As I rose to my feet I glanced hurriedly about the chamber3 in which I had just encountered such a warm reception. The prisoners and the savage4 brutes5 rested in their chains by the opposite wall eyeing me with varying expressions of curiosity, sullen6 rage, surprise, and hope.
The latter emotion seemed plainly evident upon the handsome and intelligent face of the young red Martian woman whose cry of warning had been instrumental in saving my life.
She was the perfect type of that remarkably7 beautiful race whose outward appearance is identical with the more god-like races of Earth men, except that this higher race of Martians is of a light reddish copper8 colour. As she was entirely9 unadorned I could not even guess her station in life, though it was evident that she was either a prisoner or slave in her present environment.
It was several seconds before the sounds upon the opposite side of the partition jolted10 my slowly returning faculties11 into a realization13 of their probable import, and then of a sudden I grasped the fact that they were caused by Tars14 Tarkas in what was evidently a desperate struggle with wild beasts or savage men.
With a cry of encouragement I threw my weight against the secret door, but as well have assayed the down-hurling of the cliffs themselves. Then I sought feverishly16 for the secret of the revolving17 panel, but my search was fruitless, and I was about to raise my longsword against the sullen gold when the young woman prisoner called out to me.
"Save thy sword, O Mighty18 Warrior19, for thou shalt need it more where it will avail to some purpose—shatter it not against senseless metal which yields better to the lightest finger touch of one who knows its secret."
"Know you the secret of it then?" I asked.
"Yes; release me and I will give you entrance to the other horror chamber, if you wish. The keys to my fetters20 are upon the first dead of thy foemen. But why would you return to face again the fierce banth, or whatever other form of destruction they have loosed within that awful trap?"
"Because my friend fights there alone," I answered, as I hastily sought and found the keys upon the carcass of the dead custodian21 of this grim chamber of horrors.
There were many keys upon the oval ring, but the fair Martian maid quickly selected that which sprung the great lock at her waist, and freed she hurried toward the secret panel.
Again she sought out a key upon the ring. This time a slender, needle-like affair which she inserted in an almost invisible hole in the wall. Instantly the door swung upon its pivot22, and the contiguous section of the floor upon which I was standing23 carried me with it into the chamber where Tars Tarkas fought.
The great Thark stood with his back against an angle of the walls, while facing him in a semi-circle a half-dozen huge monsters crouched24 waiting for an opening. Their blood-streaked heads and shoulders testified to the cause of their wariness25 as well as to the swordsmanship of the green warrior whose glossy26 hide bore the same mute but eloquent27 witness to the ferocity of the attacks that he had so far withstood.
Sharp talons28 and cruel fangs29 had torn leg, arm, and breast literally30 to ribbons. So weak was he from continued exertion31 and loss of blood that but for the supporting wall I doubt that he even could have stood erect32. But with the tenacity33 and indomitable courage of his kind he still faced his cruel and relentless34 foes—the personification of that ancient proverb of his tribe: "Leave to a Thark his head and one hand and he may yet conquer."
As he saw me enter, a grim smile touched those grim lips of his, but whether the smile signified relief or merely amusement at the sight of my own bloody35 and dishevelled condition I do not know.
As I was about to spring into the conflict with my sharp long-sword I felt a gentle hand upon my shoulder and turning found, to my surprise, that the young woman had followed me into the chamber.
"Wait," she whispered, "leave them to me," and pushing me advanced, all defenceless and unarmed, upon the snarling banths.
When quite close to them she spoke36 a single Martian word in low but peremptory37 tones. Like lightning the great beasts wheeled upon her, and I looked to see her torn to pieces before I could reach her side, but instead the creatures slunk to her feet like puppies that expect a merited whipping.
Again she spoke to them, but in tones so low I could not catch the words, and then she started toward the opposite side of the chamber with the six mighty monsters trailing at heel. One by one she sent them through the secret panel into the room beyond, and when the last had passed from the chamber where we stood in wide-eyed amazement38 she turned and smiled at us and then herself passed through, leaving us alone.
For a moment neither of us spoke. Then Tars Tarkas said:
"I heard the fighting beyond the partition through which you passed, but I did not fear for you, John Carter, until I heard the report of a revolver shot. I knew that there lived no man upon all Barsoom who could face you with naked steel and live, but the shot stripped the last vestige40 of hope from me, since you I knew to be without firearms. Tell me of it."
I did as he bade, and then together we sought the secret panel through which I had just entered the apartment—the one at the opposite end of the room from that through which the girl had led her savage companions.
To our disappointment the panel eluded41 our every effort to negotiate its secret lock. We felt that once beyond it we might look with some little hope of success for a passage to the outside world.
The fact that the prisoners within were securely chained led us to believe that surely there must be an avenue of escape from the terrible creatures which inhabited this unspeakable place.
Again and again we turned from one door to another, from the baffling golden panel at one end of the chamber to its mate at the other—equally baffling.
When we had about given up all hope one of the panels turned silently toward us, and the young woman who had led away the banths stood once more beside us.
"Who are you?" she asked, "and what your mission, that you have the temerity42 to attempt to escape from the Valley Dor and the death you have chosen?"
"I have chosen no death, maiden43," I replied. "I am not of Barsoom, nor have I taken yet the voluntary pilgrimage upon the River Iss. My friend here is Jeddak of all the Tharks, and though he has not yet expressed a desire to return to the living world, I am taking him with me from the living lie that hath lured44 him to this frightful45 place.
"I am of another world. I am John Carter, Prince of the House of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium. Perchance some faint rumour46 of me may have leaked within the confines of your hellish abode47."
She smiled.
"Yes," she replied, "naught48 that passes in the world we have left is unknown here. I have heard of you, many years ago. The therns have ofttimes wondered whither you had flown, since you had neither taken the pilgrimage, nor could be found upon the face of Barsoom."
"Tell me," I said, "and who be you, and why a prisoner, yet with power over the ferocious49 beasts of the place that denotes familiarity and authority far beyond that which might be expected of a prisoner or a slave?"
"Slave I am," she answered. "For fifteen years a slave in this terrible place, and now that they have tired of me and become fearful of the power which my knowledge of their ways has given me I am but recently condemned50 to die the death."
"What death?" I asked.
"The Holy Therns eat human flesh," she answered me; "but only that which has died beneath the sucking lips of a plant man—flesh from which the defiling52 blood of life has been drawn53. And to this cruel end I have been condemned. It was to be within a few hours, had your advent54 not caused an interruption of their plans."
"Was it then Holy Therns who felt the weight of John Carter's hand?" I asked.
"Oh, no; those whom you laid low are lesser55 therns; but of the same cruel and hateful race. The Holy Therns abide56 upon the outer slopes of these grim hills, facing the broad world from which they harvest their victims and their spoils.
"Labyrinthine57 passages connect these caves with the luxurious58 palaces of the Holy Therns, and through them pass upon their many duties the lesser therns, and hordes59 of slaves, and prisoners, and fierce beasts; the grim inhabitants of this sunless world.
"There be within this vast network of winding60 passages and countless61 chambers62 men, women, and beasts who, born within its dim and gruesome underworld, have never seen the light of day—nor ever shall.
"They are kept to do the bidding of the race of therns; to furnish at once their sport and their sustenance63.
"Now and again some hapless pilgrim, drifting out upon the silent sea from the cold Iss, escapes the plant men and the great white apes that guard the Temple of Issus and falls into the remorseless clutches of the therns; or, as was my misfortune, is coveted64 by the Holy Thern who chances to be upon watch in the balcony above the river where it issues from the bowels65 of the mountains through the cliffs of gold to empty into the Lost Sea of Korus.
"All who reach the Valley Dor are, by custom, the rightful prey66 of the plant men and the apes, while their arms and ornaments67 become the portion of the therns; but if one escapes the terrible denizens68 of the valley for even a few hours the therns may claim such a one as their own. And again the Holy Thern on watch, should he see a victim he covets69, often tramples70 upon the rights of the unreasoning brutes of the valley and takes his prize by foul71 means if he cannot gain it by fair.
"It is said that occasionally some deluded72 victim of Barsoomian superstition73 will so far escape the clutches of the countless enemies that beset74 his path from the moment that he emerges from the subterranean75 passage through which the Iss flows for a thousand miles before it enters the Valley Dor as to reach the very walls of the Temple of Issus; but what fate awaits one there not even the Holy Therns may guess, for who has passed within those gilded76 walls never has returned to unfold the mysteries they have held since the beginning of time.
"The Temple of Issus is to the therns what the Valley Dor is imagined by the peoples of the outer world to be to them; it is the ultimate haven77 of peace, refuge, and happiness to which they pass after this life and wherein an eternity78 of eternities is spent amidst the delights of the flesh which appeal most strongly to this race of mental giants and moral pygmies."
"The Temple of Issus is, I take it, a heaven within a heaven," I said. "Let us hope that there it will be meted79 to the therns as they have meted it here unto others."
"Who knows?" the girl murmured.
"The therns, I judge from what you have said, are no less mortal than we; and yet have I always heard them spoken of with the utmost awe80 and reverence81 by the people of Barsoom, as one might speak of the gods themselves."
"The therns are mortal," she replied. "They die from the same causes as you or I might: those who do not live their allotted82 span of life, one thousand years, when by the authority of custom they may take their way in happiness through the long tunnel that leads to Issus.
"Those who die before are supposed to spend the balance of their allotted time in the image of a plant man, and it is for this reason that the plant men are held sacred by the therns, since they believe that each of these hideous83 creatures was formerly84 a thern."
"And should a plant man die?" I asked.
"Should he die before the expiration85 of the thousand years from the birth of the thern whose immortality86 abides87 within him then the soul passes into a great white ape, but should the ape die short of the exact hour that terminates the thousand years the soul is for ever lost and passes for all eternity into the carcass of the slimy and fearsome silians whose wriggling88 thousands seethe89 the silent sea beneath the hurtling moons when the sun has gone and strange shapes walk through the Valley Dor."
"We sent several Holy Therns to the silians to-day, then," said Tars Tarkas, laughing.
"And so will your death be the more terrible when it comes," said the maiden. "And come it will—you cannot escape."
"One has escaped, centuries ago," I reminded her, "and what has been done may be done again."
"It is useless even to try," she answered hopelessly.
"But try we shall," I cried, "and you shall go with us, if you wish."
"To be put to death by mine own people, and render my memory a disgrace to my family and my nation? A Prince of the House of Tardos Mors should know better than to suggest such a thing."
Tars Tarkas listened in silence, but I could feel his eyes riveted90 upon me and I knew that he awaited my answer as one might listen to the reading of his sentence by the foreman of a jury.
What I advised the girl to do would seal our fate as well, since if I bowed to the inevitable91 decree of age-old superstition we must all remain and meet our fate in some horrible form within this awful abode of horror and cruelty.
"We have the right to escape if we can," I answered. "Our own moral senses will not be offended if we succeed, for we know that the fabled92 life of love and peace in the blessed Valley of Dor is a rank and wicked deception93. We know that the valley is not sacred; we know that the Holy Therns are not holy; that they are a race of cruel and heartless mortals, knowing no more of the real life to come than we do.
"Not only is it our right to bend every effort to escape—it is a solemn duty from which we should not shrink even though we know that we should be reviled94 and tortured by our own peoples when we returned to them.
"Only thus may we carry the truth to those without, and though the likelihood of our narrative96 being given credence97 is, I grant you, remote, so wedded98 are mortals to their stupid infatuation for impossible superstitions99, we should be craven cowards indeed were we to shirk the plain duty which confronts us.
"Again there is a chance that with the weight of the testimony100 of several of us the truth of our statements may be accepted, and at least a compromise effected which will result in the dispatching of an expedition of investigation101 to this hideous mockery of heaven."
Both the girl and the green warrior stood silent in thought for some moments. The former it was who eventually broke the silence.
"Never had I considered the matter in that light before," she said. "Indeed would I give my life a thousand times if I could but save a single soul from the awful life that I have led in this cruel place. Yes, you are right, and I will go with you as far as we can go; but I doubt that we ever shall escape."
I turned an inquiring glance toward the Thark.
"To the gates of Issus, or to the bottom of Korus," spoke the green warrior; "to the snows to the north or to the snows to the south, Tars Tarkas follows where John Carter leads. I have spoken."
"Come, then," I cried, "we must make the start, for we could not be further from escape than we now are in the heart of this mountain and within the four walls of this chamber of death."
"Come, then," said the girl, "but do not flatter yourself that you can find no worse place than this within the territory of the therns."
So saying she swung the secret panel that separated us from the apartment in which I had found her, and we stepped through once more into the presence of the other prisoners.
There were in all ten red Martians, men and women, and when we had briefly102 explained our plan they decided103 to join forces with us, though it was evident that it was with some considerable misgivings104 that they thus tempted105 fate by opposing an ancient superstition, even though each knew through cruel experience the fallacy of its entire fabric106.
Thuvia, the girl whom I had first freed, soon had the others at liberty. Tars Tarkas and I stripped the bodies of the two therns of their weapons, which included swords, daggers107, and two revolvers of the curious and deadly type manufactured by the red Martians.
We distributed the weapons as far as they would go among our followers108, giving the firearms to two of the women; Thuvia being one so armed.
With the latter as our guide we set off rapidly but cautiously through a maze39 of passages, crossing great chambers hewn from the solid metal of the cliff, following winding corridors, ascending109 steep inclines, and now and again concealing110 ourselves in dark recesses111 at the sound of approaching footsteps.
Our destination, Thuvia said, was a distant storeroom where arms and ammunition112 in plenty might be found. From there she was to lead us to the summit of the cliffs, from where it would require both wondrous113 wit and mighty fighting to win our way through the very heart of the stronghold of the Holy Therns to the world without.
"And even then, O Prince," she cried, "the arm of the Holy Thern is long. It reaches to every nation of Barsoom. His secret temples are hidden in the heart of every community. Wherever we go should we escape we shall find that word of our coming has preceded us, and death awaits us before we may pollute the air with our blasphemies114."
We had proceeded for possibly an hour without serious interruption, and Thuvia had just whispered to me that we were approaching our first destination, when on entering a great chamber we came upon a man, evidently a thern.
He wore in addition to his leathern trappings and jewelled ornaments a great circlet of gold about his brow in the exact centre of which was set an immense stone, the exact counterpart of that which I had seen upon the breast of the little old man at the atmosphere plant nearly twenty years before.
It is the one priceless jewel of Barsoom. Only two are known to exist, and these were worn as the insignia of their rank and position by the two old men in whose charge was placed the operation of the great engines which pump the artificial atmosphere to all parts of Mars from the huge atmosphere plant, the secret to whose mighty portals placed in my possession the ability to save from immediate115 extinction116 the life of a whole world.
The stone worn by the thern who confronted us was of about the same size as that which I had seen before; an inch in diameter I should say. It scintillated117 nine different and distinct rays; the seven primary colours of our earthly prism and the two rays which are unknown upon Earth, but whose wondrous beauty is indescribable.
"Stop!" he cried. "What means this, Thuvia?"
For answer the girl raised her revolver and fired point-blank at him. Without a sound he sank to the earth, dead.
Then as she turned toward me, evidently with a word of explanation on her lips, her eyes suddenly widened as they rested upon me, and with a little exclamation120 she started toward me.
"O Prince," she cried, "Fate is indeed kind to us. The way is still difficult, but through this vile95 thing upon the floor we may yet win to the outer world. Notest thou not the remarkable121 resemblance between this Holy Thern and thyself?"
The man was indeed of my precise stature122, nor were his eyes and features unlike mine; but his hair was a mass of flowing yellow locks, like those of the two I had killed, while mine is black and close cropped.
"What of the resemblance?" I asked the girl Thuvia. "Do you wish me with my black, short hair to pose as a yellow-haired priest of this infernal cult12?"
She smiled, and for answer approached the body of the man she had slain123, and kneeling beside it removed the circlet of gold from the forehead, and then to my utter amazement lifted the entire scalp bodily from the corpse's head.
Rising, she advanced to my side and placing the yellow wig124 over my black hair, crowned me with the golden circlet set with the magnificent gem15.
"Now don his harness, Prince," she said, "and you may pass where you will in the realms of the therns, for Sator Throg was a Holy Thern of the Tenth Cycle, and mighty among his kind."
As I stooped to the dead man to do her bidding I noted125 that not a hair grew upon his head, which was quite as bald as an egg.
"They are all thus from birth," explained Thuvia noting my surprise. "The race from which they sprang were crowned with a luxuriant growth of golden hair, but for many ages the present race has been entirely bald. The wig, however, has come to be a part of their apparel, and so important a part do they consider it that it is cause for the deepest disgrace were a thern to appear in public without it."
At Thuvia's suggestion two of the released prisoners bore the body of the dead thern upon their shoulders with us as we continued our journey toward the storeroom, which we reached without further mishap127.
Here the keys which Thuvia bore from the dead thern of the prison vault128 were the means of giving us immediate entrance to the chamber, and very quickly we were thoroughly129 outfitted130 with arms and ammunition.
By this time I was so thoroughly fagged out that I could go no further, so I threw myself upon the floor, bidding Tars Tarkas to do likewise, and cautioning two of the released prisoners to keep careful watch.
In an instant I was asleep.
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1
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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2
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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3
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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4
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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7
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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8
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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9
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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10
jolted
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| （使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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12
cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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13
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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14
tars
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| 焦油，沥青，柏油( tar的名词复数 ) | |
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15
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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18
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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21
custodian
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| n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守 | |
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pivot
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| v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的 | |
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23
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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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wariness
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| n. 注意,小心 | |
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26
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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27
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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28
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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29
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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30
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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31
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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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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tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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34
relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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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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37
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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38
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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39
maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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40
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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41
eluded
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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42
temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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43
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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44
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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45
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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46
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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47
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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48
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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49
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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50
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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51
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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52
defiling
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| v.玷污( defile的现在分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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53
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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54
advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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55
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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56
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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57
labyrinthine
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| adj.如迷宫的；复杂的 | |
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58
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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59
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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60
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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61
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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62
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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63
sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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64
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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65
bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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66
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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67
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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68
denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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69
covets
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| v.贪求，觊觎( covet的第三人称单数 ) | |
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70
tramples
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| 踩( trample的第三人称单数 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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71
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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72
deluded
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| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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74
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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75
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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76
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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77
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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78
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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79
meted
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| v.（对某人）施以，给予（处罚等）( mete的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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81
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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82
allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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83
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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84
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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85
expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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86
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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87
abides
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| 容忍( abide的第三人称单数 )； 等候； 逗留； 停留 | |
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88
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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89
seethe
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| vi.拥挤，云集；发怒，激动，骚动 | |
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90
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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91
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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92
fabled
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| adj.寓言中的，虚构的 | |
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93
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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94
reviled
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| v.辱骂，痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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96
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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97
credence
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| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
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98
wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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100
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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101
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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102
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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103
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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104
misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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105
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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106
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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107
daggers
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| 匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 ) | |
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108
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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109
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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110
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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111
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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112
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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113
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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114
blasphemies
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| n.对上帝的亵渎，亵渎的言词[行为]( blasphemy的名词复数 )；侮慢的言词（或行为） | |
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115
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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116
extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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117
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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118
slits
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| n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子 | |
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119
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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120
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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121
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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122
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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123
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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124
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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125
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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126
garbed
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| v.（尤指某类人穿的特定）服装，衣服，制服( garb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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127
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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128
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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129
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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130
outfitted
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| v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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