小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 经典英文小说 » A Traveler at Forty » CHAPTER XLIV A MEDIEVAL TOWN
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER XLIV A MEDIEVAL TOWN
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
AFTER Italy and Switzerland the scenery of the Rhine seemed very mild and unpretentious to me, yet it was very beautiful. The Hudson from Albany to New York is far more imposing1. A score of American rivers such as the Penobscot, the New in West Virginia, the James above Lynchburg, the Rio Grande, and others would make the Rhine seem simple by comparison; yet it has an individuality so distinct that it is unforgetable. I always marvel2 over this thing—personality. Nothing under the sun explains it. So, often you can say “this is finer,” “that is more imposing,” “by comparison this is nothing,” but when you have said all this, the thing with personality rises up and triumphs. So it is with the Rhine. Like millions before me and millions yet to come, I watched its slopes, its castles, its islands, its pretty little German towns passing in review before the windows of this excellent train and decided4 that in its way nothing could be finer. It had personality. A snatch of old wall, with peach trees in blossom; a long thin side-wheel steamer, one smokestack fore3 and another aft, labeled “William Egan Gesellschaft”; a dismantled5 castle tower, with a flock of crows flying about it and hills laid out in ordered squares of vines gave it all the charm it needed.
 
When Coblenz was reached, I bustled6 out, ready to inspect Mayen at once. Another disappointment. Mayen was not at Coblenz but fifteen or eighteen miles438 away on a small branch road, the trains of which ran just four times a day, but I did not learn this until, as usual, I had done considerable investigating. According to my map Mayen appeared to be exactly at the junction7 of the Rhine and the Moselle, which was here, but when I asked a small boy dancing along a Coblenz street where the Moselle was, he informed me, “If you walk fast you will get there in half an hour!”
 
When I reached the actual juncture8 of the Rhine and the Moselle, however, I found I was mistaken; I was entertained at first by a fine view of the two rivers, darkly walled by hills and a very massive and, in a way, impressive equestrian9 statue of Emperor William I, armed in the most flamboyant10 and aggressive military manner and looking sternly down on the fast-traveling and uniting waters of the two rivers. Idling about the base of this monument, to catch sightseers, was a young picture-post-card seller with a box of views of the Rhine, Coblenz, Cologne and other cities, for sale. He was a very humble-looking youth,—a bit doleful,—who kept following me about until I bought some post-cards. “Where is Mayen?” I asked, as I began to select a few pictures of things I had and had not seen, for future reference.
 
“Mayence?” he asked doubtfully. “Mayence? Oh, that is a great way from here. Mayence is up the river near Frankfort.”
 
“No, no,” I replied irritably12. (This matter was getting to be a sore point with me.) “I have just come from Mayence. I am looking for Mayen. Isn’t it over there somewhere?” I pointed13 to the fields over the river.
 
He shook his head. “Mayen!” he said. “I don’t think there is such a place.”
 
“Good heavens!” I exclaimed, “what are you talking439 about? Here it is on the map. What is that? Do you live here in Coblenz?”
 
“Gewiss!” he replied. “I live here.”
 
“Very good, then. Where is Mayen?”
 
“I have never heard of it,” he replied.
 
“My God!” I exclaimed to myself, “perhaps it was destroyed in the Franco-Prussian War. Maybe there isn’t any Mayen.”
 
“You have lived here all your life,” I said, turning to my informant, “and you have never heard of Mayen?”
 
“Mayen, no. Mayence, yes. It is up the river near Frankfort.”
 
“Don’t tell me that again!” I said peevishly14, and walked off. The elusiveness15 of my father’s birthplace was getting on my nerves. Finally I found a car-line which ended at the river and a landing wharf16 and hailed the conductor and motorman who were idling together for a moment.
 
“Where is Mayen?” I asked.
 
“Mayence?” they said, looking at me curiously17.
 
“No, no. M-a-y-e-n, Mayen—not Mayence. It’s a small town around here somewhere.”
 
“Mayen! Mayen!” they repeated. “Mayen!” And then frowned.
 
“Oh, God!” I sighed. I got out my map. “Mayen—see?” I said.
 
“Oh, yes,” one of them replied brightly, putting up a finger. “That is so. There is a place called Mayen! It is out that way. You must take the train.”
 
“How many miles?” I asked.
 
“About fifteen. It will take you about an hour and a half.”
 
I went back to the station and found I must wait another two hours before my train left. I had reached the point where I didn’t care a picayune whether I ever440 got to my father’s town or not. Only a dogged determination not to be beaten kept me at it.
 
It was at Coblenz, while waiting for my train, that I had my first real taste of the German army. Around a corner a full regiment18 suddenly came into view. They swung past me and crossed a bridge over the Rhine, their brass19 helmets glittering. Their trousers were gray and their jackets red, and they marched with a slap, slap, slap of their feet that was positively20 ominous21. Every man’s body was as erect22 as a poker23; every man’s gun was carried with almost loving grace over his shoulder. They were all big men, stolid24 and broad-chested. As they filed over the bridge, four abreast25, they looked, at that distance, like a fine scarlet26 ribbon with a streak27 of gold in it. They eventually disappeared between the green hills on the other side.
 
In another part of the city I came upon a company of perhaps fifty, marching in loose formation and talking cheerfully to one another. Behind me, coming toward the soldiers, was an officer, one of those band-box gentlemen in the long gray, military coat of the Germans, the high-crowned, low-visored cap, and lacquered boots. I learned before I was out of Germany to listen for the clank of their swords. The moment the sergeant29 in charge of the men saw this officer in the distance, he gave vent28 to a low command which brought the men four by four instantly. In the next breath their guns, previously30 swinging loosely in their hands, were over their shoulders and as the officer drew alongside a sharp “Vorwärts!” produced that wonderful jack-knife motion “the goose-step”—each leg brought rigidly31 to a level with the abdomen32 as they went slap—slap—slapping by, until the officer was gone. Then, at a word, they fell into their old easy formation again and were human beings once more.
 
 
It was to me a most vivid glimpse of extreme military efficiency. All the while I was in Germany I never saw a lounging soldier. The officers, all men of fine stature33, were so showily tailored as to leave a sharp impression. They walked briskly, smartly, defiantly34, with a tremendous air of assurance but not of vain-glory. They were so superior to anything else in Germany that for me they made it. But to continue.
 
At half-past two my train departed and I entered a fourth-class compartment—the only class one could book for on this branch road. They were hard, wooden-seated little cars, as stiff and heavy as cars could possibly be. My mind was full of my father’s ancestral heath and the quaint35 type of life that must have been lived here a hundred years before. This was a French border country. My father, when he ran away, had escaped into Alsace, near by. He told me once of being whipped for stealing cherries, because his father’s house adjoined the priest’s yard and a cherry-tree belonging to that holy man had spread its branches, cherry-laden, over the walls, and he had secretly feasted upon the fruit at night. His stepmother, informed by the priest, whipped him. I wondered if I could find that stone wall.
 
The train was now running through a very typical section of old-time Germany. Solid, healthy men and buxom36 women got leisurely37 on and off at the various small but well-built stations. You could feel distinctly a strong note of commercial development here. Some small new factory buildings were visible at one place and another. An occasional real-estate sign, after the American fashion, was in evidence. The fields looked well and fully11 tilled. Hills were always in the distance somewhere.
 
As the train pulled into one small station, Metternich by name, I saw a tall, raw-boned yokel38, lounging on the442 platform. He was a mere39 boy, nineteen or twenty, six feet tall, broad-shouldered, horny-handed, and with as vacuous40 a face as it is possible for an individual to possess. A cheap, wide-brimmed, soft hat, offensively new, and of a dusty mud color, sat low over one ear; and around it, to my astonishment41, was twined a slim garland of flowers and leaves which, interwoven and chained, hung ridiculously down his back. He was all alone, gazing sheepishly about him and yet doing his best to wear his astounding43 honors with an air of bravado44. I was looking at his collarless shirt, his big feet and hands and his bow legs, when I heard a German in the next seat remark to his neighbor, “He won’t look like that long.”
 
“Three months—he’ll be fine.”
 
They went on reading their papers and I fell to wondering what they could mean.
 
At the next station were five more yokels45, all similarly crowned, and around them a bevy46 of rosy47, healthy village girls. These five, constituting at once a crowd and a center of attention, were somewhat more assured—more swaggering—than the lone42 youth we had seen.
 
“What is that?” I asked the man over the seat. “What are they doing?”
 
“They’ve been drawn48 for the army,” he replied. “All over Germany the young men are being drawn like this.”
 
“Do they begin to serve at once?”
 
“At once.”
 
I paused in amazement49 at this trick of statecraft which could make of the drawing for so difficult and compulsory50 a thing as service in the army a gala occasion. For scarcely any compensation—a few cents a day—these yokels and village men are seized upon and made to do almost heroic duty for two years, whether they will or443 no. I did not know then, quite, how intensely proud Germany is of her army, how perfectly51 willing the vast majority are to serve, how certain the great majority of Germans are that Germany is called of God to rule—beherrschen is their vigorous word—the world. Before I was out of Frankfort and Berlin, I could well realize how intensely proud the average boy is to be drawn. He is really a man then; he is permitted to wear a uniform and carry a gun; the citizens from then on, at least so long as he is in service, respect him as a soldier. By good fortune or ability he may become a petty officer. So they crown him with flowers, and the girls gather round him in admiring groups. What a clever custom thus to sugar-coat the compulsory pill. And, in a way, what a travesty52.
 
The climax53 of my quest was reached when, after traveling all this distance and finally reaching the “Mayen” on the railroad, I didn’t really reach it after all! It proved to be “West Mayen”—a new section of the old town—or rather a new rival of it—and from West Mayen I had to walk to Mayen proper, or what might now be called East Mayen—a distance of over a mile. I first shook my head in disgust, and then laughed. For there, in the valley below me, after I had walked a little way, I could actually see the town my father had described, a small walled city of now perhaps seven or eight thousand population, with an old Gothic church in the center containing a twisted spire54, a true castle or Schloss of ancient date, on the high ground to the right, a towered gate or two, of that medieval conical aspect so beloved of the painters of romance, and a cluster or clutter55 of quaint, many-gabled, sharp-roofed and sharp-pointed houses which speak invariably of days and nations and emotions and tastes now almost entirely56 superseded57. West Mayen was being built in modern style.444 Some coal mines had been discovered there and manufactories were coming in. At Mayen all was quite as my father left it. I am sure, some seventy years before.
 
Those who think this world would be best if we could have peace and quiet, should visit Mayen. Here is a town that has existed in a more or less peaceful state for all of six hundred years. The single Catholic church, the largest structure outside of the adjacent castle, was begun in the twelfth century. Frankish princes and Teuton lords have by turns occupied its site. But Mayen has remained quite peacefully a small, German, walled city, doing—in part at least—many of the things its ancestors did. Nowhere in Europe, not even in Italy, did I feel more keenly the seeming out-of-placeness of the modern implements58 of progress. When, after a pause at the local graveyard59, in search of ancestral Dreisers, I wandered down into the town proper, crossed over the ancient stone bridge that gives into an easily defended, towered gate, and saw the presence of such things as the Singer Sewing Machine Company, a thoroughly60 up-to-date bookstore, an evening newspaper office and a moving-picture show, I shook my head in real despair. “Nothing is really old” I sighed, “nothing!”
 
Like all the places that were highly individual and different, Mayen made a deep impression on me. It was like entering the shell of some great mollusc that had long since died, to enter this walled town and find it occupied by another type of life from that which originally existed there. Because it was raining now and soon to grow dark, I sauntered into the first shelter I saw—a four-story, rather presentable brick inn, located outside the gate known as the Brückentor (bridge-gate) and took a room here for the night. It was a dull445 affair, run by as absurd a creature as I have ever encountered. He was a little man, sandy-haired, wool-witted, inquisitive61, idle, in a silly way drunken, who was so astonished by the onslaught of a total stranger in this unexpected manner that he scarcely knew how to conduct himself.
 
“I want a room for the night,” I suggested.
 
“A room?” he queried62, in an astonished way, as if this were the most unheard-of thing imaginable.
 
“Certainly,” I said. “A room. You rent rooms, don’t you?”
 
“Oh, certainly, certainly. To be sure. A room. Certainly. Wait. I will call my wife.”
 
He went into a back chamber63, leaving me to face several curious natives who went over me from head to toe with their eyes.
 
“Mah-ree-ah!” I heard my landlord calling quite loudly in the rear portion of the house. “There is one here who wants a room. Have we a room ready?”
 
I heard no reply.
 
Presently he came back, however, and said in a high-flown, deliberate way, “Be seated. Are you from Frankfort?”
 
“Yes, and no. I come from America.”
 
“O-o-oh! America. What part of America?”
 
“New York.”
 
“O-o-oh—New York. That is a great place. I have a brother in America. Since six years now he is out there. I forget the place.” He put his hand to his foolish, frizzled head and looked at the floor.
 
His wife now appeared, a stout64, dull woman, one of the hard-working potato specimens65 of the race. A whispered conference between them followed, after which they announced my room would soon be ready.
 
“Let me leave my bag here,” I said, anxious to escape,446 “and then I will come back later. I want to look around for awhile.”
 
He accepted this valid66 excuse and I departed, glad to get out into the rain and the strange town, anxious to find a better-looking place to eat and to see what I could see.
 
My search for dead or living Dreisers, which I have purposely skipped in order to introduce the town, led me first, as I have said, to the local graveyard—the old “Kirchhof.” It was lowering to a rain as I entered, and the clouds hung in rich black masses over the valley below. It was half-after four by my watch. I made up my mind that I would examine the inscription67 of every tombstone as quickly as possible, in order to locate all the dead Dreisers, and then get down into the town before the night and the rain fell, and locate the live ones—if any. With that idea in view I began at an upper row, near the church, to work down. Time was when the mere wandering in a graveyard after this fashion would have produced the profoundest melancholy68 in me. It was so in Paris; it made me morbidly69 weary and ineffably70 sad. I saw too many great names—Chopin, Balzac, Daudet, Rachel—solemnly chiseled71 in stone. And I hurried out, finally, quite agonized72 and unspeakably lonely.
 
Here in Mayen it was a simpler feeling that was gradually coming over me—an amused sentimental73 interest in the simple lives that had had, too often, their beginning and their end in this little village. It was a lovely afternoon for such a search. Spring was already here in South Germany, that faint, tentative suggestion of budding life; all the wind-blown leaves of the preceding fall were on the ground, but in between them new grass was springing and, one might readily suspect, windflowers and crocuses, the first faint green points of lilies and the pulsing tendrils of harebells. It was beginning to sprinkle, the faintest447 suggestion of a light rain; and in the west, over the roofs and towers of Mayen, a gleam of sunlight broke through the mass of heavy clouds and touched the valley with one last lingering ray.
 
“Hier ruht im Gott” (Here rests in God), or “Hier sanft ruht” (Here softly rests), was too often the beginning. I had made my way through the sixth or seventh row from the top, pushing away grass at times from in front of faded inscriptions74, rubbing other lichen-covered letters clean with a stick and standing75 interested before recent tombstones. All smart with a very recently developed local idea of setting a black piece of glass into the gray of the marble and on that lettering the names of the departed in gold! It was to me a very thick-witted, truly Teutonic idea, dull and heavy in its mistakes but certainly it was no worse than the Italian idea of putting the photograph of the late beloved in the head of the slab76, behind glass in a stone-cut frame and of further ornamenting77 the graves with ghastly iron-shafted lamps with globes of yellow, pink and green glass. That was the worst of all.
 
As I was meditating78 how, oysterlike, little villages reproduce themselves from generation to generation, a few coming and a few going but the majority leading a narrow simple round of existence. I came suddenly, so it seemed to me, upon one grave which gave me a real shock. It was a comparatively recent slab of gray granite80 with the modern plate of black glass set in it and a Gothic cross surmounting81 it all at the top. On the glass plate was lettered:
 
Here Rests
Theodor Dreiser,
Born 16—Feb—1820.
Died 28—Feb—1882.
R. I. P.
 
I think as clear a notion as I ever had of how my grave will look after I am gone and how utterly82 unimportant both life and death are, anyhow, came to me then. Something about this old graveyard, the suggestion of the new life of spring, a robin83 trilling its customary evening song on a near-by twig84, the smoke curling upward from the chimneys in the old houses below, the spire of the medieval church and the walls of the medieval castle standing out in the softening85 light—one or all of them served to give me a sense of the long past that is back of every individual in the race of life and the long future that the race has before it, regardless of the individual. Religion offers no consolation86 to me. Psychic87 research and metaphysics, however meditated88 upon, are in vain. There is in my judgment89 no death; the universe is composed of life; but, nevertheless, I cannot see any continuous life for any individual. And it would be so unimportant if true. Imagine an eternity90 of life for a leaf, a fish-worm, an oyster79! The best that can be said is that ideas of types survive somewhere in the creative consciousness. That is all. The rest is silence.
 
Besides this, there were the graves of my father’s brother John, and some other Dreisers; but none of them dated earlier than 1800.
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 imposing 8q9zcB     
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的
参考例句:
  • The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
  • He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。
2 marvel b2xyG     
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事
参考例句:
  • The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
  • The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。
3 fore ri8xw     
adv.在前面;adj.先前的;在前部的;n.前部
参考例句:
  • Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
  • I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。
4 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
5 dismantled 73a4c4fbed1e8a5ab30949425a267145     
拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 ); 拆卸; 废除; 取消
参考例句:
  • The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
  • The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。
6 bustled 9467abd9ace0cff070d56f0196327c70     
闹哄哄地忙乱,奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 ); 催促
参考例句:
  • She bustled around in the kitchen. 她在厨房里忙得团团转。
  • The hostress bustled about with an assumption of authority. 女主人摆出一副权威的样子忙来忙去。
7 junction N34xH     
n.连接,接合;交叉点,接合处,枢纽站
参考例句:
  • There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
  • You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。
8 juncture e3exI     
n.时刻,关键时刻,紧要关头
参考例句:
  • The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
  • It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。
9 equestrian 3PlzG     
adj.骑马的;n.马术
参考例句:
  • They all showed extraordinary equestrian skills.他们的骑术都很高超。
  • I want to book two equestrian tickets.我想订两张马术比赛的票。
10 flamboyant QjKxl     
adj.火焰般的,华丽的,炫耀的
参考例句:
  • His clothes were rather flamboyant for such a serious occasion.他的衣着在这种严肃场合太浮夸了。
  • The King's flamboyant lifestyle is well known.国王的奢华生活方式是人尽皆知的。
11 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
12 irritably e3uxw     
ad.易生气地
参考例句:
  • He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了,暴躁地斥责孩子们。
  • On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事,他妻子大声斥责,令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
13 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
14 peevishly 6b75524be1c8328a98de7236bc5f100b     
adv.暴躁地
参考例句:
  • Paul looked through his green glasses peevishly when the other speaker brought down the house with applause. 当另一个演说者赢得了满座喝彩声时,保罗心里又嫉妒又气恼。
  • "I've been sick, I told you," he said, peevishly, almost resenting her excessive pity. “我生了一场病,我告诉过你了,"他没好气地说,对她的过分怜悯几乎产生了怨恨。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
15 elusiveness e973cf0caf5e0817d994983d2aefda00     
狡诈
参考例句:
  • The author's elusiveness may at times be construed as evasiveness. 这个作家的晦涩文笔有时会被理解为故弄玄虚。 来自互联网
  • For all their elusiveness, suicide rates can certainly be correlated with other social and economic indicators. 相对于自杀的令人难以捉摸而言,它却能揭示与之相关的社会问题和经济问题。 来自互联网
16 wharf RMGzd     
n.码头,停泊处
参考例句:
  • We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
  • We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。
17 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
18 regiment JATzZ     
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制
参考例句:
  • As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活,所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
  • They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。
19 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。
20 positively vPTxw     
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实
参考例句:
  • She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
  • The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。
21 ominous Xv6y5     
adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的
参考例句:
  • Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
  • There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。
22 erect 4iLzm     
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的
参考例句:
  • She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头,把背挺得笔直。
  • Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。
23 poker ilozCG     
n.扑克;vt.烙制
参考例句:
  • He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌,把钱都输光了。
  • I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了,可以玩些花样。
24 stolid VGFzC     
adj.无动于衷的,感情麻木的
参考例句:
  • Her face showed nothing but stolid indifference.她的脸上毫无表情,只有麻木的无动于衷。
  • He conceals his feelings behind a rather stolid manner.他装作无动于衷的样子以掩盖自己的感情。
25 abreast Zf3yi     
adv.并排地;跟上(时代)的步伐,与…并进地
参考例句:
  • She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
  • We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习,就会跟不上形势。
26 scarlet zD8zv     
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的
参考例句:
  • The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
  • The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了,深红的颜色变成了绯红,绯红又变为浅红。
27 streak UGgzL     
n.条理,斑纹,倾向,少许,痕迹;v.加条纹,变成条纹,奔驰,快速移动
参考例句:
  • The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
  • Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹?
28 vent yiPwE     
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄
参考例句:
  • He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
  • When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时,发动机就会停转。
29 sergeant REQzz     
n.警官,中士
参考例句:
  • His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
  • How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹?
30 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前,先前(地)
参考例句:
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
31 rigidly hjezpo     
adv.刻板地,僵化地
参考例句:
  • Life today is rigidly compartmentalized into work and leisure. 当今的生活被严格划分为工作和休闲两部分。
  • The curriculum is rigidly prescribed from an early age. 自儿童时起即已开始有严格的课程设置。
32 abdomen MfXym     
n.腹,下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)
参考例句:
  • How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫?
  • He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。
33 stature ruLw8     
n.(高度)水平,(高度)境界,身高,身材
参考例句:
  • He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
  • The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。
34 defiantly defiantly     
adv.挑战地,大胆对抗地
参考例句:
  • Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
35 quaint 7tqy2     
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的
参考例句:
  • There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里,有很多小巷。
  • They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。
36 buxom 4WtzT     
adj.(妇女)丰满的,有健康美的
参考例句:
  • Jane is a buxom blond.简是一个丰满的金发女郎.
  • He still pictured her as buxom,high-colored,lively and a little blowsy.他心中仍旧认为她身材丰满、面色红润、生气勃勃、还有点邋遢。
37 leisurely 51Txb     
adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的
参考例句:
  • We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着,看遍所有的橱窗。
  • He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐,高兴的开车去工作。
38 yokel bf6yq     
n.乡下人;农夫
参考例句:
  • The clothes make him look like a yokel.这件衣服让他看起来像个乡巴佬。
  • George is not an ordinary yokel.乔治不是一个普通的粗人。
39 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
40 vacuous Kiuwt     
adj.空的,漫散的,无聊的,愚蠢的
参考例句:
  • Male models are not always so vacuous as they are made out to be.男模特儿并不总像人们说的那样愚蠢。
  • His eyes looked dull,almost vacuous.他看上去目光呆滞,茫然若失。
41 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。
42 lone Q0cxL     
adj.孤寂的,单独的;唯一的
参考例句:
  • A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
  • She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。
43 astounding QyKzns     
adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊,使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)
参考例句:
  • There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
  • The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊,所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
44 bravado CRByZ     
n.虚张声势,故作勇敢,逞能
参考例句:
  • Their behaviour was just sheer bravado. 他们的行为完全是虚张声势。
  • He flourished the weapon in an attempt at bravado. 他挥舞武器意在虚张声势。
45 yokels 758e976de0fa4f73342648b517a84274     
n.乡下佬,土包子( yokel的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The quaint field noises, the yokels'whistling, and the splash of water-fowl, each seemed to him enchanted. 那种新奇的,田野上的喧声,那种庄稼汉打着的唿哨,那种水禽的溅水声,他觉得每一样都是令人销魂的。 来自辞典例句
  • One of the local yokels helped me change the tire. 一个乡巴佬帮我换了车胎。 来自互联网
46 bevy UtZzo     
n.一群
参考例句:
  • A bevy of bathing beauties appeared on the beach.沙滩上出现了一群游泳的美女。
  • Look,there comes a bevy of ladies.看,一群女人来了。
47 rosy kDAy9     
adj.美好的,乐观的,玫瑰色的
参考例句:
  • She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作,生活看上去很美好。
  • She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。
48 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。
49 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
50 compulsory 5pVzu     
n.强制的,必修的;规定的,义务的
参考例句:
  • Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗?
  • Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。
51 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。
52 travesty gJqzN     
n.歪曲,嘲弄,滑稽化
参考例句:
  • The trial was a travesty of justice.这次审判嘲弄了法律的公正性。
  • The play was,in their view,a travesty of the truth.这个剧本在他们看来是对事实的歪曲。
53 climax yqyzc     
n.顶点;高潮;v.(使)达到顶点
参考例句:
  • The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
  • His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。
54 spire SF3yo     
n.(教堂)尖顶,尖塔,高点
参考例句:
  • The church spire was struck by lightning.教堂的尖顶遭到了雷击。
  • They could just make out the spire of the church in the distance.他们只能辨认出远处教堂的尖塔。
55 clutter HWoym     
n.零乱,杂乱;vt.弄乱,把…弄得杂乱
参考例句:
  • The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱,我们什么也找不到。
  • We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。
56 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。
57 superseded 382fa69b4a5ff1a290d502df1ee98010     
[医]被代替的,废弃的
参考例句:
  • The theory has been superseded by more recent research. 这一理论已为新近的研究所取代。
  • The use of machinery has superseded manual labour. 机器的使用已经取代了手工劳动。
58 implements 37371cb8af481bf82a7ea3324d81affc     
n.工具( implement的名词复数 );家具;手段;[法律]履行(契约等)v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 );执行;贯彻;使生效
参考例句:
  • Primitive man hunted wild animals with crude stone implements. 原始社会的人用粗糙的石器猎取野兽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • They ordered quantities of farm implements. 他们订购了大量农具。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
59 graveyard 9rFztV     
n.坟场
参考例句:
  • All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
  • Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。
60 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
61 inquisitive s64xi     
adj.求知欲强的,好奇的,好寻根究底的
参考例句:
  • Children are usually inquisitive.小孩通常很好问。
  • A pat answer is not going to satisfy an inquisitive audience.陈腔烂调的答案不能满足好奇的听众。
62 queried 5c2c5662d89da782d75e74125d6f6932     
v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问
参考例句:
  • She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
63 chamber wnky9     
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
参考例句:
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
64     
参考例句:
65 specimens 91fc365099a256001af897127174fcce     
n.样品( specimen的名词复数 );范例;(化验的)抽样;某种类型的人
参考例句:
  • Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
  • The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》
66 valid eiCwm     
adj.有确实根据的;有效的;正当的,合法的
参考例句:
  • His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
  • Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗?
67 inscription l4ZyO     
n.(尤指石块上的)刻印文字,铭文,碑文
参考例句:
  • The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损,无法辨认了。
  • He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。
68 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。
69 morbidly 0a1798ce947f18fc75a423bf03dcbdba     
adv.病态地
参考例句:
  • As a result, the mice became morbidly obese and diabetic. 结果,老鼠呈现为病态肥胖和糖尿病。 来自互联网
  • He was morbidly fascinated by dead bodies. 他对尸体着魔到近乎病态的程度。 来自互联网
70 ineffably b8f9e99edba025017f24f3131942b93c     
adv.难以言喻地,因神圣而不容称呼地
参考例句:
  • Why to always syare blankly ineffably, feel sadness namely next. 为什么总是莫名的发呆,然后就是感到悲伤。 来自互联网
71 chiseled chiseled     
adj.凿刻的,轮廓分明的v.凿,雕,镌( chisel的过去式 )
参考例句:
  • Woltz had chiseled the guy, given him peanuts for the book. 乌尔茨敲了这个作家的竹杠,用了他的书,却只给微不足道的一点点钱。 来自教父部分
  • He chiseled the piece of wood into the shape of a head. 他把这块木头凿刻成人头的形状。 来自辞典例句
72 agonized Oz5zc6     
v.使(极度)痛苦,折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 );苦斗;苦苦思索;感到极度痛苦
参考例句:
  • All the time they agonized and prayed. 他们一直在忍受痛苦并且祈祷。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • She agonized herself with the thought of her loss. 她念念不忘自己的损失,深深陷入痛苦之中。 来自辞典例句
73 sentimental dDuzS     
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的
参考例句:
  • She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人,她相信姻缘命中注定。
  • We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。
74 inscriptions b8d4b5ef527bf3ba015eea52570c9325     
(作者)题词( inscription的名词复数 ); 献词; 碑文; 证劵持有人的登记
参考例句:
  • Centuries of wind and rain had worn away the inscriptions on the gravestones. 几个世纪的风雨已磨损了墓碑上的碑文。
  • The inscriptions on the stone tablet have become blurred with the passage of time. 年代久了,石碑上的字迹已经模糊了。
75 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
76 slab BTKz3     
n.平板,厚的切片;v.切成厚板,以平板盖上
参考例句:
  • This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
  • The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成,它们共同支撑着一块平板。
77 ornamenting ad92e5d128c4c6f1196d88163c1e11e6     
v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • They are ornamenting a Christmas tree. 他们在装饰圣诞树。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I am appreciated your great efforts for ornamenting this suffering order to a mysterious yashmak. (译文)我非常感谢你们巨大的努力给这张多灾多难的订单披上神秘的面纱。 来自互联网
78 meditating hoKzDp     
a.沉思的,冥想的
参考例句:
  • They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
  • The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。
79 oyster w44z6     
n.牡蛎;沉默寡言的人
参考例句:
  • I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎,它味道真美。
  • I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时,我发现我相当喜欢吃。
80 granite Kyqyu     
adj.花岗岩,花岗石
参考例句:
  • They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
  • The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。
81 surmounting b3a8dbce337095904a3677d7985f22ad     
战胜( surmount的现在分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上
参考例句:
  • Surmounting the risks and fears of some may be difficult. 解除某些人的疑虑可能是困难的。
  • There was high French-like land in one corner, and a tumble-down grey lighthouse surmounting it. 一角画着一块像是法国风光的高地,上面有一座破烂的灰色灯塔。
82 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。
83 robin Oj7zme     
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟
参考例句:
  • The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
  • We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟,知道春天要到了。
84 twig VK1zg     
n.小树枝,嫩枝;v.理解
参考例句:
  • He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
  • The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。
85 softening f4d358268f6bd0b278eabb29f2ee5845     
变软,软化
参考例句:
  • Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
  • He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的,已经成了个软心肠的人了。
86 consolation WpbzC     
n.安慰,慰问
参考例句:
  • The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
  • This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。
87 psychic BRFxT     
n.对超自然力敏感的人;adj.有超自然力的
参考例句:
  • Some people are said to have psychic powers.据说有些人有通灵的能力。
  • She claims to be psychic and to be able to foretell the future.她自称有特异功能,能预知未来。
88 meditated b9ec4fbda181d662ff4d16ad25198422     
深思,沉思,冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 ); 内心策划,考虑
参考例句:
  • He meditated for two days before giving his answer. 他在作出答复之前考虑了两天。
  • She meditated for 2 days before giving her answer. 她考虑了两天才答复。
89 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
参考例句:
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
90 eternity Aiwz7     
n.不朽,来世;永恒,无穷
参考例句:
  • The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
  • Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞,永世相随。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

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