On the wings of fancy, swifter and more easeful than those of the albatross, he is wafted10 to those fairy shores where Nature smiles in changeless youth and winterless glow. Through every weary sinew thrills the bright message of life, the unconscious outcome of perfect health absorbed from perfect surroundings. He is back again in the days of the world’s infancy11, feeling his mid-millennial vigour12 bounding in every pulse, flooding every artery13. In cunningly-fashioned canoe, with grass-woven sails, he floats upon the radiant sea, so like to the heaven[72] above that his gliding14 shallop seems to swing through the boundless15 ether, a sprite, a fay of the fruitful brain.
Then as the flood-tide of living bubbles over the brim of restraint he lifts a mighty16 voice, a full-throated cry of joy wherein is no speech nor language, only exultant17 music welling up from deeps of fathomless18 satisfaction. He springs erect19, with flashing eyes, and rolling muscles heaving under his shining skin, such a figure as, made in His own glorious image, the Master gazed upon—and, behold20, it was very good. Far below him swim the gorgeous sea-folk, each ablaze21 with colour, living jewels enhanced by their setting. In mazy evolutions full of grace they woo him to join in their play, to explore with them the splendours of the coral groves23, to wreath about his majestic24 form the tender festoons of sea-flowers and deck himself with glowing shells.
Like a dolphin he dives, deeper and deeper as with grasping hands he overcomes the resisting waters. Deeper and deeper yet until the fervent25 sunshine is suffused26 into a milder, tenderer light, and everything around is enwrapped in a beauty-mist, a glamorous27 illusion that melts all angles into curves of loveliness. He enters into the palaces of the deep, and all the skill of Titanic28 builders on earth becomes to his mind a thing of naught29. Interminable rows of columns, all symmetrical, each perfect in beauty, yet none alike, are arrayed before him; massy architraves, domes30 light-springing from their piers31 as bubbles, yet in circumference32 so vast that their limits are lost in shadow, slender spires33 of pearl, soaring[73] upward like vapour-wreaths: and all interwoven with the wondrous34 design a fairy tracery of stone, appearing light and luminous35 as sea foam36. The happy living things troop forth37 to meet him and sweep in many a delicate whirl around until, recalled by the need of upper air, he waves them farewell and ascends38.
Oh! the fierce delight of that swift upward rush, the culminating ecstasy39 as he bounds into the palpitating air above and lies, so softly cradled, upon the limpid40 wave! There for a season he floats, drinking deep of the brine-laden41 air, every touch of the sea a caress42, every heart-beat a well-spring of pleasure. Then with a shout he hurls44 himself forward as if he too were a free citizen of the ocean, emulating45 with almost equal grace the sinuous46 spring of the porpoise47 and the marvellous succession of curves presented by the overwhelming whale. He claims kindred with them all, embraces them; clinging lovingly to their smooth sides he frolics with them, rejoicing in the plenitude of their untainted strength.
Before him rise the islands, mounds48 of emerald cresting49 bases of silver sand. Willowy palm-trees dip their roots in the warm wavelets and rear their tufted coronets on high. Darker-leaved, the orange-trees droop50 their branches shot with golden gleams where the fruit hangs heavily, filling the gentle air with fragrance51. Bright-plumaged birds flash amongst the verdure; along the glittering shores rest placidly53 the sea-fowl returned from their harvesting and comforting their fluffy54 broods. With huge steps he strides shorewards, and springing lightly from the sand, he reaches in a dozen bounds the crown of the loftiest[74] palm, whose thickly-clustering fruit bids him drink and drink again.
The island folk dread55 him not; fear has not yet visited those sunny shores. And as he was with the sea-people so is he with their compeers on land, a trusted playfellow, a creature perfect in glory and beauty, able to vie with them in their superb activities, their amazing play of vigour, their abounding56 joy in the plentiful57 gifts of Nature.
After those sunny gambols58, how sweet the rest on yielding couch of leaves, fanned by sweet zephyrs59 laden with the subtle scents60 of luxuriant flowers, and lulled61 by the slumber-song of the friendly sea. Around him, with drooping62 wing, nestle the birds; the bejewelled insects hush63 their busy songs into tenderest murmurs64, the green leaves hang in unrustling shade, noiselessly waving over him a cool breath. There is peace and sleep.
“Awake, O laggard65!” cry the birds; “awake and live! Joy comes anew. Love and life and strength are calling us, and every sense answers triumphantly66. Sweet is the dawn when the splendid sun springs skyward and the quiet night steals away; sweet is the strength of noonday, when downward he sends his shafts67 of life-giving flame, and we lie in the shade renewing from his exhaustless stores of energy our well-spent strength. But sweetest of all the time when, his majestic ascension accomplished68, our sun sweeps westward69 to his ocean-bed, and all his children hasten to revel70 in his tempered beams until he hides his glorious face for a season, and night brings her solemn pleasures.”
[75]
Swift upspringing the man answers gladly to the call. And forth to meet him come a joyous71 band of his fellows, their dancing feet scarce touching72 the earth. Not a weakling among them. Men and women and children alike clean-limbed and strong, with sparkling eyes and perfect gestures. Their nude73 shapes shine like burnished74 bronze with natural unguents, their white and well-set teeth glitter as they laugh whole-heartedly, their black, abundant hair is entwined with scarlet75 hibiscus, and their voices ring musical and full. They do not walk—they bound, they spring, and toss their arms in wildest glee.
Surrounding him, they bear him away to where a crystal river rushes headlong down through a valley of velvet76 green to cast itself tumultuously over a cliff-lip forty feet into the sea. As it approaches its leap the translucent77 waters whirl faster and faster in rising wreaths and ridges78 of dazzling white, until in one snowy mass, crowned with a pearly mist, it hurls itself into the smooth blue depths below. With one accord the wildly gambolling79 band hurl43 themselves into those limpid waters some hundreds of yards above the fall. As on softest couch they glide80 swiftly along, their peals81 of laughter echoing multitudinously from the green bosoms82 of the adjacent hills.
Faster and faster still they are borne onward83 until, singly and in groups, they flash out into the sunshine and plunge84 into the awaiting ocean. So swiftly do they pass that it seems but a breathing space since, far inland, they sprang from the banks into the river, and they now lie in blissful content upon the quiet[76] sea, every nerve tingling85 from that frantic86, headlong flight. Then, like the care-free children of Nature that they are, they abandon themselves to their wild sea-sports, outdoing the fabled87 Nereids. Around them gather in sympathy the gorgeous dolphins, the leisurely88 sharks, the fun-loving porpoises89, while over their heads dart90 incessantly91 in arrowy flight glittering squadrons of flying-fish.
So they frolic untiringly until, by one impulse moved, they all dash off to where, outside the enormous headland of black rock which shelters the little bay, the vast and solemn ocean swell92 comes rolling shoreward, towering higher as it comes, until, meeting the bright beach, it raises itself superbly in one magnificent curve of white, and dashes against the firm-set earth with a deep note as of far-off thunder.
The merry players range themselves in line and swim seaward to meet the next wave as it comes. Diving beneath it they reappear upon its creaming shoulders, and by sheer skill balance there, elated almost beyond bearing by the pace of their mighty steed. Higher and higher they rise, clothed by the hissing93 foam, until from its summit they spring to land and race to the woods.
Only a breathing space passes, and again they come rushing shoreward to where a mimic94 fleet of light canoes lies covered with boughs95 to shield them from the sun. As if time were all important, they fling the leaves aside and rush the frail96 craft into the water, springing in as they glide afloat. Two by two they sail away, an occasional persuasive97 touch of the paddles sufficing to guide and propel them whithersoever they will.
The sun is nearing the western edge of their world, and his slanting98 beams are spreading lavishly99 over the silken waters broad bands of rich and swiftly changing colour. A hush that is holy is stealing over all things, a stillness so profound that the light splash of a flying-fish tinkles100 clear as a tiny bell. The happy people float along in a delicious languor101, feasting their eyes upon the doubled beauty of the landscape near the shore, where the line dividing the reality from its reflection cannot be discerned.
Beneath them are constantly changing pictures no less lovely, the marvellous surfaces of the living coral with all its wealth of tinted102 anemones103 and brilliantly-decked fish of all shapes and all hues104. Carried by the imperceptible current, they pass swiftly, silently, from scene to scene, over depths so profound that the waters are almost blue-black, and as suddenly coming upon a submarine grove22 of rigid105 coral trees, whose topmost branches nearly break through the placid52 surface.
Presently the sun is gone, and the tender veil of night comes creeping up from the East. Already the Evening Star, like a minute moon, is sending a long thread of silver over the purpling sea. Beneath the waters the sea-folk have begun their nightly illumination, and overhead are peeping out, one by one, the vedettes of the night. Bird and beast and fish have ceased their play, and a gentle wind arises. The canoes glide shoreward noiselessly, and the voyagers seek through scented106 pathways their leafy homes.
“Poor fellow, you look a bit stale and overworked! You ought to run down to the seaside for a week!”
And the suddenly-awakened clerk starts up, muttering a half-intelligible apology to his employer, who stands regarding him with a look of pity. But for a few fleeting107 moments he has been perfectly108 happy.
点击收听单词发音
1 complexities | |
复杂性(complexity的名词复数); 复杂的事物 | |
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2 isles | |
岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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3 civilisation | |
n.文明,文化,开化,教化 | |
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4 distinctive | |
adj.特别的,有特色的,与众不同的 | |
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5 slumberous | |
a.昏昏欲睡的 | |
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6 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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7 atlas | |
n.地图册,图表集 | |
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8 celestial | |
adj.天体的;天上的 | |
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9 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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10 wafted | |
v.吹送,飘送,(使)浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11 infancy | |
n.婴儿期;幼年期;初期 | |
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12 vigour | |
(=vigor)n.智力,体力,精力 | |
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13 artery | |
n.干线,要道;动脉 | |
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14 gliding | |
v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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15 boundless | |
adj.无限的;无边无际的;巨大的 | |
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16 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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17 exultant | |
adj.欢腾的,狂欢的,大喜的 | |
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18 fathomless | |
a.深不可测的 | |
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19 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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20 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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21 ablaze | |
adj.着火的,燃烧的;闪耀的,灯火辉煌的 | |
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22 grove | |
n.林子,小树林,园林 | |
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23 groves | |
树丛,小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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24 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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25 fervent | |
adj.热的,热烈的,热情的 | |
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26 suffused | |
v.(指颜色、水气等)弥漫于,布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27 glamorous | |
adj.富有魅力的;美丽动人的;令人向往的 | |
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28 titanic | |
adj.巨人的,庞大的,强大的 | |
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29 naught | |
n.无,零 [=nought] | |
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30 domes | |
n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 );像圆屋顶一样的东西;圆顶体育场 | |
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31 piers | |
n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 );(常设有娱乐场所的)突堤;柱子;墙墩 | |
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32 circumference | |
n.圆周,周长,圆周线 | |
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33 spires | |
n.(教堂的) 塔尖,尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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34 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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35 luminous | |
adj.发光的,发亮的;光明的;明白易懂的;有启发的 | |
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36 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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37 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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38 ascends | |
v.上升,攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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39 ecstasy | |
n.狂喜,心醉神怡,入迷 | |
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40 limpid | |
adj.清澈的,透明的 | |
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41 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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42 caress | |
vt./n.爱抚,抚摸 | |
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43 hurl | |
vt.猛投,力掷,声叫骂 | |
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44 hurls | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的第三人称单数 );大声叫骂 | |
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45 emulating | |
v.与…竞争( emulate的现在分词 );努力赶上;计算机程序等仿真;模仿 | |
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46 sinuous | |
adj.蜿蜒的,迂回的 | |
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47 porpoise | |
n.鼠海豚 | |
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48 mounds | |
土堆,土丘( mound的名词复数 ); 一大堆 | |
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49 cresting | |
n.顶饰v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的现在分词 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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50 droop | |
v.低垂,下垂;凋萎,萎靡 | |
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51 fragrance | |
n.芬芳,香味,香气 | |
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52 placid | |
adj.安静的,平和的 | |
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53 placidly | |
adv.平稳地,平静地 | |
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54 fluffy | |
adj.有绒毛的,空洞的 | |
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55 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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56 abounding | |
adj.丰富的,大量的v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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57 plentiful | |
adj.富裕的,丰富的 | |
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58 gambols | |
v.蹦跳,跳跃,嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 ) | |
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59 zephyrs | |
n.和风,微风( zephyr的名词复数 ) | |
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60 scents | |
n.香水( scent的名词复数 );气味;(动物的)臭迹;(尤指狗的)嗅觉 | |
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61 lulled | |
vt.使镇静,使安静(lull的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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62 drooping | |
adj. 下垂的,无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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63 hush | |
int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静 | |
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64 murmurs | |
n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 );低语声;怨言;嘀咕 | |
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65 laggard | |
n.落后者;adj.缓慢的,落后的 | |
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66 triumphantly | |
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地 | |
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67 shafts | |
n.轴( shaft的名词复数 );(箭、高尔夫球棒等的)杆;通风井;一阵(疼痛、害怕等) | |
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68 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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69 westward | |
n.西方,西部;adj.西方的,向西的;adv.向西 | |
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70 revel | |
vi.狂欢作乐,陶醉;n.作乐,狂欢 | |
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71 joyous | |
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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72 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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73 nude | |
adj.裸体的;n.裸体者,裸体艺术品 | |
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74 burnished | |
adj.抛光的,光亮的v.擦亮(金属等),磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 );被擦亮,磨光 | |
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75 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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76 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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77 translucent | |
adj.半透明的;透明的 | |
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78 ridges | |
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊 | |
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79 gambolling | |
v.蹦跳,跳跃,嬉戏( gambol的现在分词 ) | |
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80 glide | |
n./v.溜,滑行;(时间)消逝 | |
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81 peals | |
n.(声音大而持续或重复的)洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 );隆隆声;洪亮的钟声;钟乐v.(使)(钟等)鸣响,(雷等)发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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82 bosoms | |
胸部( bosom的名词复数 ); 胸怀; 女衣胸部(或胸襟); 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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83 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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84 plunge | |
v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲 | |
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85 tingling | |
v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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86 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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87 fabled | |
adj.寓言中的,虚构的 | |
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88 leisurely | |
adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的 | |
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89 porpoises | |
n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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90 dart | |
v.猛冲,投掷;n.飞镖,猛冲 | |
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91 incessantly | |
ad.不停地 | |
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92 swell | |
vi.膨胀,肿胀;增长,增强 | |
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93 hissing | |
n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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94 mimic | |
v.模仿,戏弄;n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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95 boughs | |
大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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96 frail | |
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的 | |
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97 persuasive | |
adj.有说服力的,能说得使人相信的 | |
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98 slanting | |
倾斜的,歪斜的 | |
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99 lavishly | |
adv.慷慨地,大方地 | |
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100 tinkles | |
丁当声,铃铃声( tinkle的名词复数 ); 一次电话 | |
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101 languor | |
n.无精力,倦怠 | |
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102 tinted | |
adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
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103 anemones | |
n.银莲花( anemone的名词复数 );海葵 | |
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104 hues | |
色彩( hue的名词复数 ); 色调; 信仰; 观点 | |
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105 rigid | |
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的 | |
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106 scented | |
adj.有香味的;洒香水的;有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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107 fleeting | |
adj.短暂的,飞逝的 | |
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108 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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