The auction1 block had been thrown up where the broad brown Skahazadhan flowed into Slaver’s Bay. Tyrion Lannister could smell the salt in the air, mingled5 with the stink6 from the latrine ditches behind the slave pens. He did not mind the heat so much as he did the damp. The very air seemed to weigh him down, like a warm wet blanket across his head and shoulders.
“Dog and pig included in lot,” the auctioneer announced. “The dwarfs ride them. Delight the guests at your next feast or use them for a folly7.”
The bidders8 sat on wooden benches sipping10 fruit drinks. A few were being fanned by slaves. Many wore tokars, that peculiar11 garment beloved by the old blood of Slaver’s Bay, as elegant as it was impractical12. Others dressed more plainly—men in tunics13 and hooded15 cloaks, women in colored silks. Whores or priestesses, most like; this far east it was hard to tell the two apart.
Back behind the benches, trading japes and making mock of the proceedings16, stood a clot17 of westerners. Sellswords, Tyrion knew. He spied longswords, dirks and daggers18, a brace19 of throwing axes, mail beneath their cloaks. Their hair and beards and faces marked most for men of the Free Cities, but here and there were a few who might have been Westerosi. Are they buying? Or did they just turn up for the show?
“Who will open for this pair?”
“Three hundred,” bid a matron on an antique palanquin.
“Four,” called a monstrously20 fat Yunkishman from the litter where he sprawled21 like a leviathan. Covered all in yellow silk fringed with gold, he looked as large as four Illyrios. Tyrion pitied the slaves who had to carry him. At least we will be spared that duty. What joy to be a dwarf2.
“And one,” said a crone in a violet tokar. The auctioneer gave her a sour look but did not disallow22 the bid.
The slave sailors off the Selaesori Qhoran, sold singly, had gone for prices ranging from five hundred to nine hundred pieces of silver. Seasoned seamen23 were a valuable commodity. None had put up any sort of fight when the slavers boarded their crippled cog. For them this was just a change of owner. The ship’s mates had been free men, but the widow of the waterfront had written them a binder26, promising27 to stand their ransom28 in such a case as this. The three surviving fiery29 fingers had not been sold yet, but they were chattels31 of the Lord of Light and could count on being bought back by some red temple. The flames tattooed32 upon their faces were their binders33.
Tyrion and Penny had no such reassurance34.
“Four-fifty,” came the bid.
“Four-eighty.”
“Five hundred.”
Some bids were called out in High Valyrian, some in the mongrel tongue of Ghis. A few buyers signaled with a finger, the twist of a wrist, or the wave of a painted fan.
“I’m glad they are keeping us together,” Penny whispered.
The slave trader shot them a look. “No talk.”
Tyrion gave Penny’s shoulder a squeeze. Strands35 of hair, pale blond and black, clung to his brow, the rags of his tunic14 to his back. Some of that was sweat, some dried blood. He had not been so foolish as to fight the slavers, as Jorah Mormont had, but that did not mean he had escaped punishment. In his case it was his mouth that earned him lashes36.
“Eight hundred.”
“And fifty.”
“And one.”
We’re worth as much as a sailor, Tyrion mused38. Though perhaps it was Pretty Pig the buyers wanted. A well-trained pig is hard to find. They certainly were not bidding by the pound.
At nine hundred pieces of silver, the bidding began to slow. At nine hundred fifty-one (from the crone), it stopped. The auctioneer had the scent39, though, and nothing would do but that the dwarfs give the crowd a taste of their show. Crunch40 and Pretty Pig were led up onto the platform. Without saddles or bridles41, mounting them proved tricky42. The moment the sow began to move Tyrion slid off her rump and landed on his own, provoking gales43 of laughter from the bidders.
“One thousand,” bid the grotesque44 fat man.
“And one.” The crone again.
Penny’s mouth was frozen in a rictus of a smile. Well trained for your amusement. Her father had a deal to answer for, in whatever small hell was reserved for dwarfs.
“Twelve hundred.” The leviathan in yellow. A slave beside him handed him a drink. Lemon, no doubt. The way those yellow eyes were fixed45 upon the block made Tyrion uncomfortable.
“Thirteen hundred.”
“And one.” The crone.
My father always said a Lannister was worth ten times as much as any common man.
At sixteen hundred the pace began to flag again, so the slave trader invited some of the buyers to come up for a closer look at the dwarfs. “The female’s young,” he promised. “You could breed the two of them, get good coin for the whelps.”
“Half his nose is gone,” complained the crone once she’d had a good close look. Her wrinkled face puckered46 with displeasure. Her flesh was maggot white; wrapped in the violet tokar, she looked like a prune47 gone to mold. “His eyes don’t match neither. An ill-favored thing.”
“My lady hasn’t seen my best part yet.” Tyrion grabbed his crotch, in case she missed his meaning.
The hag hissed48 in outrage49, and Tyrion got a lick of the whip across his back, a stinging cut that drove him to his knees. The taste of blood filled his mouth. He grinned and spat50.
“Two thousand,” called a new voice, back of the benches.
And what would a sellsword want with a dwarf? Tyrion pushed himself back to his feet to get a better look. The new bidder9 was an older man, white-haired yet tall and fit, with leathery brown skin and a close-cropped salt-and-pepper beard. Half-hidden under a faded purple cloak were a longsword and a brace of daggers.
“Twenty-five hundred.” A female voice this time; a girl, short, with a thick waist and heavy bosom51, clad in ornate armor. Her sculpted52 black steel breastplate was inlaid in gold and showed a harpy rising with chains dangling53 from her claws. A pair of slave soldiers lifted her to shoulder height on a shield.
“Three thousand.” The brown-skinned man pushed through the crowd, his fellow sellswords shoving buyers aside to clear a path. Yes. Come closer. Tyrion knew how to deal with sellswords. He did not think for a moment that this man wanted him to frolic at feasts. He knows me. He means to take me back to Westeros and sell me to my sister. The dwarf rubbed his mouth to hide his smile. Cersei and the Seven Kingdoms were half a world away. Much and more could happen before he got there. I turned Bronn. Give me half a chance, might be I could turn this one too.
The crone and the girl on the shield gave up the chase at three thousand, but not the fat man in yellow. He weighed the sellswords with his yellow eyes, flicked54 his tongue across his yellow teeth, and said, “Five thousand silvers for the lot.”
The sellsword frowned, shrugged55, turned away.
Seven hells. Tyrion was quite certain that he did not want to become the property of the immense Lord Yellowbelly. Just the sight of him sagging56 across his litter, a mountain of sallow flesh with piggy yellow eyes and breasts big as Pretty Pig pushing at the silk of his tokar was enough to make the dwarf’s skin crawl. And the smell wafting57 off him was palpable even on the block.
“If there are no further bids—”
“Seven thousand,” shouted Tyrion.
Laughter rippled25 across the benches. “The dwarf wants to buy himself,” the girl on the shield observed.
Tyrion gave her a lascivious58 grin. “A clever slave deserves a clever master, and you lot all look like fools.”
That provoked more laughter from the bidders, and a scowl59 from the auctioneer, who was fingering his whip indecisively as he tried to puzzle out whether this would work to his benefit.
“Five thousand is an insult!” Tyrion called out. “I joust60, I sing, I say amusing things. I’ll fuck your wife and make her scream. Or your enemy’s wife if you prefer, what better way to shame him? I’m murder with a crossbow, and men three times my size quail62 and tremble when we meet across a cyvasse table. I have even been known to cook from time to time. I bid ten thousand silvers for myself! I’m good for it, I am, I am. My father told me I must always pay my debts.”
The sellsword in the purple cloak turned back. His eyes met Tyrion’s across the rows of other bidders, and he smiled. A warm smile, that, the dwarf reflected. Friendly. But my, those eyes are cold. Might be I don’t want him to buy us after all.
The yellow enormity was squirming in his litter, a look of annoyance63 on his huge pie face. He muttered something sour in Ghiscari that Tyrion did not understand, but the tone of it was plain enough. “Was that another bid?” The dwarf cocked his head. “I offer all the gold of Casterly Rock.”
He heard the whip before he felt it, a whistle in the air, thin and sharp. Tyrion grunted64 under the blow, but this time he managed to stay on his feet. His thoughts flashed back to the beginnings of his journey, when his most pressing problem had been deciding which wine to drink with his midmorning snails65. See what comes of chasing dragons. A laugh burst from his lips, spattering the first row of buyers with blood and spit.
“You are sold,” the auctioneer announced. Then he hit him again, just because he could. This time Tyrion went down.
One of the guards yanked him back to his feet. Another prodded66 Penny down off the platform with the butt67 of his spear. The next piece of chattel30 was already being led up to take their place. A girl, fifteen or sixteen, not off the Selaesori Qhoran this time. Tyrion did not know her. The same age as Daenerys Targaryen, or near enough. The slaver soon had her naked. At least we were spared that humiliation68.
Tyrion gazed across the Yunkish camp to the walls of Meereen. Those gates looked so close … and if the talk in the slave pens could be believed, Meereen remained a free city for the nonce. Within those crumbling69 walls, slavery and the slave trade were still forbidden. All he had to do was reach those gates and pass beyond, and he would be a free man again.
But that was hardly possible unless he abandoned Penny. She’d want to take the dog and the pig along.
“It won’t be so terrible, will it?” Penny whispered. “He paid so much for us. He’ll be kind, won’t he?”
So long as we amuse him. “We’re too valuable to mistreat,” he reassured70 her, with blood still trickling71 down his back from those last two lashes. When our show grows stale, however … and it does, it does grow stale …
Their master’s overseer was waiting to take charge of them, with a mule72 cart and two soldiers. He had a long narrow face and a chin beard bound about with golden wire, and his stiff red-black hair swept out from his temples to form a pair of taloned73 hands. “What darling little creatures you are,” he said. “You remind me of my own children … or would, if my little ones were not dead. I shall take good care of you. Tell me your names.”
“Penny.” Her voice was a whisper, small and scared.
Tyrion, of House Lannister, rightful lord of Casterly Rock, you sniveling worm. “Yollo.”
“Bold Yollo. Bright Penny. You are the property of the noble and valorous Yezzan zo Qaggaz, scholar and warrior74, revered75 amongst the Wise Masters of Yunkai. Count yourselves fortunate, for Yezzan is a kindly76 and benevolent77 master. Think of him as you would your father.”
Gladly, thought Tyrion, but this time he held his tongue. They would have to perform for their new master soon enough, he did not doubt, and he could not take another lash37.
“Your father loves his special treasures best of all, and he will cherish you,” the overseer was saying. “And me, think of me as you would the nurse who cared for you when you were small. Nurse is what all my children call me.”
“Lot ninety-nine,” the auctioneer called. “A warrior.”
The girl had sold quickly and was being bundled off to her new owner, clutching her clothing to small, pink-tipped breasts. Two slavers dragged Jorah Mormont onto the block to take her place. The knight79 was naked but for a breechclout, his back raw from the whip, his face so swollen80 as to be almost unrecognizable. Chains bound his wrists and ankles. A little taste of the meal he cooked for me, Tyrion thought, yet he found that he could take no pleasure from the big knight’s miseries81.
Even in chains, Mormont looked dangerous, a hulking brute82 with big, thick arms and sloped shoulders. All that coarse dark hair on his chest made him look more beast than man. Both his eyes were blackened, two dark pits in that grotesquely83 swollen face. Upon one cheek he bore a brand: a demon’s mask.
When the slavers had swarmed84 aboard the Selaesori Qhoran, Ser Jorah had met them with longsword in hand, slaying85 three before they overwhelmed him. Their shipmates would gladly have killed him, but the captain forbade it; a fighter was always worth good silver. So Mormont had been chained to an oar24, beaten within an inch of his life, starved, and branded.
“Big and strong, this one,” the auctioneer declared. “Plenty of piss in him. He’ll give a good show in the fighting pits. Who will start me out at three hundred?”
No one would.
Mormont paid no mind to the mongrel crowd; his eyes were fixed beyond the siege lines, on the distant city with its ancient walls of many-colored brick. Tyrion could read that look as easy as a book: so near and yet so distant. The poor wretch86 had returned too late. Daenerys Targaryen was wed4, the guards on the pens had told them, laughing. She had taken a Meereenese slaver as her king, as wealthy as he was noble, and when the peace was signed and sealed the fighting pits of Meereen would open once again. Other slaves insisted that the guards were lying, that Daenerys Targaryen would never make peace with slavers. Mhysa, they called her. Someone told him that meant Mother. Soon the silver queen would come forth87 from her city, smash the Yunkai’i, and break their chains, they whispered to one another.
And then she’ll bake us all a lemon pie and kiss our widdle wounds and make them better, the dwarf thought. He had no faith in royal rescues. If need be, he would see to their deliverance himself. The mushrooms jammed into the toe of his boot should be sufficient for both him and Penny. Crunch and Pretty Pig would need to fend88 for themselves.
Nurse was still lecturing his master’s new prizes. “Do all you are told and nothing more, and you shall live like little lords, pampered89 and adored,” he promised. “Disobey … but you would never do that, would you? Not my sweetlings.” He reached down and pinched Penny on her cheek.
“Two hundred, then,” the auctioneer said. “A big brute like this, he’s worth three times as much. What a bodyguard90 he will make! No enemy will dare molest91 you!”
“Come, my little friends,” Nurse said, “I will show you to your new home. In Yunkai you will dwell in the golden pyramid of Qaggaz and dine off silver plates, but here we live simply, in the humble92 tents of soldiers.”
“Who will give me one hundred?” cried the auctioneer.
That drew a bid at last, though it was only fifty silvers. The bidder was a thin man in a leather apron93.
“And one,” said the crone in the violet tokar.
One of the soldiers lifted Penny onto the back of the mule cart. “Who is the old woman?” the dwarf asked him.
“Zahrina,” the man said. “Cheap fighters, hers. Meat for heroes. Your friend dead soon.”
He was no friend to me. Yet Tyrion Lannister found himself turning to Nurse and saying, “You cannot let her have him.”
Nurse squinted94 at him. “What is this noise you make?”
Tyrion pointed95. “That one is part of our show. The bear and the maiden96 fair. Jorah is the bear, Penny is the maiden, I am the brave knight who rescues her. I dance about and hit him in the balls. Very funny.”
The overseer squinted at the auction block. “Him?” The bidding for Jorah Mormont had reached two hundred silvers.
“And one,” said the crone in the violet tokar.
“Your bear. I see.” Nurse went scuttling97 off through the crowd, bent98 over the huge yellow Yunkishman in his litter, whispered in his ear. His master nodded, chins wobbling, then raised his fan. “Three hundred,” he called out in a wheezy voice.
The crone sniffed99 and turned away.
“Why did you do that?” Penny asked, in the Common Tongue.
A fair question, thought Tyrion. Why did I? “Your show was growing dull. Every mummer needs a dancing bear.”
She gave him a reproachful look, then retreated to the back of the cart and sat with her arms around Crunch, as if the dog was her last true friend in the world. Perhaps he is.
Nurse returned with Jorah Mormont. Two of their master’s slave soldiers flung him into the back of the mule cart between the dwarfs. The knight did not struggle. All the fight went out of him when he heard that his queen had wed, Tyrion realized. One whispered word had done what fists and whips and clubs could not; it had broken him. I should have let the crone have him. He’s going to be as useful as nipples on a breastplate.
Nurse climbed onto the front of the mule cart and took up the reins100, and they set off through the siege camp to the compound of their new master, the noble Yezzan zo Qaggaz. Four slave soldiers marched beside them, two on either side of the cart.
Penny did not weep, but her eyes were red and miserable101, and she never lifted them from Crunch. Does she think all this might fade away if she does not look at it? Ser Jorah Mormont looked at no one and nothing. He sat huddled102, brooding in his chains.
Tyrion looked at everything and everyone.
The Yunkish encampment was not one camp but a hundred camps raised up cheek by jowl in a crescent around the walls of Meereen, a city of silk and canvas with its own avenues and alleys103, taverns104 and trollops, good districts and bad. Between the siege lines and the bay, tents had sprouted105 up like yellow mushrooms. Some were small and mean, no more than a flap of old stained canvas to keep off the rain and sun, but beside them stood barracks tents large enough to sleep a hundred men and silken pavilions as big as palaces with harpies gleaming atop their roof poles. Some camps were orderly, with the tents arrayed around a fire pit in concentric circles, weapons and armor stacked around the inner ring, horse lines outside. Elsewhere, pure chaos106 seemed to reign107.
The dry, scorched108 plains around Meereen were flat and bare and treeless for long leagues, but the Yunkish ships had brought lumber109 and hides up from the south, enough to raise six huge trebuchets. They were arrayed on three sides of the city, all but the river side, surrounded by piles of broken stone and casks of pitch and resin110 just waiting for a torch. One of the soldiers walking along beside the cart saw where Tyrion was looking and proudly told him that each of the trebuchets had been given a name: Dragonbreaker, Harridan111, Harpy’s Daughter, Wicked Sister, Ghost of Astapor, Mazdhan’s Fist. Towering above the tents to a height of forty feet, the trebuchets were the siege camp’s chief landmarks112. “Just the sight of them drove the dragon queen to her knees,” he boasted. “And there she will stay, sucking Hizdahr’s noble cock, else we smash her walls to rubble113.”
Tyrion saw a slave being whipped, blow after blow, until his back was nothing but blood and raw meat. A file of men marched past in irons, clanking with every step; they carried spears and wore short swords, but chains linked them wrist to wrist and ankle to ankle. The air smelled of roasting meat, and he saw one man skinning a dog for his stewpot.
He saw the dead as well, and heard the dying. Under the drifting smoke, the smell of horses, and the sharp salt tang of the bay was a stink of blood and shit. Some flux114, he realized, as he watched two sellswords carry the corpse115 of a third from one of the tents. That made his fingers twitch116. Disease could wipe out an army quicker than any battle, he had heard his father say once.
All the more reason to escape, and soon.
A quarter mile on, he found good reason to reconsider. A crowd had formed around three slaves taken whilst trying to escape. “I know my little treasures will be sweet and obedient,” Nurse said. “See what befalls ones who try to run.”
The captives had been tied to a row of crossbeams, and a pair of slingers were using them to test their skills. “Tolosi,” one of the guards told them. “The best slingers in the world. They throw soft lead balls in place of stones.”
Tyrion had never seen the point of slings118, when bows had so much better range … but he had never seen Tolosi at work before. Their lead balls did vastly more damage then the smooth stones other slingers used, and more than any bow as well. One struck the knee of one of the captives, and it burst apart in a gout of blood and bone that left the man’s lower leg dangling by a rope of dark red tendon. Well, he won’t run again, Tyrion allowed, as the man began to scream. His shrieks119 mingled in the morning air with the laughter of camp followers120 and the curses of those who’d wagered121 good coin that the slinger117 would miss. Penny looked away, but Nurse grasped her under the chin and twisted her head back around. “Watch,” he commanded. “You too, bear.”
Jorah Mormont raised his head and stared at Nurse. Tyrion could see the tightness in his arms. He’s going to throttle122 him, and that will be the end for all of us. But the knight only grimaced123, then turned to watch the bloody124 show.
To the east the massive brick walls of Meereen shimmered125 through the morning heat. That was the refuge these poor fools had hoped to reach. How long will it remain a refuge, though?
All three of the would-be escapees were dead before Nurse gathered up the reins again. The mule cart rumbled126 on.
Their master’s camp was south and east of the Harridan, almost in its shadow, and spread over several acres. The humble tent of Yezzan zo Qaggaz proved to be a palace of lemon-colored silk. Gilded127 harpies stood atop the center poles of each of its nine peaked roofs, shining in the sun. Lesser128 tents ringed it on all sides. “Those are the dwellings129 of our noble master’s cooks, concubines, and warriors130, and a few less-favored kinsmen,” Nurse told them, “but you little darlings shall have the rare privilege of sleeping within Yezzan’s own pavilion. It pleases him to keep his treasures close.” He frowned at Mormont. “Not you, bear. You are big and ugly, you will be chained outside.” The knight did not respond. “First, all of you must be fitted for collars.”
The collars were made of iron, lightly gilded to make them glitter in the light. Yezzan’s name was incised into the metal in Valyrian glyphs, and a pair of tiny bells were affixed131 below the ears, so the wearer’s every step produced a merry little tinkling132 sound. Jorah Mormont accepted his collar in a sullen133 silence, but Penny began to cry as the armorer was fastening her own into place. “It’s so heavy,” she complained.
Tyrion squeezed her hand. “It’s solid gold,” he lied. “In Westeros, highborn ladies dream of such a necklace.” Better a collar than a brand. A collar can be removed. He remembered Shae, and the way the golden chain had glimmered134 as he twisted it tighter and tighter about her throat.
Afterward135, Nurse had Ser Jorah’s chains fastened to a stake near the cookfire whilst he escorted the two dwarfs inside the master’s pavilion and showed them where they would sleep, in a carpeted alcove136 separated from the main tent by walls of yellow silk. They would share this space with Yezzan’s other treasures: a boy with twisted, hairy “goat legs,” a two-headed girl out of Mantarys, a bearded woman, and a willowy creature called Sweets who dressed in moonstones and Myrish lace. “You are trying to decide if I’m a man or woman,” Sweets said, when she was brought before the dwarfs. Then she lifted her skirts and showed them what was underneath137. “I’m both, and master loves me best.”
A grotesquerie, Tyrion realized. Somewhere some god is laughing. “Lovely,” he said to Sweets, who had purple hair and violet eyes, “but we were hoping to be the pretty ones for once.”
Sweets sniggered, but Nurse was not amused. “Save your japes for this evening, when you perform for our noble master. If you please him, you will be well rewarded. If not …” He slapped Tyrion across the face.
“You will want to be careful with Nurse,” said Sweets when the overseer had departed. “He is the only true monster here.” The bearded woman spoke138 an incomprehensible variety of Ghiscari, the goat boy some guttural sailor’s pidgin called the trade talk. The two-headed girl was feebleminded; one head was no bigger than an orange and did not speak at all, the other had filed teeth and was like to growl139 at anyone who came too close to her cage. But Sweets was fluent in four tongues, one of them High Valyrian.
“What is the master like?” Penny asked, anxiously.
“His eyes are yellow, and he stinks,” said Sweets. “Ten years ago he went to Sothoros, and he has been rotting from the inside out ever since. Make him forget that he is dying, even for a little while, and he can be most generous. Deny him nothing.”
They had only the afternoon to learn the ways of chattel. Yezzan’s body slaves filled a tub with hot water, and the dwarfs were allowed to bathe—Penny first, then Tyrion. Afterward another slave spread a stinging ointment140 across the cuts on his back to keep them from mortifying141, then covered them with a cool poultice. Penny’s hair was cut, and Tyrion’s beard got a trim. They were given soft slippers142 and fresh clothing, plain but clean.
As evening fell, Nurse returned to tell them that it was time to don their mummer’s plate. Yezzan would be hosting the Yunkish supreme143 commander, the noble Yurkhaz zo Yunzak, and they would be expected to perform. “Shall we unchain your bear?”
“Not this night,” Tyrion said. “Let us joust for our master first and save the bear for some other time.”
“Just so. After your capers144 are concluded, you will help serve and pour. See that you do not spill on the guests, or it will go ill for you.”
A juggler145 began the evening’s frolics. Then came a trio of energetic tumblers. After them the goat-legged boy came out and did a grotesque jig146 whilst one of Yurkhaz’s slaves played on a bone flute147. Tyrion had half a mind to ask him if he knew “The Rains of Castamere.” As they waited their own turn to perform, he watched Yezzan and his guests. The human prune in the place of honor was evidently the Yunkish supreme commander, who looked about as formidable as a loose stool. A dozen other Yunkish lords attended him. Two sellsword captains were on hand as well, each accompanied by a dozen men of his company. One was an elegant Pentoshi, grey-haired and clad in silk but for his cloak, a ragged78 thing sewn from dozens of strips of torn, bloodstained cloth. The other captain was the man who’d tried to buy them that morning, the brown-skinned bidder with the salt-and-pepper beard. “Brown Ben Plumm,” Sweets named him. “Captain of the Second Sons.”
A Westerosi, and a Plumm. Better and better.
“You are next,” Nurse informed them. “Be amusing, my little darlings, or you will wish you had.”
Tyrion had not mastered half of Groat’s old tricks, but he could ride the sow, fall off when he was meant to, roll, and pop back onto his feet. All of that proved well received. The sight of little people running about drunkenly and whacking148 at one another with wooden weapons appeared to be just as hilarious149 in a siege camp by Slaver’s Bay as at Joffrey’s wedding feast in King’s Landing. Contempt, thought Tyrion, the universal tongue.
Their master Yezzan laughed loudest and longest whenever one of his dwarfs suffered a fall or took a blow, his whole vast body shaking like suet in an earthquake; his guests waited to see how Yurkhaz no Yunzak responded before joining in. The supreme commander appeared so frail150 that Tyrion was afraid laughing might kill him. When Penny’s helm was struck off and flew into the lap of a sour-faced Yunkishman in a striped green-and-gold tokar, Yurkhaz cackled like a chicken. When said lord reached inside the helm and drew out a large purple melon dribbling151 pulp152, he wheezed153 until his face turned the same color as the fruit. He turned to his host and whispered something that made their master chortle and lick his lips … though there was a hint of anger in those slitted yellow eyes, it seemed to Tyrion.
Afterward the dwarfs stripped off their wooden armor and the sweat-soaked clothing beneath and changed into the fresh yellow tunics that had been provided them for serving. Tyrion was given a flagon of purple wine, Penny a flagon of water. They moved about the tent filling cups, their slippered154 feet whispering over thick carpets. It was harder work than it appeared. Before long his legs were cramping155 badly, and one of the cuts on his back had begun to bleed again, the red seeping156 through the yellow linen157 of his tunic. Tyrion bit his tongue and kept on pouring.
Most of the guests paid them no more mind than they did the other slaves … but one Yunkishman declared drunkenly that Yezzan should make the two dwarfs fuck, and another demanded to know how Tyrion had lost his nose. I shoved it up your wife’s cunt and she bit it off, he almost replied … but the storm had persuaded him that he did not want to die as yet, so instead he said, “It was cut off to punish me for insolence158, lord.”
Then a lord in a blue tokar fringed with tiger’s eyes recalled that Tyrion had boasted of his skill at cyvasse on the auction block. “Let us put him to the test,” he said. A table and set of pieces was duly produced. A scant159 few moments later, the red-faced lord shoved the table over in fury, scattering160 the pieces across the carpets to the sound of Yunkish laughter.
“You should have let him win,” Penny whispered.
Brown Ben Plumm lifted the fallen table, smiling. “Try me next, dwarf. When I was younger, the Second Sons took contract with Volantis. I learned the game there.”
“I am only a slave. My noble master decides when and who I play.” Tyrion turned to Yezzan. “Master?”
The yellow lord seemed amused by the notion. “What stakes do you propose, Captain?”
“If I win, give this slave to me,” said Plumm.
“No,” Yezzan zo Qaggaz said. “But if you can defeat my dwarf, you may have the price I paid for him, in gold.”
“Done,” the sellsword said. The scattered161 pieces were picked up off the carpet, and they sat down to play.
Tyrion won the first game. Plumm took the second, for double the stakes. As they set up for their third contest, the dwarf studied his opponent. Brown-skinned, his cheeks and jaw162 covered by a close-cropped bristly beard of grey and white, his face creased163 by a thousand wrinkles and a few old scars, Plumm had an amiable164 look to him, especially when he smiled. The faithful retainer, Tyrion decided165. Every man’s favorite nuncle, full of chuckles166 and old sayings and roughspun wisdom. It was all sham61. Those smiles never touched Plumm’s eyes, where greed hid behind a veil of caution. Hungry, but wary167, this one.
The sellsword was nearly as bad a player as the Yunkish lord had been, but his play was stolid168 and tenacious169 rather than bold. His opening arrays were different every time, yet all the same—conservative, defensive170, passive. He does not play to win, Tyrion realized. He plays so as not to lose. It worked in their second game, when the little man overreached himself with an unsound assault. It did not work in the third game, nor the fourth, nor the fifth, which proved to be their last.
Near the end of that final contest, with his fortress171 in ruins, his dragon dead, elephants before him and heavy horse circling round his rear, Plumm looked up smiling and said, “Yollo wins again. Death in four.”
“Three.” Tyrion tapped his dragon. “I was lucky. Perhaps you should give my head a good rub before our next game, Captain. Some of that luck might rub off on your fingers.” You will still lose, but you might give me a better game. Grinning, he pushed back from the cyvasse table, picked up his wine flagon, and returned to pouring with Yezzan zo Qaggaz considerably172 richer and Brown Ben Plumm considerably impoverished173. His gargantuan174 master had fallen off into drunken sleep during the third game, his goblet175 slipping from his yellowed fingers to spill its contents on the carpet, but perhaps he would be pleased when he awakened176.
When the supreme commander Yurkhaz zo Yunzak departed, supported by a pair of burly slaves, that seemed to be a general signal for the other guests to take their leaves as well. After the tent had emptied out, Nurse reappeared to tell the servers that they might make their own feast from the leavings. “Eat quickly. All this must be clean again before you sleep.”
Tyrion was on his knees, his legs aching and his bloody back screaming with pain, trying to scrub out the stain that the noble Yezzan’s spilled wine had left upon the noble Yezzan’s carpet, when the overseer tapped his cheek gently with the end of his whip. “Yollo. You have done well. You and your wife.”
“She is not my wife.”
“Your whore, then. On your feet, both of you.”
Tyrion rose unsteadily, one leg trembling beneath him. His thighs177 were knots, so cramped178 that Penny had to lend him a hand to pull him to his feet. “What have we done?”
“Much and more,” said the overseer. “Nurse said you would be rewarded if you pleased your father, did he not? Though the noble Yezzan is loath179 to lose his little treasures, as you have seen, Yurkhaz zo Yunzak persuaded him that it would be selfish to keep such droll180 antics to himself. Rejoice! To celebrate the signing of the peace, you shall have the honor of jousting181 in the Great Pit of Daznak. Thousands will come see you! Tens of thousands! And, oh, how we shall laugh!”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
auction
|
|
| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
dwarf
|
|
| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
dwarfs
|
|
| n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
wed
|
|
| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
stink
|
|
| vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
bidders
|
|
| n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
bidder
|
|
| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
sipping
|
|
| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
impractical
|
|
| adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
tunics
|
|
| n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
tunic
|
|
| n.束腰外衣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
hooded
|
|
| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
proceedings
|
|
| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
clot
|
|
| n.凝块；v.使凝成块 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
daggers
|
|
| 匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
brace
|
|
| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
monstrously
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
sprawled
|
|
| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
disallow
|
|
| v.不允许；拒绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
seamen
|
|
| n.海员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
oar
|
|
| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
rippled
|
|
| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
binder
|
|
| n.包扎物，包扎工具；[法]临时契约；粘合剂；装订工 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
promising
|
|
| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
ransom
|
|
| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
fiery
|
|
| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
chattel
|
|
| n.动产；奴隶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
chattels
|
|
| n.动产，奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
tattooed
|
|
| v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
binders
|
|
| n.（司机行话）刹车器；（书籍的）装订机( binder的名词复数 )；（购买不动产时包括预付订金在内的）保证书；割捆机；活页封面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
reassurance
|
|
| n.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
strands
|
|
| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
lashes
|
|
| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
lash
|
|
| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
mused
|
|
| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
scent
|
|
| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
crunch
|
|
| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
bridles
|
|
| 约束( bridle的名词复数 )； 限动器； 马笼头； 系带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
tricky
|
|
| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
gales
|
|
| 龙猫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
grotesque
|
|
| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
puckered
|
|
| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
prune
|
|
| n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
hissed
|
|
| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
outrage
|
|
| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
spat
|
|
| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
sculpted
|
|
| adj.经雕塑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
dangling
|
|
| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
flicked
|
|
| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
sagging
|
|
| 下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
wafting
|
|
| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
lascivious
|
|
| adj.淫荡的，好色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
scowl
|
|
| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
joust
|
|
| v.马上长枪比武，竞争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
sham
|
|
| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
quail
|
|
| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
annoyance
|
|
| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
grunted
|
|
| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
snails
|
|
| n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
prodded
|
|
| v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
butt
|
|
| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
humiliation
|
|
| n.羞辱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
crumbling
|
|
| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
reassured
|
|
| 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) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
trickling
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
mule
|
|
| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
taloned
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
warrior
|
|
| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
revered
|
|
| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
benevolent
|
|
| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
ragged
|
|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
knight
|
|
| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
swollen
|
|
| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
miseries
|
|
| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
brute
|
|
| n.野兽，兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
grotesquely
|
|
| adv. 奇异地,荒诞地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
swarmed
|
|
| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
slaying
|
|
| 杀戮。 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
wretch
|
|
| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
fend
|
|
| v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
pampered
|
|
| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
bodyguard
|
|
| n.护卫，保镖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
molest
|
|
| vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
apron
|
|
| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
squinted
|
|
| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
maiden
|
|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
scuttling
|
|
| n.船底穿孔，打开通海阀（沉船用）v.使船沉没( scuttle的现在分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
sniffed
|
|
| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
reins
|
|
| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
miserable
|
|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
huddled
|
|
| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
alleys
|
|
| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
taverns
|
|
| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
sprouted
|
|
| v.发芽( sprout的过去式和过去分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
chaos
|
|
| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
reign
|
|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
scorched
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
lumber
|
|
| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
resin
|
|
| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
harridan
|
|
| n.恶妇；丑老大婆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
landmarks
|
|
| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
rubble
|
|
| n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
flux
|
|
| n.流动；不断的改变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
corpse
|
|
| n.尸体，死尸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
twitch
|
|
| v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
slinger
|
|
| 投石者，吊物工人； 吊索 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
slings
|
|
| 抛( sling的第三人称单数 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
shrieks
|
|
| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
followers
|
|
| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
wagered
|
|
| v.在（某物）上赌钱，打赌( wager的过去式和过去分词 )；保证，担保 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
throttle
|
|
| n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
grimaced
|
|
| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
shimmered
|
|
| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
rumbled
|
|
| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
gilded
|
|
| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
lesser
|
|
| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
dwellings
|
|
| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
warriors
|
|
| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
affixed
|
|
| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
tinkling
|
|
| n.丁当作响声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
sullen
|
|
| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
glimmered
|
|
| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
afterward
|
|
| adv.后来；以后 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
alcove
|
|
| n.凹室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
spoke
|
|
| 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： |
|
|
|
|
139
growl
|
|
| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
ointment
|
|
| n.药膏，油膏，软膏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
mortifying
|
|
| adj.抑制的，苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
slippers
|
|
| n. 拖鞋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
supreme
|
|
| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
capers
|
|
| n.开玩笑( caper的名词复数 )；刺山柑v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
juggler
|
|
| n. 变戏法者, 行骗者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
jig
|
|
| n.快步舞（曲）；v.上下晃动；用夹具辅助加工；蹦蹦跳跳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
flute
|
|
| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
whacking
|
|
| adj.（用于强调）巨大的v.重击，使劲打( whack的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
hilarious
|
|
| adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
frail
|
|
| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
dribbling
|
|
| n.（燃料或油从系统内）漏泄v.流口水( dribble的现在分词 )；（使液体）滴下或作细流；运球，带球 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
pulp
|
|
| n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
wheezed
|
|
| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
slippered
|
|
| 穿拖鞋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
cramping
|
|
| 图像压缩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
seeping
|
|
| v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
linen
|
|
| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
insolence
|
|
| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
scant
|
|
| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
scattering
|
|
| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
jaw
|
|
| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
creased
|
|
| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的过去式和过去分词 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹； 皱皱巴巴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
chuckles
|
|
| 轻声地笑( chuckle的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
wary
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
stolid
|
|
| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
tenacious
|
|
| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
defensive
|
|
| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
fortress
|
|
| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
impoverished
|
|
| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
gargantuan
|
|
| adj.巨大的，庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
goblet
|
|
| n.高脚酒杯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
awakened
|
|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
thighs
|
|
| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
cramped
|
|
| a.狭窄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
179
loath
|
|
| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
180
droll
|
|
| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
181
jousting
|
|
| （骑士）骑马用长矛比武( joust的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |