章节正文
I asked Yva what was about to happen, for a great fear
oppressed me.
"I am not sure, Beloved," she answered in a sweet and gentle
voice, "who do not know all Oro's secrets, but as I think, great
things. We are now deep in the bowels of the world, and
presently, perhaps, you will see some of its mighty forces
whereof your ignorant races have no knowledge, doing their
everlasting work."
"Then how is it that we can breathe here?" I asked. "Because
this road that we are following connects with the upper air or
used to do so, since once I followed it. It is a long road and
the climb is steep, but at last it leads to the light of the
blessed sun, nor are there any pitfalls in the path. Would that
we might tread it together, Humphrey," she added with passion,
"and be rid of mysteries and the gloom, or that light which is
worse than gloom."
"Why not?" I asked eagerly. "Why should we not turn and flee?"
"Who can flee from my father, the Lord Oro?" she replied. "He
would snare us before we had gone a mile. Moreover, if we fled,
by tomorrow half the world must perish."
"And how can we save it by not flying, Yva?"
"I do not know, Humphrey, yet I think it will be saved,
perchance by sacrifice. That is the keystone of your faith, is it
not? Therefore if it is asked of you to save the world, you will
not shrink from it, will you, Humphrey?"
"I hope not," I replied, without enthusiasm, I admit. Indeed it
struck me that a business of this sort was better fitted to
Bastin than to myself, or at any rate to his profession. I think
she guessed my thoughts, for by the light of the lamp I saw her
smile in her dazzling way. Then after a swift glance behind her,
she turned and suddenly kissed me, as she did so calling down
everlasting blessings on my head and on my spirit. There was
something very wonderful about this benediction of Yva's and it
thrilled me through and through, so that to it I could make no
answer.
Next moment it was too late to retreat, for our narrowing
passage turned and we found ourselves in a wondrous place. I call
it wondrous because of it we could see neither the beginning nor
the end, nor the roof, nor aught else save the rock on which we
walked, and the side or wall that our hands touched. Nor was this
because of darkness, since although it was not illuminated like
the upper caverns, light of a sort was present. It was a very
strange light, consisting of brilliant and intermittent flashes,
or globes of blue and lambent flame which seemed to leap from
nowhere into nowhere, or sometimes to hang poised in mid air.
"How odd they are," said the voice of Bastin behind me. "They
remind me of those blue sparks which jump up from the wires of
the tramways in London on a dark night. You know, don't you,
Bickley? I mean when the conductor pulls round that long stick
with an iron wheel on the top of it."
"Nobody but you could have thought of such a comparison,
Bastin," answered Bickley. "Still, multiplied a thousandfold they
are not unlike."
Nor indeed were they, except that each blue flash was as big as
the full moon and in one place or another they were so continuous
that one could have read a letter by their light. Also the effect
of them was ghastly and most unnatural, terrifying, too, since
even their brilliance could not reveal the extent of that
gigantic hollow in the bowels of the world wherein they leapt to
and fro like lightnings, or hung like huge, uncanny lanterns.
Chapter XXV
Sacrifice
"The air in this place must be charged with some form of
electricity, but the odd thing is that it does not seem to harm
us," said Bickley in a matter-of-fact fashion as though he were
determined not to be astonished.
"To me it looks more like marsh fires or St. Elmo lights,
though how these can be where there is no vapour, I do not know,"
I answered.
As I spoke a particularly large ball of flame fell from above.
It resembled a shooting star or a meteor more than anything else
that I had ever seen, and made me wonder whether we were not
perhaps standing beneath some inky, unseen sky.
Next moment I forgot such speculations, for in its blue light,
which made him terrible and ghastly, I perceived Oro standing in
front of us clad in a long cloak.
"Dear me!" said Bastin, "he looks just like the devil, doesn't
he, and now I come to think of it, this isn't at all a bad
imitation of hell."
"How do you know it is an imitation?" asked Bickley.
"Because whatever might be the case with you, Bickley, if it
were, the Lady Yva and I should not be here."
Even then I could not help smiling at this repartee, but the
argument went no further for Oro held up his hand and Yva bent
the knee in greeting to him.
"So you have come, all of you," he said. "I thought that
perhaps there were one or two who would not find courage to ride
the flying stone. I am glad that it is not so, since otherwise he
who had shown himself a coward should have had no share in the
rule of that new world which is to be. Therefore I chose yonder
road that it might test you."
"Then if you will be so good as to choose another for us to
return by, I shall be much obliged to you, Oro," said Bastin.
"How do you know that if I did it would not be more terrible,
Preacher? How do you know indeed that this is not your last
journey from which there is no return?"
"Of course I can't be sure of anything, Oro, but I think the
question is one which you might more appropriately put to
yourself. According to your own showing you are now extremely old
and therefore your end is likely to come at any moment. Of
course, however, if it did you would have one more journey to
make, but it wouldn't be polite for me to say in what direction."
Oro heard, and his splendid, icy face was twisted with sudden
rage. Remembering the scene in the temple where he had grovelled
before his god, uttering agonised, unanswered prayers for added
days, I understood the reason of his wrath. It was so great that
I feared lest he should kill Bastin (who only a few hours before,
be it remembered, had tried to kill him) then and there, as
doubtless he could have done if he wished. Fortunately, if he
felt it; the impulse passed.
"Miserable fool!" he said. "I warn you to keep a watch upon
your words. Yesterday you would have slain me with your toy.
Today you stab me with your ill-omened tongue. Be fearful lest I
silence it for ever."
"I am not in the least fearful, Oro, since I am sure that you
can't hurt me at all any more than I could hurt you last night
because, you see, it wasn't permitted. When the time comes for me
to die, I shall go, but you will have nothing to do with that. To
tell the truth, I am very sorry for you, as with all your
greatness, your soul is of the earth, earthy, also sensual and
devilish, as the Apostle said, and, I am afraid, very malignant,
and you will have a great deal to answer for shortly. Yours won't
be a happy deathbed, Oro, because, you see, you glory in your
sins and don't know what repentance means."
I must add that when I heard these words I was filled with the
most unbounded admiration for Bastin's fearless courage which
enabled him thus to beard this super-tyrant in his den. So indeed
were we all, for I read it in Yva's face and heard Bickley
mutter:
"Bravo! Splendid! After all there is something in faith!"
Even Oro appreciated it with his intellect, if not with his
heart, for he stared at the man and made no answer. In the
language of the ring, he was quite "knocked out" and, almost
humbly, changed the subject.
"We have yet a little while," he said, "before that happens
which I have decreed. Come, Humphrey, that I may show you some of
the marvels of this bubble blown in the bowels of the world," and
he motioned to us to pick up the lanterns.
Then he led us away from the wall of the cavern, if such it
was, for a distance of perhaps six or seven hundred paces. Here
suddenly we came to a great groove in the rocky floor, as broad
as a very wide roadway, and mayhap four feet in depth. The bottom
of this groove was polished and glittered; indeed it gave us the
impression of being iron, or other ore which had been welded
together beneath the grinding of some immeasurable weight. Just
at the spot where we struck the groove, it divided into two, for
this reason.
In its centre the floor of iron, or whatever it may have been,
rose, the fraction of an inch at first, but afterwards more
sharply, and this at a spot where the groove had a somewhat steep
downward dip which appeared to extend onwards I know not how far.
Following along this central rise for a great way, nearly a
mile, I should think, we observed that it became ever more
pronounced, till at length it ended in a razor-edge cliff which
stretched up higher than we could see, even by the light of the
electrical discharges. Standing against the edge of this cliff,
we perceived that at a distance from it there were now two
grooves of about equal width. One of these ran away into the
darkness on our right as we faced the sharp edge, and at an ever-
widening angle, while the other, at a similar angle, ran into the
darkness to the left of the knife of cliff. That was all.
No, there were two more notable things. Neither of the grooves
now lay within hundreds of yards of the cliff, perhaps a quarter
of a mile, for be it remembered we had followed the rising rock
between them. To put it quite clearly, it was exactly as though
one line of rails had separated into two lines of rails, as often
enough they do, and an observerstanding on high ground between
could see them both vanishing into tunnels to the right and left,
but far apart.
The second notable thing was that the right-handgroove, where
first we saw it at the point of separation, was not polished like
the left-hand groove, although at some time or other it seemed to
have been subjected to the pressure of the same terrific weight
which cut its fellow out of the bed of rock or iron, as the sharp
wheels of a heavily laden wagon sink ruts into a roadway.
"What does it all mean, Lord Oro?" I asked when he had led us
back to the spot where the one groove began to be two grooves,
that is, a mile or so away from the razor-edged cliff.
"This, Humphrey," he answered. "That which travels along yonder
road, when it reaches this spot on which we stand, follows the
left-hand path which is made bright with its passage. Yet, could
a giant at that moment of its touching this exact spot on which I
lay my hand, thrust it with sufficient strength, it would leave
the left-hand road and take the right-hand road."
"And if it did, what then; Lord Oro?"
"Then within an hour or so, when it had travelled far enough
upon its way, the balance of the earth would be changed, and
great things would happen in the world above, as once they
happened in bygone days. Now do you understand, Humphrey?"
"Good Heavens! Yes, I understand now," I answered. "But
fortunately there is no such giant."
Oro broke into a mocking laugh and his grey old face lit up
with a fiendish exultation, as he cried:
"Fool! I, Oro, am that giant. Once in the dead days I turned
the balance of the world from the right-hand road which now is
dull with disuse, to the left-hand road which glitters so
brightly to your eyes, and the face of the earth was changed. Now
again I will turn it from the left-hand road to the right-hand
road in which for millions of years it was wont to run, and once
more the face of the earth shall change, and those who are left
living upon the earth, or who in the course of ages shall come to
oppressed me.
"I am not sure, Beloved," she answered in a sweet and gentle
voice, "who do not know all Oro's secrets, but as I think, great
things. We are now deep in the bowels of the world, and
presently, perhaps, you will see some of its mighty forces
whereof your ignorant races have no knowledge, doing their
everlasting work."
"Then how is it that we can breathe here?" I asked. "Because
this road that we are following connects with the upper air or
used to do so, since once I followed it. It is a long road and
the climb is steep, but at last it leads to the light of the
blessed sun, nor are there any pitfalls in the path. Would that
we might tread it together, Humphrey," she added with passion,
"and be rid of mysteries and the gloom, or that light which is
worse than gloom."
"Why not?" I asked eagerly. "Why should we not turn and flee?"
"Who can flee from my father, the Lord Oro?" she replied. "He
would snare us before we had gone a mile. Moreover, if we fled,
by tomorrow half the world must perish."
"And how can we save it by not flying, Yva?"
"I do not know, Humphrey, yet I think it will be saved,
perchance by sacrifice. That is the keystone of your faith, is it
not? Therefore if it is asked of you to save the world, you will
not shrink from it, will you, Humphrey?"
"I hope not," I replied, without enthusiasm, I admit. Indeed it
struck me that a business of this sort was better fitted to
Bastin than to myself, or at any rate to his profession. I think
she guessed my thoughts, for by the light of the lamp I saw her
smile in her dazzling way. Then after a swift glance behind her,
she turned and suddenly kissed me, as she did so calling down
everlasting blessings on my head and on my spirit. There was
something very wonderful about this benediction of Yva's and it
thrilled me through and through, so that to it I could make no
answer.
Next moment it was too late to retreat, for our narrowing
passage turned and we found ourselves in a wondrous place. I call
it wondrous because of it we could see neither the beginning nor
the end, nor the roof, nor aught else save the rock on which we
walked, and the side or wall that our hands touched. Nor was this
because of darkness, since although it was not illuminated like
the upper caverns, light of a sort was present. It was a very
strange light, consisting of brilliant and intermittent flashes,
or globes of blue and lambent flame which seemed to leap from
nowhere into nowhere, or sometimes to hang poised in mid air.
"How odd they are," said the voice of Bastin behind me. "They
remind me of those blue sparks which jump up from the wires of
the tramways in London on a dark night. You know, don't you,
Bickley? I mean when the conductor pulls round that long stick
with an iron wheel on the top of it."
"Nobody but you could have thought of such a comparison,
Bastin," answered Bickley. "Still, multiplied a thousandfold they
are not unlike."
Nor indeed were they, except that each blue flash was as big as
the full moon and in one place or another they were so continuous
that one could have read a letter by their light. Also the effect
of them was ghastly and most unnatural, terrifying, too, since
even their brilliance could not reveal the extent of that
gigantic hollow in the bowels of the world wherein they leapt to
and fro like lightnings, or hung like huge, uncanny lanterns.
Chapter XXV
Sacrifice
"The air in this place must be charged with some form of
electricity, but the odd thing is that it does not seem to harm
us," said Bickley in a matter-of-fact fashion as though he were
determined not to be astonished.
"To me it looks more like marsh fires or St. Elmo lights,
though how these can be where there is no vapour, I do not know,"
I answered.
As I spoke a particularly large ball of flame fell from above.
It resembled a shooting star or a meteor more than anything else
that I had ever seen, and made me wonder whether we were not
perhaps standing beneath some inky, unseen sky.
Next moment I forgot such speculations, for in its blue light,
which made him terrible and ghastly, I perceived Oro standing in
front of us clad in a long cloak.
"Dear me!" said Bastin, "he looks just like the devil, doesn't
he, and now I come to think of it, this isn't at all a bad
imitation of hell."
"How do you know it is an imitation?" asked Bickley.
"Because whatever might be the case with you, Bickley, if it
were, the Lady Yva and I should not be here."
Even then I could not help smiling at this repartee, but the
argument went no further for Oro held up his hand and Yva bent
the knee in greeting to him.
"So you have come, all of you," he said. "I thought that
perhaps there were one or two who would not find courage to ride
the flying stone. I am glad that it is not so, since otherwise he
who had shown himself a coward should have had no share in the
rule of that new world which is to be. Therefore I chose yonder
road that it might test you."
"Then if you will be so good as to choose another for us to
return by, I shall be much obliged to you, Oro," said Bastin.
"How do you know that if I did it would not be more terrible,
Preacher? How do you know indeed that this is not your last
journey from which there is no return?"
"Of course I can't be sure of anything, Oro, but I think the
question is one which you might more appropriately put to
yourself. According to your own showing you are now extremely old
and therefore your end is likely to come at any moment. Of
course, however, if it did you would have one more journey to
make, but it wouldn't be polite for me to say in what direction."
Oro heard, and his splendid, icy face was twisted with sudden
rage. Remembering the scene in the temple where he had grovelled
before his god, uttering agonised, unanswered prayers for added
days, I understood the reason of his wrath. It was so great that
I feared lest he should kill Bastin (who only a few hours before,
be it remembered, had tried to kill him) then and there, as
doubtless he could have done if he wished. Fortunately, if he
felt it; the impulse passed.
"Miserable fool!" he said. "I warn you to keep a watch upon
your words. Yesterday you would have slain me with your toy.
Today you stab me with your ill-omened tongue. Be fearful lest I
silence it for ever."
"I am not in the least fearful, Oro, since I am sure that you
can't hurt me at all any more than I could hurt you last night
because, you see, it wasn't permitted. When the time comes for me
to die, I shall go, but you will have nothing to do with that. To
tell the truth, I am very sorry for you, as with all your
greatness, your soul is of the earth, earthy, also sensual and
devilish, as the Apostle said, and, I am afraid, very malignant,
and you will have a great deal to answer for shortly. Yours won't
be a happy deathbed, Oro, because, you see, you glory in your
sins and don't know what repentance means."
I must add that when I heard these words I was filled with the
most unbounded admiration for Bastin's fearless courage which
enabled him thus to beard this super-tyrant in his den. So indeed
were we all, for I read it in Yva's face and heard Bickley
mutter:
"Bravo! Splendid! After all there is something in faith!"
Even Oro appreciated it with his intellect, if not with his
heart, for he stared at the man and made no answer. In the
language of the ring, he was quite "knocked out" and, almost
humbly, changed the subject.
"We have yet a little while," he said, "before that happens
which I have decreed. Come, Humphrey, that I may show you some of
the marvels of this bubble blown in the bowels of the world," and
he motioned to us to pick up the lanterns.
Then he led us away from the wall of the cavern, if such it
was, for a distance of perhaps six or seven hundred paces. Here
suddenly we came to a great groove in the rocky floor, as broad
as a very wide roadway, and mayhap four feet in depth. The bottom
of this groove was polished and glittered; indeed it gave us the
impression of being iron, or other ore which had been welded
together beneath the grinding of some immeasurable weight. Just
at the spot where we struck the groove, it divided into two, for
this reason.
In its centre the floor of iron, or whatever it may have been,
rose, the fraction of an inch at first, but afterwards more
sharply, and this at a spot where the groove had a somewhat steep
downward dip which appeared to extend onwards I know not how far.
Following along this central rise for a great way, nearly a
mile, I should think, we observed that it became ever more
pronounced, till at length it ended in a razor-edge cliff which
stretched up higher than we could see, even by the light of the
electrical discharges. Standing against the edge of this cliff,
we perceived that at a distance from it there were now two
grooves of about equal width. One of these ran away into the
darkness on our right as we faced the sharp edge, and at an ever-
widening angle, while the other, at a similar angle, ran into the
darkness to the left of the knife of cliff. That was all.
No, there were two more notable things. Neither of the grooves
now lay within hundreds of yards of the cliff, perhaps a quarter
of a mile, for be it remembered we had followed the rising rock
between them. To put it quite clearly, it was exactly as though
one line of rails had separated into two lines of rails, as often
enough they do, and an observerstanding on high ground between
could see them both vanishing into tunnels to the right and left,
but far apart.
The second notable thing was that the right-handgroove, where
first we saw it at the point of separation, was not polished like
the left-hand groove, although at some time or other it seemed to
have been subjected to the pressure of the same terrific weight
which cut its fellow out of the bed of rock or iron, as the sharp
wheels of a heavily laden wagon sink ruts into a roadway.
"What does it all mean, Lord Oro?" I asked when he had led us
back to the spot where the one groove began to be two grooves,
that is, a mile or so away from the razor-edged cliff.
"This, Humphrey," he answered. "That which travels along yonder
road, when it reaches this spot on which we stand, follows the
left-hand path which is made bright with its passage. Yet, could
a giant at that moment of its touching this exact spot on which I
lay my hand, thrust it with sufficient strength, it would leave
the left-hand road and take the right-hand road."
"And if it did, what then; Lord Oro?"
"Then within an hour or so, when it had travelled far enough
upon its way, the balance of the earth would be changed, and
great things would happen in the world above, as once they
happened in bygone days. Now do you understand, Humphrey?"
"Good Heavens! Yes, I understand now," I answered. "But
fortunately there is no such giant."
Oro broke into a mocking laugh and his grey old face lit up
with a fiendish exultation, as he cried:
"Fool! I, Oro, am that giant. Once in the dead days I turned
the balance of the world from the right-hand road which now is
dull with disuse, to the left-hand road which glitters so
brightly to your eyes, and the face of the earth was changed. Now
again I will turn it from the left-hand road to the right-hand
road in which for millions of years it was wont to run, and once
more the face of the earth shall change, and those who are left
living upon the earth, or who in the course of ages shall come to
- ignorant [´ignərənt]
a.无知的，愚昧的 (初中英语单词) - eagerly [´i:gəli] ad.渴望地，急切地 (初中英语单词)
- moreover [mɔ:´rəuvə] ad.再者，此外，而且 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- enthusiasm [in´θju:ziæzəm] n.热心；狂热；爱好 (初中英语单词)
- profession [prə´feʃən] n.职业；声明；表白 (初中英语单词)
- retreat [ri´tri:t] v.&n.退却；撤退；放弃 (初中英语单词)
- beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)
- brilliant [´briliənt] a.灿烂的；杰出的 (初中英语单词)
- conductor [kən´dʌktə] n.指导者；向导者 (初中英语单词)
- extent [ik´stent] n.长度；程度；范围 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)
- otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
- coward [´kauəd] n.胆怯者 a.胆小的 (初中英语单词)
- extremely [ik´stri:mli] ad.极端地；非常地 (初中英语单词)
- polite [pə´lait] a.有礼貌的；温和的 (初中英语单词)
- temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)
- impulse [´impʌls] n.推动(力)；冲动；刺激 (初中英语单词)
- yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
- fearful [´fiəfəl] a.可怕的；担心的 (初中英语单词)
- shortly [´ʃɔ:tli] ad.立刻，马上；不久 (初中英语单词)
- admiration [,ædmə´reiʃən] n.赞赏，钦佩 (初中英语单词)
- bubble [´bʌbəl] n.水泡 vi.冒泡；沸腾 (初中英语单词)
- observer [əb´zə:və] n.遵守者；观察员 (初中英语单词)
- pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
- thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)
- mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
- shrink [ʃriŋk] v.收缩；退缩；畏缩 (高中英语单词)
- nowhere [´nəuweə] n.无处；不知道 (高中英语单词)
- ghastly [´gɑ:stli] a.苍白的；可怕的 (高中英语单词)
- wherein [weər´in] ad.那里面 (高中英语单词)
- meteor [´mi:tiə] n.大气现象；流星 (高中英语单词)
- unseen [,ʌn´si:n] a.未看见的 (高中英语单词)
- fortunately [´fɔ:tʃənətli] ad.幸运地 (高中英语单词)
- fearless [´fiələs] a.不怕的，无畏的 (高中英语单词)
- cavern [´kævən] n.大山洞；大岩洞 (高中英语单词)
- fraction [´frækʃən] n.小部分；一点儿 (高中英语单词)
- notable [´nəutəbəl] a.显著的 n.名人 (高中英语单词)
- separation [,sepə´reiʃən] n.分离；分开；分居 (高中英语单词)
- terrific [tə´rifik] a.可怕的；极大的 (高中英语单词)
- wondrous [´wʌndrəs] a.极好的 ad.惊人地 (英语四级单词)
- unnatural [,ʌn´nætʃərəl] a.不自然的 (英语四级单词)
- apostle [ə´pɔsəl] n.传道者 (英语四级单词)
- intellect [´intilekt] n.智力；有才智的人 (英语四级单词)
- groove [gru:v] n.槽 vt.在...作槽 (英语四级单词)
- right-hand [´rait´hænd] a.右手的，右边的 (英语四级单词)
- touching [´tʌtʃiŋ] a.动人的 prep.提到 (英语四级单词)
- calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)
- brilliance [´briljəns] n.光辉，辉煌 (英语六级单词)
- uncanny [ʌn´kæni] a.神秘的；离奇的 (英语六级单词)
- matter-of-fact [mætərɔv´fækt] a.实事求是的 (英语六级单词)
- repentance [ri´pentəns] n.悔悟，悔改；忏悔 (英语六级单词)
- roadway [´rəudwei] n.车行道；路面 (英语六级单词)
- exultation [egzʌl´teiʃən] n.欢腾，狂欢 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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