"The hallucinations of Smith," said Spalding, after we had settled the matter of the pipes, and were enjoying a fresh pull at the weed, "as described by the Doctor, remind me of a slight attack of fever which I had some months ago, and from which I recovered partly through the aid of the Doctor's medicine, and partly through the kindness of a young friend of mine; and of the strange 'kinks,' as you call them, which got into my head between the fever and the Doctor's opiates. Things were strangely mixed up, the real and the unreal grouped and mingled1 in a manner that gave to all the just proportions and appearance of sober actualities. I remember them as distinctly, and they made as deep and abiding2 impression upon my mind as if I had seen them all. They are impressed as palpably and indelibly upon my memory now as any actual events of my life."
"Well," said the Doctor, "suppose you give us one of these 'kinks,' while our pipes are being smoked out, as an 'opiate' to send us all to sleep."
"Be it understood, then," Spalding began, "that I like dogs in a general way. They are plain dealing3, honest, trusty folk in the aggregate4, albeit5, there are what Tom Benton calls, 'dirty dogs.' These, however, are mostly human canines6, dogs that walk on two legs, and wear clothes. Such curs I don't like. But there are such, and they may be seen and heard, barking, and snarling7, and snapping in their envy, at honest peoples' heels every day. Let them bark. Mr. Benton was right. They are 'dirty dogs.' But a dog that looks you honestly and frankly8 in the face, that stands by his master and friend, in all times of trial, in sorrow as in joy, in adversity as in prosperity, in dark days as in bright days, always cheerful, always sincere, earnest, and truthful9, and so that his kindness be met, always happy, I like. He is your true nobility of nature below the human. But there are 'curs of low degree;' dogs of neither genial10 instinct nor breeding; senseless animals, that belie11 the noble nature of their species, are living libels upon their kind. There was one of these over against my rooms, at the time of the sickness I speak of. I say was for thanks to the fates, he is among the things that have been; he belongs to history, has been wiped out.
"He was a barking dog. When the moon was in the sky, he barked at the moon. When only the stars shone out, he barked at the stars; when clouds shut in both moon and stars, he barked at the clouds; and when the darkness was so deep and black as to obscure even the clouds, he barked at the darkness. Through all the long night he barked, barked, barked! It was not a bark of defiance12, nor of alarm, nor of astonishment13, nor of warning. It was not a note of danger, breaking the hush14 of midnight, saying that thieves were abroad, that murder was on its stealthy mission, or that the wolf was on the walk. It was a senseless, monotonous15, idiotic16 bow, wow! Nothing more, nothing less.
"All Monday night, as I lay tossing upon a bed of pain, when fever was coursing through my veins17, and every pulse went plunging18 like a steam engine from the gorged19 heart to every extremity20, and my brain was like molten lead, I heard that terrible bark! It was my evil genius, my destiny. It mingled in every feverish21 dream, became the embodiment of every vision. I measured the periods of its recurrence22 by the clock that stands in the corner of our room. I counted the tickings of its silence, and I counted the tickings of its continuance. Every swing of the pendulum23 became a distinct period of existence. Minutes, hours, were nothing. Forty-four tickings, I said, and that bow, wow! will be heard again! Fifteen tickings, I said, and it will cease; and so I went on until the hours seemed to spread out into a boundless24 ocean of time. That dog somehow became mixed up with that old family clock that stood in the corner. I heard him scratching and climbing up among the weights, writhing25 and twisting his way among the machinery26, till there, looking out through the face of that old family clock, distinct and palpable as the sun at noonday, or the moon in a cloudless night, I saw the ogre head of that dog; his great glassy, fishy27 eyes, his half drooping28, half erect29 ears, his slavering jaws30, and as he gazed in a stupid meaningless stare upon me, uttered his everlasting31 bow, wow! Tell me that the room was dark; that not a ray of light penetrated32 the closed doors or the curtained windows. What of that? That dog's head, I repeat, was there; I saw it, if I ever saw the sun, the moon or the bright stars. I saw it staring at me through all the gloom, all the thick darkness, and I heard its terrible bow, wow! 'Get out!' I shouted in horror.
"'What's the matter?' cried my wife, springing up in an ecstasy33 of terror.
"'Drive out that dog,' I replied.
"'What dog?' she inquired.
"'There,' I replied, 'that dog there, in the clock with his great staring, glassy eyes; drive him out!'
"She lighted the gas, and as it flashed up, there stood the old clock, the pendulum swung back and forth34, the ticking went on, and its white old-fashioned face, looked out in calm serenity35; but the dog was gone. It was all natural as life. The lighting36 of the gas had frightened the cur back to his yard, and as the forty-fourth tick ceased, his bow wow! was heard again, and it lasted while the pendulum swung back and forth just fifteen times. I took a cooling draft, and counted in feverish agony forty-four, and fifteen, till the daylight came creeping in at the windows, filling with sepulchral37 greyness the room. The barking ceased, and I slept only to dream of snarling curs and 'dirty dogs' for an hour.
"Through all Tuesday I lay tossing with pain. Fever was in every pulse; my brain was seething38, burning lava39. I thought and dreamed of nothing but mangy curs and 'dirty dogs.' The night gathered again, and the rumbling40 of the carriages and the thousand voices that break the stillness of a thronged41 city, died away into silence. The lights were extinguished, but again that horrible bark! bark! broke the hush of midnight, and worse than all, the quickened senses of fever heard it answered from away over on Arbor42 Hill; and again away up in State street; and yet again over in Lydius, and still again away down by the river. The East, the North, the West and the South had a voice, and it was all concentrated in a ceaseless, senseless, idiotic bark. I counted again the tickings of the clock, and each swing of the pendulum ended in a bark! As I lay there in the silence and desolation, the restless, tossing anguish43 of fever, those dogs gathered together in State at the crossing of Eagle, just above my boarding-house, and barked! They came under my windows, and barked! They looked in between the curtains, and barked! They came into my room, and there on the sofa, on the rocking-chair, on the table, on the mantelpiece, on the ottoman, on the stove, and on the top of the old clock, was a dog; and each barked! and barked! I saw them all through the darkness, plain as if it were noonday. They were 'dirty dogs,' filthy44 brutes45, ill-favored mangy curs all, and there they sat and barked at the clock, barked at the mirror, at the stove, barked at one another and at me, with the same monotonous, meaningless, idiotic bow, wow! as of old.
"I had two rifles and a double-barrelled fowling-piece, sitting in the corner of the parlor46 adjoining our sleeping-room, the gifts of valued friends. My wife, wearied with the day's watching, had sunk into slumber47 on the bed beside me. I woke her gently.
"'Make no noise,' I said, 'but bring me the guns; do it carefully.'
"'What on earth do you want of the guns?' she inquired in alarm.
"'Don't you see those infernal dogs?' I answered, 'bring me the guns, and I'll make short work with the howling curs.'
"'Why, husband,' said she, 'there are no dogs here,' and as she lighted the gas the curs vanished away. But I saw them in the darkness. It was only when the light flashed through the room, that they fled from it, and I heard them barking in response to each other through all the long night, till the dawn crept over the world again.
"Years ago, I saved a boy from the meshes48 of the law, in which his evil ways had involved him. I admonished49 him of the end towards which he was hastening. I showed him that the path he was treading led to destruction, and he left it, as he said, forever. He apprenticed50 himself to a useful trade, and is now an intelligent mechanic. Out of his time, an industrious51, sober youth of two and twenty, supporting by his industry, his mother and sister in comfort and respectability. He heard of my sickness, and on Wednesday morning called to see me, proffering52 his services as a nurse and watchman, prompted by gratitude53 for the past. I declined his kindness for the present, as I told him casually54 of the dog whose midnight barking was killing55 me. He called again on Thursday morning. The barking had ceased. He inquired if I had been troubled with the yelping56 of that senseless cur, and I answered truly that I had not, that I had slept soundly, and woke with a softened57 pulse and a cooled brain.
"'Well,' said he, 'I thought you would rest easier. I looked into the yard as I came along, and saw a dead dog lying there. I thought may be he had barked himself to death.'
"I did not at the time take in the full meaning, the hidden import of his words. I dropped away into slumber, and dreamed of the dog that barked himself to death. I saw him vanish by piecemeal58 at each successive bark, until nothing but his jaws were left, and as his last bark was uttered, these, too, vanished away, and then all was still.
"I awoke, and thought that a dose of 'dog-buttons,' or a taste of strychnine, administered with a tempting59 bit of cold steak, or a piece of fresh lamb, or a bone of mutton carefully dropped in his way, might have aided the operation. Be that as it may, whatever of debt may have existed between my young friend and myself for past kind it is all wiped out by the news he brought me, that a 'dead dog lay in the yard over the way.'"
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1
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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abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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aggregate
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| adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合 | |
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albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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6
canines
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| n.犬齿( canine的名词复数 )；犬牙；犬科动物 | |
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7
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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8
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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9
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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10
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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11
belie
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| v.掩饰，证明为假 | |
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12
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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14
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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15
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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16
idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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17
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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18
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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19
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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20
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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21
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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recurrence
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| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
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23
pendulum
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| n.摆，钟摆 | |
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24
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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25
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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26
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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27
fishy
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| adj. 值得怀疑的 | |
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28
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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29
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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30
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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31
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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32
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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33
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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34
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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35
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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36
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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37
sepulchral
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| adj.坟墓的，阴深的 | |
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38
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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39
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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40
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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41
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
arbor
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| n.凉亭；树木 | |
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43
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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44
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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45
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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46
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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47
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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48
meshes
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| 网孔( mesh的名词复数 )； 网状物； 陷阱； 困境 | |
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49
admonished
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| v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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50
apprenticed
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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52
proffering
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的现在分词 ) | |
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53
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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54
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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55
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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56
yelping
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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57
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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58
piecemeal
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| adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块 | |
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59
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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