He woke in the morning at daylight, and resumed his patient but unavailing study of the metal trunk. This he continued during the whole day with the same result—humiliating disappointment, which overwrought his nerves and made his head ache. The result of the long strain was seen later in the afternoon, when he sat locked within the turret-room before the still baffling trunk, distrait3, listless and yet agitated4, sunk in a settled gloom. As the dusk was falling he told the steward5 to send him two men, strong ones. These he ordered to take the trunk to his bedroom. In that room he then sat on into the night, without pausing even to take any food. His mind was in a whirl, a fever of excitement. The result was that when, late in the night, he locked himself in his room his brain was full of odd fancies; he was on the high road to mental disturbance6. He lay down on his bed in the dark, still brooding over the mystery of the closed trunk.
Gradually he yielded to the influences of silence and darkness. After lying there quietly for some time, his mind became active again. But this time there were round him no disturbing influences; his brain was active and able to work freely and to deal with memory. A thousand forgotten—or only half-known—incidents, fragments of conversations or theories long ago guessed at and long forgotten, crowded on his mind. He seemed to hear again around him the legions of whirring wings to which he had been so lately accustomed. Even to himself he knew that that was an effort of imagination founded on imperfect memory. But he was content that imagination should work, for out of it might come some solution of the mystery which surrounded him. And in this frame of mind, sleep made another and more successful essay. This time he enjoyed peaceful slumber9, restful alike to his wearied body and his overwrought brain.
In his sleep he arose, and, as if in obedience10 to some influence beyond and greater than himself, lifted the great trunk and set it on a strong table at one side of the room, from which he had previously11 removed a quantity of books. To do this, he had to use an amount of strength which was, he knew, far beyond him in his normal state. As it was, it seemed easy enough; everything yielded before his touch. Then he became conscious that somehow—how, he never could remember—the chest was open. He unlocked his door, and, taking the chest on his shoulder, carried it up to the turret-room, the door of which also he unlocked. Even at the time he was amazed at his own strength, and wondered whence it had come. His mind, lost in conjecture12, was too far off to realise more immediate13 things. He knew that the chest was enormously heavy. He seemed, in a sort of vision which lit up the absolute blackness around, to see the two sturdy servant men staggering under its great weight. He locked himself again in the turret-room, and laid the opened chest on a table, and in the darkness began to unpack14 it, laying out the contents, which were mainly of metal and glass—great pieces in strange forms—on another table. He was conscious of being still asleep, and of acting15 rather in obedience to some unseen and unknown command than in accordance with any reasonable plan, to be followed by results which he understood. This phase completed, he proceeded to arrange in order the component16 parts of some large instruments, formed mostly of glass. His fingers seemed to have acquired a new and exquisite17 subtlety18 and even a volition19 of their own. Then weariness of brain came upon him; his head sank down on his breast, and little by little everything became wrapped in gloom.
He awoke in the early morning in his bedroom, and looked around him, now clear-headed, in amazement20. In its usual place on the strong table stood the great steel-hooped chest without lock or key. But it was now locked. He arose quietly and stole to the turret-room. There everything was as it had been on the previous evening. He looked out of the window where high in air flew, as usual, the giant kite. He unlocked the wicket gate of the turret stair and went out on the roof. Close to him was the great coil of cord on its reel. It was humming in the morning breeze, and when he touched the string it sent a quick thrill through hand and arm. There was no sign anywhere that there had been any disturbance or displacement21 of anything during the night.
Utterly22 bewildered, he sat down in his room to think. Now for the first time he felt that he was asleep and dreaming. Presently he fell asleep again, and slept for a long time. He awoke hungry and made a hearty23 meal. Then towards evening, having locked himself in, he fell asleep again. When he woke he was in darkness, and was quite at sea as to his whereabouts. He began feeling about the dark room, and was recalled to the consequences of his position by the breaking of a large piece of glass. Having obtained a light, he discovered this to be a glass wheel, part of an elaborate piece of mechanism24 which he must in his sleep have taken from the chest, which was now opened. He had once again opened it whilst asleep, but he had no recollection of the circumstances.
Caswall came to the conclusion that there had been some sort of dual7 action of his mind, which might lead to some catastrophe25 or some discovery of his secret plans; so he resolved to forgo8 for a while the pleasure of making discoveries regarding the chest. To this end, he applied26 himself to quite another matter—an investigation27 of the other treasures and rare objects in his collections. He went amongst them in simple, idle curiosity, his main object being to discover some strange item which he might use for experiment with the kite. He had already resolved to try some runners other than those made of paper. He had a vague idea that with such a force as the great kite straining at its leash28, this might be used to lift to the altitude of the kite itself heavier articles. His first experiment with articles of little but increasing weight was eminently29 successful. So he added by degrees more and more weight, until he found out that the lifting power of the kite was considerable. He then determined30 to take a step further, and send to the kite some of the articles which lay in the steel-hooped chest. The last time he had opened it in sleep, it had not been shut again, and he had inserted a wedge so that he could open it at will. He made examination of the contents, but came to the conclusion that the glass objects were unsuitable. They were too light for testing weight, and they were so frail31 as to be dangerous to send to such a height.
So he looked around for something more solid with which to experiment. His eye caught sight of an object which at once attracted him. This was a small copy of one of the ancient Egyptian gods—that of Bes, who represented the destructive power of nature. It was so bizarre and mysterious as to commend itself to his mad humour. In lifting it from the cabinet, he was struck by its great weight in proportion to its size. He made accurate examination of it by the aid of some instruments, and came to the conclusion that it was carved from a lump of lodestone. He remembered that he had read somewhere of an ancient Egyptian god cut from a similar substance, and, thinking it over, he came to the conclusion that he must have read it in Sir Thomas Brown’s Popular Errors, a book of the seventeenth century. He got the book from the library, and looked out the passage:
“A great example we have from the observation of our learned friend Mr. Graves, in an AEgyptian idol32 cut out of Loadstone and found among the Mummies; which still retains its attraction, though probably taken out of the mine about two thousand years ago.”
The strangeness of the figure, and its being so close akin2 to his own nature, attracted him. He made from thin wood a large circular runner, and in front of it placed the weighty god, sending it up to the flying kite along the throbbing33 cord.
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1
turret
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| n.塔楼，角塔 | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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distrait
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| adj.心不在焉的 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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dual
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| adj.双的；二重的，二元的 | |
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forgo
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| v.放弃，抛弃 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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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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unpack
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| vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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component
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| n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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volition
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| n.意志；决意 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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displacement
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| n.移置，取代，位移，排水量 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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leash
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| n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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