Helen began to wonder why she had spent a matter of eight pounds in making some people ill and others angry. Now that the wave of excitement was ebbing¹, and had left her, Mr. Bast, and Mrs. Bast stranded² for the night in a Shropshire hotel, she asked herself what forces had made the wave flow. At all events, no harm was done. Margaret would play the game properly now, and though Helen disapproved³ of her sister's methods, she knew that the Basts would benefit by them in the long run.

"Mr. Wilcox is so illogical," she explained to Leonard, who had put his wife to bed, and was sitting with her in the empty coffee-room. "If we told him it was his duty to take you on, he might refuse to do it. The fact is, he isn't properly educated. I don't want to set you against him, but you'll find him a trial."

"I can never thank you sufficiently⁴, Miss Schlegel," was all that Leonard felt equal to.

"I believe in personal responsibility. Don't you? And in personal everything. I hate--I suppose I oughtn't to say that--but the Wilcoxes are on the wrong tack⁵ surely. Or perhaps it isn't their fault. Perhaps the little thing that says 'I' is missing out of the middle of their heads, and then it's a waste of time to blame them. There's a nightmare of a theory that says a special race is being born which will rule the rest of us in the future just because it lacks the little thing that says 'I.' Had you heard that?"

"I get no time for reading."

"Had you thought it, then? That there are two kinds of people--our kind, who live straight from the middle of their heads, and the other kind who can't, because their heads have no middle? They can't say 'I.' They AREN'T in fact, and so they're supermen. Pierpont Morgan has never said 'I' in his life."

Leonard roused himself. If his benefactress wanted intellectual conversation, she must have it. She was more important than his ruined past. "I never got on to Nietzsche," he said. "But I always understood that those supermen were rather what you may call egoists."

"Oh, no, that's wrong," replied Helen. "No superman ever said 'I want,' because 'I want' must lead to the question, 'Who am I?' and so to Pity and to Justice. He only says 'want.' 'Want Europe,' if he's Napoleon; 'want wives,' if he's Bluebeard; 'want Botticelli,' if he's Pierpont Morgan. Never the 'I'; and if you could pierce through him, you'd find panic and emptiness in the middle."

点击收听单词发音  

1 ebbing
（指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落
参考例句：
The pain was ebbing. 疼痛逐渐减轻了。 There are indications that his esoteric popularity may be ebbing. 有迹象表明，他神秘的声望可能正在下降。

2 stranded
a.搁浅的，进退两难的
参考例句：
He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。 I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

3 disapproved
v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
My parents disapproved of my marriage. 我父母不赞成我的婚事。 来自《简明英汉词典》 She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing. 她不赞成儿子不加选择地收看电视。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sufficiently
adv.足够地，充分地
参考例句：
It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。 The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

5 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。

6 incapable
adj.无能力的，不能做某事的
参考例句：
He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。 Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

7 vehemence
n.热切；激烈；愤怒
参考例句：
The attack increased in vehemence.进攻越来越猛烈。 She was astonished at his vehemence.她对他的激昂感到惊讶。

8 concealing
v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 )
参考例句：
Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善，我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》 SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定，还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产

9 fuming
愤怒( fume的现在分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟
参考例句：
She sat in the car, silently fuming at the traffic jam. 她坐在汽车里，心中对交通堵塞感到十分恼火。 I was fuming at their inefficiency. 我正因为他们效率低而发火。

10 mischievously
adv.有害地；淘气地
参考例句：
He mischievously looked for a chance to embarrass his sister. 他淘气地寻找机会让他的姐姐难堪。 来自互联网 Also has many a dream kindheartedness, is loves mischievously small lovable. 又有着多啦a梦的好心肠，是爱调皮的小可爱。 来自互联网

11 shameful
adj.可耻的，不道德的
参考例句：
It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。 We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

12 injustice
n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利
参考例句：
They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。 All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

13 morbidly
adv.病态地
参考例句：
As a result, the mice became morbidly obese and diabetic. 结果，老鼠呈现为病态肥胖和糖尿病。 来自互联网 He was morbidly fascinated by dead bodies. 他对尸体着魔到近乎病态的程度。 来自互联网

14 foe
n.敌人，仇敌
参考例句：
He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。 A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

15 foes
敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )
参考例句：
They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。 She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。

16 sane
adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的
参考例句：
He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。 He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

17 sweeping
adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的
参考例句：
The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。 Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

18 shrouded
v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密
参考例句：
The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。 The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 materialism
n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上
参考例句：
Idealism is opposite to materialism.唯心论和唯物论是对立的。 Crass materialism causes people to forget spiritual values.极端唯物主义使人忘掉精神价值。

20 paradox
n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)
参考例句：
The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。 The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

21 coffins
n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物
参考例句：
The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句 Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

22 recoil
vi.退却，退缩，畏缩
参考例句：
Most people would recoil at the sight of the snake.许多人看见蛇都会向后退缩。 Revenge may recoil upon the person who takes it.报复者常会受到报应。

23 lodges
v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属
参考例句：
But I forget, if I ever heard, where he lodges in Liverpool. 可是我记不得有没有听他说过他在利物浦的住址。 来自辞典例句 My friend lodges in my uncle's house. 我朋友寄居在我叔叔家。 来自辞典例句