Fifteen thousand feet in the air, Robert Langdon felt the physical world fade away as all of histhoughts converged¹ on Saunière's mirror-image poem, which was illuminated² through the lid of thebox.

　　mirrored textSophie quickly found some paper and copied it down longhand. When she was done, the three ofthem took turns reading the text. It was like some kind of archaeological crossword³... a riddle⁴ thatpromised to reveal how to open the cryptex. Langdon read the verse slowly.

　　An ancient word of wisdom frees this scroll⁵... and helps us keep her scatter'd family whole... aheadstone praised by templars is the key... and atbash will reveal the truth to thee.

　　Before Langdon could even ponder what ancient password the verse was trying to reveal, he feltsomething far more fundamental resonate within him—the meter of the poem. Iambic pentameter.

　　Langdon had come across this meter often over the years while researching secret societies acrossEurope, including just last year in the Vatican Secret Archives. For centuries, iambic pentameterhad been a preferred poetic⁶ meter of outspoken⁷ literati across the globe, from the ancient Greekwriter Archilochus to Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer, and Voltaire—bold souls who chose to writetheir social commentaries in a meter that many of the day believed had mystical properties. Theroots of iambic pentameter were deeply pagan.

　　Iambs. Two syllables⁸ with opposite emphasis. Stressed and unstressed. Yin yang. A balanced pair.

　　Arranged in strings⁹ of five. Pentameter. Five for the pentacle of Venus and the sacred feminine.

　　"It's pentameter!" Teabing

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1 converged
v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的过去式 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集
参考例句：
Thousands of supporters converged on London for the rally. 成千上万的支持者从四面八方汇聚伦敦举行集会。 People converged on the political meeting from all parts of the city. 人们从城市的四面八方涌向这次政治集会。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 illuminated
adj.被照明的；受启迪的
参考例句：
Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。 the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

3 crossword
n.纵横字谜，纵横填字游戏
参考例句：
He shows a great interest in crossword puzzles.他对填字游戏表现出很大兴趣。 Don't chuck yesterday's paper out.I still haven't done the crossword.别扔了昨天的报纸，我还没做字谜游戏呢。

4 riddle
n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜
参考例句：
The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。 Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

5 scroll
n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡
参考例句：
As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。 He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

6 poetic
adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的
参考例句：
His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。 His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

7 outspoken
adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的
参考例句：
He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。 She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

8 syllables
n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )
参考例句：
a word with two syllables 双音节单词 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

9 strings
n.弦
参考例句：
He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。 She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

10 blurted
v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。 He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 odds
n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别
参考例句：
The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。 Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

12 gushed
v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话
参考例句：
Oil gushed from the well. 石油从井口喷了出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 Clear water gushed into the irrigational channel. 清澈的水涌进了灌溉渠道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 knights
骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马
参考例句：
stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事 He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

14 abracadabra
n.咒语，胡言乱语
参考例句：
"Abracadabra," said the conjuror as he pulled the rabbit from the hat.魔术师囗中念念有词，把兔子从礼帽中掏了出来。 The magic word "abracadabra" was originally intended for the specific purpose of curing hay fever.魔力术语“咒语”最初适用于治疗枯草热的特殊目的。

15 inductions
归纳（法）( induction的名词复数 )； （电或磁的）感应； 就职； 吸入
参考例句：

16 cipher
n.零；无影响力的人；密码
参考例句：
All important plans were sent to the police in cipher.所有重要计划均以密码送往警方。 He's a mere cipher in the company.他在公司里是个无足轻重的小人物。

17 rotational
adj.回转的，轮流的
参考例句：
A synchronous motor drives the measuring bob at a constant rotational speed.同步马达驱动测锤以恒速旋转。 With some limitations,this is true also of rotational degrees of freedom.在某些限定条件下，这一说法对转动自由度也成立。

18 cryptogram
n.密码
参考例句：
A government uses a cryptogram or secret code.政府使用密码或暗号。 He regarded the universe as a cryptogram set by the Almighty.他将宇宙视为上帝用密文书写的文件。

19 sublimely
高尚地，卓越地
参考例句：
In devotion woman is sublimely superior to man. 怜悯是女子胜过男子的德性之一。 She was sublimely unaware of how foolish she looked. 她根本不知道她的样子多愚蠢。

20 scrolls
n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕
参考例句：
Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网 Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句

21 testament
n.遗嘱；证明
参考例句：
This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。 It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

22 feat
n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的
参考例句：
Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。 He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

23 frustrated
adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧
参考例句：
It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。 The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 stymied
n.被侵袭的v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
Relief efforts have been stymied in recent weeks by armed gunmen. 最近几周的救援工作一直受到武装分子的阻挠。 来自辞典例句 I was completely stymied by her refusal to help. 由于她拒不相助， 我完全陷入了困境。 来自互联网

25 riddles
n.谜（语）( riddle的名词复数 )；猜不透的难题，难解之谜
参考例句：
Few riddles collected from oral tradition, however, have all six parts. 但是据收集的情况看，口头流传的谜语很少具有这完整的六部分。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗 But first, you'd better see if you can answer riddles. 但是你首先最好想想你会不会猜谜语。 来自辞典例句

26 cylinder
n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸
参考例句：
What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？ The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。