Chapter XXIII I Set Out for the East

 It was the hand of a mummy. It had been half snapped, half torn from the forearm, just above the wrist. Thus the edges of the stock were ragged¹ and the tendons were drawn² out and torn; the bone, however, had fractured clearly, just as glass breaks, leaving a hard, smooth edge. But the hand was not an ordinary mummy's hand. The bones were covered with mummified flesh truly, but, although dry, it was neither stiff nor brittle³. On the contrary, it possessed⁴ the tough consistency⁵ of leather and was resilient and kneadable like rubber. The phalanges, when pulled straight, returned to their ordinary and original position, like springs, immediately the pressure was removed. The colour of the skin was a very dark chocolate. It was marvellously preserved. The very pores were still discernible, and the veins⁶ and arteries⁷ beneath the epidermis⁸, which had been converted by age into fine black cords, could be traced with ease. Now, whose hand was it? From what mummy torn? And how had Weldon become possessed of it? I gave up the attempt to solve the first two problems as soon as I had mentally propounded⁹ them. The third, [Pg 221]however, answered itself. I knew Weldon too thoroughly¹⁰ to admit a doubt that he would ever have carried about with him such a ghastly trophy¹¹. Like most healthy young Englishmen, he had a horror of such things. Well, then he must have snatched the hand, then invisible, from the grasp of someone—in the very moment in which he had been falling to his death. But no one had been near him. That is, no one visible to us or him. But since the hand had been practically invisible until I had subjected it to the influence of heat, was it not just as likely that it might have been—nay, must have been—carried by an invisible person? But that invisible person must have been very near Weldon. He must have been close enough to have saved Weldon had he chosen. Why had he not chosen? Why, indeed, unless he had wished Weldon to die? And if he had wished Weldon to die, would it not have been easy for him—because invisible—to help Weldon to die? Easy! Good heavens, how easy! How appallingly¹² easy! And then I remembered how astonished I had been to see Weldon stagger back, step after step, to the platform's edge—three steps at least. I understood it now—and his startled outcry. He had been assailed¹³ by an invisible adversary¹⁴. He had been forced back. He had been hurled¹⁵ over the platform—and as he fell he had clutched out wildly and seized the mummy's hand. He had been foully¹⁶ murdered; and we had watched his murder, comprehending nothing. My flesh [Pg 222]began to creep as the light of understanding broke in upon my brain. For I realised in the same instant that Weldon's murderer was, in all probability, the man who had had most occasion to desire his death—Belleville—my enemy and the enemy, although the lover, of the woman I loved; the wretch¹⁷ in whose power she was at that moment. He had warned Miss Ottley that unless she broke off her engagement with Weldon her fiancé would die within the week. He had died—murdered in cold blood—on the evening of the seventh day. Belleville had been most terribly faithful to his awful promise. To the very letter he had kept his dreadful vow¹⁸. And now—Miss Ottley was his prisoner in her own father's house; and, no doubt, Sir Robert Ottley, sick, enfeebled in body and intellect, was Belleville's puppet instrument to the furtherance of his atrocious purposes. What chance had I—fighting a man so utterly¹⁹ unscrupulous, so strong-willed and remorseless, and endowed with a power so tremendous and far-reaching as the possession of a chemical agent capable of rendering²⁰ himself imperceptible to mortal sight whenever it should please him to make use of it? How could I or anybody bring such a man to justice? Why, even if I should foil his scheme for my undoing²¹, and were it possible, as well, to get the better of him to the extent of satisfying myself beyond doubt as to his guilt²², what court on earth would believe the evidence I could bring forward? A tissue of absurdities²³; a[Pg 223] network of hypotheses and chimeras²⁴! I should be laughed at as a madman, a foolish visionary; and he would go scot free with undamaged reputation, free to work his evil will upon an unconscious and defenceless world. Belleville's advantage over me was so manifestly overwhelming that I confess the prospect²⁵ of entering into a trial of strength and cunning with him daunted²⁶ me. And yet, if I did not, Weldon's death would surely go unavenged, and Miss Ottley's fate would be sealed. She would be forced into a marriage—somehow or other—with a man she loathed—the murderer of her dead lover. I felt so sure of this that towards morning I resumed my packing. I did not go to bed at all. After breakfast I went out and called at half a dozen newspaper offices. I saw as many journalists, who all promised to paragraph my departure for the East. I then wrote a letter to the Society stating, guardedly, my intention of again visiting the Nile; and I caught the afternoon train to Dover. That night I slept at Calais. On the following day I went to Paris and put myself in the hands of a hairdresser and costumier, who carried on a peculiar²⁷ business at Montmartre under the secret surveillance and government of the police. For a respectable consideration he effected a complete metamorphosis in my appearance. He speckled my black eyebrows²⁸ with silver. He shaved off my moustache and beard and dyed my skin a jejeune saffron, my hair a bilious²⁹ iron-brown. He forbade me to wear[Pg 224] a starched³⁰ collar. He taught me how to walk like an elderly man; and, finally, he provided me with a suit of clothes that fitted fairly well, but which could not be said to possess any other virtue³¹. But the fellow was well worthy³² of his hire. When he had finished with me I could not recognise myself. The mirror showed me a gaunt piece of human wreckage³³. I was to the life a decayed gentleman; an unobtrusively rakish, elderly degenerate³⁴. I was remarkable³⁵ in nothing except height, and even that singularity departed as I learned to stoop. In such guise³⁶ I returned to London by way of Boulogne and Folkestone, and I took up residence immediately in a tenement-house in Soho, to which I had been recommended by my friend, the costumier. It was a curious place. It was populated by Frenchmen, Italians, and a sprinkling of Swiss, and a number of Russian political refugees. I found them a decent lot of law-abiding miserables. The majority were derelicts of fortune, who lived like parasites³⁷ on the toil³⁸ of some few hardworking, foolish artisans among them. And yet, despite their deplorable estate, they always had a cheerful word and a smile to spare for a stranger. They were a picturesque³⁹, interesting people, and I should have liked to study them under other circumstances. But placed as I was, I conceived it best to keep my room as much as possible, and I only went abroad to buy a paper and to eat and drink. On the fourth morning the expected [Pg 225]summons came to hand. It was the first advertisement in the column. "D. Menchikoff. Fearless. Doorfront. Twelve. Unfailing. Noiseless. Open. Mizpah." And this I interpreted to mean, "Fearlessly approach the front door at midnight this evening! You will find it open. Enter without noise! God be with you till we meet!"

1 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

4 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。

5 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

6 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 epidermis   

n.表皮

参考例句：

• The external layer of skin is called the epidermis.皮的外层叫表皮。
• There is a neoplasm originating in his leg's epidermis.他的腿上有个生长在表皮上的肿瘤。

9 propounded   

v.提出（问题、计划等）供考虑[讨论]，提议( propound的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the theory of natural selection, first propounded by Charles Darwin 查尔斯∙达尔文首先提出的物竞天择理论
• Indeed it was first propounded by the ubiquitous Thomas Young. 实际上，它是由尽人皆知的杨氏首先提出来的。 来自辞典例句

10 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

11 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

12 appallingly   

毛骨悚然地

参考例句：

• His tradecraft was appallingly reckless. 他的经营轻率得令人吃惊。
• Another damning statistic for South Africa is its appallingly high murder rate. 南非还有一项糟糕的统计，表明它还有着令人毛骨悚然的高谋杀率。

13 assailed   

v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对

参考例句：

• He was assailed with fierce blows to the head. 他的头遭到猛烈殴打。
• He has been assailed by bad breaks all these years. 这些年来他接二连三地倒霉。 来自《用法词典》

14 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

15 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 foully   

ad.卑鄙地

参考例句：

• This internationally known writer was foully condemned by the Muslim fundamentalists. 这位国际知名的作家受到了穆斯林信徒的无礼谴责。
• Two policemen were foully murdered. 两个警察被残忍地杀害了。

17 wretch   

n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人

参考例句：

• You are really an ungrateful wretch to complain instead of thanking him.你不但不谢他，还埋怨他，真不知好歹。
• The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch they fancied him.死去的丈夫不是他们所想象的不光彩的坏蛋。

18 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

19 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

20 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

21 undoing   

n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭

参考例句：

• That one mistake was his undoing. 他一失足即成千古恨。
• This hard attitude may have led to his undoing. 可能就是这种强硬的态度导致了他的垮台。

22 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

23 absurdities   

n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为

参考例句：

• She has a sharp eye for social absurdities, and compassion for the victims of social change. 她独具慧眼，能够看到社会上荒唐的事情，对于社会变革的受害者寄以同情。 来自辞典例句
• The absurdities he uttered at the dinner party landed his wife in an awkward situation. 他在宴会上讲的荒唐话使他太太陷入窘境。 来自辞典例句

24 chimeras   

n.（由几种动物的各部分构成的）假想的怪兽( chimera的名词复数 )；不可能实现的想法；幻想；妄想

参考例句：

• He was more interested in states of mind than in "puerile superstitions, Gothic castles, and chimeras." 他乐于描写心情，而不愿意描写“无聊的迷信，尖拱式的堡垒和妖魔鬼怪。” 来自辞典例句
• Dong Zhong's series, in its embryonic stage, had no blossoms, birds or surreal chimeras. 董重的这个系列的早年雏形并没有梅花、鸟和超现实的连体。 来自互联网

25 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。

26 daunted   

使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was a brave woman but she felt daunted by the task ahead. 她是一个勇敢的女人，但对面前的任务却感到信心不足。
• He was daunted by the high quality of work they expected. 他被他们对工作的高品质的要求吓倒了。

27 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

28 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

29 bilious   

adj.胆汁过多的；易怒的

参考例句：

• The quality or condition of being bilious.多脂肪食物使有些人患胆汁病。
• He was a bilious old gentleman.他是一位脾气乖戾的老先生。

30 starched   

adj.浆硬的，硬挺的，拘泥刻板的v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My clothes are not starched enough. 我的衣服浆得不够硬。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The ruffles on his white shirt were starched and clean. 白衬衫的褶边浆过了，很干净。 来自辞典例句

31 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

32 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。

33 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

34 degenerate   

v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者

参考例句：

• He didn't let riches and luxury make him degenerate.他不因财富和奢华而自甘堕落。
• Will too much freedom make them degenerate?太多的自由会令他们堕落吗？

35 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

36 guise   

n.外表，伪装的姿态

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
• The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。

37 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

38 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

39 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。