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Allan Quatermain-Part27_H.Rider Haggard(1856-1925)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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cold-eyed friend Agon, the High Priest. However, there was no

help for it, and personally I took great comfort in the promise



of the protection of the sister Queens, knowing that if ladies

have a will they can generally find a way; so off we started



as though we liked it. A minute's walk through a passage and

an outer court brought us to the great double gates of the palace



that open on to the wide highway which runs uphill through the

heart of Milosis to the Temple of the Sun a mile away, and thence



down the slope on the farther side of the temple to the outer

wall of the city.



These gates are very large and massive, and an extraordinarily

beautiful work in metal. Between them -- for one set is placed



at the entrance to an interior, and one at that of the exterior

wall -- is a fosse, forty-five feet in width. This fosse is



filled with water and spanned by a drawbridge, which when lifted

makes the palace nearly impregnable to anything except siege



guns. As we came, one half of the wide gates were flung open,

and we passed over the drawbridge and presently stood gazing



up one of the most imposing, if not the most imposing, roadways

in the world. It is a hundred feet from curb to curb, and on



either side, not cramped and crowded together, as is our European

fashion, but each standing in its own grounds, and built equidistant



from and in similar style to the rest, are a series of splendid,

single-storied mansions, all of red granite. These are the town



houses of the nobles of the Court, and stretch away in unbroken

lines for a mile or more till the eye is arrested by the glorious



vision of the Temple of the Sun that crowns the hill and heads

the roadway.



As we stood gazing at this splendid sight, of which more anon,

there suddenly dashed up to the gateway four chariots, each drawn



by two white horses. These chariots are two-wheeled, and made

of wood. They are fitted with a stout pole, the weight of which



is supported by leathern girths that form a portion of the harness.

The wheels are made with four spokes only, are tired with iron,



and quite innocent of springs. In the front of the chariot,

and immediately over the pole, is a small seat for the driver,



railed round to prevent him from being jolted off. Inside the

machine itself are three low seats, one at each side, and one



with the back to the horses, opposite to which is the door.

The whole vehicle is lightly and yet strongly made, and, owing



to the grace of the curves, though primitive, not half so ugly

as might be expected.



But if the chariots left something to be desired, the horses

did not. They were simply splendid, not very large but strongly



built, and well ribbed up, with small heads, remarkably large

and round hoofs, and a great look of speed and blood. I have



often and often wondered whence this breed, which presents many

distinct characteristics, came, but like that of its owners,



it history is obscure. Like the people the horses have always

been there. The first and last of these chariots were occupied



by guards, but the centre two were empty, except for the driver,

and to these we were conducted. Alphonse and I got into the



first, and Sir Henry, Good, and Umslopogaas into the one behind,

and then suddenly off we went. And we did go! Among the Zu-Vendi



it is not usual to trot horses either riding or driving, especially

when the journey to be made is a short one -- they go at full



gallop. As soon as we were seated the driver called out, the

horses sprang forward, and we were whirled away at a speed sufficient



to take one's breath, and which, till I got accustomed to it,

kept me in momentary fear of an upset. As for the wretched Alphonse,



he clung with a despairing face to the side of what he called

this 'devil of a fiacre', thinking that every moment was his



last. Presently it occurred to him to ask where we were going,

and I told him that, as far as I could ascertain, we were going



to be sacrificed by burning. You should have seen his face as

he grasped the side of the vehicle and cried out in his terror.



But the wild-looking charioteer only leant forward over his flying

steeds and shouted; and the air, as it went singing past, bore



away the sound of Alphonse's lamentations.

And now before us, in all its marvellous splendour and dazzling






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