CHAPTER XXIX. — They Still Remain Upon The Rock

 "Gogle-goggle, fugle-fi, fugle-fogle-orum," so hummed to himself Babbalanja, slowly pacing over the fossils. "Is he crazy again?" whispered Yoomy.

 

"Are you crazy, Babbalanja?" asked Media.

 

"From my very birth have I been so, my lord; am I not possessed¹ by a devil?"

 

"Then I'll e'en interrogate² him," cried Media. "—Hark ye, sirrah;— why rave³ you thus in this poor mortal?"

 

"'Tis he, not I. I am the mildest devil that ever entered man; in propria persona, no antlers do I wear; my tail has lost its barb⁴, as at last your Mardian lions lose their caudal horns."

 

"A very sing-song devil this. But, prithee, who are you, sirrah?"

 

"The mildest devil that ever entered man; in propria persona, no antlers do I wear; my tail has lost its barb, as at last your Mardian lions lose their caudal horns."

 

"A very iterating devil this. Sirrah! mock me not. Know you aught yet unrevealed by Babbalanja?"

 

"Many things I know, not good to tell; whence they call me Azzageddi."

 

"A very confidential⁵ devil, this; that tells no secrets. Azzageddi, can I drive thee out?"

 

"Only with this mortal's ghost:—together we came in, together we depart."

 

"A very terse⁶, and ready devil, this. Whence come you, Azzageddi?"

 

"Whither my catechist must go—a torrid clime, cut by a hot equator."

 

"A very keen, and witty⁷ devil, this. Azzageddi, whom have you there?"

 

"A right down merry, jolly set, that at a roaring furnace sit and toast their hoofs⁸ for aye; so used to flames, they poke⁹ the fire with their horns, and light their tails for torches."

 

"A very funny devil, this. Azzageddi, is not Mardi a place far pleasanter, than that from whence you came?"

 

 "Ah, home! sweet, sweet, home! would, would that I were home again!"

"A very sentimental¹⁰ devil, this. Azzageddi, would you had a hand, I'd shake it."

 

"Not so with us; who, rear to rear, shake each other's tails, and courteously¹¹ inquire, 'Pray, worthy¹² sir, how now stands the great thermometer?'"

 

"The very prince of devils, this."

 

"How mad our Babbalanja is," cried Mohi. My lord, take heed¹³; he'll bite."

 

"Alas¹⁴! alas!" sighed Yoomy.

 

"Hark ye, Babbalanja," cried Media, "enough of this: doff¹⁵ your devil, and be a man."

 

"My lord, I can not doff him; but I'll down him for a time: Azzageddi! down, imp¹⁶; down, down, down! so: now, my lord, I'm only Babbalanja."

 

"Shall I test his sanity¹⁷, my lord?" cried Mohi.

 

"Do, old man."

 

"Philosopher, our great reef is surrounded by an ocean; what think you lies beyond?"

 

"Alas!" sighed Yoomy, "the very subject to renew his madness."

 

"Peace, minstrel!" said Media. "Answer, Babbalanja."

 

"I will, my lord. Fear not, sweet Yoomy; you see how calm I am. Braid- Beard, those strangers, that came to Mondoldo prove isles¹⁸ afar, as a philosopher of old surmised¹⁹, but was hooted²⁰ at for his surmisings. Nor is it at all impossible, Braid-Beard, that beyond their land may exist other regions, of which those strangers know not; peopled with races something like us Mardians; but perhaps with more exalted²¹ faculties²², and organs that we lack. They may have some better seeing sense than ours; perhaps, have fins²³ or wings for arms."

 

"This seems not like sanity," muttered Mohi.

 

"A most crazy hypothesis, truly," said Media.

 

"And are all inductions²⁴ vain?" cried Babbalanja. "Have we mortals naught²⁵ to rest on, but what we see with eyes? Is no faith to be reposed²⁶ in that inner microcosm, wherein we see the charted universe in little, as the whole horizon is mirrored in the iris²⁷ of a gnat²⁸? Alas! alas! my lord, is there no blest Odonphi? no Astrazzi?"

 

"His devil's uppermost again, my lord," cried Braid-Beard.

 

"He's stark²⁹, stark mad!" sighed Yoomy.

 

"Ay, the moon's at full," said Media. "Ho, paddlers! we depart."

1 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

2 interrogate   

vt.讯问，审问，盘问

参考例句：

• The lawyer took a long time to interrogate the witness fully.律师花了很长时间仔细询问目击者。
• We will interrogate the two suspects separately.我们要对这两个嫌疑人单独进行审讯。

3 rave   

vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬

参考例句：

• The drunkard began to rave again.这酒鬼又开始胡言乱语了。
• Now I understand why readers rave about this book.我现明白读者为何对这本书赞不绝口了。

4 barb   

n.（鱼钩等的）倒钩，倒刺

参考例句：

• The barb of his wit made us wince.他那锋芒毕露的机智使我们退避三舍。
• A fish hook has a barb to prevent the fish from escaping after being hooked.鱼钩上都有一个倒钩以防上了钩的鱼逃走。

5 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

6 terse   

adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的

参考例句：

• Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
• The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。

7 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

8 hoofs   

n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The stamp of the horse's hoofs on the wooden floor was loud. 马蹄踏在木头地板上的声音很响。 来自辞典例句
• The noise of hoofs called him back to the other window. 马蹄声把他又唤回那扇窗子口。 来自辞典例句

9 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

10 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

11 courteously   

adv.有礼貌地，亲切地

参考例句：

• He courteously opened the door for me.他谦恭有礼地为我开门。
• Presently he rose courteously and released her.过了一会，他就很客气地站起来，让她走开。

12 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

13 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

14 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

15 doff   

v.脱，丢弃，废除

参考例句：

• The peasants doff their hats.农民脱下了他们的帽子。
• When he received me informally,he doffed the uniform of state and always wore a long chinese coat.当他非正式接见我的时候，他不穿礼服而总是穿中国长袍。

16 imp   

n.顽童

参考例句：

• What a little imp you are!你这个淘气包！
• There's a little imp always running with him.他总有一个小鬼跟着。

17 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

18 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

19 surmised   

v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想

参考例句：

• From the looks on their faces, I surmised that they had had an argument. 看他们的脸色，我猜想他们之间发生了争执。
• From his letter I surmised that he was unhappy. 我从他的信中推测他并不快乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 hooted   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• An owl hooted nearby. 一只猫头鹰在附近啼叫。
• The crowd hooted and jeered at the speaker. 群众向那演讲人发出轻蔑的叫嚣和嘲笑。

21 exalted   

adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的

参考例句：

• Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
• He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。

22 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

24 inductions   

归纳（法）( induction的名词复数 )； （电或磁的）感应； 就职； 吸入

参考例句：

25 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

26 reposed   

v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Cruncher reposed under a patchwork counterpane, like a Harlequin at home. 克朗彻先生盖了一床白衲衣图案的花哨被子，像是呆在家里的丑角。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• An old man reposed on a bench in the park. 一位老人躺在公园的长凳上。 来自辞典例句

27 iris   

n.虹膜，彩虹

参考例句：

• The opening of the iris is called the pupil.虹膜的开口处叫做瞳孔。
• This incredible human eye,complete with retina and iris,can be found in the Maldives.又是在马尔代夫，有这样一只难以置信的眼睛，连视网膜和虹膜都刻画齐全了。

28 gnat   

v.对小事斤斤计较，琐事

参考例句：

• Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.小事拘谨，大事糊涂。
• He's always straining at a gnat.他总是对小事很拘谨。

29 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。