mankind. But I had her--and--"
His words went out ringing into the empty distances. He paused, and

seemed to listen to them dying away very far--beyond help and beyond
recall. Then he said quietly--

"Tuan, I loved my brother."
A breath of wind made him shiver. High above his head, high above the

silent sea of mist the drooping leaves of the palms rattled together
with a mournful and expiring sound. The white man stretched his legs.

His chin rested on his chest, and he murmured sadly without lifting
his head--

"We all love our brothers."
Arsat burst out with an intensewhispering violence--

"What did I care who died? I wanted peace in my own heart."
He seemed to hear a stir in the house--listened--then stepped in

noiselessly. The white man stood up. A breeze was coming in fitful
puffs. The stars shone paler as if they had retreated into the frozen

depths of immense space. After a chill gust of wind there were a few
seconds of perfect calm and absolute silence. Then from behind the

black and wavy line of the forests a column of golden light shot up
into the heavens and spread over the semicircle of the eastern

horizon. The sun had risen. The mist lifted, broke into drifting
patches, vanished into thin flying wreaths; and the unveiled lagoon

lay, polished and black, in the heavy shadows at the foot of the wall
of trees. A white eagle rose over it with a slanting and ponderous

flight, reached the clear sunshine and appeared dazzlingly brilliant
for a moment, then soaring higher, became a dark and motionless speck

before it vanished into the blue as if it had left the earth forever.
The white man, standing gazing upwards before the doorway, heard in

the hut a confused and broken murmur of distracted words ending with a
loud groan. Suddenly Arsat stumbled out with outstretched hands,

shivered, and stood still for some time with fixed eyes. Then he
said--

"She burns no more."
Before his face the sun showed its edge above the tree-tops rising

steadily. The breeze freshened; a great brilliance burst upon the
lagoon, sparkled on the rippling water. The forests came out of the

clear shadows of the morning, became distinct, as if they had rushed
nearer--to stop short in a great stir of leaves, of nodding boughs, of

swaying branches. In the mercilesssunshine the whisper of unconscious
life grew louder, speaking in an incomprehensible voice round the dumb

darkness of that human sorrow. Arsat's eyes wandered slowly, then
stared at the rising sun.

"I can see nothing," he said half aloud to himself.
"There is nothing," said the white man, moving to the edge of the

platform and waving his hand to his boat. A shout came faintly over
the lagoon and the sampan began to glide towards the abode of the

friend of ghosts.
"If you want to come with me, I will wait all the morning," said the

white man, looking away upon the water.
"No, Tuan," said Arsat, softly. "I shall not eat or sleep in this

house, but I must first see my road. Now I can see nothing--see
nothing! There is no light and no peace in the world; but there is

death--death for many. We are sons of the same mother--and I left him
in the midst of enemies; but I am going back now."

He drew a long breath and went on in a dreamy tone:
"In a little while I shall see clear enough to strike--to strike. But

she has died, and . . . now . . . darkness."
He flung his arms wide open, let them fall along his body, then stood

still with unmoved face and stony eyes, staring at the sun. The white
man got down into his canoe. The polers ran smartly along the sides of

the boat, looking over their shoulders at the beginning of a weary
journey. High in the stern, his head muffled up in white rags, the

juragan sat moody, letting his paddle trail in the water. The white
man, leaning with both arms over the grass roof of the little cabin,

looked back at the shining ripple of the boat's wake. Before the
sampan passed out of the lagoon into the creek he lifted his eyes.

Arsat had not moved. He stood lonely in the searching sunshine; and he
looked beyond the great light of a cloudless day into the darkness of

a world of illusions.
End

• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
• shiver [´ʃivə] v.&n.(使)颤抖；碎片 (初中英语单词)
• breeze [bri:z] n.微风；不费力的事 (初中英语单词)
• immense [i´mens] a.广大的，无限的 (初中英语单词)
• absolute [´æbsəlu:t] a.绝对的 n.绝对 (初中英语单词)
• column [´kɔləm] n.柱；柱状物；纵队 (初中英语单词)
• sunshine [´sʌnʃain] n.日光，阳光 (初中英语单词)
• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
• doorway [´dɔ:wei] n.门口 (初中英语单词)
• distinct [di´stiŋkt] a.清楚的；独特的 (初中英语单词)
• whisper [´wispə] v.耳语 n.低语；沙沙声 (初中英语单词)
• softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)
• beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)
• lonely [´ləunli] a.孤独的；无人烟的 (初中英语单词)
• intense [in´tens] a.强烈的；紧张的 (高中英语单词)
• motionless [´məuʃənləs] a.静止的；固定的 (高中英语单词)
• ending [´endiŋ] n.结尾，结局 (高中英语单词)
• faintly [´feintli] ad.微弱地，软弱无力的 (高中英语单词)
• paddle [´pædl] n.踏板 v.用浆划；划船 (高中英语单词)
• ripple [´ripəl] n.涟漪 v.(使)起涟漪 (高中英语单词)
• mournful [´mɔ:nful] a.令人沮丧的 (英语四级单词)
• upwards [´ʌpwədz] ad.=upward (英语四级单词)
• outstretched [,aut´stretʃt] a.扩张的；伸长的 (英语六级单词)
• brilliance [´briljəns] n.光辉，辉煌 (英语六级单词)
• merciless [´mə:siləs] a.残忍的；无情的 (英语六级单词)
• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)
• lagoon [lə´gu:n] n.濒海湖，泻湖 (英语六级单词)
• dreamy [´dri:mi] a.心不在焉的；朦胧的 (英语六级单词)
• unmoved [ʌn´mu:vd] a.无动于衷的；坚定的 (英语六级单词)