On the 12th of August, 18-- (just three days after my tenth birthday, when I had been given such wonderful presents), I was awakened¹ at seven o'clock in the morning by Karl Ivanitch slapping the wall close to my head with a fly-flap made of sugar paper and a stick. He did this so roughly that he hit the image of my patron saint suspended to the oaken back of my bed, and the dead fly fell down on my curls. I peeped out from under the coverlet, steadied the still shaking image with my hand, flicked² the dead fly on to the floor, and gazed at Karl Ivanitch with sleepy, wrathful eyes. He, in a parti-coloured wadded dressing- gown fastened about the waist with a wide belt of the same material, a red knitted cap adorned⁴ with a tassel⁵, and soft slippers⁶ of goat skin, went on walking round the walls and taking aim at, and slapping, flies.

"Suppose," I thought to myself," that I am only a small boy, yet why should he disturb me? Why does he not go killing⁷ flies around Woloda's bed? No; Woloda is older than I, and I am the youngest of the family, so he torments⁸ me. That is what he thinks of all day long--how to tease me. He knows very well that he has woken me up and frightened me, but he pretends not to notice it. Disgusting brute⁹! And his dressing-gown and cap and tassel too-- they are all of them disgusting."

While I was thus inwardly venting¹⁰ my wrath³ upon Karl Ivanitch, he had passed to his own bedstead, looked at his watch (which hung suspended in a little shoe sewn with bugles), and deposited the fly-flap on a nail, then, evidently in the most cheerful mood possible, he turned round to us.

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1 awakened
v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到
参考例句：
She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。 The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 flicked
（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）
参考例句：
She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。 I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。

3 wrath
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。

4 adorned
[计]被修饰的
参考例句：
The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。 And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

5 tassel
n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须
参考例句：
The corn has begun to tassel.玉米开始长出穗状雄花。 There are blue tassels on my curtains.我的窗帘上有蓝色的流苏。

6 slippers
n. 拖鞋
参考例句：
a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋 He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

7 killing
n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财
参考例句：
Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。 Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 torments
（肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人]
参考例句：
He released me from my torments. 他解除了我的痛苦。 He suffered torments from his aching teeth. 他牙痛得难受。

9 brute
n.野兽，兽性
参考例句：
The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。 That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

10 venting
消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风
参考例句：
But, unexpectedly, he started venting his spleen on her. 哪知道，老头子说着说着绕到她身上来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子 So now he's venting his anger on me. 哦，我这才知道原来还是怄我的气。

11 tickling
反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法
参考例句：
Was It'spring tickling her senses? 是不是春意撩人呢？ Its origin is in tickling and rough-and-tumble play, he says. 他说，笑的起源来自于挠痒痒以及杂乱无章的游戏。

12 dread
vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧
参考例句：
We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。 Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

13 tickled
（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐
参考例句：
We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。 I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

14 determined
adj.坚定的；有决心的
参考例句：
I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。 He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

15 kindly
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。

16 eminently
adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地
参考例句：
She seems eminently suitable for the job. 她看来非常适合这个工作。 It was an eminently respectable boarding school. 这是所非常好的寄宿学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 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。

18 reassure
v.使放心，使消除疑虑
参考例句：
This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。 The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

19 applied
adj.应用的；v.应用，适用
参考例句：
She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。 This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

20 gaily
adv.欢乐地，高兴地
参考例句：
The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。 She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。

21 standing
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。

22 mimicked
v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的过去式和过去分词 )；酷似
参考例句：
He mimicked her upper-class accent. 他模仿她那上流社会的腔调。 来自辞典例句 The boy mimicked his father's voice and set everyone off laughing. 男孩模仿他父亲的嗓音，使大家都大笑起来。 来自辞典例句

23 binding
有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的
参考例句：
The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。 Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

24 crammed
adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)
参考例句：
He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。 All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

25 varied
adj.多样的，多变化的
参考例句：
The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。 The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

26 salon
n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室
参考例句：
Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？ You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

27 perused
v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字）
参考例句：
I remained under the wall and perused Miss Cathy's affectionate composition. 我就留在墙跟底下阅读凯蒂小姐的爱情作品。 来自辞典例句 Have you perused this article? 你细读了这篇文章了吗？ 来自互联网

28 aquiline
adj.钩状的，鹰的
参考例句：
He had a thin aquiline nose and deep-set brown eyes.他长着窄长的鹰钩鼻和深陷的褐色眼睛。 The man has a strong and aquiline nose.该名男子有强大和鹰鼻子。

29 orphan
n.孤儿；adj.无父母的
参考例句：
He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。 The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

30 spoke
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。

31 lesser
adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地
参考例句：
Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。 She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

32 shutter
n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置
参考例句：
The camera has a shutter speed of one-sixtieth of a second.这架照像机的快门速度达六十分之一秒。 The shutter rattled in the wind.百叶窗在风中发出嘎嘎声。

33 attained
（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）
参考例句：
She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。 Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

34 pebble
n.卵石，小圆石
参考例句：
The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。 The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

35 luncheon
n.午宴，午餐，便宴
参考例句：
We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。 I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。

36 murmur
n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言
参考例句：
They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。 There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

37 vexed
adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论
参考例句：
The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。 He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

38 horrid
adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的
参考例句：
I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。 The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

39 creased
（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的过去式和过去分词 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹； 皱皱巴巴
参考例句：
You've creased my newspaper. 你把我的报纸弄皱了。 The bullet merely creased his shoulder. 子弹只不过擦破了他肩部的皮肤。

40 crumpled
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句：
She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。 She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。