In the open plain beyond the forest the hunters were returning from the day's sport. They were widely separated, hoping to raise a wandering lion on the homeward journey across the plain. The Hon. Morison Baynes rode closest to the forest. As his eyes wandered back and forth9 across the undulating, shrub10 sprinkled ground they fell upon the form of a creature close beside the thick jungle where it terminated abruptly11 at the plain's edge.
He reined12 his mount in the direction of his discovery. It was yet too far away for his untrained eyes to recognize it; but as he came closer he saw that it was a horse, and was about to resume the original direction of his way when he thought that he discerned a saddle upon the beast's back. He rode a little closer. Yes, the animal was saddled. The Hon. Morison approached yet nearer, and as he did so his eyes expressed a pleasurable emotion of anticipation13, for they had now recognized the pony14 as the special favorite of Meriem.
He galloped15 to the animal's side. Meriem must be within the wood. The man shuddered16 a little at the thought of an unprotected girl alone in the jungle that was still, to him, a fearful place of terrors and stealthily stalking death. He dismounted and left his horse beside Meriem's. On foot he entered the jungle. He knew that she was probably safe enough and he wished to surprise her by coming suddenly upon her.
He had gone but a short distance into the wood when he heard a great jabbering17 in a near-by tree. Coming closer he saw a band of baboons snarling18 over something. Looking intently he saw that one of them held a woman's riding skirt and that others had boots and stockings. His heart almost ceased to beat as he quite naturally placed the most direful explanation upon the scene. The baboons had killed Meriem and stripped this clothing from her body. Morison shuddered.
He was about to call aloud in the hope that after all the girl still lived when he saw her in a tree close beside that was occupied by the baboons, and now he saw that they were snarling and jabbering at her. To his amazement19 he saw the girl swing, ape-like, into the tree below the huge beasts. He saw her pause upon a branch a few feet from the nearest baboon5. He was about to raise his rifle and put a bullet through the hideous20 creature that seemed about to leap upon her when he heard the girl speak. He almost dropped his rifle from surprise as a strange jabbering, identical with that of the apes, broke from Meriem's lips.
The baboons stopped their snarling and listened. It was quite evident that they were as much surprised as the Hon. Morison Baynes. Slowly and one by one they approached the girl. She gave not the slightest evidence of fear of them. They quite surrounded her now so that Baynes could not have fired without endangering the girl's life; but he no longer desired to fire. He was consumed with curiosity.
For several minutes the girl carried on what could be nothing less than a conversation with the baboons, and then with seeming alacrity21 every article of her apparel in their possession was handed over to her. The baboons still crowded eagerly about her as she donned them. They chattered22 to her and she chattered back. The Hon. Morison Baynes sat down at the foot of a tree and mopped his perspiring23 brow. Then he rose and made his way back to his mount.
When Meriem emerged from the forest a few minutes later she found him there, and he eyed her with wide eyes in which were both wonder and a sort of terror.
"I saw your horse here," he explained, "and thought that I would wait and ride home with you—you do not mind?"
"Of course not," she replied. "It will be lovely."
As they made their way stirrup to stirrup across the plain the Hon. Morison caught himself many times watching the girl's regular profile and wondering if his eyes had deceived him or if, in truth, he really had seen this lovely creature consorting24 with grotesque25 baboons and conversing26 with them as fluently as she conversed27 with him. The thing was uncanny—impossible; yet he had seen it with his own eyes.
And as he watched her another thought persisted in obtruding28 itself into his mind. She was most beautiful and very desirable; but what did he know of her? Was she not altogether impossible? Was the scene that he had but just witnessed not sufficient proof of her impossibility? A woman who climbed trees and conversed with the baboons of the jungle! It was quite horrible!
Again the Hon. Morison mopped his brow. Meriem glanced toward him.
"You are warm," she said. "Now that the sun is setting I find it quite cool. Why do you perspire29 now?"
He had not intended to let her know that he had seen her with the baboons; but quite suddenly, before he realized what he was saying, he had blurted30 it out.
"I perspire from emotion," he said. "I went into the jungle when I discovered your pony. I wanted to surprise you; but it was I who was surprised. I saw you in the trees with the baboons."
"Yes?" she said quite unemotionally, as though it was a matter of little moment that a young girl should be upon intimate terms with savage31 jungle beasts.
"It was horrible!" ejaculated the Hon. Morison.
"Horrible?" repeated Meriem, puckering32 her brows in bewilderment. "What was horrible about it? They are my friends. Is it horrible to talk with one's friends?"
"You were really talking with them, then?" cried the Hon. Morison. "You understood them and they understood you?"
"Certainly."
"But they are hideous creatures—degraded beasts of a lower order. How could you speak the language of beasts?"
"They are not hideous, and they are not degraded," replied Meriem. "Friends are never that. I lived among them for years before Bwana found me and brought me here. I scarce knew any other tongue than that of the mangani. Should I refuse to know them now simply because I happen, for the present, to live among humans?"
"For the present!" ejaculated the Hon. Morison. "You cannot mean that you expect to return to live among them? Come, come, what foolishness are we talking! The very idea! You are spoofing me, Miss Meriem. You have been kind to these baboons here and they know you and do not molest33 you; but that you once lived among them—no, that is preposterous34."
"But I did, though," insisted the girl, seeing the real horror that the man felt in the presence of such an idea reflected in his tone and manner, and rather enjoying baiting him still further. "Yes, I lived, almost naked, among the great apes and the lesser35 apes. I dwelt among the branches of the trees. I pounced36 upon the smaller prey37 and devoured38 it—raw. With Korak and A'ht I hunted the antelope39 and the boar, and I sat upon a tree limb and made faces at Numa, the lion, and threw sticks at him and annoyed him until he roared so terribly in his rage that the earth shook.
"And Korak built me a lair40 high among the branches of a mighty41 tree. He brought me fruits and flesh. He fought for me and was kind to me—until I came to Bwana and My Dear I do not recall that any other than Korak was ever kind to me." There was a wistful note in the girl's voice now and she had forgotten that she was bantering42 the Hon. Morison. She was thinking of Korak. She had not thought of him a great deal of late.
For a time both were silently absorbed in their own reflections as they rode on toward the bungalow43 of their host. The girl was thinking of a god-like figure, a leopard44 skin half concealing45 his smooth, brown hide as he leaped nimbly through the trees to lay an offering of food before her on his return from a successful hunt. Behind him, shaggy and powerful, swung a huge anthropoid46 ape, while she, Meriem, laughing and shouting her welcome, swung upon a swaying limb before the entrance to her sylvan47 bower48. It was a pretty picture as she recalled it. The other side seldom obtruded49 itself upon her memory—the long, black nights—the chill, terrible jungle nights—the cold and damp and discomfort50 of the rainy season—the hideous mouthings of the savage carnivora as they prowled through the Stygian darkness beneath—the constant menace of Sheeta, the panther, and Histah, the snake—the stinging insects—the loathesome vermin. For, in truth, all these had been outweighed51 by the happiness of the sunny days, the freedom of it all, and, most, the companionship of Korak.
The man's thoughts were rather jumbled52. He had suddenly realized that he had come mighty near falling in love with this girl of whom he had known nothing up to the previous moment when she had voluntarily revealed a portion of her past to him. The more he thought upon the matter the more evident it became to him that he had given her his love—that he had been upon the verge53 of offering her his honorable name. He trembled a little at the narrowness of his escape. Yet, he still loved her. There was no objection to that according to the ethics54 of the Hon. Morison Baynes and his kind. She was a meaner clay than he. He could no more have taken her in marriage than he could have taken one of her baboon friends, nor would she, of course, expect such an offer from him. To have his love would be sufficient honor for her—his name he would, naturally, bestow55 upon one in his own elevated social sphere.
A girl who had consorted56 with apes, who, according to her own admission, had lived almost naked among them, could have no considerable sense of the finer qualities of virtue57. The love that he would offer her, then, would, far from offending her, probably cover all that she might desire or expect.
The more the Hon. Morison Baynes thought upon the subject the more fully58 convinced he became that he was contemplating59 a most chivalrous60 and unselfish act. Europeans will better understand his point of view than Americans, poor, benighted61 provincials62, who are denied a true appreciation63 of caste and of the fact that "the king can do no wrong." He did not even have to argue the point that she would be much happier amidst the luxuries of a London apartment, fortified64 as she would be by both his love and his bank account, than lawfully65 wed6 to such a one as her social position warranted. There was one question however, which he wished to have definitely answered before he committed himself even to the program he was considering.
"Who were Korak and A'ht?" he asked.
"A'ht was a Mangani," replied Meriem, "and Korak a Tarmangani."
"And what, pray, might a Mangani be, and a Tarmangani?"
The girl laughed.
"You are a Tarmangani," she replied. "The Mangani are covered with hair—you would call them apes."
"Then Korak was a white man?" he asked.
"Yes."
"And he was—ah—your—er—your—?" He paused, for he found it rather difficult to go on with that line of questioning while the girl's clear, beautiful eyes were looking straight into his.
"My what?" insisted Meriem, far too unsophisticated in her unspoiled innocence66 to guess what the Hon. Morison was driving at.
"Why—ah—your brother?" he stumbled.
"No, Korak was not my brother," she replied.
"Was he your husband, then?" he finally blurted.
"My husband!" she cried. "Why how old do you think I am? I am too young to have a husband. I had never thought of such a thing. Korak was—why—," and now she hesitated, too, for she never before had attempted to analyse the relationship that existed between herself and Korak—"why, Korak was just Korak," and again she broke into a gay laugh as she realized the illuminating68 quality of her description.
Looking at her and listening to her the man beside her could not believe that depravity of any sort or degree entered into the girl's nature, yet he wanted to believe that she had not been virtuous69, for otherwise his task was less a sinecure—the Hon. Morison was not entirely70 without conscience.
For several days the Hon. Morison made no appreciable71 progress toward the consummation of his scheme. Sometimes he almost abandoned it for he found himself time and again wondering how slight might be the provocation72 necessary to trick him into making a bona-fide offer of marriage to Meriem if he permitted himself to fall more deeply in love with her, and it was difficult to see her daily and not love her. There was a quality about her which, all unknown to the Hon. Morison, was making his task an extremely difficult one—it was that quality of innate73 goodness and cleanness which is a good girl's stoutest74 bulwark75 and protection—an impregnable barrier that only degeneracy has the effrontery76 to assail77. The Hon. Morison Baynes would never be considered a degenerate78.
He was sitting with Meriem upon the verandah one evening after the others had retired79. Earlier they had been playing tennis—a game in which the Hon. Morison shone to advantage, as, in truth, he did in most all manly80 sports. He was telling Meriem stories of London and Paris, of balls and banquets, of the wonderful women and their wonderful gowns, of the pleasures and pastimes of the rich and powerful. The Hon. Morison was a past master in the art of insidious81 boasting. His egotism was never flagrant or tiresome—he was never crude in it, for crudeness was a plebeianism that the Hon. Morison studiously avoided, yet the impression derived82 by a listener to the Hon. Morison was one that was not at all calculated to detract from the glory of the house of Baynes, or from that of its representative.
Meriem was entranced. His tales were like fairy stories to this little jungle maid. The Hon. Morison loomed83 large and wonderful and magnificent in her mind's eye. He fascinated her, and when he drew closer to her after a short silence and took her hand she thrilled as one might thrill beneath the touch of a deity—a thrill of exaltation not unmixed with fear.
"Meriem!" he whispered. "My little Meriem! May I hope to have the right to call you 'my little Meriem'?"
The girl turned wide eyes upward to his face; but it was in shadow. She trembled but she did not draw away. The man put an arm about her and drew her closer.
"I love you!" he whispered.
She did not reply. She did not know what to say. She knew nothing of love. She had never given it a thought; but she did know that it was very nice to be loved, whatever it meant. It was nice to have people kind to one. She had known so little of kindness or affection.
"Tell me," he said, "that you return my love."
His lips came steadily85 closer to hers. They had almost touched when a vision of Korak sprang like a miracle before her eyes. She saw Korak's face close to hers, she felt his lips hot against hers, and then for the first time in her life she guessed what love meant. She drew away, gently.
"I am not sure," she said, "that I love you. Let us wait. There is plenty of time. I am too young to marry yet, and I am not sure that I should be happy in London or Paris—they rather frighten me."
How easily and naturally she had connected his avowal86 of love with the idea of marriage! The Hon. Morison was perfectly87 sure that he had not mentioned marriage—he had been particularly careful not to do so. And then she was not sure that she loved him! That, too, came rather in the nature of a shock to his vanity. It seemed incredible that this little barbarian88 should have any doubts whatever as to the desirability of the Hon. Morison Baynes.
The first flush of passion cooled, the Hon. Morison was enabled to reason more logically. The start had been all wrong. It would be better now to wait and prepare her mind gradually for the only proposition which his exalted89 estate would permit him to offer her. He would go slow. He glanced down at the girl's profile. It was bathed in the silvery light of the great tropic moon. The Hon. Morison Baynes wondered if it were to be so easy a matter to "go slow." She was most alluring90.
Meriem rose. The vision of Korak was still before her.
"Good night," she said. "It is almost too beautiful to leave," she waved her hand in a comprehensive gesture which took in the starry91 heavens, the great moon, the broad, silvered plain, and the dense92 shadows in the distance, that marked the jungle. "Oh, how I love it!"
"You would love London more," he said earnestly. "And London would love you. You would be a famous beauty in any capital of Europe. You would have the world at your feet, Meriem."
"Good night!" she repeated, and left him.
The Hon. Morison selected a cigarette from his crested93 case, lighted it, blew a thin line of blue smoke toward the moon, and smiled.
点击收听单词发音
1 blithely | |
adv.欢乐地,快活地,无挂虑地 | |
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2 disporting | |
v.嬉戏,玩乐,自娱( disport的现在分词 ) | |
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3 belongings | |
n.私人物品,私人财物 | |
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4 baboons | |
n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 ) | |
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5 baboon | |
n.狒狒 | |
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6 wed | |
v.娶,嫁,与…结婚 | |
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7 fangs | |
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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8 growled | |
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说 | |
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9 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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10 shrub | |
n.灌木,灌木丛 | |
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11 abruptly | |
adv.突然地,出其不意地 | |
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12 reined | |
勒缰绳使(马)停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 ); 驾驭; 严格控制; 加强管理 | |
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13 anticipation | |
n.预期,预料,期望 | |
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14 pony | |
adj.小型的;n.小马 | |
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15 galloped | |
(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事 | |
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16 shuddered | |
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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17 jabbering | |
v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的现在分词 );急促兴奋地说话;结结巴巴 | |
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18 snarling | |
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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19 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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20 hideous | |
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的 | |
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21 alacrity | |
n.敏捷,轻快,乐意 | |
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22 chattered | |
(人)喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 ); 唠叨; (牙齿)打战; (机器)震颤 | |
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23 perspiring | |
v.出汗,流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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24 consorting | |
v.结伴( consort的现在分词 );交往;相称;调和 | |
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25 grotesque | |
adj.怪诞的,丑陋的;n.怪诞的图案,怪人(物) | |
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26 conversing | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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27 conversed | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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28 obtruding | |
v.强行向前,强行,强迫( obtrude的现在分词 ) | |
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29 perspire | |
vi.出汗,流汗 | |
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30 blurted | |
v.突然说出,脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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32 puckering | |
v.(使某物)起褶子或皱纹( pucker的现在分词 );小褶纹;小褶皱 | |
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33 molest | |
vt.骚扰,干扰,调戏 | |
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34 preposterous | |
adj.荒谬的,可笑的 | |
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35 lesser | |
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地 | |
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36 pounced | |
v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 );猛扑;一眼看出;抓住机会(进行抨击) | |
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37 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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38 devoured | |
吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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39 antelope | |
n.羚羊;羚羊皮 | |
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40 lair | |
n.野兽的巢穴;躲藏处 | |
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41 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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42 bantering | |
adj.嘲弄的v.开玩笑,说笑,逗乐( banter的现在分词 );(善意地)取笑,逗弄 | |
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43 bungalow | |
n.平房,周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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44 leopard | |
n.豹 | |
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45 concealing | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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46 anthropoid | |
adj.像人类的,类人猿的;n.类人猿;像猿的人 | |
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47 sylvan | |
adj.森林的 | |
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48 bower | |
n.凉亭,树荫下凉快之处;闺房;v.荫蔽 | |
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49 obtruded | |
v.强行向前,强行,强迫( obtrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50 discomfort | |
n.不舒服,不安,难过,困难,不方便 | |
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51 outweighed | |
v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 );在重要性或价值方面超过 | |
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52 jumbled | |
adj.混乱的;杂乱的 | |
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53 verge | |
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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54 ethics | |
n.伦理学;伦理观,道德标准 | |
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55 bestow | |
v.把…赠与,把…授予;花费 | |
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56 consorted | |
v.结伴( consort的过去式和过去分词 );交往;相称;调和 | |
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57 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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58 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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59 contemplating | |
深思,细想,仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 ); 注视,凝视; 考虑接受(发生某事的可能性); 深思熟虑,沉思,苦思冥想 | |
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60 chivalrous | |
adj.武士精神的;对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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61 benighted | |
adj.蒙昧的 | |
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62 provincials | |
n.首都以外的人,地区居民( provincial的名词复数 ) | |
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63 appreciation | |
n.评价;欣赏;感谢;领会,理解;价格上涨 | |
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64 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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65 lawfully | |
adv.守法地,合法地;合理地 | |
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66 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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67 offense | |
n.犯规,违法行为;冒犯,得罪 | |
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68 illuminating | |
a.富于启发性的,有助阐明的 | |
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69 virtuous | |
adj.有品德的,善良的,贞洁的,有效力的 | |
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70 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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71 appreciable | |
adj.明显的,可见的,可估量的,可觉察的 | |
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72 provocation | |
n.激怒,刺激,挑拨,挑衅的事物,激怒的原因 | |
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73 innate | |
adj.天生的,固有的,天赋的 | |
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74 stoutest | |
粗壮的( stout的最高级 ); 结实的; 坚固的; 坚定的 | |
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75 bulwark | |
n.堡垒,保障,防御 | |
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76 effrontery | |
n.厚颜无耻 | |
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77 assail | |
v.猛烈攻击,抨击,痛斥 | |
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78 degenerate | |
v.退步,堕落;adj.退步的,堕落的;n.堕落者 | |
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79 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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80 manly | |
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地 | |
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81 insidious | |
adj.阴险的,隐匿的,暗中为害的,(疾病)不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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82 derived | |
vi.起源;由来;衍生;导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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83 loomed | |
v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近 | |
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84 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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85 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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86 avowal | |
n.公开宣称,坦白承认 | |
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87 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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88 barbarian | |
n.野蛮人;adj.野蛮(人)的;未开化的 | |
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89 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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90 alluring | |
adj.吸引人的,迷人的 | |
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91 starry | |
adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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92 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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93 crested | |
adj.有顶饰的,有纹章的,有冠毛的v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的过去式和过去分词 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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