The sweeping stopped. Presently steps approached my chair. They passed it, and next second I saw the giant Arab of the cave temple at Rakh, the wretch4 who had attempted to strangle me at my camp, and whom I had released from the sarcophagus of Ptahmes on the Nile. He stood before me, his extraordinary blood-coloured eyes staring at me with the glazed5 expressionless regard of an automaton6. He was clad in a long, yellow shapeless garment like a smock, and his feet were shod in leather sandals. In one hand he held a broom. Very slowly he extended his other arm before my face, and I saw with a shock of aversion that the[Pg 239] hand had gone. It had been severed8 from the wrist and nothing but a stump9 remained. Involuntarily I thought of the mummy hand which poor Weldon had given me. It still lay upon the table where Dr. Belleville had tossed it, full in my view. It was a left hand. The Arab's left hand had been lost. The connection was obvious. But—but—of course a mummy hand thousands of years old perhaps, could not have grown upon a still living, breathing man. Living! Breathing! The words repeated themselves as I gazed at the Arab. How like a mummy he appeared! His skin was of exactly the same colour as the mummy hand. It had the same shrivelled appearance, the same leather-like texture10. And, good heavens! unless I dreamed he did not breathe! Not a movement of his body disclosed the smallest sign of respiration11. I stared at him, appalled12. His features were fixed13 and set rigidly14. His mouth was closed. His nostrils15 were fallen in and glued together. How then could he breathe? And yet there was life in his gaunt frame; some animating16 spirit that controlled its mechanism17, for slowly his handless arm fell back to his side, and he continued to regard me with a steadfast18, unwinking stare. I examined his eyes and found that they were lidless. The lids had shrunken back and disappeared. A closer inspection19 showed that the eyes themselves owed all their lustre20 to reflected light. The cornea was in each orb21 nothing but a thin gelatinous-like film filled with tiny little crinkles that caught up[Pg 240] and refracted passing rays from all directions. The whites were opaque22 black teguments, dry and dead. Behind the lenses was no sign of any pupil. There was nothing but an iris23 which seemed to be composed of dull red dust.
Living! Breathing! The Arab was a mummy! an animated24 corpse25. Oh! Of course I dreamed. I must have dreamed. I have told myself that so many thousand times that it is a marvel26 the constant reiteration27 has not forced me to believe it. But I do not. Nor do I know what to believe. I am in as great a maze28 to understand now as I was then.
At first I conceived an almost intolerable horror of the thing before me. But finding that the Arab did not menace me, I gradually became accustomed to its most unpleasant and almost ghastly proximity29. And after a time I felt so strong a fever of thirst that I forced myself to speak to it again.
I asked it for water. It did not move. I became convinced it heard but did not comprehend the language I employed. I spoke30 to it in French and German and in Arabic, but still it did not move. Finally I said to myself, "If it is a mummy, it will be an Egyptian and will understand the tongue of ancient Egypt." Then I gasped31 out such a term as I believed might have been used by a thirsty Theban asking for alleviation32 of his famine. The thing instantly moved off behind me. Presently I heard the sound of falling water, and a moment later a glass was pressed to my parched33 lips. I[Pg 241] drained it thankfully, eyeing the while, with a feeling of deep, unconquerable repulsion, the sinewy34 black mummy hand that served me. I then thanked the Arab in the same tongue which had persuaded him to be my minister. He gazed at me a while and then moved to the table and looked at it. He appeared to be writing, but I could not be sure. I heard a curious, raucous35 scratching sound. Thus ten minutes sped by. Meanwhile, I shut my eyes and tried hard to persuade myself that I dreamed. Then a sound disturbed me. I opened my eyes with a start and saw that the Arab had returned to my side. He held a slate36 before me covered with hieroglyphics38. Never had I greater occasion to bless my knowledge of that ancient language and to gratefully regard the patient years of labour I had spent acquiring it. But likewise never had I greater occasion to lament39 the imperfections of my knowledge and defects in my memory. I could understand a portion of the message—the greater part indeed—but still a part escaped me.
"It is not meet that Ptahmes—named Tahutimes—son of Mery, son of Hap7, High Priest of Amen-Ra and the Hawk-headed Horus, should be a wicked unbeliever's slave.... Death explains.... The spirit of a good man hurried hence accuses me unanswered at the ... throne.... For time unending.... Fanet.... King of all the Gods.... Thus only shall[Pg 242] you escape the death that threatens. You shall swear to break my stele41 of ivory, to commit my papyri to the flames unread, to burn my body and scatter42 my ashes to the winds of Heaven. You shall swear by Amen-Ra, King of Earth and Heaven, to destroy ... the oppressor and your enemy. He has deciphered the inscriptions43. He has mastered their meaning. He knows. He cannot be permitted to live lest I ... and he the enemy exalt44 himself and triumph over you and me.... Swear then, and aid shall be accorded in your hour of need."
I gathered from this message that the ghost of Ptahmes inhabitated the mummy before me; that Belleville had possessed45 himself of some stupendous wizard power which enabled him to compel the soul and dust of Ptahmes to obey his infamous46 behests, but that Ptahmes was his most unwilling47 slave. I also gathered that Ptahmes promised me help if I would take an oath to kill Belleville, to destroy certain papyri and an ivory stele in Belleville's possession which I must promise not to attempt to read, and also to burn the mummified remains48 of Ptahmes, and so, I suppose, secure the rest of his troubled spirit. I did not pause to reflect on the wild unreality of the happenings my senses registered. They did not appear indeed unreal to me at all—then. On the contrary, I felt that I was confronted with a very grave and serious proposal, which if I decided49 to accept would be carried out to[Pg 243] the letter as regards the assistance promised me, a circumstance that would oblige me as an honest man to keep my part of the contract. The question remained: Would I be justified50 in solemnly swearing to compass Belleville's death? Why not? Surely he deserved capital punishment if ever a man did. By his own confession51 he had either murdered Frankfort Weldon or procured52 his murder; and he had cold-bloodedly assured me that he was relentlessly53 resolved to murder me. And there were other things to think of. He had given me positive proof of the possession of some unknown power over the laws of Nature which had enabled him already to commit crimes without incurring54 a shadow of legal suspicion. Were I then to effect my escape from him, it would be my duty as a citizen of the State to do all in my power to prevent him working further ill in the community. Yet I could not bring him to justice. I had no evidence to produce against him which the courts would not scorn and ridicule55. The attempt to convict him of the murder he had confessed to me, would only result in branding me in all men's eyes as a lunatic. He would meanwhile be at liberty to go abroad to work his evil will upon the world. He would very soon revenge himself upon me, and destroy me in the same diabolically56 ingenious fashion, perhaps, in which he had killed poor Weldon. And Miss Ottley would then be at his mercy, with no man living to defend her. She might continue to resist him for a time, but in[Pg 244] the end a man so unscrupulous and implacably determined57 would be sure to have his way. Able to make himself invisible—as I believed he could—he might as a last resort rob her of her honour and so bend her proud spirit to his wish. It was this thought that finally determined me. I looked up and said quietly to the patient, waiting Arab: "Ptahmes, son of Mery, son of Hap, once High Priest of Amen-Ra, but now I know not what—I swear by the King of Earth and Heaven to destroy the stele and papyri unread if I shall find them, to burn your body and scatter the ashes, and to kill your enemy and mine."
The dark, fixed, corpse-like face of the Arab turned forthwith from me. He pressed the slate to his bosom59 with the stump of his left wrist and with the right hand rubbed out the hieroglyphic37 writing. He then glided60 over to the table and replaced the slate. I followed his movements with the most passionate61 attention, expecting him to return and immediately release me from my bonds. But he did no such thing. In the contrary, he moved slowly forward to the great sarcophagus and to my great astonishment62 I saw him climb over the edge and repose63 himself within the tomb. Presently he had entirely64 vanished from my sight. I could hardly credit my eyes. What was the meaning of his strange act? I waited for a few minutes, but he did not reappear. Then I called out his name aloud: "Ptahmes! Ptahmes!"
Nothing answered me.
I racked my brains to string together an imploring65 sentence in the ancient tongue of Egypt, and having fashioned one, I cried it forth58 in tones of passionate entreaty66, by turns commanding and beseeching67 him to keep his pledge. And not once or twice, but a hundred times, did I address him in these ways. But I might as well have cried out to the stars. My efforts were all unavailing, and at length, wearied out with them, I desisted and abandoned my remaining energy to the bitter task of reactionary68 self-reviling. I caustically69 informed myself that my brain had gone wandering. Thus until I was hot all over with shame. Then in a more kindly70 spirit I cast about for excuses to salve my intellectual vanity. I ascribed the whole wild dream that I had dreamed to the blow my poor head had received last night. But all the while, deep at heart, I did not believe I had dreamed. I pretended to, in order to make sure that I still possessed a critical, scientific faculty71. But I did not believe it really. I could not. And this fact is one more proof to me that faith in all its forms depends more upon feeling than intellectual conviction.
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1
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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2
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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6
automaton
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| n.自动机器，机器人 | |
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7
hap
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| n.运气；v.偶然发生 | |
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8
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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10
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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11
respiration
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| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
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12
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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13
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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15
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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16
animating
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| v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命 | |
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17
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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18
steadfast
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| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
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19
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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21
orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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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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reiteration
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| n. 重覆, 反覆, 重说 | |
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maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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30
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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31
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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32
alleviation
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| n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物 | |
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33
parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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34
sinewy
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| adj.多腱的，强壮有力的 | |
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35
raucous
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| adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的 | |
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36
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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37
hieroglyphic
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| n.象形文字 | |
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38
hieroglyphics
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| n.pl.象形文字 | |
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39
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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40
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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41
stele
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| n.石碑，石柱 | |
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42
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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43
inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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44
exalt
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| v.赞扬，歌颂，晋升，提升 | |
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45
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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46
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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47
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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48
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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49
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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50
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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51
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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52
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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53
relentlessly
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| adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断 | |
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54
incurring
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| 遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 ) | |
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55
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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56
diabolically
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57
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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58
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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59
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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60
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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61
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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62
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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63
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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64
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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65
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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66
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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67
beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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68
reactionary
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| n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的 | |
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69
caustically
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| adv.刻薄地；挖苦地；尖刻地；讥刺地 | |
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70
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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71
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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