their understanding.

"But perhaps I have dwelt too long on this character; I shall



conclude, therefore, with telling you that after a life of 102

years' continuance, during all which I had never known any



sickness or infirmity but that which old age necessarily induced,

I at last, without the least pain, went out like the snuff of a



candle.

"Minos, having heard my history, bid me compute, if I could, how



many lies I had told in my life. As we are here, by a certain

fated necessity, obliged to confine ourselves to truth, I



answered, I believed about 50,000,000. He then replied, with a

frown, 'Can such a wretchconceive any hopes of entering



Elysium?' I immediately turned about, and, upon the whole, was

rejoiced at his not calling me back."



CHAPTER XX

Julian performs the part of a statesman.



"It was now my fortune to be born of a German princess" target="_blank" title="n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人">princess; but a

man-midwife, pulling my head off in delivering my mother, put a



speedy end to my princely" target="_blank" title="a.王候般的；高贵的">princely life.

"Spirits who end their lives before they are at the age of five



years are immediately ordered into other bodies; and it was now

my fortune to perform several infancies before I could again



entitle myself to an examination of Minos.

"At length I was destined once more to play a considerable part



on the stage. I was born in England, in the reign of Ethelred

II. My father's name was Ulnoth: he was earl or thane of



Sussex. I was afterwards known by the name of earl Goodwin, and

began to make a considerable figure in the world in the time of



Harold Harefoot, whom I procured to be made king of Wessex, or

the West Saxons, in prejudice of Hardicanute, whose mother Emma



endeavored afterwards to set another of her sons on the throne;

but I circumvented her, and, communicating her design to the



king, at the same time acquainted him with a project which I had

formed for the murder of these two young princes. Emma had sent



for these her sons from Normandy, with the king's leave, whom she

had deceived by her religious behavior, and pretended neglect of



all worldly affairs; but I prevailed with Harold to invite these

princes to his court, and put them to death. The prudent mother



sent only Alfred, retaining Edward to herself, as she suspected

my ill designs, and thought I should not venture to execute them



on one of her sons, while she secured the other; but she was

deceived, for I had no sooner Alfred in my possession than I



caused him to be conducted to Ely, where I ordered his eyes to be

put out, and afterwards to be confined in a monastery.



"This was one of those cruel expedients which great men satisfy

themselves well in executing, by concluding them to be necessary



to the service of their prince, who is the support of their

ambition.



"Edward, the other son of Emma, escaped again to Normandy;

whence, after the death of Harold and Hardicanute, he made no



scruple of applying to my protection and favor, though he had

before prosecuted me with all the vengeance he was able, for



the murder of his brother; but in all great affairs private

relation must yield to public interest. Having therefore



concluded very advantageous terms for myself with him, I made no

scruple of patronizing his cause, and soon placed him on the



throne. Nor did I conceive the least apprehension from his

resentment, as I knew my power was too great for him to



encounter.

• application [,æpli´keiʃən] n.申请；申请书；应用 (初中英语单词)


• genius [´dʒi:niəs] n.天才(人物)；天赋 (初中英语单词)


• utmost [´ʌtməust] a.最大的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)


• profession [prə´feʃən] n.职业；声明；表白 (初中英语单词)


• politician [,pɔli´tiʃən] n.政治家；政客 (初中英语单词)


• equally [´i:kwəli] ad.相等地；平等地 (初中英语单词)


• impose [im´pəuz] v.课税；强加；利用 (初中英语单词)


• differ [´difə] vi.不同；有差别 (初中英语单词)


• whereas [weər´æz] conj.鉴于；因此；而 (初中英语单词)


• gravely [´greivli] ad.庄重地，严肃地 (初中英语单词)


• constant [´kɔnstənt] a.坚定的；坚贞的 (初中英语单词)


• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)


• instance [´instəns] n.例子，实例，例证 (初中英语单词)


• obtain [əb´tein] v.获得；买到；得到承认 (初中英语单词)


• lawyer [´lɔ:jə] n.律师；法学家 (初中英语单词)


• physician [fi´ziʃən] n.(内科)医生 (初中英语单词)


• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)


• capacity [kə´pæsiti] n.容量；智能；能力 (初中英语单词)


• earnest [´ə:nist] a.认真的 n.认真；诚恳 (初中英语单词)


• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)


• affect [ə´fekt] vt.影响；感动；假装 (初中英语单词)


• poverty [´pɔvəti] n.贫穷(乏，瘠)；不足 (初中英语单词)


• insult [in´sʌlt, ´insʌlt] n.&vt.侮辱；损害 (初中英语单词)


• contrary [´kɔntrəri] a.相反的 n.相反 (初中英语单词)


• sincere [sin´siə] a.真挚的；直率的 (初中英语单词)


• maintain [mein´tein] vt.维持；保持；继续 (初中英语单词)


• ornament [´ɔ:nəmənt] n.装饰(物) vt.装饰 (初中英语单词)


• income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词)


• splendor [´splendə] n.壮丽 =splendour (初中英语单词)


• riches [´ritʃiz] n.房地产；丰富 (初中英语单词)


• distress [di´stres] n.痛苦 vt.使苦恼 (初中英语单词)


• consequence [´kɔnsikwəns] n.结果；后果；推断 (初中英语单词)


• talent [´tælənt] n.天才；才干；天资 (初中英语单词)


• beggar [´begə] n.乞丐 (初中英语单词)


• desirable [di´zaiərəbəl] a.向往的；极好的 (初中英语单词)


• abundance [ə´bʌndəns] n.丰富，充裕 (初中英语单词)


• reality [ri´æliti] n.现实(性)；真实；逼真 (初中英语单词)


• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)


• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)


• acquire [ə´kwaiə] vt.求得，获得，学得 (初中英语单词)


• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)


• appetite [´æpitait] n.欲望；食欲 (初中英语单词)


• charming [´tʃɑ:miŋ] a.可爱的；极好的 (初中英语单词)


• neighboring [´neibəriŋ] a.邻近的；接壤的 (初中英语单词)


• situated [´sitʃueitid] a.位于；处于….境地 (初中英语单词)


• principal [´prinsəpəl] a.主要的 n.负责人 (初中英语单词)


• entertainment [,entə´teinmənt] n.招(款)待；联欢会 (初中英语单词)


• motive [´məutiv] n.动机；主题 a.运动的 (初中英语单词)


• constantly [´kɔnstəntli] ad.经常地；不断地 (初中英语单词)


• vanity [´væniti] n.虚荣；自负；空虚 (初中英语单词)


• character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)


• confine [kən´fain] vt.限制 n.边界；境界 (初中英语单词)


• conceive [kən´si:v] v.设想；表达；怀孕 (初中英语单词)


• princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)


• examination [ig,zæmi´neiʃən] n.检查；考试；检验 (初中英语单词)


• considerable [kən´sidərəbəl] a.重要的；值得重视 (初中英语单词)


• project [prə´dʒekt, ´prɔdʒekt] v.设计；投掷 n.计划 (初中英语单词)


• normandy [´nɔ:məndi] n.诺曼底 (初中英语单词)


• neglect [ni´glekt] vt.&n.疏忽；忽视；忽略 (初中英语单词)


• venture [´ventʃə] n.投机 v.冒险；敢于 (初中英语单词)


• execute [´eksikju:t] vt.执行；表演；演奏 (初中英语单词)


• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)


• protection [prə´tekʃən] n.警戒；护照；通行证 (初中英语单词)


• incredible [in´kredəbəl] a.不能相信的；惊人的 (高中英语单词)


• contented [kən´tentid] a.满足的；心满意足的 (高中英语单词)


• philosopher [fi´lɔsəfə] n.哲学家；思想家；哲人 (高中英语单词)


• inferior [in´fiəriə] n.下级的 n.下级；晚辈 (高中英语单词)


• nuisance [´nju:səns] n.损害；讨厌的人(事) (高中英语单词)


• spruce [spru:s] n.云杉木 a.&v.整洁 (高中英语单词)


• reverend [´revərənd] a.可尊敬的 (高中英语单词)


• expectation [,ekspek´teiʃən] n.期待(望)；预期 (高中英语单词)


• industrious [in´dʌstriəs] a.勤勉的，刻苦的 (高中英语单词)


• heartily [´hɑ:tili] ad.衷心地；亲切地 (高中英语单词)


• apparel [ə´pærəl] n.衣服 vt.给…修饰 (高中英语单词)


• eagerness [´i:gənis] n.渴望；热忱 (高中英语单词)


• whoever [hu:´evə] pron.任何人，无论谁 (高中英语单词)


• indifferent [in´difrənt] a.不关心的；中立的 (高中英语单词)


• commonly [´kɔmənli] ad.一般地；通常 (高中英语单词)


• namely [´neimli] ad.即，也就是 (高中英语单词)


• excessive [ik´sesiv] a.过分的；极端的 (高中英语单词)


• outward [´autwəd] a.外面的 ad.向外 (高中英语单词)


• mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)


• discourse [´diskɔ:s] n.论文；演说；说教 (高中英语单词)


• necessarily [´nesisərili] ad.必定，必然地 (高中英语单词)


• prejudice [´predʒədis] n.偏见；不利 vt.损害 (高中英语单词)


• behavior [bi´heiviə] n.举止，行为 (高中英语单词)


• prudent [´pru:dənt] a.谨慎的；精明的 (高中英语单词)


• vengeance [´vendʒəns] n.报复，复仇 (高中英语单词)


• apprehension [,æpri´henʃən] n.理解；忧虑；逮捕 (高中英语单词)


• deceit [di´si:t] n.欺骗 (英语四级单词)


• policy [´pɔlisi] n.政策；权谋；保险单 (英语四级单词)


• happening [´hæpəniŋ] n.事件，偶然发生的事 (英语四级单词)


• correction [kə´rekʃən] n.改正，纠正，修改 (英语四级单词)


• traveled [´trævəld] a.见面广的；旅客多的 (英语四级单词)


• vehicle [´vi:ikəl] n.车辆；媒介物 (英语四级单词)


• winner [´winə] n.胜利者，得奖者 (英语四级单词)


• counterfeit [´kauntəfit] a.伪造的 v.&n.伪造 (英语四级单词)


• amidst [ə´midst] prep.=amid (英语四级单词)


• aspire [ə´spaiə] vi.立志要；升高；热望 (英语四级单词)


• nobleman [´nəublmən] n.贵族 (英语四级单词)


• continuance [kən´tinjuəns] n.继续；持续逗留；连续 (英语四级单词)


• compute [kəm´pju:t] v.&n.计算；估计 (英语四级单词)


• wretch [retʃ] n.不幸的人；卑鄙的人 (英语四级单词)


• princely [´prinsli] a.王候般的；高贵的 (英语四级单词)


• worldly [´wə:ldli] a.现世的；世俗的 (英语四级单词)


• lamentable [´læməntəbl, lə´mentəbl] a.可悲的 (英语六级单词)


• insight [´insait] n.洞悉；洞察力；见识 (英语六级单词)


• analogy [ə´nælədʒi] n.类似；类推；比拟 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)


• calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)


• fineness [´fainnis] n.美好；细微；优雅 (英语六级单词)


• avarice [´ævəris] n.贪婪，贪心 (英语六级单词)


• judicious [dʒu:´diʃəs] a.明智的；贤明的 (英语六级单词)


• compassionate [kəm´pæʃənit] a.有同情心的 vt.同情 (英语六级单词)


• canker [´kæŋkə] n.癌肿病；毒害 (英语六级单词)


• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)


• infirmity [in´fə:miti] n.虚弱；意志薄弱 (英语六级单词)


• advantageous [,ædvən´teidʒəs] a.有利的；有帮助的 (英语六级单词)