章节正文
"As for you, Humphrey," went on Oro, "I rejoice to think that
you at least have lost two things that man desires above all
other things--the woman you sought and the future kingship of the
world."
I stood up and faced him.
"The first I have gained, although how, you do not understand,
Oro," I answered. "And of the second, seeing that it would have
come through you, on your conditions, I am indeed glad to be rid.
I wish no power that springs from murder, and no gifts from one
who answered his daughter's prayer with blows."
For a moment he seemed remorseful.
"She vexed me with her foolishness," he said. Then his rage
blazed up again:
"And it was you who taught it to her," he went on. "You are
guilty, all three of you, and therefore I am left with none to
serve me in my age; therefore also my mighty schemes are
overthrown."
"Also, Oro, if you speak truth, therefore half the world is
saved," I added quietly, "and one has left it of whom it was
unworthy."
"You think that these civilisations of yours, as you are
pleased to call them, are saved, do you?" he sneered. "Yet, even
if Bickley were right and I should die and become powerless, I
tell you that they are already damned. I have studied them in
your books and seen them with my eyes, and I say that they are
rotten before ever they are ripe, and that their end shall be the
end of the Sons of Wisdom, to die for lack of increase. That is
why I would have saved the East, because in it alone there is
increase, and thence alone can rise the great last race of man
which I would have given to your children for an heritage.
Moreover, think not that you Westerners have done with wars. I
tell you that they are but begun and that the sword shall eat you
up, and what the sword spares class shall snatch from class in
the struggle for supremacy and ease."
Thus he spoke with extraordinary and concentrated bitterness
that I confess would have frightened me, had I been capable of
fear, which at the moment I was not. Who is afraid when he has
lost all?
Nor was Bastin alarmed, if for other reasons.
"I think it right to tell you, Oro," he said, "that the only
future you need trouble about is your own. God Almighty will look
after the western civilisations in whatever way He may think
best, as you may remember He did just now. Only I am sure you
won't be here to see how it is done."
Again fury blazed in Oro's eyes.
"At least I will look after you, you half-bred dogs, who yap
out ill-omened prophecies of death into my face. Since the three
of you loved my daughter whom you brought to her doom, and were
by her beloved, if differently, I think it best that you should
follow on her road. How? That is the question? Shall I leave you
to starve in these great caves?--Nay, look not towards the road
of escape which doubtless she pointed out to you, for, as
Humphrey knows, I can travel swiftly and I will make sure that
you find it blocked. Or shall I--" and he glanced upwards at the
great globes of wandering fire, as though he purposed to summon
them to be our death, as doubtless he could have done.
"I do not care what you do," I answered wearily. "Only I would
beg you to strike quickly. Yet for my friends I am sorry, since
it was I who led them on this quest, and for you, too, Tommy," I
added, looking at the poor little hound. "You were foolish,
Tommy," I went on, "when you scented out that old tyrant in his
coffin, at least for our own sake."
Indeed the dog was terribly scared. He whined continually and
from time to time ran a little way and then returned to us,
suggesting that we should go from this horror-haunted spot.
Lastly, as though he understood that it was Oro who kept us
there, he went to him and jumping up, licked his hand in a
beseeching fashion.
The super-man looked at the dog and as he looked the rage went
out of his face and was replaced by something resembling pity.
"I do not wish the beast to die," he muttered to himself in
low reflective tones, as though he thought aloud, "for of them
all it alone liked and did not fear me. I might take it with me
but still it would perish of grief in the loneliness of the
caves. Moreover, she loved it whom I shall see no more; yes,
Yva--" as he spoke the name his voice broke a little. "Yet if I
suffer them to escape they will tell my story to the world and
make me a laughingstock. Well, if they do, what does it matter?
None of those Western fools would believe it; thinking that they
knew all; like Bickley they would mock and say that they were
mad, or liars."
Again Tommy licked his hand, but more confidently, as though
instinct told him something of what was passing in Oro's mind. I
watched with an idle wonder, marvelling whether it were possible
that this merciless being would after all spare us for the sake
of the dog.
So, strange to say, it came about, for suddenly Oro looked up
and said:
"Get you gone, and quickly, before my mood changes. The hound
has saved you. For its sake I give you your lives, who otherwise
should certainly have died. She who has gone pointed out to you,
I doubt not, a road that runs to the upper air. I think that it
is still open. Indeed," he added, closing his eyes for a moment,
"I see that it is still open, if long and difficult. Follow it,
and should you win through, take your boat and sail away as
swiftly as you can. Whether you die or live I care nothing, but
my hands will be clean of your blood, although yours are stained
with Yva's. Begone! and my curse go with you."
Without waiting for further words we went to fetch our
lanterns, water-bottles and bag of food which we had laid down at
a little distance. As we approached them I looked up and saw Oro
standing some way off. The light from one of the blue globes of
fire which passed close above his head, shone upon him and made
him ghastly. Moreover, it seemed to me as though approaching
death had written its name upon his malevolent countenance.
I turned my head away, for about his aspect in those sinister
surroundings there was something horrible, something menacing and
repellent to man and of him I wished to see no more. Nor indeed
did I, for when I glanced in that direction again Oro was gone. I
suppose that he had retreated into the shadows where no light
played.
We gathered up our gear, and while the others were relighting
the lanterns, I walked a few paces forward to the spot where Yva
had been dissolved in the devouring fire. Something caught my eye
upon the rocky floor. I picked it up. It was the ring, or rather
the remains of the ring that I had given her on that night when
we declared our love amidst the ruins by the crater lake. She had
never worn it on her hand but for her own reasons, as she told
me, suspended it upon her breast beneath her robe. It was an
ancient ring that I had bought in Egypt, fashioned of gold in
which was set a very hard basalt or other black stone. On this
was engraved the ank or looped cross, which was the Egyptian
symbol of Life, and round it a snake, the symbol of Eternity. The
gold was for the most part melted, but the stone, being so hard
and protected by the shield and asbestos cloak, for such I
suppose it was, had resisted the fury of the flash. Only now it
was white instead of black, like a burnt onyx that had known the
funeral pyre. Indeed, perhaps it was an onyx. I kissed it and hid
it away, for it seemed to me to convey a greeting and with it a
promise.
Then we started, a very sad and dejected trio. Leaving with a
shudder that vast place where the blue lights played eternally,
we came to the shaft up and down which the travelling stone
pursued its endless path, and saw it arrive and depart again.
"I wonder he did not send us that way," said Bickley, pointing
to it.
"I am sure I am very glad it never occurred to him," answered
Bastin, "for I am certain that we could not have made the journey
again without our guide, Yva."
I looked at him and he ceased. Somehow I could not bear, as
yet, to hear her beloved name spoken by other lips.
Then we entered the passage that she pointed out to us, and
began a most terrible journey which, so far as we could judge,
for we lost any exact count of time, took us about sixty hours.
The road, it is true, was smooth and unblocked, but the ascent
was fearfully steep and slippery; so much so that often we were
obliged to pull each other up it and lie down to rest.
Had it not been for those large, felt-covered bottles of Life-
water, I am sure we should never have won through. But this
marvelous elixir, drunk a little at a time, always re-
invigorated us and gave us strength to push on. Also we had some
food, and fortunately our spare oil held out, for the darkness in
that tunnel was complete. Tommy became so exhausted that at
length we must carry him by turns. He would have died had it not
been for the water; indeed I thought that he was going to die.
After our last rest and a short sleep, however, he seemed to
begin to recover, and generally there was something in his manner
which suggested to us that he knew himself to be not far from the
surface of the earth towards which we had crawled upwards for
thousands upon thousands of feet, fortunately without meeting
with any zone of heat which was not bearable.
We were right, for when we had staggered forward a little
further, suddenly Tommy ran ahead of us and vanished. Then we
heard him barking but where we could not see, since the tunnel
appeared to take a turn and continue, but this time on a downward
course, while the sound of the barks came from our right. We
searched with the lanterns which were now beginning to die and
found a little hole almost filled with fallen pieces of rock. We
scooped these away with our hands, making an aperture large
enough to creep through. A few more yards and we saw light, the
blessed light of the moon, and in it stood Tommy barking
hoarsely. Next we heard the sound of the sea. We struggled on
desperately and presently pushed our way through bushes and
vegetation on to a steep declivity. Down this we rolled and
scrambled, to find ourselves at last lying upon a sandy beach,
whilst above us the full moon shone in the heavens.
Here, with a prayer of thankfulness, we flung ourselves down
and slept.
If it had not been for Tommy and we had gone further along the
tunnel, which I have little doubt stretched on beneath the sea,
where, I wonder, should we have slept that night?
When we woke the sun was shining high in the heavens. Evidently
there had been rain towards the dawn, though as we were lying
beneath the shelter of some broad-leaved tree, from it we had
suffered little inconvenience. Oh! how beautiful, after our
sojourn in those unholy caves, were the sun and the sea and the
sweet air and the raindrops hanging on the leaves.
We did not wake of ourselves; indeed if we had been left alone
I am sure that we should have slept the clock round, for we were
terribly exhausted. What woke us was the chatter of a crowd of
Orofenans who were gathered at a distance from the tree and
engaged in staring at us in a frightened way, also the barks of
Tommy who objected to their intrusion. Among the people I
recognised our old friend the chief Marama by his feather cloak,
and sitting up, beckoned to him to approach. After a good deal of
hesitation he came, walking delicately like Agag, and stopping
from time to time to study us, as though he were not sure that we
were real.
"What frightens you, Marama?" I asked him.
"You frighten us, O Friend-from-the-Sea. Whence did you and the
Healer and the Bellower come and why do your faces look like
you at least have lost two things that man desires above all
other things--the woman you sought and the future kingship of the
world."
I stood up and faced him.
"The first I have gained, although how, you do not understand,
Oro," I answered. "And of the second, seeing that it would have
come through you, on your conditions, I am indeed glad to be rid.
I wish no power that springs from murder, and no gifts from one
who answered his daughter's prayer with blows."
For a moment he seemed remorseful.
"She vexed me with her foolishness," he said. Then his rage
blazed up again:
"And it was you who taught it to her," he went on. "You are
guilty, all three of you, and therefore I am left with none to
serve me in my age; therefore also my mighty schemes are
overthrown."
"Also, Oro, if you speak truth, therefore half the world is
saved," I added quietly, "and one has left it of whom it was
unworthy."
"You think that these civilisations of yours, as you are
pleased to call them, are saved, do you?" he sneered. "Yet, even
if Bickley were right and I should die and become powerless, I
tell you that they are already damned. I have studied them in
your books and seen them with my eyes, and I say that they are
rotten before ever they are ripe, and that their end shall be the
end of the Sons of Wisdom, to die for lack of increase. That is
why I would have saved the East, because in it alone there is
increase, and thence alone can rise the great last race of man
which I would have given to your children for an heritage.
Moreover, think not that you Westerners have done with wars. I
tell you that they are but begun and that the sword shall eat you
up, and what the sword spares class shall snatch from class in
the struggle for supremacy and ease."
Thus he spoke with extraordinary and concentrated bitterness
that I confess would have frightened me, had I been capable of
fear, which at the moment I was not. Who is afraid when he has
lost all?
Nor was Bastin alarmed, if for other reasons.
"I think it right to tell you, Oro," he said, "that the only
future you need trouble about is your own. God Almighty will look
after the western civilisations in whatever way He may think
best, as you may remember He did just now. Only I am sure you
won't be here to see how it is done."
Again fury blazed in Oro's eyes.
"At least I will look after you, you half-bred dogs, who yap
out ill-omened prophecies of death into my face. Since the three
of you loved my daughter whom you brought to her doom, and were
by her beloved, if differently, I think it best that you should
follow on her road. How? That is the question? Shall I leave you
to starve in these great caves?--Nay, look not towards the road
of escape which doubtless she pointed out to you, for, as
Humphrey knows, I can travel swiftly and I will make sure that
you find it blocked. Or shall I--" and he glanced upwards at the
great globes of wandering fire, as though he purposed to summon
them to be our death, as doubtless he could have done.
"I do not care what you do," I answered wearily. "Only I would
beg you to strike quickly. Yet for my friends I am sorry, since
it was I who led them on this quest, and for you, too, Tommy," I
added, looking at the poor little hound. "You were foolish,
Tommy," I went on, "when you scented out that old tyrant in his
coffin, at least for our own sake."
Indeed the dog was terribly scared. He whined continually and
from time to time ran a little way and then returned to us,
suggesting that we should go from this horror-haunted spot.
Lastly, as though he understood that it was Oro who kept us
there, he went to him and jumping up, licked his hand in a
beseeching fashion.
The super-man looked at the dog and as he looked the rage went
out of his face and was replaced by something resembling pity.
"I do not wish the beast to die," he muttered to himself in
low reflective tones, as though he thought aloud, "for of them
all it alone liked and did not fear me. I might take it with me
but still it would perish of grief in the loneliness of the
caves. Moreover, she loved it whom I shall see no more; yes,
Yva--" as he spoke the name his voice broke a little. "Yet if I
suffer them to escape they will tell my story to the world and
make me a laughingstock. Well, if they do, what does it matter?
None of those Western fools would believe it; thinking that they
knew all; like Bickley they would mock and say that they were
mad, or liars."
Again Tommy licked his hand, but more confidently, as though
instinct told him something of what was passing in Oro's mind. I
watched with an idle wonder, marvelling whether it were possible
that this merciless being would after all spare us for the sake
of the dog.
So, strange to say, it came about, for suddenly Oro looked up
and said:
"Get you gone, and quickly, before my mood changes. The hound
has saved you. For its sake I give you your lives, who otherwise
should certainly have died. She who has gone pointed out to you,
I doubt not, a road that runs to the upper air. I think that it
is still open. Indeed," he added, closing his eyes for a moment,
"I see that it is still open, if long and difficult. Follow it,
and should you win through, take your boat and sail away as
swiftly as you can. Whether you die or live I care nothing, but
my hands will be clean of your blood, although yours are stained
with Yva's. Begone! and my curse go with you."
Without waiting for further words we went to fetch our
lanterns, water-bottles and bag of food which we had laid down at
a little distance. As we approached them I looked up and saw Oro
standing some way off. The light from one of the blue globes of
fire which passed close above his head, shone upon him and made
him ghastly. Moreover, it seemed to me as though approaching
death had written its name upon his malevolent countenance.
I turned my head away, for about his aspect in those sinister
surroundings there was something horrible, something menacing and
repellent to man and of him I wished to see no more. Nor indeed
did I, for when I glanced in that direction again Oro was gone. I
suppose that he had retreated into the shadows where no light
played.
We gathered up our gear, and while the others were relighting
the lanterns, I walked a few paces forward to the spot where Yva
had been dissolved in the devouring fire. Something caught my eye
upon the rocky floor. I picked it up. It was the ring, or rather
the remains of the ring that I had given her on that night when
we declared our love amidst the ruins by the crater lake. She had
never worn it on her hand but for her own reasons, as she told
me, suspended it upon her breast beneath her robe. It was an
ancient ring that I had bought in Egypt, fashioned of gold in
which was set a very hard basalt or other black stone. On this
was engraved the ank or looped cross, which was the Egyptian
symbol of Life, and round it a snake, the symbol of Eternity. The
gold was for the most part melted, but the stone, being so hard
and protected by the shield and asbestos cloak, for such I
suppose it was, had resisted the fury of the flash. Only now it
was white instead of black, like a burnt onyx that had known the
funeral pyre. Indeed, perhaps it was an onyx. I kissed it and hid
it away, for it seemed to me to convey a greeting and with it a
promise.
Then we started, a very sad and dejected trio. Leaving with a
shudder that vast place where the blue lights played eternally,
we came to the shaft up and down which the travelling stone
pursued its endless path, and saw it arrive and depart again.
"I wonder he did not send us that way," said Bickley, pointing
to it.
"I am sure I am very glad it never occurred to him," answered
Bastin, "for I am certain that we could not have made the journey
again without our guide, Yva."
I looked at him and he ceased. Somehow I could not bear, as
yet, to hear her beloved name spoken by other lips.
Then we entered the passage that she pointed out to us, and
began a most terrible journey which, so far as we could judge,
for we lost any exact count of time, took us about sixty hours.
The road, it is true, was smooth and unblocked, but the ascent
was fearfully steep and slippery; so much so that often we were
obliged to pull each other up it and lie down to rest.
Had it not been for those large, felt-covered bottles of Life-
water, I am sure we should never have won through. But this
marvelous elixir, drunk a little at a time, always re-
invigorated us and gave us strength to push on. Also we had some
food, and fortunately our spare oil held out, for the darkness in
that tunnel was complete. Tommy became so exhausted that at
length we must carry him by turns. He would have died had it not
been for the water; indeed I thought that he was going to die.
After our last rest and a short sleep, however, he seemed to
begin to recover, and generally there was something in his manner
which suggested to us that he knew himself to be not far from the
surface of the earth towards which we had crawled upwards for
thousands upon thousands of feet, fortunately without meeting
with any zone of heat which was not bearable.
We were right, for when we had staggered forward a little
further, suddenly Tommy ran ahead of us and vanished. Then we
heard him barking but where we could not see, since the tunnel
appeared to take a turn and continue, but this time on a downward
course, while the sound of the barks came from our right. We
searched with the lanterns which were now beginning to die and
found a little hole almost filled with fallen pieces of rock. We
scooped these away with our hands, making an aperture large
enough to creep through. A few more yards and we saw light, the
blessed light of the moon, and in it stood Tommy barking
hoarsely. Next we heard the sound of the sea. We struggled on
desperately and presently pushed our way through bushes and
vegetation on to a steep declivity. Down this we rolled and
scrambled, to find ourselves at last lying upon a sandy beach,
whilst above us the full moon shone in the heavens.
Here, with a prayer of thankfulness, we flung ourselves down
and slept.
If it had not been for Tommy and we had gone further along the
tunnel, which I have little doubt stretched on beneath the sea,
where, I wonder, should we have slept that night?
When we woke the sun was shining high in the heavens. Evidently
there had been rain towards the dawn, though as we were lying
beneath the shelter of some broad-leaved tree, from it we had
suffered little inconvenience. Oh! how beautiful, after our
sojourn in those unholy caves, were the sun and the sea and the
sweet air and the raindrops hanging on the leaves.
We did not wake of ourselves; indeed if we had been left alone
I am sure that we should have slept the clock round, for we were
terribly exhausted. What woke us was the chatter of a crowd of
Orofenans who were gathered at a distance from the tree and
engaged in staring at us in a frightened way, also the barks of
Tommy who objected to their intrusion. Among the people I
recognised our old friend the chief Marama by his feather cloak,
and sitting up, beckoned to him to approach. After a good deal of
hesitation he came, walking delicately like Agag, and stopping
from time to time to study us, as though he were not sure that we
were real.
"What frightens you, Marama?" I asked him.
"You frighten us, O Friend-from-the-Sea. Whence did you and the
Healer and the Bellower come and why do your faces look like
- rejoice [ri´dʒɔis]
v.(使)高兴；欢庆 (初中英语单词) - therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)
- thence [ðens] ad.从那里；因此 (初中英语单词)
- snatch [snætʃ] v.&n.抢，夺取，抓住 (初中英语单词)
- extraordinary [ik´strɔ:dinəri] a.非常的；额外的 (初中英语单词)
- confess [kən´fes] vt.供认；坦白；承认 (初中英语单词)
- capable [´keipəbəl] a.有能力；能干的 (初中英语单词)
- western [´westən] a.西的；西方的 (初中英语单词)
- whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)
- beloved [bi´lʌvd] a.为....所爱的 n.爱人 (初中英语单词)
- starve [stɑ:v] v.(使)饥饿 (初中英语单词)
- doubtless [´dautlis] ad.无疑地；大概，多半 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地，敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
- terribly [´terəbli] ad.可怕地 (初中英语单词)
- perish [´periʃ] v.灭亡；消灭；(使)死去 (初中英语单词)
- moreover [mɔ:´rəuvə] ad.再者，此外，而且 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- aspect [´æspekt] n.面貌；神色；方向 (初中英语单词)
- horrible [´hɔrəbəl] a.可怕的；恐怖的 (初中英语单词)
- shield [ʃi:ld] n.盾牌；防御 v.保护 (初中英语单词)
- convey [kən´vei] vt.运送；传达；转让 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- tunnel [´tʌnl] n.隧道 v.挖隧道 (初中英语单词)
- beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)
- presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- chatter [´tʃætə] vi.&n.饶舌；闲聊 (初中英语单词)
- feather [´feðə] n.羽毛 (初中英语单词)
- frighten [´fraitn] vt.吓唬，使惊惧 (初中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
- damned [dæmd] a.该死的 ad.非常，极 (高中英语单词)
- studied [´stʌdid] a.故意的；有计划的 (高中英语单词)
- differently [´difrentli] ad.不同地，有差别地 (高中英语单词)
- tyrant [´taiərənt] n.暴君；霸主；专制君主 (高中英语单词)
- continually [kən´tinjuəli] ad.不断地，频繁地 (高中英语单词)
- loneliness [´ləunliniz] n.孤独，寂寞 (高中英语单词)
- ghastly [´gɑ:stli] a.苍白的；可怕的 (高中英语单词)
- symbol [´simbəl] n.符号；象征 (高中英语单词)
- eternity [i´tə:niti] n.永恒，来世，无穷 (高中英语单词)
- slippery [´slipəri] a.滑的；不稳固的 (高中英语单词)
- fortunately [´fɔ:tʃənətli] ad.幸运地 (高中英语单词)
- hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)
- supremacy [sju´preməsi] n.优越性；最高地位 (英语四级单词)
- almighty [ɔ:l´maiti] a.万能的；全能的 (英语四级单词)
- upwards [´ʌpwədz] ad.=upward (英语四级单词)
- wearily [´wiərili] ad.疲倦地；厌烦地 (英语四级单词)
- amidst [ə´midst] prep.=amid (英语四级单词)
- aperture [´æpətjuə] n.孔；口径 (英语四级单词)
- inconvenience [,inkən´vi:niəns] n.不方便；打扰 (英语四级单词)
- delicately [´delikitli] ad.精美地；微妙地 (英语四级单词)
- whence [wens] ad.从何处；从那里 (英语四级单词)
- powerless [´pauələs] a.软弱的；无资源的 (英语六级单词)
- confidently [´kɔnfidəntli] ad.有信心地；自信地 (英语六级单词)
- merciless [´mə:siləs] a.残忍的；无情的 (英语六级单词)
- crater [´kreitə] n.火山口；弹坑 (英语六级单词)
- dejected [di´dʒektid] a.垂头丧气的 (英语六级单词)
- intrusion [in´tru:ʒən] n.侵入；打扰；强加 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
京公网安备 11011202003401号
