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Tanglewood Tales-Part4_NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE(1804-1864)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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mariners trimmed the vessel's black sails to the wind, which

blew faintly off the shore, being pretty much made up of the



sighs that everybody kept pouring forth on this melancholy

occasion. But by and by, when they had got fairly out to sea,



there came a stiff breeze from the north-west, and drove them

along as merrily over the white-capped waves as if they had



been going on the most delightfulerrand imaginable. And though

it was a sad business enough, I rather question whether



fourteen young people, without any old persons to keep them in

order, could continue to spend the whole time of the voyage in



being miserable. There had been some few dances upon the

undulating deck, I suspect, and some hearty bursts of laughter,



and other such unseasonable merriment among the victims, before

the high blue mountains of Crete began to show themselves among



the far-off clouds. That sight, to be sure, made them all very

grave again.



Theseus stood among the sailors, gazing eagerly towards the

land; although, as yet, it seemed hardly more substantial than



the clouds, amidst which the mountains were looming up. Once or

twice, he fancied that he saw a glare of some bright object, a



long way off, flinging a gleam across the waves.

"Did you see that flash of light?" he inquired of the master of



the vessel.

"No, prince; but I have seen it before," answered the master.



"It came from Talus, I suppose."

As the breeze came fresher just then, the master was busy with



trimming his sails, and had no more time to answer questions.

But while the vessel flew faster and faster towards Crete,



Theseus was astonished to behold a human figure, gigantic in

size, which appeared to be striding, with a measured movement,



along the margin of the island. It stepped from cliff to cliff,

and sometimes from one headland to another, while the sea



foamed and thundered on the shore beneath, and dashed its jets

of spray over the giant's feet. What was still more remarkable,



whenever the sun shone on this huge figure, it flickered and

glimmered; its vast countenance, too, had a metallic lustre,



and threw great flashes of splendor through the air. The folds

of its garments, moreover, instead of waving in the wind, fell



heavily over its limbs, as if woven of some kind of metal.

The nigher the vessel came, the more Theseus wondered what this



immense giant could be, and whether it actually had life or no.

For, though it walked, and made other lifelike motions, there



yet was a kind of jerk in its gait, which, together with its

brazenaspect, caused the young prince to suspect that it was



no true giant, but only a wonderful piece of machinery. The

figure looked all the more terrible because it carried an



enormous brass club on its shoulder.

"What is this wonder?" Theseus asked of the master of the



vessel, who was now at leisure to answer him.

"It is Talus, the Man of Brass," said the master.



"And is he a live giant, or a brazen image?" asked Theseus.

"That, truly," replied the master, "is the point which has



always perplexed me. Some say, indeed, that this Talus was

hammered out for King Minos by Vulcan himself, the skilfullest



of all workers in metal. But who ever saw a brazen image that

had sense enough to walk round an island three times a day, as



this giant walks round the island of Crete, challenging every

vessel that comes nigh the shore? And, on the other hand, what



living thing, unless his sinews were made of brass, would not

be weary of marching eighteen hundred miles in the twenty-four



hours, as Talus does, without ever sitting down to rest? He is

a puzzler, take him how you will."



Still the vessel went bounding onward; and now Theseus could

hear the brazen clangor of the giant's footsteps, as he trod



heavily upon the sea-beaten rocks, some of which were seen to

crack and crumble into the foaming waves beneath his weight. As



they approached the entrance of the port, the giant straddled

clear across it, with a foot firmly planted on each headland,



and uplifting his club to such a height that its butt-end was

hidden in the cloud, he stood in that formidableposture, with



the sun gleaming all over his metallic surface. There seemed




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