JUSTICE-OF-THE-PEACE Benaja Widdup sat in the door of his office smoking his elder-stem pipe. Halfway² to the zenith the Cumberland range rose blue-gray in the afternoon haze³. A speckled hen swaggered down the main street of the "settlement," cackling foolishly.

Up the road came a sound of creaking axles, and then a slow cloud of dust, and then a bull-cart bearing Ransie Bilbro and his wife. The cart stopped at the Justice's door, and the two climbed down. Ransie was a narrow six feet of sallow brown skin and yellow hair. The imperturbability⁴ of the mountains hung upon him like a suit of armour⁵. The woman was calicoed, angled, snuff-brushed, and weary with unknown desires. Through it all gleamed a faint protest of cheated youth unconscious of its loss.

The Justice of the Peace slipped his feet into his shoes, for the sake of dignity, and moved to let them enter.

"We-all," said the woman, in a voice like the wind blowing through pine boughs⁶, "wants a divo'ce." She looked at Ransie to see if he noted⁷ any flaw or ambiguity⁸ or evasion⁹ or partiality or self-partisanship in her statement of their business.

"A divo'ce," repeated Ransie, with a solemn Dod. "We-all can't git along together nohow. It's lonesome enough fur to live in the mount'ins when a man and a woman keers fur one another. But when she's a-spittin' like a wildcat or a-sullenin' like a hoot-owl in the cabin, a man ain't got no call to live with her."

"When he's a no-'count varmint," said the woman, "without any especial warmth, a-traipsin' along of scalawags and moonshiners and a-layin' on his back pizen 'ith co'n whiskey, and a-pesterin' folks with a pack o' hungry, triflin' houn's to feed!"

"When she keeps a-throwin' skillet lids," came Ransie's antiphony, "and slings

点击收听单词发音  

1 kin
n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的
参考例句：
He comes of good kin.他出身好。 She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

2 halfway
adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途
参考例句：
We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。 In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

3 haze
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。

4 imperturbability
n.冷静；沉着
参考例句：
The imperturbability of the mountains hung upon him like a suit of armor. 高山的宁静象一套盔甲似的罩在他的身上。 You must want imperturbability more than you want approval, control and security. 你必须想要不受侵扰的安宁大于想要赞同、控制和安全。

5 armour
（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队
参考例句：
His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。 Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

6 boughs
大树枝( bough的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。 A breeze sighed in the higher boughs. 微风在高高的树枝上叹息着。

7 noted
adj.著名的，知名的
参考例句：
The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。 Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 ambiguity
n.模棱两可；意义不明确
参考例句：
The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。 Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

9 evasion
n.逃避，偷漏(税)
参考例句：
The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。 The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

10 pester
v.纠缠，强求
参考例句：
He told her not to pester him with trifles.他对她说不要为小事而烦扰他。 Don't pester me.I've got something urgent to attend to.你别跟我蘑菇了，我还有急事呢。

11 slings
抛( sling的第三人称单数 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往
参考例句：
"Don't you fear the threat of slings, Perched on top of Branches so high?" 矫矫珍木巅，得无金丸惧？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学 Used for a variety of things including slings and emergency tie-offs. 用于绳套，设置保护点，或者紧急情况下打结。

12 victuals
n.食物；食品
参考例句：
A plateful of coarse broken victuals was set before him.一盘粗劣的剩余饭食放到了他的面前。 There are no more victuals for the pig.猪没有吃的啦。

13 deliberately
adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地
参考例句：
The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。 They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

14 petitioners
n.请求人，请愿人( petitioner的名词复数 )；离婚案原告
参考例句：
Petitioners suggest that anything less than certainty, that any speculation, is irresponsible. 申诉者认为不准确的事或推断都是不负责任的。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法 The judge awarded the costs of the case to the petitioners. 法官判定由这起案件的上诉人支付诉讼费用。 来自辞典例句

15 statutes
成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程
参考例句：
The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法 Each agency is also restricted by the particular statutes governing its activities. 各个机构的行为也受具体法令限制。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

16 jurisdiction
n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权
参考例句：
It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。 Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

17 equity
n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票
参考例句：
They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。 To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

18 abide
vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受
参考例句：
You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。 If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

19 supreme
adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的
参考例句：
It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。 He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

20 deceptive
adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的
参考例句：
His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。 The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

21 indifference
n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎
参考例句：
I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。 He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

22 toil
vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事
参考例句：
The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。 Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

23 travail
n.阵痛；努力
参考例句：
Mothers know the travail of giving birth to a child.母亲们了解分娩时的痛苦。 He gained the medal through his painful travail.他通过艰辛的努力获得了奖牌。

24 judicial
adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的
参考例句：
He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。 Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

25 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。

26 shoestring
n.小额资本；adj.小本经营的
参考例句：
In the early years,the business was run on a shoestring.早年，这家店铺曾是小本经营。 How can I take the best possible digital pictures on a shoestring budget?怎样用很小投资拍摄最好的数码照片？

27 decided
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。

28 tack
n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝
参考例句：
He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。 We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

29 twilight
n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期
参考例句：
Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。 Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

30 thicket
n.灌木丛，树林
参考例句：
A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。 We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。

31 laurels
n.桂冠，荣誉
参考例句：
The path was lined with laurels.小路两旁都种有月桂树。 He reaped the laurels in the finals.他在决赛中荣膺冠军。

32 pointed
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。

33 muzzle
n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默
参考例句：
He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。 The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

34 constraint
n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物
参考例句：
The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。 The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。

35 bosom
n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的
参考例句：
She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。 A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

36 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。

37 discord
n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐
参考例句：
These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。 The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。