CHAPTER. THE II

THE Dawn of the next morning found O'Donell on the sumit of a High mountain which overlooked the city he had stopped to take a farewell view of the place of his nativity. all along the eastern horizon there was a rich glowing light which as it rose gradually melted into the pale blue of the sky in which just over the light there was still visible the silver crescent of the moon in a short time the sun began to rise in golden glory casting his splendid radiance over all the face of nature and illuminating¹ the magnificent city in the midst of which towering in silent grandeur² there appeared the Palace where dwelt the mighty³ Prince of that great and beautiful city. all around the brazen⁴ gates and massive walls of which there flowed the majestic⁵ stream of the Guadima whose Banks where bordered by splendid palaces and magnificent gardens behind these stretching for many a league were fruitful plains and forests whose shade seemed almost impenetrable to a single ray of light while in the distace blue mountains were seen raising their heads to the sky and forming a misty⁶ girdle to the plains of Dahomey. on the whole of this grand and beautiful prospect⁷ [4] O'Donells gaze was long and fixed⁸ but his last look was to the palace of the King and a tear stood in his eye as he said ernestly may he be preserved from all evil may good attend him and may the cheif Geni spread their broad sheild of protection over him all the time of his sojourn⁹ in this wearisome world. then turning round he began to decend the mountain he pursued his way till the sun began to wax hot when he stopped and sitting down he took out some provisions which he had brought with him and which consisted of a few biscuits and dates while he was eating a tall man came up and acosted him O'Donell requested him to sit beside him and offered him a biscuit this he refused and taking one out of a small bag which he carried he sat down and they began to talk. In the course of conversation O'Donell learnt that this mans name was ALexander DeLancy that he was a native of France and that he was engaged in the same pursuit with himself i-e the search of happiness they talked for along time and at last agreed to travel together then rising they pursued their journey towards night fall they lay down in the open air and slept soundly till morning when they again set off and thus they continued till the 3 day when about 2 hours after noon they aproached an old castle which they entred and as they were examining it they discovered a subteaneous passage which they could not see the end of Let us follow where this passage leads us and perhaps we may find happiness here said O'Donell Delancy agreed the 2 stepped into the opening imediately they a great stone was rolled to the mouth of the passage with a noise like thunder which shut out all but a single ray daylight. "What is that! exclaimed O'Donell "I cannot tell," replied DeLancy "but never mind I supose it is only some genius playing tricks" "Well it may be so returned O'Donell and they proceeded on their way after traveling for a long time as near as they could reckon about 2 days they perceived a silvery streak¹⁰ of light on the walls of the passage something like the light of the moon in a short time they came to the end of the passage and leaping out of the opening which formed they entred a new world they where at first so much bewildred by the different objects which struck their senses that they almost fainted but at length recovering they had time to see every thing around them they were upon the top of a rock which was more than a thousand fathoms¹¹ high, all beneath them was liquid Mountains tossed to and fro with horrible confusion roaring and raging with a tremendous noise and crowned with waves of foam¹² all above them was a mighty firmament¹³ in one part covere with black clouds from which darted¹⁴ huge and terrible sheets of Lightning in another part an imense globe of Light like silver was hanging in the sky and several smaller globes which spakled exceedingly surounded it. in a short time the tempest which was dreadful beyond description ceased the large black clouds cleared away the silver globes vanished and another globe whose light was of a gold colour appeared it was far larger than the former and in a little time it became so intensely bright that they could no longer gaze on it so after looking around them for some time they rose and pursued their journey. they had travelled a long way when they came an imense forest the trees of which bore a large fruit of a deep purple colour of which they tasted and found that it was fit for food, they journeyed in this forest for three days and on the 3 day they entred a valley or rather a deep glen surounded on each side by tremendous rocks whose tops where lost in the clouds in this glen they continued for some time and at last came in sight of a mountain which rose so high that the could not see the sumit though the sky was quite clear. at the foot of the mountain there flowed a river of pure water border by trees which had flowers of a beautiful rose coulour except these trees nothing was to be seen but black forests and huge rocks rising out of a wilderness which bore the terrible aspect of devastation and which stretched as far as the eye could reach in this desolate land no sound was to be heard, not even cry of the eagle or the scream of the Curlew but a silence like the silence of the grave reigned over all the face of nature unbroken except by the murmur of the river as it slowly wound its course through the desert

1 illuminating   

a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的

参考例句：

• We didn't find the examples he used particularly illuminating. 我们觉得他采用的那些例证启发性不是特别大。
• I found his talk most illuminating. 我觉得他的话很有启发性。

2 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

3 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

4 brazen   

adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的

参考例句：

• The brazen woman laughed loudly at the judge who sentenced her.那无耻的女子冲着给她判刑的法官高声大笑。
• Some people prefer to brazen a thing out rather than admit defeat.有的人不愿承认失败，而是宁肯厚着脸皮干下去。

5 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

6 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

9 sojourn   

v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留

参考例句：

• It would be cruel to begrudge your sojourn among flowers and fields.如果嫉妒你逗留在鲜花与田野之间，那将是太不近人情的。
• I am already feeling better for my sojourn here.我在此逗留期间，觉得体力日渐恢复。

10 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

11 fathoms   

英寻( fathom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The harbour is four fathoms deep. 港深为四英寻。
• One bait was down forty fathoms. 有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。

12 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

13 firmament   

n.苍穹；最高层

参考例句：

• There are no stars in the firmament.天空没有一颗星星。
• He was rich,and a rising star in the political firmament.他十分富有，并且是政治高层一颗冉冉升起的新星。

14 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》