章节正文
"Courage did not die with the Sons of Wisdom," she said.
Then we set out, Yva walking ahead of us and Tommy frisking at
her side.
Our road led us through the temple. As we passed the great
gates I started, for there, in the centre of that glorious
building, I perceived a change. The statue of Fate was no more!
It lay broken upon the pavement among those fragments of its two
worshippers which I had seen shaken down some hours before.
"What does this mean?" I whispered to Yva. "I have felt no
other earthquake."
"I do not know," she answered, "or if I know I may not say. Yet
learn that no god can live on without a single worshipper, and,
in a fashion, that idol was alive, though this you will not
believe."
"How very remarkable," said Bastin, contemplating the ruin. "If
I were superstitious, which I am not, I should say that this
occurrence was an omen indicating the final fall of a false god.
At any rate it is dead now, and I wonder what caused it?"
"I felt an earth tremor last night," said Bickley, "though it
is odd that it should only have affected this particular statue.
A thousand pities, for it was a wonderful work of art."
Then I remembered and reminded Bickley of the crash which we
had heard while Yva and Bastin were absent on some secret
business in the chamber.
Walking the length of the great church, if so it could be
called, we came to an apse at the head of it where, had it been
Christian, the altar would have stood. In this apse was a little
open door through which we passed. Beyond it lay a space of rough
rock that looked as though it had been partially prepared for the
erection of buildings and then abandoned. All this space was
lighted, however, like the rest of the City of Nyo, and in the
same mysterious way. Led by Yva, we threaded our path between the
rough stones, following a steep downward slope. Thus we walked
for perhaps half a mile, till at length we came to the mouth of a
huge pit that must, I imagine, have lain quite a thousand feet
below the level of the temple.
I looked over the edge of this pit and shrank back terrified.
It seemed to be bottomless. Moreover, a great wind rushed up it
with a roaring sound like to that of an angry sea. Or rather
there were two winds, perhaps draughts would be a better term, if
I may apply it to an air movement of so fierce and terrible a
nature. One of these rushed up the pit, and one rushed down. Or
it may have been that the up rush alternated with the down rush.
Really it is impossible to say.
"What is this place?" I asked, clinging to the others and
shrinking back in alarm from its sheer edge and bottomless depth,
for that this was enormous we could see by the shaft of light
which flowed downwards farther than the eye could follow.
"It is a vent up and down which air passes from and to the
central hollows of the earth," Yva answered. "Doubtless in the
beginning through it travelled that mighty force which blew out
these caves in the heated rocks, as the craftsman blows out
glass."
"I understand," said Bastin. "Just like one blows out a bubble
on a pipe, only on a larger scale. Well, it is very interesting,
but I have seen enough of it. Also I am afraid of being blown
away."
"I fear that you must see more," answered Yva with a smile,
"since we are about to descend this pit."
"Do you mean that we are to go down that hole, and if so, how?
I don't see any lift, or moving staircase, or anything of that
sort."
"Easily and safely enough, Bastin. See."
As she spoke a great flat rock of the size of a small room
appeared, borne upwards" target="_blank" title="ad.=upward">upwards, as I suppose, by the terrificdraught
which roared past us on its upward course. When it reached the
lip of the shaft, it hung a little while, then moved across and
began to descend with such incredibleswiftness that in a few
seconds it had vanished from view.
"Oh!" said Bastin, with his eyes almost starting out of his
head, "that's the lift, is it? Well, I tell you at once I don't
like the look of the thing. It gives me the creeps. Suppose it
tilted."
"It does not tilt," answered Yva, still smiling. "I tell you,
Bastin, that there is naught to fear. Only yesterday, I rode this
rock and returned unharmed."
"That is all very well, Lady Yva, but you may know how to
balance it; also when to get on and off."
"If you are afraid, Bastin, remain here until your companions
return. They, I think, will make the journey."
Bickley and I intimated that we would, though to tell the
truth, if less frank we were quite as alarmed as Bastin.
"No, I'll come too. I suppose one may as well die this way as
any other, and if anything were to happen to them and I were left
alone, it would be worse still."
"Then be prepared," said Yva, "for presently this air-chariot
of ours will return. When it appears and hangs upon the edge,
step on to it and throw yourselves upon your faces and all will
be well. At the foot of the shaft the motion lessens till it
almost stops, and it is easy to spring, or even crawl to the firm
earth."
Then she stooped down and lifted Tommy who was sniffing
suspiciously at the edge of the pit, his long ears blown straight
above his head, holding him beneath her left arm and under her
cloak, that he might not see and be frightened.
We waited a while in silence, perhaps for five or six minutes,
among the most disagreeable, I think, that I ever passed. Then
far down in the brightness below appeared a black speck that
seemed to grow in size as it rushed upwards" target="_blank" title="ad.=upward">upwards.
"It comes," said Yva. "Prepare and do as I do. Do not spring,
or run, lest you should go too far. Step gently on to the rock
and to its centre, and there lie down. Trust in me, all of you."
"There's nothing else to do," groaned Bastin.
The great stone appeared and, as before, hung at the edge of
the pit. Yva stepped on to it quietly, as she did so, catching
hold of my wrist with her disengaged hand. I followed her feeling
very sick, and promptly sat down. Then came Bickley with the air
of the virtuous hero of a romance walking a pirate's plank, and
also sat down. Only Bastin hesitated until the stone began to
move away. Then with an ejaculation of "Here goes!" he jumped
over the intervening crack of space and landed in the middle of
us like a sack of coal. Had I not been seated really I think he
would have knocked me off the rock. As it was, with one hand he
gripped me by the beard and with the other grasped Yva's robe, of
neither of which would he leave go for quite a long time,
although we forced him on to his face. The lantern which he held
flew from his grasp and descended the shaft on its own account.
"You silly fool!" exclaimed Bickley whose perturbation showed
itself in anger. "There goes one of our lamps."
"Hang the lamp!" muttered the prostrate Bastin. "We shan't want
it in Heaven, or the other place either."
Now the stone which had quivered a little beneath the impact of
Bastin, steadied itself again and with a slow and majestic
movement sailed to the other side of the gulf. There it felt the
force of gravity, or perhaps the weight of the returning air
pressed on it, which I do not know. At any rate it began to fall,
slowly at first, then more swiftly, and afterwards at an
incredible pace, so that in a few seconds the mouth of the pit
above us grew small and presently vanished quite away. I looked
up at Yva who was standing composedly in the midst of our
prostrate shapes. She bent down and called in my ear:
"All is well. The heat begins, but it will not endure for
long."
I nodded and glanced over the edge of the stone at Bastin's
lantern which was sailing alongside of us, till presently we
passed it. Bastin had lit it before we started, I think in a
moment of aberration, and it burned for quite a long while,
showing like a star when the shaft grew darker as it did by
degrees, a circumstance that testifies to the excellence of the
make, which is one advertised not to go out in any wind. Not that
we felt wind, or even draught, perhaps because we were travelling
with it.
Then we entered the heat zone. About this there was no doubt,
for the perspiration burst out all over me and the burning air
scorched my lungs. Also Tommy thrust his head from beneath the
cloak with his tongue hanging out and his mouth wide open.
"Hold your breaths!" cried Yva, and we obeyed until we nearly
burst. At least I did, but what happened to the others I do not
know.
Fortunately it was soon over and the air began to grow cool
again. By now we had travelled an enormous distance, it seemed to
be miles on miles, and I noticed that our terrific speed was
slackening, also that the shaft grew more narrow, till at length
there were only a few feet between the edge of the stone and its
walls. The result of this, or so I supposed, was that the
compressed air acted as a buffer, lessening our momentum, till at
length the huge stone moved but very slowly.
"Be ready to follow me," cried Yva again, and we rose to our
feet, that is, Bickley and I did, but poor Bastin was semi-
comatose. The stone stopped and Yva sprang from it to a rock
platform level with which it lay. We followed, dragging Bastin
between us. As we did so something hit me gently on the head. It
was Bastin's lamp, which I seized.
"We are safe. Sit down and rest," said Yva, leading us a few
paces away.
We obeyed and presently by the dim light saw the stone begin to
stir again, this time upwards" target="_blank" title="ad.=upward">upwards. In another twenty seconds it was
away on its never-ending journey.
"Does it always go on like that?" said Bastin, sitting up and
staring after it.
"Tens of thousands of years ago it was journeying thus, and
tens of thousands of years hence it will still be journeying, or
so I think," she replied. "Why not, since the strength of the
draught never changes and there is nothing to wear it except the
air?"
Somehow the vision of this huge stone, first loosed and set in
motion by heaven knows what agency, travelling from aeon to aeon
up and down that shaft in obedience to some law I did not
understand, impressed my imagination like a nightmare. Indeed I
often dream of it to this day.
I looked about me. We were in some cavernous place that could
be but dimly seen, for here the light that flowed down the shaft
from the upper caves where it was mysteriously created, scarcely
shone, and often indeed was entirely cut off, when the ever-
journeying stone was in the narrowest parts of the passage. I
could see, however, that this cavern stretched away both to right
and left of us, while I felt that from the left, as we sat facing
the shaft, there drew down a strong blast of fresh air which
suggested that somewhere, however far away, it must open on to
the upper world. For the rest its bottom and walls seemed to be
smooth as though they had been planed in the past ages by the
action of cosmic forces. Bickley noticed this the first and
pointed it out to me. We had little time to observe, however, for
presently Yva said:
"If you are rested, friends, I pray you light those lamps of
yours, since we must walk a while in darkness."
We did and started, still travelling downhill. Yva walked ahead
with me and Tommy who seemed somewhat depressed and clung close
to our heels. The other two followed, arguing strenuously about I
know not what. It was their way of working off irritation and
alarms.
Then we set out, Yva walking ahead of us and Tommy frisking at
her side.
Our road led us through the temple. As we passed the great
gates I started, for there, in the centre of that glorious
building, I perceived a change. The statue of Fate was no more!
It lay broken upon the pavement among those fragments of its two
worshippers which I had seen shaken down some hours before.
"What does this mean?" I whispered to Yva. "I have felt no
other earthquake."
"I do not know," she answered, "or if I know I may not say. Yet
learn that no god can live on without a single worshipper, and,
in a fashion, that idol was alive, though this you will not
believe."
"How very remarkable," said Bastin, contemplating the ruin. "If
I were superstitious, which I am not, I should say that this
occurrence was an omen indicating the final fall of a false god.
At any rate it is dead now, and I wonder what caused it?"
"I felt an earth tremor last night," said Bickley, "though it
is odd that it should only have affected this particular statue.
A thousand pities, for it was a wonderful work of art."
Then I remembered and reminded Bickley of the crash which we
had heard while Yva and Bastin were absent on some secret
business in the chamber.
Walking the length of the great church, if so it could be
called, we came to an apse at the head of it where, had it been
Christian, the altar would have stood. In this apse was a little
open door through which we passed. Beyond it lay a space of rough
rock that looked as though it had been partially prepared for the
erection of buildings and then abandoned. All this space was
lighted, however, like the rest of the City of Nyo, and in the
same mysterious way. Led by Yva, we threaded our path between the
rough stones, following a steep downward slope. Thus we walked
for perhaps half a mile, till at length we came to the mouth of a
huge pit that must, I imagine, have lain quite a thousand feet
below the level of the temple.
I looked over the edge of this pit and shrank back terrified.
It seemed to be bottomless. Moreover, a great wind rushed up it
with a roaring sound like to that of an angry sea. Or rather
there were two winds, perhaps draughts would be a better term, if
I may apply it to an air movement of so fierce and terrible a
nature. One of these rushed up the pit, and one rushed down. Or
it may have been that the up rush alternated with the down rush.
Really it is impossible to say.
"What is this place?" I asked, clinging to the others and
shrinking back in alarm from its sheer edge and bottomless depth,
for that this was enormous we could see by the shaft of light
which flowed downwards farther than the eye could follow.
"It is a vent up and down which air passes from and to the
central hollows of the earth," Yva answered. "Doubtless in the
beginning through it travelled that mighty force which blew out
these caves in the heated rocks, as the craftsman blows out
glass."
"I understand," said Bastin. "Just like one blows out a bubble
on a pipe, only on a larger scale. Well, it is very interesting,
but I have seen enough of it. Also I am afraid of being blown
away."
"I fear that you must see more," answered Yva with a smile,
"since we are about to descend this pit."
"Do you mean that we are to go down that hole, and if so, how?
I don't see any lift, or moving staircase, or anything of that
sort."
"Easily and safely enough, Bastin. See."
As she spoke a great flat rock of the size of a small room
appeared, borne upwards" target="_blank" title="ad.=upward">upwards, as I suppose, by the terrificdraught
which roared past us on its upward course. When it reached the
lip of the shaft, it hung a little while, then moved across and
began to descend with such incredibleswiftness that in a few
seconds it had vanished from view.
"Oh!" said Bastin, with his eyes almost starting out of his
head, "that's the lift, is it? Well, I tell you at once I don't
like the look of the thing. It gives me the creeps. Suppose it
tilted."
"It does not tilt," answered Yva, still smiling. "I tell you,
Bastin, that there is naught to fear. Only yesterday, I rode this
rock and returned unharmed."
"That is all very well, Lady Yva, but you may know how to
balance it; also when to get on and off."
"If you are afraid, Bastin, remain here until your companions
return. They, I think, will make the journey."
Bickley and I intimated that we would, though to tell the
truth, if less frank we were quite as alarmed as Bastin.
"No, I'll come too. I suppose one may as well die this way as
any other, and if anything were to happen to them and I were left
alone, it would be worse still."
"Then be prepared," said Yva, "for presently this air-chariot
of ours will return. When it appears and hangs upon the edge,
step on to it and throw yourselves upon your faces and all will
be well. At the foot of the shaft the motion lessens till it
almost stops, and it is easy to spring, or even crawl to the firm
earth."
Then she stooped down and lifted Tommy who was sniffing
suspiciously at the edge of the pit, his long ears blown straight
above his head, holding him beneath her left arm and under her
cloak, that he might not see and be frightened.
We waited a while in silence, perhaps for five or six minutes,
among the most disagreeable, I think, that I ever passed. Then
far down in the brightness below appeared a black speck that
seemed to grow in size as it rushed upwards" target="_blank" title="ad.=upward">upwards.
"It comes," said Yva. "Prepare and do as I do. Do not spring,
or run, lest you should go too far. Step gently on to the rock
and to its centre, and there lie down. Trust in me, all of you."
"There's nothing else to do," groaned Bastin.
The great stone appeared and, as before, hung at the edge of
the pit. Yva stepped on to it quietly, as she did so, catching
hold of my wrist with her disengaged hand. I followed her feeling
very sick, and promptly sat down. Then came Bickley with the air
of the virtuous hero of a romance walking a pirate's plank, and
also sat down. Only Bastin hesitated until the stone began to
move away. Then with an ejaculation of "Here goes!" he jumped
over the intervening crack of space and landed in the middle of
us like a sack of coal. Had I not been seated really I think he
would have knocked me off the rock. As it was, with one hand he
gripped me by the beard and with the other grasped Yva's robe, of
neither of which would he leave go for quite a long time,
although we forced him on to his face. The lantern which he held
flew from his grasp and descended the shaft on its own account.
"You silly fool!" exclaimed Bickley whose perturbation showed
itself in anger. "There goes one of our lamps."
"Hang the lamp!" muttered the prostrate Bastin. "We shan't want
it in Heaven, or the other place either."
Now the stone which had quivered a little beneath the impact of
Bastin, steadied itself again and with a slow and majestic
movement sailed to the other side of the gulf. There it felt the
force of gravity, or perhaps the weight of the returning air
pressed on it, which I do not know. At any rate it began to fall,
slowly at first, then more swiftly, and afterwards at an
incredible pace, so that in a few seconds the mouth of the pit
above us grew small and presently vanished quite away. I looked
up at Yva who was standing composedly in the midst of our
prostrate shapes. She bent down and called in my ear:
"All is well. The heat begins, but it will not endure for
long."
I nodded and glanced over the edge of the stone at Bastin's
lantern which was sailing alongside of us, till presently we
passed it. Bastin had lit it before we started, I think in a
moment of aberration, and it burned for quite a long while,
showing like a star when the shaft grew darker as it did by
degrees, a circumstance that testifies to the excellence of the
make, which is one advertised not to go out in any wind. Not that
we felt wind, or even draught, perhaps because we were travelling
with it.
Then we entered the heat zone. About this there was no doubt,
for the perspiration burst out all over me and the burning air
scorched my lungs. Also Tommy thrust his head from beneath the
cloak with his tongue hanging out and his mouth wide open.
"Hold your breaths!" cried Yva, and we obeyed until we nearly
burst. At least I did, but what happened to the others I do not
know.
Fortunately it was soon over and the air began to grow cool
again. By now we had travelled an enormous distance, it seemed to
be miles on miles, and I noticed that our terrific speed was
slackening, also that the shaft grew more narrow, till at length
there were only a few feet between the edge of the stone and its
walls. The result of this, or so I supposed, was that the
compressed air acted as a buffer, lessening our momentum, till at
length the huge stone moved but very slowly.
"Be ready to follow me," cried Yva again, and we rose to our
feet, that is, Bickley and I did, but poor Bastin was semi-
comatose. The stone stopped and Yva sprang from it to a rock
platform level with which it lay. We followed, dragging Bastin
between us. As we did so something hit me gently on the head. It
was Bastin's lamp, which I seized.
"We are safe. Sit down and rest," said Yva, leading us a few
paces away.
We obeyed and presently by the dim light saw the stone begin to
stir again, this time upwards" target="_blank" title="ad.=upward">upwards. In another twenty seconds it was
away on its never-ending journey.
"Does it always go on like that?" said Bastin, sitting up and
staring after it.
"Tens of thousands of years ago it was journeying thus, and
tens of thousands of years hence it will still be journeying, or
so I think," she replied. "Why not, since the strength of the
draught never changes and there is nothing to wear it except the
air?"
Somehow the vision of this huge stone, first loosed and set in
motion by heaven knows what agency, travelling from aeon to aeon
up and down that shaft in obedience to some law I did not
understand, impressed my imagination like a nightmare. Indeed I
often dream of it to this day.
I looked about me. We were in some cavernous place that could
be but dimly seen, for here the light that flowed down the shaft
from the upper caves where it was mysteriously created, scarcely
shone, and often indeed was entirely cut off, when the ever-
journeying stone was in the narrowest parts of the passage. I
could see, however, that this cavern stretched away both to right
and left of us, while I felt that from the left, as we sat facing
the shaft, there drew down a strong blast of fresh air which
suggested that somewhere, however far away, it must open on to
the upper world. For the rest its bottom and walls seemed to be
smooth as though they had been planed in the past ages by the
action of cosmic forces. Bickley noticed this the first and
pointed it out to me. We had little time to observe, however, for
presently Yva said:
"If you are rested, friends, I pray you light those lamps of
yours, since we must walk a while in darkness."
We did and started, still travelling downhill. Yva walked ahead
with me and Tommy who seemed somewhat depressed and clung close
to our heels. The other two followed, arguing strenuously about I
know not what. It was their way of working off irritation and
alarms.
- temple [´tempəl]
n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词) - statue [´stætʃu:] n.塑像，雕像 (初中英语单词)
- shaken [´ʃeikən] shake的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- absent [´æbsənt, əb´sent] a.不在的 vt.使缺席 (初中英语单词)
- mysterious [mi´stiəriəs] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (初中英语单词)
- moreover [mɔ:´rəuvə] ad.再者，此外，而且 (初中英语单词)
- movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)
- fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)
- enormous [i´nɔ:məs] a.巨大地，很，极 (初中英语单词)
- descend [di´send] v.下来，下降 (初中英语单词)
- safely [´seifli] ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词)
- upward [´ʌpwəd] a.&ad.向上(的)；以上 (初中英语单词)
- yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
- presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)
- promptly [´prɔmptli] ad.敏捷地；即时地 (初中英语单词)
- romance [rəu´mæns] n.中世纪骑士小说 (初中英语单词)
- swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地，敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- endure [in´djuə] vt.忍耐，忍受；坚持 (初中英语单词)
- thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)
- supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)
- sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)
- vision [´viʒən] n.视觉；想象力；幻影 (初中英语单词)
- agency [´eidʒənsi] n.代理商；机构；代理 (初中英语单词)
- imagination [i,mædʒi´neiʃən] n.想象(力) (初中英语单词)
- mysteriously [mis´tiəriəsli] ad.神秘地；故弄玄虚地 (初中英语单词)
- working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
- pavement [´peivmənt] n.路面；铺筑材料 (高中英语单词)
- downward [´daunwəd] a.下降的，向下的 (高中英语单词)
- mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
- terrific [tə´rifik] a.可怕的；极大的 (高中英语单词)
- incredible [in´kredəbəl] a.不能相信的；惊人的 (高中英语单词)
- naught [nɔ:t] n.无；零 (高中英语单词)
- motion [´məuʃən] n.手势 vt.打手势 (高中英语单词)
- disagreeable [,disə´gri:əbl] a.令人不悦的 (高中英语单词)
- brightness [´braitnis] n.光明；快乐 (高中英语单词)
- lantern [´læntən] n.灯笼；提灯 (高中英语单词)
- gravity [´græviti] n.严肃；严重；重力 (高中英语单词)
- alongside [əlɔŋ´said] ad.在旁 prep.横靠 (高中英语单词)
- draught [drɑ:ft] n.通风，通气；吸出 (高中英语单词)
- hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)
- obedience [ə´bi:djəns] n.服从；顺从 (高中英语单词)
- cavern [´kævən] n.大山洞；大岩洞 (高中英语单词)
- superstitious [,sju:pə´stiʃəs] a.迷信的 (英语四级单词)
- partially [´pɑ:ʃəli] ad.部分地；局部地 (英语四级单词)
- downwards [´daunwədz] ad.向下，以下 (英语四级单词)
- staircase [´steəkeis] n.楼梯 =stairway (英语四级单词)
- upwards [´ʌpwədz] ad.=upward (英语四级单词)
- virtuous [´və:tjuəs] a.道德的；善良的 (英语四级单词)
- prostrate [´prɔstreit, prɔ´streit] a.俯伏的 vt.弄倒 (英语四级单词)
- excellence [´eksələns] n.优秀；杰出；优点 (英语四级单词)
- nightmare [´naitmeə] n.梦魇；恶梦 (英语四级单词)
- affected [ə´fektid] a.做作的；假装的 (英语六级单词)
- abandoned [ə´bændənd] a.被抛弃的；无约束的 (英语六级单词)
- shrank [ʃræŋk] shrink的过去式 (英语六级单词)
- swiftness [´swiftnis] n.迅速，敏捷 (英语六级单词)
- holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)
- impact [´impækt] n.影响，作用；冲击 (英语六级单词)
- depressed [di´prest] a.消沉的；萧条的 (英语六级单词)
- irritation [,iri´teiʃən] n.(被)激怒；疼痛处 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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