Back Inhabitants all up and down the Line soon begin taking the Frenchman's Duck to their Bosoms1, for being exactly what they wish to visit their lives at this Moment,— something possess'd of extra-natural Powers,— Invisibility, inexhaustible Strength, an upper Velocity2 Range that makes her the match, in Momentum3, of much larger opponents,— Americans desiring generally, that ev'ry fight be fair. Soon Tales of Duck Exploits are everywhere the Line may pass. The Duck routs5 a great army of Indians. The Duck levels a Mountain west of here. In a single after?noon the Duck, with her Beak6, has plow'd ev'ry Field in the County, at the same time harrowing with her Tail. That Duck!
As to the Duck's actual Presence, Opinions among the Party continue to vary. Axmen, for whom tales of disaster, stupidity, and blind luck fig4?ure repeatably as occasions for merriment, take to shouting at their Com?panions, "There she goes!" or, "Nearly fetch'd ye one!" whilst those more susceptible7 to the shifts of Breeze between the Worlds, notably8 at Twilight9, claim to've seen the actual Duck, shimmering10 into Visibility, for a few moments, then out again.
"I might've tried to draw a bead11 onto it,...but it knew I was there. It came walking over and look'd me thump12 in the eye. I was down flat, we were at the same level, see. 'Where am I?' it wants to know. 'Pennsylva?nia or Maryland, take your pick,' says I. It had this kind of Expression onto its Face, and seem'd jumpy. I tried to calm it down. It gave that Hum, and grew vaporous, and disappear'd.”
Mason and Dixon attempt to ignore as much of this as they may, both assuming 'tis only another episode of group Folly13, to which this Project seems particularly given, and that 'twill pass all too soon, to be replaced by another, and so on, till perhaps, one day, by something truly dangerous.
"They'll believe what they like," groans14 Mason, "in this Age, with its Faith in a Mechanickal Ingenuity15, whose ways will be forever dark to them. God help this Mobility17. They have to take all Projectors18 upon Trust,— half of whom have nothing to sell, who know nonetheless of this irrational19 need to believe in automatons20, believe that they can sing and dance and play Chess,— even at the end of the Turn, when the latch21 is press'd and the Midget reveal'd, and the indomitable Hands fall still. Even as Monsieur Vaucanson furls back the last Silk Vestment,— no matter. The Axmen have a need for artificial Life as perverse22 as any among the Parisian Haute Monde, and this French toy, conveniently invisible, seems to—
"Look out!" Dixon cries. Mason's Hat leaves his head and ascends23 straight up to the Tree-tops, where it pauses, catching24 the rays of the Sun, just gone behind tomorrow's Ridge-top. Faint Quacking25 is heard above.
"Very well," Mason calls, " 'Toy' may've been insensitive. I apologize. 'Device'?"
Armand comes running out. " Tis being playful, nothing more. Ah, Chér-i-e," he sings into the Sky. "I'll guarantee their Behavior,— only please return the Gentleman's Hat, Merci..." as the Hat comes down Leaf-wise, zigging one way, zagging another, whilst Mason runs back and forth26 anxiously beneath.
"You'll guarantee what?" Dixon wants to know.
"Whilst advanc'd in some areas, such as Flight and Invisibility," Armand explains, "yet in others does the Duck remain primitive27, fore16?most in her readiness to take offense28. You must have notic'd,— she has no shame, any pretext29 at all will do. As her Metaphysickal Powers increase, so do her worldly Resentments30, real and imagin'd, the shape of her Destiny pull'd Earthward and rising Heavenward at the same time,— meanwhile gaining an order of Magnitude, in passing from the personal to the Continental31. If not the Planetary." Perhaps fortunately, no one present has any idea what he is talking about.
"I should have puzzl'd more," Mason now admits, "that Dr. Vaucan-son was listed among those sent copies of Monsieur Delisle's Mappe-monde for the Transit32 of Venus, showing us the preferr'd locations for observing the Event,— arriv'd at the Royal Society in the care of Father Boscovich, years late, owing to the state of the Rivalry,— I assum'd as ev'ryone did, that the great Automateur, having an interest in the Celes?tial Escapement above, and the date of the Event being sure as Clock?work, had early announc'd his intention to observe the impending33 Alignment,— or even more simply, that he enjoy'd Esteem34 at the Academic. But between the Invention of the Duck, and the observation of the Transit, there lies yet a logickal Chasm35, as a temporal one, thirty years or more in Width, with no Bridge of Syllogism36 for Reason to cross, condemn'd rather to roam upstream and down, in search of a way, her Journey delay'd indefinitely upon the nearer side,—
"The side of the Duck," Armand reminds him.
"Very well,— could it be, that in the Years since the Duck vanish'd, and despite the constant presence of the Duplicate the World knows, Monsieur Vaucanson, in his perusals of the Sky, has come to seek there wonders more than merely Astronomickal? For, having no idea of where or how far his Creature's 'Morphosis may've taken it, where look for Word of its Condition with more hope of success than among the incorruptibly divided Rings of Heaven?"
"Hold, hold," Dixon with exaggerated gentleness, "Mason, he... believes his Duck to've become a Planet, 's what tha're saying?"
"Why are you all edging away from me like that?" Mason's voice pitch'd distraughtly. "For a few moments among the Centuries, we are allow'd to observe her own 'Morphosis, from Luminary37 to Solid Spheroid...! don't know about you, but if I had a Duck disappear from me that way, I should certainly be attending closely the Categories of rapid Change, such as the Transit afforded, for evidence of the Creature's Passage." Even without the face full of discomfort38 Mason displays, Dixon would have understood this as yet another gowkish expression of grieving for his Wife.
"Someone's wrecking39 the Squash, I think," Armand backing into the Cook-tent, colliding with young Hickman emerging with a stack of Pots and Pans headed for the Scullery, which all promptly40 go scattering41 in ev'ry direction, more than once passing but inches from people's Heads.
"Nothing personal," both, nearly in unison42, assure Mason.
Such is the Duck's Influence in the Camp, that several Axmen approach the Revd upon the Topick of Angels in general. "For instance," carols young Nathe McClean, lately dazy for a Milkmaid of the Vicinity, "tho' we know the Duck has been transform'd by Love, what of the Angels,— that is, may they.. .um..."
"Aye, they do that, Lad, and they drink and smoke, and dance and gamble withal. Thought ev'ryone knew that. Some might even define an Angel as a Being who's powerful enough not to be destroy'd by Desire in all its true and terrible Dimensions. Why,— a drop of their Porter? 'twould kill the hardiest43 drinker among ye,— they smoke Substances whose most distant Scent44 would asphyxiate45 us,— their Dancing-floors extend for Leagues, their Wagering46, upon even a single trivial matter, would beggar Clive of India. And who's to say that Human sin, down here, may not arise from this very inadequacy47 of ours, this failure of Scale, before the sovereign commands of Desire,—
"Sin as practis'd is not deep enough for you, Sir?" inquires Dixon.
"Why is it that we honor the Great Thieves of Whitehall, for Acts that in Whitechapel would merit hanging? Why admire the one sort of Thief, and despise the other? I suggest, 'tis because of the Scale of the Crime.— What we of the Mobility love to watch, is any of the Great Motrices, Greed, Lust48, Revenge, taken out of all measure, brought quite past the scale of the ev'ryday world, approaching what we always knew were the true Dimensions of Desire. Let Antony lose the world for Cleopatra, to be sure,— not Dick his Day's Wages, at the Tavern49."
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1
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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fig
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| n.无花果(树) | |
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routs
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| n.打垮，赶跑( rout的名词复数 )；（体育）打败对方v.打垮，赶跑( rout的第三人称单数 )；（体育）打败对方 | |
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beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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bead
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| n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠 | |
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thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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mobility
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| n.可动性，变动性，情感不定 | |
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projectors
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| 电影放映机，幻灯机( projector的名词复数 ) | |
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irrational
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| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
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automatons
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| n.自动机，机器人( automaton的名词复数 ) | |
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latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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ascends
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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quacking
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| v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的现在分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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resentments
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| （因受虐待而）愤恨，不满，怨恨( resentment的名词复数 ) | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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syllogism
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| n.演绎法，三段论法 | |
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luminary
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| n.名人，天体 | |
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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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wrecking
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| 破坏 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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41
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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hardiest
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| 能吃苦耐劳的，坚强的( hardy的最高级 )； （植物等）耐寒的 | |
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44
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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45
asphyxiate
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| v.无法呼吸，窒息而死 | |
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46
wagering
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| v.在（某物）上赌钱，打赌( wager的现在分词 )；保证，担保 | |
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47
inadequacy
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| n.无法胜任，信心不足 | |
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48
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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49
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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