“I AM an old man. I live here in this ancient house, surrounded by huge, unkempt gardens.
“The peasantry, who inhabit the wilderness1 beyond, say that I am mad. That is because I will have nothing to do with them. I live here alone with my old sister, who is also my housekeeper2. We keep no servants — I hate them. I have one friend, a dog; yes, I would sooner have old Pepper than the rest of Creation together. He, at least, understands me — and has sense enough to leave me alone when I am in my dark moods.
“I have decided3 to start a kind of diary; it may enable me to record some of the thoughts and feelings that I cannot express to any one; but, beyond this, I am anxious to make some record of the strange things that I have heard and seen, during many years of loneliness, in this weird4 old building.
“For a couple of centuries, this house has had a reputation, a bad one, and, until I bought it, for more than eighty years no one had lived here; consequently, I got the old place at a ridiculously low figure.
“I am not superstitious5; but I have ceased to deny that things happen in this old house — things that I cannot explain; and, therefore, I must needs ease my mind, by writing down an account of them, to the best of my ability; though, should this, my diary, ever be read when I am gone, the readers will but shake their heads, and be the more convinced that I was mad.
“This house, how ancient it is! though its age strikes one less, perhaps, than the quaintness6 of its structure, which is curious and fantastic to the last degree. Little curved towers and pinnacles7, with outlines suggestive of leaping flames, predominate; while the body of the building is in the form of a circle.
“I have heard that there is an old story, told amongst the country people, to the effect that the devil built the place. However, that is as may be. True or not, I neither know nor care, save as it may have helped to cheapen it, ere I came.
“I must have been here some ten years, before I saw sufficient to warrant any belief in the stories, current in the neighbourhood, about this house. It is true that I had, on at least a dozen occasions, seen, vaguely8, things that puzzled me, and, perhaps, had felt more than I had seen. Then, as the years passed, bringing age upon me, I became often aware of something unseen, yet unmistakably present, in the empty rooms and corridors. Still, it was, as I have said, many years before I saw any real manifestations9 of the, so called, supernatural.
“It was not Hallowe’en. If I were telling a story for amusement’s sake, I should probably place it on that night of nights; but this is a true record of my own experiences, and I would not put pen to paper to amuse any one. No. It was after midnight on the morning of the twenty-first day of January. I was sitting reading, as is often my custom, in my study. Pepper lay, sleeping, near my chair.
“Without warning, the flames of the two candles went low, and then shone with a ghastly, green effulgence10. I looked up, quickly, and, as I did so, I saw the lights sink into a dull, ruddy tint11; so that the room glowed with a strange, heavy, crimson12 twilight13 that gave the shadows, behind the chairs and tables, a double depth of blackness; and wherever the light struck, it was as though luminous14 blood had been splashed over the room.
“Down on the floor, I heard a faint, frightened whimper, and something pressed itself in between my two feet. It was Pepper, cowering15 under my dressing-gown. Pepper, usually as brave as a lion!
“It was this movement of the dog’s, I think, that gave me the first twinge of real fear. I had been considerably16 startled when the lights burnt first green and then red; but had been momentarily under the impression that the change was due to some influx17 of noxious18 gas into the room. Now, however, I saw that it was not so; for the candles burned with a steady flame, and showed no signs of going out, as would have been the case had the change been due to fumes19 in the atmosphere.
“I did not move. I felt distinctly frightened; but could think of nothing better to do than wait. For perhaps a minute, I kept my glance about the room, nervously20. Then, I noticed that the lights had commenced to sink, very slowly; until, presently, they showed, minute specks21 of red fire, like the gleamings of rubies22, in the darkness. Still, I sat watching; while a sort of dreamy indifference23 seemed to steal over me; banishing24, altogether, the fear that had begun to grip me.
“Away in the far end of the huge, old-fashioned room, I became conscious of a faint glow. Steadily25 it grew, filling the room with gleams of quivering green light; then they sank quickly, and changed — even as the candle-flames had done — into a deep, sombre crimson, that strengthened, and lit up the room with a flood of awful glory.
“The light came from the end wall, and grew ever brighter, until its intolerable glare caused my eyes acute pain, and, involuntarily, I closed them. It may have been a few seconds before I was able to open them. The first thing I noticed, was that the light had decreased, greatly; so that it no longer tried my eyes. Then, as it grew still duller, I was aware, all at once, that, instead of looking at the redness, I was staring through it, and through the wall beyond.
“Gradually, as I became more accustomed to the idea, I realised that I was looking out on to a vast plain, lit with the same gloomy twilight that pervaded26 the room. The immensity of this plain scarcely can be conceived. In no part could I perceive its confines. It seemed to broaden and spread out, so that the eye failed to perceive any limitations. Slowly, the details of the nearer portions began to grow clear; then, in a moment almost, the light died away, and the vision — if vision it were — faded and was gone.
“Suddenly, I became conscious that I was no longer in the chair. Instead, I seemed to be hovering27 above it, and looking down at a dim something, huddled28 and silent. In a little while, a cold blast struck me, and I was outside in the night, floating, like a bubble, up through the darkness. As I moved, an icy coldness seemed to enfold me, so that I shivered.
“After a time, I looked to right and left, and saw the intolerable blackness of the night, pierced by remote gleams of fire. Onwards, outwards30, I drove. Once, I glanced behind, and saw the earth, a small crescent of blue light, receding31 away to my left. Further off, the sun, a splash of white flame, burned vividly32 against the dark.
“An indefinite period passed. Then, for the last time, I saw the earth — an enduring globule of radiant blue, swimming in an eternity33 of ether. And there I, a fragile flake34 of soul-dust, flickered35 silently across the void, from the distant blue, into the expanse of the unknown.
“A great while seemed to pass over me, and now I could nowhere see anything. I had passed beyond the fixed36 stars, and plunged37 into the huge blackness that waits beyond. All this time, I had experienced little, save a sense of lightness and cold discomfort38. Now, however, the atrocious darkness seemed to creep into my soul, and I became filled with fear and despair. What was going to become of me? Where was I going? Even as the thoughts were formed, there grew, against the impalpable blackness that wrapped me, a faint tinge39 of blood. It seemed extraordinarily40 remote, and mistlike; yet, at once, the feeling of oppression was lightened, and I no longer despaired.
“Slowly, the distant redness became plainer and larger; until, as I drew nearer, it spread out into a great, sombre glare — dull and tremendous. Still, I fled onward29, and, presently, I had come so close, that it seemed to stretch beneath me, like a great ocean of sombre red. I could see little, save that it appeared to spread out interminably in all directions.
“In a further space, I found that I was descending41 upon it; and, soon, I sank into a great sea of sullen42, red-hued clouds. Slowly, I emerged from these, and there, below me, I saw the stupendous plain, that I had seen from my room in this house that stands upon the borders of the Silences.
“Presently, I landed, and stood, surrounded by a great waste of loneliness. The place was lit with a gloomy twilight that gave an impression of indescribable desolation.
“Afar to my right, within the sky, there burnt a gigantic ring of dull-red fire, from the outer edge of which were projected huge, writhing44 flames, darted45 and jagged. The interior of this ring was black, black as the gloom of the outer night. I comprehended, at once, that it was from this extraordinary sun that the place derived46 its doleful light.
“From that strange source of light, I glanced down again to my surroundings. Everywhere I looked, I saw nothing but the same flat weariness of interminable plain. Nowhere could I descry47 any signs of life; not even the ruins of some ancient habitation.
“Gradually, I found that I was being borne forward, floating across the flat waste. For what seemed an eternity, I moved onwards. I was unaware48 of any great sense of impatience49; though some curiosity and a vast wonder were with me continually. Always, I saw around me the breadth of that enormous plain; and, always, I searched for some new thing to break its monotony; but there was no change — only loneliness, silence and desert.
“Presently, in a half-conscious manner, I noticed that there was a faint mistiness50, ruddy in hue43, lying over its surface. Still, when I looked more intently, I was unable to say that it was really mist; for it appeared to blend with the plain, giving it a peculiar51 unrealness, and conveying to the senses the idea of unsubstantiality.
“Gradually, I began to weary with the sameness of the thing. Yet, it was a great time before I perceived any signs of the place, towards which I was being conveyed.
“At first, I saw it, far ahead, like a long hillock on the surface of the Plain. Then, as I drew nearer, I perceived that I had been mistaken; for, instead of a low hill, I made out, now, a chain of great mountains, whose distant peaks towered up into the red gloom, until they were almost lost to sight.
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1
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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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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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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quaintness
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| n.离奇有趣，古怪的事物 | |
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pinnacles
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| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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effulgence
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| n.光辉 | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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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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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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15
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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influx
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| n.流入，注入 | |
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noxious
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| adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的 | |
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fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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specks
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| n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
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rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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banishing
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的现在分词 ) | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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outwards
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| adj.外面的，公开的，向外的；adv.向外；n.外形 | |
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receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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33
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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34
flake
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| v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片 | |
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flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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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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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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39
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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40
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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41
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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42
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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43
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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44
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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45
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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46
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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47
descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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48
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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49
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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50
mistiness
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| n.雾，模糊，不清楚 | |
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51
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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