Great travell hath the gentle Calidore
And toyle endured...
There on a day,— He chaunst to spy a sort of shepheard groomes,
Playing on pipes and caroling apace.
...He, there besyde
Saw a faire damzell.
Spenser, “Faerie Queene,” cant1. ix.
For a considerable period the pupil of Mejnour was now absorbed in labour dependent on the most vigilant2 attention, on the most minute and subtle calculation. Results astonishing and various rewarded his toils3 and stimulated4 his interest. Nor were these studies limited to chemical discovery,— in which it is permitted me to say that the greatest marvels5 upon the organisation6 of physical life seemed wrought7 by experiments of the vivifying influence of heat. Mejnour professed8 to find a link between all intellectual beings in the existence of a certain all-pervading and invisible fluid resembling electricity, yet distinct from the known operations of that mysterious agency — a fluid that connected thought to thought with the rapidity and precision of the modern telegraph, and the influence of this fluid, according to Mejnour, extended to the remotest past,— that is to say, whenever and wheresoever man had thought. Thus, if the doctrine9 were true, all human knowledge became attainable10 through a medium established between the brain of the individual inquirer and all the farthest and obscurest regions in the universe of ideas. Glyndon was surprised to find Mejnour attached to the abstruse11 mysteries which the Pythagoreans ascribed to the occult science of NUMBERS. In this last, new lights glimmered12 dimly on his eyes; and he began to perceive that even the power to predict, or rather to calculate, results, might by — (Here there is an erasure14 in the MS.)
....
But he observed that the last brief process by which, in each of these experiments, the wonder was achieved, Mejnour reserved for himself, and refused to communicate the secret. The answer he obtained to his remonstrances15 on this head was more stern than satisfactory:
“Dost thou think,” said Mejnour, “that I would give to the mere13 pupil, whose qualities are not yet tried, powers that might change the face of the social world? The last secrets are intrusted only to him of whose virtue16 the Master is convinced. Patience! It is labour itself that is the great purifier of the mind; and by degrees the secrets will grow upon thyself as thy mind becomes riper to receive them.”
At last Mejnour professed himself satisfied with the progress made by his pupil. “The hour now arrives,” he said, “when thou mayst pass the great but airy barrier,— when thou mayst gradually confront the terrible Dweller17 of the Threshold. Continue thy labours — continue to surpass thine impatience18 for results until thou canst fathom19 the causes. I leave thee for one month; if at the end of that period, when I return, the tasks set thee are completed, and thy mind prepared by contemplation and austere20 thought for the ordeal21, I promise thee the ordeal shall commence. One caution alone I give thee: regard it as a peremptory22 command, enter not this chamber23!” (They were then standing24 in the room where their experiments had been chiefly made, and in which Glyndon, on the night he had sought the solitude25 of the mystic, had nearly fallen a victim to his intrusion.)
“Enter not this chamber till my return; or, above all, if by any search for materials necessary to thy toils thou shouldst venture hither, forbear to light the naphtha in those vessels26, and to open the vases on yonder shelves. I leave the key of the room in thy keeping, in order to try thy abstinence and self-control. Young man, this very temptation is a part of thy trial.”
With that, Mejnour placed the key in his hands; and at sunset he left the castle.
For several days Glyndon continued immersed in employments which strained to the utmost all the faculties27 of his intellect. Even the most partial success depended so entirely28 on the abstraction of the mind, and the minuteness of its calculations, that there was scarcely room for any other thought than those absorbed in the occupation. And doubtless this perpetual strain of the faculties was the object of Mejnour in works that did not seem exactly pertinent29 to the purposes in view. As the study of the elementary mathematics, for example, is not so profitable in the solving of problems, useless in our after-callings, as it is serviceable in training the intellect to the comprehension and analysis of general truths.
But in less than half the time which Mejnour had stated for the duration of his absence, all that the mystic had appointed to his toils was completed by the pupil; and then his mind, thus relieved from the drudgery30 and mechanism31 of employment, once more sought occupation in dim conjecture32 and restless fancies. His inquisitive33 and rash nature grew excited by the prohibition34 of Mejnour, and he found himself gazing too often, with perturbed35 and daring curiosity, upon the key of the forbidden chamber. He began to feel indignant at a trial of constancy which he deemed frivolous36 and puerile37. What nursery tales of Bluebeard and his closet were revived to daunt38 and terrify him! How could the mere walls of a chamber, in which he had so often securely pursued his labours, start into living danger? If haunted, it could be but by those delusions39 which Mejnour had taught him to despise,— a shadowy lion,— a chemical phantasm! Tush! he lost half his awe40 of Mejnour, when he thought that by such tricks the sage41 could practise upon the very intellect he had awakened42 and instructed! Still he resisted the impulses of his curiosity and his pride, and, to escape from their dictation, he took long rambles43 on the hills, or amidst the valleys that surrounded the castle,— seeking by bodily fatigue44 to subdue45 the unreposing mind. One day suddenly emerging from a dark ravine, he came upon one of those Italian scenes of rural festivity and mirth in which the classic age appears to revive. It was a festival, partly agricultural, partly religious, held yearly by the peasants of that district. Assembled at the outskirts46 of a village, animated47 crowds, just returned from a procession to a neighbouring chapel48, were now forming themselves into groups: the old to taste the vintage, the young to dance,— all to be gay and happy. This sudden picture of easy joy and careless ignorance, contrasting so forcibly with the intense studies and that parching49 desire for wisdom which had so long made up his own life, and burned at his own heart, sensibly affected50 Glyndon. As he stood aloof51 and gazing on them, the young man felt once more that he was young. The memory of all he had been content to sacrifice spoke52 to him like the sharp voice of remorse53. The flitting forms of the women in their picturesque54 attire55, their happy laughter ringing through the cool, still air of the autumn noon, brought back to the heart, or rather perhaps to the senses, the images of his past time, the “golden shepherd hours,” when to live was but to enjoy.
He approached nearer and nearer to the scene, and suddenly a noisy group swept round him; and Maestro Paolo, tapping him familiarly on the shoulder, exclaimed in a hearty56 voice, “Welcome, Excellency!— we are rejoiced to see you amongst us.” Glyndon was about to reply to this salutation, when his eyes rested upon the face of a young girl leaning on Paolo’s arm, of a beauty so attractive that his colour rose and his heart beat as he encountered her gaze. Her eyes sparkled with a roguish and petulant57 mirth, her parted lips showed teeth like pearls; as if impatient at the pause of her companion from the revel58 of the rest, her little foot beat the ground to a measure that she half-hummed, half-chanted. Paolo laughed as he saw the effect the girl had produced upon the young foreigner.
“Will you not dance, Excellency? Come, lay aside your greatness, and be merry, like us poor devils. See how our pretty Fillide is longing59 for a partner. Take compassion60 on her.”
Fillide pouted61 at this speech, and, disengaging her arm from Paolo’s, turned away, but threw over her shoulder a glance half inviting62, half defying. Glyndon, almost involuntarily, advanced to her, and addressed her.
Oh, yes; he addresses her! She looks down, and smiles. Paolo leaves them to themselves, sauntering off with a devil-me-carish air. Fillide speaks now, and looks up at the scholar’s face with arch invitation. He shakes his head; Fillide laughs, and her laugh is silvery. She points to a gay mountaineer, who is tripping up to her merrily. Why does Glyndon feel jealous? Why, when she speaks again, does he shake his head no more? He offers his hand; Fillide blushes, and takes it with a demure63 coquetry. What! is it so, indeed! They whirl into the noisy circle of the revellers. Ha! ha! is not this better than distilling64 herbs, and breaking thy brains on Pythagorean numbers? How lightly Fillide bounds along! How her lithesome waist supples65 itself to thy circling arm! Tara-ra-tara, ta-tara, rara-ra! What the devil is in the measure that it makes the blood course like quicksilver through the veins66? Was there ever a pair of eyes like Fillide’s? Nothing of the cold stars there! Yet how they twinkle and laugh at thee! And that rosy67, pursed-up mouth that will answer so sparingly to thy flatteries, as if words were a waste of time, and kisses were their proper language. Oh, pupil of Mejnour! Oh, would-be Rosicrucian, Platonist, Magian, I know not what! I am ashamed of thee! What, in the names of Averroes and Burri and Agrippa and Hermes have become of thy austere contemplations? Was it for this thou didst resign Viola? I don’t think thou hast the smallest recollection of the elixir68 or the Cabala. Take care! What are you about, sir? Why do you clasp that small hand locked within your own? Why do you — Tara-rara tara-ra tara-rara-ra, rarara, ta-ra, a-ra! Keep your eyes off those slender ankles and that crimson69 bodice! Tara-rara-ra! There they go again! And now they rest under the broad trees. The revel has whirled away from them. They hear — or do they not hear — the laughter at the distance? They see — or if they have their eyes about them, they SHOULD see — couple after couple gliding70 by, love-talking and love-looking. But I will lay a wager71, as they sit under that tree, and the round sun goes down behind the mountains, that they see or hear very little except themselves.
“Hollo, Signor Excellency! and how does your partner please you? Come and join our feast, loiterers; one dances more merrily after wine.”
Down goes the round sun; up comes the autumn moon. Tara, tara, rarara, rarara, tarara-ra! Dancing again; is it a dance, or some movement gayer, noisier, wilder still? How they glance and gleam through the night shadows, those flitting forms! What confusion!— what order! Ha, that is the Tarantula dance; Maestro Paolo foots it bravely! Diavolo, what fury! the Tarantula has stung them all. Dance or die; it is fury,— the Corybantes, the Maenads, the — Ho, ho! more wine! the Sabbat of the Witches at Benevento is a joke to this! From cloud to cloud wanders the moon,— now shining, now lost. Dimness while the maiden72 blushes; light when the maiden smiles.
“Fillide, thou art an enchantress!”
“Buona notte, Excellency; you will see me again!”
“Ah, young man,” said an old, decrepit73, hollow-eyed octogenarian, leaning on his staff, “make the best of your youth. I, too, once had a Fillide! I was handsomer than you then! Alas74! if we could be always young!”
“Always young!” Glyndon started, as he turned his gaze from the fresh, fair, rosy face of the girl, and saw the eyes dropping rheum, the yellow wrinkled skin, the tottering75 frame of the old man.
“Ha, ha!” said the decrepit creature, hobbling near to him, and with a malicious77 laugh. “Yet I, too, was young once! Give me a baioccho for a glass of aqua vitae!”
Tara, rara, ra-rara, tara, rara-ra! There dances Youth! Wrap thy rags round thee, and totter76 off, Old Age!
收听单词发音 |
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cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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toils
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| 网 | |
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stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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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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organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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attainable
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| a.可达到的，可获得的 | |
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abstruse
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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erasure
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| n.擦掉，删去；删掉的词；消音；抹音 | |
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remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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dweller
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| n.居住者，住客 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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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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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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28
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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pertinent
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| adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的 | |
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drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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37
puerile
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| adj.幼稚的，儿童的 | |
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38
daunt
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| vt.使胆怯，使气馁 | |
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delusions
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| n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想 | |
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40
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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41
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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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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rambles
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| （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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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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parching
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| adj.烘烤似的，焦干似的v.（使）焦干， （使）干透( parch的现在分词 )；使（某人）极口渴 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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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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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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petulant
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| adj.性急的，暴躁的 | |
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revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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pouted
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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distilling
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| n.蒸馏（作用）v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )( distilled的过去分词 )；从…提取精华 | |
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supples
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| 使柔软，使柔顺（supple的第三人称单数形式） | |
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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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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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elixir
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| n.长生不老药，万能药 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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totter
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| v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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