“FOR A CONSIDERABLE period after the last incident which I have narrated1 in my diary, I had serious thoughts of leaving this house, and might have done so; but for the great and wonderful thing, of which I am about to write.
“How well I was advised, in my heart, when I stayed on here — spite of those visions and sights of unknown and unexplainable things; for, had I not stayed, then I had not seen again the face of her I loved. Yes, though few know it, none now save my sister Mary, I have loved and, ah! me — lost.
“I would write down the story of those sweet, old days; but it would be like the tearing of old wounds; yet, after that which has happened, what need have I to care? For she has come to me out of the unknown. Strangely, she warned me; warned me passionately2 against this house; begged me to leave it; but admitted, when I questioned her, that she could not have come to me, had I been elsewhere. Yet, in spite of this, still she warned me, earnestly; telling me that it was a place, long ago given over to evil, and under the power of grim laws, of which none here have knowledge. And I— I just asked her, again, whether she would come to me elsewhere, and she could only stand, silent.
“It was thus, that I came to the place of the Sea of Sleep — so she termed it, in her dear speech with me. I had stayed up, in my study, reading; and must have dozed3 over the book. Suddenly, I awoke and sat upright, with a start. For a moment, I looked round, with a puzzled sense of something unusual. There was a misty4 look about the room, giving a curious softness to each table and chair and furnishing.
“Gradually, the mistiness5 increased; growing, as it were, out of nothing. Then, slowly, a soft, white light began to glow in the room. The flames of the candles shone through it, palely. I looked from side to side, and found that I could still see each piece of furniture; but in a strangely unreal way, more as though the ghost of each table and chair had taken the place of the solid article.
“Gradually, as I looked, I saw them fade and fade; until, slowly, they resolved into nothingness. Now, I looked again at the candles. They shone wanly6, and, even as I watched, grew more unreal, and so vanished. The room was filled, now, with a soft, yet luminous7, white twilight8, like a gentle mist of light. Beyond this, I could see nothing. Even the walls had vanished.
“Presently, I became conscious that a faint, continuous sound, pulsed through the silence that wrapped me. I listened intently. It grew more distinct, until it appeared to me that I harked to the breathings of some great sea. I cannot tell how long a space passed thus; but, after a while, it seemed that I could see through the mistiness; and, slowly, I became aware that I was standing9 upon the shore of an immense and silent sea. This shore was smooth and long, vanishing to right and left of me, in extreme distances. In front, swam a still immensity of sleeping ocean. At times, it seemed to me that I caught a faint glimmer10 of light, under its surface; but of this, I could not be sure. Behind me, rose up, to an extraordinary height, gaunt, black cliffs. Overhead, the sky was of a uniform cold grey colour — the whole place being lit by a stupendous globe of pale fire, that swam a little above the far horizon, and shed a foam11-like light above the quiet waters.
“Beyond the gentle murmur12 of the sea, an intense stillness prevailed. For a long while, I stayed there, looking out across its strangeness. Then, as I stared, it seemed that a bubble of white foam floated up out of the depths, and then, even now I know not how it was, I was looking upon, nay13, looking into the face of Her — aye! into her face — into her soul; and she looked back at me, with such a commingling14 of joy and sadness, that I ran towards her, blindly; crying strangely to her, in a very agony of remembrance, of terror, and of hope, to come to me. Yet, spite of my crying, she stayed out there upon the sea, and only shook her head, sorrowfully; but, in her eyes was the old earth-light of tenderness, that I had come to know, before all things, ere we were parted.
“At her perverseness15, I grew desperate, and essayed to wade16 out to her; yet, though I would, I could not. Something, some invisible barrier, held me back, and I was fain to stay where I was, and cry out to her in the fullness of my soul, ‘O, my Darling, my Darling — ’ but could say no more, for very intensity17. And, at that, she came over, swiftly, and touched me, and it was as though heaven had opened. Yet, when I reached out my hands to her, she put me from her with tenderly stern hands, and I was abashed18 — ”
NOTE. — Here, the writing becomes undecipherable, owing to the damaged condition of this part of the MS. Below I print such fragments as are legible. — Ed.
THE FRAGMENTS
(The legible portions of the mutilated leaves.)
“ . . . . . . through tears . . . . . . noise of eternity19 in my ears, we parted . . . . . . She whom I love. O, my God! . . . . . .
“I was a great time dazed, and then I was alone in the blackness of the night. I knew that I journeyed back, once more, to the known universe. Presently, I emerged from that enormous darkness. I had come among the stars . . . . . . vast time . . . . . . the sun, far and remote.
“I entered into the gulf20 that separates our system from the outer suns. As I sped across the dividing dark, I watched, steadily21, the ever growing brightness and size of our sun. Once, I glanced back to the stars, and saw them shift, as it were, in my wake, against the mighty22 background of night, so vast was the speed of my passing spirit.
“I drew nigher to our system, and now I could see the shine of Jupiter. Later, I distinguished23 the cold, blue gleam of the earth-light. . . . . . . I had a moment of bewilderment. All about the sun there seemed to be bright, objects, moving in rapid orbits. Inward, nigh to the savage24 glory of the sun, there circled two darting25 points of light, and, further off, there flew a blue, shining speck26, that I knew to be the earth. It circled the sun in a space that seemed to be no more than an earth-minute.
“. . . . . . nearer with great speed. I saw the radiances of Jupiter and Saturn27, spinning, with incredible swiftness, in huge orbits. And ever I drew more nigh, and looked out upon this strange sight — the visible circling of the planets about the mother sun. It was as though time had been annihilated28 for me; so that a year was no more to my unfleshed spirit, than is a moment to an earth-bound soul.
“The speed of the planets, appeared to increase; and, presently, I was watching the sun, all ringed about with hair-like circles of different coloured fire — the paths of the planets, hurtling at mighty speed, about the central flame . . . .
“ . . . the sun grew vast, as though it leapt to meet me. . . . And now I was within the circling of the outer planets, and flitting swiftly, towards the place where the earth, glimmering29 through the blue splendour of its orbit, as though a fiery30 mist, circled the sun at a monstrous31 speed . . . .”
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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mistiness
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| n.雾，模糊，不清楚 | |
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wanly
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| adv.虚弱地；苍白地，无血色地 | |
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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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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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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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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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commingling
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| v.混合，掺和，合并( commingle的现在分词 ) | |
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perverseness
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| n. 乖张, 倔强, 顽固 | |
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wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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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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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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Saturn
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| n.农神，土星 | |
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annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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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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