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By the Way

文章来源：未知文章作者：enread 发布时间：2014-03-25 06:34 字体： [大中小]　进入论坛

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By the Way

C. Dale Young

You are right to point out that the agapanthus（爱情花）

is not a lily, especially to one who so loves

precision, but the agapanthus is also called

"Lily of the Nile," which surely could be seen

as justification¹ for calling it a lily.

I am sure Cleopatra herself never called

this plant agapanthus. And, well, wouldn't one

want to be more like Cleopatra than like

Theophrastus? The Queen of the Nile

would have likely called it a lily, no?

Yes, yes, words have meaning and have power

and all of that stuff. Yes, yes, I of all people

understand the importance of naming.

But if Cleopatra would have called it a lily . . .

Okay, I will stop. You look great, by the way.

But I just want to point out that the agapanthus

is such an odd plant that even botanists

cannot agree on the number of species in the genus,

some saying six, others as many as ten.

Okay, I swear I'll stop. Seriously. Promise.

The windy night air is cold, and the wings

bound along my spine² sweaty and bruised,

the long bandages chafing³ my armpits（腋窝）. Words

have power, my love. You call this winged thing

an angel, but that is not the word I would use for it.

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收听单词发音

1 justification
n.正当的理由；辩解的理由
参考例句：
There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。 In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

2 spine
n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊
参考例句：
He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。 His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

3 chafing
n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒
参考例句：
My shorts were chafing my thighs. 我的短裤把大腿磨得生疼。来自辞典例句 We made coffee in a chafing dish. 我们用暖锅烧咖啡。来自辞典例句