In shape, in hue2, in lineaments, like life.
SOUTHEY’S THALABA
‘I am convinced, that, had the passage been as long and intricate as any that ever an antiquarian pursued to discover the tomb of Cheops in the Pyramids, I would have rushed on in the blindness of my desperation, till famine or exhaustion3 had compelled me to pause. But I had no such peril4 to encounter, — the floor of the passage was smooth, and the walls were matted, and though I proceeded in darkness, I proceeded in safety; and provided my progress removed me far enough from the pursuit or discovery of the Inquisition, I scarcely cared how it might terminate.
‘Amid this temporary magnanimity of despair, this state of mind which unites the extremes of courage and pusillanimity5, I saw a faint light. Faint it was, but it was distinct, — I saw clearly it was light. Great God! what a revulsion in my blood and heart, in all my physical and mental feelings, did this sun of my world of darkness create! I venture to say, that my speed in approaching it was in the proportion of one hundred steps to one, compared to my crawling progress in the preceding darkness. As I approached, I could discover that the light gleamed through the broad crevices6 of a door, which, disjointed by subterranean7 damps, gave me as full a view of the apartment within, as if it were opened to me by the inmate8. Through one of these crevices, before which I knelt in a mixture of exhaustion and curiosity, I could reconnoitre the whole of the interior.
‘It was a large apartment, hung with dark-coloured baize within four feet of the floor, and this intermediate part was thickly matted, probably to intercept9 the subterranean damps. In the centre of the room stood a table covered with black cloth; it supported an iron lamp of an antique and singular form, by whose light I had been directed, and was now enabled to descry10 furniture that appeared sufficiently11 extraordinary. There were, amid maps and globes, several instruments, of which my ignorance did not permit me then to know the use, — some, I have since learned, were anatomical; there was an electrifying12 machine, and a curious model of a rack in ivory; there were few books, but several scrolls13 of parchment, inscribed14 with large characters in red and ochre coloured ink; and around the room were placed four skeletons, not in cases, but in a kind of upright coffin15, that gave their bony emptiness a kind of ghastly and imperative16 prominence17, as if they were the real and rightful tenants18 of that singular apartment. Interspersed19 between them were the stuffed figures of animals I knew not then the names of, — an alligator20, — some gigantic bones, which I took for those of Sampson, but which turned out to be fragments of those of the Mammoth21, — and antlers, which in my terror I believed to be those of the devil, but afterwards learned to be those of an Elk22. Then I saw figures smaller, but not less horrible, — human and brute23 abortions24, in all their states of anomalous25 and deformed26 construction, not preserved in spirits, but standing27 in the ghastly nakedness of their white diminutive28 bones; these I conceived to be the attendant imps29 of some infernal ceremony, which the grand wizard, who now burst on my sight, was to preside over.
‘At the end of the table sat an old man, wrapped in a long robe; his head was covered with a black velvet30 cap, with a broad border of furs, his spectacles were of such a size as almost to hide his face, and he turned over some scrolls of parchment with an anxious and trembling hand; then seizing a scull that lay on the table, and grasping it in fingers hardly less bony, and not less yellow, seemed to apostrophize it in the most earnest manner. All my personal fears were lost in the thought of my being the involuntary witness of some infernal orgie. I was still kneeling at the door, when my long suspended respiration31 burst forth32 in a groan33, which reached the figure seated at the table in a moment. Habitual34 vigilance supplied all the defects of age on the part of the listener. It was but the sensation of a moment to feel the door thrown open, my arm seized by an arm powerful though withered35 by age, and myself, as I thought, in the talons36 of a demon37.
‘The door was closed and bolted. An awful figure stood over me, (for I had fallen on the floor), and thundered out, ‘Who art thou, and why art thou here?’ I knew not what to answer, and gazed with a fixed38 and speechless look on the skeletons and the other furniture of this terrible vault. ‘Hold,’ said the voice, ‘if thou art indeed exhausted39, and needest refreshment40, drink of this cup, and thou shalt be refreshed as with wine; verily, it shall come into thy bowels41 as water, and as oil into thy bones,’ — and as he spoke42 he offered to me a cup with some liquid in it. I repelled43 him and his drink, which I had not a doubt was some magical drug, with horror unutterable; and losing all other fears in the overwhelming one of becoming a slave of Satan, and a victim of one of his agents, as I believed this extraordinary figure, I called on the name of the Saviour44 and the saints, and, crossing myself at every sentence, exclaimed, ‘No, tempter, keep your infernal potions for the leprous lips of your imps, or swallow them yourself. I have but this moment escaped from the hands of the Inquisition, and a million times rather would I return and yield myself their victim, than consent to become yours, — your tender-mercies are the only cruelties I dread45. Even in the prison of the holy office, where the faggots appeared to be lit before my eyes, and the chain already fastened round my body to bind46 it to the stake, I was sustained by a power that enabled me to embrace objects so terrible to nature, sooner than escape them at the price of my salvation47. The choice was offered me, and I made my election, — and so would I do were it to be offered a thousand times, though the last were at the stake, and the fire already kindling48.’
Here the Spaniard paused in some agitation49. In the enthusiasm of his narration50, he had in some degree disclosed that secret which he had declared was incommunicable, except in confessing to a priest. Melmoth, who, from the narrative51 of Stanton, had been prepared to suspect something of this, did not think prudent52 to press him for a farther disclosure, and waited in silence till his emotion had subsided54, without remark or question. Mon?ada at length resumed his narrative.
‘While I was speaking, the old man viewed me with a look of calm surprise, that made me ashamed of my fears, even before I had ceased to utter them. ‘What!’ said he at length, fixing apparently55 on some expressions that struck him, ‘art thou escaped from the arm that dealeth its blow in darkness, even the arm of the Inquisition? Art thou that Nazarene youth who sought refuge in the house of our brother Solomon, the son of Hilkiah, who is called Fernan Nunez by the idolaters in this land of his captivity56? Verily I trusted thou shouldst this night have eat of my bread, and drank of my cup, and been unto me as a scribe, for our brother Solomon testified concerning thee, saying, His pen is even as the pen of a ready writer.’
‘I gazed at him in astonishment57. Some vague recollections of Solomon’s being about to disclose some safe and secret retreat wandering over my mind; and, while trembling at the singular apartment in which we were seated, and the employment in which he seemed engaged, I yet felt a hope hover58 about my heart, which his knowledge of my situation appeared to justify59. ‘Sit down,’ said he, observing with compassion60 that I was sinking alike under the exhaustion of fatigue61 and the distraction62 of terror; ‘sit down, and eat a morsel63 of bread, and drink a cup of wine, and comfort thine heart, for thou seemest to be as one who hath escaped from the snare64 of the fowler, and from the dart65 of the hunter.’ I obeyed him involuntarily. I needed the refreshment he offered, and was about to partake of it, when an irresistible66 feeling of repugnance67 and horror overcame me; and, as I thrust away the food he offered me, I pointed68 to the objects around me as the cause of my reluctance69. He looked round for a moment, as doubting whether objects so familiar to him, could be repulsive70 to a stranger, and then shaking his head, ‘Thou art a fool,’ said he, ‘but thou art a Nazarene, and I pity thee; verily, those who had the teaching of thy youth, not only have shut the book of knowledge to thee, but have forgot to open it for themselves. Were not thy masters, the Jesuits, masters also of the healing art, and art thou not acquainted with the sight of its ordinary implements71? Eat, I pray thee, and be satisfied that none of these will hurt thee. Yonder dead bones cannot weigh out or withhold72 thy food; nor can they bind thy joints73, or strain them with iron, or rend74 them with steel, as would the living arms that were stretched forth to seize thee as their prey75. And, as the Lord of hosts liveth, their prey wouldst thou have been, and a prey unto their iron and steel, were it not for the shelter of the roof of Adonijah to-night.’
‘I took some of the food he offered me, crossing myself at every mouthful, and drank the wine, which the feverish76 thirst of terror and anxiety made me swallow like water, but not without an internal prayer that it might not be converted into some deleterious and diabolical77 poison. The Jew Adonijah observed me with increasing compassion and contempt. — ‘What,’ said he, ‘appals thee? Were I possessed78 of the powers the superstition79 of thy sect80 ascribes to me, might I not make thee a banquet for fiends, instead of offering thee food? Might I not bring from the caverns81 of the earth the voices of those that ‘peep and mutter,’ instead of speaking unto thee with the voice of man? Thou art in my power, yet have I no power or will to hurt thee. And dost thou, who art escaped from the dungeons82 of the Inquisition, look as one that feareth on the things that thou seest around thee, the furniture of the cell of a secluded83 leach84? Within this apartment I have passed the term of sixty years, and dost thou shudder85 to visit it for a moment? These be the skeletons of bodies, but in the den53 thou hast escaped from were the skeletons of perished souls. Here are relics86 of the wrecks87 or the caprices of nature, but thou art come from where the cruelty of man, permanent and persevering88, unrelenting and unmitigated, hath never failed to leave the proofs of its power in abortive89 intellects, crippled frames, distorted creeds90, and ossified91 hearts. Moreover, there are around thee parchments and charts scrawled92 as it were with the blood of man, but, were it even so, could a thousand such volumes cause such terror to the human eye, as a page of the history of thy prison, written as it is in blood, drawn93, not from the frozen veins94 of the dead, but from the bursting hearts of the living. Eat, Nazarene, there is no poison in thy food, — drink, there is no drug in thy cup. Darest thou promise thyself that in the prison of the Inquisition, or even in the cells of the Jesuits? Eat and drink without fear in the vault, even in the vault of Adonijah the Jew. If thou daredst to have done so in the dwellings95 of the Nazarenes, I had never beheld96 thee here. Hast thou fed?’ he added, and I bowed. ‘Hast thou drank of the cup I gave thee?’ my torturing thirst returned, and I gave him back the cup. He smiled, but the smile of age, — the smile of lips over which more than an hundred years have passed, has an expression more repulsive and hideous97 than can be deemed; it is never the smile of pleasure, — it is a frown of the mouth, and I shrunk before its grim wrinkles, as the Jew Adonijah added, ‘If thou hast eat and drank, it is time for thee to rest. Come to thy bed, it may be harder than they have given thee in thy prison, but behold98 it shall be safer. Come and rest thee there, it may be that the adversary99 and the enemy shall not there find thee out.’
‘I followed him through passages so devious100 and intricate, that, bewildered as I was with the events of the night, they forced on my memory the well-known fact, that in Madrid the Jews have subterranean passages to each other’s habitations, which have hitherto baffled all the industry of the Inquisition. I slept that night, or rather day, (for the sun had risen), on a pallet laid on the floor of a room, small, lofty, and matted half-way up the walls. One narrow and grated window admitted the light of the sun, that arose after that eventful night; and amid the sweet sound of bells, and the still sweeter of human life, awake and in motion around me, I sunk into a slumber101 that was unbroken even by a dream, till the day was closing; or, in the language of Adonijah, ‘till the shadows of the evening were upon the face of all the earth.’
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1
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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2
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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3
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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pusillanimity
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| n.无气力，胆怯 | |
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6
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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7
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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8
inmate
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| n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人 | |
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9
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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10
descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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11
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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12
electrifying
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| v.使电气化( electrify的现在分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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13
scrolls
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| n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕 | |
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14
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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15
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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16
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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17
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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18
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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20
alligator
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| n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼) | |
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21
mammoth
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| n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的 | |
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elk
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| n.麋鹿 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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24
abortions
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| n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育 | |
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anomalous
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| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
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26
deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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27
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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28
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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29
imps
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| n.（故事中的）小恶魔( imp的名词复数 )；小魔鬼；小淘气；顽童 | |
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30
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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respiration
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| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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35
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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38
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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41
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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42
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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43
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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44
saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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45
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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46
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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47
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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48
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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49
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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50
narration
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| n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体 | |
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51
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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52
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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53
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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54
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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55
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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56
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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59
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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61
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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62
distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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64
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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65
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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66
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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71
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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72
withhold
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| v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡 | |
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73
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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74
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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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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dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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leach
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| v.分离，过滤掉；n.过滤；过滤器 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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persevering
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| a.坚忍不拔的 | |
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abortive
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| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
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creeds
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| （尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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ossified
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| adj.已骨化[硬化]的v.骨化，硬化，使僵化( ossify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scrawled
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| 乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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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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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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