Sheer and almost smoothly4 hewn from the utmost coast of the island rose to a height of several hundred feet one scarcely deviating5 wall of rock; and this apparently6 impregnable wall extended in either direction as far as the sight could reach. Above the natural rampart the land sloped upward still in steep declivities, but cut by tortuous7 gorges8, and afar inland rose the mountain upon whose summit the light had been descried9. There the glass revealed white towers and columns rising from a mass of brilliant tropical green, and now smitten10 by the late sun; but save these towers and columns not a sign of life or habitation was discernible. No smoke arose, no wharf11 or dock broke the serene12 outline of the black wall lapped by the warm sea; and there was no sound save that of strong torrents13 afar off. Lonely, inscrutable, the great mass stood, slightly shelved here and there to harbour rank and blossomy growths of green and presenting a rugged14 beauty of outline, but apparently as uninhabitable as the land of the North Silences.
Consternation15 and amazement16 sat upon the faces of the owner of The Aloha and his guests as they realized the character of the remarkable17 island. St. George and Amory had counted upon an adventure calling for all diplomacy18, but neither had expected the delight of hazard that this strange, fairy-like place seemed about to present. Each felt his blood stirring and singing in his veins19 at the joy of the possibilities that lay folded before them.
"We shall be obliged to land upon the east coast then, Jarvo?" observed St. George; "but how long will it take us to sail round the island?"
"Very long," Jarvo responded, "but no, adôn, we land on this coast."
"How is that possible?" St. George asked.
"Well, hi—you," said Little Cawthorne, "I'm a goat, but I'm no mountain goat. See the little Swiss kid skipping from peak to peak and from crag to crag—"
"Do we scale the wall?" inquired St. George, "or is there a passage in the rock?"
"Hully Gee21, a submarine passage, in under de sea, like Jules Werne," he said in a delight that was almost awe22.
"There is a way over the rock," said Jarvo, "partly hewn, partly natural, and this is known to the islanders alone. That way we must take. It is marked by a White Blade blazoned23 on the rock over the entrance of the submarines. The way is cunningly concealed—hardly will the glass reveal it, adôn."
Barnay shook his head.
"You've a bad time comin' with the home-sickness," he prophesied24, tucking his beard far down in his collar until he looked, for Barnay, smooth-shaven. "I've sailed the sou' Atlantic up an' down fer a matther av four hundhred years, more or less, an' I niver as much as seed hide nor hair av the place before this prisint. There ain't map or chart that iver dhrawed breath that shows ut, new or old. Ut's been lifted out o' ground to be afther swallowin' us in—a sweet dose will be the lot av us, mesilf with as foine a gir-rl av school age as iver you'll see in anny counthry."
"Ah yes, Barnay," said St. George soothingly—but he would have tried now to soothe25 a man in the embrace of a sea-serpent in just the same absent-minded way, Amory thought indulgently.
The sun was lowering and birds of evening were beginning to brood over the painted water when The Aloha cast anchor. In the late light the rugged sides of the island had an air of almost sinister26 expectancy27. There was a great silence in their windless shelter broken only by the boom and charge of the breakers and the gulls28 and choughs circling overhead, winging and dipping along the water and returning with discordant29 cries to their crannies in the black rock. Before the yacht, blazoned on a dark, water-polished stratum30 of the volcanic31 stone, was the White Blade which Jarvo told them marked the subterranean32 entrance to the mysterious island.
St. George and his companions and Barnay, Jarvo and Akko were on deck. Rollo, whose soul did not disdain33 to be valet to a steam yacht, was tranquilly34 mending a canvas cushion.
"Sunrise!" cried St. George. "Heaven on earth, no. We'll go now."
There was no need to ask the others. Whatever might be toward, they were eager to be about, though Rollo ventured to St. George a deprecatory: "You know, sir, one can't be too careful, sir."
"Will you prefer to stay aboard?" St. George put it quietly.
"Oh, no, sir," said Rollo with a grieved face, "one should meet danger with a light heart, sir," and went below to pack the oil-skins.
"Hear me now," said Barnay in extreme disfavour. "It's I that am to lay hereabouts and wait for you, sorr? Lord be good to me, an' fwhat if she lays here tin year', and you somewheres fillin' the eyes av the aygles with your brains blowed out, neat?" he demanded misanthropically36. "Fwhat if she lays here on that gin'ral theory till she's rotted up, sorr?"
"Ah well now, Barnay," said St. George grimly, "you couldn't have an easier career."
Little Cawthorne, from leaning on the rail staring out at the island, suddenly pulled himself up and addressed St. George.
"Here we are," he complained, "here has been me coming through the watery37 deep all the way from Broadway, with an octopus38 clinging to each arm and a dolphin on my back, and you don't even ask how I stood the trip. And do you realize that it's sheer madness for the five of us to land on that island together?"
"What do you mean?" asked St. George.
The little man shook his grey curls.
"What if it's as Barnay says?" he put it. "What if they should bag us all—who'll take back the glad news to the harbour? Lord, you can't tell what you're about walking into. You don't even know the specific gravity of the island," he suggested earnestly. "How do you know but your own weight will flatten39 you out the minute you step ashore?"
St. George laughed. "He thinks he is reading the fiction page," he observed indulgently. "Still, I fancy there is good sense on the page, for once. We don't know anything about anything. I suppose we really ought not to put all five eggs in one basket. But, by Jove—"
He looked over at Amory with troubled eyes.
"As host of this picnic," he said, "I dare say I ought to stay aboard and let you fellows—but I'm hanged if I will."
Little Cawthorne reflected, frowning; and you could as well have expected a bird to frown as Little Cawthorne. It was rather the name of his expression than a description of it.
"Suppose," he said, "that Bennietod and I sit rocking here in this bay—if it is a bay—while you two rest your chins on the top of that ledge40 of rock up there, and look over. And about to-morrow or day after we two will venture up behind you, or you could send one of the men back—"
"My thunder," said Bennietod wistfully, "ain't I goin' to get to climb in de pantry window at de palace—nor fire out of a loophole—"
"Bennietod an' I couldn't talk to a prince anyway," said Little Cawthorne; "we'd get our language twisted something dizzy, and probably tell him 'yes, ma'am.'"
St. George's eyes softened41 as he looked at the little man. He knew well enough what it cost him to make the suggestion, which the good sense of them all must approve. Not only did Little Cawthorne always sacrifice himself, which is merely good breeding, but he made opportunities to do so, which is both well-bred and virtuous43. When Rollo came up with the oil-skins they told him what had been decided44, and Rollo, the faithful, the expressionless, dropped his eyelids45, but he could not banish46 from his voice the wistfulness that he might have been one to stay behind.
"Sometimes it is best for a person to change his mind, sir," was his sole comment.
Presently the little green dory drew away from The Aloha, and they left her lying as much at her ease as if the phantom47 island before her were in every school-boy's geography, with a scale of miles and a list of the principal exports attached.
"If we had diving dresses, adôn," Jarvo suggested, "we might have gone down through the sluice48 and entered by the lagoon49 where the submarines pass."
"Jove," said Amory, trying to row and adjust his pince-nez at the same time, "Chillingworth will never forgive us for missing that."
"You couldn't have done it," shouted Little Cawthorne derisively50, from the deck of the yacht, "you didn't wear your rubbers. If anybody sticks a knife in you send up a r-r-r-ocket!"
The landing, effected with the utmost caution, was upon a flat stone already a few inches submerged by the rising tide. Looking up at the jagged, beetling51 world above them their task appeared hopeless enough. But Jarvo found footing in an instant, and St. George and Amory pressed closely behind him, Rollo and little Akko silently bringing up the rear and carrying the oil-skins. Slowly and cautiously as they made their way it was but a few minutes until the three standing52 on the deck, and Barnay open-mouthed in the dory, saw the sinuous53 line of the five bodies twist up the tortuous course considerably54 above the blazoned emblem55 of the White Blade.
In truth, with Jarvo to set light foot where no foot seemed ever before to have been set, with Jarvo to inspect every twig56 and pebble57 and to take sharp turns where no turn seemed possible, the ascent58, perilous59 as it was, proved to be no such superhuman feat60 as from below it had appeared. But it seemed interminable. Even when the sea lay far beneath them and the faces of the watchers on the deck of The Aloha were no longer distinguishable, the grim wall continued to stretch upward, melting into the sky's late blue.
The afterglow laid a fair path along the water, and the warm dusk came swiftly out of the east. At snail's pace, now with heads bent61 to knees, now standing erect62 to draw themselves up by the arms or to leap a wicked-looking crevice63, the four took their way up the black side of the rock. Birds of the cliffs, disturbed from long rest, wheeled and screamed about them, almost brushing their faces with long, fearless wings. There was an occasional shelf where, with backs against the wall spotted64 with crystals of feldspar, they waited to breathe, hardly looking down from the dizzy ledge. Great slabs65 of obsidian66 were piled about them between stretches of calcareous stone, and the soil which was like beds of old lava67 covered by thin layers of limestone68, was everywhere pierced by sharp shoulders of stone lying in savage69 disarray70. Gradually rock-slides and rock-edges yielded a less insecure footing on the upper reaches, but the chasms71 widened and water dripping from lateral72 crevasses73 made the vague trail slippery and the occasional earth sodden74 and treacherous75. For a quarter of a mile their way lay over a kind of porous76 gravel77 into which their feet sank, and beyond at the summit of a ridge78 Jarvo halted and threw back to them a summary warning to prepare for "a long leap." A sharp angle of rock, jutting79 out, had been split down the middle by some ancient force—very likely a Paleozoic butterfly had brushed it with its wing—and the edges had been worn away in a treacherous slope to the very lip of the crumbling80 promontory81. From this edge to the edge of the opposite abutment there was a gap of wicked width, and between was a sheer drop into space wherefrom rose the sound of tumbling waters. When Jarvo had taken the leap, easily and gracefully82, alighting on the other side like the greyhound that he resembled, and the others, following, had cleared the edge by as safe a margin84 as if the abyss were a minor85 field-day event, St. George and Amory looked back with sudden wonder over the path by which they had come.
"I feel as if I weighed about ninety pounds," said St. George; "am I fading away or anything?"
Amory stood still.
"I was thinking the same thing," he said. "By Jove—do you suppose—what if Little Cawthorne hit the other end of the nail, as usual? Suppose the specific gravity—suppose there is something—suppose it doesn't hold good in this dimension that a body—by Jove," said Amory, "wouldn't that be the deuce?"
"Ah well now," he said, "you know on the moon an ordinary man would weigh only twenty-six or seven pounds. Why not here? We aren't held down by any map!"
They laughed at the pleasant enormity of the idea and were hurrying on when Akko, behind them, broke his settled silence.
"In America," he said, "a man feels like a mountain. Here he feels like a man."
"What do you mean by that?" demanded St. George uneasily. But Akko said no more, and St. George and Amory, with a disquieting87 idea that each was laughing at the other, let the matter drop.
From there on the way was easier, leveling occasionally, frequently swelling88 to gentle ridges89, and at last winding90 up a steep trail that was not difficult to keep in spite of the fast falling night. And at length Jarvo, rounding a huge hummock91 where converging92 ridges met, scrambled93 over the last of these and threw himself on the ground.
"Now," he said simply.
The two men stood beside him and looked down. It seemed to St. George that they looked not at all upon a prospect94 but upon the sudden memory of a place about which he might have dreamed often and often and, waking, had not been able to remember, though its familiarity had continued insistently95 to beat at his heart; or that in what was spread before him lay the satisfaction of Burne-Jones' wistful definition of a picture: "... a beautiful, romantic dream of something that never was, never will be, in a light better than any light that ever shone, in a land no one can define or remember, only desire..." yet it was to St. George as if he had reached no strange land, no alien conditions; but rather that he had come home. It was like a home-coming in which nothing is changed, none of the little improvements has been made which we resent because no one has thought to tell us of them; but where everything is even more as one remembers than one knew that one remembered.
At his feet lay a pleasant valley filled with the purple of deep twilight96. Far below a lagoon caught the late light and spread it in a pattern among hidden green. In the midst of the valley towered the mountain whose summit, royally crowned by shining towers, had been visible from the open sea. At its feet, glittering in the abundant light shed upon its white wall and dome97 and pinnacle98, stood Med, the King's City—but its light was not the light of the day, for that was gone; nor of the moon, not risen; and no false lights vexed99 the dark. Yet he was looking into a cup of light, as clear as the light in a gazing-crystal and of a quality as wholly at variance100 with reality. The rocky coast of Yaque was literally101 a massive, natural wall; and girt by it lay the heart of the island, fertile and populous102 and clothed in mystery. This new face which Nature turned to him was a glorified103 face, and some way it meant what he meant.
St. George was off for a few steps, trampling104 impatiently over the coarse grass of the bank. Somewhere in that dim valley—was she there, was she there? Was she in trouble, did she need him, did she think of him? St. George went through the ancient, delicious list as conscientiously105 as if he were the first lover, and she were the first princess, and this were the first ascent of Yaque that the world had ever known. For by some way of miracle, the mystery of the island was suddenly to him the very mystery of his love, and the two so filled his heart that he could not have told of which he was thinking. That which had lain, shadowy and delicious, in his soul these many days—not so very many, either, if one counts the suns—was become not only a thing of his soul but a thing of the outside world, almost of the visible world, something that had existed for ever and which he had just found out; and here, wrapped in nameless light, lay its perfect expression. When a shaft106 of silver smote107 the long grass at his feet, and the edge of the moon rose above the mountain, St. George turned with a poignant108 exultation—did a mere42 victory over half a continent ever make a man feel like that?—and strode back to the others.
"Come on," he called ringingly in a voice that did everything but confess in words that something heavenly sweet was in the man's mind, "let's be off!"
"I feel sort of tense," he explained, "as if the whole place would explode if I threw down my match. What do you think of it?"
St. George did not answer.
"It's a place where all the lines lead up," he was saying to himself, "as they do in a cathedral."
The four went the fragrant109 way that led to the heart of the island. First the path followed the high bank the branches of whose tropical undergrowth brushed their faces with brief gift of perfume. On the other side was a wood of slim trunks, all depths of shadow and delicacies110 of borrowed light in little pools. Everywhere, everywhere was a chorus of slight voices, from bark and air and secret moss111, singing no forced notes of monotone, but piping a true song of the gladness of earth, plaintive112, sweet, indescribably harmonious113. It came to St. George that this was the way the woods at night would always sound if, somehow, one were able to hear the sweetness that poured itself out. Even that familiar sense in the night-woods that something is about to happen was deliciously present with him; and though Amory went on quietly enough, St. George swam down that green way, much as one dreams of floating along a street, above-heads.
The path curved, and went hesitatingly down many terraces. Here, from the dimness of the marge of the island, they gradually emerged into the beginnings of the faint light. It was not like entering upon dawn, or upon the moonlight. It was by no means like going to meet the lights of a city. It was literally "a light better than any light that ever shone," and it wrapped them round first like a veil and then like a mantle114. Dimly, as if released from the censer-smoke of a magician's lamp, boughs115 and glades116, lines and curves were set free of the dark; and St. George and Amory could see about them. Yet it did not occur to either to distrust the phenomenon, or to regard it as unnatural117 or the fruit of any unnatural law. It was somehow quite as convincing to them as is his first sight of electric light to the boy of the countryside, and no more to be regarded as witchcraft118.
St. George was silent. It was as if he were on the threshold of Far-Away, within the Porch of the Morning of some day divine. The place was so poignantly119 like the garden of a picture that one has seen as a child, and remembered as a place past all speech beautiful, and yet failed ever to realize in after years, or to make any one remember, or, save fleetingly120 in dreams to see once more, since the picture-book is never, never chanced upon again. Sometimes he had dreamed of a great sunny plain, with armies marching; sometimes he had awakened121 at hearing the chimes, and fancied sleepily that it was infinite music; sometimes, in the country in the early morning, he had had an unreasonable122, unaccountable moment of perfect happiness: and now the fugitive123 element of them all seemed to have been crystallized and made his own in that floating walk down the wooded terraces of this unknown world. And yet he could not have told whether the element was contained in that beauty, or in his thought of Olivia.
At last they emerged upon a narrow, grassy124 terrace where white steps mounted to a wide parapet. Jarvo ran up the steps and turned:
"Behold125 Med, adôn," he said modestly, as if he had at that moment stirred it up in a sauce-pan and baked it before their astonished eyes.
They were standing at the top of an immense flight of steps extending as far to right and left as they could see, and leading down by easy stages and wide landings to the white-paved city itself. The clear light flooded the scene—lucid, vivid, many-peopled. Far as the eye could see, broad streets extended, lined with structures rivaling in splendour and beauty those unforgotten "topless towers." Temples, palaces, and public buildings rose, storey upon storey, built of hewn stones of great size; and noble arches faced an open square before a temple of colossal126 masonry127 crowning an eminence128 in the centre of the city. Directly in line with this eminence rose the mountain upon whose summit stood the far-seen pillars where burned the solitary129 light.
If an enchanted130 city had risen from the waves because some one had chanced to speak the right word, it could have been no more bewildering; and yet the look of this city was so substantial, so adapted to all commonplace needs, so essentially131 the scene of every-day activity and purpose, that dozens of towns of petty European principalities seem far less actual and practicable homes of men. Busy citizens hurrying, the bark of a dog, the mere tone of a temple bell spoke132 the ordinary occupations of all the world; and upon the chief street the moon looked down as tranquilly as if the causeway were a continuation of Fifth Avenue.
But it was as if the spirit of adventure in St. George had suddenly turned and questioned him, saying:
"What of Olivia?"
For Olivia gone to a far-away island to find her father was subject of sufficient anxiety; but Olivia in the power of a pretender who might have at command such undreamed resources was more than cool reason could comprehend. That was the principal impression that Med, the King's City, made upon St. George.
"To the right, adôn," Jarvo was saying, "where the walls are highest—that is the palace of the prince, the Palace of the Litany."
"And the king's palace?" St. George asked eagerly.
Jarvo lifted his face to the solitary summit light upon the mountain.
"By permission of Prince Tabnit," replied Jarvo, "one is borne up by six imperial carriers, trained in the service from birth. One attempting the ascent alone would be dashed in pieces."
"No municipal line of airships?" ventured Amory in slow astonishment134.
Jarvo did not quite get this.
"The airships, adôn," he said, "belong to the imperial household and are kept at the summit of Mount Khalak."
"A trust," comprehended Amory; "an absolute monarchy135 is a bit of a trust, anyhow. Of course, it's sometimes an outraged136 trust..." he murmured on.
"The adôn," said Jarvo humbly137, "will understand that we, I and Akko, have borne great risk. It is necessary that we make our peace with all speed, if that may be. The very walls are the ears of Prince Tabnit, and it is better to be behind those walls. May the gods permit the possible."
"Do you mean to say," asked St. George, "that we too would better look out the prince at once?"
"The adôn is wise," said Jarvo simply, "but nothing is hid from Prince Tabnit."
St. George considered. In this mysterious place, whose ways were as unknown to him and to his companions as was the etiquette138 of the court of the moon, clearly diplomacy was the better part of valour. It was wiser to seek out Prince Tabnit, if he had really arrived on the island, than to be upon the defensive139.
"Farewell, adôn," said Jarvo, bowing low, "may the gods permit the possible."
"Of course you will communicate with us to-morrow," suggested St. George, "so that if we wish to send Rollo down to the yacht—"
"The gods will permit the possible, adôn," Jarvo repeated gently.
There was a flash of Akko's white teeth and the two little men were gone.
St. George and Amory turned to the descending141 of the wide white steps. Such immense, impossible white steps and such a curious place for these two to find themselves, alone, with a valet. Struck by the same thought they looked at each other and nodded, laughing a little.
"Alone in the distance," said Amory, emptying his pipe, "and not a cab to be seen."
Rollo thrust forward his lean, shadowed face.
"Shall I look about for a 'ansom, sir?" he inquired with perfect gravity.
St. George hardly heard.
"It's like cutting into a great, smooth sheet of white paper," he said whimsically, "and making any figure you want to make."
Before they reached the bottom of the steps they divined, issuing from an isolated142, temple-seeming building below, a train of sober-liveried attendants, all at first glance resembling Jarvo and Akko. These defiled143 leisurely144 toward the strangers and lined up irregularly at the foot of the steps.
"Enter Trouble," said Amory happily.
They found themselves confronting, in the midst of the attendants, an olive man with no angles, whose face, in spite of its health and even wealth of contour, was ridiculously grave, as if the papier-mâché man in the down-town window should have had a sudden serious thought just before his papier-mâché incarnation.
"Permit me," said the man in perfect English and without bowing, "to bring to you the greeting of his Highness, Prince Tabnit, and his welcome to Yaque. I am Cassyrus, an officer of the government. At the command of his Highness I am come to conduct you to the palace."
"The prince is most kind," said St. George, and added eagerly: "He is returned, then?"
"Assuredly. Three days ago," was the reply.
"And the king—is he returned?" asked St. George.
The man shook his head, and his very anxiety seemed important.
"His Majesty145, the King," he affirmed, "is still most lamentably146 absent from his throne and his people."
"And his daughter?" demanded St. George then, who could not possibly have waited an instant longer to put that question.
"The daughter of his Majesty, the King," said Cassyrus, looking still more as if he were having his portrait painted, "will in three days be recognized publicly as Princess of Yaque."
St. George's heart gave a great bound. Thank Heaven, she was here, and safe. His hope and confidence soared heavenward. And by some miracle she was to take her place as the people of Yaque had petitioned. But what was the meaning of that news of the prince's treachery which Jarvo and Akko had come bearing? The prince had faithfully fulfilled his mission and had conducted the daughter of the King of Yaque safely to her father's country. What did it all mean?
St. George hardly noted147 the majestic148 square through which they were passing. Impressions of great buildings, dim white and misty149 grey and bathed in light, bewilderingly succeeded one another; but, as in the days which followed the news of his inheritance, he found himself now in a temper of unsurprise, in that mental atmosphere—properly the normal—which regards all miracle as natural law. He even omitted to note what was of passing strangeness: that neither the retinue150 of the minister nor the others upon the streets cast more than casual glances at their unusual visitors. But when the great gates of the palace were readied his attention was challenged and held, for though mere marvels151 may become the air one breathes, beauty will never cease to amaze, and the vista152 revealed was of almost disconcerting beauty.
Avenues of brightness, arches of green, glimpses of airy columns, of boundless153 lawns set with high, pyramidal shrines154, great places of quiet and straight line, alleys155 whose shadow taught the necessity of mystery, the sound of water—the pure, positive element of it all—and everywhere, above, below and far, that delicate, labyrinth156 light, diffused157 from no visible source. It was as if some strange compound had changed the character of the dark itself, transmuting158 it to a subtle essence more exquisite159 than light, inhabiting it with wonders. And high above their heads where this translucence160 seemed to mix with the upper air and to fuse with moonbeams, sprang almost joyously161 the pale domes162 and cornices of the palace, sending out floating streamers and pennons of colours nameless and unknown.
"Jupiter," said the human Amory in awe, "what a picture for the first page of the supplement."
St. George hardly heard him. The picture held so perfectly163 the elusive164 charm of the Question—the Question which profoundly underlies165 all things. It was like a triumphant166 burst of music which yet ends on a high note, with imperfect close, hinting passionately167 at some triumph still loftier.
From either side of the wall of the palace yard came glittering a detachment of the Royal Golden Guard, clad in uniforms of unrelieved cloth-of-gold. These halted, saluted168, wheeled, and between their shining ranks St. George and Amory footed quietly on, followed by Rollo carrying the yellow oil-skins. To St. George there was relief in the motion, relief in the vastness, and almost a boy's delight in the pastime of living the hour.
Yet Royal Golden Guard, majestic avenues, and towered palace with its strange banners floating in strange light, held for him but one reality. And when they had mounted the steps of the mighty169 entrance, and the sound of unrecognized music reached him—a very myth of music, elusive, vagrant170, fugued—and the palace doors swung open to receive them, he could have shouted aloud on the brilliant threshold:
"He says she is here in Yaque."
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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latitudes
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wont
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smoothly
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deviating
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apparently
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tortuous
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gorges
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descried
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smitten
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wharf
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torrents
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consternation
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amazement
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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18
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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19
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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20
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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21
gee
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| n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转 | |
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22
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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23
blazoned
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| v.广布( blazon的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布；夸示；装饰 | |
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24
prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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26
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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27
expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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28
gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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29
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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30
stratum
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| n.地层，社会阶层 | |
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31
volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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32
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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33
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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34
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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35
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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36
misanthropically
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| 厌恶人类的 | |
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37
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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38
octopus
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| n.章鱼 | |
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39
flatten
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| v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽 | |
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40
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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41
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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42
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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43
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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44
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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45
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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46
banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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47
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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48
sluice
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| n.水闸 | |
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49
lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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50
derisively
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| adv. 嘲笑地，嘲弄地 | |
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51
beetling
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| adj.突出的，悬垂的v.快速移动( beetle的现在分词 ) | |
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52
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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53
sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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54
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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55
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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56
twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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57
pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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58
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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59
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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60
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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61
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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62
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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63
crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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64
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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65
slabs
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| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
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66
obsidian
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| n.黑曜石 | |
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67
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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68
limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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69
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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70
disarray
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| n.混乱，紊乱，凌乱 | |
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71
chasms
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| 裂缝( chasm的名词复数 )； 裂口； 分歧； 差别 | |
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72
lateral
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| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
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73
crevasses
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| n.破口，崩溃处，裂缝( crevasse的名词复数 ) | |
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74
sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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75
treacherous
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|
| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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76
porous
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| adj.可渗透的，多孔的 | |
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77
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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78
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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79
jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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80
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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81
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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82
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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83
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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84
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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85
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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86
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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87
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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88
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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89
ridges
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|
| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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90
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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91
hummock
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| n.小丘 | |
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92
converging
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| adj.收敛[缩]的，会聚的，趋同的v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的现在分词 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集 | |
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93
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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94
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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95
insistently
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| ad.坚持地 | |
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96
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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97
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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98
pinnacle
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| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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99
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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100
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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101
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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102
populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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103
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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104
trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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105
conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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106
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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107
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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108
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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109
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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110
delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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111
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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112
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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113
harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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114
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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115
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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116
glades
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| n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
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117
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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118
witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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119
poignantly
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120
fleetingly
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| adv.飞快地，疾驰地 | |
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121
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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122
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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123
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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124
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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125
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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126
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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127
masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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128
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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129
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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130
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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131
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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132
spoke
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| 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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133
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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134
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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135
monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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136
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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137
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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138
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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139
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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140
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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141
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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142
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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143
defiled
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| v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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144
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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145
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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146
lamentably
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| adv.哀伤地，拙劣地 | |
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147
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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148
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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149
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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150
retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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151
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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152
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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153
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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154
shrines
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| 圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
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155
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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156
labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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157
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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158
transmuting
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| v.使变形，使变质，把…变成…( transmute的现在分词 ) | |
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159
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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160
translucence
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| n.半透明 | |
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161
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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162
domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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163
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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164
elusive
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| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
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165
underlies
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| v.位于或存在于（某物）之下( underlie的第三人称单数 )；构成…的基础（或起因），引起 | |
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166
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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167
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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168
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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169
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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170
vagrant
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| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
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