N one corner of his solitary1 cell, with face buried in his hands, sat Jean Lescaut, wife poisoner, waiting for the morrow on which he would expiate2 his crimes.
Each hour as the sentry3 made his rounds, he saw the prisoner sitting in that same hopeless attitude of despair. A month before when he first heard his sentence he had raved4 and fought impotently. Night after night, and day after day he had paced his narrow cell like a caged animal, but now that was over. Already the shadow of the doom5 which was so near had fallen upon him.
Presently there was a sound of footsteps, and the prisoner heard two people in conversation coming down the corridor. But he did not stir; events of that day had no interest for him: he was to be electrocuted on the morrow. The steps stopped outside his cell, and he heard the attendant saying, “I am sorry, Doctor Van[116] Horne, but I can give you only an hour. Orders are orders, you know.”
The heavy barred door swung open, was closed and locked again, and the turnkey walked away. Jean Lescaut looked up wearily and without curiosity. He saw a tall clerical gentleman regarding him intently.
“Jean Lescaut,” began the stranger, stepping close to the prisoner, “I have come here to-day to offer you the only thing on earth which you care for—liberty.”
A quick flush of color dyed the prison pallor of the man in irons, then as quickly faded again.
“I am going to offer this to you,” the doctor continued, “not because I think you innocent of the crime of which you were convicted, not because I have any friendship for you, or because I desire to defeat justice. The proposition I make you is purely6 in the interest of science. Have you ever been hypnotized?”
The prisoner shook his head.
“Have you ever seen anyone in such a condition?”
Lescaut nodded wearily. All this talk irritated him. He wished that the man would stop looking at him so intently and questioning him so much. It reminded him of that other day in the court room when the lawyer for the prosecution7 had looked at him in just such a way, and asked him so many questions that he[117] had become confused and told many things that he had never intended to tell.
“If you have seen it done, so much the better. You have probably seen persons put under this influence and then undergo tests which you know would be a physical impossibility for them to endure otherwise. I have myself given subjects arsenic8, telling them it was sugar, and they felt no bad effects. I have also burned with hot irons and thrust pins into the flesh of such persons without their feeling any pain.
“Now what I have to propose to you, Jean Lescaut, is this,—to-morrow at noon you are to go to the electric chair where 1800 volts9 of electricity will be sent through your body. At eleven o’clock to-morrow I will come to your cell and put you into an hypnotic sleep. You will go to the chair, show all the symptoms and effects of a person electrocuted, and you will apparently10 be dead. In reality, however, you will only be asleep. And, as I can easily obtain your body from the prison doctor on the pretense11 of using it for dissection12 purposes, I can then awaken13 you.”
The prisoner leaned over and clutched the doctor’s arm so tightly that he winced14. “And what then?” he whispered eagerly.
“Then, as I have just said, I will awaken you. I will have proven that a certain theory of mine is correct or false, and you will have[118] obtained your liberty, for I shall not hinder you from going where you will after the experiment is over. But I must first try and see if I can get control of you. You may not be susceptible15 to my influence.”
An hour later the turnkey came to inform Van Horne that his hour had expired, and the preliminary trial must have been a success, for there was a smile of triumph on the doctor’s face as he bade the prisoner good day.
Next day an hour previous to the time set for the electrocution of Jean Lescaut, Doctor Van Horne again visited the prisoner in his cell. At twelve o’clock two attendants came and conducted him to the fatal room. The reporters and prison officials present remarked on the calmness of the doomed16 man. He walked to the chair without assistance, and submitted to the strapping17 down and adjusting of the sponges and electrodes without a tremor18.
When all was ready the warden19 stepped to the side of the chair. “Jean Lescaut,” said he, “I am about to give the signal for you to be sent into eternity20. Have you anything to say?”
The man in the chair shook his head. The warden stepped back out of sight and made a sign to an assistant behind the screen. A switch was thrown on and the voltmeter registered that nearly 2000 volts of electricity were passing through the hooded21 figure in the chair. The warden held his watch in his hand, glancing[119] first at it, then at Lescaut. At the end of eight seconds he made another sign, and the man at the switch cut off the current.
The prison doctor stepped up from one side and examined the body carefully. “Justice is satisfied. I pronounce Jean Lescaut dead,” he said solemnly, and motioning to two of the attendants, he bade them carry away the body.
That night, in a dissecting22 room in the suburbs of Albany, a crowd of scientific men assembled at the invitation of Doctor Van Horne to witness an important experiment. No one knew what that experiment was to be; but every one had accepted the invitation, for Van Horne had a high reputation among his colleagues.
When the last expected guest had arrived, the doctor made a few remarks to the company. “I have invited you here to-night,” he said, “to witness an experiment, which, if I am not mistaken, I have the distinction of being the first to attempt. I have to-day taken the law in my own hands; but, if the theory on which I have been working is correct, justice will not be deprived of its victim.
“To-day, one hour previous to his electrocution, I hypnotized Jean Lescaut, the man who poisoned his wife, strangled his child, and who was sentenced to death last July. While under my influence I told him that the current of electricity which would be sent through his[120] body would not kill him, but would only put him to sleep, from which to-night I would awaken him.
“After he was pronounced dead by the prison doctor, I secured his body for dissection, and have had it brought into the next room. Now, if a theory on which I have been working for the last year is correct, the impression which I left on his brain, has kept that electricity from producing death; and, at my command, Jean Lescaut, though to all appearances a corpse23, will speak to us to-night.”
There was a stir of expectation among the doctors present as Van Horne stepped into the adjoining room. Presently he returned wheeling a light operating chair, over which a sheet was thrown.
“If everything should not happen in accordance with my theory, of course what happens to-night is under the seal of the profession,” he observed quietly, as he lifted the cloth. “I wish you all to examine this body and state whether or not the man is dead.”
The doctors crowded about the figure in the chair, and used every known means to detect the presence of life in the body. At the end of ten minutes every one declared that Jean Lescaut was dead, that it was impossible to discover a sign of life.
Dr. Van Horne pushed the operating chair with its strange burden directly under the electric[121] light, turning the reflector so that the strong rays fell full on the pallid24 upturned face. He passed his hands lightly and rapidly over the man’s temples.
“He turned the reflector so that the rays fell on the pallid, upturned face.” (See page 121.)
“Jean Lescaut,” he said slowly, “can you hear me?” There was no sign of life on the part of the sleeper25, and Van Horne repeated his question, speaking more sharply.
Then, hardened though they were by numberless horrible scenes at the operating table, many of the doctors shuddered27; for, slowly, indeed so slowly that the motion was barely perceptible, the figure in the chair began to nod its head.
“Answer me,” cried Van Horne, raising his voice, and taking both the man’s hands in his own. One of the doctors, younger than the others, raised the window and thrust his head out into the cold air. The room was becoming oppressive.
“Speak,” cried Van Horne sternly.
“I have been executed, I cannot speak. I am dead.” The words came from the man in jerky, spasmodic sentences as if torn from him against his will.
“Tell me, I command you, what has happened since I left you this morning.”
“I am dead,” repeated the murderer in a dull, mechanical tone.
[122]Dr. Van Horne stepped once more to the chair. He held one hand firmly against the man’s forehead. The other he reached down behind the head and pressed at the base of the brain.
Again the man began to speak, this time more rapidly than before, but in a harsh, cackling voice.
“They came and took me from my cell and put me in a chair. They strapped29 me down, and put sponges on my spine30 and on my ankles. Then they put ten thousand needles into my body, and I began to grow cold and numb26. My heart stopped beating, and I could not breathe. And now I am dead.”
“But you are breathing.”
“And now I am dead,” repeated the other mechanically.
Dr. Van Horne loosened his hands from the man, and turned to the watching group.
“So far I have succeeded,” said he. “So far my theory is correct. The electricity did not produce death in this man because his brain could not receive the sensation. Now I am going to bring him out of the hypnotic state and see if my theory is entirely31 correct.”
He did not state what that theory was, but stepped back to the man in the chair and began speaking in a low tone. He took both eyelids32, and rolling them up, looked straight into the sleeper’s eyes.
[123]“Jean Lescaut,” he cried sharply, “come to yourself! You are no longer asleep.”
For the first time the man moved his body slightly, as if trying to rise. Slowly a bright red spot began to appear on each pallid cheek. His eyes rolled down from under the lids, and the pupils began to dilate33.
Then, suddenly, an awful horror came into his face, and without a word of warning, as if impelled34 by some unseen force, he leaped forward, and fell writhing35 and twisting on the floor over eight feet away. His arms and legs beat the air and floor for a minute convulsively, then stiffened36 into strange, grotesque37 positions.
Dr. Van Horne knelt down beside the body and examined it carefully. Then he stood up and smiled, though he was very pale.
“Gentlemen,” said he, “I was entirely correct in my theory. Had I not expected this ending, I would never have dared to thus violate the law and bring this man back to life. That deadly charge of electricity which was held back from acting38 by the influence of my hypnotism has at last accomplished39 its work, as you yourselves just saw. When the numbness40 produced by hypnotic sleep left the man’s brain, nature began to act, and the shock to the nervous system was all the more powerful because the electricity had changed its form to a static charge. You need not fear; this time he is really dead.”
[124]And thus Jean Lescaut, wife poisoner and perpetrator of a dozen crimes, helped in his expiation41 of those crimes to advance the cause of science; and justice was not cheated, for the execution of his sentence was merely postponed42 the matter of a few hours.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
expiate
|
|
| v.抵补，赎罪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
sentry
|
|
| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
raved
|
|
| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
doom
|
|
| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
purely
|
|
| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
prosecution
|
|
| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
arsenic
|
|
| n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
volts
|
|
| n.（电压单位）伏特( volt的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
pretense
|
|
| n.矫饰，做作，借口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
dissection
|
|
| n.分析；解剖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
awaken
|
|
| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
winced
|
|
| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
susceptible
|
|
| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
doomed
|
|
| 命定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
strapping
|
|
| adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
tremor
|
|
| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
warden
|
|
| n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
eternity
|
|
| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
hooded
|
|
| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
dissecting
|
|
| v.解剖（动物等）( dissect的现在分词 )；仔细分析或研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
corpse
|
|
| n.尸体，死尸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
pallid
|
|
| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
sleeper
|
|
| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
numb
|
|
| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
shuddered
|
|
| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
strapped
|
|
| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
spine
|
|
| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
eyelids
|
|
| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
dilate
|
|
| vt.使膨胀，使扩大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
impelled
|
|
| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
writhing
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
stiffened
|
|
| 加强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
grotesque
|
|
| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
numbness
|
|
| n.无感觉，麻木，惊呆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
expiation
|
|
| n.赎罪，补偿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
postponed
|
|
| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |