What monstrous3 thing was this that had befallen him who, but a moment before, had been so entirely4 innocent of the guilt5 of blood? What was he now to do in such an extremity6 as this, with his victim lying dead at his feet, a poniard in his heart? Who would believe him to be guiltless of crime with such a dreadful evidence as this presented against him? How was he, a stranger in a foreign land, to totally defend himself against an accusing of mistaken justice? At these thoughts a developed terror gripped at his vitals and a sweat as cold as ice bedewed his entire body. No, he must tarry for no explanation or defense7! He must immediately fly from this terrible place, or else, should he be discovered, his doom9 would certainly be sealed!
At that moment, and in the very extremity of his apprehensions10, there fell of a sudden a knock upon the door, sounding so loud and so startling upon the silence of the room that every shattered nerve in our hero's frame tingled11 and thrilled in answer to it. He stood petrified12, scarcely so much as daring to breathe; and then, observing that his mouth was agape, he moistened his dry and parching13 lips, and drew his jaws14 together with a snap.
Again there fell the same loud, insistent15 knock upon the panel, followed by the imperative16 words: "Open within!"
The wretched Jonathan flung about him a glance at once of terror and of despair, but there was for him no possible escape. He was shut tight in the room with his dead victim, like a rat in a trap. Nothing remained for him but to obey the summons from without. Indeed, in the very extremity of his distraction17, he possessed18 reason enough to perceive that the longer he delayed opening the door the less innocent he might hope to appear in the eyes of whoever stood without.
With the uncertain and spasmodic movements of an ill-constructed automaton19, he crossed the room, and stepping very carefully over the prostrate20 body upon the floor, and with a hesitating reluctance21 that he could in no degree master, he unlocked, unbolted, and opened the door.
The figure that outlined itself in the light of the candle, against the blackness of the passageway without was of such a singular and foreign aspect as to fit extremely well into the extraordinary tragedy of which Jonathan was at once the victim and the cause.
It was that of a lean, tall man with a thin, yellow countenance22, embellished23 with a long, black mustache, and having a pair of forbidding, deeply set, and extremely restless black eyes. A crimson24 handkerchief beneath a lace cocked hat was tied tightly around the head, and a pair of silver earrings25, which caught the light of the candle, gleamed and twinkled against the inky darkness of the passageway beyond.
This extraordinary being, without favoring our hero with any word of apology for his intrusion, immediately thrust himself forward into the room, and stretching his long, lean, bird-like neck so as to direct his gaze over the intervening table, fixed26 a gaping27 and concentrated stare upon the figure lying still and motionless in the centre of the room.
"Vat28 you do dare," said he, with a guttural and foreign accent, and thereupon, without waiting for a reply, came forward and knelt down beside the dead man. After thrusting his hand into the silent and shrunken bosom29, he presently looked up and fixed his penetrating30 eyes upon our hero's countenance, who, benumbed and bedazed with his despair, still stood like one enchained in the bonds of a nightmare. "He vas dead!" said the stranger, and Jonathan nodded his head in reply.
"Vy you keel ze man?" inquired his interlocutor.
"Indeed," cried Jonathan, finding a voice at last, but one so hoarse31 that he could hardly recognize it for his own, "I know not what to make of the affair! But, indeed, I do assure thee, friend, that I am entirely innocent of what thou seest."
The stranger still kept his piercing gaze fixed upon our hero's countenance, and Jonathan, feeling that something further was demanded of him, continued: "I am, indeed, a victim of a most extravagant32 and extraordinary adventure. This evening, coming an entire stranger to this country, I was introduced into the house of a beautiful female, who bestowed33 upon me a charge that appeared to me to be at once insignificant34 and absurd. Behold35 this little ivory ball," said he, drawing the globe from his pocket, and displaying it between his thumb and finger. "It is this that appears to have brought all this disaster upon me; for, coming from the house of the young woman, the man whom thou now beholdest lying dead upon the floor induced me to come to this place. Having inveigled36 me hither, he demanded of me to give him at once this insignificant trifle. Upon my refusing to do so, he assaulted me with every appearance of a mad and furious inclination37 to deprive me of my life!"
At the sight of the ivory ball the stranger quickly arose from his kneeling posture38 and fixed upon our hero a gaze the most extraordinary that he had ever encountered. His eyes dilated39 like those of a cat, the breath expelled itself from his bosom in so deep and profound an expiration40 that it appeared as though it might never return again. Nor was it until Jonathan had replaced the ball in his pocket that he appeared to awaken41 from the trance that the sight of the object had sent him into. But no sooner had the cause of this strange demeanor42 disappeared into our hero's breeches-pocket than he arose as with an electric shock. In an instant he became transformed as by the touch of magic. A sudden and baleful light flamed into his eyes, his face grew as red as blood, and he clapped his hand to his pocket with a sudden and violent motion. "Ze ball!" he cried, in a hoarse and strident voice. "Ze ball! Give me ze ball!" And upon the next instant our hero beheld43 the round and shining nozzle of a pistol pointed44 directly against his forehead.
For a moment he stood as though transfixed; then in the mortal peril45 that faced him, he uttered a roar that sounded in his own ears like the outcry of a wild beast, and thereupon flung himself bodily upon the other with the violence and the fury of a madman.
The stranger drew the trigger, and the powder flashed in the pan. He dropped the weapon, clattering47, and in an instant tried to draw another from his other pocket. Before he could direct his aim, however, our hero had caught him by both wrists, and, bending his hand backward, prevented the chance of any shot from taking immediate8 effect upon his person. Then followed a struggle of extraordinary ferocity and frenzy—the stranger endeavoring to free his hand, and Jonathan striving with all the energy of despair to prevent him from effecting his murderous purpose.
In the struggle our hero became thrust against the edge of the table. He felt as though his back were breaking, and became conscious that in such a situation he could hope to defend himself only a few moments longer. The stranger's face was pressed close to his own. His hot breath, strong with the odor of garlic, fanned our hero's cheek, while his lips, distended48 into a ferocious49 and ferine grin, displayed his sharp teeth shining in the candlelight.
"Give me ze ball!" he said, in a harsh and furious whisper.
At the moment there rang in Jonathan's ears the sudden and astounding50 detonation51 of a pistol-shot, and for a moment he wondered whether he had received a mortal wound without being aware of it. Then suddenly he beheld an extraordinary and dreadful transformation52 take place in the countenance thrust so close to his own; the eyes winked53 several times with incredible rapidity, and then rolled upward and inward; the jaws gaped54 into a dreadful and cavernous yawn; the pistol fell with a clatter46 to the floor, and the next moment the muscles, so rigid55 but an instant before, relaxed into a limp and listless flaccidity. The joints56 collapsed57, and the entire man fell into an indistinguishable heap upon and across the dead figure stretched out upon the floor, while at the same time a pungent58 and blinding cloud of gunpowder59 smoke filled the apartment. For a few moments the hands twitched60 convulsively; the neck stretched itself to an abominable61 length; the long, lean legs slowly and gradually relaxed, and every fibre of the body gradually collapsed into the lassitude of death. A spot of blood appeared and grew upon the collar at the throat, and in the same degree the color ebbed62 from the face leaving it of a dull and leaden pallor.
All these terrible and formidable changes of aspect our hero stood watching with a motionless and riveted63 attention, and as though they were to him matters of the utmost consequence and importance; and only when the last flicker64 of life had departed from his second victim did he lift his gaze from this terrible scene of dissolution to stare about him, this way and that, his eyes blinded, and his breath stifled65 by the thick cloud of sulphurous smoke that obscured the objects about him in a pungent cloud.
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1
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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bummed
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| 失望的，沮丧的 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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tingled
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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13
parching
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| adj.烘烤似的，焦干似的v.（使）焦干， （使）干透( parch的现在分词 )；使（某人）极口渴 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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automaton
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| n.自动机器，机器人 | |
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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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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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23
embellished
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| v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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24
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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25
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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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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27
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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vat
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| n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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30
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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31
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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32
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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33
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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36
inveigled
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| v.诱骗，引诱( inveigle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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38
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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39
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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41
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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42
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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43
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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44
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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46
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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47
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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48
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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50
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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51
detonation
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| n.爆炸；巨响 | |
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52
transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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53
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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54
gaped
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| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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55
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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56
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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collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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pungent
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| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
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gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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60
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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61
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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62
ebbed
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的过去式和过去分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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63
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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64
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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65
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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