When Thangobrind the jeweller heard the ominous1 cough, he turned at once upon that narrow way. A thief was he, of very high repute, being patronized by the lofty and elect, for he stole nothing smaller than the Moomoo's egg, and in all his life stole only four kinds of stone—the ruby2, the diamond, the emerald, and the sapphire3; and, as jewellers go, his honesty was great. Now there was a Merchant Prince who had come to Thangobrind and had offered his daughter's soul for the diamond that is larger than the human head and was to be found on the lap of the spider-idol, Hlo-hlo, in his temple of Moung-ga-ling; for he had heard that Thangobrind was a thief to be trusted.
Thangobrind oiled his body and slipped out of his shop, and went secretly through byways, and got as far as Snarp, before anybody knew that he was out on business again or missed his sword from its place under the counter. Thence he moved only by night, hiding by day and rubbing the edges of his sword, which he called Mouse because it was swift and nimble. The jeweller had subtle methods of travelling; nobody saw him cross the plains of Zid; nobody saw him come to Mursk or Tlun. O, but he loved shadows! Once the moon peeping out unexpectedly from a tempest had betrayed an ordinary jeweller; not so did it undo4 Thangobrind: the watchman only saw a crouching5 shape that snarled6 and laughed: "'Tis but a hyena," they said. Once in the city of Ag one of the guardians7 seized him, but Thangobrind was oiled and slipped from his hand; you scarcely heard his bare feet patter away. He knew that the Merchant Prince awaited his return, his little eyes open all night and glittering with greed; he knew how his daughter lay chained up and screaming night and day. Ah, Thangobrind knew. And had he not been out on business he had almost allowed himself one or two little laughs. But business was business, and the diamond that he sought still lay on the lap of Hlo-hlo, where it had been for the last two million years since Hlo-hlo created the world and gave unto it all things except that precious stone called Dead Man's Diamond. The jewel was often stolen, but it had a knack8 of coming back again to the lap of Hlo-hlo. Thangobrind knew this, but he was no common jeweller and hoped to outwit Hlo-hlo, perceiving not the trend of ambition and lust9 and that they are vanity.
How nimbly he threaded his way through he pits of Snood!—now like a botanist10, scrutinising the ground; now like a dancer, leaping from crumbling11 edges. It was quite dark when he went by the towers of Tor, where archers12 shoot ivory arrows at strangers lest any foreigner should alter their laws, which are bad, but not to be altered by mere13 aliens. At night they shoot by the sound of the strangers' feet. O, Thangobrind, Thangobrind, was ever a jeweller like you! He dragged two stones behind him by long cords, and at these the archers shot. Tempting14 indeed was the snare15 that they set in Woth, the emeralds loose-set in the city's gate; but Thangobrind discerned the golden cord that climbed the wall from each and the weights that would topple upon him if he touched one, and so he left them, though he left them weeping, and at last came to Theth. There all men worship Hlo-hlo; though they are willing to believe in other gods, as missionaries16 attest17, but only as creatures of the chase for the hunting of Hlo-hlo, who wears Their halos, so these people say, on golden hooks along his hunting-belt. And from Theth he came to the city of Moung and the temple of Moung-ga-ling, and entered and saw the spider-idol, Hlo-hlo, sitting there with Dead Man's Diamond glittering on his lap, and looking for all the world like a full moon, but a full moon seen by a lunatic who had slept too long in its rays, for there was in Dead Man's Diamond a certain sinister18 look and a boding19 of things to happen that are better not mentioned here. The face of the spider-idol was lit by that fatal gem20; there was no other light. In spite of his shocking limbs and that demoniac body, his face was serene21 and apparently22 unconscious.
A little fear came into the mind of Thangobrind the jeweller, a passing tremor—no more; business was business and he hoped for the best. Thangobrind offered honey to Hlo-hlo and prostrated23 himself before him. Oh, he was cunning! When the priests stole out of the darkness to lap up the honey they were stretched senseless on the temple floor, for there was a drug in the honey that was offered to Hlo-hlo. And Thangobrind the jeweller picked Dead Man's Diamond up and put it on his shoulder and trudged24 away from the shrine25; and Hlo-hlo the spider-idol said nothing at all, but he laughed softly as the jeweller shut the door. When the priests awoke out of the grip of the drug that was offered with the honey to Hlo-hlo, they rushed to a little secret room with an outlet26 on the stars and cast a horoscope of the thief. Something that they saw in the horoscope seemed to satisfy the priests.
It was not like Thangobrind to go back by the road by which he had come. No, he went by another road, even though it led to the narrow way, night-house and spider-forest.
The city of Moung went towering by behind him, balcony above balcony, eclipsing half the stars, as he trudged away with his diamond. Though when a soft pittering as of velvet27 feet arose behind him he refused to acknowledge that it might be what he feared, yet the instincts of his trade told him that it is not well when any noise whatever follows a diamond by night, and this was one of the largest that had ever come to him in the way of business. When he came to the narrow way that leads to spider-forest, Dead Man's Diamond feeling cold and heavy, and the velvety28 footfall seeming fearfully close, the jeweller stopped and almost hesitated. He looked behind him; there was nothing there. He listened attentively29; there was no sound now. Then he thought of the screams of the Merchant Prince's daughter, whose soul was the diamond's price, and smiled and went stoutly30 on. There watched him, apathetically31, over the narrow way, that grim and dubious32 woman whose house is the Night. Thangobrind, hearing no longer the sound of suspicious feet, felt easier now. He was all but come to the end of the narrow way, when the woman listlessly uttered that ominous cough.
The cough was too full of meaning to be disregarded. Thangobrind turned round and saw at once what he feared. The spider-idol had not stayed at home. The jeweller put his diamond gently upon the ground and drew his sword called Mouse. And then began that famous fight upon the narrow way in which the grim old woman whose house was Night seemed to take so little interest. To the spider-idol you saw at once it was all a horrible joke. To the jeweller it was grim earnest. He fought and panted and was pushed back slowly along the narrow way, but he wounded Hlo-hlo all the while with terrible long gashes33 all over his deep, soft body till Mouse was slimy with blood. But at last the persistent34 laughter of Hlo-hlo was too much for the jeweller's nerves, and, once more wounding his demoniac foe35, he sank aghast and exhausted36 by the door of the house called Night at the feet of the grim old woman, who having uttered once that ominous cough interfered37 no further with the course of events. And there carried Thangobrind the jeweller away those whose duty it was, to the house where the two men hang, and taking down from his hook the left-hand one of the two, they put that venturous jeweller in his place; so that there fell on him the doom38 that he feared, as all men know though it is so long since, and there abated39 somewhat the ire of the envious40 gods.
And the only daughter of the Merchant Prince felt so little gratitude41 for this great deliverance that she took to respectability of a militant42 kind, and became aggressively dull, and called her home the English Riviera, and had platitudes43 worked in worsted upon her tea-cosy, and in the end never died, but passed away at her residence.
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1
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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2
ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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3
sapphire
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| n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的 | |
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4
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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5
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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6
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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7
guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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10
botanist
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| n.植物学家 | |
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crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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12
archers
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| n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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13
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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15
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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16
missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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17
attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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19
boding
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| adj.凶兆的，先兆的n.凶兆，前兆，预感v.预示，预告，预言( bode的现在分词 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待 | |
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20
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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24
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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25
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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26
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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27
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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28
velvety
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| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
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29
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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30
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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31
apathetically
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| adv.不露感情地；无动于衷地；不感兴趣地；冷淡地 | |
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32
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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33
gashes
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| n.深长的切口（或伤口）( gash的名词复数 )v.划伤，割破( gash的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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35
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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36
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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37
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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38
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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39
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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40
envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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41
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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42
militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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43
platitudes
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| n.平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调( platitude的名词复数 )；滥套子 | |
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