At the sight of this ill-omened sentinel, a chill of horror and of fear shot through me, for his gloomy and mysterious associations had cast a glamour17 round the man, and the hour and place were in keeping with his sinister18 presence. In a moment, however, a manly19 glow of resentment20 and self-confidence drove this petty emotion from my mind, and I strode fearlessly in his direction. He rose as I approached and faced me, with the moon shining on his grave, bearded face and glittering on his eyeballs. “What is the meaning of this?” I cried, as I came upon him. “What right have you to play the spy on me?”
I could see the flush of anger rise on his face. “Your stay in the country has made you forget your manners,” he said. “The moor is free to all.”
“You will say next that my house is free to all,” I said, hotly. “You have had the impertience to ransack21 it in my absence this afternoon.”
He started, and his features showed the most intense excitement. “I swear to you that I had no hand in it!” he cried. “I have never set foot in your house in my life. Oh, sir, sir, if you will but believe me, there is a danger hanging over you, and you would do well to be careful.”
“I have had enough of you,” I said. “I saw that cowardly blow you struck when you thought no human eye rested upon you. I have been to your cottage, too, and know all that it has to tell. If there is a law in England, you shall hang for what you have done. As to me, I am an old soldier, sir, and I am armed. I shall not fasten my door. But if you or any other villain22 attempt to cross my threshold it shall be at your own risk.” With these words, I swung round upon my heel and strode into my cabin.
For two days the wind freshened and increased, with constant squalls of rain until on the third night the most furious storm was p. 174raging which I can ever recollect23 in England. I felt that it was positively24 useless to go to bed, nor could I concentrate my mind sufficiently25 to read a book. I turned my lamp half down to moderate the glare, and leaning back in my chair, I gave myself up to reverie. I must have lost all perception of time, for I have no recollection how long I sat there on the borderland betwixt thought and slumber26. At last, about 3 or possibly 4 o’clock, I came to myself with a start—not only came to myself, but with every sense and nerve upon the strain. Looking round my chamber27 in the dim light, I could not see anything to justify28 my sudden trepidation29. The homely30 room, the rain-blurred window and the rude wooden door were all as they had been. I had begun to persuade myself that some half-formed dream had sent that vague thrill through my nerves, when in a moment I became conscious of what it was. It was a sound—the sound of a human step outside my solitary31 cottage.
Amid the thunder and the rain and the wind I could hear it—a dull, stealthy footfall, now on the grass, now on the stones—occasionally stopping entirely32, then resumed, and ever drawing nearer. I sat breathlessly, listening to the eerie33 sound. It had stopped now at my very door, and was replaced by a panting and gasping34, as of one who has travelled fast and far.
By the flickering35 light of the expiring lamp p. 175I could see that the latch36 of my door was twitching37, as though a gentle pressure was exerted on it from without. Slowly, slowly, it rose, until it was free of the catch, and then there was a pause of a quarter minute or more, while I still eat silent with dilated38 eyes and drawn39 sabre. Then, very slowly, the door began to revolve40 upon its hinges, and the keen air of the night came whistling through the slit41. Very cautiously it was pushed open, so that never a sound came from the rusty42 hinges. As the aperture43 enlarged, I became aware of a dark, shadowy figure upon my threshold, and of a pale face that looked in at me. The features were human, but the eyes were not. They seemed to burn through the darkness with a greenish brilliancy of their own; and in their baleful, shifty glare I was conscious of the very spirit of murder. Springing from my chair, I had raised my naked sword, when, with a wild shouting, a second figure dashed up to my door. At its approach my shadowy visitant uttered a shrill44 cry, and fled away across the fells, yelping45 like a beaten hound.
Tingling46 with my recent fear, I stood at my door, peering through the night with the discordant47 cry of the fugitives48 still ringing in my ears. At that moment a vivid flash of lightning illuminated49 the whole landscape and made it as clear as day. By its light I saw far away upon the hillside two dark figures pursuing each other with extreme rapidity across the fells. Even at that distance the contrast between them forbid all doubt as to their identity. The first was the small, elderly man, whom I had supposed to be dead; the second was my neighbour, the surgeon. For an instant they stood out clear and hard in the unearthly light; in the next, the darkness had closed over them, and they were gone. As I turned to re-enter my chamber, my foot rattled50 against something on my threshold. Stooping, I found it was a straight knife, fashioned entirely of lead, and so soft and brittle51 that it was a strange choice for a weapon. To render it more harmless, the top had been cut square off. The edge, however, had been assiduously sharpened against a stone, as was evident from the markings upon it, so that it was still a dangerous implement52 in the grasp of a determined53 man.
And what was the meaning of it all? you ask. Many a drama which I have come across in my wandering life, some as strange and as striking as this one, has lacked the ultimate explanation which you demand. Fate is a grand weaver54 of tales; but she ends them, as a rule, in defiance55 of all artistic56 laws, and with an unbecoming want of regard for literary propriety57. As it happens, however, I have a letter before me as I write which I may add without comment, and which will clear all that may remain dark.
“September 4th, 1885.
“Sir,—I am deeply conscious that some apology and explanation is due to you for the very startling and, in your eyes, mysterious events which have recently occurred, and which have so seriously interfered59 with the retired60 existence which you desire to lead. I should have called upon you on the morning after the recapture of my father, but my knowledge of your dislike to visitors and also of—you will excuse my saying it—your very violent temper, led me to think that it was better to communicate with you by letter.
“My poor father was a hard-working general practitioner61 in Birmingham, where his name is still remembered and respected. About ten years ago he began to show signs of mental aberration62, which we were inclined to put down to overwork and the effects of a sunstroke. Feeling my own incompetence63 to pronounce upon a case of such importance, I at once sought the highest advice in Birmingham and London. Among others we consulted the eminent64 alienist, Mr. Fraser Brown, who pronounced my father’s case to be intermittent65 in its nature, but dangerous during the paroxysms. ‘It may take a homicidal, or it may take a religious turn,’ he said; ‘or it may prove to be a mixture of both. For months he may be as well as you or me, and then in a moment he may break out. You will incur66 a great responsibility if you leave him without supervision67.’
“I need say no more, sir. You will understand the terrible task which has fallen upon my poor sister and me in endeavouring to save my father from the asylum which in his sane68 moments filled him with horror. I can only regret that your peace has been disturbed by our misfortunes, and I offer you in my sister’s name and my own our apologies.”
“Yours truly,
“J. Cameron.”
点击收听单词发音
1 gusty | |
adj.起大风的 | |
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2 tempestuous | |
adj.狂暴的 | |
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3 ragged | |
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的 | |
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4 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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5 gusts | |
一阵强风( gust的名词复数 ); (怒、笑等的)爆发; (感情的)迸发; 发作 | |
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6 sobbing | |
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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7 moor | |
n.荒野,沼泽;vt.(使)停泊;vi.停泊 | |
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8 sputter | |
n.喷溅声;v.喷溅 | |
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9 immortality | |
n.不死,不朽 | |
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10 dreary | |
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的 | |
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11 protruded | |
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12 swoop | |
n.俯冲,攫取;v.抓取,突然袭击 | |
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13 squatted | |
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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14 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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15 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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16 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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17 glamour | |
n.魔力,魅力;vt.迷住 | |
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18 sinister | |
adj.不吉利的,凶恶的,左边的 | |
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19 manly | |
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地 | |
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20 resentment | |
n.怨愤,忿恨 | |
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21 ransack | |
v.彻底搜索,洗劫 | |
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22 villain | |
n.反派演员,反面人物;恶棍;问题的起因 | |
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23 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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24 positively | |
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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25 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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26 slumber | |
n.睡眠,沉睡状态 | |
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27 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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28 justify | |
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护 | |
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29 trepidation | |
n.惊恐,惶恐 | |
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30 homely | |
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的 | |
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31 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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32 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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33 eerie | |
adj.怪诞的;奇异的;可怕的;胆怯的 | |
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34 gasping | |
adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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35 flickering | |
adj.闪烁的,摇曳的,一闪一闪的 | |
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36 latch | |
n.门闩,窗闩;弹簧锁 | |
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37 twitching | |
n.颤搐 | |
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38 dilated | |
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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39 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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40 revolve | |
vi.(使)旋转;循环出现 | |
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41 slit | |
n.狭长的切口;裂缝;vt.切开,撕裂 | |
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42 rusty | |
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的 | |
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43 aperture | |
n.孔,隙,窄的缺口 | |
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44 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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45 yelping | |
v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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46 tingling | |
v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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47 discordant | |
adj.不调和的 | |
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48 fugitives | |
n.亡命者,逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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49 illuminated | |
adj.被照明的;受启迪的 | |
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50 rattled | |
慌乱的,恼火的 | |
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51 brittle | |
adj.易碎的;脆弱的;冷淡的;(声音)尖利的 | |
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52 implement | |
n.(pl.)工具,器具;vt.实行,实施,执行 | |
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53 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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54 weaver | |
n.织布工;编织者 | |
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55 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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56 artistic | |
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的 | |
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57 propriety | |
n.正当行为;正当;适当 | |
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58 asylum | |
n.避难所,庇护所,避难 | |
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59 interfered | |
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉 | |
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60 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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61 practitioner | |
n.实践者,从事者;(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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62 aberration | |
n.离开正路,脱离常规,色差 | |
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63 incompetence | |
n.不胜任,不称职 | |
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64 eminent | |
adj.显赫的,杰出的,有名的,优良的 | |
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65 intermittent | |
adj.间歇的,断断续续的 | |
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66 incur | |
vt.招致,蒙受,遭遇 | |
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67 supervision | |
n.监督,管理 | |
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68 sane | |
adj.心智健全的,神志清醒的,明智的,稳健的 | |
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