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Chapter 46 Beneath the Oak
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On about the twentieth of the Second Month, Niou made a pilgrimage to Hatsuse. Perhaps the pleasant thought of stopping in Uji on the return from Hatsuse made him seek now to honor a vow1 he had made some years before. The fact that he should be so interested in a place the name of which tended to call up unpleasant associations suggested a certain frivolity2. Large numbers of the highest-ranking officials were in his retinue3, and as for officials of lower ranks, scarcely any were left in the city. On the far bank of the river Uji stood a large and beautifully appointed villa5 which Yūgiri, Minister of the Right, had inherited from his father, Genji. Yūgiri ordered that it be put in readiness for the prince’s visit. Protocol6 demanded that he go himself to receive Niou on the return journey from Hatsuse, but he begged to be excused. Certain occurrences had required him to consult soothsayers, who had replied that he must spend some time in retreat and abstinence Niou was vaguely7 displeased8; but when he heard that Kaoru would be meeting him he decided9 that this breach10 of etiquette11 was in fact a piece of good luck. He need feel no reticence12 about sending Kaoru to look into the situation on the opposite bank of the Uji, where the Eighth Prince lived. There was, in any case, something too solemn about Yūgiri, a stiffness that invited an answering stiffness in Niou himself.

Several of Yūgiri’s sons were in Kaoru’s retinue: a moderator of the first order, a chamberlain, a captain, and two lesser14 guards officers. Because he was the favorite of his royal parents, Niou’s prestige and popularity were enormous; and for even the humblest and least influential15 of Genji’s retainers he was “our prince.” The apartments in which he and his attendants meant to rest were fitted out with the greatest care, in a manner that put the advantages of the setting to the best possible use. The gaming boards were brought out, Go and backgammon and tagi and the rest, and the men settled down for trials of strength as fancy took them. Not used to travel and persuaded by something more than fatigue17, Niou decided that it would be a pleasant spot for a night’s lodging18. After resting for a time, he had instruments brought out. It was late afternoon. As so often happens far away from the noisy world, the accompaniment of the water seemed to give the music a clearer, higher sound.

The Eighth Prince’s villa was across the river, a stone’s throw away. The sound came over on the breeze to make him think of old days at court.

“What a remarkable19 flutist that is,” said the prince to himself. “Who might it be? Genji played an interesting flute20, a most charming flute; but this is somehow different. It puts me in mind of the music we used to hear at the old chancellor’s, bold and clear, and maybe just a little haughty21. It has been a very long time indeed since I myself took part in such a concert. The months and the years have gone by like waking dead!”

Pity for his daughters swept over him. If there were only a way to get them out of these mountains! Kaoru was exactly what he hoped a son-in-law might be, but Kaoru seemed rather wanting in amorous22 urges. How could he think of handing his daughters over to trifling23 young men of the sort the world seemed to produce these days? The worries chased each other through his mind, and the spring night, endless for someone lost in melancholy24 thought, went on and on. Beyond the river, the travelers were enjoying themselves quite without reserve, and for them, in their fuddlement, the spring night was all too quick to end. It seemed a pity, thought Niou, to start for home so soon.

The high sky with fingers of mist trailing across it, the cherries coming into bloom and already shedding their blossoms, “the willows25 by the river,” their reflections now bowing and now soaring as the wind caught them — it was a novel sight for the visitor from the city, and one he was reluctant to leave.

Kaoru was thinking what a pity it would be not to call on the Eighth Prince. Could he avoid all these inquiring eyes and row across the river? Would he be thought guilty of indiscretion? As he was debating the problem, a poem was delivered from the prince:

“Parting the mist, a sound comes in on the wind,

But waves of white, far out on the stream, roll between us.”

The writing, a strong, masculine hand, was most distinguished26.

Well, thought Niou — from precisely27 the place that had been on his mind. He himself would send an answering poem:

“On far shore and near, the waves may keep us apart.

Come in all the same, O breeze of the river Uji!”

Kaoru set out to deliver it. In attendance upon him were men known to be particularly fond of music. Summoning up all their artistry, the company played “The River Music” as they were rowed across. The landing that had been put out from the river pavilion of the prince’s villa, and indeed the villa itself, seemed in the best of taste, again quite in harmony with the setting. Cleaned and newly appointed in preparation for a distinguished visit, it was a house of a very different sort from the one in which they had passed the night. The furnishings, screens of wattled bamboo and the like, simple and yet in very good taste, were right for a mountain dwelling28. Unostentatiously, the Eighth Prince brought out antique kotos and lutes of remarkable timbre29. The guests, tuning30 their instruments to the ichikotsu mode, played “Cherry–Blossom Girl,” and when they had finished they pressed their host to favor them with something on that famous seven-stringed koto of his. He was diffident, and only joined in with a short strain from time to time. Perhaps because it was a style they were not used to, the young men found that it had a somewhat remote sound to it, a certain depth and mystery, strangely moving.

As for the repast to which they were treated, it was most tasteful in an old-fashioned way, exactly what the setting asked for, and much superior to what they would have expected. There were in the neighborhood numbers of elderly people who, though not of royal blood, came from gentle families, and some who were distant relatives of the emperor himself. They had long wondered what the prince would do if such an occasion were to arise, and as many of them as were able came to help; and the guests found that their cups were being kept full by attendants who, though not perhaps dressed in the latest fashions, could hardly have been called rustic31. No doubt there were a number of youngsters whose hearts were less than calm at the thought of ladies’ apartments. Matters were even worse for Niou. How constricting32 it was, to be of a rank that forbade lighthearted adventures! Unable to contain himself, he broke off a fine branch of cherry blossoms and, an elegantly attired33 page boy for his messenger, sent it across the river with a poem:

“I have come, the mountain cherries at their best,

To break off sprays of blossom for my cap.”

And it would seem that he added: “Then stayed the night, enamored of the fields.”

What could they send by way of answer? The princesses were at a loss. But they must send something, that much was sure, said the old women. This was hardly the occasion for a really formal poem, and it would be rude to wait too long. Finally Oigimi composed a reply and had Nakanokimi set it down for her:

“It is true that you have fought your way through the mountain tangles34, and yet

“For sprays to break, the springtime wanderer pauses

Before the rustic fence, and wanders on.”

The hand was subtle and delicate.

And so music answered music across the river. It was as Niou had requested, the wind did not propose to keep them apart. Presently Kōbai arrived, upon order of the emperor; and with great crowds milling about Niou made a noisy departure. His attendants looked back again, and he promised himself that he would find an excuse for another visit. The view was magical, with the blossoms at their best and layers of mist trailing among them. Many were the poems in Chinese and in Japanese that the occasion produced, but I did not trouble myself to ask about them.

Niou was unhappy. In the confusion he had not been able to convey the sort of message he had wished to. He sent frequent letters thereafter, not bothering to ask the mediation35 of Kaoru.

“You really should answer,” said the Eighth Prince. “But be careful not to sound too serious. That would only excite him. He has his pleasure-loving ways, and you are a pleasure he is not likely to forgo36.”

Though with this caveat37, he encouraged replies. It was Nakanokimi who set them down. Oigimi was much too cautious and deliberate to let herself become involved in the least significant of such exchanges.

The prince, ever deeper in melancholy, found the long, uneventful spring days harder to get through than other days. The beauty and grace of his daughters, more striking as the years went by, had the perverse39 effect of intensifying40 the melancholy. If they were plain little things, he said to himself, then it might not matter so much to leave them in these mountains. His mind ran the circle of worries and ran it again, day and night. Oigimi was now twenty-five, Nakanokimi twenty-three.

It was a dangerous year for him. He was more assiduous than ever in his devotions. Because his heart was no longer in this world, because he was intent on leaving it behind as soon as possible, the way down the cool, serene41 path seemed clear. But there was one obstacle, worry about the future of his daughters.

“When he puts himself into his studies,” said the people around him, “his will power is extraordinary. But don’t you suppose he’ll weaken when the final test comes? Don’t you suppose his worries about our ladies will be too much for him?”

If only there were someone, he thought — someone not perhaps up to the standard he had always set, but still, after his fashion, of a rank and character that would not be demeaning, and someone who would undertake in all sincerity42 to look after the princesses — then he would be inclined to give his tacit blessing43. If even one of the girl s could find a secure place in the world, he could without misgivings44 leave the other innoer charge. But thus far no one had come forward with what could be described as serious intentions. Occasionally, on some pretext45, there would be a suggestive letter, and occasionally too some fellow, in the lightness of his young heart, stopping on his way to or from a temple, would show signs of interest. But there was always something insulting about these advances, some hint that the man looked down upon ladies left to waste away in the mountains. The prince would not permit the most casual sort of reply.

And now came Niou, who said that he could not rest until he had made the acquaintance of the princesses. Was this ardor46 a sign of a bond from a former life?

In the autumn Kaoru was promoted to councillor of the middle order. The distinction of his manner and appearance was more pronounced as he rose in rank and office, and the thoughts that tormented47 him made similar gains. They were more tenacious48 than when the doubts about his birth had still been vague and unformed. As he tried to imagine how it had been in those days, so long ago now, when his father had sickened and died, he wanted to lose himself in prayers and rites49 of atonement. He had been strongly drawn50 to the old woman at Uji, and he tried circumspectly51 to let her know of his feelings.

It was now the Seventh Month. He had been away from Uji, he thought, for a very long while.

Autumn had not yet come to the city, but by the time he reached Mount Otowa the breeze was cool, and in the vicinity of Mount Oyama autumn was already at the tips of the branches. The shifting mountain scenery delighted him more and more as he approached Uji.

The prince greeted him with unusual warmth, and talked on and on of the melancholy thoughts that were so much with him.

“If you should find reasonable occasion, after I am gone,” he said, guiding the conversation to the problem of his daughters, “do please come and see them from time to time. Put them on your list, if you will, of the people you do not mean to forget.”

“You may remember that you have already brought the matter up once or twice before, and you have my word that I shall not forget. Not that you can expect a great deal of me, I am afraid. All my impulses are to run away from the world, and it does not seem to have very strong hopes for me in any case. No, I do not hold a great deal in reserve. But for as long as I live, my determination will not waver.”

The prince was much relieved. A late moon, breaking through the clouds with a soft, clean radiance, seemed about to touch the western hills. Having said his prayers, to which the scene lent an especial dignity, he turned to talk of old times.

“How is it at court these days? On autumn nights people used to gather in His Majesty’s chambers52. There was always something a little too good, a little ostentatious — or it so seemed to me — about the way the famous musicians lent their presence to this group and the next one. What was really worth notice was the way His Majesty’s favorites and the ladies of the bedchamber and the rest would be chatting away as pleasantly as you could wish, and all the while you knew that they were in savage53 competition. And then, as quiet came over the palace, you would have the real music, leaking out from their several rooms. Each strain seemed to be pleading its own special cause.

“Women are the problem, good for a moment of pleasure, offering nothing of substance. They are the seeds of turmoil54, and it is not hard to see why we are told that their sins are heavy. I wonder if you have ever tried to imagine what a worry a child is for its father. A son is no problem. But a daughter — there is a limit to worrying, after all, and the sensible thing would be to recognize the hopeless for what it is. But fathers will go on worrying.”

He spoke55 as if in generalities; but could there be any doubt that he was really speaking of himself and his daughters?

“I have told you of my feelings about the world,” said Kaoru. “One result of them has been that I have not mastered a single art worthy56 of the name. But music — yes, I know how useless it is, and still I have had a hard time giving it up. I do have a good precedent57, after all. You will remember that music made one of the apostles jump up and dance.”

He had been longing58, he continued, to have more of the music of which he had caught that one tantalizing59 snatch. The prince thought this might be the occasion for a sort of introduction. He went to the princesses’ rooms. There came a soft strain on a koto, and that was all. The light, impromptu60 melody, here where it was always quiet and where now there was not one other human sound, with the sky beginning to take on the colors of dawn, quite entranced Kaoru. But the princesses could not be persuaded to give more.

“Well,” said their father, going to the altar, “I have done what I can to bring you together. You have years ahead of you, and I must leave the rest to you.

“I go, this hut of grass will dry and fall.

But this solemn undertaking61 must last forever.

“Something tells me that we will not meet again.” He was in tears. “You must think me an insufferable complainer.”

“Your’hut of grass’ has sealed a pledge eternal.

It will not fall, though ages come and go.

“The wrestling meet will keep me busy for a while, but I will see you again when it is out of the way.”

The prince having withdrawn62 to his prayers, Kaoru called Bennokimi to another room and asked for details of the story she had told. The dawn moon flooded the room, setting him off through the blinds to most wonderful effect. Silently, the princesses withdrew behind deeper curtains. Yet he did seem to be unlike most young men. His way of speaking was quiet and altogether serious. Oigimi occasionally came forth63 with an answer. Kaoru thought of his friend Niou and the rapidity with which he had been drawn to the princesses. Why must he himself be so different? Their father had as good as offered them to him; and why did he not rush forward to claim them? It was not as if he found the thought of having one of them for his wife quite out of the question. That they were ladies of discernment and sensibility they had shown well enough in tests such as this evening’s, and in exchanges having to do with the flowers of spring and the leaves of autumn and other such matters. In a sense, indeed, he thought of them as already in his possession. It would be a cruel wrench64 if fate should give them to others.

He started back before daylight, his thoughts on the prince and his apparent conviction that death was near. When the round of court duties was over, thought Kaoru, he would come again.

Niou was hoping that the autumn leaves might be his excuse for another visit to Uji. He continued to write to the princesses. Thinking these advances no cause for concern, they were able to answer from time to time in appropriately casual terms.

With the deepening of autumn, the prince’s gloom also deepened. Concluding that he must withdraw to some quiet refuge where nothing would upset his devotions, he left behind various admonitions.

“Parting is the way of the world. It cannot be avoided: but the grief is easier to bear when you have a companion to share it with. I must leave it to your imagination — for I cannot tell you — how hard it is for me to go off without you, knowing that you are alone. But it would not do to wander lost in the next world because of ties with this one. Even while I have been here with you, I have as good as run away from the world; and it is not for me to say how it should be when I am gone. But please remember that I am not the only one. You have your mother to think of too. Please do nothing that might reflect on her name. Men who are not worthy of you will try to lure65 you out of these mountains, but you are not to yield to their blandishments. Resign yourselves to the fact that it was not meant to be — that you are different from other people and were meant to be alone — and live out your lives here at Uji. Once you have made up your minds to it, the years will go smoothly66 by. It is good for a woman, even more than for a man, to be away from the world and its slanders67.”

The princesses were beyond thinking about the future. It was beyond them, indeed, to think how they would live if they were to survive their father by so much as a day. These gloomy and ominous68 instructions left them in the cruelest uncertainty69. He had in effect renounced70 the world already, but for them, so long beside him, to be informed thus suddenly of a final parting — it was not from intentional72 cruelty that he had done it, of course, and yet in such cases a certain resentment73 is inevitable74.

On the evening before his departure he inspected the premises75 with unusual care, walking here, stopping there. He had thought of this Uji villa as the most temporary of dwellings76, and so the years had gone by. Everything about him suggesting freedom from worldly taints77, he turned to his devotions, and thoughts of the future slipped in among them from time to time. His daughters were so very much alone — how could they possibly manage after his death?

He summoned the older women of the household.

“Do what you can for them, as a last favor to me. The world does not pay much attention when an ordinary house goes to ruin. It happens every day. I don’t suppose people pay so very much attention when it happens to one like ours. But if fate seems to have decided that the collapse78 is final, a man does feel ashamed, and wonders how he can face his ancestors. Sadness, loneliness — they are what life brings. But when a house is kept in a manner that becomes its rank, the appearances it maintains, the feelings it has for itself, bring their own consolation79. Everyone wants luxury and excitement; but you must never, even if everything fails — you must never, I beg of you, let them make unsuitable marriages.”

As the moonlight faded in the dawn, he went to take leave of his daughters. “Do not be lonely when I am gone. Be happy, find ways to occupy yourselves. One does not get everything in this world. Do not fret80 over what has to be.”

He looked back and looked back again as he started up the path to the monastery81.

The girls were lonely indeed, despite these admonitions. What would the one do if the other were to go away? The world offers no security in any case; and what could they possibly do for themselves if they were separated? Smiling over this small matter, sighing over that rather more troublesome detail, they had always been together.

It was the morning of the day when the prince’s meditations82 were to end. He would be coming home. But in the evening a message came instead: “I have been indisposed since this morning. A cold, perhaps — whatever it is, I am having it looked after. I long more than ever to see you.

The princesses were in consternation83. How serious would it be? They hastened to send quilted winter garments. Two and three days passed, and there was no sign of improvement. A messenger came back. The ailment84 was not of a striking nature, he reported. The prince was generally indisposed. If there should be even the slightest improvement he would brave the discomfort85 and return home.

The abbot, in constant attendance, sought to sever13 the last ties with this world. “It may seem like the commonest sort of ailment,” he said, “but it could be your last. Why must you go on worrying about your daughters? Each of us has his own destiny, and it does no good to worry about others.” He said that the prince was not to leave the temple under any circumstances.

It was about the twentieth of the Eighth Month, a time when the autumn skies are conducive86 to melancholy in any case. For the princesses, lost in their own sad thoughts, there was no release from the morning and evening mists. The moon was bright in the early-morning sky, the surface of the river was clear and luminous87. The shutters88 facing the mountain were raised. As the princesses gazed out, the sound of the monastery bell came down to them faintly — and, they said, another dawn was upon them.

But then came a messenger, blinded with tears. The prince had died in the night.

Not for a moment had the princesses stopped thinking of him; but this was too much of a shock, it left them dazed. At such times tears refuse to come. Prostrate89, they could only wait for the shock to pass. A death is sad when, as is the commoner case, the survivors90 have a chance to make proper farewells. For the princesses, who did not have their father with them, the sense of loss was even more intense. Their laments91 would not have seemed excessive if they had wailed92 to the very heavens. Reluctant to accept the thought of surviving their father by a day, they asked what they were to do now. But he had gone a road that all must take, and weeping did nothing to change that cruel fact.

As had been promised over the years, the abbot arranged for the funeral. The princesses sent word that they would like to see their father again, even in death. And what would be accomplished93? replied the holy man. He had trained their father to acceptance of the fact that he would not see them again, and now it was their turn. They must train their hearts to a freedom from binding94 regrets. As he told of their father’s days in the monastery, they found his wisdom somewhat distasteful.

It had long been their father’s most fervent95 wish to take the tonsure96, but in the absence of someone to look after his daughters he had been unable to turn his back on them. Day after day, so long as he had lived, this inability had been at the same time the solace97 of a sad life and the bond that tied him to a world he wished to leave. Neither to him who had now gone the inevitable road nor to them who must remain behind had fulfillment come.

Kaoru was overcome with grief and regret. There were so many things left to talk about if only they might have another quiet evening together. Thoughts about the impermanence of things chased one another through his mind, and he made no attempt to stop the flow of tears. The prince had said, it was true, that they might not meet again; but Kaoru had so accustomed himself over the years to the mutability of this world, to the way morning has of becoming evening, that thoughts “yesterday, today” had not come to him. He sent long and detailed98 letters to the abbot and the princesses. Having received no other such message, the princesses, though still benumbed with grief, knew once again what kindness they had known over the years. The loss of a father is never easy, thought Kaoru, and it must be very cruel indeed for two ladies quite alone in the world. He had had the foresight99 to send the abbot offerings and provisions for the services, and he also saw, through the old woman, that there were ample offerings at the Uji villa.

The rest of the month was one long night for the princesses, and so the Ninth Month came. The mountain scenery seemed more capable than ever of summoning the showers that dampen one’s sleeves, and sometimes, lost in their tears, they could almost imagine that the tumbling leaves and the roaring water and the cascade100 of tears had become one single flow.

Near distraction101 themselves, their women thought to dislodge them even a little from their grief. “Please, my ladies. If this goes on you will soon be in your own graves. Our lives are short enough in any case.”

Priests were charged with memorial services at the villa as well as at the monastery. With holy images to remind them of the dead prince, the women who had withdrawn into deepest mourning kept constant vigil.

Niou too sent messages, but they were not of a sort that the princesses could bring themselves to answer.

“My friend gets different treatment,” he said, much chagrined102. “Why am I the one they will have nothing to do with?”

He had thought that Uji with the autumn leaves at their best might feed his poetic103 urges, but now, regretfully, he had to conclude that the time was inappropriate. He did send a long letter. The initial period of mourning was over, he thought, and there must be an end to grief and a pause in tears. Dispatching his letter on an evening of chilly104 showers, he had this to say, among many other things:

“How is it in yon hills where the hart calls out

On such an eve, and dew forms on the hagi?

I cannot think how on an evening like this you can be indifferent to melancholy like mine. Autumn brings an unusual sadness over Onoe Moor105.”

“He is right,” said Oigimi, urging her sister on. “We do let these notes pile up, and I’m sure he thinks us very rude and unfeeling. Do get something off to him.”

Enduring the days since her father’s death, thought Nakanokimi, had she once considered taking up brush again? How cruel those days had been! Her eyes clouded over, and she pushed the inkstone away.

“I cannot do it,” she said, weeping quietly. “I have come this far, you say, and sorrow has to end? No — the very thought of it makes me hate myself.”

Oigimi understood, and urged her no further.

The messenger had left the city at dusk and arrived after dark. How could they send him back at this hour? They told him he must stay the night. But no: he was going back, he said, and he hurried to get ready.

Though no more in control of herself than her sister, Oigimi wished to detain him no longer, and composed a stanza106 for him to take back:

“A mist of tears blots107 out this mountain village,

And at its rustic fence, the call of the deer.”

Scarcely able to make out the ink, dark in the night, against dark paper, she wrote with no thought for the niceties. She folded her note into a plain cover and sent it out to the man.

It was a black, gusty108 night. He was uneasy as he made his way through the wilds of Kohata; but Niou did not pick men Who were noted109 for their timidity. He spurred his horse on, not allowing it to pause even for the densest110 bamboo thickets111, and reached Niou’s mansion112 in remarkably113 quick time. Seeing how wet he was, Niou gave him a special bounty114 for his services.

The hand, a strange one, was more mature than the one he was used to, and suggestive of a deeper mind. Which princess would be which? he wondered, gazing and gazing at the note. It was well past time for him to be in bed.

They could see why he would wish to wait up until an answer came, whispered the women, but here he was still mooning over it. The sender must be someone who interested him greatly. There was a touch of asperity115 in these remarks, as of people who wished they were in bed themselves.

The morning mists were still heavy as he arose to prepare his answer:

“The call of the hart whose mate has strayed away

In the morning mist — are there those whom it leaves unmoved?

My own wails116 are no less piercing.”

“He is likely to be a nuisance if he thinks we understand too well,” said Oigimi, always withdrawn and cautious in these matters. “Before Father died we had him to protect us. We did not want to outlive him, but here we are. He thought of us to the last, and now we must think of him. The slightest little misstep would hurt him.” She would not permit an answer. Yet she did not take the view of Niou that she did of most men. His writing and choice of words, even at their most casual, had an elegance117 and originality118 which seemed to her, though she had not had letters from many men, truly superior. But to answer even such subtle letters was inappropriate for a lady in her situation. If the world disagreed, she had no answer: she would live out her life as a rustic spinster, and the world need not think about her.

Kaoru’s letters, on the other hand, were of such an earnest nature that she answered them freely. He came calling one day, even before the period of deepest mourning was over. Approaching the lower part of the east room, where the princesses were still in mourning, he summoned Bennokimi. Wanderers in darkness, they found this sudden burst of light quite blinding. Their own somber119 garments were too sharp a contrast. They were unable to send out an answer.

“Do they have to go on treating me like a stranger? Have they completely forgotten their father’s last wishes? The most ordinary sort of conversation, now and then, would be such a pleasure. I have not mastered the methods of suitors and it does not seem at all natural to have to use a messenger.”

“We have lived on, as you see,” Oigimi finally managed to send back, “although I do not remember that anyone asked our wishes. It has been one long nightmare. I doubt if our wishes matter much more even now. Everything tells us to stay out of the light, and I must ask you not to ask the impossible.”

“You are being much too conservative. If you were to come marching gaily120 out into the sunlight or the moonlight of your own free will, now — but you are only creating difficulties. Acquaint me with the smallest particle of what you are thinking and, who knows, I might have a small bit of comfort to offer.”

“How nice,” said the women of the house. “Here you are floundering and helpless, and here he is trying to help you.”

Oigimi, despite her protestations, was recovering from her grief. She remembered his repeated kindnesses (though one might have said that any good friend would have done as much), and she remembered how, over the years, he had made his way through the high grasses to this distant moor. She moved a little nearer. In the gentlest and friendliest way possible, he told how he had felt for them in their grief, and how he had made certain promises to their father. There was nothing insistent121 in his manner, and she felt neither constraint122 nor apprehension123. Yet he was not, after all, a real intimate; and now, to have him hear her voice — and her thoughts were further confused by the memory of how, over the weeks, she had come to look to him vaguely for support — no, it was still too painful. She was unable to speak. From what little he had heard he knew that she had scarcely begun to pull herself from her grief, and pity welled up afresh. It was a sad figure that he now caught a glimpse of through a gap in the curtains. It suggested all too poignantly124 the unrelieved gloom of her days; and he thought of the figure he had seen faintly in the autumn dawn.

As if to himself, he recited a verse:

“The reeds, so sparse125 and fragile, have changed their color,

To make me think of sleeves that now are black.”

And she replied:

“Upon this sleeve, changed though its color be,

The dew finds refuge; there is no refuge for me.

‘The thread from these dark robes of mourning’—” But she could not go on. Her voice wavered and broke in midsentence, and she withdrew deeper into the room.

He did not think it proper to call her back. Instead he found himself talking to the old woman. An improbable substitute, she still had many sad and affecting things to say about long ago and yesterday. She had been witness to it all, and he could not dismiss her as just another tiresome126 old crone.

“I was a mere127 boy when Lord Genji died,” he said, “and that was my first real introduction to the sorrows of the world. And then as I grew up it seemed to me that rank and office and glory meant less than nothing. And the prince, who had found repose128 here at Uji — when he was taken away so suddenly, I thought I had the last word about the futility129 of things. I wanted to get away from the world, leave it completely behind. You will think, perhaps, that I have found a good excuse when I say that your ladies are pulling me back again. But I do not want to recant a word of that last promise I made to him. Now there is your story from all those years ago, pulling in the other direction.”

He was in tears, and the old woman was so shaken with sobs130 that she could not answer. He was so like his father! Memories of things long forgotten came back to her, flooding over more recent sorrows; but she was not up to telling of them.

She was the daughter of Kashiwagi’s nurse, and her father, a moderator of the middle rank at his death, was an uncle of the princesses’ mother. Back in the capital after her father’s death and some years in the far provinces, she found that she had grown away from the family of her old master; and so, answering an inquiry131 from the Eighth Prince, she had taken service here. It could not have been said that she was a woman of unusual accomplishments132, and she showed the effects of having been too much in the service of others; but the prince saw that she was not devoid133 of taste and made her a sort of governess to his daughters. Although she had been with them night and day over the years and had become their closest friend, this one ancient secret she had kept locked within herself. Kaoru found cause for doubt and shame even so: she might not have scattered134 the news lightheartedly to all comers, but unsolicited stories from old women were standard the world over; and, since his presence had the apparent effect of sending the princesses deep into their shells, he feared that she might have passed it on at least to them. He seemed to find here another reason for not letting them go.

He no longer wanted to spend the night. He thought, as he got ready to leave, how the prince had spoken of their last meeting as if it might indeed be their last, and how, confidently looking forward to the continued pleasure of the prince’s company, he had dismissed the possibility. Was it not still the same autumn? Not so many days had passed, and the prince had vanished, no one could say where. Though his had always been the most austere135 of houses, quite without the usual conveniences, it had been clean and appointed in simple but good taste. The ritual utensils136 were as they had always been, but now the priests, bustling137 in and out of the house and busily screening themselves from one another, announced that the sacred images would be taken off to the monastery. Kaoru tried to imagine how it would now be for the princesses, left behind after even such excitement as the priests had offered was gone.

He interrupted these sad thoughts, on the urgings of an attendant who pointed4 out that it was very late, and got up to leave; and a flock of wild geese flew overhead.

“As I gaze at an autumn sky closed off by mists,

Why must these birds proclaim that the world is fleeting138?”

Back in the city, he called on Niou. The conversation moved immediately to the Uji princesses. The time had come, thought Niou, sending off a warm to impossible. He was one of the better-known young gallants, and his intentions were clearly romantic. Could a note thrust from the underbrush in which they themselves lurked139 strike him as other than clumsy and comically out of date?

They worried and fretted140, and their tears had no time to dry. And with what cruel speed the days went by! They had not thought that their father’s life, fleeting though it must be, was a matter of “yesterday, today.” He had taught them an awareness141 of evanescence, but it had been as if he were speaking of a general principle. They had not considered the possibility of outliving him by even hours or minutes. They looked back over the way they had come. It had, to be sure, had its uncertainties142, but they had traveled it with serenity143 and without fear or shame or any thought that such a disaster might one day come. And now the wind was roaring, strangers were pounding to be admitted. The panic, the terror, the loneliness, worse each day, were almost beyond endurance.

In this season of snow and hail, the roar of the wind was as always and everywhere, and yet they felt for the first time that they knew the sadness of these mountains. Well, the saddest year was over, said some of their women, refusing to give up hope. Let the New Year bring an end to it all. The chances were not good, thought the princesses.

Because the prince had gone there for his retreats, an occasional messenger came down from the monastery and, rarely, there was a note from the abbot himself, making general inquiries144 about their health. He no longer had reason to call in person. Day by day the Uji villa was lonelier. It was the way of the world, but they were sad all the same. Occasionally one or two of the village rustics145 would look in on them. Such visits, beneath their notice while their father was alive, became breaks in the monotony. Mountain people would bring in firewood and nuts, and the abbot sent charcoal146 and other provisions.

“One is saddened to think that the generous flow of gifts may have ceased forever,” said the note that came with them.

It was a timely reminder147: their father had made it a practice to send the abbot cottons and silks against the winter cold. The princesses made haste to do as well.

Sometimes they would go to the veranda148 and watch in tears as priests and acolytes149, now appearing among the drifts and now disappearing again, made their way up towards the monastery. Even though their father had quite renounced the world, callers would be more numerous if he were still with them. They might be lonely, but it would not be the final loneliness of knowing they would not see him again.

“For him, the mountain path has now been cut.

How can we look on the pine we watched as we waited?”

And Nakanokimi replied:

“Away in the hills, the snow departs from the pines

But comes again. Ah, would it were so with him!”

As if to mock her, the snow came again and again.

Kaoru paid his visit late in the year. The New Year would be too busy to allow the briefest of visits. With the snow so deep, it was unusual for the ladies to receive even an ordinary caller. That he, a ranking courtier, should have set out on such a journey as if he made one every day was the measure of his kindness. They were at greater pains than usual to receive him. They had taken out and dusted a brazier of a color gayer than this house of mourning had been used to. Their women chattered150 about how happy his visits had made the prince. Though shy, the princesses did not want to seem rude or unkind. They did at length essay to address him from behind screens. The conversation could hardly have been called lively or intimate, but Oigimi managed to put together, for her, an uncommon151 number of words. Kaoru was pleased and surprised. Perhaps the time had come, he thought, for a sally. (It would seem that the best of men are sometimes untrue to their resolves.)

“My friend Niou is irritated with me, and I have trouble understanding why. It is just possible that I let something slip, or it may be that he guessed it all — he does not miss very much. In any event, he knows about your father’s last request, and I have orders to tell you about him. Indeed, I have already told you, and you have not been very cooperative. And so he keeps complaining about what an incompetent152 messenger I am. The charge comes as something of a surprise, considering all I have done, and at the same time I have to admit that I have made myself his ‘guide to your seashore.’ Must you be so remote and haughty?

“It is true, I know, that the gossips have given him a certain name, but beneath the rakish exterior153 are depths that would surprise you. It is said that he prefers not to spend his time with women who come at his beck and call. Then there are women who take things as they are. What the world does is what the world does, they say, and they do not care a great deal whether they find husbands or not. If someone comes along who is neither entirely154 pleasing nor entirely repulsive155, well, such is life. They make good wives, rather better than you might think. And then, as the poet said, the bank begins to give way, and what is left is a muddy Tatsuta. You must have heard of such cases — the last of the old love gone down the stream.

“But there is another possibility. Supposing he finds someone who follows him because she agrees with him, because she cannot find it in her heart to do otherwise. I do not think that he would deal lightly with such a one. He would make his commitments and stand by them. I know, because I am in a position to tell you of things he has not let other people see. Give me the signal, and I will do everything I can to help you. I will dash back and forth between Uji and the city until my feet are stumps156.”

It had been an earnest discourse157. Unable to think that it had reference to herself, Oigimi wondered whether it might now be her duty to take the place of her father. But she did not know what to say.

“Words fail me.” Her reply to the discourse was a quiet laugh, which was not at all unpleasant. “This sort of thing is, well, rather suggestive, I’m sure you will admit, and does not simplify the hunt for an answer.”

“Your own situation has nothing to do with the matter. Just take these tidings I bring through the snowdrifts as an older sister might be expected to. He is thinking not of you but of — someone else. I have had vague reports that there have been letters, but there again it is hard to know the truth. Which of you was it that answered?”

Oigimi fell silent. This last question was more embarrassing than he could have intended it to be. It would have been nothing to answer Niou’s letters, but she had not been up to the task, even in jest; and an answer to Kaoru’s question was quite beyond her.

Presently she pushed a verse from under her curtains:

“Along the cliffs of these mountains, locked in snow,

Are the tracks of only one. That one is you.”

“A sort of sophistry158 that does not greatly improve things.

“My pony159 breaks the ice of the mountain river

As I lead the way with tidings from him who follows.

‘No such shallowness,’ is it not apparent?”

More and more uncomfortable, she did not answer.

She was not remote to excess, he would have said, and on the other hand she had none of the coyness one was accustomed to in young women. A quiet, elegant lady, in sum — as near his ideal as any lady he could remember having met. But whenever he became forward, however slightly, she feigned160 deafness. He turned to inconsequential talk of things long past.

His men were coughing nervously161. It was late, the snow was deep, and the sky seemed to be clouding over again.

“I can see that you have not had an easy time of it,” he said as he got up to leave. “It would please me enormously if I could prevail on you to leave Uji behind you. I can think of places that are far more convenient and just as quiet.”

Some of the women overheard, and were delighted. How very pleasant if they could move to the city!

But Nakanokimi thought otherwise. It was not to be, she said.

Fruit and sweets, most tastefully arranged, were brought out for Kaoru, and, in equally good taste, there were wine and side dishes for his men. Kaoru thought of the watchman, the man he had made such a celebrity162 of with that perfume. Of unlovely mien163, he was known as Wig-beard. To Kaoru he seemed an uncertain support for sorely tried ladies.

“I imagine that things have been lonely since His Highness died.”

A scowl164 spread over the man’s face, and soon he was weeping. “I had the honor of his protection for more than thirty years and now I have nowhere to go. I could wander off into the mountains, I suppose, but’the tree denies the fugitive165 its shelter.’” Tears did not improve the rough face.

Kaoru asked Wigbeard to open the prince’s chapel166. The dust lay thick, but the images, decorated as proudly as ever, gave evidence that the princesses had not been remiss167 with their devotions. The prayer dais had been taken away and the floor carefully dusted, cleaned of the marks it had left. Long ago, the prince had promised that they would be companions in prayer if Kaoru were to renounce71 the world.

“Beneath the oak I meant to search for shade.

Now it has gone, and all is vanity.”

Numerous eyes were upon him as he stood leaning meditatively168 against a pillar. The young maidservants thought they had never seen anyone so handsome.

As it grew dark, his men sent to certain of his manors169 for fodder170. Not having been warned, he was much discommoded by the noisy droves of country people the summonses brought, and tried to make it seem that he had come to see the old woman. They must be of similar service to the princesses in the future, he said as he left.

The New Year came, the skies were soft and bright, the ice melted along the banks of the pond. The princesses thought how strange it was that they should so long have survived their father. With a note saying that he had had them gathered in the melting snow, the abbot sent cress from the marshes171 and fern shoots from the mountain slopes. Country life did have its points, said the women as they cooked the greens and arranged them on pilgrims’ trays. What fun it was, really, to watch the days and months go by with their changing grasses and trees.

They were easily amused, thought the princesses.

“If he were here to pluck these mountain ferns,

Then might we find in them a sign of spring.”

And Nakanokimi:

“Without our father, how are we to praise

The cress that sends its shoots through banks of snow?”

Such were the trifles with which they passed their days. Neither Niou nor Kaoru missed an occasion for greetings. They came in such numbers, indeed, as to be something of a nuisance, and with my usual carelessness I failed to make note of them.

The cherry blossoms were now at their best. “Sprays of blossom for my cap”: Niou thought of Uji. As if to stir his appetites, the men who had been with him remarked upon the pity of it all, that such a pleasant house should have awaited them in vain.

He sent off a poem to the princesses:

“Last year along the way I saw those blossoms.

This year, no mist between, I mean to have them.”

They thought it rather too broadly suggestive. Still, there was little excitement in their lives, and it would be a mistake not to give some slight notice to a poem that had its merits.

“Our house is robed in densest mists of black.

Who undertakes to guide you to its blossoms?”

It did little to assuage172 his discontent. Sometimes, when it was too much for him, he would descend173 upon Kaoru. Kaoru had bungled174 this, made a botch of that. Amused, Kaoru would answer quite as if he had been appointed the princesses’ guardian175. Occasionally he would take it upon himself to chide176 his friend for a certain want of steadfastness177.

“But it won’t go on forever. It’s just that I haven’t found anyone I really like.”

Yūgiri had for some time wanted to arrange a match between Niou and his daughter Rokunokimi. Niou did not seem interested. There was no mystery, no excitement in the proposal, and besides, Yūgiri was so stiff and proper and unbending, so quick to raise a stir over each of Niou’s venialities.

That year the Sanjō mansion of Kaoru’s mother burned to the ground. She moved into Genji’s Rokujō mansion. Kaoru was too busy for a visit to Uji. The solemn nature that set him apart from other youths urged that he wait until Oigimi was ready for him, despite the fact that he already thought her his own; and he would be satisfied if she took note of his fidelity178 to the promise he had made to her father. He would do nothing reckless, nothing likely to offend her.

It was a very hot summer. Suddenly one day the thought came to him that it would be pleasant there by the river. He left the city in the cool of morning, but by the time he reached the Uji villa the sun was blinding. He called Wigbeard to the west room that had been the prince’s. The ladies seemed to be withdrawing to their own rooms from the room immediately to the east of the prince’s that had been his chapel. Despite their precautions, for but a single thin partition separated the two rooms, he could hear, or rather sense, the withdrawal179. In great excitement, he pulled aside the screen before the partition. He had earlier noticed a small hole beside the latch180. Alas181, there was a curtain beyond. But as he drew back the wind caught the blind at the front veranda.

“Pull them over, hold it down,” said someone. “The whole world can see us.”

It was a foolish suggestion, and Kaoru was delighted. The view was now clear. Several curtain frames, high and low, had been moved to the veranda. The princesses were leaving through open doors at the far side of the chapel. The first to enter his range of vision went to the veranda and looked out at his men, who were walking up and down in front of the house, taking the cool of the river breezes. She was wearing a dark-gray singlet and orange trousers. Unusual and surprisingly gay, the combination suggested subtle, careful taste. A scarf was flung loosely over her shoulders and the ends of a rosary hung from a sleeve. She was slender and graceful182, and her hair, which would perhaps have fallen just short of the hem16 of a formal robe, was thick and lustrous183, with no trace of disorder184 the whole of its length. Her profile was flawless, her skin fresh and unblemished, and there was pride and at the same time serenity in her manner. He thought of Niou’s oldest sister. He had once had a glimpse of her, and the longing it had inspired came back afresh.

The other princess moved cautiously into view.

“That door is absolutely naked.” She looked towards him, everything about her suggesting wariness185 and reserve. Something in the flow of her hair gave her even more dignity than he had seen in the other lady.

“There’s a screen behind it,” said a young serving woman unconcernedly. “And we won’t give him time for a peek186.”

“But how awful if he should see us.” She looked guardedly back as she made her way to the far door, carrying herself with a pensive187 grace that few could have imitated. She wore a singlet and a lined robe of the same dark stuff as her sister’s, set off in the same combination. Hers was a sadder, quieter beauty which he found even more compelling. Her hair was less luxuriant, perhaps from grief and neglect, and the ends were somewhat uneven38. Yet it was very lovely, like a cluster of silken threads, and it had the iridescence188 of “rainbow tresses,” or the wing of a halcyon189. The hand in which she held a purple scroll190 was smaller and more delicate than her sister’s. The younger princess knelt at the far door and looked back smiling. He thought her completely charming.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 vow 0h9wL     
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓
参考例句:
  • My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿,每星期日都去做礼拜。
  • I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。
2 frivolity 7fNzi     
n.轻松的乐事,兴高采烈;轻浮的举止
参考例句:
  • It was just a piece of harmless frivolity. 这仅是无恶意的愚蠢行为。
  • Hedonism and frivolity will diffuse hell tnrough all our days. 享乐主义和轻薄浮佻会将地狱扩展到我们的整个日子之中。 来自辞典例句
3 retinue wB5zO     
n.侍从;随员
参考例句:
  • The duchess arrived,surrounded by her retinue of servants.公爵夫人在大批随从人马的簇拥下到达了。
  • The king's retinue accompanied him on the journey.国王的侍从在旅途上陪伴着他。
4 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
5 villa xHayI     
n.别墅,城郊小屋
参考例句:
  • We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
  • We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。
6 protocol nRQxG     
n.议定书,草约,会谈记录,外交礼节
参考例句:
  • We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
  • The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。
7 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地,暖昧地
参考例句:
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面,对一切都视而不见。
8 displeased 1uFz5L     
a.不快的
参考例句:
  • The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了,瞪了我一眼。
  • He was displeased about the whole affair. 他对整个事情感到很不高兴。
9 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
10 breach 2sgzw     
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破
参考例句:
  • We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
  • He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。
11 etiquette Xiyz0     
n.礼仪,礼节;规矩
参考例句:
  • The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
  • According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。
12 reticence QWixF     
n.沉默,含蓄
参考例句:
  • He breaks out of his normal reticence and tells me the whole story.他打破了平时一贯沈默寡言的习惯,把事情原原本本都告诉了我。
  • He always displays a certain reticence in discussing personal matters.他在谈论个人问题时总显得有些保留。
13 sever wTXzb     
v.切开,割开;断绝,中断
参考例句:
  • She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
  • We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。
14 lesser UpxzJL     
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地
参考例句:
  • Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
  • She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及,但程度较轻。
15 influential l7oxK     
adj.有影响的,有权势的
参考例句:
  • He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
  • He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。
16 hem 7dIxa     
n.贴边,镶边;vt.缝贴边;(in)包围,限制
参考例句:
  • The hem on her skirt needs sewing.她裙子上的褶边需要缝一缝。
  • The hem of your dress needs to be let down an inch.你衣服的折边有必要放长1英寸。
17 fatigue PhVzV     
n.疲劳,劳累
参考例句:
  • The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
  • I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。
18 lodging wRgz9     
n.寄宿,住所;(大学生的)校外宿舍
参考例句:
  • The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
  • Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?
19 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
参考例句:
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
20 flute hj9xH     
n.长笛;v.吹笛
参考例句:
  • He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
  • There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
21 haughty 4dKzq     
adj.傲慢的,高傲的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a haughty look and walked away.他向我摆出傲慢的表情后走开。
  • They were displeased with her haughty airs.他们讨厌她高傲的派头。
22 amorous Menys     
adj.多情的;有关爱情的
参考例句:
  • They exchanged amorous glances and clearly made known their passions.二人眉来眼去,以目传情。
  • She gave him an amorous look.她脉脉含情的看他一眼。
23 trifling SJwzX     
adj.微不足道的;没什么价值的
参考例句:
  • They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
  • So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利,不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。
24 melancholy t7rz8     
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的
参考例句:
  • All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
  • He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过,他感到很郁闷。
25 willows 79355ee67d20ddbc021d3e9cb3acd236     
n.柳树( willow的名词复数 );柳木
参考例句:
  • The willows along the river bank look very beautiful. 河岸边的柳树很美。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Willows are planted on both sides of the streets. 街道两侧种着柳树。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
26 distinguished wu9z3v     
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的
参考例句:
  • Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
  • A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。
27 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地
参考例句:
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
28 dwelling auzzQk     
n.住宅,住所,寓所
参考例句:
  • Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
  • He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。
29 timbre uoPwM     
n.音色,音质
参考例句:
  • His voice had a deep timbre.他嗓音低沉。
  • The timbre of the violin is far richer than that of the mouth organ.小提琴的音色远比口琴丰富。
30 tuning 8700ed4820c703ee62c092f05901ecfc     
n.调谐,调整,调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调
参考例句:
  • They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
31 rustic mCQz9     
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬
参考例句:
  • It was nearly seven months of leisurely rustic living before Michael felt real boredom.这种悠闲的乡村生活过了差不多七个月之后,迈克尔开始感到烦闷。
  • We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust.我们希望新鲜的空气和乡村的氛围能帮他调整自己。
32 constricting e39c4b9a75f5ad2209b346998437e7b6     
压缩,压紧,使收缩( constrict的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Objective To discuss the clinical characteristics and treatment of congenital constricting band syndrome(CCBS) and amputations. 目的探讨先天性束带症与先天性截肢的临床特点及治疗方法。
33 attired 1ba349e3c80620d3c58c9cc6c01a7305     
adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服,使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The bride was attired in white. 新娘穿一身洁白的礼服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It is appropriate that everyone be suitably attired. 人人穿戴得体是恰当的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
34 tangles 10e8ecf716bf751c5077f8b603b10006     
(使)缠结, (使)乱作一团( tangle的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Long hair tangles easily. 长头发容易打结。
  • Tangles like this still interrupted their intercourse. 像这类纠缠不清的误会仍然妨碍着他们的交情。
35 mediation 5Cxxl     
n.调解
参考例句:
  • The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
  • The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。
36 forgo Dinxf     
v.放弃,抛弃
参考例句:
  • Time to prepare was a luxuary he would have to forgo.因为时间不够,他不得不放弃做准备工作。
  • She would willingly forgo a birthday treat if only her warring parents would declare a truce.只要她的父母停止争吵,她愿意放弃生日宴请。
37 caveat 7rZza     
n.警告; 防止误解的说明
参考例句:
  • I would offer a caveat for those who want to join me in the dual calling.为防止发生误解,我想对那些想要步我后尘的人提出警告。
  • As I have written before,that's quite a caveat.正如我以前所写,那确实是个警告。
38 uneven akwwb     
adj.不平坦的,不规则的,不均匀的
参考例句:
  • The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
  • The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。
39 perverse 53mzI     
adj.刚愎的;坚持错误的,行为反常的
参考例句:
  • It would be perverse to stop this healthy trend.阻止这种健康发展的趋势是没有道理的。
  • She gets a perverse satisfaction from making other people embarrassed.她有一种不正常的心态,以使别人难堪来取乐。
40 intensifying 6af105724a108def30288b810d78b276     
v.(使)增强, (使)加剧( intensify的现在分词 );增辉
参考例句:
  • The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
  • The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
41 serene PD2zZ     
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的
参考例句:
  • He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
  • He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多,只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。
42 sincerity zyZwY     
n.真诚,诚意;真实
参考例句:
  • His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
  • He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。
43 blessing UxDztJ     
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿
参考例句:
  • The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
  • A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。
44 misgivings 0nIzyS     
n.疑虑,担忧,害怕;疑虑,担心,恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 );疑惧
参考例句:
  • I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
  • Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后, 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧! 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
45 pretext 1Qsxi     
n.借口,托词
参考例句:
  • He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
  • He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口,没参加那个会议。
46 ardor 5NQy8     
n.热情,狂热
参考例句:
  • His political ardor led him into many arguments.他的政治狂热使他多次卷入争论中。
  • He took up his pursuit with ardor.他满腔热忱地从事工作。
47 tormented b017cc8a8957c07bc6b20230800888d0     
饱受折磨的
参考例句:
  • The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
  • He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠,深受嫉妒的折磨。
48 tenacious kIXzb     
adj.顽强的,固执的,记忆力强的,粘的
参考例句:
  • We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
  • We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。
49 rites 5026f3cfef698ee535d713fec44bcf27     
仪式,典礼( rite的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
  • He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。
50 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
51 circumspectly 2c77d884d557aeb40500ec2bcbc5c9e9     
adv.慎重地,留心地
参考例句:
  • He paid for two tickets as circumspectly as possible. 他小心翼翼地付了两张票的钱。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
52 chambers c053984cd45eab1984d2c4776373c4fe     
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅
参考例句:
  • The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间:Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网
53 savage ECxzR     
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人
参考例句:
  • The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
  • He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。
54 turmoil CKJzj     
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱
参考例句:
  • His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
  • The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
55 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
56 worthy vftwB     
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。
57 precedent sSlz6     
n.先例,前例;惯例;adj.在前的,在先的
参考例句:
  • Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗?
  • This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。
58 longing 98bzd     
n.(for)渴望
参考例句:
  • Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
  • His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
59 tantalizing 3gnzn9     
adj.逗人的;惹弄人的;撩人的;煽情的v.逗弄,引诱,折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力,的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
60 impromptu j4Myg     
adj.即席的,即兴的;adv.即兴的(地),无准备的(地)
参考例句:
  • The announcement was made in an impromptu press conference at the airport.这一宣布是在机场举行的临时新闻发布会上作出的。
  • The children put on an impromptu concert for the visitors.孩子们为来访者即兴献上了一场音乐会。
61 undertaking Mfkz7S     
n.保证,许诺,事业
参考例句:
  • He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
  • He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小,不敢从事任何事业。
62 withdrawn eeczDJ     
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出
参考例句:
  • Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
  • All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。
63 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
64 wrench FMvzF     
v.猛拧;挣脱;使扭伤;n.扳手;痛苦,难受
参考例句:
  • He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
  • It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。
65 lure l8Gz2     
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引
参考例句:
  • Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
  • He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。
66 smoothly iiUzLG     
adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地
参考例句:
  • The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作,所以工作进展顺利。
  • Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。
67 slanders da8fc18a925154c246439ad1330738fc     
诽谤,诋毁( slander的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • We condemn all sorts of slanders. 我们谴责一切诽谤中伤的言论。
  • All slanders and libels should be repudiated. 一切诬蔑不实之词,应予推倒。
68 ominous Xv6y5     
adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的
参考例句:
  • Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
  • There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。
69 uncertainty NlFwK     
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物
参考例句:
  • Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
  • After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后,压力开始产生影响了。
70 renounced 795c0b0adbaedf23557e95abe647849c     
v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 );宣布放弃;宣布与…决裂;宣布摒弃
参考例句:
  • We have renounced the use of force to settle our disputes. 我们已再次宣布放弃使用武力来解决争端。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Andrew renounced his claim to the property. 安德鲁放弃了财产的所有权。 来自《简明英汉词典》
71 renounce 8BNzi     
v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系
参考例句:
  • She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
  • It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。
72 intentional 65Axb     
adj.故意的,有意(识)的
参考例句:
  • Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
  • His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。
73 resentment 4sgyv     
n.怨愤,忿恨
参考例句:
  • All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
  • She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。
74 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的
参考例句:
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
75 premises 6l1zWN     
n.建筑物,房屋
参考例句:
  • According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定,场内不准饮酒。
  • All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行,不用送到外面去做。
76 dwellings aa496e58d8528ad0edee827cf0b9b095     
n.住处,处所( dwelling的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
  • The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》
77 taints c0ae518fec08ce10a54535d2ed0e2bc3     
n.变质( taint的名词复数 );污染;玷污;丑陋或腐败的迹象v.使变质( taint的第三人称单数 );使污染;败坏;被污染,腐坏,败坏
参考例句:
  • Meat taints readily in hot weather. 天气炎热,肉容易变味。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This disease of money and greed taints other people. 别人会为了贪财争赃而丧心病狂。 来自辞典例句
78 collapse aWvyE     
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷
参考例句:
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
79 consolation WpbzC     
n.安慰,慰问
参考例句:
  • The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
  • This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。
80 fret wftzl     
v.(使)烦恼;(使)焦急;(使)腐蚀,(使)磨损
参考例句:
  • Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急,我们能准时到那里。
  • She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.
81 monastery 2EOxe     
n.修道院,僧院,寺院
参考例句:
  • They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
  • She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。
82 meditations f4b300324e129a004479aa8f4c41e44a     
默想( meditation的名词复数 ); 默念; 沉思; 冥想
参考例句:
  • Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations. 每一句话似乎都给人以许多冥思默想。
  • I'm sorry to interrupt your meditations. 我很抱歉,打断你思考问题了。
83 consternation 8OfzB     
n.大为吃惊,惊骇
参考例句:
  • He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害,感到非常震惊。
  • Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。
84 ailment IV8zf     
n.疾病,小病
参考例句:
  • I don't have even the slightest ailment.我什么毛病也没有。
  • He got timely treatment for his ailment.他的病得到了及时治疗。
85 discomfort cuvxN     
n.不舒服,不安,难过,困难,不方便
参考例句:
  • One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
  • She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。
86 conducive hppzk     
adj.有益的,有助的
参考例句:
  • This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
  • Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。
87 luminous 98ez5     
adj.发光的,发亮的;光明的;明白易懂的;有启发的
参考例句:
  • There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
  • Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。
88 shutters 74d48a88b636ca064333022eb3458e1f     
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门
参考例句:
  • The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
  • The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。
89 prostrate 7iSyH     
v.拜倒,平卧,衰竭;adj.拜倒的,平卧的,衰竭的
参考例句:
  • She was prostrate on the floor.她俯卧在地板上。
  • The Yankees had the South prostrate and they intended to keep It'so.北方佬已经使南方屈服了,他们还打算继续下去。
90 survivors 02ddbdca4c6dba0b46d9d823ed2b4b62     
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
  • survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者
91 laments f706f3a425c41502d626857197898b57     
n.悲恸,哀歌,挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.(为…)哀悼,痛哭,悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
  • In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句
92 wailed e27902fd534535a9f82ffa06a5b6937a     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句
93 accomplished UzwztZ     
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的
参考例句:
  • Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
  • Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
94 binding 2yEzWb     
有约束力的,有效的,应遵守的
参考例句:
  • The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
  • Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。
95 fervent SlByg     
adj.热的,热烈的,热情的
参考例句:
  • It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。
  • Austria was among the most fervent supporters of adolf hitler.奥地利是阿道夫希特勒最狂热的支持者之一。
96 tonsure yn7wr     
n.削发;v.剃
参考例句:
  • The ferule is used for conversion,tonsure,ordination and parlance.戒尺用于皈依、剃度、传戒、说法等场合。
  • Before long,she saw through the emptiness of the material world and took tonsure.没过多久,她也看破红尘,削发为尼了。
97 solace uFFzc     
n.安慰;v.使快乐;vt.安慰(物),缓和
参考例句:
  • They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难,就在宗教中寻求安慰。
  • His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈,他便借酒浇愁。
98 detailed xuNzms     
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的
参考例句:
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。
99 foresight Wi3xm     
n.先见之明,深谋远虑
参考例句:
  • The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
  • It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。
100 cascade Erazm     
n.小瀑布,喷流;层叠;vi.成瀑布落下
参考例句:
  • She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
  • Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。
101 distraction muOz3l     
n.精神涣散,精神不集中,消遣,娱乐
参考例句:
  • Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注,不能有丝毫分神。
  • Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。
102 chagrined 55be2dce03734a832733c53ee1dbb9e3     
adj.懊恼的,苦恼的v.使懊恼,使懊丧,使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I was most chagrined when I heard that he had got the job instead of me. 当我听说是他而不是我得到了那份工作时懊恼极了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He was [felt] chagrined at his failure [at losing his pen]. 他为自己的失败 [遗失钢笔] 而感到懊恼。 来自辞典例句
103 poetic b2PzT     
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的
参考例句:
  • His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
  • His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。
104 chilly pOfzl     
adj.凉快的,寒冷的
参考例句:
  • I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
  • I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后,寒气逼人。
105 moor T6yzd     
n.荒野,沼泽;vt.(使)停泊;vi.停泊
参考例句:
  • I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
  • There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。
106 stanza RFoyc     
n.(诗)节,段
参考例句:
  • We omitted to sing the second stanza.我们漏唱了第二节。
  • One young reporter wrote a review with a stanza that contained some offensive content.一个年轻的记者就歌词中包含有攻击性内容的一节写了评论。
107 blots 25cdfd1556e0e8376c8f47eb20f987f9     
污渍( blot的名词复数 ); 墨水渍; 错事; 污点
参考例句:
  • The letter had many blots and blurs. 信上有许多墨水渍和污迹。
  • It's all, all covered with blots the same as if she were crying on the paper. 到处,到处都是泪痕,像是她趴在信纸上哭过。 来自名作英译部分
108 gusty B5uyu     
adj.起大风的
参考例句:
  • Weather forecasts predict more hot weather,gusty winds and lightning strikes.天气预报预测高温、大风和雷电天气将继续。
  • Why was Candlestick Park so windy and gusty? 埃德尔斯蒂克公园里为什么会有那么多的强劲阵风?
109 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
110 densest 196f3886c6c5dffe98d26ccca5d0e045     
密集的( dense的最高级 ); 密度大的; 愚笨的; (信息量大得)难理解的
参考例句:
  • Past Botoi some of the densest jungle forests on Anopopei grew virtually into the water. 过了坊远湾,岛上的莽莽丛林便几乎直长到水中。
  • Earth is the densest of all of these remaining planets. 地球是所剩下行星中最致密的星球。
111 thickets bed30e7ce303e7462a732c3ca71b2a76     
n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 );丛状物
参考例句:
  • Small trees became thinly scattered among less dense thickets. 小树稀稀朗朗地立在树林里。 来自辞典例句
  • The entire surface is covered with dense thickets. 所有的地面盖满了密密层层的灌木丛。 来自辞典例句
112 mansion 8BYxn     
n.大厦,大楼;宅第
参考例句:
  • The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
  • The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。
113 remarkably EkPzTW     
ad.不同寻常地,相当地
参考例句:
  • I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
  • He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。
114 bounty EtQzZ     
n.慷慨的赠予物,奖金;慷慨,大方;施与
参考例句:
  • He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
  • We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。
115 asperity rN6yY     
n.粗鲁,艰苦
参考例句:
  • He spoke to the boy with asperity.他严厉地对那男孩讲话。
  • The asperity of the winter had everybody yearning for spring.严冬之苦让每个人都渴望春天。
116 wails 6fc385b881232f68e3c2bd9685a7fcc7     
痛哭,哭声( wail的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The child burst into loud wails. 那个孩子突然大哭起来。
  • Through this glaciated silence the white wails of the apartment fixed arbitrary planes. 在这冰封似的沉寂中,公寓的白色墙壁构成了一个个任意的平面。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻
117 elegance QjPzj     
n.优雅;优美,雅致;精致,巧妙
参考例句:
  • The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
  • John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。
118 originality JJJxm     
n.创造力,独创性;新颖
参考例句:
  • The name of the game in pop music is originality.流行音乐的本质是独创性。
  • He displayed an originality amounting almost to genius.他显示出近乎天才的创造性。
119 somber dFmz7     
adj.昏暗的,阴天的,阴森的,忧郁的
参考例句:
  • He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
  • His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。
120 gaily lfPzC     
adv.欢乐地,高兴地
参考例句:
  • The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
  • She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。
121 insistent s6ZxC     
adj.迫切的,坚持的
参考例句:
  • There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
  • He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。
122 constraint rYnzo     
n.(on)约束,限制;限制(或约束)性的事物
参考例句:
  • The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
  • The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。
123 apprehension bNayw     
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑
参考例句:
  • There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑,于是她越来越担心。
  • She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。
124 poignantly ca9ab097e4c5dac69066957c74ed5da6     
参考例句:
  • His story is told poignantly in the film, A Beautiful Mind, now showing here. 以他的故事拍成的电影《美丽境界》,正在本地上映。
125 sparse SFjzG     
adj.稀疏的,稀稀落落的,薄的
参考例句:
  • The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区,那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
  • The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。
126 tiresome Kgty9     
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
  • He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜,令人生厌。
127 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
128 repose KVGxQ     
v.(使)休息;n.安息
参考例句:
  • Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
  • Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑,即使在睡眠时也是这样。
129 futility IznyJ     
n.无用
参考例句:
  • She could see the utter futility of trying to protest. 她明白抗议是完全无用的。
  • The sheer futility of it all exasperates her. 它毫无用处,这让她很生气。
130 sobs d4349f86cad43cb1a5579b1ef269d0cb     
啜泣(声),呜咽(声)( sob的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • She was struggling to suppress her sobs. 她拼命不让自己哭出来。
  • She burst into a convulsive sobs. 她突然抽泣起来。
131 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听,询问,调查,查问
参考例句:
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
132 accomplishments 1c15077db46e4d6425b6f78720939d54     
n.造诣;完成( accomplishment的名词复数 );技能;成绩;成就
参考例句:
  • It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
  • Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
133 devoid dZzzx     
adj.全无的,缺乏的
参考例句:
  • He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
  • The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。
134 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
135 austere GeIyW     
adj.艰苦的;朴素的,朴实无华的;严峻的
参考例句:
  • His way of life is rather austere.他的生活方式相当简朴。
  • The room was furnished in austere style.这间屋子的陈设都很简单朴素。
136 utensils 69f125dfb1fef9b418c96d1986e7b484     
器具,用具,器皿( utensil的名词复数 ); 器物
参考例句:
  • Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。
  • Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。
137 bustling LxgzEl     
adj.喧闹的
参考例句:
  • The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
  • This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。
138 fleeting k7zyS     
adj.短暂的,飞逝的
参考例句:
  • The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
  • Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝,于是让自已尽情地享受。
139 lurked 99c07b25739e85120035a70192a2ec98     
vi.潜伏,埋伏(lurk的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The murderers lurked behind the trees. 谋杀者埋伏在树后。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Treachery lurked behind his smooth manners. 他圆滑姿态的后面潜伏着奸计。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
140 fretted 82ebd7663e04782d30d15d67e7c45965     
焦躁的,附有弦马的,腐蚀的
参考例句:
  • The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝,有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
  • The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。
141 awareness 4yWzdW     
n.意识,觉悟,懂事,明智
参考例句:
  • There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
  • Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。
142 uncertainties 40ee42d4a978cba8d720415c7afff06a     
无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 ); 不确定; 变化不定; 无把握、不确定的事物
参考例句:
  • One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
  • Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告
143 serenity fEzzz     
n.宁静,沉着,晴朗
参考例句:
  • Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤,但仍使人感觉安详。
  • She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。
144 inquiries 86a54c7f2b27c02acf9fcb16a31c4b57     
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释,等候进一步调查。
  • I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
145 rustics f1e7511b114ac3f40d8971c142b51a43     
n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 );粗野的;不雅的;用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的
参考例句:
  • These rustics are utilized for the rough work of devoton. 那样的乡村气质可以替宗教做些粗重的工作。 来自互联网
146 charcoal prgzJ     
n.炭,木炭,生物炭
参考例句:
  • We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
  • Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。
147 reminder WkzzTb     
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示
参考例句:
  • I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
  • It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知,她才付应该交的房租。
148 veranda XfczWG     
n.走廊;阳台
参考例句:
  • She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
  • They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。
149 acolytes 2d95a6b207a08c631dcce3cfc11c730b     
n.助手( acolyte的名词复数 );随从;新手;(天主教)侍祭
参考例句:
  • To his acolytes, he is known simply as 'the Boss'. 他被手下人简称为“老板”。 来自辞典例句
  • Many of the acolytes have been in hiding amongst the populace. 许多寺僧都隐藏在平民当中。 来自互联网
150 chattered 0230d885b9f6d176177681b6eaf4b86f     
(人)喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 ); 唠叨; (牙齿)打战; (机器)震颤
参考例句:
  • They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
  • We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天,像两个十多岁的孩子。
151 uncommon AlPwO     
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的
参考例句:
  • Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
  • Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。
152 incompetent JcUzW     
adj.无能力的,不能胜任的
参考例句:
  • He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
  • He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。
153 exterior LlYyr     
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的
参考例句:
  • The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
  • We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。
154 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
155 repulsive RsNyx     
adj.排斥的,使人反感的
参考例句:
  • She found the idea deeply repulsive.她发现这个想法很恶心。
  • The repulsive force within the nucleus is enormous.核子内部的斥力是巨大的。
156 stumps 221f9ff23e30fdcc0f64ec738849554c     
(被砍下的树的)树桩( stump的名词复数 ); 残肢; (板球三柱门的)柱; 残余部分
参考例句:
  • Rocks and stumps supplied the place of chairs at the picnic. 野餐时石头和树桩都充当了椅子。
  • If you don't stir your stumps, Tom, you'll be late for school again. 汤姆,如果你不快走,上学又要迟到了。
157 discourse 2lGz0     
n.论文,演说;谈话;话语;vi.讲述,著述
参考例句:
  • We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
  • He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。
158 sophistry OwWwG     
n.诡辩
参考例句:
  • Sophistry cannot alter history.诡辩改变不了历史。
  • No one can be persuaded by sophistry.强词夺理不能折服人。
159 pony Au5yJ     
adj.小型的;n.小马
参考例句:
  • His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
  • They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。
160 feigned Kt4zMZ     
a.假装的,不真诚的
参考例句:
  • He feigned indifference to criticism of his work. 他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
  • He accepted the invitation with feigned enthusiasm. 他假装热情地接受了邀请。
161 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地,不安地
参考例句:
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇,努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
162 celebrity xcRyQ     
n.名人,名流;著名,名声,名望
参考例句:
  • Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
  • He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。
163 mien oDOxl     
n.风采;态度
参考例句:
  • He was a Vietnam veteran with a haunted mien.他是个越战老兵,举止总有些惶然。
  • It was impossible to tell from his mien whether he was offended.从他的神态中难以看出他是否生气了。
164 scowl HDNyX     
vi.(at)生气地皱眉,沉下脸,怒视;n.怒容
参考例句:
  • I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
  • The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色,清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。
165 fugitive bhHxh     
adj.逃亡的,易逝的;n.逃犯,逃亡者
参考例句:
  • The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
  • The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。
166 chapel UXNzg     
n.小教堂,殡仪馆
参考例句:
  • The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
  • She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午,她在小教堂的演出,可以说是登峰造极。
167 remiss 0VZx3     
adj.不小心的,马虎
参考例句:
  • It was remiss of him to forget her birthday.他竟忘了她的生日,实在是糊涂。
  • I would be remiss if I did not do something about it.如果我对此不做点儿什么就是不负责任。
168 meditatively 1840c96c2541871bf074763dc24f786a     
adv.冥想地
参考例句:
  • The old man looked meditatively at the darts board. 老头儿沉思不语,看着那投镖板。 来自英汉文学
  • "Well,'said the foreman, scratching his ear meditatively, "we do need a stitcher. “这--"工头沉思地搔了搔耳朵。 "我们确实需要一个缝纫工。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
169 manors 231304de1ec07b26efdb67aa9e142500     
n.庄园(manor的复数形式)
参考例句:
  • Manors were private estates of aristocrats or of distinction. 庄园是贵族与豪族的私人领地。 来自互联网
  • These lands were parcelled into farms or manors. 这些土地被分成了农田和庄园。 来自互联网
170 fodder fodder     
n.草料;炮灰
参考例句:
  • Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.割下来晒干用作饲料的草。
  • Guaranteed salt intake, no matter which normal fodder.不管是那一种正常的草料,保证盐的摄取。
171 marshes 9fb6b97bc2685c7033fce33dc84acded     
n.沼泽,湿地( marsh的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
  • We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
172 assuage OvZzP     
v.缓和,减轻,镇定
参考例句:
  • The medicine is used to assuage pain.这种药用来止痛。
  • Your messages of cheer should assuage her suffering.你带来的这些振奋人心的消息一定能减轻她的痛苦。
173 descend descend     
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降
参考例句:
  • I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
  • We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。
174 bungled dedbc53d4a8d18ca5ec91a3ac0f1e2b5     
v.搞糟,完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 );笨手笨脚地做;失败;完不成
参考例句:
  • They bungled the job. 他们把活儿搞糟了。
  • John bungled the job. 约翰把事情搞糟了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
175 guardian 8ekxv     
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者
参考例句:
  • The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
  • The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。
176 chide urVzQ     
v.叱责;谴责
参考例句:
  • However,they will chide you if you try to speak French.然而,如果你试图讲法语,就会遭到他们的责骂。
  • He thereupon privately chide his wife for her forwardness in the matter.于是他私下责备他的妻子,因为她对这种事热心。
177 steadfastness quZw6     
n.坚定,稳当
参考例句:
  • But he was attacked with increasing boldness and steadfastness. 但他却受到日益大胆和坚决的攻击。 来自辞典例句
  • There was an unceremonious directness, a searching, decided steadfastness in his gaze now. 现在他的凝视中有一种不礼貌的直率,一种锐利、断然的坚定。 来自辞典例句
178 fidelity vk3xB     
n.忠诚,忠实;精确
参考例句:
  • There is nothing like a dog's fidelity.没有什么能比得上狗的忠诚。
  • His fidelity and industry brought him speedy promotion.他的尽职及勤奋使他很快地得到晋升。
179 withdrawal Cfhwq     
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销
参考例句:
  • The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
  • They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。
180 latch g2wxS     
n.门闩,窗闩;弹簧锁
参考例句:
  • She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
  • The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。
181 alas Rx8z1     
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句:
  • Alas!The window is broken!哎呀!窗子破了!
  • Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而,真理很少带有浪漫色彩。
182 graceful deHza     
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的
参考例句:
  • His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
  • The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。
183 lustrous JAbxg     
adj.有光泽的;光辉的
参考例句:
  • Mary has a head of thick,lustrous,wavy brown hair.玛丽有一头浓密、富有光泽的褐色鬈发。
  • This mask definitely makes the skin fair and lustrous.这款面膜可以异常有用的使肌肤变亮和有光泽。
184 disorder Et1x4     
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调
参考例句:
  • When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后,他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
  • It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。
185 wariness Ce1zkJ     
n. 注意,小心
参考例句:
  • The British public's wariness of opera is an anomaly in Europe. 英国公众对歌剧不大轻易接受的态度在欧洲来说很反常。
  • There certainly is a history of wariness about using the R-word. 历史表明绝对应当谨慎使用“衰退”一词。
186 peek ULZxW     
vi.偷看,窥视;n.偷偷的一看,一瞥
参考例句:
  • Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
  • Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛,别偷看。
187 pensive 2uTys     
a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的
参考例句:
  • He looked suddenly sombre,pensive.他突然看起来很阴郁,一副忧虑的样子。
  • He became so pensive that she didn't like to break into his thought.他陷入沉思之中,她不想打断他的思路。
188 iridescence t4fxJ     
n.彩虹色;放光彩;晕色;晕彩
参考例句:
  • You can see the iridescence on their faces. 你可以看到他们脸上的彩虹色。 来自辞典例句
  • The huge pool of blood in front of her was already assuming the iridescence of coagulation. 她面前那一滩血,已经凝结了起来,显出五光十色。 来自辞典例句
189 halcyon 8efx7     
n.平静的,愉快的
参考例句:
  • He yearned for the halcyon day sof his childhood.他怀念儿时宁静幸福的日子。
  • He saw visions of a halcyon future.他看到了将来的太平日子的幻境。
190 scroll kD3z9     
n.卷轴,纸卷;(石刻上的)漩涡
参考例句:
  • As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时,黄河的景象展现在眼前。
  • He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴,以表彰其所做出的成就。


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