The performers were seated on the floor of the room when the company took their places. A man with a slouched turban and something like a sheet wound around his body, reaching nearly to his ankles, the only clothing he wore, entered the hall. At the entrance of the party the girls rose from the floor and saluted6 them deferentially7.
There were six of them, very modestly dressed, only their arms and feet being bare. Their black hair was parted in the middle, and combed back behind the ears, after the fashion of many years ago in the United States. They all wore ornaments8 in their ears, and around their ankles. The material of their dresses was various, some of it quite rich, with pearls and gold in places. They looked quite serious, as though they were about to engage in a religious ceremony, though it had no such connection. Some of them were decidedly pretty, though their style of beauty was not entirely10 to the taste of the Americans. They had black eyes, and they looked the visitors full in the face, and with entire self-possession.
"Now what are these girls, Sir Modava?" asked Mrs. Belgrave.
"They are professional dancers, and that is their sole occupation," replied he. "They are engaged by rich people when they give parties, and for weddings and other festive11 occasions."
"Is that man the only musician?"
"He is the only one for this entertainment, and he plays the tom-tom with his fingers. I am afraid you do not appreciate our native music, and we did not engage any more of it. They are about to begin."
The musician beat the tom-tom, and the girls rose from the floor, shook out their dresses as any lady would, and then it appeared that the ornaments on their ankles were bells, which rattled12 as though it were sleighing-time as they moved about. They formed in a semicircle before the audience; one of them stepped forward, and turned herself around very slowly and gracefully13, with a quivering of the body, like the gypsy girls of Spain, which caused her bells to jingle15.
With eyes half-closed, and with a languishing16 expression on her dusky face, she made a variety of gestures, posturing17 frequently as she continued to turn. When this one seemed to have exhausted18 her material, another advanced to the front, and proceeded to exhibit her variety of gestures and postures19, which were but slightly different from those of the first one, though she went through the movements of a snake-charmer. In like manner all the performers went through their several parts, imitating various musicians on different native instruments.
Two of them went through a very lively performance, leaping and whirling very rapidly. The exhibition concluded with a round dance, which was thought to be very pretty, perhaps because it was exceedingly lively. Mrs. Belgrave and Mrs. Blossom had never been to a theatre in their lives, never saw a ballet, and were not capable of appreciating the posturing, though the animated20 dance pleased them. The Nautch girls retired21, and the "Nautch," as such an occasion is called, was ended.
"Perhaps you have seen snakes enough for one day," said Lord Tremlyn; "but I thought you ought to see the performance of the snake-charmers. We will have it here instead of in the open street; and it is quite different from the show you witnessed this forenoon."
As he spoke22 the door opened, and a couple of old and rather snaky-looking Hindus, folded up in a profusion23 of cloths, rather than garments, entered the apartment. Sir Modava conducted them to a proper distance from the audience, who could not help distrusting the good intentions of the vicious-looking reptiles25. Each of them carried such a basket as the party had seen in the square. The men seemed to be at least first cousins to the serpents the baskets contained, for their expression was subtle enough to stamp them as belonging to the same family.
The performers squatted26 on the floor, and each placed a basket before him, removing the cover; but the serpents did not come out. The charmers then produced a couple of instruments which Sir Modava called lutes, looking more like a dried-up summer crookneck squash, with a mouthpiece, and a tube with keys below the bulb. Adjusting it to their lips, they began to play; and the music was not bad, and it appeared to be capable of charming the cobras, for they raised their heads out of the baskets.
The melody produced a strange effect upon the reptiles, for they began to wriggle27 and twist as they uncoiled themselves. They hissed28 and outspread their hoods29, and instead of being charmed by the music, it seemed as though their wrath30 had been excited. They made an occasional dart31 at the human performers, who dodged32 them as though they had been in their native jungles, with their business fangs33 in order for deadly work. But the Hindu gentleman explained that they could bite, though they could not kill, after their poison fangs had been removed.
Then one of the performers stood up, and seizing his snake by the neck, he swung him three times around his head, and dropped him on the floor. There he lay extended at his full length, as stiff as though he had taken a dose of his own poison.
"I have killed my serpent!" exclaimed the Hindu with a groan34. "But I can make him into a useful cane35."
Sir Modava interpreted his remarks, and the fellow picked up his snake, and walked before the audience, using it as a staff, and pretending to support himself upon it. Then he held out the reptile24 to the visitors, and offered to sell his cane; but they recoiled36, and the ladies were on the point of rushing from the room when Sir Modava ordered him off. He retreated a proper distance, and then thrust the head of the creature beneath his turban, and continued to crowd him into it till nothing but his tail was in sight. Then he took off his head covering, and showed the reptile coiled up within it.
Lord Tremlyn looked at his watch, and then carried a piece of money to the chief charmer, which he received with many salaams37, in which his companion joined him, for the fee was a very large one. He suggested that the party had had enough of this performance, to which all the ladies, with Mr. Woolridge, heartily38 agreed. The carriages were at the door of the hotel, and the company were hurriedly driven to the Apollo Bunder, where they found a steam-launch in waiting for them. Lord Tremlyn had arranged the excursions so that everything proceeded like clockwork, and Captain Ringgold wondered what he should have done without his assistance.
The island of Elephanta was about five miles distant, and in half an hour the party landed. Upon it were a couple of hills, and it was entirely covered with woods. One of the first things to attract the attention was a singular tree, which seemed to be a family of a hundred of them; for the branches reached down to the ground, and took root there, though the lower ends were spread out in numerous fibres, leaving most of the roots above the soil.
"This is a banyan-tree," said Sir Modava. "It is a sort of fig-tree, and you see that the leaves are shaped like a heart. It bears a fruit of a rich scarlet39 color, which grows in couples from the stems of the leaves. They are really figs40, and they are an important article of food. In time the trunk of the tree decays and disappears, and temples are made of the thick branches. Some of these trees have three thousand stems rooted in the ground, many of them as big as oaks: and these make a complete forest of themselves. One of them is said to have sheltered seven thousand people; but I never saw one as big as that."
The party proceeded towards the caves, but had not gone far before they were arrested by the screams of some of the ladies, who were wandering in search of flowers. Louis Belgrave was with his mother and Miss Blanche. Sir Modava, who was telling the rest of the company something more about the banyan-tree, rushed to the spot from which the alarm came. There he found Louis with his revolver in readiness to fire.
"Snakes!" screamed Mrs. Belgrave.
In front of them, asleep on a rock, were two large snakes. The Hindu gentleman halted at the side of the lady, and burst out into a loud laugh.
"The snakes of India seem to be determined41 that you shall see them," said he. "But you need not fire, Mr. Belgrave; for those snakes are as harmless as barnyard fowls42, and they don't know enough to bite."
"I see that they are not cobras," added Louis, as he returned the revolver to his pocket. "But what are they?"
"Those are rock snakes."
"But I don't like the looks of them," said Mrs. Belgrave, as she continued her retreat towards the path.
"I think they are horrid," added Miss Blanche.
"But they do no harm, and very likely they do some good in the world," said Sir Modava; "but there are snakes enough that ought to be killed without meddling43 with them."
"You see that rock," said the viscount; "and it is a very large one. Can you make anything of its shape? I suppose not; nobody can. But that rock gave a name to this island, applied44 by the Portuguese45 two or three hundred years ago. It is said to have been in the form of an elephant. If it ever had that shape it has lost it."
"'Snakes!' screamed Mrs. Belgrave."--Page 184.
"'Snakes!' screamed Mrs. Belgrave."--Page 184.
After penetrating46 a dense47 thicket48, the tourists discovered a comely49 flight of stairs, cut out of the solid rock of which the hill is composed, extending to a considerable distance, and finally leading into the great pillared chamber50 forming a Hindu temple, though a level space planted with trees must first be crossed.
They entered the cave. On the left were two full columns, not yet crumbled51 away as others were, which gave the observers a complete view of what a vast number of others there were. Next beyond them were three pilasters clinging to the ceiling. This part of the cavern52 was in the light from the entrance; but farther along, considerably obscured in the darkness of the subterranean53 temple, were scores, and perhaps hundreds, of others. The pillars were not the graceful14 forms of modern times, and many of them had lost all shape.
This temple is said to have been excavated54 in the ninth century. The walls are covered with gigantic figures in relief. The temple is in the form of a cross, the main hall being a hundred and forty-four feet in depth. The ceiling is supported by twenty-six columns and eighteen pilasters, sixteen to eighteen feet high. They look clumsy, but they have to bear up the enormous weight of the hill of rock, and many of them have crumbled away.
At the end of the colonnade55 is a gigantic bust56, representing a Hindu divinity with three heads. Some say that this is Brahma, as the three symbols of the creator, preserver, and destroyer, forming what is sometimes named the Hindu trinity. But the best informed claim that the figure represents Siva, the destroyer of the triad of gods. All the reliefs on the walls relate to the worship of this divinity, while there is not a known temple to Brahma.
The principal piece of sculpture is the marriage of Siva to the goddess Parvati; and it is identified as such, wholly or in part, because the woman stands on the right of the man, as no female is permitted to do except at the marriage ceremony. The party wandered through the caverns57 for two hours, and Sayad and Moro, the only servants brought with them, kindled58 fires in the darker places, to enable them to see the sculpture. Sir Modava explained what needed explanation. He conducted them to an opening, lighted by a hole in the hill, where they found a staircase guarded by two lions, leading into what is called the Lions' Cave.
The tourists at the end of the two hours were willing to vote that they had seen enough of the caverns, and they returned to the hotel in season for dinner. On his arrival Lord Tremlyn found a letter at the office. On opening it, the missive proved to be an invitation for that evening to a wedding for the whole party. They considered it for some time, and as it afforded them an opportunity to see something of native life it was decided9 to accept it.
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1
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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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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fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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jaunt
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| v.短程旅游；n.游览 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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7
deferentially
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| adv.表示敬意地，谦恭地 | |
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8
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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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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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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16
languishing
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| a. 衰弱下去的 | |
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posturing
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| 做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 ) | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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postures
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| 姿势( posture的名词复数 )； 看法； 态度； 立场 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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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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profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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reptiles
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| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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29
hoods
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| n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩 | |
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30
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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31
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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34
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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36
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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37
salaams
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| （穆斯林的）额手礼，问安，敬礼( salaam的名词复数 ) | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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figs
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| figures 数字，图形，外形 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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42
fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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43
meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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46
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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47
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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48
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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49
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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50
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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51
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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52
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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54
excavated
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| v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘 | |
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55
colonnade
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| n.柱廊 | |
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56
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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