It has been a thousand times affirmed, and as often denied, that certain serpents possess the power—independent of the touch—of paralyzing their proposed victims. And it seems to be generally admitted that this is done, if done at all, by the eye; for those theorists who ascribe it to poison inhaled3 through the nostrils4 of the charmed ones, offer us no example to confirm their theory, or to make it worthy5 of a second thought. In extended rambles6, alone as well as with society, I have made the study of serpents a matter of amusement, and familiarized myself—at least I had done so ten years back—to handle them without any flesh-shrinking. As I got older, and my nerves become weakened by long exposure to the seasons and to midnight studies, more debilitating7 than Texas "northers," I must confess that I am more timid; but I can yet join a hunt, or project one in good "snake weather," with considerable gusto. I have never met with a snake that could charm me, look he never so keenly, although I have faced them till they got tired, uncoiled, and beat an inglorious retreat. And I am sure that I never smell anything about a snake, calculated to excite any other emotions or motions except holding the nose. And finally I never found a snake or snakelet that I would turn my heel upon to flee, and for the very good reason that the animal in question always runs first.
So, ye manufacturers of snake stories horrific, amusive, or instructive, put that against your tales of blacksnakes, copperheads, cotton-mouths, horn-tails, water-mocassins, and the whole tribe else.
But as to the fascination, what of that?
Why, although I have never been fascinated, or seen a person in that singular situation, yet I am a firm believer in the art, a believer against my wishes—because evidence indisputable has been furnished me, and in abundance. Now I leave out of the question, all the influences of fright, surprise, etc., also all the humbug8 stories of novel writers and romancers in private life, and yet there is a remainder that I cannot cast out. One or two anecdotes9, and then I come to my principal proof.
A gentleman of my acquaintance, passing along a bridle10 path, observed a mouse running backwards11 and forwards, upon a fallen log, as if in great terror. Reining12 in this horse, he paused full ten minutes, and until the mouse disappeared on the farther side of the log. Drawing nearer, and peeping over, his suspicions of Lucifer's guile13 were verified—for mousey was within three inches of his open jaw14, "irresistibly15 attracted," said the narrator, "although he was drawing back with all his might." The latter part of the tale is fishy—for the gentleman was twenty feet off, and could not nave16 seen that—but he saw the mouse finally disappear in that cavernous gullet; and when he killed the snake-a large black one—the mouse lay in its stomach, without a wound. How will that do?
Another, well authenticated17. A young man, of some twenty years, passing along the road to school, on foot, was observed by some of his companions in the rear to pause suddenly and look down. His fellows intent on their conversation, were several minutes coming up; but when they did so they witnessed a veritable case of fascination—for the young man was looking intently into the eyes of a large rattlesnake, coiled at his feet; nor could the voices of all his friends arouse him. Being jerked back with some violence, he instantly recovered his senses, but seemed to be puzzled to recall the circumstances connected with his first view of the snake. After a mental effort he explained, while the cold sweat poured from his face, and his limbs were flaccid as an infant's, that the sound of a rattle18 had caused him to stop short—that a pleasant halo danced before his eyes, and sweet sounds met his ears—and that from that instant until the conclusion of the trance, "he was as happy as he ever expected to be!"
But now for the hardest knock of conviction. I will give it in the language of the original narrator—premising that opponents to the theory of serpent attraction must knock under, or flatly contradict my tale. In the latter event, I shall be compelled to settle the question as Hodginson did his lawsuit20, "by exhibiting the skin and parading the witnesses."
"In the month of April, a few years back," commences the witness, "I took my eldest21 chap, an eight year old boy, but stout22 and bold enough for a twelve year old—and sauntered down to Beech23 river, to spend the evening [Footnote: Evening, in this place, signifies from noon until dark; that's the Southern and Western notion always.] fishing. Finding a large beech, whose spreading roots formed a natural easy chair, with arms to it, I threw my line into the stream, and myself into the cavity, to take the thing deliberately24 as I generally do on such occasions. There had been a rise in Beech river sufficient to muddy the water, and I knew the only chance was for cat (bull-pouts the Yankees call them,) so I chose a big hook and baited with a chunk25 of bacon, big enough for an eight-pounder at least. That hook was a Limerick, for which I had sent all the way to Porter, of 'The Spirit'—that hook I was never more to behold26.
"The boy chose for himself a steep place about ten yards below me, and after sticking his pole in the mud, like a lazy fellow, as he is, amused himself by counting the stamens in some sorrel-flowers that grew thick thereabouts. I listened to his chatter27 for a while as he vacillated in his numbers—eight—nine—ten—twelve—until my own thoughts took an interesting turn, and I heard to more of him for several minutes. Then the sound of his voice again struck one, but a little distance further down stream, as he tailed out—'Oh, Pa, look!'
"Being well accustomed to his 'mares' nests,' I did not turn until he had repeated several times the same words, and it was the singularity of his tones at last that caused me to do it. His voice was indescribably plaintive28, clear, but low, and each vowel29 sound was drawn30 out at great length, thus—'Oh-h-h-h, Pa-a-a-a, loo-oo-oo-ook,'—with the diminuendo, soft as the ring of a glass vessel31, when struck. I have heard Kyle, the flutist, while executing some of his thrilling touches, strike his low notes very much like it. Slewing32 myself partly round in my seat, I observed the little fellow standing33 bent34 forward, his hands stretched out before him as if shielding his face from a bush, while his whole body worked to and fro like the subjects in certain mesmeric experiments that I nave observed when first they are brought under 'the influence' of the operator. His face was partly turned from me, but the cheek, which I saw was pale as death, and his cloth cap was trembling on the back part of his head, as if forced there by the workings of the scalp.
"This was as much as I had time to observe in the first hasty glance. Astonished at his actions, though not at all alarmed—or the first thought that occurred to me as that he was trying to catch a young rabbit—I called out in a half-jocular tone, well, bubby boy, what is it?' He made no reply, but continued that strange murmur35 of '—Oh-h-h, Pa-a-a, loo-oo-ook,' and took a couple of paces forward, not as though he wished to advance, but more in the style of a person who has leaned too far forward and moves his feet to recover the perpendicular37. I arose, rather slowly, for it was a mere38 prompting of curiosity, and walking towards him, called out in a tone of some authority, 'John, come here!' Now I can say, without boasting, that my domestic government is thorough, and my children will promptly39 obey my commands in every thing, from the taking of a dose of quinine to the springing out of bed at daylight of a frosty morning. My surprise, therefore, was great to observe that the lad only answered my order, twice repeated, by the same melancholy40 cry, and another stumble forward.
"I was now thoroughly41 aroused. I hastened my own steps, for a horror came over me as though I was in the presence of a demon42. I advanced directly behind the child, and looking over him, observed a thick bush of the Early Honeysuckle, (Azalea nudiflora.) Into and through this I glanced, but I observed no object to excite my notice. I had got within a pace of him, and was in the act of putting my hand with some force upon his shoulder, when following more precisely43 the direction of his eyes, I looked at the foot of the bush, then about six feet from me, and how shall I describe the sequel!
"Like an electric shock, a sensation pervaded44 my whole frame, which, although I can never forget, I must most imperfectly describe. I was in a trance—the blood overcharged my brain—a murmuring sound, as of an Aeolian, filled my ears-drops, like rain, oozed46 from my face—my hat, first elevated to the very tips of the hairs, worked backwards and fell to the ground—in brief, I was regularly, and for the first and last time in my life, in a state of fascination.
"No sensation of languor47 troubled me, for although I felt no inclination48 to go forward, yet I seemed to myself perfectly45 able and willing to stay where I was, so long as the world lasted. I was perfectly happy in spite of my bodily excitement. A bright halo of changeable colors, for all the world like the changeable lights I have seen displayed in front of the American Museum, New York, filled all my vision, in the very focus of which gleamed two keen points, like sparks from the blacksmith's anvil49, and they were so vivid that they seemed to pierce me through and through.
"How long this continued I cannot say, but I suppose only for a minute. So far as my own perception of time's flight is concerned, however, it might have been an age.
"I was awakened50 by the harsh crackling of some dry sticks upon which the boy had stepped as he continued to shuffle51 forward. The recovery was as sudden as the attack. In an instant I was disenchanted. The bush looked familiar, and I heard the fall of water in the stream, but a thought of imminent52 danger now possessed53 my mind; so shouting with a voice that made the woods ring, I seized the lad around the waist, and heavy as he was, ran with him quite a quarter of a mile without stopping. I confess it most frankly54 that I didn't stop until I fell exhausted55 in the public road. To tell the cowardly truth, I should have ran on until now if I had been able. So we fell down together and lay for a good while panting.
"Then I got up and propping56 myself against a poplar, took little John on my knee. His nervous system was unstrung. He was weeping bitterly, and sobbing57 as if his heart would break. His flesh was cold and clammy, his pulse was almost still, and he hadn't strength to raise his hands to his mouth.
"I had some root ginger58 in my pocket—I always carry a piece with me—which I chewed and made him swallow. This revived him. Then I rubbed him briskly, pinched his skin in divers59 tender spots, and by these means and cheerful conversation, got him so that he could stand alone and answer my questions. I never saw such a fool thing as he was! He was not at all alarmed, very willingly consented to return with me—for I'd die but what I'd see it but—thought there ought to be a perch60 on his hook by this time, thought it was Sunday, thought there was snow somewhere, 'twas so cold,—and all such notions as that.
"Every few minutes he would burst into an uncontrollable flood of tears, but he couldn't tell for what.
"You will want to know how I felt all this time. Well, when I got a minute's leisure from attending to him and could notice my own feelings, I found that I was snivelling too! that my pulse was small, my nose had been profusely61 bleeding, and the blood had drenched62 me to the very boot tops, and I felt altogether as exhausted as one does who has had a month's spell of the chills.
"We were a precious pair, daddy and son, as we sat under that poplar. I am sure I never felt so foolish in all my life. Well, back we started, for my spunk63 was up; and, beside that, I had left my hat, handkerchief, dinner, and memorandum64 book, and was bound to have them. I felt the most burning curiosity to understand the puzzle while my mental faculties65 were completely obfuscated66 by it.
"Neither of us said a word of the affair itself, for John didn't seem to know that he had been frightened, and I was afraid to alarm him by speaking of it. He asked no questions of any sort, although in general he is a miniature Paul Pry67, expressed no surprise that I was bareheaded and bloody68, or that we had come so far from the fishing place and left our tackle behind. His face expressed confusion, such as a child will exhibit when he is waked suddenly by falling out of bed, and commences grasping around the bedpost preparatory to getting in again. I knew that something frightful69 was there, and felt that we had escaped some great peril70, but what the object or what the peril I had no idea whatever. I am sure, however, that the notion of a snake never entered my mind, but if any thing tangible71, if was of a wild cat, for the recollection of Cooper's panther story in the Pioneers occurred to me, and I cut a stout hickory sapling to be prepared. We arrived with slow steps at the haunted spot, for both were exhausted, and I felt the value of prudence72. There lay my basket by the beech root, more by token that the hogs73 had found it and were just devouring74 the last morsel75 of bread and meat so carefully deposited therein.
"There was my fishing line, but the eight-pounder had become weary and worn, and carried off my Limerick hook. There was my hat near the honeysuckle bush, but the phantom76 itself, with its diamond eyes and mystic powers, was gone. Frightened probably by the hogs, unromantic objects in every point of view, he had fled; but I found him within fifty yards in the form of a rattlesnake, full six feet from tip to tip, and glorying in fourteen full rattles19.
"I had my revenge in every possible form. I looked at him for ten minutes at a time, but the power was gone, and I only saw two keen, devilish-looking eyes. Then I punched him till he spent all his venom77 on my stick. Then I made him drunk on tobacco juice, ingloriously and brutally78 drunk.
"Getting tired at last, I gave him the coup36 de grâce, skinned him, and returned home. He hangs now in loops over my family bed. Those eyes that thrilled my heart so strangely are dim with dust. Those fangs79, which in a few minutes more would probably have sent death to the heart's fountain of my boy, are now in Europe, a part of the collection admired by countless80 crowds at the British Museum. The subject is fast fading from my memory,'mid the cares of life, and had you not asked me to write it out for you, I should have thought of it but a little longer. Let it stand as another testimony81, and a most unwilling82 one, too, of the fascinating powers of serpents on the human."
So far my correspondent tells his own tale in language sufficiently83 plain and explicit84. If any figure him out as a man of feeble frame and low stature85, let them change their fancy at once.
He is a strong, muscular man, an old bear hunter, one who has fought Indians in the Florida swamps; a person withal, of unquestionable veracity86, and in all respects the last man to impose on others, or be imposed upon by anything, fish, flesh, or fowl87.
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1
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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vouch
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| v.担保；断定；n.被担保者 | |
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inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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5
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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6
rambles
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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debilitating
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| a.使衰弱的 | |
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humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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10
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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12
reining
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| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的现在分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
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guile
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| n.诈术 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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15
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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authenticated
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| v.证明是真实的、可靠的或有效的( authenticate的过去式和过去分词 )；鉴定，使生效 | |
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18
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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rattles
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| （使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧 | |
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lawsuit
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| n.诉讼，控诉 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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chunk
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| n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量） | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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vowel
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| n.元音；元音字母 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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slewing
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| n.快速定向，快速瞄准v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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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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coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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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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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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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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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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46
oozed
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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49
anvil
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| n.铁钻 | |
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50
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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51
shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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52
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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53
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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54
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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56
propping
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| 支撑 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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58
ginger
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| n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气 | |
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59
divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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spunk
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| n.勇气，胆量 | |
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memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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66
obfuscated
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| v.使模糊，使混乱( obfuscate的过去式和过去分词 )；使糊涂 | |
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pry
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| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
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68
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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70
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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73
hogs
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| n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人 | |
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devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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venom
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| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
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brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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79
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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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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81
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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82
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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veracity
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| n.诚实 | |
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fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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