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A Fellow Traveller
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I believe that a well-known anecdote1 exists to the effect that a young writer, determined2 to make the commencement of his story forcible and original enough to catch and rivet3 the attention of the most blasé of editors, penned the following sentence:
“ ‘Hell!’ said the Duchess.”
Strangely enough, this tale of mine opens in much the same fashion. Only the lady who gave utterance4 to the exclamation5 was not a Duchess!
It was a day in early June. I had been transacting6 some business in Paris and was returning by the morning service to London where I was still sharing rooms with my old friend, the Belgian ex-detective, Hercule Poirot.
The Calais express was singularly empty—in fact, my own compartment7 held only one other traveller. I had made a somewhat hurried departure from the hotel and was busy assuring myself that I had duly collected all my traps when the train started. Up till then I had hardly noticed my companion, but I was now violently recalled to the fact of her existence. Jumping up from her seat, she let down the window and stuck her head out, withdrawing it a moment later with the brief and forcible ejaculation “Hell!”
Now I am old-fashioned. A woman, I consider, should be womanly. I have no patience with the modern neurotic8 girl who jazzes from morning to night, smokes like a chimney, and uses language which would make a Billingsgate fishwoman blush!
I looked up now, frowning slightly, into a pretty, impudent9 face,
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1 anecdote | |
n.轶事,趣闻,短故事 | |
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2 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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3 rivet | |
n.铆钉;vt.铆接,铆牢;集中(目光或注意力) | |
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4 utterance | |
n.用言语表达,话语,言语 | |
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5 exclamation | |
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词 | |
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6 transacting | |
v.办理(业务等)( transact的现在分词 );交易,谈判 | |
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7 compartment | |
n.卧车包房,隔间;分隔的空间 | |
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8 neurotic | |
adj.神经病的,神经过敏的;n.神经过敏者,神经病患者 | |
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9 impudent | |
adj.鲁莽的,卑鄙的,厚颜无耻的 | |
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10 surmounted | |
战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
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11 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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12 abashed | |
adj.窘迫的,尴尬的v.使羞愧,使局促,使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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14 grimace | |
v.做鬼脸,面部歪扭 | |
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15 disapproves | |
v.不赞成( disapprove的第三人称单数 ) | |
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16 forestalled | |
v.先发制人,预先阻止( forestall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 peal | |
n.钟声;v.鸣响 | |
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18 desolated | |
adj.荒凉的,荒废的 | |
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19 stunt | |
n.惊人表演,绝技,特技;vt.阻碍...发育,妨碍...生长 | |
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20 disapproving | |
adj.不满的,反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 ) | |
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21 acrobats | |
n.杂技演员( acrobat的名词复数 );立场观点善变的人,主张、政见等变化无常的人 | |
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22 discoursed | |
演说(discourse的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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23 unintelligible | |
adj.无法了解的,难解的,莫明其妙的 | |
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24 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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25 curiously | |
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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26 ingenuous | |
adj.纯朴的,单纯的;天真的;坦率的 | |
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27 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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28 invalided | |
使伤残(invalid的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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29 awfully | |
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地 | |
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30 bugs | |
adj.疯狂的,发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 );病菌;虫子;[计算机](制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的)错误 | |
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31 extraordinarily | |
adv.格外地;极端地 | |
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32 devour | |
v.吞没;贪婪地注视或谛听,贪读;使着迷 | |
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33 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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34 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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35 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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36 stammeringly | |
adv.stammering(口吃的)的变形 | |
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37 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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38 lighter | |
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级 | |
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