Through two long weeks I wandered, stumbling through the nights guided only by the stars and hiding during the days behind some protruding2 rock or among the occasional hills I traversed. Several times I was attacked by wild beasts; strange, uncouth3 monstrosities that leaped upon me in the dark, so that I had ever to grasp my long-sword in my hand that I might be ready for them. Usually my strange, newly acquired telepathic power warned me in ample time, but once I was down with vicious fangs4 at my jugular5 and a hairy face pressed close to mine before I knew that I was even threatened.
What manner of thing was upon me I did not know, but that it was large and heavy and many-legged I could feel. My hands were at its throat before the fangs had a chance to bury themselves in my neck, and slowly I forced the hairy face from me and closed my fingers, vise-like, upon its windpipe.
Without sound we lay there, the beast exerting every effort to reach me with those awful fangs, and I straining to maintain my grip and choke the life from it as I kept it from my throat. Slowly my arms gave to the unequal struggle, and inch by inch the burning eyes and gleaming tusks6 of my antagonist7 crept toward me, until, as the hairy face touched mine again, I realized that all was over. And then a living mass of destruction sprang from the surrounding darkness full upon the creature that held me pinioned8 to the ground. The two rolled growling9 upon the moss10, tearing and rending11 one another in a frightful12 manner, but it was soon over and my preserver stood with lowered head above the throat of the dead thing which would have killed me.
The nearer moon, hurtling suddenly above the horizon and lighting13 up the Barsoomian scene, showed me that my preserver was Woola, but from whence he had come, or how found me, I was at a loss to know. That I was glad of his companionship it is needless to say, but my pleasure at seeing him was tempered by anxiety as to the reason of his leaving Dejah Thoris. Only her death I felt sure, could account for his absence from her, so faithful I knew him to be to my commands.
By the light of the now brilliant moons I saw that he was but a shadow of his former self, and as he turned from my caress14 and commenced greedily to devour15 the dead carcass at my feet I realized that the poor fellow was more than half starved. I, myself, was in but little better plight16 but I could not bring myself to eat the uncooked flesh and I had no means of making a fire. When Woola had finished his meal I again took up my weary and seemingly endless wandering in quest of the elusive17 waterway.
At daybreak of the fifteenth day of my search I was overjoyed to see the high trees that denoted the object of my search. About noon I dragged myself wearily to the portals of a huge building which covered perhaps four square miles and towered two hundred feet in the air. It showed no aperture19 in the mighty20 walls other than the tiny door at which I sank exhausted21, nor was there any sign of life about it.
I could find no bell or other method of making my presence known to the inmates22 of the place, unless a small round hole in the wall near the door was for that purpose. It was of about the bigness of a lead pencil and thinking that it might be in the nature of a speaking tube I put my mouth to it and was about to call into it when a voice issued from it asking me whom I might be, where from, and the nature of my errand.
I explained that I had escaped from the Warhoons and was dying of starvation and exhaustion23.
"You wear the metal of a green warrior24 and are followed by a calot, yet you are of the figure of a red man. In color you are neither green nor red. In the name of the ninth ray, what manner of creature are you?"
"I am a friend of the red men of Barsoom and I am starving. In the name of humanity open to us," I replied.
Presently the door commenced to recede25 before me until it had sunk into the wall fifty feet, then it stopped and slid easily to the left, exposing a short, narrow corridor of concrete, at the further end of which was another door, similar in every respect to the one I had just passed. No one was in sight, yet immediately we passed the first door it slid gently into place behind us and receded26 rapidly to its original position in the front wall of the building. As the door had slipped aside I had noted18 its great thickness, fully27 twenty feet, and as it reached its place once more after closing behind us, great cylinders28 of steel had dropped from the ceiling behind it and fitted their lower ends into apertures29 countersunk in the floor.
A second and third door receded before me and slipped to one side as the first, before I reached a large inner chamber30 where I found food and drink set out upon a great stone table. A voice directed me to satisfy my hunger and to feed my calot, and while I was thus engaged my invisible host put me through a severe and searching cross-examination.
"Your statements are most remarkable," said the voice, on concluding its questioning, "but you are evidently speaking the truth, and it is equally evident that you are not of Barsoom. I can tell that by the conformation of your brain and the strange location of your internal organs and the shape and size of your heart."
"Can you see through me?" I exclaimed.
"Yes, I can see all but your thoughts, and were you a Barsoomian I could read those."
Then a door opened at the far side of the chamber and a strange, dried up, little mummy of a man came toward me. He wore but a single article of clothing or adornment31, a small collar of gold from which depended upon his chest a great ornament32 as large as a dinner plate set solid with huge diamonds, except for the exact center which was occupied by a strange stone, an inch in diameter, that scintillated33 nine different and distinct rays; the seven colors of our earthly prism and two beautiful rays which, to me, were new and nameless. I cannot describe them any more than you could describe red to a blind man. I only know that they were beautiful in the extreme.
The old man sat and talked with me for hours, and the strangest part of our intercourse34 was that I could read his every thought while he could not fathom35 an iota36 from my mind unless I spoke37.
The old man sat and talked with me for hours.
The old man sat and talked with me for hours.
I did not apprise38 him of my ability to sense his mental operations, and thus I learned a great deal which proved of immense value to me later and which I would never have known had he suspected my strange power, for the Martians have such perfect control of their mental machinery39 that they are able to direct their thoughts with absolute precision.
The building in which I found myself contained the machinery which produces that artificial atmosphere which sustains life on Mars. The secret of the entire process hinges on the use of the ninth ray, one of the beautiful scintillations which I had noted emanating40 from the great stone in my host's diadem41.
This ray is separated from the other rays of the sun by means of finely adjusted instruments placed upon the roof of the huge building, three-quarters of which is used for reservoirs in which the ninth ray is stored. This product is then treated electrically, or rather certain proportions of refined electric vibrations42 are incorporated with it, and the result is then pumped to the five principal air centers of the planet where, as it is released, contact with the ether of space transforms it into atmosphere.
There is always sufficient reserve of the ninth ray stored in the great building to maintain the present Martian atmosphere for a thousand years, and the only fear, as my new friend told me, was that some accident might befall the pumping apparatus43.
He led me to an inner chamber where I beheld44 a battery of twenty radium pumps any one of which was equal to the task of furnishing all Mars with the atmosphere compound. For eight hundred years, he told me, he had watched these pumps which are used alternately a day each at a stretch, or a little over twenty-four and one-half Earth hours. He has one assistant who divides the watch with him. Half a Martian year, about three hundred and forty-four of our days, each of these men spend alone in this huge, isolated45 plant.
Every red Martian is taught during earliest childhood the principles of the manufacture of atmosphere, but only two at one time ever hold the secret of ingress to the great building, which, built as it is with walls a hundred and fifty feet thick, is absolutely unassailable, even the roof being guarded from assault by air craft by a glass covering five feet thick.
The only fear they entertain of attack is from the green Martians or some demented red man, as all Barsoomians realize that the very existence of every form of life of Mars is dependent upon the uninterrupted working of this plant.
One curious fact I discovered as I watched his thoughts was that the outer doors are manipulated by telepathic means. The locks are so finely adjusted that the doors are released by the action of a certain combination of thought waves. To experiment with my new-found toy I thought to surprise him into revealing this combination and so I asked him in a casual manner how he had managed to unlock the massive doors for me from the inner chambers46 of the building. As quick as a flash there leaped to his mind nine Martian sounds, but as quickly faded as he answered that this was a secret he must not divulge47.
From then on his manner toward me changed as though he feared that he had been surprised into divulging48 his great secret, and I read suspicion and fear in his looks and thoughts, though his words were still fair.
Before I retired49 for the night he promised to give me a letter to a nearby agricultural officer who would help me on my way to Zodanga, which he said, was the nearest Martian city.
"But be sure that you do not let them know you are bound for Helium as they are at war with that country. My assistant and I are of no country, we belong to all Barsoom and this talisman50 which we wear protects us in all lands, even among the green men—though we do not trust ourselves to their hands if we can avoid it," he added.
"And so good-night, my friend," he continued, "may you have a long and restful sleep—yes, a long sleep."
And though he smiled pleasantly I saw in his thoughts the wish that he had never admitted me, and then a picture of him standing51 over me in the night, and the swift thrust of a long dagger52 and the half formed words, "I am sorry, but it is for the best good of Barsoom."
As he closed the door of my chamber behind him his thoughts were cut off from me as was the sight of him, which seemed strange to me in my little knowledge of thought transference.
What was I to do? How could I escape through these mighty walls? Easily could I kill him now that I was warned, but once he was dead I could no more escape, and with the stopping of the machinery of the great plant I should die with all the other inhabitants of the planet—all, even Dejah Thoris were she not already dead. For the others I did not give the snap of my finger, but the thought of Dejah Thoris drove from my mind all desire to kill my mistaken host.
Cautiously I opened the door of my apartment and, followed by Woola, sought the inner of the great doors. A wild scheme had come to me; I would attempt to force the great locks by the nine thought waves I had read in my host's mind.
Creeping stealthily through corridor after corridor and down winding53 runways which turned hither and thither54 I finally reached the great hall in which I had broken my long fast that morning. Nowhere had I seen my host, nor did I know where he kept himself by night.
I was on the point of stepping boldly out into the room when a slight noise behind me warned me back into the shadows of a recess55 in the corridor. Dragging Woola after me I crouched56 low in the darkness.
Presently the old man passed close by me, and as he entered the dimly lighted chamber which I had been about to pass through I saw that he held a long thin dagger in his hand and that he was sharpening it upon a stone. In his mind was the decision to inspect the radium pumps, which would take about thirty minutes, and then return to my bed chamber and finish me.
As he passed through the great hall and disappeared down the runway which led to the pump-room, I stole stealthily from my hiding place and crossed to the great door, the inner of the three which stood between me and liberty.
Concentrating my mind upon the massive lock I hurled57 the nine thought waves against it. In breathless expectancy58 I waited, when finally the great door moved softly toward me and slid quietly to one side. One after the other the remaining mighty portals opened at my command and Woola and I stepped forth59 into the darkness, free, but little better off than we had been before, other than that we had full stomachs.
Hastening away from the shadows of the formidable pile I made for the first crossroad, intending to strike the central turnpike as quickly as possible. This I reached about morning and entering the first enclosure I came to I searched for some evidences of a habitation.
There were low rambling60 buildings of concrete barred with heavy impassable doors, and no amount of hammering and hallooing brought any response. Weary and exhausted from sleeplessness61 I threw myself upon the ground commanding Woola to stand guard.
Some time later I was awakened62 by his frightful growlings and opened my eyes to see three red Martians standing a short distance from us and covering me with their rifles.
"I am unarmed and no enemy," I hastened to explain. "I have been a prisoner among the green men and am on my way to Zodanga. All I ask is food and rest for myself and my calot and the proper directions for reaching my destination."
They lowered their rifles and advanced pleasantly toward me placing their right hands upon my left shoulder, after the manner of their custom of salute63, and asking me many questions about myself and my wanderings. They then took me to the house of one of them which was only a short distance away.
The buildings I had been hammering at in the early morning were occupied only by stock and farm produce, the house proper standing among a grove64 of enormous trees, and, like all red-Martian homes, had been raised at night some forty or fifty feet from the ground on a large round metal shaft65 which slid up or down within a sleeve sunk in the ground, and was operated by a tiny radium engine in the entrance hall of the building. Instead of bothering with bolts and bars for their dwellings66, the red Martians simply run them up out of harm's way during the night. They also have private means for lowering or raising them from the ground without if they wish to go away and leave them.
These brothers, with their wives and children, occupied three similar houses on this farm. They did no work themselves, being government officers in charge. The labor67 was performed by convicts, prisoners of war, delinquent68 debtors69 and confirmed bachelors who were too poor to pay the high celibate71 tax which all red-Martian governments impose.
They were the personification of cordiality and hospitality and I spent several days with them, resting and recuperating72 from my long and arduous73 experiences.
When they had heard my story—I omitted all reference to Dejah Thoris and the old man of the atmosphere plant—they advised me to color my body to more nearly resemble their own race and then attempt to find employment in Zodanga, either in the army or the navy.
"The chances are small that your tale will be believed until after you have proven your trustworthiness and won friends among the higher nobles of the court. This you can most easily do through military service, as we are a warlike people on Barsoom," explained one of them, "and save our richest favors for the fighting man."
When I was ready to depart they furnished me with a small domestic bull thoat, such as is used for saddle purposes by all red Martians. The animal is about the size of a horse and quite gentle, but in color and shape an exact replica74 of his huge and fierce cousin of the wilds.
The brothers had supplied me with a reddish oil with which I anointed my entire body and one of them cut my hair, which had grown quite long, in the prevailing75 fashion of the time, square at the back and banged in front, so that I could have passed anywhere upon Barsoom as a full-fledged red Martian. My metal and ornaments76 were also renewed in the style of a Zodangan gentleman, attached to the house of Ptor, which was the family name of my benefactors77.
They filled a little sack at my side with Zodangan money. The medium of exchange upon Mars is not dissimilar from our own except that the coins are oval. Paper money is issued by individuals as they require it and redeemed79 twice yearly. If a man issues more than he can redeem78, the government pays his creditors80 in full and the debtor70 works out the amount upon the farms or in mines, which are all owned by the government. This suits everybody except the debtor as it has been a difficult thing to obtain sufficient voluntary labor to work the great isolated farm lands of Mars, stretching as they do like narrow ribbons from pole to pole, through wild stretches peopled by wild animals and wilder men.
When I mentioned my inability to repay them for their kindness to me they assured me that I would have ample opportunity if I lived long upon Barsoom, and bidding me farewell they watched me until I was out of sight upon the broad white turnpike.
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1
bounteously
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| adv.慷慨地，丰富地 | |
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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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uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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jugular
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| n.颈静脉 | |
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tusks
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| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
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antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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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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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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10
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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11
rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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12
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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13
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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elusive
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| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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20
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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22
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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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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24
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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25
recede
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| vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进 | |
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receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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27
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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apertures
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| n.孔( aperture的名词复数 )；隙缝；（照相机的）光圈；孔径 | |
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30
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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adornment
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| n.装饰；装饰品 | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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scintillated
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| v.（言谈举止中）焕发才智( scintillate的过去式和过去分词 )；谈笑洒脱；闪耀；闪烁 | |
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34
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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iota
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| n.些微，一点儿 | |
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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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38
apprise
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| vt.通知，告知 | |
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39
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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emanating
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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41
diadem
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| n.王冠，冕 | |
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42
vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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43
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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44
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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45
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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46
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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47
divulge
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| v.泄漏(秘密等)；宣布，公布 | |
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48
divulging
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| v.吐露，泄露( divulge的现在分词 ) | |
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49
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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50
talisman
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| n.避邪物，护身符 | |
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51
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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52
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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53
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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54
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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55
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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56
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
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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58
expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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59
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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60
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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61
sleeplessness
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| n.失眠，警觉 | |
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62
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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63
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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64
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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65
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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66
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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67
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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68
delinquent
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| adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者 | |
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69
debtors
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| n.债务人，借方( debtor的名词复数 ) | |
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70
debtor
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| n.借方，债务人 | |
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71
celibate
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| adj.独身的，独身主义的；n.独身者 | |
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recuperating
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| v.恢复（健康、体力等），复原( recuperate的现在分词 ) | |
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73
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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74
replica
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| n.复制品 | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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76
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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77
benefactors
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| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
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78
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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79
redeemed
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| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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80
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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