Bartram the lime-burner, a rough, heavy-looking man, begrimed with charcoal2, sat watching his kiln3 at nightfall, while his little son played at building houses with the scattered4 fragments of marble, when, on the hill-side below them, they heard a roar of laughter, not mirthful, but slow, and even solemn, like a wind shaking the boughs5 of the forest.
"Father, what is that?" asked the little boy, leaving his play, and pressing betwixt his father's knees.
"Oh, some drunken man, I suppose," answered the lime-burner; "some merry fellow from the bar-room in the village, who dared not laugh loud enough within doors lest he should blow the roof of the house off. So here he is, shaking his jolly sides at the foot of Graylock."
"But, father," said the child, more sensitive than the obtuse6, aged8" target="_blank">middle-aged7 clown, "he does not laugh like a man that is glad. So the noise frightens me!"
"Don't be a fool, child!" cried his father, gruffly. "You will never make a man, I do believe; there is too much of your mother in you. I have known the rustling9 of a leaf startle you. Hark! Here comes the merry fellow now. You shall see that there is no harm in him."
Bartram and his little son, while they were talking thus, sat watching the same lime-kiln that had been the scene of Ethan Brand's solitary10 and meditative11 life, before he began his search for the Unpardonable Sin. Many years, as we have seen, had now elapsed, since that portentous12 night when the IDEA was first developed. The kiln, however, on the mountain-side, stood unimpaired, and was in nothing changed since he had thrown his dark thoughts into the intense glow of its furnace, and melted them, as it were, into the one thought that took possession of his life. It was a rude, round, tower-like structure about twenty feet high, heavily built of rough stones, and with a hillock of earth heaped about the larger part of its circumference13; so that the blocks and fragments of marble might be drawn14 by cart-loads, and thrown in at the top. There was an opening at the bottom of the tower, like an over-mouth, but large enough to admit a man in a stooping posture15, and provided with a massive iron door. With the smoke and jets of flame issuing from the chinks and crevices16 of this door, which seemed to give admittance into the hill-side, it resembled nothing so much as the private entrance to the infernal regions, which the shepherds of the Delectable17 Mountains were accustomed to show to pilgrims.
There are many such lime-kilns in that tract18 of country, for the purpose of burning the white marble which composes a large part of the substance of the hills. Some of them, built years ago, and long deserted19, with weeds growing in the vacant round of the interior, which is open to the sky, and grass and wild-flowers rooting themselves into the chinks of the stones, look already like relics20 of antiquity21, and may yet be overspread with the lichens22 of centuries to come. Others, where the limeburner still feeds his daily and night-long fire, afford points of interest to the wanderer among the hills, who seats himself on a log of wood or a fragment of marble, to hold a chat with the solitary man. It is a lonesome, and, when the character is inclined to thought, may be an intensely thoughtful occupation; as it proved in the case of Ethan Brand, who had mused23 to such strange purpose, in days gone by, while the fire in this very kiln was burning.
The man who now watched the fire was of a different order, and troubled himself with no thoughts save the very few that were requisite24 to his business. At frequent intervals25, he flung back the clashing weight of the iron door, and, turning his face from the insufferable glare, thrust in huge logs of oak, or stirred the immense brands with a long pole. Within the furnace were seen the curling and riotous26 flames, and the burning marble, almost molten with the intensity27 of heat; while without, the reflection of the fire quivered on the dark intricacy of the surrounding forest, and showed in the foreground a bright and ruddy little picture of the hut, the spring beside its door, the athletic28 and coal-begrimed figure of the lime-burner, and the half-frightened child, shrinking into the protection of his father's shadow. And when, again, the iron door was closed, then reappeared the tender light of the half-full moon, which vainly strove to trace out the indistinct shapes of the neighboring mountains; and, in the upper sky, there was a flitting congregation of clouds, still faintly tinged29 with the rosy30 sunset, though thus far down into the valley the sunshine had vanished long and long ago.
The little boy now crept still closer to his father, as footsteps were heard ascending32 the hill-side, and a human form thrust aside the bushes that clustered beneath the trees.
"Halloo! who is it?" cried the lime-burner, vexed33 at his son's timidity, yet half infected by it. "Come forward, and show yourself, like a man, or I'll fling this chunk34 of marble at your head!"
"You offer me a rough welcome," said a gloomy voice, as the unknown man drew nigh. "Yet I neither claim nor desire a kinder one, even at my own fireside."
To obtain a distincter view, Bartram threw open the iron door of the kiln, whence immediately issued a gush35 of fierce light, that smote36 full upon the stranger's face and figure. To a careless eye there appeared nothing very remarkable37 in his aspect, which was that of a man in a coarse brown, country-made suit of clothes, tall and thin, with the staff and heavy shoes of a wayfarer38. As he advanced, he fixed39 his eyes--which were very bright--intently upon the brightness of the furnace, as if he beheld40, or expected to behold41, some object worthy42 of note within it.
"Good evening, stranger," said the lime-burner; "whence come you, so late in the day?"
"I come from my search," answered the wayfarer; "for, at last, it is finished."
"Drunk!--or crazy!" muttered Bartram to himself. "I shall have trouble with the fellow. The sooner I drive him away, the better."
The little boy, all in a tremble, whispered to his father, and begged him to shut the door of the kiln, so that there might not be so much light; for that there was something in the man's face which he was afraid to look at, yet could not look away from. And, indeed, even the lime-burner's dull and torpid43 sense began to be impressed by an indescribable something in that thin, rugged44, thoughtful visage, with the grizzled hair hanging wildly about it, and those deeply sunken eyes, which gleamed like fires within the entrance of a mysterious cavern45. But, as he closed the door, the stranger turned towards him, and spoke46 in a quiet, familiar way, that made Bartram feel as if he were a sane47 and sensible man, after all.
"Your task draws to an end, I see," said he. "This marble has already been burning three days. A few hours more will convert the stone to lime."
"Why, who are you?" exclaimed the lime-burner. "You seem as well acquainted with my business as I am myself."
"And well I may be," said the stranger; "for I followed the same craft many a long year, and here, too, on this very spot. But you are a newcomer in these parts. Did you never hear of Ethan Brand?"
"The man that went in search of the Unpardonable Sin?" asked Bartram, with a laugh.
"The same," answered the stranger. "He has found what he sought, and therefore he comes back again."
"What! then you are Ethan Brand himself?" cried the lime-burner, in amazement48. "I am a new-comer here, as you say, and they call it eighteen years since you left the foot of Graylock. But, I can tell you, the good folks still talk about Ethan Brand, in the village yonder, and what a strange errand took him away from his lime-kiln. Well, and so you have found the Unpardonable Sin?"
"Even so!" said the stranger, calmly.
"If the question is a fair one," proceeded Bartram, "where might it be?"
Ethan Brand laid his finger on his own heart.
"Here!" replied he.
And then, without mirth in his countenance49, but as if moved by an involuntary recognition of the infinite absurdity50 of seeking throughout the world for what was the closest of all things to himself, and looking into every heart, save his own, for what was hidden in no other breast, he broke into a laugh of scorn. It was the same slow, heavy laugh, that had almost appalled52 the lime-burner when it heralded53 the wayfarer's approach.
The solitary mountain-side was made dismal54 by it. Laughter, when out of place, mistimed, or bursting forth55 from a disordered state of feeling, may be the most terrible modulation56 of the human voice. The laughter of one asleep, even if it be a little child,--the madman's laugh,--the wild, screaming laugh of a born idiot,--are sounds that we sometimes tremble to hear, and would always willingly forget. Poets have imagined no utterance57 of fiends or hobgoblins so fearfully appropriate as a laugh. And even the obtuse lime-burner felt his nerves shaken, as this strange man looked inward at his own heart, and burst into laughter that rolled away into the night, and was indistinctly reverberated58 among the hills.
"Joe," said he to his little son, "scamper59 down to the tavern60 in the village, and tell the jolly fellows there that Ethan Brand has come back, and that he has found the Unpardonable Sin!"
The boy darted61 away on his errand, to which Ethan Brand made no objection, nor seemed hardly to notice it. He sat on a log of wood, looking steadfastly62 at the iron door of the kiln. When the child was out of sight, and his swift and light footsteps ceased to be heard treading first on the fallen leaves and then on the rocky mountain-path, the lime-burner began to regret his departure. He felt that the little fellow's presence had been a barrier between his guest and himself, and that he must now deal, heart to heart, with a man who, on his own confession63, had committed the one only crime for which Heaven could afford no mercy. That crime, in its indistinct blackness, seemed to overshadow him, and made his memory riotous with a throng64 of evil shapes that asserted their kindred with the Master Sin, whatever it might be, which it was within the scope of man's corrupted65 nature to conceive and cherish. They were all of one family; they went to and fro between his breast and Ethan Brand's, and carried dark greetings from one to the other.
Then Bartram remembered the stories which had grown traditionary in reference to this strange man, who had come upon him like a shadow of the night, and was making himself at home in his old place, after so long absence, that the dead people, dead and buried for years, would have had more right to be at home, in any familiar spot, than he. Ethan Brand, it was said, had conversed66 with Satan himself in the lurid67 blaze of this very kiln. The legend had been matter of mirth heretofore, but looked grisly now. According to this tale, before Ethan Brand departed on his search, he had been accustomed to evoke68 a fiend from the hot furnace of the lime-kiln, night after night, in order to confer with him about the Unpardonable Sin; the man and the fiend each laboring70 to frame the image of some mode of guilt71 which could neither be atoned72 for nor forgiven. And, with the first gleam of light upon the mountain-top, the fiend crept in at the iron door, there to abide73 the intensest element of fire until again summoned forth to share in the dreadful task of extending man's possible guilt beyond the scope of Heaven's else infinite mercy.
While the lime-burner was struggling with the horror of these thoughts, Ethan Brand rose from the log, and flung open the door of the kiln. The action was in such accordance with the idea in Bartram's mind, that he almost expected to see the Evil One issue forth, red-hot, from the raging furnace.
"Hold! hold!" cried he, with a tremulous attempt to laugh; for he was ashamed of his fears, although they overmastered him. "Don't, for mercy's sake, bring out your Devil now!"
"Man!" sternly replied Ethan Brand, "what need have I of the Devil? I have left him behind me, on my track. It is with such half-way sinners as you that he busies himself. Fear not, because I open the door. I do but act by old custom, and am going to trim your fire, like a lime-burner, as I was once."
He stirred the vast coals, thrust in more wood, and bent74 forward to gaze into the hollow prison-house of the fire, regardless of the fierce glow that reddened upon his face. The lime-burner sat watching him, and half suspected this strange guest of a purpose, if not to evoke a fiend, at least to plunge75 into the flames, and thus vanish from the sight of man. Ethan Brand, however, drew quietly back, and closed the door of the kiln.
"I have looked," said he, "into many a human heart that was seven times hotter with sinful passions than yonder furnace is with fire. But I found not there what I sought. No, not the Unpardonable Sin!"
"What is the Unpardonable Sin?" asked the lime-burner; and then he shrank farther from his companion, trembling lest his question should be answered.
"It is a sin that grew within my own breast," replied Ethan Brand, standing76 erect77 with a pride that distinguishes all enthusiasts78 of his stamp. "A sin that grew nowhere else! The sin of an intellect that triumphed over the sense of brotherhood79 with man and reverence80 for God, and sacrificed everything to its own mighty81 claims! The only sin that deserves a recompense of immortal82 agony! Freely, were it to do again, would I incur83 the guilt. Unshrinkingly I accept the retribution!"
"The man's head is turned," muttered the lime-burner to himself. "He may be a sinner like the rest of us,--nothing more likely,--but, I'll be sworn, he is a madman too."
Nevertheless, he felt uncomfortable at his situation, alone with Ethan Brand on the wild mountain-side, and was right glad to hear the rough murmur84 of tongues, and the footsteps of what seemed a pretty numerous party, stumbling over the stones and rustling through the underbrush. Soon appeared the whole lazy regiment85 that was wont86 to infest87 the village tavern, comprehending three or four individuals who had drunk flip88 beside the bar-room fire through all the winters, and smoked their pipes beneath the stoop through all the summers, since Ethan Brand's departure. Laughing boisterously89, and mingling90 all their voices together in unceremonious talk, they now burst into the moonshine and narrow streaks91 of firelight that illuminated92 the open space before the lime-kiln. Bartram set the door ajar again, flooding the spot with light, that the whole company might get a fair view of Ethan Brand, and he of them.
There, among other old acquaintances, was a once ubiquitous man, now almost extinct, but whom we were formerly93 sure to encounter at the hotel of every thriving village throughout the country. It was the stage-agent. The present specimen94 of the genus was a wilted95 and smoke-dried man, wrinkled and red-nosed, in a smartly cut, brown, bobtailed coat, with brass96 buttons, who, for a length of time unknown, had kept his desk and corner in the bar-room, and was still puffing97 what seemed to be the same cigar that he had lighted twenty years before. He had great fame as a dry joker, though, perhaps, less on account of any intrinsic humor than from a certain flavor of brandy-toddy and tobacco-smoke, which impregnated all his ideas and expressions, as well as his person. Another well-remembered, though strangely altered, face was that of Lawyer Giles, as people still called him in courtesy; an elderly ragamuffin, in his soiled shirtsleeves and tow-cloth trousers. This poor fellow had been an attorney, in what he called his better days, a sharp practitioner98, and in great vogue99 among the village litigants100; but flip, and sling101, and toddy, and cocktails102, imbibed103 at all hours, morning, noon, and night, had caused him to slide from intellectual to various kinds and degrees of bodily labor69, till at last, to adopt his own phrase, he slid into a soap-vat. In other words, Giles was now a soap-boiler, in a small way. He had come to be but the fragment of a human being, a part of one foot having been chopped off by an axe104, and an entire hand torn away by the devilish grip of a steam-engine. Yet, though the corporeal105 hand was gone, a spiritual member remained; for, stretching forth the stump106, Giles steadfastly averred107 that he felt an invisible thumb and fingers with as vivid a sensation as before the real ones were amputated. A maimed and miserable108 wretch109 he was; but one, nevertheless, whom the world could not trample110 on, and had no right to scorn, either in this or any previous stage of his misfortunes, since he had still kept up the courage and spirit of a man, asked nothing in charity, and with his one hand--and that the left one--fought a stern battle against want and hostile circumstances.
Among the throng, too, came another personage, who, with certain points of similarity to Lawyer Giles, had many more of difference. It was the village doctor; a man of some fifty years, whom, at an earlier period of his life, we introduced as paying a professional visit to Ethan Brand during the latter's supposed insanity111. He was now a purple-visaged, rude, and brutal112, yet half-gentlemanly figure, with something wild, ruined, and desperate in his talk, and in all the details of his gesture and manners. Brandy possessed113 this man like an evil spirit, and made him as surly and savage114 as a wild beast, and as miserable as a lost soul; but there was supposed to be in him such wonderful skill, such native gifts of healing, beyond any which medical science could impart, that society caught hold of him, and would not let him sink out of its reach. So, swaying to and fro upon his horse, and grumbling115 thick accents at the bedside, he visited all the sick-chambers116 for miles about among the mountain towns, and sometimes raised a dying man, as it were, by miracle, or quite as often, no doubt, sent his patient to a grave that was dug many a year too soon. The doctor had an everlasting117 pipe in his mouth, and, as somebody said, in allusion118 to his habit of swearing, it was always alight with hell-fire.
These three worthies119 pressed forward, and greeted Ethan Brand each after his own fashion, earnestly inviting120 him to partake of the contents of a certain black bottle, in which, as they averred, he would find something far better worth seeking than the Unpardonable Sin. No mind, which has wrought121 itself by intense and solitary meditation122 into a high state of enthusiasm, can endure the kind of contact with low and vulgar modes of thought and feeling to which Ethan Brand was now subjected. It made him doubt--and, strange to say, it was a painful doubt--whether he had indeed found the Unpardonable Sin, and found it within himself. The whole question on which he had exhausted123 life, and more than life, looked like a delusion124.
"Leave me," he said bitterly, "ye brute125 beasts, that have made yourselves so, shrivelling up your souls with fiery126 liquors! I have done with you. Years and years ago, I groped into your hearts and found nothing there for my purpose. Get ye gone!"
"Why, you uncivil scoundrel," cried the fierce doctor, "is that the way you respond to the kindness of your best friends? Then let me tell you the truth. You have no more found the Unpardonable Sin than yonder boy Joe has. You are but a crazy fellow,--I told you so twenty years ago,-neither better nor worse than a crazy fellow, and the fit companion of old Humphrey, here!"
He pointed127 to an old man, shabbily dressed, with long white hair, thin visage, and unsteady eyes. For some years past this aged person had been wandering about among the hills, inquiring of all travellers whom he met for his daughter. The girl, it seemed, had gone off with a company of circus-performers, and occasionally tidings of her came to the village, and fine stories were told of her glittering appearance as she rode on horseback in the ring, or performed marvellous feats128 on the tight-rope.
The white-haired father now approached Ethan Brand, and gazed unsteadily into his face.
"They tell me you have been all over the earth," said he, wringing129 his hands with earnestness. "You must have seen my daughter, for she makes a grand figure in the world, and everybody goes to see her. Did she send any word to her old father, or say when she was coming back?"
Ethan Brand's eye quailed130 beneath the old man's. That daughter, from whom he so earnestly desired a word of greeting, was the Esther of our tale, the very girl whom, with such cold and remorseless purpose, Ethan Brand had made the subject of a psychological experiment, and wasted, absorbed, and perhaps annihilated131 her soul, in the process.
"Yes," he murmured, turning away from the hoary132 wanderer, "it is no delusion. There is an Unpardonable Sin!"
While these things were passing, a merry scene was going forward in the area of cheerful light, beside the spring and before the door of the hut. A number of the youth of the village, young men and girls, had hurried up the hill-side, impelled133 by curiosity to see Ethan Brand, the hero of so many a legend familiar to their childhood. Finding nothing, however, very remarkable in his aspect,--nothing but a sunburnt wayfarer, in plain garb134 and dusty shoes, who sat looking into the fire as if he fancied pictures among the coals,--these young people speedily grew tired of observing him. As it happened, there was other amusement at hand. An old German Jew travelling with a diorama on his back, was passing down the mountain-road towards the village just as the party turned aside from it, and, in hopes of eking51 out the profits of the day, the showman had kept them company to the lime-kiln.
"Come, old Dutchman," cried one of the young men, "let us see your pictures, if you can swear they are worth looking at!"
"Oh yes, Captain," answered the Jew,--whether as a matter of courtesy or craft, he styled everybody Captain,--"I shall show you, indeed, some very superb pictures!"
So, placing his box in a proper position, he invited the young men and girls to look through the glass orifices of the machine, and proceeded to exhibit a series of the most outrageous135 scratchings and daubings, as specimens136 of the fine arts, that ever an itinerant137 showman had the face to impose upon his circle of spectators. The pictures were worn out, moreover, tattered138, full of cracks and wrinkles, dingy139 with tobacco-smoke, and otherwise in a most pitiable condition. Some purported140 to be cities, public edifices141, and ruined castles in Europe; others represented Napoleon's battles and Nelson's sea-fights; and in the midst of these would be seen a gigantic, brown, hairy hand,--which might have been mistaken for the Hand of Destiny, though, in truth, it was only the showman's,--pointing its forefinger142 to various scenes of the conflict, while its owner gave historical illustrations. When, with much merriment at its abominable143 deficiency of merit, the exhibition was concluded, the German bade little Joe put his head into the box. Viewed through the magnifying-glasses, the boy's round, rosy visage assumed the strangest imaginable aspect of an immense Titanic144 child, the mouth grinning broadly, and the eyes and every other feature overflowing145 with fun at the joke. Suddenly, however, that merry face turned pale, and its expression changed to horror, for this easily impressed and excitable child had become sensible that the eye of Ethan Brand was fixed upon him through the glass.
"You make the little man to be afraid, Captain," said the German Jew, turning up the dark and strong outline of his visage from his stooping posture. "But look again, and, by chance, I shall cause you to see somewhat that is very fine, upon my word!"
Ethan Brand gazed into the box for an instant, and then starting back, looked fixedly146 at the German. What had he seen? Nothing, apparently147; for a curious youth, who had peeped in almost at the same moment, beheld only a vacant space of canvas.
"I remember you now," muttered Ethan Brand to the showman.
"Ah, Captain," whispered the Jew of Nuremberg, with a dark smile, "I find it to be a heavy matter in my show-box,--this Unpardonable Sin! By my faith, Captain, it has wearied my shoulders, this long day, to carry it over the mountain."
"Peace," answered Ethan Brand, sternly, "or get thee into the furnace yonder!"
The Jew's exhibition had scarcely concluded, when a great, elderly dog--who seemed to be his own master, as no person in the company laid claim to him--saw fit to render himself the object of public notice. Hitherto, he had shown himself a very quiet, well-disposed old dog, going round from one to another, and, by way of being sociable148, offering his rough head to be patted by any kindly149 hand that would take so much trouble. But now, all of a sudden, this grave and venerable quadruped, of his own mere150 motion, and without the slightest suggestion from anybody else, began to run round after his tail, which, to heighten the absurdity of the proceeding151, was a great deal shorter than it should have been. Never was seen such headlong eagerness in pursuit of an object that could not possibly be attained152; never was heard such a tremendous outbreak of growling153, snarling154, barking, and snapping,--as if one end of the ridiculous brute's body were at deadly and most unforgivable enmity with the other. Faster and faster, round about went the cur; and faster and still faster fled the unapproachable brevity of his tail; and louder and fiercer grew his yells of rage and animosity; until, utterly155 exhausted, and as far from the goal as ever, the foolish old dog ceased his performance as suddenly as he had begun it. The next moment he was as mild, quiet, sensible, and respectable in his deportment, as when he first scraped acquaintance with the company.
As may be supposed, the exhibition was greeted with universal laughter, clapping of hands, and shouts of encore, to which the canine156 performer responded by wagging all that there was to wag of his tail, but appeared totally unable to repeat his very successful effort to amuse the spectators.
Meanwhile, Ethan Brand had resumed his seat upon the log, and moved, as it might be, by a perception of some remote analogy between his own case and that of this self-pursuing cur, he broke into the awful laugh, which, more than any other token, expressed the condition of his inward being. From that moment, the merriment of the party was at an end; they stood aghast, dreading157 lest the inauspicious sound should be reverberated around the horizon, and that mountain would thunder it to mountain, and so the horror be prolonged upon their ears. Then, whispering one to another that it was late,--that the moon was almost down,-that the August night was growing chill,--they hurried homewards, leaving the lime-burner and little Joe to deal as they might with their unwelcome guest. Save for these three human beings, the open space on the hill-side was a solitude158, set in a vast gloom of forest. Beyond that darksome verge159, the firelight glimmered160 on the stately trunks and almost black foliage161 of pines, intermixed with the lighter162 verdure of sapling oaks, maples163, and poplars, while here and there lay the gigantic corpses164 of dead trees, decaying on the leaf-strewn soil. And it seemed to little Joe--a timorous165 and imaginative child--that the silent forest was holding its breath until some fearful thing should happen.
Ethan Brand thrust more wood into the fire, and closed the door of the kiln; then looking over his shoulder at the lime-burner and his son, he bade, rather than advised, them to retire to rest.
"For myself, I cannot sleep," said he. "I have matters that it concerns me to meditate166 upon. I will watch the fire, as I used to do in the old time."
"And call the Devil out of the furnace to keep you company, I suppose," muttered Bartram, who had been making intimate acquaintance with the black bottle above mentioned. "But watch, if you like, and call as many devils as you like! For my part, I shall be all the better for a snooze. Come, Joe!"
As the boy followed his father into the hut, he looked back at the wayfarer, and the tears came into his eyes, for his tender spirit had an intuition of the bleak167 and terrible loneliness in which this man had enveloped168 himself.
When they had gone, Ethan Brand sat listening to the crackling of the kindled169 wood, and looking at the little spirts of fire that issued through the chinks of the door. These trifles, however, once so familiar, had but the slightest hold of his attention, while deep within his mind he was reviewing the gradual but marvellous change that had been wrought upon him by the search to which he had devoted170 himself. He remembered how the night dew had fallen upon him,--how the dark forest had whispered to him,--how the stars had gleamed upon him,--a simple and loving man, watching his fire in the years gone by, and ever musing171 as it burned. He remembered with what tenderness, with what love and sympathy for mankind and what pity for human guilt and woe172, he had first begun to contemplate173 those ideas which afterwards became the inspiration of his life; with what reverence he had then looked into the heart of man, viewing it as a temple originally divine, and, however desecrated174, still to be held sacred by a brother; with what awful fear he had deprecated the success of his pursuit, and prayed that the Unpardonable Sin might never be revealed to him. Then ensued that vast intellectual development, which, in its progress, disturbed the counterpoise between his mind and heart. The Idea that possessed his life had operated as a means of education; it had gone on cultivating his powers to the highest point of which they were susceptible175; it had raised him from the level of an unlettered laborer176 to stand on a star-lit eminence177, whither the philosophers of the earth, laden178 with the lore179 of universities, might vainly strive to clamber after him. So much for the intellect! But where was the heart? That, indeed, had withered,--had contracted,--had hardened,--had perished! It had ceased to partake of the universal throb180. He had lost his hold of the magnetic chain of humanity. He was no longer a brother-man, opening the chambers or the dungeons181 of our common nature by the key of holy sympathy, which gave him a right to share in all its secrets; he was now a cold observer, looking on mankind as the subject of his experiment, and, at length, converting man and woman to be his puppets, and pulling the wires that moved them to such degrees of crime as were demanded for his study.
Thus Ethan Brand became a fiend. He began to be so from the moment that his moral nature had ceased to keep the pace of improvement with his intellect. And now, as his highest effort and inevitable182 development,--as the bright and gorgeous flower, and rich, delicious fruit of his life's labor,--he had produced the Unpardonable Sin!
"What more have I to seek? what more to achieve?" said Ethan Brand to himself. "My task is done, and well done!"
Starting from the log with a certain alacrity183 in his gait and ascending the hillock of earth that was raised against the stone circumference of the lime-kiln, he thus reached the top of the structure. It was a space of perhaps ten feet across, from edge to edge, presenting a view of the upper surface of the immense mass of broken marble with which the kiln was heaped. All these innumerable blocks and fragments of marble were redhot and vividly184 on fire, sending up great spouts185 of blue flame, which quivered aloft and danced madly, as within a magic circle, and sank and rose again, with continual and multitudinous activity. As the lonely man bent forward over this terrible body of fire, the blasting heat smote up against his person with a breath that, it might be supposed, would have scorched186 and shrivelled him up in a moment.
Ethan Brand stood erect, and raised his arms on high. The blue flames played upon his face, and imparted the wild and ghastly light which alone could have suited its expression; it was that of a fiend on the verge of plunging187 into his gulf188 of intensest torment189.
"O Mother Earth," cried he, "who art no more my Mother, and into whose bosom190 this frame shall never be resolved! O mankind, whose brotherhood I have cast off, and trampled191 thy great heart beneath my feet! O stars of heaven, that shone on me of old, as if to light me onward192 and upward!--farewell all, and forever. Come, deadly element of Fire,-henceforth my familiar friend! Embrace me, as I do thee!"
That night the sound of a fearful peal193 of laughter rolled heavily through the sleep of the lime-burner and his little son; dim shapes of horror and anguish194 haunted their dreams, and seemed still present in the rude hovel, when they opened their eyes to the daylight.
"Up, boy, up!" cried the lime-burner, staring about him. "Thank Heaven, the night is gone, at last; and rather than pass such another, I would watch my lime-kiln, wide awake, for a twelvemonth. This Ethan Brand, with his humbug195 of an Unpardonable Sin, has done me no such mighty favor, in taking my place!"
He issued from the hut, followed by little Joe, who kept fast hold of his father's hand. The early sunshine was already pouring its gold upon the mountain-tops, and though the valleys were still in shadow, they smiled cheerfully in the promise of the bright day that was hastening onward. The village, completely shut in by hills, which swelled196 away gently about it, looked as if it had rested peacefully in the hollow of the great hand of Providence197. Every dwelling198 was distinctly visible; the little spires199 of the two churches pointed upwards200, and caught a fore-glimmering of brightness from the sun-gilt skies upon their gilded201 weather-cocks. The tavern was astir, and the figure of the old, smoke-dried stage-agent, cigar in mouth, was seen beneath the stoop. Old Graylock was glorified202 with a golden cloud upon his head. Scattered likewise over the breasts of the surrounding mountains, there were heaps of hoary mist, in fantastic shapes, some of them far down into the valley, others high up towards the summits, and still others, of the same family of mist or cloud, hovering203 in the gold radiance of the upper atmosphere. Stepping from one to another of the clouds that rested on the hills, and thence to the loftier brotherhood that sailed in air, it seemed almost as if a mortal man might thus ascend31 into the heavenly regions. Earth was so mingled204 with sky that it was a day-dream to look at it.
To supply that charm of the familiar and homely205, which Nature so readily adopts into a scene like this, the stage-coach was rattling206 down the mountain-road, and the driver sounded his horn, while Echo caught up the notes, and intertwined them into a rich and varied207 and elaborate harmony, of which the original performer could lay claim to little share. The great hills played a concert among themselves, each contributing a strain of airy sweetness.
Little Joe's face brightened at once.
"Dear father," cried he, skipping cheerily to and fro, "that strange man is gone, and the sky and the mountains all seem glad of it!"
"Yes," growled208 the lime-burner, with an oath, "but he has let the fire go down, and no thanks to him if five hundred bushels of lime are not spoiled. If I catch the fellow hereabouts again, I shall feel like tossing him into the furnace!"
With his long pole in his hand, he ascended209 to the top of the kiln. After a moment's pause, he called to his son.
"Come up here, Joe!" said he.
So little Joe ran up the hillock, and stood by his father's side. The marble was all burnt into perfect, snow-white lime. But on its surface, in the midst of the circle,--snow-white too, and thoroughly210 converted into lime,--lay a human skeleton, in the attitude of a person who, after long toil211, lies down to long repose212. Within the ribs--strange to say--was the shape of a human heart.
"Was the fellow's heart made of marble?" cried Bartram, in some perplexity at this phenomenon. "At any rate, it is burnt into what looks like special good lime; and, taking all the bones together, my kiln is half a bushel the richer for him."
So saying, the rude lime-burner lifted his pole, and, letting it fall upon the skeleton, the relics of Ethan Brand were crumbled213 into fragments.
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1
abortive
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| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
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2
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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3
kiln
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| n.（砖、石灰等）窑，炉；v.烧窑 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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6
obtuse
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| adj.钝的；愚钝的 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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10
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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12
portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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13
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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14
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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15
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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16
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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17
delectable
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| adj.使人愉快的；美味的 | |
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18
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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19
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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20
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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21
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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22
lichens
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| n.地衣( lichen的名词复数 ) | |
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23
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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24
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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25
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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26
riotous
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| adj.骚乱的；狂欢的 | |
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27
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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28
athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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29
tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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31
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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32
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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33
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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34
chunk
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| n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量） | |
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35
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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36
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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37
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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38
wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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39
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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40
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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41
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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42
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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43
torpid
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| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
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44
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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45
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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46
spoke
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| 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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47
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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48
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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49
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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50
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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51
eking
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| v.（靠节省用量）使…的供应持久( eke的现在分词 )；节约使用；竭力维持生计；勉强度日 | |
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52
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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53
heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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54
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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55
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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56
modulation
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| n.调制 | |
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57
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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58
reverberated
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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59
scamper
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| v.奔跑，快跑 | |
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60
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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61
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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62
steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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63
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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64
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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65
corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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66
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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67
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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68
evoke
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| vt.唤起，引起，使人想起 | |
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69
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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70
laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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71
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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72
atoned
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| v.补偿，赎（罪）( atone的过去式和过去分词 )；补偿，弥补，赎回 | |
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73
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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74
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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75
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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76
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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77
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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78
enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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79
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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80
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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81
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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82
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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83
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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84
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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85
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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86
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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87
infest
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| v.大批出没于；侵扰；寄生于 | |
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88
flip
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| vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的 | |
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89
boisterously
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| adv.喧闹地，吵闹地 | |
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90
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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91
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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92
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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93
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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94
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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95
wilted
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| （使）凋谢，枯萎( wilt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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97
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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99
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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100
litigants
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| n.诉讼当事人( litigant的名词复数 ) | |
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101
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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102
cocktails
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| n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物 | |
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103
imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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104
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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105
corporeal
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| adj.肉体的，身体的；物质的 | |
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106
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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107
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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108
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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109
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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110
trample
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| vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯 | |
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111
insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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112
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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113
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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114
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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115
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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116
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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117
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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118
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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119
worthies
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| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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120
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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121
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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122
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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123
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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124
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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125
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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126
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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127
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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128
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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129
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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130
quailed
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| 害怕，发抖，畏缩( quail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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132
hoary
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| adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的 | |
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133
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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134
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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135
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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136
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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137
itinerant
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| adj.巡回的；流动的 | |
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138
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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139
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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140
purported
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| adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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142
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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143
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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144
titanic
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| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
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145
overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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146
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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147
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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148
sociable
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| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
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149
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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150
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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151
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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152
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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153
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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154
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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155
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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156
canine
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| adj.犬的，犬科的 | |
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157
dreading
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| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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158
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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159
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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160
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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161
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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162
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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163
maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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164
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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165
timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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166
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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167
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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168
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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170
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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171
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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172
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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173
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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174
desecrated
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| 毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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175
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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176
laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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177
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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178
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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179
lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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180
throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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181
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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182
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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183
alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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184
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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185
spouts
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| n.管口( spout的名词复数 )；（喷出的）水柱；（容器的）嘴；在困难中v.（指液体）喷出( spout的第三人称单数 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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186
scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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187
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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188
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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189
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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190
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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191
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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192
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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193
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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194
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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195
humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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196
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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197
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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198
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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199
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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200
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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201
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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202
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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203
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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204
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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205
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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206
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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207
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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208
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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209
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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210
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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211
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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212
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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213
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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