But a break came in these ideal conditions: one afternoon the sun grew vapour-veiled and up the valley from the north-west a wind frozen with miles of travel over ice-bound hill-sides began scouting8 through the calm halls of the heavens. Soon it grew dusted with snow, first in small flakes9 driven almost horizontally before its congealing10 breath and then in larger tufts as of swansdown. And though all day for a fortnight before the fate of[64] nations and life and death had seemed to me of far less importance than to get certain tracings of the skate-blades on the ice of proper shape and size, it now seemed that the one paramount11 consideration was to hurry back to the hotel for shelter: it was wiser to leave rocking-turns alone than to be frozen in their quest.
I had come out here with my cousin, Professor Ingram, the celebrated12 physiologist13 and Alpine14 climber. During the serenity15 of the last fortnight he had made a couple of notable winter ascents16, but this morning his weather-wisdom had mistrusted the signs of the heavens, and instead of attempting the ascent17 of the Piz Passug he had waited to see whether his misgivings18 justified19 themselves. So there he sat now in the hall of the admirable hotel with his feet on the hot-water pipes and the latest delivery of the English post in his hands. This contained a pamphlet concerning the result of the Mount Everest expedition, of which he had just finished the perusal20 when I entered.
“A very interesting report,” he said, passing it to me, “and they certainly deserve to succeed next year. But who can tell, what that final six thousand feet may entail21? Six thousand feet more when you have already accomplished22 twenty-three thousand does not seem much, but at present no one knows whether the human frame can stand exertion23 at such a height. It may affect not the lungs and heart only, but possibly the brain. Delirious24 hallucinations may occur. In fact, if I did not know better, I should have said that one such hallucination had occurred to the climbers already.”
[65]“And what was that?” I asked.
“You will find that they thought they came across the tracks of some naked human foot at a great altitude. That looks at first sight like an hallucination. What more natural than that a brain excited and exhilarated by the extreme height should have interpreted certain marks in the snow as the footprints of a human being? Every bodily organ at these altitudes is exerting itself to the utmost to do its work, and the brain seizes on those marks in the snow and says ‘Yes, I’m all right, I’m doing my job, and I perceive marks in the snow which I affirm are human footprints.’ You know, even at this altitude, how restless and eager the brain is, how vividly25, as you told me, you dream at night. Multiply that stimulus26 and that consequent eagerness and restlessness by three, and how natural that the brain should harbour illusions! What after all is the delirium27 which often accompanies high fever but the effort of the brain to do its work under the pressure of feverish28 conditions? It is so eager to continue perceiving that it perceives things which have no existence!”
“And yet you don’t think that these naked human footprints were illusions,” said I. “You told me you would have thought so, if you had not known better.”
He shifted in his chair and looked out of the window a moment. The air was thick now with the density29 of the big snow-flakes that were driven along by the squealing30 north-west gale31.
“Quite so,” he said. “In all probability the human footprints were real human footprints. I expect that they were the footprints, anyhow, of a[66] being more nearly a man than anything else. My reason for saying so is that I know such beings exist. I have even seen quite near at hand—and I assure you I did not wish to be nearer in spite of my intense curiosity—the creature, shall we say, which would make such footprints. And if the snow was not so dense32, I could show you the place where I saw him.”
He pointed33 straight out of the window, where across the valley lies the huge tower of the Ungeheuerhorn with the carved pinnacle34 of rock at the top like some gigantic rhinoceros-horn. On one side only, as I knew, was the mountain practicable, and that for none but the finest climbers; on the other three a succession of ledges36 and precipices37 rendered it unscalable. Two thousand feet of sheer rock form the tower; below are five hundred feet of fallen boulders38, up to the edge of which grow dense woods of larch39 and pine.
“Upon the Ungeheuerhorn?” I asked.
“Yes. Up till twenty years ago it had never been ascended40, and I, like several others, spent a lot of time in trying to find a route up it. My guide and I sometimes spent three nights together at the hut beside the Blumen glacier41, prowling round it, and it was by luck really that we found the route, for the mountain looks even more impracticable from the far side than it does from this. But one day we found a long, transverse fissure42 in the side which led to a negotiable ledge35; then there came a slanting43 ice couloir which you could not see till you got to the foot of it. However, I need not go into that.”
The big room where we sat was filling up with cheerful groups driven indoors by this sudden gale[67] and snowfall, and the cackle of merry tongues grew loud. The band, too, that invariable appanage of tea-time at Swiss resorts, had begun to tune44 up for the usual potpourri45 from the works of Puccini. Next moment the sugary, sentimental46 melodies began.
“Strange contrast!” said Ingram. “Here are we sitting warm and cosy47, our ears pleasantly tickled48 with these little baby tunes49 and outside is the great storm growing more violent every moment, and swirling50 round the austere51 cliffs of the Ungeheuerhorn: the Horror-Horn, as indeed it was to me.”
“I want to hear all about it,” I said. “Every detail: make a short story long, if it’s short. I want to know why it’s your Horror-horn?”
“Well, Chanton and I (he was my guide) used to spend days prowling about the cliffs, making a little progress on one side and then being stopped, and gaining perhaps five hundred feet on another side and then being confronted by some insuperable obstacle, till the day when by luck we found the route. Chanton never liked the job, for some reason that I could not fathom52. It was not because of the difficulty or danger of the climbing, for he was the most fearless man I have ever met when dealing53 with rocks and ice, but he was always insistent54 that we should get off the mountain and back to the Blumen hut before sunset. He was scarcely easy even when we had got back to shelter and locked and barred the door, and I well remember one night when, as we ate our supper, we heard some animal, a wolf probably, howling somewhere out in the night. A positive panic seized him, and I don’t think he closed his eyes till morning. It struck me[68] then that there might be some grisly legend about the mountain, connected possibly with its name, and next day I asked him why the peak was called the Horror-horn. He put the question off at first, and said that, like the Schreckhorn, its name was due to its precipices and falling stones; but when I pressed him further he acknowledged that there was a legend about it, which his father had told him. There were creatures, so it was supposed, that lived in its caves, things human in shape, and covered, except for the face and hands, with long black hair. They were dwarfs55 in size, four feet high or thereabouts, but of prodigious56 strength and agility57, remnants of some wild primeval race. It seemed that they were still in an upward stage of evolution, or so I guessed, for the story ran that sometimes girls had been carried off by them, not as prey58, and not for any such fate as for those captured by cannibals, but to be bred from. Young men also had been raped59 by them, to be mated with the females of their tribe. All this looked as if the creatures, as I said, were tending towards humanity. But naturally I did not believe a word of it, as applied60 to the conditions of the present day. Centuries ago, conceivably, there may have been such beings, and, with the extraordinary tenacity61 of tradition, the news of this had been handed down and was still current round the hearths62 of the peasants. As for their numbers, Chanton told me that three had been once seen together by a man who owing to his swiftness on skis had escaped to tell the tale. This man, he averred63, was no other than his grandfather, who had been benighted64 one winter evening as he passed through the dense woods below the[69] Ungeheuerhorn, and Chanton supposed that they had been driven down to these lower altitudes in search of food during severe winter weather, for otherwise the recorded sights of them had always taken place among the rocks of the peak itself. They had pursued his grandfather, then a young man, at an extraordinarily65 swift canter, running sometimes upright as men run, sometimes on all-fours in the manner of beasts, and their howls were just such as that we had heard that night in the Blumen hut. Such at any rate was the story Chanton told me, and, like you, I regarded it as the very moonshine of superstition66. But the very next day I had reason to reconsider my judgment67 about it.
“It was on that day that after a week of exploration we hit on the only route at present known to the top of our peak. We started as soon as there was light enough to climb by, for, as you may guess, on very difficult rocks it is impossible to climb by lantern or moonlight. We hit on the long fissure I have spoken of, we explored the ledge which from below seemed to end in nothingness, and with an hour’s step-cutting ascended the couloir which led upwards69 from it. From there onwards it was a rock-climb, certainly of considerable difficulty, but with no heart-breaking discoveries ahead, and it was about nine in the morning that we stood on the top. We did not wait there long, for that side of the mountain is raked by falling stones loosened, when the sun grows hot, from the ice that holds them, and we made haste to pass the ledge where the falls are most frequent. After that there was the long fissure to descend70, a matter of no great difficulty, and we were[70] at the end of our work by midday, both of us, as you may imagine, in the state of the highest elation71.
“A long and tiresome72 scramble73 among the huge boulders at the foot of the cliff then lay before us. Here the hill-side is very porous74 and great caves extend far into the mountain. We had unroped at the base of the fissure, and were picking our way as seemed good to either of us among these fallen rocks, many of them bigger than an ordinary house, when, on coming round the corner of one of these, I saw that which made it clear that the stories Chanton had told me were no figment of traditional superstition.
“Not twenty yards in front of me lay one of the beings of which he had spoken. There it sprawled75 naked and basking76 on its back with face turned up to the sun, which its narrow eyes regarded unwinking. In form it was completely human, but the growth of hair that covered limbs and trunk alike almost completely hid the sun-tanned skin beneath. But its face, save for the down on its cheeks and chin, was hairless, and I looked on a countenance77 the sensual and malevolent78 bestiality of which froze me with horror. Had the creature been an animal, one would have felt scarcely a shudder79 at the gross animalism of it; the horror lay in the fact that it was a man. There lay by it a couple of gnawed80 bones, and, its meal finished, it was lazily licking its protuberant81 lips, from which came a purring murmur82 of content. With one hand it scratched the thick hair on its belly83, in the other it held one of these bones, which presently split in half beneath the pressure of its finger and thumb. But my horror was not based on the information of what happened[71] to those men whom these creatures caught, it was due only to my proximity84 to a thing so human and so infernal. The peak, of which the ascent had a moment ago filled us with such elated satisfaction, became to me an Ungeheuerhorn indeed, for it was the home of beings more awful than the delirium of nightmare could ever have conceived.
“Chanton was a dozen paces behind me, and with a backward wave of my hand I caused him to halt. Then withdrawing myself with infinite precaution, so as not to attract the gaze of that basking creature, I slipped back round the rock, whispered to him what I had seen, and with blanched85 faces we made a long detour86, peering round every corner, and crouching87 low, not knowing that at any step we might not come upon another of these beings, or that from the mouth of one of these caves in the mountain-side there might not appear another of those hairless and dreadful faces, with perhaps this time the breasts and insignia of womanhood. That would have been the worst of all.
“Luck favoured us, for we made our way among the boulders and shifting stones, the rattle88 of which might at any moment have betrayed us, without a repetition of my experience, and once among the trees we ran as if the Furies themselves were in pursuit. Well now did I understand, though I dare say I cannot convey, the qualms89 of Chanton’s mind when he spoke68 to me of these creatures. Their very humanity was what made them so terrible, the fact that they were of the same race as ourselves, but of a type so abysmally90 degraded that the most brutal91 and inhuman92 of men would have seemed angelic in comparison.”
[72]The music of the small band was over before he had finished the narrative93, and the chattering95 groups round the tea-table had dispersed96. He paused a moment.
“There was a horror of the spirit,” he said, “which I experienced then, from which, I verily believe, I have never entirely98 recovered. I saw then how terrible a living thing could be, and how terrible, in consequence, was life itself. In us all I suppose lurks99 some inherited germ of that ineffable100 bestiality, and who knows whether, sterile101 as it has apparently102 become in the course of centuries, it might not fructify103 again. When I saw that creature sun itself, I looked into the abyss out of which we have crawled. And these creatures are trying to crawl out of it now, if they exist any longer. Certainly for the last twenty years there has been no record of their being seen, until we come to this story of the footprint seen by the climbers on Everest. If that is authentic104, if the party did not mistake the footprint of some bear, or what not, for a human tread, it seems as if still this bestranded remnant of mankind is in existence.”
Now, Ingram, had told his story well; but sitting in this warm and civilised room, the horror which he had clearly felt had not communicated itself to me in any very vivid manner. Intellectually, I agreed, I could appreciate his horror, but certainly my spirit felt no shudder of interior comprehension.
“But it is odd,” I said, “that your keen interest in physiology105 did not disperse97 your qualms. You were looking, so I take it, at some form of man more remote probably than the earliest human remains106. Did not something inside you say ‘This is of absorbing significance’?”
[73]He shook his head.
“No: I only wanted to get away,” said he. “It was not, as I have told you, the terror of what according to Chanton’s story, might await us if we were captured; it was sheer horror at the creature itself. I quaked at it.”
The snowstorm and the gale increased in violence that night, and I slept uneasily, plucked again and again from slumber107 by the fierce battling of the wind that shook my windows as if with an imperious demand for admittance. It came in billowy gusts108, with strange noises intermingled with it as for a moment it abated110, with flutings and moanings that rose to shrieks111 as the fury of it returned. These noises, no doubt, mingled109 themselves with my drowsed and sleepy consciousness, and once I tore myself out of nightmare, imagining that the creatures of the Horror-horn had gained footing on my balcony and were rattling112 at the window-bolts. But before morning the gale had died away, and I awoke to see the snow falling dense and fast in a windless air. For three days it continued, without intermission, and with its cessation there came a frost such as I have never felt before. Fifty degrees were registered one night, and more the next, and what the cold must have been on the cliffs of the Ungeheuerhorn I cannot imagine. Sufficient, so I thought, to have made an end altogether of its secret inhabitants: my cousin, on that day twenty years ago, had missed an opportunity for study which would probably never fall again either to him or another.
[74]I received one morning a letter from a friend saying that he had arrived at the neighbouring winter resort of St. Luigi, and proposing that I should come over for a morning’s skating and lunch afterwards. The place was not more than a couple of miles off, if one took the path over the low, pine-clad foot-hills above which lay the steep woods below the first rocky slopes of the Ungeheuerhorn; and accordingly, with a knapsack containing skates on my back, I went on skis over the wooded slopes and down by an easy descent again on to St. Luigi. The day was overcast113, clouds entirely obscured the higher peaks though the sun was visible, pale and unluminous, through the mists. But as the morning went on, it gained the upper hand, and I slid down into St. Luigi beneath a sparkling firmament114. We skated and lunched, and then, since it looked as if thick weather was coming up again, I set out early about three o’clock for my return journey.
Hardly had I got into the woods when the clouds gathered thick above, and streamers and skeins of them began to descend among the pines through which my path threaded its way. In ten minutes more their opacity115 had so increased that I could hardly see a couple of yards in front of me. Very soon I became aware that I must have got off the path, for snow-cowled shrubs116 lay directly in my way, and, casting back to find it again, I got altogether confused as to direction. But, though progress was difficult, I knew I had only to keep on the ascent, and presently I should come to the brow of these low foot-hills, and descend into the open valley where Alhubel stood. So on I went, stumbling[75] and sliding over obstacles, and unable, owing to the thickness of the snow, to take off my skis, for I should have sunk over the knees at each step. Still the ascent continued, and looking at my watch I saw that I had already been near an hour on my way from St. Luigi, a period more than sufficient to complete my whole journey. But still I stuck to my idea that though I had certainly strayed far from my proper route a few minutes more must surely see me over the top of the upward way, and I should find the ground declining into the next valley. About now, too, I noticed that the mists were growing suffused118 with rose-colour, and, though the inference was that it must be close on sunset, there was consolation119 in the fact that they were there and might lift at any moment and disclose to me my whereabouts. But the fact that night would soon be on me made it needful to bar my mind against that despair of loneliness which so eats out the heart of a man who is lost in woods or on mountain-side, that, though still there is plenty of vigour120 in his limbs, his nervous force is sapped, and he can do no more than lie down and abandon himself to whatever fate may await him.... And then I heard that which made the thought of loneliness seem bliss121 indeed, for there was a worse fate than loneliness. What I heard resembled the howl of a wolf, and it came from not far in front of me where the ridge7—was it a ridge?—still rose higher in vestment of pines.
From behind me came a sudden puff122 of wind, which shook the frozen snow from the drooping123 pine-branches, and swept away the mists as a broom sweeps the dust from the floor. Radiant above[76] me were the unclouded skies, already charged with the red of the sunset, and in front I saw that I had come to the very edge of the wood through which I had wandered so long. But it was no valley into which I had penetrated124, for there right ahead of me rose the steep slope of boulders and rocks soaring upwards to the foot of the Ungeheuerhorn. What, then, was that cry of a wolf which had made my heart stand still? I saw.
Not twenty yards from me was a fallen tree, and leaning against the trunk of it was one of the denizens125 of the Horror-Horn, and it was a woman. She was enveloped126 in a thick growth of hair grey and tufted, and from her head it streamed down over her shoulders and her bosom127, from which hung withered128 and pendulous129 breasts. And looking on her face I comprehended not with my mind alone, but with a shudder of my spirit, what Ingram had felt. Never had nightmare fashioned so terrible a countenance; the beauty of sun and stars and of the beasts of the field and the kindly130 race of men could not atone131 for so hellish an incarnation of the spirit of life. A fathomless132 bestiality modelled the slavering mouth and the narrow eyes; I looked into the abyss itself and knew that out of that abyss on the edge of which I leaned the generations of men had climbed. What if that ledge crumbled133 in front of me and pitched me headlong into its nethermost134 depths?...
In one hand she held by the horns a chamois that kicked and struggled. A blow from its hindleg caught her withered thigh135, and with a grunt136 of anger she seized the leg in her other hand, and, as a man may pull from its sheath a stem of meadow-grass,[77] she plucked it off the body, leaving the torn skin hanging round the gaping137 wound. Then putting the red, bleeding member to her mouth she sucked at it as a child sucks a stick of sweetmeat. Through flesh and gristle her short, brown teeth penetrated, and she licked her lips with a sound of purring. Then dropping the leg by her side, she looked again at the body of the prey now quivering in its death-convulsion, and with finger and thumb gouged138 out one of its eyes. She snapped her teeth on it, and it cracked like a soft-shelled nut.
It must have been but a few seconds that I stood watching her, in some indescribable catalepsy of terror, while through my brain there pealed139 the panic-command of my mind to my stricken limbs “Begone, begone, while there is time.” Then, recovering the power of my joints140 and muscles, I tried to slip behind a tree and hide myself from this apparition141. But the woman—shall I say?—must have caught my stir of movement, for she raised her eyes from her living feast and saw me. She craned forward her neck, she dropped her prey, and half rising began to move towards me. As she did this, she opened her mouth, and gave forth142 a howl such as I had heard a moment before. It was answered by another, but faintly and distantly.
Sliding and slipping, with the toes of my skis tripping in the obstacles below the snow, I plunged143 forward down the hill between the pine-trunks. The low sun already sinking behind some rampart of mountain in the west reddened the snow and the pines with its ultimate rays. My knapsack with the skates in it swung to and fro on my back, one ski-stick[78] had already been twitched144 out of my hand by a fallen branch of pine, but not a second’s pause could I allow myself to recover it. I gave no glance behind, and I knew not at what pace my pursuer was on my track, or indeed whether any pursued at all, for my whole mind and energy, now working at full power again under the stress of my panic, was devoted145 to getting away down the hill and out of the wood as swiftly as my limbs could bear me. For a little while I heard nothing but the hissing146 snow of my headlong passage, and the rustle147 of the covered undergrowth beneath my feet, and then, from close at hand behind me, once more the wolf-howl sounded and I heard the plunging148 of footsteps other than my own.
The strap149 of my knapsack had shifted, and as my skates swung to and fro on my back it chafed150 and pressed on my throat, hindering free passage of air, of which, God knew, my labouring lungs were in dire117 need, and without pausing I slipped it free from my neck, and held it in the hand from which my ski-stick had been jerked. I seemed to go a little more easily for this adjustment, and now, not so far distant, I could see below me the path from which I had strayed. If only I could reach that, the smoother going would surely enable me to out-distance my pursuer, who even on the rougher ground was but slowly overhauling151 me, and at the sight of that riband stretching unimpeded downhill, a ray of hope pierced the black panic of my soul. With that came the desire, keen and insistent, to see who or what it was that was on my tracks, and I spared a backward glance. It was she, the hag whom I[79] had seen at her gruesome meal; her long grey hair flew out behind her, her mouth chattered152 and gibbered, her fingers made grabbing movements, as if already they closed on me.
But the path was now at hand, and the nearness of it I suppose made me incautious. A hump of snow-covered bush lay in my path, and, thinking I could jump over it, I tripped and fell, smothering153 myself in snow. I heard a maniac154 noise, half scream, half laugh, from close behind, and before I could recover myself the grabbing fingers were at my neck, as if a steel vice155 had closed there. But my right hand in which I held my knapsack of skates was free, and with a blind back-handed movement I whirled it behind me at the full length of its strap, and knew that my desperate blow had found its billet somewhere. Even before I could look round I felt the grip on my neck relax, and something subsided156 into the very bush which had entangled157 me. I recovered my feet and turned.
There she lay, twitching158 and quivering. The heel of one of my skates piercing the thin alpaca of the knapsack had hit her full on the temple, from which the blood was pouring, but a hundred yards away I could see another such figure coming downwards159 on my tracks, leaping and bounding. At that panic rose again within me, and I sped off down the white smooth path that led to the lights of the village already beckoning160. Never once did I pause in my headlong going: there was no safety until I was back among the haunts of men. I flung myself against the door of the hotel, and screamed for admittance, though I had but to turn the handle and enter; and once[80] more as when Ingram had told his tale, there was the sound of the band, and the chatter94 of voices, and there, too, was he himself, who looked up and then rose swiftly to his feet as I made my clattering161 entrance.
“I have seen them too,” I cried. “Look at my knapsack. Is there not blood on it? It is the blood of one of them, a woman, a hag, who tore off the leg of a chamois as I looked, and pursued me through the accursed wood. I——”
Whether it was I who spun162 round, or the room which seemed to spin round me, I knew not, but I heard myself falling, collapsed163 on the floor, and the next time that I was conscious at all I was in bed. There was Ingram there, who told me that I was quite safe, and another man, a stranger, who pricked164 my arm with the nozzle of a syringe, and reassured165 me....
A day or two later I gave a coherent account of my adventure, and three or four men, armed with guns, went over my traces. They found the bush in which I had stumbled, with a pool of blood which had soaked into the snow, and, still following my ski-tracks, they came on the body of a chamois, from which had been torn one of its hindlegs and one eye-socket was empty. That is all the corroboration166 of my story that I can give the reader, and for myself I imagine that the creature which pursued me was either not killed by my blow or that her fellows removed her body.... Anyhow, it is open to the incredulous to prowl about the caves of the Ungeheuerhorn, and see if anything occurs that may convince them.
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1
basked
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| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的过去式和过去分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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2
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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3
tepid
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| adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的 | |
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4
murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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5
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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6
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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8
scouting
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| 守候活动，童子军的活动 | |
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flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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congealing
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| v.使凝结，冻结( congeal的现在分词 )；（指血）凝结 | |
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paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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physiologist
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| n.生理学家 | |
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alpine
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| adj.高山的；n.高山植物 | |
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serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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ascents
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| n.上升( ascent的名词复数 )；（身份、地位等的）提高；上坡路；攀登 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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entail
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| vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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23
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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24
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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25
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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28
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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29
density
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| n.密集，密度，浓度 | |
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30
squealing
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 ) | |
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31
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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33
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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34
pinnacle
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| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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35
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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36
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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37
precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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38
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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39
larch
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| n.落叶松 | |
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40
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
glacier
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| n.冰川，冰河 | |
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42
fissure
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| n.裂缝；裂伤 | |
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43
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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44
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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45
potpourri
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| n.混合之事物；百花香 | |
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46
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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47
cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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48
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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49
tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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50
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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51
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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52
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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53
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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54
insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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55
dwarfs
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|
| n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式） | |
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56
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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57
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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58
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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59
raped
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| v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸 | |
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60
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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61
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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62
hearths
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| 壁炉前的地板，炉床，壁炉边( hearth的名词复数 ) | |
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63
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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64
benighted
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| adj.蒙昧的 | |
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65
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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66
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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67
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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68
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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69
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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70
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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71
elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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72
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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73
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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74
porous
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| adj.可渗透的，多孔的 | |
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75
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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76
basking
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|
| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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77
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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78
malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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79
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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80
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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81
protuberant
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| adj.突出的，隆起的 | |
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82
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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83
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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84
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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85
blanched
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| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
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86
detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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87
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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88
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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89
qualms
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| n.不安；内疚 | |
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90
abysmally
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| adv.极糟地；可怕地；完全地；极端地 | |
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91
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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92
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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93
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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94
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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95
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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96
dispersed
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|
| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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97
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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98
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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99
lurks
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| n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式） | |
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100
ineffable
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|
| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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101
sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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102
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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103
fructify
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| v.结果实；使土地肥沃 | |
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104
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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105
physiology
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| n.生理学，生理机能 | |
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106
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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107
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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108
gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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109
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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110
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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111
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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112
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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113
overcast
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| adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天 | |
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114
firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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115
opacity
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| n.不透明；难懂 | |
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116
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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117
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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118
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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120
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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121
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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122
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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123
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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124
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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125
denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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126
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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127
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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128
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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129
pendulous
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| adj.下垂的；摆动的 | |
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130
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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131
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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132
fathomless
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| a.深不可测的 | |
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133
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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134
nethermost
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| adj.最下面的 | |
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135
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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136
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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137
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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138
gouged
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| v.凿( gouge的过去式和过去分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出… | |
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139
pealed
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| v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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140
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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141
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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142
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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143
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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144
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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145
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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146
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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147
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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148
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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149
strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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150
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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151
overhauling
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| n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越 | |
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152
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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153
smothering
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的现在分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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154
maniac
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| n.精神癫狂的人；疯子 | |
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155
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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156
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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157
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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158
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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159
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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160
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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161
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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162
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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163
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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164
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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165
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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166
corroboration
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| n.进一步的证实，进一步的证据 | |
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