Lyra had to adjust to her new sense of her own story, and that couldn't be done in a day. To see Lord Asriel as her father was one thing, but to accept Mrs. Coulter as her mother was nowhere near so easy. A couple of months ago she would have rejoiced, of course, and she knew that too, and felt confused.
But, being Lyra, she didn't fret1 about it for long, for there was the fen2 town to explore and many gyptian children to amaze. Before the three days were up she was an expert with a punt (in her eyes, at least) and she'd gathered a gang of urchins3 about her with tales of her mighty4 father, so unjustly made captive.
"And then one evening the Turkish Ambassador was a guest at Jordan for dinner. And he was under orders from the Sultan hisself to kill my father, right, and he had a ring on his finger with a hollow stone full of poison. And when the wine come round he made as if to reach across my father's glass, and he sprinkled the poison in. It was done so quick that no one else saw him, but-"
"What sort of poison?" demanded a thin-faced girl.
"Poison out of a special Turkish serpent," Lyra invented, "what they catch by playing a pipe to lure6 out and then they throw it a sponge soaked in honey and the serpent bites it and can't get his fangs7 free, and they catch it and milk the venom8 out of it. Anyway, my father seen what the Turk done, and he says, Gentlemen, I want to propose a toast of friendship between Jordan College and the College of Izmir, which was the college the Turkish Ambassador belonged to. And to show our willingness to be friends, he says, we'll swap9 glasses and drink each other's wine.
"And the Ambassador was in a fix then, 'cause he couldn't refuse to drink without giving deadly insult, and he couldn't drink it because he knew it was poisoned. He went pale and he fainted right away at the table. And when he come round they was all still sitting there, waiting and looking at him. And then he had to either drink the poison or own up."
"So what did he do?"
"He drunk it. It took him five whole minutes to die, and he was in torment10 all the time."
"Did you see it happen?"
"No, 'cause girls en't allowed at the High Table. But I seen his body afterwards when they laid him out. His skin was all withered11 like an old apple, and his eyes were starting from his head. In fact, they had to push 'em back in the sockets12...."
And so on.
Meanwhile, around the edges of the fen country, the police were knocking at doors, searching attics13 and outhouses, inspecting papers and interrogating14 everyone who claimed to have seen a blond little girl; and in Oxford15 the search was even fiercer. Jordan College was scoured16 from the dustiest boxroom to the darkest cellar, and so were Gabriel and St. Michael's, till the heads of all the colleges issued a joint17 protest asserting their ancient rights. The only notion Lyra had of the search for her was the incessant18 drone of the gas engines of airships crisscrossing the skies. They weren't visible, because the clouds were low and by statute19 airships had to keep a certain height above fen country, but who knew what cunning spy devices they might carry? Best to keep under cover when she heard them, or wear the oilskin sou'wester over her bright distinctive20 hair.
And she questioned Ma Costa about every detail of the story of her birth. She wove the details into a mental tapestry21 even clearer and sharper than the stories she made up, and lived over and over again the flight from the cottage, the concealment22 in the closet, the harsh-voiced challenge, the clash of swords-
"Swords? Great God, girl, you dreaming?" Ma Costa said. "Mr. Coulter had a gun, and Lord Asriel knocked it out his hand and struck him down with one blow. Then there was two shots. I wonder you don't remember; you ought to, little as you were. The first shot was Edward Coulter, who reached his gun and fired, and the second was Lord Asriel, who tore it out his grasp a second time and turned it on him. Shot him right between the eyes and dashed his brains out. Then he says cool as paint, 'Come out, Mrs. Costa, and bring the baby,' because you were setting up such a howl, you and that daemon both; and he took you up and dandled you and sat you on his shoulders, walking up and down in high good humor with the dead man at his feet, and called for wine and bade me swab the floor."
By the end of the fourth repetition of the story Lyra was perfectly23 convinced she did remember it, and even volunteered details of the color of Mr. Coulter's coat and the cloaks and furs hanging in the closet. Ma Costa laughed.
And whenever she was alone, Lyra took out the alethiome-ter and pored over it like a lover with a picture of the beloved. So each image had several meanings, did it? Why shouldn't she work them out? Wasn't she Lord Asriel's daughter?
Remembering what Farder Coram had said, she tried to focus her mind on three symbols taken at random24, and clicked the hands round to point at them, and found that if she held the alethiometer just so in her palms and gazed at it in a particular lazy way, as she thought of it, the long needle
would begin to move more purposefully. Instead of its wayward divagations around the dial it swung smoothly25 from one picture to another. Sometimes it would pause at three, sometimes two, sometimes five or more, and although she understood nothing of it, she gained a deep calm enjoyment26 from it, unlike anything she'd known. Pantalaimon would crouch27 over the dial, sometimes as a cat, sometimes as a mouse, swinging his head round after the needle; and once or twice the two of them shared a glimpse of meaning that felt as if a shaft28 of sunlight had struck through clouds to light up a majestic29 line of great hills in the distance-something far beyond, and never suspected. And Lyra thrilled at those times with the same deep thrill she'd felt all her life on hearing the word North.
So the three days passed, with much coming and going between the multitude of boats and the Zaal. And then came the evening of the second roping. The hall was more crowded than before, if that was possible. Lyra and the Costas got there in time to sit at the front, and as soon as the flickering30 lights showed that the place was crammed31, John Faa and Farder Coram came out on the platform and sat behind the table. John Faa didn't have to make a sign for silence; he just put his great hands flat on the table and looked at the people below, and the hubbub32 died.
"Well," he said, "you done what I asked. And better than I hoped. I'm a going to call on the heads of the six families now to come up here and give over their gold and recount their promises. Nicholas Rokeby, you come first."
A stout33 black-bearded man climbed onto the platform and laid a heavy leather bag on the table.
"That's our gold," he said. "And we offer thirty-eight men."
"Thank you, Nicholas," said John Faa. Farder Coram was making a note. The first man stood at the back of the platform as John Faa called for the next, and the next, and each came up, laid a bag on the table, and announced the number of men he could muster34. The Costas were part of the Stefanski family, and naturally Tony had been one of the first to volunteer. Lyra noticed his hawk35 daemon shifting from foot to foot and spreading her wings as the Stefanski money and the promise of twenty-three men were laid before John Faa.
When the six family heads had all come up, Farder Coram showed his piece of paper to John Faa, who stood up to address the audience again.
"Friends, that's a muster of one hundred and seventy men. I thank you proudly. As for the gold, I make no doubt from the weight of it that you've all dug deep in your coffers, and my warm thanks go out for that as well.
"What we're a going to do next is this. We're a going to charter a ship and sail north, and find them kids and set 'em free. From what we know, there might be some fighting to do. It won't be the first time, nor it won't be the last, but we never had to fight yet with people who kidnap children, and we shall have to be uncommon36 cunning. But we en't going to come back without our kids. Yes, Dirk Vries?"
A man stood up and said, "Lord Faa, do you know why they captured them kids?"
"We heard it's a theological matter. They're making an experiment, but what nature it is we don't know. To tell you all the truth, we don't even know whether any harm is a coming to 'em. But whatever it is, good or bad, they got no right to reach out by night and pluck little children out the hearts of their families. Yes, Raymond van Gerrit?"
The man who'd spoken at the first meeting stood up and said, "That child, Lord Faa, the one you spoke37 of as being sought, the one as is sitting in the front row now. I heard as all the folk living around the edge of the fens38 is having their
houses turned upside down on her account. I heard there's a move in Parliament this very day to rescind39 our ancient privileges on account of this child. Yes, friends," he said, over the babble40 of shocked whispers, "they're a going to pass a law doing away with our right to free movement in and out the fens. Now, Lord Faa, what we want to know is this: who is this child on account of which we might come to such a pass? She en't a gyptian child, not as I heard. How comes it that a landloper child can put us all in danger?"
Lyra looked up at John Faa's massive frame. Her heart was thumping41 so much she could hardly hear the first words of his reply.
"Now spell it out, Raymond, don't be shy," he said. "You want us to give this child up to them she's a fleeing from, is that right?"
The man stood obstinately42 frowning, but said nothing.
"Well, perhaps you would, and perhaps you wouldn't," John Faa continued. "But if any man or woman needs a reason for doing good, ponder on this. That little girl is the daughter of Lord Asriel, no less. For them as has forgotten, it were Lord Asriel who interceded43 with the Turk for the life of Sam Broekman. It were Lord Asriel who allowed gyptian boats free passage on the canals through his property. It were Lord Asriel who defeated the Watercourse Bill in Parliament, to our great and lasting44 benefit. And it were Lord Asriel who fought day and night in the floods of '53, and plunged45 headlong in the water twice to pull out young Ruud and Nellie Koopman. You forgotten that? Shame, shame on you, shame.
"And now that same Lord Asriel is held in the farthest coldest darkest regions of the wild, captive, in the fortress46 of Svalbard. Do I need to tell you the kind of creatures a guarding him there? And this is his little daughter in our care, and Raymond van Gerrit would hand her over to the authorities for a bit of peace and quiet. Is that right, Raymond? Stand up and answer, man."
But Raymond van Gerrit had sunk to his seat, and nothing would make him stand. A low hiss5 of disapproval47 sounded through the great hall, and Lyra felt the shame he must be feeling, as well as a deep glow of pride in her brave father.
John Faa turned away, and looked at the other men on the platform.
"Nicholas Rokeby, I'm a putting you in charge of finding a vessel48, and commanding her once we sail. Adam Stefanski, I want you to take charge of the arms and munitions49, and command the fighting. Roger van Poppel, you look to all the other stores, from food to cold-weather clothing. Simon Hartmann, you be treasurer50, and account to us all for a proper apportionment of our gold. Benjamin de Ruyter, I want you to take charge of spying. There's a great deal we ought to find out, and I'm a giving you the charge of that, and you'll report to Farder Coram. Michael Canzona, you're going to be responsible for coordinating51 the first four leaders' work, and you'll report to me, and if I die, you're my second in command and you'll take over.
"Now I've made my dispositions52 according to custom, and if any man or woman seeks to disagree, they may do so freely."
After a moment a woman stood up.
"Lord Faa, en't you a taking any women on this expedition to look after them kids once you found 'em?"
"No, Nell. We shall have little space as it is. Any kids we free will be better off in our care than where they've been."
"But supposing you find out that you can't rescue 'em without some women in disguise as guards or nurses or whatever?"
"Well, I hadn't thought of that," John Faa admitted. "We'll consider that most carefully when we retire into the parley53 room, you have my promise."
She sat down and a man stood up.
"Lord Faa, I heard you say that Lord Asriel is in captivity54. Is it part of your plan to rescue him? Because if it is, and if he's in the power of them bears as I think you said, that's going to need more than a hundred and seventy men. And good friend as Lord Asriel is to us, I don't know as there's any call on us to go as far as that."
"Adriaan Braks, you're not wrong. What I had it in my mind to do was to keep our eyes and ears open and see what knowledge we can glean55 while we're in the North. It may be that we can do something to help him, and it may not, but you can trust me not to use what you've provided, man and gold, for any purpose outside the stated one of finding our children and bringing 'em home."
Another woman stood up.
"Lord Faa, we don't know what them Gobblers might've been doing to our children. We all heard rumors56 and stories of fearful things. We hear about children with no heads, or about children cut in half and sewn together, or about things too awful to mention. I'm truly sorry to distress57 anyone, but we all heard this kind of thing, and I want to get it out in the open. Now in case you find anything of that awful kind, Lord Faa, I hope you're a going to take powerful revenge. I hope you en't going to let thoughts of mercy and gentleness hold your hand back from striking and striking hard, and delivering a mighty blow to the heart of that infernal wickedness. And I'm sure I speak for any mother as has lost a child to the Gobblers."
There was a loud murmur58 of agreement as she sat down. Heads were nodding all over the Zaal.
John Faa waited for silence, and said:
"Nothing will hold my hand, Margaret, save only judgment59. If I stay my hand in the North, it will only be to strike the harder in the South. To strike a day too soon is as bad as striking a hundred miles off. To be sure, there's a warm passion behind what you say. But if you give in to that passion, friends, you're a doing what I always warned you agin: you're a placing the satisfaction of your own feelings above the work you have to do. Our work here is first rescue, then punishment. It en't gratification for upset feelings. Our feelings don't matter. If we rescue the kids but we can't punish the Gobblers, we've done the main task. But if we aim to punish the Gobblers first and by doing so lose the chance of rescuing the kids, we've failed.
"But be assured of this, Margaret. When the time comes to punish, we shall strike such a blow as'll make their hearts faint and fearful. We shall strike the strength out of 'em. We shall leave them ruined and wasted, broken and shattered, torn in a thousand pieces and scattered60 to the four winds. Don't you worry that John Faa's heart is too soft to strike a blow when the time comes. And the time will come under judgment. Not under passion.
"Is there anyone else who wants to speak? Speak if you will."
But no one did, and presently John Faa reached for the closing bell and rang it hard and loud, swinging it high and shaking the peals61 out of it so that they filled the hall and rang the rafters.
John Faa and the other men left the platform for the parley room. Lyra was a little disappointed. Didn't they want her there too? But Tony laughed.
"They got plans to make," he said. "You done your part, Lyra. Now it's for John Faa and the council."
"But I en't done nothing yet!" Lyra protested, as she followed the others reluctantly out of the hall and down the cobbled road toward the jetty. "All I done was run away from Mrs. Coulter! That's just a beginning. I want to go north!"
"Tell you what," said Tony, "I'll bring you back a walrus62 tooth, that's what I'll do."
Lyra scowled63. For his part, Pantalaimon occupied himself by making monkey faces at Tony's daemon, who closed her tawny64 eyes in disdain65. Lyra drifted to the jetty and hung about with her new companions, dangling66 lanterns on strings67 over the black water to attract the goggle-eyed fishes who swam slowly up to be lunged at with sharp sticks and missed.
But her mind was on John Faa and the parley room, and before long she slipped away up the cobbles again to the Zaal. There was a light in the parley room window. It was too high to look through, but she could hear a low rumble68 of voices inside.
So she walked up to the door and knocked on it firmly five times. The voices stopped, a chair scraped across the floor, and the door opened, spilling warm naphtha light out on the damp step.
"Yes?" said the man who'd opened it.
Beyond him Lyra could see the other men around the table, with bags of gold stacked neatly69, and papers and pens, and glasses and a crock of jenniver.
"I want to come north," Lyra said so they could all hear it. "I want to come and help rescue the kids. That's what I set out to do when I run away from Mrs. Coulter. And before that, even, I meant to rescue my friend Roger the kitchen boy from Jordan who was took. I want to come and help. I can do navigation and I can take anbaromagnetic readings off the Aurora70, and I know what parts of a bear you can eat, and all kind of useful things. You'd be sorry if you got up there and then found you needed me and found you'd left me behind. And like that woman said, you might need women to play a part-well, you might need kids too. You don't know. So you oughter take me, Lord Faa, excuse me for interrupting your talk."
She was inside the room now, and all the men and their daemons were watching her, some with amusement and some with irritation71, but she had eyes only for John Faa. Pantalaimon sat up in her arms, his wildcat eyes blazing green.
John Faa said, "Lyra, there en't no question of taking you into danger, so don't delude72 yourself, child. Stay here and help Ma Costa and keep safe. That's what you got to do."
"But I'm learning how to read the alethiometer, too. It's coming clearer every day! You're bound to need that-bound to!"
He shook his head.
"No," he said. "I know your heart was set on going north, but it's my belief not even Mrs. Coulter was going to take you. If you want to see the North, you'll have to wait till all this trouble's over. Now off you go."
Pantalaimon hissed73 quietly, but John Faa's daemon took off from the back of his chair and flew at them with black wings, not threateningly, but like a reminder74 of good manners; and Lyra turned on her heel as the crow glided75 over her head and wheeled back to John Faa. The door shut behind her with a decisive click.
"We will go," she said to Pantalaimon. "Let 'em try to stop us. We will!"
1 fret | |
v.(使)烦恼;(使)焦急;(使)腐蚀,(使)磨损 | |
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2 fen | |
n.沼泽,沼池 | |
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3 urchins | |
n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 );淘气鬼;猬;海胆 | |
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4 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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5 hiss | |
v.发出嘶嘶声;发嘘声表示不满 | |
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6 lure | |
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引 | |
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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 venom | |
n.毒液,恶毒,痛恨 | |
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9 swap | |
n.交换;vt.交换,用...作交易 | |
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10 torment | |
n.折磨;令人痛苦的东西(人);vt.折磨;纠缠 | |
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11 withered | |
adj. 枯萎的,干瘪的,(人身体的部分器官)因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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12 sockets | |
n.套接字,使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 );孔( socket的名词复数 );(电器上的)插口;托座;凹穴 | |
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13 attics | |
n. 阁楼 | |
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14 interrogating | |
n.询问技术v.询问( interrogate的现在分词 );审问;(在计算机或其他机器上)查询 | |
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15 Oxford | |
n.牛津(英国城市) | |
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16 scoured | |
走遍(某地)搜寻(人或物)( scour的过去式和过去分词 ); (用力)刷; 擦净; 擦亮 | |
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17 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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18 incessant | |
adj.不停的,连续的 | |
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19 statute | |
n.成文法,法令,法规;章程,规则,条例 | |
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20 distinctive | |
adj.特别的,有特色的,与众不同的 | |
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21 tapestry | |
n.挂毯,丰富多采的画面 | |
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22 concealment | |
n.隐藏, 掩盖,隐瞒 | |
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23 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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24 random | |
adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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25 smoothly | |
adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地 | |
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26 enjoyment | |
n.乐趣;享有;享用 | |
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27 crouch | |
v.蹲伏,蜷缩,低头弯腰;n.蹲伏 | |
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28 shaft | |
n.(工具的)柄,杆状物 | |
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29 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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30 flickering | |
adj.闪烁的,摇曳的,一闪一闪的 | |
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31 crammed | |
adj.塞满的,挤满的;大口地吃;快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满;填入;临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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32 hubbub | |
n.嘈杂;骚乱 | |
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34 muster | |
v.集合,收集,鼓起,激起;n.集合,检阅,集合人员,点名册 | |
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35 hawk | |
n.鹰,骗子;鹰派成员 | |
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36 uncommon | |
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的 | |
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37 spoke | |
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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38 fens | |
n.(尤指英格兰东部的)沼泽地带( fen的名词复数 ) | |
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39 rescind | |
v.废除,取消 | |
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40 babble | |
v.含糊不清地说,胡言乱语地说,儿语 | |
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41 thumping | |
adj.重大的,巨大的;重击的;尺码大的;极好的adv.极端地;非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词);狠打;怦怦地跳;全力支持 | |
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42 obstinately | |
ad.固执地,顽固地 | |
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43 interceded | |
v.斡旋,调解( intercede的过去式和过去分词 );说情 | |
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44 lasting | |
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持 | |
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45 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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46 fortress | |
n.堡垒,防御工事 | |
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47 disapproval | |
n.反对,不赞成 | |
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48 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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49 munitions | |
n.军火,弹药;v.供应…军需品 | |
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50 treasurer | |
n.司库,财务主管 | |
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51 coordinating | |
v.使协调,使调和( coordinate的现在分词 );协调;协同;成为同等 | |
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52 dispositions | |
安排( disposition的名词复数 ); 倾向; (财产、金钱的)处置; 气质 | |
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53 parley | |
n.谈判 | |
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54 captivity | |
n.囚禁;被俘;束缚 | |
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55 glean | |
v.收集(消息、资料、情报等) | |
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56 rumors | |
n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷 | |
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57 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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58 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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59 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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60 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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61 peals | |
n.(声音大而持续或重复的)洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 );隆隆声;洪亮的钟声;钟乐v.(使)(钟等)鸣响,(雷等)发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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62 walrus | |
n.海象 | |
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63 scowled | |
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64 tawny | |
adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色 | |
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65 disdain | |
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑 | |
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66 dangling | |
悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 ); 摆动不定; 用某事物诱惑…; 吊胃口 | |
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67 strings | |
n.弦 | |
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68 rumble | |
n.隆隆声;吵嚷;v.隆隆响;低沉地说 | |
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69 neatly | |
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地 | |
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70 aurora | |
n.极光 | |
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71 irritation | |
n.激怒,恼怒,生气 | |
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72 delude | |
vt.欺骗;哄骗 | |
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73 hissed | |
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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74 reminder | |
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示 | |
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75 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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