Not since that other March night in 1866, when I had stood without that Arizona cave in which my still and lifeless body lay wrapped in the similitude of earthly death had I felt the irresistible4 attraction of the god of my profession.
With arms outstretched toward the red eye of the great star I stood praying for a return of that strange power which twice had drawn5 me through the immensity of space, praying as I had prayed on a thousand nights before during the long ten years that I had waited and hoped.
Suddenly a qualm of nausea6 swept over me, my senses swam, my knees gave beneath me and I pitched headlong to the ground upon the very verge7 of the dizzy bluff.
Instantly my brain cleared and there swept back across the threshold of my memory the vivid picture of the horrors of that ghostly Arizona cave; again, as on that far-gone night, my muscles refused to respond to my will and again, as though even here upon the banks of the placid8 Hudson, I could hear the awful moans and rustling9 of the fearsome thing which had lurked10 and threatened me from the dark recesses11 of the cave, I made the same mighty and superhuman effort to break the bonds of the strange anaesthesia which held me, and again came the sharp click as of the sudden parting of a taut12 wire, and I stood naked and free beside the staring, lifeless thing that had so recently pulsed with the warm, red life-blood of John Carter.
With scarcely a parting glance I turned my eyes again toward Mars, lifted my hands toward his lurid13 rays, and waited.
Nor did I have long to wait; for scarce had I turned ere I shot with the rapidity of thought into the awful void before me. There was the same instant of unthinkable cold and utter darkness that I had experienced twenty years before, and then I opened my eyes in another world, beneath the burning rays of a hot sun, which beat through a tiny opening in the dome14 of the mighty forest in which I lay.
The scene that met my eyes was so un-Martian that my heart sprang to my throat as the sudden fear swept through me that I had been aimlessly tossed upon some strange planet by a cruel fate.
Why not? What guide had I through the trackless waste of interplanetary space? What assurance that I might not as well be hurtled to some far-distant star of another solar system, as to Mars?
I lay upon a close-cropped sward of red grasslike vegetation, and about me stretched a grove15 of strange and beautiful trees, covered with huge and gorgeous blossoms and filled with brilliant, voiceless birds. I call them birds since they were winged, but mortal eye ne'er rested on such odd, unearthly shapes.
The vegetation was similar to that which covers the lawns of the red Martians of the great waterways, but the trees and birds were unlike anything that I had ever seen upon Mars, and then through the further trees I could see that most un-Martian of all sights—an open sea, its blue waters shimmering16 beneath the brazen17 sun.
As I rose to investigate further I experienced the same ridiculous catastrophe18 that had met my first attempt to walk under Martian conditions. The lesser19 attraction of this smaller planet and the reduced air pressure of its greatly rarefied atmosphere, afforded so little resistance to my earthly muscles that the ordinary exertion20 of the mere21 act of rising sent me several feet into the air and precipitated22 me upon my face in the soft and brilliant grass of this strange world.
This experience, however, gave me some slightly increased assurance that, after all, I might indeed be in some, to me, unknown corner of Mars, and this was very possible since during my ten years' residence upon the planet I had explored but a comparatively tiny area of its vast expanse.
I arose again, laughing at my forgetfulness, and soon had mastered once more the art of attuning23 my earthly sinews to these changed conditions.
As I walked slowly down the imperceptible slope toward the sea I could not help but note the park-like appearance of the sward and trees. The grass was as close-cropped and carpet-like as some old English lawn and the trees themselves showed evidence of careful pruning24 to a uniform height of about fifteen feet from the ground, so that as one turned his glance in any direction the forest had the appearance at a little distance of a vast, high-ceiled chamber26.
All these evidences of careful and systematic27 cultivation28 convinced me that I had been fortunate enough to make my entry into Mars on this second occasion through the domain29 of a civilized30 people and that when I should find them I would be accorded the courtesy and protection that my rank as a Prince of the house of Tardos Mors entitled me to.
The trees of the forest attracted my deep admiration31 as I proceeded toward the sea. Their great stems, some of them fully32 a hundred feet in diameter, attested33 their prodigious34 height, which I could only guess at, since at no point could I penetrate35 their dense36 foliage37 above me to more than sixty or eighty feet.
As far aloft as I could see the stems and branches and twigs38 were as smooth and as highly polished as the newest of American-made pianos. The wood of some of the trees was as black as ebony, while their nearest neighbours might perhaps gleam in the subdued39 light of the forest as clear and white as the finest china, or, again, they were azure40, scarlet41, yellow, or deepest purple.
And in the same way was the foliage as gay and variegated42 as the stems, while the blooms that clustered thick upon them may not be described in any earthly tongue, and indeed might challenge the language of the gods.
As I neared the confines of the forest I beheld44 before me and between the grove and the open sea, a broad expanse of meadow land, and as I was about to emerge from the shadows of the trees a sight met my eyes that banished45 all romantic and poetic46 reflection upon the beauties of the strange landscape.
To my left the sea extended as far as the eye could reach, before me only a vague, dim line indicated its further shore, while at my right a mighty river, broad, placid, and majestic47, flowed between scarlet banks to empty into the quiet sea before me.
At a little distance up the river rose mighty perpendicular48 bluffs49, from the very base of which the great river seemed to rise.
But it was not these inspiring and magnificent evidences of Nature's grandeur50 that took my immediate51 attention from the beauties of the forest. It was the sight of a score of figures moving slowly about the meadow near the bank of the mighty river.
Odd, grotesque52 shapes they were; unlike anything that I had ever seen upon Mars, and yet, at a distance, most manlike in appearance. The larger specimens53 appeared to be about ten or twelve feet in height when they stood erect54, and to be proportioned as to torso and lower extremities55 precisely56 as is earthly man.
Their arms, however, were very short, and from where I stood seemed as though fashioned much after the manner of an elephant's trunk, in that they moved in sinuous57 and snakelike undulations, as though entirely58 without bony structure, or if there were bones it seemed that they must be vertebral in nature.
As I watched them from behind the stem of a huge tree, one of the creatures moved slowly in my direction, engaged in the occupation that seemed to be the principal business of each of them, and which consisted in running their oddly shaped hands over the surface of the sward, for what purpose I could not determine.
As he approached quite close to me I obtained an excellent view of him, and though I was later to become better acquainted with his kind, I may say that that single cursory59 examination of this awful travesty60 on Nature would have proved quite sufficient to my desires had I been a free agent. The fastest flier of the Heliumetic Navy could not quickly enough have carried me far from this hideous61 creature.
Its hairless body was a strange and ghoulish blue, except for a broad band of white which encircled its protruding62, single eye: an eye that was all dead white—pupil, iris63, and ball.
Its nose was a ragged64, inflamed65, circular hole in the centre of its blank face; a hole that resembled more closely nothing that I could think of other than a fresh bullet wound which has not yet commenced to bleed.
Below this repulsive66 orifice the face was quite blank to the chin, for the thing had no mouth that I could discover.
The head, with the exception of the face, was covered by a tangled67 mass of jet-black hair some eight or ten inches in length. Each hair was about the bigness of a large angleworm, and as the thing moved the muscles of its scalp this awful head-covering seemed to writhe68 and wriggle69 and crawl about the fearsome face as though indeed each separate hair was endowed with independent life.
The body and the legs were as symmetrically human as Nature could have fashioned them, and the feet, too, were human in shape, but of monstrous70 proportions. From heel to toe they were fully three feet long, and very flat and very broad.
As it came quite close to me I discovered that its strange movements, running its odd hands over the surface of the turf, were the result of its peculiar71 method of feeding, which consists in cropping off the tender vegetation with its razorlike talons72 and sucking it up from its two mouths, which lie one in the palm of each hand, through its arm-like throats.
In addition to the features which I have already described, the beast was equipped with a massive tail about six feet in length, quite round where it joined the body, but tapering73 to a flat, thin blade toward the end, which trailed at right angles to the ground.
By far the most remarkable74 feature of this most remarkable creature, however, were the two tiny replicas75 of it, each about six inches in length, which dangled76, one on either side, from its armpits. They were suspended by a small stem which seemed to grow from the exact tops of their heads to where it connected them with the body of the adult.
Whether they were the young, or merely portions of a composite creature, I did not know.
As I had been scrutinizing77 this weird78 monstrosity the balance of the herd79 had fed quite close to me and I now saw that while many had the smaller specimens dangling80 from them, not all were thus equipped, and I further noted81 that the little ones varied82 in size from what appeared to be but tiny unopened buds an inch in diameter through various stages of development to the full-fledged and perfectly83 formed creature of ten to twelve inches in length.
Feeding with the herd were many of the little fellows not much larger than those which remained attached to their parents, and from the young of that size the herd graded up to the immense adults.
Fearsome-looking as they were, I did not know whether to fear them or not, for they did not seem to be particularly well equipped for fighting, and I was on the point of stepping from my hiding-place and revealing myself to them to note the effect upon them of the sight of a man when my rash resolve was, fortunately for me, nipped in the bud by a strange shrieking85 wail86, which seemed to come from the direction of the bluffs at my right.
Naked and unarmed, as I was, my end would have been both speedy and horrible at the hands of these cruel creatures had I had time to put my resolve into execution, but at the moment of the shriek84 each member of the herd turned in the direction from which the sound seemed to come, and at the same instant every particular snake-like hair upon their heads rose stiffly perpendicular as if each had been a sentient87 organism looking or listening for the source or meaning of the wail. And indeed the latter proved to be the truth, for this strange growth upon the craniums of the plant men of Barsoom represents the thousand ears of these hideous creatures, the last remnant of the strange race which sprang from the original Tree of Life.
Instantly every eye turned toward one member of the herd, a large fellow who evidently was the leader. A strange purring sound issued from the mouth in the palm of one of his hands, and at the same time he started rapidly toward the bluff, followed by the entire herd.
Their speed and method of locomotion88 were both remarkable, springing as they did in great leaps of twenty or thirty feet, much after the manner of a kangaroo.
They were rapidly disappearing when it occurred to me to follow them, and so, hurling89 caution to the winds, I sprang across the meadow in their wake with leaps and bounds even more prodigious than their own, for the muscles of an athletic90 Earth man produce remarkable results when pitted against the lesser gravity and air pressure of Mars.
Their way led directly towards the apparent source of the river at the base of the cliffs, and as I neared this point I found the meadow dotted with huge boulders91 that the ravages93 of time had evidently dislodged from the towering crags above.
For this reason I came quite close to the cause of the disturbance94 before the scene broke upon my horrified95 gaze. As I topped a great boulder92 I saw the herd of plant men surrounding a little group of perhaps five or six green men and women of Barsoom.
That I was indeed upon Mars I now had no doubt, for here were members of the wild hordes96 that people the dead sea bottoms and deserted97 cities of that dying planet.
Here were the great males towering in all the majesty98 of their imposing99 height; here were the gleaming white tusks100 protruding from their massive lower jaws101 to a point near the centre of their foreheads, the laterally102 placed, protruding eyes with which they could look forward or backward, or to either side without turning their heads, here the strange antennae-like ears rising from the tops of their foreheads; and the additional pair of arms extending from midway between the shoulders and the hips103.
Even without the glossy104 green hide and the metal ornaments105 which denoted the tribes to which they belonged, I would have known them on the instant for what they were, for where else in all the universe is their like duplicated?
There were two men and four females in the party and their ornaments denoted them as members of different hordes, a fact which tended to puzzle me infinitely106, since the various hordes of green men of Barsoom are eternally at deadly war with one another, and never, except on that single historic instance when the great Tars107 Tarkas of Thark gathered a hundred and fifty thousand green warriors108 from several hordes to march upon the doomed110 city of Zodanga to rescue Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, from the clutches of Than Kosis, had I seen green Martians of different hordes associated in other than mortal combat.
But now they stood back to back, facing, in wide-eyed amazement111, the very evidently hostile demonstrations112 of a common enemy.
Both men and women were armed with long-swords and daggers113, but no firearms were in evidence, else it had been short shrift for the gruesome plant men of Barsoom.
Presently the leader of the plant men charged the little party, and his method of attack was as remarkable as it was effective, and by its very strangeness was the more potent114, since in the science of the green warriors there was no defence for this singular manner of attack, the like of which it soon was evident to me they were as unfamiliar115 with as they were with the monstrosities which confronted them.
The plant man charged to within a dozen feet of the party and then, with a bound, rose as though to pass directly above their heads. His powerful tail was raised high to one side, and as he passed close above them he brought it down in one terrific sweep that crushed a green warrior109's skull116 as though it had been an eggshell.
The balance of the frightful117 herd was now circling rapidly and with bewildering speed about the little knot of victims. Their prodigious bounds and the shrill118, screeching119 purr of their uncanny mouths were well calculated to confuse and terrorize their prey120, so that as two of them leaped simultaneously121 from either side, the mighty sweep of those awful tails met with no resistance and two more green Martians went down to an ignoble122 death.
There were now but one warrior and two females left, and it seemed that it could be but a matter of seconds ere these, also, lay dead upon the scarlet sward.
But as two more of the plant men charged, the warrior, who was now prepared by the experiences of the past few minutes, swung his mighty long-sword aloft and met the hurtling bulk with a clean cut that clove123 one of the plant men from chin to groin.
The other, however, dealt a single blow with his cruel tail that laid both of the females crushed corpses124 upon the ground.
As the green warrior saw the last of his companions go down and at the same time perceived that the entire herd was charging him in a body, he rushed boldly to meet them, swinging his long-sword in the terrific manner that I had so often seen the men of his kind wield125 it in their ferocious126 and almost continual warfare127 among their own race.
Cutting and hewing128 to right and left, he laid an open path straight through the advancing plant men, and then commenced a mad race for the forest, in the shelter of which he evidently hoped that he might find a haven129 of refuge.
He had turned for that portion of the forest which abutted130 on the cliffs, and thus the mad race was taking the entire party farther and farther from the boulder where I lay concealed131.
As I had watched the noble fight which the great warrior had put up against such enormous odds132 my heart had swelled133 in admiration for him, and acting134 as I am wont135 to do, more upon impulse than after mature deliberation, I instantly sprang from my sheltering rock and bounded quickly toward the bodies of the dead green Martians, a well-defined plan of action already formed.
Half a dozen great leaps brought me to the spot, and another instant saw me again in my stride in quick pursuit of the hideous monsters that were rapidly gaining on the fleeing warrior, but this time I grasped a mighty long-sword in my hand and in my heart was the old blood lust43 of the fighting man, and a red mist swam before my eyes and I felt my lips respond to my heart in the old smile that has ever marked me in the midst of the joy of battle.
Swift as I was I was none too soon, for the green warrior had been overtaken ere he had made half the distance to the forest, and now he stood with his back to a boulder, while the herd, temporarily balked136, hissed137 and screeched138 about him.
With their single eyes in the centre of their heads and every eye turned upon their prey, they did not note my soundless approach, so that I was upon them with my great long-sword and four of them lay dead ere they knew that I was among them.
For an instant they recoiled139 before my terrific onslaught, and in that instant the green warrior rose to the occasion and, springing to my side, laid to the right and left of him as I had never seen but one other warrior do, with great circling strokes that formed a figure eight about him and that never stopped until none stood living to oppose him, his keen blade passing through flesh and bone and metal as though each had been alike thin air.
As we bent140 to the slaughter141, far above us rose that shrill, weird cry which I had heard once before, and which had called the herd to the attack upon their victims. Again and again it rose, but we were too much engaged with the fierce and powerful creatures about us to attempt to search out even with our eyes the author of the horrid142 notes.
Great tails lashed143 in frenzied144 anger about us, razor-like talons cut our limbs and bodies, and a green and sticky syrup145, such as oozes146 from a crushed caterpillar147, smeared148 us from head to foot, for every cut and thrust of our longswords brought spurts149 of this stuff upon us from the severed150 arteries151 of the plant men, through which it courses in its sluggish152 viscidity in lieu of blood.
Once I felt the great weight of one of the monsters upon my back and as keen talons sank into my flesh I experienced the frightful sensation of moist lips sucking the lifeblood from the wounds to which the claws still clung.
I was very much engaged with a ferocious fellow who was endeavouring to reach my throat from in front, while two more, one on either side, were lashing153 viciously at me with their tails.
The green warrior was much put to it to hold his own, and I felt that the unequal struggle could last but a moment longer when the huge fellow discovered my plight154, and tearing himself from those that surrounded him, he raked the assailant from my back with a single sweep of his blade, and thus relieved I had little difficulty with the others.
Once together, we stood almost back to back against the great boulder, and thus the creatures were prevented from soaring above us to deliver their deadly blows, and as we were easily their match while they remained upon the ground, we were making great headway in dispatching what remained of them when our attention was again attracted by the shrill wail of the caller above our heads.
This time I glanced up, and far above us upon a little natural balcony on the face of the cliff stood a strange figure of a man shrieking out his shrill signal, the while he waved one hand in the direction of the river's mouth as though beckoning155 to some one there, and with the other pointed156 and gesticulated toward us.
A glance in the direction toward which he was looking was sufficient to apprise157 me of his aims and at the same time to fill me with the dread158 of dire25 apprehension159, for, streaming in from all directions across the meadow, from out of the forest, and from the far distance of the flat land across the river, I could see converging160 upon us a hundred different lines of wildly leaping creatures such as we were now engaged with, and with them some strange new monsters which ran with great swiftness, now erect and now upon all fours.
"It will be a great death," I said to my companion. "Look!"
As he shot a quick glance in the direction I indicated he smiled.
"We may at least die fighting and as great warriors should, John Carter," he replied.
We had just finished the last of our immediate antagonists161 as he spoke162, and I turned in surprised wonderment at the sound of my name.
And there before my astonished eyes I beheld the greatest of the green men of Barsoom; their shrewdest statesman, their mightiest163 general, my great and good friend, Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark.
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1
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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nausea
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| n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶) | |
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7
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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8
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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10
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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11
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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12
taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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23
attuning
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| v.使协调( attune的现在分词 )；调音 | |
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pruning
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| n.修枝，剪枝，修剪v.修剪（树木等）( prune的现在分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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39
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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40
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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41
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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42
variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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43
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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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
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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49
bluffs
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| 恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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51
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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52
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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53
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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54
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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55
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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56
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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57
sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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58
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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59
cursory
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| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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60
travesty
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| n.歪曲，嘲弄，滑稽化 | |
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61
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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62
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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63
iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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64
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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65
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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67
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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68
writhe
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| vt.挣扎，痛苦地扭曲；vi.扭曲，翻腾，受苦；n.翻腾，苦恼 | |
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69
wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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70
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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71
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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72
talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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73
tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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74
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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75
replicas
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| n.复制品( replica的名词复数 ) | |
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76
dangled
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| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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77
scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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78
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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79
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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80
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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81
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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82
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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83
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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84
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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85
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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86
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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87
sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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88
locomotion
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| n.运动，移动 | |
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89
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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90
athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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91
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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92
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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93
ravages
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| 劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹 | |
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94
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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95
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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96
hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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97
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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98
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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99
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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100
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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101
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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102
laterally
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| ad.横向地；侧面地；旁边地 | |
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103
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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104
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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105
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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106
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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107
tars
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| 焦油，沥青，柏油( tar的名词复数 ) | |
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108
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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109
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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110
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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111
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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112
demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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113
daggers
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| 匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 ) | |
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114
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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115
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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116
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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117
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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118
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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119
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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120
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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121
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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122
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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123
clove
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| n.丁香味 | |
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124
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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125
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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126
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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127
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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128
hewing
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的现在分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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129
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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130
abutted
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| v.（与…）邻接( abut的过去式和过去分词 )；（与…）毗连；接触；倚靠 | |
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131
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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132
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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133
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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134
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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135
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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136
balked
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| v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑 | |
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137
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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138
screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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139
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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140
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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141
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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142
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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143
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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144
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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145
syrup
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| n.糖浆，糖水 | |
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146
oozes
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的第三人称单数 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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147
caterpillar
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| n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫 | |
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148
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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149
spurts
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| 短暂而突然的活动或努力( spurt的名词复数 )； 突然奋起 | |
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150
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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151
arteries
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| n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道 | |
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152
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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153
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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154
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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155
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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156
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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157
apprise
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| vt.通知，告知 | |
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158
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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159
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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160
converging
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| adj.收敛[缩]的，会聚的，趋同的v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的现在分词 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集 | |
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161
antagonists
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| 对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药 | |
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162
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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163
mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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