THAT night they spent safely, by favour of the Gods, under the highest crags of Koshtra Pivrarcha, in a sheltered hollow piled round with snow. Dawn came like a lily, saffron-hued, smirched with smoke-gray streaks3 that slanted4 from the north. The great peaks stood as islands above a main of level cloud, out of which the sun walked flaming, a ball of red-gold fire. An hour before his face appeared, the Demons5 and Mivarsh were roped and started on their eastward6 journey. Ill to do with as was the crest7 of the great north buttress8 by which they had climbed the mountain, seven times worse was this eastern ridge9, leading to Koshtra Belorn. Leaner of back it was, flanked by more profound abysses, deeplier gashed10, too treacherous11 and too sudden in its changes from sure rock to rotten and perilous12: piled with tottering13 crags, hung about with cornices of uncertain snow, girt with cliffs smooth and holdless as a castle wall. Small marvel14 that it cost them thirteen hours to come down that ridge. The sun wheeled towards the west when they reached at length that frozen edge, sharp as a sickle15, that was in the Gates of Zimiamvia. Weary they were, and ropeless; for by no means else might they come down from the last great tower save by the rope made fast from above. A fierce north-easter had swept the ridges16 all day, bringing snow-storms on its wings. Their fingers were numbed17 with cold, and the beards of Lord Brandoch Daha and Mivarsh Faz stiff with ice.
Too weary to halt, they set forth18 again, Juss leading. It was many hundred paces along that ice-edge, and the sun was near setting when they stood at last within a stone’s throw of the cliffs of Koshtra Belorn. Since before noon avalanches19 had thundered ceaselessly down those cliffs. Now, in the cool of the evening, all was still. The wind was fallen. The deep blue sky was without a cloud. The fires of sunset crept down the vast white precipices20 before them till every ledge21 and fold and frozen pinnacle22 glowed pink colour, and every shadow became an emerald. The shadow of Koshtra Pivrarcha lay cold across the lower stretches of the face on the Zimiamvian side. The edge of that shadow was as the division betwixt the living and the dead.
“What dost think on?” said Juss to Brandoch Daha, that leaned upon his sword surveying that glory.
Brandoch Daha started and looked on him. “Why,” said he, “on this: that it is likely thy dream was but a lure23, sent thee by the King to tempt24 us on to mighty25 actions reserved for our destruction. On this side at least ’tis very certain there lieth no way up Koshtra Belorn.”
“What of the little martlet,” said Juss, “who, whiles we were yet a great way off, flew out of the south to greet us with a gracious message?”
“Well if it were not a devil of his,” said Brandoch Daha.
“I will not turn back,” said Juss. “Thou needest not to come with me.” And he turned again to look on those frozen cliffs.
“No?” said Brandoch Daha. “Nor thou with me. Thou’lt make me angry if thou wilt26 so vilely27 wrest28 my words. Only fare not too securely; and let that axe29 still be ready in thine hand, as is my sword, for kindlier work than step-cutting. And if thou embrace the hope to climb her by this wall before us, then hath the King’s enchantery made thee fey.”
By then was the sun gone down. Under the wings of night uplifted from the east, the unfathomable heights of air turned a richer blue; and here and there, most dim and hard to see, throbbed30 a tiny point of light: the greater stars opening their eyelids31 to the gathering32 dark. Gloom crept upward, brimming the valleys far below like a rising tide of the sea. Frost and stillness waited on the eternal night to resume her reign33. The solemn cliffs of Koshtra Belorn stood in tremendous silence, death-pale against the sky.
Juss came backward a step along the ridge, and laying his hand on Brandoch Daha’s, “Be still,” he said, “and behold34 this marvel.” A little up the face of the mountain on the Zimiamvian side, it was as if some leavings of the after-glow had been entangled35 among the crags and frozen curtains of snow. As the gloom deepened, that glow brightened and spread, filling a rift36 that seemed to go into the mountain.
“It is because of us,” said Juss, in a low voice. “She is afire with expectation of us.”
No sound was there save of their breath coming and going, and of the strokes of Juss’s axe, and of the chips of ice chinking downwards37 into silence as he cut their way along the ridge. And ever brighter, as night fell, burned that strange sunset light above them. Perilous climbing it was for fifty feet or more from the ridge, for they had no rope, the way was hard to see, and the rocks were steep and iced and every ledge deep in snow. Yet came they safe at length up by a steep short gully to the gully’s head where it widened to that rift of the wondrous38 light. Here might two walk abreast39, and Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha took their weapons and entered abreast into the rift. Mivarsh was fain to call to them, but he was speechless. He came after, close at their heels like a dog.
For some way the bed of the cave ran upwards41, then dipped at a gentle slope deep into the mountain. The air was cold, yet warm after the frozen air without. The rose-red light shone warm on the walls and floor of that passage, but none might say whence it shone. Strange sculptures glimmered42 overhead, bull-headed men, stags with human faces, mammoths, and behemoths of the flood: vast forms and uncertain carved in the living rock. For hours Juss and his companions pursued their way, winding44 downward, losing all sense of north and south. Little by little the light faded, and after an hour or two they went in darkness: yet not in utter darkness but as of a starless night in summer where all night long twilight45 lingers. They went a soft pace, for fear of pitfalls46 in the way.
After a while Juss halted and sniffed47 the air. “I smell new-mown hay,” he said, “and flower-scents. Is this my fantasy, or canst thou smell them too?”
“Ay, and have smelt48 it this half-hour past.” answered Brandoch Daha; “also the passage wideneth before us, and the roof of it goeth higher as we journey.”
“This,” said Juss, “is a great wonder.”
They fared onward49, and in a while the slope slackened, and they felt loose stones and grit50 beneath their feet, and in a while soft earth. They bent51 down and touched the earth, and there was grass growing, and night-dew on the grass, and daisies folded up asleep. A brook52 tinkled53 on the right. So they crossed that meadow in the dark, until they stood below a shadowy mass that bulked big above them. In a blind wall so high the top was swallowed up in the darkness a gate stood open. They crossed that threshold and passed through a paved court that clanked under their tread. Before them a flight of steps went up to folding doors under an archway.
Lord Brandoch Daha felt Mivarsh pluck him by the sleeve. The little man’s teeth were chattering54 together in his head for terror. Brandoch Daha smiled and put an arm about him. Juss had his foot on the lowest step.
In that instant came a sound of music playing, but of what instruments they might not guess. Great thundering chords began it, like trumpets55 calling to battle, first high, then low, then shuddering56 down to silence; then that great call again, sounding defiance57. Then the keys took new voices, groping in darkness, rising to passionate58 lament59, hovering60 and dying away on the wind, until nought61 remained but a roll as of muffled62 thunder, long, low, quiet, but menacing ill. And now out of the dark ness of that induction63 burst a mighty form, three ponderous64 blows, as of breakers that plunge65 and strike on a desolate66 shore; a pause; those blows again; a grinding pause; a rushing of wings. as of Furies steaming up from the pit; another flight of them dreadful in its deliberation; then a wild rush upward and a swooping67 again; con68 fusion69 of hell, ranging serpents blazing through night sky. Then on a sudden out of a distant key, a sweet melody, long-drawn and clear, like a blaze of low sun shine piercing the dust-clouds above a battle-field. This was but an interlude to the terror of the great main theme that came in tumultuous strides up again from the deeps, storming to a grand climacteric of fury and passing away into silence. Now came a majestic70 figure, stately and calm, born of that terror, leading to it again: battlings of these themes in many keys, and at last the great triple blow, thundering in new strength, crushing all joy and sweetness as with a mace71 of iron, battering72 the roots of life into a general ruin. But even in the main stride of its outrage73 and terror, that great power seemed to shrivel. The thunder-blasts crashed weaklier, the harsh blows rattled74 awry75, and the vast frame of con quest and destroying violence sank down panting, tottered76 and rumbled77 ingloriously into silence.
Like men held in a trance those lords of Demonland listened to the last echoes of the great sad chord where that music had breathed out its heart, as if the very heart of wrath78 were broken. But this was not the end. Cold and serene79 as some chaste80 virgin81 vowed82 to the Gods, with clear eyes which see nought below high heaven, a quiet melody rose from that grave of terror. Weak it seemed at first, a little thing after that cataclysm83; a little thing, like spring’s first bud peeping after the blasting reign of cold and ice. Yet it walked undismayed, gathering as it went beauty and power. And on a sudden the folding doors swung open, shedding a flood of radiance down the stairs.
Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha watched, as men watch for a star to rise, that radiant portal. And like a star indeed, or like the tranquil84 moon appearing, they beheld85 after a while one crowned like a Queen with a diadem86 of little clouds that seemed stolen from the mountain sunset, scattering87 soft beams of rosy88 brightness. She stood alone under that mighty portico89 with its vast shadowy forms of winged lions in shining stone black as jet. Youthful she seemed, as one that hath but just bidden adieu to childhood, with grave sweet lips and grave black eyes and hair like the night. Little black martlets perched on her either shoulder, and a dozen more skimmed the air above her head, so swift of wing that scarcely the eye might follow them. Meantime, that delicate and simple melody mounted from height to height, until in a while it burned with all the fires of summer, burned as summer to the uttermost ember, fierce and compulsive in its riot of love and beauty. So that, before the last triumphant90 chords died down in silence, that music had brought back to Juss all the glories of the mountains, the sunset fires on Koshtra Belorn, the first great revelation of the peaks from Morna Moruna; and over all these, as the spirit of that music to the eye made manifest, the image of that Queen so blessed-fair in her youth and her clear brow’s sweet solemn respect and promise: in every line and pose of her fair form, virginal dainty as a flower, and kindled91 from withinward as never flower was with that divinity before the face of which speech and song fall silent and men may but catch their breath and worship.
When she spoke92, it was with a voice like crystal: “Thanks be and praise to the blessed Gods. For lo, the years depart, and the fated years bring forth as the Gods ordain93. And ye be those that were for to come.”
Surely those great lords of Demonland stood like little boys before her. She said again, “Are not ye Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha of Demonland, come up to me by the way banned to all mortals else, come up into Koshtra Belorn?”
Then answered Lord Juss for them both and said, “Surely, O Queen Sophonisba, we be they thou namest.”
Now the Queen carried them into her palace, and into a great hall where was her throne and state. The pillars of the hall were as vast towers, and there were galleries above them, tier upon tier, rising higher than sight could reach or the light of the gentle lamps in their stands that lighted the tables and the floor. The walls and the pillars were of a sombre stone unpolished, and on the walls strange portraitures: lions, dragons, nickers of the sea, spread-eagles, elephants, swans, unicorns94, and other, lively made and richly set forth with curious colours of painting: all of giant size beyond the experience of human kind so that to be in that hall was as it were to shelter in a small spot of light and life, canopied95, vaulted96, and embraced by the circumambient unknown.
The Queen sate97 on her throne that was bright like the face of a river ruffled98 with wind under a silver moon. Save for those little martlets she was unattended. She made those lords of Demonland sit down before her face, and there were brought forth by the agency of unseen hands tables before them and precious dishes filled with unknown viands99. And there played a soft music, made in the air by what unseen art they knew not.
The Queen said, “Behold, ambrosia100 which the Gods do eat and nectar which they drink; on which meat and wine myself do feed, by the bounty101 of the blessed Gods. And the savour thereof wearieth not, and the glow thereof and the perfume thereof dieth not for ever.”
So they tasted of the ambrosia, that was white to look on and crisp to the tooth and sweet, and being eaten revived strength in the body more than a surfeit102 of bullock’s flesh, and of the nectar that was all afoam and coloured like the inmost fires of sunset. Surely somewhat of the peace of the Gods was in that nectar divine.
The Queen said, “Tell me, why are ye come?”
Juss answered, “Surely there was a dream sent me O Queen Sophonisba, through the gate of horn, and it bade me inquire hither after him I most desire, for want of whom my whole soul languisheth in sorrow this year gone by: even after my dear brother, the Lord Goldry Bluszco.”
His words ceased in his throat. For with the speaking of that name the firm fabric103 of the palace quivered like the leaves of a forest under a sudden squall. Colour went from the scene, like the blood chased from a man’s face by fear, and all was of a pallid104 hue2, like the landscape which one beholds105 of a bright summer day after lying with eyes closed for a space face-upward under the blazing sun: all gray and cold, the warm colours burnt to ashes. Withal, followed the appearance of hateful little creatures issuing from the joints106 of the paving stones and the great blocks of the walls and pillars: some like grasshoppers107 with human heads and wings of flies, some like fishes with stings in their tails, some fat like toads108, some like eels40 a-wriggling with puppy-dogs’ heads and asses’ ears: loathly ones, exiles of glory, scaly109 and obscene.
The horror passed. Colour returned. The Queen sat like a graven statue, her lips parted. After a while she said with a shaken voice, low and with downcast eyes, “Sirs, you demand of me a very strange matter, such as wherewith never hitherto I have been acquainted. As you are noble, I beseech110 you speak not that name again. In the name of the blessed Gods, speak it not again.”
IN KOSHTRA BELORN.
IN KOSHTRA BELORN.
Lord Juss was silent. Nought good were his thoughts within him.
In due time a little martlet by the Queen’s command brought them to their bed-chambers. And there in great beds soft and fragrant111 they went to rest.
Juss waked long in the doubtful light, troubled at heart. At length he fell into a troubled sleep. The glimmer43 of the lamps mingled112 with his dreams and his dreams with it, so that scarce he wist whether asleep or waking he beheld the walls of the bed-chamber dispart in sunder113, disclosing a prospect114 of vast paths of moonlight, and a solitary115 mountain peak standing116 naked out of a sea of cloud that gleamed white beneath the moon. It seemed to him that the power of flight was upon him, and that he flew to that mountain and hung in air beholding117 it near at hand, and a circle as the appearance of fire round about it, and on the summit of the mountain the likeness118 of a burg or citadel119 of brass120 that was green with eld and surface-battered by the frosts and winds of ages. On the battlements was the appearance of a great company both men and women, never still, now walking on the wall with hands lifted up as in supplication121 to the crystal lamps of heaven, now flinging themselves on their knees or leaning against the brazen122 battlements to bury their faces in their hands, or standing at gaze as night-walkers gazing into the void. Some seemed men of war, and some great courtiers by their costly123 apparel, rulers and kings and kings’ daughters, grave bearded counsellors, youths and maidens124 and crowned queens. And when they went, and when they stood, and when they seemed to cry aloud bitterly, all was noiseless even as the tomb, and the faces of those mourners pallid as a dead corpse125 is pallid.
Then it seemed to Juss that he beheld a keep of brass flat-roofed standing on the right, a little higher than the walls, with battlements about the roof. He strove to cry aloud, but it was as if some devil gripped his throat stifling126 him, for no sound came. For in the midst of the roof, as it were on a bench of stone, was the appearance of one reclining; his chin resting in his great right hand, his elbow on an arm of the bench, his cloak about him gorgeous with cloth of gold, his ponderous two-handed sword beside him with its heart-shaped ruby127 pommel darkly resplendent in the moonlight. Nought otherwise looked he than when Juss last beheld him, on their ship before the darkness swallowed them; only the ruddy hues128 of life seemed departed from him, and his brow seemed clouded with sorrow. His eye met his brother’s, but with no look of recognition, gazing as if on some far point in the deeps beyond the star-shine. It seemed to Juss that even so would he have looked to find his brother Goldry as he now found him; his head unbent for all the tyranny of those dark powers that held him in captivity129: keeping like a God his patient vigil, heedless alike of the laments130 of them that shared his prison and of the menace of the houseless night about him.
The vision passed; and Lord Juss perceived himself in his bed again, the cold morning light stealing between the hangings of the windows and dimming the soft radiance of the lamps.
Now for seven days they dwelt in that palace. No living thing they encountered save only the Queen and her little martlets, but all things desirous were ministered unto them by unseen hands and all royal entertainment. Yet was Lord Juss heavy at heart, for as often as he would question the Queen of Goldry, so she would ever put him by, praying him earnestly not a second time to pronounce that name of terror. At last, walking with her alone in the cool of the evening on a trodden path of a meadow where asphodel grew and other holy flowers beside a quiet stream, he said, “So it is, O Queen Sophonisba, that when first I came hither and spake with thee I well thought that by thee my matter should be well sped. And didst not thou then promise me thy goodness and grace from thee thereafter?”
“This is very true,” said the Queen.
“Then why,” said he, “when I would question thee of that I make most store of, wilt thou always daff me and put me by?”
She was silent, hanging her head. He looked sidelong for a minute at her sweet profile, the grave clear lines of her mouth and chin. “Of whom must I inquire,” he said, “if not of thee, which art Queen in Koshtra Belorn and must know this thing?”
She stopped and faced him with dark eyes that were like a child’s for innocence131 and like a God’s for splendour. “My lord, that I have put thee off, ascribe it not to evil intent. That were an unnatural132 part indeed in me unto you of Demonland who have fulfilled the weird133 and set me free again to visit again the world of men which I so much desire, despite all my sorrows I there fulfilled in elder time. Or shall I forget you are at enmity with the wicked house of Witchland, and therefore doubly pledged my friends?”
“That the event must prove, O Queen,” said Lord Juss.
“O saw ye Morna Moruna?” cried she. “Saw ye it in the wilderness134?” And when he looked on her still dark and mistrustful, she said, “Is this forgot? And methought it should be mention and remembrance made thereof unto the end of the world. I pray thee, my lord, what age art thou?”
“I have looked upon this world,” answered Lord Juss, “for thrice ten years.”
“And I,” said the Queen, “but seventeen summers. Yet that same age had I when thou wast born, and thy grandsire before thee, and his before him. For the Gods gave me youth for ever more, when they brought me hither after the realm-rape that befell our house, and lodged135 me in this mountain.”
She paused, and stood motionless, her hands clasped lightly before her, her head bent, her face turned a little away so that he saw only the white curve of her neck and her cheek’s soft outline. All the air was full of sunset, though no sun was there, but a scattered136 splendour only, shed from the high roof of rock that was like a sky above them self-effulgent. Very softly she began again to speak, the crystal accents of her voice sounding like the faint notes of a bell borne from a great way off on the quiet air of a summer evening. “Surely time past is gone by like a shadow since those days, when I was Queen in Morna Moruna, dwelling137 there with my lady mother and the princes my cousins in peace and joy. Until Gorice III. came out of the north, the great King of Witchland, desiring to explore these mountains, for his pride sake and his insolent138 heart; which cost him dear. ’Twas on an evening of early summer we beheld him and his folk ride over the flowering meadows of the Moruna. Nobly was he entertained by us, and when we knew what way he meant to go, we counselled him turn back, and the mantichores must tear him if he went. But he mocked at our advisoes, and on the morrow departed, he and his, by way of Omprenne Edge. And never again were they seen of living man.
“That had been small loss; but hereof there befell a great and horrible mischief139. For in the spring of the year came Gorice IV. with a great army out of waterish Witchland, saying with open mouth of defamation140 that we were the dead King’s murtherers: we that were peaceful folk, and would not entertain an action should call us villain141 for all the wealth of Impland. In the night they came, when all we save the sentinels upon the walls were in our beds secure in a quiet conscience. They took the princes my cousins and all our men, and before our eyes most cruelly murthered them. So that my mother seeing these things fell suddenly into deadly swoonings and was presently dead. And the King commanded them burn the house with fire, and he brake down the holy altars of the Gods, and defiled142 their high places. And unto me that was young and fair to look on he gave this choice, to go with him and be his slave, other else to be cast down from the Edge and all my bones be broken. Surely I chose this rather. But the Gods, that do help every rightful true cause, made light my fall, and guided me hither safe through all perils143 of height and cold and ravening144 beasts, granting me youth and peaceful days for ever, here on the borderland between the living and the dead.
“And the Gods blew upon all the land of the Moruna in the fire of their wrath, to make it desolate, and man and beast cut off therefrom, for a witness of the wicked deeds of Gorice the King, even as Gorice the King made desolate our little castle and our pleasant places. The face of the land was lifted up to high airs where frosts do dwell, so that the cliffs of Omprenne Edge down which ye came are ten times the height they were when Gorice III. came down them. So was an end of flowers on the Moruna, and an end there of spring and of summer days for ever.”
The Queen ceased speaking, and Lord Juss was silent for a space, greatly marvelling145.
“Judge now,” said she, “if your foes146 be not my foes. It is not hidden from me, my lord, that you deem me but a lukewarm friend and no helper at all in your enterprise. Yet have I ceased not since ye were here to search and to inquire, and sent my little martlets west and east and south and north after tidings of him thou namedst. They are swift, even as wingy thoughts circling the stablished world; and they returned to me on weary wings, yet with never a word of thy great kinsman147.”
Juss looked at her eyes that were moist with tears. Truth sat in them like an angel. “O Queen,” he cried, “why need thy little minions148 scour149 the world, when my brother is here in Koshtra Belorn?”
She shook her head, saying, “This I will swear to thee, there hath no mortal come up into Koshtra Belorn save only thee and thy companions these two hundred years.”
But Juss said again, “My brother is here in Koshtra Belorn. Mine eyes beheld him that first night, hedged about with fires. And he is held captive on a tower of brass on a peak of a mountain.”
“There be no mountains here,” said she, “save this in whose womb we have our dwelling.”
“Yet so I beheld my brother,” said Juss, “under the white beams of the full moon.”
“There is no moon here,” said the Queen.
So Lord Juss rehearsed to her his vision of the night, telling her point to point of everything. She harkened gravely, and when he had done, trembled a little and said, “This is a mystery, my lord, beyond my resolution.
She fell silent awhile. Then she began to say in a hushed voice, as if the very words and breath might breed some dreadful matter: “Taken up in a sending maleficial by King Gorice XII. So it hath ever been, that whensoever there dieth one of the house of Gorice there riseth up another in his stead, and so from strength to strength. And death weakeneth not this house of Witchland, but like the dandelion weed being cut down and bruised150 it springeth up the stronger. Dost thou know why?”
He answered, “No.”
“The blessed Gods,” said she, speaking yet lower, “have shown me many hidden matters which the sons of men know not neither imagine. Behold this mystery. There is but One Gorice. And by the favour of heaven (that moveth sometimes in a manner our weak judgement seeketh in vain to justify) this cruel and evil One, every time whether by the sword or in the fulness of his years he cometh to die, departeth the living soul and spirit of him into a new and sound body, and liveth yet another lifetime to vex151 and to oppress the world, until that body die, and the next in his turn, and so continually; having thus in a manner life eternal.”
Juss said, “Thy discourse152, O Queen Sophonisba, is in a strain above mortality. This is a great wonder thou tellest me; whereof some little part I guessed aforetime, but the main I knew not. Rightfully, having such a timeless life, this King weareth on his thumb that worm Ouroboros which doctors have from of old made for an ensample of eternity153, whereof the end is ever at the beginning and the beginning at the end for ever more.”
“See then the hardness of the thing,” said the Queen. “But I forget not, my lord, that thou hast a matter nearer thine heart than this: to set free him (name him not!) concerning whom thou didst inquire of me. Touching154 this, know it for thy comfort, some ray of light I see. Question me no more till I have made trial thereof, lest it prove but a false dawn. If it be as I think, ’tis a trial yet abideth thee should make the stoutest155 blench156.”
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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slanted
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| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
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demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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eastward
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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buttress
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ridge
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gashed
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| v.划伤，割破( gash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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treacherous
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perilous
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tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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sickle
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ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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numbed
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forth
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avalanches
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precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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21
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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22
pinnacle
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| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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23
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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24
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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25
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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26
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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27
vilely
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| adv.讨厌地，卑劣地 | |
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28
wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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29
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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30
throbbed
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| 抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动 | |
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31
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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32
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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33
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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34
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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35
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
rift
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| n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入 | |
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37
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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38
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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39
abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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40
eels
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| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
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41
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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42
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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44
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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45
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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46
pitfalls
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| （捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误 | |
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47
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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48
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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49
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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50
grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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51
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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52
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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53
tinkled
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| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
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54
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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55
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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56
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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57
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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58
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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59
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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60
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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61
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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62
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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63
induction
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| n.感应，感应现象 | |
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64
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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65
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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66
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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67
swooping
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 ) | |
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68
con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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69
fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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70
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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71
mace
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| n.狼牙棒，豆蔻干皮 | |
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72
battering
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| n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 ) | |
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73
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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74
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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75
awry
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| adj.扭曲的，错的 | |
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76
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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77
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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78
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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79
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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80
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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81
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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82
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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83
cataclysm
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| n.洪水，剧变，大灾难 | |
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84
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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85
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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86
diadem
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| n.王冠，冕 | |
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87
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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88
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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89
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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90
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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91
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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92
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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93
ordain
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| vi.颁发命令；vt.命令，授以圣职，注定，任命 | |
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94
unicorns
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| n.（传说中身体似马的）独角兽( unicorn的名词复数 )；一角鲸；独角兽标记 | |
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95
canopied
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| adj. 遮有天篷的 | |
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96
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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97
sate
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| v.使充分满足 | |
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98
ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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99
viands
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| n.食品，食物 | |
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100
ambrosia
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| n.神的食物；蜂食 | |
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101
bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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102
surfeit
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| v.使饮食过度；n.(食物)过量，过度 | |
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103
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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104
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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105
beholds
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| v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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106
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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107
grasshoppers
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| n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的 | |
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108
toads
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 ) | |
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109
scaly
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| adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的 | |
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110
beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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111
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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112
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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113
sunder
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| v.分开；隔离；n.分离，分开 | |
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114
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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115
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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116
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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117
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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118
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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119
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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120
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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121
supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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122
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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123
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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124
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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125
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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126
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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127
ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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128
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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129
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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130
laments
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| n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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131
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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132
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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133
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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134
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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135
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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136
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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137
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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138
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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139
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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140
defamation
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| n.诽谤；中伤 | |
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141
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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142
defiled
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| v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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143
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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144
ravening
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| a.贪婪而饥饿的 | |
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145
marvelling
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的现在分词 ) | |
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146
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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147
kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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148
minions
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| n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者 | |
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149
scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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150
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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151
vex
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| vt.使烦恼，使苦恼 | |
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152
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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153
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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154
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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155
stoutest
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| 粗壮的( stout的最高级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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156
blench
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| v.退缩，畏缩 | |
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