CHAPTER XLII

　　Prince Djam Bolon asked a Maramba to show us the library of theLiving Buddha¹. It is a big room occupied by scores of writers whoprepare the works dealing² with the miracles of all the LivingBuddhas, beginning with Undur Gheghen and ending with those of theGheghens and Hutuktus of the different Mongol monasteries³. Thesebooks are afterwards distributed through all the Lama Monasteries,temples and schools of Bandi. A Maramba read two selections:

". . . The beatific⁴ Bogdo Gheghen breathed on a mirror.

Immediately as through a haze⁵ there appeared the picture of avalley in which many thousands of thousands of warriors⁶ fought oneagainst another. . . .""The wise and favored-of-the-gods Living Buddha burned incense⁷ in abrazier and prayed to the Gods to reveal the lot of the Princes.

In the blue smoke all saw a dark prison and the pallid⁸, torturedbodies of the dead Princes. . . ."A special book, already done into thousands of copies, dwelt uponthe miracles of the present Living Buddha. Prince Djam Bolondescribed to me some of the contents of this volume.

"There exists an ancient wooden Buddha with open eyes. He wasbrought here from India and Bogdo Gheghen placed him on the altarand began to pray. When he returned from the shrine⁹, he orderedthe statue of Buddha brought out. All were struck with amazement,for the eyes of the God were shut and tears were falling from them;from the wooden body green sprouts¹⁰ appeared; and the Bogdo said:

"'Woe¹¹ and joy are awaiting me. I shall become blind but Mongoliawill be free.'

"The prophecy is fulfilled. At another time, on a day when theLiving Buddha was very much excited, he ordered a basin of waterbrought and set before the altar. He called the Lamas and began topray. Suddenly the altar candles and lamps lighted themselves andthe water in the basin became iridescent¹²."Afterwards the Prince described to me how the Bogdo Khan tellsfortunes with fresh blood, upon whose surface appear words andpictures; with the entrails of sheep and goats, according to whosedistribution the Bogdo reads the fate of the Princes and knowstheir thoughts; with stones and bones from which the Living Buddhawith great accuracy reads the lot of all men; and by the stars, inaccordance with whose positions the Bogdo prepares amulets¹³ againstbullets and disease.

"The former Bogdo Khans told fortunes only by the use of the 'blackstone,'" said the Maramba. "On the surface of the stone appearedTibetan inscriptions¹⁴ which the Bogdo read and thus learned the lotof whole nations."When the Maramba spoke¹⁵ of the black stone with the Tibetan legendsappearing on it, I at once recalled that it was possible. Insoutheastern Urianhai, in Ulan Taiga, I came across a place whereblack slate¹⁶ was decomposing¹⁷. All the pieces of this slate werecovered with a special white lichen¹⁸, which formed very complicateddesigns, reminding me of a Venetian lace pattern or whole pages ofmysterious runes. When the slate was wet, these designsdisappeared; and then, as they were dried, the patterns came outagain.

Nobody has the right or dares to ask the Living Buddha to tell hisfortune. He predicts only when he feels the inspiration or when aspecial delegate comes to him bearing a request for it from theDalai Lama or the Tashi Lama. When the Russian Czar, Alexander I,fell under the influence of Baroness¹⁹ Kzudener and of her extrememysticism, he despatched a special envoy²⁰ to the Living Buddha toask about his destiny. The then Bogdo Khan, quite a young man,told his fortune according to the "black stone" and predicted thatthe White Czar would finish his life in very painful wanderingsunknown to all and everywhere pursued. In Russia today thereexists a popular belief that Alexander I spent the last days of hislife as a wanderer throughout Russia and Siberia under thepseudonym of Feodor Kusmitch, helping²¹ and consoling prisoners,beggars and other suffering people, often pursued and imprisoned²² bythe police and finally dying at Tomsk in Siberia, where even untilnow they have preserved the house where he spent his last days andhave kept his grave sacred, a place of pilgrimages and miracles.

The former dynasty of Romanoff was deeply interested in thebiography of Feodor Kusmitch and this interest fixed²³ the opinionthat Kusmitch was really the Czar Alexander I, who had voluntarilytaken upon himself this severe penance²⁴.

1 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 monasteries   

修道院( monastery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In ancient China, there were lots of monasteries. 在古时候，中国有许多寺院。
• The Negev became a religious center with many monasteries and churches. 内格夫成为许多庙宇和教堂的宗教中心。

4 beatific   

adj.快乐的，有福的

参考例句：

• All parents wish their children could have a safe and beatific life.父母都渴望他们的孩子们平安快乐。
• Perhaps the Beatific Vision itself has some remote kinship with this lowly experience.或许至福幻象本身就同这种平凡的体验有着某种淡薄的血缘关系。

5 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

6 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

7 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

8 pallid   

adj.苍白的，呆板的

参考例句：

• The moon drifted from behind the clouds and exposed the pallid face.月亮从云朵后面钻出来，照着尸体那张苍白的脸。
• His dry pallid face often looked gaunt.他那张干瘪苍白的脸常常显得憔悴。

9 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

10 sprouts   

n.新芽，嫩枝( sprout的名词复数 )v.发芽( sprout的第三人称单数 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• The wheat sprouts grew perceptibly after the rain. 下了一场雨，麦苗立刻见长。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The sprouts have pushed up the earth. 嫩芽把土顶起来了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

12 iridescent   

adj.彩虹色的，闪色的

参考例句：

• The iridescent bubbles were beautiful.这些闪着彩虹般颜色的大气泡很美。
• Male peacocks display their iridescent feathers for prospective female mates.雄性孔雀为了吸引雌性伴侣而展现了他们彩虹色的羽毛。

13 amulets   

n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Amulets,\"guards,\" as they are popularly called, intended to ward off evil spirits. 护身符――或者象他们普遍的叫法：“警卫”用来抵御妖魔鬼怪。 来自辞典例句
• However, all oval amulets in a single game are the same. 当然，所有的魔法用品也有类似的情形。 来自互联网

14 inscriptions   

（作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记

参考例句：

• Centuries of wind and rain had worn away the inscriptions on the gravestones. 几个世纪的风雨已磨损了墓碑上的碑文。
• The inscriptions on the stone tablet have become blurred with the passage of time. 年代久了，石碑上的字迹已经模糊了。

15 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

16 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

17 decomposing   

腐烂( decompose的现在分词 )； （使）分解； 分解（某物质、光线等）

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the overpowering stench of decomposing vegetation. 空气中充满了令人难以忍受的腐烂植物的恶臭。
• Heat was obtained from decomposing manures and hot air flues. 靠肥料分解和烟道为植物提供热量。

18 lichen   

n.地衣, 青苔

参考例句：

• The stone stairway was covered with lichen.那石级长满了地衣。
• There is carpet-like lichen all over the moist corner of the wall.潮湿的墙角上布满了地毯般的绿色苔藓。

19 baroness   

n.男爵夫人，女男爵

参考例句：

• I'm sure the Baroness will be able to make things fine for you.我相信男爵夫人能够把家里的事替你安排妥当的。
• The baroness,who had signed,returned the pen to the notary.男爵夫人这时已签过字，把笔交回给律师。

20 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

21 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

22 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

23 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

24 penance   

n.（赎罪的）惩罪

参考例句：

• They had confessed their sins and done their penance.他们已经告罪并做了补赎。
• She knelt at her mother's feet in penance.她忏悔地跪在母亲脚下。