Aunt Clara was a handsome woman. She had been called—but not by men whose manners and code she would have approved—‘a damned fine woman.’ Her age was about forty, which at that period, in a woman’s habit of mind, was the equivalent of about fifty to-day. Her latest photograph was considered to be very successful. It showed her standing8 behind a velvet9 chair and leaning her large but still shapely bust10 slightly over the chair. Her forearms, ruffled11 and braceleted, lay along the fringed back of the chair, and from one negligent12 hand depended a rose. A heavy curtain came downwards13 out of nothing into the picture, and the end of it lay coiled and draped on the seat of the chair. The great dress was of slate-coloured silk, with sleeves tight to the elbow, and thence, from a ribbon-bow, broadening to a wide, triangular14 climax15 that revealed quantities of lace at the wrists. The pointed16 ends of the sleeves were picked out with squares of velvet. A short and highly ornamental17 fringed and looped flounce waved grandly out behind from the waist to the level of the knees; and the stomacher recalled the ornamentation of the flounce; and both the stomacher and flounce gave contrasting value to the severe plainness of the skirt, designed to emphasise18 the quality of the silk. Round the neck was a lace collarette to match the furniture of the wrists, and the broad ends of the collarette were crossed on the bosom19 and held by a large jet brooch. Above that you saw a fine regular face, with a firm hard mouth and a very straight nose and dark eyebrows20; small ears weighted with heavy jet ear-rings.
The photograph could not render the clear perfection of Aunt Clara’s rosy21 skin; she had the colour and the flashing eye of a girl. But it did justice to her really magnificent black hair. This hair was all her own, and the coiffure seemed as ample as a judge’s wig22. From the low forehead the hair was parted exactly in the middle for about two inches; then plaited bands crossed and recrossed the scalp in profusion23, forming behind a pattern exceedingly complicated, and down either side of the head, now behind the ear, now hiding it, now resting on the shoulders, now hanging clear of them, fell long multitudinous glossy24 curls. These curls—one of them in the photograph reached as far as the stomacher—could not have been surpassed in Bursley.
She was a woman of terrific vitality25. Her dead sister had been nothing in comparison with her. She had a glorious digestion26, and was the envy of her brother-in-law—who suffered much from biliousness—because she could eat with perfect impunity27 hot buttered toast and raw celery in large quantities. Further, she had independent means, and no children to cause anxieties. Yet she was always, as the phrase went, ‘bearing up,’ or, as another phrase went, ‘leaning hard.’ Frances Ridley Havergal was her favourite author, and Frances Ridley Havergal’s little book Lean Hard, was kept on her dressing-table. (The girls, however, averred28 that she never opened it.) Aunt Clara’s spiritual life must be imagined as a continual, almost physical leaning on Christ. Nevertheless she never complained, and she was seldom depressed29. Her desire, and her achievement, was to be bright, to take everything cheerfully, to look obstinately30 on the best side of things, and to instil31 this religion into others.
Two.
Thus, when it was announced that father had been called out unexpectedly, leaving an order that they were not to wait for him, she said gaily32 that they had better be obedient and begin, though it would have been more agreeable to wait for father. And she said how beautiful the tea was, and how beautiful the toast, and how beautiful the strawberry-jam, and how beautiful the pikelets. She would herself pour some hot water into the slop basin, and put a pikelet on a plate thereon, covered, to keep warm for father. She would not hear a word about the toast being a little hard, and when Maggie in her curious quiet way ‘stuck her out’ that the toast was in fact hard, she said that that precise degree of hardness was the degree which she, for herself, preferred. Then she talked of jams, and mentioned gooseberry-jam, whereupon Clara privately33 put her tongue out, with the quickness of a snake, to signal to Maggie.
“Ours isn’t good this year,” said Maggie.
“I told auntie we weren’t so set up with it, a fortnight ago,” said Clara simply, like a little angel.
“Did you, dear?” Mrs Hamps exclaimed, with great surprise, almost with shocked surprise. “I’m sure it’s beautiful. I was quite looking forward to tasting it; quite! I know what your gooseberry-jam is.”
“Would you like to try it now?” Maggie suggested. “But we’ve warned you.”
“No trouble, auntie,” said Clara, with her most captivating and innocent smile.
“Well, if you talk about ‘warning’ me, of course I must insist on having some,” said Auntie Clara.
Clara jumped up, passed behind Mrs Hamps, making a contemptuous face at those curls as she did so, and ran gracefully35 down to the kitchen.
“Here,” she said crossly to Mrs Nixon. “A pot of that gooseberry, please. A small one will do. She knows it’s short of sugar, and so she’s determined36 to try it, just out of spite; and nothing will stop her.”
Clara returned smiling to the tea-table, and Maggie neatly37 unsealed the jam; and Auntie Clara, with a face beaming with pleasurable anticipation38, helped herself circumspectly39 to a spoonful.
“Beautiful!” she murmured.
“Oh no!” protestingly.
“Oh no!” Mrs Hamps repeated. “It’s beautiful!” She did not smack43 her lips over it, because she would have considered it unladylike to smack her lips, but by less offensive gestures she sought to convey her unbounded pleasure in the jam. “How much sugar did you put in?” she inquired after a while. “Half and half?”
“Yes,” said Maggie.
“They do say gooseberries were a tiny bit sour this year, owing to the weather,” said Mrs Hamps reflectively.
Clara kicked Edwin under the table, as it were viciously, but her delightful44 innocent smile, directed vaguely45 upon Mrs Hamps, did not relax. Such duplicity passed Edwin’s comprehension; it seemed to him purposeless. Yet he could not quite deny that there might be a certain sting, a certain insinuation, in his auntie’s last remark.
Three.
Then Mr Clayhanger entered, blowing forth46 a long breath as if trying to repulse47 the oppressive heat of the July afternoon. He came straight to the table, with a slightly preoccupied48 air, quickly, his arms motionless at his sides, and slanting49 a little outwards50. Mr Clayhanger always walked like this, with motionless arms so that in spite of a rather clumsy and heavy step, the upper part of him appeared to glide51 along. He shook hands genially52 with Auntie Clara, greeting her almost as grandiosely54 as she greeted him, putting on for a moment the grand manner, not without dignity. Each admired the other. Each often said that the other was ‘wonderful.’ Each undoubtedly55 flattered the other, made a fuss of the other. Mr Clayhanger’s admiration56 was the greater. The bitterest thing that Edwin had ever heard Maggie say was: “It’s something to be thankful for that she’s his deceased wife’s sister!” And she had said the bitter thing with such quiet bitterness! Edwin had not instantly perceived the point of it.
Darius Clayhanger then sat down, with a thud, snatched at the cup of tea which Maggie had placed before him, and drank half of it with a considerable in-drawing noise. No one asked where or why he had been detained; it was not etiquette57 to do so. If father had been ‘called away,’ or had ‘had to go away,’ or was ‘kept somewhere,’ the details were out of deference58 allowed to remain in mystery, respected by curiosity ... ‘Father-business.’ ... All business was sacred. He himself had inculcated this attitude.
In a short silence the sound of the bell that the carman rang before the tram started for Hanbridge floated in through the open window.
“There’s the tram!” observed Auntie Clara, apparently59 with warm and special interest in the phenomena60 of the tram. Then another little silence.
“Can’t ye sit still a bit?” the father asked, interrupting her roughly, but with good humour. “Ye’ll be falling off th’ chair in a minute.”
Clara blushed swiftly, and stopped.
“Yes, love?” Auntie Clara encouraged her. It was as if Auntie Clara had said: “Your dear father is of course quite right, more than right, to insist on your sitting properly at table. However, do not take the correction too much to heart. I sympathise with all your difficulties.”
“I was only going to ask you,” Clara went on, in a weaker, stammering62 voice, “if you knew that Edwin’s left school to-day.” Her archness had deserted63 her.
“Mischievous little thing!” thought Edwin. “Why must she deliberately64 go and draw attention to that?” And he too blushed, feeling as if he owed an apology to the company for having left school.
“Oh yes!” said Auntie Clara with eager benevolence65. “I’ve got something to say about that to my nephew.”
Mr Clayhanger searched in a pocket of his alpaca, and drew forth an open envelope.
“Here’s the lad’s report, auntie,” said he. “Happen ye’d like to look at it.”
Four.
She took the paper, and assumed her spectacles.
“Conduct—Excellent,” she read, poring with enthusiasm over the document. And she read again: “Conduct—Excellent.” Then she went down the list of subjects, declaiming the number of marks for each; and at the end she read: “Position in class next term: Third. Splendid, Eddy67!” she exclaimed.
“I thought you were second,” said Clara, in her sharp manner.
Edwin blushed again, and hesitated.
“Eh? What’s that? What’s that?” his father demanded. “I didn’t notice that. Third?”
“Charlie Orgreave beat me in the examination,” Edwin muttered.
“Well, that’s a pretty how d’ye do!” said his father. “Going down one! Ye ought to ha’ been first instead o’ third. And would ha’ been, happen, if ye’d pegged68 at it.”
“Now I won’t have that! I won’t have it!” Auntie Clara protested, laughingly showing her fine teeth and gazing first at Darius, and then at Edwin, from under her spectacles, her head being thrown back and the curls hanging far behind. “No one shall say that Edwin doesn’t work, not even his father, while his auntie’s about! Because I know he does work! And besides, he hasn’t gone down. It says, ‘position next term’—not this term. You were still second to-day, weren’t you, my boy?”
“I suppose so. Yes,” Edwin answered, pulling himself together.
“Well! There you are!” Auntie Clara’s voice rang triumphantly69. She was opening her purse. “And there you are!” she repeated, popping half a sovereign down in front of him. “That’s a little present from your auntie on your leaving school.”
“Oh, auntie!” he cried feebly.
“Oh!” cried Clara, genuinely startled.
Mrs Hamps was sometimes thus astoundingly munificent70. It was she who had given the schooner71 to Edwin. And her presents of elaborately enveloped72 and costly73 toilet soap on the birthdays of the children, and at Christmas, were massive. Yet Clara always maintained that she was the meanest old thing imaginable. And Maggie had once said that she knew that Auntie Clara made her servant eat dripping instead of butter. To give inferior food to a servant was to Maggie the unforgivable in parsimony74.
“Well,” Mr Clayhanger warningly inquired, “what do you say to your aunt?”
“Thank you, auntie,” Edwin sheepishly responded, fingering the coin.
It was a princely sum. And she had stuck up for him famously in the matter of the report. Strange that his father should not have read the report with sufficient attention to remark the fall to third place! Anyway, that aspect of the affair was now safely over, and it seemed to him that he had not lost much prestige by it. He would still be able to argue with his father on terms not too unequal, he hoped.
Five.
As the tea drew to an end, and the plates of toast, bread and butter, and tea-cake grew emptier, and the slop-basin filled, and only Maggie’s flowers remained fresh and immaculate amid the untidy débris of the meal; and as Edwin and Clara became gradually indifferent to jam, and then inimical to it; and as the sounds of the street took on the softer quality of summer evening, and the first filmy shades of twilight75 gathered imperceptibly in the corners of the room, and Mr Clayhanger performed the eructations which signified that he had had enough; so Mrs Hamps prepared herself for one of her classic outbursts of feeling.
“Well!” she said at last, putting her spoon to the left of her cup as a final indication that seriously she would drink no more. And she gave a great sigh. “School over! And the only son going out into the world! How time flies!” And she gave another great sigh, implying an immense melancholy76 due to this vision of the reality of things. Then she remembered her courage, and the device of leaning hard, and all her philosophy.
“But it’s all for the best!” she broke forth in a new brave tone. “Everything is ordered for the best. We must never forget that! And I’m quite sure that Edwin will be a very great credit to us all, with help from above.”
She proceeded powerfully in this strain. She brought in God, Christ, and even the Holy Spirit. She mentioned the dangers of the world, and the disguises of the devil, and the unspeakable advantages of a good home, and the special goodness of Mr Clayhanger and of Maggie, yes, and of her little Clara; and the pride which they all had in Edwin, and the unique opportunities which he had of doing good, by example, and also, soon, by precept77, for others younger than himself would begin to look up to him; and again her personal pride in him, and her sure faith in him; and what a solemn hour it was...
Nothing could stop her. The girls loathed78 these exhibitions. Maggie always looked at the table during their progress, and she felt as though she had done something wrong and was ashamed of it. Clara not merely felt like a criminal—she felt like an unrepentant criminal; she blushed, she glanced nervously81 about the room, and all the time she repeated steadily82 in her heart a highly obscene word which she had heard at school. This unspoken word, hurled83 soundlessly but savagely84 at her aunt in that innocent heart, afforded much comfort to Clara in the affliction. Even Edwin, who was more lenient85 in all ways than his sisters, profoundly deplored86 these moralisings of his aunt. They filled him with a desire to run fast and far, to be alone at sea, or to be deep somewhere in the bosom of the earth. He could not understand this side of his auntie’s individuality. But there was no delivery from Mrs Hamps. The only person who could possibly have delivered them seemed to enjoy the sinister87 thraldom88. Mr Clayhanger listened with appreciative89 and admiring nods; he appeared to be quite sincere. And Edwin could not understand his father either. “How simple father must be!” he thought vaguely. Whereas Clara fatalistically dismissed her father’s attitude as only one more of the preposterously90 unreasonable91 phenomena which she was constantly meeting in life; and she persevered92 grimly with her obscene word.
Six.
“Eh!” said Mrs Hamps enthusiastically, after a trifling93 pause. “It does me good when I think what a help you’ll be to your father in the business, with that clever head of yours.”
She gazed at him fondly.
Now this was Edwin’s chance. He did not wish to be any help at all to his father in the business. He had other plans for himself. He had never mentioned them before, because his father had never talked to him about his future career, apparently assuming that he would go into the business. He had been waiting for his father to begin. “Surely,” he had said to himself “father’s bound to speak to me sometime about what I’m going to do, and when he does I shall just tell him.” But his father never had begun; and by timidity, negligence94, and perhaps ill-luck, Edwin had thus arrived at his last day at school with the supreme95 question not merely unsolved but unattacked. Oh he blamed himself! Any ordinary boy (he thought) would have discussed such a question naturally long ago. After all, it was not a crime, it was no cause for shame, to wish not to be a printer. Yet he was ashamed! Absurd! He blamed himself. But he also blamed his father. Now, however, in responding to his auntie’s remark, he could remedy all the past by simply and boldly stating that he did not want to follow his father. It would be unpleasant, of course, but the worst shock would be over in a moment, like the drawing of a tooth. He had merely to utter certain words. He must utter them. They were perfectly96 easy to say, and they were also of the greatest urgency. “I don’t want to be a printer.” He mumbled97 them over in his mind. “I don’t want to be a printer.” What could it matter to his father whether he was a printer or not? Seconds, minutes, seemed to pass. He knew that if he was so inconceivably craven as to remain silent, his self-respect would never recover from the blow. Then, in response to Mrs Hamps’s prediction about his usefulness to his father in the business, he said, with a false-jaunty, unconvinced, unconvincing air—
This was all he could accomplish. It seemed as if he had looked death itself in the face, and drawn99 away.
He was mute. No one suspected, as he sat there, so boyish, wistful, and uneasily squirming, that he was agonised to the very centre of his being. All the time, in his sweating soul, he kept trying to persuade himself: “I’ve given them a hint, anyhow! I’ve given them a hint, anyhow!”
“Them” included everybody at the table.
Seven.
Mr Clayhanger, completely ignoring Edwin’s reply to his aunt and her somewhat shocked repetition of it, turned suddenly towards his son and said, in a manner friendly but serious, a manner that assumed everything, a manner that begged the question, unconscious even that there was a question—
“I shall be out the better part o’ to-morrow. I want ye to be sure to be in the shop all afternoon—I’ll tell you what for downstairs.” It was characteristic of him thus to make a mystery of business in front of the women.
Edwin felt the net closing about him. Then he thought of one of those ‘posers’ which often present themselves to youths of his age.
“But to-morrow’s Saturday,” he said, perhaps perkily. “What about the Bible class?”
Six months previously101 a young minister of the Wesleyan Circuit, to whom Heaven had denied both a sense of humour and a sense of honour, had committed the infamy102 of starting a Bible class for big boys on Saturday afternoons. This outrage103 had appalled104 and disgusted the boyhood of Wesleyanism in Bursley. Their afternoon for games, their only fair afternoon in the desert of the week, to be filched105 from them and used against them for such an odious106 purpose as a Bible class! Not only Sunday school on Sunday afternoon, but a Bible class on Saturday afternoon! It was incredible. It was unbearable107. It was gross tyranny, and nothing else. Nevertheless the young minister had his way, by dint108 of meanly calling upon parents and invoking109 their help. The scurvy110 worm actually got together a class of twelve to fifteen boys, to the end of securing their eternal welfare. And they had to attend the class, though they swore they never would, and they had to sing hymns111, and they had to kneel and listen to prayers, and they had to listen to the most intolerable tedium112, and to take notes of it. All this, while the sun was shining, or the rain was raining, on fields and streets and open spaces and ponds!
Edwin had been trapped in the snare113. His father, after only three words from the young minister, had yielded up his son like a burnt sacrifice—and with a casual nonchalance114 that utterly115 confounded Edwin. In vain Edwin had pointed out to his elders that a Saturday afternoon of confinement116 must be bad for his health. His attention had been directed to his eternal health. In vain he had pointed out that on wet Saturday afternoons he frequently worked at his home-lessons, which therefore might suffer under the régime of a Bible class. His attention had been directed to the peace which passeth understanding. So he had been beaten, and was secretly twitted by Clara as an abject117 victim. Hence it was with a keen and peculiar118 feeling of triumph, of hopelessly cornering the inscrutable generation which a few months ago had cornered him, that he demanded, perhaps perkily: “What about the Bible class?”
“There’ll be no more Bible classing,” said his father, with a mild but slightly sardonic119 smile, as who should say: “I’m ready to make all allowances for youth; but I must get you to understand, as gently as I can, that you can’t keep on going to Bible classes for ever and ever.”
Mrs Hamps said—
“It won’t be as if you were at school. But I do hope you won’t neglect to study your Bible. Eh, but I do hope you’ll always find time for that, to your dying day!”
“Oh—but I say—” Edwin began, and stopped.
He was beaten by the mere80 effrontery120 of the replies. His father and his aunt (the latter of whom at any rate was a firm and confessed religionist, who had been responsible for converting Mr Clayhanger from Primitive121 Methodism to Wesleyan Methodism) did not trouble to defend their new position by argument. They made no effort to reconcile it with their position of a few months back, when the importance of heavenly welfare far exceeded the importance of any conceivable earthly welfare. The fact was that they had no argument. If God took precedence of knowledge and of health, he took precedence of a peddling122 shop! That was unanswerable.
Eight.
Edwin was dashed. His faith in humanity was dashed. These elders were not sincere. And as Mrs Hamps continued to embroider123 the original theme of her exhortation124 about the Bible, Edwin looked at her stealthily, and the doubt crossed his mind whether that majestic125 and vital woman was ever sincere about anything, even to herself—whether the whole of her daily existence, from her getting-up to her down-lying, was not a grandiose53 pretence126.
Not that he had the least desire to cling to the Bible class, even as an alternative to the shop! No! He was much relieved to be rid of the Bible class. What overset him was the crude illogicality of the new decree, and the shameless tacit admission of previous insincerity.
Two hours later, as he stood idly at the window of his bedroom, watching the gas lamps of Trafalgar Road wax brighter in the last glooms of twilight, he was still occupied with the sham79 and the unreason and the lack of scruple127 suddenly revealed in the life of the elder generation. Unconsciously imitating a trick of his father’s when annoyed but calm, he nodded his head several times, and with his tongue against his teeth made the noise which in writing is represented by ‘tut-tut.’ Yet somehow he had always known that it would be so. At bottom, he was only pretending to himself to be shocked and outraged128.
His plans were no further advanced; indeed they were put back, for this Saturday afternoon vigil in the shop would be in some sort a symbolic129 temporary defeat for him. Why had he not spoken out clearly? Why was he always like a baby in presence of his father? The future was all askew130 for him. He had forgotten his tremendous serious resolves. The touch of the half-sovereign in his pocket, however, was comforting in a universe of discomfort131.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
sitting-room
|
|
| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
apron
|
|
| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
effusively
|
|
| adv.变溢地，热情洋溢地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
inquiries
|
|
| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
hypocrisy
|
|
| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
tonic
|
|
| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
velvet
|
|
| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
bust
|
|
| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
ruffled
|
|
| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
negligent
|
|
| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
downwards
|
|
| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
triangular
|
|
| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
climax
|
|
| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
ornamental
|
|
| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
emphasise
|
|
| vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
wig
|
|
| n.假发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
profusion
|
|
| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
glossy
|
|
| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
vitality
|
|
| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
digestion
|
|
| n.消化，吸收 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
impunity
|
|
| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
averred
|
|
| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
depressed
|
|
| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
obstinately
|
|
| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
instil
|
|
| v.逐渐灌输 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
gaily
|
|
| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
privately
|
|
| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
cosy
|
|
| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
gracefully
|
|
| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
anticipation
|
|
| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
circumspectly
|
|
| adv.慎重地，留心地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
tart
|
|
| adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
deferential
|
|
| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
astonishment
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
smack
|
|
| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
repulse
|
|
| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
preoccupied
|
|
| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
slanting
|
|
| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
outwards
|
|
| adj.外面的，公开的，向外的；adv.向外；n.外形 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
glide
|
|
| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
genially
|
|
| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
grandiose
|
|
| adj.宏伟的，宏大的，堂皇的，铺张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
grandiosely
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
55
undoubtedly
|
|
| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
etiquette
|
|
| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
deference
|
|
| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
phenomena
|
|
| n.现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
writhing
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
stammering
|
|
| v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
benevolence
|
|
| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
fervently
|
|
| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
eddy
|
|
| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
pegged
|
|
| v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
triumphantly
|
|
| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
munificent
|
|
| adj.慷慨的，大方的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
schooner
|
|
| n.纵帆船 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
enveloped
|
|
| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
costly
|
|
| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
parsimony
|
|
| n.过度节俭，吝啬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
precept
|
|
| n.戒律；格言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
loathed
|
|
| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
sham
|
|
| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
hurled
|
|
| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
savagely
|
|
| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
lenient
|
|
| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
deplored
|
|
| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
sinister
|
|
| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
thraldom
|
|
| n.奴隶的身份，奴役，束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
89
appreciative
|
|
| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
preposterously
|
|
| adv.反常地；荒谬地；荒谬可笑地；不合理地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
unreasonable
|
|
| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
persevered
|
|
| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
trifling
|
|
| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
negligence
|
|
| n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
supreme
|
|
| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
mumbled
|
|
| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
levity
|
|
| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
previously
|
|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
infamy
|
|
| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
outrage
|
|
| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
appalled
|
|
| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
filched
|
|
| v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
odious
|
|
| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
unbearable
|
|
| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
dint
|
|
| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
invoking
|
|
| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
scurvy
|
|
| adj.下流的，卑鄙的，无礼的；n.坏血病 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
hymns
|
|
| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
tedium
|
|
| n.单调；烦闷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
snare
|
|
| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
nonchalance
|
|
| n.冷淡，漠不关心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
confinement
|
|
| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
abject
|
|
| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
sardonic
|
|
| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
effrontery
|
|
| n.厚颜无耻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
primitive
|
|
| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
peddling
|
|
| 忙于琐事的，无关紧要的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
embroider
|
|
| v.刺绣于(布)上；给…添枝加叶，润饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
exhortation
|
|
| n.劝告，规劝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
majestic
|
|
| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
pretence
|
|
| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
scruple
|
|
| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
outraged
|
|
| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
symbolic
|
|
| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
askew
|
|
| adv.斜地；adj.歪斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
discomfort
|
|
| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |