Professor Liedenbrock seemed to be greatly abstracted.

 

The ruling thought gave him no rest. Evidently he had gone deeply into the matter, analytically¹ and with profound scrutiny². He had brought all the resources of his mind to bear upon it during his walk, and he had come back to apply some new combination.

 

He sat in his armchair, and pen in hand he began what looked very much like algebraic formula: I followed with my eyes his trembling hands, I took count of every movement. Might not some unhoped-for result come of it? I trembled, too, very unnecessarily, since the true key was in my hands, and no other would open the secret.

 

For three long hours my uncle worked on without a word, without lifting his head; rubbing out, beginning again, then rubbing out again, and so on a hundred times.

 

I knew very well that if he succeeded in setting down these letters in every possible relative position, the sentence would come out. But I knew also that twenty letters alone could form two quintillions, four hundred and thirty-two quadrillions, nine hundred and two trillions, eight billions, a hundred and seventy-six millions, six hundred and forty thousand combinations. Now, here were a hundred and thirty-two letters in this sentence, and these hundred and thirty-two letters would give a number of different sentences, each made up of at least a hundred and thirty-three figures, a number which passed far beyond all calculation or conception.

 

So I felt reassured⁴ as far as regarded this heroic method of solving the difficulty.

 

But time was passing away; night came on; the street noises ceased; my uncle, bending over his task, noticed nothing, not even Martha half opening the door; he heard not a sound, not even that excellent woman saying:

 

"Will not monsieur take any supper to-night?"

 

And poor Martha had to go away unanswered. As for me, after long resistance, I was overcome by sleep, and fell off at the end of the sofa, while uncle Liedenbrock went on calculating and rubbing out his calculations.

 

When I awoke next morning that indefatigable

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1 analytically
adv.有分析地，解析地
参考例句：
The final requirement,'significant environmental impact", is analytically more difficult. 最后一个规定“重大的环境影响”，分析起来是比较困难的。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法 The overwhelming majority of nonlinear differential equations are not soluble analytically. 绝大多数非线性微分方程是不能用解析方法求解的。

2 scrutiny
n.详细检查，仔细观察
参考例句：
His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。 Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

3 vent
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。

4 reassured
adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句：
The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 indefatigable
adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的
参考例句：
His indefatigable spirit helped him to cope with his illness.他不屈不挠的精神帮助他对抗病魔。 He was indefatigable in his lectures on the aesthetics of love.在讲授关于爱情的美学时，他是不知疲倦的。

6 complexion
n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格
参考例句：
Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。 Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

7 tangled
adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。 A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

8 feverish
adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的
参考例句：
He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。 They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。

9 compassion
n.同情，怜悯
参考例句：
He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。 Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

10 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。

11 ken
n.视野，知识领域
参考例句：
Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。 Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

12 vice
n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的
参考例句：
He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。 They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

13 geologists
地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。 Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

14 mere
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。

15 cramps
n. 抽筋, 腹部绞痛, 铁箍 adj. 狭窄的, 难解的 v. 使...抽筋, 以铁箍扣紧, 束缚
参考例句：
If he cramps again let the line cut him off. 要是它再抽筋，就让这钓索把它勒断吧。 "I have no cramps." he said. “我没抽筋，"他说。

16 pangs
突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛
参考例句：
She felt sudden pangs of regret. 她突然感到痛悔不已。 With touching pathos he described the pangs of hunger. 他以极具感伤力的笔触描述了饥饿的痛苦。

17 distressed
痛苦的
参考例句：
He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。 The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

18 rambling
adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的
参考例句：
We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。 It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

19 stimulate
vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋
参考例句：
Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。 Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

20 severely
adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地
参考例句：
He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。 He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

21 larder
n.食物贮藏室，食品橱
参考例句：
Please put the food into the larder.请将您地食物放进食物柜内。 They promised never to raid the larder again.他们答应不再随便开食橱拿东西吃了。

22 unbearable
adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的
参考例句：
It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。 The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

23 cipher
n.零；无影响力的人；密码
参考例句：
All important plans were sent to the police in cipher.所有重要计划均以密码送往警方。 He's a mere cipher in the company.他在公司里是个无足轻重的小人物。

24 condemn
vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑
参考例句：
Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。 We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

25 absurdity
n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论
参考例句：
The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。 The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

26 meditating
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。

27 abrupt
adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的
参考例句：
The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。 His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

28 countenance
n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同
参考例句：
At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。 I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

29 dealing
n.经商方法，待人态度
参考例句：
This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。 His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

30 glistened
v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
Pearls of dew glistened on the grass. 草地上珠露晶莹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 Her eyes glistened with tears. 她的眼里闪着泪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

31 momentous
adj.重要的，重大的
参考例句：
I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。 The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

32 riveted
铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意
参考例句：
I was absolutely riveted by her story. 我完全被她的故事吸引住了。 My attention was riveted by a slight movement in the bushes. 我的注意力被灌木丛中的轻微晃动吸引住了。

33 smother
vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息
参考例句：
They tried to smother the flames with a damp blanket.他们试图用一条湿毯子去灭火。 We tried to smother our laughter.我们强忍住笑。

34 joyful
adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的
参考例句：
She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。 They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

35 crumpling
压皱，弄皱( crumple的现在分词 )； 变皱
参考例句：
His crumpling body bent low from years of carrying heavy loads. 由于经年累月的负重，他那皱巴巴的身子被压得弯弯的。 This apparently took the starch out of the fast-crumpling opposition. 这显然使正在迅速崩溃的反对党泄了气。

36 nay
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。

37 darting
v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔
参考例句：
Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句

38 crater
n.火山口，弹坑
参考例句：
With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。 They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

39 descend
vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降
参考例句：
I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。 We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

40 attain
vt.达到，获得，完成
参考例句：
I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。 His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

41 audacity
n.大胆，卤莽，无礼
参考例句：
He had the audacity to ask for an increase in salary.他竟然厚着脸皮要求增加薪水。 He had the audacity to pick pockets in broad daylight.他竟敢在光天化日之下掏包。

42 behold
v.看，注视，看到
参考例句：
The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。 The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

43 rattled
慌乱的，恼火的
参考例句：
The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。 Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

44 thump
v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声
参考例句：
The thief hit him a thump on the head.贼在他的头上重击一下。 The excitement made her heart thump.她兴奋得心怦怦地跳。

45 exhausted
adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的
参考例句：
It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。 Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

46 lavish
adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍
参考例句：
He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。 The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

47 expenditure
n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗
参考例句：
The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。 The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

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