AND so I'm proprietor1 of some knights3," said I, as we rode off. "Who would ever have supposed that I should live to list up assets of that sort. I shan't know what to do with them; unless I raffle4 them off. How many of them are there, Sandy?"
"Seven, please you, sir, and their squires5."
"It is a good haul. Who are they? Where do they hang out?"
"Where do they hang out?"
"Yes, where do they live?"
"Ah, I understood thee not. That will I tell eftsoons." Then she said musingly6, and softly, turning the words daintily over her tongue: "Hang they out -- hang they out -- where hang -- where do they hang out; eh, right so; where do they hang out. Of a truth the phrase hath a fair and winsome7 grace, and is prettily8 worded withal. I will repeat it anon and anon in mine idlesse, whereby I may peradventure learn it. Where do they hang out. Even so! already it falleth trippingly from my tongue, and forasmuch as --"
"Don't forget the cowboys, Sandy."
"Cowboys?"
"Yes; the knights, you know: You were going to tell me about them. A while back, you remember. Figuratively speaking, game's called."
"Game --"
"Yes, yes, yes! Go to the bat. I mean, get to work on your statistics, and don't burn so much kindling9 getting your fire started. Tell me about the knights."
"I will well, and lightly will begin. So they two departed and rode into a great forest. And --"
"Great Scott!"
You see, I recognized my mistake at once. I had set her works a-going; it was my own fault; she would be thirty days getting down to those facts. And she generally began without a preface and finished without a result. If you interrupted her she would either go right along without noticing, or answer with a couple of words, and go back and say the sentence over again. So, interruptions only did harm; and yet I had to interrupt, and interrupt pretty frequently, too, in order to save my life; a person would die if he let her monotony drip on him right along all day.
"Great Scott! " I said in my distress10. She went right back and began over again:
"So they two departed and rode into a great forest. And --"
"WHICH two?"
"Sir Gawaine and Sir Uwaine. And so they came to an abbey of monks11, and there were well lodged12. So on the morn they heard their masses in the abbey, and so they rode forth13 till they came to a great forest; then was Sir Gawaine ware14 in a valley by a turret15, of twelve fair damsels, and two knights armed on great horses, and the damsels went to and fro by a tree. And then was Sir Gawaine ware how there hung a white shield on that tree, and ever as the damsels came by it they spit upon it, and some threw mire16 upon the shield --"
"Now, if I hadn't seen the like myself in this country, Sandy, I wouldn't believe it. But I've seen it, and I can just see those creatures now, parading before that shield and acting17 like that. The women here do certainly act like all possessed18. Yes, and I mean your best, too, society's very choicest brands. The humblest hello-girl along ten thousand miles of wire could teach gentleness, patience, modesty19, manners, to the highest duchess in Arthur's land."
"Hello-girl?"
"Yes, but don't you ask me to explain; it's a new kind of a girl; they don't have them here; one often speaks sharply to them when they are not the least in fault, and he can't get over feeling sorry for it and ashamed of himself in thirteen hundred years, it's such shabby mean conduct and so unprovoked; the fact is, no gentleman ever does it -- though I -- well, I myself, if I've got to confess --"
"Peradventure she --"
"Never mind her; never mind her; I tell you I couldn't ever explain her so you would understand."
"Even so be it, sith ye are so minded. Then Sir Gawaine and Sir Uwaine went and saluted20 them, and asked them why they did that despite to the shield. Sirs, said the damsels, we shall tell you. There is a knight2 in this country that owneth this white shield, and he is a passing good man of his hands, but he hateth all ladies and gentlewomen, and therefore we do all this despite to the shield. I will say you, said Sir Gawaine, it beseemeth evil a good knight to despise all ladies and gentlewomen, and peradventure though he hate you he hath some cause, and peradventure he loveth in some other places ladies and gentlewomen, and to be loved again, and he such a man of prowess as ye speak of --"
"Man of prowess -- yes, that is the man to please them, Sandy. Man of brains -- that is a thing they never think of. Tom Sayers -- John Heenan -- John L. Sullivan -- pity but you could be here. You would have your legs under the Round Table and a 'Sir' in front of your names within the twenty-four hours; and you could bring about a new distribution of the married princesses and duchesses of the Court in another twenty-four. The fact is, it is just a sort of polished-up court of Comanches, and there isn't a squaw in it who doesn't stand ready at the dropping of a hat to desert to the buck21 with the biggest string of scalps at his belt."
"-- and he be such a man of prowess as ye speak of, said Sir Gawaine. Now, what is his name? Sir, said they, his name is Marhaus the king's son of Ireland."
"Son of the king of Ireland, you mean; the other form doesn't mean anything. And look out and hold on tight, now, we must jump this gully....
There, we are all right now. This horse belongs in the circus; he is born before his time."
"I know him well, said Sir Uwaine, he is a passing good knight as any is on live."
"ON LIVE. If you've got a fault in the world, Sandy, it is that you are a shade too archaic22. But it isn't any matter."
"-- for I saw him once proved at a justs where many knights were gathered, and that time there might no man withstand him. Ah, said Sir Gawaine, damsels, methinketh ye are to blame, for it is to suppose he that hung that shield there will not be long therefrom, and then may those knights match him on horseback, and that is more your worship than thus; for I will abide23 no longer to see a knight's shield dishonored. And therewith Sir Uwaine and Sir Gawaine departed a little from them, and then were they ware where Sir Marhaus came riding on a great horse straight toward them. And when the twelve damsels saw Sir Marhaus they fled into the turret as they were wild, so that some of them fell by the way. Then the one of the knights of the tower dressed his shield, and said on high, Sir Marhaus defend thee. And so they ran together that the knight brake his spear on Marhaus, and Sir Marhaus smote24 him so hard that he brake his neck and the horse's back --"
"Well, that is just the trouble about this state of things, it ruins so many horses."
"That saw the other knight of the turret, and dressed him toward Marhaus, and they went so eagerly together, that the knight of the turret was soon smitten25 down, horse and man, stark26 dead --"
"ANOTHER horse gone; I tell you it is a custom that ought to be broken up. I don't see how people with any feeling can applaud and support it."
....
"So these two knights came together with great random27 --"
I saw that I had been asleep and missed a chapter, but I didn't say anything. I judged that the Irish knight was in trouble with the visitors by this time, and this turned out to be the case.
"-- that Sir Uwaine smote Sir Marhaus that his spear brast in pieces on the shield, and Sir Marhaus smote him so sore that horse and man he bare to the earth, and hurt Sir Uwaine on the left side -
"The truth is, Alisande, these archaics are a little TOO simple; the vocabulary is too limited, and so, by consequence, descriptions suffer in the matter of variety; they run too much to level Saharas of fact, and not enough to picturesque28 detail; this throws about them a certain air of the monotonous29; in fact the fights are all alike: a couple of people come together with great random -- random is a good word, and so is exegesis30, for that matter, and so is holocaust31, and defalcation32, and usufruct and a hundred others, but land! a body ought to discriminate33 -- they come together with great random, and a spear is brast, and one party brake his shield and the other one goes down, horse and man, over his horse-tail and brake his neck, and then the next candidate comes randoming in, and brast HIS spear, and the other man brast his shield, and down HE goes, horse and man, over his horse-tail, and brake HIS neck, and then there's another elected, and another and another and still another, till the material is all used up; and when you come to figure up results, you can't tell one fight from another, nor who whipped; and as a PICTURE, of living, raging, roaring battle, sho! why, it's pale and noiseless -- just ghosts scuffling in a fog. Dear me, what would this barren vocabulary get out of the mightiest34 spectacle? -- the burning of Rome in Nero's time, for instance? Why, it would merely say, 'Town burned down; no insurance; boy brast a window, fireman brake his neck!' Why, THAT ain't a picture!"
It was a good deal of a lecture, I thought, but it didn't disturb Sandy, didn't turn a feather; her steam soared steadily35 up again, the minute I took off the lid:
"Then Sir Marhaus turned his horse and rode toward Gawaine with his spear. And when Sir Gawaine saw that, he dressed his shield, and they aventred their spears, and they came together with all the might of their horses, that either knight smote other so hard in the midst of their shields, but Sir Gawaine's spear brake --"
"I knew it would."
-- "but Sir Marhaus's spear held; and therewith Sir Gawaine and his horse rushed down to the earth --"
"Just so -- and brake his back."
-- "and lightly Sir Gawaine rose upon his feet and pulled out his sword, and dressed him toward Sir Marhaus on foot, and therewith either came unto other eagerly, and smote together with their swords, that their shields flew in cantels, and they bruised36 their helms and their hauberks, and wounded either other. But Sir Gawaine, fro it passed nine of the clock, waxed by the space of three hours ever stronger and stronger. and thrice his might was increased. All this espied37 Sir Marhaus, and had great wonder how his might increased, and so they wounded other passing sore; and then when it was come noon --"
The pelting38 sing-song of it carried me forward to scenes and sounds of my boyhood days:
"N-e-e-ew Haven39! ten minutes for refreshments40 -knductr'll strike the gong-bell two minutes before train leaves -- passengers for the Shore line please take seats in the rear k'yar, this k'yar don't go no furder -- AHH pls, AW-rnjz, b'NANners, S-A-N-D'ches, p--OP-corn!"
-- "and waxed past noon and drew toward evensong. Sir Gawaine's strength feebled and waxed passing faint, that unnethes he might dure any longer, and Sir Marhaus was then bigger and bigger --"
"Which strained his armor, of course; and yet little would one of these people mind a small thing like that."
-- "and so, Sir Knight, said Sir Marhaus, I have well felt that ye are a passing good knight, and a marvelous man of might as ever I felt any, while it lasteth, and our quarrels are not great, and therefore it were a pity to do you hurt, for I feel you are passing feeble. Ah, said Sir Gawaine, gentle knight, ye say the word that I should say. And therewith they took off their helms and either kissed other, and there they swore together either to love other as brethren --"
But I lost the thread there, and dozed41 off to slumber42, thinking about what a pity it was that men with such superb strength -- strength enabling them to stand up cased in cruelly burdensome iron and drenched43 with perspiration44, and hack45 and batter46 and bang each other for six hours on a stretch -- should not have been born at a time when they could put it to some useful purpose. Take a jackass, for instance: a jackass has that kind of strength, and puts it to a useful purpose, and is valuable to this world because he is a jackass; but a nobleman is not valuable because he is a jackass. It is a mixture that is always ineffectual, and should never have been attempted in the first place. And yet, once you start a mistake, the trouble is done and you never know what is going to come of it.
When I came to myself again and began to listen, I perceived that I had lost another chapter, and that Alisande had wandered a long way off with her people.
"And so they rode and came into a deep valley full of stones, and thereby47 they saw a fair stream of water; above thereby was the head of the stream, a fair fountain, and three damsels sitting thereby. In this country, said Sir Marhaus, came never knight since it was christened, but he found strange adventures --"
"This is not good form, Alisande. Sir Marhaus the king's son of Ireland talks like all the rest; you ought to give him a brogue, or at least a characteristic expletive; by this means one would recognize him as soon as he spoke48, without his ever being named. It is a common literary device with the great authors. You should make him say, 'In this country, be jabers, came never knight since it was christened, but he found strange adventures, be jabers.' You see how much better that sounds."
-- "came never knight but he found strange adventures, be jabers. Of a truth it doth indeed, fair lord, albeit49 'tis passing hard to say, though peradventure that will not tarry but better speed with usage. And then they rode to the damsels, and either saluted other, and the eldest50 had a garland of gold about her head, and she was threescore winter of age or more --"
"The DAMSEL was?"
"Even so, dear lord -- and her hair was white under the garland --"
"Celluloid teeth, nine dollars a set, as like as not -the loose-fit kind, that go up and down like a portcullis when you eat, and fall out when you laugh."
"The second damsel was of thirty winter of age, with a circlet of gold about her head. The third damsel was but fifteen year of age --"
Billows of thought came rolling over my soul, and the voice faded out of my hearing!
Fifteen! Break -- my heart! oh, my lost darling! Just her age who was so gentle, and lovely, and all the world to me, and whom I shall never see again! How the thought of her carries me back over wide seas of memory to a vague dim time, a happy time, so many, many centuries hence, when I used to wake in the soft summer mornings, out of sweet dreams of her, and say "Hello, Central!" just to hear her dear voice come melting back to me with a "Hello, Hank!" that was music of the spheres to my enchanted51 ear. She got three dollars a week, but she was worth it.
I could not follow Alisande's further explanation of who our captured knights were, now -- I mean in case she should ever get to explaining who they were. My interest was gone, my thoughts were far away, and sad. By fitful glimpses of the drifting tale, caught here and there and now and then, I merely noted52 in a vague way that each of these three knights took one of these three damsels up behind him on his horse, and one rode north, another east, the other south, to seek adventures, and meet again and lie, after year and day. Year and day -- and without baggage. It was of a piece with the general simplicity53 of the country.
The sun was now setting. It was about three in the afternoon when Alisande had begun to tell me who the cowboys were; so she had made pretty good progress with it -- for her. She would arrive some time or other, no doubt, but she was not a person who could be hurried.
We were approaching a castle which stood on high ground; a huge, strong, venerable structure, whose gray towers and battlements were charmingly draped with ivy54, and whose whole majestic55 mass was drenched with splendors56 flung from the sinking sun. It was the largest castle we had seen, and so I thought it might be the one we were after, but Sandy said no. She did not know who owned it; she said she had passed it without calling, when she went down to Camelot.
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1
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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raffle
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| n.废物，垃圾，抽奖售卖；v.以抽彩出售 | |
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squires
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| n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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winsome
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| n.迷人的，漂亮的 | |
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prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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turret
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| n.塔楼，角塔 | |
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mire
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| n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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archaic
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| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
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abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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exegesis
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| n.注释，解释 | |
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holocaust
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| n.大破坏；大屠杀 | |
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defalcation
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| n.盗用公款，挪用公款，贪污 | |
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discriminate
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| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
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mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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41
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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47
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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48
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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49
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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51
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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52
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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53
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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splendors
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| n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 )；壮丽；光辉；显赫 | |
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