The way I got there was itself a very strange one. I had come to Egypt for a winter tour with the Fitz-Simkinses, to whose daughter Editha I was at that precise moment engaged. You will probably remember that old Fitz-Simkins belonged originally to the wealthy firm of Simkinson and Stokoe, worshipful vintners; but when the senior partner retired1 from the business and got his knighthood, the College of Heralds3 opportunely5 discovered that his ancestors had changed their fine old Norman name for its English equivalent some time about the reign6 of King Richard I.; and they immediately authorized7 the old gentleman to resume the patronymic and the armorial bearings of his distinguished8 forefathers9. It's really quite astonishing how often these curious coincidences crop up at the College of Heralds.
Of course it was a great catch for a landless and briefless barrister like myself—dependent on a small fortune in South American securities, and my precarious10 earnings11 as a writer of burlesque—to secure such a[Pg 127] valuable prospective12 property as Editha Fitz-Simkins. To be sure, the girl was undeniably plain; but I have known plainer girls than she was, whom forty thousand pounds converted into My Ladies: and if Editha hadn't really fallen over head and ears in love with me, I suppose old Fitz-Simkins would never have consented to such a match. As it was, however, we had flirted13 so openly and so desperately14 during the Scarborough season, that it would have been difficult for Sir Peter to break it off: and so I had come to Egypt on a tour of insurance to secure my prize, following in the wake of my future mother-in-law, whose lungs were supposed to require a genial15 climate—though in my private opinion they were really as creditable a pair of pulmonary appendages16 as ever drew breath.
Nevertheless, the course of our true love did not run so smoothly17 as might have been expected. Editha found me less ardent18 than a devoted19 squire20 should be; and on the very last night of the old year she got up a regulation lovers' quarrel, because I had sneaked21 away from the boat that afternoon, under the guidance of our dragoman, to witness the seductive performances of some fair Ghawázi, the dancing girls of a neighbouring town. How she found it out heaven only knows, for I gave that rascal22 Dimitri five piastres to hold his tongue: but she did find it out somehow, and chose to regard it as an offence of the first magnitude: a mortal sin only to be expiated23 by three days of penance24 and humiliation25.
I went to bed that night, in my hammock on deck, with feelings far from satisfactory. We were moored26 against the bank at Abu Yilla, the most pestiferous hole between the cataracts27 and the Delta28. The mosquitoes were worse than the ordinary mosquitoes of Egypt, and that is saying a great deal. The heat was oppressive even at night, and the malaria29 from the lotus beds rose like a palpable mist before my eyes. Above all, I[Pg 128] was getting doubtful whether Editha Fitz-Simkins might not after all slip between my fingers. I felt wretched and feverish30: and yet I had delightful31 interlusive recollections, in between, of that lovely little Gháziyah, who danced that exquisite32, marvellous, entrancing, delicious, and awfully34 oriental dance that I saw in the afternoon.
By Jove, she was a beautiful creature. Eyes like two full moons; hair like Milton's Penseroso; movements like a poem of Swinburne's set to action. If Editha was only a faint picture of that girl now! Upon my word, I was falling in love with a Gháziyah!
Then the mosquitoes came again. Buzz—buzz—buzz. I make a lunge at the loudest and biggest, a sort of prima donna in their infernal opera. I kill the prima donna, but ten more shrill36 performers come in its place. The frogs croak37 dismally38 in the reedy shallows. The night grows hotter and hotter still. At last, I can stand it no longer. I rise up, dress myself lightly, and jump ashore39 to find some way of passing the time.
Yonder, across the flat, lies the great unopened Pyramid of Abu Yilla. We are going to-morrow to climb to the top; but I will take a turn to reconnoitre in that direction now. I walk across the moonlit fields, my soul still divided between Editha and the Gháziyah, and approach the solemn mass of huge, antiquated40 granite41-blocks standing42 out so grimly against the pale horizon. I feel half awake, half asleep, and altogether feverish: but I poke43 about the base in an aimless sort of way, with a vague idea that I may perhaps discover by chance the secret of its sealed entrance, which has ere now baffled so many pertinacious44 explorers and learned Egyptologists.
As I walk along the base, I remember old Herodotus's story, like a page from the "Arabian Nights," of how King Rhampsinitus built himself a treasury45, wherein one stone turned on a pivot46 like a door; and how the builder availed himself of this his cunning device to steal gold from[Pg 129] the king's storehouse. Suppose the entrance to the unopened Pyramid should be by such a door. It would be curious if I should chance to light upon the very spot.
I stood in the broad moonlight, near the north-east angle of the great pile, at the twelfth stone from the corner. A random47 fancy struck me, that I might turn this stone by pushing it inward on the left side. I leant against it with all my weight, and tried to move it on the imaginary pivot. Did it give way a fraction of an inch? No, it must have been mere48 fancy. Let me try again. Surely it is yielding! Gracious Osiris, it has moved an inch or more! My heart beats fast, either with fever or excitement, and I try a third time. The rust49 of centuries on the pivot wears slowly off, and the stone turns ponderously50 round, giving access to a low dark passage.
It must have been madness which led me to enter the forgotten corridor, alone, without torch or match, at that hour of the evening; but at any rate I entered. The passage was tall enough for a man to walk erect51, and I could feel, as I groped slowly along, that the wall was composed of smooth polished granite, while the floor sloped away downward with a slight but regular descent. I walked with trembling heart and faltering52 feet for some forty or fifty yards down the mysterious vestibule: and then I felt myself brought suddenly to a standstill by a block of stone placed right across the pathway. I had had nearly enough for one evening, and I was preparing to return to the boat, agog53 with my new discovery, when my attention was suddenly arrested by an incredible, a perfectly54 miraculous55 fact.
The block of stone which barred the passage was faintly visible as a square, by means of a struggling belt of light streaming through the seams. There must be a lamp or other flame burning within. What if this were a door like the outer one, leading into a chamber56 perhaps inhabited by some dangerous band of outcasts? The light was a sure[Pg 130] evidence of human occupation: and yet the outer door swung rustily57 on its pivot as though it had never been opened for ages. I paused a moment in fear before I ventured to try the stone: and then, urged on once more by some insane impulse, I turned the massive block with all my might to the left. It gave way slowly like its neighbour, and finally opened into the central hall.
Never as long as I live shall I forget the ecstasy58 of terror, astonishment59, and blank dismay which seized upon me when I stepped into that seemingly enchanted60 chamber. A blaze of light first burst upon my eyes, from jets of gas arranged in regular rows tier above tier, upon the columns and walls of the vast apartment. Huge pillars, richly painted with red, yellow, blue, and green decorations, stretched in endless succession down the dazzling aisles61. A floor of polished syenite reflected the splendour of the lamps, and afforded a base for red granite sphinxes and dark purple images in porphyry of the cat-faced goddess Pasht, whose form I knew so well at the Louvre and the British Museum. But I had no eyes for any of these lesser62 marvels63, being wholly absorbed in the greatest marvel33 of all: for there, in royal state and with mitred head, a living Egyptian king, surrounded by his coiffured court, was banqueting in the flesh upon a real throne, before a table laden64 with Memphian delicacies65!
I stood transfixed with awe66 and amazement67, my tongue and my feet alike forgetting their office, and my brain whirling round and round, as I remember it used to whirl when my health broke down utterly68 at Cambridge after the Classical Tripos. I gazed fixedly69 at the strange picture before me, taking in all its details in a confused way, yet quite incapable70 of understanding or realizing any part of its true import. I saw the king in the centre of the hall, raised on a throne of granite inlaid with gold and ivory; his head crowned with the peaked cap of Rameses, and his curled hair flowing down his shoulders in a set and[Pg 131] formal frizz. I saw priests and warriors71 on either side, dressed in the costumes which I had often carefully noted72 in our great collections; while bronze-skinned maids, with light garments round their waists, and limbs displayed in graceful73 picturesqueness74, waited upon them, half nude75, as in the wall paintings which we had lately examined at Karnak and Syene. I saw the ladies, clothed from head to foot in dyed linen76 garments, sitting apart in the background, banqueting by themselves at a separate table; while dancing girls, like older representatives of my yesternoon friends, the Ghawázi, tumbled before them in strange attitudes, to the music of four-stringed harps77 and long straight pipes. In short, I beheld78 as in a dream the whole drama of everyday Egyptian royal life, playing itself out anew under my eyes, in its real original properties and personages.
Gradually, as I looked, I became aware that my hosts were no less surprised at the appearance of their anachronistic79 guest than was the guest himself at the strange living panorama80 which met his eyes. In a moment music and dancing ceased; the banquet paused in its course, and the king and his nobles stood up in undisguised astonishment to survey the strange intruder.
Some minutes passed before any one moved forward on either side. At last a young girl of royal appearance, yet strangely resembling the Gháziyah of Abu Yilla, and recalling in part the laughing maiden81 in the foreground of Mr. Long's great canvas at the previous Academy, stepped out before the throng82.
"May I ask you," she said in Ancient Egyptian, "who you are, and why you come hither to disturb us?"
I was never aware before that I spoke83 or understood the language of the hieroglyphics84: yet I found I had not the slightest difficulty in comprehending or answering her question. To say the truth, Ancient Egyptian, though an extremely tough tongue to decipher in its written[Pg 132] form, becomes as easy as love-making when spoken by a pair of lips like that Pharaonic princess's. It is really very much the same as English, pronounced in a rapid and somewhat indefinite whisper, and with all the vowels85 left out.
"I beg ten thousand pardons for my intrusion," I answered apologetically; "but I did not know that this Pyramid was inhabited, or I should not have entered your residence so rudely. As for the points you wish to know, I am an English tourist, and you will find my name upon this card;" saying which I handed her one from the case which I had fortunately put into my pocket, with conciliatory politeness. The princess examined it closely, but evidently did not understand its import.
"In return," I continued, "may I ask you in what august presence I now find myself by accident?"
A court official stood forth86 from the throng, and answered in a set heraldic tone: "In the presence of the illustrious monarch87, Brother of the Sun, Thothmes the Twenty-seventh, king of the Eighteenth Dynasty."
"Salute88 the Lord of the World," put in another official in the same regulation drone.
I bowed low to his Majesty89, and stepped out into the hall. Apparently90 my obeisance91 did not come up to Egyptian standards of courtesy, for a suppressed titter broke audibly from the ranks of bronze-skinned waiting-women. But the king graciously smiled at my attempt, and turning to the nearest nobleman, observed in a voice of great sweetness and self-contained majesty: "This stranger, Ombos, is certainly a very curious person. His appearance does not at all resemble that of an Ethiopian or other savage92, nor does he look like the pale-faced sailors who come to us from the Achaian land beyond the sea. His features, to be sure, are not very different from theirs; but his extraordinary and singularly inartistic dress shows him to belong to some other barbaric race."
I glanced down at my waistcoat, and saw that I was wearing my tourist's[Pg 133] check suit, of grey and mud colour, with which a Bond Street tailor had supplied me just before leaving town, as the latest thing out in fancy tweeds. Evidently these Egyptians must have a very curious standard of taste not to admire our pretty and graceful style of male attire93.
"If the dust beneath your Majesty's feet may venture upon a suggestion," put in the officer whom the king had addressed, "I would hint that this young man is probably a stray visitor from the utterly uncivilized lands of the North. The head-gear which he carries in his hand obviously betrays an Arctic habitat."
I had instinctively94 taken off my round felt hat in the first moment of surprise, when I found myself in the midst of this strange throng, and I was before me like a shield to protect my chest.
"Let the stranger cover himself," said the king.
"Barbarian95 intruder, cover yourself," cried the herald4. I noticed throughout that the king never directly addressed anybody save the higher officials around him.
I put on my hat as desired. "A most uncomfortable and silly form of tiara indeed," said the great Thothmes.
"Very unlike your noble and awe-spiring mitre, Lion of Egypt," answered Ombos.
"Ask the stranger his name," the king continued.
It was useless to offer another card, so I mentioned it in a clear voice.
"An uncouth96 and almost unpronounceable designation truly," commented his Majesty to the Grand Chamberlain beside him. "These savages97 speak strange languages, widely different from the flowing tongue of Memnon and Sesostris."
The chamberlain bowed his assent98 with three low genuflexions. I began to feel a little abashed99 at these personal remarks, and I almost think[Pg 134] (though I shouldn't like it to be mentioned in the Temple) that a blush rose to my cheek.
The beautiful princess, who had been standing near me meanwhile in an attitude of statuesque repose100, now appeared anxious to change the current of the conversation. "Dear father," she said with a respectful inclination101, "surely the stranger, barbarian though he be, cannot relish102 such pointed103 allusions104 to his person and costume. We must let him feel the grace and delicacy105 of Egyptian refinement106. Then he may perhaps carry back with him some faint echo of its cultured beauty to his northern wilds."
"Nonsense, Hatasou," replied Thothmes XXVII. testily107. "Savages have no feelings, and they are as incapable of appreciating Egyptian sensibility as the chattering108 crow is incapable of attaining109 the dignified110 reserve of the sacred crocodile."
"Your Majesty is mistaken," I said, recovering my self-possession gradually and realizing my position as a free-born Englishman before the court of a foreign despot—though I must allow that I felt rather less confident than usual, owing to the fact that we were not represented in the Pyramid by a British Consul—"I am an English tourist, a visitor from a modern land whose civilization far surpasses the rude culture of early Egypt; and I am accustomed to respectful treatment from all other nationalities, as becomes a citizen of the First Naval111 Power in the World."
My answer created a profound impression. "He has spoken to the Brother of the Sun," cried Ombos in evident perturbation. "He must be of the Blood Royal in his own tribe, or he would never have dared to do so!"
"Otherwise," added a person whose dress I recognized as that of a priest, "he must be offered up in expiation112 to Amon-Ra immediately."
As a rule I am a decently truthful113 person, but under these alarming[Pg 135] circumstances I ventured to tell a slight fib with an air of nonchalant boldness. "I am a younger brother of our reigning114 king," I said without a moment's hesitation115; for there was nobody present to gainsay116 me, and I tried to salve my conscience by reflecting that at any rate I was only claiming consanguinity117 with an imaginary personage.
"In that case," said King Thothmes, with more geniality118 in his tone, "there can be no impropriety in my addressing you personally. Will you take a place at our table next to myself, and we can converse119 together without interrupting a banquet which must be brief enough in any circumstances? Hatasou, my dear, you may seat yourself next to the barbarian prince."
I felt a visible swelling120 to the proper dimensions of a Royal Highness as I sat down by the king's right hand. The nobles resumed their places, the bronze-skinned waitresses left off standing like soldiers in a row and staring straight at my humble121 self, the goblets122 went round once more, and a comely123 maid soon brought me meat, bread, fruits, and date wine.
All this time I was naturally burning with curiosity to inquire who my strange hosts might be, and how they had preserved their existence for so many centuries in this undiscovered hall; but I was obliged to wait until I had satisfied his Majesty of my own nationality, the means by which I had entered the Pyramid, the general state of affairs throughout the world at the present moment, and fifty thousand other matters of a similar sort. Thothmes utterly refused to believe my reiterated124 assertion that our existing civilization was far superior to the Egyptian; "because," said he, "I see from your dress that your nation is utterly devoid125 of taste or invention;" but he listened with great interest to my account of modern society, the steam-engine, the Permissive Prohibitory Bill, the telegraph, the House of Commons, Home[Pg 136] Rule, and the other blessings126 of our advanced era, as well as to a brief résumé of European history from the rise of the Greek culture to the Russo-Turkish war. At last his questions were nearly exhausted127, and I got a chance of making a few counter inquiries128 on my own account.
"And now," I said, turning to the charming Hatasou, whom I thought a more pleasing informant than her august papa, "I should like to know who you are."
"What, don't you know?" she cried with unaffected surprise. "Why, we're mummies."
She made this astounding129 statement with just the same quiet unconsciousness as if she had said, "we're French," or "we're Americans." I glanced round the walls, and observed behind the columns, what I had not noticed till then—a large number of empty mummy-cases, with their lids placed carelessly by their sides.
"But what are you doing here?" I asked in a bewildered way.
"Is it possible," said Hatasou, "that you don't really know the object of embalming131? Though your manners show you to be an agreeable and well-bred young man, you must excuse my saying that you are shockingly ignorant. We are made into mummies in order to preserve our immortality132. Once in every thousand years we wake up for twenty-four hours, recover our flesh and blood, and banquet once more upon the mummied dishes and other good things laid by for us in the Pyramid. To-day is the first day of a millennium133, and so we have waked up for the sixth time since we were first embalmed134."
"The sixth time?" I inquired incredulously. "Then you must have been dead six thousand years."
"Exactly so."
"But the world has not yet existed so long," I cried, in a fervour of orthodox horror.
"Excuse me, barbarian prince. This is the first day of the three[Pg 137] hundred and twenty-seven thousandth millennium."
My orthodoxy received a severe shock. However, I had been accustomed to geological calculations, and was somewhat inclined to accept the antiquity135 of man; so I swallowed the statement without more ado. Besides, if such a charming girl as Hatasou had asked me at that moment to turn Mohammedan, or to worship Osiris, I believe I should incontinently have done so.
"You wake up only for a single day and night, then?" I said.
"Only for a single day and night. After that, we go to sleep for another millennium."
"Unless you are meanwhile burned as fuel on the Cairo Railway," I added mentally. "But how," I continued aloud, "do you get these lights?"
"The Pyramid is built above a spring of inflammable gas. We have a reservoir in one of the side chambers136 in which it collects during the thousand years. As soon as we awake, we turn it on at once from the tap, and light it with a lucifer match."
"Upon my word," I interposed, "I had no notion you Ancient Egyptians were acquainted with the use of matches."
"Very likely not. 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Cephrenes, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,' as the bard137 of Phil? puts it."
Further inquiries brought out all the secrets of that strange tomb-house, and kept me fully35 interested till the close of the banquet. Then the chief priest solemnly rose, offered a small fragment of meat to a deified crocodile, who sat in a meditative138 manner by the side of his deserted139 mummy-case, and declared the feast concluded for the night. All rose from their places, wandered away into the long corridors or side-aisles, and formed little groups of talkers under the brilliant gas-lamps.
For my part, I scrolled140 off with Hatasou down the least illuminated141 of[Pg 138] the colonnades142, and took my seat beside a marble fountain, where several fish (gods of great sanctity, Hatasou assured me) were disporting143 themselves in a porphyry basin. How long we sat there I cannot tell, but I know that we talked a good deal about fish, and gods, and Egyptian habits, and Egyptian philosophy, and, above all, Egyptian love-making. The last-named subject we found very interesting, and when once we got fully started upon it, no diversion afterwards occurred to break the even tenour of the conversation. Hatasou was a lovely figure, tall, queenly, with smooth dark arms and neck of polished bronze: her big black eyes full of tenderness, and her long hair bound up into a bright Egyptian headdress, that harmonized to a tone with her complexion144 and her robe. The more we talked, the more desperately did I fall in love, and the more utterly oblivious145 did I become of my duty to Editha Fitz-Simkins. The mere ugly daughter of a rich and vulgar brand-new knight2, forsooth, to show off her airs before me, when here was a Princess of the Blood Royal of Egypt, obviously sensible to the attentions which I was paying her, and not unwilling146 to receive them with a coy and modest grace.
Well, I went on saying pretty things to Hatasou, and Hatasou went on deprecating them in a pretty little way, as who should say, "I don't mean what I pretend to mean one bit;" until at last I may confess that we were both evidently as far gone in the disease of the heart called love as it is possible for two young people on first acquaintance to become. Therefore, when Hatasou pulled forth her watch—another piece of mechanism147 with which antiquaries used never to credit the Egyptian people—and declared that she had only three more hours to live, at least for the next thousand years, I fairly broke down, took out my handkerchief, and began to sob148 like a child of five years old.
Hatasou was deeply moved. Decorum forbade that she should console me[Pg 139] with too much empressement; but she ventured to remove the handkerchief gently from my face, and suggested that there was yet one course open by which we might enjoy a little more of one another's society. "Suppose," she said quietly, "you were to become a mummy. You would then wake up, as we do, every thousand years; and after you have tried it once, you will find it just as natural to sleep for a millennium as for eight hours. Of course," she added with a slight blush, "during the next three or four solar cycles there would be plenty of time to conclude any other arrangements you might possibly contemplate149, before the occurrence of another glacial epoch150."
This mode of regarding time was certainly novel and somewhat bewildering to people who ordinarily reckon its lapse151 by weeks and months; and I had a vague consciousness that my relations with Editha imposed upon me a moral necessity of returning to the outer world, instead of becoming a millennial152 mummy. Besides, there was the awkward chance of being converted into fuel and dissipated into space before the arrival of the next waking day. But I took one look at Hatasou, whose eyes were filling in turn with sympathetic tears, and that look decided153 me. I flung Editha, life, and duty to the dogs, and resolved at once to become a mummy.
There was no time to be lost. Only three hours remained to us, and the process of embalming, even in the most hasty manner, would take up fully two. We rushed off to the chief priest, who had charge of the particular department in question. He at once acceded154 to my wishes, and briefly155 explained the mode in which they usually treated the corpse156.
That word suddenly aroused me. "The corpse!" I cried; "but I am alive. You can't embalm130 me living."
"We can," replied the priest, "under chloroform."
"Chloroform!" I echoed, growing more and more astonished: "I had no idea[Pg 140] you Egyptians knew anything about it."
"Ignorant barbarian!" he answered with a curl of the lip; "you imagine yourself much wiser than the teachers of the world. If you were versed157 in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, you would know that chloroform is one of our simplest and commonest an?sthetics."
I put myself at once under the hands of the priest. He brought out the chloroform, and placed it beneath my nostrils158, as I lay on a soft couch under the central court. Hatasou held my hand in hers, and watched my breathing with an anxious eye. I saw the priest leaning over me, with a clouded phial in his hand, and I experienced a vague sensation of smelling myrrh and spikenard. Next, I lost myself for a few moments, and when I again recovered my senses in a temporary break, the priest was holding a small greenstone knife, dabbled159 with blood, and I felt that a gash160 had been made across my breast. Then they applied161 the chloroform once more; I felt Hatasou give my hand a gentle squeeze; the whole panorama faded finally from my view; and I went to sleep for a seemingly endless time.
When I awoke again, my first impression led me to believe that the thousand years were over, and that I had come to life once more to feast with Hatasou and Thothmes in the Pyramid of Abu Yilla. But second thoughts, combined with closer observation of the surroundings, convinced me that I was really lying in a bedroom of Shepheard's Hotel at Cairo. An hospital nurse leant over me, instead of a chief priest; and I noticed no tokens of Editha Fitz-Simkins's presence. But when I endeavoured to make inquiries upon the subject of my whereabouts, I was peremptorily162 informed that I mustn't speak, as I was only just recovering from a severe fever, and might endanger my life by talking.
Some weeks later I learned the sequel of my night's adventure. The[Pg 141] Fitz-Simkinses, missing me from the boat in the morning, at first imagined that I might have gone ashore for an early stroll. But after breakfast time, lunch time, and dinner time had gone past, they began to grow alarmed, and sent to look for me in all directions. One of their scouts163, happening to pass the Pyramid, noticed that one of the stones near the north-east angle had been displaced, so as to give access to a dark passage, hitherto unknown. Calling several of his friends, for he was afraid to venture in alone, he passed down the corridor, and through a second gateway164 into the central hall. There the Fellahin found me, lying on the ground, bleeding profusely165 from a wound on the breast, and in an advanced stage of malarious166 fever. They brought me back to the boat, and the Fitz-Simkinses conveyed me at once to Cairo, for medical attendance and proper nursing.
Editha was at first convinced that I had attempted to commit suicide because I could not endure having caused her pain, and she accordingly resolved to tend me with the utmost care through my illness. But she found that my delirious167 remarks, besides bearing frequent reference to a princess, with whom I appeared to have been on unexpectedly intimate terms, also related very largely to our casus belli itself, the dancing girls of Abu Yilla. Even this trial she might have borne, setting down the moral degeneracy which led me to patronize so degrading an exhibition as a first symptom of my approaching malady168: but certain unfortunate observations, containing pointed and by no means flattering allusions to her personal appearance—which I contrasted, much to her disadvantage, with that of the unknown princess—these, I say, were things which she could not forgive; and she left Cairo abruptly169 with her parents for the Riviera, leaving behind a stinging note, in which she denounced my perfidy170 and empty-heartedness with all the flowers of feminine eloquence171. From that day to this I have never seen her.[Pg 142]
When I returned to London and proposed to lay this account before the Society of Antiquaries, all my friends dissuaded172 me on the ground of its apparent incredibility. They declare that I must have gone to the Pyramid already in a state of delirium173, discovered the entrance by accident, and sunk exhausted when I reached the inner chamber. In answer, I would point out three facts. In the first place, I undoubtedly174 found my way into the unknown passage—for which achievement I afterwards received the gold medal of the Sociétée Khédiviale, and of which I retain a clear recollection, differing in no way from my recollection of the subsequent events. In the second place, I had in my pocket, when found, a ring of Hatasou's, which I drew from her finger just before I took the chloroform, and put into my pocket as a keepsake. And in the third place, I had on my breast the wound which I saw the priest inflict175 with a knife of greenstone, and the scar may be seen on the spot to the present day. The absurd hypothesis of my medical friends, that I was wounded by falling against a sharp edge of rock, I must at once reject as unworthy a moment's consideration.
My own theory is either that the priest had not time to complete the operation, or else that the arrival of the Fitz-Simkins' scouts frightened back the mummies to their cases an hour or so too soon. At any rate, there they all were, ranged around the walls undisturbed, the moment the Fellahin entered.
Unfortunately, the truth of my account cannot be tested for another thousand years. But as a copy of this book will be preserved for the benefit of posterity176 in the British Museum, I hereby solemnly call upon Collective Humanity to try the veracity177 of this history by sending a deputation of arch?ologists to the Pyramid of Abu Yilla, on the last day of December, Two thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven. If they do[Pg 143] not then find Thothmes and Hatasou feasting in the central hall exactly as I have described, I shall willingly admit that the story of my New Year's Eve among the Mummies is a vain hallucination, unworthy of credence178 at the hands of the scientific world.
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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heralds
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| n.使者( herald的名词复数 )；预报者；预兆；传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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opportunely
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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authorized
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distinguished
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forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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12
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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13
flirted
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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15
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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16
appendages
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| n.附属物( appendage的名词复数 )；依附的人；附属器官；附属肢体（如臂、腿、尾等） | |
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17
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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18
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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19
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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20
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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21
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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22
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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23
expiated
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| v.为（所犯罪过）接受惩罚，赎（罪）( expiate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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25
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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26
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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27
cataracts
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| n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障 | |
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28
delta
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| n.（流的）角洲 | |
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29
malaria
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| n.疟疾 | |
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30
feverish
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|
| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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31
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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32
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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33
marvel
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|
| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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34
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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35
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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36
shrill
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|
| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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37
croak
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|
| vi.嘎嘎叫，发牢骚 | |
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38
dismally
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|
| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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39
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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40
antiquated
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|
| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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41
granite
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|
| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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42
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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43
poke
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|
| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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44
pertinacious
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| adj.顽固的 | |
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45
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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46
pivot
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| v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的 | |
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47
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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48
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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49
rust
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|
| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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50
ponderously
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51
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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52
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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53
agog
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| adj.兴奋的，有强烈兴趣的； adv.渴望地 | |
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54
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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55
miraculous
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|
| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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56
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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57
rustily
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| 锈蚀地，声音沙哑地 | |
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58
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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59
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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60
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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61
aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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62
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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63
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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64
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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65
delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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66
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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67
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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68
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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69
fixedly
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|
| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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70
incapable
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|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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71
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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72
noted
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|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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73
graceful
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|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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74
picturesqueness
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75
nude
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|
| adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品 | |
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76
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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77
harps
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| abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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78
beheld
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|
| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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79
anachronistic
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|
| adj.时代错误的 | |
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80
panorama
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|
| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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81
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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82
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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83
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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84
hieroglyphics
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|
| n.pl.象形文字 | |
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85
vowels
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|
| n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 ) | |
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86
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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87
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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88
salute
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|
| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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89
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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90
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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91
obeisance
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| n.鞠躬，敬礼 | |
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92
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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93
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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94
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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95
barbarian
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|
| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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96
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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97
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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98
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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99
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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101
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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102
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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103
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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104
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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105
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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106
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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107
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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108
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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109
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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110
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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111
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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112
expiation
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| n.赎罪，补偿 | |
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113
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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114
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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115
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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116
gainsay
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| v.否认，反驳 | |
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117
consanguinity
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| n.血缘；亲族 | |
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118
geniality
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| n.和蔼，诚恳；愉快 | |
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119
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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120
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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121
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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122
goblets
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| n.高脚酒杯( goblet的名词复数 ) | |
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123
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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124
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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126
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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127
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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128
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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129
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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130
embalm
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| v.保存（尸体）不腐 | |
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131
embalming
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| v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的现在分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气 | |
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132
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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133
millennium
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| n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世 | |
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134
embalmed
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| adj.用防腐药物保存（尸体）的v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气 | |
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135
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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136
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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137
bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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138
meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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139
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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140
scrolled
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| adj.具有涡卷装饰的v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的过去式和过去分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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142
colonnades
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| n.石柱廊( colonnade的名词复数 ) | |
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disporting
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| v.嬉戏，玩乐，自娱( disport的现在分词 ) | |
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144
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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146
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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147
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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148
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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149
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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150
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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151
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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152
millennial
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| 一千年的，千福年的 | |
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153
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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154
acceded
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| v.（正式）加入( accede的过去式和过去分词 )；答应；（通过财产的添附而）增加；开始任职 | |
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155
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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156
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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158
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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159
dabbled
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| v.涉猎( dabble的过去式和过去分词 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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160
gash
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| v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝 | |
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161
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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163
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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164
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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166
malarious
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| （患）疟疾的，（有）瘴气的 | |
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167
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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168
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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169
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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170
perfidy
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| n.背信弃义，不忠贞 | |
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171
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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172
dissuaded
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| 劝（某人）勿做某事，劝阻( dissuade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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173
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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174
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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175
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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176
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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177
veracity
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| n.诚实 | |
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178
credence
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| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
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