Whatever was found new in Lazarus' face and gestures was thought to be some trace of a grave illness and of the shocks recently experienced. Evidently, the destruction wrought9 by death on the corpse10 was only arrested by the miraculous6 power, but its effects were still apparent; and what death had succeeded in doing with Lazarus' face and body, was like an artist's unfinished sketch11 seen under thin glass. On Lazarus' temples, under his eyes, and in the hollows of his cheeks, lay a deep and cadaverous blueness; cadaverously blue also were his long fingers, and around his fingernails, grown long in the grave, the blue had become purple and dark. On his lips the skin, swollen12 in the grave, had burst in places, and thin, reddish cracks were formed, shining as though covered with transparent13 mica14. And he had grown stout15. His body, puffed16 up in the grave, retained its monstrous17 size and showed those frightful18 swellings, in which one sensed the presence of the rank liquid of decomposition19. But the heavy corpse-like odor which penetrated20 Lazarus' graveclothes and, it seemed, his very body, soon entirely21 disappeared, the blue spots on his face and hands grew paler, and the reddish cracks closed up, although they never disappeared altogether. That is how Lazarus looked when he appeared before people, in his second life, but his face looked natural to those who had seen him in the coffin22.
In addition to the changes in his appearance, Lazarus' temper seemed to have undergone a transformation23, but this circumstance startled no one and attracted no attention. Before his death Lazarus had always been cheerful and carefree, fond of laughter and a merry joke. It was because of this brightness and cheerfulness, with not a touch of malice24 and darkness, that the Master had grown so fond of him. But now Lazarus had grown grave and taciturn, he never jested, himself, nor responded with laughter to other people's jokes; and the words which he uttered, very infrequently, were the plainest, most ordinary, and necessary words, as deprived of depth and significance, as those sounds with which animals express pain and pleasure, thirst and hunger. They were the words that one can say all one's life, and yet they give no indication of what pains and gladdens the depths of the soul.
Thus, with the face of a corpse which for three days had been under the heavy sway of death, dark and taciturn, already appallingly25 transformed, but still unrecognized by anyone in his new self, he was sitting at the feasting table, among friends and relatives, and his gorgeous nuptial26 garments glittered with yellow gold and bloody27 scarlet28. Broad waves of jubilation29, now soft, now tempestuously30 sonorous31 surged around him; warm glances of love were reaching out for his face, still cold with the coldness of the grave; and a friend's warm palm caressed his blue, heavy hand. And music played the tympanum and the pipe, the cithara and the harp32. It was as though bees hummed, grasshoppers33 chirped34 and birds warbled over the happy house of Mary and Martha.

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1
dwelling
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n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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2
sinister
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adj.不吉利的,凶恶的,左边的 | |
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3
caressed
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爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
solicitude
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n.焦虑 | |
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5
miraculously
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ad.奇迹般地 | |
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6
miraculous
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adj.像奇迹一样的,不可思议的 | |
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7
serene
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adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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8
tempestuous
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adj.狂暴的 | |
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9
wrought
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v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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10
corpse
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n.尸体,死尸 | |
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11
sketch
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n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述 | |
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12
swollen
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adj.肿大的,水涨的;v.使变大,肿胀 | |
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13
transparent
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adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的 | |
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14
mica
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n.云母 | |
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16
puffed
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adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧 | |
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17
monstrous
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adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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18
frightful
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adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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19
decomposition
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n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃 | |
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20
penetrated
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adj. 击穿的,鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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21
entirely
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ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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22
coffin
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n.棺材,灵柩 | |
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23
transformation
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n.变化;改造;转变 | |
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24
malice
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n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋 | |
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25
appallingly
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毛骨悚然地 | |
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26
nuptial
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adj.婚姻的,婚礼的 | |
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27
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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28
scarlet
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n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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29
jubilation
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n.欢庆,喜悦 | |
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30
tempestuously
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adv.剧烈地,暴风雨似地 | |
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31
sonorous
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adj.响亮的,回响的;adv.圆润低沉地;感人地;n.感人,堂皇 | |
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32
harp
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n.竖琴;天琴座 | |
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33
grasshoppers
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n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 );蝗虫;蚂蚱;(孩子)矮小的 | |
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34
chirped
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鸟叫,虫鸣( chirp的过去式 ) | |
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