小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 英文名人传记 » 马尔科姆·利特尔自传 The Autobiography Of Malcolm X » Chapter 12 Savior
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
Chapter 12 Savior
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。

During the spring of nineteen fifty-two I joyously1 wrote Elijah Muhammad and my family that the Massachusetts State Parole Board had voted that I should be released. But still a few months weretaken up with the red tape delay of paper work that went back and forth2, arranging for my parolerelease in the custody3 of my oldest brother, Wilfred, in Detroit, who now managed a furniture store.

  Wilfred got the Jew who owned the store to sign a promise that upon release I would be givenimmediate employment.

  By the prison system wire, I heard that Shorty also was up for parole. But Shorty was having troublegetting some reputable person to sign for him. (Later, I found out that in prison Shorty had studiedmusical composition. He had even progressed to writing some pieces; one of them I know he named"The Bastille Concerto4. ")My going to Detroit instead of back to Harlem or Boston was influenced by my family's feelingexpressed in their letters. Especially my sister Hilda had stressed to me that although I felt Iunderstood Elijah Muhammad's teachings, I had much to learn, and I ought to come to Detroit andbecome a member of a temple of practicing Muslims.

  It was in August when they gave me a lecture, a cheap Li'l Abner suit, and a small amount of money,and I walked out of the gate. I never looked back, but that doesn't make me any different from amillion inmates5 who have left a prison behind them.

  The first stop I made was at a Turkish bath. I got some of that physical feeling of prison-taint steamedoff me. Ella, with whom I stayed only overnight, had also agreed that it would be best for me to startagain in Detroit. The police in a new city wouldn't have it in for me; that was Ella's consideration-notthe Muslims, for whom Ella had no use. Both Hilda and Reginald had tried to work on Ella. But Ella,with her strong will, didn't go for it at all. She told me that she felt anyone could be whatever hewanted to be, Holy Roller, Seventh Day Adventist, or whatever it was, but she wasn't going to becomeany Muslim.

  Hilda, the next morning, gave me some money to put in my pocket. Before I left, I went out andbought three things I remember well. I bought a better-looking pair of eyeglasses than the pair theprison had issued to me; and I bought a suitcase and a wrist watch.

  I have thought, since, that without fully6 knowing it, I was preparing for what my life was about tobecome. Because those are three things I've used more than anything else. My eyeglasses correct theastigmatism that I got from all the reading in prison. I travel so much now that my wife keepsalternate suitcases packed so that, when necessary, I can just grab one. And you won't find anybodymore time-conscious than I am. I live by my watch, keeping appointments. Even when I'm using mycar, I drive by my watch, not my speedometer. Time is more important to me than distance.

  I caught a bus to Detroit. The furniture store that my brother Wilfred managed was right in the blackghetto of Detroit; I'd better not name the store, if I'm going to tell the way they robbed Negroes.

  Wilfred introduced me to the Jews who owned the store. And, as agreed, I was put to work, as asalesman.

   "Nothing Down" advertisements drew poor Negroes into that store like flypaper. It was a shame, theway they paid three and four times what the furniture had cost, because they could get credit fromthose Jews. It was the same kind of cheap, gaudy-looking junk that you can see in any of the blackghetto furniture stores today. Fabrics8 were stapled9 on the sofas. Imitation "leopard10 skin" bedspreads,"tiger skin" rugs, such stuff as that. I would see clumsy, work-hardened, calloused11 hands scrawlingand scratching signatures on the contract, agreeing to highway-robbery interest rates in the fine printthat never was read.

  I was seeing in real life the same point made in a joke that during the 1964 Presidential campaign _Jet_magazine reported that Senator Barry Goldwater had told somewhere. It was that a white man, aNegro, and a Jew were given one wish each. The white man asked for securities; the Negro asked for alot of money; the Jew asked for some imitation jewelry12 "and that colored boy's address."In all my years in the streets, I'd been looking at the exploitation that for the first time I really saw andunderstood. Now I watched brothers entwining themselves in the economic clutches of the white manwho went home every night with another bag of the money drained out of the ghetto7. I saw that themoney, instead of helping13 the black man, was going to help enrich these white merchants, whousually lived in an "exclusive" area where a black man had better not get caught unless he workedthere for somebody white.

  Wilfred invited me to share his home, and gratefully I accepted. The warmth of a home and a familywas a healing change from the prison cage for me. It would deeply move almost any newly freedconvict, I think. But especially this Muslim home's atmosphere sent me often to my knees to praiseAllah. My family's letters while I was in prison had included a description of the Muslim homeroutine, but to truly appreciate it, one had to be a part of the routine. Each act, and the significance ofthat act, was gently, patiently explained to me by my brother Wilfred.

  There was none of the morning confusion that exists in most homes. Wilfred, the father, the familyprotector and provider, was the first to rise. "The father prepares the way for his family," he said. He,then I, performed the morning ablutions. Next came Wilfred's wife, Ruth, and then their children, sothat orderliness prevailed in the use of the bathroom.

  "In the name of Allah, I perform the ablution," the Muslim said aloud before washing first the righthand, then the left hand. The teeth were thoroughly14 brushed, followed by three rinsings of the mouth.

  The nostrils15 were also rinsed16 out thrice. A shower then completed the whole body's purification inreadiness for prayer.

  Each family member, even children upon meeting each other for that new day's first time, greetedsoftly and pleasantly, "As-Salaam-Alaikum" (the Arabic for "Peace be unto you"). "Wa-Alaikum-Salaam" ("and unto you be peace") was the other's reply. Over and over again, the Muslim said in hisown mind, "Allahu-Akbar, Allahu-Akbar" ("Allah is the greatest").

   The prayer rug was spread by Wilfred while the rest of the family purified themselves. It wasexplained to me that a Muslim family prayed with the sun near the horizon. If that time was missed,the prayer had to be deferred18 until the sun was beyond the horizon. "Muslims are not sun-worshipers.

  We pray facing the East to be in unity19 with the rest of our 725 million brothers and sisters in the entireMuslim world."All the family, in robes, lined up facing East. In unison20, we stepped from our slippers21 to stand on theprayer rug.

  Today, I say with my family in the Arabic tongue the prayer which I first learned in English: "Iperform the morning prayer to Allah, the Most High, Allah is the greatest. Glory to Thee Oh Allah,Thine is the praise, Blessed is Thy Name, and Exalted22 is Thy Majesty23. I bear witness that nothingdeserves to be served or worshiped besides Thee."No solid food, only juice and coffee, was taken for our breakfasts. Wilfred and I went off to work.

  There, at noon and again at around three in the afternoon, unnoticed by others in the furniture store,we would rinse17 our hands, faces and mouths, and softly meditate24.

  Muslim children did likewise at school, and Muslim wives and mothers interrupted their chores tojoin the world's 725 million Muslims in communicating with God.

   Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays were the meeting days of the relatively25 small Detroit TempleNumber One. Near the temple, which actually was a storefront, were three hog-slaughtering pens. Thesquealing of hogs27 being slaughtered28 filtered into our Wednesday and Friday meetings. I'm describingthe condition that we Muslims were in back in the early 1950's.

  The address of Temple Number One was 1470 Frederick Street, I think. The first Temple to be formed,back in 1931, by Master W. D. Fard, was formed in Detroit, Michigan. I never had seen any Christian29-believing Negroes conduct themselves like the Muslims, the individuals and the families alike. Themen were quietly, tastefully dressed. The women wore ankle-length gowns, no makeup30, and scarvescovered their heads. The neat children were mannerly not only to adults but to other children as well.

  I had never dreamed of anything like that atmosphere among black people who had learned to beproud they were black, who had learned to love other black people instead of being jealous andsuspicious. I thrilled to how we Muslim men used both hands to grasp a black brother's both hands,voicing and smiling our happiness to meet him again. The Muslim sisters, both married and single,were given an honor and respect that I'd never seen black men give to their women, and it feltwonderful to me. The salutations which we all exchanged were warm, filled with mutual31 respect anddignity: "Brother". . . "Sister". . . "Ma'am". . . "Sir." Even children speaking to other children used theseterms. Beautiful!

   Lemuel Hassan then was the Minister at Temple Number One. "As-Salaikum," he greeted us. "Wa-Salaikum," we returned. Minister Lemuel stood before us, near a blackboard. The blackboard hadfixed upon it in permanent paint, on one side, the United States flag and under it the words "Slavery,Suffering and Death," then the word "Christianity" alongside the sign of the Cross. Beneath the Crosswas a painting of a black man hanged from a tree. On the other side was painted what we were taughtwas the Muslim flag, the crescent and star on a red background with the words "Islam: Freedom,Justice, Equality," and beneath that "Which One Will Survive the War of Armageddon?"For more than an hour, Minister Lemuel lectured about Elijah Muhammad's teachings. I sat raptlyabsorbing Minister Lemuel's every syllable33 and gesture. Frequently, he graphically34 illustrated35 pointsby chalking key words or phrases on the blackboard.

  I thought it was outrageous36 that our small temple still had some empty seats. I complained to mybrother Wilfred that there should be no empty seats, with the surrounding streets full of ourbrainwashed black brothers and sisters, drinking, cursing, fighting, dancing, carousing37, and usingdope-the very things that Mr. Muhammad taught were helping the black man to stay under the heel ofthe white man here in America.

  From what I could gather, the recruitment attitude at the temple seemed to me to amount to a self-defeating waiting view . . . an assumption that Allah would bring us more Muslims. I felt that Allahwould be more inclined to help those who helped themselves. I had lived for years in ghetto streets; Iknew the Negroes in those streets. Harlem or Detroit were no different. I said I disagreed, that Ithought we should go out into the streets and get more Muslims into the fold. All of my life, as youknow, I had been an activist38, I had been impatient. My brother Wilfred counseled me to keep patience.

  And for me to be patient was made easier by the fact that I could anticipate soon seeing and perhapsmeeting the man who was called "The Messenger," Elijah Muhammad himself.

  Today, I have appointments with world-famous personages, including some heads of nations. But Ilooked forward to the Sunday before Labor39 Day in 1952 with an eagerness never since duplicated.

  Detroit Temple Number One Muslims were going in a motor caravan-I think about ten automobiles40-tovisit Chicago Temple Number Two, to hear Elijah Muhammad.

  Not since childhood had I been so excited as when we drove in Wilfred's car. At great Muslim ralliessince then I have seen, and heard, and felt ten thousand black people applauding and cheering. But onthat Sunday afternoon when our two little temples assembled, perhaps only two hundred Muslims,the Chicagoans welcoming and greeting us Detroiters, I experienced tinglings up my spine41 as I'venever had since.

  I was totally unprepared for the Messenger Elijah Muhammad's physical impact upon my emotions.

  From the rear of Temple Number Two, he came toward the platform. The small, sensitive, gentle,brown face that I had studied in photographs, until I had dreamed about it, was fixed32 straight aheadas the Messenger strode, encircled by the marching, strapping42 Fruit of Islam guards. The Messenger,compared to them, seemed fragile, almost tiny. He and the Fruit of Islam were dressed in dark suits, white shirts, and bow ties. The Messenger wore a gold-embroidered fez.

  I stared at the great man who had taken the time to write to me when I was a convict whom he knewnothing about. He was the man whom I had been told had spent years of his life in suffering andsacrifice to lead us, the black people, because he loved us so much. And then, hearing his voice, I satleaning forward, riveted43 upon his words. (I try to reconstruct what Elijah Muhammad said fromhaving since heard him speak hundreds of times.)"I have not stopped one day for the past twenty-one years. I have been standing44, preaching to youthroughout those past twenty-one years, while I was free, and even while I was in bondage45. I spentthree and one-half years in the federal penitentiary46, and also over a year in the city jail for teachingthis truth. I was also deprived of a father's love for his family for seven long years while I was runningfrom hypocrites and other enemies of this word and revelation of God-which will give life to you, andput you on the same level with all other civilized47 and independent nations and peoples of this planetearth. . . ."Elijah Muhammad spoke48 of how in this wilderness49 of North America, for centuries the "blue-eyeddevil white man" had brainwashed the "so-called Negro." He told us how, as one result, the black manin America was "mentally, morally and spiritually dead." Elijah Muhammad spoke of how the blackman was Original Man, who had been kidnapped from his homeland and stripped of his language, hisculture, his family structure, his family name, until the black man in America did not even realize whohe was.

  He told us, and showed us, how his teachings of the true knowledge of ourselves would lift up theblack man from the bottom of the white man's society and place the black man where he had begun, atthe top of civilization.

  Concluding, pausing for breath, he called my name.

  It was like an electrical shock. Not looking at me directly, he asked me to stand.

  He told them that I was just out of prison. He said how "strong" I had been while in prison. "Everyday," he said, "for years, Brother Malcolm has written a letter from prison to me. And I have written tohim as often as I could."Standing there, feeling the eyes of the two hundred Muslims upon me, I heard him make a parableabout me.

  When God bragged50 about how faithful Job was, said Elijah Muhammad, the devil said only God'shedge around Job kept Job so faithful. "Remove that protective hedge," the devil told God, "and I willmake Job curse you to your face."The devil could claim that, hedged in prison, I had just used Islam, Mr. Muhammad said. But the devil would say that now, out of prison, I would return to my drinking, smoking, dope, and life of crime.

  "Well, now, our good brother Malcolm's hedge is removed and we will see how he does," Mr.

  Muhammad said. "I believe that he is going to remain faithful."And Allah blessed me to remain true, firm and strong in my faith in Islam, despite many severe trialsto my faith. And even when events produced a crisis between Elijah Muhammad and me, I told him atthe beginning of the crisis, with all the sincerity51 I had in me, that I still believed in him more stronglythan he believed in himself.

  Mr. Muhammad and I are not together today only because of envy and jealousy52. I had more faith inElijah Muhammad than I could ever have in any other man upon this earth.

  You will remember my having said that, when I was in prison, Mr. Muhammad would be my brotherWilfred's house guest whenever he visited Detroit Temple Number One. Every Muslim said thatnever could you do as much for Mr. Muhammad as he would do for you in return. That Sunday, afterthe meeting, he invited our entire family group and Minister Lemuel Hassan to be his guests fordinner that evening, at his new home.

  Mr. Muhammad said that his children and his followers54 had insisted that he move into this larger,better eighteen-room house in Chicago at 4847 Woodlawn Avenue. They had just moved in that week,I believe. When we arrived, Mr. Muhammad showed us where he had just been painting. I had torestrain my impulse to run and bring a chair for the Messenger of Allah. Instead, as I had heard hewould do, he was worrying about my comfort.

  We had hoped to hear his wisdom during the dinner, but instead he encouraged us to talk. I satthinking of how our Detroit Temple more or less just sat and awaited Allah to bring converts-and,beyond that, of the millions of black people all over America, who never had heard of the teachingsthat could stir and wake and resurrect the black man. . . and there at Mr. Muhammad's table, I foundmy tongue. I have always been one to speak my mind.

  During a conversational55 lull56, I asked Mr. Muhammad how many Muslims were supposed to be in ourTemple Number One in Detroit.

  He said, "There are supposed to be thousands.""Yes, sir," I said. "Sir, what is your opinion of the best way of getting thousands there?""Go after the young people," he said. "Once you get them, the older ones will follow through shame."I made up my mind that we were going to follow that advice.

  Back in Detroit, I talked with my brother Wilfred. I offered my services to our Temple's Minister, Lemuel Hassan. He shared my determination that we should apply Mr. Muhammad's formula in arecruitment drive. Beginning that day, every evening, straight from work at the furniture store, I wentdoing what we Muslims later came to call "fishing." I knew the thinking and the language of ghettostreets: "My man, let me pull your coat to something-"My application had, of course, been made and during this time I received from Chicago my "X." TheMuslim's "X" symbolized57 the true African family name that he never could know. For me, my "X"replaced the white slavemaster name of "Little" which some blue-eyed devil named Little hadimposed upon my paternal58 forebears. The receipt of my "X" meant that forever after in the nation ofIslam, I would be known as Malcolm X. Mr. Muhammad taught that we would keep this "X" until GodHimself returned and gave us a Holy Name from His own mouth.

  Recruit as I would in the Detroit ghetto bars, in the poolrooms, and on the corners, I found my poor,ignorant, brainwashed black brothers mostly too deaf, dumb, and blind, mentally, morally, andspiritually, to respond. It angered me that only now and then would one display even a little curiosityabout the teachings that would resurrect the black man.

  These few I would almost beg to visit Temple Number One at our next meeting. But then not half ofthose who agreed to come would actually show up.

  Gradually, enough were made interested, though, that each month, a few more automobileslengthened our caravans59 to Temple Two in Chicago. But even after seeing and hearing ElijahMuhammad in person, only a few of the interested visitors would apply by formal letter to Mr.

  Muhammad to be accepted for Nation of Islam membership.

  With a few months of plugging away, however, our storefront Temple One about tripled itsmembership. And that so deeply pleased Mr. Muhammad that he paid us the honor of a personalvisit.

  Mr. Muhammad gave me warm praise when Minister Lemuel Hassan told how hard I had labored60 inthe cause of Islam.

  Our caravans grew. I remember with what pride we led twenty-five automobiles to Chicago. Andeach time we went, we were honored with dinner at the home of Elijah Muhammad. He wasinterested in my potential, I could tell from things he would say.

  And I worshiped him.

  In early 1953, 1 left the furniture store. I earned a little better weekly pay check working at the GarWood factory in Detroit, where big garbage truck bodies were made. I cleaned up behind the welderseach time they finished another truck body.

  Mr. Muhammad was saying at his dining table by this time that one of his worst needs was more young men willing to work as hard as they would have to in order to bear the responsibilities of hisministers. He was saying that the teachings should be spreading further than they had, and templesneeded to be established in other cities.

  It simply had never occurred to me that / might be a minister. I had never felt remotely qualified61 todirectly represent Mr. Muhammad. If someone had asked me about becoming a minister, I wouldhave been astonished, and told them I was happy and willing to serve Mr. Muhammad in the lowliestcapacity.

  I don't know if Mr. Muhammad suggested it or if our Temple One Minister Lemuel Hassan on hisown decision encouraged me to address our assembled brothers and sisters. I know that I testified towhat Mr. Muhammad's teachings had done for me: "If I told you the life I have lived, you would findit hard to believe me. . . . When I say something about the white man, I am not talking about someoneI don't know. . . ."Soon after that, Minister Lemuel Hassan urged me to address the brothers and sisters with anextemporaneous lecture. I was uncertain, and hesitant-but at least I had debated in prison, and I triedmy best. (Of course, I can't remember exactly what I said, but I do know that in my beginning effortsmy favorite subject was Christianity and the horrors of slavery, where I felt well-equipped from somuch reading in prison. )"My brothers and sisters, our white slavemaster's Christian religion has taught us black people here inthe wilderness of North America that we will sprout62 wings when we die and fly up into the sky whereGod will have for us a special place called heaven. This is white man's Christian religion used to_brainwash_ us black people! We have _accepted_ it! We have _embraced_ it! We have _believed_ it!

  We have _practiced_ it! And while we are doing all of that, for himself, this blue-eyed devil has_twisted_ his Christianity, to keep his _foot_ on our backs. . . to keep our eyes fixed on the pie in thesky and heaven in the hereafter. . . while _he_ enjoys _his_ heaven right _here_ . . . on _this earth_ . . .

  in _this life_."Today when thousands of Muslims and others have been audiences out before me, when audiences ofmillions have been beyond radio and television microphones, I'm sure I rarely feel as much electricityas was then generated in me by the upturned faces of those seventy-five or a hundred Muslims, plusother curious visitors, sitting there in our storefront temple with the squealing26 of pigs filtering in fromthe slaughterhouse just outside.

  In the summer of 1953-all praise is due to Allah-I was named Detroit Temple Number One's AssistantMinister.

  Every day after work, I walked, "fishing" for potential converts in the Detroit black ghetto. I saw theAfrican features of my black brothers and sisters whom the devilish white man had brainwashed. Isaw the hair as mine had been for years, conked by cooking it with lye until it lay limp, lookingstraight like the white man's hair. Time and again Mr. Muhammad's teachings were rebuffed and even ridiculed63 . . . ."Aw, man, get out of my face, you niggers are crazy!" My head would reel sometimes,with mingled64 anger and pity for my poor blind black brothers. I couldn't wait for the next time ourMinister Lemuel Hassan would let me speak:

  "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock, my brothers and sisters-Plymouth Rock landed on _us!_" . . . "Give_all_ you can to help Messenger Elijah Muhammad's independence program for the black man! . . .

  This white man always has controlled us black people by keeping us running to him begging, 'Please,lawdy, please, Mr. White Man, boss, would you push me off another crumb65 down from your tablethat's sagging66 with riches . . . .'

  ". . . my _beautiful_, black brothers and sisters! And when we say 'black,' we mean everything notwhite, brothers and sisters! Because _look_ at your skins! We're all black to the white man, but we're athousand and one different colors. Turn around, _look_ at each other! What shade of black Africanpolluted by devil white man are you? You see me-well, in the streets they used to call me Detroit Red.

  Yes! Yes, that raping67, red-headed devil was my _grandfather_! That close, yes! My _mother's_ father!

  She didn't like to speak of it, can you blame her? She said she never laid eyes on him! She was _glad_for that! I'm _glad_ for her! If I could drain away _his_ blood that pollutes _my_ body, and pollutesmy complexion68, I'd do it! Because I hate every drop of the rapist's blood that's in me!

  "And it's not just me, it's _all_ of us! During slavery, _think_ of it, it was a _rare_ one of our blackgrandmothers, our great-grandmothers and our great-great-grandmothers who escaped the whiterapist slavemaster. That rapist slavemaster who emasculated the black man . . . with threats, with fear .

  . . until even today the black man lives with fear of the white man in his heart! Lives even today stillunder the heel of the white man!

  "_Think_ of it-think of that black slave man filled with fear and dread69, hearing the screams of his wife,his mother, his daughter being _taken_-in the barn, the kitchen, in the bushes! _Think_ of it, my dearbrothers and sisters! _Think_ of hearing wives, mothers, daughters, being _raped_! And you were toofilled with _fear_ of the rapist to do anything about it! And his vicious, animal attacks' offspring, thiswhite man named things like 'mulatto' and 'quadroon' and 'octoroon' and all those other things that hehas called us-you and me-when he is not calling us '_nigger_'!

  "Turn around and look at each other, brothers and sisters, and _think_ of this! You and me, pollutedall these colors-and this devil has the arrogance70 and the gall71 to think we, his victims, should _love_him!"I would become so choked up that sometimes I would walk in the streets until late into the night.

  Sometimes I would speak to no one for hours, thinking to myself about what the white man had doneto our poor people here in America.

   At the Gar Wood factory where I worked, one day the supervisor72 came, looking nervous. He said that a man in the office was waiting to see me.

  The white man standing in there said, "I'm from the F.B.I." He flipped73 open-that way they do, to shockyou-his little folded black leather case containing his identification. He told me to come with him. Hedidn't say for what, or why.

  I went with him. They wanted to know, at their office, why hadn't I registered for the Korean Wardraft?

  "I just got out of prison," I said. "I didn't know you took anybody with prison records."They really believed I thought ex-convicts weren't supposed to register. They asked a lot of questions.

  I was glad they didn't ask if I intended to put on the white man's uniform, because I didn't. They justtook it for granted that I would. They told me they weren't going to send me to jail for failing toregister, that they were going to give me a break, but that I would have to register immediately.

  So I went straight from there to the draft board. When they gave me a form to fill out, I wrote in theappropriate places that I was a Muslim, and that I was a conscientious74 objector.

  I turned in the form. This middle-aged75, bored-acting devil who scanned it looked out from under hiseyes at me. He got up and went into another office, obviously to consult someone over him. After awhile, he came out and motioned for me to go in there.

  These three-I believe there were three, as I remember-older devils sat behind desks. They all wore that"troublesome nigger" expression. And I looked "white devil" right back into their eyes. They asked meon what basis did I claim to be a Muslim in my religion. I told them that the Messenger of Allah wasMr. Elijah Muhammad, and that all who followed Mr. Muhammad here in America were Muslims. Iknew they had heard this before from some Temple One young brothers who had been there beforeme.

  They asked if I knew what "conscientious objector" meant. I told them that when the white man askedme to go off somewhere and fight and maybe die to preserve the way the white man treated the blackman in America, then my conscience made me object.

  They told me that my case would be "pending76." But I was put through the physical anyway, and theysent me a card with some kind of a classification. That was 1953, then I heard no more for seven years,when I received another classification card in the mail. In fact, I carry it in my wallet right now. Here:

  it's card number 20 219 25 1377, it's dated November 21, 1960. It says, "Class 5-A," whatever thatmeans, and stamped on the card's back is "Michigan Local Board No. 19, Wayne County, 3604 SouthWayne Road, Wayne, Michigan." Every time I spoke at our Temple One, my voice would still be hoarse77 from the last time. My throattook a long time to get into condition.

  "Do you know _why_ the white man really hates you? It's because every time he sees your face, hesees a mirror of his crime-and his guilty conscience can't bear to face it!

  "Every white man in America, when he looks into a black man's eyes, should fall to his knees and say'I'm sorry, I'm sorry-my kind has committed history's greatest crime against your kind; will you giveme the chance to atone78?' But do you brothers and sisters expect any white man to do that? _No_, you_know_ better! And why won't he do it? Because he _can't_ do it. The white man has _created_ a devil,to bring chaos79 upon this earth. . . ."Somewhere about this time, I left the Gar Wood factory and I went to work for the Ford53 MotorCompany, one of the Lincoln-Mercury Division assembly lines.

  As a young minister, I would go to Chicago and see Mr. Elijah Muhammad every time I could get off.

  He encouraged me to come when I could. I was treated as if I had been one of the sons of Mr.

  Muhammad and his dark, good wife Sister Clara Muhammad. I saw their children only occasionally.

  Most of them in those years worked around Chicago in various jobs, laborers80, driving taxis, and thingssuch as that. Also living in the home was Mr. Muhammad's dear Mother Marie.

  I would spend almost as much time with Mother Marie as I did with Mr. Muhammad. I loved to hearher reminiscences about her son Elijah's early life when they lived in Sandersville, Georgia, where hewas born in 1897.

  Mr. Muhammad would talk with me for hours. After eating good, healthful Muslim food, we wouldstay at the dinner table and talk. Or I would ride with him as he drove on his daily rounds betweenthe few grocery stores that the Muslims then owned in Chicago. The stores were examples to helpblack people see what they could do for themselves by hiring their own kind and trading with theirown kind and thus quit being exploited by the white man.

  In the Muslim-owned combination grocery-drug store on Wentworth and 31st Street, Mr. Muhammadwould sweep the floor or something like that. He would do such work himself as an example to hisfollowers whom he taught that idleness and laziness were among the black man's greatest sins againsthimself. I would want to snatch the broom from Mr. Muhammad's hand, because I thought he was toovaluable to be sweeping81 a floor. But he wouldn't let me do anything but stay with him and listen whilehe advised me on the best ways to spread his message.

  The way we were with each other, it would make me think of Socrates on the steps of the Athensmarket place, spreading his wisdom to his students. Or how one of those students, Aristotle, had hisstudents following behind him, walking through the Lyceum.

   One day, I remember, a dirty glass of water was on a counter and Mr. Muhammad put a clean glass ofwater beside it. "You want to know how to spread my teachings?" he said, and he pointed82 to theglasses of water. "Don't condemn83 if you see a person has a dirty glass of water," he said, "just showthem the clean glass of water that you have. When they inspect it, you won't have to say that yours isbetter."Of all the things that Mr. Muhammad ever was to teach me, I don't know why, that still stands out inmy mind. Although I haven't always practiced it. I love too much to battle. I'm inclined to tellsomebody if his glass of water is dirty.

  Mother Marie, when Mr. Muhammad was busy, would tell me about her son's boyhood and of hisgrowing up in Georgia to young manhood.

  Mother Marie's account of her son began when she was herself but seven years old. She told me thatthen she had a vision that one day she would be the mother of a very great man. She married a Baptistminister, Reverend Poole, who worked around Sandersville on the farms, and in the sawmills. Amongtheir thirteen children, said Mother Marie, little Elijah was very different, almost from when he couldwalk and talk.

  The small, frail84 boy usually settled his older brothers' and sisters' disputes, Mother Marie said. Andyoung as he was, he became regarded by them as their leader. And Elijah, about the time he enteredschool, began displaying a strong race consciousness. After the fourth grade, because the family wasso poor, Elijah had to quit school and begin full-time85 working. An older sister taught Elijah as much asshe was able at night.

  Mother Marie said that Elijah spent hours poring through the Bible, with tears shining in his eyes. (Mr.

  Muhammad told me himself later that as a boy he felt that the Bible's words were a locked door, thatcould be unlocked, if only he knew how, and he cried because of his frustrated86 anxiety to receiveunderstanding. ) Elijah grew up into a still-frail teenager who displayed a most uncommonly87 stronglove for his race, and, Mother Marie said, instead of condemning88 Negroes' faults, young Elijah alwayswould speak of reasons for those faults.

  Mother Marie has since died. I believe that she had as large a funeral as Chicago has seen. Not onlyMuslims, but others knew of the deep bond that Messenger Elijah had with his mother.

  "I am not ashamed to say how little learning I have had," Mr. Muhammad told me. "My going toschool no further than the fourth grade proves that I can know nothing except the truth I have beentaught by Allah. Allah taught me mathematics. He found me with a sluggish89 tongue, and taught mehow to pronounce words."Mr. Muhammad said that somehow, he never could stand how the Sandersville white farmers, thesawmill foremen, or other white employers would habitually90 and often curse Negro workers. He saidhe would politely ask any for whom he worked never to curse him. "I would ask them to just fire me if they didn't like my work, but just don't curse me." (Mr. Muhammad's ordinary conversation was themanner he used when making speeches. He was not "eloquent," as eloquence92 is usually meant, butwhatever he uttered had an impact on me that trained orators93 did not begin to have. ) He said that onthe jobs he got, he worked so honestly that generally he was put in charge of the other Negroes.

  After Mr. Muhammad and Sister Clara met and married and their first two children had been born, awhite employer early in 1923 did curse Mr. Muhammad, then Elijah Poole. Elijah Poole, determined94 toavoid trouble, took his family to Detroit, arriving when he was twenty-five. Five more children wouldbe born there in Detroit, and, finally, the last one in Chicago.

  In Detroit in 1931, Mr. Muhammad met Master W. D. Fard.

  The effects of the depression were bad everywhere, but in the black ghetto they were horrible, Mr.

  Muhammad told me. A small, light brown-skinned man knocked from door to door at the apartmentsof the poverty-stricken Negroes. The man offered for sale silks and other yard goods, and he identifiedhimself as "a brother from the East."This man began to tell Negroes how they came from a distant land, in the seeds of their forefathers95.

  He warned them against eating the "filthy96 pig" and other "wrong foods" that it was habitual91 forNegroes to eat.

  Among the Negroes whom he found most receptive, he began holding little meetings in their poorhomes. The man taught both the Quran and the Bible, and his students included Elijah Poole.

  This man said his name was W. D. Fard. He said that he was born in the _Koreish_ tribe ofMuhammad ibn Abdullah, the Arabian prophet Himself. This peddler of silks and yard goods, Mr. W.

  D. Fard, knew the Bible better than any of the Christian-bred Negroes.

  In the essence, Mr. W. D. Fard taught that God's true name was Allah, that His true religion was Islam,that the true name for that religion's people was Muslims.

  Mr. W. D. Fard taught that the Negroes in America were directly descended97 from Muslims. He taughtthat Negroes in America were Lost Sheep, lost for four hundred years from the Nation of Islam, andthat he, Mr. Fard, had come to redeem98 and return the Negro to his true religion.

  No heaven was in the sky, Mr. Fard taught, and no hell was in the ground. Instead, both heaven andhell were conditions in which people lived right here on this planet Earth. Mr. Fard taught that theNegro in America had been for four hundred years in hell, and he, Mr. Fard, had come to return themto where heaven for them was-back home, among their own kind.

  Master Fard taught that as hell was on earth, also on earth was the devil-the white race which was bred from black Original Man six thousand years before, purposely to create a hell on earth for thenext six thousand years.

  The black people, God's children, were Gods themselves, Master Fard taught. And he taught thatamong them was one, also a human being like the others, who was the God of Gods: The Most, MostHigh, The Supreme99 Being, supreme in wisdom and power-and His proper name was Allah.

  Among his handful of first converts in 1931 in Detroit, Master W. D. Fard taught that every religionsays that near the Last Day, or near the End of Time, God would come, to resurrect the Lost Sheep, toseparate them from their enemies, and restore them to their own people. Master Fard taught thatProphecy referred to this Finder and Savior of the Lost Sheep as The Son of Man, or God in Person, orThe Lifegiver, The Redeemer, or The Messiah, who would come as lightning from the East and appearin the West.

  He was the One to whom the Jews referred as The Messiah, the Christians100 as The Christ, and theMuslims as The Mahdi.

   I would sit, galvanized, hearing what I then accepted from Mr. Muhammad's own mouth as being thetrue history of our religion, the true religion for the black man. Mr. Muhammad told me that oneevening he had a revelation that Master W. D. Fard represented the fulfillment of the prophecy.

  "I asked Him," said Mr. Muhammad, "'Who are you, and what is your real name?' And He said, 'I amThe One the world has been looking for to come for the past two thousand years.'

  "I said to Him again," said Mr. Muhammad, "'What is your _true_ name?' And then He said, 'My nameis Mahdi. I came to guide you into the right path.'"Mr. Elijah Muhammad says that he sat listening with an open heart and an open mind-the way I wassitting listening to Mr. Muhammad. And Mr. Muhammad said he never doubted any word that the"Savior" taught him.

  Starting to organize, Master W. D. Fard set up a class for training ministers to carry the teachings toAmerica's black people. In giving names to these first ministers, Master Fard named Elijah Poole"Elijah Karriem."Next, Master W. D. Fard established in 1931 in Detroit a University of Islam. It had adult classes whichtaught, among other things, mathematics, to help the poor Negroes quit being duped and deceived bythe "tricknology" of "the blue-eyed devil white man."Starting a school in the rough meant that it lacked qualified teachers, but a start had to be made somewhere. Mr. Elijah Karriem removed his own children from Detroit public schools, to start anucleus of children in the University of Islam.

  Mr. Muhammad told me that his older children's lack of formal education reflected their sacrifice toform the backbone101 for today's Universities of Islam in Detroit and Chicago which have better-qualifiedfaculties.

  Master W. D. Fard selected Elijah Karriem to be the Supreme Minister, over all other ministers, andamong all of those others sprang up a bitter jealousy. All of them had better education than ElijahKarriem, and also they were more articulate than he was. They raged, even in his presence, "Whyshould we bow down to someone who appears less qualified?"But Mr. Elijah Karriem was then in some way re-named "Elijah Muhammad," who as the SupremeMinister began to receive from Master W. D. Fard for the next three and a half years private teachings,during which time he says he "heard things never revealed to others."During this period, Mr. Elijah Muhammad and Master W. D. Fard went to Chicago and establishedTemple Number Two. They also established in Milwaukee the beginnings of a Temple Number Three.

  In 1934, Master W. D. Fard disappeared, without a trace.

  Elijah Muhammad says that attempts were made upon his life, because the other ministers' jealousyhad reached such a pitch. He says that these "hypocrites" forced him to flee to Chicago. TempleNumber Two became his headquarters until the "hypocrites" pursued him there, forcing him to fleeagain. In Washington, D. C., he began Temple Number Four. Also while there, in the CongressionalLibrary, he studied books which he says Master W. D. Fard had told him contained different pieces ofthe truth that devil white man had recorded, but which were not in books generally available to thepublic.

  Saying that he was still pursued by the "hypocrites," Mr. Muhammad fled from city to city, neverstaying long in any. Whenever able, now and then, he slipped home to see his wife and his eightyoung children, who were fed by other poor Muslims who shared what little they had. Even Mr.

  Muhammad's original Chicago followers wouldn't know he was at home, for he says the "hypocrites"made serious efforts to kill him.

  In 1942, Mr. Muhammad was arrested. He says Uncle Tom Negroes had tipped off the devil whiteman to his teachings, and he was charged by this devil white man with draft-dodging, although hewas too old for military service. He was sentenced to five years in prison. In the Milan, Michigan,federal prison, Mr. Muhammad served three and a half years, then he was paroled. He had returnedto his work in 1946, to remove the blinders from the eyes of the black man in the wilderness of NorthAmerica.

  I can hear myself now, at the lectern in our little Muslim Temple, passionately102 addressing my black brothers and sisters:

  "This little, gentle, sweet man! The Honorable Elijah Muhammad who is at this very hour teaching ourbrothers and sisters over there in Chicago! Allah's Messenger-which makes him the most powerfulblack man in America! For you and me, he has sacrificed seven years on the run from filthyhypocrites, he spent another three and a half years in a prison cage! He was put there by the devilwhite man! That devil white man does not want the Honorable Elijah Muhammad stirring awake thesleeping giant of you and me, and all of our ignorant, brainwashed kind here in the white man'sheaven and the black man's hell herein the wilderness of North America!

  "I have sat at our Messenger's feet, hearing the truth from his own mouth! I have pledged on myknees' to Allah to tell the white man about his crimes and the black man the true teachings of ourHonorable Elijah Muhammad. I don't care if it costs my life . . . ."This was my attitude. These were my uncompromising words, uttered anywhere, without hesitationor fear. I was his most faithful servant, and I know today that I did believe in him more firmly than hebelieved in himself.

  In the years to come, I was going to have to face a psychological and spiritual crisis.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 joyously 1p4zu0     
ad.快乐地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门,直扑我的怀抱,欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
  • They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊,那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分
2 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
3 custody Qntzd     
n.监护,照看,羁押,拘留
参考例句:
  • He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
  • He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后,他立即被押了起来。
4 concerto JpEzs     
n.协奏曲
参考例句:
  • The piano concerto was well rendered.钢琴协奏曲演奏得很好。
  • The concert ended with a Mozart violin concerto.音乐会在莫扎特的小提琴协奏曲中结束。
5 inmates 9f4380ba14152f3e12fbdf1595415606     
n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
7 ghetto nzGyV     
n.少数民族聚居区,贫民区
参考例句:
  • Racism and crime still flourish in the ghetto.城市贫民区的种族主义和犯罪仍然十分猖獗。
  • I saw that achievement as a possible pattern for the entire ghetto.我把获得的成就看作整个黑人区可以仿效的榜样。
8 fabrics 678996eb9c1fa810d3b0cecef6c792b4     
织物( fabric的名词复数 ); 布; 构造; (建筑物的)结构(如墙、地面、屋顶):质地
参考例句:
  • cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
  • The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。
9 stapled 214b16946d835ee84f23c29ab8689fa8     
v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The letter was stapled to the other documents in the file. 这封信与案卷里的其他文件钉在一起。 来自辞典例句
  • He said with smooth bluntness and shoved a stack of stapled sheets across his desk. 他以一种圆滑、率直的口气说着,并把一叠订好了的稿纸从他办公桌那边递过来。 来自辞典例句
10 leopard n9xzO     
n.豹
参考例句:
  • I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
  • The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。
11 calloused 7897851b401f223edd1460a8f5ec37f3     
adj.粗糙的,粗硬的,起老茧的v.(使)硬结,(使)起茧( callous的过去式和过去分词 );(使)冷酷无情
参考例句:
  • A most practical and emotionally calloused Youth interrupted. 一个非常讲究实际而心肠很硬的年轻人插了一嘴。 来自辞典例句
  • McTeague exhibited his hard, calloused palms. 麦克梯格摊开那双生满老茧坚硬的手掌。 来自辞典例句
12 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
13 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
14 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
15 nostrils 23a65b62ec4d8a35d85125cdb1b4410e     
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
  • The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。
16 rinsed 637d6ed17a5c20097c9dbfb69621fd20     
v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 );冲洗;用清水漂洗掉(肥皂泡等);(用清水)冲掉
参考例句:
  • She rinsed out the sea water from her swimming-costume. 她把游泳衣里的海水冲洗掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The clothes have been rinsed three times. 衣服已经洗了三和。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
17 rinse BCozs     
v.用清水漂洗,用清水冲洗
参考例句:
  • Give the cup a rinse.冲洗一下杯子。
  • Don't just rinse the bottles. Wash them out carefully.别只涮涮瓶子,要仔细地洗洗里面。
18 deferred 43fff3df3fc0b3417c86dc3040fb2d86     
adj.延期的,缓召的v.拖延,延缓,推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 );服从某人的意愿,遵从
参考例句:
  • The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
  • a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划
19 unity 4kQwT     
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调
参考例句:
  • When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结,并非一团和气。
  • We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前,我们必须加强团结。
20 unison gKCzB     
n.步调一致,行动一致
参考例句:
  • The governments acted in unison to combat terrorism.这些国家的政府一致行动对付恐怖主义。
  • My feelings are in unison with yours.我的感情与你的感情是一致的。
21 slippers oiPzHV     
n. 拖鞋
参考例句:
  • a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
  • He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋,倒在床上。
22 exalted ztiz6f     
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的
参考例句:
  • Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
  • He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。
23 majesty MAExL     
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权
参考例句:
  • The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
  • Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下,您必须赶快做出决定!
24 meditate 4jOys     
v.想,考虑,(尤指宗教上的)沉思,冥想
参考例句:
  • It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
  • I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想,并进入了一个更高的意识境界。
25 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地,相对地
参考例句:
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
26 squealing b55ccc77031ac474fd1639ff54a5ad9e     
v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Pigs were grunting and squealing in the yard. 猪在院子里哼哼地叫个不停。
  • The pigs were squealing. 猪尖叫着。
27 hogs 8a3a45e519faa1400d338afba4494209     
n.(尤指喂肥供食用的)猪( hog的名词复数 );(供食用的)阉公猪;彻底地做某事;自私的或贪婪的人
参考例句:
  • 'sounds like -- like hogs grunting. “像——像是猪发出的声音。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
  • I hate the way he hogs down his food. 我讨厌他那副狼吞虎咽的吃相。 来自辞典例句
28 slaughtered 59ed88f0d23c16f58790fb11c4a5055d     
v.屠杀,杀戮,屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》
29 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
30 makeup 4AXxO     
n.组织;性格;化装品
参考例句:
  • Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
  • Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗?
31 mutual eFOxC     
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的
参考例句:
  • We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
  • Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。
32 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
33 syllable QHezJ     
n.音节;vt.分音节
参考例句:
  • You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
  • The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。
34 graphically fa7a601fa23ba87c5471b396302c84f4     
adv.通过图表;生动地,轮廓分明地
参考例句:
  • This data is shown graphically on the opposite page. 对页以图表显示这些数据。
  • The data can be represented graphically in a line diagram. 这些数据可以用单线图表现出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
35 illustrated 2a891807ad5907f0499171bb879a36aa     
adj. 有插图的,列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
  • The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。
36 outrageous MvFyH     
adj.无理的,令人不能容忍的
参考例句:
  • Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
  • Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。
37 carousing b010797b2c65f4c563ad2ffac1045fdd     
v.痛饮,闹饮欢宴( carouse的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • During the next nine years he alternated between service in several armies and carousing in Paris. 在那以后的九年里,他时而在几个军队中服役,时而在巴黎狂欢作乐。 来自辞典例句
  • In his youth George W. Bush had a reputation for carousing. 小布什在年轻时有好玩的名声。 来自互联网
38 activist gyAzO     
n.活动分子,积极分子
参考例句:
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
39 labor P9Tzs     
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:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
40 automobiles 760a1b7b6ea4a07c12e5f64cc766962b     
n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后,就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上,汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
41 spine lFQzT     
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊
参考例句:
  • He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
  • His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。
42 strapping strapping     
adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • He's a strapping lad—already bigger than his father. 他是一个魁梧的小伙子——已经比他父亲高了。
  • He was a tall strapping boy. 他是一个高大健壮的小伙子。
43 riveted ecef077186c9682b433fa17f487ee017     
铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 ); 把…固定住; 吸引; 引起某人的注意
参考例句:
  • I was absolutely riveted by her story. 我完全被她的故事吸引住了。
  • My attention was riveted by a slight movement in the bushes. 我的注意力被灌木丛中的轻微晃动吸引住了。
44 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
45 bondage 0NtzR     
n.奴役,束缚
参考例句:
  • Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
  • They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
46 penitentiary buQyt     
n.感化院;监狱
参考例句:
  • He worked as a warden at the state penitentiary.他在这所州监狱任看守长。
  • While he was in the penitentiary her father died and the family broke up.他坐牢的时候,她的父亲死了,家庭就拆散了。
47 civilized UwRzDg     
a.有教养的,文雅的
参考例句:
  • Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
  • rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为
48 spoke XryyC     
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:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
49 wilderness SgrwS     
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠
参考例句:
  • She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
  • Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。
50 bragged 56622ccac3ec221e2570115463345651     
v.自夸,吹嘘( brag的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He bragged to his friends about the crime. 他向朋友炫耀他的罪行。
  • Mary bragged that she could run faster than Jack. 玛丽夸口说她比杰克跑得快。 来自《简明英汉词典》
51 sincerity zyZwY     
n.真诚,诚意;真实
参考例句:
  • His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
  • He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。
52 jealousy WaRz6     
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌
参考例句:
  • Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
  • I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。
53 Ford KiIxx     
n.浅滩,水浅可涉处;v.涉水,涉过
参考例句:
  • They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上,所以我们只能涉水过河。
  • If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪,必须极度小心。
54 followers 5c342ee9ce1bf07932a1f66af2be7652     
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件
参考例句:
  • the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
  • The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。
55 conversational SZ2yH     
adj.对话的,会话的
参考例句:
  • The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
  • She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。
56 lull E8hz7     
v.使安静,使入睡,缓和,哄骗;n.暂停,间歇
参考例句:
  • The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
  • Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后,地面战又突然爆发了。
57 symbolized 789161b92774c43aefa7cbb79126c6c6     
v.象征,作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • For Tigress, Joy symbolized the best a woman could expect from life. 在她看,小福子就足代表女人所应有的享受。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
  • A car symbolized distinction and achievement, and he was proud. 汽车象征着荣誉和成功,所以他很自豪。 来自辞典例句
58 paternal l33zv     
adj.父亲的,像父亲的,父系的,父方的
参考例句:
  • I was brought up by my paternal aunt.我是姑姑扶养大的。
  • My father wrote me a letter full of his paternal love for me.我父亲给我写了一封充满父爱的信。
59 caravans 44e69dd45f2a4d2a551377510c9ca407     
(可供居住的)拖车(通常由机动车拖行)( caravan的名词复数 ); 篷车; (穿过沙漠地带的)旅行队(如商队)
参考例句:
  • Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles that are pulled by horses. 旧式的吉卜赛大篷车是由马拉的涂了颜色的木质车辆。
  • Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles. 旧时的吉普赛大篷车是涂了颜色的木质车辆。
60 labored zpGz8M     
adj.吃力的,谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转
参考例句:
  • I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing. 我离那头麋鹿非常近,能听见它吃力的呼吸声。 来自辞典例句
  • They have labored to complete the job. 他们努力完成这一工作。 来自辞典例句
61 qualified DCPyj     
adj.合格的,有资格的,胜任的,有限制的
参考例句:
  • He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
  • We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。
62 sprout ITizY     
n.芽,萌芽;vt.使发芽,摘去芽;vi.长芽,抽条
参考例句:
  • When do deer first sprout horns?鹿在多大的时候开始长出角?
  • It takes about a week for the seeds to sprout.这些种子大约要一周后才会发芽。
63 ridiculed 81e89e8e17fcf40595c6663a61115a91     
v.嘲笑,嘲弄,奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败,代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
64 mingled fdf34efd22095ed7e00f43ccc823abdf     
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系]
参考例句:
  • The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
  • The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候,这一男一女就开始交往了。
65 crumb ynLzv     
n.饼屑,面包屑,小量
参考例句:
  • It was the only crumb of comfort he could salvage from the ordeal.这是他从这场磨难里能找到的唯一的少许安慰。
  • Ruth nearly choked on the last crumb of her pastry.鲁斯几乎被糕点的最后一块碎屑所噎住。
66 sagging 2cd7acc35feffadbb3241d569f4364b2     
下垂[沉,陷],松垂,垂度
参考例句:
  • The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。
  • We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。
67 raping 4f9bdcc4468fbfd7a8114c83498f4f61     
v.以暴力夺取,强夺( rape的现在分词 );强奸
参考例句:
  • In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复,查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼,奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠,无所不做。 来自互联网
68 complexion IOsz4     
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格
参考例句:
  • Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
  • Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。
69 dread Ekpz8     
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
参考例句:
  • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
  • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
70 arrogance pNpyD     
n.傲慢,自大
参考例句:
  • His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
  • Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。
71 gall jhXxC     
v.使烦恼,使焦躁,难堪;n.磨难
参考例句:
  • It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。
  • No gall,no glory.没有磨难,何来荣耀。
72 supervisor RrZwv     
n.监督人,管理人,检查员,督学,主管,导师
参考例句:
  • Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说,我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
  • He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。
73 flipped 5bef9da31993fe26a832c7d4b9630147     
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 ); 按(开关); 快速翻转; 急挥
参考例句:
  • The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转,撞毁了。
  • The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。
74 conscientious mYmzr     
adj.审慎正直的,认真的,本着良心的
参考例句:
  • He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责,也很懂行。
  • He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。
75 middle-aged UopzSS     
adj.中年的
参考例句:
  • I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
  • The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。
76 pending uMFxw     
prep.直到,等待…期间;adj.待定的;迫近的
参考例句:
  • The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
  • He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。
77 hoarse 5dqzA     
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的
参考例句:
  • He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
  • He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动,嗓子都喊哑了。
78 atone EeKyT     
v.赎罪,补偿
参考例句:
  • He promised to atone for his crime.他承诺要赎自己的罪。
  • Blood must atone for blood.血债要用血来还。
79 chaos 7bZyz     
n.混乱,无秩序
参考例句:
  • After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后,城市一片混乱。
  • The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。
80 laborers c8c6422086151d6c0ae2a95777108e3c     
n.体力劳动者,工人( laborer的名词复数 );(熟练工人的)辅助工
参考例句:
  • Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
81 sweeping ihCzZ4     
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的
参考例句:
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗?
82 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
83 condemn zpxzp     
vt.谴责,指责;宣判(罪犯),判刑
参考例句:
  • Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他,而有些人谴责他。
  • We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。
84 frail yz3yD     
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的
参考例句:
  • Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了,身体虚弱,不便独居。
  • She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上,看上去特别虚弱。
85 full-time SsBz42     
adj.满工作日的或工作周的,全时间的
参考例句:
  • A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
  • I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作,我不知道她是如何对付的。
86 frustrated ksWz5t     
adj.挫败的,失意的,泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧
参考例句:
  • It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
  • The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
87 uncommonly 9ca651a5ba9c3bff93403147b14d37e2     
adv. 稀罕(极,非常)
参考例句:
  • an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
  • My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。
88 condemning 3c571b073a8d53beeff1e31a57d104c0     
v.(通常因道义上的原因而)谴责( condemn的现在分词 );宣判;宣布…不能使用;迫使…陷于不幸的境地
参考例句:
  • The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
  • I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
89 sluggish VEgzS     
adj.懒惰的,迟钝的,无精打采的
参考例句:
  • This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
  • Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。
90 habitually 4rKzgk     
ad.习惯地,通常地
参考例句:
  • The pain of the disease caused him habitually to furrow his brow. 病痛使他习惯性地紧皱眉头。
  • Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair. 我已经习惯于服从约翰,我来到他的椅子跟前。
91 habitual x5Pyp     
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的
参考例句:
  • He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
  • They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。
92 eloquence 6mVyM     
n.雄辩;口才,修辞
参考例句:
  • I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。
  • The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。
93 orators 08c37f31715969550bbb2f814266d9d2     
n.演说者,演讲家( orator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The hired orators continued to pour forth their streams of eloquence. 那些雇来的演说家继续滔滔不绝地施展辩才。 来自辞典例句
  • Their ears are too full of bugles and drums and the fine words from stay-at-home orators. 人们的耳朵被军号声和战声以及呆在这的演说家们的漂亮言辞塞得太满了。 来自飘(部分)
94 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
95 forefathers EsTzkE     
n.祖先,先人;祖先,祖宗( forefather的名词复数 );列祖列宗;前人
参考例句:
  • They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left. 它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先,大家都气得怒发冲冠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
96 filthy ZgOzj     
adj.卑劣的;恶劣的,肮脏的
参考例句:
  • The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
  • You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发,然后再去买张新的。
97 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
98 redeem zCbyH     
v.买回,赎回,挽回,恢复,履行(诺言等)
参考例句:
  • He had no way to redeem his furniture out of pawn.他无法赎回典当的家具。
  • The eyes redeem the face from ugliness.这双眼睛弥补了他其貌不扬之缺陷。
99 supreme PHqzc     
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的
参考例句:
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
100 Christians 28e6e30f94480962cc721493f76ca6c6     
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
  • His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。
101 backbone ty0z9B     
n.脊骨,脊柱,骨干;刚毅,骨气
参考例句:
  • The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
  • The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。
102 passionately YmDzQ4     
ad.热烈地,激烈地
参考例句:
  • She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿,也能爱得一往情深。
  • He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533