"If this is a fair sample of the circus ashore14, I'll take two tickets," whispered Crosby, who had recovered his audacity15.
"I have the inexpressible honor," said Senor Perkins to Captain Bunker, with a gracious wave of his hand towards the extraordinary figures, "to present you to the illustrious Don Miguel Briones, Comandante of the Presidio of Todos Santos, at present hidden in the fog, and the very reverend and pious16 Padre Esteban, of the Mission of Todos Santos, likewise invisible. When I state to you," he continued, with a slight lifting of his voice, so as to include the curious passengers in his explanation, "that, with very few exceptions, this is the usual condition of the atmosphere at the entrance to the Mission and Presidio of Todos Santos, and that the last exception took place thirty-five years ago, when a ship entered the harbor, you will understand why these distinguished17 gentlemen have been willing to waive18 the formality of your waiting upon them first, and have taken the initiative. The illustrious Comandante has been generous to exempt19 you from the usual port regulations, and to permit you to wood and to water"—
"The Mexican regulations forbidding any foreign vessel21 to communicate with the shore," returned Senor Perkins deprecatingly.
"Never heard of 'em. When were they given?"
The Senor turned and addressed a few words to the commander, who stood apart in silent dignity.
"In 1792."
"In what?—Is he mad?" said Bunker. "Does he know what year this is?"
"The illustrious commander believes it to be the year of grace 1854," answered Senor Perkins quietly. "In the case of the only two vessels22 who have touched here since 1792 the order was not carried out because they were Mexican coasters. The illustrious Comandante explains that the order he speaks of as on record distinctly referred to the ship 'Columbia, which belonged to the General Washington.'"
"General Washington!" echoed Bunker, angrily staring at the Senor. "What's this stuff? Do you mean to say they don't know any history later than our old Revolutionary War? Haven't they heard of the United States among them? Nor California—that we took from them during the late war?"
"Nor how we licked 'em out of their boots, and that's saying a good deal," whispered Crosby, glancing at the Comandante's feet.
Senor Perkins raised a gentle, deprecating hand.
"For fifty years the Presidio and the Mission of Todos Santos have had but this communication with the outer world," he said blandly23. "Hidden by impenetrable fogs from the ocean pathway at their door, cut off by burning and sterile24 deserts from the surrounding country, they have preserved a trust and propagated a faith in enforced but not unhappy seclusion25. The wars that have shaken mankind, the dissensions that have even disturbed the serenity26 of their own nation on the mainland, have never reached them here. Left to themselves, they have created a blameless Arcadia and an ideal community within an extent of twenty square leagues. Why should we disturb their innocent complacency and tranquil27 enjoyment28 by information which cannot increase and might impair29 their present felicity? Why should we dwell upon a late political and international episode which, while it has been a benefit to us, has been a humiliation30 to them as a nation, and which might not only imperil our position as guests, but interrupt our practical relations to the wood and water, with which the country abounds31?"
He paused, and before the captain could speak, turned to the silent Commander, addressed him in a dozen phrases of fluent and courteous32 Spanish, and once more turned to Captain Bunker.
"I have told him you are touched to the heart with his courtesy, which you recognize as coming from the fit representative of the great Mexican nation. He reciprocates33 your fraternal emotion, and begs you to consider the Presidio and all that it contains, at your disposition34 and the disposition of your friends—the passengers, particularly those fair ladies," said Senor Perkins, turning with graceful35 promptitude towards the group of lady passengers, and slightly elevating himself on the tips of his neat boots, "whose white hands he kisses, and at whose feet he lays the devotion of a Mexican caballero and officer."
He waved his hand towards the Comandante, who, stepping forward, swept the deck with his plumed36 hat before each of the ladies in solemn succession. Recovering himself, he bowed more stiffly to the male passengers, picked his handkerchief out of the hilt of his sword, gracefully37 wiped his lips, pulled the end of his long gray moustache, and became again rigid39.
"The reverend father," continued Senor Perkins, turning towards the priest, "regrets that the rules of his order prevent his extending the same courtesy to these ladies at the Mission. But he hopes to meet them at the Presidio, and they will avail themselves of his aid and counsel there and everywhere."
Father Esteban, following the speaker's words with a gracious and ready smile, at once moved forward among the passengers, offering an antique snuff-box to the gentlemen, or passing before the ladies with slightly uplifted benedictory palms and a caressing40 paternal41 gesture. Mrs. Brimmer, having essayed a French sentence, was delighted and half frightened to receive a response from the ecclesiastic, and speedily monopolized42 him until he was summoned by the Commander to the returning boat.
"A most accomplished43 man, my dear," said Mrs. Brimmer, as the Excelsior's cannon44 again thundered after the retiring oars45, "like all of his order. He says, although Don Miguel does not speak French, that his secretary does; and we shall have no difficulty in making ourselves understood."
"Then you really intend to go ashore?" said Miss Keene timidly.
"Decidedly," returned Mrs. Brimmer potentially. "It would be most unpolite, not to say insulting, if we did not accept the invitation. You have no idea of the strictness of Spanish etiquette46. Besides, he may have heard of Mr. Brimmer."
"As his last information was only up to 1792, he might have forgotten it," said Crosby gravely. "So perhaps it would be safer to go on the general invitation."
"As Mr. Brimmer's ancestors came over on the Mayflower, long before 1792, it doesn't seem so very impossible, if it comes to that," said Mrs. Brimmer, with her usual unanswerable naivete; "provided always that you are not joking, Mr. Crosby. One never knows when you are serious."
"Mrs. Brimmer is quite right; we must all go. This is no mere48 formality," said Senor Perkins, who had returned to the ladies. "Indeed, I have myself promised the Comandante to bring YOU," he turned towards Miss Keene, "if you will permit Mrs. Markham and myself to act as your escort. It was Don Miguel's express request."
A slight flush of pride suffused49 the cheek of the young girl, but the next moment she turned diffidently towards Mrs. Brimmer.
"We must all go together," she said; "shall we not?"
"You see your triumphs have begun already," said Brace50, with a nervous smile. "You need no longer laugh at me for predicting your fate in San Francisco."
Miss Keene cast a hurried glance around her, in the faint hope—she scarcely knew why—that Mr. Hurlstone had overheard the Senor's invitation; nor could she tell why she was disappointed at not seeing him. But he had not appeared on deck during the presence of their strange visitors; nor was he in the boat which half an hour later conveyed her to the shore. He must have either gone in one of the other boats, or fulfilled his strange threat of remaining on the ship.
The boats pulled away together towards the invisible shore, piloted by Captain Bunker, the first officer, and Senor Perkins in the foremost boat. It had grown warmer, and the fog that stole softly over them touched their faces with the tenderness of caressing fingers. Miss Keene, wrapped up in the stern sheets of the boat, gave way to the dreamy influence of this weird52 procession through the water, retaining only perception enough to be conscious of the singular illusions of the mist that alternately thickened and lightened before their bow. At times it seemed as if they were driving full upon a vast pier53 or breakwater of cold gray granite54, that, opening to let the foremost boat pass, closed again before them; at times it seemed as if they had diverged55 from their course, and were once more upon the open sea, the horizon a far-off line of vanishing color; at times, faint lights seemed to pierce the gathering56 darkness, or to move like will-o'-wisps across the smooth surface, when suddenly the keel grated on the sand. A narrow but perfectly well defined strip of palpable strand57 appeared before them; they could faintly discern the moving lower limbs of figures whose bodies were still hidden in the mist; then they were lifted from the boats; the first few steps on dry land carried them out of the fog that seemed to rise like a sloping roof from the water's edge, leaving them under its canopy58 in the full light of actual torches held by a group of picturesquely60 dressed people before the vista61 of a faintly lit, narrow, ascending62 street. The dim twilight63 of the closing day lingered under this roof of fog, which seemed to hang scarcely a hundred feet above them, and showed a wall or rampart of brown adobe64 on their right that extended nearly to the water; to the left, at the distance of a few hundred yards, another low brown wall appeared; above it rose a fringe of foliage65, and, more distant and indistinct, two white towers, that were lost in the nebulous gray.
One of the figures dressed in green jackets, who seemed to be in authority, now advanced, and, after a moment's parley66 with Senor Perkins while the Excelsior's passengers were being collected from the different boats, courteously67 led the way along the wall of the fortification. Presently a low opening or gateway68 appeared, followed by the challenge of a green-jacketed sentry69, and the sentence, "Dios y Libertad" It was repeated in the interior of a dusky courtyard, surrounded by a low corridor, where a dozen green-jacketed men of aboriginal70 type and complexion71, carrying antique flintlocks, were drawn72 up as a guard of honor.
"The Comandante," said Senor Perkins, "directs me to extend his apologies to the Senor Capitano Bunker for withholding73 the salute74 which is due alike to his country, himself, and his fair company; but fifty years of uninterrupted peace and fog have left his cannon inadequate75 to polite emergencies, and firmly fixed76 the tampion of his saluting77 gun. But he places the Presidio at your disposition; you will be pleased to make its acquaintance while it is still light; and he will await you in the guard-room."
Left to themselves, the party dispersed78 like dismissed school-children through the courtyard and corridors, and in the enjoyment of their release from a month's confinement79 on shipboard stretched their cramped80 limbs over the ditches, walls, and parapets, to the edge of the glacis.
Everywhere a ruin that was picturesque59, a decay that was refined and gentle, a neglect that was graceful, met the eye; the sharp exterior81 and reentering angles were softly rounded and obliterated82 by overgrowths of semitropical creepers; the abatis was filled by a natural brake of scrub-oak and manzanita; the clematis flung its long scaling ladders over the escarpment, until Nature, slowly but securely investing the doomed83 fortress84, had lifted a victorious85 banner of palm from the conquered summit of the citadel86! Some strange convulsions of the earth had completed the victory; the barbette guns of carved and antique bronze commemorating87 fruitless and long-forgotten triumphs were dismounted; one turned in the cheeks of its carriage had a trunnion raised piteously in the air like an amputated stump88; another, sinking through its rotting chassis89, had buried itself to its chase in the crumbling90 adobe wall. But above and beyond this gentle chaos91 of defense92 stretched the real ramparts and escarpments of Todos Santos—the impenetrable and unassailable fog! Corroding93 its brass94 and iron with saline breath, rotting its wood with unending shadow, sapping its adobe walls with perpetual moisture, and nourishing the obliterating95 vegetation with its quickening blood, as if laughing to scorn the puny96 embattlements of men—it still bent97 around the crumbling ruins the tender grace of an invisible but all-encompassing98 arm.
Senor Perkins, who had acted as cicerone to the party, pointed51 out these various mutations with no change from his usual optimism.
"Protected by their peculiar99 isolation100 during the late war, there was no necessity for any real fortification of the place. Nevertheless, it affords some occupation and position for our kind friend, Don Miguel, and so serves a beneficial purpose. This little gun," he continued, stopping to attentively101 examine a small but beautifully carved bronze six-pounder, which showed indications of better care than the others, "seems to be the saluting-gun Don Miguel spoke102 of. For the last fifty years it has spoken only the language of politeness and courtesy, and yet through want of care the tampion, as you see, has become swollen103 and choked in its mouth."
"How true in a larger sense," murmured Mrs. Markham, "the habit of courtesy alone preserves the fluency104 of the heart."
"I know you two are saying something very clever," said Mrs. Brimmer, whose small French slippers105 and silk stockings were beginning to show their inadequacy106 to a twilight ramble107 in the fog; "but I am so slow, and I never catch the point. Do repeat it slowly."
"The Senor was only showing us how they managed to shut up a smooth bore in this country," said Crosby gravely. "I wonder when we're going to have dinner. I suppose old Don Quixote will trot108 out some of his Senoritas. I want to see those choir109 girls that sang so stunningly110 a while ago."
"I suppose you mean the boys—for they're all boys in the Catholic choirs—but then, perhaps you are joking again. Do tell me if you are, for this is really amusing. I may laugh—mayn't I?" As the discomfited111 humorist fell again to the rear amidst the laughter of the others, Mrs. Brimmer continued naively112 to Senor Perkins,—"Of course, as Don Miguel is a widower113, there must be daughters or sisters-in-law who will meet us. Why, the priest, you know—even he—must have nieces. Really, it's a serious question—if we are to accept his hospitality in a social way. Why don't you ask HIM?" she said, pointing to the green-jacketed subaltern who was accompanying them.
Senor Perkins looked half embarrassed.
"Repeat your question, my dear lady, and I will translate it."
"Ask him if there are any women at the Presidio."
Senor Perkins drew the subaltern aside. Presently he turned to Mrs. Brimmer.
"He says there are four: the wife of the baker114, the wife of the saddler, the daughter of the trumpeter, and the niece of the cook."
"Good heavens! we can't meet THEM," said Mrs. Brimmer.
Senor Perkins hesitated.
"Perhaps I ought to have told you," he said blandly, "that the old Spanish notions of etiquette are very strict. The wives of the officials and higher classes do not meet strangers on a first visit, unless they are well known."
"That isn't it," said Winslow, joining them excitedly. "I've heard the whole story. It's a good joke. Banks has been bragging115 about us all, and saying that these ladies had husbands who were great merchants, and, as these chaps consider that all trade is vulgar, you know, they believe we are not fit to associate with their women, don't you see? All, except one—Miss Keene. She's considered all right. She's to be introduced to the Commander's women, and to the sister of the Alcalde."
"She will do nothing of the kind," said Miss Keene indignantly. "If these ladies are not to be received with me, we'll all go back to the ship together."
She spoke with a quick and perfectly unexpected resolution and independence, so foreign to her usual childlike half dependent character, that her hearers were astounded116. Senor Perkins gazed at her thoughtfully; Brace, Crosby, and Winslow admiringly; her sister passengers with doubt and apprehension117.
"There must be some mistake," said Senor Perkins gently. "I will inquire."
He was absent but a few moments. When he returned, his face was beaming.
"It's a ridiculous misapprehension. Our practical friend Banks, in his zealous118 attempts to impress the Comandante's secretary, who knows a little English, with the importance of Mr. Brimmer's position as a large commission merchant, has, I fear, conveyed only the idea that he was a kind of pawnbroker119; while Mr. Markham's trade in hides has established him as a tanner; and Mr. Banks' own flour speculations120, of which he is justly proud, have been misinterpreted by him as the work of a successful baker!"
"And what idea did he convey about YOU?" asked Crosby audaciously; "it might be interesting to us to know, for our own satisfaction."
"I fear they did not do me the honor to inquire," replied Senor Perkins, with imperturbable121 good-humor; "there are some persons, you know, who carry all their worldly possessions palpably about with them. I am one of them. Call me a citizen of the world, with a strong leniency122 towards young and struggling nationalities; a traveler, at home anywhere; a delighted observer of all things, an admirer of brave men, the devoted123 slave of charming women—and you have, in one word, a passenger of the good ship Excelsior."
For the first time, Miss Keene noticed a slight irony124 in Senor Perkins' superabundant fluency, and that he did not conceal125 his preoccupation over the silent saluting gun he was still admiring. The approach of Don Miguel and Padre Esteban with a small bevy126 of ladies, however, quickly changed her thoughts, and detached the Senor from her side. Her first swift feminine impression of the fair strangers was that they were plain and dowdy127, an impression fully38 shared by the other lady passengers. But her second observation, that they were more gentle, fascinating, child-like, and feminine than her own countrywomen, was purely128 her own. Their loose, undulating figures, guiltless of stays; their extravagance of short, white, heavily flounced skirt, which looked like a petticoat; their lightly wrapped, formless, and hooded129 shoulders and heads, lent a suggestion of dishabille that Mrs. Brimmer at once resented.
"They might, at least, have dressed themselves," she whispered to Mrs. Markham.
"I really believe," returned Mrs. Markham, "they've got no bodices on!"
The introductions over, a polyglot130 conversation ensued in French by the Padre and Mrs. Brimmer, and in broken English by Miss Chubb, Miss Keene, and the other passengers with the Commander's secretary, varied131 by occasional scraps132 of college Latin from Mr. Crosby, the whole aided by occasional appeals to Senor Perkins. The darkness increasing, the party reentered the courtyard, and, passing through the low-studded guard-room, entered another corridor, which looked upon a second court, enclosed on three sides, the fourth opening upon a broad plaza133, evidently the public resort of the little town. Encompassing this open space, a few red-tiled roofs could be faintly seen in the gathering gloom. Chocolate and thin spiced cakes were served in the veranda134, pending135 the preparations for a more formal banquet. Already Miss Keene had been singled out from her companions for the special attentions of her hosts, male and female, to her embarrassment136 and confusion. Already Dona Isabel, the sister of the Alcalde, had drawn her aside, and, with caressing frankness, had begun to question her in broken English,—
"But Miss Keene is no name. The Dona Keene is of nothing."
"Well, you may call me Eleanor, if you like," said Miss Keene, smiling.
"Dona Leonor—so; that is good," said Dona Isabel, clapping her hands like a child. "But how are you?"
"I beg your pardon," said Miss Keene, greatly amused, "but I don't understand."
"Ah, Caramba! What are you, little one?" Seeing that her guest still looked puzzled, she continued,—"Ah! Mother of God! Why are your friends so polite to you? Why does every one love you so?"
"Do they? Well," stammered137 Miss Keene, with one of her rare, dazzling smiles, and her cheeks girlishly rosy138 with naive47 embarrassment, "I suppose they think I am pretty."
"You are a—a—Dama de Grandeza!"
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收听单词发音
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1
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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ecclesiastic
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| n.教士，基督教会；adj.神职者的，牧师的，教会的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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tarnished
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| （通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏 | |
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6
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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11
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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13
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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16
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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17
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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18
waive
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| vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等) | |
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exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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impair
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| v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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31
abounds
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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reciprocates
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| n.报答，酬答( reciprocate的名词复数 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的第三人称单数 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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plumed
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| 饰有羽毛的 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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40
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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41
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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42
monopolized
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| v.垄断( monopolize的过去式和过去分词 )；独占；专卖；专营 | |
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43
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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44
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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45
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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46
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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47
naive
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| adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的 | |
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48
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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49
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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51
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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52
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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53
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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54
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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55
diverged
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| 分开( diverge的过去式和过去分词 )； 偏离； 分歧； 分道扬镳 | |
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56
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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57
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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58
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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59
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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60
picturesquely
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61
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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62
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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63
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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64
adobe
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| n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司 | |
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65
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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66
parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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67
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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68
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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69
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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70
aboriginal
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| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
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71
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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72
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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73
withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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74
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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75
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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76
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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77
saluting
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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78
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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79
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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80
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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81
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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82
obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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83
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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84
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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85
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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86
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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87
commemorating
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 ) | |
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88
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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89
chassis
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| n.汽车等之底盘；（飞机的）起落架；炮底架 | |
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90
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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91
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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92
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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93
corroding
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| 使腐蚀，侵蚀( corrode的现在分词 ) | |
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94
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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95
obliterating
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| v.除去( obliterate的现在分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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96
puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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97
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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98
encompassing
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| v.围绕( encompass的现在分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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99
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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100
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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101
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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102
spoke
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| 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 | |
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103
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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104
fluency
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| n.流畅，雄辩，善辩 | |
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105
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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106
inadequacy
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| n.无法胜任，信心不足 | |
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107
ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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108
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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109
choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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110
stunningly
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| ad.令人目瞪口呆地；惊人地 | |
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111
discomfited
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| v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词)；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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112
naively
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| adv. 天真地 | |
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113
widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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114
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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115
bragging
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| v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话 | |
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116
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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117
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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118
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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119
pawnbroker
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| n.典当商，当铺老板 | |
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120
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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121
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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122
leniency
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| n.宽大（不严厉） | |
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123
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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124
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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125
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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126
bevy
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| n.一群 | |
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127
dowdy
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| adj.不整洁的；过旧的 | |
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128
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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129
hooded
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| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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130
polyglot
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| adj.通晓数种语言的；n.通晓多种语言的人 | |
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131
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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132
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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133
plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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134
veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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135
pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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136
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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137
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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138
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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139
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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140
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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