AT midnight all was over, and we sat in the presence of four corpses2. We covered them with such rags as we could find, and started away, fastening the door behind us. Their home must be these people's grave, for they could not have Christian3 burial, or be admitted to consecrated4 ground. They were as dogs, wild beasts, lepers, and no soul that valued its hope of eternal life would throw it away by meddling5 in any sort with these rebuked6 and smitten7 outcasts.
We had not moved four steps when I caught a sound as of footsteps upon gravel8. My heart flew to my throat. We must not be seen coming from that house. I plucked at the king's robe and we drew back and took shelter behind the corner of the cabin.
"Now we are safe," I said, "but it was a close call -- so to speak. If the night had been lighter9 he might have seen us, no doubt, he seemed to be so near."
"Mayhap it is but a beast and not a man at all."
"True. But man or beast, it will be wise to stay here a minute and let it get by and out of the way."
"Hark! It cometh hither."
True again. The step was coming toward us -straight toward the hut. It must be a beast, then, and we might as well have saved our trepidation10. I was going to step out, but the king laid his hand upon my arm. There was a moment of silence, then we heard a soft knock on the cabin door. It made me shiver. Presently the knock was repeated, and then we heard these words in a guarded voice:
"Mother! Father! Open -- we have got free, and we bring news to pale your cheeks but glad your hearts; and we may not tarry, but must fly! And -but they answer not. Mother! father! --"
I drew the king toward the other end of the hut and whispered:
"Come -- now we can get to the road."
The king hesitated, was going to demur11; but just then we heard the door give way, and knew that those desolate12 men were in the presence of their dead.
"Come, my liege! in a moment they will strike a light, and then will follow that which it would break your heart to hear."
He did not hesitate this time. The moment we were in the road I ran; and after a moment he threw dignity aside and followed. I did not want to think of what was happening in the hut -- I couldn't bear it; I wanted to drive it out of my mind; so I struck into the first subject that lay under that one in my mind:
"I have had the disease those people died of, and so have nothing to fear; but if you have not had it also --"
He broke in upon me to say he was in trouble, and it was his conscience that was troubling him:
"These young men have got free, they say -- but HOW? It is not likely that their lord hath set them free."
"Oh, no, I make no doubt they escaped."
"That is my trouble; I have a fear that this is so, and your suspicion doth confirm it, you having the same fear.
"I should not call it by that name though. I do suspect that they escaped, but if they did, I am not sorry, certainly."
"I am not sorry, I THINK -- but --"
"What is it? What is there for one to be troubled about?"
"IF they did escape, then are we bound in duty to lay hands upon them and deliver them again to their lord; for it is not seemly that one of his quality should suffer a so insolent13 and high-handed outrage14 from persons of their base degree."
There it was again. He could see only one side of it. He was born so, educated so, his veins15 were full of ancestral blood that was rotten with this sort of unconscious brutality16, brought down by inheritance from a long procession of hearts that had each done its share toward poisoning the stream. To imprison17 these men without proof, and starve their kindred, was no harm, for they were merely peasants and subject to the will and pleasure of their lord, no matter what fearful form it might take; but for these men to break out of unjust captivity19 was insult and outrage, and a thing not to be countenanced20 by any conscientious21 person who knew his duty to his sacred caste.
I worked more than half an hour before I got him to change the subject -- and even then an outside matter did it for me. This was a something which caught our eyes as we struck the summit of a small hill -- a red glow, a good way off.
"That's a fire," said I.
Fires interested me considerably22, because I was getting a good deal of an insurance business started, and was also training some horses and building some steam fire-engines, with an eye to a paid fire department by and by. The priests opposed both my fire and life insurance, on the ground that it was an insolent attempt to hinder the decrees of God; and if you pointed23 out that they did not hinder the decrees in the least, but only modified the hard consequences of them if you took out policies and had luck, they retorted that that was gambling24 against the decrees of God, and was just as bad. So they managed to damage those industries more or less, but I got even on my Accident business. As a rule, a knight25 is a lummox, and some times even a labrick, and hence open to pretty poor arguments when they come glibly26 from a superstition-monger, but even HE could see the practical side of a thing once in a while; and so of late you couldn't clean up a tournament and pile the result without finding one of my accident-tickets in every helmet.
We stood there awhile, in the thick darkness and stillness, looking toward the red blur27 in the distance, and trying to make out the meaning of a far-away murmur28 that rose and fell fitfully on the night. Sometimes it swelled29 up and for a moment seemed less remote; but when we were hopefully expecting it to betray its cause and nature, it dulled and sank again, carrying its mystery with it. We started down the hill in its direction, and the winding30 road plunged31 us at once into almost solid darkness -- darkness that was packed and crammed32 in between two tall forest walls. We groped along down for half a mile, perhaps, that murmur growing more and more distinct all the time. the coming storm threatening more and more, with now and then a little shiver of wind, a faint show of lightning, and dull grumblings of distant thunder. I was in the lead. I ran against something -- a soft heavy something which gave, slightly, to the impulse of my weight; at the same moment the lightning glared out, and within a foot of my face was the writhing33 face of a man who was hanging from the limb of a tree! That is, it seemed to be writhing, but it was not. It was a grewsome sight. Straightway there was an earsplitting explosion of thunder, and the bottom of heaven fell out; the rain poured down in a deluge34. No matter, we must try to cut this man down, on the chance that there might be life in him yet, mustn't we? The lightning came quick and sharp now, and the place was alternately noonday and midnight. One moment the man would be hanging before me in an intense light, and the next he was blotted35 out again in the darkness. I told the king we must cut him down. The king at once objected.
"If he hanged himself, he was willing to lose him property to his lord; so let him be. If others hanged him, belike they had the right -- let him hang."
"But --"
"But me no buts, but even leave him as he is. And for yet another reason. When the lightning cometh again -- there, look abroad."
Two others hanging, within fifty yards of us!
"It is not weather meet for doing useless courtesies unto dead folk. They are past thanking you. Come -- it is unprofitable to tarry here."
There was reason in what he said, so we moved on. Within the next mile we counted six more hanging forms by the blaze of the lightning, and altogether it was a grisly excursion. That murmur was a murmur no longer, it was a roar; a roar of men's voices. A man came flying by now, dimly through the darkness, and other men chasing him. They disappeared. Presently another case of the kind occurred, and then another and another. Then a sudden turn of the road brought us in sight of that fire -- it was a large manorhouse, and little or nothing was left of it -- and everywhere men were flying and other men raging after them in pursuit.
I warned the king that this was not a safe place for strangers. We would better get away from the light, until matters should improve. We stepped back a little, and hid in the edge of the wood. From this hiding-place we saw both men and women hunted by the mob. The fearful work went on until nearly dawn. Then, the fire being out and the storm spent, the voices and flying footsteps presently ceased, and darkness and stillness reigned36 again.
We ventured out, and hurried cautiously away; and although we were worn out and sleepy, we kept on until we had put this place some miles behind us. Then we asked hospitality at the hut of a charcoal37 burner, and got what was to be had. A woman was up and about, but the man was still asleep, on a straw shake-down, on the clay floor. The woman seemed uneasy until I explained that we were travelers and had lost our way and been wandering in the woods all night. She became talkative, then, and asked if we had heard of the terrible goings-on at the manor-house of Abblasoure. Yes, we had heard of them, but what we wanted now was rest and sleep. The king broke in:
"Sell us the house and take yourselves away, for we be perilous38 company, being late come from people that died of the Spotted40 Death."
It was good of him, but unnecessary. One of the commonest decorations of the nation was the waffleiron face. I had early noticed that the woman and her husband were both so decorated. She made us entirely41 welcome, and had no fears; and plainly she was immensely impressed by the king's proposition; for, of course, it was a good deal of an event in her life to run across a person of the king's humble42 appearance who was ready to buy a man's house for the sake of a night's lodging43. It gave her a large respect for us, and she strained the lean possibilities of her hovel to the utmost to make us comfortable.
We slept till far into the afternoon, and then got up hungry enough to make cotter fare quite palatable44 to the king, the more particularly as it was scant45 in quantity. And also in variety; it consisted solely46 of onions, salt, and the national black bread裮ade out of horsefeed. The woman told us about the affair of the evening before. At ten or eleven at night, when everybody was in bed, the manor-house burst into flames. The country-side swarmed47 to the rescue, and the family were saved, with one exception, the master. He did not appear. Everybody was frantic48 over this loss, and two brave yeomen sacrificed their lives in ransacking49 the burning house seeking that valuable personage. But after a while he was found -- what was left of him -- which was his corpse1. It was in a copse three hundred yards away, bound, gagged, stabbed in a dozen places.
Who had done this? Suspicion fell upon a humble family in the neighborhood who had been lately treated with peculiar50 harshness by the baron51; and from these people the suspicion easily extended itself to their relatives and familiars. A suspicion was enough; my lord's liveried retainers proclaimed an instant crusade against these people, and were promptly52 joined by the community in general. The woman's husband had been active with the mob, and had not returned home until nearly dawn. He was gone now to find out what the general result had been. While we were still talking he came back from his quest. His report was revolting enough. Eighteen persons hanged or butchered, and two yeomen and thirteen prisoners lost in the fire.
"And how many prisoners were there altogether in the vaults53?"
"Thirteen."
"Then every one of them was lost?"
"Yes, all."
"But the people arrived in time to save the family; how is it they could save none of the prisoners?"
The man looked puzzled, and said:
"Would one unlock the vaults at such a time? Marry, some would have escaped."
"Then you mean that nobody DID unlock them?"
"None went near them, either to lock or unlock. It standeth to reason that the bolts were fast; wherefore it was only needful to establish a watch, so that if any broke the bonds he might not escape, but be taken. None were taken."
"Natheless, three did escape," said the king, "and ye will do well to publish it and set justice upon their track, for these murthered the baron and fired the house."
I was just expecting he would come out with that. For a moment the man and his wife showed an eager interest in this news and an impatience54 to go out and spread it; then a sudden something else betrayed itself in their faces, and they began to ask questions. I answered the questions myself, and narrowly watched the effects produced. I was soon satisfied that the knowledge of who these three prisoners were had somehow changed the atmosphere; that our hosts' continued eagerness to go and spread the news was now only pretended and not real. The king did not notice the change, and I was glad of that. I worked the conversation around toward other details of the night's proceedings55, and noted56 that these people were relieved to have it take that direction.
The painful thing observable about all this business was the alacrity57 with which this oppressed community had turned their cruel hands against their own class in the interest of the common oppressor. This man and woman seemed to feel that in a quarrel between a person of their own class and his lord, it was the natural and proper and rightful thing for that poor devil's whole caste to side with the master and fight his battle for him, without ever stopping to inquire into the rights or wrongs of the matter. This man had been out helping58 to hang his neighbors, and had done his work with zeal59, and yet was aware that there was nothing against them but a mere18 suspicion, with nothing back of it describable as evidence, still neither he nor his wife seemed to see anything horrible about it.
This was depressing -- to a man with the dream of a republic in his head. It reminded me of a time thirteen centuries away, when the "poor whites" of our South who were always despised and frequently insulted by the slave-lords around them, and who owed their base condition simply to the presence of slavery in their midst, were yet pusillanimously60 ready to side with the slave-lords in all political moves for the upholding and perpetuating61 of slavery, and did also finally shoulder their muskets62 and pour out their lives in an effort to prevent the destruction of that very institution which degraded them. And there was only one redeeming63 feature connected with that pitiful piece of history; and that was, that secretly the "poor white" did detest64 the slave-lord, and did feel his own shame. That feeling was not brought to the surface, but the fact that it was there and could have been brought out, under favoring circumstances, was something -- in fact, it was enough; for it showed that a man is at bottom a man, after all, even if it doesn't show on the outside.
Well, as it turned out, this charcoal burner was just the twin of the Southern "poor white" of the far future. The king presently showed impatience, and said:
"An ye prattle65 here all the day, justice will miscarry. Think ye the criminals will abide66 in their father's house? They are fleeing, they are not waiting. You should look to it that a party of horse be set upon their track."
The woman paled slightly, but quite perceptibly, and the man looked flustered67 and irresolute68. I said:
"Come, friend, I will walk a little way with you, and explain which direction I think they would try to take. If they were merely resisters of the gabelle or some kindred absurdity69 I would try to protect them from capture; but when men murder a person of high degree and likewise burn his house, that is another matter."
The last remark was for the king -- to quiet him. On the road the man pulled his resolution together, and began the march with a steady gait, but there was no eagerness in it. By and by I said:
"What relation were these men to you -- cousins?"
He turned as white as his layer of charcoal would let him, and stopped, trembling.
"Ah, my God, how know ye that?"
"I didn't know it; it was a chance guess."
"Poor lads, they are lost. And good lads they were, too."
"Were you actually going yonder to tell on them?"
He didn't quite know how to take that; but he said, hesitatingly:
"Ye-s."
"Then I think you are a damned scoundrel!"
It made him as glad as if I had called him an angel.
"Say the good words again, brother! for surely ye mean that ye would not betray me an I failed of my duty."
"Duty? There is no duty in the matter, except the duty to keep still and let those men get away. They've done a righteous deed."
He looked pleased; pleased, and touched with apprehension70 at the same time. He looked up and down the road to see that no one was coming, and then said in a cautious voice:
"From what land come you, brother, that you speak such perilous words, and seem not to be afraid?"
"They are not perilous words when spoken to one of my own caste, I take it. You would not tell anybody I said them?"
"I? I would be drawn71 asunder72 by wild horses first."
"Well, then, let me say my say. I have no fears of your repeating it. I think devil's work has been done last night upon those innocent poor people. That old baron got only what he deserved. If I had my way. all his kind should have the same luck."
Fear and depression vanished from the man's manner, and gratefulness and a brave animation73 took their place:
"Even though you be a spy, and your words a trap for my undoing74, yet are they such refreshment75 that to hear them again and others like to them, I would go to the gallows76 happy, as having had one good feast at least in a starved life. And I will say my say now, and ye may report it if ye be so minded. I helped to hang my neighbors for that it were peril39 to my own life to show lack of zeal in the master's cause; the others helped for none other reason. All rejoice today that he is dead, but all do go about seemingly sorrowing, and shedding the hypocrite's tear, for in that lies safety. I have said the words, I have said the words! the only ones that have ever tasted good in my mouth, and the reward of that taste is sufficient. Lead on, an ye will, be it even to the scaffold, for I am ready."
There it was, you see. A man is a man, at bottom. Whole ages of abuse and oppression cannot crush the manhood clear out of him. Whoever thinks it a mistake is himself mistaken. Yes, there is plenty good enough material for a republic in the most degraded people that ever existed -- even the Russians; plenty of manhood in them -- even in the Germans -- if one could but force it out of its timid and suspicious privacy, to overthrow77 and trample78 in the mud any throne that ever was set up and any nobility that ever supported it. We should see certain things yet, let us hope and believe. First, a modified monarchy79, till Arthur's days were done, then the destruction of the throne, nobility abolished, every member of it bound out to some useful trade, universal suffrage80 instituted, and the whole government placed in the hands of the men and women of the nation there to remain. Yes, there was no occasion to give up my dream yet a while.
1 corpse | |
n.尸体,死尸 | |
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2 corpses | |
n.死尸,尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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3 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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4 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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5 meddling | |
v.干涉,干预(他人事务)( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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6 rebuked | |
责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7 smitten | |
猛打,重击,打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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8 gravel | |
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石 | |
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9 lighter | |
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级 | |
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10 trepidation | |
n.惊恐,惶恐 | |
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11 demur | |
v.表示异议,反对 | |
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12 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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13 insolent | |
adj.傲慢的,无理的 | |
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14 outrage | |
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒 | |
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15 veins | |
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理 | |
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16 brutality | |
n.野蛮的行为,残忍,野蛮 | |
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17 imprison | |
vt.监禁,关押,限制,束缚 | |
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18 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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19 captivity | |
n.囚禁;被俘;束缚 | |
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20 countenanced | |
v.支持,赞同,批准( countenance的过去式 ) | |
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21 conscientious | |
adj.审慎正直的,认真的,本着良心的 | |
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22 considerably | |
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
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23 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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24 gambling | |
n.赌博;投机 | |
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25 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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26 glibly | |
adv.流利地,流畅地;满口 | |
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27 blur | |
n.模糊不清的事物;vt.使模糊,使看不清楚 | |
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28 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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29 swelled | |
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
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30 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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31 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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32 crammed | |
adj.塞满的,挤满的;大口地吃;快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满;填入;临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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33 writhing | |
(因极度痛苦而)扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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34 deluge | |
n./vt.洪水,暴雨,使泛滥 | |
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35 blotted | |
涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 ); (用吸墨纸)吸干 | |
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36 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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37 charcoal | |
n.炭,木炭,生物炭 | |
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38 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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39 peril | |
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物 | |
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40 spotted | |
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的 | |
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41 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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42 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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43 lodging | |
n.寄宿,住所;(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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44 palatable | |
adj.可口的,美味的;惬意的 | |
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45 scant | |
adj.不充分的,不足的;v.减缩,限制,忽略 | |
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46 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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47 swarmed | |
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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48 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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49 ransacking | |
v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 );抢劫,掠夺 | |
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50 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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51 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
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52 promptly | |
adv.及时地,敏捷地 | |
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53 vaults | |
n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 );地下室;撑物跳高;墓穴 | |
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54 impatience | |
n.不耐烦,急躁 | |
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55 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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56 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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57 alacrity | |
n.敏捷,轻快,乐意 | |
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58 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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59 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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60 pusillanimously | |
adv.胆怯地,优柔寡断地 | |
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61 perpetuating | |
perpetuate的现在进行式 | |
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62 muskets | |
n.火枪,(尤指)滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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63 redeeming | |
补偿的,弥补的 | |
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64 detest | |
vt.痛恨,憎恶 | |
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65 prattle | |
n.闲谈;v.(小孩般)天真无邪地说话;发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
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66 abide | |
vi.遵守;坚持;vt.忍受 | |
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67 flustered | |
adj.慌张的;激动不安的v.使慌乱,使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
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68 irresolute | |
adj.无决断的,优柔寡断的,踌躇不定的 | |
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69 absurdity | |
n.荒谬,愚蠢;谬论 | |
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70 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
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71 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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72 asunder | |
adj.分离的,化为碎片 | |
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73 animation | |
n.活泼,兴奋,卡通片/动画片的制作 | |
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74 undoing | |
n.毁灭的原因,祸根;破坏,毁灭 | |
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75 refreshment | |
n.恢复,精神爽快,提神之事物;(复数)refreshments:点心,茶点 | |
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76 gallows | |
n.绞刑架,绞台 | |
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77 overthrow | |
v.推翻,打倒,颠覆;n.推翻,瓦解,颠覆 | |
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78 trample | |
vt.踩,践踏;无视,伤害,侵犯 | |
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79 monarchy | |
n.君主,最高统治者;君主政体,君主国 | |
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80 suffrage | |
n.投票,选举权,参政权 | |
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