But at last upon a day he was astonished and cheered by the sight of a black butterfly flickering15 in the air before him, and towards evening he espied16 a giant mound17 lying lonely in the east. He drove his camel to it, but found only a hill of sand whirled up by strange winds of the desert. He cast himself from the camel’s back and lay miserably18 in the dust. His grief was extreme, but in time he tended his tired beast and camped in the shadow of the hill. When he gave himself up to sleep the night covering them was very calm and beautiful, the sky soft and streaming with stars; it seemed to his saddened mind that the desert and the deep earth were indeed dead, and life and love only in that calm enduring sky. But at midnight a storm arose with quickening furies that smote19 the desert to its unseen limits, and the ten thousand stars were flung into oblivion; winds flashed upon him with a passion more bitter than a million waves, a terror greater than hosts of immediate21 enemies. They grasped and plunged22 him into gulfs of darkness, heaped mountains upon him, lashed20 him with thongs23 of snakes and scattered24 him with scimitars of unspeakable fear. His soul was tossed in the void like a crushed star and his body beaten into the dust with no breath left him to bemoan25 his fate. Nevertheless by a miracle his soul and body lived on.
It was again day when he recovered, day in the likeness26 of yesterday, the horizons still infinitely27 far. Long past noon, the sun had turned in the sky; he was[73] alone. The camel was doubtless buried in the fathoms28 he himself had escaped, but a surprising wonder greeted his half-blinded eyes; the hill of sand was gone, utterly29, blown into the eternal waste of the desert, and in its track stood a strange thing—a shrine30. There was a great unroofed pavement of onyx and blue jasper, large enough for the floor of a temple, with many life-size figures, both men and women, standing31 upon it all carved in rock and facing, at the sacred end, a giant pillared in black basalt, seven times the height of a man. The sad captain divined at once that this was the lost shrine of Namu-Sarkkon, the dead god of whom tradition spoke32 in the ancient litanies of his country. He heaved himself painfully from the grave of sand in which he had lain half-buried, and staggering to the pavement leaned in the shade of one of those figures fronting the dead god. In a little time he recovered and ate some figs which he carried in a leather bag at his hip33, and plucked the sand from his eyes and ears and loosened his sandals and gear. Then he bowed himself for a moment before the black immobile idol34, knowing that he would tarry here now until he died.
Namu-Sarkkon, the priestless god, had been praised of old time above all for his gifts of joy. Worshippers had gathered from the cities of Assyria at this his only shrine, offering their souls for a gift to him who, in his time and wisdom, granted their desires. But Namu-Sarkkon, like other gods, was a jealous god, and, because the hearts of mankind are vain and destined35 to betrayal, he turned the bodies of his devotees into[74] rock and kept them pinioned36 in stone for a hundred years, or for a thousand years, according to the nature of their desires. Then if the consummation were worthy37 and just, the rock became a living fire, the blood of eternity38 quickened the limbs, and the god released the body full of youth and joy. But what god lives for ever? Not Namu-Sarkkon. He grew old and forgetful; his oracle39 was defamed. Stronger gods supplanted40 him and at last all power departed save only from one of his eyes. That eye possessed41 the favour of eternity, but only so faintly that the worshipper when released from his trap of stone lived at the longest but a day, some said even but an hour. None could then be found to exchange the endurances of the world for so brief a happiness. His worship ceased, Namu-Sarkkon was dead, and the remote shrine being lost to man’s heart was lost to man’s eyes. Even the tradition of its time and place had become a mere42 fantasy, but the whirlwinds of uncounted years sowing their sands about the shrine had left it blameless and unperishable, if impotent.
Recollecting43 this, the soldier gazed long at the dead idol. Its smooth huge bulk, carved wonderfully, was still without blemish44 and utterly cleansed45 of the sand. The strange squat46 body with the benign47 face stood on stout48 legs, one advanced as if about to stride forward to the worshipper, and one arm outstretched offered the sacred symbol. Then in a moment the Assyrian’s heart leaped within him; he had been staring at the mild eyes of the god—surely there was a movement in[75] one of the eyes! He stood erect49, trembling, then flung himself prostrate50 before Namu-Sarkkon, the living god! He lay long, waiting for his doom51 to eclipse him, the flaming swords of the sun scathing52 his weary limbs, the sweat from his temples dripping in tiny pools beside his eyes. At last he moved, he knelt up, and shielding his stricken eyes with one arm he gazed at the god, and saw now quite clearly a black butterfly resting on the lid of one of Sarkkon’s eyes, inflecting its wings. He gave a grunt53 of comprehension and relief. He got up and went among the other figures. Close at hand they seemed fashioned of soft material, like camphor or wax, that was slowly dissolving, leaving them little more than stooks of clay, rough clod-like shapes of people, all but one figure which seemed fixed54 in coloured marble, a woman of beauty so wondrous55 to behold56 that the Assyrian bent57 his head in praise before her, though but an image of stone. When he looked again at it the black butterfly from the eyelid58 of the god fluttered between them and settled upon the girl’s delicately carved lips for a moment, and then away. Amazedly watching it travel back to the idol he heard a movement and a sigh behind him. He leaped away, with his muscles distended59, his fingers outstretched, and fear bursting in his eyes. The beautiful figure had moved a step towards him, holding out a caressing60 hand, calling him by his name, his name!
“Talakku! Talakku!”
She stood thus almost as if again turned to stone,[76] until his fear left him and he saw only her beauty, and knew only her living loveliness in a tunic61 of the sacred purple fringed with tinkling62 discs, that was clipped to her waist with a zone of gold and veiled, even in the stone, her secret hips63 and knees. The slender feet were guarded with pantoffles of crimson64 hide. Green agates65 in strings66 of silver hung beside her brows, depending from a fillet of gems67 that crowned and confined the black locks tightly curled. Buds of amber68 and coral were bound to her dusky wrists with threads of copper69, and between the delicacy70 of her brown breasts an amulet71 of beryl, like a blue and gentle star, hung from a necklace made of balls of opal linked with amethysts72.
“Wonder of god! who are you?” whispered the warrior73; but while he was speaking she ran past him sweetly as an antelope74 to the dark god. He heard the clicking of her beads75 and gems as she bent in reverence76 kissing the huge stone feet of Sarkkon. He did not dare to approach her although her presence filled him with rapture77; he watched her obeisant78 at the shrine and saw that one of her crimson shoes had slipped from the clinging heel. What was she—girl or goddess, phantom79 or spirit of the stone, or just some lunatic of the desert? But whatever she was it was marvellous, and the marvel80 of it shocked him; time seemed to seethe81 in every channel of his blood. He heard her again call out his name as if from very far away.
“Talakku!”
He hastened to lift her from the pavement, and conquering[77] his tremors82 he grasped and lifted her roughly, as a victor might hale a captive.
“Pretty antelope, who are you?”
She turned her eyes slowly upon his—this was no captive, no phantom—his intrepid83 arms fell back weakly to his sides.
“You will not know me, O brave Assyrian captain,” said the girl gravely. “I was a weaver84 in the city of Eridu....”
“Eridu!” It was an ancient city heard of only in the old poems of his country, as fabulous85 as snow in Canaan.
“Ai ... it is long since riven into dust. I was a slave in Eridu, not ... not a slave in spirit....”
“Beauty so rare is nobility enough,” he said shyly.
“I worshipped god Namu-Sarkkon—behold his shrine. Who loves Namu-Sarkkon becomes what he wishes to become, gains what he wishes to gain.”
“I have heard of these things,” exclaimed the Assyrian. “What did you gain, what did you wish to become?”
“I worshipped here desiring in my heart to be loved by the King of the World.”
“Who is he?”
She dropped her proud glances to the earth before him.
“Who was this King of the World?”
Still she made no reply nor lifted her eyes.
“Who are these figures that stand with us here?” he asked.
[78]
“Dead, all dead,” she sighed, “their destinies have closed. Only I renew the destiny.”
She took his hand and led him among the wasting images.
“Merchants and poets, dead; princesses and slaves, dead; soldiers and kings, they look on us with eyes of dust, dead, all dead. I alone of Sarkkon’s worshippers live on enduringly; I desired only love. I feed my spirit with new desire. I am the beam of his eye.”
“Come,” said the Assyrian suddenly, “I will carry you to Shinar; set but my foot to that lost track ... will you?”
She shook her head gravely; “All roads lead to Sarkkon.”
“Why do we tarry here? Come.”
“Talakku, there is no way hence, no way for you, no way for me. We have wandered into the boundless. What star returns from the sky, what drop from the deep?”
Talakku looked at her with wonder, until the longing86 in his heart lightened the shadow of his doom.
“Tell me what I must do,” he said.
She turned her eyes towards the dark god. “He knows,” she cried, seizing his hands and drawing him towards the idol, “Come, Talakku.”
“No, no!” he said in awe87, “I cannot worship there. Who can deny the gods of his home and escape vengeance88? In Shinar, beloved land, goes not one bee unhived nor a bird without a bower89. Shall I slip my allegiance at every gust90 of the desert?”
[79]
“But if you will not leave this place,” he continued gently, “suffer me to stay.”
“Talakku, in a while I must sink again into the stone.”
“By all the gods I will keep you till I die,” he said. “One day at least I will walk in Paradise.”
“Talakku, not a day, not an hour; moments, moments, there are but moments now.”
“Then, I am but dead,” he cried, “for in that stone your sleeping heart will never dream of me.”
“O, you whip me with rods of lilies. Quick, Talakku.” He knew in her urgent voice the divining hope with which she wooed him. Alas92 for the Assyrian, he was but a man whose dying lips are slaked93 with wise honey. He embraced her as in a dream under the knees of towering Sarkkon. Her kisses, wrapt in the delicate veils of love, not the harsh brief glister of passion, were more lulling94 than a thousand songs of lost Shinar, but the time’s sweet swiftness pursued them. Her momentary95 life had flown like a rushing star, swift and delighting but doomed96. From the heel of the god a beetle97 of green lustre98 began to creep towards them.
“Farewell, Talakku,” cried the girl. She stood again in her place before Namu-Sarkkon. “Have no fear, Talakku, prince of my heart. I will lock up in your breast all my soft unsundering years. Like the bird of fire they will surely spring again.”
He waited, dumb, beside her, and suddenly her limbs[80] compacted into stone once more. At the touch of his awed99 fingers her breast burned with the heat of the sun instead of the wooing blood. Then the vast silence of the world returned upon him; he looked in trembling loneliness at the stark100 sky, the unending desert, at the black god whose eye seemed to flicker14 balefully at him. Talakku turned to the lovely girl, but once more amazement101 gathered in all his veins102. No longer stood her figure there—in its place he beheld103 only a stone image of himself.
“This is the hour, O beauteous one!” murmured the Assyrian, and, turning again towards the giant, he knelt in humility104. His body wavered, faltered105, suddenly stiffened106, and then dissolved into a little heap of sand.
The same wind that unsealed Namu-Sarkkon and his shrine returning again at eve covered anew the idol and its figures, and the dust of the Assyrian captain became part of the desert for evermore.
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1
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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2
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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ironic
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| adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的 | |
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figs
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| figures 数字，图形，外形 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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8
sapphires
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| n.蓝宝石，钢玉宝石( sapphire的名词复数 )；蔚蓝色 | |
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9
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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10
scourged
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| 鞭打( scourge的过去式和过去分词 )； 惩罚，压迫 | |
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11
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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12
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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13
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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14
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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15
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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16
espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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18
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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19
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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20
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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21
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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22
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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23
thongs
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| 的东西 | |
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24
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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25
bemoan
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| v.悲叹，哀泣，痛哭；惋惜，不满于 | |
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26
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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27
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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28
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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29
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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30
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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31
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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32
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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33
hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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34
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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35
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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36
pinioned
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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38
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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39
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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40
supplanted
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| 把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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42
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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43
recollecting
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| v.记起，想起( recollect的现在分词 ) | |
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44
blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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45
cleansed
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| 弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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47
benign
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| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
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49
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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50
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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51
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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52
scathing
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| adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词) | |
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53
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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54
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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55
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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56
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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57
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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58
eyelid
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| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
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59
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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61
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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62
tinkling
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| n.丁当作响声 | |
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63
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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64
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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65
agates
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| n.玛瑙( agate的名词复数 )；玛瑙制（或装有玛瑙的）工具； （小孩玩的）玛瑙纹玩具弹子；5。5磅铅字 | |
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66
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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67
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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68
amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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69
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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70
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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71
amulet
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| n.护身符 | |
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72
amethysts
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| n.紫蓝色宝石( amethyst的名词复数 )；紫晶；紫水晶；紫色 | |
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73
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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74
antelope
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| n.羚羊；羚羊皮 | |
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75
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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76
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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77
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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78
obeisant
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| adj.obeisance的形容词形式 | |
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79
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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80
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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81
seethe
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| vi.拥挤，云集；发怒，激动，骚动 | |
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82
tremors
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| 震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动 | |
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83
intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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84
weaver
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| n.织布工；编织者 | |
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85
fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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86
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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87
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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88
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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89
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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90
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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91
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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92
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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93
slaked
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| v.满足( slake的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
lulling
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的现在分词形式） | |
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95
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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96
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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97
beetle
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| n.甲虫，近视眼的人 | |
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98
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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99
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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101
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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102
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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103
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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104
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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105
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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106
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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