At times during that memorable1 afternoon and evening it seemed to Mr. Barnstaple that he was involved in nothing more remarkable2 than an extraordinary dialogue about government and history, a dialogue that had in some inexplicable3 way become spectacular; it was as if all this was happening only in his mind; and then the absolute reality of his adventure would return to him with overwhelming power and his intellectual interest fade to inattention in the astounding4 strangeness of his position. In these latter phases he would find his gaze wandering from face to face of the Utopians who surrounded him, resting for a time on some exquisite5 detail of the architecture of the building and then coming back to these divinely graceful6 forms.
Then incredulously he would revert7 to his fellow Earthlings.
Not one of these Utopian faces but was as candid8, earnest and beautiful as the angelic faces of an Italian painting. One woman was strangely like Michael Angelo’s Delphic Sibyl. They sat in easy attitudes, men and women together, for the most part concentrated on the discussion, but every now and then Mr. Barnstaple would meet the direct scrutiny9 of a pair of friendly eyes or find some Utopian face intent upon the costume of Lady Stella or the eye-glass of Mr. Mush.
Mr. Barnstaple’s first impression of the Utopians had been that they were all young people; now he perceived that many of these faces had a quality of vigorous maturity10. None showed any of the distinctive11 marks of age as this world notes them, but both Urthred and Lion had lines of experience about eyes and lips and brow.
The effect of these people upon Mr. Barnstaple mingled12 stupefaction with familiarity in the strangest way. He had a feeling that he had always known that such a race could exist and that this knowledge had supplied the implicit13 standard of a thousand judgments14 upon human affairs, and at the same time he was astonished to the pitch of incredulity to find himself in the same world with them. They were at once normal and wonderful in comparison with himself and his companions who were, on their part, at the same time queer and perfectly15 matter-of-fact.
And together with a strong desire to become friendly and intimate with these fine and gracious persons, to give himself to them and to associate them with himself by service and reciprocal acts, there was an awe16 and fear of them that made him shrink from contact with them and quiver at their touch. He desired their personal recognition of himself as a fellow and companion so greatly that his sense of his own ungraciousness and unworthiness overwhelmed him. He wanted to bow down before them. Beneath all the light and loveliness of things about him lurked17 the intolerable premonition of his ultimate rejection18 from this new world.
So great was the impression made by the Utopians upon Mr. Barnstaple, so entirely19 did he yield himself up to his joyful20 acceptance of their grace and physical splendour, that for a time he had no attention left over to note how different from his own were the reactions of several of his Earthling companions. The aloofness21 of the Utopians from the queerness, grotesqueness23 and cruelty of normal earthly life made him ready for the most uncritical approval of their institutions and ways of life.
It was the behaviour of Father Amerton which first awakened24 him to the fact that it was possible to disapprove26 of these wonderful people very highly and to display a very considerable hostility27 to them. At first Father Amerton had kept a round-faced, round-eyed wonder above his round collar; he had shown a disposition28 to give the lead to anyone who chose to take it, and he had said not a word until the naked beauty of dead Greenlake had surprised him into an expression of unclerical appreciation29. But during the journey to the lakeside and the meal and the opening arrangements of the conference there was a reaction, and this first naive30 and deferential31 astonishment32 gave place to an attitude of resistance and hostility. It was as if this new world which had begun by being a spectacle had taken on the quality of a proposition which he felt he had either to accept or confute. Perhaps it was that the habit of mind of a public censor33 was too strong for him and that he could not feel normal again until he began to condemn34. Perhaps he was really shocked and distressed36 by the virtual nudity of these lovely bodies about him. But he began presently to make queer grunts37 and coughs, to mutter to himself, and to betray an increasing incapacity to keep still.
He broke out first into an interruption when the question of population was raised. For a little while his intelligence prevailed over this emotional stir when the prophet of the wheel was discussed, but then his gathering38 preoccupations resumed their sway.
“I must speak out,” Mr. Barnstaple heard him mutter. “I must speak out.”
“Now suddenly he began to ask questions. There are some things I want to have clear,” he said. “I want to know what moral state this so-called Utopia is in. Excuse me!”
He got up. He stood with wavering hands, unable for a moment to begin. Then he went to the end of the row of seats and placed himself so that his hands could rest on the back of a seat. He passed his fingers through his hair and he seemed to be inhaling39 deeply. An unwonted animation40 came into his face, which reddened and began to shine. A horrible suspicion crossed the mind of Mr. Barnstaple that so it was he must stand when he began those weekly sermons of his, those fearless denunciations of almost everything, in the church of St. Barnabas in the West. The suspicion deepened to a still more horrible certainty.
“Friends, Brothers of this new world — I have certain things to say to you that I cannot delay saying. I want to ask you some soul-searching questions. I want to deal plainly with you about some plain and simple but very fundamental matters. I want to put things to you frankly41 and as man to man, not being mealy-mouthed about urgent if delicate things. Let me come without parley42 to what I have to say. I want to ask you if, in this so-called state of Utopia, you still have and respect and honour the most sacred thing in social life. Do you still respect the marriage bond?”
He paused, and in the pause the Utopian reply came through to Mr. Barnstaple: “In Utopia there are no bonds.”
But Father Amerton was not asking questions with any desire for answers; he was asking questions pulpit-fashion.
“I want to know,” he was booming out, “if that holy union revealed to our first parents in the Garden of Eden holds good here, if that sanctified life-long association of one man and one woman, in good fortune and ill fortune, excluding every other sort of intimacy43, is the rule of your lives. I want to know —”
“But he doesn’t want to know,” came a Utopian intervention44.
“— if that shielded and guarded dual45 purity —”
Mr. Burleigh raised a long white hand. “Father Amerton,” he protested, “please.”
The hand of Mr. Burleigh was a potent46 hand that might still wave towards preferment. Few things under heaven could stop Father Amerton when he was once launched upon one of his soul storms, but the hand of Mr. Burleigh was among such things.
“— has followed another still more precious gift and been cast aside here and utterly47 rejected of men? What is it, Mr. Burleigh?”
“I wish you would not press this matter further just at present, Father Amerton. Until we have learnt a little more. Institutions are, manifestly, very different here. Even the institution of marriage may be different.”
The preacher’s face lowered. “Mr. Burleigh,” he said, “I must. If my suspicions are right, I want to strip this world forthwith of its hectic48 pretence49 to a sort of health and virtue50.”
“Not much stripping required,” said Mr. Burleigh’s chauffeur51, in a very audible aside.
A certain testiness52 became evident in Mr. Burleigh’s voice.
“Then ask questions,” he said. “Ask questions. Don’t orate, please. They don’t want us to orate.”
“I’ve asked my question,” said Father Amerton sulkily with a rhetorical glare at Urthred, and remained standing53.
The answer came clear and explicit54. In Utopia there was no compulsion for men and women to go about in indissoluble pairs. For most Utopians that would be inconvenient55. Very often men and women, whose work brought them closely together, were lovers and kept very much together, as Arden and Greenlake had done. But they were not obliged to do that.
There had not always been this freedom. In the old crowded days of conflict, and especially among the agricultural workers and employed people of Utopia, men and women who had been lovers were bound together under severe penalties for life. They lived together in a small home which the woman kept in order for the man, she was his servant and bore him as many children as possible, while he got food for them. The children were desired because they were soon helpful on the land or as wage-earners. But the necessities that had subjugated57 women to that sort of pairing had passed away.
People paired indeed with their chosen mates, but they did so by an inner necessity and not by any outward compulsion.
Father Amerton had listened with ill-concealed impatience58. Now he jumped with: “Then I was right, and you have abolished the family?” His finger pointed59 at Urthred made it almost a personal accusation60.
No. Utopia had not abolished the family. It had enlarged and glorified61 the family until it embraced the whole world. Long ago that prophet of the wheel, whom Father Amerton seemed to respect, had preached that very enlargement of the ancient narrowness of home. They had told him while he preached that his mother and his brethren stood without and claimed his attention. But he would not go to them. He had turned to the crowd that listened to his words: “Behold my mother and my brethren!”
Father Amerton slapped the seat-back in front of him loudly and startlingly. “A quibble,” he cried, “a quibble! Satan too can quote the scriptures62.”
It was clear to Mr. Barnstaple that Father Amerton was not in complete control of himself. He was frightened by what he was doing and yet impelled63 to do it. He was too excited to think clearly or control his voice properly, so that he shouted and boomed in the wildest way. He was “letting himself go” and trusting to the habits of the pulpit of St. Barnabas to bring him through.
“I perceive now how you stand. Only too well do I perceive how you stand. From the outset I guessed how things were with you. I waited — I waited to be perfectly sure, before I bore my testimony64. But it speaks for itself — the shamelessness of your costume, the licentious65 freedom of your manners! Young men and women, smiling, joining hands, near to caressing66, when averted67 eyes, averted eyes, are the least tribute you could pay to modesty69! And this vile70 talk — of lovers loving — without bonds or blessings71, without rules or restraint. What does it mean? Whither does it lead? Do not imagine because I am a priest, a man pure and virginal in spite of great temptations, do not imagine that I do not understand! Have I no vision of the secret places of the heart? Do not the wounded sinners, the broken potsherds, creep to me with their pitiful confessions72? And I will tell you plainly whither you go and how you stand? This so-called freedom of yours is nothing but licence. Your so-called Utopia, I see plainly, is nothing but a hell of unbridled indulgence! Unbridled indulgence!”
Mr. Burleigh held up a protesting hand, but Father Amerton’s eloquence73 soared over the obstruction74.
He beat upon the back of the seat before him. “I will bear my witness,” he shouted. “I will bear my witness. I will make no bones about it. I refuse to mince75 matters I tell you. You are all living — in promiscuity76! That is the word for it. In animal promiscuity! In bestial77 promiscuity!”
Mr. Burleigh had sprung to his feet. He was holding up his two hands and motioning the London Boanerges to sit down. “No, no!” he cried. “You must stop, Mr. Amerton. Really, you must stop. You are being insulting. You do not understand. Sit down, please. I insist.”
“Sit down and hold your peace,” said a very clear voice. “Or you will be taken away.”
Something made Father Amerton aware of a still figure at his elbow. He met the eyes of a lithe78 young man who was scrutinizing79 his build as a portrait painter might scrutinize80 a new sitter. There was no threat in his bearing, he stood quite still, and yet his appearance threw an extraordinary quality of evanescence about Father Amerton. The great preacher’s voice died in his throat.
Mr. Burleigh’s bland81 voice was lifted to avert68 a conflict. “Mr. Serpentine82, Sir, I appeal to you and apologize. He is not fully83 responsible. We others regret the interruption — the incident. I pray you, please do not take him away, whatever taking away may mean. I will answer personally for his good behaviour. . . . Do sit down, Mr. Amerton, please; now; or I shall wash my hands of the whole business.”
Father Amerton hesitated.
“My time will come,” he said and looked the young man in the eyes for a moment and then went back to his seat.
Urthred spoke84 quietly and clearly. “You Earthlings are difficult guests to entertain. This is not all. . . . Manifestly this man’s mind is very unclean. His sexual imagination is evidently inflamed85 and diseased. He is angry and anxious to insult and wound. And his noises are terrific. To-morrow he must be examined and dealt with.”
“How?” said Father Amerton, his round face suddenly grey. “How do you mean — dealt with?”
“Please do not talk,” said Mr. Burleigh. “Please do not talk any more. You have done quite enough mischief86. . . . ”
For the time the incident seemed at an end, but it had left a queer little twinge of fear in Mr. Barnstaple’s heart. These Utopians were very gentle-mannered and gracious people indeed, but just for a moment the hand of power had seemed to hover87 over the Earthling party. Sunlight and beauty were all about the visitors, nevertheless they were strangers and quite helpless strangers in an unknown world. The Utopian faces were kindly88 and their eyes curious and in a manner friendly, but much more observant than friendly. It was as if they looked across some impassable gulf89 of difference.
And then Mr. Barnstaple in the midst of his distress35 met the brown eyes of Lychnis, and they were kindlier than the eyes of the other Utopians. She, at least, understood the fear that had come to him, he felt, and she was willing to reassure90 him and be his friend. Mr. Barnstaple looked at her, feeling for the moment much as a stray dog might do who approaches a doubtfully amiable91 group and gets a friendly glance and a greeting.
Section 2
Another mind that was also in active resistance to Utopia was that of Mr. Freddy Mush. He had no quarrel indeed with the religion or morals or social organization of Utopia. He had long since learnt that no gentleman of serious aesthetic92 pretensions93 betrays any interest whatever in such matters. His perceptions were by hypothesis too fine for them. But presently he made it clear that there had been something very ancient and beautiful called the “Balance of Nature” which the scientific methods of Utopia had destroyed. What this Balance of Nature of his was, and how it worked on earth, neither the Utopians nor Mr. Barnstaple were able to understand very clearly. Under cross-examination Mr. Mush grew pink and restive94 and his eye-glass flashed defensively. “I hold by the swallows,” he repeated. “If you can’t see my point about that I don’t know what else I can say.”
He began with the fact and reverted96 to the fact that there were no swallows to be seen in Utopia, and there were no swallows to be seen in Utopia because there were no gnats97 nor midges. There had been an enormous deliberate reduction of insect life in Utopia, and that had seriously affected98 every sort of creature that was directly or indirectly99 dependent upon insect life. So soon as the new state of affairs was securely established in Utopia and the educational state working, the attention of the Utopian community had been given to the long-cherished idea of a systematic101 extermination102 of tiresome103 and mischievous104 species. A careful inquiry105 was made into the harmfulness and the possibility of eliminating the house-fly for example, wasps107 and hornets, various species of mice and rats, rabbits, stinging nettles108. Ten thousand species, from disease-germ to rhinoceros109 and hyena110, were put upon their trial. Every species found was given an advocate. Of each it was asked: What good is it? What harm does it do? How can it be extirpated111? What else may go with it if it goes? Is it worth while wiping it out of existence? Or can it be mitigated112 and retained? And even when the verdict was death final and complete, Utopia set about the business of extermination with great caution. A reserve would be kept and was in many cases still being kept, in some secure isolation113, of every species condemned114.
Most infectious and contagious115 fevers had been completely stamped out; some had gone very easily; some had only been driven out of human life by proclaiming a war and subjecting the whole population to discipline. Many internal and external parasites116 of man and animals had also been got rid of completely. And further, there had been a great cleansing117 of the world from noxious118 insects, from weeds and vermin and hostile beasts. The mosquito had gone, the house-fly, the blow-fly, and indeed a great multitude of flies had gone; they had been driven out of life by campaigns involving an immense effort and extending over many generations. It had been infinitely119 more easy to get rid of such big annoyances120 as the hyena and the wolf than to abolish these smaller pests. The attack upon the flies had involved the virtual rebuilding of a large proportion of Utopian houses and a minute cleansing of them all throughout the planet.
The question of what else would go if a certain species went was one of the most subtle that Utopia had to face. Certain insects, for example, were destructive and offensive grubs in the opening stage of their lives, were evil as caterpillar121 or pupa and then became either beautiful in themselves or necessary to the fertilization of some useful or exquisite flowers. Others offensive in themselves were a necessary irreplaceable food to pleasant and desirable creatures. It was not true that swallows had gone from Utopia, but they had become extremely rare; and rare too were a number of little insectivorous birds, the fly-catcher for example, that harlequin of the air. But they had not died out altogether; the extermination of insects had not gone to that length; sufficient species had remained to make some districts still habitable for these delightful122 birds.
Many otherwise obnoxious123 plants were a convenient source of chemically complex substances that were still costly124 or tedious to make synthetically125, and so had kept a restricted place in life. Plants and flowers, always simpler and more plastic in the hands of the breeder and hybridizer than animals, had been enormously changed in Utopia. Our Earthlings were to find a hundred sorts of foliage126 and of graceful and scented127 blossoms that were altogether strange to them. Plants, Mr. Barnstaple learnt, had been trained and bred to make new and unprecedented128 secretions129, waxes, gums, essential oils and the like, of the most desirable quality.
There had been much befriending and taming of big animals; the larger carnivora, combed and cleaned, reduced to a milk dietary, emasculated in spirit and altogether be-catted, were pets and ornaments130 in Utopia. The almost extinct elephant had increased again and Utopia had saved her giraffes. The brown bear had always been disposed to sweets and vegetarianism131 and had greatly improved in intelligence. The dog had given up barking and was comparatively rare. Sporting dogs were not used nor small pet animals.
Horses Mr. Barnstaple did not see, but as he was a very modern urban type he did not miss them very much and he did not ask any questions about them while he was actually in Utopia. He never found out whether they had or had not become extinct.
As he heard on his first afternoon in that world of this revision and editing, this weeding and cultivation132 of the kingdoms of nature by mankind, it seemed to him to be the most natural and necessary phase in human history. “After all,” he said to himself, “it was a good invention to say that man was created a gardener.”
And now man was weeding and cultivating his own strain. . . .
The Utopians told of eugenic133 beginnings, of a new and surer decision in the choice of parents, of an increasing certainty in the science of heredity; and as Mr. Barnstaple contrasted the firm clear beauty of face and limb that every Utopian displayed with the carelessly assembled features and bodily disproportions of his earthly associates, he realized that already, with but three thousand years or so of advantage, these Utopians were passing beyond man towards a nobler humanity. They were becoming different in kind.
Section 3
They were different in kind.
As the questions and explanations and exchanges of that afternoon went on, it became more and more evident to Mr. Barnstaple that the difference of their bodies was as nothing to the differences of their minds. Innately134 better to begin with, the minds of these children of light had grown up uninjured by any such tremendous frictions135, concealments, ambiguities137 and ignorances as cripple the growing mind of an Earthling. They were clear and frank and direct. They had never developed that defensive95 suspicion of the teacher, that resistance to instruction, which is the natural response to teaching that is half aggression138. They were beautifully unwary in their communications. The ironies139, concealments, insincerities, vanities and pretensions of earthly conversation seemed unknown to them. Mr. Barnstaple found this mental nakedness of theirs as sweet and refreshing140 as the mountain air he was breathing. It amazed him that they could be so patient and lucid141 with beings so underbred.
Underbred was the word he used in his mind. Himself, he felt the most underbred of all; he was afraid of these Utopians; snobbish142 and abject143 before them, he was like a mannerless earthy lout144 in a drawing-room, and he was bitterly ashamed of his own abjection145. All the other Earthlings except Mr. Burleigh and Lady Stella betrayed the defensive spite of consciously inferior creatures struggling against that consciousness.
Like Father Amerton, Mr. Burleigh’s chauffeur was evidently greatly shocked and disturbed by the unclothed condition of the Utopians; his feelings expressed themselves by gestures, grimaces146 and an occasional sarcastic148 comment such as “I don’t think!” or “What O!” These he addressed for the most part to Mr. Barnstaple, for whom, as the owner of a very little old car, he evidently mingled feelings of profound contempt and social fellowship. He would also direct Mr. Barnstaple’s attention to anything that he considered remarkable in bearing or gesture, by means of a peculiar149 stare and grimace147 combined with raised eyebrows150. He had a way of pointing with his mouth and nose that Mr. Barnstaple under more normal circumstances might have found entertaining.
Lady Stella, who had impressed Mr. Barnstaple at first as a very great lady of the modern type, he was now beginning to feel was on her defence and becoming rather too ladylike. Mr. Burleigh however retained a certain aristocratic sublimity151. He had been a great man on earth for all his life and it was evident that he saw no reason why he should not be accepted as a great man in Utopia. On earth he had done little and had been intelligently receptive with the happiest results. That alert, questioning mind of his, free of all persuasions152, convictions or revolutionary desires, fell with the utmost ease into the pose of a distinguished154 person inspecting, in a sympathetic but entirely non-committal manner, the institutions of an alien state. “Tell me,” that engaging phrase, laced his conversation.
The evening was drawing on; the clear Utopian sky was glowing with the gold of sunset and a towering mass of cloud above the lake was fading from pink to a dark purple, when Mr. Rupert Catskill imposed himself upon Mr. Barnstaple’s attention. He was fretting155 in his place. “I have something to say,” he said. “I have something to say.”
Presently he jumped up and walked to the centre of the semicircle from which Mr. Burleigh had spoken earlier in the afternoon. “Mr. Serpentine,” he said. “Mr. Burleigh. There are a few things I should be glad to say — if you can give me this opportunity of saying them.”
Section 4
He took off his grey top hat, went back and placed it on his seat and returned to the centre of the apse. He put back his coat tails, rested his hands on his hips156, thrust his head forward, regarded his audience for a moment with an expression half cunning, half defiant157, muttered something inaudible and began.
His opening was not prepossessing. There was some slight impediment in his speech, the little brother of a lisp, against which his voice beat gutturally. His first few sentences had an effect of being jerked out by unsteady efforts. Then it became evident to Mr. Barnstaple that Mr. Catskill was expressing a very definite point of view, he was offering a reasoned and intelligible158 view of Utopia. Mr. Barnstaple disagreed with that criticism, indeed he disagreed with it violently, but he had to recognize that it expressed an understandable attitude of mind.
Mr. Catskill began with a sweeping159 admission of the beauty and order of Utopia. He praised the “glowing health” he saw “on every cheek,” the wealth, tranquillity160 and comfort of Utopian life. They had “tamed the forces of nature and subjugated them altogether to one sole end, to the material comfort of the race.”
“But Arden and Greenlake?” murmured Mr. Barnstaple.
Mr. Catskill did not hear or heed161 the interruption. “The first effect, Mr. Speaker — Mr. Serpentine, I should say — the first effect upon an earthly mind is overwhelming. Is it any wonder”— he glanced at Mr. Burleigh and Mr. Barnstaple —“is it any wonder that admiration162 has carried some of us off our feet? Is it any wonder that for a time your almost magic beauty has charmed us into forgetting much that is in our own natures — into forgetting deep and mysterious impulses, cravings, necessities, so that we have been ready to say, ‘Here at last is Lotus Land. Here let us abide164, let us adapt ourselves to this planned and ordered splendour and live our lives out here and die.’ I, too, Mr. — Mr. Serpentine, succumbed165 to that magic for a time. But only for a time. Already, Sir, I find myself full of questionings.” . . .
His bright, headlong mind had seized upon the fact that every phase in the weeding and cleansing of Utopia from pests and parasites and diseases had been accompanied by the possibility of collateral166 limitations and losses; or perhaps it would be juster to say that that fact had seized upon his mind. He ignored the deliberation and precautions that had accompanied every step in the process of making a world securely healthy and wholesome167 for human activity. He assumed there had been losses with every gain, he went on to exaggerate these losses and ran on glibly168 to the inevitable169 metaphor170 of throwing away the baby with its bath — inevitable, that is, for a British parliamentarian. The Utopians, he declared, were living lives of extraordinary ease, safety and “may I say so — indulgence” (“They work,” said Mr. Barnstaple), but with a thousand annoyances and disagreeables gone had not something else greater and more precious gone also? Life on earth was, he admitted, insecure, full of pains and anxieties, full indeed of miseries171 and distresses172 and anguish173, but also, and indeed by reason of these very things, it had moments of intensity174, hopes, joyful surprises, escapes, attainments175, such as the ordered life of Utopia could not possibly afford. “You have been getting away from conflicts and distresses. Have you not also been getting away from the living and quivering realities of life?”
He launched out upon a eulogy176 of earthly life. He extolled177 the vitality178 of life upon earth as though there were no signs of vitality in the high splendour about him. He spoke of the “thunder of our crowded cities,” of the “urge of our teeming179 millions,” of the “broad tides of commerce and industrial effort and warfare,” that “swayed and came and went in the hives and harbours of our race.”
He had the knack180 of the plausible181 phrase and that imaginative touch which makes for eloquence. Mr. Barnstaple forgot that slight impediment and the thickness of the voice that said these things. Mr. Catskill boldly admitted all the earthly evils and dangers that Mr. Burleigh had retailed182. Everything that Mr. Burleigh had said was true. All that he had said fell indeed far short of the truth. Famine we knew, and pestilence183. We suffered from a thousand diseases that Utopia had eliminated. We were afflicted184 by a thousand afflictions that were known to Utopia now only by ancient tradition. “The rats gnaw185 and the summer flies persecute186 and madden. At times life reeks187 and stinks188. I admit it, Sir, I admit it. We go down far below your extremest experiences into discomforts189 and miseries, anxieties and anguish of soul and body, into bitterness, terror and despair. Yea. But do we not also go higher? I challenge you with that. What can you know in this immense safety of the intensity, the frantic190, terror-driven intensity, of many of our efforts? What can you know of reprieves191 and interludes and escapes? Think of our many happinesses beyond your ken25! What do you know here of the sweet early days of convalescence192? Of going for a holiday out of disagreeable surroundings? Of taking some great risk to body or fortune and bringing it off? Of winning a bet against enormous odds193? Of coming out of prison? And, Sir, it has been said that there are those in our world who have found a fascination194 even in pain itself. Because our life is dreadfuller, Sir, it has, and it must have, moments that are infinitely brighter than yours. It is titanic195, Sir, where this is merely tidy. And we are inured196 to it and hardened by it. We are tempered to a finer edge. That is the point to which I am coming. Ask us to give up our earthly disorder197, our miseries and distresses, our high death-rates and our hideous198 diseases, and at the first question every man and woman in the world would say, ‘Yes! Willingly, Yes!’ At the first question, Sir!”
Mr. Catskill held his audience for a moment on his extended finger.
“And then we should begin to take thought. We should ask, as you say your naturalists199 asked about your flies and suchlike offensive small game, we should ask, ‘What goes with it? What is the price?’ And when we learnt that the price was to surrender that intensity of life, that tormented201 energy, that pickled and experienced toughness, that rat-like, wolf-like toughness our perpetual struggle engenders202, we should hesitate. We should hesitate. In the end, Sir, I believe, I hope and believe, indeed I pray and believe, we should say, ‘No!’ We should say, ‘No!’”
Mr. Catskill was now in a state of great cerebral203 exaltation. He was making short thrusting gestures with his clenched204 fist. His voice rose and fell and boomed; he swayed and turned about, glanced for the approval of his fellow Earthlings, flung stray smiles at Mr. Burleigh.
This idea that our poor wrangling205, nerveless, chance-driven world was really a fierce and close-knit system of powerful reactions in contrast with the evening serenities of a made and finished Utopia, had taken complete possession of his mind. “Never before, Sir, have I realized, as I realize now, the high, the terrible and adventurous206 destinies of our earthly race. I look upon this Golden Lotus Land of yours, this divine perfected land from which all conflict has been banished207 —”
Mr. Barnstaple caught a faint smile on the face of the woman who had reminded him of the Delphic Sibyl.
“— and I admit and admire its order and beauty as some dusty and resolute208 pilgrim might pause, on his exalted209 and mysterious quest, and admit and admire the order and beauty of the pleasant gardens of some prosperous Sybarite. And like that pilgrim I may beg leave, Sir, to question the wisdom of your way of living. For I take it, Sir, that it is now a proven thing that life and all the energy and beauty of life are begotten210 by struggle and competition and conflict; we were moulded and wrought211 in hardship, and so, Sir, were you. And yet you dream here that you have eliminated conflict for ever. Your economic state, I gather, is some form of socialism; you have abolished competition in all the businesses of peace. Your political state is one universal unity100; you have altogether cut out the bracing212 and ennobling threat and the purging213 and terrifying experience of war. Everything is ordered and provided for. Everything is secure. Everything is secure, Sir, except for one thing. . . .
“I grieve to trouble your tranquillity, Sir, but I must breathe the name of that one forgotten thing — degeneration! What is there here to prevent degeneration? Are you preventing degeneration?
“What penalties are there any longer for indolence? What rewards for exceptional energy and effort? What is there to keep men industrious214, what watchful215, when there is no personal danger and no personal loss but only some remote danger or injury to the community? For a time by a sort of inertia216 you may keep going. You may seem to be making a success of things. I admit it, you do seem to be making a success of things. Autumnal glory! Sunset splendour! While about you in universes parallel to yours, parallel races still toil217, still suffer, still compete and eliminate and gather strength and energy!”
Mr. Catskill flourished his hand at the Utopians in rhetorical triumph.
“I would not have you think, Sir, that these criticisms of your world are offered in a hostile spirit. They are offered in the most amiable and helpful spirit. I am the skeleton, but the most friendly and apologetic skeleton, at your feast. I ask my searching and disagreeable question because I must. Is it indeed the wise way that you have chosen? You have sweetness and light — and leisure. Granted. But if there is all this multitude of Universes, of which you have told us, Mr. Serpentine, so clearly and illuminatingly218, and if one may suddenly open into another as ours has done into yours, I would ask you most earnestly how safe is your sweetness, your light and your leisure? We talk here, separated by we know not how flimsy a partition from innumerable worlds. And at that thought, Sir, it seems to me that as I stand here in the great golden calm of this place I can almost hear the trampling219 of hungry myriads220 as fierce and persistent221 as rats or wolves, the snarling222 voices of races inured to every pain and cruelty, the threat of terrible heroisms and pitiless aggressions. . . . ”
He brought his discourse223 to an abrupt224 end. He smiled faintly; it seemed to Mr. Barnstaple that he triumphed over Utopia. He stood with hands on his hips and, as if he bent225 his body by that method, bowed stiffly. “Sir,” he said with that ghost of a lisp of his, his eye on Mr. Burleigh, “I have said my say.”
He turned about and regarded Mr. Barnstaple for a moment with his face screwed up almost to the appearance of a wink226. He nodded his head, as if he tapped a nail with a hammer, jerked himself into activity, and returned to his proper place.
Section 5
Urthred did not so much answer Mr. Catskill as sit, elbow on knee and chin on hand, thinking audibly about him.
“The gnawing227 vigour228 of the rat,” he mused229, “the craving163 pursuit of the wolf, the mechanical persistence230 of wasp106 and fly and disease germ, have gone out of our world. That is true. We have obliterated231 that much of life’s devouring232 forces. And lost nothing worth having. Pain, filth233, indignity234 for ourselves — or any creatures; they have gone or they go. But it is not true that competition has gone from our world. Why does he say it has? Everyone here works to his or her utmost — for service and distinction. None may cheat himself out of toil or duty as men did in the Age of Confusion, when the mean and acquisitive lived and bred in luxury upon the heedlessness of more generous types. Why does he say we degenerate235? He has been told better already. The indolent and inferior do not procreate here. And why should he threaten us with fancies of irruptions from other, fiercer, more barbaric worlds? It is we who can open the doors into such other universes or close them as we choose. Because we know. We can go to them — when we know enough we shall — but they cannot come to us. There is no way but knowledge out of the cages of life. . . . What is the matter with the mind of this man?
“These Earthlings are only in the beginnings of science. They are still for all practical ends in that phase of fear and taboos236 that came also in the development of Utopia before confidence and understanding. Out of which phase our own world struggled during the Last Age of Confusion. The minds of these Earthlings are full of fears and prohibitions237, and though it has dawned upon them that they may possibly control their universe, the thought is too terrible yet for them to face. They avert their minds from it. They still want to go on thinking, as their fathers did before them, that the universe is being managed for them better than they can control it for themselves. Because if that is so, they are free to obey their own violent little individual motives238. Leave things to God, they cry, or leave them to Competition.”
“Evolution was our blessed word,” said Mr. Barnstaple, deeply interested.
“It is all the same thing — God, or Evolution, or what you will — so long as you mean a Power beyond your own which excuses you from your duty. Utopia says, ‘Do not leave things at all. Take hold.’ But these Earthlings still lack the habit of looking at reality — undraped. This man with the white linen239 fetter240 round his neck is afraid even to look upon men and women as they are. He is disgustingly excited by the common human body. This man with the glass lens before his left eye struggles to believe that there is a wise old Mother Nature behind the appearances of things, keeping a Balance. It was fantastic to hear about his Balance of Nature. Cannot he with two eyes and a lens see better than that? This last man who spoke so impressively, thinks that this old Beldame Nature is a limitless source of will and energy if only we submit to her freaks and cruelties and imitate her most savage242 moods, if only we sufficiently243 thrust and kill and rob and ravish one another. . . . He too preaches the old fatalism and believes it is the teaching of science. . . .
“These Earthlings do not yet dare to see what our Mother Nature is. At the back of their minds is still the desire to abandon themselves to her. They do not see that except for our eyes and wills, she is purposeless and blind. She is not awful, she is horrible. She takes no heed to our standards, nor to any standards of excellence244. She made us by accident; all her children are bastards245 — undesired; she will cherish or expose them, pet or starve or torment200 without rhyme or reason. She does not heed, she does not care. She will lift us up to power and intelligence, or debase us to the mean feebleness of the rabbit or the slimy white filthiness246 of a thousand of her parasitic247 inventions. There must be good in her because she made all that is good in us — but also there is endless evil. Do not you Earthlings see the dirt of her, the cruelty, the insane indignity of much of her work?”
“Phew! Worse than ‘Nature red in tooth and claw,’” murmured Mr. Freddy Mush.
“These things are plain,” mused Urthred. “If they dared to see.
“Half the species of life in our planet also, half and more than half of all the things alive, were ugly or obnoxious, inane248, miserable249, wretched, with elaborate diseases, helplessly ill-adjusted to Nature’s continually fluctuating conditions, when first we took this old Hag, our Mother, in hand. We have, after centuries of struggle, suppressed her nastier fancies, and washed her and combed her and taught her to respect and heed the last child of her wantonings — Man. With Man came Logos, the Word and the Will into our universe, to watch it and fear it, to learn it and cease to fear it, to know it and comprehend it and master it. So that we of Utopia are no longer the beaten and starved children of Nature, but her free and adolescent sons. We have taken over the Old Lady’s Estate. Every day we learn a little better how to master this little planet. Every day our thoughts go out more surely to our inheritance, the stars. And the deeps beyond and beneath the stars.”
“You have reached the stars?” cried Mr. Barnstaple.
“Not yet. Not even the other planets. But very plainly the time draws near when those great distances will cease to restrain us. . . . ”
He paused. “Many of us will have to go out into the deeps of space. . . . And never return. . . . Giving their lives. . . .
“And into these new spaces — countless250 brave men. . . . ”
Urthred turned towards Mr. Catskill. “We find your frankly expressed thoughts particularly interesting today. You help us to understand the past of our own world. You help us to deal with an urgent problem that we will presently explain to you. There are thoughts and ideas like yours in our ancient literature of two or three thousand years ago, the same preaching of selfish violence as though it was a virtue. Even then intelligent men knew better, and you yourself might know better if you were not wilfully252 set in wrong opinions. But it is plain to see from your manner and bearing that you are very wilful251 indeed in your opinions.
“You are not, you must realize, a very beautiful person, and probably you are not very beautiful in your pleasures and proceedings253. But you have superabundant energy, and so it is natural for you to turn to the excitements of risk and escape, to think that the best thing in life is the sensation of conflict and winning. Also in the economic confusion of such a world as yours there is an intolerable amount of toil that must be done, toil so disagreeable that it makes everyone of spirit anxious to thrust away as much of it as possible and to claim exemption254 from it on account of nobility, gallantry or good fortune. People in your world no doubt persuade themselves very easily that they are justifiably255 exempted256, and you are under that persuasion153. You live in a world of classes. Your badly trained mind has been under no necessity to invent its own excuses; the class into which you were born had all its excuses ready for you. So it is you take the best of everything without scruple257 and you adventure with life, chiefly at the expense of other people, with a mind trained by all its circumstances to resist the idea that there is any possible way of human living that can be steadfast258 and disciplined and at the same time vigorous and happy. You have argued against that persuasion all your life as though it were your personal enemy. It is your personal enemy; it condemns259 your way of life altogether, it damns you utterly for your adventures.
“Confronted now with an ordered and achieved beauty of living you still resist; you resist to escape dismay; you argue that this world of ours is unromantic, wanting in intensity, decadent260, feeble. Now — in the matter of physical strength, grip hands with that young man who sits beside you.”
Mr. Catskill glanced at the extended hand and shook his head knowingly. “You go on talking,” he said.
“Yet when I tell you that neither our wills nor our bodies are as feeble as yours, your mind resists obstinately261. You will not believe it. If for a moment your mind admits it, afterwards it recoils262 to the system of persuasions that protect your self-esteem. Only one of you accepts our world at all, and he does so rather because he is weary of yours than willing for ours. So I suppose it has to be. Yours are Age of Confusion minds, trained to conflict, trained to insecurity and secret self-seeking. In that fashion Nature and your state have taught you to live and so you must needs live until you die. Such lessons are to be unlearnt only in ten thousand generations, by the slow education of three thousand years.
“And we are puzzled by the question, what are we to do with you? We will try our utmost to deal fairly and friendly with you if you will respect our laws and ways.
“But it will be very difficult, we know, for you. You do not realize yet how difficult your habits and preconceptions will make it for you. Your party so far has behaved very reasonably and properly, in act if not in thought. But we have had another experience of Earthling ways today of a much more tragic263 kind. Your talk of fiercer, barbaric worlds breaking in upon us has had its grotesque22 parallel in reality today. It is true; there is something fierce and ratlike and dangerous about Earthly men. You are not the only Earthlings who came into Utopia through this gate that swung open for a moment today. There are others —”
“Of course!” said Mr. Barnstaple. “I should have guessed it! That third lot!”
“There is yet another of these queer locomotive machines of yours in Utopia.”
“The grey car!” said Mr. Barnstaple to Mr. Burleigh. “It wasn’t a hundred yards ahead of you.”
“Raced us from Hounslow,” said Mr. Burleigh’s driver. “Real hot stuff.”
Mr. Burleigh turned to Mr. Freddy Mush. “I think you said you recognized someone?”
“Lord Barralonga, Sir, almost to a certainty, and I think Miss Greeta Grey.”
“There were two other men,” said Mr. Barnstaple.
“They will complicate264 things,” said Mr. Burleigh.
“They do complicate things,” said Urthred. “They have killed a man.”
“A Utopian?”
“These other people — there are five of them — whose names you seem to know, came into Utopia just in front of your two vehicles. Instead of stopping as you did when they found themselves on a new strange road, they seem to have quickened their pace very considerably265. They passed some men and women and they made extraordinary gestures to them and abominable266 noises produced by an instrument specially56 designed for that purpose. Further on they encountered a silver cheetah267 and charged at it and ran right over it, breaking its back. They do not seem to have paused to see what became of it. A young man named Gold came out into the road to ask them to stop. But their machine is made in the most fantastic way, very complex and very foolish. It is quite unable to stop short suddenly. It is not driven by a single engine that is completely controlled. It has a complicated internal conflict. It has a sort of engine that drives it forward by a complex cogged gear on the axle of the hind241 wheels and it has various clumsy stopping contrivances by means of friction136 at certain points. You can apparently268 drive the engine at the utmost speed and at the same time jam the wheels to prevent them going round. When this young man stepped forward in front of them, they were quite unable to stop. They may have tried to do so. They say they did. Their machine swerved269 dangerously and struck him with its side.”
“And killed him?”
“And killed him instantly. His body was horribly injured. . . . But they did not stop even for that. They slowed down and had a hasty consultation270, and then seeing that people were coming they set their machine in motion again and made off. They seem to have been seized with a panic fear of restraint and punishment. Their motives are very difficult to understand. At any rate they went on. They rode on and on into our country for some hours. An aeroplane was presently set to follow them and another to clear the road in front of them. It was very difficult to clear the road because neither our people nor our animals understand such vehicles as theirs — nor such behaviour. In the afternoon they got among mountains and evidently found our roads much too smooth and difficult for their machine. It made extraordinary noises as though it was gritting271 its teeth, and emitted a blue vapour with an offensive smell. At one corner where it should have stopped short, it skated about and slid suddenly sideways and rolled over a cliff and fell for perhaps twice the height of a man into a torrent272.”
“And they were killed?” asked Mr. Burleigh, with, as it seemed to Mr. Barnstaple, a touch of eagerness in his voice.
“Not one of them.”
“Oh!” said Mr. Burleigh, “then what happened?”
“One of them has a broken arm and another is badly cut about the face. The other two men and the woman are uninjured except for fright and shock. When our people came up to them the four men held their hands above their heads. Apparently they feared they would be killed at once and did this as an appeal for mercy.”
“And what are you doing with them?”
“We are bringing them here. It is better, we think, to keep all you Earthlings together. At present we cannot imagine what must be done to you. We want to learn from you and we want to be friendly with you if it is possible. It has been suggested that you should be returned to your world. In the end that may be the best thing to do. But at present we do not know enough to do this certainly. Arden and Greenlake, when they made the attempt to rotate a part of our matter through the F dimension, believed that they would rotate it in empty space in that dimension. The fact that you were there and were caught into our universe, is the most unexpected thing that has happened in Utopia for a thousand years.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
memorable
|
|
| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
inexplicable
|
|
| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
astounding
|
|
| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
revert
|
|
| v.恢复，复归，回到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
candid
|
|
| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
scrutiny
|
|
| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
maturity
|
|
| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
distinctive
|
|
| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
implicit
|
|
| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
judgments
|
|
| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
lurked
|
|
| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
rejection
|
|
| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
joyful
|
|
| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
aloofness
|
|
| 超然态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
grotesque
|
|
| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
grotesqueness
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
24
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： |
|
|
|
|
25
ken
|
|
| n.视野，知识领域 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
disapprove
|
|
| v.不赞成，不同意，不批准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
hostility
|
|
| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
appreciation
|
|
| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
naive
|
|
| adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
deferential
|
|
| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
astonishment
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
censor
|
|
| n./vt.审查，审查员；删改 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
condemn
|
|
| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
distress
|
|
| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
distressed
|
|
| 痛苦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
grunts
|
|
| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
inhaling
|
|
| v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
animation
|
|
| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
parley
|
|
| n.谈判 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
intimacy
|
|
| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
intervention
|
|
| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
dual
|
|
| adj.双的；二重的，二元的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
potent
|
|
| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
hectic
|
|
| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
pretence
|
|
| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
chauffeur
|
|
| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
testiness
|
|
| n.易怒，暴躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
explicit
|
|
| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
inconvenient
|
|
| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
specially
|
|
| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
subjugated
|
|
| v.征服，降伏( subjugate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
impatience
|
|
| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
accusation
|
|
| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
glorified
|
|
| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
scriptures
|
|
| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
impelled
|
|
| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
licentious
|
|
| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
caressing
|
|
| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
averted
|
|
| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
avert
|
|
| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
modesty
|
|
| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
vile
|
|
| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
blessings
|
|
| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
confessions
|
|
| n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
eloquence
|
|
| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
obstruction
|
|
| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
mince
|
|
| n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
promiscuity
|
|
| n.混杂，混乱；（男女的）乱交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
bestial
|
|
| adj.残忍的；野蛮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
lithe
|
|
| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
scrutinizing
|
|
| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
scrutinize
|
|
| n.详细检查，细读 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
bland
|
|
| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
serpentine
|
|
| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
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： |
|
|
|
|
85
inflamed
|
|
| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
hover
|
|
| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
gulf
|
|
| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
reassure
|
|
| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
aesthetic
|
|
| adj.美学的，审美的，有美感 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
pretensions
|
|
| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
restive
|
|
| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
defensive
|
|
| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
reverted
|
|
| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
gnats
|
|
| n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
indirectly
|
|
| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
unity
|
|
| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
systematic
|
|
| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
extermination
|
|
| n.消灭，根绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
tiresome
|
|
| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
mischievous
|
|
| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
inquiry
|
|
| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
wasp
|
|
| n.黄蜂，蚂蜂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
wasps
|
|
| 黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
nettles
|
|
| n.荨麻( nettle的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
rhinoceros
|
|
| n.犀牛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
hyena
|
|
| n.土狼，鬣狗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
extirpated
|
|
| v.消灭，灭绝( extirpate的过去式和过去分词 )；根除 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
mitigated
|
|
| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
isolation
|
|
| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
condemned
|
|
| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
contagious
|
|
| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
parasites
|
|
| 寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
cleansing
|
|
| n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
noxious
|
|
| adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
infinitely
|
|
| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
annoyances
|
|
| n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 )；烦恼；打扰；使人烦恼的事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
caterpillar
|
|
| n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
obnoxious
|
|
| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
costly
|
|
| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
synthetically
|
|
| adv. 综合地，合成地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
foliage
|
|
| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
scented
|
|
| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
unprecedented
|
|
| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
secretions
|
|
| n.分泌（物）( secretion的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
ornaments
|
|
| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
vegetarianism
|
|
| n.素食，素食主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
cultivation
|
|
| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
eugenic
|
|
| adj.优生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
innately
|
|
| adv.天赋地；内在地，固有地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
frictions
|
|
| n.摩擦( friction的名词复数 )；摩擦力；冲突；不和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
friction
|
|
| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
ambiguities
|
|
| n.歧义( ambiguity的名词复数 )；意义不明确；模棱两可的意思；模棱两可的话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
aggression
|
|
| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
ironies
|
|
| n.反语( irony的名词复数 )；冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事；嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
refreshing
|
|
| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
lucid
|
|
| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
snobbish
|
|
| adj.势利的，谄上欺下的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
abject
|
|
| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
lout
|
|
| n.粗鄙的人；举止粗鲁的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
abjection
|
|
| n. 卑鄙, 落魄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
grimaces
|
|
| n.（表蔑视、厌恶等）面部扭曲，鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
grimace
|
|
| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
sarcastic
|
|
| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
sublimity
|
|
| 崇高，庄严，气质高尚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
persuasions
|
|
| n.劝说，说服（力）( persuasion的名词复数 )；信仰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
persuasion
|
|
| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
fretting
|
|
| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
hips
|
|
| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
defiant
|
|
| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
intelligible
|
|
| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
tranquillity
|
|
| n. 平静, 安静 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
heed
|
|
| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
craving
|
|
| n.渴望,热望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
abide
|
|
| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
succumbed
|
|
| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
collateral
|
|
| adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
wholesome
|
|
| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
glibly
|
|
| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
metaphor
|
|
| n.隐喻，暗喻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
miseries
|
|
| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
distresses
|
|
| n.悲痛( distress的名词复数 )；痛苦；贫困；危险 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
anguish
|
|
| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
intensity
|
|
| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
attainments
|
|
| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
eulogy
|
|
| n.颂词；颂扬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
extolled
|
|
| v.赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
vitality
|
|
| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
179
teeming
|
|
| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
180
knack
|
|
| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
181
plausible
|
|
| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
182
retailed
|
|
| vt.零售（retail的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
183
pestilence
|
|
| n.瘟疫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
184
afflicted
|
|
| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
185
gnaw
|
|
| v.不断地啃、咬；使苦恼，折磨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
186
persecute
|
|
| vt.迫害，虐待；纠缠，骚扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
187
reeks
|
|
| n.恶臭( reek的名词复数 )v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的第三人称单数 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
188
stinks
|
|
| v.散发出恶臭( stink的第三人称单数 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
189
discomforts
|
|
| n.不舒适( discomfort的名词复数 )；不愉快，苦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
190
frantic
|
|
| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
191
reprieves
|
|
| n.（死刑）缓期执行令( reprieve的名词复数 )；暂缓，暂止v.缓期执行（死刑）( reprieve的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
192
convalescence
|
|
| n.病后康复期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
193
odds
|
|
| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
194
fascination
|
|
| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
195
titanic
|
|
| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
196
inured
|
|
| adj.坚强的，习惯的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
197
disorder
|
|
| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
198
hideous
|
|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
199
naturalists
|
|
| n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
200
torment
|
|
| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
201
tormented
|
|
| 饱受折磨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
202
engenders
|
|
| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
203
cerebral
|
|
| adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
204
clenched
|
|
| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
205
wrangling
|
|
| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
206
adventurous
|
|
| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
207
banished
|
|
| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
208
resolute
|
|
| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
209
exalted
|
|
| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
210
begotten
|
|
| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
211
wrought
|
|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
212
bracing
|
|
| adj.令人振奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
213
purging
|
|
| 清洗； 清除； 净化； 洗炉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
214
industrious
|
|
| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
215
watchful
|
|
| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
216
inertia
|
|
| adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
217
toil
|
|
| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
218
illuminatingly
|
|
| adv.照亮地，启蒙地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
219
trampling
|
|
| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
220
myriads
|
|
| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
221
persistent
|
|
| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
222
snarling
|
|
| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
223
discourse
|
|
| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
224
abrupt
|
|
| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
225
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
226
wink
|
|
| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
227
gnawing
|
|
| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
228
vigour
|
|
| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
229
mused
|
|
| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
230
persistence
|
|
| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
231
obliterated
|
|
| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
232
devouring
|
|
| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
233
filth
|
|
| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
234
indignity
|
|
| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
235
degenerate
|
|
| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
236
taboos
|
|
| 禁忌( taboo的名词复数 )； 忌讳； 戒律； 禁忌的事物（或行为） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
237
prohibitions
|
|
| 禁令，禁律( prohibition的名词复数 )； 禁酒； 禁例 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
238
motives
|
|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
239
linen
|
|
| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
240
fetter
|
|
| n./vt.脚镣，束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
241
hind
|
|
| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
242
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
243
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
244
excellence
|
|
| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
245
bastards
|
|
| 私生子( bastard的名词复数 )； 坏蛋； 讨厌的事物； 麻烦事 （认为别人走运或不幸时说）家伙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
246
filthiness
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
247
parasitic
|
|
| adj.寄生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
248
inane
|
|
| adj.空虚的，愚蠢的，空洞的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
249
miserable
|
|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
250
countless
|
|
| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
251
wilful
|
|
| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
252
wilfully
|
|
| adv.任性固执地；蓄意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
253
proceedings
|
|
| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
254
exemption
|
|
| n.豁免，免税额，免除 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
255
justifiably
|
|
| adv.无可非议地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
256
exempted
|
|
| 使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
257
scruple
|
|
| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
258
steadfast
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
259
condemns
|
|
| v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
260
decadent
|
|
| adj.颓废的，衰落的，堕落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
261
obstinately
|
|
| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
262
recoils
|
|
| n.（尤指枪炮的）反冲，后坐力( recoil的名词复数 )v.畏缩( recoil的第三人称单数 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
263
tragic
|
|
| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
264
complicate
|
|
| vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
265
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
266
abominable
|
|
| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
267
cheetah
|
|
| n.(动物)猎豹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
268
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
269
swerved
|
|
| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
270
consultation
|
|
| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
271
gritting
|
|
| v.以沙砾覆盖（某物），撒沙砾于( grit的现在分词 )；咬紧牙关 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
272
torrent
|
|
| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |