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CHAPTER VI
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 THE PORTRAIT
The three friends stared at the three watches, the six handkerchiefs, the four pocket-books, and the eighteen purses in a blank and silent consternation1.
 
There was indeed nothing to be said.
 
A dreadful despair rested on the face of Theophrastus; but he was the first to break the heavy silence.
 
"My pockets are quite empty," he said.
 
"Oh, Theophrastus—Theophrastus!" moaned Marceline reproachfully.
 
"My poor friend," said Adolphe; and he groaned3.
 
Theophrastus wiped away the cold sweat from his brow with a handkerchief of which he did not know the owner.
 
"I see what it is," he said in a despairing tone. "I've had my Black Feather."
 
Marceline and Adolphe said nothing; they were utterly4 overwhelmed.
 
[Pg 68]Theophrastus looked from one to the other and wiped the glasses of his spectacles. His face cleared a little; and then he said with a faint smile:
 
"Perhaps after all, in those days, it was a parlour game."
 
He stuck the index finger of his right hand into his mouth, with him a sign of grave preoccupation of spirit.
 
Marceline heaved a deep sigh and said, "Take your finger out of your mouth, dear, and tell us how it came about that you had on you three watches, six handkerchiefs, four pocket-books, and eighteen purses, without counting the handkerchief and pocket-book of Commissary Mifroid. I turned your pockets out this morning to brush the linings5; and as usual there was nothing in them but a few scraps6 of tobacco."
 
"There was a large gathering7 in the Place de la Concorde. I plunged8 into it; and I came out of it with all these things. It's quite simple," said Theophrastus.
 
"And what are we going to do with them?" said Adolphe in solemn tones.
 
"What do you want me to do with them?" said Theophrastus sharply, for he was recovering a little from the shock. "You don't sup[Pg 69]pose I'm going to keep them! Is it my habit to keep things which don't belong to me? I'm an honest man; and I have never wronged a soul. You'll take these things to your friend the Commissary of Police. It will be easy enough for him to find the owners."
 
"And what am I to tell him?" said Adolphe with a harried9 air.
 
"Anything you like!" cried Theophrastus, beginning to lose his temper. "Does an honest cabman who finds a pocket-book and fifty thousand francs in his cab and takes them to the Police Station, bother about what he is going to tell the inspector10? He says, 'I've found this in my cab,' and that's enough. He even gets a reward. All you have to say is: 'My friend Longuet asked me to bring you these things which he found in his pocket, and he doesn't ask for any reward.'"
 
He spoke11 in a tone of impatient contempt for the intelligence of Adolphe, a tone to which Adolphe was quite unused. Adolphe frowned with ruffled12 dignity and was about to retort sharply, when Marceline kicked him gently under the table, a little kick which said plainly: "Theophrastus is going off his head! Come, friend, to his rescue!"
 
Adolphe understood the message of that[Pg 70] little shoe: the frown faded from his face, leaving on it only an expression of supernal13 gloom; he looked at the eighteen purses, scratched his nose, and coughed. Then he gazed at Theophrastus and said in very solemn tones:
 
"What has just happened, Theophrastus, is not natural. We must try to find the explanation of it; we must force ourselves to find the explanation. It's no use shutting our eyes; we must open them, as wide as we can, to the misfortune, if it is misfortune, in order to battle with it."
 
"What misfortune?" said Theophrastus, suddenly becoming his timid self again, and catching15 distressfully at Marceline's hand.
 
"It's always a misfortune to have other people's property in one's pocket," said Adolphe gloomily.
 
"And what else is there in the pockets of conjurors?" cried Theophrastus with fresh violence. "And conjurors are very honest men; and Theophrastus Longuet is a very honest man! By the throttle16 of Madame Phalaris, he is!"
 
He shouted this out; then fell back exhausted17 in his chair.
 
There was a gloomy silence. Presently he[Pg 71] sat up again, and with tears in his eyes said plaintively18:
 
"I feel that Adolphe is right. I am threatened by some great misfortune and I don't know what it is—I don't know what it is!"
 
He burst into tears; and Marceline and Adolphe strove in vain to comfort him. But after a while he dried his tears, grasped a hand of either, and said in a firmer voice:
 
"Swear—swear never to abandon me whatever happens."
 
They promised in all good faith; and the assurance seemed to cheer him a little. Then Adolphe asked him to let him see the document again; and he fetched it. Adolphe spread it out before him and studied it intently. Presently he nodded his head sagely19 and said:
 
"Do you ever dream, Theophrastus?"
 
"Do I ever dream? Well, I suppose I do sometimes. But my digestion20 is so good that I hardly ever remember my dreams."
 
"Never?" persisted Adolphe.
 
"Oh, I couldn't go so far as to say never," said Theophrastus. "In fact, I remember having dreamt four or five times in my life. I remember it because I always woke up at the same point in the dream; and it was always[Pg 72] the same dream. But how on earth does it affect this business which is worrying us?"
 
"Dreams have never been explained by Science," said Adolphe solemnly. "It fancies that it has said everything when it has ascribed them to the effect of the imagination. But it gives us no explanation of the quite clear and distinct visions we sometimes have which have nothing whatever to do with the events or preoccupations of the previous day. In particular how are we to account for those visions of actually existing things which one has never seen in the waking state, things of which one has never even thought? Who will dare to say that they are not retrospective visions of events which have taken place before our present existence?"
 
"As a matter of fact, Adolphe, I can assure you that the things of which I dream—and I remember now that I have dreamt of them three times—are perhaps real in the past or future, but that I have never seen them in the present."
 
"You understand my point," said Adolphe in a gratified tone. "But what are these things you have dreamt of but never seen?"
 
"That won't take long to tell and thank goodness for it, for they're not particularly[Pg 73] pleasant. I dreamt that I was married to a wife whom I called Marie-Antoinette and who annoyed me extremely."
 
"And then?" said Adolphe, whose eyes never quitted the document.
 
"And then I cut her up into little bits," said Theophrastus, blushing faintly.
 
"What a horrible thing to do!" cried Marceline.
 
"As a matter of fact it was rather horrible," said Theophrastus. "And then I put the pieces into a basket and was going to throw them into the Seine near the little bridge of the Hôtel-de-Ville. At that point I awoke; and I was jolly glad to awake, for it wasn't a pleasant dream."
 
"It's awful!" cried Adolphe; and he banged his fist down on the table.
 
"Isn't it?" said Marceline.
 
"Not the dream! But I've just succeeded in reading the whole of the first line of the document! That's what's awful!" groaned Adolphe.
 
"What is it? What have you found out?" cried Theophrastus in a panic-stricken tone as he sprang up to pore over the document.
 
"It reads I rt uried my treasures. And you don't know what that rt stands for? Well, I'm not going to tell you till I have made ab[Pg 74]solutely sure. I shall be absolutely sure by to-morrow. To-morrow, Theophrastus, at two o'clock, meet me at the corner of Guénégaud and Mazarine Streets." He rose. "In the meantime I'll take these things along to my friend Mifroid, who will restore them to their owners. Good-night, and courage, Theophrastus—above everything—courage!"
 
He shook Theophrastus' hand, with the lingering pressure with which one shakes the hand of a relation of the corpse21 at a funeral, and departed.
 
That night Theophrastus did not sleep. While Marceline breathed peacefully by his side, he lay awake staring into the darkness. His own breathing was irregular and broken by deep sighs. A heavy oppression weighed on his heart.
 
The day dawned on Paris gloomily faint and dirty, throwing over its buildings a sinister22 veil. In vain did the summer sun strive to penetrate23 that thick and smoky air. Noon, the hour of its triumph, showed only a dull ball, rolling ingloriously in a sulphurous mist.
 
At six o'clock Theophrastus suddenly jumped out of bed, and awoke Marceline by a burst of insensate laughter. She asked the reason of his strange mirth; and he answered that Na[Pg 75]ture had not given him a mouth large enough to laugh at the face Commissary Mifroid, who did not believe in pickpockets24, would pull at the sight of Adolphe emptying his pockets of the collection with which he had stuffed them.
 
Then he went on to say in the tone of an official instructor25:
 
"It's the work of a child to take a purse out of a pocket. If you can't get your hand in, insert a straw covered with bird-lime. That device is excellent in crowd-work."
 
Marceline sat up in bed and stared at him. Theophrastus had never worn a more natural air. He was pulling on his pants.
 
"There's a button off the waist-band," he grumbled26.
 
"You terrify me, Theophrastus!" said Marceline in a shaky voice.
 
"And a good job too!" said her husband, going down on his hands and knees to recover his braces27 which had fallen under the bed. "One only does good work with a good woman. And I can't do anything with you. You will never be a good bustler."
 
"A good—what?"
 
"A good bustler. Next time you go to the Maison-Dorée, buy me a pair of braces. These[Pg 76] are rotten. You don't even know what a bustler is. You ought to be ashamed of yourself at your age. A bustler is a person of your sex who is clever at hiding anything one gets hold of in her frock. I never had a better bustler than Jenny Venus."
 
"My poor child!" groaned Marceline.
 
An access of furious anger seized Theophrastus. He dashed at the bed brandishing28 the button-hook, and cried:
 
"You know—you know perfectly29 well that I've forbidden anyone to call me 'Child' ever since the death of Jenny Venus!"
 
Marceline promised that she would never do it again. But oh, how profoundly she regretted having become, along with her husband, the owner of a document which promised them treasures, but which brought into their home trouble, fear, violence, madness, and the inexplicable30. After Marie-Antoinette came Jenny Venus. She was unacquainted with either lady; and she had no desire to make their acquaintance. But Theophrastus spoke of them with a disquieting31 familiarity. In truth the unexpected phrases which fell from his lips, while filling her with a dread2 of the Theophrastus of two hundred years ago, made her regret indeed the Theophrastus, so[Pg 77] easy to understand, of a few days before. She thought of the theory of Reincarnation with the unkindest feelings.
 
Theophrastus had finished dressing32. He complained bitterly that a tear in his flowered waistcoat had not been mended. Then he said that he would not lunch at home, since he had an appointment to meet his friend Old Easy-Going, at the corner of Guénégaud and Mazarine Streets, to play a trick on a Monsieur de Traneuse, an engineer officer for whom he had a strong dislike; but since the appointment was after lunch, he thought he would go and take the air at the Chopinettes mill first.
 
Marceline was trembling pitiably. She hardly had the strength to say: "It's very bad weather to go to Chopinettes mill."
 
"Bah! I'll leave my green umbrella at home and take my Black Feather with me," said Theophrastus.
 
With that he went out, putting the finishing touch to his cravat33 as he went.
 
On the staircase he met Signor Petito; and they went down it together. Signor Petito greeted M. Longuet with the most respectful politeness, complained of the state of the weather, and paid him a thousand compliments on his air of good health. Theophrastus re[Pg 78]sponded grumpily to these polite advances; and since, when they came out of the house, Signor Petito showed no intention of quitting him, he asked unpleasantly whether the Signora Petito could not be persuaded to learn some other infernal tune14 besides the Carnival34 of Venice. Signor Petito affected35 not to notice his carping tone and replied with an amiable36 smile that she was just going to begin to practise The Star of Love, and she would be charmed in the future to devote her talent to any piece which took M. Longuet's fancy. Then even more amiably37 he said:
 
"And which way are you going, M. Longuet?"
 
Theophrastus looked at him with suspicious disfavour and answered:
 
"I was going to take a turn round Chopinettes mill; but the weather is certainly too bad for that: so I am going down to the Porkers."
 
"To the Porkers?" said Signor Petito quickly; and he was going to ask where the Porkers was, when he thought better of it, and said, "So am I."
 
"Indeed? Indeed?" said Theophrastus, eyeing him strangely. "So you're going to the Porkers too?"
 
[Pg 79]"There or elsewhere: it's all the same to me," said Signor Petito; and he laughed a most amiable laugh.
 
They walked along side by side in silence for a while, till Signor Petito mustered38 up his courage to ask a question:
 
"And how are you getting on with your treasures, M. Longuet?" he said.
 
Theophrastus turned on him with a savage39 air, and cried, "What the deuce has it got to do with you?"
 
"Don't you remember bringing, a little while ago, for my opinion on the handwriting—"
 
"I remember quite well! But you—you'd jolly well better forget!" interrupted Theophrastus in a tone of dry menace; and he opened his green umbrella.
 
Signor Petito, entirely40 unabashed, took shelter under it, saying amiably, "Oh, I didn't ask the question to annoy you, M. Longuet."
 
They had reached the corner of Martyrs41' Street in the Trudaine Avenue; and they turned down it, Theophrastus glowering42.
 
Then he said, "I've an appointment at the Sucking-Pig tavern43 next to the Porkers' chapel44, and here we are, Signor Petito."
 
"But that's Notre-Dame-de-Lorette and not Porkers' chapel at all!" cried Signor Petito.
 
[Pg 80]"I don't like to be contradicted to my face!" snarled45 Theophrastus, looking at him with a very evil eye and baring his teeth.
 
Signor Petito protested that he had no intention in the world of doing anything of the kind.
 
"To my face—I'm well aware that mine is a valuable head," said Theophrastus, regarding Signor Petito with an air which grew stranger and stranger. "Do you know how much it is worth, Signor Petito, the Child's head? No?... Well, since an opportunity offers, I'm going to tell you. And while I'm about it, I'll tell you a little story which may be useful to you. Come into the Sucking-Pig."
 
"B—B—But this is the Café B—B—Boussets," stammered46 Signor Petito, who was growing frightened.
 
"The mist has muddled47 you. You've missed your way among all these ploughed fields," said Theophrastus, sitting down on a bench before one of the tables. Then he laughed on a very sinister note, and went on: "So you wanted to annoy me, M. Petito. So much the worse for you. What will you have to drink? A glass of ratafia? The excellent Madame Taconet[1][Pg 81] who keeps this tavern has set aside a bottle for me which will warm your in'ards."
 
[1] Theophrastus was quite accurate in these historical details. I have discovered that a Madame Taconet did keep, two hundred years ago, the Sucking-Pig tavern, close to Porkers' chapel which was pulled down in 1800, and on its site the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette was erected48. All this district, north west of the Boulevard des Italiens, was covered, two hundred years ago, with ploughed fields, market-gardens, country houses, and Porkers' village. The Sucking-Pig tavern had the worst of reputations, for Madame Taconet sheltered in it all the most abandoned ruffians in Paris.
 
And as a waiter in his white apron49 came up to the table, without a change of tone Theophrastus added, "Two draught50 lagers; and we don't want them all froth."
 
Thus, without any transition, without even noticing it, did he join his present-day existence to his existence of two hundred years before. Signor Petito was already full of the liveliest regret at having insisted on accompanying a man who fancied he was in the Sucking-Pig tavern, when the waiter brought the beer and set it on the table.
 
Theophrastus said, "My head is worth twenty thousand francs; and well you know it!"
 
He accompanied the "And well you know it!" with a bang of his fist on the table which made the glasses ring and Signor Petito jump.
 
"Don't be frightened, Signor Petito: your[Pg 82] beer isn't spilt," Theophrastus went on in a jeering51 tone. "You know then, my good sir, that my head is worth twenty thousand francs; but you'd better act as if you didn't, or some unpleasantness will befall you. I promised you a story. Well, here it is:
 
"Just about two hundred years ago I was walking along Vaugirard Street, with my hands in my pockets and without a weapon of any kind on me, not even a sword, when a man accosted52 me at the corner of the street, greeted me with all the politeness imaginable and declared that my face had taken his fancy—just as you said and did, Signor Petito!—that his name was Bidel, and all his friends called him Good Old Bidel, and he had a secret to confide53 to me. I encouraged him with a friendly tap on the shoulder." At this point Theophrastus fetched Signor Petito such a thump54 on the shoulder that it drew a short howl from him; and he pulled out his money under the constraining55 desire to go out and see if the mist had dispersed56. "Put away your money, Signor Petito, I'm paying for the drinks!" said Theophrastus sharply; and he went on in his easy, conversational57 tone. "Well, Good Old Bidel, encouraged by my friendly tap," Signor Petito slipped along the bench, "told me his secret.[Pg 83] He whispered in my ear that the Regent had offered twenty thousand francs to anyone who would arrest the Child; that he, Good Old Bidel, knew where the Child was hiding; that I looked to him to be a man of courage, and that with my help he ought to go pretty near getting that twenty thousand francs. We would share it." Theophrastus paused to laugh a laugh which froze Signor Petito's blood. "Good Old Bidel was not in luck's way, Signor Petito, for I too knew where the Child was hiding, since the Child was me!" Signor Petito did not believe a word of it. It was his firm opinion that M. Longuet had ceased to be a child months ago. But he dared not say so. "I answered Good Old Bidel that it was a regular windfall, and that I was thankful indeed that he had chanced on me; and I begged him to take me straight to the place where the Child was hiding. He said:
 
"'To-night the Child will sleep at the Capucins, at the inn of The Golden Cross.'
 
"It was true, Signor Petito. Good Old Bidel's information was O.K.; and I congratulated him on it. We were passing a cutler's shop; and I went in, and under the astonished eyes of Good Old Bidel bought a little penny knife." The eyes of Theophrastus blazed; and[Pg 84] the eyes of Signor Petito blinked. "When we came out into the street, Good Old Bidel asked me what on earth I was going to do with a little penny knife. I replied, 'With a little penny knife'"—M. Longuet moved nearer to Signor Petito; Signor Petito moved further from M. Longuet—"'one can always kill a coppers58' nark!' And I jammed it into his ribs59! He waved his arms round like a windmill and fell down dead!"
 
He laughed his blood-freezing laugh again; but Signor Petito was not attending to it: he had slipped along the bench and under it. He crawled swiftly under bench after bench, to the astonishment60 of the staff of the café, gained the door, plunged through it, and bolted down the street.
 
M. Theophrastus Longuet drained his glass and rose. He went to the desk, where Mlle. Bertha was counting the brass61 disks, and said to her:
 
"Madame Taconet,"—Mlle. Bertha asked herself with some surprise why M. Longuet called her Madame Taconet; but the question met with no response,—"if that little Petito comes here again, tell him from me that the next time I come across him, I'll clip his ears for him."
 
[Pg 85]So saying, Theophrastus stroked the handle of his green umbrella as one strokes the hilt of a dagger62, and went out without paying.
 
There can be no reasonable doubt that Theophrastus had his Black Feather.
 
The fog was still thick. He forgot all about lunching. He walked through the sulphurous mist as in a dream. He crossed the old Quartier d'Antin and what was formerly63 called Bishop's Town. When he saw dimly the towers of the Trinité, he muttered, "Ah, the towers of Cock Castle!" He was at St. Lazare station when he fancied that he was in "Little Poland." But little by little, as the mist cleared, his dream vanished with it. He had a more accurate idea of things. When he crossed the Seine at Pont-Royal, he had once more become honest Theophrastus, and when he set foot on the left bank of the river he had but a vague memory of what had happened on the other side.
 
But he had that memory. In fact, when he examined himself closely, he found that he was beginning to experience three different mental states: first, that which arose from his actual existence as an honest manufacturer of rubber stamps; second, that which arose from the sudden and passing resurrection of the Other;[Pg 86] third, that which arose from memory. While the resurrection of the Other was, while it lasted, a terrible business, the memory was a pleasant and melancholy64 frame of mind, calculated to induce in a sorrowful heart a feeling of gentle sadness and philosophic65 pity.
 
As he turned his steps towards Guénégaud Street, he asked himself idly why Adolphe had fixed66 the corner of Guénégaud and Mazarine Streets as their meeting-place.
 
He took a round-about way to that corner, for he could not bring himself to walk along the strip of Mazarine Street where it runs along the palace of the Institute, formerly the Four Nations. He did not know the reason of this reluctance67. He went round by De la Monnaie house, and so came into Guénégaud Street.
 
Adolphe was awaiting him, with a very gloomy face, at the corner, and slipped his arm into his.
 
"Have you ever heard anyone speak of someone called the Child, Adolphe?" said Theophrastus, after they had greeted one another.
 
"I have indeed," said Adolphe in a tone as gloomy as his face. "And I know his name, his family name."
 
"Ah, what is it?" said Theophrastus anxiously.
 
[Pg 87]For all reply Adolphe pushed him along a little passage leading to an old house in Guénégaud Street, a few doors off De la Monnaie house. They went into the house, up a shaky staircase, and into a room in which the window curtains were drawn68. It had been darkened purposely. But on a little table in a corner a flickering69 candle threw its light on a portrait.
 
It was the portrait of a man of thirty, of a powerful face, with "flashing" eyes. The brow was high, the nose big, the strong, square chin shaven; the large mouth was surmounted70 by a bristly moustache. On the bushy hair was a cap of wool or rough leather; and the dress appeared to be that of a convict. A coarse linen71 shirt was half open across the hairy chest.
 
"Goodness!" said Theophrastus without raising his voice. "How did my portrait get into this house?"
 
"Your portrait?" cried Adolphe. "Are you sure?"
 
"Who could be surer than I?" said Theophrastus calmly.
 
"Well—well—" said Adolphe Lecamus in a choking voice, his face contorted by an expression of the most painful emotion. "This portrait, which is your portrait, is the portrait[Pg 88] of that great eighteenth-century king of thieves, Cartouche!"
 
Theophrastus stared at the portrait with eyes that opened and opened as a sickly pallor overspread his anguished72 face; a little grunt73 broke from his parted lips, and he dropped to the ground in a dead faint.
 
Adolphe dropped on his knees beside him, unfastened his collar, and slapped his hands vigorously. Then he blew out the candle, turned the portrait with its face to the wall, and opened the window.
 
Theophrastus was a long time recovering his senses. When he did, his first words were:
 
"On no account tell my wife, Adolphe!"

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 consternation 8OfzB     
n.大为吃惊,惊骇
参考例句:
  • He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害,感到非常震惊。
  • Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。
2 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。
3 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
5 linings 08af65d71fb90cd42b87d2d9b97c874f     
n.衬里( lining的名词复数 );里子;衬料;组织
参考例句:
  • a pair of leather gloves with fur linings 一双毛皮衬里的皮手套
  • Many of the garments have the customers' name tags sewn into the linings. 这些衣服有很多内衬上缝有顾客的姓名签。 来自辞典例句
6 scraps 737e4017931b7285cdd1fa3eb9dd77a3     
油渣
参考例句:
  • Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
  • A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。
7 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
8 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
9 harried 452fc64bfb6cafc37a839622dacd1b8e     
v.使苦恼( harry的过去式和过去分词 );不断烦扰;一再袭击;侵扰
参考例句:
  • She has been harried by the press all week. 整个星期她都受到新闻界的不断烦扰。
  • The soldiers harried the enemy out of the country. 士兵们不断作骚扰性的攻击直至把敌人赶出国境为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 inspector q6kxH     
n.检查员,监察员,视察员
参考例句:
  • The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
  • The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。
11 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。
12 ruffled e4a3deb720feef0786be7d86b0004e86     
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:
  • She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
  • All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。
13 supernal HHhzh     
adj.天堂的,天上的;崇高的
参考例句:
  • The supernal ideology will not coexistence with the everyman.超凡的思想是不会与凡夫俗子共存的。
  • It has virtue of strong function,supernal efficiency.它具有功能强,效率高的优点。
14 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
15 catching cwVztY     
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
参考例句:
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
16 throttle aIKzW     
n.节流阀,节气阀,喉咙;v.扼喉咙,使窒息,压
参考例句:
  • These government restrictions are going to throttle our trade.这些政府的限制将要扼杀我们的贸易。
  • High tariffs throttle trade between countries.高的关税抑制了国与国之间的贸易。
17 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
18 plaintively 46a8d419c0b5a38a2bee07501e57df53     
adv.悲哀地,哀怨地
参考例句:
  • The last note of the song rang out plaintively. 歌曲最后道出了离别的哀怨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Birds cry plaintively before they die, men speak kindly in the presence of death. 鸟之将死,其鸣也哀;人之将死,其言也善。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
19 sagely sagely     
adv. 贤能地,贤明地
参考例句:
  • Even the ones who understand may nod sagely. 即使对方知道这一点,也会一本正经地点头同意。
  • Well, that's about all of the sagely advice this old grey head can come up with. 好了,以上就是我这个满头银发的老头儿给你们的充满睿智的忠告。
20 digestion il6zj     
n.消化,吸收
参考例句:
  • This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
  • This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。
21 corpse JYiz4     
n.尸体,死尸
参考例句:
  • What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
  • The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。
22 sinister 6ETz6     
adj.不吉利的,凶恶的,左边的
参考例句:
  • There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
  • Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值,而且包藏祸心。
23 penetrate juSyv     
v.透(渗)入;刺入,刺穿;洞察,了解
参考例句:
  • Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
  • The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。
24 pickpockets 37fb2f0394a2a81364293698413394ce     
n.扒手( pickpocket的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Crowded markets are a happy hunting ground for pickpockets. 拥挤的市场是扒手大展身手的好地方。
  • He warned me against pickpockets. 他让我提防小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
25 instructor D6GxY     
n.指导者,教员,教练
参考例句:
  • The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
  • The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。
26 grumbled ed735a7f7af37489d7db1a9ef3b64f91     
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声
参考例句:
  • He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
  • The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏,水手们边干活边发着牢骚。
27 braces ca4b7fc327bd02465aeaf6e4ce63bfcd     
n.吊带,背带;托架( brace的名词复数 );箍子;括弧;(儿童)牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 );撑牢;使自己站稳;振作起来
参考例句:
  • The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃,因为支架全松了。
  • You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带,就用不着吊带了。
28 brandishing 9a352ce6d3d7e0a224b2fc7c1cfea26c     
v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 );炫耀
参考例句:
  • The horseman came up to Robin Hood, brandishing his sword. 那个骑士挥舞着剑,来到罗宾汉面前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He appeared in the lounge brandishing a knife. 他挥舞着一把小刀,出现在休息室里。 来自辞典例句
29 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
30 inexplicable tbCzf     
adj.无法解释的,难理解的
参考例句:
  • It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的,现在已经无法说清楚了。
  • There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。
31 disquieting disquieting     
adj.令人不安的,令人不平静的v.使不安,使忧虑,使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The news from the African front was disquieting in the extreme. 非洲前线的消息极其令人不安。 来自英汉文学
  • That locality was always vaguely disquieting, even in the broad glare of afternoon. 那一带地方一向隐隐约约使人感到心神不安甚至在下午耀眼的阳光里也一样。 来自辞典例句
32 dressing 1uOzJG     
n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料
参考例句:
  • Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
  • The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。
33 cravat 7zTxF     
n.领巾,领结;v.使穿有领结的服装,使结领结
参考例句:
  • You're never fully dressed without a cravat.不打领结,就不算正装。
  • Mr. Kenge adjusting his cravat,then looked at us.肯吉先生整了整领带,然后又望着我们。
34 carnival 4rezq     
n.嘉年华会,狂欢,狂欢节,巡回表演
参考例句:
  • I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
  • Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。
35 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
36 amiable hxAzZ     
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的
参考例句:
  • She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
  • We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。
37 amiably amiably     
adv.和蔼可亲地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
  • Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
38 mustered 3659918c9e43f26cfb450ce83b0cbb0b     
v.集合,召集,集结(尤指部队)( muster的过去式和过去分词 );(自他人处)搜集某事物;聚集;激发
参考例句:
  • We mustered what support we could for the plan. 我们极尽所能为这项计划寻求支持。
  • The troops mustered on the square. 部队已在广场上集合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
39 savage ECxzR     
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人
参考例句:
  • The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
  • He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。
40 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
41 martyrs d8bbee63cb93081c5677dc671dc968fc     
n.martyr的复数形式;烈士( martyr的名词复数 );殉道者;殉教者;乞怜者(向人诉苦以博取同情)
参考例句:
  • the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
  • They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
42 glowering glowering     
v.怒视( glower的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The boy would not go, but stood at the door glowering at his father. 那男孩不肯走,他站在门口对他父亲怒目而视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Then he withdrew to a corner and sat glowering at his wife. 然后他溜到一个角落外,坐在那怒视着他的妻子。 来自辞典例句
43 tavern wGpyl     
n.小旅馆,客栈;小酒店
参考例句:
  • There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
  • Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。
44 chapel UXNzg     
n.小教堂,殡仪馆
参考例句:
  • The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
  • She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午,她在小教堂的演出,可以说是登峰造极。
45 snarled ti3zMA     
v.(指狗)吠,嗥叫, (人)咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 );咆哮着说,厉声地说
参考例句:
  • The dog snarled at us. 狗朝我们低声吼叫。
  • As I advanced towards the dog, It'snarled and struck at me. 我朝那条狗走去时,它狂吠着向我扑来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
46 stammered 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721     
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠,结结巴巴地说,“你是什么意思?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
47 muddled cb3d0169d47a84e95c0dfa5c4d744221     
adj.混乱的;糊涂的;头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱,弄糟( muddle的过去式);使糊涂;对付,混日子
参考例句:
  • He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
  • I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
48 ERECTED ERECTED     
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立
参考例句:
  • A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
  • A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。
49 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙;工作裙
参考例句:
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
50 draught 7uyzIH     
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计
参考例句:
  • He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
  • It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗,没有过堂风。
51 jeering fc1aba230f7124e183df8813e5ff65ea     
adj.嘲弄的,揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Hecklers interrupted her speech with jeering. 捣乱分子以嘲笑打断了她的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He interrupted my speech with jeering. 他以嘲笑打断了我的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
52 accosted 4ebfcbae6e0701af7bf7522dbf7f39bb     
v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 );跟…搭讪;(乞丐等)上前向…乞讨;(妓女等)勾搭
参考例句:
  • She was accosted in the street by a complete stranger. 在街上,一个完全陌生的人贸然走到她跟前搭讪。
  • His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him. 他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
53 confide WYbyd     
v.向某人吐露秘密
参考例句:
  • I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
  • He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。
54 thump sq2yM     
v.重击,砰然地响;n.重击,重击声
参考例句:
  • The thief hit him a thump on the head.贼在他的头上重击一下。
  • The excitement made her heart thump.她兴奋得心怦怦地跳。
55 constraining cc35429b91ea67e2478332bc4d1c3be7     
强迫( constrain的现在分词 ); 强使; 限制; 约束
参考例句:
  • He was constraining his mind not to wander from the task. 他克制着不让思想在工作时开小差。
  • The most constraining resource in all of these cases is venture capital. 在所有这些情况下最受限制的资源便是投入资本。
56 dispersed b24c637ca8e58669bce3496236c839fa     
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的
参考例句:
  • The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
  • After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后,孩子们四散回家了。
57 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。
58 coppers 3646702fee6ab6f4a49ba7aa30fb82d1     
铜( copper的名词复数 ); 铜币
参考例句:
  • I only paid a few coppers for it. 我只花了几个铜板买下这东西。
  • He had only a few coppers in his pocket. 他兜里仅有几个铜板。
59 ribs 24fc137444401001077773555802b280     
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹
参考例句:
  • He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
  • Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。
60 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇,惊异
参考例句:
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
61 brass DWbzI     
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器
参考例句:
  • Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
62 dagger XnPz0     
n.匕首,短剑,剑号
参考例句:
  • The bad news is a dagger to his heart.这条坏消息刺痛了他的心。
  • The murderer thrust a dagger into her heart.凶手将匕首刺进她的心脏。
63 formerly ni3x9     
adv.从前,以前
参考例句:
  • We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
  • This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。
64 melancholy t7rz8     
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的
参考例句:
  • All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
  • He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过,他感到很郁闷。
65 philosophic ANExi     
adj.哲学的,贤明的
参考例句:
  • It was a most philosophic and jesuitical motorman.这是个十分善辩且狡猾的司机。
  • The Irish are a philosophic as well as a practical race.爱尔兰人是既重实际又善于思想的民族。
66 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。
67 reluctance 8VRx8     
n.厌恶,讨厌,勉强,不情愿
参考例句:
  • The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
  • He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。
68 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
69 flickering wjLxa     
adj.闪烁的,摇曳的,一闪一闪的
参考例句:
  • The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
  • The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。
70 surmounted 74f42bdb73dca8afb25058870043665a     
战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上
参考例句:
  • She was well aware of the difficulties that had to be surmounted. 她很清楚必须克服哪些困难。
  • I think most of these obstacles can be surmounted. 我认为这些障碍大多数都是可以克服的。
71 linen W3LyK     
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的
参考例句:
  • The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
  • Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。
72 anguished WzezLl     
adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式)
参考例句:
  • Desmond eyed her anguished face with sympathy. 看着她痛苦的脸,德斯蒙德觉得理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The loss of her husband anguished her deeply. 她丈夫的死亡使她悲痛万分。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
73 grunt eeazI     
v.嘟哝;作呼噜声;n.呼噜声,嘟哝
参考例句:
  • He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
  • I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽,他只哼了一声。


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