It is one of those old, old towns which impress one as a continuation and outgrowth of nature, as much as the nests of the bower-birds or the winding3 galleries of the white ants; a town which carries the traces of its long growth and history like a millennial4 tree, and has sprung up and developed in the same spot between the river and the low hill from the time when the Roman legions turned their backs on it from the camp on the hillside, and the long-haired sea-kings came up the river and looked with fierce, eager eyes at the fatness of the land. It is a town “familiar with forgotten years.” The shadow of the Saxon hero-king still walks there fitfully, reviewing the scenes of his youth and love-time, and is met by the gloomier shadow of the dreadful heathen Dane, who was stabbed in the midst of his warriors6 by the sword of an invisible avenger7, and who rises on autumn evenings like a white mist from his tumulus on the hill, and hovers8 in the court of the old hall by the river-side, the spot where he was thus miraculously9 slain10 in the days before the old hall was built. It was the Normans who began to build that fine old hall, which is, like the town, telling of the thoughts and hands of widely sundered11 generations; but it is all so old that we look with loving pardon at its inconsistencies, and are well content that they who built the stone oriel, and they who built the Gothic facade12 and towers of finest small brickwork with the trefoil ornament13, and the windows and battlements defined with stone, did not sacreligiously pull down the ancient half-timbered body with its oak-roofed banqueting-hall.
But older even than this old hall is perhaps the bit of wall now built into the belfry of the parish church, and said to be a remnant of the original chapel14 dedicated15 to St. Ogg, the patron saint of this ancient town, of whose history I possess several manuscript versions. I incline to the briefest, since, if it should not be wholly true, it is at least likely to contain the least falsehood. “Ogg the son of Beorl,” says my private hagiographer, “was a boatman who gained a scanty16 living by ferrying passengers across the river Floss. And it came to pass, one evening when the winds were high, that there sat moaning by the brink17 of the river a woman with a child in her arms; and she was clad in rags, and had a worn and withered18 look, and she craved20 to be rowed across the river. And the men thereabout questioned her, and said, ‘Wherefore dost thou desire to cross the river? Tarry till the morning, and take shelter here for the night; so shalt thou be wise and not foolish.’ Still she went on to mourn and crave19. But Ogg the son of Beorl came up and said, ‘I will ferry thee across; it is enough that thy heart needs it.’ And he ferried her across. And it came to pass, when she stepped ashore21, that her rags were turned into robes of flowing white, and her face became bright with exceeding beauty, and there was a glory around it, so that she shed a light on the water like the moon in its brightness. And she said, ‘Ogg, the son of Beorl, thou art blessed in that thou didst not question and wrangle22 with the heart’s need, but wast smitten23 with pity, and didst straightway relieve the same. And from henceforth whoso steps into thy boat shall be in no peril25 from the storm; and whenever it puts forth24 to the rescue, it shall save the lives both of men and beasts.’ And when the floods came, many were saved by reason of that blessing26 on the boat. But when Ogg the son of Beorl died, behold27, in the parting of his soul, the boat loosed itself from its moorings, and was floated with the ebbing28 tide in great swiftness to the ocean, and was seen no more. Yet it was witnessed in the floods of aftertime, that at the coming on of eventide, Ogg the son of Beorl was always seen with his boat upon the wide-spreading waters, and the Blessed Virgin29 sat in the prow30, shedding a light around as of the moon in its brightness, so that the rowers in the gathering31 darkness took heart and pulled anew.”
This legend, one sees, reflects from a far-off time the visitation of the floods, which, even when they left human life untouched, were widely fatal to the helpless cattle, and swept as sudden death over all smaller living things. But the town knew worse troubles even than the floods — troubles of the civil wars, when it was a continual fighting-place, where first Puritans thanked God for the blood of the Loyalists, and then Loyalists thanked God for the blood of the Puritans. Many honest citizens lost all their possessions for conscience’ sake in those times, and went forth beggared from their native town. Doubtless there are many houses standing32 now on which those honest citizens turned their backs in sorrow — quaint-gabled houses looking on the river, jammed between newer warehouses33, and penetrated34 by surprising passages, which turn and turn at sharp angles till they lead you out on a muddy strand35 overflowed36 continually by the rushing tide. Everywhere the brick houses have a mellow37 look, and in Mrs. Glegg’s day there was no incongruous new-fashioned smartness, no plate-glass in shop-windows, no fresh stucco-facing or other fallacious attempt to make fine old red St. Ogg’s wear the air of a town that sprang up yesterday. The shop-windows were small and unpretending; for the farmers’ wives and daughters who came to do their shopping on market-days were not to be withdrawn38 from their regular well-known shops; and the tradesmen had no wares39 intended for customers who would go on their way and be seen no more. Ah! even Mrs. Glegg’s day seems far back in the past now, separated from us by changes that widen the years. War and the rumor40 of war had then died out from the minds of men, and if they were ever thought of by the farmers in drab greatcoats, who shook the grain out of their sample-bags and buzzed over it in the full market-place, it was as a state of things that belonged to a past golden age when prices were high. Surely the time was gone forever when the broad river could bring up unwelcome ships; Russia was only the place where the linseed came from — the more the better — making grist for the great vertical41 millstones with their scythe-like arms, roaring and grinding and carefully sweeping42 as if an informing soul were in them. The Catholics, bad harvests, and the mysterious fluctuations43 of trade were the three evils mankind had to fear; even the floods had not been great of late years. The mind of St. Ogg’s did not look extensively before or after. It inherited a long past without thinking of it, and had no eyes for the spirits that walk the streets. Since the centuries when St. Ogg with his boat and the Virgin Mother at the prow had been seen on the wide water, so many memories had been left behind, and had gradually vanished like the receding44 hilltops! And the present time was like the level plain where men lose their belief in volcanoes and earthquakes, thinking to-morrow will be as yesterday, and the giant forces that used to shake the earth are forever laid to sleep. The days were gone when people could be greatly wrought45 upon by their faith, still less change it; the Catholics were formidable because they would lay hold of government and property, and burn men alive; not because any sane46 and honest parishioner of St. Ogg’s could be brought to believe in the Pope. One aged47 person remembered how a rude multitude had been swayed when John Wesley preached in the cattle-market; but for a long while it had not been expected of preachers that they should shake the souls of men. An occasional burst of fervor48 in Dissenting50 pulpits on the subject of infant baptism was the only symptom of a zeal51 unsuited to sober times when men had done with change. Protestantism sat at ease, unmindful of schisms52, careless of proselytism: Dissent49 was an inheritance along with a superior pew and a business connection; and Churchmanship only wondered contemptuously at Dissent as a foolish habit that clung greatly to families in the grocery and chandlering lines, though not incompatible53 with prosperous wholesale54 dealing55. But with the Catholic Question had come a slight wind of controversy56 to break the calm: the elderly rector had become occasionally historical and argumentative; and Mr. Spray, the Independent minister, had begun to preach political sermons, in which he distinguished57 with much subtlety58 between his fervent59 belief in the right of the Catholics to the franchise60 and his fervent belief in their eternal perdition. Most of Mr. Spray’s hearers, however, were incapable61 of following his subtleties62, and many old-fashioned Dissenters63 were much pained by his “siding with the Catholics”; while others thought he had better let politics alone. Public spirit was not held in high esteem64 at St. Ogg’s, and men who busied themselves with political questions were regarded with some suspicion, as dangerous characters; they were usually persons who had little or no business of their own to manage, or, if they had, were likely enough to become insolvent65.
This was the general aspect of things at St. Ogg’s in Mrs. Glegg’s day, and at that particular period in her family history when she had had her quarrel with Mr. Tulliver. It was a time when ignorance was much more comfortable than at present, and was received with all the honors in very good society, without being obliged to dress itself in an elaborate costume of knowledge; a time when cheap periodicals were not, and when country surgeons never thought of asking their female patients if they were fond of reading, but simply took it for granted that they preferred gossip; a time when ladies in rich silk gowns wore large pockets, in which they carried a mutton-bone to secure them against cramp67. Mrs. Glegg carried such a bone, which she had inherited from her grandmother with a brocaded gown that would stand up empty, like a suit of armor, and a silver-headed walking-stick; for the Dodson family had been respectable for many generations.
Mrs. Glegg had both a front and a back parlor68 in her excellent house at St. Ogg’s, so that she had two points of view from which she could observe the weakness of her fellow-beings, and reinforce her thankfulness for her own exceptional strength of mind. From her front window she could look down the Tofton Road, leading out of St. Ogg’s, and note the growing tendency to “gadding about” in the wives of men not retired69 from business, together with a practice of wearing woven cotton stockings, which opened a dreary70 prospect71 for the coming generation; and from her back windows she could look down the pleasant garden and orchard72 which stretched to the river, and observe the folly73 of Mr. Glegg in spending his time among “them flowers and vegetables.” For Mr. Glegg, having retired from active business as a wool-stapler for the purpose of enjoying himself through the rest of his life, had found this last occupation so much more severe than his business, that he had been driven into amateur hard labor66 as a dissipation, and habitually75 relaxed by doing the work of two ordinary gardeners. The economizing76 of a gardener’s wages might perhaps have induced Mrs. Glegg to wink77 at this folly, if it were possible for a healthy female mind even to simulate respect for a husband’s hobby. But it is well known that this conjugal78 complacency belongs only to the weaker portion of the sex, who are scarcely alive to the responsibilities of a wife as a constituted check on her husband’s pleasures, which are hardly ever of a rational or commendable79 kind.
Mr. Glegg on his side, too, had a double source of mental occupation, which gave every promise of being inexhaustible. On the one hand, he surprised himself by his discoveries in natural history, finding that his piece of garden-ground contained wonderful caterpillars80, slugs, and insects, which, so far as he had heard, had never before attracted human observation; and he noticed remarkable81 coincidences between these zoological phenomena82 and the great events of that time — as, for example, that before the burning of York Minster there had been mysterious serpentine83 marks on the leaves of the rose-trees, together with an unusual prevalence of slugs, which he had been puzzled to know the meaning of, until it flashed upon him with this melancholy84 conflagration85. (Mr. Glegg had an unusual amount of mental activity, which, when disengaged from the wool business, naturally made itself a pathway in other directions.) And his second subject of meditation86 was the “contrairiness” of the female mind, as typically exhibited in Mrs. Glegg. That a creature made — in a genealogical sense — out of a man’s rib87, and in this particular case maintained in the highest respectability without any trouble of her own, should be normally in a state of contradiction to the blandest88 propositions and even to the most accommodating concessions89, was a mystery in the scheme of things to which he had often in vain sought a clew in the early chapters of Genesis. Mr. Glegg had chosen the eldest90 Miss Dodson as a handsome embodiment of female prudence91 and thrift92, and being himself of a money-getting, money-keeping turn, had calculated on much conjugal harmony. But in that curious compound, the feminine character, it may easily happen that the flavor is unpleasant in spite of excellent ingredients; and a fine systematic93 stinginess may be accompanied with a seasoning94 that quite spoils its relish95. Now, good Mr. Glegg himself was stingy in the most amiable96 manner; his neighbors called him “near,” which always means that the person in question is a lovable skinflint. If you expressed a preference for cheese-parings, Mr. Glegg would remember to save them for you, with a good-natured delight in gratifying your palate, and he was given to pet all animals which required no appreciable97 keep. There was no humbug98 or hypocrisy99 about Mr. Glegg; his eyes would have watered with true feeling over the sale of a widow’s furniture, which a five-pound note from his side pocket would have prevented; but a donation of five pounds to a person “in a small way of life” would have seemed to him a mad kind of lavishness100 rather than “charity,” which had always presented itself to him as a contribution of small aids, not a neutralizing101 of misfortune. And Mr. Glegg was just as fond of saving other people’s money as his own; he would have ridden as far round to avoid a turnpike when his expenses were to be paid for him, as when they were to come out of his own pocket, and was quite zealous102 in trying to induce indifferent acquaintances to adopt a cheap substitute for blacking. This inalienable habit of saving, as an end in itself, belonged to the industrious103 men of business of a former generation, who made their fortunes slowly, almost as the tracking of the fox belongs to the harrier — it constituted them a “race,” which is nearly lost in these days of rapid money-getting, when lavishness comes close on the back of want. In old-fashioned times an “independence” was hardly ever made without a little miserliness as a condition, and you would have found that quality in every provincial104 district, combined with characters as various as the fruits from which we can extract acid. The true Harpagons were always marked and exceptional characters; not so the worthy105 tax-payers, who, having once pinched from real necessity, retained even in the midst of their comfortable retirement106, with their wallfruit and wine-bins, the habit of regarding life as an ingenious process of nibbling107 out one’s livelihood108 without leaving any perceptible deficit109, and who would have been as immediately prompted to give up a newly taxed luxury when they had had their clear five hundred a year, as when they had only five hundred pounds of capital. Mr. Glegg was one of these men, found so impracticable by chancellors110 of the exchequer111; and knowing this, you will be the better able to understand why he had not swerved112 from the conviction that he had made an eligible113 marriage, in spite of the too-pungent seasoning that nature had given to the eldest Miss Dodson’s virtues114. A man with an affectionate disposition115, who finds a wife to concur116 with his fundamental idea of life, easily comes to persuade himself that no other woman would have suited him so well, and does a little daily snapping and quarrelling without any sense of alienation117. Mr. Glegg, being of a reflective turn, and no longer occupied with wool, had much wondering meditation on the peculiar118 constitution of the female mind as unfolded to him in his domestic life; and yet he thought Mrs. Glegg’s household ways a model for her sex. It struck him as a pitiable irregularity in other women if they did not roll up their table-napkins with the same tightness and emphasis as Mrs. Glegg did, if their pastry119 had a less leathery consistence, and their damson cheese a less venerable hardness than hers; nay120, even the peculiar combination of grocery and druglike odors in Mrs. Glegg’s private cupboard impressed him as the only right thing in the way of cupboard smells. I am not sure that he would not have longed for the quarrelling again, if it had ceased for an entire week; and it is certain that an acquiescent121, mild wife would have left his meditations122 comparatively jejune123 and barren of mystery.
Mr. Glegg’s unmistakable kind-heartedness was shown in this, that it pained him more to see his wife at variance124 with others — even with Dolly, the servant — than to be in a state of cavil125 with her himself; and the quarrel between her and Mr. Tulliver vexed126 him so much that it quite nullified the pleasure he would otherwise have had in the state of his early cabbages, as he walked in his garden before breakfast the next morning. Still, he went in to breakfast with some slight hope that, now Mrs. Glegg had “slept upon it,” her anger might be subdued127 enough to give way to her usually strong sense of family decorum. She had been used to boast that there had never been any of those deadly quarrels among the Dodsons which had disgraced other families; that no Dodson had ever been “cut off with a shilling,” and no cousin of the Dodsons disowned; as, indeed, why should they be? For they had no cousins who had not money out at use, or some houses of their own, at the very least.
There was one evening-cloud which had always disappeared from Mrs. Glegg’s brow when she sat at the breakfast-table. It was her fuzzy front of curls; for as she occupied herself in household matters in the morning it would have been a mere128 extravagance to put on anything so superfluous129 to the making of leathery pastry as a fuzzy curled front. By half-past ten decorum demanded the front; until then Mrs. Glegg could economize130 it, and society would never be any the wiser. But the absence of that cloud only left it more apparent that the cloud of severity remained; and Mr. Glegg, perceiving this, as he sat down to his milkporridge, which it was his old frugal131 habit to stem his morning hunger with, prudently132 resolved to leave the first remark to Mrs. Glegg, lest, to so delicate an article as a lady’s temper, the slightest touch should do mischief133. People who seem to enjoy their ill temper have a way of keeping it in fine condition by inflicting134 privations on themselves. That was Mrs. Glegg’s way. She made her tea weaker than usual this morning, and declined butter. It was a hard case that a vigorous mood for quarrelling, so highly capable of using an opportunity, should not meet with a single remark from Mr. Glegg on which to exercise itself. But by and by it appeared that his silence would answer the purpose, for he heard himself apostrophized at last in that tone peculiar to the wife of one’s bosom135.
“Well, Mr. Glegg! it’s a poor return I get for making you the wife I’ve made you all these years. If this is the way I’m to be treated, I’d better ha’ known it before my poor father died, and then, when I’d wanted a home, I should ha’ gone elsewhere, as the choice was offered me.”
Mr. Glegg paused from his porridge and looked up, not with any new amazement136, but simply with that quiet, habitual74 wonder with which we regard constant mysteries.
“Why, Mrs. G., what have I done now?”
“Done now, Mr. Glegg? done now? — I’m sorry for you.”
Not seeing his way to any pertinent137 answer, Mr. Glegg reverted138 to his porridge.
“There’s husbands in the world,” continued Mrs. Glegg, after a pause, “as ‘ud have known how to do something different to siding with everybody else against their own wives. Perhaps I’m wrong and you can teach me better. But I’ve allays139 heard as it’s the husband’s place to stand by the wife, instead o’ rejoicing and triumphing when folks insult her.”
“Now, what call have you to say that?” said Mr. Glegg, rather warmly, for though a kind man, he was not as meek140 as Moses. “When did I rejoice or triumph over you?”
“There’s ways o’ doing things worse than speaking out plain, Mr. Glegg. I’d sooner you’d tell me to my face as you make light of me, than try to make out as everybody’s in the right but me, and come to your breakfast in the morning, as I’ve hardly slept an hour this night, and sulk at me as if I was the dirt under your feet.”
“Sulk at you?” said Mr. Glegg, in a tone of angry facetiousness141. “You’re like a tipsy man as thinks everybody’s had too much but himself.”
“Don’t lower yourself with using coarse language to me, Mr. Glegg! It makes you look very small, though you can’t see yourself,” said Mrs. Glegg, in a tone of energetic compassion142. “A man in your place should set an example, and talk more sensible.”
“Yes; but will you listen to sense?” retorted Mr. Glegg, sharply. “The best sense I can talk to you is what I said last night — as you’re i’ the wrong to think o’ calling in your money, when it’s safe enough if you’d let it alone, all because of a bit of a tiff143, and I was in hopes you’d ha’ altered your mind this morning. But if you’d like to call it in, don’t do it in a hurry now, and breed more enmity in the family, but wait till there’s a pretty mortgage to be had without any trouble. You’d have to set the lawyer to work now to find an investment, and make no end o’ expense.”
Mrs. Glegg felt there was really something in this, but she tossed her head and emitted a guttural interjection to indicate that her silence was only an armistice144, not a peace. And, in fact hostilities145 soon broke out again.
“I’ll thank you for my cup o’ tea, now, Mrs. G.,” said Mr. Glegg, seeing that she did not proceed to give it him as usual, when he had finished his porridge. She lifted the teapot with a slight toss of the head, and said —
“I’m glad to hear you’ll thank me, Mr. Glegg. It’s little thanks I get for what I do for folks i’ this world. Though there’s never a woman o’ your side o’ the family, Mr. Glegg, as is fit to stand up with me, and I’d say it if I was on my dying bed. Not but what I’ve allays conducted myself civil to your kin5, and there isn’t one of ’em can say the contrary, though my equils they aren’t, and nobody shall make me say it.”
“You’d better leave finding fault wi’ my kin till you’ve left off quarrelling with you own, Mrs. G.,” said Mr. Glegg, with angry sarcasm146. “I’ll trouble you for the milk-jug.”
“That’s as false a word as ever you spoke147, Mr. Glegg,” said the lady, pouring out the milk with unusual profuseness148, as much as to say, if he wanted milk he should have it with a vengeance149. “And you know it’s false. I’m not the woman to quarrel with my own kin; you may, for I’ve known you to do it.”
“Why, what did you call it yesterday, then, leaving your sister’s house in a tantrum?”
“I’d no quarrel wi’ my sister, Mr. Glegg, and it’s false to say it. Mr. Tulliver’s none o’ my blood, and it was him quarrelled with me, and drove me out o’ the house. But perhaps you’d have had me stay and be swore at, Mr. Glegg; perhaps you was vexed not to hear more abuse and foul150 language poured out upo’ your own wife. But, let me tell you, it’s your disgrace.”
“Did ever anybody hear the like i’ this parish?” said Mr. Glegg, getting hot. “A woman, with everything provided for her, and allowed to keep her own money the same as if it was settled on her, and with a gig new stuffed and lined at no end o’ expense, and provided for when I die beyond anything she could expect — to go on i’ this way, biting and snapping like a mad dog! It’s beyond everything, as God A ‘mighty should ha’ made women so.” (These last words were uttered in a tone of sorrowful agitation151. Mr. Glegg pushed his tea from him, and tapped the table with both his hands.)
“Well, Mr. Glegg, if those are your feelings, it’s best they should be known,” said Mrs. Glegg, taking off her napkin, and folding it in an excited manner. “But if you talk o’ my being provided for beyond what I could expect, I beg leave to tell you as I’d a right to expect a many things as I don’t find. And as to my being like a mad dog, it’s well if you’re not cried shame on by the county for your treatment of me, for it’s what I can’t bear, and I won’t bear ——”
Here Mrs. Glegg’s voice intimated that she was going to cry, and breaking off from speech, she rang the bell violently.
“Sally,” she said, rising from her chair, and speaking in rather a choked voice, “light a fire up-stairs, and put the blinds down. Mr. Glegg, you’ll please to order what you’d like for dinner. I shall have gruel152.”
Mrs. Glegg walked across the room to the small book-case, and took down Baxter’s “Saints’ Everlasting153 Rest,” which she carried with her up-stairs. It was the book she was accustomed to lay open before her on special occasions — on wet Sunday mornings, or when she heard of a death in the family, or when, as in this case, her quarrel with Mr. Glegg had been set an octave higher than usual.
But Mrs. Glegg carried something else up-stairs with her, which, together with the “Saints’ Rest” and the gruel, may have had some influence in gradually calming her feelings, and making it possible for her to endure existence on the ground-floor, shortly before tea-time. This was, partly, Mr. Glegg’s suggestion that she would do well to let her five hundred lie still until a good investment turned up; and, further, his parenthetic hint at his handsome provision for her in case of his death. Mr. Glegg, like all men of his stamp, was extremely reticent154 about his will; and Mrs. Glegg, in her gloomier moments, had forebodings that, like other husbands of whom she had heard, he might cherish the mean project of heightening her grief at his death by leaving her poorly off, in which case she was firmly resolved that she would have scarcely any weeper on her bonnet155, and would cry no more than if he had been a second husband. But if he had really shown her any testamentary tenderness, it would be affecting to think of him, poor man, when he was gone; and even his foolish fuss about the flowers and garden-stuff, and his insistence156 on the subject of snails157, would be touching158 when it was once fairly at an end. To survive Mr. Glegg, and talk eulogistically of him as a man who might have his weaknesses, but who had done the right thing by her, not-withstanding his numerous poor relations; to have sums of interest coming in more frequently, and secrete159 it in various corners, baffling to the most ingenious of thieves (for, to Mrs. Glegg’s mind, banks and strong-boxes would have nullified the pleasure of property; she might as well have taken her food in capsules); finally, to be looked up to by her own family and the neighborhood, so as no woman can ever hope to be who has not the praeterite and present dignity comprised in being a “widow well left,”— all this made a flattering and conciliatory view of the future. So that when good Mr. Glegg, restored to good humor by much hoeing, and moved by the sight of his wife’s empty chair, with her knitting rolled up in the corner, went up-stairs to her, and observed that the bell had been tolling160 for poor Mr. Morton, Mrs. Glegg answered magnanimously, quite as if she had been an uninjured woman: “Ah! then, there’ll be a good business for somebody to take to.”
Baxter had been open at least eight hours by this time, for it was nearly five o’clock; and if people are to quarrel often, it follows as a corollary that their quarrels cannot be protracted161 beyond certain limits.
Mr. and Mrs. Glegg talked quite amicably162 about the Tullivers that evening. Mr. Glegg went the length of admitting that Tulliver was a sad man for getting into hot water, and was like enough to run through his property; and Mrs. Glegg, meeting this acknowledgment half-way, declared that it was beneath her to take notice of such a man’s conduct, and that, for her sister’s sake, she would let him keep the five hundred a while longer, for when she put it out on a mortgage she should only get four per cent.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
fluted
|
|
| a.有凹槽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
warehouse
|
|
| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
winding
|
|
| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
millennial
|
|
| 一千年的，千福年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
kin
|
|
| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
warriors
|
|
| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
avenger
|
|
| n. 复仇者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
hovers
|
|
| 鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
miraculously
|
|
| ad.奇迹般地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
slain
|
|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
sundered
|
|
| v.隔开，分开( sunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
facade
|
|
| n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
ornament
|
|
| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
chapel
|
|
| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
dedicated
|
|
| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
scanty
|
|
| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
brink
|
|
| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
crave
|
|
| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
craved
|
|
| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
wrangle
|
|
| vi.争吵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
smitten
|
|
| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
peril
|
|
| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
blessing
|
|
| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
ebbing
|
|
| （指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
virgin
|
|
| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
prow
|
|
| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
warehouses
|
|
| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
penetrated
|
|
| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
strand
|
|
| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
overflowed
|
|
| 溢出的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
mellow
|
|
| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
withdrawn
|
|
| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
wares
|
|
| n. 货物, 商品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
rumor
|
|
| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
vertical
|
|
| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
fluctuations
|
|
| 波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
receding
|
|
| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
wrought
|
|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
sane
|
|
| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
fervor
|
|
| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
dissent
|
|
| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
dissenting
|
|
| adj.不同意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
zeal
|
|
| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
schisms
|
|
| n.教会分立，分裂( schism的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
53
incompatible
|
|
| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
wholesale
|
|
| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
dealing
|
|
| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
controversy
|
|
| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
subtlety
|
|
| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
fervent
|
|
| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
franchise
|
|
| n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
subtleties
|
|
| 细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
dissenters
|
|
| n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
esteem
|
|
| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
insolvent
|
|
| adj.破产的，无偿还能力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
cramp
|
|
| n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
parlor
|
|
| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
orchard
|
|
| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
habitual
|
|
| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
habitually
|
|
| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
economizing
|
|
| v.节省，减少开支( economize的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
wink
|
|
| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
conjugal
|
|
| adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
commendable
|
|
| adj.值得称赞的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
caterpillars
|
|
| n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
phenomena
|
|
| n.现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
serpentine
|
|
| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
conflagration
|
|
| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
meditation
|
|
| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
rib
|
|
| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
blandest
|
|
| adj.（食物）淡而无味的( bland的最高级 )；平和的；温和的；无动于衷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
89
concessions
|
|
| n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
eldest
|
|
| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
prudence
|
|
| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
thrift
|
|
| adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
systematic
|
|
| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
seasoning
|
|
| n.调味；调味料；增添趣味之物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
relish
|
|
| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
appreciable
|
|
| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
humbug
|
|
| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
hypocrisy
|
|
| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
lavishness
|
|
| n.浪费，过度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
101
neutralizing
|
|
| v.使失效( neutralize的现在分词 )；抵消；中和；使（一个国家）中立化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
zealous
|
|
| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
industrious
|
|
| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
provincial
|
|
| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
retirement
|
|
| n.退休，退职 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
nibbling
|
|
| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
livelihood
|
|
| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
deficit
|
|
| n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
chancellors
|
|
| 大臣( chancellor的名词复数 )； （某些美国大学的）校长； （德国或奥地利的）总理； （英国大学的）名誉校长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
exchequer
|
|
| n.财政部；国库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
swerved
|
|
| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
eligible
|
|
| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
virtues
|
|
| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
concur
|
|
| v.同意，意见一致，互助，同时发生 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
alienation
|
|
| n.疏远；离间；异化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
pastry
|
|
| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
nay
|
|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
acquiescent
|
|
| adj.默许的，默认的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
meditations
|
|
| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
jejune
|
|
| adj.枯燥无味的，贫瘠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
variance
|
|
| n.矛盾，不同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
cavil
|
|
| v.挑毛病，吹毛求疵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
vexed
|
|
| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
superfluous
|
|
| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
economize
|
|
| v.节约，节省 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
frugal
|
|
| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
prudently
|
|
| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
inflicting
|
|
| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
pertinent
|
|
| adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
reverted
|
|
| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
allays
|
|
| v.减轻，缓和( allay的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
meek
|
|
| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
facetiousness
|
|
| n.滑稽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
compassion
|
|
| n.同情，怜悯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
tiff
|
|
| n.小争吵，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
armistice
|
|
| n.休战，停战协定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
hostilities
|
|
| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
sarcasm
|
|
| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
profuseness
|
|
| n.挥霍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
foul
|
|
| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
agitation
|
|
| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
gruel
|
|
| n.稀饭，粥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
everlasting
|
|
| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
reticent
|
|
| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
bonnet
|
|
| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
insistence
|
|
| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
snails
|
|
| n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
secrete
|
|
| vt.分泌；隐匿，使隐秘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
tolling
|
|
| [财]来料加工 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
protracted
|
|
| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
amicably
|
|
| adv.友善地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |