Friday morning Armitage, Rice, and Morgan set out by motor for Dunwich, arriving at the village about one in the afternoon. The day was pleasant, but even in the brightest sunlight a kind of quiet dread2 and portent3 seemed to hover4 about the strangely domed5 hills and the deep, shadowy ravines of the stricken region. Now and then on some mountain top a gaunt circle of stones could be glimpsed against the sky. From the air of hushed fright at Osborn’s store they knew something hideous6 had happened, and soon learned of the annihilation of the Elmer Frye house and family. Throughout that afternoon they rode around Dunwich, questioning the natives concerning all that had occurred, and seeing for themselves with rising pangs7 of horror the drear Frye ruins with their lingering traces of the tarry stickiness, the blasphemous8 tracks in the Frye yard, the wounded Seth Bishop9 cattle, and the enormous swaths of disturbed vegetation in various places. The trail up and down Sentinel Hill seemed to Armitage of almost cataclysmic significance, and he looked long at the sinister10 altar-like stone on the summit.
At length the visitors, apprised11 of a party of State Police which had come from Aylesbury that morning in response to the first telephone reports of the Frye tragedy, decided12 to seek out the officers and compare notes as far as practicable. This, however, they found more easily planned than performed; since no sign of the party could be found in any direction. There had been five of them in a car, but now the car stood empty near the ruins in the Frye yard. The natives, all of whom had talked with the policemen, seemed at first as perplexed13 as Armitage and his companions. Then old Sam Hutchins thought of something and turned pale, nudging Fred Farr and pointing to the dank, deep hollow that yawned close by.
‘Gawd,’ he gasped14, ‘I telled ’em not ter go daown into the glen, an’ I never thought nobody’d dew it with them tracks an’ that smell an’ the whippoorwills a-screechin’ daown thar in the dark o’ noonday . . . ’
A cold shudder15 ran through natives and visitors alike, and every ear seemed strained in a kind of instinctive16, unconscious listening. Armitage, now that he had actually come upon the horror and its monstrous17 work, trembled with the responsibility he felt to be his. Night would soon fall, and it was then that the mountainous blasphemy18 lumbered19 upon its eldritch course. Negotium perambuians in tenebris . . . The old librarian rehearsed the formulae he had memorized, and clutched the paper containing the alternative one he had not memorized. He saw that his electric flashlight was in working order. Rice, beside him, took from a valise a metal sprayer of the sort used in combating insects; whilst Morgan uncased the big-game rifle on which he relied despite his colleague’s warnings that no material weapon would be of help.
Armitage, having read the hideous diary, knew painfully well what kind of a manifestation20 to expect; but he did not add to the fright of the Dunwich people by giving any hints or clues. He hoped that it might be conquered without any revelation to the world of the monstrous thing it had escaped. As the shadows gathered, the natives commenced to disperse21 homeward, anxious to bar themselves indoors despite the present evidence that all human locks and bolts were useless before a force that could bend trees and crush houses when it chose. They shook their heads at the visitors’ plan to stand guard at the Frye ruins near the glen; and, as they left, had little expectancy22 of ever seeing the watchers again.
There were rumblings under the hills that night, and the whippoorwills piped threateningly. Once in a while a wind, sweeping23 up out of Cold Spring Glen, would bring a touch of ineffable24 foetor to the heavy night air; such a foetor as all three of the watchers had smelled once before, when they stood above a dying thing that had passed for fifteen years and a half as a human being. But the looked-for terror did not appear. Whatever was down there in the glen was biding25 its time, and Armitage told his colleagues it would be suicidal to try to attack it in the dark.
Morning came wanly26, and the night-sounds ceased. It was a grey, bleak27 day, with now and then a drizzle28 of rain; and heavier and heavier clouds seemed to be piling themselves up beyond the hills to the north-west. The men from Arkham were undecided what to do. Seeking shelter from the increasing rainfall beneath one of the few undestroyed Frye outbuildings, they debated the wisdom of waiting, or of taking the aggressive and going down into the glen in quest of their nameless, monstrous quarry29. The downpour waxed in heaviness, and distant peals30 of thunder sounded from far horizons. Sheet lightning shimmered31, and then a forky bolt flashed near at hand, as if descending32 into the accursed glen itself. The sky grew very dark, and the watchers hoped that the storm would prove a short, sharp one followed by clear weather.
It was still gruesomely dark when, not much over an hour later, a confused babel of voices sounded down the road. Another moment brought to view a frightened group of more than a dozen men, running, shouting, and even whimpering hysterically33. Someone in the lead began sobbing34 out words, and the Arkham men started violently when those words developed a coherent form.
‘Oh, my Gawd, my Gawd,’ the voice choked out. ‘It’s a-goin’ agin, an’ this time by day! It’s aout — it’s aout an’ a-movin’ this very minute, an’ only the Lord knows when it’ll be on us all!’
The speaker panted into silence, but another took up his message.
‘Nigh on a haour ago Zeb Whateley here heered the ‘phone a-ringin’, an’ it was Mis’ Corey, George’s wife, that lives daown by the junction35. She says the hired boy Luther was aout drivin’ in the caows from the storm arter the big bolt, when he see all the trees a-bendin’ at the maouth o’ the glen — opposite side ter this — an’ smelt36 the same awful smell like he smelt when he faound the big tracks las’ Monday mornin’. An’ she says he says they was a swishin’ lappin’ saound, more nor what the bendin’ trees an’ bushes could make, an’ all on a suddent the trees along the rud begun ter git pushed one side, an’ they was a awful stompin’ an’ splashin’ in the mud. But mind ye, Luther he didn’t see nothin’ at all, only just the bendin’ trees an’ underbrush.
‘Then fur ahead where Bishop’s Brook37 goes under the rud he heerd a awful creakin’ an’ strainin’ on the bridge, an’ says he could tell the saound o’ wood a-startin’ to crack an’ split. An’ all the whiles he never see a thing, only them trees an’ bushes a-bendin’. An’ when the swishin’ saound got very fur off — on the rud towards Wizard Whateley’s an’ Sentinel Hill — Luther he had the guts38 ter step up whar he’d heerd it fust an’ look at the graound. It was all mud an’ water, an’ the sky was dark, an’ the rain was wipin’ aout all tracks abaout as fast as could be; but beginnin’ at the glen maouth, whar the trees hed moved, they was still some o’ them awful prints big as bar’ls like he seen Monday.’
At this point the first excited speaker interrupted.
‘But that ain’t the trouble naow — that was only the start. Zeb here was callin’ folks up an’ everybody was a-listenin’ in when a call from Seth Bishop’s cut in. His haousekeeper Sally was carryin’ on fit to kill — she’d jest seed the trees a-bendin’ beside the rud, an’ says they was a kind o’ mushy saound, like a elephant puffin’ an’ treadin’, a-headin’ fer the haouse. Then she up an’ spoke39 suddent of a fearful smell, an’ says her boy Cha’ncey was a-screamin’ as haow it was jest like what he smelt up to the Whateley rewins Monday mornin’. An’ the dogs was barkin’ an’ whinin’ awful.
‘An’ then she let aout a turrible yell, an’ says the shed daown the rud had jest caved in like the storm hed blowed it over, only the wind w’an’t strong enough to dew that. Everybody was a-listenin’, an’ we could hear lots o’ folks on the wire a-gaspin’. All to onct Sally she yelled again, an’ says the front yard picket40 fence hed just crumbled41 up, though they wa’n’t no sign o’ what done it. Then everybody on the line could hear Cha’ncey an’ old Seth Bishop a-yellin’ tew, an’ Sally was shriekin’ aout that suthin’ heavy hed struck the haouse — not lightnin’ nor nothin’, but suthin’ heavy again’ the front, that kep’ a-launchin’ itself agin an’ agin, though ye couldn’t see nothin’ aout the front winders. An’ then . . . an’ then . . . ’
Lines of fright deepened on every face; and Armitage, shaken as he was, had barely poise42 enough to prompt the speaker.
‘An’ then . . . Sally she yelled aout, “O help, the haouse is a-cavin’ in” . . . an’ on the wire we could hear a turrible crashin’ an’ a hull43 flock o’ screaming . . . jes like when Elmer Frye’s place was took, only wuss . . . ’
The man paused, and another of the crowd spoke.
‘That’s all — not a saound nor squeak44 over the ‘phone arter that. Jest still-like. We that heerd it got aout Fords an’ wagons45 an’ rounded up as many able-bodied men-folks as we could git, at Corey’s place, an’ come up here ter see what yew46 thought best ter dew. Not but what I think it’s the Lord’s jedgment fer our iniquities47, that no mortal kin1 ever set aside.’
Armitage saw that the time for positive action had come, and spoke decisively to the faltering48 group of frightened rustics49.
‘We must follow it, boys.’ He made his voice as reassuring50 as possible. ‘I believe there’s a chance of putting it out of business. You men know that those Whateleys were wizards — well, this thing is a thing of wizardry, and must be put down by the same means. I’ve seen Wilbur Whateley’s diary and read some of the strange old books he used to read; and I think I know the right kind of spell to recite to make the thing fade away. Of course, one can’t be sure, but we can always take a chance. It’s invisible — I knew it would be — but there’s powder in this long-distance sprayer that might make it show up for a second. Later on we’ll try it. It’s a frightful51 thing to have alive, but it isn’t as bad as what Wilbur would have let in if he’d lived longer. You’ll never know what the world escaped. Now we’ve only this one thing to fight, and it can’t multiply. It can, though, do a lot of harm; so we mustn’t hesitate to rid the community of it.
‘We must follow it — and the way to begin is to go to the place that has just been wrecked52. Let somebody lead the way — I don’t know your roads very well, but I’ve an idea there might be a shorter cut across lots. How about it?’
The men shuffled53 about a moment, and then Earl Sawyer spoke softly, pointing with a grimy finger through the steadily54 lessening55 rain.
‘I guess ye kin git to Seth Bishop’s quickest by cuttin’ across the lower medder here, wadin’ the brook at the low place, an’ climbin’ through Carrier’s mowin’ an’ the timber-lot beyont. That comes aout on the upper rud mighty56 nigh Seth’s — a leetle t’other side.’
Armitage, with Rice and Morgan, started to walk in the direction indicated; and most of the natives followed slowly. The sky was growing lighter57, and there were signs that the storm had worn itself away. When Armitage inadvertently took a wrong direction, Joe Osborn warned him and walked ahead to show the right one. Courage and confidence were mounting, though the twilight58 of the almost perpendicular59 wooded hill which lay towards the end of their short cut, and among whose fantastic ancient trees they had to scramble60 as if up a ladder, put these qualities to a severe test.
At length they emerged on a muddy road to find the sun coming out. They were a little beyond the Seth Bishop place, but bent61 trees and hideously62 unmistakable tracks showed what had passed by. Only a few moments were consumed in surveying the ruins just round the bend. It was the Frye incident all over again, and nothing dead or living was found in either of the collapsed63 shells which had been the Bishop house and barn. No one cared to remain there amidst the stench and tarry stickiness, but all turned instinctively64 to the line of horrible prints leading on towards the wrecked Whateley farmhouse65 and the altar-crowned slopes of Sentinel Hill.
As the men passed the site of Wilbur Whateley’s abode66 they shuddered67 visibly, and seemed again to mix hesitancy with their zeal68. It was no joke tracking down something as big as a house that one could not see, but that had all the vicious malevolence69 of a daemon. Opposite the base of Sentinel Hill the tracks left the road, and there was a fresh bending and matting visible along the broad swath marking the monster’s former route to and from the summit.
Armitage produced a pocket telescope of considerable power and scanned the steep green side of the hill. Then he handed the instrument to Morgan, whose sight was keener. After a moment of gazing Morgan cried out sharply, passing the glass to Earl Sawyer and indicating a certain spot on the slope with his finger. Sawyer, as clumsy as most non-users of optical devices are, fumbled70 a while; but eventually focused the lenses with Armitage’s aid. When he did so his cry was less restrained than Morgan’s had been.
‘Gawd almighty71, the grass an’ bushes is a’movin’! It’s a-goin’ up — slow-like — creepin’— up ter the top this minute, heaven only knows what fur!’
Then the germ of panic seemed to spread among the seekers. It was one thing to chase the nameless entity72, but quite another to find it. Spells might be all right — but suppose they weren’t? Voices began questioning Armitage about what he knew of the thing, and no reply seemed quite to satisfy. Everyone seemed to feel himself in close proximity73 to phases of Nature and of being utterly74 forbidden and wholly outside the sane75 experience of mankind.
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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portent
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| n.预兆；恶兆；怪事 | |
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hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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domed
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| adj. 圆屋顶的, 半球形的, 拱曲的 动词dome的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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pangs
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| 突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛 | |
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blasphemous
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| adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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apprised
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| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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blasphemy
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| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
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lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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biding
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| v.等待，停留( bide的现在分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待；面临 | |
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wanly
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| adv.虚弱地；苍白地，无血色地 | |
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bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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drizzle
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| v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨 | |
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quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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peals
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| n.（声音大而持续或重复的）洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 )；隆隆声；洪亮的钟声；钟乐v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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shimmered
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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hysterically
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| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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guts
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| v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠 | |
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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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picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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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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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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43
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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44
squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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45
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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yew
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| n.紫杉属树木 | |
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iniquities
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| n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 )；极不公正 | |
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faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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49
rustics
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| n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 )；粗野的；不雅的；用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的 | |
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50
reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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51
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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52
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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53
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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lessening
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| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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61
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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hideously
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| adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地 | |
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collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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64
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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69
malevolence
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| n.恶意，狠毒 | |
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70
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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71
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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72
entity
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| n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物 | |
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73
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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74
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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