peruse
|
|
| v.细读，精读 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
expressive
|
|
| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
degenerated
|
|
| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
dealing
|
|
| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
knave
|
|
| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
tangled
|
|
| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
rogue
|
|
| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
entangled
|
|
| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
confirmation
|
|
| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
extinction
|
|
| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
avowed
|
|
| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
vowed
|
|
| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
sordid
|
|
| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
ignoble
|
|
| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
instinctive
|
|
| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
hostility
|
|
| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
yoke
|
|
| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
paramount
|
|
| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
ram
|
|
| (random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
prodigally
|
|
| adv.浪费地，丰饶地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
undertakings
|
|
| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
obstinate
|
|
| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
calamities
|
|
| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
prudence
|
|
| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
foresight
|
|
| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
moor
|
|
| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
stew
|
|
| n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
flasks
|
|
| n.瓶，长颈瓶， 烧瓶( flask的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
extremity
|
|
| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
unintelligible
|
|
| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
compendious
|
|
| adj.简要的，精简的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
likeness
|
|
| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
absurdity
|
|
| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
cleaves
|
|
| v.劈开，剁开，割开( cleave的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
essentially
|
|
| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
kiln
|
|
| n.（砖、石灰等）窑，炉；v.烧窑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
raven
|
|
| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
originality
|
|
| n.创造力，独创性；新颖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
abounds
|
|
| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
owls
|
|
| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
abounding
|
|
| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
enchantments
|
|
| n.魅力( enchantment的名词复数 )；迷人之处；施魔法；着魔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
esteemed
|
|
| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
calf
|
|
| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
undue
|
|
| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
devours
|
|
| 吞没( devour的第三人称单数 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
gulp
|
|
| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
complement
|
|
| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
gutter
|
|
| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
attains
|
|
| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
lizard
|
|
| n.蜥蜴，壁虎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
darts
|
|
| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
treasury
|
|
| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
piquant
|
|
| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
modifications
|
|
| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
ingratitude
|
|
| n.忘恩负义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
gratitude
|
|
| adj.感激，感谢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
invoked
|
|
| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
peril
|
|
| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
surmounted
|
|
| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
vows
|
|
| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
auspices
|
|
| n.资助，赞助 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
brass
|
|
| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
descending
|
|
| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
disappearance
|
|
| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |