An old man and a boy travelled along this runway. They moved slowly, for the old man was very old, a touch of palsy made his movements tremulous, and he leaned heavily upon his staff. A rude skull-cap of goat-skin protected his head from the sun. From beneath this fell a scant8 fringe of stained and dirty-white hair. A visor, ingeniously made from a large leaf, shielded his eyes, and from under this he peered at the way of his feet on the trail. His beard, which should have been snow-white but which showed the same weather-wear and camp-stain as his hair, fell nearly to his waist in a great tangled9 mass. About his chest and shoulders hung a single, mangy garment of goat-skin. His arms and legs, withered11 and skinny, betokened12 extreme age, as well as did their sunburn and scars and scratches betoken13 long years of exposure to the elements.
The boy, who led the way, checking the eagerness of his muscles to the slow progress of the elder, likewise wore a single garment—a ragged-edged piece of bear-skin, with a hole in the middle through which he had thrust his head. He could not have been more than twelve years old. Tucked coquettishly over one ear was the freshly severed14 tail of a pig. In one hand he carried a medium-sized bow and an arrow.
On his back was a quiverful of arrows. From a sheath hanging about his neck on a thong15, projected the battered16 handle of a hunting knife. He was as brown as a berry, and walked softly, with almost a catlike tread. In marked contrast with his sunburned skin were his eyes—blue, deep blue, but keen and sharp as a pair of gimlets. They seemed to bore into aft about him in a way that was habitual17. As he went along he smelled things, as well, his distended18, quivering nostrils19 carrying to his brain an endless series of messages from the outside world. Also, his hearing was acute, and had been so trained that it operated automatically. Without conscious effort, he heard all the slight sounds in the apparent quiet—heard, and differentiated20, and classified these sounds—whether they were of the wind rustling21 the leaves, of the humming of bees and gnats22, of the distant rumble23 of the sea that drifted to him only in lulls24, or of the gopher, just under his foot, shoving a pouchful of earth into the entrance of his hole.
Suddenly he became alertly tense. Sound, sight, and odor had given him a simultaneous warning. His hand went back to the old man, touching26 him, and the pair stood still. Ahead, at one side of the top of the embankment, arose a crackling sound, and the boy's gaze was fixed27 on the tops of the agitated28 bushes. Then a large bear, a grizzly29, crashed into view, and likewise stopped abruptly31, at sight of the humans. He did not like them, and growled32 querulously. Slowly the boy fitted the arrow to the bow, and slowly he pulled the bowstring taut33. But he never removed his eyes from the bear.
The old man peered from under his green leaf at the danger, and stood as quietly as the boy. For a few seconds this mutual34 scrutinizing35 went on; then, the bear betraying a growing irritability36, the boy, with a movement of his head, indicated that the old man must step aside from the trail and go down the embankment. The boy followed, going backward, still holding the bow taut and ready. They waited till a crashing among the bushes from the opposite side of the embankment told them the bear had gone on. The boy grinned as he led back to the trail.
The old man shook his head.
“They get thicker every day,” he complained in a thin, undependable falsetto. “Who'd have thought I'd live to see the time when a man would be afraid of his life on the way to the Cliff House. When I was a boy, Edwin, men and women and little babies used to come out here from San Francisco by tens of thousands on a nice day. And there weren't any bears then. No, sir. They used to pay money to look at them in cages, they were that rare.”
“What is money, Granser?”
Before the old man could answer, the boy recollected38 and triumphantly39 shoved his hand into a pouch25 under his bear-skin and pulled forth40 a battered and tarnished41 silver dollar. The old man's eyes glistened42, as he held the coin close to them.
“I can't see,” he muttered. “You look and see if you can make out the date, Edwin.”
The boy laughed.
“You're a great Granser,” he cried delightedly, “always making believe them little marks mean something.”
The old man manifested an accustomed chagrin43 as he brought the coin back again close to his own eyes.
“2012,” he shrilled44, and then fell to cackling grotesquely45. “That was the year Morgan the Fifth was appointed President of the United States by the Board of Magnates. It must have been one of the last coins minted, for the Scarlet46 Death came in 2013. Lord! Lord!—think of it! Sixty years ago, and I am the only person alive to-day that lived in those times. Where did you find it, Edwin?”
The boy, who had been regarding him with the tolerant curiousness one accords to the prattlings of the feeble-minded, answered promptly47.
“I got it off of Hoo-Hoo. He found it when we was herdin' goats down near San José last spring. Hoo-Hoo said it was money. Ain't you hungry, Granser?”
The ancient caught his staff in a tighter grip and urged along the trail, his old eyes shining greedily.
“I hope Hare-Lip 's found a crab48... or two,” he mumbled49. “They're good eating, crabs50, mighty51 good eating when you've no more teeth and you've got grandsons that love their old grandsire and make a point of catching52 crabs for him. When I was a boy—”
But Edwin, suddenly stopped by what he saw, was drawing the bowstring on a fitted arrow. He had paused on the brink53 of a crevasse54 in the embankment. An ancient culvert had here washed out, and the stream, no longer confined, had cut a passage through the fill. On the opposite side, the end of a rail projected and overhung. It showed rustily55 through the creeping vines which overran it. Beyond, crouching56 by a bush, a rabbit looked across at him in trembling hesitancy. Fully57 fifty feet was the distance, but the arrow flashed true; and the transfixed rabbit, crying out in sudden fright and hurt, struggled painfully away into the brush. The boy himself was a flash of brown skin and flying fur as he bounded down the steep wall of the gap and up the other side. His lean muscles were springs of steel that released into graceful58 and efficient action. A hundred feet beyond, in a tangle10 of bushes, he overtook the wounded creature, knocked its head on a convenient tree-trunk, and turned it over to Granser to carry.
“Rabbit is good, very good,” the ancient quavered, “but when it comes to a toothsome delicacy59 I prefer crab. When I was a boy—”
“Why do you say so much that ain't got no sense?” Edwin impatiently interrupted the other's threatened garrulousness60.
The boy did not exactly utter these words, but something that remotely resembled them and that was more guttural and explosive and economical of qualifying phrases. His speech showed distant kinship with that of the old man, and the latter's speech was approximately an English that had gone through a bath of corrupt61 usage.
“What I want to know,” Edwin continued, “is why you call crab 'toothsome delicacy'? Crab is crab, ain't it? No one I never heard calls it such funny things.”
The old man sighed but did not answer, and they moved on in silence. The surf grew suddenly louder, as they emerged from the forest upon a stretch of sand dunes62 bordering the sea. A few goats were browsing63 among the sandy hillocks, and a skin-clad boy, aided by a wolfish-looking dog that was only faintly reminiscent of a collie, was watching them. Mingled64 with the roar of the surf was a continuous, deep-throated barking or bellowing65, which came from a cluster of jagged rocks a hundred yards out from shore. Here huge sea-lions hauled themselves up to lie in the sun or battle with one another. In the immediate66 foreground arose the smoke of a fire, tended by a third savage67-looking boy. Crouched68 near him were several wolfish dogs similar to the one that guarded the goats.
“Mussels!” he muttered ecstatically. “Mussels! And ain't that a crab, Hoo-Hoo? Ain't that a crab? My, my, you boys are good to your old grandsire.”
Hoo-Hoo, who was apparently70 of the same age as Edwin, grinned.
“All you want, Granser. I got four.”
The old man's palsied eagerness was pitiful. Sitting down in the sand as quickly as his stiff limbs would let him, he poked71 a large rock-mussel from out of the coals. The heat had forced its shells apart, and the meat, salmon-colored, was thoroughly72 cooked. Between thumb and forefinger73, in trembling haste, he caught the morsel74 and carried it to his mouth. But it was too hot, and the next moment was violently ejected. The old man spluttered with the pain, and tears ran out of his eyes and down his cheeks.
The boys were true savages75, possessing only the cruel humor of the savage. To them the incident was excruciatingly funny, and they burst into loud laughter. Hoo-Hoo danced up and down, while Edwin rolled gleefully on the ground. The boy with the goats came running to join in the fun.
“Set 'em to cool, Edwin, set 'em to cool,” the old man besought76, in the midst of his grief, making no attempt to wipe away the tears that still flowed from his eyes. “And cool a crab, Edwin, too. You know your grandsire likes crabs.”
From the coals arose a great sizzling, which proceeded from the many mussels bursting open their shells and exuding77 their moisture. They were large shellfish, running from three to six inches in length. The boys raked them out with sticks and placed them on a large piece of driftwood to cool.
“When I was a boy, we did not laugh at our elders; we respected them.”
The boys took no notice, and Granser continued to babble78 an incoherent flow of complaint and censure79. But this time he was more careful, and did not burn his mouth. All began to eat, using nothing but their hands and making loud mouth-noises and lip-smackings. The third boy, who was called Hare-Lip, slyly deposited a pinch of sand on a mussel the ancient was carrying to his mouth; and when the grit80 of it bit into the old fellow's mucous81 membrane82 and gums, the laughter was again uproarious. He was unaware83 that a joke had been played on him, and spluttered and spat84 until Edwin, relenting, gave him a gourd85 of fresh water with which to wash out his mouth.
“Where's them crabs, Hoo-Hoo?” Edwin demanded. “Granser's set upon having a snack.”
Again Granser's eyes burned with greediness as a large crab was handed to him. It was a shell with legs and all complete, but the meat had long since departed. With shaky fingers and babblings of anticipation87, the old man broke off a leg and found it filled with emptiness.
“I was fooling Granser. They ain't no crabs! I never found one.”
The boys were overwhelmed with delight at sight of the tears of senile disappointment that dribbled89 down the old man's cheeks. Then, unnoticed, Hoo-Hoo replaced the empty shell with a fresh-cooked crab. Already dismembered, from the cracked legs the white meat sent forth a small cloud of savory90 steam. This attracted the old man's nostrils, and he looked down in amazement91.
The change of his mood to one of joy was immediate. He snuffled and muttered and mumbled, making almost a croon of delight, as he began to eat. Of this the boys took little notice, for it was an accustomed spectacle. Nor did they notice his occasional exclamations92 and utterances93 of phrases which meant nothing to them, as, for instance, when he smacked94 his lips and champed his gums while muttering: “Mayonnaise! Just think—mayonnaise! And it's sixty years since the last was ever made! Two generations and never a smell of it! Why, in those days it was served in every restaurant with crab.”
When he could eat no more, the old man sighed, wiped his hands on his naked legs, and gazed out over the sea. With the content of a full stomach, he waxed reminiscent.
“To think of it! I've seen this beach alive with men, women, and children on a pleasant Sunday. And there weren't any bears to eat them up, either. And right up there on the cliff was a big restaurant where you could get anything you wanted to eat. Four million people lived in San Francisco then. And now, in the whole city and county there aren't forty all told. And out there on the sea were ships and ships always to be seen, going in for the Golden Gate or coming out. And airships in the air—dirigibles and flying machines. They could travel two hundred miles an hour. The mail contracts with the New York and San Francisco Limited demanded that for the minimum. There was a chap, a Frenchman, I forget his name, who succeeded in making three hundred; but the thing was risky95, too risky for conservative persons. But he was on the right clew, and he would have managed it if it hadn't been for the Great Plague. When I was a boy, there were men alive who remembered the coming of the first aeroplanes, and now I have lived to see the last of them, and that sixty years ago.”
The old man babbled96 on, unheeded by the boys, who were long accustomed to his garrulousness, and whose vocabularies, besides, lacked the greater portion of the words he used. It was noticeable that in these rambling97 soliloquies his English seemed to recrudesce into better construction and phraseology. But when he talked directly with the boys it lapsed98, largely, into their own uncouth100 and simpler forms.
“But there weren't many crabs in those days,” the old man wandered on. “They were fished out, and they were great delicacies101. The open season was only a month long, too. And now crabs are accessible the whole year around. Think of it—catching all the crabs you want, any time you want, in the surf of the Cliff House beach!”
A sudden commotion102 among the goats brought the boys to their feet. The dogs about the fire rushed to join their snarling103 fellow who guarded the goats, while the goats themselves stampeded in the direction of their human protectors. A half dozen forms, lean and gray, glided104 about on the sand hillocks and faced the bristling105 dogs. Edwin arched an arrow that fell short. But Hare-Lip, with a sling106 such as David carried into battle against Goliath, hurled107 a stone through the air that whistled from the speed of its flight. It fell squarely among the wolves and caused them to slink away toward the dark depths of the eucalyptus108 forest.
The boys laughed and lay down again in the sand, while Granser sighed ponderously109. He had eaten too much, and, with hands clasped on his paunch, the fingers interlaced, he resumed his maunderings.
“'The fleeting110 systems lapse99 like foam111,'” he mumbled what was evidently a quotation112. “That's it—foam, and fleeting. All man's toil113 upon the planet was just so much foam. He domesticated114 the serviceable animals, destroyed the hostile ones, and cleared the land of its wild vegetation. And then he passed, and the flood of primordial115 life rolled back again, sweeping116 his handiwork away—the weeds and the forest inundated117 his fields, the beasts of prey118 swept over his flocks, and now there are wolves on the Cliff House beach.” He was appalled119 by the thought. “Where four million people disported120 themselves, the wild wolves roam to-day, and the savage progeny121 of our loins, with prehistoric122 weapons, defend themselves against the fanged123 despoilers. Think of it! And all because of the Scarlet Death—”
The adjective had caught Hare-Lip's ear.
“He's always saying that,” he said to Edwin. “What is scarlet?”
“'The scarlet of the maples124 can shake me like the cry of bugles125 going by,'” the old man quoted.
“It's red,” Edwin answered the question. “And you don't know it because you come from the Chauffeur126 Tribe. They never did know nothing, none of them. Scarlet is red—I know that.”
“Red is red, ain't it?” Hare-Lip grumbled127. “Then what's the good of gettin' cocky and calling it scarlet?”
“Granser, what for do you always say so much what nobody knows?” he asked. “Scarlet ain't anything, but red is red. Why don't you say red, then?”
“Red is not the right word,” was the reply. “The plague was scarlet. The whole face and body turned scarlet in an hour's time. Don't I know? Didn't I see enough of it? And I am telling you it was scarlet because—well, because it was scarlet. There is no other word for it.”
“Red is good enough for me,” Hare-Lip muttered obstinately128. “My dad calls red red, and he ought to know. He says everybody died of the Red Death.”
“Your dad is a common fellow, descended129 from a common fellow,” Granser retorted heatedly. “Don't I know the beginnings of the Chauffeurs130? Your grandsire was a chauffeur, a servant, and without education. He worked for other persons. But your grandmother was of good stock, only the children did not take after her. Don't I remember when I first met them, catching fish at Lake Temescal?”
“What is education?” Edwin asked.
“Calling red scarlet,” Hare-Lip sneered131, then returned to the attack on Granser. “My dad told me, an' he got it from his dad afore he croaked132, that your wife was a Santa Rosan, an' that she was sure no account. He said she was a hash-slinger before the Red Death, though I don't know what a hash-slinger is. You can tell me, Edwin.”
But Edwin shook his head in token of ignorance.
“It is true, she was a waitress,” Granser acknowledged. “But she was a good woman, and your mother was her daughter. Women were very scarce in the days after the Plague. She was the only wife I could find, even if she was a hash-slinger, as your father calls it. But it is not nice to talk about our progenitors133 that way.”
“Dad says that the wife of the first Chauffeur was a lady—”
“What's a lady?” Hoo-Hoo demanded.
“A lady 's a Chauffeur squaw,” was the quick reply of Hare-Lip.
“The first Chauffeur was Bill, a common fellow, as I said before,” the old man expounded134; “but his wife was a lady, a great lady. Before the Scarlet Death she was the wife of Van Worden. He was President of the Board of Industrial Magnates, and was one of the dozen men who ruled America. He was worth one billion, eight hundred millions of dollars—coins like you have there in your pouch, Edwin. And then came the Scarlet Death, and his wife became the wife of Bill, the first Chauffeur. He used to beat her, too. I have seen it myself.”
Hoo-Hoo, lying on his stomach and idly digging his toes in the sand, cried out and investigated, first, his toe-nail, and next, the small hole he had dug. The other two boys joined him, excavating135 the sand rapidly with their hands till there lay three skeletons exposed. Two were of adults, the third being that of a part-grown child. The old man trudged136 along on the ground and peered at the find.
“Plague victims,” he announced. “That's the way they died everywhere in the last days. This must have been a family, running away from the contagion137 and perishing here on the Cliff House beach. They—what are you doing, Edwin?”
This question was asked in sudden dismay, as Edwin, using the back of his hunting knife, began to knock out the teeth from the jaws138 of one of the skulls139.
“Going to string 'em,” was the response.
The three boys were now hard at it; and quite a knocking and hammering arose, in which Granser babbled on unnoticed.
“You are true savages. Already has begun the custom of wearing human teeth. In another generation you will be perforating your noses and ears and wearing ornaments140 of bone and shell. I know. The human race is doomed141 to sink back farther and farther into the primitive142 night ere again it begins its bloody143 climb upward to civilization. When we increase and feel the lack of room, we will proceed to kill one another. And then I suppose you will wear human scalp-locks at your waist, as well—as you, Edwin, who are the gentlest of my grandsons, have already begun with that vile144 pigtail. Throw it away, Edwin, boy; throw it away.”
“What a gabble the old geezer makes,” Hare-Lip remarked, when, the teeth all extracted, they began an attempt at equal division.
They were very quick and abrupt30 in their actions, and their speech, in moments of hot discussion over the allotment of the choicer teeth, was truly a gabble. They spoke145 in monosyllables and short jerky sentences that was more a gibberish than a language. And yet, through it ran hints of grammatical construction, and appeared vestiges146 of the conjugation of some superior culture. Even the speech of Granser was so corrupt that were it put down literally147 it would be almost so much nonsense to the reader. This, however, was when he talked with the boys.
When he got into the full swing of babbling86 to himself, it slowly purged148 itself into pure English. The sentences grew longer and were enunciated149 with a rhythm and ease that was reminiscent of the lecture platform.
“Tell us about the Red Death, Granser,” Hare-Lip demanded, when the teeth affair had been satisfactorily concluded.
“The Scarlet Death,” Edwin corrected.
“An' don't work all that funny lingo150 on us,” Hare-Lip went on. “Talk sensible, Granser, like a Santa Rosan ought to talk. Other Santa Rosans don't talk like you.”
该作者的其它作品
《The Sea-Wolf海狼》
《白牙 White Fang》
《The Son of the Wolf狼孩儿》
该作者的其它作品
《The Sea-Wolf海狼》
《白牙 White Fang》
《The Son of the Wolf狼孩儿》
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1 swelled | |
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
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2 crested | |
adj.有顶饰的,有纹章的,有冠毛的v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的过去式和过去分词 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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3 rusty | |
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的 | |
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4 spike | |
n.长钉,钉鞋;v.以大钉钉牢,使...失效 | |
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5 gravel | |
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石 | |
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6 crumbling | |
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7 slant | |
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8 scant | |
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9 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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10 tangle | |
n.纠缠;缠结;混乱;v.(使)缠绕;变乱 | |
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11 withered | |
adj. 枯萎的,干瘪的,(人身体的部分器官)因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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12 betokened | |
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13 betoken | |
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14 severed | |
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15 thong | |
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16 battered | |
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17 habitual | |
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18 distended | |
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19 nostrils | |
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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20 differentiated | |
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21 rustling | |
n. 瑟瑟声,沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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22 gnats | |
n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
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23 rumble | |
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24 lulls | |
n.间歇期(lull的复数形式)vt.使镇静,使安静(lull的第三人称单数形式) | |
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25 pouch | |
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26 touching | |
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28 agitated | |
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29 grizzly | |
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30 abrupt | |
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31 abruptly | |
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32 growled | |
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34 mutual | |
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35 scrutinizing | |
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36 irritability | |
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40 forth | |
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41 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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45 grotesquely | |
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46 scarlet | |
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47 promptly | |
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48 crab | |
n.螃蟹,偏航,脾气乖戾的人,酸苹果;vi.捕蟹,偏航,发牢骚;vt.使偏航,发脾气 | |
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49 mumbled | |
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50 crabs | |
n.蟹( crab的名词复数 );阴虱寄生病;蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 ) | |
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51 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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52 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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53 brink | |
n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘,边沿 | |
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54 crevasse | |
n. 裂缝,破口;v.使有裂缝 | |
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55 rustily | |
锈蚀地,声音沙哑地 | |
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56 crouching | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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57 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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58 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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59 delicacy | |
n.精致,细微,微妙,精良;美味,佳肴 | |
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60 garrulousness | |
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61 corrupt | |
v.贿赂,收买;adj.腐败的,贪污的 | |
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62 dunes | |
沙丘( dune的名词复数 ) | |
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63 browsing | |
v.吃草( browse的现在分词 );随意翻阅;(在商店里)随便看看;(在计算机上)浏览信息 | |
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64 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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65 bellowing | |
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的现在分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫 | |
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66 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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67 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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68 crouched | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69 sniffing | |
n.探查法v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的现在分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说 | |
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70 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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71 poked | |
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交 | |
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72 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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73 forefinger | |
n.食指 | |
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74 morsel | |
n.一口,一点点 | |
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75 savages | |
未开化的人,野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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76 besought | |
v.恳求,乞求(某事物)( beseech的过去式和过去分词 );(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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77 exuding | |
v.缓慢流出,渗出,分泌出( exude的现在分词 );流露出对(某物)的神态或感情 | |
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78 babble | |
v.含糊不清地说,胡言乱语地说,儿语 | |
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79 censure | |
v./n.责备;非难;责难 | |
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80 grit | |
n.沙粒,决心,勇气;v.下定决心,咬紧牙关 | |
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81 mucous | |
adj. 黏液的,似黏液的 | |
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82 membrane | |
n.薄膜,膜皮,羊皮纸 | |
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83 unaware | |
a.不知道的,未意识到的 | |
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84 spat | |
n.口角,掌击;v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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85 gourd | |
n.葫芦 | |
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86 babbling | |
n.胡说,婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 );作潺潺声(如流水);含糊不清地说话;泄漏秘密 | |
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87 anticipation | |
n.预期,预料,期望 | |
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88 wailed | |
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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89 dribbled | |
v.流口水( dribble的过去式和过去分词 );(使液体)滴下或作细流;运球,带球 | |
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90 savory | |
adj.风味极佳的,可口的,味香的 | |
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91 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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92 exclamations | |
n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 );感叹;感叹语;感叹词 | |
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93 utterances | |
n.发声( utterance的名词复数 );说话方式;语调;言论 | |
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94 smacked | |
拍,打,掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95 risky | |
adj.有风险的,冒险的 | |
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96 babbled | |
v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 );作潺潺声(如流水);含糊不清地说话;泄漏秘密 | |
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97 rambling | |
adj.[建]凌乱的,杂乱的 | |
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98 lapsed | |
adj.流失的,堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 );陷入;倒退;丧失 | |
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99 lapse | |
n.过失,流逝,失效,抛弃信仰,间隔;vi.堕落,停止,失效,流逝;vt.使失效 | |
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100 uncouth | |
adj.无教养的,粗鲁的 | |
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101 delicacies | |
n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 );精致;精美的食物;周到 | |
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102 commotion | |
n.骚动,动乱 | |
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103 snarling | |
v.(指狗)吠,嗥叫, (人)咆哮( snarl的现在分词 );咆哮着说,厉声地说 | |
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104 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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105 bristling | |
a.竖立的 | |
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106 sling | |
vt.扔;悬挂;n.挂带;吊索,吊兜;弹弓 | |
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107 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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108 eucalyptus | |
n.桉树,桉属植物 | |
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109 ponderously | |
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110 fleeting | |
adj.短暂的,飞逝的 | |
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111 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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112 quotation | |
n.引文,引语,语录;报价,牌价,行情 | |
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113 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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114 domesticated | |
adj.喜欢家庭生活的;(指动物)被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115 primordial | |
adj.原始的;最初的 | |
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116 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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117 inundated | |
v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 );(洪水般地)涌来;充满;给予或交予(太多事物)使难以应付 | |
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118 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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119 appalled | |
v.使惊骇,使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的;丧胆的 | |
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120 disported | |
v.嬉戏,玩乐,自娱( disport的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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121 progeny | |
n.后代,子孙;结果 | |
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122 prehistoric | |
adj.(有记载的)历史以前的,史前的,古老的 | |
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123 fanged | |
adj.有尖牙的,有牙根的,有毒牙的 | |
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124 maples | |
槭树,枫树( maple的名词复数 ); 槭木 | |
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125 bugles | |
妙脆角,一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食; 号角( bugle的名词复数 ); 喇叭; 匍匐筋骨草; (装饰女服用的)柱状玻璃(或塑料)小珠 | |
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126 chauffeur | |
n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机;v.为…开车 | |
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127 grumbled | |
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声 | |
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128 obstinately | |
ad.固执地,顽固地 | |
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129 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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130 chauffeurs | |
n.受雇于人的汽车司机( chauffeur的名词复数 ) | |
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131 sneered | |
讥笑,冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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132 croaked | |
v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 );用粗的声音说 | |
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133 progenitors | |
n.祖先( progenitor的名词复数 );先驱;前辈;原本 | |
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134 expounded | |
论述,详细讲解( expound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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135 excavating | |
v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 );开凿;挖出;发掘 | |
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136 trudged | |
vt.& vi.跋涉,吃力地走(trudge的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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137 contagion | |
n.(通过接触的疾病)传染;蔓延 | |
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138 jaws | |
n.口部;嘴 | |
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139 skulls | |
颅骨( skull的名词复数 ); 脑袋; 脑子; 脑瓜 | |
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140 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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141 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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142 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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143 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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144 vile | |
adj.卑鄙的,可耻的,邪恶的;坏透的 | |
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145 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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146 vestiges | |
残余部分( vestige的名词复数 ); 遗迹; 痕迹; 毫不 | |
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147 literally | |
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实 | |
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148 purged | |
清除(政敌等)( purge的过去式和过去分词 ); 涤除(罪恶等); 净化(心灵、风气等); 消除(错事等)的不良影响 | |
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149 enunciated | |
v.(清晰地)发音( enunciate的过去式和过去分词 );确切地说明 | |
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150 lingo | |
n.语言不知所云,外国话,隐语 | |
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