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PART I chapter 1
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THIS is the saddest story I have ever heard. We had known the Ashburnhams for nine seasons of the town of Nauheim with an extreme intimacy1—or, rather with an acquaintanceship as loose and easy and yet as close as a good glove's with your hand. My wife and I knew Captain and Mrs Ashburnham as well as it was possible to know anybody, and yet, in another sense, we knew nothing at all about them. This is, I believe, a state of things only possible with English people of whom, till today, when I sit down to puzzle out what I know of this sad affair, I knew nothing whatever. Six months ago I had never been to England, and, certainly, I had never sounded the depths of an English heart. I had known the shallows.
I don't mean to say that we were not acquainted with many English people. Living, as we perforce lived, in Europe, and being, as we perforce were, leisured Americans, which is as much as to say that we were un-American, we were thrown very much into the society of the nicer English. Paris, you see, was our home. Somewhere between Nice and Bordighera provided yearly winter quarters for us, and Nauheim always received us from July to September. You will gather from this statement that one of us had, as the saying is, a "heart", and, from the statement that my wife is dead, that she was the sufferer.
Captain Ashburnham also had a heart. But, whereas a yearly month or so at Nauheim tuned2 him up to exactly the right pitch for the rest of the twelvemonth, the two months or so were only just enough to keep poor Florence alive from year to year. The reason for his heart was, approximately, polo, or too much hard sportsmanship in his youth. The reason for poor Florence's broken years was a storm at sea upon our first crossing to Europe, and the immediate3 reasons for our imprisonment4 in that continent were doctor's orders. They said that even the short Channel crossing might well kill the poor thing.
When we all first met, Captain Ashburnham, home on sick leave from an India to which he was never to return, was thirty-three; Mrs Ashburnham —Leonora—was thirty-one. I was thirty-six and poor Florence thirty. Thus today Florence would have been thirty-nine and Captain Ashburnham forty-two; whereas I am forty-five and Leonora forty. You will perceive, therefore, that our friendship has been a young-middle-aged affair, since we were all of us of quite quiet
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1
intimacy
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n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行 | |
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2
tuned
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adj.调谐的,已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调 | |
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3
immediate
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adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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4
imprisonment
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n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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5
dispositions
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安排( disposition的名词复数 ); 倾向; (财产、金钱的)处置; 气质 | |
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descended
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a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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7
chestnut
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n.栗树,栗子 | |
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walnut
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n.胡桃,胡桃木,胡桃色,茶色 | |
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infinitely
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adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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coterie
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n.(有共同兴趣的)小团体,小圈子 | |
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extraordinarily
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adv.格外地;极端地 | |
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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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temperate
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adj.温和的,温带的,自我克制的,不过分的 | |
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discreet
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adj.(言行)谨慎的;慎重的;有判断力的 | |
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harpsichord
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n.键琴(钢琴前身) | |
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intimacies
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亲密( intimacy的名词复数 ); 密切; 亲昵的言行; 性行为 | |
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pervaded
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v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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frail
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adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的 | |
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everlasting
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adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的 | |
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possessed
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adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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hearth
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n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面 | |
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intercourse
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n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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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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sedulous
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adj.勤勉的,努力的 | |
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protracted
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adj.拖延的;延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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negotiations
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协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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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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devoted
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adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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fatuous
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adj.愚昧的;昏庸的 | |
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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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insolence
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n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度 | |
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utterly
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adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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hissing
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n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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clenching
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v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的现在分词 ) | |
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blight
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n.枯萎病;造成破坏的因素;vt.破坏,摧残 | |
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attained
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(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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justified
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a.正当的,有理的 | |
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brute
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n.野兽,兽性 | |
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positively
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adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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narration
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n.讲述,叙述;故事;记叙体 | |
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magistrate
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n.地方行政官,地方法官,治安官 | |
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painstaking
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adj.苦干的;艰苦的,费力的,刻苦的 | |
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guardian
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n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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avow
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v.承认,公开宣称 | |
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vouch
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v.担保;断定;n.被担保者 | |
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folly
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n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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chapter 2
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