Tonight Yves is off duty three hours earlier than I; occasionally this happens, according to the arrangement of the watches. At those times he lands first, and goes up to wait for me at Diou-djen-dji.
From the deck I can see him through my glass, climbing up the green mountain-path; he walks with a brisk, rapid step, almost running; what a hurry he seems in to rejoin little Chrysanthème!
When I arrive, about nine o’clock, I find him seated on the floor, in the middle of my rooms, with naked torso (this is a sufficiently1 proper costume for private life here, I admit). Around him are grouped Chrysanthème, Oyouki, and Mademoiselle Dede the maid, all eagerly rubbing his back with little blue towels decorated with storks2 and humorous subjects.
Good heavens! what can he have been doing to be so hot, and to have put himself in such a state?
He tells me that near our house, a little farther up the mountain, he has discovered a fencing-gallery: that till nightfall he had been engaged in a fencing-bout against Japanese, who fought with two-handed swords, springing like cats, as is the custom of their country. With his French method of fencing, he had given them a good drubbing. Upon which, with many a low bow, they had shown him their admiration3 by bringing him a quantity of nice little iced things to drink. All this combined had thrown him into a fearful perspiration4.
Ah, very well! Nevertheless, this did not quite explain to me!
He is delighted with his evening; intends to go and amuse himself every day by beating them; he even thinks of taking pupils.
Once his back is dried, all together, the three mousmes and himself, play at Japanese pigeon-vole. Really I could not wish for anything more innocent, or more correct in every respect.
Charles N—— and Madame Jonquille, his wife, arrived unexpectedly about ten o’clock. (They were wandering about in the dark shrubberies in our neighborhood, and, seeing our lights, came up to us.)
They intend to finish the evening at the tea-house of the toads6, and they try to induce us to go and drink some iced sherbets with them. It is at least an hour’s walk from here, on the other side of the town, halfway7 up the hill, in the gardens of the large pagoda8 dedicated9 to Osueva; but they stick to their idea, pretending that in this clear night and bright moonlight we shall have a lovely view from the terrace of the temple.
Lovely, I have no doubt, but we had intended going to bed. However, be it so, let us go with them.
We hire five djins and five cars down below, in the principal street, in front of Madame Tres-Propre’s shop, who, for this late expedition, chooses for us her largest round lanterns-big, red balloons, decorated with starfish, seaweed, and green sharks.
It is nearly eleven o’clock when we make our start. In the central quarters the virtuous10 Nipponese are already closing their little booths, putting out their lamps, shutting the wooden framework, drawing their paper panels.
Farther on, in the old-fashioned suburban11 streets, all is shut up long ago, and our carts roll on through the black night. We cry out to our djins: “Ayakou! ayakou!” (“Quick! quick!")and they run as hard as they can, uttering little shrieks12, like merry animals full of wild gayety. We rush like a whirlwind through the darkness, all five in Indian file, dashing and jolting13 over the old, uneven14 flagstones, dimly lighted up by our red balloons fluttering at the end of their bamboo stems. From time to time some Japanese, night-capped in his blue kerchief, opens a window to see who these noisy madcaps can be, dashing by so rapidly and so late. Or else some faint glimmer15, thrown by us on our passage, discovers the hideous16 smile of a large stone animal seated at the gate of a pagoda.
At last we arrive at the foot of Osueva’s temple, and, leaving our djins with our little gigs, we clamber up the gigantic steps, completely deserted17 at this hour of the night.
Chrysanthème, who always likes to play the part of a tired little girl, of a spoiled and pouting18 child, ascends20 slowly between Yves and myself, clinging to our arms.
Jonquille, on the contrary, skips up like a bird, amusing herself by counting the endless steps.
She lays a great stress on the accentuations, as if to make the numbers sound even more droll21.
A little silver aigrette glitters in her beautiful black coiffure; her delicate and graceful22 figure seems strangely fantastic, and the darkness that envelops23 us conceals24 the fact that her face is quite ugly, and almost without eyes.
This evening Chrysanthème and Jonquille really look like little fairies; at certain moments the most insignificant25 Japanese have this appearance, by dint26 of whimsical elegance27 and ingenious arrangement.
The granite28 stairs, imposing29, deserted, uniformly gray under the nocturnal sky, appear to vanish into the empty space above us, and, when we turn round, to disappear in the depths beneath, to fall into the abyss with the dizzy rapidity of a dream. On the sloping steps the black shadows of the gateways30 through which we must pass stretch out indefinitely; and the shadows, which seem to be broken at each projecting step, look like the regular creases31 of a fan. The porticoes32 stand up separately, rising one above another; their wonderful shapes are at once remarkably33 simple and studiously affected34; their outlines stand out sharp and distinct, having nevertheless the vague appearance of all very large objects in the pale moonlight. The curved architraves rise at each extremity35 like two menacing horns, pointing upward toward the far-off blue canopy36 of the star-spangled sky, as if they would communicate to the gods the knowledge they have acquired in the depths of their foundations from the earth, full of sepulchres and death, which surrounds them.
We are, indeed, a very small group, lost now in the immensity of the colossal37 acclivity as we move onward38, lighted partly by the wan5 moon, partly by the red lanterns we hold in our hands, floating at the ends of their long sticks.
A deep silence reigns39 in the precincts of the temple, even the sound of insects is hushed as we ascend19. A sort of reverence40, a kind of religious fear steals over us, and, at the same moment, a delicious coolness suddenly pervades41 the air, and passes over us.
On entering the courtyard above, we feel a little daunted42. Here we find the horse in jade43, and the china turrets44. The enclosing walls make it the more gloomy, and our arrival seems to disturb I know not what mysterious council held between the spirits of the air and the visible symbols that are there, chimeras45 and monsters illuminated46 by the blue rays of the moon.
We turn to the left, and go through the terraced gardens, to reach the tea-house of the toads, which this evening is our goal; we find it shut up — I expected as much — closed and dark, at this hour! We drum all together on the door; in the most coaxing47 tones we call by name the waiting-maids we know so well: Mademoiselle Transparente, Mademoiselle Etoile, Mademoiselle Rosee-matinale, and Mademoiselle Margueritereine. Not an answer. Good-by, perfumed sherbets and frosted beans!
In front of the little archery-house our mousmes suddenly jump aside, terrified, declaring that there is a dead body on the ground. Yes, indeed, some one is lying there. We cautiously examine the place by the light of our red balloons, carefully held out at arm’s length for fear of this dead man. It is only the marksman, he who on the 4th of July chose such magnificent arrows for Chrysanthème; and he sleeps, good man! with his chignon somewhat dishevelled, a sound sleep, which it would be cruel to disturb.
Let us go to the end of the terrace, contemplate48 the harbor at our feet, and then return home. To-night the harbor looks like only a dark and sinister49 rent, which the moonbeams can not fathom50 — a yawning crevasse51 opening into the very bowels52 of the earth, at the bottom of which lie faint, small glimmers53, an assembly of glowworms in a ditch — the lights of the different vessels54 lying at anchor.
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1
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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storks
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| n.鹳( stork的名词复数 ) | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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toads
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 ) | |
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7
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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8
pagoda
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| n.宝塔（尤指印度和远东的多层宝塔），（印度教或佛教的）塔式庙宇 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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jolting
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| adj.令人震惊的 | |
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uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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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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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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pouting
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的现在分词 ) | |
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19
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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ascends
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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envelops
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的第三人称单数 ) | |
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conceals
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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gateways
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| n.网关( gateway的名词复数 )；门径；方法；大门口 | |
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creases
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| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹 | |
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porticoes
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| n.柱廊，（有圆柱的）门廊( portico的名词复数 ) | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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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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reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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40
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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41
pervades
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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42
daunted
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| 使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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44
turrets
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| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
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45
chimeras
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| n.（由几种动物的各部分构成的）假想的怪兽( chimera的名词复数 )；不可能实现的想法；幻想；妄想 | |
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46
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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47
coaxing
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应 | |
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48
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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49
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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50
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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51
crevasse
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| n. 裂缝，破口；v.使有裂缝 | |
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52
bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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53
glimmers
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| n.微光，闪光( glimmer的名词复数 )v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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54
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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