“IT’S not only the accumulation of facts that threatens my client with ruin, gentlemen of the jury,” he began, “what is really damning for my client is one fact — the dead body of his father. Had it been an ordinary case of murder you would have rejected the charge in view of the triviality, the incompleteness, and the fantastic character of the evidence, if you examine each part of it separately; or, at least, you would have hesitated to ruin a man’s life simply from the prejudice against him which he has, alas1! only too well deserved. But it’s not an ordinary case of murder, it’s a case of parricide2. That impresses men’s minds, and to such a degree that the very triviality and incompleteness of the evidence becomes less trivial and less incomplete even to an unprejudiced mind. How can such a prisoner be acquitted3? What if he committed the murder and gets off unpunished? That is what everyone, almost involuntarily, instinctively5, feels at heart.
“Yes, it’s a fearful thing to shed a father’s blood — the father who has begotten7 me, loved me, not spared his life for me, grieved over my illnesses from childhood up, troubled all his life for my happiness, and has lived in my joys, in my successes. To murder such a father — that’s inconceivable. Gentlemen of the jury, what is a father — a real father? What is the meaning of that great word? What is the great idea in that name? We have just indicated in part what a true father is and what he ought to be. In the case in which we are now so deeply occupied and over which our hearts are aching — in the present case, the father, Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov, did not correspond to that conception of a father to which we have just referred. That’s the misfortune. And indeed some fathers are a misfortune. Let us examine this misfortune rather more closely: we must shrink from nothing, gentlemen of the jury, considering the importance of the decision you have to make. It’s our particular duty not to shrink from any idea, like children or frightened women, as the talented prosecutor8 happily expresses it.
“But in the course of his heated speech my esteemed9 opponent (and he was my opponent before I opened my lips) exclaimed several times, ‘Oh, I will not yield the defence of the prisoner to the lawyer who has come down from Petersburg. I accuse, but I defend also!’ He exclaimed that several times, but forgot to mention that if this terrible prisoner was for twenty-three years so grateful for a mere10 pound of nuts given him by the only man who had been kind to him, as a child in his father’s house, might not such a man well have remembered for twenty-three years how he ran in his father’s back-yard, without boots on his feet and with his little trousers hanging by one button’— to use the expression of the kindhearted doctor, Herzenstube?
“Oh, gentlemen of the jury, why need we look more closely at this misfortune, why repeat what we all know already? What did my client meet with when he arrived here, at his father’s house, and why depict11 my client as a heartless egoist and monster? He is uncontrolled, he is wild and unruly — we are trying him now for that — but who is responsible for his life? Who is responsible for his having received such an unseemly bringing up, in spite of his excellent disposition12 and his grateful and sensitive heart? Did anyone train him to be reasonable? Was he enlightened by study? Did anyone love him ever so little in his childhood? My client was left to the care of Providence13 like a beast of the field. He thirsted perhaps to see his father after long years of separation. A thousand times perhaps he may, recalling his childhood, have driven away the loathsome14 phantoms15 that haunted his childish dreams and with all his heart he may have longed to embrace and to forgive his father! And what awaited him? He was met by cynical16 taunts17, suspicions and wrangling18 about money. He heard nothing but revolting talk and vicious precepts19 uttered daily over the brandy, and at last he saw his father seducing21 his mistress from him with his own money. Oh, gentlemen of the jury, that was cruel and revolting! And that old man was always complaining of the disrespect and cruelty of his son. He slandered22 him in society, injured him, calumniated23 him, bought up his unpaid24 debts to get him thrown into prison.
“Gentlemen of the jury, people like my client, who are fierce, unruly, and uncontrolled on the surface, are sometimes, most frequently indeed, exceedingly tender-hearted, only they don’t express it. Don’t laugh, don’t laugh at my idea! The talented prosecutor laughed mercilessly just now at my client for loving Schiller — loving the sublime25 and beautiful! I should not have laughed at that in his place. Yes, such natures — oh, let me speak in defence of such natures, so often and so cruelly misunderstood — these natures often thirst for tenderness, goodness, and justice, as it were, in contrast to themselves, their unruliness, their ferocity — they thirst for it unconsciously. Passionate26 and fierce on the surface, they are painfully capable of loving woman, for instance, and with a spiritual and elevated love. Again do not laugh at me, this is very often the case in such natures. But they cannot hide their passions — sometimes very coarse — and that is conspicuous27 and is noticed, but the inner man is unseen. Their passions are quickly exhausted28; but, by the side of a noble and lofty creature that seemingly coarse and rough man seeks a new life, seeks to correct himself, to be better, to become noble and honourable30, ‘sublime and beautiful,’ however much the expression has been ridiculed31.
“I said just now that I would not venture to touch upon my client’s engagement. But I may say half a word. What we heard just now was not evidence, but only the scream of a frenzied32 and revengeful woman, and it was not for her — oh, not for her! — to reproach him with treachery, for she has betrayed him! If she had had but a little time for reflection she would not have given such evidence. Oh, do not believe her! No, my client is not a monster, as she called him!
“The Lover of Mankind on the eve of His Crucifixion said: ‘I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep, so that not one of them might be lost.’ Let not a man’s soul be lost through us!
“I asked just now what does ‘father’ mean, and exclaimed that it was a great word, a precious name. But one must use words honestly, gentlemen, and I venture to call things by their right names: such a father as old Karamazov cannot be called a father and does not deserve to be. Filial love for an unworthy father is an absurdity34, an impossibility. Love cannot be created from nothing: only God can create something from nothing.
“‘Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath35,’ the apostle writes, from a heart glowing with love. It’s not for the sake of my client that I quote these sacred words, I mention them for all fathers. Who has authorised me to preach to fathers? No one. But as a man and a citizen I make my appeal — vivos voco! We are not long on earth, we do many evil deeds and say many evil words. So let us all catch a favourable36 moment when we are all together to say a good word to each other. That’s what I am doing: while I am in this place I take advantage of my opportunity. Not for nothing is this tribune given us by the highest authority — all Russia hears us! I am not speaking only for the fathers here present, I cry aloud to all fathers: ‘Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.’ Yes, let us first fulfil Christ’s injunction ourselves and only then venture to expect it of our children. Otherwise we are not fathers, but enemies of our children, and they are not our children, but our enemies, and we have made them our enemies ourselves. ‘What measure ye mete37 it shall be measured unto you again’ — it’s not I who say that, it’s the Gospel precept20, measure to others according as they measure to you. How can we blame children if they measure us according to our measure?
“Not long ago a servant girl in Finland was suspected of having secretly given birth to a child. She was watched, and a box of which no one knew anything was found in the corner of the loft29, behind some bricks. It was opened and inside was found the body of a new-born child which she had killed. In the same box were found the skeletons of two other babies which, according to her own confession38, she had killed at the moment of their birth.
“Gentlemen of the jury, was she a mother to her children? She gave birth to them, indeed; but was she a mother to them? Would anyone venture to give her the sacred name of mother? Let us be bold, gentlemen, let us be audacious even: it’s our duty to be so at this moment and not to be afraid of certain words and ideas like the Moscow women in Ostrovsky’s play, who are scared at the sound of certain words. No, let us prove that the progress of the last few years has touched even us, and let us say plainly, the father is not merely he who begets39 the child, but he who begets it and does his duty by it.
“Oh, of course, there is the other meaning, there is the other interpretation40 of the word ‘father,’ which insists that any father, even though he be a monster, even though he be the enemy of his children, still remains41 my father simply because he begot6 me. But this is, so to say, the mystical meaning which I cannot comprehend with my intellect, but can only accept by faith, or, better to say, on faith, like many other things which I do not understand, but which religion bids me believe. But in that case let it be kept outside the sphere of actual life. In the sphere of actual life, which has, indeed, its own rights, but also lays upon us great duties and obligations, in that sphere, if we want to be humane42 — Christian43, in fact — we must, or ought to, act only upon convictions justified44 by reason and experience, which have been passed through the crucible45 of analysis; in a word, we must act rationally, and not as though in dream and delirium46, that we may not do harm, that we may not ill-treat and ruin a man. Then it will be real Christian work, not only mystic, but rational and philanthropic. . . . ”
There was violent applause at this passage from many parts of the court, but Fetyukovitch waved his hands as though imploring47 them to let him finish without interruption. The court relapsed into silence at once. The orator48 went on.
“Do you suppose, gentlemen, that our children as they grow up and begin to reason can avoid such questions? No, they cannot, and we will not impose on them an impossible restriction49. The sight of an unworthy father involuntarily suggests tormenting50 questions to a young creature, especially when he compares him with the excellent fathers of his companions. The conventional answer to this question is: ‘He begot you, and you are his flesh and blood, and therefore you are bound to love him.’ The youth involuntarily reflects: ‘But did he love me when he begot me?’ he asks, wondering more and more. ‘Was it for my sake he begot me? He did not know me, not even my sex, at that moment, at the moment of passion, perhaps, inflamed52 by wine, and he has only transmitted to me a propensity53 to drunkenness — that’s all he’s done for me. . . . Why am I bound to love him simply for begetting54 me when he has cared nothing for me all my life after?’
“Oh, perhaps those questions strike you as coarse and cruel, but do not expect an impossible restraint from a young mind. ‘Drive nature out of the door and it will fly in at the window,’ and, above all, let us not be afraid of words, but decide the question according to the dictates55 of reason and humanity and not of mystic ideas. How shall it be decided56? Why, like this. Let the son stand before his father and ask him, ‘Father, tell me, why must I love you? Father, show me that I must love you,’ and if that father is able to answer him and show him good reason, we have a real, normal, parental57 relation, not resting on mystical prejudice, but on a rational, responsible and strictly58 humanitarian59 basis. But if he does not, there’s an end to the family tie. He is not a father to him, and the son has a right to look upon him as a stranger, and even an enemy. Our tribune, gentlemen of the jury, ought to be a school of true and sound ideas.”
(Here the orator was interrupted by irrepressible and almost frantic60 applause. Of course, it was not the whole audience, but a good half of it applauded. The fathers and mothers present applauded. Shrieks61 and exclamations62 were heard from the gallery, where the ladies were sitting. Handkerchiefs were waved. The President began ringing his bell with all his might. He was obviously irritated by the behaviour of the audience, but did not venture to clear the court as he had threatened. Even persons of high position, old men with stars on their breasts, sitting on specially51 reserved seats behind the judges, applauded the orator and waved their handkerchiefs. So that when the noise died down, the President confined himself to repeating his stern threat to clear the court, and Fetyukovitch, excited and triumphant63, continued his speech.)
“Gentlemen of the jury, you remember that awful night of which so much has been said to-day, when the son got over the fence and stood face to face with the enemy and persecutor64 who had begotten him. I insist most emphatically it was not for money he ran to his father’s house: the charge of robbery is an absurdity, as I proved before. And it was not to murder him he broke into the house, oh, no! If he had had that design he would, at least, have taken the precaution of arming himself beforehand. The brass65 pestle66 he caught up instinctively without knowing why he did it. Granted that he deceived his father by tapping at the window, granted that he made his way in — I’ve said already that I do not for a moment believe that legend, but let it be so, let us suppose it for a moment. Gentlemen, I swear to you by all that’s holy, if it had not been his father, but an ordinary enemy, he would, after running through the rooms and satisfying himself that the woman was not there, have made off, post-haste, without doing any harm to his rival. He would have struck him, pushed him away perhaps, nothing more, for he had no thought and no time to spare for that. What he wanted to know was where she was. But his father, his father! The mere sight of the father who had hated him from his childhood, had been his enemy, his persecutor, and now his unnatural67 rival, was enough! A feeling of hatred68 came over him involuntarily, irresistibly69, clouding his reason. It all surged up in one moment! It was an impulse of madness and insanity70, but also an impulse of nature, irresistibly and unconsciously (like everything in nature) avenging71 the violation72 of its eternal laws.
“But the prisoner even then did not murder him — I maintain that, I cry that aloud! — no, he only brandished73 the pestle in a burst of indignant disgust, not meaning to kill him, not knowing that he would kill him. Had he not had this fatal pestle in his hand, he would have only knocked his father down perhaps, but would not have killed him. As he ran away, he did not know whether he had killed the old man. Such a murder is not a murder. Such a murder is not a parricide. No, the murder of such a father cannot be called parricide. Such a murder can only be reckoned parricide by prejudice.
“But I appeal to you again and again from the depths of my soul; did this murder actually take place? Gentlemen of the jury, if we convict and punish him, he will say to himself: ‘These people have done nothing for my bringing up, for my education, nothing to improve my lot, nothing to make me better, nothing to make me a man. These people have not given me to eat and to drink, have not visited me in prison and nakedness, and here they have sent me to penal74 servitude. I am quits, I owe them nothing now, and owe no one anything for ever. They are wicked and I will be wicked. They are cruel and I will be cruel.’ That is what he will say, gentlemen of the jury. And I swear, by finding him guilty you will only make it easier for him: you will ease his conscience, he will curse the blood he has shed and will not regret it. At the same time you will destroy in him the possibility of becoming a new man, for he will remain in his wickedness and blindness all his life.
“But do you want to punish him fearfully, terribly, with the most awful punishment that could be imagined, and at the same time to save him and regenerate75 his soul? If so, overwhelm him with your mercy! You will see, you will hear how he will tremble and be horror-struck. ‘How can I endure this mercy? How can I endure so much love? Am I worthy33 of it?’ That’s what he will exclaim.
“Oh, I know, I know that heart, that wild but grateful heart, gentlemen of the jury! It will bow before your mercy; it thirsts for a great and loving action, it will melt and mount upwards76. There are souls which, in their limitation, blame the whole world. But subdue77 such a soul with mercy, show it love, and it will curse its past, for there are many good impulses in it. Such a heart will expand and see that God is merciful and that men are good and just. He will be horror-stricken; he will be crushed by remorse78 and the vast obligation laid upon him henceforth. And he will not say then, ‘I am quits,’ but will say, ‘I am guilty in the sight of all men and am more unworthy than all.’ With tears of penitence79 and poignant80, tender anguish81, he will exclaim: ‘Others are better than I, they wanted to save me, not to ruin me!’ Oh, this act of mercy is so easy for you, for in the absence of anything like real evidence it will be too awful for you to pronounce: ‘Yes, he is guilty.’
“Better acquit4 ten guilty men than punish one innocent man! Do you hear, do you hear that majestic82 voice from the past century of our glorious history? It is not for an insignificant83 person like me to remind you that the Russian court does not exist for the punishment only, but also for the salvation84 of the criminal! Let other nations think of retribution and the letter of the law, we will cling to the spirit and the meaning — the salvation and the reformation of the lost. If this is true, if Russia and her justice are such, she may go forward with good cheer! Do not try to scare us with your frenzied troikas from which all the nations stand aside in disgust. Not a runaway85 troika, but the stately chariot of Russia will move calmly and majestically86 to its goal. In your hands is the fate of my client, in your hands is the fate of Russian justice. You will defend it, you will save it, you will prove that there are men to watch over it, that it is in good hands!”
1 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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2 parricide | |
n.杀父母;杀亲罪 | |
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3 acquitted | |
宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 ); 使(自己)作出某种表现 | |
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4 acquit | |
vt.宣判无罪;(oneself)使(自己)表现出 | |
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5 instinctively | |
adv.本能地 | |
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6 begot | |
v.为…之生父( beget的过去式 );产生,引起 | |
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7 begotten | |
v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 );产生,引起 | |
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8 prosecutor | |
n.起诉人;检察官,公诉人 | |
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9 esteemed | |
adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 );敬重;认为;以为 | |
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10 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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11 depict | |
vt.描画,描绘;描写,描述 | |
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12 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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13 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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14 loathsome | |
adj.讨厌的,令人厌恶的 | |
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15 phantoms | |
n.鬼怪,幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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16 cynical | |
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的 | |
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17 taunts | |
嘲弄的言语,嘲笑,奚落( taunt的名词复数 ) | |
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18 wrangling | |
v.争吵,争论,口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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19 precepts | |
n.规诫,戒律,箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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20 precept | |
n.戒律;格言 | |
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21 seducing | |
诱奸( seduce的现在分词 ); 勾引; 诱使堕落; 使入迷 | |
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22 slandered | |
造谣中伤( slander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 calumniated | |
v.诽谤,中伤( calumniate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24 unpaid | |
adj.未付款的,无报酬的 | |
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25 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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26 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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27 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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28 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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29 loft | |
n.阁楼,顶楼 | |
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30 honourable | |
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的 | |
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31 ridiculed | |
v.嘲笑,嘲弄,奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32 frenzied | |
a.激怒的;疯狂的 | |
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33 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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34 absurdity | |
n.荒谬,愚蠢;谬论 | |
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35 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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36 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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37 mete | |
v.分配;给予 | |
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38 confession | |
n.自白,供认,承认 | |
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39 begets | |
v.为…之生父( beget的第三人称单数 );产生,引起 | |
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40 interpretation | |
n.解释,说明,描述;艺术处理 | |
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41 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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42 humane | |
adj.人道的,富有同情心的 | |
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43 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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44 justified | |
a.正当的,有理的 | |
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45 crucible | |
n.坩锅,严酷的考验 | |
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46 delirium | |
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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47 imploring | |
恳求的,哀求的 | |
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48 orator | |
n.演说者,演讲者,雄辩家 | |
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49 restriction | |
n.限制,约束 | |
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50 tormenting | |
使痛苦的,使苦恼的 | |
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51 specially | |
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地 | |
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52 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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53 propensity | |
n.倾向;习性 | |
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54 begetting | |
v.为…之生父( beget的现在分词 );产生,引起 | |
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55 dictates | |
n.命令,规定,要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 );口授;支配;摆布 | |
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56 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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57 parental | |
adj.父母的;父的;母的 | |
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58 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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59 humanitarian | |
n.人道主义者,博爱者,基督凡人论者 | |
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60 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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61 shrieks | |
n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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62 exclamations | |
n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 );感叹;感叹语;感叹词 | |
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63 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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64 persecutor | |
n. 迫害者 | |
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65 brass | |
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器 | |
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66 pestle | |
n.杵 | |
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67 unnatural | |
adj.不自然的;反常的 | |
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68 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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69 irresistibly | |
adv.无法抵抗地,不能自持地;极为诱惑人地 | |
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70 insanity | |
n.疯狂,精神错乱;极端的愚蠢,荒唐 | |
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71 avenging | |
adj.报仇的,复仇的v.为…复仇,报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 );为…报复 | |
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72 violation | |
n.违反(行为),违背(行为),侵犯 | |
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73 brandished | |
v.挥舞( brandish的过去式和过去分词 );炫耀 | |
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74 penal | |
adj.刑罚的;刑法上的 | |
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75 regenerate | |
vt.使恢复,使新生;vi.恢复,再生;adj.恢复的 | |
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76 upwards | |
adv.向上,在更高处...以上 | |
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77 subdue | |
vt.制服,使顺从,征服;抑制,克制 | |
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78 remorse | |
n.痛恨,悔恨,自责 | |
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79 penitence | |
n.忏悔,赎罪;悔过 | |
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80 poignant | |
adj.令人痛苦的,辛酸的,惨痛的 | |
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81 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
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82 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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83 insignificant | |
adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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84 salvation | |
n.(尤指基督)救世,超度,拯救,解困 | |
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85 runaway | |
n.逃走的人,逃亡,亡命者;adj.逃亡的,逃走的 | |
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86 majestically | |
雄伟地; 庄重地; 威严地; 崇高地 | |
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