The country began to change at last, and we wound up out of the level plain through mighty2 mountains of virgin3 granite4. The tropical verdure of the lowlands was replaced by hardier5 vegetation, but even here the effects of constant heat and light were apparent in the immensity of the trees and the profusion6 of foliage7 and blooms. Crystal streams roared through their rocky channels, fed by the perpetual snows which we could see far above us. Above the snowcapped heights hung masses of heavy clouds. It was these, Perry explained, which evidently served the double purpose of replenishing the melting snows and protecting them from the direct rays of the sun.
By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard8 language in which our guards addressed us, as well as making good headway in the rather charming tongue of our co-captives. Directly ahead of me in the chain gang was a young woman. Three feet of chain linked us together in a forced companionship which I, at least, soon rejoiced in. For I found her a willing teacher, and from her I learned the language of her tribe, and much of the life and customs of the inner world—at least that part of it with which she was familiar.
She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, and that she belonged to the tribe of Amoz, which dwells in the cliffs above the Darel Az, or shallow sea.
"How came you here?" I asked her.
"I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she answered, as though that was explanation quite sufficient.
"Who is Jubal the Ugly One?" I asked. "And why did you run away from him?"
She looked at me in surprise.
"Why DOES a woman run away from a man?" she answered my question with another.
"They do not, where I come from," I replied. "Sometimes they run after them."
But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp the fact that I was of another world. She was quite as positive that creation was originated solely10 to produce her own kind and the world she lived in as are many of the outer world.
"But Jubal," I insisted. "Tell me about him, and why you ran away to be chained by the neck and scourged11 across the face of a world."
"Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy12 before my father's house. It was the head of a mighty tandor. It remained there and no greater trophy was placed beside it. So I knew that Jubal the Ugly One would come and take me as his mate. None other so powerful wished me, or they would have slain13 a mightier14 beast and thus have won me from Jubal. My father is not a mighty hunter. Once he was, but a sadok tossed him, and never again had he the full use of his right arm. My brother, Dacor the Strong One, had gone to the land of Sari to steal a mate for himself. Thus there was none, father, brother, or lover, to save me from Jubal the Ugly One, and I ran away and hid among the hills that skirt the land of Amoz. And there these Sagoths found me and made me captive."
"What will they do with you?" I asked. "Where are they taking us?"
Again she looked her incredulity.
"I can almost believe that you are of another world," she said, "for otherwise such ignorance were inexplicable15. Do you really mean that you do not know that the Sagoths are the creatures of the Mahars—the mighty Mahars who think they own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows upon its surface, or creeps or burrows16 beneath, or swims within its lakes and oceans, or flies through its air? Next you will be telling me that you never before heard of the Mahars!"
I was loath17 to do it, and further incur18 her scorn; but there was no alternative if I were to absorb knowledge, so I made a clean breast of my pitiful ignorance as to the mighty Mahars. She was shocked. But she did her very best to enlighten me, though much that she said was as Greek would have been to her. She described the Mahars largely by comparisons. In this way they were like unto thipdars, in that to the hairless lidi.
About all I gleaned19 of them was that they were quite hideous20, had wings, and webbed feet; lived in cities built beneath the ground; could swim under water for great distances, and were very, very wise. The Sagoths were their weapons of offense21 and defense22, and the races like herself were their hands and feet—they were the slaves and servants who did all the manual labor23. The Mahars were the heads—the brains—of the inner world. I longed to see this wondrous24 race of supermen.
Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we occasionally did, though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, he would join in the conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who was chained just ahead of Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was Hooja the Sly One. He too entered the conversation occasionally. Most of his remarks were directed toward Dian the Beautiful. It didn't take half an eye to see that he had developed a bad case; but the girl appeared totally oblivious25 to his thinly veiled advances. Did I say thinly veiled? There is a race of men in New Zealand, or Australia, I have forgotten which, who indicate their preference for the lady of their affections by banging her over the head with a bludgeon. By comparison with this method Hooja's lovemaking might be called thinly veiled. At first it caused me to blush violently although I have seen several Old Years out at Rectors, and in other less fashionable places off Broadway, and in Vienna, and Hamburg.
But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she considered herself as entirely26 above and apart from her present surroundings and company. She talked with me, and with Perry, and with the taciturn Ghak because we were respectful; but she couldn't even see Hooja the Sly One, much less hear him, and that made him furious. He tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl up ahead of him in the slave gang, but the fellow only poked27 him with his spear and told him that he had selected the girl for his own property—that he would buy her from the Mahars as soon as they reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, was the city of our destination.
After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a salt sea, upon whose bosom28 swam countless29 horrid30 things. Seal-like creatures there were with long necks stretching ten and more feet above their enormous bodies and whose snake heads were split with gaping31 mouths bristling32 with countless fangs33. There were huge tortoises too, paddling about among these other reptiles34, which Perry said were Plesiosaurs of the Lias. I didn't question his veracity—they might have been most anything.
Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, and that the other, and more fearsome reptiles, which occasionally rose from the deep to do battle with them, were azdyryths, or sea-dyryths—Perry called them Ichthyosaurs. They resembled a whale with the head of an alligator35.
I had forgotten what little geology I had studied at school—about all that remained was an impression of horror that the illustrations of restored prehistoric36 monsters had made upon me, and a well-defined belief that any man with a pig's shank and a vivid imagination could "restore" most any sort of paleolithic monster he saw fit, and take rank as a first class paleontologist. But when I saw these sleek37, shiny carcasses shimmering38 in the sunlight as they emerged from the ocean, shaking their giant heads; when I saw the waters roll from their sinuous39 bodies in miniature waterfalls as they glided40 hither and thither41, now upon the surface, now half submerged; as I saw them meet, open-mouthed, hissing42 and snorting, in their titanic43 and interminable warring I realized how futile44 is man's poor, weak imagination by comparison with Nature's incredible genius.
And Perry! He was absolutely flabbergasted. He said so himself.
"David," he remarked, after we had marched for a long time beside that awful sea. "David, I used to teach geology, and I thought that I believed what I taught; but now I see that I did not believe it—that it is impossible for man to believe such things as these unless he sees them with his own eyes. We take things for granted, perhaps, because we are told them over and over again, and have no way of disproving them—like religions, for example; but we don't believe them, we only think we do. If you ever get back to the outer world you will find that the geologists45 and paleontologists will be the first to set you down a liar9, for they know that no such creatures as they restore ever existed. It is all right to IMAGINE them as existing in an equally imaginary epoch—but now? poof!"
At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough slack chain to permit him to worm himself back quite close to Dian. We were all standing46, and as he edged near the girl she turned her back upon him in such a truly earthly feminine manner that I could scarce repress a smile; but it was a short-lived smile for on the instant the Sly One's hand fell upon the girl's bare arm, jerking her roughly toward him.
I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics47 which prevailed within Pellucidar; but even so I did not need the appealing look which the girl shot to me from her magnificent eyes to influence my subsequent act. What the Sly One's intention was I paused not to inquire; but instead, before he could lay hold of her with his other hand, I placed a right to the point of his jaw48 that felled him in his tracks.
A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners and the Sagoths who had witnessed the brief drama; not, as I later learned, because I had championed the girl, but for the neat and, to them, astounding49 method by which I had bested Hooja.
And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering eyes, and then she dropped her head, her face half averted50, and a delicate flush suffused51 her cheek. For a moment she stood thus in silence, and then her head went high, and she turned her back upon me as she had upon Hooja. Some of the prisoners laughed, and I saw the face of Ghak the Hairy One go very black as he looked at me searchingly. And what I could see of Dian's cheek went suddenly from red to white.
Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I realized that in some way I had offended Dian the Beautiful I could not prevail upon her to talk with me that I might learn wherein I had erred—in fact I might quite as well have been addressing a sphinx for all the attention I got. At last my own foolish pride stepped in and prevented my making any further attempts, and thus a companionship that without my realizing it had come to mean a great deal to me was cut off. Thereafter I confined my conversation to Perry. Hooja did not renew his advances toward the girl, nor did he again venture near me.
Again the weary and apparently52 interminable marching became a perfect nightmare of horrors to me. The more firmly fixed53 became the realization54 that the girl's friendship had meant so much to me, the more I came to miss it; and the more impregnable the barrier of silly pride. But I was very young and would not ask Ghak for the explanation which I was sure he could give, and that might have made everything all right again.
On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently to notice me—when her eyes wandered in my direction she looked either over my head or directly through me. At last I became desperate, and determined55 to swallow my self-esteem, and again beg her to tell me how I had offended, and how I might make reparation. I made up my mind that I should do this at the next halt. We were approaching another range of mountains at the time, and when we reached them, instead of winding56 across them through some high-flung pass we entered a mighty natural tunnel—a series of labyrinthine57 grottoes, dark as Erebus.
The guards had no torches or light of any description. In fact we had seen no artificial light or sign of fire since we had entered Pellucidar. In a land of perpetual noon there is no need of light above ground, yet I marveled that they had no means of lighting58 their way through these dark, subterranean59 passages. So we crept along at a snail's pace, with much stumbling and falling—the guards keeping up a singsong chant ahead of us, interspersed60 with certain high notes which I found always indicated rough places and turns.
Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak to Dian until I could see from the expression of her face how she was receiving my apologies. At last a faint glow ahead forewarned us of the end of the tunnel, for which I for one was devoutly61 thankful. Then at a sudden turn we emerged into the full light of the noonday sun.
But with it came a sudden realization of what meant to me a real catastrophe—Dian was gone, and with her a half-dozen other prisoners. The guards saw it too, and the ferocity of their rage was terrible to behold62. Their awesome63, bestial64 faces were contorted in the most diabolical65 expressions, as they accused each other of responsibility for the loss. Finally they fell upon us, beating us with their spear shafts66, and hatchets67. They had already killed two near the head of the line, and were like to have finished the balance of us when their leader finally put a stop to the brutal68 slaughter69. Never in all my life had I witnessed a more horrible exhibition of bestial rage—I thanked God that Dian had not been one of those left to endure it.
Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me each alternate one had been freed commencing with Dian. Hooja was gone. Ghak remained. What could it mean? How had it been accomplished70? The commander of the guards was investigating. Soon he discovered that the rude locks which had held the neckbands in place had been deftly71 picked.
"Hooja the Sly One," murmured Ghak, who was now next to me in line. "He has taken the girl that you would not have," he continued, glancing at me.
"That I would not have!" I cried. "What do you mean?"
He looked at me closely for a moment.
"I have doubted your story that you are from another world," he said at last, "but yet upon no other grounds could your ignorance of the ways of Pellucidar be explained. Do you really mean that you do not know that you offended the Beautiful One, and how?"
"I do not know, Ghak," I replied.
"Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar intervenes between another man and the woman the other man would have, the woman belongs to the victor. Dian the Beautiful belongs to you. You should have claimed her or released her. Had you taken her hand, it would have indicated your desire to make her your mate, and had you raised her hand above her head and then dropped it, it would have meant that you did not wish her for a mate and that you released her from all obligation to you. By doing neither you have put upon her the greatest affront72 that a man may put upon a woman. Now she is your slave. No man will take her as mate, or may take her honorably, until he shall have overcome you in combat, and men do not choose slave women as their mates—at least not the men of Pellucidar."
"I did not know, Ghak," I cried. "I did not know. Not for all Pellucidar would I have harmed Dian the Beautiful by word, or look, or act of mine. I do not want her as my slave. I do not want her as my—" but here I stopped. The vision of that sweet and innocent face floated before me amidst the soft mists of imagination, and where I had on the second believed that I clung only to the memory of a gentle friendship I had lost, yet now it seemed that it would have been disloyalty to her to have said that I did not want Dian the Beautiful as my mate. I had not thought of her except as a welcome friend in a strange, cruel world. Even now I did not think that I loved her.
I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my expression than in my words, for presently he laid his hand upon my shoulder.
"Man of another world," he said, "I believe you. Lips may lie, but when the heart speaks through the eyes it tells only the truth. Your heart has spoken to me. I know now that you meant no affront to Dian the Beautiful. She is not of my tribe; but her mother is my sister. She does not know it—her mother was stolen by Dian's father who came with many others of the tribe of Amoz to battle with us for our women—the most beautiful women of Pellucidar. Then was her father king of Amoz, and her mother was daughter of the king of Sari—to whose power I, his son, have succeeded. Dian is the daughter of kings, though her father is no longer king since the sadok tossed him and Jubal the Ugly One wrested73 his kingship from him. Because of her lineage the wrong you did her was greatly magnified in the eyes of all who saw it. She will never forgive you."
I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I could release the girl from the bondage74 and ignominy I had unwittingly placed upon her.
"If ever you find her, yes," he answered. "Merely to raise her hand above her head and drop it in the presence of others is sufficient to release her; but how may you ever find her, you who are doomed75 to a life of slavery yourself in the buried city of Phutra?"
"Is there no escape?" I asked.
"Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him," replied Ghak. "But there are no more dark places on the way to Phutra, and once there it is not so easy—the Mahars are very wise. Even if one escaped from Phutra there are the thipdars—they would find you, and then—" the Hairy One shuddered76. "No, you will never escape the Mahars."
It was a cheerful prospect77. I asked Perry what he thought about it; but he only shrugged78 his shoulders and continued a longwinded prayer he had been at for some time. He was wont79 to say that the only redeeming80 feature of our captivity81 was the ample time it gave him for the improvisation82 of prayers—it was becoming an obsession83 with him. The Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit of declaiming throughout entire marches. One of them asked him what he was saying—to whom he was talking. The question gave me an idea, so I answered quickly before Perry could say anything.
"Do not interrupt him," I said. "He is a very holy man in the world from which we come. He is speaking to spirits which you cannot see—do not interrupt him or they will spring out of the air upon you and rend84 you limb from limb—like that," and I jumped toward the great brute85 with a loud "Boo!" that sent him stumbling backward.
I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make any capital out of Perry's harmless mania86 I wanted to make it while the making was prime. It worked splendidly. The Sagoths treated us both with marked respect during the balance of the journey, and then passed the word along to their masters, the Mahars.
Two marches after this episode we came to the city of Phutra. The entrance to it was marked by two lofty towers of granite, which guarded a flight of steps leading to the buried city. Sagoths were on guard here as well as at a hundred or more other towers scattered87 about over a large plain.
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1 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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2 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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3 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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4 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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5 hardier | |
能吃苦耐劳的,坚强的( hardy的比较级 ); (植物等)耐寒的 | |
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6 profusion | |
n.挥霍;丰富 | |
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7 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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8 bastard | |
n.坏蛋,混蛋;私生子 | |
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9 liar | |
n.说谎的人 | |
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10 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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11 scourged | |
鞭打( scourge的过去式和过去分词 ); 惩罚,压迫 | |
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12 trophy | |
n.优胜旗,奖品,奖杯,战胜品,纪念品 | |
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13 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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14 mightier | |
adj. 强有力的,强大的,巨大的 adv. 很,极其 | |
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15 inexplicable | |
adj.无法解释的,难理解的 | |
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16 burrows | |
n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘(洞穴),挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 );翻寻 | |
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17 loath | |
adj.不愿意的;勉强的 | |
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18 incur | |
vt.招致,蒙受,遭遇 | |
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19 gleaned | |
v.一点点地收集(资料、事实)( glean的过去式和过去分词 );(收割后)拾穗 | |
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20 hideous | |
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的 | |
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21 offense | |
n.犯规,违法行为;冒犯,得罪 | |
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22 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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23 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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24 wondrous | |
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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25 oblivious | |
adj.易忘的,遗忘的,忘却的,健忘的 | |
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26 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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27 poked | |
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交 | |
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28 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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29 countless | |
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
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30 horrid | |
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的 | |
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31 gaping | |
adj.口的;张口的;敞口的;多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 );张开,张大 | |
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32 bristling | |
a.竖立的 | |
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33 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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34 reptiles | |
n.爬行动物,爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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35 alligator | |
n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼) | |
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36 prehistoric | |
adj.(有记载的)历史以前的,史前的,古老的 | |
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37 sleek | |
adj.光滑的,井然有序的;v.使光滑,梳拢 | |
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38 shimmering | |
v.闪闪发光,发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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39 sinuous | |
adj.蜿蜒的,迂回的 | |
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40 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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41 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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42 hissing | |
n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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43 titanic | |
adj.巨人的,庞大的,强大的 | |
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44 futile | |
adj.无效的,无用的,无希望的 | |
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45 geologists | |
地质学家,地质学者( geologist的名词复数 ) | |
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46 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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47 ethics | |
n.伦理学;伦理观,道德标准 | |
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48 jaw | |
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训 | |
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49 astounding | |
adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊,使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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50 averted | |
防止,避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 ); 转移 | |
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51 suffused | |
v.(指颜色、水气等)弥漫于,布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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53 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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54 realization | |
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解 | |
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55 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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56 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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57 labyrinthine | |
adj.如迷宫的;复杂的 | |
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58 lighting | |
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光 | |
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59 subterranean | |
adj.地下的,地表下的 | |
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60 interspersed | |
adj.[医]散开的;点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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61 devoutly | |
adv.虔诚地,虔敬地,衷心地 | |
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62 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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63 awesome | |
adj.令人惊叹的,难得吓人的,很好的 | |
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64 bestial | |
adj.残忍的;野蛮的 | |
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65 diabolical | |
adj.恶魔似的,凶暴的 | |
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66 shafts | |
n.轴( shaft的名词复数 );(箭、高尔夫球棒等的)杆;通风井;一阵(疼痛、害怕等) | |
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67 hatchets | |
n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 );恶毒攻击;诽谤;休战 | |
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68 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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69 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
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70 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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71 deftly | |
adv.灵巧地,熟练地,敏捷地 | |
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72 affront | |
n./v.侮辱,触怒 | |
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73 wrested | |
(用力)拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 ); 费力取得; (从…)攫取; ( 从… ) 强行取去… | |
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74 bondage | |
n.奴役,束缚 | |
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75 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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76 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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77 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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78 shrugged | |
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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79 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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80 redeeming | |
补偿的,弥补的 | |
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81 captivity | |
n.囚禁;被俘;束缚 | |
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82 improvisation | |
n.即席演奏(或演唱);即兴创作 | |
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83 obsession | |
n.困扰,无法摆脱的思想(或情感) | |
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84 rend | |
vt.把…撕开,割裂;把…揪下来,强行夺取 | |
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85 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
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86 mania | |
n.疯狂;躁狂症,狂热,癖好 | |
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87 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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