And Abaris, so far from esteeming1 Pythagoras, who taught these things, a necromancer2 or wizard, rather revered3 and admired him as something divine.
Iamblich., “Vit. Pythag.”
The attendants whom Mejnour had engaged for his strange abode4 were such as might suit a philosopher of few wants. An old Armenian whom Glyndon recognised as in the mystic’s service at Naples, a tall, hard-featured woman from the village, recommended by Maestro Paolo, and two long-haired, smooth-spoken, but fierce-visaged youths from the same place, and honoured by the same sponsorship, constituted the establishment. The rooms used by the sage7 were commodious8 and weather-proof, with some remains9 of ancient splendour in the faded arras that clothed the walls, and the huge tables of costly10 marble and elaborate carving11. Glyndon’s sleeping apartment communicated with a kind of belvedere, or terrace, that commanded prospects12 of unrivalled beauty and extent, and was separated on the other side by a long gallery, and a flight of ten or a dozen stairs, from the private chambers13 of the mystic. There was about the whole place a sombre and yet not displeasing14 depth of repose15. It suited well with the studies to which it was now to be appropriated.
For several days Mejnour refused to confer with Glyndon on the subjects nearest to his heart.
“All without,” said he, “is prepared, but not all within; your own soul must grow accustomed to the spot, and filled with the surrounding nature; for Nature is the source of all inspiration.”
With these words Mejnour turned to lighter16 topics. He made the Englishman accompany him in long rambles17 through the wild scenes around, and he smiled approvingly when the young artist gave way to the enthusiasm which their fearful beauty could not have failed to rouse in a duller breast; and then Mejnour poured forth18 to his wondering pupil the stores of a knowledge that seemed inexhaustible and boundless19. He gave accounts the most curious, graphic20, and minute of the various races (their characters, habits, creeds21, and manners) by which that fair land had been successively overrun. It is true that his descriptions could not be found in books, and were unsupported by learned authorities; but he possessed22 the true charm of the tale-teller, and spoke6 of all with the animated23 confidence of a personal witness. Sometimes, too, he would converse24 upon the more durable25 and the loftier mysteries of Nature with an eloquence26 and a research which invested them with all the colours rather of poetry than science. Insensibly the young artist found himself elevated and soothed27 by the lore28 of his companion; the fever of his wild desires was slaked29. His mind became more and more lulled30 into the divine tranquillity31 of contemplation; he felt himself a nobler being, and in the silence of his senses he imagined that he heard the voice of his soul.
It was to this state that Mejnour evidently sought to bring the neophyte33, and in this elementary initiation34 the mystic was like every more ordinary sage. For he who seeks to DISCOVER must first reduce himself into a kind of abstract idealism, and be rendered up, in solemn and sweet bondage35, to the faculties36 which CONTEMPLATE37 and IMAGINE.
Glyndon noticed that, in their rambles, Mejnour often paused, where the foliage38 was rifest, to gather some herb or flower; and this reminded him that he had seen Zanoni similarly occupied. “Can these humble39 children of Nature,” said he one day to Mejnour,—“things that bloom and wither40 in a day, be serviceable to the science of the higher secrets? Is there a pharmacy41 for the soul as well as the body, and do the nurslings of the summer minister not only to human health but spiritual immortality42?”
“If,” answered Mejnour, “a stranger had visited a wandering tribe before one property of herbalism was known to them; if he had told the savages43 that the herbs which every day they trampled44 under foot were endowed with the most potent45 virtues47; that one would restore to health a brother on the verge48 of death; that another would paralyse into idiocy49 their wisest sage; that a third would strike lifeless to the dust their most stalwart champion; that tears and laughter, vigour50 and disease, madness and reason, wakefulness and sleep, existence and dissolution, were coiled up in those unregarded leaves,— would they not have held him a sorcerer or a liar51? To half the virtues of the vegetable world mankind are yet in the darkness of the savages I have supposed. There are faculties within us with which certain herbs have affinity52, and over which they have power. The moly of the ancients is not all a fable53.”
The apparent character of Mejnour differed in much from that of Zanoni; and while it fascinated Glyndon less, it subdued54 and impressed him more. The conversation of Zanoni evinced a deep and general interest for mankind,— a feeling approaching to enthusiasm for art and beauty. The stories circulated concerning his habits elevated the mystery of his life by actions of charity and beneficence. And in all this there was something genial55 and humane56 that softened57 the awe58 he created, and tended, perhaps, to raise suspicions as to the loftier secrets that he arrogated59 to himself. But Mejnour seemed wholly indifferent to all the actual world. If he committed no evil, he seemed equally apathetic60 to good. His deeds relieved no want, his words pitied no distress61. What we call the heart appeared to have merged62 into the intellect. He moved, thought, and lived like some regular and calm abstraction, rather than one who yet retained, with the form, the feelings and sympathies of his kind.
Glyndon once, observing the tone of supreme63 indifference64 with which he spoke of those changes on the face of earth which he asserted he had witnessed, ventured to remark to him the distinction he had noted65.
“It is true,” said Mejnour, coldly. “My life is the life that contemplates,— Zanoni’s is the life that enjoys: when I gather the herb, I think but of its uses; Zanoni will pause to admire its beauties.”
“And you deem your own the superior and the loftier existence?”
“No. His is the existence of youth,— mine of age. We have cultivated different faculties. Each has powers the other cannot aspire66 to. Those with whom he associates live better,— those who associate with me know more.”
“I have heard, in truth,” said Glyndon, “that his companions at Naples were observed to lead purer and nobler lives after intercourse67 with Zanoni; yet were they not strange companions, at the best, for a sage? This terrible power, too, that he exercises at will, as in the death of the Prince di —, and that of the Count Ughelli, scarcely becomes the tranquil32 seeker after good.”
“True,” said Mejnour, with an icy smile; “such must ever be the error of those philosophers who would meddle68 with the active life of mankind. You cannot serve some without injuring others; you cannot protect the good without warring on the bad; and if you desire to reform the faulty, why, you must lower yourself to live with the faulty to know their faults. Even so saith Paracelsus, a great man, though often wrong. (‘It is as necessary to know evil things as good; for who can know what is good without the knowing what is evil?’ etc.— Paracelsus, ‘De Nat. Rer.,’ lib. 3.) Not mine this folly69; I live but in knowledge,— I have no life in mankind!”
Another time Glyndon questioned the mystic as to the nature of that union or fraternity to which Zanoni had once referred.
“I am right, I suppose,” said he, “in conjecturing70 that you and himself profess71 to be the brothers of the Rosy72 Cross?”
“Do you imagine,” answered Mejnour, “that there were no mystic and solemn unions of men seeking the same end through the same means before the Arabians of Damus, in 1378, taught to a wandering German the secrets which founded the Institution of the Rosicrucians? I allow, however, that the Rosicrucians formed a sect73 descended74 from the greater and earlier school. They were wiser than the Alchemists,— their masters are wiser than they.”
“And of this early and primary order how many still exist?”
“Zanoni and myself.”
“What, two only!— and you profess the power to teach to all the secret that baffles Death?”
“Your ancestor attained75 that secret; he died rather than survive the only thing he loved. We have, my pupil, no arts by which we CAN PUT DEATH OUT OF OUR OPTION, or out of the will of Heaven. These walls may crush me as I stand. All that we profess to do is but this,— to find out the secrets of the human frame; to know why the parts ossify76 and the blood stagnates77, and to apply continual preventives to the effects of time. This is not magic; it is the art of medicine rightly understood. In our order we hold most noble,— first, that knowledge which elevates the intellect; secondly78, that which preserves the body. But the mere79 art (extracted from the juices and simples) which recruits the animal vigour and arrests the progress of decay, or that more noble secret, which I will only hint to thee at present, by which HEAT, or CALORIC, as ye call it, being, as Heraclitus wisely taught, the primordial80 principle of life, can be made its perpetual renovater,— these I say, would not suffice for safety. It is ours also to disarm81 and elude82 the wrath83 of men, to turn the swords of our foes84 against each other, to glide85 (if not incorporeal) invisible to eyes over which we can throw a mist and darkness. And this some seers have professed86 to be the virtue46 of a stone of agate87. Abaris placed it in his arrow. I will find you an herb in yon valley that will give a surer charm than the agate and the arrow. In one word, know this, that the humblest and meanest products of Nature are those from which the sublimest88 properties are to be drawn89.”
“But,” said Glyndon, “if possessed of these great secrets, why so churlish in withholding90 their diffusion91? Does not the false or charlatanic science differ in this from the true and indisputable,— that the last communicates to the world the process by which it attains92 its discoveries; the first boasts of marvellous results, and refuses to explain the causes?”
“Well said, O Logician93 of the Schools; but think again. Suppose we were to impart all our knowledge to all mankind indiscriminately,— alike to the vicious and the virtuous,— should we be benefactors94 or scourges95? Imagine the tyrant96, the sensualist, the evil and corrupted97 being possessed of these tremendous powers; would he not be a demon98 let loose on earth? Grant that the same privilege be accorded also to the good; and in what state would be society? Engaged in a Titan war,— the good forever on the defensive99, the bad forever in assault. In the present condition of the earth, evil is a more active principle than good, and the evil would prevail. It is for these reasons that we are not only solemnly bound to administer our lore only to those who will not misuse100 and pervert101 it, but that we place our ordeal102 in tests that purify the passions and elevate the desires. And Nature in this controls and assists us: for it places awful guardians103 and insurmountable barriers between the ambition of vice5 and the heaven of the loftier science.”
Such made a small part of the numerous conversations Mejnour held with his pupil,— conversations that, while they appeared to address themselves to the reason, inflamed104 yet more the fancy. It was the very disclaiming105 of all powers which Nature, properly investigated, did not suffice to create, that gave an air of probability to those which Mejnour asserted Nature might bestow106.
Thus days and weeks rolled on; and the mind of Glyndon, gradually fitted to this sequestered107 and musing108 life, forgot at last the vanities and chimeras109 of the world without.
One evening he had lingered alone and late upon the ramparts, watching the stars as, one by one, they broke upon the twilight110. Never had he felt so sensibly the mighty111 power of the heavens and the earth upon man; how much the springs of our intellectual being are moved and acted upon by the solemn influences of Nature. As a patient on whom, slowly and by degrees, the agencies of mesmerism are brought to bear, he acknowledged to his heart the growing force of that vast and universal magnetism112 which is the life of creation, and binds113 the atom to the whole. A strange and ineffable114 consciousness of power, of the SOMETHING GREAT within the perishable115 clay, appealed to feelings at once dim and glorious,— like the faint recognitions of a holier and former being. An impulse, that he could not resist, led him to seek the mystic. He would demand, that hour, his initiation into the worlds beyond our world,— he was prepared to breathe a diviner air. He entered the castle, and strode the shadowy and starlit gallery which conducted to Mejnour’s apartment.
1 esteeming | |
v.尊敬( esteem的现在分词 );敬重;认为;以为 | |
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2 necromancer | |
n. 巫师 | |
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3 revered | |
v.崇敬,尊崇,敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4 abode | |
n.住处,住所 | |
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5 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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6 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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7 sage | |
n.圣人,哲人;adj.贤明的,明智的 | |
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8 commodious | |
adj.宽敞的;使用方便的 | |
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9 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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10 costly | |
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的 | |
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11 carving | |
n.雕刻品,雕花 | |
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12 prospects | |
n.希望,前途(恒为复数) | |
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13 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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14 displeasing | |
不愉快的,令人发火的 | |
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15 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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16 lighter | |
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级 | |
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17 rambles | |
(无目的地)漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 ); (喻)漫谈; 扯淡; 长篇大论 | |
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18 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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19 boundless | |
adj.无限的;无边无际的;巨大的 | |
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20 graphic | |
adj.生动的,形象的,绘画的,文字的,图表的 | |
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21 creeds | |
(尤指宗教)信条,教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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22 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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23 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
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24 converse | |
vi.谈话,谈天,闲聊;adv.相反的,相反 | |
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25 durable | |
adj.持久的,耐久的 | |
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26 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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27 soothed | |
v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 );抚慰;使舒服;减轻痛苦 | |
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28 lore | |
n.传说;学问,经验,知识 | |
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29 slaked | |
v.满足( slake的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30 lulled | |
vt.使镇静,使安静(lull的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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31 tranquillity | |
n. 平静, 安静 | |
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32 tranquil | |
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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33 neophyte | |
n.新信徒;开始者 | |
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34 initiation | |
n.开始 | |
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35 bondage | |
n.奴役,束缚 | |
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36 faculties | |
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院 | |
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37 contemplate | |
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视 | |
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38 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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39 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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40 wither | |
vt.使凋谢,使衰退,(用眼神气势等)使畏缩;vi.枯萎,衰退,消亡 | |
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41 pharmacy | |
n.药房,药剂学,制药业,配药业,一批备用药品 | |
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42 immortality | |
n.不死,不朽 | |
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43 savages | |
未开化的人,野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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44 trampled | |
踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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45 potent | |
adj.强有力的,有权势的;有效力的 | |
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46 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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47 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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48 verge | |
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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49 idiocy | |
n.愚蠢 | |
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50 vigour | |
(=vigor)n.智力,体力,精力 | |
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51 liar | |
n.说谎的人 | |
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52 affinity | |
n.亲和力,密切关系 | |
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53 fable | |
n.寓言;童话;神话 | |
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54 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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55 genial | |
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的 | |
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56 humane | |
adj.人道的,富有同情心的 | |
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57 softened | |
(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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58 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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59 arrogated | |
v.冒称,妄取( arrogate的过去式和过去分词 );没来由地把…归属(于) | |
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60 apathetic | |
adj.冷漠的,无动于衷的 | |
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61 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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62 merged | |
(使)混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 ); 相融; 融入; 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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63 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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64 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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65 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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66 aspire | |
vi.(to,after)渴望,追求,有志于 | |
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67 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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68 meddle | |
v.干预,干涉,插手 | |
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69 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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70 conjecturing | |
v. & n. 推测,臆测 | |
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71 profess | |
v.声称,冒称,以...为业,正式接受入教,表明信仰 | |
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72 rosy | |
adj.美好的,乐观的,玫瑰色的 | |
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73 sect | |
n.派别,宗教,学派,派系 | |
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74 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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75 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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76 ossify | |
v.硬化,骨化 | |
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77 stagnates | |
v.停滞,不流动,不发展( stagnate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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78 secondly | |
adv.第二,其次 | |
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79 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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80 primordial | |
adj.原始的;最初的 | |
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81 disarm | |
v.解除武装,回复平常的编制,缓和 | |
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82 elude | |
v.躲避,困惑 | |
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83 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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84 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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85 glide | |
n./v.溜,滑行;(时间)消逝 | |
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86 professed | |
公开声称的,伪称的,已立誓信教的 | |
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87 agate | |
n.玛瑙 | |
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88 sublimest | |
伟大的( sublime的最高级 ); 令人赞叹的; 极端的; 不顾后果的 | |
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89 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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90 withholding | |
扣缴税款 | |
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91 diffusion | |
n.流布;普及;散漫 | |
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92 attains | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的第三人称单数 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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93 logician | |
n.逻辑学家 | |
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94 benefactors | |
n.捐助者,施主( benefactor的名词复数 );恩人 | |
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95 scourges | |
带来灾难的人或东西,祸害( scourge的名词复数 ); 鞭子 | |
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96 tyrant | |
n.暴君,专制的君主,残暴的人 | |
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97 corrupted | |
(使)败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)腐化; 引起(计算机文件等的)错误; 破坏 | |
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98 demon | |
n.魔鬼,恶魔 | |
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99 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
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100 misuse | |
n.误用,滥用;vt.误用,滥用 | |
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101 pervert | |
n.堕落者,反常者;vt.误用,滥用;使人堕落,使入邪路 | |
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102 ordeal | |
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验 | |
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103 guardians | |
监护人( guardian的名词复数 ); 保护者,维护者 | |
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104 inflamed | |
adj.发炎的,红肿的v.(使)变红,发怒,过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105 disclaiming | |
v.否认( disclaim的现在分词 ) | |
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106 bestow | |
v.把…赠与,把…授予;花费 | |
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107 sequestered | |
adj.扣押的;隐退的;幽静的;偏僻的v.使隔绝,使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 );扣押 | |
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108 musing | |
n. 沉思,冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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109 chimeras | |
n.(由几种动物的各部分构成的)假想的怪兽( chimera的名词复数 );不可能实现的想法;幻想;妄想 | |
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110 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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111 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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112 magnetism | |
n.磁性,吸引力,磁学 | |
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113 binds | |
v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 );装订;捆绑;(用长布条)缠绕 | |
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114 ineffable | |
adj.无法表达的,不可言喻的 | |
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115 perishable | |
adj.(尤指食物)易腐的,易坏的 | |
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