“Doing?” grinned the Irishman, in answer to my question. “Oh! Just another of my tales. You know you can’t knock around British-India for twenty years without picking up a few things. About the time Ole took his first bath I began jotting10 down some of the mix-ups I’ve wandered into. That lot went to amuse Davy Jones when a tub I was playing second engineer on threw up the sponge in the Bay of Bengal. Later on I knocked the best of the yarns12 together again, and I tear off another now and then when life gets dull.
“Published? Oh, I may shove them off one of these days on some penny weekly. But if I don’t, the coroner can have them for his trouble when I come to furl my mainsheet. He won’t find anything else.”
“Vonderful!” cried Ole, with a Dr. Watson accent, “I haf study in der school an’ I rhead sometimes a story in der dog-vatch; min der man vitch can make der stories! Vonderful, by Gott!”
“By the way, Franck,” said Askins, gathering13 the notebooks together, “how about the yellow-birds who tried to shave your sky-piece over in Kandy?”
“Why, who has been telling you—?” I gasped14.
“Haven’t heard a word,” replied the Irishman; “but I knew they’d flag you. How did it turn out?”
I related my experiences with the temple priests.
“It’s an old game out here,” mused16 Askins. “In the good old days, whenever one of the boys went broke, it was get converted. Not all played out yet either. There’s a bunch of one-time beachcombers 273scattered among the Burmese monasteries17. An old pal18 of mine wears the yellow up in Nepal. No graft19 about him, though. He’s a firm believer.
“Now and then a down-and-outer, especially over Bombay side, turns Mohammedan. But most of ’em don’t take to the surgical20 operation, and the cross-legged one remains21 the favorite. Of course, there’s always the missionaries22, too, but there’s not much in it for a white man to turn Christian23. There was good money in the Mohammedan game before it was worked out. There’s a little yet. Of course, you know you won’t get a red by tying up with the rice-bowlers, but it’s a job for life—if you behave.”
“Huh! Yank,” roared the Swede, peering at me through the smoke, “you get burn some, eh, playin’ mit der monkeys in der jungle? Pretty soon you ban sunstroke. Here, I make you trade.”
He pointed24 to the tropical helmet on the table before him.
“You’re on,” I responded.
“He ban good hat,” said Ole, proudly; “I get him last week from der Swede consul25. Min he too damn big. What you give?”
For answer I tossed my cap across the table.
“Nah!” protested the Scandinavian, “I sell him for tventy cents or I take der cap an’ vun coat.”
I mounted to the floor above and returned with a cotton jacket that I had left in the keeping of Askins.
“How’s this?” I demanded.
“He ban all right,” answered Ole, slipping into it; “der oder vas all broke by der sleeves.”
I donned the helmet and strolled down to the landing jetty, where “the boys” were accustomed to gather of an evening to enjoy the only cool breeze that ever invaded Colombo. Few had been the changes in the beachcomber ranks during my absence. Amid the drowsy28 yarning29 there sounded often a familiar refrain:—“The circus is coming.” No one knew just when; but then, one doesn’t worry in Ceylon. If he hasn’t rice, he eats bananas. If he can’t find work, it is a joy merely to lie in the shade and breathe.
The publicity31 of the cricket grounds had led me to seek other sleeping-quarters. Opposite the shipping-office, in the heart of the European section, lay Gordon Gardens, a park replete32 with fountains, gay flower pots, and grateful shade. By day it was the rendezvous33 of the élite of the city, white and black. By night its gates were closed, and stern placards warned trespassers to beware. Small hindrance34 274these, however, for in all Colombo I had no better friend than Bobby, who patroled the flanking street. Under the trees the night dew never fell, the ocean breeze laughed at the toil35 of the punkah-wallah, the fountains gave bathroom privileges, and prowling natives disturbed me no more; for Bobby was owl-eyed. This new lodging36 had but one drawback. I must be up and away with the dawn; for within pea-shooting distance of my chamber37 towered the White House of Ceylon, and Governor Blake was reputed an early riser and no friend of beachcombers.
One by one there drifted ashore38 in Colombo four fellow-countrymen, who, following my example, soon won for Gordon Gardens the sub-title “American Park Hotel.” Model youths, perhaps, would have shunned39 this quartet, for each plead guilty to a checkered40 past. As for myself, I found them boon41 companions.
Henderson, the oldest, was a deserter from the Asiatic squadron. Arnold, middle-aged43, laden44 with the spoils—in drafts—of a political career in New York, awaited in Ceylon the conclusion of the Japanese-Russian war before hastening to Port Arthur to open an American saloon.
Down at the point of the breakwater, where we were wont45 to gather often for a dip in the brine, I made the acquaintance of Marten. He was a boy of twenty-five, hailing from Tacoma, Washington. Arriving in the Orient some years before with a record as a champion swimmer, he had spent two seasons in diving for pearls on the Coromandel coast. Not one of the native striplings who surrounded each arriving steamer, clamoring for pennies, was more nearly amphibious than Marten. It was much more to watch his submarine feats46 than to swim that the beachcombers sallied forth48 each afternoon from their shady retreats.
We swam cautiously, the rest of us, for the harbor was infested49 with sharks. On the day after my arrival, the Worcestershire had buried in the European cemetery50 of Colombo the upper half of what had been one of my companions in the “glory-hole.” The appearance of a pair of black fins51 out across the sun-flecked waters was certain to send us scrambling52 up the rough face of the breakwater.
The rickshaw men of Colombo
American wanderers who slept in the Gordon Gardens of Colombo. Left to right: Arnold, ex-New York ward53 heeler; myself; “Dick Haywood”; an English lad; and Marten of Tacoma, Washington
But not so Marten. While we fled, he swam straight for the coming monsters of the deep. When they were almost upon him he dived with a shout of hilarity54 and a dash of foam55 into their very 275midst, to come to the surface smiling and unscathed, perhaps far out across the harbor, perhaps under our dangling56 feet. How he put the sharks to flight no man knew. The “gang” was divided in its opinion between the assertion of the swimmer himself that he “tickled ’em under the belly,” and the conviction of Askins that he had merely to show them his face—for Marten was not afflicted57 with manly58 beauty.
The last member of our party was a bully59 born on the Bowery, younger in years than Marten, older in rascality60 than Henderson. As to his name, he owned to several, and assured us at the first meeting that “Dick Haywood” would do well enough for the time being. His chief claim to fame was his own assertion that he had escaped from Sing Sing after serving two years of a seven-year sentence. The story of his “get-away,” with which he often entertained twilight61 gatherings62 on the jetty, smacked63 of veracity64. For all an innate65 skepticism, I found no reason to disagree with the conclusion of the “gang” that his “song and dance” was true. Certainly there was no doubt among his most casual acquaintances of his ability to get into Sing Sing. He was clever enough, fortune favoring, to have broken out.
Fleeing his native land, Haywood had brought up in Bombay and, having enlisted66 in the British army, was assigned to a garrison67 in Rajputana. Obviously, so temperamental a youth must soon weary of the guard duty and pipe-clay polishing that make up the long, long Indian day of Tommy Atkins. He engineered a second “get-away.” The enlistment68 papers and a buttonless uniform in his bundle certified69 to this adventure. In the course of time he reached Calcutta, chiefly through the fortune of finding himself alone in a compartment70 of the Northwest Mail with a Parsee merchant of more worldly wealth than physical prowess. A rumor71 of this escapade soon drove him to Madras. There his unconventional habits again asserted themselves and fortune temporarily deserted72 him. He was taken in the bazaars73 in the act of “weeding the leathers.”
Once more he escaped, this time from a crowded court room, and finding India no longer attractive, turned southward to Ceylon, hoping to make a final “get-away” by sea.
Few of “the boys” gave credence74 to these last tales. But they were true. For a newcomer in the ranks reported on the day of his arrival, before he had laid eyes on the culprit, that Madras was 276placarded with descriptions—they fitted Haywood exactly—of a man charged with desertion, robbery, pick-pocketing, and escape from custody75.
Awaking penniless on the morning following my return from Kandy, I decided76 to investigate a charity system in vogue77 in British-India. Kind-hearted sahibs, members of a national association known as the “Friend-in-Need Society,” maintain in the larger cities a refuge for stranded78 Europeans and Eurasians. Above the door of each Society building appear the initial letters of its title. The inventive wanderer, for other reasons than this, perhaps, has dubbed79 the kindly80 institution the “Finish.”
In Colombo the Society offered only out-door relief, meal tickets distributed by its president or secretary. I found the first of these officials to be the youthful editor of Colombo’s English newspaper, with offices a ship’s length from Gordon Gardens. Tickets, however, had he none.
“This office was too blooming handy,” he explained, throwing aside his blue pencil to mop his brow. “If the hooligans loafing in the Gardens or on the jetty had an idle hour on their hands, they spent it inventing tales and strolled up here to see how much they could get out of the Society by springing them on me. There was more than one of them, too, that I’d have taken on the staff if he could have dished up as good a yarn11 every week. But the thing got to be a fad81, and, when I found that a couple of fellows that applied82 to me had their pockets full of dibs at the time, I decided to let the secretary, the Baptist minister, do the distributing. His parsonage is four miles from the harbor, and the man that will walk that far in Ceylon deserves all he can get out of him.”
Far out beyond the leper hospital, where putrescent mortals peered dejectedly through the palings, I came upon the bungalow83 of the Reverend Peacock, set well back from the red highway in a grove84 of palms. Several old acquaintances, including Askins, had assembled. One of them stood abjectly85, hat in hand, before the judgment-seat at the end of the veranda86.
The secretary was a man of pugilistic build, with the voice of a side-show barker. His very roar seemed an assertion that he was an infallible judge of human nature. Yet, strangely enough, he treated most liberally the professional vagrants87, and turned away empty-handed those whose stories were told stammeringly88 for want of 277practice. Among those who appeared before him that morning, for example, were two grafters, Askins and myself; and an Italian sailor, really deserving of assistance.
The Irishman chose to state his case in the language of university circles.
“Surely,” cried the reverend gentleman, in delight, “this must be the first time a man of your parts has found himself in this predicament?”
“Verily, yes, Reverend Peacock,” quoth the learned son of Erin, with an unrestrainable sigh, “the first indeed. As I can’t count the other times, they don’t count,” he murmured to himself. “It’s the asthma89, reverend sir.”
“I shall be glad to make yours a special case,” said the secretary; “Step aside into my study.”
I advanced to tell my tale and received eight tickets, twice the usual number. A moment later the Italian was driven from the parsonage grounds with the nearest approach to an oath that a minister is entitled to include in his vocabulary.
The tickets, worth four cents each, entitled the holder90 to as many meals of currie and rice, tea, bananas, and cakes in a native shop chosen by the Society; it was the poorest in town. A faulty management was suggested, too, by the fact that the proprietor91 was easily induced to make good the Society vouchers92 in a neighboring arrack-shop.
Three day later, as dawn was breaking, I climbed the fence of the “American Park Hotel” and strolled away to the beach for a dip in the surf. Breakfast would have been more to the point, but my last ticket was spent. One by one, “the boys,” little suspecting that this was to prove the red-letter day of that Colombo season, turned back into the squat93 city; and as the sun mounted higher I retreated to the freight wharves94, where the vague promise of a job had been held out to me the day before.
The dock superintendent95 was slow in coming. At ten o’clock I was still stretched out in the shade of his veranda, when I was suddenly aroused by a shout from the shore end of the pier96. I sprang up to see the Swede struggling to keep a footing in the maelstrom97 of bullock carts, coolie carriers, and shrieking98 stevedores99, and waving his arms wildly above his head.
“Circus!” he cried, “Der circus is coom, Franck! Creeket 278ground!” and, turning about, he dashed off at a pace that is rarely equaled in Ceylon by white men who look forward to a long and active life.
I dived into the throng and fought my way to the gate. The Scandinavian was already far down the red driveway leading to the native section. Among such a company of out-of-works as graced Colombo at that season, there was small chance of employment to those who lingered. I dashed after the flying Norseman and overtook him at the entrance to the public playground.
A circus at the hour of its arrival presents a chaotic100 scene under the best of circumstances. When it has just disembarked from a sea voyage, in a land swarming101 with half-civilized brown men, its disorder102 is oppressive. The center of the cricket field was a wild confusion of animal cages, rolls of canvas, scattered tent poles, and all else that goes to make up a traveling menagerie, not forgetting those pompous103 persons whose hectic104 garb105 make them as effective advertising106 mediums as walking billboards107.
At the moment, these romantic beings were doing garrison duty; for the recumbent circus was in a state of siege. Around it surged an ever-increasing multitude of natives, peering, pushing, chattering108, falling back terror-stricken before the frenzied109 circus men who, armed with iron-headed tent stakes, charged back and forth across the space; but sweeping110 out upon the scattered paraphernalia111 again after each onslaught.
We battled our way into the inner circle and shouted an offer of our services to the blaspheming manager. He was a typical circus boss; Irish, of course, bullet-headed, of powerful build, and free of movement, with a belligerent112 cast of countenance113 that proclaimed his readiness to engage in a “scrap” at any time that he could find leisure for such entertainment. Tugging114 at a heap of canvas, he peered at us between his out-stretched legs, and shouted above the din3 of battle:—
“Yis, I want four min! White wans115! Are you fellows sailors? There’s a hill of a lot o’ climbin’ to do.”
“Both A. Bs.,” I answered.
“All right! If ye want the job, bring two more.”
We turned to scrutinize116 the sea of humanity about us. There was not a white face to be seen.
“Ve look by Almeida’s!” shouted the Swede, as we charged the mob.
Before we could escape, however, I caught sight of a familiar slouch hat well back in the crowd, and a moment later Askins stood beside 279us. Behind him came Dick Haywood and, our squad42 complete, we dashed back to the boss.
“Well!” he roared, “I pay a quid a week an’ find yerselves! Want it?”
“A pound a week,” muttered Askins, “that’s more’n two chips a day. Aye! We’ll take it.”
“All right! Jump onto that center pole an’ get ’er up. If these niggers get in the way, brain ’em with a tent stake. Stip lively now!”
The upper canvas was soon spread and a space roped off. The boss tossed a pick-ax at me and set me to grubbing holes for the seat supports. Carefully and evenly I swung the tool up and down in an old maid’s stroke. The least slip would have broken a Singhalese head, so closely did the natives press around me. To them the sight of a white man employed at manual labor118 was the source of as much astonishment119 as any of the wonders of the circus. Few, indeed, had ever before seen a European manipulating heavier tools than pen or pencil. Within an hour the news had spread abroad through the city that the circus had imported the novelty of the age, some “white coolies;” and all Colombo and his wife omitted the afternoon siesta120 and trooped to the cricket ground to behold121 this reversal of society.
The mob that I drove from hole to hole increased rapidly. My mates, carrying seat boards or sawdust for the ring, were as seriously handicapped. Haywood of the untamed temper, taking the caustic122 advice of the boss too literally123, snatched up a tent stake and stretched two natives bleeding on the ground. Even that brought small relief.
Strange comments sounded in my ears; for the native who speaks English never loses an opportunity to display his learning. A pair at my elbow opened fire in the diction of schoolbooks:—
“This sight is to me astounding124!” shrieked125 the high-caste youth to his older companion; “I have never before know that Europeans can do such workings.”
“Why, indeed, yes!” cried the babu. “In his home the sahib does just so strong work as our coolies, but because he is play cricket and tennis he is doing even stronger. He is not rich always and sitting in shade.”
“But do the white man not losing his caste when he is working like coolies?” demanded the youth. “Why is this man work at such? Is he perhaps prisoner that he disgraces himself lower than the keeper of the arrack-shop?”
280“Truly, my friend, I not understand,” admitted the older man, a bit sadly, “but I am reading that in sahib’s country he is make the workings of coolie and yet is not coolie.”
There were others besides the native residents whose attention was attracted to the “white coolies.” Here and there in the crowd I caught sight of a European scowling127 darkly at us; just why, I could not guess, unconscious of having done anything to provoke the ill-will of my race. In due time, however, I learned the cause of their displeasure.
When night fell, all was in readiness for the initial performance; though at the cost of a day’s work that we agreed could not be indulged in more than semi-annually, even for an inducement of “more than two chips.” The tents, large and small, were stretched, the circle of seats complete. Rings, flying apparatus128, properties, and lights were ready for use. A half-thousand chairs, reserved for Europeans, had been ranged at the ring side, the cage of the performing lion bolted together, and the ticket booth set up at the entrance. The boss gave vent26 to a final snarl129, called a ’rickshaw, and drove off to his hotel for dinner. Luckily, Askin’s credit was good in the favorite shop across the way. We ate our currie and rice quickly, and returned to stretch out on the grass at the players’ entrance.
Our pipes were barely lighted when two Europeans, dressed in snow-white garments, stepped forward out of the darkness. We recognized in them two Englishmen connected with the Lipton Tea Company.
“It strikes me, me men,” began one, in a high, querulous voice, “that you chaps should know better than to do coolie labor in sight of all the natives of the city.”
“What’s that?” I cried, in my surprise, though I heard Askins chuckling130 behind me.
“I suppose you chaps have only come to Ceylon,” suggested the other, in a more conciliatory tone. “You probably don’t realize what a different world this is out here. You cawn’t work at manual labor here, you know, the way you can in Hyde Park. Why, you will destroy the prestige of every white man on the island, if—”
“You’ve stirred up a fine kettle of fish already,” burst out the first speaker. “But Arthur, these chaps are not bank clerks. They cawn’t understand the sowt of language you talk to your stenographer131, you knoaw. They are only sailors. Let me tell them the trouble.
“Now look heah, me men. This awfternoon my Hindu servant stuck his head in at my office door, and shouted right out for me to go 281to the cricket ground and see the sahib coolies. By four o’clock he was talking back every time I called him to do an errand. To-night, blawst me, he was so slow in filling my pipe that I had to chuck a boot at him. By to-morrow morning I suppose he’ll tell me to prepare me own bawth, bah Jove. This sort of thing, ye knoaw, is giving the natives the notion that they’re as good as Englishmen.”
“Think you’ll find,” said Askins, puffing slowly at his broken pipe, “if you reflect a bit, that this unwonted arrogance132 in the aborigines and the noticeable decrease in their respect for Europeans, which you attribute entirely133 to our alleged134 indiscretion, are very largely due to the recent victories of Japan over Russia.”
The Swede snorted like a stalled winch. The boot-chucker peered through the darkness at the rags that covered Askins, M. A. Even “Arthur” could not suppress a chuckle135 at his companion’s notion of a mere30 sailor’s vocabulary. Before the other had recovered, he took up the broken thread of the sermon.
“Reginald is right, me men, all the same. Ye knoaw of all the castes out here only the very lowest work with their hands, and they are despised by every other class. Why, the lowest caste in Ceylon, ye knoaw, won’t undertake our meanest labor. We have to send over for Tamil and Hindu coolies. Now the Englishmen are at the top of this caste system. The natives look up to us as above their highest caste. If this highest class, then, does labor that would degrade those of their lowest caste, you can see where their reverence136 for white men would soon go.
“Chaps have come out here at different times, missionaries especially, determined137 to treat the natives like equals, saying it was all rot and wrong to keep up this caste system. And they chatted with their servants, and patted the babies on the back, and sat at the same table with natives, and even planted their own gardens. And those who haven’t got knives in their ribs138 for hoodooing the children are looked upon as insane or degenerate139, or as men being punished for some crime. Why, if these people ceased to look upon us as their social superiors they’d drive us into the sea in a month. If you chaps want to stop long in Colombo you’d better drop this circus job.”
“But if that’s all the work we can find on the whole blooming island?” I demanded.
“Work!” cried Reginald, excitedly, “Why, blawst it! Don’t work! Better loaf than make us all lose caste with the natives.”
“But if the wily chip continues to elude140 us?” drawled Askins.
282“Eh!” gasped Reggie.
“I mean if the currie and rice refuse to come at our whistle?”
“Oah! Yeou mean if you have no money to buy food?”
“You’ve hit it,” replied the Dublin sage141; “that’s the very idea.”
“Why, blawst it, me man,” shrieked Reggie, “don’t you know there’s a Friend-in-Need Society in Colombo? What do you fawncy we contribute to it for? Now if you chaps don’t stop disgracing all the—”
“What’s the bloody142 row?” growled143 a voice in the darkness.
Our employer loomed144 up out of the night.
“Oh! That’ll be all right,” he asserted, in a soothing145 voice, when the controversy146 had been explained to him; “The tints147 is all up. T’night I’ll give these byes their uniforems, an’ whinever the show is goin’ on an’ the niggers can see thim, they’ll wear thim.”
“Uniforms!” cried the Englishmen. “That’s different, ye knoaw.”
“Of course,” continued Reggie, lighting148 a cigarette, “it will be all right with uniforms. When a man weahs a uniform, the natives think he is doing something they cawn’t do, ye knoaw, and he keeps his cawste. Oah, yes, that’ll do very nicely, Mr. Manager. We’ll be off, then,” and the pair tripped away into the night.
“Fitzgerald’s Circus” was an Australian enterprise. Its personnel, from Fritz himself to the trick poodle, hailed from the little continent. In competition with the circuses of our own land this one-ring affair would have attracted small attention; but its annual circuit of Oriental cities, from Hong Kong to Bombay, was on virgin149 soil where the most stereotyped150 “act” was greeted with bursts of enthusiasm.
To us, surfeited151 and sophisticated beings from an unmarveling world, the sights of interest were in the amphitheater of benches rather than in the ring. The burners lighted, we dashed off to don our uniforms. These were light blue in color and richly trimmed with gold braid—things of glory above which even the bald crown of Askins and the straw-tinted thatch152 of the Swede inspired a deep Singhalese reverence. The designers of the garments, however, having in mind durability153 rather than the comfort of scores of annual wearers, had forced upon us a costume appropriate to the upper ranges of the Himalayas.
Our first uniformed duties were those of ushers154, and between the appearance of the frightened vanguard of the audience and the first fanfare156 of the audacious “orchestra,” life moved with a vim157. The hordes158 that swarmed159 in upon us before the barker had concluded his first appeal comprised every caste of Singhalese society. Weighty problems 283unknown to the most experienced circus man of the western world crowded themselves upon us, demanding instantaneous solution. A delegation160 of priests in cheese-cloth robes raised their shrill161 voices in protest because the space allotted162 them gave no room for their betel-nut boxes. Half-breeds shouted strenuous163 objections to being seated with natives. Merchants refused to enter the same section with shopkeepers. Shopkeepers were chary164 of pollution at the touch of scribes. Scribes cried out hoarsely165 at contact with laborers166. Skilled workmen screamed in frenzy167 at every attempt to make place among them for mere coolies.
The lower the caste of the newcomer the more prolonged was the uproar168 against him, and the more vindictive169 his own disgust at his inferiors. The Hindu sudra, in his scanty170 loin-cloth, was abhorred171 of all, and shrank servilely behind the usher155 during the circuit of the tent, while each section in turn rose against him. The natives, for the most part, refused to sit as circus seats are meant to be sat on, but squatted172 obstinately173 on their heels, hugging their scrawny knees. Wily ’rickshaw runners could be kept from crawling in among the chairs only by extreme vigilance and occasional violence. Buxom174 brown women, caught in the crush of humanity, ran imminent175 peril176 of being separated from their loosely-fastened skirts, and through it all native youths from the mission-schools, swarmed round us, intent on displaying their “English” by asking useless and unanswerable questions.
The entrance of the European patrons, staid and pompous of demeanor177, put the natives on their best behavior, and, with the appearance of the bicyclers for the first act, even the Eurasian forgot that the despised sudra sat under the same tent with him. The heterogeneous178 throng settled down into a motionless sea of strained, astonished faces. Fitzgerald sahib prided himself on the smooth manner in which his entertainment was run off, and to the four of us fell the task of supplying the oil to his circus machinery179. The “Wonderful Cycle Whiz! Never Before Performed by Australians! Never!” once over, we had one minute to pull down the bicycle track and carry the heavily weighted sections outside the tent. While we lowered “Master Waldron’s” trapeze with one hand, we placed and held the hurdles180 with the other. Tables and chairs for “Hadgie Tabor’s Hand-Balancing Act!” must appear as if by magic. In breathless succession the trick ponies181 must be led on, the ring cleared for the performing elephant, set again for the “Astounding Jockey Act,” and cleared for the “Hungarian Horses.”
284Then “Mlle. Montgomery,” forgetting her bunion, capered182 into the glare of publicity in a costume that made even the tropically-clad Singhalese women gasp15 with envy. Most valiantly183 we struggled during her “Daring Equestrian184 Act!” to drop the streamers low on her horse’s flanks, and to strike the fair equestrienne squarely on the head with our paper hoops185; not so much from a desire to charm the audience with our dexterity187 as to escape the sizzling comments which the fairy-like “mademoiselle” flung back in snarling188 sotto voce at each blunderer.
Away with hoops and ribbons! Properties for the clown act! On the heels of the fools came that “Mighty Demonstration189 of Man’s Power over FEROCIOUS190 BEASTS!” during which an emaciated191 and moth-eaten tiger, crouched192 on a horse, rode twice round the ring with the contrite193 and crestfallen194 countenance of a hen-pecked suburbanite195 who has returned home without recalling the reason for the knot in his handkerchief.
Ten minutes’ intermission, that was no intermission for us, and there came more properties, hoops and rings of fire, tables and chairs, performing dogs to be held in leash196, and a final act for which we set up the elephant’s bicycle and drove the lion out for a spin on the huge animal’s back. Had our uniforms been as airy as the raiment of the Hindu coolies slinking at the tail of the howling hordes that poured through the exit, our labyrinthian197 paths about the enclosure could easily have been traced by the streams of sweat left behind us. Even though our tasks were by no means ended with the performance, we rarely waited for the disappearance198 of the last stragglers to strip as far as unexacting Singhalese propriety199 would permit.
When the last property had been laid away, we arranged our beds by setting together several chairs chosen from the general havoc200, and turned in. Unless we were disturbed by prowling natives, we even slept; though rarely all at once and never for an extended period.
The boss, during that strenuous first day, had promised us ample leisure when once the tents and cages were set up. Unfortunately, he forgot his promise. Each day we were stirring at dawn, and, after a banana and a wafer across the way, we fell to work. The benches, which the departing multitude had scattered pellmell in their dash for the cooler night outside, must be reset201. The chairs of the sahibs, strewn about the ring like wreckage202 washed ashore, must be rearranged in symmetrical rows and decorated with ribbons. Cast-off programs, banana peelings, betel-nut leaves, and all the rubbish of a band of 285merrymakers had to be picked up; the tent ropes “sweated” to keep them taut203; the lion’s cage minutely inspected; the ring re-sprinkled with sawdust and, a job abhorred, freshly whitewashed204. Between these regular duties came a hundred and one chores of the boss’s finding; and, whatever the task in hand, it must be interrupted ever and anon to throw tent stakes at the awe-stricken faces that peered through the openings in the canvas. Strange fortune if we were finished when the cry of “touch off the lights” sent us shinnying up the tent poles and ropes in Jack27 Tar8 fashion to kindle205 the gasoline burners. Not even the Reverend Peacock could have accused us, during those merry days, of living, like drones, on the industry of others.
Fitzgerald’s Circus had been domiciled nearly a week in Colombo, when I was unexpectedly advanced from the position of a “swipe” to one of weighty importance. It was during an idle hour late one afternoon. The four of us were displaying our accomplishments206 in the deserted ring, when it was my good fortune, or bad, according to the individual point of view, to be detected by the ringmaster and the proprietor in the act of “doing a hand-stand.” Certain so commonplace a feat47 in itself could not have attracted the attention the pair bestowed207 upon me, I regained208 my accustomed posture209 fully117 expecting to lose my cherished “quid a week” for this defilement210 of the sawdust circle. I waited contritely211. The ringmaster looked me over with critical dispassion from my shorn head to my bare feet, turned his perpetual scowl126 on “Fitz” for a moment, and addressed me in the metallic212 voice of a phonograph:—
“Know any other stunts213?”
Was the question meant seriously, or was this caustic sarcasm214 but a forerunner215 of my dismissal?
“One or two,” I admitted.
“Where’d ye learn ’em?” snapped the ringmaster.
I pleaded in exoneration216 a few years of gymnasium membership.
“Gymnasium on shipboard?” asked the owner.
“Why, no, sir, on land.”
“Could you do a dive over that chair into the ring, a head-stand, a stiff-fall, and a roll-up?” rasped the ringmaster.
A chuckle and a snort sounded from my companions. Losing a job was, from their point of view, neither a disgrace nor a misfortune—merely a joke.
“Yes, sir, I can work those,” I stammered217.
“You’re a sailor?”
286“Yes, sir.”
“Then a few tumbles won’t hurt you any. Can you hold a man of twelve stone on your shoulders?”
I made a brief mental calculation; twelve times fourteen—one hundred and sixty-eight pounds.
“Sure,” I answered.
“Well,” snapped the ringmaster, savagely218, “I want you to go on for Walhalla’s turn.”
“Whaat!” I gasped; “Walha—!” In my astonishment I had all but taken to my heels. Walhalla and Faust were our two clowns, and the joy with which the antics of the pair were greeted by the natives kept them more in evidence than any other performer. My companions roared with delight at the fancied jest.
“Here! You swipes,” cried the ringmaster, whirling upon them; “go over and brush the flies off that elephant! An’ keep ’em brushed off! D’ye hear me!”
“Now, then, Franck,” said the proprietor—this sudden rise in the social scale had given me even the right to be addressed by name—“Walhalla has a fever. Out for good, I suppose. Damn it, Casey!” turning to his right-hand man, “I’m always losing my exhibits. Look at this trip! My best bare-back skirt dies of cholera219 in Singapore. My best cycler breaks his neck in Rangoon. The plague walks off with my best trap man in Bombay—damn the hole! Why in hell is it always the stars that go? Now it’s Walhalla. Five turns cut out already. If we lose any more, we’re done for. We can’t, that’s all. Now—”
“But I’m no circus man!” I protested, as his eye fell on me.
“Oh, hell!” said the ringmaster, “You’ve been with us long enough to know Walhalla’s gags, and you can work up the stunts in a couple of rehearsals220.”
“But there’s the violin act!” I objected, recalling a combination of alleged music and tumbling that always “brought down the house.”
“We’ll have to cut that out. But you can put on the others.”
“There’ll be ten chips a day in it,” put in “Fitz,” casually222.
“Eh—er—ten rupees!” I choked. Self-respecting beachcomber though I was, I would have turned missionary223 at that price.
“All right, sir. I’ll make a try at it,” I answered.
“Of course,” said “Fitz.” “Go and get tiffin and be back in half an hour. I’ll have Faust here for a rehearsal221.”
I sprang for an exit, but stopped suddenly as a thought struck me:—
The trick elephant of Fitzgerald’s circus and a high-caste Singhalese with circle-comb
John Askins, M.A., who had been “on the road” in the Orient twenty years
287“But say,” I wailed224, “we’re aground! The clothes—!”
“Stretch a leg and get tiffin!” cried the ringmaster; “Walhalla’s rags are all here.”
From nightfall until the audience, which “Fitz” was holding back as long as possible, stormed the tent, I worked feverishly225 with Faust in perfecting “gags,” tumbles, and the time-honored brands of “horse-play.” When our privacy was invaded, I scurried226 away to the dressing-tent to be made up. Several long-established antics we were obliged to omit until the next day gave more opportunity for rehearsal; but the clouted227 audience was uncritical, the Europeans indifferent to “tommy-rot,” and the performance passed with no worse mishap228 to the new member of the troupe229 than one too realistic fall and an occasional relapse into seriousness.
Yet life as a circus clown was nothing if not serious—under the paint. The least difficult functions of this new calling were those executed in public. To strike “Mlle. Montgomery” squarely on the head with a paper hoop186 while holding one leg in the air, and to fall down from the imaginary impact with a whoop230 was as simple a matter as to do the same thing in all solemnity and the uniform of a “swipe.” It was back in the dressing-tent, scraping dried paint off one side of my blistered231 countenance while my fellow fool daubed fresh colors on the other, jumping out of one ridiculous costume into one more idiotic232, turning the place topsy-turvy in a mad scramble233 for a misplaced dunce cap or a lost slap-stick, that I began to lose my fascination234 for this honored profession. On those days when we favored Colomboans with two performances, there was little hilarity in the dethroned scaramouch who made his bed of chairs at the ring side. I wondered no more at the funereal235 countenance with which Walhalla had been wont to haunt our morning hours before the fever fell upon him.
One long week I wore the cap and bells on the cricket ground of Colombo. All good fortune, however, must have an end—even ten-rupee incomes for stranded wanderers. There dawned a day when our canvas dwelling236 came down by the run, and the mixed odor of sweat and sawdust was wafted237 away on the hot monsoon238 that sweeps across the playground of Ceylon. The season of Fitzgerald was over. The naked stevedores bundled into the ship’s hold the chest that contained Walhalla’s merry raiment as carelessly as they threw the sections of the lion’s cage on top of it. On the forward deck the moth-eaten tiger peered through the bars at his native jungle behind the city, and rubbed a watery239 eye; at the rail an unpainted Faust stared 288gloomily down at the churning screw. There were no tears shed by the united quartet that, from the far end of the breakwater, watched the circus sink hull-down on the southern horizon; but as we straggled back at dusk to join the beachcombers under the palms of Gordon Gardens, I caught myself feeling now and then in the band of my trousers for the sovereigns I had sewed there.
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1
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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2
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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3
din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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5
scribbling
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| n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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6
sputtering
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| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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7
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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8
tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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9
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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10
jotting
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| n.简短的笔记，略记v.匆忙记下( jot的现在分词 )；草草记下，匆匆记下 | |
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11
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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12
yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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13
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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14
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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15
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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16
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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17
monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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18
pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
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19
graft
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| n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接 | |
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20
surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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21
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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22
missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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23
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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24
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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25
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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26
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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27
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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28
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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29
yarning
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| vi.讲故事（yarn的现在分词形式） | |
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30
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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31
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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32
replete
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| adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁 | |
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33
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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34
hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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35
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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36
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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37
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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38
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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39
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
checkered
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| adj.有方格图案的 | |
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41
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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42
squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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43
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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44
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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45
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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46
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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47
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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48
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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49
infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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50
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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51
fins
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| [医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌 | |
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52
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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53
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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54
hilarity
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| n.欢乐；热闹 | |
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55
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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56
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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57
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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59
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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60
rascality
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| 流氓性，流氓集团 | |
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61
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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62
gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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63
smacked
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| 拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
veracity
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| n.诚实 | |
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65
innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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66
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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67
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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68
enlistment
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| n.应征入伍，获得，取得 | |
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69
certified
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| a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的 | |
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70
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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71
rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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72
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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73
bazaars
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| （东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场 | |
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74
credence
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| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
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75
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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76
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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77
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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78
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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79
dubbed
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| v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制 | |
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80
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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81
fad
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| n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好 | |
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82
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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83
bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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84
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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85
abjectly
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| 凄惨地； 绝望地； 糟透地； 悲惨地 | |
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86
veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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87
vagrants
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| 流浪者( vagrant的名词复数 )； 无业游民； 乞丐； 无赖 | |
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88
stammeringly
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| adv.stammering（口吃的）的变形 | |
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89
asthma
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| n.气喘病，哮喘病 | |
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90
holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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91
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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92
vouchers
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| n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据 | |
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93
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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94
wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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95
superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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96
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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97
maelstrom
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| n.大乱动；大漩涡 | |
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98
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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99
stevedores
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| n.码头装卸工人，搬运工( stevedore的名词复数 ) | |
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100
chaotic
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| adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的 | |
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101
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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102
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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103
pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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104
hectic
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| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
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105
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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106
advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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107
billboards
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| n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 ) | |
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108
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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109
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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110
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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111
paraphernalia
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| n.装备；随身用品 | |
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112
belligerent
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| adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者 | |
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113
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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114
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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115
wans
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| vt.& vi.（使）变苍白，（使）呈病态（wan的第三人称单数形式） | |
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116
scrutinize
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| n.详细检查，细读 | |
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117
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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118
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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119
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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120
siesta
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| n.午睡 | |
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121
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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122
caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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123
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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124
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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125
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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126
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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127
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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128
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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129
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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130
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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131
stenographer
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| n.速记员 | |
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132
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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133
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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134
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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135
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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136
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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137
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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138
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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139
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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140
elude
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| v.躲避，困惑 | |
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141
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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142
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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143
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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144
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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145
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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146
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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147
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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148
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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149
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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150
stereotyped
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| adj.(指形象、思想、人物等)模式化的 | |
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151
surfeited
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| v.吃得过多( surfeit的过去式和过去分词 )；由于过量而厌腻 | |
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152
thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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153
durability
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| n.经久性，耐用性 | |
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154
ushers
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| n.引座员( usher的名词复数 )；招待员；门房；助理教员v.引，领，陪同( usher的第三人称单数 ) | |
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155
usher
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| n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员 | |
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156
fanfare
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| n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布 | |
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157
vim
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| n.精力，活力 | |
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158
hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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159
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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160
delegation
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| n.代表团；派遣 | |
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161
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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162
allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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163
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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164
chary
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| adj.谨慎的，细心的 | |
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165
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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166
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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167
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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168
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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169
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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170
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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171
abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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172
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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173
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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174
buxom
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| adj.（妇女）丰满的，有健康美的 | |
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175
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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176
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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177
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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178
heterogeneous
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| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
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179
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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180
hurdles
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| n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛 | |
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181
ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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182
capered
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| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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183
valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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184
equestrian
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| adj.骑马的；n.马术 | |
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185
hoops
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| n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓 | |
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186
hoop
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| n.（篮球）篮圈，篮 | |
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187
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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188
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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189
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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190
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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191
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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192
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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193
contrite
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| adj.悔悟了的，后悔的，痛悔的 | |
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194
crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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195
suburbanite
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| n. 郊区居民 | |
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196
leash
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| n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住 | |
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197
labyrinthian
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| 错综复杂的 | |
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198
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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199
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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200
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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201
reset
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| v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物 | |
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202
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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203
taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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204
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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205
kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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206
accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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207
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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208
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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209
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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210
defilement
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| n.弄脏，污辱，污秽 | |
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211
contritely
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212
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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213
stunts
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| n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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214
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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215
forerunner
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| n.前身，先驱（者），预兆，祖先 | |
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216
exoneration
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| n.免罪，免除 | |
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217
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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218
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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219
cholera
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| n.霍乱 | |
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220
rehearsals
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| n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复 | |
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221
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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222
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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223
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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224
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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225
feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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226
scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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227
clouted
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| adj.缀补的，凝固的v.（尤指用手）猛击，重打( clout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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228
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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229
troupe
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| n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团 | |
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230
whoop
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| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
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231
blistered
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| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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232
idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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233
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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234
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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235
funereal
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| adj.悲哀的；送葬的 | |
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236
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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237
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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238
monsoon
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| n.季雨，季风，大雨 | |
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239
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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