IN WHICH CHALLENGER HAS THE EXPERIENCE OF HIS LIFETIME
SO now the nets were set and the pit was dug and the hunters were all ready for the great quarry1, but the question was whether the creature would allow himself to be driven in the right direction. Had Challenger been told that the meeting was really held in the hope of putting convincing evidence before him as to the truth of spirit intercourse2 with the aim of his eventual3 conversion4, it would have roused mingled5 anger and derision in his breast. But the clever Malone, aided and abetted6 by Enid, still put forward the idea that his presence would be a protection against fraud, and that he would be able to point out to them how and why they had been deceived. With this thought in his mind, Challenger gave a contemptuous and condescending8 consent to the proposal that he should grace with his presence a proceeding10 which was, in his opinion, more fitted to the stone cabin of a neolithic11 savage12 than to the serious attention of one who represented the accumulated culture and wisdom of the human race.
Enid accompanied her father, and he also brought with him a curious companion who was strange both to Malone and to the rest of the company. This was a large, raw-boned Scottish youth, with a freckled13 face, a huge figure, and a taciturnity which nothing could penetrate14. No question could discover where his{258} interests in psychic15 research might lie, and the only positive thing obtained from him was that his name was Nicholl. Malone and Mailey went together to the rendezvous16 at Holland Park, where they found awaiting them Delicia Freeman, the Rev17. Charles Mason, Mr. and Mrs. Ogilvy of the College, Mr. Bolsover of Hammersmith, and Lord Roxton, who had become assiduous in his psychic studies, and was rapidly progressing in knowledge. There were nine in all, a mixed, inharmonious assembly, from which no experienced investigator19 could expect great results. On entering the séance room Linden was found seated in the arm-chair, his wife beside him, and was introduced collectively to the company, most of whom were already his friends. Challenger took up the matter at once with the air of a man who will stand no nonsense.
“Is this the medium?” he asked, eyeing Linden with much disfavour.
“Yes.”
“Has he been searched?”
“Not yet.”
“Who will search him?”
“Two men of the company have been selected.”
“Which men?” he asked.
“It is suggested that you and your friend, Mr. Nicholl, shall do so. There is a bedroom next door.”
Poor Linden was marched off between them in a manner which reminded him unpleasantly of his prison experiences. He had been nervous before but this ordeal21 and the overpowering presence of Challenger made him still more so. He shook his head mournfully at Mailey when he reappeared.{259}
Mailey came round and patted him on the shoulder, while Mrs. Linden took his hand.
“It’s all right, Tom,” said Mailey. “Remember that you have a bodyguard23 of friends round you who won’t see you ill used.” Then Mailey spoke24 to Challenger in a sterner way than was his wont25. “I beg you to remember, sir, that a medium is as delicate an instrument as any to be found in your laboratories. Do not abuse it. I presume that you found nothing compromising upon his person?”
“No, sir, I did not. And as a result he assures us that we will get nothing to-day.”
“He says so because your manner has disturbed him. You must treat him more gently.”
“I understand that this person is the medium’s wife. She should also be searched.”
“That is a matter of course,” said the Scotsman Ogilvy. “My wife and your daughter will take her out. But I beg you, Professor Challenger, to be as harmonious18 as you can, and to remember that we are all as interested in the results as you are, so that the whole company will suffer if you should disturb the conditions.”
Mr. Bolsover, the grocer, rose with as much dignity as if he were presiding at his favourite temple.
“I move,” said he, “that Professor Challenger be searched.”
“Search me! What do you mean, sir?”
Bolsover was not to be intimidated28.
“You are here not as our friend but as our enemy.{260} If you was to prove fraud it would be a personal triumph for you—see? Therefore I, for one, says as you should be searched.”
“Well, Professor, we are all accused of it in turn,” said Mailey smiling. “We all feel as indignant as you are at first, but after a time you get used to it. I’ve been called a liar31, a lunatic—goodness knows what. What does it matter?”
“Well, sir,” said Ogilvy, who was a particularly pertinacious33 Scot. “Of course, it is open to you to walk out of the room and leave us. But if you sit, you must sit under what we consider to be scientific conditions. It is not scientific that a man who is known to be bitterly hostile to the movement should sit with us in the dark with no check as to what he may have in his pockets.”
“Come, come!” cried Malone. “Surely we can trust to the honour of Professor Challenger.”
“That’s all very well,” said Bolsover. “I did not observe that Professor Challenger trusted so very much to the honour of Mr. and Mrs. Linden.”
“We have cause to be careful,” said Ogilvy. “I can assure you that there are frauds practised on mediums just as there are frauds practised by mediums. I could give you plenty of examples. No, sir, you will have to be searched.”
“It won’t take a minute,” said Lord Roxton. “What I mean young Malone here and I could give you a once over in no time.”
“Quite so, come on!” said Malone.
And so Challenger, like a red-eyed bull with dilat{261}ing nostrils34, was led from the room. A few minutes later, all preliminaries being completed, they were seated in the circle and the séance had begun.
But already the conditions had been destroyed. Those meticulous35 researchers who insist upon tying up a medium until the poor creature resembles a fowl36 trussed for roasting, or who glare their suspicions at him before the lights are lowered, do not realise that they are like people who add moisture to gunpowder37 and then expect to explode it. They ruin their own results, and then when those results do not occur imagine that their own astuteness38, rather than their own lack of understanding, has been the cause.
Hence it is that at humble39 gatherings40 all over the land, in an atmosphere of sympathy and of reverence41, there are such happenings as the cold man of “Science” is never privileged to see.
All the sitters felt churned up by the preliminary altercation43, but how much more did it mean to the sensitive centre of it all! To him the room was filled with conflicting rushes and eddies44 of psychic power, whirling this way or that, and as difficult for him to navigate45 as the rapids below Niagara. He groaned46 in his despair. Everything was mixed and confused. He was beginning as usual with his clairvoyance47, but names buzzed in his etheric ears without sequence or order. The word “John” seemed to predominate, so he said so. Did “John” mean anything to anyone? A cavernous laugh from Challenger was the only reply. Then he had the surname of Chapman. Yes, Mailey had lost a friend named Chapman. But it was years ago, and there seemed no reason for his presence, nor could he furnish his Christian48 name. “Budworth”—no; no one would own to a friend named Budworth. Definite messages came across, but they seemed to have{262} no reference to the present company. Everything was going amiss, and Malone’s spirits sank to zero. Challenger sniffed so loudly that Ogilvy remonstrated49.
“You make matters worse, sir, when you show your feelings,” said he. “I can assure you that in ten years of constant experience I have never known the medium so far out, and I attribute it entirely50 to your own conduct.”
“Quite so,” said Challenger with satisfaction.
“I am afraid it is no use, Tom,” said Mrs. Linden. “How are you feeling now, dear? Would you wish to stop?”
But Linden, under all his gentle exterior51, was a fighter. He had in another form those same qualities which had brought his brother within an ace9 of the Lonsdale Belt.
“No, I think, maybe, it is only the mental part that is confused. If I am in trance I’ll get past that. The physicals may be better. Anyhow I’ll try.”
The lights were turned lower until they were a mere52 crimson53 glimmer54. The curtain of the cabinet was drawn55. Outside it on the one side, dimly outlined to his audience, Tom Linden, breathing stertorously56 in his trance, lay back in a wooden arm-chair. His wife kept watch and ward7 at the other side of the cabinet.
But nothing happened.
Quarter of an hour passed. Then another quarter of an hour. The company was patient, but Challenger had begun to fidget in his seat. Everything seemed to have gone cold and dead. Not only was nothing happening, but somehow all expectation of anything happening seemed to have passed away.
“It’s no use!” cried Mailey at last.
“I fear not,” said Malone.{263}
The medium stirred and groaned; he was waking up. Challenger gave an ostentatious yawn.
“Is not this a waste of time?” he asked.
Mrs. Linden was passing her hand over the medium’s head and brow. His eyes had opened.
“Any results?” he asked.
“It’s no use, Tom. We shall have to postpone.”
“I think so, too,” said Mailey.
“It is a great strain upon him under these adverse57 conditions,” remarked Ogilvy, looking angrily at Challenger.
“I should think so,” said the latter with a complacent58 smile.
But Linden was not to be beaten.
“The conditions are bad,” said he. “The vibrations59 are all wrong. But I’ll try inside the cabinet. It concentrates the force.”
“Well, it’s the last chance,” said Mailey. “We may as well try it.”
The arm-chair was lifted inside the cloth tent and the medium followed, drawing the curtain behind him.
“It condenses the ectoplasmic emanations,” Ogilvy explained.
“No doubt,” said Challenger. “At the same time, in the interests of truth, I must point out that the disappearance60 of the medium is most regrettable.”
“For goodness sake don’t start wrangling61 again,” cried Mailey with impatience62. “Let us get some results, and then it will be time enough to discuss their value.”
Again there was a weary wait. Then came some hollow groanings from inside the cabinet. The Spiritualists sat up expectantly.
The words were hardly out of his mouth when the curtains were torn open with sudden violence and a rattling64 of all the rings. In the dark aperture65 there was outlined a vague white figure. It advanced slowly and with hesitation66 into the centre of the room. In the red-tinted gloom all definite outline was lost, and it appeared simply as a moving white patch in the darkness. With the deliberation which suggested fear it came, step by step, until it was opposite the Professor.
There was a shout, a scream, a crash. “I’ve got him!” roared someone. “Turn up the lights!” yelled another. “Be careful! You may kill the medium!” cried a third. The circle was broken. Challenger rushed to the switch and put on all the lights. The place was so flooded with radiance that it was some seconds before the bewildered and half-blinded spectators could see the details.
When they had recovered their sight and their balance, the spectacle was a deplorable one for the majority of the company. Tom Linden, looking white, dazed, and ill, was seated upon the ground. Over him stood the huge young Scotsman who had borne him to earth; while Mrs. Linden, kneeling beside her husband, was glaring up at his assailant. There was silence as the company surveyed the scene. It was broken by Professor Challenger.
“Well, gentlemen, I presume that there is no more to be said. Your medium has been exposed as he deserved to be. You can see now the nature of your ghosts. I must thank Mr. Nicholl, who, I may remark, is the famous football player of that name, for the prompt way in which he has carried out his instructions.{265}”
“I collared him low,” said the tall youth. “He was easy.”
“You did it very effectively. You have done public service by helping69 to expose a heartless cheat. I need not say that a prosecution70 will follow.”
But Mailey now intervened and with such authority that Challenger was forced to listen.
“Your mistake is not unnatural71, sir, though the course which you adopted in your ignorance is one which might well have been fatal to the medium.”
“My ignorance, indeed! If you speak like that I warn you that I will look upon you not as dupes, but as accomplices72.”
“One moment, Professor Challenger. I would ask you one direct question, and I ask for an equally direct reply. Was not the figure which we all saw before this painful episode a white figure?”
“Yes, it was.”
“You see now that the medium is entirely dressed in black. Where is the white garment?”
“It is immaterial to me where it is. No doubt his wife and himself are prepared for all eventualities. They have their own means of secreting73 the sheet, or whatever it may have been. These details can be explained in the police court.”
“Examine now. Search the room for anything white.”
“I know nothing of the room. I can only use my common sense. The man is exposed masquerading as a spirit. Into what corner or crevice74 he has thrust his disguise is a matter of small importance.”
“On the contrary, it is a vital matter. What you have seen has not been an imposture75, but has been a very real psychic phenomenon.”
Challenger laughed.{266}
“Yes, sir, a very real phenomenon. You have seen a transfiguration which is the half-way state of materialisation. You will kindly76 realise that spirit guides, who conduct such affairs, care nothing for your doubts and suspicions. They set themselves to get certain results, and if they are prevented by the infirmities of the circle from getting them one way they get them in another without consulting your prejudice or convenience. In this case being unable, owing to the evil conditions which you have yourself created, to build up an ectoplasmic form, they wrapped the unconscious medium in an ectoplasmic covering and sent him forth77 from the cabinet. He is as innocent of imposture as you are.”
“I swear to God,” said Linden, “that from the time I entered the cabinet until I found myself upon the floor I knew nothing.” He had staggered to his feet and was shaking all over in his agitation78, so that he could not hold the glass of water which his wife had brought him.
“Your excuses,” he said, “only open up fresh abysses of credulity. My own duty is obvious, and it will be done to the uttermost. Whatever you have to say will, no doubt, receive such consideration as it deserves from the magistrate80.” Then Professor Challenger turned to go as one who has triumphantly81 accomplished82 that for which he came. “Come, Enid!” said he.
And now occurred a development so sudden, so unexpected, so dramatic, that no one present will ever cease to have it in vivid memory.
No answer was returned to Challenger’s call.
Everyone else had risen to their feet. Only Enid remained in her chair. She sat with her head on one{267} shoulder, her eyes closed, her hair partly loosened—a model for a sculptor83.
“She is asleep,” said Challenger. “Wake up, Enid. I am going.”
There was no response from the girl. Mailey was bending over her.
“Hush! Don’t disturb her! She is in trance.”
Challenger rushed forward. “What have you done? Your infernal hankey-pankey has frightened her. She has fainted.”
“No, no, her eyes are turned up. She is in trance. Your daughter, sir, is a powerful medium.”
“For God’s sake leave her! You may regret it all your life if you don’t. It is not safe to break abruptly86 into the mediumistic trance.”
Challenger stood in bewilderment. For once his presence of mind had deserted87 him. Was it possible that his child stood on the edge of some mysterious precipice88 and that he might push her over?
“What shall I do?” he asked helplessly.
“Have no fear. All will be well. Sit down! Sit down, all of you. Ah! she is about to speak.”
The girl had stirred. She had sat straight in her chair. Her lips trembled. One hand was outstretched.
“For him!” she cried, pointing to Challenger. “He must not hurt my Medi. It is a message. For him.”
There was breathless silence among the persons who had gathered round the girl.
“Who speaks?” asked Mailey.{268}
“Victor speaks, Victor. He shall not hurt my Medi. I have a message. For him!”
“Yes, yes. What is the message?”
“His wife is here.”
“Yes!”
“She says that she has been once before. That she came through this girl. It was after she was buried. She knock and he hear her knocking, but not understand.”
“Does this mean anything to you, Professor Challenger?”
His great eyebrows89 were bunched over his suspicious, questioning eyes, and he glared like a beast at bay from one to the other of the faces round him. There was a trick—a vile42 trick. They had suborned his own daughter. It was damnable. He would expose them, every one. No, he had no questions to ask. He could see through it all. She had been won over. He could not have believed it of her, and yet it must be so. She was doing it for Malone’s sake. A woman would do anything for a man she loved. Yes, it was damnable. Far from being softened90 he was more vindictive91 than ever. His furious face, his broken words, expressed his convictions.
Again the girl’s arm shot out, pointing in front of her.
“Another message!”
“To whom?”
“To him. The man who wanted to hurt my Medi. He must not hurt my Medi. A man here—two men—wish to give him a message.”
“Yes, Victor, let us have it.”
“First man’s name is....” The girl’s head slanted92 and her ear was upturned, as if listening. “Yes, yes, I have it! It is Al—Al—Aldridge.{269}”
“Does that mean anything to you?”
Challenger staggered. A look of absolute wonder had come upon his face.
“Who is the second man?” he asked.
Challenger sat down suddenly. He passed his hand over his brow. He was deadly pale. His face was clammy with sweat.
“Do you know them?”
“I knew two men of those names.”
“They have messages for you,” said the girl.
“Well, what is it?”
“Too private. Not speak, all these people here.”
“We shall wait outside,” said Mailey. “Come, friends, let the Professor have his message.”
They moved towards the door leaving the man seated in front of his daughter. An unwonted nervousness seemed suddenly to seize him. “Malone, stay with me!”
The door closed and the three were left together.
“What is the message?”
“It is about a powder.”
“Yes, yes.”
“A grey powder?”
“Yes.”
“The message that men want to say is: ‘You did not kill us.’”
“Ask them then—ask them—how did they die?” His voice was broken and his great frame was quivering with his emotion.
“They die disease.”
“What disease?”
Challenger sank back in his chair with an immense sigh of relief. “My God!” he cried, wiping his brow. Then:
“Call in the others, Malone.”
They had waited on the landing and now streamed into the room. Challenger had risen to meet them. His first words were to Tom Linden. He spoke like a shaken man whose pride for the instant was broken.
“As to you, sir, I do not presume to judge you. A thing has occurred to me which is so strange, and also so certain, since my own trained senses have attested96 it, that I am not prepared to deny any explanation which has been offered of your previous conduct. I beg to withdraw any injurious expressions I may have used.”
Tom Linden was a true Christian in his character. His forgiveness was instant and sincere.
“I cannot doubt that my daughter has some strange power which bears out much which you, Mr. Mailey, have told me. I was justified97 in my scientific scepticism, but you have to-day offered me some incontrovertible evidence.”
“We all go through the same experience, Professor. We doubt, and then in turn we are doubted.”
“I can hardly conceive that my word will be doubted upon such a point,” said Challenger, with dignity. “I can truly say that I have had information to-night which no living person upon this earth was in a position to give. So much is beyond all question.”
“The young lady is better,” said Mrs. Linden.
Enid was sitting up and staring round her with bewildered eyes.
“What has happened, Father? I seem to have been asleep.{271}”
“All right, dear. We will talk of that later. Come home with me now. I have much to think over. Perhaps you will come back with us, Malone. I feel that I owe you some explanation.”
When Professor Challenger reached his flat, he gave Austin orders that he was on no account to be disturbed, and he led the way into his library, where he sat in his big arm-chair with Malone upon his left and his daughter upon his right. He had stretched out his great paw and enclosed Enid’s small hand.
“My dear,” he said, after a long silence, “I cannot doubt that you are possessed98 of a strange power, for it has been shown to me to-night with a fullness and a clearness which is final. Since you have it I cannot deny that others may have it also, and the general idea of mediumship has entered within my conceptions of what is possible. I will not discuss the question, for my thoughts are still confused upon the subject, and I will need to thrash the thing out with you, young Malone, and with your friends, before I can get a more definite idea. I will only say that my mind has received a shock, and that a new avenue of knowledge seems to have opened up before me.”
“We shall be proud indeed,” said Malone, “if we can help you.”
“Yes, I have no doubt that a headline in your paper, ‘Conversion of Professor Challenger’ would be a triumph. I warn you that I have not got so far.”
“I have never lacked the moral courage to proclaim my opinions when they are formed, but the time has not yet come. However, I have received two{272} messages to-night, and I can only ascribe to them an extra-corporeal origin. I take it for granted, Enid, that you were indeed insensible.”
“I assure you, Father, that I knew nothing.”
“Quite so. You have always been incapable101 of deceit. First there came a message from your mother. She assured me that she had indeed produced those sounds which I heard and of which I have told you. It is clear now that you were the medium and that you were not in sleep but in trance. It is incredible, inconceivable, grotesquely102 wonderful—but it would seem to be true.”
“Crookes used almost those very words,” said Malone. “He wrote that it was all ‘perfectly impossible and absolutely true.’”
“I owe him an apology. Perhaps I owe a good many people an apology.”
“None will ever be asked for,” said Malone. “These people are not made that way.”
“It is the second case which I would explain.” The Professor fidgeted uneasily in his chair. “It is a matter of great privacy—one to which I have never alluded103, and which no one on earth could have known. Since you heard so much you may as well hear all.
“It happened when I was a young physician, and it is not too much to say that it cast a cloud over my life—a cloud which has only been raised to-night. Others may try to explain what has occurred by telepathy, by subconscious104 mind action, by what they will, but I cannot doubt—it is impossible to doubt—that a message has come to me from the dead.
“There was a new drug under discussion at that time. It is useless to enter into details which you would be incapable of appreciating. Suffice it that it was of the datura family which supplies deadly poisons{273} as well as powerful medicines. I had received one of the earliest specimens105, and I desired my name to be associated with the first exploration of its properties. I gave it to two men, Ware and Aldridge. I gave it in what I thought was a safe dose. They were patients, you understand, in my ward in a public hospital. Both were found dead in the morning.
“I had given it secretly. None knew of it. There was no scandal for they were both very ill, and their death seemed natural. But in my own heart I had fears. I believed that I had killed them. It has always been a dark background to my life. You heard yourselves to-night that it was from the disease, and not from the drug that they died.”
“Poor Dad!” whispered Enid, patting the great hirsute106 hand. “Poor Dad! What you must have suffered!”
Challenger was too proud a man to stand pity, even from his own daughter. He pulled away his hand.
“I worked for science,” he said. “Science must take risks. I do not know that I am to blame. And yet—and yet—my heart is very light to-night.{274}”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
quarry
|
|
| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
eventual
|
|
| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
conversion
|
|
| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
abetted
|
|
| v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
ward
|
|
| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
condescending
|
|
| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
ace
|
|
| n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
proceeding
|
|
| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
neolithic
|
|
| adj.新石器时代的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
freckled
|
|
| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
penetrate
|
|
| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
psychic
|
|
| n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
rendezvous
|
|
| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
rev
|
|
| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
harmonious
|
|
| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
investigator
|
|
| n.研究者，调查者，审查者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
sniffed
|
|
| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
ordeal
|
|
| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
postpone
|
|
| v.延期，推迟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
bodyguard
|
|
| n.护卫，保镖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
wont
|
|
| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
amendment
|
|
| n.改正，修正，改善，修正案 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
bristled
|
|
| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
intimidated
|
|
| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
insinuate
|
|
| vt.含沙射影地说，暗示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
trumpeted
|
|
| 大声说出或宣告（trumpet的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
liar
|
|
| n.说谎的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
monstrous
|
|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
pertinacious
|
|
| adj.顽固的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
nostrils
|
|
| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
meticulous
|
|
| adj.极其仔细的，一丝不苟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
fowl
|
|
| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
gunpowder
|
|
| n.火药 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
astuteness
|
|
| n.敏锐；精明；机敏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
gatherings
|
|
| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
reverence
|
|
| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
vile
|
|
| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
altercation
|
|
| n.争吵，争论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
eddies
|
|
| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
navigate
|
|
| v.航行，飞行；导航，领航 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
groaned
|
|
| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
clairvoyance
|
|
| n.超人的洞察力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
remonstrated
|
|
| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
exterior
|
|
| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
crimson
|
|
| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
glimmer
|
|
| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
stertorously
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
adverse
|
|
| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
complacent
|
|
| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
vibrations
|
|
| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
disappearance
|
|
| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
wrangling
|
|
| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
impatience
|
|
| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
emission
|
|
| n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
rattling
|
|
| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
aperture
|
|
| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
hesitation
|
|
| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
bellowed
|
|
| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
stentorian
|
|
| adj.大声的，响亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
helping
|
|
| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
prosecution
|
|
| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
unnatural
|
|
| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
accomplices
|
|
| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
secreting
|
|
| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的现在分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
crevice
|
|
| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
imposture
|
|
| n.冒名顶替，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
agitation
|
|
| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
magistrate
|
|
| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
triumphantly
|
|
| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
sculptor
|
|
| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
eyelid
|
|
| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
raving
|
|
| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
precipice
|
|
| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
softened
|
|
| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
vindictive
|
|
| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
slanted
|
|
| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
ware
|
|
| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
brace
|
|
| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
pneumonia
|
|
| n.肺炎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
attested
|
|
| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
justified
|
|
| a.正当的，有理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
wry
|
|
| adj.讽刺的；扭曲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
premature
|
|
| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
grotesquely
|
|
| adv. 奇异地,荒诞地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
alluded
|
|
| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
subconscious
|
|
| n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
specimens
|
|
| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
hirsute
|
|
| adj.多毛的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |