Chapter 63

 I don't know just how much time passed after that. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and realized that some one was shaking me. I had a horror of hands reaching out for me, so I tried to get away from this one; but it persisted, and there was a voice, saying, “You must get up, my friend. It's time we closed. Are you ill?”

I raised my head; and first I glanced at the figure above the altar. It was perfectly¹ motionless; and—incredible as it may seem—there was no trace of red paint upon either the face or the robes! The figure was dignified² and serene³, with a halo of light about its head—in short, it was the regulation stained glass figure that I had gazed at through all my childhood.

“What is the matter?” asked the voice at my side; and I looked up, and discovered the Reverend Mr. Simpkinson. He recognized me, and cried: “Why, Billy! For heaven sake, what has happened?”

I was dazed, and put my hand to my jaw⁴. I realized that my head was aching, and that the place I touched was sore. “I—I—-” I stammered⁵. “Wait a minute.” And then, “I think I was hurt.” I tried to get my thoughts together. Had I been dreaming; and if so, how much was dream and how much was reality? “Tell me,” I said, “is there a moving picture theatre near this church?”

“Why, yes,” said he. “The Excelsior.”

“And—was there some sort of riot?”

“Yes. Some ex-soldiers have been trying to keep people from going in there. They are still at it. You can hear them.”

I listened. Yes, there was a murmur⁶ of voices outside. So I realized what had happened to me. I said: “I was in that mob, and I got beaten up. I was knocked pretty nearly silly, and fled in here.”

“Dear me!” exclaimed the clergyman, his amiable⁷ face full of concern. He took me by my shoulders and helped me to my feet.

“I'm all right now,” I said—“except that my jaw is swollen⁸. Tell me, what time is it?”

“About six o'clock.”

“For goodness sake!” I exclaimed. “I dreamed all that in an hour! I had the strangest dream—even now I can't make up my mind what was dream and what really happened.” I thought for a moment. “Tell me, is there a convention of the Brigade—that is, I mean, of the American Legion in Western City now?”

“No,” said the other; “at least, not that I've heard of. They've just held their big convention in Kansas City.”

“Oh, I see! I remember—I read about it in the 'Nation.' They were pretty riotous—made a drunken orgy of it.”

“Yes,” said the clergyman. “I've heard that. It seems too bad.”

“One thing more. Tell me, is there a picture of Mr. de Wiggs in the vestry-room?”

“Good gracious, no!” laughed the other. “Was that one of the things you dreamed? Maybe you're thinking of the portrait they are showing at the Academy.”

“By George, that's it!” I said. “I patched the thing up out of all the people I know, and all the things I've read in the papers! I had been talking to a German critic, Dr. Henner—or wait a moment! Is he real? Yes, he came before I went to see the picture. He'll be entertained to hear about it. You see, the picture was supposed to be the delirium⁹ of a madman, and when I got this whack¹⁰ on the jaw, I set to work to have a delirium of my own, just as I had seen on the screen. It was the most amazing thing—so real, I mean. Every person I think of, I have to stop and make sure whether I really know them, or whether I dreamed them. Even you!”

“Was I in it?” laughed Mr. Simpkinson. “What did I do?”

But I decided¹¹ I'd better not tell him. “It wasn't a polite dream,” I said. “Let me see if I can walk now.” I started down the aisle¹². “Yes, I'm all right.”

“Do you suppose that crowd will bother you again? Perhaps I'd better go with you,” said the apostle of muscular Christianity.

“No, no,” I said. “They're not after me especially. I'll slip away in the other direction.”

So I bade Mr. Simpkinson good-bye, and went out on the steps, and the fresh air felt good to me. I saw the crowd down the street; the ex-service men were still pushing and shouting, driving people away from the theatre. I stopped for one glance, then hurried away and turned the corner. As I was passing an office building, I saw a big limousine¹³ draw up. The door opened, and a woman stepped out: a bold, dark, vivid beauty, bedecked with jewels and gorgeous raiment of many sorts; a big black picture hat, with a flower garden and parts of an aviary¹⁴ on top—

Her glance lit on me. “My God! Will you look who's here!” She came to me with her two hands stretched out. “Billy, wretched creature, I haven't laid eyes on you for two months! Do you have to desert me entirely¹⁵, just because you've fallen in love with a society girl with the face of a Japanese doll-baby? What's the matter with me, that I lose my lovers faster than I get them? I just met Edgerton Rosythe; he's got a good excuse, I admit—I'm almost as much scared of his wife as he is himself. But still, I'd like a chance to get tired of some man first! Want to come upstairs with me, and see what Planchet's doing to my old grannie in her scalping-shop? Say, would you think it would take three days' labor¹⁶ for half a dozen Sioux squaws to pull the skin off one old lady's back? And a week to tie up the corners of her mouth and give her a permanent smile! 'Why, grannie,' I said, 'good God, it would be cheaper to hire Charlie Chaplin to walk around in front of you all the rest of your life.' But the old girl was bound to be beautiful, so I said to Planchet, 'Make her new from the waist up, Madame, for you never can tell how the fashions'll change, and what she'll need to show.'”

And so I knew that I was back in the real world.

The End

1 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

2 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

3 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

4 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

5 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

6 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

7 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

8 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

9 delirium   

n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋

参考例句：

• In her delirium, she had fallen to the floor several times. 她在神志不清的状态下几次摔倒在地上。
• For the next nine months, Job was in constant delirium.接下来的九个月，约伯处于持续精神错乱的状态。

10 whack   

v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• He gave me a whack on the back to wake me up.他为把我弄醒，在我背上猛拍一下。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

13 limousine   

n.豪华轿车

参考例句：

• A chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady.司机为这个高贵的女士打开了豪华轿车的车门。
• We arrived in fine style in a hired limousine.我们很气派地乘坐出租的豪华汽车到达那里。

14 aviary   

n.大鸟笼，鸟舍

参考例句：

• There are many different kinds of birds in the aviary.大鸟笼里有很多不同种类的鸟。
• There was also an aviary full of rare birds.那里面还有装满稀有鸟类的鸟舍。

15 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

16 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。