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14 What Melchisedec Heard and Saw

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 On this very afternoon, while Sara was out, a strange thing happened in the attic1. Only Melchisedec saw and heard it; and he was so much alarmed and mystified that he scuttled2 back to his hole and hid there, and really quaked and trembled as he peeped out furtively3 and with great caution to watch what was going on.
 
The attic had been very still all the day after Sara had left it in the early morning. The stillness had only been broken by the pattering of the rain upon the slates4 and the skylight. Melchisedec had, in fact, found it rather dull; and when the rain ceased to patter and perfect silence reigned5, he decided6 to come out and reconnoiter, though experience taught him that Sara would not return for some time. He had been rambling7 and sniffing9 about, and had just found a totally unexpected and unexplained crumb10 left from his last meal, when his attention was attracted by a sound on the roof. He stopped to listen with a palpitating heart. The sound suggested that something was moving on the roof. It was approaching the skylight; it reached the skylight. The skylight was being mysteriously opened. A dark face peered into the attic; then another face appeared behind it, and both looked in with signs of caution and interest. Two men were outside on the roof, and were making silent preparations to enter through the skylight itself. One was Ram8 Dass and the other was a young man who was the Indian gentleman's secretary; but of course Melchisedec did not know this. He only knew that the men were invading the silence and privacy of the attic; and as the one with the dark face let himself down through the

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1 attic Hv4zZ     
n.顶楼,屋顶室
参考例句:
  • Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
  • What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理?
2 scuttled f5d33c8cedd0ebe9ef7a35f17a1cff7e     
v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 );快跑,急走
参考例句:
  • She scuttled off when she heard the sound of his voice. 听到他的说话声,她赶紧跑开了。
  • The thief scuttled off when he saw the policeman. 小偷看见警察来了便急忙跑掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 furtively furtively     
adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地
参考例句:
  • At this some of the others furtively exchanged significant glances. 听他这样说,有几个人心照不宣地彼此对望了一眼。
  • Remembering my presence, he furtively dropped it under his chair. 后来想起我在,他便偷偷地把书丢在椅子下。
4 slates ba298a474e572b7bb22ea6b59e127028     
(旧时学生用以写字的)石板( slate的名词复数 ); 板岩; 石板瓦; 石板色
参考例句:
  • The contract specifies red tiles, not slates, for the roof. 合同规定屋顶用红瓦,并非石板瓦。
  • They roofed the house with slates. 他们用石板瓦做屋顶。
5 reigned d99f19ecce82a94e1b24a320d3629de5     
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式)
参考例句:
  • Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静,一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
6 decided lvqzZd     
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。
7 rambling MTfxg     
adj.[建]凌乱的,杂乱的
参考例句:
  • We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
  • It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。
8 ram dTVxg     
(random access memory)随机存取存储器
参考例句:
  • 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存,640K内存则更佳。
9 sniffing 50b6416c50a7d3793e6172a8514a0576     
n.探查法v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的现在分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了,一个劲地抽鼻子,打喷嚏。
  • They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了,呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
10 crumb ynLzv     
n.饼屑,面包屑,小量
参考例句:
  • It was the only crumb of comfort he could salvage from the ordeal.这是他从这场磨难里能找到的唯一的少许安慰。
  • Ruth nearly choked on the last crumb of her pastry.鲁斯几乎被糕点的最后一块碎屑所噎住。
11 aperture IwFzW     
n.孔,隙,窄的缺口
参考例句:
  • The only light came through a narrow aperture.仅有的光亮来自一个小孔。
  • We saw light through a small aperture in the wall.我们透过墙上的小孔看到了亮光。
12 dexterity hlXzs     
n.(手的)灵巧,灵活
参考例句:
  • You need manual dexterity to be good at video games.玩好电子游戏手要灵巧。
  • I'm your inferior in manual dexterity.论手巧,我不如你。
13 precipitately 32f0fef0d325137464db99513594782a     
adv.猛进地
参考例句:
  • The number of civil wars continued to rise until about 1990 and then fell precipitately. 而国内战争的数量在1990年以前都有增加,1990年后则锐减。 来自互联网
  • His wife and mistress, until an hour ago and inviolate were slipping precipitately from his control. 他的妻子和情妇,直到一小时前还是安安稳稳、不可侵犯的,现在却猛不防正从他的控制下溜走。 来自互联网
14 crumbs crumbs     
int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式
参考例句:
  • She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
  • Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊,天哪!都这会儿啦?
15 coaxing 444e70224820a50b0202cb5bb05f1c2e     
v.哄,用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 );巧言骗取;哄劝,劝诱;“锻炼”效应
参考例句:
  • No amount of coaxing will make me change my mind. 任你费尽口舌也不会说服我改变主意。
  • It took a lot of coaxing before he agreed. 劝说了很久他才同意。 来自辞典例句
16 exponent km8xH     
n.倡导者,拥护者;代表人物;指数,幂
参考例句:
  • She is an exponent of vegetarianism.她是一个素食主义的倡导者。
  • He had been the principal exponent of the Gallipoli campaign.他曾为加里波利战役的主要代表人物。
17 spoke XryyC     
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。
18 pariah tSUzv     
n.被社会抛弃者
参考例句:
  • Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿,汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
  • His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。
19 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
20 mattress Z7wzi     
n.床垫,床褥
参考例句:
  • The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
  • The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。
21 exclamation onBxZ     
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词
参考例句:
  • He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
  • The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号,以引起读者的注意。
22 dingy iu8xq     
adj.昏暗的,肮脏的
参考例句:
  • It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
  • The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。
23 rusty hYlxq     
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的
参考例句:
  • The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
  • I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用,我的法语又荒疏了。
24 obeisance fH5xT     
n.鞠躬,敬礼
参考例句:
  • He made obeisance to the king.他向国王表示臣服。
  • While he was still young and strong all paid obeisance to him.他年轻力壮时所有人都对他毕恭毕敬。
25 naught wGLxx     
n.无,零 [=nought]
参考例句:
  • He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
  • I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。
26 whatsoever Beqz8i     
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么
参考例句:
  • There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
  • All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样,你就怎样对人。
27 awakens 8f28b6f7db9761a7b3cb138b2d5a123c     
v.(使)醒( awaken的第三人称单数 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到
参考例句:
  • The scene awakens reminiscences of my youth. 这景象唤起我年轻时的往事。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The child awakens early in the morning. 这个小孩早晨醒得早。 来自辞典例句
28 ominous Xv6y5     
adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的
参考例句:
  • Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
  • There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

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