It was no sky into which I was gazing; it was the dome2 of Norhala’s elfin home. And Drake had not aroused me. Why? And how long had I slept?
I jumped to my feet, stared about. Ruth nor Drake nor the black eunuch was there!
“Ruth!” I shouted. “Drake!”
There was no answer. I ran to the doorway3. Peering up into the white vault4 of the heavens I set the time of day as close to seven; I had slept then three hours, more or less. Yet short as that time of slumber5 had been, I felt marvelously refreshed, reenergized; the effect, I was certain, of the extraordinarily6 tonic7 qualities of the atmosphere of this place. But where were the others? Where Yuruk?
I heard Ruth’s laughter. Some hundred yards to the left, half hidden by a screen of flowering shrubs8, I saw a small meadow. Within it a half-dozen little white goats nuzzled around her and Dick. She was milking one of them.
Reassured9, I drew back into the chamber10, knelt over Ventnor. His condition was unchanged. My gaze fell upon the pool that had been Norhala’s bath. Longingly11 I looked at it; then satisfying myself that the milking process was not finished, slipped off my clothes and splashed about.
I had just time to get back in my clothes when through the doorway came the pair, each carrying a porcelain12 pannikin full of milk.
There was no shadow of fear or horror on her face. It was the old Ruth who stood before me; nor was there effort in the smile she gave me. She had been washed clean in the waters of sleep.
“Don’t worry, Walter,” she said. “I know what you’re thinking. But I’m — ME again.”
“Where is Yuruk?” I turned to Drake bruskly to smother13 the sob14 of sheer happiness I felt rising in my throat; and at his wink15 and warning grimace16 abruptly18 forebore to press the question.
“You men pick out the things and I’ll get breakfast ready,” said Ruth.
Drake picked up the teakettle and motioned me before him.
“About Yuruk,” he whispered when he had gotten outside. “I gave him a little object lesson. Persuaded him to go down the line a bit, showed him my pistol, and then picked off one of Norhala’s goats with it. Hated to do it, but I knew it would be good for his soul.
“He gave one screech19 and fell on his face and groveled. Thought it was a lightning bolt, I figure; decided20 I had been stealing Norhala’s stuff. ‘Yuruk,’ I told him, ‘that’s what you’ll get, and worse, if you lay a finger on that girl inside there.’”
“And then what happened?” I asked.
“He beat it back there.” He grinned, pointing toward the forest through which ran the path the eunuch had shown me. “Probably hiding back of a tree.”
As we filled the container at the outer spring, I told him of the revelations and the offer Yuruk had made to me.
“Whew-w!” he whistled. “In the nutcracker, eh? Trouble behind us and trouble in front of us.”
“When do we start?” he asked, as we turned back.
“Right after we’ve eaten,” I answered. “There’s no use putting it off. How do you feel about it?”
“Frankly, like the chief guest at a lynching party,” he said. “Curious but none too cheerful.”
Nor was I. I was filled with a fever of scientific curiosity. But I was not cheerful — no!
We ministered to Ventnor as well as we could; forcing open his set jaws21, thrusting a thin rubber tube down past his windpipe into his gullet and dropping through it a few ounces of the goat milk. Our own breakfasting was silent enough.
We could not take Ruth with us upon our journey; that was certain; she must stay here with her brother. She would be safer in Norhala’s home than where we were going, of course, and yet to leave her was most distressing23. After all, I wondered, was there any need of both of us taking the journey; would not one do just as well?
Drake could stay —
“No use of putting all our eggs in one basket,” I broached24 the subject. “I’ll go down by myself while you stay and help Ruth. You can always follow if I don’t turn up in a reasonable time.”
His indignation at this proposal was matched only by her own.
“You’ll go with him, Dick Drake,” she cried, “or I’ll never look at or speak to you again!”
“Good Lord! Did you think for a minute I wouldn’t?” Pain and wrath25 struggled on his face. “We go together or neither of us goes. Ruth will be all right here, Goodwin. The only thing she has any cause to fear is Yuruk — and he’s had his lesson.
“Besides, she’ll have the rifles and her pistols, and she knows how to use them. What d’ye mean by making such a proposition as that?” His indignation burst all bounds.
Lamely26 I tried to justify27 myself.
“I’ll be all right,” said Ruth. “I’m not afraid of Yuruk. And none of these Things will hurt me — not after — not after —” Her eyes fell, her lips quivered, then she faced us steadily28. “Don’t ask me how I know that,” she said quietly. “Believe me, I do know it. I am closer to — them than you two are. And if I choose I can call upon that alien strength their master gave me. It is for you two that I fear.”
“No fear for us,” Drake burst out hastily. “We’re Norhala’s little playthings. We’re tabu. Take it from me, Ruth, I’d bet my head there isn’t one of these Things, great or small, and no matter how many, that doesn’t by this time know all about us.
“We’ll probably be received with demonstrations29 of interest by the populace as welcome guests. Probably we’ll find a sign —‘Welcome to our City’— hung up over the front gate.”
She smiled, a trifle tremulously.
“We’ll come back,” he said. Suddenly he leaned forward, put his hands on her shoulders. “Do you think there is anything that could keep me from coming back?” he whispered.
She trembled, wide eyes searching deep into his.
“Well,” I broke in, a bit uncomfortably, “we’d better be starting. I think as Drake does, that we’re tabu. Barring accident there’s no danger. And if I guess right about these Things, accident is impossible.”
“As inconceivable as the multiplication31 table going wrong,” he laughed, straightening.
And so we made ready. Our rifles would be worse than useless, we knew; our pistols we decided to carry as Drake put it, “for comfort.” Canteens filled with water; a couple of emergency rations30, a few instruments, including a small spectroscope, a selection from the medical kit32 — all these packed in a little haversack which he threw over his broad shoulders.
I pocketed my compact but exceedingly powerful field-glasses. To my poignant33 and everlasting34 regret my camera had been upon the bolting pony35, and Ventnor had long been out of films for his.
We were ready for our journey.
Our path led straight away, a smooth and dark-gray road whose surface resembled cement packed under enormous pressure. It was all of fifty feet wide and now, in daylight, glistened36 faintly as though overlaid with some vitreous coating. It narrowed abruptly into a wedged way that stopped at the threshold of Norhala’s door.
Diminishing through the distance, it stretched straight as an arrow onward37 and vanished between perpendicular38 cliffs which formed the frowning gateway39 through which the night before we had passed upon the coursing cubes from the pit of the city. Here, as then, a mistiness40 checked the gaze.
Ruth with us, we made a brief inspection41 of the surroundings of Norhala’s house. It was set as though in the narrowest portion of an hour-glass. The precipitous walls marched inward from the gateway forming the lower half of the figure; at the back they swung apart at a wider angle.
This upper part of the hour-glass was filled with a park-like forest. It was closed, perhaps twenty miles away, by a barrier of cliffs.
How, I wondered, did the path which Yuruk had pointed42 out to me pierce them? Was it by pass or tunnel; and why was it the armored men had not found and followed it?
The waist between these two mountain wedges was a valley not more than a mile wide. Norhala’s house stood in its center; and it was like a garden, dotted with flowering and fragrant43 lilies and here and there a tiny green meadow. The great globe of blue that was Norhala’s dwelling44 seemed less to rest upon the ground than to emerge from it; as though its basic curvatures were hidden in the earth.
What was its substance I could not tell. It was as though built of the lacquer of the gems45 whose colors it held. And beautiful, wondrously47, incredibly beautiful it was — an immense bubble of froth of molten sapphires49 and turquoises50.
We had not time to study its beauties. A few last instructions to Ruth, and we set forth51 down the gray road. Hardly had we taken a few steps when there came a faint cry from her.
“Dick! Dick — come here!”
He sprang to her, caught her hands in his. For a moment, half frightened it seemed, she considered him.
“Dick,” I heard her whisper. “Dick — come back safe to me!”
I saw his arms close about her, hers tighten52 around his neck; black hair touched the silken brown curls, their lips met, clung. I turned away.
In a little time he joined me; head down, silent, he strode along beside me, utterly53 dejected.
A hundred more yards and we turned. Ruth was still standing54 on the threshold of the house of mystery, watching us. She waved her hands, flitted in, was hidden from us. And Drake still silent, we pushed on.
The walls of the gateway were close. The sparse55 vegetation along the base of the cliffs had ceased; the roadway itself had merged56 into the smooth, bare floor of the canyon57. From vertical58 edge to vertical edge of the rocky portal stretched a curtain of shimmering59 mist. As we drew nearer we saw that this was motionless, and less like vapor60 of water than vapor of light; it streamed in oddly fixed61 lines like atoms of crystals in a still solution. Drake thrust an arm within it, waved it; the mist did not move. It seemed instead to interpenetrate the arm — as though bone and flesh were spectral62, without power to dislodge the shining particles from position.
We passed within it — side by side.
Instantly I knew that whatever these veils were, they were not moisture. The air we breathed was dry, electric. I was sensible of a decided stimulation63, a pleasant tingling64 along every nerve, a gaiety almost light-headed. We could see each other quite plainly, the rocky floor on which we trod as well. Within this vapor of light there was no ghost of sound; it was utterly empty of it. I saw Drake turn to me, his mouth open in a laugh, his lips move in speech — and although he bent65 close to my ear, I heard nothing. He frowned, puzzled, and walked on.
Abruptly we stepped into an opening, a pocket of clear air. Our ears were filled with a high, shrill66 humming as unpleasantly vibrant67 as the shriek68 of a sand blast. Six feet to our right was the edge of the ledge69 on which we stood; beyond it was a sheer drop into space. A shaft70 piercing down into the void and walled with the mists.
But it was not that shaft that made us clutch each other. No! It was that through it uprose a colossal71 column of the cubes. It stood a hundred feet from us. Its top was another hundred feet above the level of our ledge and its length vanished in the depths.
And its head was a gigantic spinning wheel, yards in thickness, tapering72 at its point of contact with the cliff wall into a diameter half that of the side closest the column, gleaming with flashes of green flame and grinding with tremendous speed at the face of the rock.
Over it, attached to the cliff, was a great vizored hood73 of some pale yellow metal, and it was this shelter that cutting off the vaporous light like an enormous umbrella made the pocket of clarity in which we stood, the shaft up which sprang the pillar.
All along the length of that column as far as we could see the myriad74 tiny eyes of the Metal People shone out upon us, not twinkling mischievously76, but — grotesque77 as this may seem, I cannot help it — wide with surprise.
Only an instant longer did the great wheel spin. I saw the screaming rock melting beneath it, dropping like lava78. Then, as though it had received some message, abruptly its motion now ceased.
It tilted79; looked down upon us!
I noted80 that its grinding surface was studded thickly with the smaller pyramids and that the tips of these were each capped with what seemed to be faceted81 gems gleaming with the same pale yellow radiance as the Shrine82 of the Cones83.
The column was bending; the wheel approaching.
Drake seized me by the arm, drew me swiftly back into the mists. We were shrouded84 in their silences. Step by step we went on, peering for the edge of the shelf, feeling in fancy that prodigious85 wheeled face stealing upon us; afraid to look behind lest in looking we might step too close to the unseen verge86.
Yard after yard we slowly covered. Suddenly the vapors87 thinned; we passed out of them —
A chaos88 of sound beat about us. The clanging of a million anvils89; the clamor of a million forges; the crashing of a hundred years of thunder; the roarings of a thousand hurricanes. The prodigious bellowings of the Pit beating against us now as they had when we had flown down the long ramp90 into the depths of the Sea of Light.
Instinct with unthinkable power was that clamor; the very voice of Force. Stunned91, nay92 BLINDED, by it, we covered ears and eyes.
As before, the clangor died, leaving in its wake a bewildered silence. Then that silence began to throb93 with a vast humming, and through that humming rang a murmur94 as that of a river of diamonds.
We opened our eyes, felt awe95 grip our throats as though a hand had clutched them.
Difficult, difficult almost beyond thought is it for me now to essay to draw in words the scene before us then. For although I can set down what it was we saw, I nor any man can transmute96 into phrases its essence, its spirit, the intangible wonder that was its synthesis — the appallingly97 beautiful, soul-shaking strangeness of it, its grandeur98, its fantasy, and its alien terror.
The Domain99 of the Metal Monster — it was filled like a chalice100 with Its will; was the visible expression of that will.
We stood at the very rim17 of a wide ledge. We looked down into an immense pit, shaped into a perfect oval, thirty miles in length I judged, and half that as wide, and rimmed101 with colossal precipices102. We were at the upper end of this deep valley and on the tip of its axis103; I mean that it stretched longitudinally before us along the line of greatest length. Five hundred feet below was the pit’s floor. Gone were the clouds of light that had obscured it the night before; the air crystal clear; every detail standing out with stereoscopic sharpness.
First the eyes rested upon a broad band of fluorescent104 amethyst105, ringing the entire rocky wall. It girdled the cliffs at a height of ten thousand feet, and from this flaming zone, as though it clutched them, fell the curtains of sparkling mist, the enigmatic, sound-slaying vapors.
But now I saw that all of these veils were not motionless like those through which we had just passed. To the northwest they were pulsing like the aurora106, and like the aurora they were shot through with swift iridescences, spectrums, polychromatic gleamings. And always these were ordered, geometric — like immense and flitting prismatic crystals flying swiftly to the very edges of the veils, then darting107 as swiftly back.
From zone and veils the gaze leaped to the incredible City towering not two miles away from us.
Blue black, shining, sharply cut as though from polished steel, it reared full five thousand feet on high!
How great it was I could not tell, for the height of its precipitous walls barred the vision. The frowning facade108 turned toward us was, I estimated, five miles in length. Its colossal scarp struck the eyes like a blow; its shadow, falling upon us, checked the heart. It was overpowering — dreadful as that midnight city of Dis that Dante saw rising up from another pit.
It was a metal city, mountainous.
Featureless, smooth, the immense wall of it heaved heavenward. It should have been blind, that vast oblong face — but it was not blind. From it radiated alertness, vigilance. It seemed to gaze toward us as though every foot were manned with sentinels; guardians109 invisible to the eyes whose concentration of watchfulness110 was caught by some subtle hidden sense higher than sight.
It was a metal city, mountainous and — AWARE.
About its base were huge openings. Through and around these portals swirled111 hordes112 of the Metal People; in units and in combinations coming and going, streaming in and out, forming as they came and went patterns about the openings like the fretted113 spume of great breakers surging into, retreating from, ocean-bitten gaps in some iron-bound coast.
From the immensity of the City the eyes dropped back to the Pit in which it lay. Its floor was plaquelike, a great plane smooth as though turned by potter’s wheel, broken by no mound114 nor hillock, slope nor terrace; level, horizontal, flawlessly flat. On it was no green living thing — no tree nor bush, meadow nor covert115.
It was alive with movement. A ferment116 that was as purposeful as it was mechanical, a ferment symmetrical, geometrical, supremely117 ordered —
The surging of the Metal Hordes.
There they moved beneath us, these enigmatic beings, in a countless118 host. They marched and countermarched in battalions119, in regiments120, in armies. Far to the south I glimpsed a company of colossal shapes like mobile, castellated and pyramidal mounts. They were circling, weaving about each other with incredible rapidity — like scores of great pyramids crowned with gigantic turrets121 and dancing. From these turrets came vivid flashes, lightning bright — on their wake the rolling echoes of faraway thunder.
Out of the north sped a squadron of obelisks122 from whose tops flamed and flared123 the immense spinning wheels, appearing at this distance like fiery124 whirling disks.
Up from their setting the Metal People lifted themselves in a thousand incredible shapes, shapes squared and globed and spiked125 and shifting swiftly into other thousands as incredible. I saw a mass of them draw themselves up into the likeness126 of a tent skyscraper127 high; hang so for an instant, then writhe128 into a monstrous129 chimera130 of a dozen towering legs that strode away like a gigantic headless and bodiless tarantula in steps two hundred feet long. I watched mile-long lines of them shape and reshape into circles, into interlaced lozenges and pentagons — then lift in great columns and shoot through the air in unimaginable barrage131.
Through all this incessant132 movement I sensed plainly purpose, knew that it was definite activity toward a definite end, caught the clear suggestion of drill, of maneuver133.
And when the shiftings of the Metal Hordes permitted we saw that all the flat floor of the valley was stripped and checkered134, stippled135 and tessellated with every color, patterned with enormous lozenges and squares, rhomboids and parallelograms, pentagons and hexagons and diamonds, lunettes, circles and spirals; harlequined yet harmonious136; instinct with a grotesque suggestion of a super-Futurism.
But always this patterning was ordered, always COHERENT. As though it were a page on which was spelled some untranslatable other world message.
Fourth Dimensional revelations by some Euclidean deity137! Commandments traced by some mathematical God!
Looping across the vale, emerging from the sparkling folds of the southernmost curtainings and vanishing into the gleaming veils of the easternmost, ran a broad ribbon of pale-green jade138; not straightly but with manifold convolutions and flourishes. It was like a sentence in Arabic.
It was margined139 with sapphire48 blue. All along its twisting course two broad bands of jet margined the cerulean shore. It was spanned by scores of flashing crystal arches. Nor were these bridges — even from that distance I knew they were no bridges. From them came the crystalline murmurings.
Jade? This stream jade? If so then it must be in truth molten, for I caught its swift and polished rushing! It was no jade. It was in truth a river; a river running like a writing across a patterned plane.
I looked upward — up to the circling peaks. They were a stupendous coronet thrusting miles deep into the dazzling sky. I raised my glasses, swept them. In color they were an immense and variegated140 flower with countless multiform petals141 of stone; in outline they were a ring of fortresses142 built by fantastic unknown Gods.
Up they thrust — domed143 and arched, spired144 and horned, pyramided, fanged145 and needled. Here were palisades of burning orange with barbicans of incandescent146 bronze; there aiguilles of azure147 rising from bastions of cinnabar red; turrets of royal purple, obelisks of indigo148; titanic149 forts whose walls were splashed with vermilion, with citron yellows and with rust22 of rubies150; watch towers of flaming scarlet151.
Scattered152 among them were the flashing emeralds of the glaciers153 and the immense pallid154 baroques of the snow fields.
Like a diadem155 the summits ringed the Pit. Below them ran the ring of flashing amethyst with its aural156 mists. Between them lay the vast and patterned flat covered with still symbol and inexplicable157 movement. Under their summits brooded the blue black, metallic158 mass of the Seeing City.
Within circling walls, over plain and from the City hovered159 a cosmic spirit not to be understood by man. Like an emanation of stars and space, it was yet gem46 fine and gem hard, crystalline and metallic, lapidescent and —
Conscious!
Down from the ledge where we stood fell a steep ramp, similar to that by which, in the darkness, we had descended160. It dropped at an angle of at least forty-five degrees; its surface was smooth and polished.
Through the mists at our back stole a shining block. It paused, seemed to perk161 itself; spun162 so that in turn each of its six faces took us in.
I felt myself lifted upon it by multitudes of little invisible hands; saw Drake whirling up beside me. I moved toward him — through the force that held us. A block swept away from the ledge, swayed for a moment. Under us, as though we were floating in air, the Pit lay stretched. There was a rapid readjustment, a shifting of our two selves upon another surface. I looked down upon a tremendous, slender pillar of the cubes, dropping below, five hundred feet to the valley’s floor a column of which the block that held us was the top.
Gone was the whirling wheel that had crowned it, but I knew this for the Grinding Thing from which we had fled; the questing block had been its scout163. As though curious to know more of us, the Shape had sought us out through the mists, its messenger had caught us, delivered us to it.
The pillar leaned over — bent like that shining pillar that had bridged for us, at Norhala’s commands, the abyss. The floor of the valley arose to meet us. Further and further leaned the pillar. Again there was a rapid shifting of us to another surface of the crowning cube. Fast now swept up toward us the valley floor. A dizziness clouded my sight. There was a little shock, a rolling over the Thing that had held us —
We stood upon the floor of the Pit.
And breaking from the immense and prostrate164 shaft on whose top we had ridden downward came score upon score of the cubes. They broke from it, disintegrating165 it; circled about us, curiously166, interestedly, twinkling at us from their deep sparkling points of eyes.
Helplessly we gazed at those who circled around us. Then suddenly I felt myself lifted once more, was tossed to the surface of the nearest block. Upon it I spun while the tiny eyes searched me. Then like a human ball it tossed me to another. I caught a glimpse of Drake’s tall figure drifting through the air.
The play became more rapid, breathtaking. It was play; I recognized that. But it was perilous167 play for us. I felt myself as fragile as a doll of glass in the hands of careless children.
I was tossed to a waiting cube. On the ground, not ten feet from me, was Drake, swaying dizzily. Suddenly the cube that held me tightened168 its grip; tightened it so that it drew me irresistibly169 flat down upon its surface. Before I dropped, Drake’s body leaped toward me as though drawn170 by a lasso. He fell at my side.
Then pursued by scores of the Things and like some mischievous75 boy bearing off the spoils, the block that held us raced away, straight for an open portal. A blaze of incandescent blue flame blinded me; again as the dazzlement faded I saw Drake beside me — a skeleton form. Swiftly flesh melted back upon him, clothed him.
The cube stopped, abruptly; the hosts of little unseen hands raised us, slid us gently over its edge, set us upright beside it. And it sped away.
All about us stretched another of those vast halls in which on high burned the pale-gilt suns. Between its colossal columns streamed thousands of the Metal Folk; no longer hurriedly, but quietly, deliberately171, sedately172.
We were within the City — even as Ventnor had commanded.
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收听单词发音
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1
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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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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6
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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7
tonic
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| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
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8
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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9
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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longingly
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| adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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14
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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15
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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broached
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| v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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lamely
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| 一瘸一拐地，不完全地 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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multiplication
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| n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法 | |
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32
kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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33
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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34
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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35
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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36
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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38
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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39
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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40
mistiness
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| n.雾，模糊，不清楚 | |
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41
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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42
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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43
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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44
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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45
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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46
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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47
wondrously
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| adv.惊奇地，非常，极其 | |
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48
sapphire
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| n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的 | |
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49
sapphires
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| n.蓝宝石，钢玉宝石( sapphire的名词复数 )；蔚蓝色 | |
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50
turquoises
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| n.绿松石( turquoise的名词复数 )；青绿色 | |
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51
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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52
tighten
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| v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧 | |
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53
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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54
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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55
sparse
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| adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的 | |
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56
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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57
canyon
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| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
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58
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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59
shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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60
vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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61
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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62
spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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63
stimulation
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| n.刺激，激励，鼓舞 | |
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64
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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65
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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66
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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67
vibrant
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|
| adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的 | |
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68
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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69
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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70
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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71
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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72
tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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73
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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74
myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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75
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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76
mischievously
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| adv.有害地；淘气地 | |
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77
grotesque
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|
| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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78
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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79
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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80
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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81
faceted
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| adj. 有小面的，分成块面的 | |
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82
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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83
cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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84
shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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85
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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86
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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87
vapors
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| n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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88
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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89
anvils
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| n.（铁）砧( anvil的名词复数 )；砧骨 | |
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90
ramp
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|
| n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速 | |
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91
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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92
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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93
throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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94
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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95
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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96
transmute
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| vt.使变化，使改变 | |
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97
appallingly
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| 毛骨悚然地 | |
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98
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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99
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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100
chalice
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| n.圣餐杯；金杯毒酒 | |
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101
rimmed
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|
| adj.有边缘的，有框的v.沿…边缘滚动；给…镶边 | |
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102
precipices
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|
| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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103
axis
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| n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线 | |
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104
fluorescent
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| adj.荧光的，发出荧光的 | |
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105
amethyst
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| n.紫水晶 | |
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106
aurora
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| n.极光 | |
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107
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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108
facade
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| n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表 | |
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109
guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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110
watchfulness
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| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
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111
swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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112
hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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113
fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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114
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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115
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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116
ferment
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| vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱 | |
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117
supremely
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| adv.无上地，崇高地 | |
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118
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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119
battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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120
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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121
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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122
obelisks
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| n.方尖石塔，短剑号，疑问记号( obelisk的名词复数 ) | |
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123
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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124
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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125
spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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126
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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127
skyscraper
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| n.摩天大楼 | |
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128
writhe
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|
| vt.挣扎，痛苦地扭曲；vi.扭曲，翻腾，受苦；n.翻腾，苦恼 | |
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129
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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130
chimera
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| n.神话怪物；梦幻 | |
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131
barrage
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| n.火力网，弹幕 | |
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132
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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133
maneuver
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| n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略 | |
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134
checkered
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| adj.有方格图案的 | |
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135
stippled
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| v.加点、绘斑，加粒( stipple的过去式和过去分词 )；（把油漆、水泥等的表面）弄粗糙 | |
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136
harmonious
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|
| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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137
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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138
jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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139
margined
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| [医]具边的 | |
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140
variegated
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|
| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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141
petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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142
fortresses
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| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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143
domed
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|
| adj. 圆屋顶的, 半球形的, 拱曲的 动词dome的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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144
spired
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| v.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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145
fanged
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| adj.有尖牙的，有牙根的，有毒牙的 | |
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146
incandescent
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| adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的 | |
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147
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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148
indigo
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| n.靛青，靛蓝 | |
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149
titanic
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|
| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
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150
rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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151
scarlet
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|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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152
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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153
glaciers
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| 冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 ) | |
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154
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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155
diadem
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| n.王冠，冕 | |
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156
aural
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| adj.听觉的，听力的 | |
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157
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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158
metallic
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|
| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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159
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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160
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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161
perk
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| n.额外津贴；赏钱；小费； | |
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162
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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163
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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164
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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165
disintegrating
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| v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的现在分词 ) | |
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166
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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167
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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168
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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169
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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170
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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171
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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172
sedately
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| adv.镇静地，安详地 | |
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