Anne was fair, very fair, in a poetical1 sense; but in complexion2 she was of that particular tint3 between blonde and brunette which is inconveniently4 left without a name. Her eyes were honest and inquiring, her mouth cleanly cut and yet not classical, the middle point of her upper lip scarcely descending5 so far as it should have done by rights, so that at the merest pleasant thought, not to mention a smile, portions of two or three white teeth were uncovered whether she would or not. Some people said that this was very attractive. She was graceful7 and slender, and, though but little above five feet in height, could draw herself up to look tall. In her manner, in her comings and goings, in her ‘I’ll do this,’ or ‘I’ll do that,’ she combined dignity with sweetness as no other girl could do; and any impressionable stranger youths who passed by were led to yearn8 for a windfall of speech from her, and to see at the same time that they would not get it. In short, beneath all that was charming and simple in this young woman there lurked9 a real firmness, unperceived at first, as the speck10 of colour lurks11 unperceived in the heart of the palest parsley flower.
She wore a white handkerchief to cover her white neck, and a cap on her head with a pink ribbon round it, tied in a bow at the front. She had a great variety of these cap-ribbons, the young men being fond of sending them to her as presents until they fell definitely in love with a special sweetheart elsewhere, when they left off doing so. Between the border of her cap and her forehead were ranged a row of round brown curls, like swallows’ nests under eaves.
She lived with her widowed mother in a portion of an ancient building formerly12 a manor-house, but now a mill, which, being too large for his own requirements, the miller13 had found it convenient to divide and appropriate in part to these highly respectable tenants14. In this dwelling15 Mrs. Garland’s and Anne’s ears were soothed16 morning, noon, and night by the music of the mill, the wheels and cogs of which, being of wood, produced notes that might have borne in their minds a remote resemblance to the wooden tones of the stopped diapason in an organ. Occasionally, when the miller was bolting, there was added to these continuous sounds the cheerful clicking of the hopper, which did not deprive them of rest except when it was kept going all night; and over and above all this they had the pleasure of knowing that there crept in through every crevice17, door, and window of their dwelling, however tightly closed, a subtle mist of superfine flour from the grinding room, quite invisible, but making its presence known in the course of time by giving a pallid18 and ghostly look to the best furniture. The miller frequently apologized to his tenants for the intrusion of this insidious19 dry fog; but the widow was of a friendly and thankful nature, and she said that she did not mind it at all, being as it was, not nasty dirt, but the blessed staff of life.
By good-humour of this sort, and in other ways, Mrs. Garland acknowledged her friendship for her neighbour, with whom Anne and herself associated to an extent which she never could have anticipated when, tempted20 by the lowness of the rent, they first removed thither21 after her husband’s death from a larger house at the other end of the village. Those who have lived in remote places where there is what is called no society will comprehend the gradual levelling of distinctions that went on in this case at some sacrifice of gentility on the part of one household. The widow was sometimes sorry to find with what readiness Anne caught up some dialect-word or accent from the miller and his friends; but he was so good and true-hearted a man, and she so easy-minded, unambitious a woman, that she would not make life a solitude22 for fastidious reasons. More than all, she had good ground for thinking that the miller secretly admired her, and
On a fine summer morning, when the leaves were warm under the sun, and the more industrious23 bees abroad, diving into every blue and red cup that could possibly be considered a flower, Anne was sitting at the back window of her mother’s portion of the house, measuring out lengths of worsted for a fringed rug that she was making, which lay, about three-quarters finished, beside her. The work, though chromatically24 brilliant, was tedious: a hearth-rug was a thing which nobody worked at from morning to night; it was taken up and put down; it was in the chair, on the floor, across the hand-rail, under the bed, kicked here, kicked there, rolled away in the closet, brought out again, and so on more capriciously perhaps than any other home-made article. Nobody was expected to finish a rug within a calculable period, and the wools of the beginning became faded and historical before the end was reached. A sense of this inherent nature of worsted-work rather than idleness led Anne to look rather frequently from the open casement25.
Immediately before her was the large, smooth millpond, over-full, and intruding26 into the hedge and into the road. The water, with its flowing leaves and spots of froth, was stealing away, like Time, under the dark arch, to tumble over the great slimy wheel within. On the other side of the mill-pond was an open place called the Cross, because it was three-quarters of one, two lanes and a cattle-drive meeting there. It was the general rendezvous27 and arena28 of the surrounding village. Behind this a steep slope rose high into the sky, merging29 in a wide and open down, now littered with sheep newly shorn. The upland by its height completely sheltered the mill and village from north winds, making summers of springs, reducing winters to autumn temperatures, and permitting myrtle to flourish in the open air.
The heaviness of noon pervaded30 the scene, and under its influence the sheep had ceased to feed. Nobody was standing31 at the Cross, the few inhabitants being indoors at their dinner. No human being was on the down, and no human eye or interest but Anne’s seemed to be concerned with it. The bees still worked on, and the butterflies did not rest from roving, their smallness seeming to shield them from the stagnating32 effect that this turning moment of day had on larger creatures. Otherwise all was still.
The girl glanced at the down and the sheep for no particular reason; the steep margin33 of turf and daisies rising above the roofs, chimneys, apple-trees, and church tower of the hamlet around her, bounded the view from her position, and it was necessary to look somewhere when she raised her head. While thus engaged in working and stopping her attention was attracted by the sudden rising and running away of the sheep squatted35 on the down; and there succeeded sounds of a heavy tramping over the hard sod which the sheep had quitted, the tramp being accompanied by a metallic36 jingle37. Turning her eyes further she beheld38 two cavalry39 soldiers on bulky grey chargers, armed and accoutred throughout, ascending40 the down at a point to the left where the incline was comparatively easy. The burnished41 chains, buckles42, and plates of their trappings shone like little looking-glasses, and the blue, red, and white about them was unsubdued by weather or wear.
The two troopers rode proudly on, as if nothing less than crowns and empires ever concerned their magnificent minds. They reached that part of the down which lay just in front of her, where they came to a halt. In another minute there appeared behind them a group containing some half-dozen more of the same sort. These came on, halted, and dismounted likewise.
Two of the soldiers then walked some distance onward43 together, when one stood still, the other advancing further, and stretching a white line of tape between them. Two more of the men marched to another outlying point, where they made marks in the ground. Thus they walked about and took distances, obviously according to some preconcerted scheme.
At the end of this systematic44 proceeding45 one solitary46 horseman—a commissioned officer, if his uniform could be judged rightly at that distance—rode up the down, went over the ground, looked at what the others had done, and seemed to think that it was good. And then the girl heard yet louder tramps and clankings, and she beheld rising from where the others had risen a whole column of cavalry in marching order. At a distance behind these came a cloud of dust enveloping47 more and more troops, their arms and accoutrements reflecting the sun through the haze48 in faint flashes, stars, and streaks49 of light. The whole body approached slowly towards the plateau at the top of the down.
Anne threw down her work, and letting her eyes remain on the nearing masses of cavalry, the worsteds getting entangled50 as they would, said, ‘Mother, mother; come here! Here’s such a fine sight! What does it mean? What can they be going to do up there?’
The mother thus invoked51 ran upstairs and came forward to the window. She was a woman of sanguine52 mouth and eye, unheroic manner, and pleasant general appearance; a little more tarnished53 as to surface, but not much worse in contour than the girl herself.
Widow Garland’s thoughts were those of the period. ‘Can it be the French,’ she said, arranging herself for the extremest form of consternation54. ‘Can that arch-enemy of mankind have landed at last?’ It should be stated that at this time there were two arch-enemies of mankind—Satan as usual, and Buonaparte, who had sprung up and eclipsed his elder rival altogether. Mrs. Garland alluded55, of course, to the junior gentleman.
‘It cannot be he,’ said Anne. ‘Ah! there’s Simon Burden, the man who watches at the beacon56. He’ll know!’
She waved her hand to an aged34 form of the same colour as the road, who had just appeared beyond the mill-pond, and who, though active, was bowed to that degree which almost reproaches a feeling observer for standing upright. The arrival of the soldiery had drawn57 him out from his drop of drink at the ‘Duke of York’ as it had attracted Anne. At her call he crossed the mill-bridge, and came towards the window.
Anne inquired of him what it all meant; but Simon Burden, without answering, continued to move on with parted gums, staring at the cavalry on his own private account with a concern that people often show about temporal phenomena58 when such matters can affect them but a short time longer. ‘You’ll walk into the millpond!’ said Anne. ‘What are they doing? You were a soldier many years ago, and ought to know.’
‘Don’t ask me, Mis’ess Anne,’ said the military relic59, depositing his body against the wall one limb at a time. ‘I were only in the foot, ye know, and never had a clear understanding of horses. Ay, I be a old man, and of no judgment60 now.’ Some additional pressure, however, caused him to search further in his worm-eaten magazine of ideas, and he found that he did know in a dim irresponsible way. The soldiers must have come there to camp: those men they had seen first were the markers: they had come on before the rest to measure out the ground. He who had accompanied them was the quartermaster. ‘And so you see they have got all the lines marked out by the time the regiment61 have come up,’ he added. ‘And then they will—well-a-deary! who’d ha’ supposed that Overcombe would see such a day as this!’
‘And then they will—’
‘Then— Ah, it’s gone from me again!’ said Simon. ‘O, and then they will raise their tents, you know, and picket62 their horses. That was it; so it was.’
By this time the column of horse had ascended63 into full view, and they formed a lively spectacle as they rode along the high ground in marching order, backed by the pale blue sky, and lit by the southerly sun. Their uniform was bright and attractive; white buckskin pantaloons, three-quarter boots, scarlet64 shakos set off with lace, mustachios waxed to a needle point; and above all, those richly ornamented65 blue jackets mantled66 with the historic pelisse—that fascination67 to women, and encumbrance68 to the wearers themselves.
‘’Tis the York Hussars!’ said Simon Burden, brightening like a dying ember fanned. ‘Foreigners to a man, and enrolled69 long since my time. But as good hearty70 comrades, they say, as you’ll find in the King’s service.’
‘Here are more and different ones,’ said Mrs. Garland.
Other troops had, during the last few minutes, been ascending the down at a remoter point, and now drew near. These were of different weight and build from the others; lighter71 men, in helmet hats, with white plumes72.
‘I don’t know which I like best,’ said Anne. ‘These, I think, after all.’
Simon, who had been looking hard at the latter, now said that they were the --th Dragoons.
‘All Englishmen they,’ said the old man. ‘They lay at Budmouth barracks a few years ago.’
‘They did. I remember it,’ said Mrs. Garland.
‘And lots of the chaps about here ‘listed at the time,’ said Simon. ‘I can call to mind that there was—ah, ’tis gone from me again! However, all that’s of little account now.’
The dragoons passed in front of the lookers-on as the others had done, and their gay plumes, which had hung lazily during the ascent73, swung to northward74 as they reached the top, showing that on the summit a fresh breeze blew. ‘But look across there,’ said Anne. There had entered upon the down from another direction several battalions75 of foot, in white kerseymere breeches and cloth gaiters. They seemed to be weary from a long march, the original black of their gaiters and boots being whity-brown with dust. Presently came regimental waggons76, and the private canteen carts which followed at the end of a convoy77.
The space in front of the mill-pond was now occupied by nearly all the inhabitants of the village, who had turned out in alarm, and remained for pleasure, their eyes lighted up with interest in what they saw; for trappings and regimentals, war horses and men, in towns an attraction, were here almost a sublimity78.
The troops filed to their lines, dismounted, and in quick time took off their accoutrements, rolled up their sheep-skins, picketed79 and unbitted their horses, and made ready to erect80 the tents as soon as they could be taken from the waggons and brought forward. When this was done, at a given signal the canvases flew up from the sod; and thenceforth every man had a place in which to lay his head.
Though nobody seemed to be looking on but the few at the window and in the village street, there were, as a matter of fact, many eyes converging81 upon that military arrival in its high and conspicuous82 position, not to mention the glances of birds and other wild creatures. Men in distant gardens, women in orchards83 and at cottage-doors, shepherds on remote hills, turnip-hoers in blue-green enclosures miles away, captains with spy-glasses out at sea, were regarding the picture keenly. Those three or four thousand men of one machine-like movement, some of them swashbucklers by nature; others, doubtless, of a quiet shop-keeping disposition84 who had inadvertently got into uniform—all of them had arrived from nobody knew where, and hence were matter of great curiosity. They seemed to the mere6 eye to belong to a different order of beings from those who inhabited the valleys below. Apparently85 unconscious and careless of what all the world was doing elsewhere, they remained picturesquely86 engrossed87 in the business of making themselves a habitation on the isolated88 spot which they had chosen.
Mrs. Garland was of a festive89 and sanguine turn of mind, a woman soon set up and soon set down, and the coming of the regiments90 quite excited her. She thought there was reason for putting on her best cap, thought that perhaps there was not; that she would hurry on the dinner and go out in the afternoon; then that she would, after all, do nothing unusual, nor show any silly excitements whatever, since they were unbecoming in a mother and a widow. Thus circumscribing91 her intentions till she was toned down to an ordinary person of forty, Mrs. Garland accompanied her daughter downstairs to dine, saying, ‘Presently we will call on Miller Loveday, and hear what he thinks of it all.’
点击收听单词发音
1 poetical | |
adj.似诗人的;诗一般的;韵文的;富有诗意的 | |
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2 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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3 tint | |
n.淡色,浅色;染发剂;vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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4 inconveniently | |
ad.不方便地 | |
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5 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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6 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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7 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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8 yearn | |
v.想念;怀念;渴望 | |
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9 lurked | |
vi.潜伏,埋伏(lurk的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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10 speck | |
n.微粒,小污点,小斑点 | |
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11 lurks | |
n.潜在,潜伏;(lurk的复数形式)vi.潜伏,埋伏(lurk的第三人称单数形式) | |
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12 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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13 miller | |
n.磨坊主 | |
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14 tenants | |
n.房客( tenant的名词复数 );佃户;占用者;占有者 | |
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15 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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16 soothed | |
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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17 crevice | |
n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝;缺口 | |
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18 pallid | |
adj.苍白的,呆板的 | |
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19 insidious | |
adj.阴险的,隐匿的,暗中为害的,(疾病)不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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20 tempted | |
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词) | |
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21 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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22 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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23 industrious | |
adj.勤劳的,刻苦的,奋发的 | |
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24 chromatically | |
adv.上色,套色 | |
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25 casement | |
n.竖铰链窗;窗扉 | |
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26 intruding | |
v.侵入,侵扰,打扰( intrude的现在分词);把…强加于 | |
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27 rendezvous | |
n.约会,约会地点,汇合点;vi.汇合,集合;vt.使汇合,使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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28 arena | |
n.竞技场,运动场所;竞争场所,舞台 | |
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29 merging | |
合并(分类) | |
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30 pervaded | |
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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32 stagnating | |
v.停滞,不流动,不发展( stagnate的现在分词 ) | |
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33 margin | |
n.页边空白;差额;余地,余裕;边,边缘 | |
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34 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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35 squatted | |
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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36 metallic | |
adj.金属的;金属制的;含金属的;产金属的;像金属的 | |
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37 jingle | |
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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38 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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39 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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40 ascending | |
adj.上升的,向上的 | |
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41 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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42 buckles | |
搭扣,扣环( buckle的名词复数 ) | |
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43 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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44 systematic | |
adj.有系统的,有计划的,有方法的 | |
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45 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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46 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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47 enveloping | |
v.包围,笼罩,包住( envelop的现在分词 ) | |
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48 haze | |
n.霾,烟雾;懵懂,迷糊;vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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49 streaks | |
n.(与周围有所不同的)条纹( streak的名词复数 );(通常指不好的)特征(倾向);(不断经历成功或失败的)一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 );使布满条纹 | |
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50 entangled | |
adj.卷入的;陷入的;被缠住的;缠在一起的v.使某人(某物/自己)缠绕,纠缠于(某物中),使某人(自己)陷入(困难或复杂的环境中)( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51 invoked | |
v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 );行使(权利等);祈求救助;恳求 | |
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52 sanguine | |
adj.充满希望的,乐观的,血红色的 | |
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53 tarnished | |
(通常指金属)(使)失去光泽,(使)变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 ); 玷污,败坏 | |
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54 consternation | |
n.大为吃惊,惊骇 | |
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55 alluded | |
提及,暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56 beacon | |
n.烽火,(警告用的)闪火灯,灯塔 | |
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57 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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58 phenomena | |
n.现象 | |
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59 relic | |
n.神圣的遗物,遗迹,纪念物 | |
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60 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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61 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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62 picket | |
n.纠察队;警戒哨;v.设置纠察线;布置警卫 | |
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63 ascended | |
v.上升,攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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65 ornamented | |
adj.花式字体的v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66 mantled | |
披着斗篷的,覆盖着的 | |
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67 fascination | |
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋 | |
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68 encumbrance | |
n.妨碍物,累赘 | |
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69 enrolled | |
adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 );登记,招收,使入伍(或入会、入学等),参加,成为成员;记入名册;卷起,包起 | |
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70 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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71 lighter | |
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级 | |
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72 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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73 ascent | |
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高 | |
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74 northward | |
adv.向北;n.北方的地区 | |
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75 battalions | |
n.(陆军的)一营(大约有一千兵士)( battalion的名词复数 );协同作战的部队;军队;(组织在一起工作的)队伍 | |
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76 waggons | |
四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 ); 铁路货车; 小手推车 | |
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77 convoy | |
vt.护送,护卫,护航;n.护送;护送队 | |
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78 sublimity | |
崇高,庄严,气质高尚 | |
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79 picketed | |
用尖桩围住(picket的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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80 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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81 converging | |
adj.收敛[缩]的,会聚的,趋同的v.(线条、运动的物体等)会于一点( converge的现在分词 );(趋于)相似或相同;人或车辆汇集;聚集 | |
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82 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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83 orchards | |
(通常指围起来的)果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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84 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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85 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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86 picturesquely | |
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87 engrossed | |
adj.全神贯注的 | |
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88 isolated | |
adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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89 festive | |
adj.欢宴的,节日的 | |
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90 regiments | |
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物 | |
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91 circumscribing | |
v.在…周围划线( circumscribe的现在分词 );划定…范围;限制;限定 | |
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