CHAPTER XLVI

　　"Stop!" whispered my old Mongol guide, as we were one day crossingthe plain near Tzagan Luk. "Stop!"He slipped from his camel which lay down without his bidding. TheMongol raised his hands in prayer before his face and began torepeat the sacred phrase: "Om! Mani padme Hung!" The otherMongols immediately stopped their camels and began to pray.

"What has happened?" I thought, as I gazed round over the tendergreen grass, up to the cloudless sky and out toward the dreamy softrays of the evening sun.

The Mongols prayed for some time, whispered among themselves and,after tightening¹ up the packs on the camels, moved on.

"Did you see," asked the Mongol, "how our camels moved their earsin fear? How the herd² of horses on the plain stood fixed³ inattention and how the herds⁴ of sheep and cattle lay crouched⁵ closeto the ground? Did you notice that the birds did not fly, themarmots did not run and the dogs did not bark? The air trembledsoftly and bore from afar the music of a song which penetrated⁶ tothe hearts of men, animals and birds alike. Earth and sky ceasedbreathing. The wind did not blow and the sun did not move. Atsuch a moment the wolf that is stealing up on the sheep arrests hisstealthy crawl; the frightened herd of antelopes⁸ suddenly checksits wild course; the knife of the shepherd cutting the sheep'sthroat falls from his hand; the rapacious⁹ ermine ceases to stalkthe unsuspecting salga. All living beings in fear areinvoluntarily thrown into prayer and waiting for their fate. So itwas just now. Thus it has always been whenever the King of theWorld in his subterranean¹⁰ palace prays and searches out the destinyof all peoples on the earth."In this wise the old Mongol, a simple, coarse shepherd and hunter,spoke to me.

Mongolia with her nude¹¹ and terrible mountains, her limitlessplains, covered with the widely strewn bones of the forefathers,gave birth to Mystery. Her people, frightened by the stormypassions of Nature or lulled¹² by her deathlike peace, feel hermystery. Her "Red" and "Yellow Lamas" preserve and poetize hermystery. The Pontiffs of Lhasa and Urga know and possess hermystery.

On my journey into Central Asia I came to know for the first timeabout "the Mystery of Mysteries," which I can call by no othername. At the outset I did not pay much attention to it and did notattach to it such importance as I afterwards realized belonged toit, when I had analyzed¹³ and connoted many sporadic¹⁴, hazy¹⁵ and oftencontroversial bits of evidence.

The old people on the shore of the River Amyl related to me anancient legend to the effect that a certain Mongolian tribe intheir escape from the demands of Jenghiz Khan hid themselves in asubterranean country. Afterwards a Soyot from near the Lake ofNogan Kul showed me the smoking gate that serves as the entrance tothe "Kingdom of Agharti." Through this gate a hunter formerlyentered into the Kingdom and, after his return, began to relatewhat he had seen there. The Lamas cut out his tongue in order toprevent him from telling about the Mystery of Mysteries. When hearrived at old age, he came back to the entrance of this cave anddisappeared into the subterranean kingdom, the memory of which hadornamented and lightened his nomad¹⁷ heart.

I received more realistic information about this from Hutuktu JelybDjamsrap in Narabanchi Kure. He told me the story of the semi-realistic arrival of the powerful King of the World from thesubterranean kingdom, of his appearance, of his miracles and of hisprophecies; and only then did I begin to understand that in thatlegend, hypnosis or mass vision, whichever it may be, is hidden notonly mystery but a realistic and powerful force capable ofinfluencing the course of the political life of Asia. From thatmoment I began making some investigations¹⁸.

The favorite Gelong Lama of Prince Chultun Beyli and the Princehimself gave me an account of the subterranean kingdom.

"Everything in the world," said the Gelong, "is constantly in astate of change and transition--peoples science, religions, lawsand customs. How many great empires and brilliant cultures haveperished! And that alone which remains¹⁹ unchanged is Evil, the toolof Bad Spirits. More than sixty thousand years ago a Holymandisappeared with a whole tribe of people under the ground and neverappeared again on the surface of the earth. Many people, however,have since visited this kingdom, Sakkia Mouni, Undur Gheghen,Paspa, Khan Baber and others. No one knows where this place is.

One says Afghanistan, others India. All the people there areprotected against Evil and crimes do not exist within its bournes.

Science has there developed calmly and nothing is threatened withdestruction. The subterranean people have reached the highestknowledge. Now it is a large kingdom, millions of men with theKing of the World as their ruler. He knows all the forces of theworld and reads all the souls of humankind and the great book oftheir destiny. Invisibly he rules eight hundred million men on thesurface of the earth and they will accomplish his every order."Prince Chultun Beyli added: "This kingdom is Agharti. It extendsthroughout all the subterranean passages of the whole world. Iheard a learned Lama of China relating to Bogdo Khan that all thesubterranean caves of America are inhabited by the ancient peoplewho have disappeared underground. Traces of them are still foundon the surface of the land. These subterranean peoples and spacesare governed by rulers owing allegiance to the King of the World.

In it there is not much of the wonderful. You know that in the twogreatest oceans of the east and the west there were formerly¹⁶ twocontinents. They disappeared under the water but their people wentinto the subterranean kingdom. In underground caves there exists apeculiar light which affords growth to the grains and vegetablesand long life without disease to the people. There are manydifferent peoples and many different tribes. An old BuddhistBrahman in Nepal was carrying out the will of the Gods in making avisit to the ancient kingdom of Jenghiz,--Siam,--where he met afisherman who ordered him to take a place in his boat and sail withhim upon the sea. On the third day they reached an island where hemet a people having two tongues which could speak separately indifferent languages. They showed to him peculiar²⁰, unfamiliaranimals, tortoises with sixteen feet and one eye, huge snakes witha very tasty flesh and birds with teeth which caught fish for theirmasters in the sea. These people told him that they had come upout of the subterranean kingdom and described to him certain partsof the underground country."The Lama Turgut traveling with me from Urga to Peking gave mefurther details.

"The capital of Agharti is surrounded with towns of high priestsand scientists. It reminds one of Lhasa where the palace of theDalai Lama, the Potala, is the top of a mountain covered withmonasteries and temples. The throne of the King of the World issurrounded by millions of incarnated²² Gods. They are the HolyPanditas. The palace itself is encircled by the palaces of theGoro, who possess all the visible and invisible forces of theearth, of inferno²³ and of the sky and who can do everything for thelife and death of man. If our mad humankind should begin a waragainst them, they would be able to explode the whole surface ofour planet and transform it into deserts. They can dry up theseas, transform lands into oceans and scatter²⁴ the mountains intothe sands of the deserts. By his order trees, grasses and bushescan be made to grow; old and feeble men can become young andstalwart; and the dead can be resurrected. In cars strange andunknown to us they rush through the narrow cleavages inside ourplanet. Some Indian Brahmans and Tibetan Dalai Lamas during theirlaborious struggles to the peaks of mountains which no other humanfeet had trod have found there inscriptions²⁵ carved on the rocks,footprints in the snow and the tracks of wheels. The blissfulSakkia Mouni found on one mountain top tablets of stone carryingwords which he only understood in his old age and afterwardspenetrated into the Kingdom of Agharti, from which he brought backcrumbs of the sacred learning preserved in his memory. There inpalaces of wonderful crystal live the invisible rulers of all piouspeople, the King of the World or Brahytma, who can speak with Godas I speak with you, and his two assistants, Mahytma, knowing thepurposes of future events, and Mahynga, ruling the causes of theseevents.""The Holy Panditas study the world and all its forces. Sometimesthe most learned among them collect together and send envoys²⁶ tothat place where the human eyes have never penetrated. This isdescribed by the Tashi Lama living eight hundred and fifty yearsago. The highest Panditas place their hands on their eyes and atthe base of the brain of younger ones and force them into a deepsleep, wash their bodies with an infusion²⁷ of grass and make themimmune to pain and harder than stones, wrap them in magic cloths,bind them and then pray to the Great God. The petrified²⁸ youths liewith eyes and ears open and alert, seeing, hearing and rememberingeverything. Afterwards a Goro approaches and fastens a long,steady gaze upon them. Very slowly the bodies lift themselves fromthe earth and disappear. The Goro sits and stares with fixed eyesto the place whither he has sent them. Invisible threads join themto his will. Some of them course among the stars, observe theirevents, their unknown peoples, their life and their laws. Theylisten to their talk, read their books, understand their fortunesand woes²⁹, their holiness and sins, their piety³⁰ and evil. Some aremingled with flame and see the creature of fire, quick andferocious, eternally fighting, melting and hammering metals in thedepths of planets, boiling the water for geysers and springs,melting the rocks and pushing out molten streams over the surfaceof the earth through the holes in the mountains. Others rushtogether with the ever elusive³¹, infinitesimally small, transparentcreatures of the air and penetrate⁷ into the mysteries of theirexistence and into the purposes of their life. Others slip intothe depths of the seas and observe the kingdom of the wisecreatures of the water, who transport and spread genial³² warmth allover the earth, ruling the winds, waves and storms. . . . InErdeni Dzu formerly lived Pandita Hutuktu, who had come fromAgharti. As he was dying, he told about the time when he livedaccording to the will of the Goro on a red star in the east,floated in the ice-covered ocean and flew among the stormy fires inthe depths of the earth."These are the tales which I heard in the Mongolian yurtas ofPrinces and in the Lamaite monasteries²¹. These stories were allrelated in a solemn tone which forbade challenge and doubt.

Mystery. . . .

1 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

2 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

3 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。

4 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

5 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

6 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

7 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

8 antelopes   

羚羊( antelope的名词复数 )； 羚羊皮革

参考例句：

• One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it like antelopes.' 你只要一跳就出来了，我们可以像羚羊那样飞快地逃掉。”
• Most antelopes can withhold their young for weeks, even months. 绝大部分羚羊能把分娩期推迟几个星期，甚至几个月。

9 rapacious   

adj.贪婪的，强夺的

参考例句：

• He had a rapacious appetite for bird's nest soup.他吃燕窝汤吃个没够。
• Rapacious soldiers looted the houses in the defeated city.贪婪的士兵洗劫了被打败的城市。

10 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

11 nude   

adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品

参考例句：

• It's a painting of the Duchess of Alba in the nude.这是一幅阿尔巴公爵夫人的裸体肖像画。
• She doesn't like nude swimming.她不喜欢裸泳。

12 lulled   

vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They lulled her into a false sense of security. 他们哄骗她，使她产生一种虚假的安全感。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The movement of the train lulled me to sleep. 火车轻微的震动催我进入梦乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

15 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

16 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

17 nomad   

n.游牧部落的人，流浪者，游牧民

参考例句：

• He was indeed a nomad of no nationality.他的确是个无国籍的游民。
• The nomad life is rough and hazardous.游牧生活艰苦又危险。

18 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

19 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

20 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

21 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。

22 incarnated   

v.赋予（思想、精神等）以人的形体( incarnate的过去式和过去分词 )；使人格化；体现；使具体化

参考例句：

• Dickens incarnated hypocrisy in his Uriah Heep. 狄更斯把虚伪体现在他塑造的人物赖亚·赫普身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His ideals were incarnated in his music. 他的理想具体地体现在他的音乐中。 来自辞典例句

23 inferno   

n.火海；地狱般的场所

参考例句：

• Rescue workers fought to get to victims inside the inferno.救援人员奋力营救大火中的受害者。
• The burning building became an inferno.燃烧着的大楼成了地狱般的地方。

24 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。

25 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。

26 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

27 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

28 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

30 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

31 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

32 genial   

adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的

参考例句：

• Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
• He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友，也是友善待客的主人。