PELAGEA DANILOVNA MELYUKOV, a broad-shouldered, energetic woman in spectacles and a loose house dress, was sitting in her drawing-room, surrounded by her daughters, and doing her utmost to keep them amused. They were quietly occupied in dropping melted wax into water and watching the shadows of the shapes it assumed, when they heard the noise of steps in the vestibule, and the voices of people arriving.

The hussars, fine ladies, witches, clowns, and bears, coughing and rubbing the hoar-frost off their faces, came into the hall, where they were hurriedly lighting¹ candles. The clown—Dimmler—and the old lady—Nikolay—opened the dance. Surrounded by the shrieking² children, the mummers hid their faces, and disguising their voices, bowed to their hostess and dispersed³ about the room.

“Oh, there's no recognising them. And Natasha! See what she looks like! Really, she reminds me of some one. How good Edward Karlitch is! I didn't know him. And how he dances! Oh, my goodness, and here's a Circassian too, upon my word; how it suits Sonyushka! And who's this? Well, you have brought us some fun! Take away the tables, Nikita Vanya. And we were sitting so quiet and dull!”

“Ha—ha—he!…The hussar, the hussar! Just like a boy; and the legs!…I can't look at him,…” voices cried.

Natasha, the favourite of the young Melyukovs, disappeared with them into rooms at the back of the house, and burnt cork⁴ and various dressing-gowns and masculine garments were sent for and taken from the footman by bare, girlish arms through the crack of the half-open door. In ten minutes all the younger members of the Melyukov family reappeared in fancy dresses too.

Pelagea Danilovna, busily giving orders for clearing the room for the guests and preparing for their entertainment, walked about among the mummers in her spectacles, with a suppressed smile, looking close at them and not recognising any one. She not only failed to recognise the Rostovs and Dimmler, but did not even know her own daughters, or identify the masculine dressing-gowns and uniforms in which they were disguised.

“And who is this?” she kept saying, addressing her governess and gazing into the face of her own daughter disguised as a Tatar of Kazan. “One of the Rostovs, I fancy. And you, my hussar, what regiment

点击收听单词发音  

1 lighting
n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光
参考例句：
The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。 The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

2 shrieking
v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )
参考例句：
The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》 They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 dispersed
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的
参考例句：
The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。 After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

4 cork
n.软木，软木塞
参考例句：
We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。 Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

5 regiment
n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制
参考例句：
As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。 They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

6 refreshments
n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待
参考例句：
We have to make a small charge for refreshments. 我们得收取少量茶点费。 Light refreshments will be served during the break. 中间休息时有点心供应。

7 capers
n.开玩笑( caper的名词复数 )；刺山柑v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
I like to fly about and cut capers. 我喜欢跳跳蹦蹦闹着玩儿。 来自辞典例句 He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

8 gentry
n.绅士阶级，上层阶级
参考例句：
Landed income was the true measure of the gentry.来自土地的收入是衡量是否士绅阶层的真正标准。 Better be the head of the yeomanry than the tail of the gentry.宁做自由民之首，不居贵族之末。

9 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。

10 corked
adj.带木塞气味的，塞着瓶塞的v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的过去式 )
参考例句：
Our army completely surrounded and corked up the enemy stronghold. 我军把敌人的堡垒完全包围并封锁起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He kept his emotions corked up inside him. 他把感情深藏于内心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 eyebrows
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。 His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

12 perspiring
v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 )
参考例句：
He had been working hard and was perspiring profusely. 他一直在努力干活，身上大汗淋漓的。 来自《简明英汉词典》 So they "went it lively," panting and perspiring with the work. 于是他们就“痛痛快快地比一比”了，结果比得两个人气喘吁吁、汗流浃背。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

13 maiden
n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的
参考例句：
The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。 The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

14 eldest
adj.最年长的，最年老的
参考例句：
The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。 The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

15 sledge
n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往
参考例句：
The sledge gained momentum as it ran down the hill.雪橇从山上下冲时的动力越来越大。 The sledge slid across the snow as lightly as a boat on the water.雪橇在雪原上轻巧地滑行，就象船在水上行驶一样。

16 precisely
adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地
参考例句：
It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。 The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

17 sifting
n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审
参考例句：
He lay on the beach, sifting the sand through his fingers. 他躺在沙滩上用手筛砂子玩。 来自《简明英汉词典》 I was sifting the cinders when she came in. 她进来时，我正在筛煤渣。 来自辞典例句

18 fully
adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地
参考例句：
The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。 They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

19 exquisite
adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的
参考例句：
I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。 I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。

20 stuffy
adj.不透气的，闷热的
参考例句：
It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。 It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。

21 dreariness
沉寂，可怕，凄凉
参考例句：
The park wore an aspect of utter dreariness and ruin. 园地上好久没人收拾，一片荒凉。 There in the melancholy, in the dreariness, Bertha found a bitter fascination. 在这里，在阴郁、倦怠之中，伯莎发现了一种刺痛人心的魅力。

22 crunch
n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声
参考例句：
If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。 People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

23 crunching
v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄
参考例句：
The horses were crunching their straw at their manger. 这些马在嘎吱嘎吱地吃槽里的草。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The dog was crunching a bone. 狗正嘎吱嘎吱地嚼骨头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 muffled
adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）
参考例句：
muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音 There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 smelt
v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼
参考例句：
Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。 Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。