Javert's triumph in the Gorbeau hovel seemed complete, but had not been so.
In the first place, and this constituted the principal anxiety, Javert had not taken the prisoner prisoner. The assassinated1 man who flees is more suspicious than the assassin, and it is probable that this personage, who had been so precious a capture for the ruffians, would be no less fine a prize for the authorities.
And then, Montparnasse had escaped Javert.
Another opportunity of laying hands on that "devil's dandy" must be waited for. Montparnasse had, in fact, encountered Eponine as she stood on the watch under the trees of the boulevard, and had led her off, preferring to play Nemorin with the daughter rather than Schinderhannes with the father. It was well that he did so. He was free. As for Eponine, Javert had caused her to be seized; a mediocre3 consolation4. Eponine had joined Azelma at Les Madelonettes.
And finally, on the way from the Gorbeau house to La Force, one of the principal prisoners, Claquesous, had been lost. It was not known how this had been effected, the police agents and the sergeants5 "could not understand it at all." He had converted himself into vapor6, he had slipped through the handcuffs, he had trickled7 through the crevices8 of the carriage, the fiacre was cracked, and he had fled; all that they were able to say was, that on arriving at the prison, there was no Claquesous. Either the fairies or the police had had a hand in it. Had Claquesous melted into the shadows like a snow-flake in water? Had there been unavowed connivance9 of the police agents? Did this man belong to the double enigma10 of order and disorder11? Was he concentric with infraction12 and repression13? Had this sphinx his fore14 paws in crime and his hind2 paws in authority? Javert did not accept such comminations, and would have bristled15 up against such compromises; but his squad16 included other inspectors17 besides himself, who were more initiated18 than he, perhaps, although they were his subordinates in the secrets of the Prefecture, and Claquesous had been such a villain19 that he might make a very good agent. It is an excellent thing for ruffianism and an admirable thing for the police to be on such intimate juggling20 terms with the night. These double-edged rascals21 do exist. However that may be, Claquesous had gone astray and was not found again. Javert appeared to be more irritated than amazed at this.
As for Marius, "that booby of a lawyer," who had probably become frightened, and whose name Javert had forgotten, Javert attached very little importance to him. Moreover, a lawyer can be hunted up at any time. But was he a lawyer after all?
The investigation22 had begun.
The magistrate23 had thought it advisable not to put one of these men of the band of Patron Minette in close confinement24, in the hope that he would chatter25. This man was Brujon, the long-haired man of the Rue26 du Petit-Banquier. He had been let loose in the Charlemagne courtyard, and the eyes of the watchers were fixed27 on him.
This name of Brujon is one of the souvenirs of La Force. In that hideous28 courtyard, called the court of the Batiment-Neuf (New Building), which the administration called the court Saint-Bernard, and which the robbers called the Fosseaux-Lions (The Lion's Ditch),on that wall covered with scales and leprosy, which rose on the left to a level with the roofs, near an old door of rusty29 iron which led to the ancient chapel30 of the ducal residence of La Force, then turned in a dormitory for ruffians, there could still be seen, twelve years ago, a sort of fortress31 roughly carved in the stone with a nail, and beneath it this signature:--
BRUJON, 1811.
The Brujon of 1811 was the father of the Brujon of 1832.
The latter, of whom the reader caught but a glimpse at the Gorbeau house, was a very cunning and very adroit32 young spark, with a bewildered and plaintive33 air. It was in consequence of this laintive air that the magistrate had released him, thinking him more useful in the Charlemagne yard than in close confinement.
Robbers do not interrupt their profession because they are in the hands of justice. They do not let themselves be put out by such a trifle as that. To be in prison for one crime is no reason for not beginning on another crime. They are artists, who have one picture in the salon34, and who toil35, none the less, on a new work in their studios.
Brujon seemed to be stupefied by prison. He could sometimes be seen standing36 by the hour together in front of the sutler's window in the Charlemagne yard, staring like an idiot at the sordid37 list of prices which began with: garlic, 62 centimes, and ended with: cigar, 5 centimes. Or he passed his time in trembling, chattering38 his teeth, saying that he had a fever, and inquiring whether one of the eight and twenty beds in the fever ward39 was vacant.
All at once, towards the end of February, 1832, it was discovered that Brujon, that somnolent40 fellow, had had three different commissions executed by the errand-men of the establishment, not under his own name, but in the name of three of his comrades; and they had cost him in all fifty sous, an exorbitant41 outlay42 which attracted the attention of the prison corporal.
Inquiries43 were instituted, and on consulting the tariff44 of commissions posted in the convict's parlor45, it was learned that the fifty sous could be analyzed46 as follows: three commissions; one to the Pantheon, ten sous; one to Val-de-Grace, fifteen sous; and one to the Barriere de Grenelle, twenty-five sous. This last was the dearest of the whole tariff. Now, at the Pantheon, at the Val-de-Grace, and at the Barriere de Grenelle were situated47 the domiciles of the three very redoubtable48 prowlers of the barriers, Kruideniers, alias49 Bizarre, Glorieux, an ex-convict, and Barre-Carosse, upon whom the attention of the police was directed by this incident. It was thought that these men were members of Patron Minette; two of those leaders, Babet and Gueulemer, had been captured. It was supposed that the messages, which had been addressed, not to houses, but to people who were waiting for them in the street, must have contained information with regard to some crime that had been plotted. They were in possession of other indications; they laid hand on the three prowlers, and supposed that they had circumvented50 some one or other of Brujon's machinations.
About a week after these measures had been taken, one night, as the superintendent51 of the watch, who had been inspecting the lower dormitory in the Batiment-Neuf, was about to drop his chestnut52 in the box--this was the means adopted to make sure that the watchmen performed their duties punctually; every hour a chestnut must be dropped into all the boxes nailed to the doors of the dormitories-- a watchman looked through the peep-hole of the dormitory and beheld53 Brujon sitting on his bed and writing something by the light of the hall-lamp. The guardian54 entered, Brujon was put in a solitary55 cell for a month, but they were not able to seize what he had written. The police learned nothing further about it.
What is certain is, that on the following morning, a "postilion" was flung from the Charlemagne yard into the Lions' Ditch, over the five-story building which separated the two court-yards.
What prisoners call a "postilion" is a pallet of bread artistically56 moulded, which is sent into Ireland, that is to say, over the roofs of a prison, from one courtyard to another. Etymology57: over England; from one land to another; into Ireland. This little pellet falls in the yard. The man who picks it up opens it and finds in it a note addressed to some prisoner in that yard. If it is a prisoner who finds the treasure, he forwards the note to its destination; if it is a keeper, or one of the prisoners secretly sold who are called sheep in prisons and foxes in the galleys58, the note is taken to the office and handed over to the police.
On this occasion, the postilion reached its address, although the person to whom it was addressed was, at that moment, in solitary confinement. This person was no other than Babet, one of the four heads of Patron Minette.
The postilion contained a roll of paper on which only these two lines were written:--
"Babet. There is an affair in the Rue Plumet. A gate on a garden."
This is what Brujon had written the night before.
In spite of male and female searchers, Babet managed to pass the note on from La Force to the Salpetriere, to a "good friend" whom he had and who was shut up there. This woman in turn transmitted the note to another woman of her acquaintance, a certain Magnon, who was strongly suspected by the police, though not yet arrested. This Magnon, whose name the reader has already seen, had relations with the Thenardier, which will be described in detail later on, and she could, by going to see Eponine, serve as a bridge between the Salpetriere and Les Madelonettes.
It happened, that at precisely59 that moment, as proofs were wanting in the investigation directed against Thenardier in the matter of his daughters, Eponine and Azelma were released. When Eponine came out, Magnon, who was watching the gate of the Madelonettes, handed her Brujon's note to Babet, charging her to look into the matter.
Eponine went to the Rue Plumet, recognized the gate and the garden, observed the house, spied, lurked60, and, a few days later, brought to Magnon, who delivers in the Rue Clocheperce, a biscuit, which Magnon transmitted to Babet's mistress in the Salpetriere. A biscuit, in the shady symbolism of prisons, signifies: Nothing to be done.
So that in less than a week from that time, as Brujon and Babet met in the circle of La Force, the one on his way to the examination, the other on his way from it:--
"Well?" asked Brujon, "the Rue P.?"
"Biscuit," replied Babet. Thus did the foetus of crime engendered61 by Brujon in La Force miscarry.
This miscarriage62 had its consequences, however, which were perfectly63 distinct from Brujon's programme. The reader will see what they were.
Often when we think we are knotting one thread, we are tying quite another.
沙威在戈尔博老屋中的胜利看来好象是很全面的,其实不然。
首先,也是他的主要忧虑,当时沙威并没使那俘虏成为俘虏。那个逃走了的受害人比那些谋害人更可疑,这个人,匪徒对他既然那么重视,对官方来说,也应当同样是一种奇货吧。
其次,巴纳斯山也从沙威手中漏网。
他得另候机会来收拾这个“香喷喷的妖精”。当时爱潘妮在路边大树底下把风,巴纳斯山遇见了她,便把她带走了,他宁愿去和姑娘调情,不愿跟老头儿找油水。幸亏这样,他仍能逍遥自在。至于爱潘妮,沙威派人把她“钉”住了,这可算不了什么慰藉。爱潘妮和阿兹玛一道,都进了玛德栾内特监狱。
最后,在从戈尔博老屋押往拉弗尔斯监狱的路上,那些主要罪犯中的一个,铁牙,不见了。谁都不知道是怎么回事,警察和卫队们都“莫名其妙”,他化成了一股烟,他从手铐里滑脱了,他从车子的缝里流掉了,马车开裂了,他溜了,大家都不知道该怎么解释,只知道到监狱时,铁牙丢了。那里面有仙人的手法或是警察的手法。铁牙能象一朵雪花融在水里那样融化在黑夜里吗?这里有没有警察方面的默契呢?这人是不是一个在混乱和秩序两方面都有关连的哑谜呢?难道他是犯法和执法的共同中心吗?这个斯芬克司是不是两只前爪踩在罪恶里,两只后爪踩在法律里呢?沙威一点也不接受这种混淆视听的说法,如果他知道有这种两面手法,他浑身的毛都会倒竖起来,在他的队伍里也还有其他一些侦察人员,虽然是他的下属,但警务方面的种种秘密却比他知道得多些,铁牙正是那样一个能成为一个相当好的警察的暴徒。在偷天换日的伎俩方面能和黑暗势力建立起如此密切的关系,这对盗窃来说,是上好的,对警务来说也是极可贵的。这种双刃歹徒是有的。不管怎样,铁牙渺无影踪了。沙威对这件事,躁急甚于惊讶。
至于马吕斯,“这个怕事的傻小子律师”,沙威却不大在乎,连他的名字也忘了。并且,一个律师算什么,律师是随时都能找到的。不过,这玩意儿真就是个律师吗?
审讯开了个头。
裁判官觉得在猫老板匪帮那一伙中间,有一个人可以不坐牢,这样做有好处,希望能从他那里听到一点口风。这人便是普吕戎,小银行家街上的那个长头发。他们把他放在查理大帝院里,狱监们都睁着眼睛注视他。
普吕戎这个名字,在拉弗尔斯监狱里是大伙儿记得的。监狱里有一座丑恶不堪的所谓新大楼院子,行政上称这为圣贝尔纳院,罪犯们却称为狮子沟,这院子有一道锈了的旧铁门,通向原拉弗尔斯公爵府的礼拜堂,后来这里改作囚犯的宿舍。在这门的左边附近,有一堵高齐屋顶、布满了鳞片和扁平苔藓的条石墙,在那墙上,十二年前,还能见到一种堡垒样的图形,是用钉子在石头上胡乱刻画出来的,下方签了这样的字:
普吕戎,一八一一。
这个一八一一年的普吕戎是一八三二年的普吕戎的父亲。
这小普吕戎,我们在戈尔博老屋谋害案里只随便望过一眼,那是个非常狡猾、非常能干、外表憨气十足、愁眉苦脸的健壮小伙子。正因为这股憨气,裁判官才放了他,认为把他放在查理大帝院里比关在隔离牢房里会得用些。
囚犯们并不因为受到法律的管制便互不往来。他们不至于为这点小事而缩手缩脚。因犯罪而坐监并不妨碍再犯他罪。艺术家已有了一幅油画陈列在展览馆里,他照样可以在他的工作室里另创一幅新作。
普吕戎好象已被监牢关傻了。人们有时看见他在查理大帝院里,一连几个钟头呆立在小卖部的窗子附近,象个白痴似的老望着那块肮脏的价目表,从最初的“大蒜,六十二生丁”起直念到最末的“雪茄,五生丁”。要不,他就不停地发抖,磕牙,说他在发烧,并问那病房里那二十八张床可有一张空的。
忽然,在一八三二年二月的下半月里,人们一下子发现普吕戎这瞌睡虫,通过狱里的几个杂工,不是用他自己的名义,而是用他三个伙伴的名义,办了三件不同的事,总共花了他五十个苏,这是一笔很不寻常的费用,引起了监狱警务班长的注意。
经过调查,并参照张贴在犯人会客室里那张办事计费表加以研究之后,终于知道了那五十个苏是这样分配的:三件事,一件是在先贤祠办的,十个苏;一件是在军医学院办的,十五个苏;一件在格勒内尔便门办的,二十五个苏。最末这一笔是计费表上最高的数字。同时,先贤祠、军医学院和格勒内尔又正是三个相当凶恶的便门贼所住的地方,一个叫克吕伊丹涅,又叫皮查罗,一个叫光荣,是个被释放了的苦役犯,一个叫拦车汉子,这次的事又把警察的眼睛引向了他们。普吕戎送出去的那些信不是按地址送达,而是交给一些在街上等候的人,因而警察猜测那里面一定有些为非作歹的秘密通知。加上其他一些蛛丝马迹,他们便把这三个人抓了起来,以为普吕戎的任何密谋都已被挫败。
大致在采取这些措施以后一星期光景,有个晚上,一个巡夜的狱监,在巡查新大楼下层的宿舍并正要把他的栗子丢进栗子箱时棗这是当时用来保证狱监们严格执行任务的方法,钉在每个宿舍门口的那些箱子里,每一小时都应有一个栗子落进去棗那狱监从宿舍的侦察孔里望见普吕戎正曲腿弯腰地坐在床上,借着墙上的蜡烛光在写什么。守卫跑进去,把普吕戎送到黑牢房里关了一个月,但是没有找到他写的东西。
警察便没有能掌握其他情况。
有一件事却是肯定无疑的:第二天,一个“邮车夫”从查理大帝院里被丢向天空,越过那座六层大楼,落在大楼另一面的狮子沟里了。
囚犯们所说的“邮车夫”,是一个用艺术手法团起来,送到“爱尔兰”去的面包团子;所谓送到爱尔兰,便是越过牢房的房顶,从一个院子抛到另一个院子。(词源学:越过英格兰,从一个陆地到另一个陆地,爱尔兰。)总之,面包团落到了那个院子里。拾起面包团的人,把它剖开,便能在里面找到一张写给那院子里某个囚犯的字条;发现这字条的,如果是个囚犯,便把它转到指定地点;如果是个守卫,或是一个被暗中收买了的囚犯,也就是监狱里所说的绵羊和苦役牢里所说的狐狸,那字条便会被送到管理处,转给警察。
这一次,那邮车夫达到了目的地,尽管收件人当时正在“隔离”期间。那收件人正是巴伯,猫老板的四巨头之一。
那邮车夫裹着一条卷好的纸,上面只有两行字:
“巴伯,卜吕梅街有笔生意好做。一道对着花园的铁栏门。”
这便是普吕戎在那天晚上写的东西。
尽管有层层的男搜查人员和女搜查人员,巴伯终于想到办法把那字条从拉弗尔斯监狱送到他的一个被关在妇女救济院的“相好”手里。这姑娘又把那字条转到一个她认识的叫作马侬的女人那里,后者已受到警察的密切注意,但还未被捕。关于这个马侬,读者已经见过她的名字,我们以后还会谈到她和德纳第一家人的关系,她通过爱潘妮,能在妇女接济院和玛德栾内特监狱之间起桥梁作用。
正在这时,在指控德纳第的案子里,由于有关他的两个女儿的部分缺乏证据,爱潘妮和阿兹玛都被释放了。
爱潘妮出狱时,马侬在玛德栾内特的大门外偷偷候着她,把普吕戎写给巴伯的那张字条给了她,派她去把这件事“弄清楚”。
爱潘妮去卜吕梅街,认清了那铁栏门和花园,细看了那栋房子,窥伺了几天,然后到钟锥街马侬家里,给了她一块饼干,马侬又把这饼干送到妇女救济院巴伯的相好手里。一块饼干,对监狱中的象征主义暗号来说,便是“没有办法”。因此,不到一星期,巴伯和普吕戎,一个正去“受教导”,一个正受了教导回来,两个人在巡逻道上碰了面。普吕戎问:“怎样了,卜街?”巴伯回答:“饼干。”
普吕戎在拉弗尔斯监狱里制造的罪胎就这样流产了。
这次堕胎还有下文,不过和普吕戎的计划完全不相干。我们将来再谈。
我们常常会在想接这一根线的时候,接上了另一根线。
1 assassinated | |
v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 );中伤;诋毁;破坏 | |
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2 hind | |
adj.后面的,后部的 | |
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3 mediocre | |
adj.平常的,普通的 | |
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4 consolation | |
n.安慰,慰问 | |
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5 sergeants | |
警官( sergeant的名词复数 ); (美国警察)警佐; (英国警察)巡佐; 陆军(或空军)中士 | |
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6 vapor | |
n.蒸汽,雾气 | |
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7 trickled | |
v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 );淌;使)慢慢走;缓慢移动 | |
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8 crevices | |
n.(尤指岩石的)裂缝,缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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9 connivance | |
n.纵容;默许 | |
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10 enigma | |
n.谜,谜一样的人或事 | |
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11 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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12 infraction | |
n.违反;违法 | |
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13 repression | |
n.镇压,抑制,抑压 | |
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14 fore | |
adv.在前面;adj.先前的;在前部的;n.前部 | |
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15 bristled | |
adj. 直立的,多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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16 squad | |
n.班,小队,小团体;vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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17 inspectors | |
n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 );(英国公共汽车或火车上的)查票员;(警察)巡官;检阅官 | |
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18 initiated | |
n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始,创始,启蒙,介绍加入 | |
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19 villain | |
n.反派演员,反面人物;恶棍;问题的起因 | |
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20 juggling | |
n. 欺骗, 杂耍(=jugglery) adj. 欺骗的, 欺诈的 动词juggle的现在分词 | |
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21 rascals | |
流氓( rascal的名词复数 ); 无赖; (开玩笑说法)淘气的人(尤指小孩); 恶作剧的人 | |
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22 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
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23 magistrate | |
n.地方行政官,地方法官,治安官 | |
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24 confinement | |
n.幽禁,拘留,监禁;分娩;限制,局限 | |
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25 chatter | |
vi./n.喋喋不休;短促尖叫;(牙齿)打战 | |
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26 rue | |
n.懊悔,芸香,后悔;v.后悔,悲伤,懊悔 | |
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27 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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28 hideous | |
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的 | |
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29 rusty | |
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的 | |
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30 chapel | |
n.小教堂,殡仪馆 | |
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31 fortress | |
n.堡垒,防御工事 | |
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32 adroit | |
adj.熟练的,灵巧的 | |
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33 plaintive | |
adj.可怜的,伤心的 | |
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34 salon | |
n.[法]沙龙;客厅;营业性的高级服务室 | |
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35 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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36 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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37 sordid | |
adj.肮脏的,不干净的,卑鄙的,暗淡的 | |
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38 chattering | |
n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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39 ward | |
n.守卫,监护,病房,行政区,由监护人或法院保护的人(尤指儿童);vt.守护,躲开 | |
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40 somnolent | |
adj.想睡的,催眠的;adv.瞌睡地;昏昏欲睡地;使人瞌睡地 | |
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41 exorbitant | |
adj.过分的;过度的 | |
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42 outlay | |
n.费用,经费,支出;v.花费 | |
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43 inquiries | |
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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44 tariff | |
n.关税,税率;(旅馆、饭店等)价目表,收费表 | |
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45 parlor | |
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅 | |
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46 analyzed | |
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析 | |
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47 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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48 redoubtable | |
adj.可敬的;可怕的 | |
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49 alias | |
n.化名;别名;adv.又名 | |
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50 circumvented | |
v.设法克服或避免(某事物),回避( circumvent的过去式和过去分词 );绕过,绕行,绕道旅行 | |
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51 superintendent | |
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长 | |
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52 chestnut | |
n.栗树,栗子 | |
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53 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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54 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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55 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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56 artistically | |
adv.艺术性地 | |
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57 etymology | |
n.语源;字源学 | |
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58 galleys | |
n.平底大船,战舰( galley的名词复数 );(船上或航空器上的)厨房 | |
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59 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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60 lurked | |
vi.潜伏,埋伏(lurk的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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61 engendered | |
v.产生(某形势或状况),造成,引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62 miscarriage | |
n.失败,未达到预期的结果;流产 | |
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63 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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