Of the dumb Knight-hawks of the Ringing Island.

These words were scarce out of his mouth when some five-and-twenty or thirty birds flew towards us; they were of a hue¹ and feather like which we had not seen anything in the whole island. Their plumes² were as changeable as the skin of the chameleon³, and the flower of tripolion, or teucrion. They had all under the left wing a mark like two diameters dividing a circle into equal parts, or, if you had rather have it so, like a perpendicular⁴ line falling on a right line. The marks which each of them bore were much of the same shape, but of different colours; for some were white, others green, some red, others purple, and some blue. Who are those? asked Panurge; and how do you call them? They are mongrels, quoth Aedituus.

We call them knight-hawks, and they have a great number of rich commanderies (fat livings) in your world. Good your worship, said I, make them give us a song, an’t please you, that we may know how they sing. They scorn your words, cried Aedituus; they are none of your singing-birds; but, to make amends⁵, they feed as much as the best two of them all. Pray where are their hens? where are their females? said I. They have none, answered Aedituus. How comes it to pass then, asked Panurge, that they are thus bescabbed, bescurfed, all embroidered⁶ o’er the phiz with carbuncles, pushes, and pock-royals, some of which undermine the handles of their faces? This same fashionable and illustrious disease, quoth Aedituus, is common among that kind of birds, because they are pretty apt to be tossed on the salt deep.

He then acquainted us with the occasion of their coming. This next to us, said he, looks so wistfully upon you to see whether he may not find among your company a stately gaudy⁷ kind of huge dreadful birds of prey⁸, which yet are so

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1 hue
n.色度；色调；样子
参考例句：
The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。 The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

2 plumes
羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物
参考例句：
The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。 The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

3 chameleon
n.变色龙，蜥蜴；善变之人
参考例句：
The chameleon changes colour to match its surroundings.变色龙变换颜色以适应环境。 The chameleon can take on the colour of its background.变色龙可呈现出与其背景相同的颜色。

4 perpendicular
adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置
参考例句：
The two lines of bones are set perpendicular to one another.这两排骨头相互垂直。 The wall is out of the perpendicular.这墙有些倾斜。

5 amends
n. 赔偿
参考例句：
He made amends for his rudeness by giving her some flowers. 他送给她一些花，为他自己的鲁莽赔罪。 This country refuses stubbornly to make amends for its past war crimes. 该国顽固地拒绝为其过去的战争罪行赔罪。

6 embroidered
adj．绣花的
参考例句：
She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。 She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

7 gaudy
adj.华而不实的；俗丽的
参考例句：
She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。 The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。

8 prey
n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨
参考例句：
Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。 The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

9 untoward
adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的
参考例句：
Untoward circumstances prevent me from being with you on this festive occasion.有些不幸的事件使我不能在这欢庆的时刻和你在一起。 I'll come if nothing untoward happens.我要是没有特殊情况一定来。

10 lure
n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引
参考例句：
Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。 He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

11 perch
n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于
参考例句：
The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。 Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

12 inscription
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。

13 condemns
v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地
参考例句：
Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 swill
v.冲洗；痛饮；n.泔脚饲料；猪食；（谈话或写作中的）无意义的话
参考例句：
Having finished his coffee,he swilled out the mug and left it on the draining board.喝完咖啡后，他涮了涮杯子然后把它放在滴水板上。 A crowd of men were standing around swilling beer.一群人正站在一起痛饮啤酒。

15 ointments
n.软膏( ointment的名词复数 )；扫兴的人；煞风景的事物；药膏
参考例句：
The firm has been dispensing ointments. 本公司配制药膏。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Antibiotic ointments are useful for concurrent bacterial infections. 抗菌素软膏对伴发的细菌感染是有用的。 来自辞典例句

16 alias
n.化名；别名；adv.又名
参考例句：
His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。 You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

17 spacious
adj.广阔的，宽敞的
参考例句：
Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。 The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

18 hermit
n.隐士，修道者；隐居
参考例句：
He became a hermit after he was dismissed from office.他被解职后成了隐士。 Chinese ancient landscape poetry was in natural connections with hermit culture.中国古代山水诗与隐士文化有着天然联系。

19 budge
v.移动一点儿；改变立场
参考例句：
We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。 She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

20 cod
n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗
参考例句：
They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。 Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。