They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses1:
“You are the saviours2 of Carthage! But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent3. Withdraw! The Republic will be grateful to you later for all this condescension4. We are going to levy5 taxes immediately; your pay shall be in full, and galleys6 shall be equipped to take you back to your native lands.”
They did not know how to reply to all this talk. These men, accustomed as they were to war, were wearied by residence in a town; there was difficulty in convincing them, and the people mounted the walls to see them go away.
They defiled7 through the street of Khamon, and the Cirta gate, pell-mell, archers8 with hoplites, captains with soldiers, Lusitanians with Greeks. They marched with a bold step, rattling9 their heavy cothurni on the paving stones. Their armour10 was dented11 by the catapult, and their faces blackened by the sunburn of battles. Hoarse12 cries issued from their thick bears, their tattered14 coats of mail flapped upon the pommels of their swords, and through the holes in the brass15 might be seen their naked limbs, as frightful17 as engines of war. Sarissae, axes, spears, felt caps and bronze helmets, all swung together with a single motion. They filled the street thickly enough to have made the walls crack, and the long mass of armed soldiers overflowed18 between the lofty bitumen-smeared houses six storys high. Behind their gratings of iron or reed the women, with veiled heads, silently watched the Barbarians21 pass.
The terraces, fortifications, and walls were hidden beneath the crowd of Carthaginians, who were dressed in garments of black. The sailors’ tunics22 showed like drops of blood among the dark multitude, and nearly naked children, whose skin shone beneath their copper24 bracelets25, gesticulated in the foliage26 of the columns, or amid the branches of a palm tree. Some of the Ancients were posted on the platform of the towers, and people did not know why a personage with a long beard stood thus in a dreamy attitude here and there. He appeared in the distance against the background of the sky, vague as a phantom27 and motionless as stone.
All, however, were oppressed with the same anxiety; it was feared that the Barbarians, seeing themselves so strong, might take a fancy to stay. But they were leaving with so much good faith that the Carthaginians grew bold and mingled28 with the soldiers. They overwhelmed them with protestations and embraces. Some with exaggerated politeness and audacious hypocrisy29 even sought to induce them not to leave the city. They threw perfumes, flowers, and pieces of silver to them. They gave them amulets30 to avert32 sickness; but they had spit upon them three times to attract death, or had enclosed jackal’s hair within them to put cowardice33 into their hearts. Aloud, they invoked34 Melkarth’s favour, and in a whisper, his curse.
Then came the mob of baggage, beasts of burden, and stragglers. The sick groaned35 on the backs of dromedaries, while others limped along leaning on broken pikes. The drunkards carried leathern bottles, and the greedy quarters of meat, cakes, fruits, butter wrapped in fig36 leaves, and snow in linen37 bags. Some were to be seen with parasols in their hands, and parrots on their shoulders. They had mastiffs, gazelles, and panthers following behind them. Women of Libyan race, mounted on asses38, inveighed39 against the Negresses who had forsaken40 the lupanaria of Malqua for the soldiers; many of them were suckling children suspended on their bosoms41 by leathern thongs42. The mules43 were goaded44 out at the point of the sword, their backs bending beneath the load of tents, while there were numbers of serving-men and water-carriers, emaciated46, jaundiced with fever, and filthy47 with vermin, the scum of the Carthaginian populace, who had attached themselves to the Barbarians.
When they had passed, the gates were shut behind them, but the people did not descend48 from the walls. The army soon spread over the breadth of the isthmus49.
It parted into unequal masses. Then the lances appeared like tall blades of grass, and finally all was lost in a train of dust; those of the soldiers who looked back towards Carthage could now only see its long walls with their vacant battlements cut out against the edge of the sky.
Then the Barbarians heard a great shout. They thought that some from among them (for they did not know their own number) had remained in the town, and were amusing themselves by pillaging50 a temple. They laughed a great deal at the idea of this, and then continued their journey.
They were rejoiced to find themselves, as in former days, marching all together in the open country, and some of the Greeks sang the old song of the Mamertines:
“With my lance and sword I plough and reap; I am master of the
house! The disarmed51 man falls at my feet and calls me Lord and
Great King.”
They shouted, they leaped, the merriest began to tell stories; the time of their miseries52 was past. As they arrived at Tunis, some of them remarked that a troop of Balearic slingers was missing. They were doubtless not far off; and no further heed53 was paid to them.
Some went to lodge54 in the houses, others camped at the foot of the walls, and the townspeople came out to chat with the soldiers.
During the whole night fires were seen burning on the horizon in the direction of Carthage; the light stretched like giant torches across the motionless lake. No one in the army could tell what festival was being celebrated55.
On the following day the Barbarian20’s passed through a region that was covered with cultivation56. The domains57 of the patricians58 succeeded one another along the border of the route; channels of water flowed through woods of palm; there were long, green lines of olive-trees; rose-coloured vapours floated in the gorges60 of the hills, while blue mountains reared themselves behind. A warm wind was blowing. Chameleons61 were crawling on the broad leaves of the cactus62.
The Barbarians slackened their speed.
They marched on in isolated63 detachments, or lagged behind one another at long intervals64. They ate grapes along the margin65 of the vines. They lay on the grass and gazed with stupefaction upon the large, artificially twisted horns of the oxen, the sheep clothed with skins to protect their wool, the furrows66 crossing one another so as to form lozenges, and the ploughshares like ships’ anchors, with the pomegranate trees that were watered with silphium. Such wealth of the soil and such inventions of wisdom dazzled them.
In the evening they stretched themselves on the tents without unfolding them; and thought with regret of Hamilcar’s feast, as they fell asleep with their faces towards the stars.
In the middle of the following day they halted on the bank of a river, amid clumps67 of rose-bays. Then they quickly threw aside lances, bucklers and belts. They bathed with shouts, and drew water in their helmets, while others drank lying flat on their stomachs, and all in the midst of the beasts of burden whose baggage was slipping from them.
Spendius, who was seated on a dromedary stolen in Hamilcar’s parks, perceived Matho at a distance, with his arm hanging against his breast, his head bare, and his face bent68 down, giving his mule31 drink, and watching the water flow. Spendius immediately ran through the crowd calling him, “Master! master!”
Matho gave him but scant69 thanks for his blessings70, but Spendius paid no heed to this, and began to march behind him, from time to time turning restless glances in the direction of Carthage.
He was the son of a Greek rhetor and a Campanian prostitute. He had at first grown rich by dealing71 in women; then, ruined by a shipwreck72, he had made war against the Romans with the herdsmen of Samnium. He had been taken and had escaped; he had been retaken, and had worked in the quarries74, panted in the vapour-baths, shrieked75 under torture, passed through the hands of many masters, and experienced every frenzy76. At last, one day, in despair, he had flung himself into the sea from the top of a trireme where he was working at the oar13. Some of Hamilcar’s sailors had picked him up when at the point of death, and had brought him to the ergastulum of Megara, at Carthage. But, as fugitives77 were to be given back to the Romans, he had taken advantage of the confusion to fly with the soldiers.
During the whole of the march he remained near Matho; he brought him food, assisted him to dismount, and spread a carpet in the evening beneath his head. Matho at last was touched by these attentions, and by degrees unlocked his lips.
He had been born in the gulf78 of Syrtis. His father had taken him on a pilgrimage to the temple of Ammon. Then he had hunted elephants in the forests of the Garamantes. Afterwards he had entered the service of Carthage. He had been appointed tetrarch at the capture of Drepanum. The Republic owed him four horses, twenty-three medimni of wheat, and a winter’s pay. He feared the gods, and wished to die in his native land.
Spendius spoke79 to him of his travels, and of the peoples and temples that he had visited. He knew many things: he could make sandals, boar-spears and nets; he could tame wild beasts and could cook fish.
Sometimes he would interrupt himself, and utter a hoarse cry from the depths of his throat; Matho’s mule would quicken his pace, and others would hasten after them, and then Spendius would begin again though still torn with agony. This subsided80 at last on the evening of the fourth day.
They were marching side by side to the right of the army on the side of a hill; below them stretched the plain lost in the vapours of the night. The lines of soldiers also were defiling81 below, making undulations in the shade. From time to time these passed over eminences82 lit up by the moon; then stars would tremble on the points of the pikes, the helmets would glimmer83 for an instant, all would disappear, and others would come on continually. Startled flocks bleated84 in the distance, and a something of infinite sweetness seemed to sink upon the earth.
Spendius, with his head thrown back and his eyes half-closed, inhaled85 the freshness of the wind with great sighs; he spread out his arms, moving his fingers that he might the better feel the cares that streamed over his body. Hopes of vengeance86 came back to him and transported him. He pressed his hand upon his mouth to check his sobs87, and half-swooning with intoxication88, let go the halter of his dromedary, which was proceeding89 with long, regular steps. Matho had relapsed into his former melancholy90; his legs hung down to the ground, and the grass made a continuous rustling91 as it beat against his cothurni.
The journey, however, spread itself out without ever coming to an end. At the extremity92 of a plain they would always reach a round-shaped plateau; then they would descend again into a valley, and the mountains which seemed to block up the horizon would, in proportion as they were approached, glide93 as it were from their positions. From time to time a river would appear amid the verdure of tamarisks to lose itself at the turning of the hills. Sometimes a huge rock would tower aloft like the prow94 of a vessel95 or the pedestal of some vanished colossus.
At regular intervals they met with little quadrangular temples, which served as stations for the pilgrims who repaired to Sicca. They were closed like tombs. The Libyans struck great blows upon the doors to have them opened. But no one inside responded.
Then the cultivation became more rare. They suddenly entered upon belts of sand bristling96 with thorny97 thickets98. Flocks of sheep were browsing99 among the stones; a woman with a blue fleece about her waist was watching them. She fled screaming when she saw the soldiers’ pikes among the rocks.
They were marching through a kind of large passage bordered by two chains of reddish coloured hillocks, when their nostrils100 were greeted with a nauseous odour, and they thought that they could see something extraordinary on the top of a carob tree: a lion’s head reared itself above the leaves.
They ran thither101. It was a lion with his four limbs fastened to a cross like a criminal. His huge muzzle102 fell upon his breast, and his two fore-paws, half-hidden beneath the abundance of his mane, were spread out wide like the wings of a bird. His ribs103 stood severally out beneath his distended104 skin; his hind19 legs, which were nailed against each other, were raised somewhat, and the black blood, flowing through his hair, had collected in stalactites at the end of his tail, which hung down perfectly105 straight along the cross. The soldiers made merry around; they called him consul106, and Roman citizen, and threw pebbles107 into his eyes to drive away the gnats108.
But a hundred paces further on they saw two more, and then there suddenly appeared a long file of crosses bearing lions. Some had been so long dead that nothing was left against the wood but the remains109 of their skeletons; others which were half eaten away had their jaws110 twisted into horrible grimaces111; there were some enormous ones; the shafts112 of the crosses bent beneath them, and they swayed in the wind, while bands of crows wheeled ceaselessly in the air above their heads. It was thus that the Carthaginian peasants avenged113 themselves when they captured a wild beast; they hoped to terrify the others by such an example. The Barbarians ceased their laughter, and were long lost in amazement114. “What people is this,” they thought, “that amuses itself by crucifying lions!”
They were, besides, especially the men of the North, vaguely115 uneasy, troubled, and already sick. They tore their hands with the darts116 of the aloes; great mosquitoes buzzed in their ears, and dysentry was breaking out in the army. They were weary at not yet seeing Sicca. They were afraid of losing themselves and of reaching the desert, the country of sands and terrors. Many even were unwilling117 to advance further. Others started back to Carthage.
At last on the seventh day, after following the base of a mountain for a long time, they turned abruptly118 to the right, and there then appeared a line of walls resting on white rocks and blending with them. Suddenly the entire city rose; blue, yellow, and white veils moved on the walls in the redness of the evening. These were the priestesses of Tanith, who had hastened hither to receive the men. They stood ranged along the rampart, striking tabourines, playing lyres, and shaking crotala, while the rays of the sun, setting behind them in the mountains of Numidia, shot between the strings119 of their lyres over which their naked arms were stretched. At intervals their instruments would become suddenly still, and a cry would break forth120 strident, precipitate121, frenzied122, continuous, a sort of barking which they made by striking both corners of the mouth with the tongue. Others, more motionless than the Sphynx, rested on their elbows with their chins on their hands, and darted123 their great black eyes upon the army as it ascended124.
Although Sicca was a sacred town it could not hold such a multitude; the temple alone, with its appurtenances, occupied half of it. Accordingly the Barbarians established themselves at their ease on the plain; those who were disciplined in regular troops, and the rest according to nationality or their own fancy.
The Greeks ranged their tents of skin in parallel lines; the Iberians placed their canvas pavilions in a circle; the Gauls made themselves huts of planks125; the Libyans cabins of dry stones, while the Negroes with their nails hollowed out trenches126 in the sand to sleep in. Many, not knowing where to go, wandered about among the baggage, and at nightfall lay down in their ragged128 mantles129 on the ground.
The plain, which was wholly bounded by mountains, expanded around them. Here and there a palm tree leaned over a sand hill, and pines and oaks flecked the sides of the precipices130: sometimes the rain of a storm would hang from the sky like a long scarf, while the country everywhere was still covered with azure131 and serenity132; then a warm wind would drive before it tornadoes133 of dust, and a stream would descend in cascades134 from the heights of Sicca, where, with its roofing of gold on its columns of brass, rose the temple of the Carthaginian Venus, the mistress of the land. She seemed to fill it with her soul. In such convulsions of the soil, such alternations of temperature, and such plays of light would she manifest the extravagance of her might with the beauty of her eternal smile. The mountains at their summits were crescent-shaped; others were like women’s bosoms presenting their swelling135 breasts, and the Barbarians felt a heaviness that was full of delight weighing down their fatigues136.
Spendius had bought a slave with the money brought him by his dromedary. The whole day long he lay asleep stretched before Matho’s tent. Often he would awake, thinking in his dreams that he heard the whistling of the thongs; with a smile he would pass his hands over the scars on his legs at the place where the fetters137 had long been worn, and then he would fall asleep again.
Matho accepted his companionship, and when he went out Spendius would escort him like a lictor with a long sword on his thigh138; or perhaps Matho would rest his arm carelessly on the other’s shoulder, for Spendius was small.
One evening when they were passing together through the streets in the camp they perceived some men covered with white cloaks; among them was Narr’ Havas, the prince of the Numidians. Matho started.
“Your sword!” he cried; “I will kill him!”
“Not yet!” said Spendius, restraining him. Narr’ Havas was already advancing towards him.
He kissed both thumbs in token of alliance, showing nothing of the anger which he had experienced at the drunkenness of the feast; then he spoke at length against Carthage, but did not say what brought him among the Barbarians.
“Was it to betray them, or else the Republic?” Spendius asked himself; and as he expected to profit by every disorder139, he felt grateful to Narr’ Havas for the future perfidies140 of which he suspected him.
The chief of the Numidians remained amongst the Mercenaries. He appeared desirous of attaching Matho to himself. He sent him fat goats, gold dust, and ostrich141 feathers. The Libyan, who was amazed at such caresses, was in doubt whether to respond to them or to become exasperated142 at them. But Spendius pacified143 him, and Matho allowed himself to be ruled by the slave, remaining ever irresolute144 and in an unconquerable torpor145, like those who have once taken a draught146 of which they are to die.
One morning when all three went out lion-hunting, Narr’ Havas concealed147 a dagger148 in his cloak. Spendius kept continually behind him, and when they returned the dagger had not been drawn149.
Another time Narr’ Havas took them a long way off, as far as the boundaries of his kingdom. They came to a narrow gorge59, and Narr’ Havas smiled as he declared that he had forgotten the way. Spendius found it again.
But most frequently Matho would go off at sunrise, as melancholy as an augur150, to wander about the country. He would stretch himself on the sand, and remain there motionless until the evening.
He consulted all the soothsayers in the army one after the other — those who watch the trail of serpents, those who read the stars, and those who breathe upon the ashes of the dead. He swallowed galbanum, seseli, and viper’s venom151 which freezes the heart; Negro women, singing barbarous words in the moonlight, pricked152 the skin of his forehead with golden stylets; he loaded himself with necklaces and charms; he invoked in turn Baal-Khamon, Moloch, the seven Kabiri, Tanith, and the Venus of the Greeks. He engraved153 a name upon a copper plate, and buried it in the sand at the threshold of his tent. Spendius used to hear him groaning154 and talking to himself.
One night he went in.
Matho, as naked as a corpse155, was lying on a lion’s skin flat on his stomach, with his face in both his hands; a hanging lamp lit up his armour, which was hooked on to the tent-pole above his head.
“You are suffering?” said the slave to him. “What is the matter with you? Answer me?” And he shook him by the shoulder calling him several times, “Master! master!”
At last Matho lifted large troubled eyes towards him.
“Listen!” he said in a low voice, and with a finger on his lips. “It is the wrath156 of the Gods! Hamilcar’s daughter pursues me! I am afraid of her, Spendius!” He pressed himself close against his breast like a child terrified by a phantom. “Speak to me! I am sick! I want to get well! I have tried everything! But you, you perhaps know some stronger gods, or some resistless invocation?”
“For what purpose?” asked Spendius.
Striking his head with both his fists, he replied:
“To rid me of her!”
Then speaking to himself with long pauses he said:
“I am no doubt the victim of some holocaust157 which she has promised to the gods? — She holds me fast by a chain which people cannot see. If I walk, it is she that is advancing; when I stop, she is resting! Her eyes burn me, I hear her voice. She encompasses158 me, she penetrates159 me. It seems to me that she has become my soul!
“And yet between us there are, as it were, the invisible billows of a boundless160 ocean! She is far away and quite inaccessible161! The splendour of her beauty forms a cloud of light around her, and at times I think that I have never seen her — that she does not exist — and that it is all a dream!”
Matho wept thus in the darkness; the Barbarians were sleeping. Spendius, as he looked at him, recalled the young men who once used to entreat162 him with golden cases in their hands, when he led his herd73 of courtesans through the towns; a feeling of pity moved him, and he said —
“Be strong, my master! Summon your will, and beseech163 the gods no more, for they turn not aside at the cries of men! Weeping like a coward! And you are not humiliated164 that a woman can cause you so much suffering?”
“Am I a child?” said Matho. “Do you think that I am moved by their faces and songs? We kept them at Drepanum to sweep out our stables. I have embraced them amid assaults, beneath falling ceilings, and while the catapult was still vibrating! — But she, Spendius, she! —”
The slave interrupted him:
“If she were not Hanno’s daughter —”
“No!” cried Matho. “She has nothing in common with the daughters of other men! Have you seen her great eyes beneath her great eyebrows165, like suns beneath triumphal arches? Think: when she appeared all the torches grew pale. Her naked breast shone here and there through the diamonds of her necklace; behind her you perceived as it were the odour of a temple, and her whole being emitted something that was sweeter than wine and more terrible than death. She walked, however, and then she stopped.”
He remained gaping166 with his head cast down and his eyeballs fixed167.
“But I want her! I need her! I am dying for her! I am transported with frenzied joy at the thought of clasping her in my arms, and yet I hate her, Spendius! I should like to beat her! What is to be done? I have a mind to sell myself and become her slave! YOU have been that! You were able to get sight of her; speak to me of her! Every night she ascends168 to the terrace of her palace, does she not? Ah! the stones must quiver beneath her sandals, and the stars bend down to see her!”
He fell back in a perfect frenzy, with a rattling in his throat like a wounded bull.
Then Matho sang: “He pursued into the forest the female monster, whose tail undulated over the dead leaves like a silver brook169.” And with lingering tones he imitated Salammbo’s voice, while his outspread hands were held like two light hands on the strings of a lyre.
To all the consolations170 offered by Spendius, he repeated the same words; their nights were spent in these wailings and exhortations171.
Matho sought to drown his thoughts in wine. After his fits of drunkenness he was more melancholy still. He tried to divert himself at huckle-bones, and lost the gold plates of his necklace one by one. He had himself taken to the servants of the Goddess; but he came down the hill sobbing172, like one returning from a funeral.
Spendius, on the contrary, became more bold and gay. He was to be seen in the leafy taverns173 discoursing174 in the midst of the soldiers. He mended old cuirasses. He juggled175 with daggers176. He went and gathered herbs in the fields for the sick. He was facetious177, dexterous178, full of invention and talk; the Barbarians grew accustomed to his services, and he came to be loved by them.
However, they were awaiting an ambassador from Carthage to bring them mules laden179 with baskets of gold; and ever beginning the same calculation over again, they would trace figures with their fingers in the sand. Every one was arranging his life beforehand; they would have concubines, slaves, lands; others intended to bury their treasure, or risk it on a vessel. But their tempers were provoked by want of employment; there were constant disputes between horse-soldiers and foot-soldiers, Barbarians and Greeks, while there was a never-ending din45 of shrill180 female voices.
Every day men came flocking in nearly naked, and with grass on their heads to protect them from the sun; they were the debtors181 of the rich Carthaginians and had been forced to till the lands of the latter, but had escaped. Libyans came pouring in with peasants ruined by the taxes, outlaws182, and malefactors. Then the horde183 of traders, all the dealers184 in wine and oil, who were furious at not being paid, laid the blame upon the Republic. Spendius declaimed against it. Soon the provisions ran low; and there was talk of advancing in a body upon Carthage, and calling in the Romans.
One evening, at supper-time, dull cracked sounds were heard approaching, and something red appeared in the distance among the undulations of the soil.
It was a large purple litter, adorned185 with ostrich feathers at the corners. Chains of crystal and garlands of pearls beat against the closed hangings. It was followed by camels sounding the great bells that hung at their breasts, and having around them horsemen clad from shoulder to heel in armour of golden scales.
They halted three hundred paces from the camp to take their round bucklers, broad swords, and Boeotian helmets out of the cases which they carried behind their saddles. Some remained with the camels, while the others resumed their march. At last the ensigns of the Republic appeared, that is to say, staves of blue wood terminated in horses’ heads or fir cones186. The Barbarians all rose with applause; the women rushed towards the guards of the Legion and kissed their feet.
The litter advanced on the shoulders of twelve Negroes who walked in step with short, rapid strides; they went at random187 to right or left, being embarrassed by the tent-ropes, the animals that were straying about, or the tripods where food was being cooked. Sometimes a fat hand, laden with rings, would partially188 open the litter, and a hoarse voice would utter loud reproaches; then the bearers would stop and take a different direction through the camp.
But the purple curtains were raised, and a human head, impassible and bloated, was seen resting on a large pillow; the eyebrows, which were like arches of ebony, met each other at the points; golden dust sparkled in the frizzled hair, and the face was so wan127 that it looked as if it had been powdered with marble raspings. The rest of the body was concealed beneath the fleeces which filled the litter.
In the man so reclining the soldiers recognised the Suffet Hanno, he whose slackness had assisted to lose the battle of the Aegatian islands; and as to his victory at Hecatompylos over the Libyans, even if he did behave with clemency189, thought the Barbarians, it was owing to cupidity190, for he had sold all the captives on his own account, although he had reported their deaths to the Republic.
After seeking for some time a convenient place from which to harangue191 the soldiers, he made a sign; the litter stopped, and Hanno, supported by two slaves, put his tottering192 feet to the ground.
He wore boots of black felt strewn with silver moons. His legs were swathed in bands like those wrapped about a mummy, and the flesh crept through the crossings of the linen; his stomach came out beyond the scarlet193 jacket which covered his thighs194; the folds of his neck fell down to his breast like the dewlaps of an ox; his tunic23, which was painted with flowers, was bursting at the arm-pits; he wore a scarf, a girdle, and an ample black cloak with laced double-sleeves. But the abundance of his garments, his great necklace of blue stones, his golden clasps, and heavy earrings195 only rendered his deformity still more hideous196. He might have been taken for some big idol197 rough-hewn in a block of stone; for a pale leprosy, which was spread over his whole body, gave him the appearance of an inert198 thing. His nose, however, which was hooked like a vulture’s beak199, was violently dilated200 to breathe in the air, and his little eyes, with their gummed lashes201, shone with a hard and metallic202 lustre203. He held a spatula204 of aloe-wood in his hand wherewith to scratch his skin.
At last two heralds205 sounded their silver horns; the tumult206 subsided, and Hanno commenced to speak.
He began with an eulogy207 of the gods and the Republic; the Barbarians ought to congratulate themselves on having served it. But they must show themselves more reasonable; times were hard, “and if a master has only three olives, is it not right that he should keep two for himself?”
The old Suffet mingled his speech in this way with proverbs and apologues, nodding his head the while to solicit208 some approval.
He spoke in Punic, and those surrounding him (the most alert, who had hastened thither without their arms), were Campanians, Gauls, and Greeks, so that no one in the crowd understood him. Hanno, perceiving this, stopped and reflected, swaying himself heavily from one leg to the other.
It occurred to him to call the captains together; then his heralds shouted the order in Greek, the language which, from the time of Xanthippus, had been used for commands in the Carthaginian armies.
The guards dispersed209 the mob of soldiers with strokes of the whip; and the captains of the Spartan210 phalanxes and the chiefs of the Barbarian cohorts soon arrived with the insignia of their rank, and in the armour of their nation. Night had fallen, a great tumult was spreading throughout the plain; fires were burning here and there; and the soldiers kept going from one to another asking what the matter was, and why the Suffet did not distribute the money?
He was setting the infinite burdens of the Republic before the captains. Her treasury211 was empty. The tribute to Rome was crushing her. “We are quite at a loss what to do! She is much to be pitied!”
From time to time he would rub his limbs with his aloe-wood spatula, or perhaps he would break off to drink a ptisan made of the ashes of a weasel and asparagus boiled in vinegar from a silver cup handed to him by a slave; then he would wipe his lips with a scarlet napkin and resume:
“What used to be worth a shekel of silver is now worth three shekels of gold, while the cultivated lands which were abandoned during the war bring in nothing! Our purpura fisheries are nearly gone, and even pearls are becoming exhorbitant; we have scarcely unguents enough for the service of the gods! As for the things of the table, I shall say nothing about them; it is a calamity212! For want of galleys we are without spices, and it is a matter of great difficulty to procure213 silphium on account of the rebellions on the Cyrenian frontier. Sicily, where so many slaves used to be had, is now closed to us! Only yesterday I gave more money for a bather and four scullions than I used at one time to give for a pair of elephants!”
He unrolled a long piece of papyrus214; and, without omitting a single figure, read all the expenses that the government had incurred215; so much for repairing the temples, for paving the streets, for the construction of vessels216, for the coral-fisheries, for the enlargement of the Syssitia, and for engines in the mines in the country of the Cantabrians.
But the captains understood Punic as little as the soldiers, although the Mercenaries saluted217 one another in that language. It was usual to place a few Carthaginian officers in the Barbarian armies to act as interpreters; after the war they had concealed themselves through fear of vengeance, and Hanno had not thought of taking them with him; his hollow voice, too, was lost in the wind.
The Greeks, girthed in their iron waist-belts, strained their ears as they strove to guess at his words, while the mountaineers, covered with furs like bears, looked at him with distrust, or yawned as they leaned on their brass-nailed clubs. The heedless Gauls sneered218 as they shook their lofty heads of hair, and the men of the desert listened motionless, cowled in their garments of grey wool; others kept coming up behind; the guards, crushed by the mob, staggered on their horses; the Negroes held out burning fir branches at arm’s length; and the big Carthaginian, mounted on a grassy219 hillock, continued his harangue.
The Barbarians, however, were growing impatient; murmuring arose, and every one apostrophized him. Hanno gesticulated with his spatula; and those who wished the others to be quiet shouted still more loudly, thereby220 adding to the din.
Suddenly a man of mean appearance bounded to Hanno’s feet, snatched up a herald’s trumpet221, blew it, and Spendius (for it was he) announced that he was going to say something of importance. At this declaration, which was rapidly uttered in five different languages, Greek, Latin, Gallic, Libyan and Balearic, the captains, half laughing and half surprised, replied: “Speak! Speak!”
Spendius hesitated; he trembled; at last, addressing the Libyans who were the most numerous, he said to them:
“You have all heard this man’s horrible threats!”
Hanno made no exclamation222, therefore he did not understand Libyan; and, to carry on the experiment, Spendius repeated the same phrase in the other Barbarian dialects.
They looked at one another in astonishment223; then, as by a tacit agreement, and believing perhaps that they had understood, they bent their heads in token of assent224.
Then Spendius began in vehement225 tones:
“He said first that all the Gods of the other nations were but dreams besides the Gods of Carthage! He called you cowards, thieves, liars226, dogs, and the sons of dogs! But for you (he said that!) the Republic would not be forced to pay excessive tribute to the Romans; and through your excesses you have drained it of perfumes, aromatics227, slaves, and silphium, for you are in league with the nomads228 on the Cyrenian frontier! But the guilty shall be punished! He read the enumeration229 of their torments230; they shall be made to work at the paving of the streets, at the equipment of the vessels, at the adornment231 of the Syssitia, while the rest shall be sent to scrape the earth in the mines in the country of the Cantabrians.”
Spendius repeated the same statements to the Gauls, Greeks, Campanians and Balearians. The Mercenaries, recognising several of the proper names which had met their ears, were convinced that he was accurately232 reporting the Suffet’s speech. A few cried out to him, “You lie!” but their voices were drowned in the tumult of the rest; Spendius added:
“Have you not seen that he has left a reserve of his horse-soldiers outside the camp? At a given signal they will hasten hither to slay233 you all.”
The Barbarians turned in that direction, and as the crowd was then scattering234, there appeared in the midst of them, and advancing with the slowness of a phantom, a human being, bent, lean, entirely235 naked, and covered down to his flanks with long hair bristling with dried leaves, dust and thorns. About his loins and his knees he had wisps of straw and linen rags; his soft and earthy skin hung on his emaciated limbs like tatters on dried boughs236; his hands trembled with a continuous quivering, and as he walked he leaned on a staff of olive-wood.
He reached the Negroes who were bearing the torches. His pale gums were displayed in a sort of idiotic237 titter; his large, scared eyes gazed upon the crowd of Barbarians around him.
But uttering a cry of terror he threw himself behind them, shielding himself with their bodies. “There they are! There they are!” he stammered238 out, pointing to the Suffet’s guards, who were motionless in their glittering armour. Their horses, dazzled by the light of the torches which crackled in the darkness, were pawing the ground; the human spectre struggled and howled:
“They have killed them!”
At these words, which were screamed in Balearic, some Balearians came up and recognised him; without answering them he repeated:
“Yes, all killed, all! crushed like grapes! The fine young men! the slingers! my companions and yours!”
They gave him wine to drink, and he wept; then he launched forth into speech.
Spendius could scarcely repress his joy, as he explained the horrors related by Zarxas to the Greeks and Libyans; he could not believe them, so appropriately did they come in. The Balearians grew pale as they learned how their companions had perished.
It was a troop of three hundred slingers who had disembarked the evening before, and had on that day slept too late. When they reached the square of Khamon the Barbarians were gone, and they found themselves defenceless, their clay bullets having been put on the camels with the rest of the baggage. They were allowed to advance into the street of Satheb as far as the brass sheathed239 oaken gate; then the people with a single impulse had sprung upon them.
Indeed, the soldiers remembered a great shout; Spendius, who was flying at the head of the columns, had not heard it.
Then the corpses240 were placed in the arms of the Pataec gods that fringed the temple of Khamon. They were upbraided241 with all the crimes of the Mercenaries; their gluttony, their thefts, their impiety242, their disdain243, and the murder of the fishes in Salammbo’s garden. Their bodies were subjected to infamous244 mutilations; the priests burned their hair in order to torture their souls; they were hung up in pieces in the meat-shops; some even buried their teeth in them, and in the evening funeral-piles were kindled245 at the cross-ways to finish them.
These were the flames that had gleamed from a distance across the lake. But some houses having taken fire, any dead or dying that remained were speedily thrown over the walls; Zarxas had remained among the reeds on the edge of the lake until the following day; then he had wandered about through the country, seeking for the army by the footprints in the dust. In the morning he hid himself in caves; in the evening he resumed his march with his bleeding wounds, famished246, sick, living on roots and carrion247; at last one day he perceived lances on the horizon, and he had followed them, for his reason was disturbed through his terrors and miseries.
The indignation of the soldiers, restrained so long as he was speaking, broke forth like a tempest; they were going to massacre248 the guards together with the Suffet. A few interposed, saying that they ought to hear him and know at least whether they should be paid. Then they all cried: “Our money!” Hanno replied that he had brought it.
They ran to the outposts, and the Suffet’s baggage arrived in the midst of the tents, pressed forward by the Barbarians. Without waiting for the slaves, they very quickly unfastened the baskets; in them they found hyacinth robes, sponges, scrapers, brushes, perfumes, and antimony pencils for painting the eyes — all belonging to the guards, who were rich men and accustomed to such refinements249. Next they uncovered a large bronze tub on a camel: it belonged to the Suffet who had it for bathing in during his journey; for he had taken all manner of precautions, even going so far as to bring caged weasels from Hecatompylos, which were burnt alive to make his ptisan. But, as his malady250 gave him a great appetite, there were also many comestibles and many wines, pickle251, meats and fishes preserved in honey, with little pots of Commagene, or melted goose-fat covered with snow and chopped straw. There was a considerable supply of it; the more they opened the baskets the more they found, and laughter arose like conflicting waves.
As to the pay of the Mercenaries it nearly filled two esparto-grass baskets; there were even visible in one of them some of the leathern discs which the Republic used to economise its specie; and as the Barbarians appeared greatly surprised, Hanno told them that, their accounts being very difficult, the Ancients had not had leisure to examine them. Meanwhile they had sent them this.
Then everything was in disorder and confusion: mules, serving men, litter, provisions, and baggage. The soldiers took the coin in the bags to stone Hanno. With great difficulty he was able to mount an ass16; and he fled, clinging to its hair, howling, weeping, shaken, bruised252, and calling down the curse of all the gods upon the army. His broad necklace of precious stones rebounded253 up to his ears. His cloak which was too long, and which trailed behind him, he kept on with his teeth, and from afar the Barbarians shouted at him, “Begone coward! pig! sink of Moloch! sweat your gold and your plague! quicker! quicker!” The routed escort galloped254 beside him.
But the fury of the Barbarians did not abate255. They remembered that several of them who had set out for Carthage had not returned; no doubt they had been killed. So much injustice256 exasperated them, and they began to pull up the stakes of their tents, to roll up their cloaks, and to bridle257 their horses; every one took his helmet and sword, and instantly all was ready. Those who had no arms rushed into the woods to cut staves.
Day dawned; the people of Sicca were roused, and stirring in the streets. “They are going to Carthage,” said they, and the rumour258 of this soon spread through the country.
From every path and every ravine men arose. Shepherds were seen running down from the mountains.
Then, when the Barbarians had set out, Spendius circled the plain, riding on a Punic stallion, and attended by his slave, who led a third horse.
A single tent remained. Spendius entered it.
“Up, master! rise! we are departing!”
“And where are you going?” asked Matho.
“To Carthage!” cried Spendius.
Matho bounded upon the horse which the slave held at the door.
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1
caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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saviours
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| n.救助者( saviour的名词复数 )；救星；救世主；耶稣基督 | |
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3
insolvent
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| adj.破产的，无偿还能力的 | |
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condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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levy
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| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
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6
galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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7
defiled
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| v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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archers
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| n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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9
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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10
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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11
dented
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| v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等） | |
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12
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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13
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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14
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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15
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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16
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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17
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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18
overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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19
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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22
tunics
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| n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍 | |
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23
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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24
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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25
bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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26
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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27
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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28
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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29
hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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30
amulets
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| n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 ) | |
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31
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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32
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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33
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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34
invoked
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| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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35
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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36
fig
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| n.无花果(树) | |
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37
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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38
asses
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| n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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39
inveighed
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| v.猛烈抨击，痛骂，谩骂( inveigh的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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41
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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42
thongs
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| 的东西 | |
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43
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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44
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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45
din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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46
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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47
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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48
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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49
isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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50
pillaging
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的现在分词 ) | |
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51
disarmed
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| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
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52
miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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53
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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54
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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55
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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56
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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57
domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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58
patricians
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| n.（古罗马的）统治阶层成员( patrician的名词复数 )；贵族，显贵 | |
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59
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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60
gorges
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| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
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61
chameleons
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| n.变色蜥蜴，变色龙( chameleon的名词复数 ) | |
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62
cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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63
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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64
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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65
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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66
furrows
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| 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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67
clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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68
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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69
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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70
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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71
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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72
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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73
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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74
quarries
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| n.（采）石场( quarry的名词复数 )；猎物（指鸟，兽等）；方形石；（格窗等的）方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石 | |
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75
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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77
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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78
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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79
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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80
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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81
defiling
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| v.玷污( defile的现在分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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82
eminences
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| 卓越( eminence的名词复数 )； 著名； 高地； 山丘 | |
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83
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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84
bleated
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的过去式和过去分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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85
inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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86
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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87
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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88
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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89
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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90
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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91
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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92
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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93
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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94
prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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95
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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96
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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97
thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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98
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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99
browsing
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| v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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100
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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101
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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102
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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103
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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104
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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106
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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107
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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108
gnats
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| n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
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109
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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110
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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111
grimaces
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| n.（表蔑视、厌恶等）面部扭曲，鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
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112
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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113
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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114
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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115
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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116
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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117
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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118
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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119
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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120
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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121
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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122
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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123
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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124
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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126
trenches
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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127
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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128
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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129
mantles
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| vt.&vi.覆盖（mantle的第三人称单数形式） | |
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130
precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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131
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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132
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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133
tornadoes
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| n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 ) | |
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134
cascades
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| 倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西 | |
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135
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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136
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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137
fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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138
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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139
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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140
perfidies
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| n.背信弃义，背叛，出卖( perfidy的名词复数 ) | |
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141
ostrich
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| n.鸵鸟 | |
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142
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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143
pacified
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| 使（某人）安静( pacify的过去式和过去分词 )； 息怒； 抚慰； 在（有战争的地区、国家等）实现和平 | |
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144
irresolute
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| adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的 | |
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145
torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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146
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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147
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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148
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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149
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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150
augur
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| n.占卦师；v.占卦 | |
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151
venom
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| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
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152
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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153
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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154
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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155
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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156
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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157
holocaust
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| n.大破坏；大屠杀 | |
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158
encompasses
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| v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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159
penetrates
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| v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透 | |
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160
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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161
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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162
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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163
beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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164
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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165
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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166
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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167
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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168
ascends
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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169
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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170
consolations
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| n.安慰，慰问( consolation的名词复数 )；起安慰作用的人（或事物） | |
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171
exhortations
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| n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 )；极力推荐；（正式的）演讲；（宗教仪式中的）劝诫 | |
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172
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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173
taverns
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| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
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174
discoursing
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| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
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175
juggled
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| v.歪曲( juggle的过去式和过去分词 )；耍弄；有效地组织；尽力同时应付（两个或两个以上的重要工作或活动） | |
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176
daggers
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| 匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 ) | |
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177
facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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178
dexterous
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| adj.灵敏的；灵巧的 | |
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179
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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180
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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181
debtors
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| n.债务人，借方( debtor的名词复数 ) | |
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182
outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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183
horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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184
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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185
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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186
cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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187
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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188
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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189
clemency
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| n.温和，仁慈，宽厚 | |
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190
cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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191
harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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192
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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193
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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194
thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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195
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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196
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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197
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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198
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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199
beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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200
dilated
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|
| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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201
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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202
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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203
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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204
spatula
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| n.抹刀 | |
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205
heralds
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| n.使者( herald的名词复数 )；预报者；预兆；传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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206
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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207
eulogy
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| n.颂词；颂扬 | |
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208
solicit
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| vi.勾引；乞求；vt.请求，乞求；招揽(生意) | |
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209
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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211
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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214
papyrus
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| n.古以纸草制成之纸 | |
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215
incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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216
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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217
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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218
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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221
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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222
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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liars
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| 说谎者( liar的名词复数 ) | |
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aromatics
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| n.芳香植物( aromatic的名词复数 )；芳香剂，芳香药物 | |
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nomads
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| n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活 | |
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229
enumeration
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| n.计数，列举；细目；详表；点查 | |
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230
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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231
adornment
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| n.装饰；装饰品 | |
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232
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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233
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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234
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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238
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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239
sheathed
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| adj.雕塑像下半身包在鞘中的；覆盖的；铠装的；装鞘了的v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的过去式和过去分词 )；包，覆盖 | |
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corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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241
upbraided
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| v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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242
impiety
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| n.不敬；不孝 | |
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243
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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246
famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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247
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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248
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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249
refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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250
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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251
pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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252
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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253
rebounded
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| 弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效 | |
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254
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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255
abate
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| vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退 | |
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256
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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257
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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258
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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