章节正文
glimpse of some still larger hall beyond. He perceived
white men in red and other negroes in black and yellow
standingstiffly about those portals.
As they crossed the gallery he heard a whisper from
below, "The Sleeper," and was aware of a turning of
heads, a hum of observation. They entered another
little passage in the wall of this ante-chamber, and
then he found himself on an iron-railed gallery of
metal that passed round the side of the great hall he
had already seen through the curtains. He entered
the place at the corner, so that he received the fullest
impression of its huge proportions. The black in the
wasp uniform stood aside like a well-trained servant,
and closed the valve behind him.
Compared with any of the places Graham had see
thus far, this second hall appeared to be decorate
with extremerichness. On a pedestal at the remote
end, and more brilliantly lit than any other object, was
a gigantic white figure of Atlas, strong and strenuous,
the globe upon his bowed shoulders. It was the first
thing to strike his attention, it was so vast, so patiently
and painfully real, so white and simple. Save for this
figure and for a dais in the centre, the wide floor of the
place was a shining vacancy. The dais was remote
in the greatness of the area; it would have looked a
mere slab of metal had it not been for the group of
seven men who stood about a table on it, and gave an
inkling of its proportions. They were all dressed in
white robes, they seemed to have arisen that moment
from their seats, and they were regarding Graham
steadfastly. At the end of the table he perceived the
glitter of some mechanical appliances.
Howard led him along the end gallery until they
were opposite this mighty labouring figure. Then he
stopped. The two men in red who had followed them
into the gallery came and stood on either hand of
Graham.
"You must remain here," murmured Howard, "for
a few moments," and, without waiting for a reply,
hurried away along the gallery.
"But, __why?"__ began Graham.
He moved as if to follow Howard, and found his
path obstructed by one of the men in red. "You have
to wait here, Sire," said the man in red.
__"Why?"__
"Orders, Sire."
"Whose orders? "
"Our orders, Sire."
Graham looked his exasperation.
"What place is this?" he said presently. "Who
are those men? "
"They are the lords of the Council, Sire."
"What Council? "
"__The__ Council."
"Oh!" said Graham, and after an equally ineffectual
attempt at the other man, went to the railing and
stared at the distant men in white, who stood watching
him and whispering together.
The Council? He perceived there were now eight,
though how the newcomer had arrived he had not
observed. They made no gestures of greeting; they
stood regarding him as in the nineteenth century a
group of men might have stood in the street regarding
a distant balloon that had suddenly floated into view.
What council could it be that gathered there, that little
body of men beneath the significant white Atlas,
secluded from every eavesdropper in this impressive
spaciousness? And why should he be brought to
them, and be looked at strangely and spoken of
inaudibly? Howard appeared beneath, walking
quickly across the polished floor towards them. As he
drew near he bowed and performed certain peculiar
movements, apparently of a ceremonious nature.
Then he ascended the steps of the dais, and stood by
the apparatus at the end of the table.
Graham watched that visible inaudible conversation.
Occasionally, one of the white-robed men would
glance towards him. He strained his ears in vain.
The gesticulation of two of the speakers became
animated. He glanced from them to the passive faces of
his attendants. . . . When he looked again Howard
was extending his hands and moving his head like a
man who protests. He was interrupted, it seemed, by
one of the white-robed men rapping the table.
The conversation lasted an interminable time to
Graham's sense. His eyes rose to the still giant at
whose feet the Council sat. Thence they wandered
at last to the walls of the hall. It was decorated in
long painted panels of a quasi-Japanese type, many
of them very beautiful. These panels were grouped
in a great and elaborate framing of dark metal, which
passed into the metallic caryatidae of the galleries, and
the great structural lines of the interior. The facile
grace of these panels enhanced the mighty white effort
that laboured in the centre of the scheme. Graham's
eyes came back to the Council, and Howard was
descending the steps. As he drew nearer his features
could be distinguished, and Graham saw that he was
flushed and blowing out his cheeks. His countenance
was still disturbed when presently he reappeared along
the gallery.
"This way," he said concisely, and they went on in
silence to a little door that opened at their approach.
The two men in red stopped on either side of this door.
Howard and Graham passed in, and Graham, glancing
back, saw the white-robed Council still standing in a
close group and looking at him. Then the door closed
behind him with a heavy thud, and for the first time
since his awakening he was in silence. The floor, even,
was noiseless to his feet.
Howard opened another door, and they were in the
first of two contiguous chambers furnished in white
and green. "What Council was that? " began Graham.
"What were they discussing? What have
they to do with me?" Howard closed the door carefully,
heaved a huge sigh, and said something in an
undertone. He walked slanting ways across the room
and turned, blowing out his cheeks again. "Ugh!"
he grunted, a man relieved.
Graham stood regarding him.
"You must understand," began Howard abruptly,
avoiding Graham's eyes, "that our social order is
very complex. A half explanation, a bare unqualified
statement would give you false impressions. As a
matter of fact--it is a case of compound interest
partly--your small fortune, and the fortune of your
cousin Warming which was left to you--and certain
other beginnings--have become very considerable.
And in other ways that will be hard for you to understand,
you have become a person of significance--of
very considerable significance--involved in the
world's affairs."
He stopped.
"Yes?" said Graham.
"We have grave social troubles."
"Yes? "
"Things have come to such a pass that, in fact,
is advisable to seclude you here."
"Keep me prisoner! " exclaimed Graham.
"Well--to ask you to keep in seclusion."
Graham turned on him. "This is strange!" he
said.
"No harm will be done you."
"No harm ! "
"But you must be kept here--"
"While I learn my position, I presume."
"Precisely."
"Very well then. Begin. Why __harm?__"
" Not now."
"Why not? "
"It is too long a story, Sire."
"All the more reason I should begin at once. You
say I am a person of importance. What was that
shouting I heard? Why is a great multitude shouting
and excited because my trance is over, and who are
the men in white in that huge council chamber? "
"All in good time, Sire," said Howard. "But not
crudely, not crudely. This is one of those flimsy times
when no man has a settled mind. Your awakening.
No one expected your awakening. The Council is
consulting."
"What council? "
"The Council you saw."
Graham made a petulant movement. " This is not
right," he said. " I should be told what is happening.
"You must wait. Really you must wait."
Graham sat down abruptly. "I suppose since I
have waited so long to resume life," he said, "that I
must wait a little longer."
"That is better," said Howard. "Yes, that is much
better. And I must leave you alone. For a space.
While I attend the discussion in the Council.
I am sorry."
He went towards the noiseless door, hesitated and
vanished.
Graham walked to the door, tried it, found it securely
fastened in some way he never came to understand,
turned about, paced the room restlessly, made
the circuit of the room, and sat down. He remained
sitting for some time with folded arms and knitted
brow, biting his finger nails and trying to piece
together the kaleidoscopic impressions of this first
hour of awakened life; the vast mechanical spaces, the
endless series of chambers and passages, the great
struggle that roared and splashed through these
strange ways, the little group of remote unsympathetic
men beneath the colossal Atlas, Howard's mysterious
behaviour. There was an inkling of some vast inheritance
already in his mind--a vast inheritance perhaps
misapplied--of some unprecedented importance
and opportunity. What had he to do? And this
room's secluded silence was eloquent of imprisonment!
It came into Graham's mind with irresistible conviction
that this series of magnificent impressions was
a dream. He tried to shut his eyes and succeeded,
but that time-honoured device led to no awakening.
Presently he began to touch and examine all the
unfamiliar appointments of the two small rooms in
which he found himself.
In a long oval panel of mirror he saw himself and
stopped astonished. He was clad in a gracefulcostume
white men in red and other negroes in black and yellow
standingstiffly about those portals.
As they crossed the gallery he heard a whisper from
below, "The Sleeper," and was aware of a turning of
heads, a hum of observation. They entered another
little passage in the wall of this ante-chamber, and
then he found himself on an iron-railed gallery of
metal that passed round the side of the great hall he
had already seen through the curtains. He entered
the place at the corner, so that he received the fullest
impression of its huge proportions. The black in the
wasp uniform stood aside like a well-trained servant,
and closed the valve behind him.
Compared with any of the places Graham had see
thus far, this second hall appeared to be decorate
with extremerichness. On a pedestal at the remote
end, and more brilliantly lit than any other object, was
a gigantic white figure of Atlas, strong and strenuous,
the globe upon his bowed shoulders. It was the first
thing to strike his attention, it was so vast, so patiently
and painfully real, so white and simple. Save for this
figure and for a dais in the centre, the wide floor of the
place was a shining vacancy. The dais was remote
in the greatness of the area; it would have looked a
mere slab of metal had it not been for the group of
seven men who stood about a table on it, and gave an
inkling of its proportions. They were all dressed in
white robes, they seemed to have arisen that moment
from their seats, and they were regarding Graham
steadfastly. At the end of the table he perceived the
glitter of some mechanical appliances.
Howard led him along the end gallery until they
were opposite this mighty labouring figure. Then he
stopped. The two men in red who had followed them
into the gallery came and stood on either hand of
Graham.
"You must remain here," murmured Howard, "for
a few moments," and, without waiting for a reply,
hurried away along the gallery.
"But, __why?"__ began Graham.
He moved as if to follow Howard, and found his
path obstructed by one of the men in red. "You have
to wait here, Sire," said the man in red.
__"Why?"__
"Orders, Sire."
"Whose orders? "
"Our orders, Sire."
Graham looked his exasperation.
"What place is this?" he said presently. "Who
are those men? "
"They are the lords of the Council, Sire."
"What Council? "
"__The__ Council."
"Oh!" said Graham, and after an equally ineffectual
attempt at the other man, went to the railing and
stared at the distant men in white, who stood watching
him and whispering together.
The Council? He perceived there were now eight,
though how the newcomer had arrived he had not
observed. They made no gestures of greeting; they
stood regarding him as in the nineteenth century a
group of men might have stood in the street regarding
a distant balloon that had suddenly floated into view.
What council could it be that gathered there, that little
body of men beneath the significant white Atlas,
secluded from every eavesdropper in this impressive
spaciousness? And why should he be brought to
them, and be looked at strangely and spoken of
inaudibly? Howard appeared beneath, walking
quickly across the polished floor towards them. As he
drew near he bowed and performed certain peculiar
movements, apparently of a ceremonious nature.
Then he ascended the steps of the dais, and stood by
the apparatus at the end of the table.
Graham watched that visible inaudible conversation.
Occasionally, one of the white-robed men would
glance towards him. He strained his ears in vain.
The gesticulation of two of the speakers became
animated. He glanced from them to the passive faces of
his attendants. . . . When he looked again Howard
was extending his hands and moving his head like a
man who protests. He was interrupted, it seemed, by
one of the white-robed men rapping the table.
The conversation lasted an interminable time to
Graham's sense. His eyes rose to the still giant at
whose feet the Council sat. Thence they wandered
at last to the walls of the hall. It was decorated in
long painted panels of a quasi-Japanese type, many
of them very beautiful. These panels were grouped
in a great and elaborate framing of dark metal, which
passed into the metallic caryatidae of the galleries, and
the great structural lines of the interior. The facile
grace of these panels enhanced the mighty white effort
that laboured in the centre of the scheme. Graham's
eyes came back to the Council, and Howard was
descending the steps. As he drew nearer his features
could be distinguished, and Graham saw that he was
flushed and blowing out his cheeks. His countenance
was still disturbed when presently he reappeared along
the gallery.
"This way," he said concisely, and they went on in
silence to a little door that opened at their approach.
The two men in red stopped on either side of this door.
Howard and Graham passed in, and Graham, glancing
back, saw the white-robed Council still standing in a
close group and looking at him. Then the door closed
behind him with a heavy thud, and for the first time
since his awakening he was in silence. The floor, even,
was noiseless to his feet.
Howard opened another door, and they were in the
first of two contiguous chambers furnished in white
and green. "What Council was that? " began Graham.
"What were they discussing? What have
they to do with me?" Howard closed the door carefully,
heaved a huge sigh, and said something in an
undertone. He walked slanting ways across the room
and turned, blowing out his cheeks again. "Ugh!"
he grunted, a man relieved.
Graham stood regarding him.
"You must understand," began Howard abruptly,
avoiding Graham's eyes, "that our social order is
very complex. A half explanation, a bare unqualified
statement would give you false impressions. As a
matter of fact--it is a case of compound interest
partly--your small fortune, and the fortune of your
cousin Warming which was left to you--and certain
other beginnings--have become very considerable.
And in other ways that will be hard for you to understand,
you have become a person of significance--of
very considerable significance--involved in the
world's affairs."
He stopped.
"Yes?" said Graham.
"We have grave social troubles."
"Yes? "
"Things have come to such a pass that, in fact,
is advisable to seclude you here."
"Keep me prisoner! " exclaimed Graham.
"Well--to ask you to keep in seclusion."
Graham turned on him. "This is strange!" he
said.
"No harm will be done you."
"No harm ! "
"But you must be kept here--"
"While I learn my position, I presume."
"Precisely."
"Very well then. Begin. Why __harm?__"
" Not now."
"Why not? "
"It is too long a story, Sire."
"All the more reason I should begin at once. You
say I am a person of importance. What was that
shouting I heard? Why is a great multitude shouting
and excited because my trance is over, and who are
the men in white in that huge council chamber? "
"All in good time, Sire," said Howard. "But not
crudely, not crudely. This is one of those flimsy times
when no man has a settled mind. Your awakening.
No one expected your awakening. The Council is
consulting."
"What council? "
"The Council you saw."
Graham made a petulant movement. " This is not
right," he said. " I should be told what is happening.
"You must wait. Really you must wait."
Graham sat down abruptly. "I suppose since I
have waited so long to resume life," he said, "that I
must wait a little longer."
"That is better," said Howard. "Yes, that is much
better. And I must leave you alone. For a space.
While I attend the discussion in the Council.
I am sorry."
He went towards the noiseless door, hesitated and
vanished.
Graham walked to the door, tried it, found it securely
fastened in some way he never came to understand,
turned about, paced the room restlessly, made
the circuit of the room, and sat down. He remained
sitting for some time with folded arms and knitted
brow, biting his finger nails and trying to piece
together the kaleidoscopic impressions of this first
hour of awakened life; the vast mechanical spaces, the
endless series of chambers and passages, the great
struggle that roared and splashed through these
strange ways, the little group of remote unsympathetic
men beneath the colossal Atlas, Howard's mysterious
behaviour. There was an inkling of some vast inheritance
already in his mind--a vast inheritance perhaps
misapplied--of some unprecedented importance
and opportunity. What had he to do? And this
room's secluded silence was eloquent of imprisonment!
It came into Graham's mind with irresistible conviction
that this series of magnificent impressions was
a dream. He tried to shut his eyes and succeeded,
but that time-honoured device led to no awakening.
Presently he began to touch and examine all the
unfamiliar appointments of the two small rooms in
which he found himself.
In a long oval panel of mirror he saw himself and
stopped astonished. He was clad in a gracefulcostume
- glimpse [glimps]
n.&v.瞥见 (初中英语单词) - gallery [´gæləri] n.画廊；美术馆；长廊 (初中英语单词)
- whisper [´wispə] v.耳语 n.低语；沙沙声 (初中英语单词)
- observation [,ɔbzə´veiʃən] n.观测；注意；意义 (初中英语单词)
- extreme [ik´stri:m] a.尽头的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)
- mechanical [mi´kænikəl] a.机械的；力学的 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- equally [´i:kwəli] ad.相等地；平等地 (初中英语单词)
- strangely [´streindʒli] ad.奇怪地；陌生地 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- visible [´vizəbəl] a.可见的；明显的 (初中英语单词)
- passive [´pæsiv] a.被动的 n.被动性 (初中英语单词)
- thence [ðens] ad.从那里；因此 (初中英语单词)
- elaborate [i´læbərət, -reit] a.精心设计的 (初中英语单词)
- interior [in´tiəriə] n.&a.内部地(的) (初中英语单词)
- scheme [ski:m] n.计划；阴谋，诡计 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- complex [´kɔmpleks] a.复杂的 n.综合企业 (初中英语单词)
- explanation [,eksplə´neiʃən] n.解释；说明；辩解 (初中英语单词)
- compound [kəm´paund] n.&a.混合(的) v.合成 (初中英语单词)
- considerable [kən´sidərəbəl] a.重要的；值得重视 (初中英语单词)
- multitude [´mʌltitju:d] n.大群(批)；众多 (初中英语单词)
- movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)
- abruptly [ə´brʌptli] ad.突然地；粗鲁地 (初中英语单词)
- discussion [di´skʌʃən] n.讨论；辩论 (初中英语单词)
- circuit [´sə:kit] n.环行 v.(绕....)环行 (初中英语单词)
- series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)
- remote [ri´məut] a.遥远的；偏僻的 (初中英语单词)
- magnificent [mæg´nifisənt] a.壮丽的；豪华的 (初中英语单词)
- device [di´vais] n.装置；器具；策略 (初中英语单词)
- graceful [´greisfəl] a.优美的，流畅的 (初中英语单词)
- costume [´kɔstju:m] n.服装(试样)；女装 (初中英语单词)
- stiffly [´stifli] ad.硬；顽固地 (高中英语单词)
- gigantic [dʒai´gæntik] a.巨大的 (高中英语单词)
- vacancy [´veikənsi] n.空缺；空间；空虚 (高中英语单词)
- greatness [´greitnis] n.巨大；高尚；卓越 (高中英语单词)
- regarding [ri´gɑ:diŋ] prep.关于 (高中英语单词)
- mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
- newcomer [´nju:,kʌmə] n.新来的人；移民 (高中英语单词)
- balloon [bə´lu:n] n.气球 (高中英语单词)
- significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)
- apparently [ə´pærəntli] ad.显然，表面上地 (高中英语单词)
- apparatus [,æpə´reitəs] n.仪器；装置 (高中英语单词)
- metallic [mi´tælik] a.金属(性)的 (高中英语单词)
- distinguished [di´stiŋgwiʃt] a.卓越的，著名的 (高中英语单词)
- chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)
- inheritance [in´heritəns] n.继承(物)；遗传；遗产 (高中英语单词)
- graham [´greiəm] a.&n.用全麦粉做的 (英语四级单词)
- pedestal [´pedistl] n.垫座 vt.给...装上座 (英语四级单词)
- painfully [´peinfuli] ad.痛苦地；费力地 (英语四级单词)
- arisen [ə´rizn] arise的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- railing [´reiliŋ] n.栏杆 (英语四级单词)
- warming [´wɔ:miŋ] n.暖和；加温 (英语四级单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
- colossal [kə´lɔsəl] a.庞大的；异常的 (英语四级单词)
- eloquent [´eləkwənt] a.流利的；雄辩的 (英语四级单词)
- irresistible [,iri´zistəbəl] a.不可抵抗的 (英语四级单词)
- richness [´ritʃnis] n.富饶；富裕；华美 (英语六级单词)
- brilliantly [´briljəntli] ad.灿烂地；杰出地 (英语六级单词)
- interminable [in´tə:minəbəl] a.无终止的；冗长的 (英语六级单词)
- awakening [ə´weikəniŋ] n.&a.觉醒(中的) (英语六级单词)
- advisable [əd´vaizəbl] a.合适的，得当的 (英语六级单词)
- trance [trɑ:ns] n.恍惚；出神 (英语六级单词)
- restlessly [´restlisli] ad.不安定地；烦躁地 (英语六级单词)
- biting [´baitiŋ] a.刺痛的；尖利的 (英语六级单词)
- unprecedented [ʌn´presidentid] a.空前的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
京公网安备 11011202003401号
