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THE LESSON.
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 The first time I met him, to my knowledge, was on an evil-smelling, one-funnelled steam boat that in those days plied1 between London Bridge and Antwerp. He was walking the deck arm-in-arm with a showily dressed but decidedly attractive young woman; both of them talking and laughing loudly. It struck me as odd, finding him a fellow-traveller by such a route. The passage occupied eighteen hours, and the first-class return fare was one pound twelve and six, including three meals each way; drinks, as the contract was careful to explain, being extra. I was earning thirty shillings a week at the time as clerk with a firm of agents in Fenchurch Street. Our business was the purchasing of articles on commission for customers in India, and I had learned to be a judge of values. The beaver2 lined coat he was wearing—for the evening, although it was late summer, was chilly—must have cost him a couple of hundred pounds, while his carelessly displayed jewellery he could easily have pawned3 for a thousand or more.
 
I could not help staring at him, and once, as they passed, he returned my look.
 
After dinner, as I was leaning with my back against the gunwale on the starboard side, he came out of the only private cabin that the vessel4 boasted, and taking up a position opposite to me, with his legs well apart and a big cigar between his thick lips, stood coolly regarding me, as if appraising5 me.
 
"Treating yourself to a little holiday on the Continent?" he inquired.
 
I had not been quite sure before he spoke6, but his lisp, though slight, betrayed the Jew. His features were coarse, almost brutal7; but the restless eyes were so brilliant, the whole face so suggestive of power and character, that, taking him as a whole, the feeling he inspired was admiration8, tempered by fear. His tone was one of kindly9 contempt—the tone of a man accustomed to find most people his inferiors, and too used to the discovery to be conceited10 about it.
 
Behind it was a note of authority that it did not occur to me to dispute.
 
"Yes," I answered, adding the information that I had never been abroad before, and had heard that Antwerp was an interesting town.
 
"How long have you got?" he asked.
 
"A fortnight," I told him.
 
"Like to see a bit more than Antwerp, if you could afford it, wouldn't you?" he suggested. "Fascinating little country Holland. Just long enough—a fortnight—to do the whole of it. I'm a Dutchman, a Dutch Jew."
 
"You speak English just like an Englishman," I told him. It was somehow in my mind to please him. I could hardly have explained why.
 
"And half a dozen other languages equally well," he answered, laughing. "I left Amsterdam when I was eighteen as steerage passenger in an emigrant11 ship. I haven't seen it since."
 
He closed the cabin door behind him, and, crossing over, laid a strong hand on my shoulder.
 
"I will make a proposal to you," he said. "My business is not of the kind that can be put out of mind, even for a few days, and there are reasons"—he glanced over his shoulder towards the cabin door, and gave vent12 to a short laugh—"why I did not want to bring any of my own staff with me. If you care for a short tour, all expenses paid at slap-up hotels and a ten-pound note in your pocket at the end, you can have it for two hours' work a day."
 
I suppose my face expressed my acceptance, for he did not wait for me to speak.
 
"Only one thing I stipulate13 for," he added, "that you mind your own business and keep your mouth shut. You're by yourself, aren't you?"
 
"Yes," I told him.
 
He wrote on a sheet of his notebook, and, tearing it out, handed it to me.
 
"That's your hotel at Antwerp," he said. "You are Mr. Horatio Jones's secretary." He chuckled14 to himself as he repeated the name, which certainly did not fit him. "Knock at my sitting-room15 door at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Good night!"
 
He ended the conversation as abruptly16 as he had begun it, and returned to his cabin.
 
I got a glimpse of him next morning, coming out of the hotel bureau. He was speaking to the manager in French, and had evidently given instructions concerning me, for I found myself preceded by an obsequious17 waiter to quite a charming bedroom on the second floor, while the "English breakfast" placed before me later in the coffee-room was of a size and character that in those days I did not often enjoy. About the work, also, he was as good as his word. I was rarely occupied for more than two hours each morning. The duties consisted chiefly of writing letters and sending off telegrams. The letters he signed and had posted himself, so that I never learnt his real name—not during that fortnight—but I gathered enough to be aware that he was a man whose business interests must have been colossal18 and world-wide.
 
He never introduced me to "Mrs. Horatio Jones," and after a few days he seemed to be bored with her, so that often I would take her place as his companion in afternoon excursions.
 
I could not help liking19 the man. Strength always compels the adoration20 of youth; and there was something big and heroic about him. His daring, his swift decisions, his utter unscrupulousness, his occasional cruelty when necessity seemed to demand it. One could imagine him in earlier days a born leader of savage21 hordes22, a lover of fighting for its own sake, meeting all obstacles with fierce welcome, forcing his way onward23, indifferent to the misery24 and destruction caused by his progress, his eyes never swerving25 from their goal; yet not without a sense of rough justice, not altogether without kindliness26 when it could be indulged in without danger.
 
One afternoon he took me with him into the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, and threading his way without hesitation27 through its maze28 of unsavoury slums, paused before a narrow three-storeyed house overlooking a stagnant29 backwater.
 
"The room I was born in," he explained. "Window with the broken pane30 on the second floor. It has never been mended."
 
I stole a glance at him. His face betrayed no suggestion of sentiment, but rather of amusement. He offered me a cigar, which I was glad of, for the stench from the offal-laden water behind us was distracting, and for a while we both smoked in silence: he with his eyes half-closed; it was a trick of his when working out a business problem.
 
"Curious, my making such a choice," he remarked. "A butcher's assistant for my father and a consumptive buttonhole-maker for my mother. I suppose I knew what I was about. Quite the right thing for me to have done, as it turned out."
 
I stared at him, wondering whether he was speaking seriously or in grim jest. He was given at times to making odd remarks. There was a vein31 of the fantastic in him that was continually cropping out and astonishing me.
 
"It was a bit risky," I suggested. "Better choose something a little safer next time."
 
He looked round at me sharply, and, not quite sure of his mood, I kept a grave face.
 
"Perhaps you are right," he agreed, with a laugh. "We must have a talk about it one day."
 
After that visit to the Goortgasse he was less reserved with me, and would often talk to me on subjects that I should never have guessed would have interested him. I found him a curious mixture. Behind the shrewd, cynical32 man of business I caught continual glimpses of the visionary.
 
I parted from him at The Hague. He paid my fare back to London, and gave me an extra pound for travelling expenses, together with the ten-pound note he had promised me. He had packed off "Mrs. Horatio Jones" some days before, to the relief, I imagine, of both of them, and he himself continued his journey to Berlin. I never expected to see him again, although for the next few months I often thought of him, and even tried to discover him by inquiries33 in the City. I had, however, very little to go upon, and after I had left Fenchurch Street behind me, and drifted into literature, I forgot him.
 
Until one day I received a letter addressed to the care of my publishers. It bore the Swiss postmark, and opening it and turning to the signature I sat wondering for the moment where I had met "Horatio Jones." And then I remembered.
 
He was lying bruised34 and broken in a woodcutter's hut on the slopes of the Jungfrau. Had been playing a fool's trick, so he described it, thinking he could climb mountains at his age. They would carry him down to Lauterbrunnen as soon as he could be moved farther with safety, but for the present he had no one to talk to but the nurse and a Swiss doctor who climbed up to see him every third day. He begged me, if I could spare the time, to come over and spend a week with him. He enclosed a hundred-pound cheque for my expenses, making no apology for doing so. He was complimentary35 about my first book, which he had been reading, and asked me to telegraph him my reply, giving me his real name, which, as I had guessed it would, proved to be one of the best known in the financial world. My time was my own now, and I wired him that I would be with him the following Monday.
 
He was lying in the sun outside the hut when I arrived late in the afternoon, after a three-hours' climb followed by a porter carrying my small amount of luggage. He could not raise his hand, but his strangely brilliant eyes spoke their welcome.
 
"I am glad you were able to come," he said. "I have no near relations, and my friends—if that is the right term—are business men who would be bored to tears. Besides, they are not the people I feel I want to talk to, now."
 
He was entirely36 reconciled to the coming of death. Indeed, there were moments when he gave me the idea that he was looking forward to it with an awed37 curiosity. With the conventional notion of cheering him, I talked of staying till he was able to return with me to civilisation38, but he only laughed.
 
"I am not going back," he said. "Not that way. What they may do afterwards with these broken bones does not much concern either you or me.
 
"It's a good place to die in," he continued. "A man can think up here."
 
It was difficult to feel sorry for him, his own fate appearing to make so little difference to himself. The world was still full of interest to him—not his own particular corner of it: that, he gave me to understand, he had tidied up and dismissed from his mind. It was the future, its coming problems, its possibilities, its new developments, about which he seemed eager to talk. One might have imagined him a young man with the years before him.
 
One evening—it was near the end—we were alone together. The woodcutter and his wife had gone down into the valley to see their children, and the nurse, leaving him in my charge, had gone for a walk. We had carried him round to his favourite side of the hut facing the towering mass of the Jungfrau. As the shadows lengthened39 it seemed to come nearer to us, and there fell a silence upon us.
 
Gradually I became aware that his piercing eyes were fixed40 on me, and in answer I turned and looked at him.
 
"I wonder if we shall meet again," he said, "or, what is more important, if we shall remember one another."
 
I was puzzled for the moment. We had discussed more than once the various religions of mankind, and his attitude towards the orthodox beliefs had always been that of amused contempt.
 
"It has been growing upon me these last few days," he continued. "It flashed across me the first time I saw you on the boat. We were fellow-students. Something, I don't know what, drew us very close together. There was a woman. They were burning her. And then there was a rush of people and a sudden darkness, and your eyes close to mine."
 
I suppose it was some form of hypnotism, for, as he spoke, his searching eyes fixed on mine, there came to me a dream of narrow streets filled with a strange crowd, of painted houses such as I had never seen, and a haunting fear that seemed to be always lurking41 behind each shadow. I shook myself free, but not without an effort.
 
"So that's what you meant," I said, "that evening in the Goortgasse. You believe in it?"
 
"A curious thing happened to me," he said, "when I was a child. I could hardly have been six years old. I had gone to Ghent with my parents. I think it was to visit some relative. One day we went into the castle. It was in ruins then, but has since been restored. We were in what was once the council chamber42. I stole away by myself to the other end of the great room and, not knowing why I did so, I touched a spring concealed43 in the masonry44, and a door swung open with a harsh, grinding noise. I remember peering round the opening. The others had their backs towards me, and I slipped through and closed the door behind me. I seemed instinctively45 to know my way. I ran down a flight of steps and along dark corridors through which I had to feel my way with my hands, till I came to a small door in an angle of the wall. I knew the room that lay the other side. A photograph was taken of it and published years afterwards, when the place was discovered, and it was exactly as I knew it with its way out underneath46 the city wall through one of the small houses in the Aussermarkt.
 
"I could not open the door. Some stones had fallen against it, and fearing to get punished, I made my way back into the council room. It was empty when I reached it. They were searching for me in the other rooms, and I never told them of my adventure."
 
At any other time I might have laughed. Later, recalling his talk that evening, I dismissed the whole story as mere47 suggestion, based upon the imagination of a child; but at the time those strangely brilliant eyes had taken possession of me. They remained still fixed upon me as I sat on the low rail of the veranda48 watching his white face, into which the hues49 of death seemed already to be creeping.
 
I had a feeling that, through them, he was trying to force remembrance of himself upon me. The man himself—the very soul of him—seemed to be concentrated in them. Something formless and yet distinct was visualising itself before me. It came to me as a physical relief when a spasm50 of pain caused him to turn his eyes away from me.
 
"You will find a letter when I am gone," he went on, after a moment's silence. "I thought that you might come too late, or that I might not have strength enough to tell you. I felt that out of the few people I have met outside business, you would be the most likely not to dismiss the matter as mere nonsense. What I am glad of myself, and what I wish you to remember, is that I am dying with all my faculties51 about me. The one thing I have always feared through life was old age, with its gradual mental decay. It has always seemed to me that I have died more or less suddenly while still in possession of my will. I have always thanked God for that."
 
He closed his eyes, but I do not think he was sleeping; and a little later the nurse returned, and we carried him indoors. I had no further conversation with him, though at his wish during the following two days I continued to read to him, and on the third day he died.
 
I found the letter he had spoken of. He had told me where it would be. It contained a bundle of banknotes which he was giving me—so he wrote—with the advice to get rid of them as quickly as possible.
 
"If I had not loved you," the letter continued, "I would have left you an income, and you would have blessed me, instead of cursing me, as you should have done, for spoiling your life."
 
This world was a school, so he viewed it, for the making of men; and the one thing essential to a man was strength. One gathered the impression of a deeply religious man. In these days he would, no doubt, have been claimed as a theosophist; but his beliefs he had made for, and adapted to, himself—to his vehement52, conquering temperament53. God needed men to serve Him—to help Him. So, through many changes, through many ages, God gave men life: that by contest and by struggle they might ever increase in strength; to those who proved themselves most fit the sterner task, the humbler beginnings, the greater obstacles. And the crown of well-doing was ever victory. He appeared to have convinced himself that he was one of the chosen, that he was destined54 for great ends. He had been a slave in the time of the Pharaohs; a priest in Babylon; had clung to the swaying ladders in the sack of Rome; had won his way into the councils when Europe was a battlefield of contending tribes; had climbed to power in the days of the Borgias.
 
To most of us, I suppose, there come at odd moments haunting thoughts of strangely familiar, far-off things; and one wonders whether they are memories or dreams. We dismiss them as we grow older and the present with its crowding interests shuts them out; but in youth they were more persistent55. With him they appeared to have remained, growing in reality. His recent existence, closed under the white sheet in the hut behind me as I read, was only one chapter of the story; he was looking forward to the next.
 
He wondered, so the letter ran, whether he would have any voice in choosing it. In either event he was curious of the result. What he anticipated confidently were new opportunities, wider experience. In what shape would these come to him?
 
The letter ended with a strange request. It was that, on returning to England, I should continue to think of him: not of the dead man I had known, the Jewish banker, the voice familiar to me, the trick of speech, of manner—all such being but the changing clothes—but of the man himself, the soul of him, that would seek and perhaps succeed in revealing itself to me.
 
A postscript56 concluded the letter, to which at the time I attached no importance. He had made a purchase of the hut in which he had died. After his removal it was to remain empty.
 
I folded the letter and placed it among other papers, and passing into the hut took a farewell glance at the massive, rugged57 face. The mask might have served a sculptor58 for the embodiment of strength. He gave one the feeling that having conquered death he was sleeping.
 
I did what he had requested of me. Indeed, I could not help it. I thought of him constantly. That may have been the explanation of it.
 
I was bicycling through Norfolk, and one afternoon, to escape a coming thunderstorm, I knocked at the door of a lonely cottage on the outskirts59 of a common. The woman, a kindly bustling60 person, asked me in; and hoping I would excuse her, as she was busy ironing, returned to her work in another room. I thought myself alone, and was standing61 at the window watching the pouring rain. After a while, without knowing why, I turned. And then I saw a child seated on a high chair behind a table in a dark corner of the room. A book of pictures was open before it, but it was looking at me. I could hear the sound of the woman at her ironing in the other room. Outside there was the steady thrashing of the rain. The child was looking at me with large, round eyes filled with a terrible pathos62. I noticed that the little body was misshapen. It never moved; it made no sound; but I had the feeling that out of those strangely wistful eyes something was trying to speak to me. Something was forming itself before me—not visible to my sight; but it was there, in the room. It was the man I had last looked upon as, dying, he sat beside me in the hut below the Jungfrau. But something had happened to him. Moved by instinct I went over to him and lifted him out of his chair, and with a sob63 the little wizened64 arms closed round my neck and he clung to me crying—a pitiful, low, wailing65 cry.
 
Hearing his cry, the woman came back. A comely66, healthy-looking woman. She took him from my arms and comforted him.
 
"He gets a bit sorry for himself at times," she explained. "At least, so I fancy. You see, he can't run about like other children, or do anything without getting pains."
 
"Was it an accident?" I asked.
 
"No," she answered, "and his father as fine a man as you would find in a day's march. Just a visitation of God, as they tell me. Sure I don't know why. There never was a better little lad, and clever, too, when he's not in pain. Draws wonderfully."
 
The storm had passed. He grew quieter in her arms, and when I had promised to come again and bring him a new picture-book, a little grateful smile flickered67 across the drawn68 face, but he would not talk.
 
I kept in touch with him. Mere curiosity would have made me do that. He grew more normal as the years went by, and gradually the fancy that had come to me at our first meeting faded farther into the background. Sometimes, using the very language of the dead man's letter, I would talk to him, wondering if by any chance some flash of memory would come back to him, and once or twice it seemed to me that into the mild, pathetic eyes there came a look that I had seen before, but it passed away, and indeed, it was difficult to think of this sad little human oddity, with its pleading helplessness, in connection with the strong, swift, conquering spirit that I had watched passing away amid the silence of the mountains.
 
The one thing that brought joy to him was his art. I cannot help thinking that, but for his health, he would have made a name for himself. His work was always clever and original, but it was the work of an invalid69.
 
"I shall never be great," he said to me once. "I have such wonderful dreams, but when it comes to working them out there is something that hampers70 me. It always seems to me as if at the last moment a hand was stretched out that clutched me by the feet. I long so, but I have not the strength. It is terrible to be one of the weaklings."
 
It clung to me, that word he had used. For a man to know he is weak; it sounds a paradox71, but a man must be strong to know that. And dwelling72 upon this, and upon his patience and his gentleness, there came to me suddenly remembrance of that postscript, the significance of which I had not understood.
 
He was a young man of about three- or four-and-twenty at the time. His father had died, and he was living in poor lodgings73 in the south of London, supporting himself and his mother by strenuous74, ill-paid work.
 
"I want you to come with me for a few days' holiday," I told him.
 
I had some difficulty in getting him to accept my help, for he was very proud in his sensitive, apologetic way. But I succeeded eventually, persuading him it would be good for his work. Physically75 the journey must have cost him dear, for he could never move his body without pain, but the changing landscapes and the strange cities more than repaid him; and when one morning I woke him early and he saw for the first time the distant mountains clothed in dawn, there came a new light into his eyes.
 
We reached the hut late in the afternoon. I had made my arrangements so that we should be there alone. Our needs were simple, and in various wanderings I had learnt to be independent. I did not tell him why I had brought him there, beyond the beauty and stillness of the place. Purposely I left him much alone there, making ever-lengthening walks my excuse, and though he was always glad of my return I felt that the desire was growing upon him to be there by himself.
 
One evening, having climbed farther than I had intended, I lost my way. It was not safe in that neighbourhood to try new pathways in the dark, and chancing upon a deserted76 shelter, I made myself a bed upon the straw.
 
I found him seated outside the hut when I returned, and he greeted me as if he had been expecting me just at that moment and not before. He guessed just what had happened, he told me, and had not been alarmed. During the day I found him watching me, and in the evening, as we sat in his favourite place outside the hut, he turned to me.
 
"You think it true?" he said. "That you and I sat here years ago and talked?"
 
"I cannot tell," I answered. "I only know that he died here, if there be such a thing as death—that no one has ever lived here since. I doubt if the door has ever been opened till we came."
 
"They have always been with me," he continued, "these dreams. But I have always dismissed them. They seemed so ludicrous. Always there came to me wealth, power, victory. Life was so easy."
 
He laid his thin hand on mine. A strange new look came into his eyes—a look of hope, almost of joy.
 
"Do you know what it seems to me?" he said. "You will laugh perhaps, but the thought has come to me up here that God has some fine use for me. Success was making me feeble. He has given me weakness and failure that I may learn strength. The great thing is to be strong."
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 plied b7ead3bc998f9e23c56a4a7931daf4ab     
v.使用(工具)( ply的过去式和过去分词 );经常供应(食物、饮料);固定往来;经营生意
参考例句:
  • They plied me with questions about my visit to England. 他们不断地询问我的英国之行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They plied us with tea and cakes. 他们一个劲儿地让我们喝茶、吃糕饼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 beaver uuZzU     
n.海狸,河狸
参考例句:
  • The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
  • A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。
3 pawned 4a07cbcf19a45badd623a582bf8ca213     
v.典当,抵押( pawn的过去式和过去分词 );以(某事物)担保
参考例句:
  • He pawned his gold watch to pay the rent. 他抵当了金表用以交租。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 vessel 4L1zi     
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管
参考例句:
  • The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
  • You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。
5 appraising 3285bf735793610b563b00c395ce6cc6     
v.估价( appraise的现在分词 );估计;估量;评价
参考例句:
  • At the appraising meeting, experts stated this method was superior to others. 鉴定会上,专家们指出这种方法优于其他方法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The teacher is appraising the students' work. 老师正在评定学生的作业。 来自辞典例句
6 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
7 brutal bSFyb     
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的
参考例句:
  • She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
  • They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼,骨子里却是野蛮残忍。
8 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
9 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
10 conceited Cv0zxi     
adj.自负的,骄傲自满的
参考例句:
  • He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
  • I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。
11 emigrant Ctszsx     
adj.移居的,移民的;n.移居外国的人,移民
参考例句:
  • He is a British emigrant to Australia.他是个移居澳大利亚的英国人。
  • I always think area like this is unsuited for human beings,but it is also unpractical to emigrant in a large scale.我一直觉得,像这样的地方是不适宜人类居住的,可大规模的移民又是不现实的。
12 vent yiPwE     
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄
参考例句:
  • He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
  • When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时,发动机就会停转。
13 stipulate shhyP     
vt.规定,(作为条件)讲定,保证
参考例句:
  • International rules stipulate the number of foreign entrants.国际规则规定了外国参赛者的人数。
  • Some manufacturers stipulate the price at which their goods are to be sold.有些制造商规定出售他们生产的商品的价格。
14 chuckled 8ce1383c838073977a08258a1f3e30f8     
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
15 sitting-room sitting-room     
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室
参考例句:
  • The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
  • Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。
16 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地,出其不意地
参考例句:
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
17 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。
18 colossal sbwyJ     
adj.异常的,庞大的
参考例句:
  • There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
  • Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。
19 liking mpXzQ5     
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
参考例句:
  • The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
  • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
20 adoration wfhyD     
n.爱慕,崇拜
参考例句:
  • He gazed at her with pure adoration.他一往情深地注视着她。
  • The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
21 savage ECxzR     
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人
参考例句:
  • The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
  • He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。
22 hordes 8694e53bd6abdd0ad8c42fc6ee70f06f     
n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 );部落
参考例句:
  • There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
  • Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
23 onward 2ImxI     
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先
参考例句:
  • The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
  • He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。
24 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
25 swerving 2985a28465f4fed001065d9efe723271     
v.(使)改变方向,改变目的( swerve的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • It may stand as an example of the fitful swerving of his passion. 这是一个例子,说明他的情绪往往变化不定,忽冷忽热。 来自辞典例句
  • Mrs Merkel would be foolish to placate her base by swerving right. 默克尔夫人如果为了安抚她的根基所在而转到右翼就太愚蠢了。 来自互联网
26 kindliness 2133e1da2ddf0309b4a22d6f5022476b     
n.厚道,亲切,友好的行为
参考例句:
  • Martha looked up into a strange face and dark eyes alight with kindliness and concern. 马撒慢慢抬起头,映入眼帘的是张陌生的脸,脸上有一双充满慈爱和关注的眼睛。 来自辞典例句
  • I think the chief thing that struck me about Burton was his kindliness. 我想,我对伯顿印象最深之处主要还是这个人的和善。 来自辞典例句
27 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。
28 maze F76ze     
n.迷宫,八阵图,混乱,迷惑
参考例句:
  • He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
  • She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时,她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。
29 stagnant iGgzj     
adj.不流动的,停滞的,不景气的
参考例句:
  • Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少,工业生产一直停滞不前。
  • Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。
30 pane OKKxJ     
n.窗格玻璃,长方块
参考例句:
  • He broke this pane of glass.他打破了这块窗玻璃。
  • Their breath bloomed the frosty pane.他们呼出的水气,在冰冷的窗玻璃上形成一层雾。
31 vein fi9w0     
n.血管,静脉;叶脉,纹理;情绪;vt.使成脉络
参考例句:
  • The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
  • The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。
32 cynical Dnbz9     
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的
参考例句:
  • The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大,他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
  • He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。
33 inquiries 86a54c7f2b27c02acf9fcb16a31c4b57     
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释,等候进一步调查。
  • I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
34 bruised 5xKz2P     
[医]青肿的,瘀紫的
参考例句:
  • his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
  • She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤,摔得鼻青脸肿。
35 complimentary opqzw     
adj.赠送的,免费的,赞美的,恭维的
参考例句:
  • She made some highly complimentary remarks about their school.她对他们的学校给予高度的评价。
  • The supermarket operates a complimentary shuttle service.这家超市提供免费购物班车。
36 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
37 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》
38 civilisation civilisation     
n.文明,文化,开化,教化
参考例句:
  • Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
  • This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。
39 lengthened 4c0dbc9eb35481502947898d5e9f0a54     
(时间或空间)延长,伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
  • He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。
40 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
41 lurking 332fb85b4d0f64d0e0d1ef0d34ebcbe7     
潜在
参考例句:
  • Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的,想干什么?
  • There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
42 chamber wnky9     
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
参考例句:
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
43 concealed 0v3zxG     
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的
参考例句:
  • The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
  • I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。
44 masonry y21yI     
n.砖土建筑;砖石
参考例句:
  • Masonry is a careful skill.砖石工艺是一种精心的技艺。
  • The masonry of the old building began to crumble.旧楼房的砖石结构开始崩落。
45 instinctively 2qezD2     
adv.本能地
参考例句:
  • As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近,她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
46 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
47 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。
48 veranda XfczWG     
n.走廊;阳台
参考例句:
  • She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
  • They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。
49 hues adb36550095392fec301ed06c82f8920     
色彩( hue的名词复数 ); 色调; 信仰; 观点
参考例句:
  • When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出,更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
  • Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方,枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。
50 spasm dFJzH     
n.痉挛,抽搐;一阵发作
参考例句:
  • When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后,他虚弱无力,一直冒汗。
  • He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦,一脚踢向椅子。
51 faculties 066198190456ba4e2b0a2bda2034dfc5     
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院
参考例句:
  • Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬,但头脑仍然清晰。
  • All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中,你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》
52 vehement EL4zy     
adj.感情强烈的;热烈的;(人)有强烈感情的
参考例句:
  • She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
  • His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。
53 temperament 7INzf     
n.气质,性格,性情
参考例句:
  • The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
  • Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。
54 destined Dunznz     
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的
参考例句:
  • It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
  • The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。
55 persistent BSUzg     
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的
参考例句:
  • Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
  • She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤,使她很难为情。
56 postscript gPhxp     
n.附言,又及;(正文后的)补充说明
参考例句:
  • There was the usual romantic postscript at the end of his letter.他的信末又是一贯的浪漫附言。
  • She mentioned in a postscript to her letter that the parcel had arrived.她在信末附笔中说包裹已寄到。
57 rugged yXVxX     
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的
参考例句:
  • Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
  • The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。
58 sculptor 8Dyz4     
n.雕刻家,雕刻家
参考例句:
  • A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
  • The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。
59 outskirts gmDz7W     
n.郊外,郊区
参考例句:
  • Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
  • They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。
60 bustling LxgzEl     
adj.喧闹的
参考例句:
  • The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
  • This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。
61 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
62 pathos dLkx2     
n.哀婉,悲怆
参考例句:
  • The pathos of the situation brought tears to our eyes.情况令人怜悯,看得我们不禁流泪。
  • There is abundant pathos in her words.她的话里富有动人哀怜的力量。
63 sob HwMwx     
n.空间轨道的轰炸机;呜咽,哭泣
参考例句:
  • The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
  • The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答,也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。
64 wizened TeszDu     
adj.凋谢的;枯槁的
参考例句:
  • That wizened and grotesque little old man is a notorious miser.那个干瘪难看的小老头是个臭名远扬的吝啬鬼。
  • Mr solomon was a wizened little man with frizzy gray hair.所罗门先生是一个干瘪矮小的人,头发鬈曲灰白。
65 wailing 25fbaeeefc437dc6816eab4c6298b423     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的现在分词 );沱
参考例句:
  • A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
66 comely GWeyX     
adj.漂亮的,合宜的
参考例句:
  • His wife is a comely young woman.他的妻子是一个美丽的少妇。
  • A nervous,comely-dressed little girl stepped out.一个紧张不安、衣着漂亮的小姑娘站了出来。
67 flickered 93ec527d68268e88777d6ca26683cc82     
(通常指灯光)闪烁,摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
  • These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。
68 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
69 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。
70 hampers aedee0b9211933f51c82c37a6b8cd413     
妨碍,束缚,限制( hamper的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Prejudice sometimes hampers a person from doing the right thing. 有时候,偏见会妨碍人正确行事。
  • This behavior is the opposite of modeless feedback, and it hampers flow. 这个行为有悖于非模态的反馈,它阻碍了流。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
71 paradox pAxys     
n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法;自相矛盾的人(物)
参考例句:
  • The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
  • The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。
72 dwelling auzzQk     
n.住宅,住所,寓所
参考例句:
  • Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
  • He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。
73 lodgings f12f6c99e9a4f01e5e08b1197f095e6e     
n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍
参考例句:
  • When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时,太阳已下山了。
  • I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。
74 strenuous 8GvzN     
adj.奋发的,使劲的;紧张的;热烈的,狂热的
参考例句:
  • He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
  • You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。
75 physically iNix5     
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律
参考例句:
  • He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服,心绪也很乱。
  • Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
76 deserted GukzoL     
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
参考例句:
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。


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