‘Prhones te kai charhadrhai.’
ALCMAN. (60 (10),646.)
[The mountain pinnacles1 slumber2; valleys, crags and caves are silent.]
“LISTEN to me,” said the Demon3 as he placed his hand upon my head. “The region of which I speak is a dreary4 region in Libya, by the borders of the river Zaire. And there is no quiet there, nor silence.
“The waters of the river have a saffron and sickly hue5; and they flow not onwards to the sea, but palpitate forever and forever beneath the red eye of the sun with a tumultuous and convulsive motion. For many miles on either side of the river’s oozy7 bed is a pale desert of gigantic water-lilies. They sigh one unto the other in that solitude8, and stretch towards the heaven their long and ghastly necks, and nod to and fro their everlasting9 heads. And there is an indistinct murmur10 which cometh out from among them like the rushing of subterrene water. And they sigh one unto the other.
“But there is a boundary to their realm — the boundary of the dark, horrible, lofty forest. There, like the waves about the Hebrides, the low underwood is agitated11 continually. But there is no wind throughout the heaven. And the tall primeval trees rock eternally hither and thither12 with a crashing and mighty13 sound. And from their high summits, one by one, drop everlasting dews. And at the roots strange poisonous flowers lie writhing14 in perturbed15 slumber. And overhead, with a rustling16 and loud noise, the gray clouds rush westwardly17 forever, until they roll, a cataract18, over the fiery19 wall of the horizon. But there is no wind throughout the heaven. And by the shores of the river Zaire there is neither quiet nor silence.
“It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood. And I stood in the morass20 among the tall and the rain fell upon my head — and the lilies sighed one unto the other in the solemnity of their desolation.
“And, all at once, the moon arose through the thin ghastly mist, and was crimson21 in color. And mine eyes fell upon a huge gray rock which stood by the shore of the river, and was lighted by the light of the moon. And the rock was gray, and ghastly, and tall, — and the rock was gray. Upon its front were characters engraven in the stone; and I walked through the morass of water-lilies, until I came close unto the shore, that I might read the characters upon the stone. But I could not decypher them. And I was going back into the morass, when the moon shone with a fuller red, and I turned and looked again upon the rock, and upon the characters; — and the characters were DESOLATION.
“And I looked upwards22, and there stood a man upon the summit of the rock; and I hid myself among the water-lilies that I might discover the actions of the man. And the man was tall and stately in form, and was wrapped up from his shoulders to his feet in the toga of old Rome. And the outlines of his figure were indistinct — but his features were the features of a deity23; for the mantle24 of the night, and of the mist, and of the moon, and of the dew, had left uncovered the features of his face. And his brow was lofty with thought, and his eye wild with care; and, in the few furrows25 upon his cheek I read the fables26 of sorrow, and weariness, and disgust with mankind, and a longing28 after solitude.
“And the man sat upon the rock, and leaned his head upon his hand, and looked out upon the desolation. He looked down into the low unquiet shrubbery, and up into the tall primeval trees, and up higher at the rustling heaven, and into the crimson moon. And I lay close within shelter of the lilies, and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; — but the night waned29, and he sat upon the rock.
“And the man turned his attention from the heaven, and looked out upon the dreary river Zaire, and upon the yellow ghastly waters, and upon the pale legions of the water-lilies. And the man listened to the sighs of the water-lilies, and to the murmur that came up from among them. And I lay close within my covert31 and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; — but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.
“Then I went down into the recesses32 of the morass, and waded33 afar in among the wilderness34 of the lilies, and called unto the hippopotami which dwelt among the fens35 in the recesses of the morass. And the hippopotami heard my call, and came, with the behemoth, unto the foot of the rock, and roared loudly and fearfully beneath the moon. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; — but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.
“Then I cursed the elements with the curse of tumult6; and a frightful36 tempest gathered in the heaven where, before, there had been no wind. And the heaven became livid with the violence of the tempest — and the rain beat upon the head of the man — and the floods of the river came down — and the river was tormented37 into foam38 — and the water-lilies shrieked39 within their beds — and the forest crumbled40 before the wind — and the thunder rolled — and the lightning fell — and the rock rocked to its foundation. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; — but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.
“Then I grew angry and cursed, with the curse of silence, the river, and the lilies, and the wind, and the forest, and the heaven, and the thunder, and the sighs of the water-lilies. And they became accursed, and were still. And the moon ceased to totter41 up its pathway to heaven — and the thunder died away — and the lightning did not flash — and the clouds hung motionless — and the waters sunk to their level and remained — and the trees ceased to rock — and the water-lilies sighed no more — and the murmur was heard no longer from among them, nor any shadow of sound throughout the vast illimitable desert. And I looked upon the characters of the rock, and they were changed; — and the characters were Silence.
“And mine eyes fell upon the countenance42 of the man, and his countenance was wan30 with terror. And, hurriedly, he raised his head from his hand, and stood forth43 upon the rock and listened. But there was no voice throughout the vast illimitable desert, and the characters upon the rock were Silence. And the man shuddered44, and turned his face away, and fled afar off, in haste, so that I beheld45 him no more.”
Now there are fine tales in the volumes of the Magi — in the iron-bound, melancholy46 volumes of the Magi. Therein, I say, are glorious histories of the Heaven, and of the Earth, and of the mighty sea — and of the Genii that over-ruled the sea, and the earth, and the lofty heaven. There was much lore47 too in the sayings which were said by the Sybils; and holy, holy things were heard of old by the dim leaves that trembled around Dodona — but, as Allah liveth, that fable27 which the Demon told me as he sat by my side in the shadow of the tomb, I hold to be the most wonderful of all! And as the Demon made an end of his story, he fell back within the cavity of the tomb and laughed. And I could not laugh with the Demon, and he cursed me because I could not laugh. And the lynx which dwelleth forever in the tomb, came out therefrom, and lay down at the feet of the Demon, and looked at him steadily48 in the face.
The End
点击收听单词发音
1 pinnacles | |
顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 ); 顶点; 尖顶; 小尖塔 | |
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2 slumber | |
n.睡眠,沉睡状态 | |
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3 demon | |
n.魔鬼,恶魔 | |
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4 dreary | |
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的 | |
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5 hue | |
n.色度;色调;样子 | |
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6 tumult | |
n.喧哗;激动,混乱;吵闹 | |
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7 oozy | |
adj.软泥的 | |
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8 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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9 everlasting | |
adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的 | |
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10 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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11 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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12 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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13 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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14 writhing | |
(因极度痛苦而)扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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15 perturbed | |
adj.烦燥不安的v.使(某人)烦恼,不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 rustling | |
n. 瑟瑟声,沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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17 westwardly | |
向西,自西 | |
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18 cataract | |
n.大瀑布,奔流,洪水,白内障 | |
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19 fiery | |
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的 | |
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20 morass | |
n.沼泽,困境 | |
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21 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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22 upwards | |
adv.向上,在更高处...以上 | |
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23 deity | |
n.神,神性;被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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24 mantle | |
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红 | |
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25 furrows | |
n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 );(脸上的)皱纹v.犁田,开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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26 fables | |
n.寓言( fable的名词复数 );神话,传说 | |
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27 fable | |
n.寓言;童话;神话 | |
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28 longing | |
n.(for)渴望 | |
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29 waned | |
v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 );(月)亏;变小;变暗淡 | |
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30 wan | |
(wide area network)广域网 | |
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31 covert | |
adj.隐藏的;暗地里的 | |
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32 recesses | |
n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 );(工作或业务活动的)中止或暂停期间;学校的课间休息;某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 );将(墙)做成凹形,在(墙)上做壁龛;休息,休会,休庭 | |
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33 waded | |
(从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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35 fens | |
n.(尤指英格兰东部的)沼泽地带( fen的名词复数 ) | |
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36 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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37 tormented | |
饱受折磨的 | |
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38 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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39 shrieked | |
v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40 crumbled | |
(把…)弄碎, (使)碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 衰落; 坍塌; 损坏 | |
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41 totter | |
v.蹒跚, 摇摇欲坠;n.蹒跚的步子 | |
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42 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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43 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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44 shuddered | |
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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45 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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46 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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47 lore | |
n.传说;学问,经验,知识 | |
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48 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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