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CHAPTER VIII AND THE MUTTLE DEEPING PEACHES
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 The dreadful fright she had suffered did not throw a cloud over the spirit of Erebus for as long as might have been expected. She was as quick as any one to realize that all’s well that ends well; and Wiggins escaped lightly, with a couple of days in bed. The adventure, however, induced a change in her attitude to him; she was far less condescending1 with him than she had been; indeed she seemed to have acquired something of a proprietary2 interest in him and was uncommonly4 solicitous5 for his welfare. To such a point did this solicitude6 go that more than once he remonstrated7 bitterly with her for fussing about him.
 
During the rest of the winter, the spring and the early summer, their lives followed an even tenor8: they did their lessons; they played their games; then tended the inmates9 of the cats’ home, selling them as they grew big, and replacing the sold with threepenny kittens just able to lap.
 
In the spring they fished the free water of the Whittle10, the little trout-stream that runs through the estate of the Morgans of Muttle Deeping Grange. The free water runs for rather more than half a mile on the Little Deeping side of Muttle Deeping; and the Twins fished it with an assiduity and a skill which set the villagers grumbling11 that they left no fish for any one else. Also the Twins tried to get leave to fish Sir James Morgan’s preserved water, higher up the stream. But Mr. Hilton, the agent of the estate, was very firm in his refusal to give them leave: for no reason that the Twins could see, since Sir James was absent, shooting big game in Africa. They resented the refusal bitterly; it seemed to them a wanton waste of the stream. It was some consolation12 to them to make a well-judged raid one early morning on the strawberry-beds in one of the walled gardens of Muttle Deeping Grange.
 
About the middle of June the Terror went to London on a visit to their Aunt Amelia. Sir Maurice Falconer and Miss Hendersyde saw to it that it was not the unbroken series of visits to cats’ homes Lady Ryehampton had arranged for him; and he enjoyed it very much. On his return he was able to assure the interested Erebus that their aunt’s parrot still said “dam” with a perfectly13 accurate, but monotonous14 iteration.
 
Soon after his return the news was spread abroad that Sir James Morgan had let Muttle Deeping Grange. In the life of the Deeping villages the mere15 letting of Muttle Deeping Grange was no unimportant event, but the inhabitants of Great Deeping, Muttle Deeping (possibly a corruption16 of Middle Deeping), and Little Deeping were stirred to the very depths of their being when the news came that it had been let to a German princess. The women, at any rate, awaited her coming with the liveliest interest and curiosity, emotions dashed some way from their fine height when they learned that Princess Elizabeth, of Cassel-Nassau, was only twelve years and seven months old.
 
The Twins did not share the excited curiosity of their neighbors. Resenting deeply the fact that the tenant17 of Muttle Deeping was a German princess, they assumed an attitude of cold aloofness18 in the matter, and refused to be interested or impressed. Erebus was more resentful than the Terror; and it is to be suspected that the high patriotic19 spirit she displayed in the matter was in some degree owing to the fact that Mrs. Blenkinsop, who came one afternoon to tea, gushing21 information about the grandfathers, grandmothers, parents, uncles, cousins and aunts of the princess, ended by saying, with meaning, “And what a model she will be to the little girls of the neighborhood!”
 
Erebus told the Terror that things were indeed come to a pretty pass when it was suggested to an English girl, a Dangerfield, too, that she should model herself on a German.
 
“I don’t suppose it would really make any difference who you modeled yourself on,” said the Terror, desirous rather of being frank than grammatical.
 
When presently the princess came to the Grange, the lively curiosity of her neighbors was gratified by but imperfect visions of her. She did not, as they had expected, attend any of the three churches, for she had brought with her her own Lutheran pastor22. They only saw her on her afternoon drives, a stiff little figure, thickly veiled against the sun, sitting bolt upright in the victoria beside the crimson23 baroness24 (crimson in face; she wore black) in whose charge she had come to England.
 
They learned presently that the princess had come to Muttle Deeping for her health; that she was delicate and her doctors feared lest she should develop consumption; they hoped that a few weeks in the excellent Deeping air would strengthen her. The news abated25 a little the cold hostility26 of Erebus; but the Twins paid but little attention to their young neighbor.
 
Their mother was finding the summer trying; she was sleeping badly, and her appetite was poor. Doctor Arbuthnot put her on a light diet; and in particular he ordered her to eat plenty of fruit. It was not the best season for fruit: strawberries were over and raspberries were coming to an end. Mrs. Dangerfield made shift to do with bananas. The Twins were annoyed that this was the best that could be done to carry out the doctor’s orders; but there seemed no help for it.
 
It was in the afternoon, a sweltering afternoon, after the doctor’s visit that, as the Twins, bent27 on an aimless ride, were lazily wheeling their bicycles out of the cats’ home, a sudden gleam came into the eyes of the Terror; and he said:
 
“I’ve got an idea!”
 
An answering light gleamed in the eyes of Erebus; and she cried joyfully28; “Thank goodness! I was beginning to get afraid that nothing was ever going to occur to us again. I thought it was the hot weather. What is it?”
 
“Those Germans,” said the Terror darkly. “Now that they’ve got the Grange, why shouldn’t we make a raid on the peach-garden. They say the Grange peaches are better than any hothouse ones; and Watkins told me they ripen29 uncommon3 early. They’re probably ripe now.”
 
“That’s a splendid idea! It will just teach those Germans!” cried Erebus; and her piquant30 face was bright with the sterling31 spirit of the patriot20. Then after a pause she added reluctantly: “But if the princess is an invalid32, perhaps she ought to have all the peaches herself.”
 
“She couldn’t want all of them. Why we couldn’t. There are hundreds,” said the Terror quickly. “And they’re the very thing for Mum. Bananas are all very well in their way; but they’re not like real fruit.”
 
“Of course; Mum must have them,” said Erebus with decision. “But how are we going to get into the peach-garden? The door in the wall only opens on the inside.”
 
“We’re not. I’ve worked it out. Now you just hurry up and get some big leaves to put the peaches in. Mum will like them ever so much better with the bloom on, though it doesn’t really make any difference to the taste.”
 
Erebus ran into the kitchen-garden and gathered big soft leaves of different kinds. When she came back she found the Terror tying the landing-net they had borrowed from the vicar for their trout-fishing, to the backbone33 of his bicycle. She put the leaves into her bicycle basket, and they rode briskly to Muttle Deeping.
 
The Twins knew all the approaches to Muttle Deeping Grange well since they had spent several days in careful scouting34 before they had made their raid earlier in the summer on its strawberry beds. A screen of trees runs down from the home wood along the walls of the gardens; and the Twins, after coming from the road in the shelter of the home wood, came down the wall behind that screen of trees.
 
About the middle of the peach-garden the Terror climbed on to a low bough35, raised his head with slow caution above the wall, and surveyed the garden. It was empty and silent, save for a curious snoring sound that disquieted36 him little, since he ascribed it to some distant pig.
 
He stepped on to a higher branch, leaned over the wall, and surveyed the golden burden of the tree beneath him. The ready Erebus handed the landing-net up to him. He chose his peach, the ripest he could see; slipped the net under it, flicked37 it, lifted the peach in it over the wall, and lowered it down to Erebus, who made haste to roll it in a leaf and lay it gently in her bicycle basket. The Terror netted another and another and another.
 
The garden was not as empty as he believed. On a garden chair in the little lawn in the middle of it sat the Princess Elizabeth hidden from him by the thick wall of a pear tree, and in a chair beside her, sat, or rather sprawled38, her guardian39, the Baroness Frederica Von Aschersleben, who was following faithfully the doctor’s instructions that her little charge should spend her time in the open air, but was doing her best to bring it about that the practise should do her as little good as possible by choosing the sultriest and most airless spot on the estate because it was so admirably adapted to her own comfortable sleeping.
 
The baroness added nothing to the old-world charm of the garden. Her eyes were shut, her mouth was open, her face was most painfully crimson, and from her short, but extremely tip-tilted nose, came the sound of snoring which the Terror had ascribed to some distant pig.
 
The princess was warmly—very warmly—dressed for the sweltering afternoon and sweltering spot; little beads40 of sweat stood on her brow; the story-book she had been trying to read lay face downward in her lap; and she was looking round the simmering garden with a look of intolerable discomfort41 and boredom42 on her pretty pale face.
 
Then a moving object came into the range of her vision, just beyond the end-of the wall of pear tree—a moving object against the garden wall. She could not see clearly what it was; but it seemed to her that a peach rose and vanished over the top of the wall. She stared at the part of the wall whence it had risen; and in a few seconds another peach seemed to rise and disappear.
 
This curious behavior of English peaches so roused her curiosity that, in spite of the heat, she rose and walked quietly to the end of the wall of pear-tree. As she came beyond it, she saw, leaning over the wall, a fair-haired boy. Even as she saw him something rose and vanished over the wall far too swiftly for her to see that it was a landing-net.
 
Surprise did not rob the Terror of his politeness; he smiled amicably43, raised his cap and said in his most agreeable tone: “How do you do?”
 
He did not know how much the princess had seen, and he was not going to make admission of guilt44 by a hasty and perhaps needless flight, provoke pursuit and risk his peaches.
 
“How do you do?” said the princess a little haughtily45, hesitating. “What are you doing up there?”
 
“I’m looking at the garden,” said the Terror truthfully, but not quite accurately46; for he was looking much more at the princess.
 
She gazed at him; her brow knitted in a little perplexed47 frown. She thought that he had been taking the peaches; but she was not sure; and his serene48 guileless face and limpid49 blue eyes gave the suspicion the lie. She thought that he looked a nice boy.
 
He gazed at her with growing interest and approval—as much approval as one could give to a girl. The Princess Elizabeth had beautiful gray eyes; and though her pale cheeks were a little hollow, and the line from the cheek-bone to the corner of the chin was so straight that it made her face almost triangular50, it was a pretty face. She looked fragile; and he felt sorry for her.
 
“This garden’s very hot,” he said. “It’s like holding one’s face over an oven.”
 
“Oh, it is,” said the princess, with impatient weariness.
 
“Yet there’s quite a decent little breeze blowing over the top of the walls,” said the Terror.
 
The princess sighed, and they gazed at each other with curious examining eyes. Certainly he looked a nice boy.
 
“I tell you what: come out into the wood. I know an awfully51 cool place. You’d find it very refreshing,” said the Terror in the tone of one who has of a sudden been happily inspired.
 
The princess looked back along the wall of pear tree irresolutely52 at the sleeping baroness. The sight of that richly crimson face made the garden feel hotter than ever.
 
“Do come. My sister’s here, and it will be very jolly in the wood—the three of us,” said the Terror in his most persuasive53 tone.
 
The princess hesitated, and again she looked back at the sleeping but unbeautiful baroness; then she said with a truly German frankness:
 
“Are you well-born?”
 
The Terror smiled a little haughtily in his turn and said slowly: “Well, from what Mrs. Blenkinsop said, the Dangerfields were barons54 in the Weald before they were any Hohenzollerns. And they did very well at Crécy and Agincourt, too,” he added pensively55.
 
The princess seemed reassured56; but she still hesitated.
 
“Suppose the baroness were to wake?” she said.
 
A light of understanding brightened the Terror’s face: “Oh, is that the baroness snoring? I thought it was a pig,” he said frankly57. “She won’t wake for another hour. Nobody snoring like that could.”
 
The assurance seemed to disperse58 the last doubts of the princess. She cast one more look back at her crimson Argus, and said: “Very goot; I will coom.”
 
She walked to the door lower down the garden wall. When she came through it, she found the Twins wheeling their bicycles toward it. The Terror, in a very dignified59 fashion, introduced Erebus to her as Violet Anastasia Dangerfield, and himself as Hyacinth Wolfram Dangerfield. He gave their full and so little-used names because he felt that, in the case of a princess, etiquette60 demanded it. Then they moved along the screen of trees, up the side of the garden wall toward the wood.
 
The Twins shortened their strides to suit the pace of the princess, which was uncommonly slow. She kept looking from one to the other with curious, rather timid, pleased eyes. She saw the landing-net that Erebus had fastened to the backbone of the Terror’s bicycle; but she saw no connection between it and the vanishing peaches.
 
They passed straight from the screen of trees through a gap into the home wood, a gap of a size to let them carry their bicycles through without difficulty, took a narrow, little used path into the depths of the wood, and moved down it in single file.
 
“I expect you never found this path,” said the Terror to the princess who was following closely on the back wheel of his bicycle.
 
“No, I haf not found it. I haf never been in this wood till now,” said the princess.
 
“You haven’t been in this wood! But it’s the home wood—the jolliest part of the estate,” cried the Terror in the liveliest surprise. “And there are two paths straight into it from the gardens.”
 
“But I stay always in the gardens,” said the princess sedately61. “The Baroness Von Aschersleben does not walk mooch; and she will not that I go out of sight of her.”
 
“But you must get awfully slack, sticking in the gardens all the time,” said Erebus.
 
“Slack? What is slack?” said the princess.
 
“She means feeble,” said the Terror. “But all the same those gardens are big enough; there’s plenty of room to run about in them.”
 
“But I do not run. It is not dignified. The Baroness Von Aschersleben would be shocked,” said the princess with a somewhat prim62 air.
 
“No wonder you’re delicate,” said Erebus, politely trying to keep a touch of contempt out of her tone, and failing.
 
“One can not help being delicate,” said the princess.
 
“I don’t know,” said the Terror doubtfully. “If you’re in the open air a lot and do run about, you don’t keep delicate. Wiggins used to be delicate, but he isn’t now.”
 
“Who is Wiggins?” said the princess.
 
“He’s a friend of ours—not so old as we are—quite a little boy,” said Erebus in a patronizing tone which Wiggins, had he been present, would have resented with extreme bitterness. “Besides, Doctor Arbuthnot told Mrs. Blenkinsop that if you were always in the open air, playing with children of your own age, you’d soon get strong.”
 
“That’s what I’ve come to England for,” said the princess.
 
“I don’t think there’s much chance of your getting strong in that peach-garden. It didn’t feel to me like the open air at all,” said the Terror firmly.
 
“But it is the open air,” said the princess.
 
They came out of the narrow path they had been following into a broader one, and presently they turned aside from that at the foot of a steep and pathless bank. The Twins started up it as if it were neither here nor there to them; as, indeed, it was not.
 
But the princess stopped short, and said in a tone of dismay:
 
“Am I to climb this?”
 
The Terror stopped, looked at her dismayed face, set his bicycle against the trunk of a tree, and said:
 
“I’ll help you up.”
 
With that, dismissing etiquette from his mind, he slipped his arm round the slender waist of the princess, and firmly hauled her to the top of the bank. He relieved her of most of the effort needed to mount it; but none the less she reached the top panting a little.
 
“You certainly aren’t in very good training,” he said rather sadly.
 
“Training? What is training?” said the princess.
 
“It’s being fit,” said Erebus in a faintly superior tone.
 
“And what is being fit?” said the princess.
 
“It’s being strong—and well—and able to run miles and miles,” said Erebus raising her voice to make her meaning clearer.
 
“You needn’t shout at her,” said the Terror.
 
“I’m trying to make her understand,” said Erebus firmly.
 
“But I do understand—when it is not the slang you are using. I know English quite well,” said the princess.
 
“You certainly speak it awfully well,” said the Terror politely.
 
He went down the bank and hauled up his bicycle. They went a little deeper into the wood and reached their goal, the banks of a small pool.
 
They sat down in a row, and the princess looked at its cool water, in the cool green shade of the tall trees, with refreshed eyes.
 
“This is different,” she said with a faint little sigh of pleasure.
 
“Yes; this is the real open air,” said the Terror.
 
“But I do get lots of open air,” protested the princess. “Why, I sleep with my window open—at least that much.” She held out her two forefingers63 some six inches apart. “The baroness did not like it. She said it was very dangerous and would give me the chills. But Doctor Arbuthnot said that it must be open. I think I sleep better.”
 
“We have our bedroom windows as wide open as they’ll go; and then they’re not wide enough in this hot weather,” said Erebus in the tone of superiority that was beginning to sound galling64.
 
“I think if you took off your hat and jacket, you’d be cooler still,” said the Terror rather quickly.
 
The princess hesitated a moment; then obediently she took off her hat and jacket, and breathed another soft sigh of pleasure. She had quite lost her air of discomfort and boredom. Her eyes were shining brightly; and her pale cheeks were a little flushed with the excitement of her situation.
 
It is by no means improbable that the Twins, as well-brought-up children, were aware that it is not etiquette to speak to royal personages unless they first speak to you. If they were, they did not let that knowledge stand in the way of the gratification of their healthy curiosity. It may be they felt that in the free green wood the etiquette of courts was out of place. At any rate they did not let it trammel them; and since their healthy curiosity was of the liveliest kind they submitted the princess to searching, even exhaustive, interrogation about the life of a royal child at a German court.
 
They questioned her about the hour she rose, the breakfast she ate, the lessons she learned, the walks she took, the lunch she ate, the games she played, her afternoon occupations, her dolls, her pets, her tea, her occupations after tea, her dinner, her occupations after dinner, the hour she went to bed.
 
There seemed nothing impertinent in their curiosity to the princess; it was only natural that every detail of the life of a person of her importance should be of the greatest interest to less fortunate mortals. She was not even annoyed by their carelessness of etiquette in not waiting to be spoken to before they asked a question. Indeed she enjoyed answering their questions very much, for it was seldom that any one displayed such a genuine interest in her; it was seldom, indeed, that she found herself on intimate human terms with any of her fellow creatures. She had neither brothers nor sisters; and she had never had any really sympathetic playmates. The children of Cassel-Nassau were always awed65 and stiff in her society; their minds were harassed66 by the fear lest they should be guilty of some appalling67 breach68 of etiquette. The manner of the Twins, therefore, was a pleasant change for her. They were polite, but quite unconstrained; and the obsequious69 people by whom she had always been surrounded had never displayed that engaging quality, save when, like the baroness, they were safely asleep in her presence.
 
But her account of her glories did not have the effect on her new friends she looked for. As she exposed more and more of the trammeling net of etiquette in which from her rising to her going to bed she was enmeshed, their faces did not fill with the envy she would have found so natural on them; they grew gloomy.
 
At the end of the interrogation Erebus heaved a great sigh, and said with heart-felt conviction:
 
“Well, thank goodness, I’m not a princess! It must be perfectly awful!”
 
“It must be nearly as bad to be a prince,” said the Terror in the gloomy tone of one who has lost a dear illusion.
 
The princess could not believe her ears; she stared at the Twins with parted lips and amazed incredulous eyes. Their words had given her the shock of her short lifetime. As far as memory carried her back, she had been assured, frequently and solemnly, that to be a princess, a German princess, a Hohenzollern princess, was the most glorious and delightful70 lot a female human being could enjoy, only a little less glorious and delightful than the lot of a German prince.
 
“B-b-but it’s sp-p-plendid to be a princess! Everybody says so!” she stammered71.
 
“They were humbugging you. You’ve just made it quite clear that it’s horrid72 in every kind of way. Why, you can’t do any single thing you want to. There’s always somebody messing about you to see that you don’t,” said Erebus with cold decision.
 
“B-b-but one is a p-p-princess,” stammered the princess, with something of the wild look of one beneath whose feet the firm earth has suddenly given way.
 
The Terror perceived her distress73; and he set about soothing74 it.
 
“You’re forgetting the food,” he said quickly to Erebus. “I don’t suppose she ever has to eat cold mutton; and I expect she can have all the sweets and ices she wants.”
 
“Of course,” said the princess; and then she went on quickly: “B-b-but it isn’t what you have to eat that makes it so—so—so important being a princess. It’s—”
 
“But it’s awfully important what you have to eat!” cried the Terror.
 
“I should jolly well think so!” cried Erebus.
 
The princess tried hard to get back to the moral sublimities of her exalted75 station; but the Twins would not have it. They kept her firmly to the broad human questions of German cookery and sweets. The princess, used to having information poured into her by many elderly but bespectacled gentlemen and ladies, was presently again enjoying her new part of dispenser of information. Her cheeks were faintly flushed; and her eyes were sparkling in an animated76 face.
 
In these interrogations and discussions the time had slipped away unheeded by the interested trio. The crimson baroness had awakened77, missed her little charge, and waddled78 off into the house in search of her. A slow search of the house and gardens revealed the fact that she was not in them. As soon as this was clear the baroness fell into a panic and insisted that the whole household should sally forth79 in search of her.
 
The princess was earnestly engaged in an effort to make quite dear to the Twins the exact nature of one of the obscure kinds of German tartlet80, a kind, indeed, only found in the principality of Cassel-Nassau, where the keen ears of the Terror caught the sound of a distant voice calling out.
 
He rose sharply to his feet and said: “Listen! There’s some one calling. I expect they’ve missed you and you’ll have to be getting back.”
 
The princess rose reluctantly. Then her face clouded; and she said in a tone of faint dismay: “Oh, dear! How annoyed the baroness will be!”
 
“You take a great deal too much notice of that baroness,” said Erebus.
 
“But I have to; she’s my—my gouvernante,” said the princess.
 
“I don’t see what good it is being a princess, if you do just what baronesses81 tell you all the time,” said Erebus coldly.
 
The princess looked at her rather helplessly; she had never thought of rebelling.
 
“I don’t think I should tell her that you’ve been with us. She mightn’t think we were good for you. Some people round here don’t seem to understand us,” said the Terror suavely82.
 
The princess looked from one to the other, hesitating with puckered83 brow; and then, with a touch of appeal in her tone, she said, “Are you coming to-morrow?”
 
The Twins looked at each other doubtfully. They had no plans for the morrow; but they had hopes that Fortune would find them some more exciting occupation than discussing Germany with one of its inhabitants.
 
At their hesitation84 the princess’ face fell woefully; and the appeal in it touched the Terror’s heart.
 
“We should like to come very much,” he said.
 
The face of the princess brightened; and her grateful eyes shone on him.
 
“I don’t think I shall be able to come,” said Erebus with the important air of one burdened with many affairs.
 
The face of the princess did not fall again; she said: “But if your brother comes?”
 
“Oh, I’ll come, anyhow,” said the Terror.
 
The voice called again from the wood below, louder.
 
“Oh, it isn’t the baroness. It’s Miss Lambart,” said the princess in a tone of relief.
 
“You take too much notice of that baroness,” said Erebus again firmly. “Who is Miss Lambart?”
 
“She’s my English lady-in-waiting. I always have one when I’m in England, of course. I like her. She tries to amuse me. But the baroness doesn’t like her,” said the princess, and she sighed.
 
“Come along, I’ll help you down the bank and take you pretty close to Miss Lambart. It wouldn’t do for her to know of this place. It’s our secret lair,” said the Terror.
 
“I see,” said the princess.
 
They walked briskly to the edge of the steep bank; and he half carried her down it; and he led her through the wood toward the drive from which Miss Lambart had called. As they went he adjured85 her to confine herself to the simple if incomplete statement that she had been walking in the wood. His last words to her, as they stood on the edge of the drive, were:
 
“Don’t you stand so much nonsense from that baroness.”
 
Miss Lambart called again; the princess stepped into the drive and found her thirty yards away. The Terror slipped noiselessly away through the undergrowth.
 
Miss Lambart turned at the sound of the princess’ footsteps, and said: “Oh, here you are, Highness. We’ve all been hunting for you. The baroness thought you were lost.”
 
“I thought I would walk in the wood,” said the princess demurely86.
 
“It certainly seems to have done you good. You’re looking brighter and fresher than you’ve looked since you’ve been down here.”
 
“The wood is real open air,” said the princess.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 condescending avxzvU     
adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的
参考例句:
  • He has a condescending attitude towards women. 他对女性总是居高临下。
  • He tends to adopt a condescending manner when talking to young women. 和年轻女子说话时,他喜欢摆出一副高高在上的姿态。
2 proprietary PiZyG     
n.所有权,所有的;独占的;业主
参考例句:
  • We had to take action to protect the proprietary technology.我们必须采取措施保护专利技术。
  • Proprietary right is the foundation of jus rerem.所有权是物权法之根基。
3 uncommon AlPwO     
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的
参考例句:
  • Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
  • Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。
4 uncommonly 9ca651a5ba9c3bff93403147b14d37e2     
adv. 稀罕(极,非常)
参考例句:
  • an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
  • My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。
5 solicitous CF8zb     
adj.热切的,挂念的
参考例句:
  • He was so solicitous of his guests.他对他的客人们非常关切。
  • I am solicitous of his help.我渴得到他的帮助。
6 solicitude mFEza     
n.焦虑
参考例句:
  • Your solicitude was a great consolation to me.你对我的关怀给了我莫大的安慰。
  • He is full of tender solicitude towards my sister.他对我妹妹满心牵挂。
7 remonstrated a6eda3fe26f748a6164faa22a84ba112     
v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 );告诫
参考例句:
  • They remonstrated with the official about the decision. 他们就这一决定向这位官员提出了抗议。
  • We remonstrated against the ill-treatment of prisoners of war. 我们对虐待战俘之事提出抗议。 来自辞典例句
8 tenor LIxza     
n.男高音(歌手),次中音(乐器),要旨,大意
参考例句:
  • The tenor of his speech was that war would come.他讲话的大意是战争将要发生。
  • The four parts in singing are soprano,alto,tenor and bass.唱歌的四个声部是女高音、女低音、男高音和男低音。
9 inmates 9f4380ba14152f3e12fbdf1595415606     
n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 whittle 0oHyz     
v.削(木头),削减;n.屠刀
参考例句:
  • They are trying to whittle down our salaries.他们正着手削减我们的薪水。
  • He began to whittle away all powers of the government that he did not control.他开始削弱他所未能控制的一切政府权力。
11 grumbling grumbling     
adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的
参考例句:
  • She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
  • We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。
12 consolation WpbzC     
n.安慰,慰问
参考例句:
  • The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
  • This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。
13 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
14 monotonous FwQyJ     
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
  • His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律,一个调调儿。
15 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
16 corruption TzCxn     
n.腐败,堕落,贪污
参考例句:
  • The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
  • The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。
17 tenant 0pbwd     
n.承租人;房客;佃户;v.租借,租用
参考例句:
  • The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
  • The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。
18 aloofness 25ca9c51f6709fb14da321a67a42da8a     
超然态度
参考例句:
  • Why should I have treated him with such sharp aloofness? 但我为什么要给人一些严厉,一些端庄呢? 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
  • He had an air of haughty aloofness. 他有一种高傲的神情。 来自辞典例句
19 patriotic T3Izu     
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的
参考例句:
  • His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
  • The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。
20 patriot a3kzu     
n.爱国者,爱国主义者
参考例句:
  • He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
  • He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。
21 gushing 313eef130292e797ea104703d9458f2d     
adj.迸出的;涌出的;喷出的;过分热情的v.喷,涌( gush的现在分词 );滔滔不绝地说话
参考例句:
  • blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
  • The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
22 pastor h3Ozz     
n.牧师,牧人
参考例句:
  • He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
  • We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师:教会的事是由五位执事管理的。
23 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
24 baroness 2yjzAa     
n.男爵夫人,女男爵
参考例句:
  • I'm sure the Baroness will be able to make things fine for you.我相信男爵夫人能够把家里的事替你安排妥当的。
  • The baroness,who had signed,returned the pen to the notary.男爵夫人这时已签过字,把笔交回给律师。
25 abated ba788157839fe5f816c707e7a7ca9c44     
减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 ); 减去; 降价; 撤消(诉讼)
参考例句:
  • The worker's concern about cuts in the welfare funding has not abated. 工人们对削减福利基金的关心并没有减少。
  • The heat has abated. 温度降低了。
26 hostility hdyzQ     
n.敌对,敌意;抵制[pl.]交战,战争
参考例句:
  • There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
  • His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。
27 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
28 joyfully joyfully     
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着,脚底下轻飘飘的。
  • During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里,她干得很高兴。
29 ripen ph3yq     
vt.使成熟;vi.成熟
参考例句:
  • I'm waiting for the apples to ripen.我正在等待苹果成熟。
  • You can ripen the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill.把西红柿放在有阳光的窗台上可以让它们成熟。
30 piquant N2fza     
adj.辛辣的,开胃的,令人兴奋的
参考例句:
  • Bland vegetables are often served with a piquant sauce.清淡的蔬菜常以辛辣的沙司调味。
  • He heard of a piquant bit of news.他听到了一则令人兴奋的消息。
31 sterling yG8z6     
adj.英币的(纯粹的,货真价实的);n.英国货币(英镑)
参考例句:
  • Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率?
  • Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺,这有助于减轻通胀压力。
32 invalid V4Oxh     
n.病人,伤残人;adj.有病的,伤残的;无效的
参考例句:
  • He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
  • A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。
33 backbone ty0z9B     
n.脊骨,脊柱,骨干;刚毅,骨气
参考例句:
  • The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
  • The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。
34 scouting 8b7324e25eaaa6b714e9a16b4d65d5e8     
守候活动,童子军的活动
参考例句:
  • I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
  • Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分
35 bough 4ReyO     
n.大树枝,主枝
参考例句:
  • I rested my fishing rod against a pine bough.我把钓鱼竿靠在一棵松树的大树枝上。
  • Every bough was swinging in the wind.每条树枝都在风里摇摆。
36 disquieted e705be49b0a827fe41d115e658e5d697     
v.使不安,使忧虑,使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • People are disquieted [on tenterhooks]. 人心惶惶。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The bad news disquieted him. 恶讯使他焦急不安。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
37 flicked 7c535fef6da8b8c191b1d1548e9e790a     
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等)
参考例句:
  • She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
  • I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。
38 sprawled 6cc8223777584147c0ae6b08b9304472     
v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词);蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着)
参考例句:
  • He was sprawled full-length across the bed. 他手脚摊开横躺在床上。
  • He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV. 他四肢伸开正懒散地靠在扶手椅上看电视。
39 guardian 8ekxv     
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者
参考例句:
  • The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
  • The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。
40 beads 894701f6859a9d5c3c045fd6f355dbf5     
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链
参考例句:
  • a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
  • Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。
41 discomfort cuvxN     
n.不舒服,不安,难过,困难,不方便
参考例句:
  • One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
  • She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。
42 boredom ynByy     
n.厌烦,厌倦,乏味,无聊
参考例句:
  • Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
  • A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。
43 amicably amicably     
adv.友善地
参考例句:
  • Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵,口吻也马上变得温和了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The couple parted amicably. 这对夫妻客气地分手了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
44 guilt 9e6xr     
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责
参考例句:
  • She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
  • Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。
45 haughtily haughtily     
adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地
参考例句:
  • She carries herself haughtily. 她举止傲慢。
  • Haughtily, he stalked out onto the second floor where I was standing. 他傲然跨出电梯,走到二楼,我刚好站在那儿。
46 accurately oJHyf     
adv.准确地,精确地
参考例句:
  • It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
  • Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。
47 perplexed A3Rz0     
adj.不知所措的
参考例句:
  • The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛,走了又回来,犹豫不决,总怕上当受骗。
  • The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。
48 serene PD2zZ     
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的
参考例句:
  • He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
  • He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多,只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。
49 limpid 43FyK     
adj.清澈的,透明的
参考例句:
  • He has a pair of limpid blue eyes.他有一双清澈的蓝眼睛。
  • The sky was a limpid blue,as if swept clean of everything.碧空如洗。
50 triangular 7m1wc     
adj.三角(形)的,三者间的
参考例句:
  • It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
  • One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。
51 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
52 irresolutely bd48a0849e0a868390b09177fd05c8ef     
adv.优柔寡断地
参考例句:
  • He followed irresolutely for a little distance, half a pace behind her. 他犹豫地跟了短短的一段距离,落在她身后半步路。 来自英汉文学
  • She arose and stood irresolutely at the foot of the stairs. 她起身来到楼梯脚下,犹豫不定地站在那里。 来自飘(部分)
53 persuasive 0MZxR     
adj.有说服力的,能说得使人相信的
参考例句:
  • His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
  • The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。
54 barons d288a7d0097bc7a8a6a4398b999b01f6     
男爵( baron的名词复数 ); 巨头; 大王; 大亨
参考例句:
  • The barons of Normandy had refused to countenance the enterprise officially. 诺曼底的贵族们拒绝正式赞助这桩买卖。
  • The barons took the oath which Stephen Langton prescribed. 男爵们照斯蒂芬?兰顿的指导宣了誓。
55 pensively 0f673d10521fb04c1a2f12fdf08f9f8c     
adv.沉思地,焦虑地
参考例句:
  • Garton pensively stirred the hotchpotch of his hair. 加顿沉思着搅动自己的乱发。 来自辞典例句
  • "Oh, me,'said Carrie, pensively. "I wish I could live in such a place." “唉,真的,"嘉莉幽幽地说,"我真想住在那种房子里。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
56 reassured ff7466d942d18e727fb4d5473e62a235     
adj.使消除疑虑的;使放心的v.再保证,恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
57 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
58 disperse ulxzL     
vi.使分散;使消失;vt.分散;驱散
参考例句:
  • The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
  • The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。
59 dignified NuZzfb     
a.可敬的,高贵的
参考例句:
  • Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中,他始终沉默以保持尊严。
  • He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。
60 etiquette Xiyz0     
n.礼仪,礼节;规矩
参考例句:
  • The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
  • According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。
61 sedately 386884bbcb95ae680147d354e80cbcd9     
adv.镇静地,安详地
参考例句:
  • Life in the country's south-west glides along rather sedately. 中国西南部的生活就相对比较平静。 来自互联网
  • She conducts herself sedately. 她举止端庄。 来自互联网
62 prim SSIz3     
adj.拘泥形式的,一本正经的;n.循规蹈矩,整洁;adv.循规蹈矩地,整洁地
参考例句:
  • She's too prim to enjoy rude jokes!她太古板,不喜欢听粗野的笑话!
  • He is prim and precise in manner.他的态度一本正经而严谨
63 forefingers bbbf13bee533051afd8603b643f543f1     
n.食指( forefinger的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • When her eyes were withdrawn, he secretly crossed his two forefingers. 一等她的眼睛转过去,他便偷偷用两个食指交叠成一个十字架。 来自辞典例句
  • The ornithologists made Vs with their thumbs and forefingers, measuring angles. 鸟类学家们用大拇指和食指构成V形量测角度。 来自互联网
64 galling galling     
adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的
参考例句:
  • It was galling to have to apologize to a man she hated. 令人恼火的是得向她憎恶的男人道歉。
  • The insolence in the fellow's eye was galling. 这家伙的傲慢目光令人恼怒。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
65 awed a0ab9008d911a954b6ce264ddc63f5c8     
adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声,人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
66 harassed 50b529f688471b862d0991a96b6a1e55     
adj. 疲倦的,厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
  • harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们
67 appalling iNwz9     
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的
参考例句:
  • The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
  • Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。
68 breach 2sgzw     
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破
参考例句:
  • We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
  • He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。
69 obsequious tR5zM     
adj.谄媚的,奉承的,顺从的
参考例句:
  • He looked at the two ladies with an obsequious air.他看着两位太太,满脸谄媚的神情。
  • He was obsequious to his superiors,but he didn't get any favor.他巴结上司,但没得到任何好处。
70 delightful 6xzxT     
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的
参考例句:
  • We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
  • Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。
71 stammered 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721     
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠,结结巴巴地说,“你是什么意思?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
72 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
73 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
74 soothing soothing     
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的
参考例句:
  • Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
  • His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。
75 exalted ztiz6f     
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的
参考例句:
  • Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
  • He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。
76 animated Cz7zMa     
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的
参考例句:
  • His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
  • We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。
77 awakened de71059d0b3cd8a1de21151c9166f9f0     
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到
参考例句:
  • She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
  • The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
78 waddled c1cfb61097c12b4812327074b8bc801d     
v.(像鸭子一样)摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • A family of ducks waddled along the river bank. 一群鸭子沿河岸摇摇摆摆地走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The stout old man waddled across the road. 那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
79 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
80 tartlet tartlet     
n.小形的果子馅饼
参考例句:
81 baronesses 88e4d55b28435bd4bbaa6c7779f7f72b     
n.女男爵( baroness的名词复数 );男爵夫人[寡妇]
参考例句:
82 suavely bf927b238f6b3c8e93107a4fece9a398     
参考例句:
  • He is suavely charming and all the ladies love him. 他温文尔雅,女士们都喜欢他。 来自互联网
  • Jiro: (Suavely) What do you think? What do you feel I'm like right now? 大东﹕(耍帅)你认为呢﹖我现在给你的感觉如何﹖。 来自互联网
83 puckered 919dc557997e8559eff50805cb11f46e     
v.(使某物)起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • His face puckered , and he was ready to cry. 他的脸一皱,像要哭了。
  • His face puckered, the tears leapt from his eyes. 他皱着脸,眼泪夺眶而出。 来自《简明英汉词典》
84 hesitation tdsz5     
n.犹豫,踌躇
参考例句:
  • After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天,他终于直说了。
  • There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。
85 adjured 54d0111fc852e2afe5e05a3caf8222af     
v.(以起誓或诅咒等形式)命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 );祈求;恳求
参考例句:
  • He adjured them to tell the truth. 他要求他们讲真话。
  • The guides now adjured us to keep the strictest silence. 这时向导恳求我们保持绝对寂静。 来自辞典例句
86 demurely demurely     
adv.装成端庄地,认真地
参考例句:
  • "On the forehead, like a good brother,'she answered demurely. "吻前额,像个好哥哥那样,"她故作正经地回答说。 来自飘(部分)
  • Punctuation is the way one bats one's eyes, lowers one's voice or blushes demurely. 标点就像人眨眨眼睛,低声细语,或伍犯作态。 来自名作英译部分


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