The East India Dock Road is nowadays a busy, crowded thoroughfare. The jingle1 of the tram-bell and the rattle2 of the omnibus and cart mingle3 continuously with the rain of many feet, beating ceaselessly upon its pavements. But at the time of which I write it was an empty, voiceless way, bounded on the one side by the long, echoing wall of the docks and on the other by occasional small houses isolated4 amid market gardens, drying grounds and rubbish heaps. Only one thing remains—or did remain last time I passed along it, connecting it with its former self—and that is the one-storeyed brick cottage at the commencement of the bridge, and which was formerly5 the toll-house. I remember this toll-house so well because it was there that my childhood fell from me, and sad and frightened I saw the world beyond.
I cannot explain it better. I had been that afternoon to Plaistow on a visit to the family dentist. It was an out-of-the-way place in which to keep him, but there existed advantages of a counterbalancing nature.
“Have the half-crown in your hand,” my mother would direct me, while making herself sure that the purse containing it was safe at the bottom of my knickerbocker pocket; “but of course if he won't take it, why, you must bring it home again.”
I am not sure, but I think he was some distant connection of ours; at all events, I know he was a kind friend. I, seated in the velvet6 chair of state, he would unroll his case of instruments before me, and ask me to choose, recommending with affectionate eulogisms the most murderous looking.
But on my opening my mouth to discuss the fearful topic, lo! a pair would shoot from under his coat-sleeve, and almost before I knew what had happened, the trouble would be over. After that we would have tea together. He was an old bachelor, and his house stood in a great garden—for Plaistow in those days was a picturesque7 village—and out of the plentiful8 fruit thereof his housekeeper9 made the most wonderful of jams and jellies. Oh, they were good, those teas! Generally our conversation was of my mother who, it appeared, was once a little girl: not at all the sort of little girl I should have imagined her; on the contrary, a prankish10, wilful11 little girl, though good company, I should say, if all the tales he told of her were true. And I am inclined to think they were, in spite of the fact that my mother, when I repeated them to her, would laugh, saying she was sure she had no recollection of anything of the kind, adding severely12 that it was a pity he and I could not find something better to gossip about. Yet her next question would be:
“And what else did he say, if you please?” explaining impatiently when my answer was not of the kind expected: “No, no, I mean about me.”
The tea things cleared away, he would bring out his great microscope. To me it was a peep-hole into a fairy world where dwelt strange dragons, mighty13 monsters, so that I came to regard him as a sort of harmless magician. It was his pet study, and looking back, I cannot help associating his enthusiasm for all things microscopical14 with the fact that he was an exceptionally little man himself, but one of the biggest hearted that ever breathed.
On leaving I would formally hand him my half-crown, “with mamma's compliments,” and he would formally accept it. But on putting my hand into my jacket pocket when outside the gate I would invariably find it there. The first time I took it back to him, but unblushingly he repudiated15 all knowledge.
“Must be another half-crown,” he suggested; “such things do happen. One puts change into a pocket and overlooks it. Slippery things, half-crowns.”
Returning home on this particular day of days, I paused upon the bridge, and watched for awhile the lazy barges17 manoeuvring their way between the piers18. It was one of those hushed summer evenings when the air even of grim cities is full of whispering voices; and as, turning away from the river, I passed through the white toll-gate, I had a sense of leaving myself behind me on the bridge. So vivid was the impression, that I looked back, half expecting to see myself still leaning over the iron parapet, looking down into the sunlit water.
It sounds foolish, but I leave it standing19, wondering if to others a like experience has ever come. The little chap never came back to me. He passed away from me as a man's body may possibly pass away from him, leaving him only remembrance and regret. For a time I tried to play his games, to dream his dreams, but the substance was wanting. I was only a thin ghost, making believe.
It troubled me for quite a spell of time, even to the point of tears, this feeling that my childhood lay behind me, this sudden realisation that I was travelling swiftly the strange road called growing up. I did not want to grow up; could nothing be done to stop it? Rather would I be always as I had been, playing, dreaming. The dark way frightened me. Must I go forward?
Then gradually, but very slowly, with the long months and years, came to me the consciousness of a new being, new pulsations, sensories, throbbings, rooted in but differing widely from the old; and little Paul, the Paul of whom I have hitherto spoken, faded from my life.
So likewise must I let him fade with sorrow from this book. But before I part with him entirely20, let me recall what else I can remember of him. Thus we shall be quit of him, and he will interfere21 with us no more.
Chief among the pictures that I see is that of my aunt Fan, crouching22 over the kitchen fire; her skirt and crinoline rolled up round her waist, leaving as sacrifice to custom only her petticoat. Up and down her body sways in rhythmic23 motion, her hands stroking affectionately her own knees; the while I, with paper knife for sword, or horse of broomstick, stand opposite her, flourishing and declaiming. Sometimes I am a knight24 and she a wicked ogre. She is slain25, growling26 and swearing, and at once becomes the beautiful princess that I secure and bear away with me upon the prancing27 broomstick. So long as the princess is merely holding sweet converse29 with me from her high-barred window, the scene is realistic, at least, to sufficiency; but the bearing away has to be make-believe; for my aunt cannot be persuaded to leave her chair before the fire, and the everlasting30 rubbing of her knees.
At other times, with the assistance of the meat chopper, I am an Indian brave, and then she is Laughing Water or Singing Sunshine, and we go out scalping together; or in less bloodthirsty moods I am the Fairy Prince and she the Sleeping Beauty. But in such parts she is not at her best. Better, when seated in the centre of the up-turned table, I am Captain Cook, and she the Cannibal Chief.
“I shall skin him and hang him in the larder31 till Sunday week,” says my aunt, smacking32 her lips, “then he'll be just in right condition; not too tough and not too high.” She was always strong in detail, was my aunt Fan.
I do not wish to deprive my aunt of any credit due to her, but the more I exercise my memory for evidence, the more I am convinced that her compliance33 on these occasions was not conceived entirely in the spirit of self-sacrifice. Often would she suggest the game and even the theme; in such case, casting herself invariably for what, in old theatrical34 parlance35, would have been termed the heavy lead, the dragons and the wicked uncles, the fussy36 necromancers and the uninvited fairies. As authoress of a new cookery book for use in giant-land, my aunt, I am sure, would have been successful. Most recipes that one reads are so monotonously37 meagre: “Boil him,” “Put her on the spit and roast her for supper,” “Cook 'em in a pie—with plenty of gravy;” but my aunt into the domestic economy of Ogredom introduced variety and daintiness.
“I think, my dear,” my aunt would direct, “we'll have him stuffed with chestnuts39 and served on toast. And don't forget the giblets. They make such excellent sauce.”
“Not too much fish—it spoils the flesh for roasting.”
The things that she would turn people into—king's sons, rightful princesses, such sort of people—people who after a time, one would think, must have quite forgotten what they started as. To let her have her way was a lesson to me in natural history both present and pre-historic. The most beautiful damsel that ever lived she would without a moment's hesitation42 turn into a Glyptodon or a Hippocrepian. Afterwards, when I could guess at the spelling, I would look these creatures up in the illustrated43 dictionary, and feel that under no circumstances could I have loved the lady ever again. Warriors44 and kings she would delight in transforming into plaice or prawns45, and haughty46 queens into Brussels sprouts47.
With gusto would she plan a complicated slaughter48, paying heed49 to every detail: the sharpening of the knives, the having ready of mops and pails of water for purposes of after cleaning up. As a writer she would have followed the realistic school.
Her death, with which we invariably wound up the afternoon, was another conscientious50 effort. Indeed, her groans51 and writhings would sometimes frighten me. I always welcomed the last gurgle. That finished, but not a moment before, my aunt would let down her skirt—in this way suggesting the fall of the curtain upon our play—and set to work to get the tea.
Another frequently recurring52 picture that I see is of myself in glazed-peaked cap explaining many things the while we walk through dingy53 streets to yet a smaller figure curly haired and open eyed. Still every now and then she runs ahead to turn and look admiringly into my face as on the day she first became captive to the praise and fame of me.
I was glad of her company for more reasons than she knew of. For one, she protected me against my baser self. With her beside me I should not have dared to flee from sudden foes54. Indeed, together we courted adventure; for once you get used to it this standing hazard of attack adds a charm to outdoor exercise that older folk in districts better policed enjoy not. So possibly my dog feels when together we take the air. To me it is a simple walk, maybe a little tiresome56, suggested rather by contemplation of my waistband than by desire for walking for mere28 walking's sake; to him an expedition full of danger and surprises: “The gentleman asleep with one eye open on The Chequer's doorstep! will he greet me with a friendly sniff57 or try to bite my head off? This cross-eyed, lop-eared loafer, lurching against the lamp-post! shall we pass with a careless wag and a 'how-do,' or become locked in a life and death struggle? Impossible to say. This coming corner, now, 'Ware58! Is anybody waiting round there to kill me, or not?”
But the trusting face beside me nerved me. As reward in lonely places I would let her hold my hand.
A second advantage I derived59 from her company was that of being less trampled60 on, less walked over, less swept aside into doorway61 or gutter62 than when alone. A pretty, winsome63 face had this little maid, if Memory plays me not kindly64 false; but also she had a vocabulary; and when the blind idiot, male or female, instead of passing us by walking round us, would, after the custom of the blind idiot, seek to gain the other side of us by walking through us, she would use it.
“Now, then, where yer coming to, old glass-eye? We ain't sperrits. Can't yer see us?”
And if they attempted reply, her child's treble, so strangely at variance65 with her dainty appearance, would only rise more shrill66.
“Garn! They'd run out of 'eads when they was making you. That's only a turnip67 wot you've got stuck on top of yer!” I offer but specimens68.
Nor was it of the slightest use attempting personal chastisement69, as sometimes an irate70 lady or gentleman would be foolish enough to do. As well might an hippopotamus71 attempt to reprove a terrier. The only result was to provide comedy for the entire street.
On these occasions our positions were reversed, I being the admiring spectator of her prowess. Yet to me she was ever meek72, almost irritatingly submissive. She found out where I lived and would often come and wait for me for hours, her little face pressed tight against the iron railings, until either I came out or shook my head at her from my bedroom window, when she would run off, the dying away into silence of her pattering feet leaving me a little sad.
I think I cared for her in a way, yet she never entered into my day-dreams, which means that she existed for me only in the outer world of shadows that lay round about me and was not of my real life.
Also, I think she was unwise, introducing me to the shop, for children and dogs—one seems unconsciously to bracket them in one's thoughts—are snobbish73 little wretches74. If only her father had been a dealer75 in firewood I could have soothed76 myself by imagining mistakes. It was a common occurrence, as I well knew, for children of quite the best families to be brought up by wood choppers. Fairies, the best intentioned in the world, but born muddlers, were generally responsible for these mishaps77, which, however, always became righted in time for the wedding. Or even had he been a pork butcher, and there were many in the neighbourhood, I could have thought of him as a swineherd, and so found precedent78 for hope.
But a fishmonger—from six in the evening a fried fishmonger! I searched history in vain. Fried fishmongers were without the pale.
So gradually our meetings became less frequent, though I knew that every afternoon she waited in the quiet Stainsby Road, where dwelt in semi-detached, six-roomed villas79 the aristocracy of Poplar, and that after awhile, for arriving late at times I have been witness to the sad fact, tears would trace pathetic patterns upon her dust-besprinkled cheeks; and with the advent55 of the world-illuminating Barbara, to which event I am drawing near, they ceased altogether.
So began and ended my first romance. One of these days—some quiet summer's afternoon, when even the air of Pigott Street vibrates with tenderness beneath the whispered sighs of Memory, I shall walk into the little grocer's shop and boldly ask to see her. So far have I already gone as to trace her, and often have I tried to catch sight of her through the glass door, but hitherto in vain. I know she is the more or less troubled mother of a numerous progeny80. I am told she has grown stout81, and probable enough it is that her tongue has gained rather than lost in sharpness. Yet under all the unrealities the clumsy-handed world has built about her, I shall see, I know, the lithesome little maid with fond, admiring eyes. What help they were to me I never knew till I had lost them. How hard to gain such eyes I have learned since. Were we to write the truth in our confession82 books, should we not admit the quality we most admire in others is admiration83 of ourselves? And is it not a wise selection? If you would have me admirable, my friend, admire me, and speak your commendation without stint84 that in the sunshine of your praises I may wax. For indifference85 maketh an indifferent man, and contempt a contemptible86 man. Come, is it not true? Does not all that is worthy87 in us grow best by honour?
Chief among the remaining figures on my childhood's stage were the many servants of our house, the “generals,” as they were termed. So rapid, as a rule, was their transit88 through our kitchen that only one or two, conspicuous89 by reason of their lingering, remain upon my view. It was a neighbourhood in which domestic servants were not much required. Those intending to take up the calling seriously went westward90. The local ranks were recruited mainly from the discontented or the disappointed, from those who, unappreciated at home, hoped from the stranger more discernment; or from the love-lorn, the jilted and the jealous, who took the cap and apron92 as in an earlier age their like would have taken the veil. Maybe, to the comparative seclusion93 of our basement, as contrasted with the alternative frivolity94 of shop or factory, they felt in such mood more attuned95. With the advent of the new or the recovery of the old young man they would plunge96 again into the vain world, leaving my poor mother to search afresh amid the legions of the cursed.
With these I made such comradeship as I could, for I had no child friends. Kind creatures were most of them, at least so I found them. They were poor at “making believe,” but would always squeeze ten minutes from their work to romp97 with me, and that, perhaps, was healthier for me. What, perhaps, was not so good for me was that, staggered at the amount of “book-learning” implied by my conversation (for the journalistic instinct, I am inclined to think, was early displayed in me), they would listen open-mouthed to all my information, regarding me as a precocious98 oracle99. Sometimes they would obtain permission to take me home with them to tea, generously eager that their friends should also profit by me. Then, encouraged by admiring, grinning faces, I would “hold forth,” keenly enjoying the sound of my own proud piping.
“As good as a book, ain't he?” was the tribute most often paid to me.
“As good as a play,” one enthusiastic listener, an old greengrocer, went so far as to say.
One girl, a dear, wholesome101 creature named Janet, stayed with us for months and might have stayed years, but for her addiction102 to strong language. The only and well-beloved child of the captain of the barge16 “Nancy Jane,” trading between Purfleet and Ponder's End, her conversation was at once my terror and delight.
“Janet,” my mother would exclaim in agony, her hands going up instinctively103 to guard her ears, “how can you use such words?”
“What words, mum?”
“The things you have just called the gas man.”
“Him! Well, did you see what he did, mum? Walked straight into my clean kitchen, without even wiping his boots, the—” And before my mother could stop her, Janet had relieved her feelings by calling him it—or rather them—again, without any idea that she had done aught else than express in fitting phraseology a natural human emotion.
We were good friends, Janet and I, and therefore it was that I personally undertook her reformation. It was not an occasion for mincing104 one's words. The stake at issue was, I felt, too important. I told her bluntly that if she persisted in using such language she would inevitably105 go to hell.
“Then where's my father going?” demanded Janet.
“Does he use language?”
I gathered from Janet that no one who had enjoyed the privilege of hearing her father could ever again take interest in the feeble efforts of herself.
“I am afraid, Janet,” I explained, “that if he doesn't give it up—”
“But it's the only way he can talk,” interrupted Janet. “He don't mean anything by it.”
I sighed, yet set my face against weakness. “You see, Janet, people who swear do go there.”
But Janet would not believe.
“God send my dear, kind father to hell just because he can't talk like the gentlefolks! Don't you believe it of Him, Master Paul. He's got more sense.”
I hope I pain no one by quoting Janet's common sense. For that I should be sorry. I remember her words because so often, when sinking in sloughs106 of childish despond, they afforded me firm foothold. More often than I can tell, when compelled to listen to the sententious voice of immeasurable Folly107 glibly108 explaining the eternal mysteries, has it comforted me to whisper to myself: “I don't believe it of Him. He's got more sense.”
And about that period I had need of all the comfort I could get. As we descend109 the road of life, the journey, demanding so much of our attention, becomes of more importance than the journey's end; but to the child, standing at the valley's gate, the terminating hills are clearly visible. What lies beyond them is his constant wonder. I never questioned my parents directly on the subject, shrinking as so strangely we all do, both young and old, from discussion of the very matters of most moment to us; and they, on their part, not guessing my need, contented91 themselves with the vague generalities with which we seek to hide even from ourselves the poverty of our beliefs. But there were foolish voices about me less reticent110; while the literature, illustrated and otherwise, provided in those days for serious-minded youth, answered all questionings with blunt brutality111. If you did wrong you burnt in a fiery112 furnace for ever and ever. Were your imagination weak you could turn to the accompanying illustration, and see at a glance how you yourself would writhe113 and shrink and scream, while cheerful devils, well organised, were busy stoking. I had been burnt once, rather badly, in consequence of live coals, in course of transit on a shovel114, being let fall upon me. I imagined these burning coals, not confined to a mere part of my body, but pressing upon me everywhere, not snatched swiftly off by loving hands, the pain assuaged115 by applications of soft soap and the blue bag, but left there, eating into my flesh and veins116. And this continued for eternity117. You suffered for an hour, a day, a thousand years, and were no nearer to the end; ten thousand, a million years, and yet, as at the very first, it was for ever, and for ever still it would always be for ever! I suffered also from insomnia118 about this period.
“Then be good,” replied the foolish voices round me; “never do wrong, and so avoid this endless agony.”
But it was so easy to do wrong. There were so many wrong things to do, and the doing of them was so natural.
But how did one repent? What was repentance120? Did I “hate my sin,” as I was instructed I must, or merely hate the idea of going to hell for it? Because the latter, even my child's sense told me, was no true repentance. Yet how could one know the difference?
Above all else there haunted me the fear of the “Unforgivable Sin.” What this was I was never able to discover. I dreaded121 to enquire122 too closely, lest I should find I had committed it. Day and night the terror of it clung to me.
“Believe,” said the voices; “so only shall you be saved.” How believe? How know you did believe? Hours would I kneel in the dark, repeating in a whispered scream:
“I believe, I believe. Oh, I do believe!” and then rise with white knuckles123, wondering if I really did believe.
Another question rose to trouble me. In the course of my meanderings I had made the acquaintance of an old sailor, one of the most disreputable specimens possible to find; and had learned to love him. Our first meeting had been outside a confectioner's window, in the Commercial Road, where he had discovered me standing, my nose against the glass, a mere palpitating Appetite on legs. He had seized me by the collar, and hauled me into the shop. There, dropping me upon a stool, he bade me eat. Pride of race prompted me politely to decline, but his language became so awful that in fear and trembling I obeyed. So soon as I was finished—it cost him two and fourpence, I remember—we walked down to the docks together, and he told me stories of the sea and land that made my blood run cold. Altogether, in the course of three weeks or a month, we met about half a dozen times, when much the same programme was gone through. I think I was a fairly frank child, but I said nothing about him at home, feeling instinctively that if I did there would be an end of our comradeship, which was dear to me: not merely by reason of the pastry124, though I admit that was a consideration, but also for his wondrous125 tales. I believed them all implicitly126, and so came to regard him as one of the most interesting criminals as yet unhanged: and what was sad about the case, as I felt myself, was that his recital127 of his many iniquities128, instead of repelling129, attracted me to him. If ever there existed a sinner, here was one. He chewed tobacco—one of the hundred or so deadly sins, according to my theological library—and was generally more or less drunk. Not that a stranger would have noticed this; the only difference being that when sober he appeared constrained—was less his natural, genial130 self. In a burst of confidence he once admitted to me that he was the biggest blackguard in the merchant service. Unacquainted with the merchant service, as at the time I was, I saw no reason to doubt him.
One night in a state of intoxication131 he walked over a gangway and was drowned. Our mutual132 friend, the confectioner, seeing me pass the window, came out to tell me so; and having heard, I walked on, heavy of heart, and pondering.
About his eternal destination there could be no question. The known facts precluded133 the least ray of hope. How could I be happy in heaven, supposing I eventually did succeed in slipping in, knowing that he, the lovable old scamp, was burning for ever in hell?
How could Janet, taking it that she reformed and thus escaped damnation, be contented, knowing the father she loved doomed134 to torment135? The heavenly hosts, so I argued, could be composed only of the callous136 and indifferent.
I wondered how people could go about their business, eat, drink and be merry, with tremendous fate hanging thus ever suspended over their heads. When for a little space I myself forgot it, always it fell back upon me with increased weight.
Nor was the contemplation of heaven itself particularly attractive to me, for it was a foolish paradise these foolish voices had fashioned out of their folly. You stood about and sang hymns—for ever! I was assured that my fear of finding the programme monotonous38 was due only to my state of original sin, that when I got there I should discover I liked it. But I would have given much for the hope of avoiding both their heaven and their hell.
Fortunately for my sanity137 I was not left long to brood unoccupied upon such themes. Our worldly affairs, under the sunshine of old Hasluck's round red face, prospered—for awhile; and one afternoon my father, who had been away from home since breakfast time, calling me into his office where also sat my mother, informed me that the long-talked-of school was become at last a concrete thing.
“The term commences next week,” explained my father. “It is not exactly what I had intended, but it will do—for the present. Later, of course, you will go to one of the big public schools; your mother and I have not yet quite decided138 which.”
“You will meet other boys there, good and bad,” said my mother, who sat clasping and unclasping her hands. “Be very careful, dear, how you choose your companions.”
“You will learn to take your own part,” said my father. “School is an epitome139 of the world. One must assert oneself, or one is sat upon.”
I knew not what to reply, the vista140 thus opened out to me was so unexpected. My blood rejoiced, but my heart sank.
“Take one of your long walks,” said my father, smiling, “and think it over.”
“And if you are in any doubt, you know where to go for guidance, don't you?” whispered my mother, who was very grave.
Yet I went to bed, dreaming of quite other things that night: of Queens of Beauty bending down to crown my brows with laurel: of wronged Princesses for whose cause I rode to death or victory. For on my return home, being called into the drawing-room by my father, I stood transfixed, my cap in hand, staring with all my eyes at the vision that I saw.
No such wonder had I ever seen before, at all events, not to my remembrance. The maidens that one meets in Poplar streets may be fair enough in their way, but their millinery displays them not to advantage; and the few lady visitors that came to us were of a staid and matronly appearance. Only out of pictures hitherto had such witchery looked upon me; and from these the spell faded as one gazed.
I heard old Hasluck's smoky voice saying, “My little gell, Barbara,” and I went nearer to her, moving unconsciously.
“You can kiss 'er,” said the smoky voice again; “she won't bite.” But I did not kiss her. Nor ever felt I wanted to, upon the mouth.
I suppose she must have been about fourteen, and I a little over ten, though tall for my age. Later I came to know she had that rare gold hair that holds the light, so that upon her face, which seemed of dainty porcelain141, there ever fell a softened142 radiance as from some shining aureole; those blue eyes where dwell mysteries, shadow veiled. At the time I knew nothing, but that it seemed to me as though the fairy-tales had all come true.
She smiled, understanding and well pleased with my confusion. Child though I was—little more than child though she was, it flattered her vanity.
Fair and sweet, you had but that one fault. Would it had been another, less cruel to you yourself.
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jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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prankish
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| adj.爱开玩笑的，恶作剧的；开玩笑性质的 | |
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wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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microscopical
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| adj.显微镜的，精微的 | |
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repudiated
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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barges
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| 驳船( barge的名词复数 ) | |
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piers
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| 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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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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entirely
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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22
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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23
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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24
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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25
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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26
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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27
prancing
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 ) | |
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28
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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29
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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30
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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31
larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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32
smacking
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| 活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的 | |
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33
compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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34
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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35
parlance
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| n.说法；语调 | |
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36
fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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37
monotonously
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| adv.单调地，无变化地 | |
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38
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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39
chestnuts
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| n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马 | |
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40
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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42
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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43
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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45
prawns
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| n.对虾，明虾( prawn的名词复数 ) | |
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46
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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47
sprouts
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| n.新芽，嫩枝( sprout的名词复数 )v.发芽( sprout的第三人称单数 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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48
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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49
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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50
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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51
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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52
recurring
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| adj.往复的，再次发生的 | |
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53
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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54
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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55
advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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56
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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57
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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58
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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59
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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60
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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61
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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62
gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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63
winsome
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| n.迷人的，漂亮的 | |
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64
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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65
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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66
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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67
turnip
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| n.萝卜，芜菁 | |
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68
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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69
chastisement
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| n.惩罚 | |
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70
irate
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| adj.发怒的，生气 | |
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71
hippopotamus
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| n.河马 | |
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72
meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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73
snobbish
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| adj.势利的，谄上欺下的 | |
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74
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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75
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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76
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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77
mishaps
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| n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 ) | |
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78
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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79
villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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80
progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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82
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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83
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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84
stint
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| v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事 | |
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85
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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86
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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87
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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88
transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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89
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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90
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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91
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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92
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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93
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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94
frivolity
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| n.轻松的乐事，兴高采烈；轻浮的举止 | |
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95
attuned
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| v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 )；调音 | |
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96
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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97
romp
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| n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑 | |
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98
precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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99
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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100
immortals
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| 不朽的人物( immortal的名词复数 )； 永生不朽者 | |
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101
wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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102
addiction
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| n.上瘾入迷，嗜好 | |
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103
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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104
mincing
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| adj.矫饰的；v.切碎；切碎 | |
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105
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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106
sloughs
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| n.沼泽( slough的名词复数 )；苦难的深渊；难以改变的不良心情；斯劳(Slough)v.使蜕下或脱落( slough的第三人称单数 )；舍弃；除掉；摒弃 | |
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107
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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108
glibly
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| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
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109
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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110
reticent
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| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
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111
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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112
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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113
writhe
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| vt.挣扎，痛苦地扭曲；vi.扭曲，翻腾，受苦；n.翻腾，苦恼 | |
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114
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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115
assuaged
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| v.减轻( assuage的过去式和过去分词 )；缓和；平息；使安静 | |
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116
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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117
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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118
insomnia
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| n.失眠，失眠症 | |
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119
repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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120
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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121
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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122
enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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123
knuckles
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| n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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124
pastry
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| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
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125
wondrous
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| 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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126
implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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127
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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128
iniquities
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| n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 )；极不公正 | |
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129
repelling
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| v.击退( repel的现在分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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130
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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131
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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132
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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133
precluded
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| v.阻止( preclude的过去式和过去分词 )；排除；妨碍；使…行不通 | |
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134
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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135
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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136
callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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137
sanity
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| n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确 | |
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138
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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139
epitome
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| n.典型，梗概 | |
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140
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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141
porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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142
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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