小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 经典英文小说 » Rodney Stone » CHAPTER III. THE PLAY-ACTRESS OF ANSTEY CROSS.
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER III. THE PLAY-ACTRESS OF ANSTEY CROSS.
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。

I have told you something about Friar’s Oak, and about the life that we led there.  Now that my memory goes back to the old place it would gladly linger, for every thread which I draw from the skein of the past brings out half a dozen others that were entangled1 with it.  I was in two minds when I began whether I had enough in me to make a book of, and now I know that I could write one about Friar’s Oak alone, and the folk whom I knew in my childhood.  They were hard and uncouth3, some of them, I doubt not; and yet, seen through the golden haze4 of time, they all seem sweet and lovable.  There was our good vicar, Mr. Jefferson, who loved the whole world save only Mr. Slack, the Baptist minister of Clayton; and there was kindly5 Mr. Slack, who was all men’s brother save only of Mr. Jefferson, the vicar of Friar’s Oak.  Then there was Monsieur Rudin, the French Royalist refugee who lived over on the Pangdean road, and who, when the news of a victory came in, was convulsed with joy because we had beaten Buonaparte, and shaken with rage because we had beaten the French, so that after the Nile he wept for a whole day out of delight and then for another one out of fury, alternately clapping his hands and stamping his feet.  Well I remember his thin, upright figure and the way in which he jauntily6 twirled his little cane7; for cold and hunger could not cast him down, though we knew that he had his share of both.  Yet he was so proud and had such a grand manner of talking, that no one dared to offer him a cloak or a meal.  I can see his face now, with a flush over each craggy cheek-bone when the butcher made him the present of some ribs8 of beef.  He could not but take it, and yet whilst he was stalking off he threw a proud glance over his shoulder at the butcher, and he said, “Monsieur, I have a dog!”  Yet it was Monsieur Rudin and not his dog who looked plumper for a week to come.
 
Then I remember Mr. Paterson, the farmer, who was what you would now call a Radical9, though at that time some called him a Priestley-ite, and some a Fox-ite, and nearly everybody a traitor10.  It certainly seemed to me at the time to be very wicked that a man should look glum11 when he heard of a British victory; and when they burned his straw image at the gate of his farm, Boy Jim and I were among those who lent a hand.  But we were bound to confess that he was game, though he might be a traitor, for down he came, striding into the midst of us with his brown coat and his buckled12 shoes, and the fire beating upon his grim, schoolmaster face.  My word, how he rated us, and how glad we were at last to sneak13 quietly away.
 
“You livers of a lie!” said he.  “You and those like you have been preaching peace for nigh two thousand years, and cutting throats the whole time.  If the money that is lost in taking French lives were spent in saving English ones, you would have more right to burn candles in your windows.  Who are you that dare to come here to insult a law-abiding man?”
 
“We are the people of England!” cried young Master Ovington, the son of the Tory Squire14.
 
“You! you horse-racing, cock-fighting ne’er-do-weel!  Do you presume to talk for the people of England?  They are a deep, strong, silent stream, and you are the scum, the bubbles, the poor, silly froth that floats upon the surface.”
 
We thought him very wicked then, but, looking back, I am not sure that we were not very wicked ourselves.
 
And then there were the smugglers!  The Downs swarmed15 with them, for since there might be no lawful16 trade betwixt France and England, it had all to run in that channel.  I have been up on St. John’s Common upon a dark night, and, lying among the bracken, I have seen as many as seventy mules17 and a man at the head of each go flitting past me as silently as trout18 in a stream.  Not one of them but bore its two ankers of the right French cognac, or its bale of silk of Lyons and lace of Valenciennes.  I knew Dan Scales, the head of them, and I knew Tom Hislop, the riding officer, and I remember the night they met.
 
“Do you fight, Dan?” asked Tom.
 
“Yes, Tom; thou must fight for it.”
 
On which Tom drew his pistol, and blew Dan’s brains out.
 
“It was a sad thing to do,” he said afterwards, “but I knew Dan was too good a man for me, for we tried it out before.”
 
It was Tom who paid a poet from Brighton to write the lines for the tombstone, which we all thought were very true and good, beginning—
 
“Alas!  Swift flew the fatal lead
Which piercéd through the young man’s head.
He instantly fell, resigned his breath,
And closed his languid eyes in death.”
 
There was more of it, and I dare say it is all still to be read in Patcham Churchyard.
 
One day, about the time of our Cliffe Royal adventure, I was seated in the cottage looking round at the curios which my father had fastened on to the walls, and wishing, like the lazy lad that I was, that Mr. Lilly had died before ever he wrote his Latin grammar, when my mother, who was sitting knitting in the window, gave a little cry of surprise.
 
“Good gracious!” she cried.  “What a vulgar-looking woman!”
 
It was so rare to hear my mother say a hard word against anybody (unless it were General Buonaparte) that I was across the room and at the window in a jump.  A pony19-chaise was coming slowly down the village street, and in it was the queerest-looking person that I had ever seen.  She was very stout20, with a face that was of so dark a red that it shaded away into purple over the nose and cheeks.  She wore a great hat with a white curling ostrich21 feather, and from under its brim her two bold, black eyes stared out with a look of anger and defiance22 as if to tell the folk that she thought less of them than they could do of her.  She had some sort of scarlet23 pelisse with white swans-down about her neck, and she held the reins24 slack in her hands, while the pony wandered from side to side of the road as the fancy took him.  Each time the chaise swayed, her head with the great hat swayed also, so that sometimes we saw the crown of it and sometimes the brim.
 
“What a dreadful sight!” cried my mother.
 
“What is amiss with her, mother?”
 
“Heaven forgive me if I misjudge her, Rodney, but I think that the unfortunate woman has been drinking.”
 
“Why,” I cried, “she has pulled the chaise up at the smithy.  I’ll find out all the news for you;” and, catching25 up my cap, away I scampered26.
 
Champion Harrison had been shoeing a horse at the forge door, and when I got into the street I could see him with the creature’s hoof27 still under his arm, and the rasp in his hand, kneeling down amid the white parings.  The woman was beckoning28 him from the chaise, and he staring up at her with the queerest expression upon his face.  Presently he threw down his rasp and went across to her, standing29 by the wheel and shaking his head as he talked to her.  For my part, I slipped into the smithy, where Boy Jim was finishing the shoe, and I watched the neatness of his work and the deft30 way in which he turned up the caulkens.  When he had done with it he carried it out, and there was the strange woman still talking with his uncle.
 
“Is that he?” I heard her ask.
 
Champion Harrison nodded.
 
She looked at Jim, and I never saw such eyes in a human head, so large, and black, and wonderful.  Boy as I was, I knew that, in spite of that bloated face, this woman had once been very beautiful.  She put out a hand, with all the fingers going as if she were playing on the harpsichord31, and she touched Jim on the shoulder.
 
“I hope—I hope you’re well,” she stammered32.
 
“Very well, ma’am,” said Jim, staring from her to his uncle.
 
“And happy too?”
 
“Yes, ma’am, I thank you.”
 
“Nothing that you crave33 for?”
 
“Why, no, ma’am, I have all that I lack.”
 
“That will do, Jim,” said his uncle, in a stern voice.  “Blow up the forge again, for that shoe wants reheating.”
 
But it seemed as if the woman had something else that she would say, for she was angry that he should be sent away.  Her eyes gleamed, and her head tossed, while the smith with his two big hands outspread seemed to be soothing34 her as best he could.  For a long time they whispered until at last she appeared to be satisfied.
 
“To-morrow, then?” she cried out loud.
 
“To-morrow,” he answered.
 
“You keep your word and I’ll keep mine,” said she, and dropped the lash35 on the pony’s back.  The smith stood with the rasp in his hand, looking after her until she was just a little red spot on the white road.  Then he turned, and I never saw his face so grave.
 
“Jim,” said he, “that’s Miss Hinton, who has come to live at The Maples36, out Anstey Cross way.  She’s taken a kind of a fancy to you, Jim, and maybe she can help you on a bit.  I promised her that you would go over and see her to-morrow.”
 
“I don’t want her help, uncle, and I don’t want to see her.”
 
“But I’ve promised, Jim, and you wouldn’t make me out a liar37.  She does but want to talk with you, for it is a lonely life she leads.”
 
“What would she want to talk with such as me about?”
 
“Why, I cannot say that, but she seemed very set upon it, and women have their fancies.  There’s young Master Stone here who wouldn’t refuse to go and see a good lady, I’ll warrant, if he thought he might better his fortune by doing so.”
 
“Well, uncle, I’ll go if Roddy Stone will go with me,” said Jim.
 
“Of course he’ll go.  Won’t you, Master Rodney?”
 
So it ended in my saying “yes,” and back I went with all my news to my mother, who dearly loved a little bit of gossip.  She shook her head when she heard where I was going, but she did not say nay38, and so it was settled.
 
It was a good four miles of a walk, but when we reached it you would not wish to see a more cosy39 little house: all honeysuckle and creepers, with a wooden porch and lattice windows.  A common-looking woman opened the door for us.
 
“Miss Hinton cannot see you,” said she.
 
“But she asked us to come,” said Jim.
 
“I can’t help that,” cried the woman, in a rude voice.  “I tell you that she can’t see you.”
 
We stood irresolute40 for a minute.
 
“Maybe you would just tell her I am here,” said Jim, at last.
 
“Tell her!  How am I to tell her when she couldn’t so much as hear a pistol in her ears?  Try and tell her yourself, if you have a mind to.”
 
She threw open a door as she spoke41, and there, in a reclining chair at the further end of the room, we caught a glimpse of a figure all lumped together, huge and shapeless, with tails of black hair hanging down.
 
The sound of dreadful, swine-like breathing fell upon our ears.  It was but a glance, and then we were off hot-foot for home.  As for me, I was so young that I was not sure whether this was funny or terrible; but when I looked at Jim to see how he took it, he was looking quite white and ill.
 
“You’ll not tell any one, Roddy,” said he.
 
“Not unless it’s my mother.”
 
“I won’t even tell my uncle.  I’ll say she was ill, the poor lady! it’s enough that we should have seen her in her shame, without its being the gossip of the village.  It makes me feel sick and heavy at heart.”
 
“She was so yesterday, Jim.”
 
“Was she?  I never marked it.  But I know that she has kind eyes and a kind heart, for I saw the one in the other when she looked at me.  Maybe it’s the want of a friend that has driven her to this.”
 
It blighted42 his spirits for days, and when it had all gone from my mind it was brought back to me by his manner.  But it was not to be our last memory of the lady with the scarlet pelisse, for before the week was out Jim came round to ask me if I would again go up with him.
 
“My uncle has had a letter,” said he.  “She would speak with me, and I would be easier if you came with me, Rod.”
 
For me it was only a pleasure outing, but I could see, as we drew near the house, that Jim was troubling in his mind lest we should find that things were amiss.
 
His fears were soon set at rest, however, for we had scarce clicked the garden gate before the woman was out of the door of the cottage and running down the path to meet us.  She was so strange a figure, with some sort of purple wrapper on, and her big, flushed face smiling out of it, that I might, if I had been alone, have taken to my heels at the sight of her.  Even Jim stopped for a moment as if he were not very sure of himself, but her hearty43 ways soon set us at our ease.
 
“It is indeed good of you to come and see an old, lonely woman,” said she, “and I owe you an apology that I should give you a fruitless journey on Tuesday, but in a sense you were yourselves the cause of it, since the thought of your coming had excited me, and any excitement throws me into a nervous fever.  My poor nerves!  You can see for yourselves how they serve me.”
 
She held out her twitching44 hands as she spoke.  Then she passed one of them through Jim’s arm, and walked with him up the path.
 
“You must let me know you, and know you well,” said she.  “Your uncle and aunt are quite old acquaintances of mine, and though you cannot remember me, I have held you in my arms when you were an infant.  Tell me, little man,” she added, turning to me, “what do you call your friend?”
 
“Boy Jim, ma’am,” said I.
 
“Then if you will not think me forward, I will call you Boy Jim also.  We elderly people have our privileges, you know.  And now you shall come in with me, and we will take a dish of tea together.”
 
She led the way into a cosy room—the same which we had caught a glimpse of when last we came—and there, in the middle, was a table with white napery, and shining glass, and gleaming china, and red-cheeked apples piled upon a centre-dish, and a great plateful of smoking muffins which the cross-faced maid had just carried in.  You can think that we did justice to all the good things, and Miss Hinton would ever keep pressing us to pass our cup and to fill our plate.  Twice during our meal she rose from her chair and withdrew into a cupboard at the end of the room, and each time I saw Jim’s face cloud, for we heard a gentle clink of glass against glass.
 
“Come now, little man,” said she to me, when the table had been cleared.  “Why are you looking round so much?”
 
“Because there are so many pretty things upon the walls.”
 
“And which do you think the prettiest of them?”
 
“Why, that!” said I, pointing to a picture which hung opposite to me.  It was of a tall and slender girl, with the rosiest45 cheeks and the tenderest eyes—so daintily dressed, too, that I had never seen anything more perfect.  She had a posy of flowers in her hand and another one was lying upon the planks46 of wood upon which she was standing.
 
“Oh, that’s the prettiest, is it?” said she, laughing.  “Well, now, walk up to it, and let us hear what is writ2 beneath it.”
 
I did as she asked, and read out: “Miss Polly Hinton, as ‘Peggy,’ in The Country Wife, played for her benefit at the Haymarket Theatre, September 14th, 1782.”
 
“It’s a play-actress,” said I.
 
“Oh, you rude little boy, to say it in such a tone,” said she; “as if a play-actress wasn’t as good as any one else.  Why, ’twas but the other day that the Duke of Clarence, who may come to call himself King of England, married Mrs. Jordan, who is herself only a play-actress.  And whom think you that this one is?”
 
She stood under the picture with her arms folded across her great body, and her big black eyes looking from one to the other of us.
 
“Why, where are your eyes?” she cried at last.  “I was Miss Polly Hinton of the Haymarket Theatre.  And perhaps you never heard the name before?”
 
We were compelled to confess that we never had.  And the very name of play-actress had filled us both with a kind of vague horror, like the country-bred folk that we were.  To us they were a class apart, to be hinted at rather than named, with the wrath47 of the Almighty48 hanging over them like a thundercloud.  Indeed, His judgments49 seemed to be in visible operation before us when we looked upon what this woman was, and what she had been.
 
“Well,” said she, laughing like one who is hurt, “you have no cause to say anything, for I read on your face what you have been taught to think of me.  So this is the upbringing that you have had, Jim—to think evil of that which you do not understand!  I wish you had been in the theatre that very night with Prince Florizel and four Dukes in the boxes, and all the wits and macaronis of London rising at me in the pit.  If Lord Avon had not given me a cast in his carriage, I had never got my flowers back to my lodgings51 in York Street, Westminster.  And now two little country lads are sitting in judgment50 upon me!”
 
Jim’s pride brought a flush on to his cheeks, for he did not like to be called a country lad, or to have it supposed that he was so far behind the grand folk in London.
 
“I have never been inside a play-house,” said he; “I know nothing of them.”
 
“Nor I either.”
 
“Well,” said she, “I am not in voice, and it is ill to play in a little room with but two to listen, but you must conceive me to be the Queen of the Peruvians, who is exhorting52 her countrymen to rise up against the Spaniards, who are oppressing them.”
 
And straightway that coarse, swollen53 woman became a queen—the grandest, haughtiest54 queen that you could dream of—and she turned upon us with such words of fire, such lightning eyes and sweeping55 of her white hand, that she held us spellbound in our chairs.  Her voice was soft and sweet, and persuasive56 at the first, but louder it rang and louder as it spoke of wrongs and freedom and the joys of death in a good cause, until it thrilled into my every nerve, and I asked nothing more than to run out of the cottage and to die then and there in the cause of my country.  And then in an instant she changed.  She was a poor woman now, who had lost her only child, and who was bewailing it.  Her voice was full of tears, and what she said was so simple, so true, that we both seemed to see the dead babe stretched there on the carpet before us, and we could have joined in with words of pity and of grief.  And then, before our cheeks were dry, she was back into her old self again.
 
“How like you that, then?” she cried.  “That was my way in the days when Sally Siddons would turn green at the name of Polly Hinton.  It’s a fine play, is Pizarro.”
 
“And who wrote it, ma’am?”
 
“Who wrote it?  I never heard.  What matter who did the writing of it!  But there are some great lines for one who knows how they should be spoken.”
 
“And you play no longer, ma’am?”
 
“No, Jim, I left the boards when—when I was weary of them.  But my heart goes back to them sometimes.  It seems to me there is no smell like that of the hot oil in the footlights and of the oranges in the pit.  But you are sad, Jim.”
 
“It was but the thought of that poor woman and her child.”
 
“Tut, never think about her!  I will soon wipe her from your mind.  This is ‘Miss Priscilla Tomboy,’ from The Romp57.  You must conceive that the mother is speaking, and that the forward young minx is answering.”
 
And she began a scene between the two of them, so exact in voice and manner that it seemed to us as if there were really two folk before us: the stern old mother with her hand up like an ear-trumpet, and her flouncing, bouncing daughter.  Her great figure danced about with a wonderful lightness, and she tossed her head and pouted58 her lips as she answered back to the old, bent59 figure that addressed her.  Jim and I had forgotten our tears, and were holding our ribs before she came to the end of it.
 
“That is better,” said she, smiling at our laughter.  “I would not have you go back to Friar’s Oak with long faces, or maybe they would not let you come to me again.”
 
She vanished into her cupboard, and came out with a bottle and glass, which she placed upon the table.
 
“You are too young for strong waters,” she said, “but this talking gives one a dryness, and—”
 
Then it was that Boy Jim did a wonderful thing.  He rose from his chair, and he laid his hand upon the bottle.
 
“Don’t!” said he.
 
She looked him in the face, and I can still see those black eyes of hers softening60 before the gaze.
 
“Am I to have none?”
 
“Please, don’t.”
 
With a quick movement she wrested61 the bottle out of his hand and raised it up so that for a moment it entered my head that she was about to drink it off.  Then she flung it through the open lattice, and we heard the crash of it on the path outside.
 
“There, Jim!” said she; “does that satisfy you?  It’s long since any one cared whether I drank or no.”
 
“You are too good and kind for that,” said he.
 
“Good!” she cried.  “Well, I love that you should think me so.  And it would make you happier if I kept from the brandy, Jim?  Well, then, I’ll make you a promise, if you’ll make me one in return.”
 
“What’s that, miss?”
 
“No drop shall pass my lips, Jim, if you will swear, wet or shine, blow or snow, to come up here twice in every week, that I may see you and speak with you, for, indeed, there are times when I am very lonesome.”
 
So the promise was made, and very faithfully did Jim keep it, for many a time when I have wanted him to go fishing or rabbit-snaring, he has remembered that it was his day for Miss Hinton, and has tramped off to Anstey Cross.  At first I think that she found her share of the bargain hard to keep, and I have seen Jim come back with a black face on him, as if things were going amiss.  But after a time the fight was won—as all fights are won if one does but fight long enough—and in the year before my father came back Miss Hinton had become another woman.  And it was not her ways only, but herself as well, for from being the person that I have described, she became in one twelve-month as fine a looking lady as there was in the whole country-side.  Jim was prouder of it by far than of anything he had had a hand in in his life, but it was only to me that he ever spoke about it, for he had that tenderness towards her that one has for those whom one has helped.  And she helped him also, for by her talk of the world and of what she had seen, she took his mind away from the Sussex country-side and prepared it for a broader life beyond.  So matters stood between them at the time when peace was made and my father came home from the sea.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 entangled e3d30c3c857155b7a602a9ac53ade890     
adj.卷入的;陷入的;被缠住的;缠在一起的v.使某人(某物/自己)缠绕,纠缠于(某物中),使某人(自己)陷入(困难或复杂的环境中)( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
  • Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 writ iojyr     
n.命令状,书面命令
参考例句:
  • This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
  • You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。
3 uncouth DHryn     
adj.无教养的,粗鲁的
参考例句:
  • She may embarrass you with her uncouth behavior.她的粗野行为可能会让你尴尬。
  • His nephew is an uncouth young man.他的侄子是一个粗野的年轻人。
4 haze O5wyb     
n.霾,烟雾;懵懂,迷糊;vi.(over)变模糊
参考例句:
  • I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中,我看不见她。
  • He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。
5 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
6 jauntily 4f7f379e218142f11ead0affa6ec234d     
adv.心满意足地;洋洋得意地;高兴地;活泼地
参考例句:
  • His straw hat stuck jauntily on the side of his head. 他那顶草帽时髦地斜扣在头上。 来自辞典例句
  • He returned frowning, his face obstinate but whistling jauntily. 他回来时皱眉蹙额,板着脸,嘴上却快活地吹着口哨。 来自辞典例句
7 cane RsNzT     
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的
参考例句:
  • This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
  • English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。
8 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。
9 radical hA8zu     
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的
参考例句:
  • The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
  • She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。
10 traitor GqByW     
n.叛徒,卖国贼
参考例句:
  • The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
  • He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。
11 glum klXyF     
adj.闷闷不乐的,阴郁的
参考例句:
  • He was a charming mixture of glum and glee.他是一个很有魅力的人,时而忧伤时而欢笑。
  • She laughed at his glum face.她嘲笑他闷闷不乐的脸。
12 buckled qxfz0h     
a. 有带扣的
参考例句:
  • She buckled her belt. 她扣上了腰带。
  • The accident buckled the wheel of my bicycle. 我自行车的轮子在事故中弄弯了。
13 sneak vr2yk     
vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝);偷偷摸摸做;n.潜行;adj.暗中进行
参考例句:
  • He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
  • I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。
14 squire 0htzjV     
n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅
参考例句:
  • I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
  • The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。
15 swarmed 3f3ff8c8e0f4188f5aa0b8df54637368     
密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去
参考例句:
  • When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响,孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
  • When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下,人群就蜂拥回了旅社。
16 lawful ipKzCt     
adj.法律许可的,守法的,合法的
参考例句:
  • It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
  • We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。
17 mules be18bf53ebe6a97854771cdc8bfe67e6     
骡( mule的名词复数 ); 拖鞋; 顽固的人; 越境运毒者
参考例句:
  • The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
  • She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。
18 trout PKDzs     
n.鳟鱼;鲑鱼(属)
参考例句:
  • Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
  • We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼,早饭时吃了。
19 pony Au5yJ     
adj.小型的;n.小马
参考例句:
  • His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
  • They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。
20     
参考例句:
21 ostrich T4vzg     
n.鸵鸟
参考例句:
  • Ostrich is the fastest animal on two legs.驼鸟是双腿跑得最快的动物。
  • The ostrich indeed inhabits continents.鸵鸟确实是生活在大陆上的。
22 defiance RmSzx     
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗
参考例句:
  • He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
  • He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。
23 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。
24 reins 370afc7786679703b82ccfca58610c98     
感情,激情; 缰( rein的名词复数 ); 控制手段; 掌管; (成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的)保护带
参考例句:
  • She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
  • The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。
25 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。
26 scampered fe23b65cda78638ec721dec982b982df     
v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑,惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
27 hoof 55JyP     
n.(马,牛等的)蹄
参考例句:
  • Suddenly he heard the quick,short click of a horse's hoof behind him.突然间,他听见背后响起一阵急骤的马蹄的得得声。
  • I was kicked by a hoof.我被一只蹄子踢到了。
28 beckoning fcbc3f0e8d09c5f29e4c5759847d03d6     
adj.引诱人的,令人心动的v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • An even more beautiful future is beckoning us on. 一个更加美好的未来在召唤我们继续前进。 来自辞典例句
  • He saw a youth of great radiance beckoning to him. 他看见一个丰神飘逸的少年向他招手。 来自辞典例句
29 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。
30 deft g98yn     
adj.灵巧的,熟练的(a deft hand 能手)
参考例句:
  • The pianist has deft fingers.钢琴家有灵巧的双手。
  • This bird,sharp of eye and deft of beak,can accurately peck the flying insects in the air.这只鸟眼疾嘴快,能准确地把空中的飞虫啄住。
31 harpsichord KepxQ     
n.键琴(钢琴前身)
参考例句:
  • I can tune the harpsichord as well as play it.我会弹奏大键琴,同样地,我也会给大键琴调音。
  • Harpsichord music is readily playable.古钢琴音乐可以随时演奏。
32 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
33 crave fowzI     
vt.渴望得到,迫切需要,恳求,请求
参考例句:
  • Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
  • You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。
34 soothing soothing     
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的
参考例句:
  • Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
  • His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。
35 lash a2oxR     
v.系牢;鞭打;猛烈抨击;n.鞭打;眼睫毛
参考例句:
  • He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
  • With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。
36 maples 309f7112d863cd40b5d12477d036621a     
槭树,枫树( maple的名词复数 ); 槭木
参考例句:
  • There are many maples in the park. 公园里有好多枫树。
  • The wind of the autumn colour the maples carmine . 秋风给枫林涂抹胭红。
37 liar V1ixD     
n.说谎的人
参考例句:
  • I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了,一个又偷又骗的家伙!
  • She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。
38 nay unjzAQ     
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者
参考例句:
  • He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的,不,应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
  • Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章,不,应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。
39 cosy dvnzc5     
adj.温暖而舒适的,安逸的
参考例句:
  • We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
  • It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适,西蒙简直不想下床了。
40 irresolute X3Vyy     
adj.无决断的,优柔寡断的,踌躇不定的
参考例句:
  • Irresolute persons make poor victors.优柔寡断的人不会成为胜利者。
  • His opponents were too irresolute to call his bluff.他的对手太优柔寡断,不敢接受挑战。
41 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。
42 blighted zxQzsD     
adj.枯萎的,摧毁的
参考例句:
  • Blighted stems often canker.有病的茎往往溃烂。
  • She threw away a blighted rose.她把枯萎的玫瑰花扔掉了。
43 hearty Od1zn     
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
参考例句:
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
44 twitching 97f99ba519862a2bc691c280cee4d4cf     
n.颤搐
参考例句:
  • The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
45 rosiest 78ed1b7e5f81286753576b9f2b1a837d     
adj.玫瑰色的( rosy的最高级 );愉快的;乐观的;一切都称心如意
参考例句:
  • That would exceed even the rosiest predictions on Wall Street. 如果成功,它会超过华尔街最为乐观的预测。 来自互联网
46 planks 534a8a63823ed0880db6e2c2bc03ee4a     
(厚)木板( plank的名词复数 ); 政纲条目,政策要点
参考例句:
  • The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
  • We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。
47 wrath nVNzv     
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒
参考例句:
  • His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
  • The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。
48 almighty dzhz1h     
adj.全能的,万能的;很大的,很强的
参考例句:
  • Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
  • It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。
49 judgments 2a483d435ecb48acb69a6f4c4dd1a836     
判断( judgment的名词复数 ); 鉴定; 评价; 审判
参考例句:
  • A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
  • He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。
50 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。
51 lodgings f12f6c99e9a4f01e5e08b1197f095e6e     
n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍
参考例句:
  • When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时,太阳已下山了。
  • I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。
52 exhorting 6d41cec265e1faf8aefa7e4838e780b1     
v.劝告,劝说( exhort的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Joe Pationi's stocky figure was moving constantly, instructing and exhorting. 乔·佩特罗尼结实的身影不断地来回走动,又发指示,又替他们打气。 来自辞典例句
  • He is always exhorting us to work harder for a lower salary. ((讽刺))他总是劝我们为了再低的薪水也得更卖力地工作。 来自辞典例句
53 swollen DrcwL     
adj.肿大的,水涨的;v.使变大,肿胀
参考例句:
  • Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着,她的双腿已经肿了。
  • A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她,她的手臂肿起来了。
54 haughtiest 4cbd5cbc175fae0ff6dd83d42573cbc5     
haughty(傲慢的,骄傲的)的最高级形式
参考例句:
55 sweeping ihCzZ4     
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的
参考例句:
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗?
56 persuasive 0MZxR     
adj.有说服力的,能说得使人相信的
参考例句:
  • His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
  • The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。
57 romp ZCPzo     
n.欢闹;v.嬉闹玩笑
参考例句:
  • The child went for a romp in the forest.那个孩子去森林快活一把。
  • Dogs and little children romped happily in the garden.狗和小孩子们在花园里嬉戏。
58 pouted 25946cdee5db0ed0b7659cea8201f849     
v.撅(嘴)( pout的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her lips pouted invitingly. 她挑逗地撮起双唇。
  • I pouted my lips at him, hinting that he should speak first. 我向他努了努嘴,让他先说。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
59 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
60 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。
61 wrested 687939d2c0d23b901d6d3b68cda5319a     
(用力)拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 ); 费力取得; (从…)攫取; ( 从… ) 强行取去…
参考例句:
  • The usurper wrested the power from the king. 篡位者从国王手里夺取了权力。
  • But now it was all wrested from him. 可是现在,他却被剥夺了这一切。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹


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