THE CLOCK
I
At first it seemed to the Doctor that his companion was about to explain matters further. There was still something vaguely1 communicative about his manner, and a kind of noise issued from his rapidly moving jaws2.
But it was not a human noise. It began with a succession of deep-toned growls4 and grunts5, and ended abruptly6 in a distinct bark.
"Hydrophobia," flashed through the Doctor's mind, but he dismissed the idea immediately. He had lit a cigarette in order to soothe8 his nerves. He was trying so hard to rationalise the whole proceeding9, to fit the Clockwork man into some remotely possible order of things; but it was a difficult process, for no sooner had he grouped certain ideas in his head than some fresh manifestation10 took place which rendered all previous theories futile11. At the present moment, for instance, it was obvious that some new kind of structural12 alteration13 was taking place in the Clockwork man's physiognomy. The phenomenon could[Pg 151] hardly be classed in the same category as the sudden growth of beard, although there were points in common. Hair was again visible, this time spread all over the rounded face and on the jaw3; the nose was receding14 and flattening15 out; the eyes were dwindling16 in size, and the expression in them changed into a dull stare. The bark was repeated and followed by an angry rumbling17.
The Doctor dropped his cigarette on the plate before him and grasped the edges of the table. His eyes were riveted18 upon that ghastly spectacle of transmutation.
"Oh, God," he cried out, at last, and shivering from head to foot. "Are you doing these things on purpose to frighten me, or can't you, can't you help it? Do you think I don't believe you? Do you think I can keep on deceiving myself? I tell you I'm ready to believe anything—I capitulate—I only ask you to let me down lightly. I'm only human, and human nerves weren't made to stand this."
"G-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-r," growled19 the Clockwork man. "WOW—WOW—can't help it—WOUGH—WOUGH—most regrettable—wow—wow—atavism—tendency to return—remote species—moment's notice—family failing—darwinism—better in a moment—something gone wrong with the controls. There—that's done it. Phew!"
[Pg 152]
His face suddenly cleared, and all trace of the canine20 resemblance vanished as if by magic. He got up and took two or three jerk-like strides up and down the room. "Must keep going—when I feel like this—either food or violent stimulus—otherwise the confounded thing runs down—and there you are."
He paused and confronted Allingham, who had risen from his chair and was still trembling.
"How can I help it?" implored22 the Clockwork man, in despair. "They made me like this. I don't want to alarm you—but, you know, it alarms me sometimes. You can't imagine how trying it is to feel that at any moment you might change into something else—some horrible tree-climbing ancestor. The thing ought not to happen, but it's always possible. They should have thought of that when they made the clock."
"It mustn't happen," said the Doctor, recovering slightly, "that's the flat fact. If it's food you require, then food you shall have."
It had suddenly flashed across his fevered mind that downstairs in the surgery there lay a collection of tinned foods and patent medicines, samples that had been sent for him to test. Rather than risk a further manifestation of collapse23 on the part of the Clockwork-man, he would sacrifice these.
[Pg 153]
II
He was only just in time. On the way down the stairs that led to the basement surgery the Clockwork man began to flap his ears violently, and it was then that the Doctor noticed for the first time this circumstance that had so puzzled Arthur Withers24. But the faculty25 seemed, in comparison with other exhibitions, a mere26 trifle, a sort of mannerism27 that one might expect from a being so strangely constituted.
Pushing his companion into the surgery, the Doctor commenced opening tins for all he was worth. The process calmed him, and he had time to think a little. For half an hour he opened tins, and passed them over to the Clockwork man, without noticing very much what the latter did with them. Then he went on to bottles containing patent foods, phosphates, hypophosphates, glycero-hypophosphates, all the phosphates in fact, combined with malt or other substances, which might be considered almost necessary as an auxiliary28 diet for the Clockwork man.
At least, the latter seemed grateful to receive whatever was given to him, and his general manner became decidedly more possible. There seemed less chance now of a drastic[Pg 154] relapse. The Doctor had locked the door of the surgery. It would be embarrassing to be discovered in such circumstances, and Mrs. Masters might faint with horror at the sight of the empty tins and bottles and the gorging29 visitor. It was symptomatic of the Doctor's frame of mind that even now the one thing he dreaded30 more than anything else was the intrusion of a curious world into this monstrous31 proceeding. He had been forced into accepting the evidence of his own eyes, but there still remained in him a strong desire to hush32 up the affair, to protect the world at large from so fierce a shock to its established ideas.
The surgery was a low-pitched apartment, and it was approached by patients from the outside by way of the area steps. One door communicated with the dark passage that led to the kitchen quarters, and the other opened directly upon the area. A double row of shelves, well stocked with bottles, occupied the centre of the room and divided it into two halves. Beneath the window stood the Doctor's neat bureau, and to the left of this was a low couch beside the wall. A shaded lamp on the desk was sufficient to light the room for ordinary purposes; but there was a gas burner near the further door, which had to be lit when the Doctor was engaged upon[Pg 155] some very close examination or had to perform a slight operation. Directly underneath33 this burner there stood an arm-chair of ample proportions, and it was here that the Clockwork man had seated himself at the beginning of his orgy.
The Doctor sat upon the couch, with his hands limply hanging between his knees. He was conscious of perspiration34, but made no attempt to wipe his forehead. His heart was knocking hard against his ribs35, and occasionally missing a beat. He noticed this fact also, but it caused him little concern. Now and again he looked swiftly at the Clockwork man and studied his extraordinary method of mastication36, the rapid vibratory movement of the jaws, the apparent absence of any kind of voluntary effort.
Uppermost in the Doctor's mind was the reflection that he of all persons should have been selected by an undiscriminating providence37 to undergo this distressing38 and entirely39 unprecedented40 experience. It was an ironic41 commentary upon his reactionary42 views and his comfortable doctrine43 of common sense. He had been convinced in spite of himself, and the effort to resist conviction had strained his mental powers uncomfortably. He felt very strongly his inability to cope with the many problems that would be sure to arise in[Pg 156] connection with the Clockwork man. It was too much for one man's brain. There would have to be a convocation of all the cleverest men in Europe in order to investigate such an appalling44 revelation. He pictured himself in the act of introducing this genuine being from a future age, and the description he would have to give of all that had happened in connection with him. Even that prospect45 set his brain reeling. He would like to be able to shirk the issue. It was enough to have looked upon this archetype of the future; the problem now was to forget his existence.
But that would be impossible. The Clockwork man was the realisation of the future There was no evading46 that. The future. Man had evolved into this. He had succeeded somehow in adding to his normal powers some kind of mechanism47 that opened up vast possibilities of action in all sorts of dimensions. There must have been an enormous preparatory period before the thing became finally possible, generations of striving and failure and further experiment. But the indefatigable48 spirit of man had triumphed in the end. He had arisen at last superior to Time and Space, and taken his place in the centre of the universe. It was a fulfilment of all the prophecies of the great scientists since the discovery of evolution.
[Pg 157]
Such reflections flitted hazily49 through the Doctor's mind as he strove in vain to find a practical solution of the problem. What was the clock? He knew, from hearsay50, that it was situated51 at the back of this strange being's head. Tom Driver had seen it, and described it in his clumsy fashion. Since that episode the Doctor had visualised something in the nature of an instrument affixed52 to the Clockwork man's head, and perhaps connected with his cerebral53 processes. Was it a kind of super-brain? Had there been found some means of lengthening54 the convolutions of the human brain, so that man's thought travelled further and so enabled him to arrive more swiftly at ultimate conclusions? That seemed suggestive. It must be that in some way the cerebral energy of man had been stored up, as electricity in a battery, and then released by mechanical processes.
At least, that was the vague conclusion that came into the Doctor's mind and stuck there. It was the only theory at all consonant55 with his own knowledge of human anatomy56. All physiological57 action could be traced to the passage of nervous energy from one centre to another, and it was obvious that, in the case of the Clockwork man, such energy was subjected to enormous acceleration58 and probably distributed along specially59 prepared paths. There[Pg 158] was nothing in the science of neuropathy to account for such disturbances60 and reactions. There were neural61 freaks—the Doctor had himself treated some remarkable62 cases of nervous disorder—but the behaviour of the Clockwork man could not be explained by any principle within human knowledge. Not the least puzzling circumstance about him was the fact that now and again his speech and manner made it impossible to accept the supposition or mechanical origin; whilst at other times his antics induced a positive conviction that he was really a sort of highly perfected toy.
Presently the Clockwork man got up and began walking up and down the room, in his slow, flat-footed manner.
"How do you feel now?" ventured the Doctor, arousing himself with an effort.
"Oh, so, so," sighed the other, "only so, so—I can't expect to feel myself, you know." He reached to the end of the room, and jerking himself round, started on the return journey. The Doctor arose slowly and remained standing63. There was barely room for two people to walk up and down.
"Anything might happen," the Clockwork man continued, plaintively64, "I feel as though I might slip again, you know—slip back another thousand years or so." He turned again. "I've got to get worse before I get[Pg 159] better," he sighed, and then stopped to examine the rows of bottles arranged along the shelves.
"Medicines," said the Doctor, without enthusiasm.
"Do they help people to work?"
"H'm, yes—chemical action—tonics. People get run down, and I have to give them something to stimulate66 the system."
"I see," the Clockwork man nodded sagely67. "But they wouldn't be any use to me. What I need is adjustment, regulation." He looked hard at the doctor, with a pathetic expression of enquiry. "My clock—" he began, and stopped abruptly.
They were facing one another now. The doctor swallowed hard several times, and he felt the blood tingling68 in his temples. The dreaded moment had come. He had got to see this strange instrument that distinguished69 the Clockwork man from ordinary mortals. There was no shrinking from the eerie70 experience. Underneath that borrowed hat and wig71 there was something—something utterly72 strange and outside the pale of human ingenuity73. In the name of common humanity it was incumbent74 upon the Doctor to face the shock of this revelation, and yet he shrunk from it like a frightened child. He felt no[Pg 160] trace of curiosity, no feverish75 anxiety to investigate this mystery of the future. His knees trembled violently. He did not want to see the clock. He would have given a hundred pounds to be spared the ordeal76 before him.
Slowly, with his customary stiffness of movement, the Clockwork man raised his arms upwards77 and removed the soft clerical hat. He held it aloft, as though uncertain what to do with it, and the Doctor took it from him with a shaking hand.
Next moment the wig came off, and there was disclosed to the Doctor's gaze a bald cranium.
Then the Clockwork man turned himself slowly round.
The Doctor shot out a hand and gripped the framework of the shelves. As his eyes rested upon the object that now confronted him, he swung slowly round until his body was partly supported by the shelves. His mouth opened wide and remained stretched to its limit.
At first, what he saw looked like another face, only it was round and polished. A second glance made it quite plain that instead of a back to the Clockwork man's head, there was a sort of glass dial, beneath which the doctor dimly made out myriads78 of indicators79, tiny hands that moved round a circle marked[Pg 161] with inconceivably minute divisions. Some of the hands moved slowly, some only just visibly, whilst others spun80 round with such speed that they left only a blurred81 impression of a vibratant rotary82 movement. Besides the hands there were stops, queer-shaped knobs and diminutive83 buttons, each one marked with a small, neat number. Little metal flaps fluttered quickly and irregularly, like the indicators on a telephone switchboard. There was a faint throbbing84 and commotion85, a suggestion of power at high pressure.
Just for a moment the Doctor tried to realise that he was looking upon the supreme86 marvel87 of human ingenuity. He made an effort to stretch his brain once more in order to grasp the significance of this paragon88 of eight thousand years hence. But he did not succeed. The strain of the past hour reached its first climax89. He began to tremble violently. His elbow went back with a sharp jerk and smashed three bottles standing on the shelf behind him. He made little whimpering noises in his throat.
III
"If you open the lid," explained the Clockwork man (and at the sound of that human[Pg 162] voice the doctor jumped violently), "you will see certain stops, marked with numbers."
Obedient, in spite of himself, the Doctor discovered a minute hinge and swung open the glass lid. The palpitating clock, with its stir of noises slightly accentuated91, lay exposed to his touch.
"Stop XI," continued the Clockwork man, in tones of sharp instruction. "Press hard. Then wind Y 4 three times."
Slowly, with a wildly beating heart, the Doctor inserted a trembling finger among the interstices of those multitudinous stops and hands, and as slowly withdrew it again. He could not do this thing. For one thing, his finger was too large. It was a ridiculously clumsy instrument for so fine a purpose. What if he failed? Pressed a knob too hard or set a hand spinning in the wrong direction? The least blunder—
"Be quick," said the Clockwork man, in a squeaky undertone, "something is going to happen."
So it came about that the Doctor's final action was hurried and ill-considered. It seemed to him that he must have committed some kind of assault upon the mechanism. Actually, he succeeded in pressing the knob[Pg 163] marked XI, and the immediate7 result was a sort of muffled93 ringing sound arising from somewhere in the depths of the Clockwork man's organism.
"Registered," exclaimed the latter, triumphantly94. "Now, the hand."
The Doctor found the hand and tried to twist it very slowly and carefully. He had expected the thin piece of metal to resist his touch; but it swung round with a fatal facility—five and a half times!
The Clockwork man suddenly turned round. Immediately afterwards the Doctor became aware of a series of loud popping noises, accompanied by the sound of tearing and rending95. Simultaneously96, some hard object hit him just over the eye, and the walls and ceiling of the little room were struck sharply by something violently expelled. And then he felt himself being pushed gently away by some pressure that was steadily97 insisting upon more space.
It was an effect in startling disproportion to the cause. Or, at least, so it seemed to the Doctor, who was, of course, totally ignorant about the mechanism with which he was experimenting.
"Reverse!" exclaimed the Clockwork man, in thick, suety tones, "reverse."
Already he was several times stouter98 than[Pg 164] his original self. He had burst all his buttons—which accounted for the sudden explosions—and his clothes were split all the way down, back and front. Great pouches99 and three new chins appeared upon his face, and lower down there was visible an enormous stomach.
The Doctor seized hold of the other's collar and turned the huge body round. His hand fumbled100 wildly among the stops.
"Which one?" he gasped, his face livid with fright. "Tell me what to do. In heaven's name, do you expect me to know?"
"Z 5," came the faint rejoinder, "and reverse Y 4—most important—reverse Y 4."
It followed upon this experiment that the Clockwork man presently emitted a faint, quavering protest. He had certainly dwindled101 in bulk. His clothes hung upon him, and there was a distressing feebleness of frame. Slowly it dawned upon the Doctor that the face peering up at him was that of a very old and decrepit102 individual. Painful lines crossed his forehead, and there were rheumy lodgements in the corner of each eye. The change was rapidly progressive.
By this time the Doctor's condition of hysteria had given way to a sort of desperate recklessness. He had somehow to restore the Clockwork man to some semblance21 of passable humanity. He pressed stops and twisted hands[Pg 165] with an entire disregard for the occasional instructions bellowed103 at him by the unfortunate object of his random104 experiments. He felt that the very worst could scarcely surpass what had already taken place. And it was obvious that the Clockwork man had but the haziest105 notions about his own mechanism. Evidently he was intended to be adjusted by some other person. He was not, in that sense, autonomous106.
It was also manifest that the Clockwork man was capable of almost limitless adaptability107. Several of the stops produced only slight changes or the first beginnings of some fundamental alteration of structure. Usually these changes were of a sufficiently108 alarming character to cause the Doctor immediately to check them by further experiments. The Clockwork man seemed to be an epitome109 of everything that had ever existed. After one experiment he developed gills. Another produced frightful110 atavistic snortings. There was one short-lived episode of a tail.
By the end of another five minutes the Doctor had sacrificed all scruple111. His fingers played over that human keyboard with a recklessness that was born of sheer horror of his own actions. He almost fancied that he might suddenly arrive at some kind of mastery of the stunning112 instrument. He alternated[Pg 166] between that delusion113 and trusting blindly to chance. It was indeed by accident that he discovered and pressed hard home a large stop marked simply O.
The next second he found himself contemplating114 what was apparently115 an empty heap of clothes lying upon the floor at his feet.
The Clockwork man had vanished!
"Ah!" screamed the Doctor, dancing round the room, and forgetting even God in his agony. "What have I done? What have I done?"
He knelt down and searched hastily among the clothes. There was a lump moving about very slightly, in the region of the waistcoat, a lump that was strangely soft to the touch. Then he felt the hard surface of the clock. Before he could remove the mass of clothing there broke upon the stillness a strange little cry, to the Doctor curiously116 familiar. It was the wail117 of an infant, long-drawn and pitiful.
When the Doctor found him, he appeared to be about six weeks old, and rapidly growing smaller and smaller.
Only the promptest and most fortuitous action upon the Doctor's part averted118 something inconceivably disastrous119.
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1
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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grunts
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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structural
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| adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的 | |
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alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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flattening
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| n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词 | |
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dwindling
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| adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 ) | |
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rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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canine
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| adj.犬的，犬科的 | |
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semblance
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implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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withers
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| 马肩隆 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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mere
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mannerism
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auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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gorging
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的现在分词 )；作呕 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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underneath
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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mastication
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| n.咀嚼 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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ironic
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| adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的 | |
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reactionary
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| n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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evading
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| 逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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hazily
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| ad. vaguely, not clear | |
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hearsay
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| n.谣传，风闻 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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52
affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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cerebral
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| adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的 | |
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54
lengthening
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长 | |
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consonant
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| n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的 | |
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anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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physiological
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| adj.生理学的，生理学上的 | |
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acceleration
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| n.加速，加速度 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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disturbances
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| n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍 | |
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neural
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| adj.神经的，神经系统的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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sagely
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| adv. 贤能地，贤明地 | |
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tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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indicators
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| （仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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rotary
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| adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的 | |
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diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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paragon
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| n.模范，典型 | |
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climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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accentuated
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| v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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stouter
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| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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pouches
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| n.（放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的）小袋( pouch的名词复数 )；（袋鼠等的）育儿袋；邮袋；（某些动物贮存食物的）颊袋 | |
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fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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haziest
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| 有薄雾的( hazy的最高级 )； 模糊的； 不清楚的； 糊涂的 | |
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autonomous
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| adj.自治的；独立的 | |
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107
adaptability
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| n.适应性 | |
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108
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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109
epitome
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| n.典型，梗概 | |
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110
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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111
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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112
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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113
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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114
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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115
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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116
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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118
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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119
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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