Meanwhile we pursued our study of the language steadily8 and made very good progress. On the morning following our adventure in the temple, three grave and reverend signiors presented themselves armed with manuscript books, ink-horns and feather pens, and indicated that they had been sent to teach us. So, with the exception of Umslopogaas, we all buckled10 to with a will, doing four hours a day. As for Umslopogaas, he would have none of that either. He did not wish to learn that ‘woman’s talk’, not he; and when one of the teachers advanced on him with a book and an ink-horn and waved them before him in a mild persuasive11 way, much as a churchwarden invitingly12 shakes the offertory bag under the nose of a rich but niggardly13 parishioner, he sprang up with a fierce oath and flashed Inkosi-kaas before the eyes of our learned friend, and there was an end of the attempt to teach him Zu-Vendi.
Thus we spent our mornings in useful occupation which grew more and more interesting as we proceeded, and the afternoons were given up to recreation. Sometimes we made trips, notably one to the gold mines and another to the marble quarries14 both of which I wish I had space and time to describe; and sometimes we went out hunting buck9 with dogs trained for that purpose, and a very exciting sport it is, as the country is full of agricultural enclosures and our horses were magnificent. This is not to be wondered at, seeing that the royal stables were at our command, in addition to which we had four splendid saddle horses given to us by Nyleptha.
Sometimes, again, we went hawking16, a pastime that is in great favour among the Zu-Vendi, who generally fly their birds at a species of partridge which is remarkable17 for the swiftness and strength of its flight. When attacked by the hawk15 this bird appears to lose its head, and, instead of seeking cover, flies high into the sky, thus offering wonderful sport. I have seen one of these partridges soar up almost out of sight when followed by the hawk. Still better sport is offered by a variety of solitary18 snipe as big as a small woodcock, which is plentiful19 in this country, and which is flown at with a very small, agile20, and highly-trained hawk with an almost red tail. The zigzagging21 of the great snipe and the lightning rapidity of the flight and movements of the red-tailed hawk make the pastime a delightful22 one. Another variety of the same amusement is the hunting of a very small species of antelope23 with trained eagles; and it certainly is a marvellous sight to see the great bird soar and soar till he is nothing but a black speck24 in the sunlight, and then suddenly come dashing down like a cannon-ball upon some cowering25 buck that is hidden in a patch of grass from everything but that piercing eye. Still finer is the spectacle when the eagle takes the buck running.
On other days we would pay visits to the country seats at some of the great lords’ beautiful fortified26 places, and the villages clustering beneath their walls. Here we saw vineyards and corn-fields and well-kept park-like grounds, with such timber in them as filled me with delight, for I do love a good tree. There it stands so strong and sturdy, and yet so beautiful, a very type of the best sort of man. How proudly it lifts its bare head to the winter storms, and with what a full heart it rejoices when the spring has come again! How grand its voice is, too, when it talks with the wind: a thousand aeolian harps27 cannot equal the beauty of the sighing of a great tree in leaf. All day it points to the sunshine and all night to the stars, and thus passionless, and yet full of life, it endures through the centuries, come storm, come shine, drawing its sustenance28 from the cool bosom29 of its mother earth, and as the slow years roll by, learning the great mysteries of growth and of decay. And so on and on through generations, outliving individuals, customs, dynasties—all save the landscape it adorns30 and human nature—till the appointed day when the wind wins the long battle and rejoices over a reclaimed33 space, or decay puts the last stroke to his fungus-fingered work.
Ah, one should always think twice before one cuts down a tree!
In the evenings it was customary for Sir Henry, Good, and myself to dine, or rather sup, with their Majesties—not every night, indeed, but about three or four times a week, whenever they had not much company, or the affairs of state would allow of it. And I am bound to say that those little suppers were quite the most charming things of their sort that I ever had to do with. How true is the saying that the very highest in rank are always the most simple and kindly34. It is from your half-and-half sort of people that you get pomposity35 and vulgarity, the difference between the two being very much what one sees every day in England between the old, out-at-elbows, broken-down county family, and the overbearing, purse-proud people who come and ‘take the place’. I really think that Nyleptha’s greatest charm is her sweet simplicity36, and her kindly genuine interest even in little things. She is the simplest woman I ever knew, and where her passions are not involved, one of the sweetest; but she can look queenly enough when she likes, and be as fierce as any savage37 too.
For instance, never shall I forget that scene when I for the first time was sure that she was really in love with Curtis. It came about in this way—all through Good’s weakness for ladies’ society. When we had been employed for some three months in learning Zu-Vendi, it struck Master Good that he was getting rather tired of the old gentlemen who did us the honour to lead us in the way that we should go, so he proceeded, without saying a word to anybody else, to inform them that it was a peculiar38 fact, but that we could not make any real progress in the deeper intricacies of a foreign language unless we were taught by ladies—young ladies, he was careful to explain. In his own country, he pointed32 out, it was habitual39 to choose the very best-looking and most charming girls who could be found to instruct any strangers who happened to come that way, etc.
All of this the old gentlemen swallowed open-mouthed. There was, they admitted, reason in what he said, since the contemplation of the beautiful, as their philosophy taught, induced a certain porosity40 of mind similar to that produced upon the physical body by the healthful influences of sun and air. Consequently it was probable that we might absorb the Zu-Vendi tongue a little faster if suitable teachers could be found. Another thing was that, as the female sex was naturally loquacious41, good practice would be gained in the viva voce department of our studies.
To all of this Good gravely assented42, and the learned gentlemen departed, assuring him that their orders were to fall in with our wishes in every way, and that, if possible, our views should be met.
Imagine, therefore the surprise and disgust of myself, and I trust and believe Sir Henry, when, on entering the room where we were accustomed to carry on our studies the following morning, we found, instead of our usual venerable tutors, three of the best-looking young women whom Milosis could produce—and that is saying a good deal—who blushed and smiled and curtseyed, and gave us to understand that they were there to carry on our instruction. Then Good, as we gazed at one another in bewilderment, thought fit to explain, saying that it had slipped his memory before—but the old gentlemen had told him, on the previous evening, that it was absolutely necessary that our further education should be carried on by the other sex. I was overwhelmed, and appealed to Sir Henry for advice in such a crisis.
‘Well,’ he said, ‘you see the ladies are here, ain’t they? If we sent them away, don’t you think it might hurt their feelings, eh? One doesn’t like to be rough, you see; and they look regular blues43, don’t they, eh?’
By this time Good had already begun his lessons with the handsomest of the three, and so with a sigh I yielded. That day everything went very well: the young ladies were certainly very clever, and they only smiled when we blundered. I never saw Good so attentive44 to his books before, and even Sir Henry appeared to tackle Zu-Vendi with a renewed zest45. ‘Ah,’ thought I, ‘will it always be thus?’
Next day we were much more lively, our work was pleasingly interspersed46 with questions about our native country, what the ladies were like there, etc., all of which we answered as best as we could in Zu-Vendi, and I heard Good assuring his teacher that her loveliness was to the beauties of Europe as the sun to the moon, to which she replied with a little toss of the head, that she was a plain teaching woman and nothing else, and that it was not kind ‘to deceive a poor girl so’. Then we had a little singing that was really charming, so natural and unaffected. The Zu-Vendi love-songs are most touching48. On the third day we were all quite intimate. Good narrated49 some of his previous love affairs to his fair teacher, and so moved was she that her sighs mingled50 with his own. I discoursed51 with mine, a merry blue-eyed girl, upon Zu-Vendian art, and never saw that she was waiting for an opportunity to drop a specimen52 of the cockroach53 tribe down my back, whilst in the corner Sir Henry and his governess appeared, so far as I could judge, to be going through a lesson framed on the great educational principles laid down by Wackford Squeers Esq., though in a very modified or rather spiritualized form. The lady softly repeated the Zu-Vendi word for ‘hand’, and he took hers; ‘eyes’, and he gazed deep into her brown orbs54; ‘lips’, and—but just at that moment my young lady dropped the cockroach down my back and ran away laughing. Now if there is one thing I loathe55 more than another it is cockroaches56, and moved quite beyond myself, and yet laughing at her impudence57, I took up the cushion she had been sitting on and threw it after her. Imagine then my shame—my horror, and my distress58—when the door opened, and, attended by two guards only, in walked Nyleptha. The cushion could not be recalled (it missed the girl and hit one of the guards on the head), but I instantly and ineffectually tried to look as though I had not thrown it. Good ceased his sighing, and began to murder Zu-Vendi at the top of his voice, and Sir Henry whistled and looked silly. As for the poor girls, they were utterly59 dumbfounded.
And Nyleptha! she drew herself up till her frame seemed to tower even above that of the tall guards, and her face went first red, and then pale as death.
‘Guards,’ she said in a quiet choked voice, and pointing at the fair but unconscious disciple60 of Wackford Squeers, ‘slay61 me that woman.’
The men hesitated, as well they might.
‘Will ye do my bidding,’ she said again in the same voice, ‘or will ye not?’
Then they advanced upon the girl with uplifted spears. By this time Sir Henry had recovered himself, and saw that the comedy was likely to turn into a tragedy.
‘Stand back,’ he said in a voice of thunder, at the same time getting in front of the terrified girl. ‘Shame on thee, Nyleptha—shame! Thou shalt not kill her.’
‘Doubtless thou hast good reason to try to protect her. Thou couldst hardly do less in honour,’ answered the infuriated Queen; ‘but she shall die—she shall die,’ and she stamped her little foot.
‘It is well,’ he answered; ‘then will I die with her. I am thy servant, oh Queen; do with me even as thou wilt62.’ And he bowed towards her, and fixed63 his clear eyes contemptuously on her face.
‘I could wish to slay thee too,’ she answered; ‘for thou dost make a mock of me;’ and then feeling that she was mastered, and I suppose not knowing what else to do, she burst into such a storm of tears and looked so royally lovely in her passionate64 distress, that, old as I am, I must say I envied Curtis his task of supporting her. It was rather odd to see him holding her in his arms considering what had just passed—a thought that seemed to occur to herself, for presently she wrenched65 herself free and went, leaving us all much disturbed.
Presently, however, one of the guards returned with a message to the girls that they were, on pain of death, to leave the city and return to their homes in the country, and that no further harm would come to them; and accordingly they went, one of them remarking philosophically66 that it could not be helped, and that it was a satisfaction to know that they had taught us a little serviceable Zu-Vendi. Mine was an exceedingly nice girl, and, overlooking the cockroach, I made her a present of my favourite lucky sixpence with a hole in it when she went away. After that our former masters resumed their course of instruction, needless to say to my great relief.
That night, when in fear and trembling we attended the royal supper table, we found that Nyleptha was laid up with a bad headache. That headache lasted for three whole days; but on the fourth she was present at supper as usual, and with the most gracious and sweet smile gave Sir Henry her hand to lead her to the table. No allusion68 was made to the little affair described above beyond her saying, with a charming air of innocence69, that when she came to see us at our studies the other day she had been seized with a giddiness from which she had only now recovered. She supposed, she added with a touch of the humour that was common to her, that it was the sight of people working so hard which had affected47 her.
In reply Sir Henry said, dryly, that he had thought she did not look quite herself on that day, whereat she flashed one of those quick glances of hers at him, which if he had the feelings of a man must have gone through him like a knife, and the subject dropped entirely70. Indeed, after supper was over Nyleptha condescended71 to put us through an examination to see what we had learnt, and to express herself well satisfied with the results. Indeed, she proceeded to give us, especially Sir Henry, a lesson on her own account, and very interesting we found it.
And all the while that we talked, or rather tried to talk, and laughed, Sorais would sit there in her carven ivory chair, and look at us and read us all like a book, only from time to time saying a few words, and smiling that quick ominous72 smile of hers which was more like a flash of summer lightning on a dark cloud than anything else. And as near to her as he dared would sit Good, worshipping through his eyeglass, for he really was getting seriously devoted73 to this sombre beauty, of whom, speaking personally, I felt terribly afraid. I watched her keenly, and soon I found out that for all her apparent impassibility she was at heart bitterly jealous of Nyleptha. Another thing I found out, and the discovery filled me with dismay, and that was, that she also was growing devoted to Sir Henry Curtis. Of course I could not be sure; it is not easy to read so cold and haughty74 a woman; but I noticed one or two little things, and, as elephant hunters know, dried grass shows which way the wind has set.
And so another three months passed over us, by which time we had all attained75 to a very considerable mastery of the Zu-Vendi language, which is an easy one to learn. And as the time went on we became great favourites with the people, and even with the courtiers, gaining an enormous reputation for cleverness, because, as I think I have said, Sir Henry was able to show them how to make glass, which was a national want, and also, by the help of a twenty-year almanac that we had with us, to predict various heavenly combinations which were quite unsuspected by the native astronomers76. We even succeeded in demonstrating the principle of the steam-engine to a gathering77 of the learned men, who were filled with amazement78; and several other things of the same sort we did. And so it came about that the people made up their minds that we must on no account be allowed to go out of the country (which indeed was an apparent impossibility even if we had wished it), and we were advanced to great honour and made officers to the bodyguards79 of the sister Queens while permanent quarters were assigned to us in the palace, and our opinion was asked upon questions of national policy.
But blue as the sky seemed, there was a cloud, and a big one, on the horizon. We had indeed heard no more of those confounded hippopotami, but it is not on that account to be supposed that our sacrilege was forgotten, or the enmity of the great and powerful priesthood headed by Agon appeased81. On the contrary, it was burning the more fiercely because it was necessarily suppressed, and what had perhaps begun in bigotry82 was ending in downright direct hatred83 born of jealousy84. Hitherto, the priests had been the wise men of the land, and were on this account, as well as from superstitious85 causes, looked on with peculiar veneration86. But our arrival, with our outlandish wisdom and our strange inventions and hints of unimagined things, dealt a serious blow to this state of affairs, and, among the educated Zu-Vendi, went far towards destroying the priestly prestige. A still worse affront87 to them, however, was the favour with which we were regarded, and the trust that was reposed88 in us. All these things tended to make us excessively obnoxious89 to the great sacerdotal clan90, the most powerful because the most united faction67 in the kingdom.
Another source of imminent91 danger to us was the rising envy of some of the great lords headed by Nasta, whose antagonism92 to us had at best been but thinly veiled, and which now threatened to break out into open flame. Nasta had for some years been a candidate for Nyleptha’s hand in marriage, and when we appeared on the scene I fancy, from all I could gather, that though there were still many obstacles in his path, success was by no means out of his reach. But now all this had changed; the coy Nyleptha smiled no more in his direction, and he was not slow to guess the cause. Infuriated and alarmed, he turned his attention to Sorais, only to find that he might as well try to woo a mountain side. With a bitter jest or two about his fickleness93, that door was closed on him for ever. So Nasta bethought himself of the thirty thousand wild swordsmen who would pour down at his bidding through the northern mountain passes, and no doubt vowed94 to adorn31 the gates of Milosis with our heads.
But first he determined95, as I learned, to make one more attempt and to demand the hand of Nyleptha in the open Court after the formal annual ceremony of the signing of the laws that had been proclaimed by the Queens during the year.
Of this astounding96 fact Nyleptha heard with simulated nonchalance97, and with a little trembling of the voice herself informed us of it as we sat at supper on the night preceding the great ceremony of the law-giving.
‘And what answer will the Queen be pleased to give to the great Lord?’ asked I, in a jesting manner.
‘Answer, Macumazahn’ (for we had elected to pass by our Zulu names in Zu-Vendis), she said, with a pretty shrug99 of her ivory shoulder. ‘Nay100, I know not; what is a poor woman to do, when the wooer has thirty thousand swords wherewith to urge his love?’ And from under her long lashes101 she glanced at Curtis.
Just then we rose from the table to adjourn102 into another room. ‘Quatermain, a word, quick,’ said Sir Henry to me. ‘Listen. I have never spoken about it, but surely you have guessed: I love Nyleptha. What am I to do?’
Fortunately, I had more or less already taken the question into consideration, and was therefore able to give such answer as seemed the wisest to me.
‘You must speak to Nyleptha tonight,’ I said. ‘Now is your time, now or never. Listen. In the sitting-chamber get near to her, and whisper to her to meet you at midnight by the Rademas statue at the end of the great hall. I will keep watch for you there. Now or never, Curtis.’
We passed on into the other room. Nyleptha was sitting, her hands before her, and a sad anxious look upon her lovely face. A little way off was Sorais talking to Good in her slow measured tones.
The time went on; in another quarter of an hour I knew that, according to their habit, the Queens would retire. As yet, Sir Henry had had no chance of saying a word in private: indeed, though we saw much of the royal sisters, it was by no means easy to see them alone. I racked my brains, and at last an idea came to me.
‘Will the Queen be pleased,’ I said, bowing low before Sorais, ‘to sing to her servants? Our hearts are heavy this night; sing to us, oh Lady of the Night’ (Sorais’ favourite name among the people).
‘My songs, Macumazahn, are not such as to lighten the heavy heart, yet will I sing if it pleases thee,’ she answered; and she rose and went a few paces to a table whereon lay an instrument not unlike a zither, and struck a few wandering chords.
Then suddenly, like the notes of some deep-throated bird, her rounded voice rang out in song so wildly sweet, and yet with so eerie103 and sad a refrain, that it made the very blood stand still. Up, up soared the golden notes, that seemed to melt far away, and then to grow again and travel on, laden104 with all the sorrow of the world and all the despair of the lost. It was a marvellous song, but I had not time to listen to it properly. However, I got the words of it afterwards, and here is a translation of its burden, so far as it admits of being translated at all.
SORAIS’ SONG
So is life! ay, the life that lends passion and breath to my singing.
As the nightingale’s song that is full of a sweetness unspoken,
As a spirit unbarring the gates of the skies for a token,
So is power! ay, the power that shall lie in the dust at its ending.
Till Death’s dogging footsteps at morn or at eve shall o’ertake us.
Refrain
Oh, the world is fair at the dawning—dawning—dawning,
But the red sun sinks in blood—the red sun sinks in blood.
I only wish that I could write down the music too.
‘Now, Curtis, now,’ I whispered, when she began the second verse, and turned my back.
‘Nyleptha,’ he said—for my nerves were so much on the stretch that I could hear every word, low as it was spoken, even through Sorais’ divine notes—‘Nyleptha, I must speak with thee this night, upon my life I must. Say me not nay; oh, say me not nay!’
‘How can I speak with thee?’ she answered, looking fixedly112 before her; ‘Queens are not like other people. I am surrounded and watched.’
‘Listen, Nyleptha, thus. I will be before the statue of Rademas in the great hall at midnight. I have the countersign113 and can pass in. Macumazahn will be there to keep guard, and with him the Zulu. Oh come, my Queen, deny me not.’
‘It is not seemly,’ she murmured, ‘and tomorrow—’
Just then the music began to die in the last wail114 of the refrain, and Sorais slowly turned her round.
‘I will be there,’ said Nyleptha, hurriedly; ‘on thy life see that thou fail me not.’
点击收听单词发音
1 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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2 swells | |
增强( swell的第三人称单数 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
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3 notably | |
adv.值得注意地,显著地,尤其地,特别地 | |
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4 insignificant | |
adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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5 copious | |
adj.丰富的,大量的 | |
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6 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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7 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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8 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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9 buck | |
n.雄鹿,雄兔;v.马离地跳跃 | |
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10 buckled | |
a. 有带扣的 | |
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11 persuasive | |
adj.有说服力的,能说得使人相信的 | |
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12 invitingly | |
adv. 动人地 | |
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13 niggardly | |
adj.吝啬的,很少的 | |
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14 quarries | |
n.(采)石场( quarry的名词复数 );猎物(指鸟,兽等);方形石;(格窗等的)方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 );从(书本等中)努力发掘(资料等);在采石场采石 | |
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15 hawk | |
n.鹰,骗子;鹰派成员 | |
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16 hawking | |
利用鹰行猎 | |
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17 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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18 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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19 plentiful | |
adj.富裕的,丰富的 | |
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20 agile | |
adj.敏捷的,灵活的 | |
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21 zigzagging | |
v.弯弯曲曲地走路,曲折地前进( zigzag的现在分词 );盘陀 | |
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22 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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23 antelope | |
n.羚羊;羚羊皮 | |
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24 speck | |
n.微粒,小污点,小斑点 | |
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25 cowering | |
v.畏缩,抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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26 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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27 harps | |
abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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28 sustenance | |
n.食物,粮食;生活资料;生计 | |
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29 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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30 adorns | |
装饰,佩带( adorn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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31 adorn | |
vt.使美化,装饰 | |
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32 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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33 reclaimed | |
adj.再生的;翻造的;收复的;回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 );要求收回;从废料中回收(有用的材料);挽救 | |
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34 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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35 pomposity | |
n.浮华;虚夸;炫耀;自负 | |
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36 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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37 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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38 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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39 habitual | |
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的 | |
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40 porosity | |
n.多孔性,有孔性 | |
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41 loquacious | |
adj.多嘴的,饶舌的 | |
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42 assented | |
同意,赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 blues | |
n.抑郁,沮丧;布鲁斯音乐 | |
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44 attentive | |
adj.注意的,专心的;关心(别人)的,殷勤的 | |
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45 zest | |
n.乐趣;滋味,风味;兴趣 | |
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46 interspersed | |
adj.[医]散开的;点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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47 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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48 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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49 narrated | |
v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50 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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51 discoursed | |
演说(discourse的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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52 specimen | |
n.样本,标本 | |
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53 cockroach | |
n.蟑螂 | |
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54 orbs | |
abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球,天体,圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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55 loathe | |
v.厌恶,嫌恶 | |
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56 cockroaches | |
n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 ) | |
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57 impudence | |
n.厚颜无耻;冒失;无礼 | |
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58 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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59 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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60 disciple | |
n.信徒,门徒,追随者 | |
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61 slay | |
v.杀死,宰杀,杀戮 | |
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62 wilt | |
v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎;(指人)疲倦,衰弱 | |
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63 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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64 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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65 wrenched | |
v.(猛力地)扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 );扭伤;使感到痛苦;使悲痛 | |
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66 philosophically | |
adv.哲学上;富有哲理性地;贤明地;冷静地 | |
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67 faction | |
n.宗派,小集团;派别;派系斗争 | |
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68 allusion | |
n.暗示,间接提示 | |
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69 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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70 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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71 condescended | |
屈尊,俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 ); 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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72 ominous | |
adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的 | |
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73 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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74 haughty | |
adj.傲慢的,高傲的 | |
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75 attained | |
(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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76 astronomers | |
n.天文学者,天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 ) | |
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77 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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78 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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79 bodyguards | |
n.保镖,卫士,警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 ) | |
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80 pinion | |
v.束缚;n.小齿轮 | |
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81 appeased | |
安抚,抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 ); 绥靖(满足另一国的要求以避免战争) | |
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82 bigotry | |
n.偏见,偏执,持偏见的行为[态度]等 | |
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83 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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84 jealousy | |
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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85 superstitious | |
adj.迷信的 | |
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86 veneration | |
n.尊敬,崇拜 | |
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87 affront | |
n./v.侮辱,触怒 | |
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88 reposed | |
v.将(手臂等)靠在某人(某物)上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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89 obnoxious | |
adj.极恼人的,讨人厌的,可憎的 | |
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90 clan | |
n.氏族,部落,宗族,家族,宗派 | |
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91 imminent | |
adj.即将发生的,临近的,逼近的 | |
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92 antagonism | |
n.对抗,敌对,对立 | |
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93 fickleness | |
n.易变;无常;浮躁;变化无常 | |
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94 vowed | |
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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95 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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96 astounding | |
adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊,使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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97 nonchalance | |
n.冷淡,漠不关心 | |
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98 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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99 shrug | |
v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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100 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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101 lashes | |
n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 );鞭子;突然猛烈的一击;急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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102 adjourn | |
v.(使)休会,(使)休庭 | |
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103 eerie | |
adj.怪诞的;奇异的;可怕的;胆怯的 | |
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104 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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105 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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106 sickle | |
n.镰刀 | |
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107 trumpets | |
喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 ); 小号; 喇叭形物; (尤指)绽开的水仙花 | |
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108 rending | |
v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 );分裂;(因愤怒、痛苦等而)揪扯(衣服或头发等);(声音等)刺破 | |
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109 forsake | |
vt.遗弃,抛弃;舍弃,放弃 | |
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110 delusion | |
n.谬见,欺骗,幻觉,迷惑 | |
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111 nought | |
n./adj.无,零 | |
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112 fixedly | |
adv.固定地;不屈地,坚定不移地 | |
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113 countersign | |
v.副署,会签 | |
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114 wail | |
vt./vi.大声哀号,恸哭;呼啸,尖啸 | |
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