The King of Apemama: Devil-Work
THE ocean beach of Apemama was our daily resort. The coast is broken by shallow bays. The reef is detached, elevated, and includes a lagoon1 about knee-deep, the unrestful spending-basin of the surf. The beach is now of fine sand, now of broken coral. The trend of the coast being convex, scarce a quarter of a mile of it is to be seen at once; the land being so low, the horizon appears within a stone-cast; and the narrow prospect2 enhances the sense of privacy. Man avoids the place — even his footprints are uncommon3; but a great number of birds hover4 and pipe there fishing, and leave crooked5 tracks upon the sand. Apart from these, the only sound (and I was going to say the only society), is that of the breakers on the reef.
On each projection6 of the coast, the bank of coral clinkers immediately above the beach has been levelled, and a pillar built, perhaps breast-high. These are not sepulchral8; all the dead being buried on the inhabited side of the island, close to men’s houses, and (what is worse) to their wells. I was told they were to protect the isle9 against inroads from the sea — divine or diabolical10 martellos, probably sacred to Taburik, God of Thunder.
The bay immediately opposite Equator Town, which we called Fu Bay, in honour of our cook, was thus fortified11 on either horn. It was well sheltered by the reef, the enclosed water clear and tranquil12, the enclosing beach curved like a horseshoe, and both steep and broad. The path debouched about the midst of the re-entrant angle, the woods stopping some distance inland. In front, between the fringe of the wood and the crown of the beach, there had been designed a regular figure, like the court for some new variety of tennis, with borders of round stones imbedded, and pointed13 at the angles with low posts, likewise of stone. This was the king’s Pray Place. When he prayed, what he prayed for, and to whom he addressed his supplications I could never learn. The ground was tapu.
In the angle, by the mouth of the path, stood a deserted14 maniap’. Near by there had been a house before our coming, which was now transported and figured for the moment in Equator Town. It had been, and it would be again when we departed, the residence of the guardian15 and wizard of the spot — Tamaiti. Here, in this lone16 place, within sound of the sea, he had his dwelling17 and uncanny duties. I cannot call to mind another case of a man living on the ocean side of any open atoll; and Tamaiti must have had strong nerves, the greater confidence in his own spells, or, what I believe to be the truth, an enviable scepticism. Whether Tamaiti had any guardianship18 of the Pray Place I never heard. But his own particular chapel19 stood farther back in the fringe of the wood. It was a tree of respectable growth. Around it there was drawn20 a circle of stones like those that enclosed the Pray Place; in front, facing towards the sea, a stone of a much greater size, and somewhat hollowed, like a piscina, stood close against the trunk; in front of that again a conical pile of gravel21. In the hollow of what I have called the piscina (though it proved to be a magic seat) lay an offering of green cocoa-nuts; and when you looked up you found the boughs22 of the tree to be laden23 with strange fruit: palm-branches elaborately plaited, and beautiful models of canoes, finished and rigged to the least detail. The whole had the appearance of a mid-summer and sylvan24 Christmas-tree AL FRESCO25. Yet we were already well enough acquainted in the Gilberts to recognise it, at the first sight, for a piece of wizardry, or, as they say in the group, of Devil-work.
The plaited palms were what we recognised. We had seen them before on Apaiang, the most christianised of all these islands; where excellent Mr. Bingham lived and laboured and has left golden memories; whence all the education in the northern Gilberts traces its descent; and where we were boarded by little native Sunday — school misses in clean frocks, with demure28 faces, and singing hymns29 as to the manner born.
Our experience of Devil-work at Apaiang had been as follows:— It chanced we were benighted30 at the house of Captain Tierney. My wife and I lodged31 with a Chinaman some half a mile away; and thither32 Captain Reid and a native boy escorted us by torch-light. On the way the torch went out, and we took shelter in a small and lonely Christian27 chapel to rekindle33 it. Stuck in the rafters of the chapel was a branch of knotted palm. ‘What is that?’ I asked. ‘O, that’s Devil-work,’ said the Captain. ‘And what is Devil-work?’ I inquired. ‘If you like, I’ll show you some when we get to Johnnie’s,’ he replied. ‘Johnnie’s’ was a quaint26 little house upon the crest34 of the beach, raised some three feet on posts, approached by stairs; part walled, part trellised. Trophies35 of advertisement — photographs were hung up within for decoration. There was a table and a recess-bed, in which Mrs. Stevenson slept; while I camped on the matted floor with Johnnie, Mrs. Johnnie, her sister, and the devil’s own regiment36 of cockroaches37. Hither was summoned an old witch, who looked the part to horror. The lamp was set on the floor; the crone squatted38 on the threshold, a green palm-branch in her hand, the light striking full on her aged39 features and picking out behind her, from the black night, timorous40 faces of spectators. Our sorceress began with a chanted incantation; it was in the old tongue, for which I had no interpreter; but ever and again there ran among the crowd outside that laugh which every traveller in the islands learns so soon to recognise, — the laugh of terror. Doubtless these half-Christian folk were shocked, these half — heathen folk alarmed. Chench or Taburik thus invoked41, we put our questions; the witch knotted the leaves, here a leaf and there a leaf, plainly on some arithmetical system; studied the result with great apparent contention42 of mind; and gave the answers. Sidney Colvin was in robust43 health and gone a journey; and we should have a fair wind upon the morrow: that was the result of our consultation44, for which we paid a dollar. The next day dawned cloudless and breathless; but I think Captain Reid placed a secret reliance on the sibyl, for the schooner45 was got ready for sea. By eight the lagoon was flawed with long cat’s-paws, and the palms tossed and rustled47; before ten we were clear of the passage and skimming under all plain sail, with bubbling scuppers. So we had the breeze, which was well worth a dollar in itself; but the bulletin about my friend in England proved, some six months later, when I got my mail, to have been groundless. Perhaps London lies beyond the horizon of the island gods.
Tembinok’, in his first dealings, showed himself sternly averse48 from superstition49: and had not the EQUATOR delayed, we might have left the island and still supposed him an agnostic. It chanced one day, however, that he came to our maniap’, and found Mrs. Stevenson in the midst of a game of patience. She explained the game as well as she was able, and wound up jocularly by telling him this was her devil-work, and if she won, the EQUATOR would arrive next day. Tembinok’ must have drawn a long breath; we were not so high-and — dry after all; he need no longer dissemble, and he plunged50 at once into confessions51. He made devil-work every day, he told us, to know if ships were coming in; and thereafter brought us regular reports of the results. It was surprising how regularly he was wrong; but he always had an explanation ready. There had been some schooner in the offing out of view; but either she was not bound for Apemama, or had changed her course, or lay becalmed. I used to regard the king with veneration52 as he thus publicly deceived himself. I saw behind him all the fathers of the Church, all the philosophers and men of science of the past; before him, all those that are to come; himself in the midst; the whole visionary series bowed over the same task of welding incongruities53. To the end Tembinok’ spoke54 reluctantly of the island gods and their worship, and I learned but little. Taburik is the god of thunder, and deals in wind and weather. A while since there were wizards who could call him down in the form of lightning. ‘My patha he tell me he see: you think he lie?’ Tienti — pronounced something like ‘Chench,’ and identified by his majesty55 with the devil — sends and removes bodily sickness. He is whistled for in the Paumotuan manner, and is said to appear; but the king has never seen him. The doctors treat disease by the aid of Chench: eclectic Tembinok’ at the same time administering ‘pain-killer56’ from his medicine — chest, so as to give the sufferer both chances. ‘I think mo’ betta,’ observed his majesty, with more than his usual self — approval. Apparently57 the gods are not jealous, and placidly58 enjoy both shrine59 and priest in common. On Tamaiti’s medicine-tree, for instance, the model canoes are hung up EX VOTO for a prosperous voyage, and must therefore be dedicated60 to Taburik, god of the weather; but the stone in front is the place of sick folk come to pacify61 Chench.
It chanced, by great good luck, that even as we spoke of these affairs, I found myself threatened with a cold. I do not suppose I was ever glad of a cold before, or shall ever be again; but the opportunity to see the sorcerers at work was priceless, and I called in the faculty62 of Apemama. They came in a body, all in their Sunday’s best and hung with wreaths and shells, the insignia of the devil-worker. Tamaiti I knew already: Terutak’ I saw for the first time — a tall, lank63, raw-boned, serious North-Sea fisherman turned brown; and there was a third in their company whose name I never heard, and who played to Tamaiti the part of FAMULUS. Tamaiti took me in hand first, and led me, conversing64 agreeably, to the shores of Fu Bay. The FAMULUS climbed a tree for some green cocoa-nuts. Tamaiti himself disappeared a while in the bush and returned with coco tinder, dry leaves, and a spray of waxberry. I was placed on the stone, with my back to the tree and my face to windward; between me and the gravel-heap one of the green nuts was set; and then Tamaiti (having previously65 bared his feet, for he had come in canvas shoes, which tortured him) joined me within the magic circle, hollowed out the top of the gravel — heap, built his fire in the bottom, and applied66 a match: it was one of Bryant and May’s. The flame was slow to catch, and the irreverent sorcerer filled in the time with talk of foreign places — of London, and ‘companies,’ and how much money they had; of San Francisco, and the nefarious67 fogs, ‘all the same smoke,’ which had been so nearly the occasion of his death. I tried vainly to lead him to the matter in hand. ‘Everybody make medicine,’ he said lightly. And when I asked him if he were himself a good practitioner68 — ‘No savvy,’ he replied, more lightly still. At length the leaves burst in a flame, which he continued to feed; a thick, light smoke blew in my face, and the flames streamed against and scorched69 my clothes. He in the meanwhile addressed, or affected70 to address, the evil spirit, his lips moving fast, but without sound; at the same time he waved in the air and twice struck me on the breast with his green spray. So soon as the leaves were consumed the ashes were buried, the green spray was imbedded in the gravel, and the ceremony was at an end.
A reader of the ARABIAN NIGHTS felt quite at home. Here was the suffumigation; here was the muttering wizard; here was the desert place to which Aladdin was decoyed by the false uncle. But they manage these things better in fiction. The effect was marred71 by the levity72 of the magician, entertaining his patient with small talk like an affable dentist, and by the incongruous presence of Mr. Osbourne with a camera. As for my cold, it was neither better nor worse.
I was now handed over to Terutak’, the leading practitioner or medical baronet of Apemama. His place is on the lagoon side of the island, hard by the palace. A rail of light wood, some two feet high, encloses an oblong piece of gravel like the king’s Pray Place; in the midst is a green tree; below, a stone table bears a pair of boxes covered with a fine mat; and in front of these an offering of food, a cocoa-nut, a piece of taro73 or a fish, is placed daily. On two sides the enclosure is lined with maniap’s; and one of our party, who had been there to sketch74, had remarked a daily concourse of people and an extraordinary number of sick children; for this is in fact the infirmary of Apemama. The doctor and myself entered the sacred place alone; the boxes and the mat were displaced; and I was enthroned in their stead upon the stone, facing once more to the east. For a while the sorcerer remained unseen behind me, making passes in the air with a branch of palm. Then he struck lightly on the brim of my straw hat; and this blow he continued to repeat at intervals75, sometimes brushing instead my arm and shoulder. I have had people try to mesmerise me a dozen times, and never with the least result. But at the first tap — on a quarter no more vital than my hat-brim, and from nothing more virtuous76 than a switch of palm wielded77 by a man I could not even see — sleep rushed upon me like an armed man. My sinews fainted, my eyes closed, my brain hummed, with drowsiness78. I resisted, at first instinctively79, then with a certain flurry of despair, in the end successfully; if that were indeed success which enabled me to scramble80 to my feet, to stumble home somnambulous, to cast myself at once upon my bed, and sink at once into a dreamless stupor81. When I awoke my cold was gone. So I leave a matter that I do not understand.
Meanwhile my appetite for curiosities (not usually very keen) had been strangely whetted82 by the sacred boxes. They were of pandanus wood, oblong in shape, with an effect of pillaring along the sides like straw work, lightly fringed with hair or fibre and standing83 on four legs. The outside was neat as a toy; the inside a mystery I was resolved to penetrate84. But there was a lion in the path. I might not approach Terutak’, since I had promised to buy nothing in the island; I dared not have recourse to the king, for I had already received from him more gifts than I knew how to repay. In this dilemma85 (the schooner being at last returned) we hit on a device. Captain Reid came forward in my stead, professed86 an unbridled passion for the boxes, and asked and obtained leave to bargain for them with the wizard. That same afternoon the captain and I made haste to the infirmary, entered the enclosure, raised the mat, and had begun to examine the boxes at our leisure, when Terutak’s wife bounced out of one of the nigh houses, fell upon us, swept up the treasures, and was gone. There was never a more absolute surprise. She came, she took, she vanished, we had not a guess whither; and we remained, with foolish looks and laughter on the empty field. Such was the fit prologue87 of our memorable88 bargaining.
Presently Terutak’ came, bringing Tamaiti along with him, both smiling; and we four squatted without the rail. In the three maniap’s of the infirmary a certain audience was gathered: the family of a sick child under treatment, the king’s sister playing cards, a pretty girl, who swore I was the image of her father; in all perhaps a score. Terutak’s wife had returned (even as she had vanished) unseen, and now sat, breathless and watchful89, by her husband’s side. Perhaps some rumour90 of our quest had gone abroad, or perhaps we had given the alert by our unseemly freedom: certain, at least, that in the faces of all present, expectation and alarm were mingled91.
Captain Reid announced, without preface or disguise, that I was come to purchase; Terutak’, with sudden gravity, refused to sell. He was pressed; he persisted. It was explained we only wanted one: no matter, two were necessary for the healing of the sick. He was rallied, he was reasoned with: in vain. He sat there, serious and still, and refused. All this was only a preliminary skirmish; hitherto no sum of money had been mentioned; but now the captain brought his great guns to bear. He named a pound, then two, then three. Out of the maniap’s one person after another came to join the group, some with mere92 excitement, others with consternation93 in their faces. The pretty girl crept to my side; it was then that — surely with the most artless flattery — she informed me of my likeness94 to her father. Tamaiti the infidel sat with hanging head and every mark of dejection. Terutak’ streamed with sweat, his eye was glazed95, his face wore a painful rictus, his chest heaved like that of one spent with running. The man must have been by nature covetous96; and I doubt if ever I saw moral agony more tragically97 displayed. His wife by his side passionately98 encouraged his resistance.
And now came the charge of the old guard. The captain, making a skip, named the surprising figure of five pounds. At the word the maniap’s were emptied. The king’s sister flung down her cards and came to the front to listen, a cloud on her brow. The pretty girl beat her breast and cried with wearisome iteration that if the box were hers I should have it. Terutak’s wife was beside herself with pious99 fear, her face discomposed, her voice (which scarce ceased from warning and encouragement) shrill100 as a whistle. Even Terutak’ lost that image-like immobility which he had hitherto maintained. He rocked on his mat, threw up his closed knees alternately, and struck himself on the breast after the manner of dancers. But he came gold out of the furnace; and with what voice was left him continued to reject the bribe101.
And now came a timely interjection. ‘Money will not heal the sick,’ observed the king’s sister sententiously; and as soon as I heard the remark translated my eyes were unsealed, and I began to blush for my employment. Here was a sick child, and I sought, in the view of its parents, to remove the medicine-box. Here was the priest of a religion, and I (a heathen millionaire) was corrupting102 him to sacrilege. Here was a greedy man, torn in twain betwixt greed and conscience; and I sat by and relished103, and lustfully104 renewed his torments105. AVE, CAESAR! Smothered106 in a corner, dormant107 but not dead, we have all the one touch of nature: an infant passion for the sand and blood of the arena108. So I brought to an end my first and last experience of the joys of the millionaire, and departed amid silent awe46. Nowhere else can I expect to stir the depths of human nature by an offer of five pounds; nowhere else, even at the expense of millions, could I hope to see the evil of riches stand so legibly exposed. Of all the bystanders, none but the king’s sister retained any memory of the gravity and danger of the thing in hand. Their eyes glowed, the girl beat her breast, in senseless animal excitement. Nothing was offered them; they stood neither to gain nor to lose; at the mere name and wind of these great sums Satan possessed109 them.
From this singular interview I went straight to the palace; found the king; confessed what I had been doing; begged him, in my name, to compliment Terutak’ on his virtue110, and to have a similar box made for me against the return of the schooner. Tembinok’, Rubam, and one of the Daily Papers — him we used to call ‘the Facetiae Column’ — laboured for a while of some idea, which was at last intelligibly111 delivered. They feared I thought the box would cure me; whereas, without the wizard, it was useless; and when I was threatened with another cold I should do better to rely on pain — killer. I explained I merely wished to keep it in my ‘outch’ as a thing made in Apemama and these honest men were much relieved.
Late the same evening, my wife, crossing the isle to windward, was aware of singing in the bush. Nothing is more common in that hour and place than the jubilant carol of the toddy-cutter, swinging high overhead, beholding112 below him the narrow ribbon of the isle, the surrounding field of ocean, and the fires of the sunset. But this was of a graver character, and seemed to proceed from the ground-level. Advancing a little in the thicket113, Mrs. Stevenson saw a clear space, a fine mat spread in the midst, and on the mat a wreath of white flowers and one of the devil-work boxes. A woman — whom we guess to have been Mrs. Terutak’ — sat in front, now drooping114 over the box like a mother over a cradle, now lifting her face and directing her song to heaven. A passing toddy-cutter told my wife that she was praying. Probably she did not so much pray as deprecate; and perhaps even the ceremony was one of disenchantment. For the box was already doomed115; it was to pass from its green medicine-tree, reverend precinct, and devout116 attendants; to be handled by the profane117; to cross three seas; to come to land under the foolscap of St. Paul’s; to be domesticated118 within the hail of Lillie Bridge; there to be dusted by the British housemaid, and to take perhaps the roar of London for the voice of the outer sea along the reef. Before even we had finished dinner Chench had begun his journey, and one of the newspapers had already placed the box upon my table as the gift of Tembinok’.
I made haste to the palace, thanked the king, but offered to restore the box, for I could not bear that the sick of the island should be made to suffer. I was amazed by his reply. Terutak’, it appeared, had still three or four in reserve against an accident; and his reluctance119, and the dread120 painted at first on every face, was not in the least occasioned by the prospect of medical destitution121, but by the immediate7 divinity of Chench. How much more did I respect the king’s command, which had been able to extort122 in a moment and for nothing a sacrilegious favour that I had in vain solicited123 with millions! But now I had a difficult task in front of me; it was not in my view that Terutak’ should suffer by his virtue; and I must persuade the king to share my opinion, to let me enrich one of his subjects, and (what was yet more delicate) to pay for my present. Nothing shows the king in a more becoming light than the fact that I succeeded. He demurred124 at the principle; he exclaimed, when he heard it, at the sum. ‘Plenty money!’ cried he, with contemptuous displeasure. But his resistance was never serious; and when he had blown off his ill — humour — ‘A’ right,’ said he. ‘You give him. Mo’ betta.’
Armed with this permission, I made straight for the infirmary. The night was now come, cool, dark, and starry125. On a mat hard by a clear fire of wood and coco shell, Terutak’ lay beside his wife. Both were smiling; the agony was over, the king’s command had reconciled (I must suppose) their agitating126 scruples127; and I was bidden to sit by them and share the circulating pipe. I was a little moved myself when I placed five gold sovereigns in the wizard’s hand; but there was no sign of emotion in Terutak’ as he returned them, pointed to the palace, and named Tembinok’. It was a changed scene when I had managed to explain. Terutak’, long, dour128 Scots fisherman as he was, expressed his satisfaction within bounds; but the wife beamed; and there was an old gentleman present — her father, I suppose — who seemed nigh translated. His eyes stood out of his head; ‘KAUPOI, KAUPOI— rich, rich!’ ran on his lips like a refrain; and he could not meet my eye but what he gurgled into foolish laughter.
I might now go home, leaving that fire-lit family party gloating over their new millions, and consider my strange day. I had tried and rewarded the virtue of Terutak’. I had played the millionaire, had behaved abominably129, and then in some degree repaired my thoughtlessness. And now I had my box, and could open it and look within. It contained a miniature sleeping-mat and a white shell. Tamaiti, interrogated130 next day as to the shell, explained it was not exactly Chench, but a cell, or body, which he would at times inhabit. Asked why there was a sleeping-mat, he retorted indignantly, ‘Why have you mats?’ And this was the sceptical Tamaiti! But island scepticism is never deeper than the lips.
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lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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sepulchral
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| adj.坟墓的，阴深的 | |
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isle
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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guardianship
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| n. 监护, 保护, 守护 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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sylvan
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| adj.森林的 | |
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fresco
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| n.壁画；vt.作壁画于 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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benighted
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| adj.蒙昧的 | |
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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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rekindle
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| v.使再振作；再点火 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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cockroaches
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| n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 ) | |
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38
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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39
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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40
timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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41
invoked
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| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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42
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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43
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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44
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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45
schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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46
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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47
rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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49
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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50
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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51
confessions
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| n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔 | |
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52
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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53
incongruities
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| n.不协调( incongruity的名词复数 )；不一致；不适合；不协调的东西 | |
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54
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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55
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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56
killer
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| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
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57
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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58
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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59
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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60
dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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61
pacify
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| vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰 | |
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62
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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63
lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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64
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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65
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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66
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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67
nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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68
practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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69
scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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70
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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71
marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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72
levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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73
taro
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| n.芋，芋头 | |
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74
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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75
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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76
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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77
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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78
drowsiness
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| n.睡意；嗜睡 | |
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79
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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80
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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81
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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82
whetted
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| v.（在石头上）磨（刀、斧等）( whet的过去式和过去分词 )；引起，刺激（食欲、欲望、兴趣等） | |
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83
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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84
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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85
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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86
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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87
prologue
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| n.开场白，序言；开端，序幕 | |
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88
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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89
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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90
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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91
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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92
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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93
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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94
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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95
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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96
covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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97
tragically
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| adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地 | |
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98
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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99
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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100
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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101
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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102
corrupting
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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103
relished
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| v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望 | |
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104
lustfully
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105
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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106
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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107
dormant
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| adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的 | |
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108
arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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109
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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110
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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111
intelligibly
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| adv.可理解地，明了地，清晰地 | |
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112
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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113
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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114
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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115
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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116
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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117
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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118
domesticated
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| adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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120
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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121
destitution
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| n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷 | |
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122
extort
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| v.勒索，敲诈，强要 | |
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123
solicited
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| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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124
demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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126
agitating
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| 搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论 | |
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127
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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128
dour
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| adj.冷酷的，严厉的；（岩石）嶙峋的；顽强不屈 | |
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129
abominably
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| adv. 可恶地，可恨地，恶劣地 | |
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130
interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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