If Philip and his friend had happened to pass through High Street, Marylebone, on their way to Thornhaugh Street to reconnoitre the Little Sister’s house, they would have seen the Reverend Mr. Hunt, in a very dirty, battered1, crestfallen2 and unsatisfactory state marching to Marylebone from the station, where the reverend gentleman had passed the night, and under the custody3 of the police. A convoy4 of street boys followed the prisoner and his guard, making sarcastic5 remarks on both. Hunt’s appearance was not improved since we had the pleasure of meeting him on the previous evening. With a grizzled beard and hair, a dingy6 face, a dingy shirt, and a countenance7 mottled with dirt and drink, we may fancy the reverend man passing in tattered8 raiment through the street to make his appearance before the magistrate9.
You have no doubt forgotten the narrative10 which appeared in the morning papers two days after the Thornhaugh Street incident, but my clerk has been at the pains to hunt up and copy the police report, in which events connected with our history are briefly11 recorded.
“Marylebone, Wednesday. — Thomas Tufton Hunt, professing12 to be a clergyman, but wearing an appearance of extreme squalor, was brought before Mr. Beaksby at this office, charged by Z 25, with being drunk and very disorderly on Tuesday se’nnight, and endeavouring by force and threats to effect his reentrance into a house in Thornhaugh Street, from which he had been previously14 ejected in a most unclerical and inebriated15 state.”
“On being taken to the station-house, the reverend gentleman lodged16 a complaint on his own side, and averred17 that he had been stupefied and hocussed in the house in Thornhaugh Street by means of some drug, and that whilst in this state he had been robbed of a bill for 386l. 4s. 3d., drawn18 by a person in New York, and accepted by Mr. P. Firmin, barrister, of Parchment Buildings, Temple.”
“Mrs. Brandon, the landlady19 of the house, No. — , Thornhaugh Street, has been in the habit of letting lodgings20 for many years past, and several of her friends, including Mr. Firmin, Mr. Ridley, the Rl. Acad., and other gentlemen, were in attendance to speak to her character, which is most respectable. After Z 25 had given evidence, the servant deposed21 that Hunt had been more than once disorderly and drunk before that house, and had been forcibly ejected from it. On the night when the alleged22 robbery was said to have taken place, he had visited the house in Thornhaugh Street, had left it in an inebriated state, and returned some hours afterwards vowing23 that he had been robbed of the document in question.”
“Mr. P. Firmin said: ‘I am a barrister, and have chambers24 at Parchment Buildings, Temple, and know the person calling himself Hunt. I have not accepted any bill of exchange, nor is my signature affixed25 to any such document."’
“At this stage the worthy26 magistrate interposed, and said that this only went to prove that the bill was not completed by Mr. F.’s acceptance, and would by no means conclude the case set up before him. Dealing27 with it, however, on the merits, and looking at the way in which the charge had been preferred, and the entire absence of sufficient testimony28 to warrant him in deciding that even a piece of paper had been abstracted in that house, or by the person accused, and believing that if he were to commit, a conviction would be impossible, he dismissed the charge.”
“The lady left the court with her friends, and the accuser, when called upon to pay a fine for drunkenness, broke out into very unclerical language, in the midst of which he was forcibly removed.”
Philip Firmin’s statement that he had given no bill of exchange, was made not without hesitation29 on his part, and indeed at his friends’ strong entreaty30. It was addressed not so much to the sitting magistrate, as to that elderly individual at New York, who was warned no more to forge his son’s name. I fear a coolness ensued between Philip and his parent in consequence of the younger man’s behaviour. The doctor had thought better of his boy than to suppose that, at a moment of necessity, Philip would desert him. He forgave Philip, nevertheless. Perhaps since his marriage other influences were at work upon him, The parent made further remarks in this strain. A man who takes your money is naturally offended if you remonstrate31; you wound his sense of delicacy32 by protesting against his putting his hand in your pocket. The elegant doctor in New York continued to speak of his unhappy son with a mournful shake of the head; he said, perhaps believed, that Philip’s imprudence was in part the cause of his own exile. “This is not the kind of entertainment to which I would have invited you at my own house in England,” he would say. “I thought to have ended my days there, and to have left my son in comfort, nay33 splendour. I am an exile in poverty: and he — but I will use no hard words.” And to his female patients he would say: “No, my dear madam! Not a syllable34 of reproach shall escape these lips regarding that misguided boy! But you can feel for me; I know you can feel for me.” In the old days, a high-spirited highwayman, who took a coach-passenger’s purse, thought himself injured, and the traveller a shabby fellow, if he secreted35 a guinea or two under the cushions. In the doctor’s now rare letters, he breathed a manly36 sigh here and there, to think that he had lost the confidence of his boy. I do believe that certain ladies of our acquaintance were inclined to think that the elder Firmin had been not altogether well used, however much they loved and admired the Little Sister for her lawless act in her boy’s defence. But this main point we had won. The doctor at New York took the warning, and wrote his son’s signature upon no more bills of exchange. The good Goodenough’s loan was carried back to him in the very coin which he had supplied. He said that his little nurse Brandon was splendide mendax, and that her robbery was a sublime37 and courageous38 act of war.
In so far, since his marriage, Mr. Philip had been pretty fortunate. At need, friends had come to him. In moments of peril39 he had had succour and relief. Though he had married without money, fate had sent him a sufficiency. His flask40 had never been empty, and there was always meal in his bin41. But now hard trials were in store for him: hard trials which we have said were endurable, and which he has long since lived through. Any man who has played the game of life or whist, knows how for one while he will have a series of good cards dealt him, and again will get no trumps42 at all. After he got into his house in Milman Street and quitted the Little Sister’s kind roof, our friend’s good fortune seemed to desert him. “Perhaps it was a punishment for my pride, because I was haughty43 with her, and — and jealous of that dear good little creature,” poor Charlotte afterwards owned in conversation with other friends:— “but our fortune seemed to change when we were away from her, and that I must own.”
Perhaps, when she was yet under Mrs. Brandon’s roof, the Little Sister’s provident44 care had done a great deal more for Charlotte than Charlotte knew. Mrs. Philip had the most simple tastes in the world, and upon herself never spent an unnecessary shilling. Indeed, it was a wonder, considering her small expenses, how neat and nice Mrs. Philip ever looked. But she never could deny herself when the children were in question; and had them arrayed in all sorts of fine clothes; and stitched and hemmed45 all day and night to decorate their little prsons; and in reply to the remonstrances46 of the matrons her friends, showed how it was impossible children could be dressed for less cost. If anything ailed47 them, quick, the doctor must be sent for. Not worthy Goodenough, who came without a fee, and pooh-poohed her alarms and anxieties; but dear Mr. Bland48, who had a feeling heart, and was himself a father of children, and who supported those children by the produce of the pills, draughts49, powders, visits, which he bestowed50 on all families into whose doors he entered. Bland’s sympathy was very consolatory51; but it was found to be very costly52 at the end of the year. “And, what then?” says Charlotte, with kindling53 cheeks. “Do you suppose we should grudge54 that money, which was to give health to our dearest, dearest babies? No. You can’t have such a bad opinion of me as that!” And accordingly Mr. Bland received a nice little annuity55 from our friends. Philip had a joke about his wife’s housekeeping which perhaps may apply to other young women who are kept by over-watchful mothers too much in statu pupillari. When they were married, or about to be married, Philip asked Charlotte what she would order for dinner? She promptly56 said she would order leg of mutton. “And after leg of mutton?” “Leg of beef, to be sure!” says Mrs. Charlotte, looking very pleased, and knowing. And the fact is, as this little housekeeper57 was obliged demurely58 to admit, their household bills increased prodigiously59 after they left Thornhaugh Street. “And I can’t understand, my dear, how the grocer’s book should mount up so; and the butterman’s, and the beer,” We have often seen the pretty little head bent60 over the dingy volumes, puzzling, puzzling: and the eldest61 child would hold up a warning finger to ours, and tell them to be very quiet, as mamma was at her “atounts.”
And now, I grieve to say, money became scarce for the payment of these accounts; and though Philip fancied he hid his anxieties from his wife, be sure she loved him too much to be deceived by one of the clumsiest hypocrites in the world. Only, being a much cleverer hypocrite than her husband, she pretended to be deceived, and acted her part so well that poor Philip was mortified62 with her gaiety, and chose to fancy his wife was indifferent to their misfortunes. She ought not to be so smiling and happy, he thought; and, as usual, bemoaned63 his lot to his friends. “I come home, racked with care, and thinking of those inevitable64 bills: I shudder65, sir, at every note that lies on the hall table, and would tremble as I dashed them open as they do on the stage. But I laugh and put on a jaunty66 air, and humbug67 Char13. And I hear her singing about the house and laughing and cooing with the children, by Jove. She’s not aware of anything. She does not know how dreadfully the res domi is squeezing me. But before marriage she did, I tell you. Then, if anything annoyed me, she divined it. If I felt ever so little unwell, you should have seen the alarm in her face! It was ‘Philip, dear, how pale you are;’ or, ‘Philip, how flushed you are;’ or, ‘I am sure you have had a letter from your father. Why do you conceal69 anything from me, sir? You never should — never!’ And now when the fox is gnawing70 at my side under my cloak, I laugh and grin so naturally that she believes I am all right, and she comes to meet me flouncing the children about in my face, and wearing an air of consummate71 happiness! I would not deceive her for the world, you know. But it’s mortifying72. Don’t tell me. It is mortifying to be tossing awake all night, and racked with care all day, and have the wife of your bosom73 chattering74 and singing and laughing, as if there were no cares, or doubts, or duns in the world. If I had the gout and she were to laugh and sing, I should not call that sympathy. If I were arrested for debt, and she were to come grinning and laughing to the sponging-house, I should not call that consolation75. Why doesn’t she feel? She ought to feel. There’s Betsy, our parlour-maid. There’s the old fellow who comes to clean the boots and knives. They know how hard up I am. And my wife sings and dances whilst I am on the verge76 of ruin, by Jove; and giggles77 and laughs as if life was a pantomime!”
Then the man and woman into whose ears poor Philip roared out his confessions78 and griefs, hung down their blushing heads in humbled79 silence. They are tolerably prosperous in life, and, I fear, are pretty well satisfied with themselves and each other. A woman who scarcely ever does any wrong, and rules and governs her own house and family, as my — , as the wife of the reader’s humble80 servant most notoriously does, often becomes — must it be said? — to certain of her own virtue81, and is too sure of the correctness of her own opinion. We virtuous82 people give advice a good deal, and set a considerable value upon that advice. We meet a certain man who has fallen among thieves, let us say. We succour him readily enough. We take him kindly83 to the inn, and pay his score there: but we say to the landlord, “You must give this poor man his bed; his medicine at such a time, and his broth84 at such another. But, mind you, he must have that physic, and no other; that broth when we order it. We take his case in hand, you understand. Don’t listen to him or anybody else. We know all about everything. Good-by. Take care of him. Mind the medicine and the broth!” and Mr. Benefactor85 or Lady Bountiful goes away, perfectly86 self-satisfied.
Do you take this allegory? When Philip complained to us of his wife’s friskiness87 and gaiety; when he bitterly contrasted her levity88 and carelessness with his own despondency and doubt, Charlotte’s two principal friends were smitten89 by shame. “Oh, Philip! dear Philip!” his female adviser90 said (having looked at her husband once or twice as Firmin spoke91, and in vain endeavoured to keep her gilty eyes down on her work), “Charlotte has done this, because she is humble, and because she takes the advice of friends who are not. She knows everything, and more than everything; for her dear tender heart is filled with apprehension92. But we told her to show no sign of care, lest her husband should be disturbed. And she trusted in us; and she puts her trust elsewhere, Philip; and she has hidden her own anxieties, lest yours should be increased; and has met you gaily93 when her heart was full of dread68. We think she has done wrong now; but she did so because she was so simple, and trusted in us who advised her wrongly. Now we see that there ought to have been perfect confidence always between you; and that it is her simplicity94 and faith in us which have misled her.”
Philip hung down his head for a moment, and hid his eyes; and we knew, during that minute when his face was concealed95 from us, how his grateful heart was employed.
“And you know, dear Philip — ” says Laura, looking at her husband, and nodding to that person, who certainly understood the hint.
“And I say, Firmin,” breaks in the lady’s husband, “You understand, if you are at all — that is, if you — that is, if we can — ”
“Hold your tongue!” shouts Firmin, with a face beaming over with happiness. “I know what you mean. You beggar, you are going to offer me money! I see it in your face; bless you both! But we’ll try and do without, please heaven. And — and it’s worth feeling a pinch of poverty to find such friends as I have had, and to share it with such a — such a — dash — dear little thing as I have at home. And I won’t try and humbug Char any more. I’m bad at that sort of business. And good-night, and I’ll never forget your kindness, never!” And he is off a moment afterwards, and jumping down the steps of our door, and so into the park. And though there were not five pounds in the poor little house in Milman Street, there were not two happier people in London that night than Charlotte and Philip Firmin. If he had his troubles, our friend had his immense consolations96. Fortunate he, however poor, who has friends to help, and love to console him in his trials.
1 battered | |
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损 | |
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2 crestfallen | |
adj. 挫败的,失望的,沮丧的 | |
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3 custody | |
n.监护,照看,羁押,拘留 | |
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4 convoy | |
vt.护送,护卫,护航;n.护送;护送队 | |
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5 sarcastic | |
adj.讥讽的,讽刺的,嘲弄的 | |
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6 dingy | |
adj.昏暗的,肮脏的 | |
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7 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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8 tattered | |
adj.破旧的,衣衫破的 | |
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9 magistrate | |
n.地方行政官,地方法官,治安官 | |
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10 narrative | |
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的 | |
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11 briefly | |
adv.简单地,简短地 | |
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12 professing | |
声称( profess的现在分词 ); 宣称; 公开表明; 信奉 | |
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13 char | |
v.烧焦;使...燃烧成焦炭 | |
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14 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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15 inebriated | |
adj.酒醉的 | |
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16 lodged | |
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
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17 averred | |
v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 );证实;证明…属实;作为事实提出 | |
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18 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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19 landlady | |
n.女房东,女地主 | |
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20 lodgings | |
n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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21 deposed | |
v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 );(在法庭上)宣誓作证 | |
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22 alleged | |
a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
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23 vowing | |
起誓,发誓(vow的现在分词形式) | |
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24 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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25 affixed | |
adj.[医]附着的,附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 );粘贴;加以;盖(印章) | |
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26 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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27 dealing | |
n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
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28 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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29 hesitation | |
n.犹豫,踌躇 | |
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30 entreaty | |
n.恳求,哀求 | |
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31 remonstrate | |
v.抗议,规劝 | |
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32 delicacy | |
n.精致,细微,微妙,精良;美味,佳肴 | |
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33 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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34 syllable | |
n.音节;vt.分音节 | |
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35 secreted | |
v.(尤指动物或植物器官)分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 );隐匿,隐藏 | |
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36 manly | |
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地 | |
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37 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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38 courageous | |
adj.勇敢的,有胆量的 | |
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39 peril | |
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物 | |
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40 flask | |
n.瓶,火药筒,砂箱 | |
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41 bin | |
n.箱柜;vt.放入箱内;[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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42 trumps | |
abbr.trumpets 喇叭;小号;喇叭形状的东西;喇叭筒v.(牌戏)出王牌赢(一牌或一墩)( trump的过去式 );吹号公告,吹号庆祝;吹喇叭;捏造 | |
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43 haughty | |
adj.傲慢的,高傲的 | |
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44 provident | |
adj.为将来做准备的,有先见之明的 | |
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45 hemmed | |
缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 ); 包围 | |
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46 remonstrances | |
n.抱怨,抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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47 ailed | |
v.生病( ail的过去式和过去分词 );感到不舒服;处境困难;境况不佳 | |
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48 bland | |
adj.淡而无味的,温和的,无刺激性的 | |
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49 draughts | |
n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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50 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51 consolatory | |
adj.慰问的,可藉慰的 | |
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52 costly | |
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的 | |
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53 kindling | |
n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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54 grudge | |
n.不满,怨恨,妒嫉;vt.勉强给,不情愿做 | |
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55 annuity | |
n.年金;养老金 | |
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56 promptly | |
adv.及时地,敏捷地 | |
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57 housekeeper | |
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家 | |
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58 demurely | |
adv.装成端庄地,认真地 | |
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59 prodigiously | |
adv.异常地,惊人地,巨大地 | |
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60 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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61 eldest | |
adj.最年长的,最年老的 | |
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62 mortified | |
v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 );伤害(人的感情);克制;抑制(肉体、情感等) | |
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63 bemoaned | |
v.为(某人或某事)抱怨( bemoan的过去式和过去分词 );悲悼;为…恸哭;哀叹 | |
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64 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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65 shudder | |
v.战粟,震动,剧烈地摇晃;n.战粟,抖动 | |
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66 jaunty | |
adj.愉快的,满足的;adv.心满意足地,洋洋得意地;n.心满意足;洋洋得意 | |
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67 humbug | |
n.花招,谎话,欺骗 | |
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68 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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69 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
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70 gnawing | |
a.痛苦的,折磨人的 | |
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71 consummate | |
adj.完美的;v.成婚;使完美 [反]baffle | |
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72 mortifying | |
adj.抑制的,苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 );伤害(人的感情);克制;抑制(肉体、情感等) | |
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73 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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74 chattering | |
n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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75 consolation | |
n.安慰,慰问 | |
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76 verge | |
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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77 giggles | |
n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 );傻笑;玩笑;the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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78 confessions | |
n.承认( confession的名词复数 );自首;声明;(向神父的)忏悔 | |
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79 humbled | |
adj. 卑下的,谦逊的,粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下,贬低 | |
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80 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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81 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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82 virtuous | |
adj.有品德的,善良的,贞洁的,有效力的 | |
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83 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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84 broth | |
n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等) | |
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85 benefactor | |
n. 恩人,行善的人,捐助人 | |
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86 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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87 friskiness | |
n.活泼,闹着玩 | |
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88 levity | |
n.轻率,轻浮,不稳定,多变 | |
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89 smitten | |
猛打,重击,打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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90 adviser | |
n.劝告者,顾问 | |
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91 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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92 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
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93 gaily | |
adv.欢乐地,高兴地 | |
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94 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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95 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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96 consolations | |
n.安慰,慰问( consolation的名词复数 );起安慰作用的人(或事物) | |
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