The Hon. Mr. Candituft had a genius for society. In the marks of a man’s face, he could, he thought, generally interpret the marks of a man’s bank-book. With an unbounded benevolence1 for all the world, he nevertheless—though he would not avow2 the instinct—best liked the acquaintance of that portion of society that, raised far above the cares of money, could do the fullest justice to the moral and spiritual and, he would add, the tasteful and elegant man. He looked upon all mankind as brethren; but, still, preferred the elder brethren of the richest branches. And why? Possibly, because it was the condition of humanity to forego so much of its original bloom and goodness in the vulgar pursuit of the vulgar means of life. Not that he did not honour even the horny hand of sordid4 labour. To be sure; and has been known, on more than one festive5 occasion, to take the said hand in his own naked palm, at the same time passing a high eulogium on the original profession of Adam. Still, it must be owned, that of the two conditions of Adam, he much preferred the landlord of Eden to the labourer outside.
“Introduce you, my dear sir? To be sure—not that there’s any need of introduction at Jogtrot Hall; think it a family party, sir; a family party.” Such was the cordial outspeaking of the host, Gilbert Carraways, esquire; a fine, simple, hearty7, old gentleman; with a bright grey eye; and white, thin, silky[Pg 62] hair. Time had used him like an old friend, kindly8, considerately. At three score, Squire6 Carraways—for such was his dignity throughout Marigolds—carried his years, as a lusty reaper9 carries a sheaf; with ruddy face and unbent back. “I say to you again, my good friend,” cried the host to Candituft, “think it a family party.”
“My dear sir,” said the Hon. Cesar Candituft, catching11 the hand of his host, and looking almost pathetically into his face, “my dear sir, would that we all had your benevolence! Would that all the world could be brought to think all the world a family party! Look at that man, sir; that very brown man, sir,”—and Candituft pointed12 to an Indian juggler13, who, hired for the day, was crossing the grounds to begin the shew,—“look at that deep-dyed individual, sir; why, I can consider him my brother.”
“Very kind of you,” said Carraways; who, hooking his thumbs into his waistcoat pockets, looked a little slily at the philanthropist. “You never come into the City? Humph! you’d be dreadfully shocked to see so many of your relations with brooms.”
“Of course,” said Candituft, as the best thing he could say. “But, my dear sir—here he is—introduce me.”
“Mr. Jericho, Mr. Candituft—the Hon. Mr. Candituft,” said Carraways: and, turning from the newly-known brethren, the host took Mrs. Jericho and Monica under his charge.
“You’ll find us somewhere, Jericho,” said the wife. “We must join dear Mrs. Carraways.”
“Really, Mrs. Jericho, I should like to see your husband look somewhat stouter16. Isn’t he a—a little thin?” asked Carraways.
“Oh, dear, no! not at all,” answered Mrs. Jericho, quite eagerly. “By no means.”
“Papa, you know, was always thin,” said Miss Pennibacker,[Pg 63] so very confidently, that Carraways felt he ought to be mistaken. It was clear—Jericho was always thin. “Well, well, it’s my blunder; yet, I thought, perhaps, the shock of sudden property. By the way, I’m glad to hear such wonders of the mines.”
“Very kind of you, dear Mr. Carraways. But”—added Mrs. Jericho, philosophically17 and sonorously—“after all, what is money? Money cannot bestow19 happiness.”
“Why, perhaps not,” said the merchant host; “nevertheless, it often supplies a good imitation of the article. Come, come, you mustn’t abuse money, Mrs. Jericho. That’s the rightful privilege of people who can’t get it.”
“Dear Mrs. Carraways! Well, this is lovely! Quite oriental! Superb!” cried Mrs. Jericho, with deepening emphasis greeting the lady of the place. “I vow3, it takes one quite back to the Persian poets.”
“Very good company, no doubt,” said Carraways, laughing; “but, after all, I rather prefer this to any gardens on foolscap. Better company, too”—and the old gentleman bent10 gallantly21 to Mrs. Jericho and Monica—“much better company than the best of people, made of the best of ink. My dear,” said Carraways to his wife, “where’s Bessy?”
“Oh yes! Where is dear Bessy?” cried Monica, with tremulous anxiety. Mrs. Carraways nodded towards a party of dancers, where was Bessy Carraways—a girl, whose best beauty was the open goodness of her face—dancing with Sir Arthur Hodmadod; Miss Candituft apart smiling—as the Spartan22 young gentleman smiled with the fox that fed upon him—and following Bessy with speaking eyes, and shaking her golden tresses, and beating her silver foot in blithe23 accompaniment of the measure.
“How beautiful is Bessy to-day!” said Miss Candituft, joining Bessy’s father and mother.
“Quite delicious,” cried Miss Pennibacker to Bessy’s mother; and Miss Candituft swerved24 her fair neck, and opened her cold eyes at Monica, as though resenting any admiration25 of so interesting a subject as a trespass26 upon her own monopoly of love.[Pg 64] And then she said, with new supply of fervour—“She carries all hearts with her.”
“She is so beautiful,” again interposed Monica.—Again Miss Candituft stared.
“Why, as for that, she’s very good—and very like her mother,” said Carraways, and then he laughed at his wife, and added—“and so we won’t talk so much about the beauty. However, perhaps I’m grown too old to judge;” and the father looked towards his child, and his face glowed with pride and pleasure as she nodded to him, and wove in and out the dance, young, healthful, and happy as a nymph.
“Ugh! Mr. Carraways,—this is too good; too fine; too grand for poor folks. It’s cruel of you—sheer barbarity, sir; hard-hearted pride of purse, nothing better. Cruel, sir; cruel,” gasped27 Colonel Bones, offering his hand to the hostess, then to the host, and then making a courteous28 sweeping29 bow to the ladies; for Bones was gallant20 to the last.
“What, then, Colonel”—cried Miss Candituft—“you don’t enjoy this elysium? You don’t like to tread upon asphodel?”
“An insult to poverty, Miss Candituft—an insult;” and Colonel Bones smiled a hard smile, and his dark, deep sunk eyes twinkled from behind his ragged30 eyebrows31. “Too bad of our host to drag a beggar like me here: really too bad. Tyrannous, tyrannous to scourge32 poverty with golden rods. Humph?” And the Colonel looked around.
“I dare say you can bear it, Colonel,” answered Miss Candituft, staring at him, and reading in the human antiquity33 the hidden mystery of wealth. Before the eyes of the far-seeing spinster the heart of Colonel Bones lay all revealed; open, discovered, like the valley of diamonds. “You can bear it;” and saying this, the smiling lady drew the very best flower from her bouquet34, and threaded it in the Colonel’s button-hole.
“Ugh!” said Colonel Bones, with a grim smile looking down upon the operation. “Ugh! Winter, winter adorned35 by spring. Oh dear! Why will you take such pains to spoil a beggar? Eh? Humph?” ended the Colonel, with his usual spasm36 of interrogation.
[Pg 65]
At this moment Candituft and Jericho advanced to the party. Colonel Bones, with a sudden jerk, was moving off, when Candituft stept forward, with open hand.
“Ugh! No, sir; I can’t do it—I won’t do it. The fact is, sir,—though this is not the place to name it—the fact is, it was I, Colonel Bones, who on Saturday last black-balled you at the Cut-and-come.” Thus spoke37 Bones, and somewhat defyingly.
“No mistake at all, sir; not a bit; I’d do it again to-morrow. Wouldn’t I? Humph?”
“Because, my dear Colonel, you don’t know me. Ignorance causes all the family quarrels of the brotherhood39 of man. I lament40 your error; but I have no malice41. And what is human life,—what is moral dignity, if it can’t live down these small mistakes? The brotherhood of man, my dear sir.”
“Eh? What? There you are, at it again, Candituft! The brotherhood of man! When you come out to enjoy yourself, why the devil can’t you leave all your poor relations at home?”
“Ha! Commissioner42, glad to see you. Why, you look as flourishing and as bountiful as one of your own bread-trees. It’s food and lodging43 to behold44 you.” This was the ready, flattering reply of Candituft to a short, thick, very black, and very red man, who had the look of having been dried like pepper, hard and hot, in a fiery45 climate; though there were people who, when Commissioner Thrush talked of his travels in Siam, stared very doubtingly upon the boastful rover. Be such doubts just or unjust, the Commissioner made a very good use of the king of Siam; putting off upon the royal whim46, or royal wisdom, his own jest. Thus, when Commissioner Thrush wanted to shoot at impertinence or folly47, he would very modestly shoot with the king of Siam’s proper long-bow.
“Why, my dear good Thrush, will you so speak of human nature?” asked the indomitable Candituft. “Why will you[Pg 66] take such pains to hide that noble heart of yours? That heart enlarged by travel—softened by experience—purified by”——
“Well, it’s wonderful,” said the Commissioner, scrutinizing48 the cheek of the Man-Tamer—“wonderful how you can do it. But you talk of hearts and homes, and keep your face like a figure-head. It’s a good thing, Candituft, you ar’n’t in Siam. They’d put you in petticoats; they would, sir; for life—without hope of pardon, sir, for the term of your natural life. In petticoats.”
“You see, Colonel, it is the custom of the king of Siam—or was, when I knew him, for let me be particular—it was his Majesty’s custom, when any of his ministers, or judges, or generals, or people of that sort of kidney persisted in doing or talking of matters they didn’t understand—not that I insinuate50 anything of the sort against our friend Candituft—by no means; don’t mistake me—it was the king’s custom, I say, to make his ministers, for the rest of their days, wear nothing else but the cast-off clothes of the oldest women in his dominions51. When I left Siam, which is now—how time flies! a good while ago—there were three prime ministers, one chancellor52 of the exchequer53, a chief justice, and two field marshals, all in old women’s petticoats, sir. And for life! What do you think of that?”
“For my part,” said Carraways, “I must think the old ladies much scandalised by the practice. But, Jericho, I want you”—
“Why, it isn’t Jericho!” cried Thrush, rushing up to our Man of Money, and laying hold of his coat with both hands—“It can’t be Jericho! Only a dividend54 of him. As I’m alive, you don’t look a shilling in the pound of yourself.”
“Looks, sir—looks,”—said Jericho, with a dignity that did his wife’s heart good—“are the cheats of the simple. If, however, I do look thin, be assured I’ve my own private reasons for it. May I have the pleasure, madam?”—and Jericho offered his arm to Miss Candituft, her brother having introduced[Pg 67] Jericho, and being with his sister introduced to Jericho’s wife and daughter in honourable55 return. Jericho made for a distant crowd, gathered about the juggler. “Very odd, madam, that people can’t keep their foolish opinions under their own hats,” said Jericho: and Miss Candituft—forewarned by a significant look, an emphatic whisper from her brother—jumped instantly to the like conclusion. Indeed Miss Candituft had very quickly gathered the Jericho family to her bunch of treasured friends: adding them readily as new flowers to chosen blossoms.
“Well, Mr. Jericho is certainly not so stout as he was,” said Mrs. Carraways to Jericho’s wife, “but then I think he looks a great deal better. He was a little too stout,” suggested the good-natured hostess.
“Decidedly too stout,” said Mrs. Jericho. “He wanted activity of mind and body. I have prevailed upon him of late to take exercise, and he is a great deal better. But, really, it would seem as if there was a general conspiracy56 to frighten the poor man out of the world. Absolutely a wicked design to throw me into the despair of widowhood.” And then, as tearing herself with a wrench57 from the idea, Mrs. Jericho blandly58 suggested—“Let us follow the world, and go to the juggler.”
Candituft, Colonel Bones, and Commissioner Thrush slowly trod the greensward. “Why,” said Thrush, “money seems to have taken all the colour out of him. He was a jolly fellow, red and ripe as a peach; and now—I wonder if he’s made his will. Depend upon it, he won’t live long.”
“Don’t say that! Dear fellow—I mean, poor creature! Dreadful times for such people to die, when by living”—and Candituft, with finger at his cheek, shook his head—“they could do so much good to the family of man. Really, Mr. Jericho ought to have the best advice.”
“Ugh! If he’s so very rich, Candituft, you’ll bestow advice gratis,” grinned Bones. “You’ll feel his pulse,—I’m sure of that. Now a beggar like me—a pensioner59 upon a crust—can’t hope for such a doctor. Humph?”
“Ha, Colonel! You know you may say anything. You[Pg 68] know you may use your friends as you please; you can’t offend ’em. They know your heart,”—said Candituft—“and what matters the rest?”
“I say, Colonel, you’ll remember Candituft in your will for all this?” said Thrush.
“My will! Ugh!” cried Colonel Bones. “When I die, I shall leave—I shall leave—the world.”
“Talking of wills,” said Thrush, returning to his self-laid trap, “talking of wills, there was an odd thing happened in Siam.”
“No doubt. Odd if there hadn’t,” cried Candituft, smiling with confidence on the unmoved Bones.
“You’ll like to hear it, Candituft. Very odd. There was an old muckthrift died, and left to the dear friend that had best flattered him a curious bequest60. You’ll never guess it—it was a jar of treacle61, mixed with caterpillars62.”
“Disgusting!” cried Candituft.
“Good! devilish good!” laughed Colonel Bones.
“And so it became a saying in Siam. Whenever,” said Thrush, with a leer at the Man-Tamer—“whenever a man coaxed63 and flattered another for his own ends, folks would say—‘He’s laying on the treacle, and may come in for the caterpillars.’ And this, I assure you, was in Siam.”
“Charming! excellent! quite a delicious apologue!” said Candituft, with a smile that declared him invulnerable. “You are a happy fellow, Thrush. When you are most bitter, you are most wholesome64. It’s impossible not to relish65 you. After a talk with you, I feel my morals braced66, toned I may say, for a month. Capital fellow!” and Candituft laid his outspread hand affectionately on Thrush’s shoulder.
“Hallo! Basil, boy, how d’ye do?” said Thrush to young Pennibacker, who, looking anxiously about him, ran upon the party. “’Pon my word, you haven’t done growing yet. Why, how you’ve shot up this last month!”
“No doubt, my dear sir; climb like a honeysuckle. But the truth is, we talk of the degeneracy of the age. I’ve found out[Pg 69] the cause, sir; it’s straps67. They hold down the free-born Briton, sir; they dwarf68 a giant race, sir. Every man, if he likes, has his discovery; straps is mine.”
“Admirable!” cried Candituft, with convulsive laughter; for Basil had already been shown to the Man-Tamer as the son-in-law of the gorgeous Jericho. “Most ingenious; and yet most simple discovery! Ha! ha!”
“That’s it, sir,” said Basil, taking quick measure of Candituft—“that’s it. We look abroad for causes, when the thing is under our foot. What has lowered the standard of the British army?—straps. Why, in these days, sir, have we no high drama, sir—no high art? Straps, sir; straps. Men are tied to their boots, and can’t reach it. Why have we no political greatness, sir? Why does an unprincipled minister every night of his parliamentary existence violate the spotless constitution?”
“Ugh! Hear! Hear! Humph?” cried Colonel Bones, and he rubbed his big, raw hands.
“Why have we no public spirit left, sir? Why do we not rise against tyranny, and taxation69, and free trade, and the Pope? The disgrace and the answer, gentlemen, are in one crushing syllable—straps!”
“Hear! hear! hear! Loud cheers!” cried Candituft. At this moment Bessy, under the protection of Miss Candituft, was crossing the lawn, when Basil, without further word, immediately broke from his audience. Candituft, however, with some sudden and violent commendation of Basil’s vivacious70 talent, instantly followed.
“My dear lady,” said Basil, sweeping off his hat, and reddening and stammering71 somewhat—“may I now beg the goodness of your promise? These little work-people of yours”——
“Really, Mr. Pennibacker, you’ll not care about them,” said Bessy, in a voice made sweeter by her simple, affectionate looks. “But if you really wish to see them”——
“Yes, yes; that’s right, Bessy. It’s a sight that may do the young men of our day good,” said old Carraways, coming up with a host of visitors, Mrs. Jericho and Monica being of the[Pg 70] number. “It will be a change, too, from the juggler. By the way—that poor brother of yours, Mr. Candituft”——
“Brother, Mr. Carraways!” cried Candituft; and then he recollected72 the human relationship, and warmly smiled, and said—“Oh yes! very true; to be sure.”
“He earns his daily mutton hard enough. I never knew such tricks. Ha! ha! Stock Exchange is nothing to it,” said Carraways, and he led the way between high laurel hedges—winding73 and winding—until he came into a small garden. Here the company heard clamorous74 shouts of laughter. The quiet, well-bred mirth of the party seemed to have migrated hither to break loose into the largest enjoyment75. A few paces, and a happy scene revealed itself. The garden was skirted by a hay-field. A heavy second crop had blessed the land. Some thirty or forty of the youngest and sprightliest76 of the visitors were making hay; and—one or two or three in a violent spirit of romps77—were pitching the hay at one another. “Ha! ha! ha! I like this,” cried Carraways. “Well, I do think that young folks never look so happy or so handsome as when they’re making hay. What say you, Mrs. Jericho?”
“I was ever of that sentiment,” said Mrs. Jericho, with one of her fullest smiles. “’Tis so pastoral—so innocent; so far away from the fastidious conventionalities of life.” And then Mrs. Jericho darkly frowned, and suddenly squeezing her daughter Monica by the arm, and whispering anxiously between her maternal78 teeth, cried—“That never can be your sister, Agatha!” But it was; and the flushed delinquent—with a sharp, chirping79 laugh—was at the moment throwing a wisp of hay at Sir Arthur Hodmadod, who had evidently made up his mind to receive it as the largest of blessings80.
“It is Agatha,” said Monica, sharing more than her mother’s trouble at the exposure; for she much wondered that her younger sister could take such freedom with a baronet.
“Don’t mind Sir Arthur,” said Miss Candituft in her own sympathetic way, to the anxious parent. “Nobody minds him. He hasn’t the genius to be even dangerous.” Mrs. Jericho[Pg 71] stared, and then smiled and jerked her head, at once acknowledging and despising the information.
In a minute the disturbed merry-makers, as suddenly grave as they might be, joined the party, Carraways laughing and giving them heartiest81 praise for their romps. “That’s it! I love to see people not ashamed to enjoy themselves after their own hearts. For my part, I never see a haycock that I don’t wish to go plump head over heels into it. I think, somehow, it’s an instinct of the natural family of man, eh, Mr. Candituft?”
“No doubt, my dear sir,” said Candituft; “not the least doubt—a remnant of Eden that still sweetens the fall.”
“Agatha, I am ashamed of you,” whispered Mrs. Jericho to her red-faced daughter as she sidled up. The next moment Sir Arthur Hodmadod, with a gay confident look, proffered82 to the rebuked83 Agatha an arm of the baronetage. The motion was not lost upon the scrupulous84 Monica; who—to comfort her mother—immediately whispered—“And I’m ashamed of her, too, ma.”
“Here we are,” cried Carraways, halting at an apiary85 of the trimmest and prettiest order. “Here’s Bessy’s work-people. And I can tell you, charming it is to see them coming in and going out; and delightful86 to meet ’em in the fields—for upon my life, I sometimes think they know us—as they go bouncing, buzzing by.”
“I’m sure they know me, papa,” said Bessy; and then she modestly added—“at least I think so.”
“Ugh! They must know you,” said Colonel Bones; “bees, bees must be the best judges of flowers. Humph?”
“Delicious! A sweet thought, Colonel,” said Candituft. “Excellent!”
“It is very pretty,” cried Hodmadod, surveying the apiary. “So nicely thatched, too; so very snug87. I call it”—said the baronet with authority—“I call it quite a bijou.”
“Do you, indeed?” asked Agatha, all smiles.
“I do,” said Sir Arthur; “that is, when I say a bijou, I mean—of course—a picture.”
“The inference is so plain,” said Miss Candituft, and she[Pg 72] looked in that wild moment at the flushed Agatha as though she could have bitten her bold, red cheek.
“Wonderful creatures, bees!” cried Hodmadod. “Only to think that such little things should make all the wax candles!” There was a pause, when the modest baronet asked—“They do make all the wax candles, eh? don’t they?”
“Make everything in wax,” said Basil. “Wonderfully arranged, sir. The white bees make wax; and the black bees—the nigger bees—make pitch.”
“Very well; very good; but no—I can’t quite believe that. Still, it is wonderful. And Miss Carraways, permit me to ask”—said Hodmadod—“do your labourers here work all the year round?”
“Not all the year, Sir Arthur,” answered the smiling Bessy.
“Ha! I see; the bees have a recess88. Ha! ha! They’re like us in Parliament,” said Hodmadod. “Ha! ha!”
“Oh, very like you in Parliament,” cried the cool, cutting Miss Candituft.
“That is, when I say that bees are like members of Parliament, I don’t mean”—explained the logical Hodmadod—“I don’t mean that members of Parliament make wax candles, you know.”
“No, no, no,” cried Carraways with a laugh; and the company, to be relieved, would see a joke, and laughed most heartily89; Hodmadod still laughing loudest.
“But we are not the only bee-keepers,” said Mrs. Carraways. “We have what we call our honey-feasts. And you should only see Bessy’s silver bees.”
“Silver bees! Well, that is strange. Now I call it curious”—cried Hodmadod—“but on the road, I did see a silver bee settled—when I say settled, of course I mean buckled—on the throat of a nice little girl. Wasn’t she, Miss Candituft?”
“A very pretty, fair thing with flaxen hair,” remarked Miss Candituft.
“That’s Jenny White. She’s the silver bee of this year; you see, it’s a whim of our Bessy’s”—Mrs. Carraways would talk, regardless of Bessy’s looks—“to give prizes every year to[Pg 73] the folks hereabout whose hives weigh most honey. Besides these prizes, there’s a silver bee to be worn on holidays.”
“’Pon my word,” said Hodmadod, “I think I shall take a cottage here, and enter myself for the stakes. When I say myself, of course I mean my bees, because I couldn’t very well go into a lily,—eh?”
Here Topps winding his way round the company, with importance in his looks, made up to his master. “This way,” cried Carraways, giving his arm to Mrs. Jericho. “I think I know where we can light upon the merry-thought of a chicken.”
In a very few minutes, the host was seated at the head of the table under a long, wide tent. On the table were the most delicious proofs of the earth’s goodness; with every kitchen mystery. And these vanished and were replaced, and guests came and went, and came and went; and so the hours flew, eating, drinking, laughing and dancing by; until the stars came out, and the music played more noisily, and the merriment grew louder and louder.
Some twenty or thirty were seated together. Mr. Jericho, taciturn and dignified91, graced the board. Candituft sat next him; and with others, among whom were Commissioner Thrush, and the miserly Colonel Bones, clubbed their share of mirth. An elderly gentleman, pock-marked, with a pink nose, had been particularly silent; admiring, when and where required, with soberest discretion92. And now, for the past half hour, he had been seized with a passion to drink everybody’s health. This vinous philanthropist was Doctor Mizzlemist of Doctors’ Commons. He had at last discovered the great duty of life; and was resolved to perform it. For the third time, he rose to give “the health of Solomon Jericho, Esquire; an honour to his country.” For the third time, the Doctor dwelt upon the hidden virtues93 of his excellent toast, emphasizing them with a dessert fork, which never failed in its downward descent to make three marks upon the table. Finally wrought94 into enthusiasm by a contemplation of his subject, Doctor[Pg 74] Mizzlemist delivered himself with such energy, that at the same time he struck the fork between the bones of Jericho’s right hand, pinning it where it lay. The planted weapon trembled in the mahogany. Mr. Jericho’s head was at the moment turned aside. A shout from the company proclaimed some calamity95. Mr. Jericho slowly turning, saw the fork still quivering in his flesh. He calmly withdrew the weapon from the wood, laid it down, passed his palm over his bloodless hand, and with a smile said—“It’s nothing.”
“What wonderful forbearance!” “What extraordinary firmness!” thought the company, and still they looked strangely, curiously96 at the serene97, the philosophic18 Jericho.
The fireworks died in darkness—the lamps twinkled fainter and fainter—and at some hour in the morning the last vehicle rolled from the gate of Jogtrot Lodge98.—Perhaps, some four hours before the postman delivered his letters at the house of Carraways in the City.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
benevolence
|
|
| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
avow
|
|
| v.承认，公开宣称 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
vow
|
|
| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
sordid
|
|
| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
festive
|
|
| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
squire
|
|
| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
hearty
|
|
| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
reaper
|
|
| n.收割者，收割机 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
catching
|
|
| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
juggler
|
|
| n. 变戏法者, 行骗者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
eldest
|
|
| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
emphatic
|
|
| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
stouter
|
|
| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
philosophically
|
|
| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
philosophic
|
|
| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
bestow
|
|
| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
gallant
|
|
| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
gallantly
|
|
| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
spartan
|
|
| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
blithe
|
|
| adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
swerved
|
|
| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
trespass
|
|
| n./v.侵犯，闯入私人领地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
courteous
|
|
| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
ragged
|
|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
scourge
|
|
| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
antiquity
|
|
| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
bouquet
|
|
| n.花束，酒香 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
adorned
|
|
| [计]被修饰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
spasm
|
|
| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
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： |
|
|
|
|
38
meekly
|
|
| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
brotherhood
|
|
| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
lament
|
|
| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
malice
|
|
| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
commissioner
|
|
| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
lodging
|
|
| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
fiery
|
|
| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
whim
|
|
| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
scrutinizing
|
|
| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
sneering
|
|
| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
insinuate
|
|
| vt.含沙射影地说，暗示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
dominions
|
|
| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
chancellor
|
|
| n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
exchequer
|
|
| n.财政部；国库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
dividend
|
|
| n.红利，股息；回报，效益 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
honourable
|
|
| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
conspiracy
|
|
| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
wrench
|
|
| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
blandly
|
|
| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
pensioner
|
|
| n.领养老金的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
bequest
|
|
| n.遗赠；遗产，遗物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
treacle
|
|
| n.糖蜜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
caterpillars
|
|
| n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
coaxed
|
|
| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
wholesome
|
|
| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
relish
|
|
| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
braced
|
|
| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
straps
|
|
| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
dwarf
|
|
| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
taxation
|
|
| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
vivacious
|
|
| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
stammering
|
|
| v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
recollected
|
|
| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
winding
|
|
| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
clamorous
|
|
| adj.吵闹的，喧哗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
enjoyment
|
|
| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
sprightliest
|
|
| adj.生气勃勃的，活泼的( sprightly的最高级 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
77
romps
|
|
| n.无忧无虑，快活( romp的名词复数 )v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的第三人称单数 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
maternal
|
|
| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
chirping
|
|
| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
blessings
|
|
| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
heartiest
|
|
| 亲切的( hearty的最高级 )； 热诚的； 健壮的； 精神饱满的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
proffered
|
|
| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
rebuked
|
|
| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
scrupulous
|
|
| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
apiary
|
|
| n.养蜂场，蜂房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
snug
|
|
| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
recess
|
|
| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
heartily
|
|
| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
clench
|
|
| vt.捏紧（拳头等），咬紧（牙齿等），紧紧握住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
dignified
|
|
| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
discretion
|
|
| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
virtues
|
|
| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
wrought
|
|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
calamity
|
|
| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
serene
|
|
| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
lodge
|
|
| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |