IT was early noon, and the forum was crowded alike with the busy and the idle. As at Paris at this day, so at that time in the cities of Italy, men lived almost wholly out of doors: the public buildings, the forum, the porticoes4, the baths, the temples themselves, might be considered their real homes; it was no wonder that they decorated so gorgeously these favorite places of resort—they felt for them a sort of domestic affection as well as a public pride. And animated6 was, indeed, the aspect of the forum of Pompeii at that time! Along its broad pavement, composed of large flags of marble, were assembled various groups, conversing7 in that energetic fashion which appropriates a gesture to every word, and which is still the characteristic of the people of the south. Here, in seven stalls on one side the colonnade8, sat the money-changers, with their glittering heaps before them, and merchants and seamen9 in various costumes crowding round their stalls. On one side, several men in long togas were seen bustling10 rapidly up to a stately edifice11, where the magistrates12 administered justice—these were the lawyers, active, chattering13, joking, and punning, as you may find them at this day in Westminster. In the centre of the space, pedestals supported various statues, of which the most remarkable14 was the stately form of Cicero. Around the court ran a regular and symmetrical colonnade of Doric architecture; and there several, whose business drew them early to the place, were taking the slight morning repast which made an Italian breakfast, talking vehemently15 on the earthquake of the preceding night as they dipped pieces of bread in their cups of diluted16 wine. In the open space, too, you might perceive various petty traders exercising the arts of their calling. Here one man was holding out ribands to a fair dame17 from the country; another man was vaunting to a stout18 farmer the excellence19 of his shoes; a third, a kind of stall-restaurateur, still so common in the Italian cities, was supplying many a hungry mouth with hot messes from his small and itinerant20 stove, while—contrast strongly typical of the mingled21 bustle22 and intellect of the time—close by, a schoolmaster was expounding23 to his puzzled pupils the elements of the Latin grammar.' A gallery above the portico5, which was ascended24 by small wooden staircases, had also its throng25; though, as here the immediate26 business of the place was mainly carried on, its groups wore a more quiet and serious air.
Every now and then the crowd below respectfully gave way as some senator swept along to the Temple of Jupiter (which filled up one side of the forum, and was the senators' hall of meeting), nodding with ostentatious condescension27 to such of his friends or clients as he distinguished28 amongst the throng. Mingling29 amidst the gay dresses of the better orders you saw the hardy30 forms of the neighboring farmers, as they made their way to the public granaries. Hard by the temple you caught a view of the triumphal arch, and the long street beyond swarming31 with inhabitants; in one of the niches32 of the arch a fountain played, cheerily sparkling in the sunbeams; and above its cornice rose the bronzed and equestrian33 statue of Caligula, strongly contrasting the gay summer skies. Behind the stalls of the money-changers was that building now called the Pantheon; and a crowd of the poorer Pompeians passed through the small vestibule which admitted to the interior, with panniers under their arms, pressing on towards a platform, placed between two columns, where such provisions as the priests had rescued from sacrifice were exposed for sale.
At one of the public edifices34 appropriated to the business of the city, workmen were employed upon the columns, and you heard the noise of their labor35 every now and then rising above the hum of the multitude: the columns are unfinished to this day!
All, then, united, nothing could exceed in variety the costumes, the ranks, the manners, the occupations of the crowd—nothing could exceed the bustle, the gaiety, the animation—where pleasure and commerce, idleness and labor, avarice36 and ambition, mingled in one gulf37 their motley rushing, yet harmonius, streams.
Facing the steps of the Temple of Jupiter, with folded arms, and a knit and contemptuous brow, stood a man of about fifty years of age. His dress was remarkably38 plain—not so much from its material, as from the absence of all those ornaments39 which were worn by the Pompeians of every rank—partly from the love of show, partly, also, because they were chiefly wrought into those shapes deemed most efficacious in resisting the assaults of magic and the influence of the evil eye. His forehead was high and bald; the few locks that remained at the back of the head were concealed40 by a sort of cowl, which made a part of his cloak, to be raised or lowered at pleasure, and was now drawn41 half-way over the head, as a protection from the rays of the sun. The color of his garments was brown, no popular hue42 with the Pompeians; all the usual admixtures of scarlet43 or purple seemed carefully excluded. His belt, or girdle, contained a small receptacle for ink, which hooked on to the girdle, a stilus (or implement44 of writing), and tablets of no ordinary size. What was rather remarkable, the cincture held no purse, which was the almost indispensable appurtenance of the girdle, even when that purse had the misfortune to be empty!
It was not often that the gay and egotistical Pompeians busied themselves with observing the countenances46 and actions of their neighbors; but there was that in the lip and eye of this bystander so remarkably bitter and disdainful, as he surveyed the religious procession sweeping47 up the stairs of the temple, that it could not fail to arrest the notice of many.
'Who is yon cynic?' asked a merchant of his companion, a jeweller.
'It is Olinthus,' replied the jeweller; 'a reputed Nazarene.'
The merchant shuddered48. 'A dread49 sect50!' said he, in a whispered and fearful voice. 'It is said that when they meet at nights they always commence their ceremonies by the murder of a new-born babe; they profess51 a community of goods, too—the wretches52! A community of goods! What would become of merchants, or jewellers either, if such notions were in fashion?'
'That is very true,' said the jeweller; 'besides, they wear no jewels—they mutter imprecations when they see a serpent; and at Pompeii all our ornaments are serpentine53.'
'Do but observe,' said a third, who was a fabricant of bronze, 'how yon Nazarene scowls54 at the piety55 of the sacrificial procession. He is murmuring curses on the temple, be sure. Do you know, Celcinus, that this fellow, passing by my shop the other day, and seeing me employed on a statue of Minerva, told me with a frown that, had it been marble, he would have broken it; but the bronze was too strong for him. "Break a goddess!" said I. "A goddess!" answered the atheist56; "it is a demon—an evil spirit!" Then he passed on his way cursing. Are such things to be borne? What marvel57 that the earth heaved so fearfully last night, anxious to reject the atheist from her bosom58?—An atheist, do I say? worse still—a scorner of the Fine Arts! Woe59 to us fabricants of bronze, if such fellows as this give the law to society!'
While such were the friendly remarks provoked by the air and faith of the Nazarene, Olinthus himself became sensible of the effect he was producing; he turned his eyes round, and observed the intent faces of the accumulating throng, whispering as they gazed; and surveying them for a moment with an expression, first of defiance61 and afterwards of compassion62, he gathered his cloak round him and passed on, muttering audibly, 'Deluded63 idolaters!—did not last night's convulsion warn ye? Alas64! how will ye meet the last day?'
The crowd that heard these boding65 words gave them different interpretations66, according to their different shades of ignorance and of fear; all, however, concurred67 in imagining them to convey some awful imprecation. They regarded the Christian68 as the enemy of mankind; the epithets69 they lavished70 upon him, of which 'Atheist' was the most favored and frequent, may serve, perhaps, to warn us, believers of that same creed71 now triumphant72, how we indulge the persecution73 of opinion Olinthus then underwent, and how we apply to those whose notions differ from our own the terms at that day lavished on the fathers of our faith.
As Olinthus stalked through the crowd, and gained one of the more private places of egress74 from the forum, he perceived gazing upon him a pale and earnest countenance45, which he was not slow to recognize.
Wrapped in a pallium that partially75 concealed his sacred robes, the young Apaecides surveyed the disciple76 of that new and mysterious creed, to which at one time he had been half a convert.
'Is he, too, an impostor? Does this man, so plain and simple in life, in garb77, in mien—does he too, like Arbaces, make austerity the robe of the sensualist? Does the veil of Vesta hide the vices78 of the prostitute?'
Olinthus, accustomed to men of all classes, and combining with the enthusiasm of his faith a profound experience of his kind, guessed, perhaps, by the index of the countenance, something of what passed within the breast of the priest. He met the survey of Apaecides with a steady eye, and a brow of serene79 and open candour.
'Peace!' echoed the priest, in so hollow a tone that it went at once to the heart of the Nazarene.
'In that wish,' continued Olinthus, 'all good things are combined—without virtue81 thou canst not have peace. Like the rainbow, Peace rests upon the earth, but its arch is lost in heaven. Heaven bathes it in hues82 of light—it springs up amidst tears and clouds—it is a reflection of the Eternal Sun—it is an assurance of calm—it is the sign of a great covenant83 between Man and God. Such peace, O young man! is the smile of the soul; it is an emanation from the distant orb84 of immortal85 light. PEACE be with you!'
'Alas!' began Apaecides, when he caught the gaze of the curious loiterers, inquisitive86 to know what could possibly be the theme of conversation between a reputed Nazarene and a priest of Isis. He stopped short, and then added in a low tone: 'We cannot converse87 here, I will follow thee to the banks of the river; there is a walk which at this time is usually deserted88 and solitary89.'
Olinthus bowed assent90. He passed through the streets with a hasty step, but a quick and observant eye. Every now and then he exchanged a significant glance, a slight sign, with some passenger, whose garb usually betokened91 the wearer to belong to the humbler classes; for Christianity was in this the type of all other and less mighty92 revolutions—the grain of mustard-seed was in the heart of the lowly. Amidst the huts of poverty and labor, the vast stream which afterwards poured its broad waters beside the cities and palaces of earth took its neglected source.
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1 forum | |
n.论坛,讨论会 | |
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2 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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3 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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4 porticoes | |
n.柱廊,(有圆柱的)门廊( portico的名词复数 ) | |
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5 portico | |
n.柱廊,门廊 | |
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6 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
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7 conversing | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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8 colonnade | |
n.柱廊 | |
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9 seamen | |
n.海员 | |
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10 bustling | |
adj.喧闹的 | |
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11 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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12 magistrates | |
地方法官,治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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13 chattering | |
n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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14 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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15 vehemently | |
adv. 热烈地 | |
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16 diluted | |
无力的,冲淡的 | |
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17 dame | |
n.女士 | |
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19 excellence | |
n.优秀,杰出,(pl.)优点,美德 | |
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20 itinerant | |
adj.巡回的;流动的 | |
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21 mingled | |
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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22 bustle | |
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹 | |
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23 expounding | |
论述,详细讲解( expound的现在分词 ) | |
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24 ascended | |
v.上升,攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25 throng | |
n.人群,群众;v.拥挤,群集 | |
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26 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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27 condescension | |
n.自以为高人一等,贬低(别人) | |
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28 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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29 mingling | |
adj.混合的 | |
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30 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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31 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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32 niches | |
壁龛( niche的名词复数 ); 合适的位置[工作等]; (产品的)商机; 生态位(一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位) | |
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33 equestrian | |
adj.骑马的;n.马术 | |
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34 edifices | |
n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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35 labor | |
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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36 avarice | |
n.贪婪;贪心 | |
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37 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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38 remarkably | |
ad.不同寻常地,相当地 | |
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39 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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40 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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41 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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42 hue | |
n.色度;色调;样子 | |
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43 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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44 implement | |
n.(pl.)工具,器具;vt.实行,实施,执行 | |
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45 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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46 countenances | |
n.面容( countenance的名词复数 );表情;镇静;道义支持 | |
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47 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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48 shuddered | |
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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49 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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50 sect | |
n.派别,宗教,学派,派系 | |
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51 profess | |
v.声称,冒称,以...为业,正式接受入教,表明信仰 | |
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52 wretches | |
n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 );可怜的人;恶棍;坏蛋 | |
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53 serpentine | |
adj.蜿蜒的,弯曲的 | |
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54 scowls | |
不悦之色,怒容( scowl的名词复数 ) | |
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55 piety | |
n.虔诚,虔敬 | |
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56 atheist | |
n.无神论者 | |
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57 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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58 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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59 woe | |
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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60 groaned | |
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
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61 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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62 compassion | |
n.同情,怜悯 | |
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63 deluded | |
v.欺骗,哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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65 boding | |
adj.凶兆的,先兆的n.凶兆,前兆,预感v.预示,预告,预言( bode的现在分词 );等待,停留( bide的过去分词 );居住;(过去式用bided)等待 | |
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66 interpretations | |
n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 );表演;演绎;理解 | |
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67 concurred | |
同意(concur的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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68 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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69 epithets | |
n.(表示性质、特征等的)词语( epithet的名词复数 ) | |
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70 lavished | |
v.过分给予,滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71 creed | |
n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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72 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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73 persecution | |
n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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74 egress | |
n.出去;出口 | |
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75 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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76 disciple | |
n.信徒,门徒,追随者 | |
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77 garb | |
n.服装,装束 | |
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78 vices | |
缺陷( vice的名词复数 ); 恶习; 不道德行为; 台钳 | |
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79 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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80 saluting | |
v.欢迎,致敬( salute的现在分词 );赞扬,赞颂 | |
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81 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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82 hues | |
色彩( hue的名词复数 ); 色调; 信仰; 观点 | |
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83 covenant | |
n.盟约,契约;v.订盟约 | |
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84 orb | |
n.太阳;星球;v.弄圆;成球形 | |
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85 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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86 inquisitive | |
adj.求知欲强的,好奇的,好寻根究底的 | |
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87 converse | |
vi.谈话,谈天,闲聊;adv.相反的,相反 | |
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88 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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89 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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90 assent | |
v.批准,认可;n.批准,认可 | |
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91 betokened | |
v.预示,表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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