Amid the infinite variety of their nomenclature (which changed several times in the course of the centuries) these machines might be reduced to two systems: some acted like slings7, and the rest like bows.
The first, which were the catapults, was composed of a square frame with two vertical9 uprights and a horizontal bar. In its anterior10 portion was a cylinder11, furnished with cables, which held back a great beam bearing a spoon for the reception of projectiles12; its base was caught in a skein of twisted thread, and when the ropes were let go it sprang up and struck against the bar, which, checking it with a shock, multiplied its power.
The second presented a more complicated mechanism13. A cross-bar had its centre fixed14 on a little pillar, and from this point of junction15 there branched off at right angles a short of channel; two caps containing twists of horse-hair stood at the extremities16 of the cross-bar; two small beams were fastened to them to hold the extremities of a rope which was brought to the bottom of the channel upon a tablet of bronze. This metal plate was released by a spring, and sliding in grooves17 impelled18 the arrows.
The catapults were likewise called onagers, after the wild asses19 which fling up stones with their feet, and the ballistas scorpions20, on account of a hook which stood upon the tablet, and being lowered by a blow of the fist, released the spring.
Their construction required learned calculations; the wood selected had to be of the hardest substance, and their gearing all of brass21; they were stretched with levers, tackle-blocks, capstans or tympanums; the direction of the shooting was changed by means of strong pivots22; they were moved forward on cylinders23, and the most considerable of them, which were brought piece by piece, were set up in front of the enemy.
Spendius arranged three great catapults opposite the three principle angles; he placed a ram8 before every gate, a ballista before every tower, while carroballistas were to move about in the rear. But it was necessary to protect them against the fire thrown by the besieged24, and first of all to fill up the trench3 which separated them from the walls.
They pushed forward galleries formed of hurdles25 of green reeds, and oaken semicircles like enormous shields gliding26 on three wheels; the workers were sheltered in little huts covered with raw hides and stuffed with wrack27; the catapults and ballistas were protected by rope curtains which had been steeped in vinegar to render them incombustible. The women and children went to procure29 stones on the strand30, and gathered earth with their hands and brought it to the soldiers.
The Carthaginians also made preparations.
Hamilcar had speedily reassured31 them by declaring that there was enough water left in the cisterns32 for one hundred and twenty-three days. This assertion, together with his presence, and above all that of the zaimph among them, gave them good hopes. Carthage recovered from its dejection; those who were not of Chanaanitish origin were carried away by the passion of the rest.
The slaves were armed, the arsenals34 were emptied, and every citizen had his own post and his own employment. Twelve hundred of the fugitives35 had survived, and the Suffet made them all captains; and carpenters, armourers, blacksmiths, and goldsmiths were intrusted with the engines. The Carthaginians had kept a few in spite of the conditions of the peace with Rome. These were repaired. They understood such work.
The two northern and eastern sides, being protected by the sea and the gulf37, remained inaccessible38. On the wall fronting the Barbarians they collected tree-trunks, mill-stones, vases filled with sulphur, and vats39 filled with oil, and built furnaces. Stones were heaped up on the platforms of the towers, and the houses bordering immediately on the rampart were crammed40 with sand in order to strengthen it and increase its thickness.
The Barbarians grew angry at the sight of these preparations. They wished to fight at once. The weights which they put into the catapults were so extravagantly42 heavy that the beams broke, and the attack was delayed.
At last on the thirteenth day of the month of Schabar — at sunrise — a great blow was heard at the gate of Khamon.
Seventy-five soldiers were pulling at ropes arranged at the base of a gigantic beam which was suspended horizontally by chains hanging from a framework, and which terminated in a ram’s head of pure brass. It had been swathed in ox-hides; it was bound at intervals43 with iron bracelets44; it was thrice as thick as a man’s body, one hundred and twenty cubits long, and under the crowd of naked arms pushing it forward and drawing it back, it moved to and fro with a regular oscillation.
The other rams45 before the other gates began to be in motion. Men might be seen mounting from step to step in the hollow wheels of the tympanums. The pulleys and caps grated, the rope curtains were lowered, and showers of stones and showers of arrows poured forth46 simultaneously47; all the scattered48 slingers ran up. Some approached the rampart hiding pots of resin49 under their shields; then they would hurl50 these with all their might. This hail of bullets, darts52, and flames passed above the first ranks in the form of a curve which fell behind the walls. But long cranes, used for masting vessels53, were reared on the summit of the ramparts; and from them there descended54 some of those enormous pincers which terminated in two semicircles toothed on the inside. They bit the rams. The soldiers clung to the beam and drew it back. The Carthaginians hauled in order to pull it up; and the action was prolonged until the evening.
When the Mercenaries resumed their task on the following day, the tops of the walls were completely carpeted with bales of cotton, sails, and cushions; the battlements were stopped up with mats; and a line of forks and blades, fixed upon sticks, might be distinguished56 among the cranes on the rampart. A furious resistance immediately began.
Trunks of trees fastened to cables fell and rose alternately and battered57 the rams; cramps58 hurled59 by the ballistas tore away the roofs of the huts; and streams of flints and pebbles60 poured from the platforms of the towers.
At last the rams broke the gates of Khamon and Tagaste. But the Carthaginians had piled up such an abundance of materials on the inside that the leaves did not open. They remained standing61.
Then they drove augers against the walls; these were applied62 to the joints63 of the blocks, so as to detach the latter. The engines were better managed, the men serving them were divided into squads64, and they were worked from morning till evening without interruption and with the monotonous65 precision of a weaver’s loom66.
Spendius returned to them untiringly. It was he who stretched the skeins of the ballistas. In order that the twin tensions might completely correspond, the ropes as they were tightened67 were struck on the right and left alternately until both sides gave out an equal sound. Spendius would mount upon the timbers. He would strike the ropes softly with the extremity68 of his foot, and strain his ears like a musician tuning69 a lyre. Then when the beam of the catapult rose, when the pillar of the ballista trembled with the shock of the spring, when the stones were shooting in rays, and the darts pouring in streams, he would incline his whole body and fling his arms into the air as though to follow them.
The soldiers admired his skill and executed his commands. In the gaiety of their work they gave utterance71 to jests on the names of the machines. Thus the plyers for seizing the rams were called “wolves,” and the galleries were covered with “vines”; they were lambs, or they were going to gather the grapes; and as they loaded their pieces they would say to the onagers: “Come, pick well!” and to the scorpions: “Pierce them to the heart!” These jokes, which were ever the same, kept up their courage.
Nevertheless the machines did not demolish72 the rampart. It was formed of two walls and was completely filled with earth. The upper portions were beaten down, but each time the besieged raised them again. Matho ordered the construction of wooden towers which should be as high as the towers of stone. They cast turf, stakes, pebbles and chariots with their wheels into the trench so as to fill it up the more quickly; but before this was accomplished74 the immense throng of the Barbarians undulated over the plain with a single movement and came beating against the foot of the walls like an overflowing75 sea.
They moved forward the rope ladders, straight ladders, and sambucas, the latter consisting of two poles from which a series of bamboos terminating in a moveable bridge were lowered by means of tackling. They formed numerous straight lines resting against the wall, and the Mercenaries mounted them in files, holding their weapons in their hands. Not a Carthaginian showed himself; already two thirds of the rampart had been covered. Then the battlements opened, vomiting76 flames and smoke like dragon jaws77; the sand scattered and entered the joints of their armour36; the petroleum78 fastened on their garments; the liquid lead hopped79 on their helmets and made holes in their flesh; a rain of sparks splashed against their faces, and eyeless orbits seemed to weep tears as big as almonds. There were men all yellow with oil, with their hair in flames. They began to run and set fire to the rest. They were extinguished in mantles80 steeped in blood, which were thrown from a distance over their faces. Some who had no wounds remained motionless, stiffer than stakes, their mouths open and their arms outspread.
The assault was renewed for several days in succession, the Mercenaries hoping to triumph by extraordinary energy and audacity81.
Sometimes a man raised on the shoulders of another would drive a pin between the stones, and then making use of it as a step to reach further, would place a second and a third; and, protected by the edge of the battlements, which stood out from the wall, they would gradually raise themselves in this way; but on reaching a certain height they always fell back again. The great trench was full to overflowing; the wounded were massed pell-mell with the dead and dying beneath the footsteps of the living. Calcined trunks formed black spots amid opened entrails, scattered brains, and pools of blood; and arms and legs projecting half way out of a heap, would stand straight up like props83 in a burning vineyard.
The ladders proving insufficient84 the tollenos were brought into requisition — instruments consisting of a long beam set transversely upon another, and bearing at its extremity a quadrangular basket which would hold thirty foot-soldiers with their weapons.
Matho wished to ascend85 in the first that was ready. Spendius stopped him.
Some men bent86 over a capstan; the great beam rose, became horizontal, reared itself almost vertically87, and being overweighted at the end, bent like a huge reed. The soldiers, who were crowded together, were hidden up to their chins; only their helmet-plumes88 could be seen. At last when it was twenty cubits high in the air it turned several times to the right and to the left, and then was depressed89; and like a giant arm holding a cohort of pigmies in its hand, it laid the basketful of men upon the edge of the wall. They leaped into the crowd and never returned.
All the other tollenos were speedily made ready. But a hundred times as many would have been needed for the capture of the town. They were utilised in a murderous fashion: Ethiopian archers90 were placed in the baskets; then, the cables having been fastened, they remained suspended and shot poisoned arrows. The fifty tollenos commanding the battlements thus surrounded Carthage like monstrous91 vultures; and the Negroes laughed to see the guards on the rampart dying in grievous convulsions.
Hamilcar sent hoplites to these posts, and every morning made them drink the juice of certain herbs which protected them against the poison.
One evening when it was dark he embarked92 the best of his soldiers on lighters93 and planks94, and turning to the right of the harbour, disembarked on the Taenia. Then he advanced to the first lines of the Barbarians, and taking them in flank, made a great slaughter95. Men hanging to ropes would descend55 at night from the top of the wall with torches in their hands, burn the works of the Mercenaries, and then mount up again.
Matho was exasperated96; every obstacle strengthened his wrath97, which led him into terrible extravagances. He mentally summoned Salammbo to an interview; then he waited. She did not come; this seemed to him like a fresh piece of treachery — and henceforth he execrated98 her. If he had seen her corpse99 he would perhaps have gone away. He doubled the outposts, he planted forks at the foot of the rampart, he drove caltrops into the ground, and he commanded the Libyans to bring him a whole forest that he might set it on fire and burn Carthage like a den73 of foxes.
Spendius went on obstinately100 with the siege. He sought to invent terrible machines such as had never before been constructed.
The other Barbarians, encamped at a distance on the isthmus101, were amazed at these delays; they murmured, and they were let loose.
Then they rushed with their cutlasses and javelins103, and beat against the gates with them. But the nakedness of their bodies facilitating the infliction105 of wounds, the Carthaginians massacred them freely; and the Mercenaries rejoiced at it, no doubt through jealousy106 about the plunder107. Hence there resulted quarrels and combats between them. Then, the country having been ravaged108, provisions were soon scarce. They grew disheartened. Numerous hordes109 went away, but the crowd was so great that the loss was not apparent.
The best of them tried to dig mines, but the earth, being badly supported, fell in. They began again in other places, but Hamilcar always guessed the direction that they were taking by holding his ear against a bronze shield. He bored counter-mines beneath the path along which the wooden towers were to move, and when they were pushed forward they sank into the holes.
At last all recognised that the town was impregnable, unless a long terrace was raised to the same height as the walls, so as to enable them to fight on the same level. The top of it should be paved so that the machines might be rolled along. Then Carthage would find it quite impossible to resist.
The town was beginning to suffer from thirst. The water which was worth two kesitahs the bath at the opening of the siege was now sold for a shekel of silver; the stores of meat and corn were also becoming exhausted111; there was a dread112 of famine, and some even began to speak of useless mouths, which terrified every one.
From the square of Khamon to the temple of Melkarth the streets were cumbered with corpses113; and, as it was the end of the summer, the combatants were annoyed by great black flies. Old men carried off the wounded, and the devout114 continued the fictitious115 funerals for their relatives and friends who had died far away during the war. Waxen statues with clothes and hair were displayed across the gates. They melted in the heat of the tapers117 burning beside them; the paint flowed down upon their shoulders, and tears streamed over the faces of the living, as they chanted mournful songs beside them. The crowd meanwhile ran to and fro; armed bands passed; captains shouted orders, while the shock of the rams beating against the rampart was constantly heard.
The temperature became so heavy that the bodies swelled119 and would no longer fit into the coffins120. They were burned in the centre of the courts. But the fires, being too much confined, kindled122 the neighbouring walls, and long flames suddenly burst from the houses like blood spurting123 from an artery124. Thus Moloch was in possession of Carthage; he clasped the ramparts, he rolled through the streets, he devoured125 the very corpses.
Men wearing cloaks made of collected rags in token of despair, stationed themselves at the corners of the cross-ways. They declaimed against the Ancients and against Hamilcar, predicted complete ruin to the people, and invited them to universal destruction and license126. The most dangerous were the henbane-drinkers; in their crisis they believed themselves wild beasts, and leaped upon the passers-by to rend28 them. Mobs formed around them, and the defence of Carthage was forgotten. The Suffet devised the payment of others to support his policy.
In order to retain the genius of the gods within the town their images had been covered with chains. Black veils were placed upon the Pataec gods, and hair-cloths around the altars; and attempts were made to excite the pride and jealousy of the Baals by singing in their ears: “Thou art about to suffer thyself to be vanquished127! Are the others perchance more strong? Show thyself! aid us! that the peoples may not say: ‘Where are now their gods?’”
The colleges of the pontiffs were agitated128 by unceasing anxiety. Those of Rabbetna were especially afraid — the restoration of the zaimph having been of no avail. They kept themselves shut up in the third enclosure which was as impregnable as a fortress129. Only one among them, the high priest Schahabarim, ventured to go out.
He used to visit Salammbo. But he would either remain perfectly130 silent, gazing at her with fixed eyeballs, or else would be lavish131 of words, and the reproaches that he uttered were harder than ever.
With inconceivable inconsistency he could not forgive the young girl for carrying out his commands; Schahabarim had guessed all, and this haunting thought revived the jealousies132 of his impotence. He accused her of being the cause of the war. Matho, according to him, was besieging133 Carthage to recover the zaimph; and he poured out imprecations and sarcasms134 upon this Barbarian2 who pretended to the possession of holy things. Yet it was not this that the priest wished to say.
But just now Salammbo felt no terror of him. The anguish135 which she used formerly136 to suffer had left her. A strange peacefulness possessed137 her. Her gaze was less wandering, and shone with limpid138 fire.
Meanwhile the python had become ill again; and as Salammbo, on the contrary, appeared to be recovering, old Taanach rejoiced in the conviction that by its decline it was taking away the languor139 of her mistress.
One morning she found it coiled up behind the bed of ox-hides, colder than marble, and with its head hidden by a heap of worms. Her cries brought Salammbo to the spot. She turned it over for a while with the tip of her sandal, and the slave was amazed at her insensibility.
Hamilcar’s daughter no longer prolonged her fasts with so much fervour. She passed whole days on the top of her terrace, leaning her elbows against the balustrade, and amusing herself by looking out before her. The summits of the walls at the end of the town cut uneven140 zigzags141 upon the sky, and the lances of the sentries142 formed what was like a border of corn-ears throughout their length. Further away she could see the manoeuvres of the Barbarians between the towers; on days when the siege was interrupted she could even distinguish their occupations. They mended their weapons, greased their hair, and washed their bloodstained arms in the sea; the tents were closed; the beasts of burden were feeding; and in the distance the scythes143 of the chariots, which were all ranged in a semicircle, looked like a silver scimitar lying at the base of the mountains. Schahabarim’s talk recurred144 to her memory. She was waiting for Narr’ Havas, her betrothed145. In spite of her hatred146 she would have liked to see Matho again. Of all the Carthaginians she was perhaps the only one who would have spoken to him without fear.
Her father often came into her room. He would sit down panting on the cushions, and gaze at her with an almost tender look, as if he found some rest from her fatigues149 in the sight of her. He sometimes questioned her about her journey to the camp of the Mercenaries. He even asked her whether any one had urged her to it; and with a shake of the head she answered, No — so proud was Salammbo of having saved the zaimph.
But the Suffet always came back to Matho under pretence150 of making military inquiries151. He could not understand how the hours which she had spent in the tent had been employed. Salammbo, in fact, said nothing about Gisco; for as words had an effective power in themselves, curses, if reported to any one, might be turned against him; and she was silent about her wish to assassinate152, lest she should be blamed for not having yielded to it. She said that the schalischim appeared furious, that he had shouted a great deal, and that he had then fallen asleep. Salammbo told no more, through shame perhaps, or else because she was led by her extreme ingenuousness153 to attach but little importance to the soldier’s kisses. Moreover, it all floated through her head in a melancholy154 and misty155 fashion, like the recollection of a depressing dream; and she would not have known in what way or in what words to express it.
One evening when they were thus face to face with each other, Taanach came in looking quite scared. An old man with a child was yonder in the courts, and wished to see the Suffet.
Hamilcar turned pale, and then quickly replied:
“Let him come up!”
Iddibal entered without prostrating156 himself. He held a young boy, covered with a goat’s-hair cloak, by the hand, and at once raised the hood157 which screened his face.
“Here he is, Master! Take him!”
The Suffet and the slave went into a corner of the room.
The child remained in the centre standing upright, and with a gaze of attention rather than of astonishment158 he surveyed the ceiling, the furniture, the pearl necklaces trailing on the purple draperies, and the majestic159 maiden160 who was bending over towards him.
He was perhaps ten years old, and was not taller than a Roman sword. His curly hair shaded his swelling161 forehead. His eyeballs looked as if they were seeking for space. The nostrils162 of his delicate nose were broad and palpitating, and upon his whole person was displayed the indefinable splendour of those who are destined163 to great enterprises. When he had cast aside his extremely heavy cloak, he remained clad in a lynx skin, which was fastened about his waist, and he rested his little naked feet, which were all white with dust, resolutely164 upon the pavement. But he no doubt divined that important matters were under discussion, for he stood motionless, with one hand behind his back, his chin lowered, and a finger in his mouth.
At last Hamilcar attracted Salammbo with a sign and said to her in a low voice:
“You will keep him with you, you understand! No one, even though belonging to the house, must know of his existence!”
Then, behind the door, he again asked Iddibal whether he was quite sure that they had not been noticed.
“No!” said the slave, “the streets were empty.”
As the war filled all the provinces he had feared for his master’s son. Then, not knowing where to hide him, he had come along the coasts in a sloop166, and for three days Iddibal had been tacking167 about in the gulf and watching the ramparts. At last, that evening, as the environs of Khamon seemed to be deserted168, he had passed briskly through the channel and landed near the arsenal33, the entrance to the harbour being free.
But soon the Barbarians posted an immense raft in front of it in order to prevent the Carthaginians from coming out. They were again rearing the wooden towers, and the terrace was rising at the same time.
Outside communications were cut off and an intolerable famine set in.
The besieged killed all the dogs, all the mules169, all the asses, and then the fifteen elephants which the Suffet had brought back. The lions of the temple of Moloch had become ferocious170, and the hierodules no longer durst approach them. They were fed at first with the wounded Barbarians; then they were thrown corpses that were still warm; they refused them, and they all died. People wandered in the twilight171 along the old enclosures, and gathered grass and flowers among the stones to boil them in wine, wine being cheaper than water. Others crept as far as the enemy’s outposts, and entered the tents to steal food, and the stupefied Barbarians sometimes allowed them to return. At last a day arrived when the Ancients resolved to slaughter the horses of Eschmoun privately172. They were holy animals whose manes were plaited by the pontiffs with gold ribbons, and whose existence denoted the motion of the sun — the idea of fire in its most exalted173 form. Their flesh was cut into equal portions and buried behind the altar. Then every evening the Ancients, alleging174 some act of devotion, would go up to the temple and regale175 themselves in secret, and each would take away a piece beneath his tunic176 for his children. In the deserted quarters remote from the walls, the inhabitants, whose misery177 was not so great, had barricaded178 themselves through fear of the rest.
The stones from the catapults, and the demolitions179 commanded for purposes of defence, had accumulated heaps of ruins in the middle of the streets. At the quietest times masses of people would suddenly rush along with shouts; and from the top of the Acropolis the conflagrations180 were like purple rags scattered upon the terraces and twisted by the wind.
The three great catapults did not stop in spite of all these works. Their ravages181 were extraordinary: thus a man’s head rebounded182 from the pediment of the Syssitia; a woman who was being confined in the street of Kinisdo was crushed by a block of marble, and her child was carried with the bed as far as the crossways of Cinasyn, where the coverlet was found.
The most annoying were the bullets of the slingers. They fell upon the roofs, and in the gardens, and in the middle of the courts, while people were at table before a slender meal with their hearts big with sighs. These cruel projectiles bore engraved183 letters which stamped themselves upon the flesh; — and insults might be read on corpses such as “pig,” “jackal,” “vermin,” and sometimes jests: “Catch it!” or “I have well deserved it!”
The portion of the rampart which extended from the corner of the harbours to the height of the cisterns was broken down. Then the people of Malqua found themselves caught between the old enclosure of Byrsa behind, and the Barbarians in front. But there was enough to be done in thickening the wall and making it as high as possible without troubling about them; they were abandoned; all perished; and although they were generally hated, Hamilcar came to be greatly abhorred184.
On the morrow he opened the pits in which he kept stores of corn, and his stewards185 gave it to the people. For three days they gorged186 themselves.
Their thirst, however, only became the more intolerable, and they could constantly see before them the long cascade187 formed by the clear falling water of the aqueduct. A thin vapour, with a rainbow beside it, went up from its base, beneath the rays of the sun, and a little stream curving through the plain fell into the gulf.
Hamilcar did not give way. He was reckoning upon an event, upon something decisive and extraordinary.
His own slaves tore off the silver plates from the temple of Melkarth; four long boats were drawn188 out of the harbour, they were brought by means of capstans to the foot of the Mappalian quarter, the wall facing the shore was bored, and they set out for the Gauls to buy Mercenaries there at no matter what price. Nevertheless, Hamilcar was distressed190 at his inability to communicate with the king of the Numidians, for he knew that he was behind the Barbarians, and ready to fall upon them. But Narr’ Havas, being too weak, was not going to make any venture alone; and the Suffet had the rampart raised twelve palms higher, all the material in the arsenals piled up in the Acropolis, and the machines repaired once more.
Sinews taken from bulls’ necks, or else stags’ hamstrings, were commonly employed for the twists of the catapults. However, neither stags nor bulls were in existence in Carthage. Hamilcar asked the Ancients for the hair of their wives; all sacrificed it, but the quantity was not sufficient. In the buildings of the Syssitia there were twelve hundred marriageable slaves destined for prostitution in Greece and Italy, and their hair, having been rendered elastic192 by the use of unguents, was wonderfully well adapted for engines of war. But the subsequent loss would be too great. Accordingly it was decided194 that a choice should be made of the finest heads of hair among the wives of the plebeians195. Careless of their country’s needs, they shrieked196 in despair when the servants of the Hundred came with scissors to lay hands upon them.
The Barbarians were animated197 with increased fury. They could be seen in the distance taking fat from the dead to grease their machines, while others pulled out the nails and stitched them end to end to make cuirasses. They devised a plan of putting into the catapults vessels filled with serpents which had been brought by the Negroes; the clay pots broke on the flag-stones, the serpents ran about, seemed to multiply, and, so numerous were they, to issue naturally from the walls. Then the Barbarians, not satisfied with their invention, improved upon it; they hurled all kinds of filth198, human excrements, pieces of carrion199, corpses. The plague reappeared. The teeth of the Carthaginians fell out of their mouths, and their gums were discoloured like those of camels after too long a journey.
The machines were set up on the terrace, although the latter did not as yet reach everywhere to the height of the rampart. Before the twenty-three towers on the fortification stood twenty-three others of wood. All the tollenos were mounted again, and in the centre, a little further back, appeared the formidable helepolis of Demetrius Poliorcetes, which Spendius had at last reconstructed. Of pyramidical shape, like the pharos of Alexandria, it was one hundred and thirty cubits high and twenty-three wide, with nine stories, diminishing as they approached the summit, and protected by scales of brass; they were pierced with numerous doors and were filled with soldiers, and on the upper platform there stood a catapult flanked by two ballistas.
Then Hamilcar planted crosses for those who should speak of surrender, and even the women were brigaded. The people lay in the streets and waited full of distress189.
Then one morning before sunrise (it was the seventh day of the month of Nyssan) they heard a great shout uttered by all the Barbarians simultaneously; the leaden-tubed trumpets200 pealed201, and the great Paphlagonian horns bellowed202 like bulls. All rose and ran to the rampart.
A forest of lances, pikes, and swords bristled at its base. It leaped against the wall, the ladders grappled them; and Barbarians’ heads appeared in the intervals of the battlements.
Beams supported by long files of men were battering203 at the gates; and, in order to demolish the wall at places where the terrace was wanting, the Mercenaries came up in serried204 cohorts, the first line crawling, the second bending their hams, and the others rising in succession to the last who stood upright; while elsewhere, in order to climb up, the tallest advanced in front and the lowest in the rear, and all rested their shields upon their helmets with their left arms, joining them together at the edges so tightly that they might have been taken for an assemblage of large tortoises. The projectiles slid over these oblique205 masses.
The Carthaginians threw down mill-stones, pestles206, vats, casks, beds, everything that could serve as a weight and could knock down. Some watched at the embrasures with fisherman’s nets, and when the Barbarian arrived he found himself caught in the meshes207, and struggled like a fish. They demolished208 their own battlements; portions of wall fell down raising a great dust; and as the catapults on the terrace were shooting over against one another, the stones would strike together and shiver into a thousand pieces, making a copious209 shower upon the combatants.
Soon the two crowds formed but one great chain of human bodies; it overflowed211 into the intervals in the terrace, and, somewhat looser at the two extremities, swayed perpetually without advancing. They clasped one another, lying flat on the ground like wrestlers. They crushed one another. The women leaned over the battlements and shrieked. They were dragged away by their veils, and the whiteness of their suddenly uncovered sides shone in the arms of the Negroes as the latter buried their daggers212 in them. Some corpses did not fall, being too much pressed by the crowd, and, supported by the shoulders of their companions, advanced for some minutes quite upright and with staring eyes. Some who had both temples pierced by a javelin104 swayed their heads about like bears. Mouths, opened to shout, remained gaping213; severed214 hands flew through the air. Mighty215 blows were dealt, which were long talked of by the survivors216.
Meanwhile arrows darted217 from the towers of wood and stone. The tollenos moved their long yards rapidly; and as the Barbarians had sacked the old cemetery218 of the aborigines beneath the Catacombs, they hurled the tombstones against the Carthaginians. Sometimes the cables broke under the weight of too heavy baskets, and masses of men, all with uplifted arms, would fall from the sky.
Up to the middle of the day the veterans had attacked the Taenia fiercely in order to penetrate219 into the harbour and destroy the fleet. Hamilcar had a fire of damp straw lit upon the roofing of Khamon, and as the smoke blinded them they fell back to left, and came to swell118 the horrible rout220 which was pressing forward in Malqua. Some syntagmata composed of sturdy men, chosen expressly for the purpose, had broken in three gates. They were checked by lofty barriers made of planks studded with nails, but a fourth yielded easily; they dashed over it at a run and rolled into a pit in which there were hidden snares221. At the south-west gate Autaritus and his men broke down the rampart, the fissure222 in which had been stopped up with bricks. The ground behind rose, and they climbed it nimbly. But on the top they found a second wall composed of stones and long beams lying quite flat and alternating like the squares on a chess-board. It was a Gaulish fashion, and had been adapted by the Suffet to the requirements of the situation; the Gauls imagined themselves before a town in their own country. Their attack was weak, and they were repulsed223.
All the roundway, from the street of Khamon as far as the Green Market, now belonged to the Barbarians, and the Samnites were finishing off the dying with blows of stakes; or else with one foot on the wall were gazing down at the smoking ruins beneath them, and the battle which was beginning again in the distance.
The slingers, who were distributed through the rear, were still shooting. But the springs of the Acarnanian slings had broken from use, and many were throwing stones with the hand like shepherds; the rest hurled leaden bullets with the handle of a whip. Zarxas, his shoulders covered with his long black hair, went about everywhere, and led on the Barbarians. Two pouches224 hung at his hips225; he thrust his left hand into them continually, while his right arm whirled round like a chariot-wheel.
Matho had at first refrained from fighting, the better to command the Barbarians all at once. He had been seen along the gulf with the Mercenaries, near the lagoon226 with the Numidians, and on the shores of the lake among the Negroes, and from the back part of the plain he urged forward masses of soldiers who came ceaselessly against the ramparts. By degrees he had drawn near; the smell of blood, the sight of carnage, and the tumult227 of clarions had at last made his heart leap. Then he had gone back into his tent, and throwing off his cuirass had taken his lion’s skin as being more convenient for battle. The snout fitted upon his head, bordering his face with a circle of fangs228; the two fore-paws were crossed upon his breast, and the claws of the hinder ones fell beneath his knees.
He had kept on his strong waist-belt, wherein gleamed a two-edged axe116, and with his great sword in both hands he had dashed impetuously through the breach229. Like a pruner230 cutting willow-branches and trying to strike off as much as possible so as to make the more money, he marched along mowing231 down the Carthaginians around him. Those who tried to seize him in flank he knocked down with blows of the pommel; when they attacked him in front he ran them through; if they fled he clove232 them. Two men leaped together upon his back; he bounded backwards233 against a gate and crushed them. His sword fell and rose. It shivered on the angle of a wall. Then he took his heavy axe, and front and rear he ripped up the Carthaginians like a flock of sheep. They scattered more and more, and he was quite alone when he reached the second enclosure at the foot of the Acropolis. The materials which had been flung from the summit cumbered the steps and were heaped up higher than the wall. Matho turned back amid the ruins to summons his companions.
He perceived their crests234 scattered over the multitude; they were sinking and their wearers were about to perish; he dashed towards them; then the vast wreath of red plumes closed in, and they soon rejoined him and surrounded him. But an enormous crowd was discharging from the side streets. He was caught by the hips, lifted up and carried away outside the ramparts to a spot where the terrace was high.
Matho shouted a command and all the shields sank upon the helmets; he leaped upon them in order to catch hold somewhere so as to re-enter Carthage; and, flourishing his terrible axe, ran over the shields, which resembled waves of bronze, like a marine235 god, with brandished236 trident, over his billows.
However, a man in a white robe was walking along the edge of the rampart, impassible, and indifferent to the death which surrounded him. Sometimes he would spread out his right hand above his eyes in order to find out some one. Matho happened to pass beneath him. Suddenly his eyeballs flamed, his livid face contracted; and raising both his lean arms he shouted out abuse at him.
Matho did not hear it; but he felt so furious and cruel a look entering his heart that he uttered a roar. He hurled his long axe at him; some people threw themselves upon Schahabarim; and Matho seeing him no more fell back exhausted.
A terrible creaking drew near, mingled237 with the rhythm of hoarse238 voices singing together.
It was the great helepolis surrounded by a crowd of soldiers. They were dragging it with both hands, hauling it with ropes, and pushing it with their shoulders — for the slope rising from the plain to the terrace, although extremely gentle, was found impracticable for machines of such prodigious239 weight. However, it had eight wheels banded with iron, and it had been advancing slowly in this way since the morning, like a mountain raised upon another. Then there appeared an immense ram issuing from its base. The doors along the three fronts which faced the town fell down, and cuirassed soldiers appeared in the interior like pillars of iron. Some might be seen climbing and descending240 the two staircases which crossed the stories. Some were waiting to dart51 out as soon as the cramps of the doors touched the walls; in the middle of the upper platform the skeins of the ballistas were turning, and the great beam of the catapult was being lowered.
Hamilcar was at that moment standing upright on the roof of Melkarth. He had calculated that it would come directly towards him, against what was the most invulnerable place in the wall, which was for that very reason denuded241 of sentries. His slaves had for a long time been bringing leathern bottles along the roundway, where they had raised with clay two transverse partitions forming a sort of basin. The water was flowing insensibly along the terrace, and strange to say, it seemed to cause Hamilcar no anxiety.
But when the helepolis was thirty paces off, he commanded planks to be placed over the streets between the houses from the cisterns to the rampart; and a file of people passed from hand to hand helmets and amphoras, which were emptied continually. The Carthaginians, however, grew indignant at this waste of water. The ram was demolishing242 the wall, when suddenly a fountain sprang forth from the disjointed stones. Then the lofty brazen243 mass, nine stories high, which contained and engaged more than three thousand soldiers, began to rock gently like a ship. In fact, the water, which had penetrated244 the terrace, had broken up the path before it; its wheels stuck in the mire70; the head of Spendius, with distended245 cheeks blowing an ivory cornet, appeared between leathern curtains on the first story. The great machine, as though convulsively upheaved, advanced perhaps ten paces; but the ground softened246 more and more, the mire reached to the axles, and the helepolis stopped, leaning over frightfully to one side. The catapult rolled to the edge of the platform, and carried away by the weight of its beam, fell, shattering the lower stories beneath it. The soldiers who were standing on the doors slipped into the abyss, or else held on to the extremities of the long beams, and by their weight increased the inclination248 of the helepolis, which was going to pieces with creakings in all its joints.
The other Barbarians rushed up to help them, massing themselves into a compact crowd. The Carthaginians descended from the rampart, and, assailing249 them in the rear, killed them at leisure. But the chariots furnished with sickles250 hastened up, and galloped251 round the outskirts252 of the multitude. The latter ascended253 the wall again; night came on; and the Barbarians gradually retired254.
Nothing could now be seen on the plain but a sort of perfectly black, swarming255 mass, which extended from the bluish gulf to the purely256 white lagoon; and the lake, which had received streams of blood, stretched further away like a great purple pool.
The terrace was now so laden257 with corpses that it looked as though it had been constructed of human bodies. In the centre stood the helepolis covered with armour; and from time to time huge fragments broke off from it, like stones from a crumbling258 pyramid. Broad tracks made by the streams of lead might be distinguished on the walls. A broken-down wooden tower burned here and there, and the houses showed dimly like the stages of a ruined ampitheatre. Heavy fumes259 of smoke were rising, and rolling with them sparks which were lost in the dark sky.
The Carthaginians, however, who were consumed by thirst, had rushed to the cisterns. They broke open the doors. A miry swamp stretched at the bottom.
What was to be done now? Moreover, the Barbarians were countless260, and when their fatigue148 was over they would begin again.
The people deliberated all night in groups at the corners of the streets. Some said that they ought to send away the women, the sick, and the old men; others proposed to abandon the town, and found a colony far away. But vessels were lacking, and when the sun appeared no decision had been made.
There was no fighting that day, all being too much exhausted. The sleepers261 looked like corpses.
Then the Carthaginians, reflecting upon the cause of their disasters, remembered that they had not dispatched to Phoenicia the annual offering due to Tyrian Melkarth, and a great terror came upon them. The gods were indignant with the Republic, and were, no doubt, about to prosecute262 their vengeance263.
They were considered as cruel masters, who were appeased264 with supplications and allowed themselves to be bribed265 with presents. All were feeble in comparison with Moloch the Devourer266. The existence, the very flesh of men, belonged to him; and hence in order to preserve it, the Carthaginians used to offer up a portion of it to him, which calmed his fury. Children were burned on the forehead, or on the nape of the neck, with woollen wicks; and as this mode of satisfying Baal brought in much money to the priests, they failed not to recommend it as being easier and more pleasant.
This time, however, the Republic itself was at stake. But as every profit must be purchased by some loss, and as every transaction was regulated according to the needs of the weaker and the demands of the stronger, there was no pain great enough for the god, since he delighted in such as was of the most horrible description, and all were now at his mercy. He must accordingly be fully193 gratified. Precedents267 showed that in this way the scourge268 would be made to disappear. Moreover, it was believed that an immolation269 by fire would purify Carthage. The ferocity of the people was predisposed towards it. The choice, too, must fall exclusively upon the families of the great.
The Ancients assembled. The sitting was a long one. Hanno had come to it. As he was now unable to sit he remained lying down near the door, half hidden among the fringes of the lofty tapestry270; and when the pontiff of Moloch asked them whether they would consent to surrender their children, his voice suddenly broke forth from the shadow like the roaring of a genius in the depths of a cavern271. He regretted, he said, that he had none of his own blood to give; and he gazed at Hamilcar, who faced him at the other end of the hall. The Suffet was so much disconcerted by this look that it made him lower his eyes. All successively bent their heads in approval; and in accordance with the rites272 he had to reply to the high priest: “Yes; be it so.” Then the Ancients decreed the sacrifice in traditional circumlocution273 — because there are things more troublesome to say than to perform.
The decision was almost immediately known in Carthage, and lamentations resounded275. The cries of women might everywhere be heard; their husbands consoled them, or railed at them with remonstrances276.
But three hours afterwards extraordinary tidings were spread abroad: the Suffet had discovered springs at the foot of the cliff. There was a rush to the place. Water might be seen in holes dug in the sand, and some were already lying flat on the ground and drinking.
Hamilcar did not himself know whether it was by the determination of the gods or through the vague recollection of a revelation which his father had once made to him; but on leaving the Ancients he had gone down to the shore and had begun to dig the gravel277 with his slaves.
He gave clothing, boots, and wine. He gave all the rest of the corn that he was keeping by him. He even let the crowd enter his palace, and he opened kitchens, stores, and all the rooms — Salammbo’s alone excepted. He announced that six thousand Gaulish Mercenaries were coming, and that the king of Macedonia was sending soldiers.
But on the second day the springs diminished, and on the evening of the third they were completely dried up. Then the decree of the Ancients passed everywhere from lip to lip, and the priests of Moloch began their task.
Men in black robes presented themselves in the houses. In many instances the owners had deserted them under pretence of some business, or of some dainty that they were going to buy; and the servants of Moloch came and took the children away. Others themselves surrendered them stupidly. Then they were brought to the temple of Tanith, where the priestesses were charged with their amusement and support until the solemn day.
They visited Hamilcar suddenly and found him in his gardens.
“Barca! we come for that that you know of — your son!” They added that some people had met him one evening during the previous moon in the centre of the Mappalian district being led by an old man.
He was as though suffocated278 at first. But speedily understanding that any denial would be in vain, Hamilcar bowed; and he brought them into the commercial house. Some slaves who had run up at a sign kept watch all round about it.
He entered Salammbo’s room in a state of distraction279. He seized Hannibal with one hand, snatched up the cord of a trailing garment with the other, tied his feet and hands with it, thrust the end into his mouth to form a gag, and hid him under the bed of the ox-hides by letting an ample drapery fall to the ground.
Afterwards he walked about from right to left, raised his arms, wheeled round, bit his lips. Then he stood still with staring eyelids280, and panted as though he were about to die.
But he clapped his hands three times. Giddenem appeared.
“Listen!” he said, “go and take from among the slaves a male child from eight to nine years of age, with black hair and swelling forehead! Bring him here! make haste!”
Giddenem soon entered again, bringing forward a young boy.
He was a miserable281 child, at once lean and bloated; his skin looked greyish, like the infected rag hanging to his sides; his head was sunk between his shoulders, and with the back of his hand he was rubbing his eyes, which were filled with flies.
How could he ever be confounded with Hannibal! and there was no time to choose another. Hamilcar looked at Giddenem; he felt inclined to strangle him.
“Begone!” he cried; and the master of the slaves fled.
The misfortune which he had so long dreaded282 was therefore come, and with extravagant41 efforts he strove to discover whether there was not some mode, some means to escape it.
Abdalonim suddenly spoke147 from behind the door. The Suffet was being asked for. The servants of Moloch were growing impatient.
Hamilcar repressed a cry as though a red hot iron had burnt him; and he began anew to pace the room like one distraught. Then he sank down beside the balustrade, and, with his elbows on his knees, pressed his forehead into his shut fists.
The porphyry basin still contained a little clear water for Salammbo’s ablutions. In spite of his repugnance283 and all his pride, the Suffet dipped the child into it, and, like a slave merchant, began to wash him and rub him with strigils and red earth. Then he took two purple squares from the receptacles round the wall, placed one on his breast and the other on his back, and joined them together on the collar bones with two diamond clasps. He poured perfume upon his head, passed an electrum necklace around his neck, and put on him sandals with heels of pearl — sandals belonging to his own daughter! But he stamped with shame and vexation; Salammbo, who busied herself in helping284 him, was as pale as he. The child, dazzled by such splendour, smiled and, growing bold even, was beginning to clap his hands and jump, when Hamilcar took him away.
He held him firmly by the arm as though he were afraid of losing him, and the child, who was hurt, wept a little as he ran beside him.
When on a level with the ergastulum, under a palm tree, a voice was raised, a mournful and supplicant285 voice. It murmured: “Master! oh! master!”
Hamilcar turned and beside him perceived a man of abject286 appearance, one of the wretches287 who led a haphazard288 existence in the household.
“What do you want?” said the Suffet.
The slave, who trembled horribly, stammered289:
“I am his father!”
Hamilcar walked on; the other followed him with stooping loins, bent hams, and head thrust forward. His face was convulsed with unspeakable anguish, and he was choking with suppressed sobs290, so eager was he at once to question him, and to cry: “Mercy!”
At last he ventured to touch him lightly with one finger on the elbow.
“Are you going to —?” He had not the strength to finish, and Hamilcar stopped quite amazed at such grief.
He had never thought — so immense was the abyss separating them from each other — that there could be anything in common between them. It even appeared to him a sort of outrage291, an encroachment292 upon his own privileges. He replied with a look colder and heavier than an executioner’s axe; the slave swooned and fell in the dust at his feet. Hamilcar strode across him.
The three black-robed men were waiting in the great hall, and standing against the stone disc. Immediately he tore his garments, and rolled upon the pavement uttering piercing cries.
“Ah! poor little Hannibal! Oh! my son! my consolation293! my hope! my life! Kill me also! take me away! Woe294! Woe!” He ploughed his face with his nails, tore out his hair, and shrieked like the women who lament274 at funerals. “Take him away then! my suffering is too great! begone! kill me like him!” The servants of Moloch were astonished that the great Hamilcar was so weak-spirited. They were almost moved by it.
A noise of naked feet became audible, with a broken throat-rattling like the breathing of a wild beast speeding along, and a man, pale, terrible, and with outspread arms appeared on the threshold of the third gallery, between the ivory pots; he exclaimed:
“My child!”
Hamilcar threw himself with a bound upon the slave, and covering the man’s mouth with his hand exclaimed still more loudly:
“It is the old man who reared him! he calls him ‘my child!’ it will make him mad! enough! enough!” And hustling295 away the three priests and their victim he went out with them and with a great kick shut the door behind him.
Hamilcar strained his ears for some minutes in constant fear of seeing them return. He then thought of getting rid of the slave in order to be quite sure that he would see nothing; but the peril296 had not wholly disappeared, and, if the gods were provoked at the man’s death, it might be turned against his son. Then, changing his intention, he sent him by Taanach the best from his kitchens — a quarter of a goat, beans, and preserved pomegranates. The slave, who had eaten nothing for a long time, rushed upon them; his tears fell into the dishes.
Hamilcar at last returned to Salammbo, and unfastened Hannibal’s cords. The child in exasperation297 bit his hand until the blood came. He repelled298 him with a caress300.
To make him remain quiet Salammbo tried to frighten him with Lamia, a Cyrenian ogress.
“But where is she?” he asked.
He was told that brigands301 were coming to put him into prison. “Let them come,” he rejoined, “and I will kill them!”
Then Hamilcar told him the frightful247 truth. But he fell into a passion with his father, contending that he was quite able to annihilate302 the whole people, since he was the master of Carthage.
At last, exhausted by his exertions303 and anger, he fell into a wild sleep. He spoke in his dreams, his back leaning against a scarlet304 cushion; his head was thrown back somewhat, and his little arm, outstretched from his body, lay quite straight in an attitude of command.
When the night had grown dark Hamilcar lifted him up gently, and, without a torch, went down the galley305 staircase. As he passed through the mercantile house he took up a basket of grapes and a flagon of pure water; the child awoke before the statue of Aletes in the vault306 of gems307, and he smiled — like the other — on his father’s arm at the brilliant lights which surrounded him.
Hamilcar felt quite sure that his son could not be taken from him. It was an impenetrable spot communicating with the beach by a subterranean308 passage which he alone knew, and casting his eyes around he inhaled309 a great draught310 of air. Then he set him down upon a stool beside some golden shields. No one at present could see him; he had no further need for watching; and he relieved his feelings. Like a mother finding her first-born that was lost, he threw himself upon his son; he clasped him to his breast, he laughed and wept at the same time, he called him by the fondest names and covered him with kisses; little Hannibal was frightened by this terrible tenderness and was silent now.
Hamilcar returned with silent steps, feeling the walls around him, and came into the great hall where the moonlight entered through one of the apertures311 in the dome312; in the centre the slave lay sleeping after his repast, stretched at full length upon the marble pavement. He looked at him and was moved with a sort of pity. With the tip of his cothurn he pushed forward a carpet beneath his head. Then he raised his eyes and gazed at Tanith, whose slender crescent was shining in the sky, and felt himself stronger than the Baals and full of contempt for them.
The arrangements for the sacrifice were already begun.
Part of a wall in the temple of Moloch was thrown down in order to draw out the brazen god without touching313 the ashes of the altar. Then as soon as the sun appeared the hierodules pushed it towards the square of Khamon.
It moved backwards sliding upon cylinders; its shoulders overlapped314 the walls. No sooner did the Carthaginians perceive it in the distance than they speedily took to flight, for the Baal could be looked upon with impunity315 only when exercising his wrath.
A smell of aromatics316 spread through the streets. All the temples had just been opened simultaneously, and from them there came forth tabernacles borne upon chariots, or upon litters carried by the pontiffs. Great plumes swayed at the corners of them, and rays were emitted from their slender pinnacles317 which terminated in balls of crystal, gold, silver or copper318.
These were the Chanaanitish Baalim, offshoots of the supreme319 Baal, who were returning to their first cause to humble320 themselves before his might and annihilate themselves in his splendour.
Melkarth’s pavilion, which was of fine purple, sheltered a petroleum flare321; on Khamon’s, which was of hyacinth colour, there rose an ivory phallus bordered with a circle of gems; between Eschmoun’s curtains, which were as blue as the ether, a sleeping python formed a circle with his tail, and the Pataec gods, held in the arms of their priests, looked like great infants in swaddling clothes with their heels touching the ground.
Then came all the inferior forms of the Divinity: Baal-Samin, god of celestial322 space; Baal-Peor, god of the sacred mountains; Baal-Zeboub, god of corruption323, with those of the neighbouring countries and congenerous races: the Iarbal of Libya, the Adramelech of Chaldaea, the Kijun of the Syrians; Derceto, with her virgin’s face, crept on her fins121, and the corpse of Tammouz was drawn along in the midst of a catafalque among torches and heads of hair. In order to subdue324 the kings of the firmament325 to the Sun, and prevent their particular influences from disturbing his, diversely coloured metal stars were brandished at the end of long poles; and all were there, from the dark Neblo, the genius of Mercury, to the hideous326 Rahab, which is the constellation327 of the Crocodile. The Abbadirs, stones which had fallen from the moon, were whirling in slings of silver thread; little loaves, representing the female form, were born on baskets by the priests of Ceres; others brought their fetishes and amulets328; forgotten idols329 reappeared, while the mystic symbols had been taken from the very ships as though Carthage wished to concentrate herself wholly upon a single thought of death and desolation.
Before each tabernacle a man balanced a large vase of smoking incense330 on his head. Clouds hovered331 here and there, and the hangings, pendants, and embroideries332 of the sacred pavilions might be distinguished amid the thick vapours. These advanced slowly owing to their enormous weight. Sometimes the axles became fast in the streets; then the pious210 took advantage of the opportunity to touch the Baalim with their garments, which they preserved afterwards as holy things.
The brazen statue continued to advance towards the square of Khamon. The rich, carrying sceptres with emerald balls, set out from the bottom of Megara; the Ancients, with diadems333 on their heads, had assembled in Kinisdo, and masters of the finances, governors of provinces, sailors, and the numerous horde110 employed at funerals, all with the insignia of their magistracies or the instruments of their calling, were making their way towards the tabernacles which were descending from the Acropolis between the colleges of the pontiffs.
Out of deference334 to Moloch they had adorned335 themselves with the most splendid jewels. Diamonds sparkled on their black garments; but their rings were too large and fell from their wasted hands — nor could there have been anything so mournful as this silent crowd where earrings336 tapped against pale faces, and gold tiaras clasped brows contracted with stern despair.
At last the Baal arrived exactly in the centre of the square. His pontiffs arranged an enclosure with trellis-work to keep off the multitude, and remained around him at his feet.
The priests of Khamon, in tawny337 woollen robes, formed a line before their temple beneath the columns of the portico338; those of Eschmoun, in linen339 mantles with necklaces of koukouphas’ heads and pointed340 tiaras, posted themselves on the steps of the Acropolis; the priests of Melkarth, in violet tunics341, took the western side; the priests of the Abbadirs, clasped with bands of Phrygian stuffs, placed themselves on the east, while towards the south, with the necromancers all covered with tattooings, and the shriekers in patched cloaks, were ranged the curates of the Pataec gods, and the Yidonim, who put the bone of a dead man into their mouths to learn the future. The priests of Ceres, who were dressed in blue robes, had prudently342 stopped in the street of Satheb, and in low tones were chanting a thesmophorion in the Megarian dialect.
From time to time files of men arrived, completely naked, their arms outstretched, and all holding one another by the shoulders. From the depths of their breasts they drew forth a hoarse and cavernous intonation343; their eyes, which were fastened upon the colossus, shone through the dust, and they swayed their bodies simultaneously, and at equal distances, as though they were all affected344 by a single movement. They were so frenzied345 that to restore order the hierodules compelled them, with blows of the stick, to lie flat upon the ground, with their faces resting against the brass trellis-work.
Then it was that a man in a white robe advanced from the back of the square. He penetrated the crowd slowly, and people recognised a priest of Tanith — the high-priest Schahabarim. Hootings were raised, for the tyranny of the male principle prevailed that day in all consciences, and the goddess was actually so completely forgotten that the absence of her pontiffs had not been noticed. But the amazement346 was increased when he was seen to open one of the doors of the trellis-work intended for those who intended to offer up victims. It was an outrage to their god, thought the priests of Moloch, that he had just committed, and they sought with eager gestures to repel299 him. Fed on the meat of the holocausts347, clad in purple like kings, and wearing triple-storied crowns, they despised the pale eunuch, weakened with his macerations, and angry laughter shook their black beards, which were displayed on their breasts in the sun.
Schahabarim walked on, giving no reply, and, traversing the whole enclosure with deliberation, reached the legs of the colossus; then, spreading out both arms, he touched it on both sides, which was a solemn form of adoration348. For a long time Rabbet had been torturing him, and in despair, or perhaps for lack of a god that completely satisfied his ideas, he had at last decided for this one.
The crowd, terrified by this act of apostasy349, uttered a lengthened350 murmur102. It was felt that the last tie which bound their souls to a merciful divinity was breaking.
But owing to his mutilation, Schahabarim could take no part in the cult351 of the Baal. The men in the red cloaks shut him out from the enclosure; then, when he was outside, he went round all the colleges in succession, and the priest, henceforth without a god, disappeared into the crowd. It scattered at his approach.
Meanwhile a fire of aloes, cedar352, and laurel was burning between the legs of the colossus. The tips of its long wings dipped into the flame; the unguents with which it had been rubbed flowed like sweat over its brazen limbs. Around the circular flagstone on which its feet rested, the children, wrapped in black veils, formed a motionless circle; and its extravagantly long arms reached down their palms to them as though to seize the crown that they formed and carry it to the sky.
The rich, the Ancients, the women, the whole multitude, thronged353 behind the priests and on the terraces of the houses. The large painted stars revolved354 no longer; the tabernacles were set upon the ground; and the fumes from the censers ascended perpendicularly355, spreading their bluish branches through the azure356 like gigantic trees.
Many fainted; others became inert357 and petrified358 in their ecstasy359. Infinite anguish weighed upon the breasts of the beholders. The last shouts died out one by one — and the people of Carthage stood breathless, and absorbed in the longing165 of their terror.
At last the high priest of Moloch passed his left hand beneath the children’s veils, plucked a lock of hair from their foreheads, and threw it upon the flames. Then the men in the red cloaks chanted the sacred hymn360:
“Homage to thee, Sun! king of the two zones, self-generating Creator, Father and Mother, Father and Son, God and Goddess, Goddess and God!” And their voices were lost in the outburst of instruments sounding simultaneously to drown the cries of the victims. The eight-stringed scheminiths, the kinnors which had ten strings191, and the nebals which had twelve, grated, whistled, and thundered. Enormous leathern bags, bristling361 with pipes, made a shrill362 clashing noise; the tabourines, beaten with all the players’ might, resounded with heavy, rapid blows; and, in spite of the fury of the clarions, the salsalim snapped like grasshoppers’ wings.
The hierodules, with a long hook, opened the seven-storied compartments364 on the body of the Baal. They put meal into the highest, two turtle-doves into the second, an ape into the third, a ram into the fourth, a sheep into the fifth, and as no ox was to be had for the sixth, a tawny hide taken from the sanctuary365 was thrown into it. The seventh compartment363 yawned empty still.
Before undertaking366 anything it was well to make trial of the arms of the god. Slender chainlets stretched from his fingers up to his shoulders and fell behind, where men by pulling them made the two hands rise to a level with the elbows, and come close together against the belly367; they were moved several times in succession with little abrupt368 jerks. Then the instruments were still. The fire roared.
The pontiffs of Moloch walked about on the great flagstone scanning the multitude.
An individual sacrifice was necessary, a perfectly voluntary oblation369, which was considered as carrying the others along with it. But no one had appeared up to the present, and the seven passages leading from the barriers to the colossus were completely empty. Then the priests, to encourage the people, drew bodkins from their girdles and gashed370 their faces. The Devotees, who were stretched on the ground outside, were brought within the enclosure. A bundle of horrible irons was thrown to them, and each chose his own torture. They drove in spits between their breasts; they split their cheeks; they put crowns of thorns upon their heads; then they twined their arms together, and surrounded the children in another large circle which widened and contracted in turns. They reached to the balustrade, they threw themselves back again, and then began once more, attracting the crowd to them by the dizziness of their motion with its accompanying blood and shrieks371.
By degrees people came into the end of the passages; they flung into the flames pearls, gold vases, cups, torches, all their wealth; the offerings became constantly more numerous and more splendid. At last a man who tottered372, a man pale and hideous with terror, thrust forward a child; then a little black mass was seen between the hands of the colossus, and sank into the dark opening. The priests bent over the edge of the great flagstone — and a new song burst forth celebrating the joys of death and of new birth into eternity373.
The children ascended slowly, and as the smoke formed lofty eddies374 as it escaped, they seemed at a distance to disappear in a cloud. Not one stirred. Their wrists and ankles were tied, and the dark drapery prevented them from seeing anything and from being recognised.
Hamilcar, in a red cloak, like the priests of Moloch, was beside the Baal, standing upright in front of the great toe of its right foot. When the fourteenth child was brought every one could see him make a great gesture of horror. But he soon resumed his former attitude, folded his arms, and looked upon the ground. The high pontiff stood on the other side of the statue as motionless as he. His head, laden with an Assyrian mitre, was bent, and he was watching the gold plate on his breast; it was covered with fatidical stones, and the flame mirrored in it formed irisated lights. He grew pale and dismayed. Hamilcar bent his brow; and they were both so near the funeral-pile that the hems82 of their cloaks brushed it as they rose from time to time.
The brazen arms were working more quickly. They paused no longer. Every time that a child was placed in them the priests of Moloch spread out their hands upon him to burden him with the crimes of the people, vociferating: “They are not men but oxen!” and the multitude round about repeated: “Oxen! oxen!” The devout exclaimed: “Lord! eat!” and the priests of Proserpine, complying through terror with the needs of Carthage, muttered the Eleusinian formula: “Pour out rain! bring forth!”
The victims, when scarcely at the edge of the opening, disappeared like a drop of water on a red-hot plate, and white smoke rose amid the great scarlet colour.
Nevertheless, the appetite of the god was not appeased. He ever wished for more. In order to furnish him with a larger supply, the victims were piled up on his hands with a big chain above them which kept them in their place. Some devout persons had at the beginning wished to count them, to see whether their number corresponded with the days of the solar year; but others were brought, and it was impossible to distinguish them in the giddy motion of the horrible arms. This lasted for a long, indefinite time until the evening. Then the partitions inside assumed a darker glow, and burning flesh could be seen. Some even believed that they could descry375 hair, limbs, and whole bodies.
Night fell; clouds accumulated above the Baal. The funeral-pile, which was flameless now, formed a pyramid of coals up to his knees; completely red like a giant covered with blood, he looked, with his head thrown back, as though he were staggering beneath the weight of his intoxication376.
In proportion as the priests made haste, the frenzy377 of the people increased; as the number of the victims was diminishing, some cried out to spare them, others that still more were needful. The walls, with their burden of people, seemed to be giving way beneath the howlings of terror and mystic voluptuousness378. Then the faithful came into the passages, dragging their children, who clung to them; and they beat them in order to make them let go, and handed them over to the men in red. The instrument-players sometimes stopped through exhaustion379; then the cries of the mothers might be heard, and the frizzling of the fat as it fell upon the coals. The henbane-drinkers crawled on all fours around the colossus, roaring like tigers; the Yidonim vaticinated, the Devotees sang with their cloven lips; the trellis-work had been broken through, all wished for a share in the sacrifice; — and fathers, whose children had died previously380, cast their effigies381, their playthings, their preserved bones into the fire. Some who had knives rushed upon the rest. They slaughtered382 one another. The hierodules took the fallen ashes at the edge of the flagstone in bronze fans, and cast them into the air that the sacrifice might be scattered over the town and even to the region of the stars.
The loud noise and great light had attracted the Barbarians to the foot of the walls; they clung to the wreck383 of the helepolis to have a better view, and gazed open-mouthed in horror.
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1
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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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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3
trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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encompass
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| vt.围绕，包围；包含，包括；完成 | |
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5
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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7
slings
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| 抛( sling的第三人称单数 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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ram
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| (random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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anterior
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| adj.较早的；在前的 | |
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cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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12
projectiles
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| n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器 | |
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13
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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14
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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15
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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17
grooves
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| n.沟( groove的名词复数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏v.沟( groove的第三人称单数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏 | |
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18
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
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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20
scorpions
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| n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 ) | |
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21
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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22
pivots
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| n.枢( pivot的名词复数 )；最重要的人（或事物）；中心；核心v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的第三人称单数 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
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23
cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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24
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
hurdles
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| n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛 | |
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26
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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27
wrack
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| v.折磨；n.海草 | |
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28
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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29
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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30
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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31
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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32
cisterns
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| n.蓄水池，储水箱( cistern的名词复数 )；地下储水池 | |
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33
arsenal
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| n.兵工厂，军械库 | |
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arsenals
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| n.兵工厂，军火库( arsenal的名词复数 )；任何事物的集成 | |
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35
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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36
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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37
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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38
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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39
vats
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| varieties 变化，多样性，种类 | |
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40
crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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41
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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42
extravagantly
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| adv.挥霍无度地 | |
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43
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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44
bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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45
rams
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| n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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46
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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47
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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48
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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49
resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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50
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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51
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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52
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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53
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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54
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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55
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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56
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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57
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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58
cramps
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| n. 抽筋, 腹部绞痛, 铁箍 adj. 狭窄的, 难解的 v. 使...抽筋, 以铁箍扣紧, 束缚 | |
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59
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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60
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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61
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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62
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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63
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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64
squads
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| n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍 | |
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65
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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66
loom
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| n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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67
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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68
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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69
tuning
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| n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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70
mire
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| n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境 | |
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71
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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72
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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73
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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74
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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75
overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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76
vomiting
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| 吐 | |
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77
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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78
petroleum
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| n.原油，石油 | |
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79
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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80
mantles
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| vt.&vi.覆盖（mantle的第三人称单数形式） | |
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81
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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82
hems
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| 布的褶边，贴边( hem的名词复数 )； 短促的咳嗽 | |
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83
props
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| 小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋 | |
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84
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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85
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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86
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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87
vertically
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| adv.垂直地 | |
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plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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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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91
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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92
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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lighters
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| n.打火机，点火器( lighter的名词复数 ) | |
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94
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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95
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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96
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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97
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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98
execrated
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| v.憎恶( execrate的过去式和过去分词 )；厌恶；诅咒；咒骂 | |
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99
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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100
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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101
isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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102
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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103
javelins
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| n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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104
javelin
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| n.标枪，投枪 | |
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105
infliction
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| n.（强加于人身的）痛苦，刑罚 | |
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106
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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107
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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108
ravaged
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| 毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
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109
hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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110
horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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111
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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112
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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113
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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114
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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115
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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116
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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117
tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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118
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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119
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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120
coffins
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| n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物 | |
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121
fins
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| [医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌 | |
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122
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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123
spurting
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| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的现在分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺； 溅射 | |
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124
artery
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| n.干线，要道；动脉 | |
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125
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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126
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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127
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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128
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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129
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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130
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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131
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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132
jealousies
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| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
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133
besieging
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的现在分词 ) | |
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134
sarcasms
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，挖苦( sarcasm的名词复数 ) | |
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135
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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136
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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137
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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138
limpid
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| adj.清澈的，透明的 | |
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139
languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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140
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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141
zigzags
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| n.锯齿形的线条、小径等( zigzag的名词复数 )v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的第三人称单数 ) | |
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142
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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143
scythes
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| n.（长柄）大镰刀( scythe的名词复数 )v.（长柄）大镰刀( scythe的第三人称单数 ) | |
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144
recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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145
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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146
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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147
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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148
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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149
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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150
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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151
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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152
assassinate
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| vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤 | |
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153
ingenuousness
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| n.率直；正直；老实 | |
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154
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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155
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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156
prostrating
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的现在分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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157
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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158
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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159
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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160
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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161
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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162
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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163
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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164
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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165
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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166
sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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167
tacking
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| （帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉 | |
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168
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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169
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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170
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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171
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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172
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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173
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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174
alleging
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| 断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 ) | |
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175
regale
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| v.取悦，款待 | |
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176
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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177
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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178
barricaded
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| 设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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179
demolitions
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| n.毁坏，破坏，拆毁( demolition的名词复数 ) | |
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180
conflagrations
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| n.大火（灾）( conflagration的名词复数 ) | |
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181
ravages
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| 劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹 | |
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182
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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183
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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184
abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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185
stewards
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| （轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家 | |
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186
gorged
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
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187
cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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188
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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189
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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190
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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191
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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192
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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193
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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194
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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195
plebeians
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| n.平民( plebeian的名词复数 )；庶民；平民百姓；平庸粗俗的人 | |
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196
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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197
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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198
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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199
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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200
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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201
pealed
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| v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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202
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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203
battering
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| n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 ) | |
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204
serried
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| adj.拥挤的；密集的 | |
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205
oblique
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| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
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206
pestles
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| n.（捣碎或碾磨用的）杵( pestle的名词复数 ) | |
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207
meshes
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| 网孔( mesh的名词复数 )； 网状物； 陷阱； 困境 | |
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208
demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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209
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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210
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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211
overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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212
daggers
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| 匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 ) | |
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213
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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214
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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215
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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216
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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217
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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218
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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219
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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220
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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221
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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222
fissure
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| n.裂缝；裂伤 | |
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223
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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224
pouches
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| n.（放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的）小袋( pouch的名词复数 )；（袋鼠等的）育儿袋；邮袋；（某些动物贮存食物的）颊袋 | |
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225
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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226
lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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227
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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228
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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229
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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230
pruner
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| 修枝剪 | |
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231
mowing
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| n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 ) | |
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232
clove
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| n.丁香味 | |
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233
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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234
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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235
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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236
brandished
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| v.挥舞( brandish的过去式和过去分词 )；炫耀 | |
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237
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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238
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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239
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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240
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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241
denuded
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| adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物 | |
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242
demolishing
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| v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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243
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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244
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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245
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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246
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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247
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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248
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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249
assailing
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| v.攻击( assail的现在分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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250
sickles
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| n.镰刀( sickle的名词复数 ) | |
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251
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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252
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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253
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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254
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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255
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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256
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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257
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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258
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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259
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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260
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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261
sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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262
prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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263
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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264
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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265
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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266
devourer
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| 吞噬者 | |
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267
precedents
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| 引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例 | |
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268
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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269
immolation
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| n.牺牲品 | |
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270
tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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271
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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272
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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273
circumlocution
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| n. 绕圈子的话，迂回累赘的陈述 | |
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274
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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275
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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276
remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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277
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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278
suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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279
distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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280
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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281
miserable
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|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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282
dreaded
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|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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283
repugnance
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|
| n.嫌恶 | |
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284
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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285
supplicant
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| adj.恳求的n.恳求者 | |
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286
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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287
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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288
haphazard
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|
| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
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289
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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290
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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291
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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292
encroachment
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| n.侵入，蚕食 | |
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293
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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294
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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295
hustling
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| 催促（hustle的现在分词形式） | |
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296
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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297
exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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298
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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299
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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300
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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301
brigands
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| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
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302
annihilate
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| v.使无效；毁灭；取消 | |
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303
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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304
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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305
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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306
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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307
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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308
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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309
inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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310
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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311
apertures
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| n.孔( aperture的名词复数 )；隙缝；（照相机的）光圈；孔径 | |
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312
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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313
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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314
overlapped
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| _adj.重叠的v.部分重叠( overlap的过去式和过去分词 )；（物体）部份重叠；交叠；（时间上）部份重叠 | |
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315
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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316
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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317
pinnacles
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| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
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318
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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319
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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320
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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321
flare
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| v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发 | |
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322
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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323
corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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324
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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325
firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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326
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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327
constellation
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| n.星座n.灿烂的一群 | |
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328
amulets
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| n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 ) | |
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329
idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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330
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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331
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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332
embroideries
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| 刺绣( embroidery的名词复数 )； 刺绣品； 刺绣法 | |
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333
diadems
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| n.王冠，王权，带状头饰( diadem的名词复数 ) | |
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334
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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335
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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336
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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337
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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338
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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339
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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340
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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341
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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342
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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343
intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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344
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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345
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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346
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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347
holocausts
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| n.大屠杀( holocaust的名词复数 ) | |
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348
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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349
apostasy
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| n.背教，脱党 | |
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350
lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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351
cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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352
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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353
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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354
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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355
perpendicularly
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| adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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356
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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357
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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358
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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359
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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360
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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361
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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362
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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363
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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364
compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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365
sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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366
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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367
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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368
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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369
oblation
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| n.圣餐式；祭品 | |
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370
gashed
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| v.划伤，割破( gash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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371
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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372
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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373
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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374
eddies
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| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
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375
descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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376
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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377
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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378
voluptuousness
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| n.风骚，体态丰满 | |
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379
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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380
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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381
effigies
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| n.（人的）雕像，模拟像，肖像( effigy的名词复数 ) | |
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382
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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383
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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