WHEN I did get to bed at last I was unspeakably tired; the stretching out, and the relaxing of the long-tense muscles, how luxurious1, how delicious! but that was as far as I could get -- sleep was out of the question for the present. The ripping and tearing and squealing2 of the nobility up and down the halls and corridors was pandemonium3 come again, and kept me broad awake. Being awake, my thoughts were busy, of course; and mainly they busied themselves with Sandy's curious delusion4. Here she was, as sane5 a person as the kingdom could produce; and yet, from my point of view she was acting6 like a crazy woman. My land, the power of training! of influence! of education! It can bring a body up to believe anything. I had to put myself in Sandy's place to realize that she was not a lunatic. Yes, and put her in mine, to demonstrate how easy it is to seem a lunatic to a person who has not been taught as you have been taught. If I had told Sandy I had seen a wagon7, uninfluenced by enchantment8, spin along fifty miles an hour; had seen a man, unequipped with magic powers, get into a basket and soar out of sight among the clouds; and had listened, without any necromancer's help, to the conversation of a person who was several hundred miles away, Sandy would not merely have supposed me to be crazy, she would have thought she knew it. Everybody around her believed in enchantments9; nobody had any doubts; to doubt that a castle could be turned into a sty, and its occupants into hogs10, would have been the same as my doubting among Connecticut people the actuality of the telephone and its wonders, -- and in both cases would be absolute proof of a diseased mind, an unsettled reason. Yes, Sandy was sane; that must be admitted. If I also would be sane -- to Sandy -- I must keep my superstitions11 about unenchanted and unmiraculous locomotives, balloons, and telephones, to myself. Also, I believed that the world was not flat, and hadn't pillars under it to support it, nor a canopy13 over it to turn off a universe of water that occupied al
l space above; but as I was the only person in the kingdom afflicted14 with such impious and criminal opinions, I recognized that it would be good wisdom to keep quiet about this matter, too, if I did not wish to be suddenly shunned16 and forsaken17 by everybody as a madman.
The next morning Sandy assembled the swine in the dining-room and gave them their breakfast, waiting upon them personally and manifesting in every way the deep reverence19 which the natives of her island, ancient and modern, have always felt for rank, let its outward casket and the mental and moral contents be what they may. I could have eaten with the hogs if I had had birth approaching my lofty official rank; but I hadn't, and so accepted the unavoidable slight and made no complaint. Sandy and I had our breakfast at the second table. The family were not at home. I said:
"How many are in the family, Sandy, and where do they keep themselves?"
"Family?"
"Yes."
"Which family, good my lord?"
"Why, this family; your own family."
"Sooth to say, I understand you not. I have no family."
"No family? Why, Sandy, isn't this your home?"
"Now how indeed might that be? I have no home."
"Well, then, whose house is this?"
"Ah, wit you well I would tell you an I knew myself."
"Come -- you don't even know these people? Then who invited us here?"
"None invited us. We but came; that is all."
"Why, woman, this is a most extraordinary performance. The effrontery20 of it is beyond admiration21. We blandly22 march into a man's house, and cram23 it full of the only really valuable nobility the sun has yet discovered in the earth, and then it turns out that we don't even know the man's name. How did you ever venture to take this extravagant24 liberty? I supposed, of course, it was your home. What will the man say?"
"What will he say? Forsooth what can he say but give thanks?"
"Thanks for what?"
Her face was filled with a puzzled surprise:
"Verily, thou troublest mine understanding with strange words. Do ye dream that one of his estate is like to have the honor twice in his life to entertain company such as we have brought to grace his house withal?"
"Well, no -- when you come to that. No, it's an even bet that this is the first time he has had a treat like this."
"Then let him be thankful, and manifest the same by grateful speech and due humility25; he were a dog, else, and the heir and ancestor of dogs."
To my mind, the situation was uncomfortable. It might become more so. It might be a good idea to muster26 the hogs and move on. So I said:
"The day is wasting, Sandy. It is time to get the nobility together and be moving."
"Wherefore, fair sir and Boss?"
"We want to take them to their home, don't we?"
"La, but list to him! They be of all the regions of the earth! Each must hie to her own home; wend you we might do all these journeys in one so brief life as He hath appointed that created life, and thereto death likewise with help of Adam, who by sin done through persuasion28 of his helpmeet, she being wrought29 upon and bewrayed by the beguilements of the great enemy of man, that serpent hight Satan, aforetime consecrated31 and set apart unto that evil work by overmastering spite and envy begotten32 in his heart through fell ambitions that did blight33 and mildew34 a nature erst so white and pure whenso it hove with the shining multitudes its brethren-born in glade35 and shade of that fair heaven wherein all such as native be to that rich estate and --"
"Great Scott!"
"My lord?"
"Well, you know we haven't got time for this sort of thing. Don't you see, we could distribute these people around the earth in less time than it is going to take you to explain that we can't. We mustn't talk now, we must act. You want to be careful; you mustn't let your mill get the start of you that way, at a time like this. To business now -- and sharp's the word. Who is to take the aristocracy home?"
"Even their friends. These will come for them from the far parts of the earth."
This was lightning from a clear sky, for unexpectedness; and the relief of it was like pardon to a prisoner. She would remain to deliver the goods, of course.
"Well, then, Sandy, as our enterprise is handsomely and successfully ended, I will go home and report; and if ever another one --"
"I also am ready; I will go with thee."
This was recalling the pardon.
"How? You will go with me? Why should you?"
"Will I be traitor36 to my knight37, dost think? That were dishonor. I may not part from thee until in knightly38 encounter in the field some overmatching champion shall fairly win and fairly wear me. I were to blame an I thought that that might ever hap39."
"Elected for the long term," I sighed to myself. "I may as well make the best of it." So then I spoke40 up and said:
"All right; let us make a start."
While she was gone to cry her farewells over the pork, I gave that whole peerage away to the servants. And I asked them to take a duster and dust around a little where the nobilities had mainly lodged41 and promenaded42; but they considered that that would be hardly worth while, and would moreover be a rather grave departure from custom, and therefore likely to make talk. A departure from custom -- that settled it; it was a nation capable of committing any crime but that. The servants said they would follow the fashion, a fashion grown sacred through immemorial observance; they would scatter43 fresh rushes in all the rooms and halls, and then the evidence of the aristocratic visitation would be no longer visible. It was a kind of satire44 on Nature: it was the scientific method, the geologic45 method; it deposited the history of the family in a stratified record; and the antiquary could dig through it and tell by the remains46 of each period what changes of diet the family had introduced successively for a hundred years.
The first thing we struck that day was a procession of pilgrims. It was not going our way, but we joined it, nevertheless; for it was hourly being borne in upon me now, that if I would govern this country wisely, I must be posted in the details of its life, and not at second hand, but by personal observation and scrutiny47.
This company of pilgrims resembled Chaucer's in this: that it had in it a sample of about all the upper occupations and professions the country could show, and a corresponding variety of costume. There were young men and old men, young women and old women, lively folk and grave folk. They rode upon mules48 and horses, and there was not a side-saddle in the party; for this specialty49 was to remain unknown in England for nine hundred years yet.
It was a pleasant, friendly, sociable50 herd51; pious15, happy, merry and full of unconscious coarsenesses and innocent indecencies. What they regarded as the merry tale went the continual round and caused no more embarrassment52 than it would have caused in the best English society twelve centuries later. Practical jokes worthy53 of the English wits of the first quarter of the far-off nineteenth century were sprung here and there and yonder along the line, and compelled the delightedest applause; and sometimes when a bright remark was made at one end of the procession and started on its travels toward the other, you could note its progress all the way by the sparkling spray of laughter it threw off from its bows as it plowed54 along; and also by the blushes of the mules in its wake.
Sandy knew the goal and purpose of this pilgrimage, and she posted me. She said:
"They journey to the Valley of Holiness, for to be blessed of the godly hermits56 and drink of the miraculous12 waters and be cleased from sin."
"Where is this watering place?"
"It lieth a two-day journey hence, by the borders of the land that hight the Cuckoo Kingdom."
"Tell me about it. Is it a celebrated57 place?"
"Oh, of a truth, yes. There be none more so. Of old time there lived there an abbot and his monks58. Belike were none in the world more holy than these; for they gave themselves to study of pious books, and spoke not the one to the other, or indeed to any, and ate decayed herbs and naught59 thereto, and slept hard, and prayed much, and washed never; also they wore the same garment until it fell from their bodies through age and decay. Right so came they to be known of all the world by reason of these holy austerities, and visited by rich and poor, and reverenced60."
"Proceed."
"But always there was lack of water there. Whereas, upon a time, the holy abbot prayed, and for answer a great stream of clear water burst forth61 by miracle in a desert place. Now were the fickle62 monks tempted63 of the Fiend, and they wrought with their abbot unceasingly by beggings and beseechings that he would construct a bath; and when he was become aweary and might not resist more, he said have ye your will, then, and granted that they asked. Now mark thou what 'tis to forsake18 the ways of purity the which He loveth, and wanton with such as be worldly and an offense64. These monks did enter into the bath and come thence washed as white as snow; and lo, in that moment His sign appeared, in miraculous rebuke65! for His insulted waters ceased to flow, and utterly66 vanished away."
"They fared mildly, Sandy, considering how that kind of crime is regarded in this country."
"Belike; but it was their first sin; and they had been of perfect life for long, and differing in naught from the angels. Prayers, tears, torturings of the flesh, all was vain to beguile30 that water to flow again. Even processions; even burnt-offerings; even votive candles to the Virgin67, did fail every each of them; and all in the land did marvel68."
"How odd to find that even this industry has its financial panics, and at times sees its assignats and greenbacks languish69 to zero, and everything come to a standstill. Go on, Sandy."
"And so upon a time, after year and day, the good abbot made humble70 surrender and destroyed the bath. And behold71, His anger was in that moment appeased72, and the waters gushed73 richly forth again, and even unto this day they have not ceased to flow in that generous measure."
"Then I take it nobody has washed since."
"He that would essay it could have his halter free; yes, and swiftly would he need it, too."
"The community has prospered74 since?"
"Even from that very day. The fame of the miracle went abroad into all lands. From every land came monks to join; they came even as the fishes come, in shoals; and the monastery75 added building to building, and yet others to these, and so spread wide its arms and took them in. And nuns76 came, also; and more again, and yet more; and built over against the monastery on the yon side of the vale, and added building to building, until mighty77 was that nunnery. And these were friendly unto those, and they joined their loving labors78 together, and together they built a fair great foundling asylum79 midway of the valley between."
"You spoke of some hermits, Sandy."
"These have gathered there from the ends of the earth. A hermit55 thriveth best where there be multitudes of pilgrims. Ye shall not find no hermit of no sort wanting. If any shall mention a hermit of a kind he thinketh new and not to be found but in some far strange land, let him but scratch among the holes and caves and swamps that line that Valley of Holiness, and whatsoever80 be his breed, it skills not, he shall find a sample of it there."
I closed up alongside of a burly fellow with a fat good-humored face, purposing to make myself agreeable and pick up some further crumbs81 of fact; but I had hardly more than scraped acquaintance with him when he began eagerly and awkwardly to lead up, in the immemorial way, to that same old anecdote82 -- the one Sir Dinadan told me, what time I got into trouble with Sir Sagramor and was challenged of him on account of it. I excused myself and dropped to the rear of the procession, sad at heart, willing to go hence from this troubled life, this vale of tears, this brief day of broken rest, of cloud and storm, of weary struggle and monotonous83 defeat; and yet shrinking from the change, as remembering how long eternity84 is, and how many have wended thither85 who know that anecdote.
Early in the afternoon we overtook another procession of pilgrims; but in this one was no merriment, no jokes, no laughter, no playful ways, nor any happy giddiness, whether of youth or age. Yet both were here, both age and youth; gray old men and women, strong men and women of middle age, young husbands, young wives, little boys and girls, and three babies at the breast. Even the children were smileless; there was not a face among all these half a hundred people but was cast down, and bore that set expression of hopelessness which is bred of long and hard trials and old acquaintance with despair. They were slaves. Chains led from their fettered86 feet and their manacled hands to a sole-leather belt about their waists; and all except the children were also linked together in a file six feet apart, by a single chain which led from collar to collar all down the line. They were on foot, and had tramped three hundred miles in eighteen days, upon the cheapest odds87 and ends of food, and stingy rations88 of that. They had slept in these chains every night, bundled together like swine. They had upon their bodies some poor rags, but they could not be said to be clothed. Their irons had chafed89 the skin from their ankles and made sores which were ulcerated and wormy. Their naked feet were torn, and none walked without a limp. Originally there had been a hundred of these unfortunates, but about half had been sold on the trip. The trader in charge of them rode a horse and carried a whip with a short handle and a long heavy lash90 divided into several knotted tails at the end. With this whip he cut the shoulders of any that tottered91 from weariness and pain, and straightened them up. He did not speak; the whip conveyed his desire without that. None of these poor creatures looked up as we rode along by; they showed no consciousness of our presence. And they made no sound but one; that was the dull and awful clank of their chains from end to end of the long file, as forty-three burdened feet rose and fell in unison92. The file moved in
a cloud of its own making.
All these faces were gray with a coating of dust. One has seen the like of this coating upon furniture in unoccupied houses, and has written his idle thought in it with his finger. I was reminded of this when I noticed the faces of some of those women, young mothers carrying babes that were near to death and freedom, how a something in their hearts was written in the dust upon their faces, plain to see, and lord, how plain to read! for it was the track of tears. One of these young mothers was but a girl, and it hurt me to the heart to read that writing, and reflect that it was come up out of the breast of such a child, a breast that ought not to know trouble yet, but only the gladness of the morning of life; and no doubt -
She reeled just then, giddy with fatigue94, and down came the lash and flicked95 a flake96 of skin from her naked shoulder. It stung me as if I had been hit instead. The master halted the file and jumped from his horse. He stormed and swore at this girl, and said she had made annoyance97 enough with her laziness, and as this was the last chance he should have, he would settle the account now. She dropped on her knees and put up her hands and began to beg, and cry, and implore98, in a passion of terror, but the master gave no attention. He snatched the child from her, and then made the men-slaves who were chained before and behind her throw her on the ground and hold her there and expose her body; and then he laid on with his lash like a madman till her back was flayed99, she shrieking100 and struggling the while piteously. One of the men who was holding her turned away his face, and for this humanity he was reviled101 and flogged.
All our pilgrims looked on and commented -- on the expert way in which the whip was handled. They were too much hardened by lifelong everyday familiarity with slavery to notice that there was anything else in the exhibition that invited comment. This was what slavery could do, in the way of ossifying102 what one may call the superior lobe103 of human feeling; for these pilgrims were kind-hearted people, and they would not have allowed that man to treat a horse like that.
I wanted to stop the whole thing and set the slaves free, but that would not do. I must not interfere104 too much and get myself a name for riding over the country's laws and the citizen's rights roughshod. If I lived and prospered I would be the death of slavery, that I was resolved upon; but I would try to fix it so that when I became its executioner it should be by command of the nation.
Just here was the wayside shop of a smith; and now arrived a landed proprietor105 who had bought this girl a few miles back, deliverable here where her irons could be taken off. They were removed; then there was a squabble between the gentleman and the dealer106 as to which should pay the blacksmith. The moment the girl was delivered from her irons, she flung herself, all tears and frantic107 sobbings, into the arms of the slave who had turned away his face when she was whipped. He strained her to his breast, and smothered108 her face and the child's with kisses, and washed them with the rain of his tears. I suspected. I inquired. Yes, I was right; it was husband and wife. They had to be torn apart by force; the girl had to be dragged away, and she struggled and fought and shrieked109 like one gone mad till a turn of the road hid her from sight; and even after that, we could still make out the fading plaint of those receding110 shrieks111. And the husband and father, with his wife and child gone, never to be seen by him again in life? -- well, the look of him one might not bear at all, and so I turned away; but I knew I should never get his picture out of my mind again, and there it is to this day, to wring112 my heartstrings whenever I think of it.
We put up at the inn in a village just at nightfall, and when I rose next morning and looked abroad, I was ware113 where a knight came riding in the golden glory of the new day, and recognized him for knight of mine -- Sir Ozana le Cure Hardy114. He was in the gentlemen's furnishing line, and his missionarying specialty was plug hats. He was clothed all in steel, in the beautifulest armor of the time -- up to where his helmet ought to have been; but he hadn't any helmet, he wore a shiny stove-pipe hat, and was ridiculous a spectacle as one might want to see. It was another of my surreptitious schemes for extinguishing knighthood by making it grotesque115 and absurd. Sir Ozana's saddle was hung about with leather hat boxes, and every time he overcame a wandering knight he swore him into my service and fitted him with a plug and made him wear it. I dressed and ran down to welcome Sir Ozana and get his news.
"How is trade?" I asked.
"Ye will note that I have but these four left; yet were they sixteen whenas I got me from Camelot."
"Why, you have certainly done nobly, Sir Ozana. Where have you been foraging116 of late?"
"I am but now come from the Valley of Holiness, please you sir."
"I am pointed27 for that place myself. Is there anything stirring in the monkery, more than common?"
"By the mass ye may not question it!.... Give him good feed, boy, and stint117 it not, an thou valuest thy crown; so get ye lightly to the stable and do even as I bid...... Sir, it is parlous118 news I bring, and -- be these pilgrims? Then ye may not do better, good folk, than gather and hear the tale I have to tell, sith it concerneth you, forasmuch as ye go to find that ye will not find, and seek that ye will seek in vain, my life being hostage for my word, and my word and message being these, namely: That a hap has happened whereof the like has not been seen no more but once this two hundred years, which was the first and last time that that said misfortune strake the holy valley in that form by commandment of the Most High whereto by reasons just and causes thereunto contributing, wherein the matter --"
"The miraculous fount hath ceased to flow!" This shout burst from twenty pilgrim mouths at once.
"Ye say well, good people. I was verging119 to it, even when ye spake. "
"Has somebody been washing again?"
"Nay120, it is suspected, but none believe it. It is thought to be some other sin, but none wit what."
"How are they feeling about the calamity121?"
"None may describe it in words. The fount is these nine days dry. The prayers that did begin then, and the lamentations in sackcloth and ashes, and the holy processions, none of these have ceased nor night nor day; and so the monks and the nuns and the foundlings be all exhausted122, and do hang up prayers writ93 upon parchment, sith that no strength is left in man to lift up voice. And at last they sent for thee, Sir Boss, to try magic and enchantment; and if you could not come, then was the messenger to fetch Merlin, and he is there these three days now, and saith he will fetch that water though he burst the globe and wreck123 its kingdoms to accomplish it; and right bravely doth he work his magic and call upon his hellions to hie them hither and help, but not a whiff of moisture hath he started yet, even so much as might qualify as mist upon a copper124 mirror an ye count not the barrel of sweat he sweateth betwixt sun and sun over the dire125 labors of his task; and if ye --"
Breakfast was ready. As soon as it was over I showed to Sir Ozana these words which I had written on the inside of his hat: Chemical Department, Laboratory extension, Section G. Pxxp. Send two of first size, two of No. 3, and six of No. 4, together with the proper complementary details -- and two of my trained assistants." And I said:
"Now get you to Camelot as fast as you can fly, brave knight, and show the writing to Clarence, and tell him to have these required matters in the Valley of Holiness with all possible dispatch."
"I will well, Sir Boss," and he was off.
1 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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2 squealing | |
v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 ) | |
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3 pandemonium | |
n.喧嚣,大混乱 | |
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4 delusion | |
n.谬见,欺骗,幻觉,迷惑 | |
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5 sane | |
adj.心智健全的,神志清醒的,明智的,稳健的 | |
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6 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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7 wagon | |
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车 | |
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8 enchantment | |
n.迷惑,妖术,魅力 | |
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9 enchantments | |
n.魅力( enchantment的名词复数 );迷人之处;施魔法;着魔 | |
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10 hogs | |
n.(尤指喂肥供食用的)猪( hog的名词复数 );(供食用的)阉公猪;彻底地做某事;自私的或贪婪的人 | |
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11 superstitions | |
迷信,迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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12 miraculous | |
adj.像奇迹一样的,不可思议的 | |
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13 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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14 afflicted | |
使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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16 shunned | |
v.避开,回避,避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 Forsaken | |
adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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18 forsake | |
vt.遗弃,抛弃;舍弃,放弃 | |
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19 reverence | |
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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20 effrontery | |
n.厚颜无耻 | |
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21 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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22 blandly | |
adv.温和地,殷勤地 | |
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23 cram | |
v.填塞,塞满,临时抱佛脚,为考试而学习 | |
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24 extravagant | |
adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的 | |
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25 humility | |
n.谦逊,谦恭 | |
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26 muster | |
v.集合,收集,鼓起,激起;n.集合,检阅,集合人员,点名册 | |
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27 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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28 persuasion | |
n.劝说;说服;持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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29 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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30 beguile | |
vt.欺骗,消遣 | |
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31 consecrated | |
adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献 | |
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32 begotten | |
v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 );产生,引起 | |
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33 blight | |
n.枯萎病;造成破坏的因素;vt.破坏,摧残 | |
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34 mildew | |
n.发霉;v.(使)发霉 | |
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35 glade | |
n.林间空地,一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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36 traitor | |
n.叛徒,卖国贼 | |
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37 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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38 knightly | |
adj. 骑士般的 adv. 骑士般地 | |
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39 hap | |
n.运气;v.偶然发生 | |
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40 spoke | |
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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41 lodged | |
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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42 promenaded | |
v.兜风( promenade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 scatter | |
vt.撒,驱散,散开;散布/播;vi.分散,消散 | |
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44 satire | |
n.讽刺,讽刺文学,讽刺作品 | |
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45 geologic | |
adj.地质的 | |
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46 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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47 scrutiny | |
n.详细检查,仔细观察 | |
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48 mules | |
骡( mule的名词复数 ); 拖鞋; 顽固的人; 越境运毒者 | |
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49 specialty | |
n.(speciality)特性,特质;专业,专长 | |
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50 sociable | |
adj.好交际的,友好的,合群的 | |
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51 herd | |
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起 | |
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52 embarrassment | |
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫 | |
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53 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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54 plowed | |
v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 );犁耕;费力穿过 | |
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55 hermit | |
n.隐士,修道者;隐居 | |
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56 hermits | |
(尤指早期基督教的)隐居修道士,隐士,遁世者( hermit的名词复数 ) | |
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57 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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58 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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59 naught | |
n.无,零 [=nought] | |
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60 reverenced | |
v.尊敬,崇敬( reverence的过去式和过去分词 );敬礼 | |
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61 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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62 fickle | |
adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的,不坚定的 | |
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63 tempted | |
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词) | |
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64 offense | |
n.犯规,违法行为;冒犯,得罪 | |
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65 rebuke | |
v.指责,非难,斥责 [反]praise | |
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66 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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67 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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68 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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69 languish | |
vi.变得衰弱无力,失去活力,(植物等)凋萎 | |
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70 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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71 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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72 appeased | |
安抚,抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 ); 绥靖(满足另一国的要求以避免战争) | |
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73 gushed | |
v.喷,涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 );滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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74 prospered | |
成功,兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75 monastery | |
n.修道院,僧院,寺院 | |
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76 nuns | |
n.(通常指基督教的)修女, (佛教的)尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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77 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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78 labors | |
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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79 asylum | |
n.避难所,庇护所,避难 | |
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80 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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81 crumbs | |
int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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82 anecdote | |
n.轶事,趣闻,短故事 | |
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83 monotonous | |
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的 | |
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84 eternity | |
n.不朽,来世;永恒,无穷 | |
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85 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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86 fettered | |
v.给…上脚镣,束缚( fetter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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87 odds | |
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别 | |
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88 rations | |
定量( ration的名词复数 ); 配给量; 正常量; 合理的量 | |
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89 chafed | |
v.擦热(尤指皮肤)( chafe的过去式 );擦痛;发怒;惹怒 | |
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90 lash | |
v.系牢;鞭打;猛烈抨击;n.鞭打;眼睫毛 | |
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91 tottered | |
v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 );踉跄;蹒跚;摇摇欲坠 | |
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92 unison | |
n.步调一致,行动一致 | |
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93 writ | |
n.命令状,书面命令 | |
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94 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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95 flicked | |
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等) | |
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96 flake | |
v.使成薄片;雪片般落下;n.薄片 | |
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97 annoyance | |
n.恼怒,生气,烦恼 | |
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98 implore | |
vt.乞求,恳求,哀求 | |
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99 flayed | |
v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 );把…打得皮开肉绽;剥(通常指动物)的皮;严厉批评 | |
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100 shrieking | |
v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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101 reviled | |
v.辱骂,痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102 ossifying | |
adj.骨化的v.骨化,硬化,使僵化( ossify的现在分词 ) | |
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103 lobe | |
n.耳垂,(肺,肝等的)叶 | |
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104 interfere | |
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰 | |
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105 proprietor | |
n.所有人;业主;经营者 | |
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106 dealer | |
n.商人,贩子 | |
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107 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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108 smothered | |
(使)窒息, (使)透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 ); 覆盖; 忍住; 抑制 | |
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109 shrieked | |
v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110 receding | |
v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
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111 shrieks | |
n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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112 wring | |
n.扭绞;v.拧,绞出,扭 | |
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113 ware | |
n.(常用复数)商品,货物 | |
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114 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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115 grotesque | |
adj.怪诞的,丑陋的;n.怪诞的图案,怪人(物) | |
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116 foraging | |
v.搜寻(食物),尤指动物觅(食)( forage的现在分词 );(尤指用手)搜寻(东西) | |
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117 stint | |
v.节省,限制,停止;n.舍不得化,节约,限制;连续不断的一段时间从事某件事 | |
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118 parlous | |
adj.危险的,不确定的,难对付的 | |
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119 verging | |
接近,逼近(verge的现在分词形式) | |
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120 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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121 calamity | |
n.灾害,祸患,不幸事件 | |
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122 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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123 wreck | |
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难 | |
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124 copper | |
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
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125 dire | |
adj.可怕的,悲惨的,阴惨的,极端的 | |
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