Adventure V The Five Orange Pips

ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS

baffled使受挫折,阻撓

the equinoctial春(秋)分時的/【天】晝夜平分的 gales強風;時速32至63英里的強風

was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories (William Clark Russell (February 24, 1844 – November 8, 1911) was a popular writer of nautical novels and horror stories) until
some crony密友;好朋友of the landlady's

well-groomed打扮(好)的;修飾(好)的and trimly整齊地;整潔地clad

refinement and delicacy in his bearing舉止,風度;體態

raising his golden pince-nez【法】夾鼻眼鏡to his eyes

"That you are never beaten."

"It is no ordinary one."

mysterious and inexplicable無法說明的;難以理解的,莫名其妙的

to retire upon a handsome competence足以過舒適生活的收入(或財產)[S]

retiring離群索居的;靦腆的;謙讓的

fond of playing backgammon西洋雙陸棋戲 and draughts【英】西洋棋with me

lumber-room破舊東西堆藏室 up among the attics

dried orange pips(梨子蘋果的)小核籽

skin the colour of putty【建】油灰

he was not to be cooped up (把...關在籠子(或欄舍等)中;把...拘禁起來[H][(+up/in)]: He was cooped up in a tiny room.他被禁錮在一個小房間裡。)

rush tumultuously騷亂地;喧鬧地

winced畏縮;退避 from the very thought of death

had much ado紛擾,騷擾;忙亂 to persuade myself

my cock-and-bull荒唐的 story about the colonel

sundial日晷;日規

tomfoolery愚蠢的舉動;蠢事

preposterous十分荒謬的,可笑的;反常的;乖戾的 practical joke

with a heart which was full of forebodings(不祥的)預感[U][C][+that]

I was well-nigh【文】(接)近於certain that some foul plot had been
woven round him

in the grasp of some resistless, inexorable無法改變的;不可阻擋的evil

enigmatical如謎的;難以理解的

"Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news

muster集合;聚集

relentless不間斷的,持續的;堅韌的,不懈的, 不間斷的,持續的;堅韌的,不懈的persecution迫害;困擾[U][C]

the Ku Klux Klan

"'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to
the sound produced by cocking扳起(槍)的扳機a rifle. This terrible secret
society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the
Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local
branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee,
Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was
used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of
the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country
of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually
preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantasticbut generally recognised shape--a sprig小樹枝 of oak-leaves in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this the victim might either openly abjure發誓棄絕;公開放棄(意見、信仰、權利、國籍等) his former ways, or might fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would
unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and
unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the
society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a
case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with
impunity (懲罰、損失、傷害等的)免除[U], or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite of the efforts of the United States government and of the better classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there havebeen sporadic偶爾發生的 outbreaks of the same sort since that date.'

decoyed引誘(鳥、獸等);誘騙[(+into)]

Embankment (河、海的)堤岸;(鐵路的)路堤[C]


barque三桅帆船

stevedore碼頭工人;裝卸工