He dreamt that he was awakened2 by the sound of a gentle rapping. Opening his eyes, he peered through the cloudy netting. He started up, and wrenched3 back the curtain. The rapping was repeated; and peering again across the room, he very distinctly perceived a figure upon the balcony by the open window. It was that of a woman who wore the black silk dress and the white yashmak of the Moslem4, and who was bending forward looking into the room.
"Who is there?" he called. "What do you want?"
"S—sh!"
The woman raised her hand to her veiled lips, and looked right and left as if fearing to disturb the occupants of the adjacent rooms.
Dr. Cairn reached out for his dressing-gown which lay upon the chair beside the bed, threw it over his shoulders, and stepped out upon the floor. He stooped and put on his slippers6, never taking his eyes from the figure at the window. The room was flooded with moonlight.
"You are Dr. Cairn?"
The words were spoken in the language of dreams; that is to say, that although he understood them perfectly8, he knew that they had not been uttered in the English language, nor in any language known to him; yet, as is the way with one who dreams, he had understood.
"I am he," he said. "Who are you?"
[101]
"Make no noise, but follow me quickly. Someone is very ill."
There was sincerity9 in the appeal, spoken in the softest, most silvern tone which he had ever heard. He stood beside the veiled woman, and met the glance of her dark eyes with a consciousness of some magnetic force in the glance, which seemed to set his nerves quivering.
"Why do you come to the window? How do you know—"
The visitor raised her hand again to her lips. It was of a gleaming ivory colour, and the long tapered10 fingers were laden11 with singular jewellery—exquisite enamel12 work, which he knew to be Ancient Egyptian, but which did not seem out of place in this dream adventure.
"I was afraid to make any unnecessary disturbance13," she replied. "Please do not delay, but come at once."
Dr. Cairn adjusted his dressing-gown, and followed the veiled messenger along the balcony. For a dream city, Port Said appeared remarkably14 substantial, as it spread out at his feet, its dingy15 buildings whitened by the moonlight. But his progress was dreamlike, for he seemed to glide16 past many windows, around the corner of the building, and, without having consciously exerted any physical effort, found his hands grasped by warm jewelled fingers, found himself guided into some darkened room, and then, possessed17 by that doubting which sometimes comes in dreams, found himself hesitating. The moonlight did not penetrate18 to the apartment in which he stood, and the darkness about him was impenetrable.
But the clinging fingers did not release their hold, and vaguely19 aware that he was acting20 in a manner which might readily be misconstrued, he nevertheless allowed his unseen guide to lead him forward.
Stairs were descended21 in phantom22 silence—many stairs. The coolness of the air suggested that they were outside the hotel. But the darkness remained complete. Along what seemed to be a stone-paved passage they advanced mysteriously, and by this time
[102]
Dr. Cairn was wholly resigned to the strangeness of his dream.
Then, although the place lay in blackest shadow, he saw that they were in the open air, for the starry23 sky swept above them.
It was a narrow street—at points, the buildings almost met above—wherein, he now found himself. In reality, had he been in possession of his usual faculties24, awake, he would have asked himself how this veiled woman had gained admittance to the hotel, and why she had secretly led him out from it. But the dreamer's mental lethargy possessed him, and, with the blind faith of a child, he followed on, until he now began vaguely to consider the personality of his guide.
She seemed to be of no more than average height, but she carried herself with unusual grace, and her progress was marked by a certain hauteur25. At the point where a narrow lane crossed that which they were traversing the veiled figure was silhouetted26 for a moment against the light of the moon, and through the gauze-like fabric27, he perceived the outlines of a perfect shape. His vague wonderment, concerned itself now with the ivory, jewel-laden hands. His condition differed from the normal dream state, in that he was not entirely28 resigned to the anomalous29.
Misty30 doubts were forming, when his dream guide paused before a heavy door of a typical native house which once had been of some consequence, and which faced the entrance to a mosque31, indeed lay in the shadow of the minaret32. It was opened from within, although she gave no perceptible signal, and its darkness, to Dr. Cairn's dulled perceptions, seemed to swallow them both up. He had an impression of a trap raised, of stone steps descended, of a new darkness almost palpable.
The gloom of the place effected him as a mental blank, and, when a bright light shone out, it seemed to mark the opening of a second dream phase. From where the light came, he knew not, cared not, but it illuminated33 a perfectly bare room, with a floor of native mud bricks, a plastered wall, and wood-beamed ceiling. A tall sarcophagus stood upright against the wall before him;
[103]
its lid leant close beside it ... and his black robed guide, her luminous34 eyes looking straightly over the yashmak, stood rigidly35 upright-within it!
She raised the jewelled hands, and with a swift movement discarded robe and yashmak, and stood before him, in the clinging draperies of an ancient queen, wearing the leopard37 skin and the uraeus, and carrying the flail38 of royal Egypt!
Her pale face formed a perfect oval; the long almond eyes had an evil beauty which seemed to chill; and the brilliantly red mouth was curved in a smile which must have made any man forget the evil in the eyes. But when we move in a dream world, our emotions become dreamlike too. She placed a sandalled foot upon the mud floor and stepped out of the sarcophagus, advancing towards Dr. Cairn, a vision of such sinful loveliness as he could never have conceived in his waking moments. In that strange dream language, in a tongue not of East nor West, she spoke; and her silvern voice had something of the tone of those Egyptian pipes whose dree fills the nights upon the Upper Nile—the seductive music of remote and splendid wickedness.
"You know me, now?" she whispered.
And in his dream she seemed to be a familiar figure, at once dreadful and worshipful.
A fitful light played through the darkness, and seemed to dance upon a curtain draped behind the sarcophagus, picking out diamond points. The dreamer groped in the mental chaos39 of his mind, and found a clue to the meaning of this. The diamond points were the eyes of thousands of tarantula spiders with which the curtain was broidered.
The sign of the spider! What did he know of it? Yes! of course; it was the secret mark of Egypt's witch-queen—of the beautiful woman whose name, after her mysterious death, had been erased40 from all her monuments. A sweet whisper stole to his ears:
"You will befriend him, befriend my son—for my sake."
And in his dream-state he found himself prepared to foreswear all that he held holy—for her sake. She
[104]
grasped both his hands, and her burning eyes looked closely into his.
"Your reward shall be a great one," she whispered, even more softly.
Came a sudden blank, and Dr. Cairn found himself walking again through the narrow street, led by the veiled woman. His impressions were growing dim; and now she seemed less real than hitherto. The streets were phantom streets, built of shadow stuff, and the stairs which presently he found himself ascending41, were unsubstantial, and he seemed rather to float upward; until, with the jewelled fingers held fast in his own, he stood in a darkened apartment, and saw before him an open window, knew that he was once more back in the hotel. A dim light dawned in the blackness of the room and the musical voice breathed in his ear:
"Your reward shall be easily earned. I did but test you. Strike—and strike truly!"
The whisper grew sibilant—serpentine. Dr. Cairn felt the hilt of a dagger42 thrust into his right hand, and in the dimly-mysterious light looked down at one who lay in a bed close beside him.
At sight of the face of the sleeper43—the perfectly-chiselled face, with the long black lashes44 resting on the ivory cheeks—he forgot all else, forgot the place wherein he stood, forgot his beautiful guide, and only remembered that he held a dagger in his hand, and that Antony Ferrara lay there, sleeping!
"Strike!" came the whisper again.
Dr. Cairn felt a mad exultation45 boiling up within him. He raised his hand, glanced once more on the face of the sleeper, and nerved himself to plunge46 the dagger into the heart of this evil thing.
A second more, and the dagger would have been buried to the hilt in the sleeper's breast—when there ensued a deafening47, an appalling48 explosion. A wild red light illuminated the room, the building seemed to rock. Close upon that frightful49 sound followed a cry so piercing that it seemed to ice the blood in Dr. Cairn's veins50.
"Stop, sir, stop! My God! what are you doing!"
[105]
A swift blow struck the dagger from his hand and the figure on the bed sprang upright. Swaying dizzily, Dr. Cairn stood there in the darkness, and as the voice of awakened sleepers51 reached his ears from adjoining rooms, the electric light was switched on, and across the bed, the bed upon which he had thought Antony Ferrara lay, he saw his son, Robert Cairn!
No one else was in the room. But on the carpet at his feet lay an ancient dagger, the hilt covered with beautiful and intricate gold and enamel work.
Rigid36 with a mutual52 horror, these two so strangely met stood staring at one another across the room. Everyone in the hotel, it would appear, had been awakened by the explosion, which, as if by the intervention53 of God, had stayed the hand of Dr. Cairn—had spared him from a deed impossible to contemplate54.
There were sounds of running footsteps everywhere; but the origin of the disturbance at that moment had no interest for these two. Robert was the first to break the silence.
"Merciful God, sir!" he whispered huskily, "how did you come to be here? What is the matter? Are you ill?"
Dr. Cairn extended his hands like one groping in darkness.
"Rob, give me a moment, to think, to collect myself. Why am I here? By all that is wonderful, why are you here?"
"I am here to meet you."
"To meet me! I had no idea that you were well enough for the journey, and if you came to meet me, why—"
"I sent no wireless, boy!"
Robert Cairn, with a little colour returning to his pale cheeks, advanced and grasped his father's hand.
"But after I arrived here to meet the boat, sir I received a wireless from the P. and O. due in the morning, to say that you had changed your mind, and come via Brindisi."
Dr. Cairn glanced at the dagger upon the carpet,
[106]
"I did not send that wireless!"
"Then you actually came by the boat which arrived last night?—and to think that I was asleep in the same hotel! What an amazing—"
"Amazing indeed, Rob, and the result of a cunning and well planned scheme." He raised his eyes, looking fixedly57 at his son. "You understand the scheme; the scheme that could only have germinated58 in one mind—a scheme to cause me, your father, to—"
His voice failed and again his glance sought the weapon which lay so close to his feet. Partly in order to hide his emotion, he stooped, picked up the dagger, and threw it on the bed.
Dr. Cairn stood straightly upright and replied in an even voice:
"I was here to do murder!"
"Murder!"
"I was under a spell—no need to name its weaver60; I thought that a poisonous thing at last lay at my mercy, and by cunning means the primitive61 evil within me was called up, and braving the laws of God and man, I was about to slay62 that thing. Thank God!—"
He dropped upon his knees, silently bowed his head for a moment, and then stood up, self-possessed again, as his son had always known him. It had been a strange and awful awakening63 for Robert Cairn—to find his room illuminated by a lurid64 light, and to find his own father standing65 over him with a knife! But what had moved him even more deeply than the fear of these things, had been the sight of the emotion which had shaken that stern and unemotional man. Now, as he gathered together his scattered66 wits, he began to perceive that a malignant67 hand was moving above them, that his father, and himself, were pawns69, which had been moved mysteriously to a dreadful end.
A great disturbance had now arisen in the streets below, streams of people it seemed, were pouring
[107]
"Sit down, Rob," he said. "I will tell my story, and you shall tell yours. By comparing notes, we can arrive at some conclusion. Then we must act. This is a fight to a finish, and I begin to doubt if we are strong enough to win."
He took up the dagger and ran a critical glance over it, from the keen point to the enamelled hilt.
"This is unique," he muttered, whilst his son, spellbound, watched him; "the blade is as keen as if tempered but yesterday; yet it was made full five thousand years ago, as the workmanship of the hilt testifies. Rob, we deal with powers more than human! We have to cope with a force which might have awed71 the greatest Masters which the world has known. It would have called for all the knowledge, and all the power of Apollonius of Tyana to have dealt with—him!"
"Antony Ferrara!"
"Undoubtedly72, Rob! it was by the agency of Antony Ferrara that the wireless message was sent to you from the P. and O. It was by the agency of Antony Ferrara that I dreamt a dream to-night. In fact it was no true dream; I was under the influence of—what shall I term it?—hypnotic suggestion. To what extent that malign68 will was responsible for you and I being placed in rooms communicating by means of a balcony, we probably shall never know; but if this proximity73 was merely accidental, the enemy did not fail to take advantage of the coincidence. I lay watching the stars before I slept, and one of them seemed to grow larger as I watched." He began to pace about the room in growing excitement. "Rob, I cannot doubt that a mirror, or a crystal, was actually suspended before my eyes by—someone, who had been watching for the opportunity. I yielded myself to the soothing74 influence, and thus deliberately—deliberately—placed myself in the power of—Antony Ferrara—"
"You think that he is here, in this hotel?"
"I cannot doubt that he is in the neighbourhood. The influence was too strong to have emanated75 from a
[108]
mind at a great distance removed. I will tell you exactly what I dreamt."
He dropped into a cane76 armchair. Comparative quiet reigned77 again in the streets below, but a distant clamour told of some untoward78 happening at the harbour.
Dawn would break ere long, and there was a curious rawness in the atmosphere. Robert Cairn seated himself upon the side of the bed, and watched his father, whilst the latter related those happenings with which we are already acquainted.
"You think, sir," said Robert, at the conclusion of the strange story, "that no part of your experience was real?"
Dr. Cairn held up the antique dagger, glancing at the speaker significantly.
"On the contrary," he replied, "I do know that part of it was dreadfully real. My difficulty is to separate the real from the phantasmal."
Silence fell for a moment. Then:
"It is almost certain," said the younger man, frowning thoughtfully, "that you did not actually leave the hotel, but merely passed from your room to mine by way of the balcony."
Dr. Cairn stood up, walked to the open window, and looked out, then turned and faced his son again.
"I believe I can put that matter to the test," he declared. "In my dream, as I turned into the lane where the house was—the house of the mummy—there was a patch covered with deep mud, where at some time during the evening a quantity of water had been spilt. I stepped upon that patch, or dreamt that I did. We can settle the point."
He sat down on the bed beside his son, and, stooping, pulled off one of his slippers. The night had been full enough of dreadful surprises; but here was yet another, which came to them as Dr. Cairn, with the inverted79 slipper5 in his hand, sat looking into his son's eyes.
The sole of the slipper was caked with reddish brown mud.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
slumber
|
|
| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
awakened
|
|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
wrenched
|
|
| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
Moslem
|
|
| n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
slipper
|
|
| n.拖鞋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
slippers
|
|
| n. 拖鞋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
sincerity
|
|
| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
tapered
|
|
| adj. 锥形的，尖削的，楔形的，渐缩的，斜的 动词taper的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
laden
|
|
| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
enamel
|
|
| n.珐琅，搪瓷，瓷釉；(牙齿的)珐琅质 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
disturbance
|
|
| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
remarkably
|
|
| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
dingy
|
|
| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
glide
|
|
| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
penetrate
|
|
| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
phantom
|
|
| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
starry
|
|
| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
faculties
|
|
| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
hauteur
|
|
| n.傲慢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
silhouetted
|
|
| 显出轮廓的，显示影像的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
fabric
|
|
| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
anomalous
|
|
| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
misty
|
|
| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
mosque
|
|
| n.清真寺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
minaret
|
|
| n.（回教寺院的）尖塔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
luminous
|
|
| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
rigidly
|
|
| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
rigid
|
|
| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
leopard
|
|
| n.豹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
flail
|
|
| v.用连枷打；击打；n.连枷（脱粒用的工具） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
chaos
|
|
| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
erased
|
|
| v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
ascending
|
|
| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
dagger
|
|
| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
sleeper
|
|
| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
lashes
|
|
| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
exultation
|
|
| n.狂喜，得意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
plunge
|
|
| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
deafening
|
|
| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
appalling
|
|
| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
frightful
|
|
| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
veins
|
|
| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
sleepers
|
|
| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
mutual
|
|
| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
intervention
|
|
| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
contemplate
|
|
| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
wireless
|
|
| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
shudder
|
|
| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
fixedly
|
|
| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
germinated
|
|
| v.（使）发芽( germinate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
groaned
|
|
| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
weaver
|
|
| n.织布工；编织者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
primitive
|
|
| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
slay
|
|
| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
awakening
|
|
| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
lurid
|
|
| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
malignant
|
|
| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
malign
|
|
| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
pawns
|
|
| n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
awed
|
|
| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
undoubtedly
|
|
| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
proximity
|
|
| n.接近，邻近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
soothing
|
|
| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
emanated
|
|
| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
cane
|
|
| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
reigned
|
|
| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
untoward
|
|
| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
inverted
|
|
| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |