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Chapter 3 Class-room
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A SCHOOL-DAY was drawing to a close. In the class-room the last lesson was in progress, peaceful and still. It was elementary botany. The desks were littered with catkins, hazel and willow1, which the children had been sketching2. But the sky had come overdark, as the end of the afternoon approached: there was scarcely light to draw any more. Ursula stood in front of the class, leading the children by questions to understand the structure and the meaning of the catkins.

A heavy, copper-coloured beam of light came in at the west window, gilding3 the outlines of the children's heads with red gold, and falling on the wall opposite in a rich, ruddy illumination. Ursula, however, was scarcely conscious of it. She was busy, the end of the day was here, the work went on as a peaceful tide that is at flood, hushed to retire.

This day had gone by like so many more, in an activity that was like a trance. At the end there was a little haste, to finish what was in hand. She was pressing the children with questions, so that they should know all they were to know, by the time the gong went. She stood in shadow in front of the class, with catkins in her hand, and she leaned towards the children, absorbed in the passion of instruction.

She heard, but did not notice the click of the door. Suddenly she started. She saw, in the shaft4 of ruddy, copper-coloured light near her, the face of a man. It was gleaming like fire, watching her, waiting for her to be aware. It startled her terribly. She thought she was going to faint. All her suppressed, subconscious5 fear sprang into being, with anguish6.

`Did I startle you?' said Birkin, shaking hands with her. `I thought you had heard me come in.'

`No,' she faltered7, scarcely able to speak. He laughed, saying he was sorry. She wondered why it amused him.

`It is so dark,' he said. `Shall we have the light?'

And moving aside, he switched on the strong electric lights. The class-room was distinct and hard, a strange place after the soft dim magic that filled it before he came. Birkin turned curiously8 to look at Ursula. Her eyes were round and wondering, bewildered, her mouth quivered slightly. She looked like one who is suddenly wakened. There was a living, tender beauty, like a tender light of dawn shining from her face. He looked at her with a new pleasure, feeling gay in his heart, irresponsible.

`You are doing catkins?' he asked, picking up a piece of hazel from a scholar's desk in front of him. `Are they as far out as this? I hadn't noticed them this year.'

He looked absorbedly at the tassel9 of hazel in his hand.

`The red ones too!' he said, looking at the flickers11 of crimson12 that came from the female bud.

Then he went in among the desks, to see the scholars' books. Ursula watched his intent progress. There was a stillness in his motion that hushed the activities of her heart. She seemed to be standing13 aside in arrested silence, watching him move in another, concentrated world. His presence was so quiet, almost like a vacancy14 in the corporate15 air.

Suddenly he lifted his face to her, and her heart quickened at the flicker10 of his voice.

`Give them some crayons, won't you?' he said, `so that they can make the gynaecious flowers red, and the androgynous yellow. I'd chalk them in plain, chalk in nothing else, merely the red and the yellow. Outline scarcely matters in this case. There is just the one fact to emphasise17.'

`I haven't any crayons,' said Ursula.

`There will be some somewhere -- red and yellow, that's all you want.'

Ursula sent out a boy on a quest.

`It will make the books untidy,' she said to Birkin, flushing deeply.

`Not very,' he said. `You must mark in these things obviously. It's the fact you want to emphasise, not the subjective18 impression to record. What's the fact? -- red little spiky19 stigmas21 of the female flower, dangling22 yellow male catkin, yellow pollen23 flying from one to the other. Make a pictorial24 record of the fact, as a child does when drawing a face -- two eyes, one nose, mouth with teeth -- so --' And he drew a figure on the blackboard.

At that moment another vision was seen through the glass panels of the door. It was Hermione Roddice. Birkin went and opened to her.

`I saw your car,' she said to him. `Do you mind my coming to find you? I wanted to see you when you were on duty.'

She looked at him for a long time, intimate and playful, then she gave a short little laugh. And then only she turned to Ursula, who, with all the class, had been watching the little scene between the lovers.

`How do you do, Miss Brangwen,' sang Hermione, in her low, odd, singing fashion, that sounded almost as if she were poking25 fun. `Do you mind my coming in?'

Her grey, almost sardonic26 eyes rested all the while on Ursula, as if summing her up.

`Oh no,' said Ursula.

`Are you sure?' repeated Hermione, with complete sang froid, and an odd, halfbullying effrontery28.

`Oh no, I like it awfully,' laughed Ursula, a little bit excited and bewildered, because Hermione seemed to be compelling her, coming very close to her, as if intimate with her; and yet, how could she be intimate?

This was the answer Hermione wanted. She turned satisfied to Birkin.

`What are you doing?' she sang, in her casual, inquisitive29 fashion.

`Catkins,' he replied.

`Really!' she said. `And what do you learn about them?' She spoke30 all the while in a mocking, half teasing fashion, as if making game of the whole business. She picked up a twig31 of the catkin, piqued32 by Birkin's attention to it.

She was a strange figure in the class-room, wearing a large, old cloak of greenish cloth, on which was a raised pattern of dull gold. The high collar, and the inside of the cloak, was lined with dark fur. Beneath she had a dress of fine lavendercoloured cloth, trimmed with fur, and her hat was close-fitting, made of fur and of the dull, green-and-gold figured stuff. She was tall and strange, she looked as if she had come out of some new, bizarre picture.

`Do you know the little red ovary flowers, that produce the nuts? Have you ever noticed them?' he asked her. And he came close and pointed33 them out to her, on the sprig she held.

`No,' she replied. `What are they?'

`Those are the little seed-producing flowers, and the long catkins, they only produce pollen, to fertilise them.'

`Do they, do they!' repeated Hermione, looking closely.

`From those little red bits, the nuts come; if they receive pollen from the long danglers.'

`Little red flames, little red flames,' murmured Hermione to herself. And she remained for some moments looking only at the small buds out of which the red flickers of the stigma20 issued.

`Aren't they beautiful? I think they're so beautiful,' she said, moving close to Birkin, and pointing to the red filaments34 with her long, white finger.

`Had you never noticed them before?' he asked.

`No, never before,' she replied.

`And now you will always see them,' he said.

`Now I shall always see them,' she repeated. `Thank you so much for showing me. I think they're so beautiful -- little red flames --'

Her absorption was strange, almost rhapsodic. Both Birkin and Ursula were suspended. The little red pistillate flowers had some strange, almost mysticpassionate attraction for her.

The lesson was finished, the books were put away, at last the class was dismissed. And still Hermione sat at the table, with her chin in her hand, her elbow on the table, her long white face pushed up, not attending to anything. Birkin had gone to the window, and was looking from the brilliantly-lighted room on to the grey, colourless outside, where rain was noiselessly falling. Ursula put away her things in the cupboard.

At length Hermione rose and came near to her.

`Your sister has come home?' she said.

`Yes,' said Ursula.

`And does she like being back in Beldover?'

`No,' said Ursula.

`No, I wonder she can bear it. It takes all my strength, to bear the ugliness of this district, when I stay here. Won't you come and see me? Won't you come with your sister to stay at Breadalby for a few days? -- do --'

`Thank you very much,' said Ursula.

`Then I will write to you,' said Hermione. `You think your sister will come? I should be so glad. I think she is wonderful. I think some of her work is really wonderful. I have two water-wagtails, carved in wood, and painted -- perhaps you have seen it?'

`No,' said Ursula.

`I think it is perfectly36 wonderful -- like a flash of instinct.'

`Her little carvings37 are strange,' said Ursula.

`Perfectly beautiful -- full of primitive38 passion --'

`Isn't it queer that she always likes little things? -- she must always work small things, that one can put between one's hands, birds and tiny animals. She likes to look through the wrong end of the opera glasses, and see the world that way -why is it, do you think?'

Hermione looked down at Ursula with that long, detached scrutinising gaze that excited the younger woman.

`Yes,' said Hermione at length. `It is curious. The little things seem to be more subtle to her --'

`But they aren't, are they? A mouse isn't any more subtle than a lion, is it?'

Again Hermione looked down at Ursula with that long scrutiny39, as if she were following some train of thought of her own, and barely attending to the other's speech.

`I don't know,' she replied.

`Rupert, Rupert,' she sang mildly, calling him to her. He approached in silence.

`Are little things more subtle than big things?' she asked, with the odd grunt40 of laughter in her voice, as if she were making game of him in the question.

`Dunno,' he said.

`I hate subtleties,' said Ursula.

Hermione looked at her slowly.

`Do you?' she said.

`I always think they are a sign of weakness,' said Ursula, up in arms, as if her prestige were threatened.

Hermione took no notice. Suddenly her face puckered41, her brow was knit with thought, she seemed twisted in troublesome effort for utterance42.

`Do you really think, Rupert,' she asked, as if Ursula were not present, `do you really think it is worth while? Do you really think the children are better for being roused to consciousness?'

A dark flash went over his face, a silent fury. He was hollow-cheeked and pale, almost unearthly. And the woman, with her serious, conscience-harrowing question tortured him on the quick.

`They are not roused to consciousness,' he said. `Consciousness comes to them, willy-nilly.'

`But do you think they are better for having it quickened, stimulated43? Isn't it better that they should remain unconscious of the hazel, isn't it better that they should see as a whole, without all this pulling to pieces, all this knowledge?'

`Would you rather, for yourself, know or not know, that the little red flowers are there, putting out for the pollen?' he asked harshly. His voice was brutal44, scornful, cruel.

Hermione remained with her face lifted up, abstracted. He hung silent in irritation45.

`I don't know,' she replied, balancing mildly. `I don't know.'

`But knowing is everything to you, it is all your life,' he broke out. She slowly looked at him.

`Is it?' she said.

`To know, that is your all, that is your life -- you have only this, this knowledge,' he cried. `There is only one tree, there is only one fruit, in your mouth.'

Again she was some time silent.

`Is there?' she said at last, with the same untouched calm. And then in a tone of whimsical inquisitiveness46: `What fruit, Rupert?'

`The eternal apple,' he replied in exasperation47, hating his own metaphors48.

`Yes,' she said. There was a look of exhaustion49 about her. For some moments there was silence. Then, pulling herself together with a convulsed movement, Hermione resumed, in a sing-song, casual voice:

`But leaving me apart, Rupert; do you think the children are better, richer, happier, for all this knowledge; do you really think they are? Or is it better to leave them untouched, spontaneous. Hadn't they better be animals, simple animals, crude, violent, anything, rather than this self-consciousness, this incapacity to be spontaneous.'

They thought she had finished. But with a queer rumbling50 in her throat she resumed, `Hadn't they better be anything than grow up crippled, crippled in their souls, crippled in their feelings -- so thrown back -- so turned back on themselves -- incapable51 --' Hermione clenched52 her fist like one in a trance -- `of any spontaneous action, always deliberate, always burdened with choice, never carried away.'

Again they thought she had finished. But just as he was going to reply, she resumed her queer rhapsody -- `never carried away, out of themselves, always conscious, always self-conscious, always aware of themselves. Isn't anything better than this? Better be animals, mere16 animals with no mind at all, than this, this nothingness --'

`But do you think it is knowledge that makes us unliving and selfconscious?' he asked irritably53.

She opened her eyes and looked at him slowly.

`Yes,' she said. She paused, watching him all the while, her eyes vague. Then she wiped her fingers across her brow, with a vague weariness. It irritated him bitterly. `It is the mind,' she said, `and that is death.' She raised her eyes slowly to him: `Isn't the mind --' she said, with the convulsed movement of her body, `isn't it our death? Doesn't it destroy all our spontaneity, all our instincts? Are not the young people growing up today, really dead before they have a chance to live?'

`Not because they have too much mind, but too little,' he said brutally54.

`Are you sure?' she cried. `It seems to me the reverse. They are overconscious, burdened to death with consciousness.'

`Imprisoned within a limited, false set of concepts,' he cried.

But she took no notice of this, only went on with her own rhapsodic interrogation.

`When we have knowledge, don't we lose everything but knowledge?' she asked pathetically. `If I know about the flower, don't I lose the flower and have only the knowledge? Aren't we exchanging the substance for the shadow, aren't we forfeiting55 life for this dead quality of knowledge? And what does it mean to me, after all? What does all this knowing mean to me? It means nothing.'

`You are merely making words,' he said; `knowledge means everything to you. Even your animalism, you want it in your head. You don't want to be an animal, you want to observe your own animal functions, to get a mental thrill out of them. It is all purely56 secondary -- and more decadent57 than the most hide-bound intellectualism. What is it but the worst and last form of intellectualism, this love of yours for passion and the animal instincts? Passion and the instincts -- you want them hard enough, but through your head, in your consciousness. It all takes place in your head, under that skull58 of yours. Only you won't be conscious of what actually is: you want the lie that will match the rest of your furniture.'

Hermione set hard and poisonous against this attack. Ursula stood covered with wonder and shame. It frightened her, to see how they hated each other.

`It's all that Lady of Shalott business,' he said, in his strong abstract voice. He seemed to be charging her before the unseeing air. `You've got that mirror, your own fixed59 will, your immortal60 understanding, your own tight conscious world, and there is nothing beyond it. There, in the mirror, you must have everything. But now you have come to all your conclusions, you want to go back and be like a savage61, without knowledge. You want a life of pure sensation and "passion."'

He quoted the last word satirically against her. She sat convulsed with fury and violation62, speechless, like a stricken pythoness of the Greek oracle63.

`But your passion is a lie,' he went on violently. `It isn't passion at all, it is your will. It's your bullying27 will. You want to clutch things and have them in your power. You want to have things in your power. And why? Because you haven't got any real body, any dark sensual body of life. You have no sensuality. You have only your will and your conceit64 of consciousness, and your lust65 for power, to know.'

He looked at her in mingled66 hate and contempt, also in pain because she suffered, and in shame because he knew he tortured her. He had an impulse to kneel and plead for forgiveness. But a bitterer red anger burned up to fury in him. He became unconscious of her, he was only a passionate35 voice speaking.

`Spontaneous!' he cried. `You and spontaneity! You, the most deliberate thing that ever walked or crawled! You'd be verily deliberately67 spontaneous -- that's you. Because you want to have everything in your own volition68, your deliberate voluntary consciousness. You want it all in that loathsome69 little skull of yours, that ought to be cracked like a nut. For you'll be the same till it is cracked, like an insect in its skin. If one cracked your skull perhaps one might get a spontaneous, passionate woman out of you, with real sensuality. As it is, what you want is pornography -- looking at yourself in mirrors, watching your naked animal actions in mirrors, so that you can have it all in your consciousness, make it all mental.'

There was a sense of violation in the air, as if too much was said, the unforgivable. Yet Ursula was concerned now only with solving her own problems, in the light of his words. She was pale and abstracted.

`But do you really want sensuality?' she asked, puzzled.

Birkin looked at her, and became intent in his explanation.

`Yes,' he said, `that and nothing else, at this point. It is a fulfilment -- the great dark knowledge you can't have in your head -- the dark involuntary being. It is death to one's self -- but it is the coming into being of another.'

`But how? How can you have knowledge not in your head?' she asked, quite unable to interpret his phrases.

`In the blood,' he answered; `when the mind and the known world is drowned in darkness everything must go -- there must be the deluge70. Then you find yourself a palpable body of darkness, a demon71 --'

`But why should I be a demon --?' she asked.

`"Woman wailing72 for her demon lover" --' he quoted -- `why, I don't know.'

Hermione roused herself as from a death -- annihilation.

`He is such a dreadful satanist, isn't he?' she drawled to Ursula, in a queer resonant73 voice, that ended on a shrill74 little laugh of pure ridicule75. The two women were jeering76 at him, jeering him into nothingness. The laugh of the shrill, triumphant77 female sounded from Hermione, jeering him as if he were a neuter.

`No,' he said. `You are the real devil who won't let life exist.'

She looked at him with a long, slow look, malevolent78, supercilious79.

`You know all about it, don't you?' she said, with slow, cold, cunning mockery.

`Enough,' he replied, his face fixing fine and clear like steel. A horrible despair, and at the same time a sense of release, liberation, came over Hermione. She turned with a pleasant intimacy80 to Ursula.

`You are sure you will come to Breadalby?' she said, urging.

`Yes, I should like to very much,' replied Ursula.

Hermione looked down at her, gratified, reflecting, and strangely absent, as if possessed81, as if not quite there.

`I'm so glad,' she said, pulling herself together. `Some time in about a fortnight. Yes? I will write to you here, at the school, shall I? Yes. And you'll be sure to come? Yes. I shall be so glad. Good-bye! Good-bye!'

Hermione held out her hand and looked into the eyes of the other woman. She knew Ursula as an immediate82 rival, and the knowledge strangely exhilarated her. Also she was taking leave. It always gave her a sense of strength, advantage, to be departing and leaving the other behind. Moreover she was taking the man with her, if only in hate.

Birkin stood aside, fixed and unreal. But now, when it was his turn to bid goodbye, he began to speak again.

`There's the whole difference in the world,' he said, `between the actual sensual being, and the vicious mental-deliberate profligacy83 our lot goes in for. In our night-time, there's always the electricity switched on, we watch ourselves, we get it all in the head, really. You've got to lapse84 out before you can know what sensual reality is, lapse into unknowingness, and give up your volition. You've got to do it. You've got to learn not-to-be, before you can come into being.

`But we have got such a conceit of ourselves -- that's where it is. We are so conceited85, and so unproud. We've got no pride, we're all conceit, so conceited in our own papier-mache realised selves. We'd rather die than give up our little selfrighteous self-opinionated self-will.'

There was silence in the room. Both women were hostile and resentful. He sounded as if he were addressing a meeting. Hermione merely paid no attention, stood with her shoulders tight in a shrug86 of dislike.

Ursula was watching him as if furtively87, not really aware of what she was seeing. There was a great physical attractiveness in him -- a curious hidden richness, that came through his thinness and his pallor like another voice, conveying another knowledge of him. It was in the curves of his brows and his chin, rich, fine, exquisite88 curves, the powerful beauty of life itself. She could not say what it was. But there was a sense of richness and of liberty.

`But we are sensual enough, without making ourselves so, aren't we?' she asked, turning to him with a certain golden laughter flickering89 under her greenish eyes, like a challenge. And immediately the queer, careless, terribly attractive smile came over his eyes and brows, though his mouth did not relax.

`No,' he said, `we aren't. We're too full of ourselves.'

`Surely it isn't a matter of conceit,' she cried.

`That and nothing else.'

She was frankly90 puzzled.

`Don't you think that people are most conceited of all about their sensual powers?' she asked.

`That's why they aren't sensual -- only sensuous91 -- which is another matter. They're always aware of themselves -- and they're so conceited, that rather than release themselves, and live in another world, from another centre, they'd --'

`You want your tea, don't you,' said Hermione, turning to Ursula with a gracious kindliness92. `You've worked all day --'

Birkin stopped short. A spasm93 of anger and chagrin94 went over Ursula. His face set. And he bade good-bye, as if he had ceased to notice her.

They were gone. Ursula stood looking at the door for some moments. Then she put out the lights. And having done so, she sat down again in her chair, absorbed and lost. And then she began to cry, bitterly, bitterly weeping: but whether for misery95 or joy, she never knew.

 

学校的一天就要结束了。教室里正上最后一堂课,宁静,安谧。这堂课讲的是基础植物学。桌子上摆满了杨花,榛子和柳枝供孩子们临描。天色变暗了,下午就要结束了,教室里光线暗极了,孩子们无法再画下去了。厄秀拉站在前面给孩子们提着问题,帮助他们了解杨花的结构和意义。

西面的窗户晖映着一抹浓重的桔黄色,给孩子们的头上勾勒出一圈火红金黄的轮廓,对面的墙壁也涂上了一层瑰丽的血红。可厄秀拉对这幅景色并不怎么在意,她太忙了,白天已进入尾声了,一天的工作象退潮时平静的潮水一样,渐渐收尾了。

这一天就象许多天一样恍恍惚惚地过去了。最后她有点急匆匆地处理完了手头的事。她给孩子们提着问题,催促着他们,为的是在下课的锣声敲响时他们弄懂这天应该知道的问题。她手里拿着杨花站在教室前的阴影中,身体微微前倾向着孩子们讲着,沉浸在教学的激情中。

她听到门“咔嗒”响了一声,但没去注意。突然她浑身一惊:她看到一个男人的脸出现在那一道血红金黄的光线中,就在她身边。他浑身红焰一般闪着光,看着她,等着她去注意他。这个身影简直把她吓坏了,她觉得自己就要昏过去了。

她心中压抑着的潜意识恐怖感立时痛苦地爆发出来了。

“我让你吃惊了吧?”伯金同她握着手说,“我以为你听到我进来的声音了。”

“没有,”她迟疑着,几乎说不出话来。他笑着说他很抱歉。她不明白这有什么好笑的。

“太黑了,”他说,“开开灯好吗?”

说着他挪到边上打开了电灯,灯光很强。教室里清晰多了,跟刚才他来时比显得陌生了,刚才这儿溶满了舒缓黛色的魔幻色彩。伯金转过身好奇地看着厄秀拉。她的眼睛惊诧地睁圆了,由于惊恐,嘴唇都有点哆嗦了,看上去她就象一个刚刚被惊醒的人一样。她的面庞洋溢着一种活生生、温柔的美,就象柔和的夕阳一样在闪烁。他看着她,又添一分喜悦,满心的欢乐,轻松愉快。

“你正摆弄杨花?”他问着,顺手从讲台上拣起一颗榛子。

“都长成这么大了吗?今年我还没有留意过呢。”

他手中捏着雄花,看上去很入迷。

“还有红的!”他看着雌蕊中落出的绯红色说。

然后他在课桌中穿行着去看学术书,厄秀拉看着他稳步走来走去,他的稳重令她屏息。她似乎静静地站在一旁,眼看着他在另一个世界里聚精会神地走动着。他那静悄悄的身影几乎象凝结着的空气中的一个空洞。

突然他向她扬起脸来说话,听到他的声音她的心跳加快了。

“给他们一些彩笔吧,”他说,“让他们把雌性花涂上红色,雄性花涂成黄色。我只画不着色的画儿,只涂红、黄两种颜色。在这种情况下素描没什么不好的,要强调的就是这一点。”

“我这儿没有彩笔。”厄秀拉说。

“别处会有的,红的和黄的,你只需要这两种。”

厄秀拉打发一个男孩子去找。

“彩笔会把书弄脏的。”厄秀拉对伯金说,脸红透了。

“没那么严重,”他说,“你必须把这些东西标明,这是你要强调的事实,而不是记录主观印象。而这种事实就是雌花儿的小红斑点儿和悬坠着的黄色雄性杨花,黄色的花粉从这儿飞到那儿。将这事实绘成图,就象孩子画脸谱一样——两只眼,一只鼻子,嘴里长着牙齿,就这样——”说着他在黑板上画出一个人形来。

就在这时,玻璃门外出现了另一个人的身影。来人是赫麦妮·罗迪斯。伯金走过去为她打开门。

“我看到了你的汽车。”她对他说,“我进来找你,你不介意吧?我想看看你履行公务时的样子。”

她亲昵愉快地看了他好半天,然后笑了一下。接着她自己朝厄秀拉转过身来,厄秀拉和她的学生们一直在看着这对情人间的一幕。

“你好,布朗温小姐,”赫麦妮唱歌般地同厄秀拉打招呼,那声音低沉,奇妙,象在唱歌,又象在打趣。“我进来,你不介意吧?”

她那双灰色、几乎充满讽刺意味的眼睛一直看着厄秀拉,似乎要把她看透。

“哦,不介意的。”厄秀拉说。

“真的吗?”赫麦妮追问,态度镇定,毫不掩饰自己的霸道专横。

“哦,不介意,我很高兴,”厄秀拉笑道,既激动又惊恐,因为赫麦妮似乎在逼近她,那样子似乎跟她很亲昵,其实她怎么能亲近厄秀拉呢?

赫麦妮需要的正是这样的回答。她转身满意地对伯金说:

“你做什么呢?”那声音是漫不经心的。

“摆弄杨花,”他回答。

“真的!”她说。“那你都学到了什么?”她一直用一种嘲弄、玩笑的口吻说话,似乎这一切都是一场游戏。她拣起一枚杨花,吸引了伯金的注意力。

她身穿一件宽大的绿色大衣,大衣上透着凸出的图案,显得她在教室里有点怪模怪样的。大衣高领和大衣的衬里都是用黑色皮毛做的,里面着一件香草色的上衣,边儿上镶着皮毛,很合适的皮帽子上拼着暗绿和暗黄色的图案。她高大,模样很怪,就象从什么希奇古怪的图画上走下来的人一样。

“你认识这红色的小椭圆花儿吗?它可以产坚果呢。你注意过它们吗?”他问赫麦妮,说着他走近她,指点着她手中的枝子。

“没有,”她回答,“是什么?”

“这些是产籽的花儿,这长长的杨花只生产使它们受精的花粉。”

“是吗?是吗!”赫麦妮重复着,看得很仔细。

“坚果就从这些红红的小东西里长出来,当然它们要先受精。”

“小小的红色火焰,红色火焰,”赫麦妮自言自语着。好半天,她只是盯着那长出红花儿的小花蕾看来看去。

“多么好看啊,我觉得它们太美了,”她凑近伯金,细长,苍白的手指指点着红红的花丝说。

“你以前注意过吗?”他问。

“没有,从来没有。”她答道。

“以后总要看到这些了。”他说。

“对,我会注意的。”她重复他的话说,“谢谢你给我看了这么多,它们太美了,小小的红火苗儿——”

她对此那么入迷,几乎有些发狂,这可有点不正常。厄秀拉和伯金都感到迷惑不解。这些红雌蕊竟对赫麦妮有某种奇妙的吸引力,几乎令她产生了神秘的激情。

这一课上完了,教科书放到一边不用了,学生们终于放学了。但赫麦妮仍然坐在桌前,双肘支在桌上,两手托着下腭,苍白的长脸向上仰着,不知在看什么。伯金走到窗前,从灯光明亮的屋里朝外观望,外面灰濛濛的,细雨已悄然落下。

厄秀拉把她的东西都归置到柜子里去。

赫麦妮终于站起身走近厄秀拉问道:

“你妹妹回家来了?”

“回来了。”厄秀拉说。

“她愿意回贝多弗来吗?”

“不愿意。”厄秀拉说。

“不会吧,我想她能够忍受。我呆在这里就得竭尽全力忍受这个地区的丑陋面目。你愿意来看我吗?和你妹妹一起来布莱德比住几天,好吗?”

“那太谢谢您了。”厄秀拉说。

“那好,我会给你写信的,”赫麦妮说,“你觉得你妹妹会来吗?她如果能来我会很高兴的。我觉得她这个人很好,她的一些作品真是优秀之作。我有她的一幅木刻,上了色的,刻的是两只水鹡鸰,也许你没见过吧?”

“没有。”厄秀拉说。

“我觉得那幅作品妙极了,全然是本能的闪光——”

“她的雕刻很古怪。”厄秀拉说。

“十足得美妙,充满了原始激情——”

“真奇怪,她为什么总喜欢一些小东西呢?她一定经常画些小东西,小鸟儿啦,或者小动物什么的,人们可以捧在手中把玩。她总喜欢透过望远镜的反面观察事物,观察世界,你知道这是为什么?”

赫麦妮俯视着厄秀拉,用那种超然、审视的目光久久地盯着她,这目光令厄秀拉激动。

“是啊,”赫麦妮终于说,“这真奇怪。那些小东西似乎对她来说更难以捉摸——”

“可其实不然,对吗?一只老鼠并不比一头狮子难以捉摸,不是吗?”

赫麦妮再一次俯视着厄秀拉,仍然审视地看着她,似乎她仍然按照自己的思路想着什么,一点也不在意对方在说什么。

“我不知道。”她回答。

“卢伯特,卢伯特,”她唱歌般地叫他过来,他就默默地靠近了她。

“小东西比大东西更微妙吗?”她问道,喉咙里憋着一声奇特的笑,似乎她不是在提问而是在做游戏。

“不知道。”他说。

“我讨厌微妙不可捉摸的东西。”厄秀拉说。

赫麦妮缓缓地巡视她,问:

“是吗?”

“我总认为小东西表现出的是软弱。”厄秀拉说着抬起了胳膊,似乎她的尊严受到了威胁。

赫麦妮对此没有注意。突然她的面部皱了起来,眉头紧锁着,似乎她想着什么,竭力要表达自己。

“卢伯特,你真地以为,”她视厄秀拉旁若无人一般,问道:“你真地以为唤醒了孩子们的思想是件值得的事吗?”

伯金脸上闪过一道阴影,他生气了。他的两腮下陷着,脸色苍白,几乎没有人样儿了。这个女人用她那严肃、扰乱人意识的问题折磨他,说到了他的痛处。

“他们不是被唤醒的,他们自然会有思想的,不管愿意不愿意。”

“可是,你以为加快或刺激他们的思想发展会更好吗?让他们不知道榛子为何物不是更好吗?为什么要把榛子弄成一点点的,把知识分割成一点点的?让他们识其全豹不是更好?”

“不管你懂不懂吧,你是否希望让这些小红花儿在这儿受精呢?”他严厉地问。他的语调残酷、尖刻、蛮横。

赫麦妮的脸仍然仰着,茫茫然。伯金在生闷气。

“我不懂,”她和解地说,“我是不懂。”

“可知识对你来说就是一切,是你的全部生命,”他忿忿地脱口而出。她缓缓地巡视他。

“是吗?”她说。

“知识,是全部的你,你的生命——你只有这个,知识,”

他叫道,“只有一棵树,你的口中只有一颗果子。”

她又沉默了一会儿。

“是吗?”她终于无动于衷地说。然后她又怪声怪气地问:

“什么果子,卢伯特?”

“那永恒的苹果,①”他气愤地答道,连自己都仇恨这个比喻。

①这里指“智慧树”上的果子,象征知识和理智。

“是的,”她说道,看上去很疲惫。一时间大家都沉默了。然后,她竭尽全力振作起精神,又恢复了那漫不经心歌唱般的语调。

“别考虑我,卢伯特。你是否认为孩子们有了这些知识会变得更好、更富有,更幸福?你真是这么想的吗?是不是让他们不受影响,顺其自然?让他们仍然是动物,简单的动物,粗犷、凶暴。怎么样都可以,就是不能因为有自我意识而无法顺其自然。”

大家以为她说完了,可她喉咙奇怪地咕哝一下,又说了起来:“让他们怎么着都行,就是不要长大了灵魂残废,感情上残废,最后自食其果,无法——”赫麦妮象一个神情恍惚的人一样握紧了拳头——“无法顺其自然地行事,总是谋划什么,总是选择来选择去一事无成。”

大家又以为她的话说完了。可就在伯金要回答她时,她又狂热地说:“总是无法自行其事,总那么清醒,自我意识过强,时时注意自己,难道没有比这更好的吗?最好是动物,一点头脑都没有的动物,也比这强,这样太不值了。”

“难道你认为是知识使得我们失去了生气,让我们有了自我意识?”伯金气恼地问。

她睁大眼睛打量着他说:

“是的,”她停顿一下,茫然地看着他。然后她用手指抹了一下眉毛,显得有点疲惫。这个动作令他反感极了。“头脑这东西,”她说,“就是死亡。”她渐渐抬起眼皮看着他说:

“难道头脑,”她浑身抽动着说:“不是我们的末日吗?难道它不是毁灭了我们的自然属性,毁灭了我们全部的本能吗?难道今日的年轻人不是在长大以后连活的机会都没有就死了吗?”

“但那不是因为他们太有头脑,而是因为太没有头脑了。”

他粗暴地说。

“你敢肯定吗?”她叫道。“我觉得恰恰相反。他们的意识太强了,一直到死都受着沉重的意识的重压。”

“受着有限的,虚假的思想的禁锢。”他叫着。

赫麦妮对他的话一点也不注意,仍旧狂热地发问:

“当我们有了知识时,我们就牺牲了一切,就只剩下知识了,不是吗?”她颇为动情地问道。“如果我懂得了这花儿是怎么回事,难道我不是失去了花朵,只剩下了那么点知识?难道我们不是在用实体换来影子,难道我们不是为了这种僵死的知识而失去了生命?可这对我来说究竟意味着什么?这一切知识对我意味着什么?什么也不是。”

“你只是在搬弄词藻,”伯金说,“可知识对你来说意味着一切。甚至你的人同野兽的理论,也不过是你头脑里的东西。你并不想成为野兽,你只是想理论一下你的动物功能,从而获得一种精神上的刺激。这都是次要的,比最墨守成规的唯理智论更没落。你爱激情,爱野兽的本能,这不过是唯理智论最坏的表现形式,难道不是吗?激情和本能,你苦苦地思念这些,可只是在你的头脑中,在你的意识中。这些都发生在你的头脑中,发生在那个脑壳里。只是你无法意识到这是怎么一回事罢了:他要的是用谎言来代替真实。”

对伯金的攻击赫麦妮报之以冷酷刻毒的表情。厄秀拉站在那儿,一脸的惊诧与羞赧。他们相互这样反目,把厄秀拉吓坏了。

“这全是夏洛特小姐①那一套,”他用令人难以捉摸的口吻说。他似乎是在冲着一片空荡荡的空间说着指责她的话。“你有了那面镜子,那是你顽固的意志,是你一成不变的领悟能力,你缜密的意识世界,除此以外再没别的了。在这面镜子里你一定获得了一切。可是现在你清醒了,你要返璞归真了,想成为野蛮人,不要知识了。你要的是一种纯粹感觉与‘激情’的生活。”

①《亚瑟王传奇》中的一女子,她单相思爱上了一位骑士,苦恋而死。

他用一个“激情”来反讽她。她气得浑身直打颤,无言以对,那副样子很象古希腊神谕宣示所里的女巫。

“可你的所谓激情是骗人的,”他激烈地继续说,“压根儿不是什么激情,而是你的意志。你要抓住什么东西,为的是控制它们。为什么?因为你没有一具真正的躯体,一具黑暗、富有肉感的生命之躯。你没有性欲,有的只是你的意志,意识思想和权力欲、知识欲。”

他又恨又蔑视地看着她,同时因为她在痛苦自己也感到痛苦。他感到羞耻,因为他知道他折磨着她。他真想跪下肯求她的宽恕,可他又无法平息心中的怒火。他忘却了她的存在,仅仅变成了一个充满激情的声音:

“顺其自然!”他叫道,“你还顺其自然!你比谁都老谋深算!你顺的是你的老谋深算,这才是你,你要用你的意志去控制一切,你要的是老谋深算与主观意志。你那可恶的小脑壳里装的全是这些,应该象砸坚果一样把它砸碎,因为不砸碎它你仍然会是这样,就象包着壳的昆虫一样。如果有人砸碎了你的脑壳,他就可以让你成为一个自然的、有激情的、有真正肉欲的女人。可你呢,你需要的淫荡——从镜子中观看你自己,观看你赤裸裸的动物行为,从而你就可以将其意识化。”

空气中有一种亵渎的气氛,似乎他说了太多不能令人原谅的话。但厄秀拉关心的是借助伯金的话解决自己的问题。她脸色苍白,很茫然地问:

“你真地需要肉欲吗?”

伯金看看她,认真地解释道:

“是的,恰恰需要这个,而不是别的。这是一种满足和完善——你的头脑无法获得的伟大的黑暗知识——黑暗的非自主存在。它是你自己本身的死亡,可却是另一个自我的复活。”

“可这是怎样的呢?你怎么能够让知识不存在于头脑中呢?”她无法解释他的话。

“在血液中,”他回答,“当意识和已知世界沉入黑暗中时——什么都一样——就一定有一场大雨。然后你发现自己处在一个可以感知的黑暗躯体中,变成了一个魔鬼——”

“可我为什么要变成一个魔鬼呢?”她问。

“‘女人嚎叫着寻找她的魔鬼情人,①’”他说道,“我不知道这是为什么。”

①引自S·T·柯勒律治(1772—1834)《忽必烈汗》。

赫麦妮似乎从死亡中醒来了。

“他是一个可怕的撒旦主义者,不是吗?”她拉长声音对厄秀拉说,那奇怪的共鸣声在结尾处又添一声嘲弄的尖笑。这两个女人在嘲笑他,笑得他一无是处。赫麦妮那尖声、凯旋般的女人的笑在嘲弄他,似乎他是个阉人。

“我不是,”他说,“你们是真正的魔鬼,你们不允许生命存在。”

赫麦妮缓缓地审视了他好久,那目光恶毒、傲慢。

“你什么都懂,不是吗?”她语调缓慢、冷漠,透着狡猾的嘲弄味儿。

“够了,”他说,他的面庞钢铁般生硬。赫麦妮立时感到一阵可怕的失落,同时又感到释然。她转身亲昵地对厄秀拉说:

“你们肯定会来布莱德比吗?”

“是的,我很乐意去。”厄秀拉说。

赫麦妮满意地看看她,心不在焉地想着什么,似乎丢了魂一样。

“我太高兴了。”她说着振作起了精神,“两周之内的什么时候来,行吗?我就把信写到这里来,写到学校,行吗?好吧。你肯定会来吗?好。我太高兴了。再见!再见!”

赫麦妮对厄秀拉伸出手来凝视着她。她知道厄秀拉是她的直接情故,这可把她高兴坏了,真有点奇怪。现在她要告辞了。与别人告别,把别人留在原地总让她感到有力量,感到占了便宜。再说,她在仇恨中带走了这个男人,这更是再好不过了。

伯金站在一旁,失神地一动不动。可当他告别时,他又开始讲起来:

“在这个世界上,实际的肉欲与我们命中注定的罪恶的放荡性意淫之间是不可同日而语的。晚上,我们总要扭开电灯在灯光下观看我们自己,于是我们把这东西都注入头脑里了,真的。你要想知道肉欲的真实,你就先要沉迷,坠入无知中,放弃你的意志。你必须这样。你要生,首先要学会死。

“可我们太自傲了,就这么回事。我们太自傲,而不是自豪。我们没一点自豪感,我们傲气十足,自造假象欺骗自己。我们宁可死也不放弃自己那一丁点自以为是,固步自封的自我意志。”

屋里一片安宁。两个女人充满了敌意和不满。而他却好象在什么大会上做讲演。赫麦妮几乎连听都不听,自顾耸耸肩表示厌恶。

厄秀拉似乎在偷偷看着他,并不真地知道自己看的是什么。他身上有一种巨大的魅力——某种内在的奇特的低沉声音发自这个瘦削,苍白的人,象另外一个人的声音在传达着对他的认识。他眉毛和下腭的曲线变幻多端,漂亮、优雅的曲线展示着生命本身强有力的美。她说不清这是怎么回事,但她感到一种满足与畅快。

“可是,尽管我们有肉欲,但我们没有这样做,是吗?”她转身问他,蓝色的眼睛闪烁着金色的光芒,她在笑,象对他挑战一样。于是,他的眼睛与眉毛立时露出神奇、毫无拘束、令人心动的迷人的微笑,但他的嘴唇丝毫没有动一动。

“不,我们没有,”他说,“我们太为自我所充溢。”

“肯定地说,这并不是自傲的问题。”她叫了起来。

“是的,不会是别的。”

她简直迷惑了。

“你不认为人们都为自己的肉欲力量感到骄傲吗?”她问。

“这说明他们并不是肉欲者,而是感觉者,这是另一个问题。人们总意识到自己,又那么自傲,并不是解放自己,让自己生活在另一个世界中,并不是来自另一个中心,他们——”

“你要用茶点了吧,嗯?”赫麦妮转身优雅、和蔼地对厄秀拉说。“你工作了一整天了呀——”

伯金的话戛然而止。厄秀拉感到一股怒火涌上心头,她感到懊悔。伯金绷起脸道别,似乎他不再注意她了。

他们走了,厄秀拉盯着门看了好一会儿。然后她关掉了电灯,又一次坐在椅子上失魂落魄起来。她哭了,伤心地啜泣着,很伤心,是喜是悲?她弄不清。


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 willow bMFz6     
n.柳树
参考例句:
  • The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
  • The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。
2 sketching 2df579f3d044331e74dce85d6a365dd7     
n.草图
参考例句:
  • They are sketching out proposals for a new road. 他们正在草拟修建新路的计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • "Imagination is busy sketching rose-tinted pictures of joy. “飞舞驰骋的想象描绘出一幅幅玫瑰色欢乐的场景。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
3 gilding Gs8zQk     
n.贴金箔,镀金
参考例句:
  • The dress is perfect. Don't add anything to it at all. It would just be gilding the lily. 这条裙子已经很完美了,别再作任何修饰了,那只会画蛇添足。
  • The gilding is extremely lavish. 这层镀金极为奢华。
4 shaft YEtzp     
n.(工具的)柄,杆状物
参考例句:
  • He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
  • This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。
5 subconscious Oqryw     
n./adj.潜意识(的),下意识(的)
参考例句:
  • Nail biting is often a subconscious reaction to tension.咬指甲通常是紧张时的下意识反映。
  • My answer seemed to come from the subconscious.我的回答似乎出自下意识。
6 anguish awZz0     
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼
参考例句:
  • She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时,她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
  • The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。
7 faltered d034d50ce5a8004ff403ab402f79ec8d     
(嗓音)颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 ); 支吾其词; 蹒跚; 摇晃
参考例句:
  • He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
  • "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着:“这孩子脑袋真长。”
8 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
9 tassel egKyo     
n.流苏,穗;v.抽穗, (玉米)长穗须
参考例句:
  • The corn has begun to tassel.玉米开始长出穗状雄花。
  • There are blue tassels on my curtains.我的窗帘上有蓝色的流苏。
10 flicker Gjxxb     
vi./n.闪烁,摇曳,闪现
参考例句:
  • There was a flicker of lights coming from the abandoned house.这所废弃的房屋中有灯光闪烁。
  • At first,the flame may be a small flicker,barely shining.开始时,光辉可能是微弱地忽隐忽现,几乎并不灿烂。
11 flickers b24574e519d9d4ee773189529fadd6d6     
电影制片业; (通常指灯光)闪烁,摇曳( flicker的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The fire flickers low. 炉火颤动欲灭。
  • A strange idea flickers in my mind. 一种奇怪的思想又在我脑中燃烧了。
12 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
13 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
14 vacancy EHpy7     
n.(旅馆的)空位,空房,(职务的)空缺
参考例句:
  • Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
  • The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。
15 corporate 7olzl     
adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的
参考例句:
  • This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
  • His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。
16 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
17 emphasise emphasise     
vt.加强...的语气,强调,着重
参考例句:
  • What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢?
  • The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。
18 subjective mtOwP     
a.主观(上)的,个人的
参考例句:
  • The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
  • A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。
19 spiky hhczrZ     
adj.长而尖的,大钉似的
参考例句:
  • Your hairbrush is too spiky for me.你的发刷,我觉得太尖了。
  • The spiky handwriting on the airmail envelope from London was obviously hers.发自伦敦的航空信封上的尖长字迹分明是她的。
20 stigma WG2z4     
n.耻辱,污名;(花的)柱头
参考例句:
  • Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
  • The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。
21 stigmas 6fa32ac806aa8569ec97b1ba9261533f     
n.耻辱的标记,瑕疵( stigma的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Wind may affect the set of fruit by desiccating the stigmas. 风可影响座果,因为风吹干了柱头。 来自辞典例句
  • Monterey's transpiration of pistils and stigmas are lowest. Monterey的柱头和雌蕊的失水速率均较低。 来自互联网
22 dangling 4930128e58930768b1c1c75026ebc649     
悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 ); 摆动不定; 用某事物诱惑…; 吊胃口
参考例句:
  • The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果,那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
  • The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上,摇晃着他们的双腿。
23 pollen h1Uzz     
n.[植]花粉
参考例句:
  • Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
  • He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
24 pictorial PuWy6     
adj.绘画的;图片的;n.画报
参考例句:
  • The had insisted on a full pictorial coverage of the event.他们坚持要对那一事件做详尽的图片报道。
  • China Pictorial usually sells out soon after it hits the stands.《人民画报》往往一到报摊就销售一空。
25 poking poking     
n. 刺,戳,袋 vt. 拨开,刺,戳 vi. 戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢
参考例句:
  • He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
  • He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。
26 sardonic jYyxL     
adj.嘲笑的,冷笑的,讥讽的
参考例句:
  • She gave him a sardonic smile.她朝他讥讽地笑了一笑。
  • There was a sardonic expression on her face.她脸上有一种嘲讽的表情。
27 bullying f23dd48b95ce083d3774838a76074f5f     
v.恐吓,威逼( bully的现在分词 );豪;跋扈
参考例句:
  • Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
  • All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
28 effrontery F8xyC     
n.厚颜无耻
参考例句:
  • This is a despicable fraud . Just imagine that he has the effrontery to say it.这是一个可耻的骗局. 他竟然有脸说这样的话。
  • One could only gasp at the sheer effrontery of the man.那人十足的厚颜无耻让人们吃惊得无话可说。
29 inquisitive s64xi     
adj.求知欲强的,好奇的,好寻根究底的
参考例句:
  • Children are usually inquisitive.小孩通常很好问。
  • A pat answer is not going to satisfy an inquisitive audience.陈腔烂调的答案不能满足好奇的听众。
30 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
31 twig VK1zg     
n.小树枝,嫩枝;v.理解
参考例句:
  • He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
  • The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。
32 piqued abe832d656a307cf9abb18f337accd25     
v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 );激起(好奇心)
参考例句:
  • Their curiosity piqued, they stopped writing. 他们的好奇心被挑起,停下了手中的笔。 来自辞典例句
  • This phenomenon piqued Dr Morris' interest. 这一现象激起了莫里斯医生的兴趣。 来自辞典例句
33 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
34 filaments 82be78199276cbe86e0e8b6c084015b6     
n.(电灯泡的)灯丝( filament的名词复数 );丝极;细丝;丝状物
参考例句:
  • Instead, sarcomere shortening occurs when the thin filaments'slide\" by the thick filaments. 此外,肌节的缩短发生于细肌丝沿粗肌丝“滑行”之际。 来自辞典例句
  • Wetting-force data on filaments of any diameter and shape can easily obtained. 各种直径和形状的长丝的润湿力数据是易于测量的。 来自辞典例句
35 passionate rLDxd     
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的
参考例句:
  • He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
  • He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。
36 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
37 carvings 3ccde9120da2aaa238c9785046cb8f86     
n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 );雕刻术;雕刻品;雕刻物
参考例句:
  • The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》
38 primitive vSwz0     
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物
参考例句:
  • It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
  • His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。
39 scrutiny ZDgz6     
n.详细检查,仔细观察
参考例句:
  • His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好,但是经不起仔细检查。
  • Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。
40 grunt eeazI     
v.嘟哝;作呼噜声;n.呼噜声,嘟哝
参考例句:
  • He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
  • I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽,他只哼了一声。
41 puckered 919dc557997e8559eff50805cb11f46e     
v.(使某物)起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • His face puckered , and he was ready to cry. 他的脸一皱,像要哭了。
  • His face puckered, the tears leapt from his eyes. 他皱着脸,眼泪夺眶而出。 来自《简明英汉词典》
42 utterance dKczL     
n.用言语表达,话语,言语
参考例句:
  • This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
  • My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽,泣不成声。
43 stimulated Rhrz78     
a.刺激的
参考例句:
  • The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
  • The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。
44 brutal bSFyb     
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的
参考例句:
  • She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
  • They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼,骨子里却是野蛮残忍。
45 irritation la9zf     
n.激怒,恼怒,生气
参考例句:
  • He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
  • Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说,但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。
46 inquisitiveness 34ae93063e88de703cccb82a73714b77     
好奇,求知欲
参考例句:
  • It especially excited their inquisitiveness. 这尤其引起了他们的好奇心。
  • This attitude combines a lack of class consciousness, a somewhat jaunty optimism and an inquisitiveness. 这种态度包括等级观念不强,得意洋洋的乐观劲儿和刨根问底的好奇心。
47 exasperation HiyzX     
n.愤慨
参考例句:
  • He snorted with exasperation.他愤怒地哼了一声。
  • She rolled her eyes in sheer exasperation.她气急败坏地转动着眼珠。
48 metaphors 83e73a88f6ce7dc55e75641ff9fe3c41     
隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
  • Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使,他是雄狮都是比喻说法。
49 exhaustion OPezL     
n.耗尽枯竭,疲惫,筋疲力尽,竭尽,详尽无遗的论述
参考例句:
  • She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
  • His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了,显然是太累了。
50 rumbling 85a55a2bf439684a14a81139f0b36eb1     
n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词
参考例句:
  • The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
  • The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。
51 incapable w9ZxK     
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的
参考例句:
  • He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
  • Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。
52 clenched clenched     
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
  • She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上,以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
53 irritably e3uxw     
ad.易生气地
参考例句:
  • He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了,暴躁地斥责孩子们。
  • On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事,他妻子大声斥责,令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
54 brutally jSRya     
adv.残忍地,野蛮地,冷酷无情地
参考例句:
  • The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
  • A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。
55 forfeiting bbd60c0c559b29a3540c4f9bf25d9744     
(因违反协议、犯规、受罚等)丧失,失去( forfeit的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • In his eyes, giving up his job and forfeiting his wages amounted practically to suicide. 辞事,让工钱,在祥子看就差不多等于自杀。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
  • That would be acknowledging the Railroad's ownership right away-forfeiting their rights for good. 这一来不是就等于干脆承认铁路公司的所有权-永久放弃他们自己的主权吗?
56 purely 8Sqxf     
adv.纯粹地,完全地
参考例句:
  • I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
  • This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。
57 decadent HaYyZ     
adj.颓废的,衰落的,堕落的
参考例句:
  • Don't let decadent ideas eat into yourselves.别让颓废的思想侵蚀你们。
  • This song was once banned, because it was regarded as decadent.这首歌曾经被认定为是靡靡之音而被禁止播放。
58 skull CETyO     
n.头骨;颅骨
参考例句:
  • The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
  • He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去,跌裂了颅骨。
59 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
60 immortal 7kOyr     
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的
参考例句:
  • The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
  • The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽!
61 savage ECxzR     
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人
参考例句:
  • The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
  • He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。
62 violation lLBzJ     
n.违反(行为),违背(行为),侵犯
参考例句:
  • He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说,那是违反规则的。
  • He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。
63 oracle jJuxy     
n.神谕,神谕处,预言
参考例句:
  • In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候,她祈祷神谕来指引她。
  • It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕,常常能预言最重要的事情。
64 conceit raVyy     
n.自负,自高自大
参考例句:
  • As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后,谦虚使人进步。
  • She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。
65 lust N8rz1     
n.性(淫)欲;渴(欲)望;vi.对…有强烈的欲望
参考例句:
  • He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
  • Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念,就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。
66 mingled fdf34efd22095ed7e00f43ccc823abdf     
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系]
参考例句:
  • The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
  • The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候,这一男一女就开始交往了。
67 deliberately Gulzvq     
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地
参考例句:
  • The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
  • They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。
68 volition cLkzS     
n.意志;决意
参考例句:
  • We like to think that everything we do and everything we think is a product of our volition.我们常常认为我们所做和所想的一切都出自自己的意愿。
  • Makin said Mr Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.梅金说库姆斯先生是主动去投案的。
69 loathsome Vx5yX     
adj.讨厌的,令人厌恶的
参考例句:
  • The witch hid her loathsome face with her hands.巫婆用手掩住她那张令人恶心的脸。
  • Some people think that snakes are loathsome creatures.有些人觉得蛇是令人憎恶的动物。
70 deluge a9nyg     
n./vt.洪水,暴雨,使泛滥
参考例句:
  • This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候,这条小溪能变作洪流。
  • I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。
71 demon Wmdyj     
n.魔鬼,恶魔
参考例句:
  • The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
  • He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。
72 wailing 25fbaeeefc437dc6816eab4c6298b423     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的现在分词 );沱
参考例句:
  • A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
73 resonant TBCzC     
adj.(声音)洪亮的,共鸣的
参考例句:
  • She has a resonant voice.她的嗓子真亮。
  • He responded with a resonant laugh.他报以洪亮的笑声。
74 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫
参考例句:
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
75 ridicule fCwzv     
v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄
参考例句:
  • You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
  • Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。
76 jeering fc1aba230f7124e183df8813e5ff65ea     
adj.嘲弄的,揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Hecklers interrupted her speech with jeering. 捣乱分子以嘲笑打断了她的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He interrupted my speech with jeering. 他以嘲笑打断了我的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
77 triumphant JpQys     
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的
参考例句:
  • The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
  • There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。
78 malevolent G8IzV     
adj.有恶意的,恶毒的
参考例句:
  • Why are they so malevolent to me?他们为什么对我如此恶毒?
  • We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
79 supercilious 6FyyM     
adj.目中无人的,高傲的;adv.高傲地;n.高傲
参考例句:
  • The shop assistant was very supercilious towards me when I asked for some help.我要买东西招呼售货员时,那个售货员对我不屑一顾。
  • His manner is supercilious and arrogant.他非常傲慢自大。
80 intimacy z4Vxx     
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行
参考例句:
  • His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切,这有点言过其实。
  • I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。
81 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
82 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
83 profligacy d368c1db67127748cbef7c5970753fbe     
n.放荡,不检点,肆意挥霍
参考例句:
  • Subsequently, this statement was quoted widely in the colony as an evidence of profligacy. 结果这句话成为肆意挥霍的一个例证在那块领地里传开了。 来自辞典例句
  • Recession, they reason, must be a penance for past profligacy. 经济衰退,他们推断,肯定是对过去大肆挥霍的赎罪。 来自互联网
84 lapse t2lxL     
n.过失,流逝,失效,抛弃信仰,间隔;vi.堕落,停止,失效,流逝;vt.使失效
参考例句:
  • The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
  • I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。
85 conceited Cv0zxi     
adj.自负的,骄傲自满的
参考例句:
  • He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
  • I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。
86 shrug Ry3w5     
v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)
参考例句:
  • With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩,走出了房间。
  • I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。
87 furtively furtively     
adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地
参考例句:
  • At this some of the others furtively exchanged significant glances. 听他这样说,有几个人心照不宣地彼此对望了一眼。
  • Remembering my presence, he furtively dropped it under his chair. 后来想起我在,他便偷偷地把书丢在椅子下。
88 exquisite zhez1     
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的
参考例句:
  • I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
  • I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
89 flickering wjLxa     
adj.闪烁的,摇曳的,一闪一闪的
参考例句:
  • The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
  • The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。
90 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
91 sensuous pzcwc     
adj.激发美感的;感官的,感觉上的
参考例句:
  • Don't get the idea that value of music is commensurate with its sensuous appeal.不要以为音乐的价值与其美的感染力相等。
  • The flowers that wreathed his parlor stifled him with their sensuous perfume.包围著客厅的花以其刺激人的香味使他窒息。
92 kindliness 2133e1da2ddf0309b4a22d6f5022476b     
n.厚道,亲切,友好的行为
参考例句:
  • Martha looked up into a strange face and dark eyes alight with kindliness and concern. 马撒慢慢抬起头,映入眼帘的是张陌生的脸,脸上有一双充满慈爱和关注的眼睛。 来自辞典例句
  • I think the chief thing that struck me about Burton was his kindliness. 我想,我对伯顿印象最深之处主要还是这个人的和善。 来自辞典例句
93 spasm dFJzH     
n.痉挛,抽搐;一阵发作
参考例句:
  • When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后,他虚弱无力,一直冒汗。
  • He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦,一脚踢向椅子。
94 chagrin 1cyyX     
n.懊恼;气愤;委屈
参考例句:
  • His increasingly visible chagrin sets up a vicious circle.他的明显的不满引起了一种恶性循环。
  • Much to his chagrin,he did not win the race.使他大为懊恼的是他赛跑没获胜。
95 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。


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