He thought that there might be a bare possibility of finding her body, or the remains4 of it, for he was positive that she had been devoured5 by some beast of prey6. He deployed7 his men into a skirmish line from the point where Esmeralda had been found, and in this extended formation they pushed their way, sweating and panting, through the tangled8 vines and creepers. It was slow work. Noon found them but a few miles inland. They halted for a brief rest then, and after pushing on for a short distance further one of the men discovered a well-marked trail.
It was an old elephant track, and D’Arnot after consulting with Professor Porter and Clayton decided9 to follow it.
The path wound through the jungle in a northeasterly direction, and along it the column moved in single file.
Lieutenant10 D’Arnot was in the lead and moving at a quick pace, for the trail was comparatively open. Immediately behind him came Professor Porter, but as he could not keep pace with the younger man D’Arnot was a hundred yards in advance when suddenly a half dozen black warriors11 arose about him.
D’Arnot gave a warning shout to his column as the blacks closed on him, but before he could draw his revolver he had been pinioned12 and dragged into the jungle.
His cry had alarmed the sailors and a dozen of them sprang forward past Professor Porter, running up the trail to their officer’s aid.
They did not know the cause of his outcry, only that it was a warning of danger ahead. They had rushed past the spot where D’Arnot had been seized when a spear hurled13 from the jungle transfixed one of the men, and then a volley of arrows fell among them.
Raising their rifles they fired into the underbrush in the direction from which the missiles had come.
By this time the balance of the party had come up, and volley after volley was fired toward the concealed15 foe16. It was these shots that Tarzan and Jane Porter had heard.
Lieutenant Charpentier, who had been bringing up the rear of the column, now came running to the scene, and on hearing the details of the ambush17 ordered the men to follow him, and plunged18 into the tangled vegetation.
In an instant they were in a hand-to-hand fight with some fifty black warriors of Mbonga’s village. Arrows and bullets flew thick and fast.
Queer African knives and French gun butts19 mingled20 for a moment in savage21 and bloody22 duels23, but soon the natives fled into the jungle, leaving the Frenchmen to count their losses.
Four of the twenty were dead, a dozen others were wounded, and Lieutenant D’Arnot was missing. Night was falling rapidly, and their predicament was rendered doubly worse when they could not even find the elephant trail which they had been following.
There was but one thing to do, make camp where they were until daylight. Lieutenant Charpentier ordered a clearing made and a circular abatis of underbrush constructed about the camp.
This work was not completed until long after dark, the men building a huge fire in the center of the clearing to give them light to work by.
When all was safe as possible against attack of wild beasts and savage men, Lieutenant Charpentier placed sentries24 about the little camp and the tired and hungry men threw themselves upon the ground to sleep.
The groans25 of the wounded, mingled with the roaring and growling26 of the great beasts which the noise and firelight had attracted, kept sleep, except in its most fitful form, from the tired eyes. It was a sad and hungry party that lay through the long night praying for dawn.
The blacks who had seized D’Arnot had not waited to participate in the fight which followed, but instead had dragged their prisoner a little way through the jungle and then struck the trail further on beyond the scene of the fighting in which their fellows were engaged.
They hurried him along, the sounds of battle growing fainter and fainter as they drew away from the contestants27 until there suddenly broke upon D’Arnot’s vision a good-sized clearing at one end of which stood a thatched and palisaded village.
It was now dusk, but the watchers at the gate saw the approaching trio and distinguished28 one as a prisoner ere they reached the portals.
A cry went up within the palisade. A great throng29 of women and children rushed out to meet the party.
And then began for the French officer the most terrifying experience which man can encounter upon earth — the reception of a white prisoner into a village of African cannibals.
To add to the fiendishness of their cruel savagery30 was the poignant31 memory of still crueler barbarities practiced upon them and theirs by the white officers of that arch hypocrite, Leopold II of Belgium, because of whose atrocities32 they had fled the Congo Free State — a pitiful remnant of what once had been a mighty33 tribe.
They fell upon D’Arnot tooth and nail, beating him with sticks and stones and tearing at him with claw-like hands. Every vestige34 of clothing was torn from him, and the merciless blows fell upon his bare and quivering flesh. But not once did the Frenchman cry out in pain. He breathed a silent prayer that he be quickly delivered from his torture.
But the death he prayed for was not to be so easily had. Soon the warriors beat the women away from their prisoner. He was to be saved for nobler sport than this, and the first wave of their passion having subsided35 they contented36 themselves with crying out taunts37 and insults and spitting upon him.
Presently they reached the center of the village. There D’Arnot was bound securely to the great post from which no live man had ever been released.
A number of the women scattered38 to their several huts to fetch pots and water, while others built a row of fires on which portions of the feast were to be boiled while the balance would be slowly dried in strips for future use, as they expected the other warriors to return with many prisoners. The festivities were delayed awaiting the return of the warriors who had remained to engage in the skirmish with the white men, so that it was quite late when all were in the village, and the dance of death commenced to circle around the doomed40 officer.
Half fainting from pain and exhaustion41, D’Arnot watched from beneath half-closed lids what seemed but the vagary42 of delirium43, or some horrid44 nightmare from which he must soon awake.
The bestial45 faces, daubed with color — the huge mouths and flabby hanging lips — the yellow teeth, sharp filed — the rolling, demon46 eyes — the shining naked bodies — the cruel spears. Surely no such creatures really existed upon earth — he must indeed be dreaming.
The savage, whirling bodies circled nearer. Now a spear sprang forth47 and touched his arm. The sharp pain and the feel of hot, trickling48 blood assured him of the awful reality of his hopeless position.
Another spear and then another touched him. He closed his eyes and held his teeth firm set — he would not cry out.
He was a soldier of France, and he would teach these beasts how an officer and a gentleman died.
Tarzan of the Apes needed no interpreter to translate the story of those distant shots. With Jane Porter’s kisses still warm upon his lips he was swinging with incredible rapidity through the forest trees straight toward the village of Mbonga.
He was not interested in the location of the encounter, for he judged that that would soon be over. Those who were killed he could not aid, those who escaped would not need his assistance.
It was to those who had neither been killed or escaped that he hastened. And he knew that he would find them by the great post in the center of Mbonga village.
Many times had Tarzan seen Mbonga’s black raiding parties return from the northward49 with prisoners, and always were the same scenes enacted50 about that grim stake, beneath the flaring51 light of many fires.
He knew, too, that they seldom lost much time before consummating52 the fiendish purpose of their captures. He doubted that he would arrive in time to do more than avenge53.
On he sped. Night had fallen and he traveled high along the upper terrace where the gorgeous tropic moon lighted the dizzy pathway through the gently undulating branches of the tree tops.
Presently he caught the reflection of a distant blaze. It lay to the right of his path. It must be the light from the camp fire the two men had built before they were attacked — Tarzan knew nothing of the presence of the sailors.
So sure was Tarzan of his jungle knowledge that he did not turn from his course, but passed the glare at a distance of a half mile. It was the camp fire of the Frenchmen.
In a few minutes more Tarzan swung into the trees above Mbonga’s village. Ah, he was not quite too late! Or, was he? He could not tell. The figure at the stake was very still, yet the black warriors were but pricking54 it.
Tarzan knew their customs. The death blow had not been struck. He could tell almost to a minute how far the dance had gone.
In another instant Mbonga’s knife would sever39 one of the victim’s ears — that would mark the beginning of the end, for very shortly after only a writhing55 mass of mutilated flesh would remain.
There would still be life in it, but death then would be the only charity it craved56.
The stake stood forty feet from the nearest tree. Tarzan coiled his rope. Then there rose suddenly above the fiendish cries of the dancing demons57 the awful challenge of the ape-man.
The dancers halted as though turned to stone.
The rope sped with singing whir high above the heads of the blacks. It was quite invisible in the flaring lights of the camp fires.
D’Arnot opened his eyes. A huge black, standing58 directly before him, lunged backward as though felled by an invisible hand.
Struggling and shrieking59, his body, rolling from side to side, moved quickly toward the shadows beneath the trees.
The blacks, their eyes protruding60 in horror, watched spellbound.
Once beneath the trees, the body rose straight into the air, and as it disappeared into the foliage61 above, the terrified negroes, screaming with fright, broke into a mad race for the village gate.
D’Arnot was left alone.
He was a brave man, but he had felt the short hairs bristle62 upon the nape of his neck when that uncanny cry rose upon the air.
As the writhing body of the black soared, as though by unearthly power, into the dense foliage of the forest, D’Arnot felt an icy shiver run along his spine63, as though death had risen from a dark grave and laid a cold and clammy finger on his flesh.
As D’Arnot watched the spot where the body had entered the tree he heard the sounds of movement there.
The branches swayed as though under the weight of a man’s body — there was a crash and the black came sprawling64 to earth again — to lie very quietly where he had fallen.
Immediately after him came a white body, but this one alighted erect65.
D’Arnot saw a clean-limbed young giant emerge from the shadows into the firelight and come quickly toward him.
What could it mean? Who could it be? Some new creature of torture and destruction, doubtless.
D’Arnot waited. His eyes never left the face of the advancing man. Nor did the other’s frank, clear eyes waver beneath D’Arnot’s fixed14 gaze.
D’Arnot was reassured66, but still without much hope, though he felt that that face could not mask a cruel heart.
Without a word Tarzan of the Apes cut the bonds which held the Frenchman. Weak from suffering and loss of blood, he would have fallen but for the strong arm that caught him.
He felt himself lifted from the ground. There was a sensation as of flying, and then he lost consciousness.
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收听单词发音
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1
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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2
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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futility
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| n.无用 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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7
deployed
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| （尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用 | |
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8
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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9
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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12
pinioned
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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14
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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15
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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18
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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19
butts
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| 笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂 | |
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20
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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21
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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22
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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23
duels
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| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
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24
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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25
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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26
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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27
contestants
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| n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 ) | |
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28
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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29
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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30
savagery
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| n.野性 | |
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31
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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32
atrocities
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| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
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33
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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34
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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35
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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36
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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37
taunts
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| 嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 ) | |
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38
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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39
sever
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| v.切开，割开；断绝，中断 | |
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40
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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41
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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42
vagary
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| n.妄想，不可测之事，异想天开 | |
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43
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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44
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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45
bestial
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| adj.残忍的；野蛮的 | |
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46
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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47
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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48
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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49
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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50
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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52
consummating
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| v.使结束( consummate的现在分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房 | |
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53
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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54
pricking
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| 刺，刺痕，刺痛感 | |
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55
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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56
craved
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| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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57
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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58
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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59
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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60
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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61
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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62
bristle
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| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
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63
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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64
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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65
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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66
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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