Off into the forest I went, feeling a boyish elation1 to be so free nortaking heed2 or count of the reckless adventure before me. The Martianweather for the moment was lovely and the many-coloured grass lush andsoft under foot. Mile after mile I went, heeding3 the distance lightly, theair was so elastic4. Now pressing forward as the main interest of myerrand took the upper hand, and remembrance of poor Heru like a crushedwhite flower in the red grip of those cruel ravishers came upon me, andthen pausing to sigh with pleasure or stand agape--forgetful even of her--inwonder of the unknown loveliness about me.
And well might I stare! Everything in that forest was wonderful!
There were plants which turned from colour to colour with the varyinghours of the day. While others had a growth so swift it was dangerous tosit in their neighbour- hood5 since the long, succulent tendrils clamberingfrom the parent stem would weave you into a helpless tangle6 while yougazed, fascinated, upon them. There were plants that climbed andwalked; sighing plants who called the winged things of the air to themwith a noise so like to a girl sobbing7 that again and again I stopped in thetangled path to listen. There were green bladder-mosses which swamabout the surface of the still pools like gigantic frog-broods. There wereon the ridges9 warrior10 trees burning in the vindictiveness11 of a longforgotten cause--a blaze of crimson12 scimitar thorns from root to topmosttwig; and down again in the cool hollows were lady-bushes makingtwilight of the green gloom with their cloudy ivory blos- soms and fillingthe shadows with such a heavy scent14 that head and heart reeled with fatalpleasure as one pushed aside their branches. Every river-bed was full ofmighty reeds, whose stems clattered15 together when the wind blew likeswords on shields, and every now and then a bit of forest was woventogether with the ropey stems of giant creepers till no man or beast couldhave passed save for the paths which constant use had kept open throughthe mazes16.
All day long I wandered on through those wonderful woodlands, andin fact loitered so much over their infinite marvels17 that when sundown came all too soon there was still undulating forest everywhere, vistas18 offairy glades20 on every hand, peopled with incredible things and echoingwith sounds that excited the ears as much as other things fascinated theeyes, but no sign of the sea or my fishing village anywhere.
It did not matter; a little of the Martian leisureliness21 was getting intomy blood: "If not today, why then tomorrow," as An would have said; andwith this for comfort I selected a warm, sandy hollow under the roots of abig tree, made my brief arrangements for the night, ate some honey cakes,and was soon sleeping blissfully.
I woke early next morning, after many hours of interrupted dreams,and having nothing to do till the white haze22 had lifted and made it possibleto start again, rested idly a time on my elbow and watched the sunshinefilter into the recesses23.
Very pretty it was to see the thick canopy24 overhead, by star-light soimpenetrable, open its chinks and fissures25 as the searching sun came uponit; to see the pin-hole gaps shine like spangles presently, the spacesbroaden into lesser26 suns, and even the thick leafage brighten and shinedown on me with a soft sea-green radiance. The sunward sides of thetree-stems took a glow, and the dew that ran dripping down their mossysides trickled27 blood-red to earth. Else- where the shadows were stillblack, and strange things began to move in them--things we in our middle-aged28 world have never seen the likeness29 of: beasts half birds, birds halfcreeping things, and creeping things which it seemed to me passed throughlesser creations down to the basest life that crawls without interruption ordivision.
It was not for me, a sailor, to know much of such things, yet some Icould not fail to notice. On one grey branch overhead, jutting30 from atree-stem where a patch of velvet31 moss8 made in the morning glint a fairybed, a won- derful flower unfolded. It was a splendid bud, ivory white,cushioned in leaves, and secured to its place by naked white roots thatclipped the branch like fingers of a lady's hand. Even as I looked it opened,a pale white star, and hung pensive32 and inviting33 on its mossy cushion.
From it came such a ravishing odour that even I, at the further end of thegreat scale of life, felt my pulses quicken and my eyes brighten with cupidity34. I was in the very act of climbing the tree, but before I couldmove hand or foot two things happened, whether you take my word forthem or no.
Firstly, up through a glade19 in the underwood, attracted by the odour,came an ugly brown bird with a capacious beak35 and shining claws. Heperched near by, and peeped and peered until he made out the flowerpining on her virgin36 stem, whereat off he hopped37 to her branch and there,with a cynical38 chuckle39, strutted40 to and fro between her and the main stemlike an ill genius guarding a fairy princess.
Surely Heaven would not allow him to tamper41 with so chaste42 a bud!
My hand reached for a stone to throw at him when happened the secondthing. There came a gentle pat upon the woodland floor, and from a treeoverhead dropped down another living plant like to the one above yet notexactly similar, a male, my instincts told me, in full sol- itary blossom likeher above, cinctured with leaves, and supported by half a score of thickwhite roots that worked, as I looked, like the limbs of a crab43. In atwinkling that parti-coloured gentleman vegetable near me was off to thestem upon which grew his lady love; running and scram- bling, draggingthe finery of his tasselled petals44 behind, it was laughable to watch hiseagerness. He got a grip of the tree and up he went, "hand over hand,"root over root. I had just time to note others of his species had droppedhere and there upon the ground, and were hurry- ing with frantic45 haste tothe same destination when he reached the fatal branch, and was straddlingvictoriously down it, blind to all but love and longing46. That ill-omenedbird who stood above the maiden-flower let him come within a stalk'slength, so near that the white splendour of his sleeping lady gleamedwithin arms' reach, then the great beak was opened, the great claws made aclutch, the gal- lant's head was yanked from his neck, and as it wenttumbling down the maw of the feathered thing his white legs fell spinningthrough space, and lay knotting them- selves in agony upon the ground fora minute or two before they relaxed and became flaccid in the repose47 ofdeath. An- other and another vegetable suitor made for that fatal tryst,and as each came up the snap of the brown bird's beak was all theirobsequies. At last no more came, and then that Nemesis48 of claws and quills49 walked over to the girl-flower, his stomach feathers ruffled50 withrepletion, the green blood of her lovers dripping from his claws, andpulled her golden heart out, tore her white limbs one from the other, andswallowed her piecemeal51 before my very eyes! Then up in wrath52 Ijumped and yelled at him till the woods echoed, but too late to stay hissacrilege.
By this time the sun was bathing everything in splendour, and turningaway from the wonders about me, I set off at best pace along the well-trodden path which led without turning to the west coast village where thecanoes were.
It proved far closer than expected. As a matter of fact the forest inthis direction grew right down to the water's edge; the salt-loving treesactually overhanging the waves--one of the pleasantest sights in nature-and thus I came right out on top of the hamlet before there had been anindication of its presence. It occupied two sides of a pretty little bay, thethird side being flat land given over to the cultivation53 of an enormousspecies of gourd54 whose characteristic yellow flowers and green, succulentleaves were discernible even at this distance.
I branched off along the edge of the surf and down a dainty littleflowery path, noticing meanwhile how the whole bay was filled byhundreds of empty canoes, while scores of others were drawn55 up on thestrand, and then the first thing I chanced upon was a group of people-youthful, of course, with the eternal Martian bloom--and in the splendidsimplicity of almost complete nakedness. My first idea was that theywere bathing, and fixing my eyes on the tree-tops with great propriety57, Igave a warning cough. At that sound instead of getting to cover, orclothes, all started up and stood staring for a time like a herd58 of startledcattle. It was highly embarrassing; they were right in the path, a rounddozen of them, naked and so little ashamed that when I edged awaymodestly they began to run after me. And the farther they came forwardthe more I retired59, till we were playing a kind of game of hide-and-seekround the tree-stems. In the middle of it my heel caught in a root anddown I went very hard and very ignominiously60, whereon those laughing,light-hearted folk rushed in, and with smiles and jests helped me to my feet.
"Was I the traveller who had come from Seth?""Yes.""Oh, then that was well. They had heard such a traveller was on theroad, and had come a little way down the path, as far as might be withoutfatigue, to meet him.""Would I eat with them?" these amiable61 strangers asked, pushing theirsoft warm fingers into mine and ringing me round with a circle. "Butfirstly might they help me out of my clothes? It was hot, and these thingswere cumber- some." As to the eating, I was agreeable enough seeinghow casual meals had been with me lately, but my clothes, though Heavenknows they were getting horribly ragged62 and travel-stained, I clung todesperately.
My new friends shrugged63 their dimpled shoulders and, argumentsbeing tedious, at once squatted64 round me in the dappled shade of a big treeand produced their stores of never failing provisions. After a pleasantlittle meal taken thus in the open and with all the simplicity56 Martians delight in, we got to talking about those yellow canoes which were bobbingabout on the blue waters of the bay.
"Would you like to see where they are grown?" asked an individualbasking by my side.
"Grown!" I answered with incredulity. "Built, you mean. Never inmy life did I hear of growing boats.""But then, sir," observed the girl as she sucked the honey out of thestalk of an azure65 convolvulus flower and threw the remains66 at a butterflythat sailed across the sunshine, "you know so little! You have come fromafar, from some barbarous and barren district. Here we undoubtedlygrow our boats, and though we know the Thither67 folk and suchuncultivated races make their craft by cumbrous methods of flat planks,yet we prefer our own way, for one thing be- cause it saves trouble," andas she murmured that all- sufficient reason the gentle damsel noddedreflectively.
But one of her companions, more lively for the moment, tickled68 herwith a straw until she roused, and then said, "Let us take the stranger to the boat garden now. The cur- rent will drift us round the bay, and we cancome back when it turns. If we wait we shall have to row in bothdirections, or even walk," and again planetary slothfulness carried the day.
So down to the beach we strolled and launched one of the golden-huedskiffs upon the pretty dancing wavelets just where they ran, lipped withjewelled spray, on the shore, and then only had I a chance to scrutinisetheir material. I patted that one we were upon inside and out. I notedwith a seaman's admiration70 its lightness, elasticity71, and supreme72 sleekness,its marvellous buoyancy and fairy- like "lines," and after some minutes'
consideration it sud- denly flashed across me that it was all of gourd rind.
And as if to supply confirmation73, the flat land we were ap- proaching onthe opposite side of the bay was covered by the characteristic verdure ofthese plants with a touch here and there of splendid yellow blossoms, butall of gigantic proportions.
"Ay," said a Martian damsel lying on the bottom, and taking andkissing my hand as she spoke74, in the simple- hearted way of her people, "Isee you have guessed how we make our boats. Is it the same in yourdistant country?""No, my girl, and what's more, I am a bit uneasy as to what the fellowson the Carolina will say if they ever hear I went to sea in a hollowed-outpumpkin, and with a young lady--well, dressed as you are--for crew.
Even now I can- not imagine how you get your ships so trim and shapely-there is not a seam or a patch anywhere, it looks as if you had run theminto a mould.""That's just what we have done, sir, and now you will witness themoulds at work, for here we are," and the little skiff was pulled ashore75 andthe Martians and I jumped out on the shelving beach, hauled our boat uphigh and dry, and there right over us, like great green umbrellas, spread thefronds of the outmost garden of this strangest of all ship- building yards.
Briefly, and not to make this part of my story too long, those gilded76 boysand girls took me ashore, and chattering77 like finches in the evening,showed how they planted their gourd seed, nourished the gigantic plants asthey grew with brackish78 water and the burnt ashes; then, when theyflowered, mated the male and female blossoms, glorious funnels79 of golden hue69 big enough for one to live in; and when the young fruit was of thebigness of an ordinary bolster80, how they slipped it into a double mould ofopen reed-work something like the two halves of a walnut- shell; and how,growing day by day in this, it soon took every curve and line they chose togive it, even the hanging keel below, the strengthened bulwarks81, and tallprow-piece. It was so ingenious, yet simple; and I confess I laughed overmy first skiff "on the stalk," and fell to bantering82 the Martians, askingwhether it was a good season for navies, whether their Cunarders werespreading nicely, if they could give me a pinch of barge83 seed, or a yacht inbud to show to my friends at home.
But those lazy people took the matter seriously enough. They led medown green alleys84 arched over with huge melon-like leaves; they led mealong innumerable byways, making me peep and peer through thechequered sunlight at ocean-growing craft, that had budded twelve monthsbefore, already filling their moulds to the last inch of space. They told methat when the growing process was sufficiently85 advanced, they loosenedthe casing, and cutting a hole into the interior of each giant fruit, scoopedout all its seed, thereby86 checking more advance, and throwing into the rindstrength that would otherwise have gone to reproductive- ness. They saideach fruit made two vessels87, but the upper half was always best and usedfor long salt-water jour- neys, the lower piece being but for punting orfishing on their lakes. They cut them in half while still green, scrapedout the light remaining pulp88 when dry, and dragged them down with theminimum of trouble, light as feathers, ten- acious as steel plate, andalready in the form and fashion of dainty craft from five to twenty feet inlength, when the process was completed.
By the time we had explored this strangest of ship- building yards, andI had seen last year's crop on the stocks being polished and fitted withseats and gear, the sun was going down; and the Martian twilight13, owing tothe comparative steepness of the little planet's sides, being brief, westrolled back to the village, and there they gave me harbourage for thenight, ambrosial89 supper, and a deep draught90 of the wine of Forgetfulness,under the gauzy spell of which the real and unreal melted into the vistas ofrosy oblivion, and I slept.
1 elation | |
n.兴高采烈,洋洋得意 | |
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2 heed | |
v.注意,留意;n.注意,留心 | |
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3 heeding | |
v.听某人的劝告,听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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4 elastic | |
n.橡皮圈,松紧带;adj.有弹性的;灵活的 | |
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5 hood | |
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖 | |
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6 tangle | |
n.纠缠;缠结;混乱;v.(使)缠绕;变乱 | |
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7 sobbing | |
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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8 moss | |
n.苔,藓,地衣 | |
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9 ridges | |
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊 | |
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10 warrior | |
n.勇士,武士,斗士 | |
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11 vindictiveness | |
恶毒;怀恨在心 | |
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12 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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13 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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14 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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15 clattered | |
发出咔哒声(clatter的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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16 mazes | |
迷宫( maze的名词复数 ); 纷繁复杂的规则; 复杂难懂的细节; 迷宫图 | |
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17 marvels | |
n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 );令人惊奇的事物(或事例);不平凡的成果;成就v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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18 vistas | |
长条形景色( vista的名词复数 ); 回顾; 展望; (未来可能发生的)一系列情景 | |
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19 glade | |
n.林间空地,一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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20 glades | |
n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
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21 leisureliness | |
n.悠然,从容 | |
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22 haze | |
n.霾,烟雾;懵懂,迷糊;vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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23 recesses | |
n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 );(工作或业务活动的)中止或暂停期间;学校的课间休息;某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 );将(墙)做成凹形,在(墙)上做壁龛;休息,休会,休庭 | |
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24 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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25 fissures | |
n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 );裂伤;分歧;分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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26 lesser | |
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地 | |
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27 trickled | |
v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 );淌;使)慢慢走;缓慢移动 | |
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28 middle-aged | |
adj.中年的 | |
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29 likeness | |
n.相像,相似(之处) | |
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30 jutting | |
v.(使)突出( jut的现在分词 );伸出;(从…)突出;高出 | |
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31 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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32 pensive | |
a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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33 inviting | |
adj.诱人的,引人注目的 | |
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34 cupidity | |
n.贪心,贪财 | |
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35 beak | |
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻 | |
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36 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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37 hopped | |
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 ); 单足蹦跳; 齐足(或双足)跳行; 摘葎草花 | |
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38 cynical | |
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的 | |
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39 chuckle | |
vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑 | |
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40 strutted | |
趾高气扬地走,高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41 tamper | |
v.干预,玩弄,贿赂,窜改,削弱,损害 | |
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42 chaste | |
adj.贞洁的;有道德的;善良的;简朴的 | |
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43 crab | |
n.螃蟹,偏航,脾气乖戾的人,酸苹果;vi.捕蟹,偏航,发牢骚;vt.使偏航,发脾气 | |
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44 petals | |
n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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45 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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46 longing | |
n.(for)渴望 | |
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47 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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48 nemesis | |
n.给以报应者,复仇者,难以对付的敌手 | |
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49 quills | |
n.(刺猬或豪猪的)刺( quill的名词复数 );羽毛管;翮;纡管 | |
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50 ruffled | |
adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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51 piecemeal | |
adj.零碎的;n.片,块;adv.逐渐地;v.弄成碎块 | |
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52 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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53 cultivation | |
n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成 | |
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54 gourd | |
n.葫芦 | |
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55 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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56 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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57 propriety | |
n.正当行为;正当;适当 | |
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58 herd | |
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起 | |
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59 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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60 ignominiously | |
adv.耻辱地,屈辱地,丢脸地 | |
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61 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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62 ragged | |
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的 | |
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63 shrugged | |
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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64 squatted | |
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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65 azure | |
adj.天蓝色的,蔚蓝色的 | |
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66 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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67 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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68 tickled | |
(使)发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)愉快,逗乐 | |
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69 hue | |
n.色度;色调;样子 | |
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70 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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71 elasticity | |
n.弹性,伸缩力 | |
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72 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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73 confirmation | |
n.证实,确认,批准 | |
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74 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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75 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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76 gilded | |
a.镀金的,富有的 | |
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77 chattering | |
n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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78 brackish | |
adj.混有盐的;咸的 | |
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79 funnels | |
漏斗( funnel的名词复数 ); (轮船,火车等的)烟囱 | |
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80 bolster | |
n.枕垫;v.支持,鼓励 | |
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81 bulwarks | |
n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 );保障;支柱;舷墙 | |
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82 bantering | |
adj.嘲弄的v.开玩笑,说笑,逗乐( banter的现在分词 );(善意地)取笑,逗弄 | |
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83 barge | |
n.平底载货船,驳船 | |
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84 alleys | |
胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径 | |
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85 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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86 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
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87 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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88 pulp | |
n.果肉,纸浆;v.化成纸浆,除去...果肉,制成纸浆 | |
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89 ambrosial | |
adj.美味的 | |
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90 draught | |
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计 | |
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