The little band of Americans seemed all to agree with him, for it was with fitting gravity that they turned their eyes upon the leader of the Commission—all except Aunt Lucy, whose wondering gaze was full upon little David, resplendent in his new costume. David’s outer robe was orange and white, and his inner garb1 brilliant green. An orange turban was twisted around his bald head and orange hose covered his stubby legs. This gorgeousness was due to a whim2 of the doctor, and it appeared to be eminently3 satisfactory to David. A native barber had trimmed and curled his straggling beard and the Jew had been{173} scrubbed and scented4 so thoroughly5 that he had a fresh and wholesome6 look which was in strong contrast to his former unkempt condition.
“If he is to be our emissary and interpreter,” the doctor had said, “he must be made worthy7 of the great Commission, and in this barbarous country color is everything.”
David was now present at the council, seated between the Colonel and the doctor.
“In the first place,” resumed the leader, “we must acknowledge that we are virtually prisoners in this town, possessing no means in the way of animals or attendants of getting away. David has talked with the servants in this house and has discovered that we are guests of his Highness the Khan, who has ordered us supplied with every comfort that can be procured9. Why the khan has taken an interest in our affairs—we being entire strangers to him—is a deep mystery. Unless he feels that he owes us some compensation for having driven Kasam out of Mekran.”
“Did he drive Kasam out?” asked Bessie.
“I understand from David that there is room for but one on the throne, and Ahmed Khan naturally prefers to sit there himself. So our friend Kasam made tracks and left us to shift for ourselves. All of the tribe of Raab, a powerful clan10 in Baluchistan, have deserted11 Ahmed and joined Kasam, who is in open revolt.”
“Why, I’m inclined to think, from the gossip David has picked up, that Kasam’s cause is a forlorn one, and that he’s not particularly safe himself. Ahmed Khan may wake up some day and poke13 him with a sharp stick. Moreover, there’s no disguising the fact that when our guide left Mekran and set up in business for himself he deliberately14 robbed us of the beasts we had bought and paid for with our own money, besides carrying off our Afghans, whose pay was fortunately in arrears15. The Prince couldn’t well have treated us with less consideration,and in strong contrast with his actions Ahmed Khan has come to the front like a man and taken care of us. Let’s pin our faith to Ahmed Khan.”
“That’s the point. That is, it’s one point. We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that we came here to get a right of way for the railroad. The first concession17 to get from the Khan is the right of way. The means to journey back to the railway at Quettah is the second consideration, although no less important. These things being accomplished18, we will have performed our duty to the Syndicate and to ourselves.”
“When will they be accomplished?” enquired Aunt Lucy, in brisk, matter-of-fact tones.
“Ahem! That I cannot say, to a day, my dear Mrs. Higgins. The fact is, I’ve sent David twice to the Khan, with demands in writing for an interview. But David can’t get within a mile of the Khan, notwithstanding his impressive costume—which cost eight fillibees, native money.”
“The Khan,” added the doctor musingly19, “is quite an exclusive personage. His Highness’ guards have threatened to tattoo20 our dear David unless he ceases to bother them.”
“Then what is to be done?” asked Janet, who had displayed a lively interest in her father’s discourse24.
The Colonel shook his head, rather despondently25.
“What do you suggest, David?” asked the doctor.
David had been earnestly regarding the cabinet in which his gold was stored. Now, however, being addressed, he reluctantly withdrew his eyes from the vicinity of his treasure, heaved a deep sigh as if awakening26 from a happy dream, and said:
“Vy nod try de vizier?”
“What vizier?”
“De grant vizier, Agahr. He iss de biggest man here ven der Khan he iss somevhere else.”
“That seems a practical hint,” said the Colonel. “I’ll write a new letter, addressed to the vizier.”
David turned uneasily in his seat.
“Letters, most Excellency, iss a bad vay. Noboddy takes letters to Agahr de vizier. Dey go talk mit Agahr.”
“Will he see people?”
“Vy nod? He iss vizier.”
“Then one of us had best go and interview him, and take David along for interpreter,” decided27 the Colonel promptly28.
“He speaks such lovely English!” added Aunt Lucy, with a toss of her head.
“The vizier won’t hear his English,” said the doctor, “and I suspect David’s native dialect is somewhat clearer and more comprehensive. Otherwise he’d have been murdered long ago. Now then, who’ll tackle the vizier?”
“I’ll go,” replied Allison, to the surprise of all. “I’m tired of hanging around doing nothing, and this mission promises a bit of excitement.”
“Very good,” said his father, pleased at the remark. “Be firm with him, Allison. Insist upon his securing an interview for me with the Khan, and also tell the vizier we want a caravan to take us to Quettah. Let him understand we have plenty of money to pay for what we require.”
“I’ll do the best I can,” said Allison. “Come, David.”
..........
Agahr had just awakened29 from his afternoon siesta30 and was sitting with Maie in a cool, darkened room. Both the vizier and his daughter were in a happy mood.
“There has been a more agreeable atmosphere at the palace since the Persian physician went away,” said the old man. “The fellow had a suspicious manner of looking at me, as if he knew all my secret thoughts and intended to betray them.”
“I hate the man!” exclaimed Maie, with a shiver of her rounded shoulders.
“And I,” answered Agahr. “But he is gone. Let us hope he will never return.”
“Yet the Khan liked him?” said the girl, enquiringly.
“They were old friends, although their ages differ so widely; and there is a secret between them, of some sort. The physician, who dominated everyone else, was very gentle with Ahmed.”
“That was his cunning,” declared Maie. “It is not wise to attempt to rule Ahmed Khan.” She broke off suddenly, and nestling closer to Agahr upon the divan31 she asked, in soft accents: “Do you think he is attracted toward me, my father?”
“He has eyes for no one else when you are by,” returned the vizier, fondly caressing32 the girl’s hand. “But that is not strange, my Maie. You are more beautiful than the houris of Paradise.”
She sighed, very gently, as if the tribute was sweet.
“And how does Ahmed Khan spend his days?” she enquired. “Do the dancing girls still amuse him?”
“He has sent all the dancing girls away,” was the reply, “and every inmate33 of Burah’s harem, both young and old, has been conveyed by Melka to the Castle of Ugg, far away in the South country.”
“I wonder why?” said the girl, thoughtfully. “Perhaps, having been a priest so long, he does not care for women.”
Agahr smiled.
“Then why is he improving and beautifying the harem? he asked.
“Is he?” she cried, starting up.
“The apartments of the women were turned over to an army of workmen a week ago. In another week the harem will be beautiful beyond compare. And the gardens and Court of the Maidens34 are being made magnificent with rare plants and exquisite35 flowers. That is not an indication, my beauty, that the Khan does not care for women.”
“True,” she returned, and sat as if lost in thought. Then she asked:
“None,” answered the vizier, without hesitation37. “It was only this morning he spoke38 to me of you, asking how many summers you had seen and saying you were rarely beautiful.”
She smiled contentedly39.
“How wise we were, oh my father, to abandon the cause of the Pretender and ally ourselves with Ahmed Khan.”
“Kasam is too weak and unreliable to become a leader of men,” returned the vizier, calmly.
“Yet for years—while Burah Khan grew aged—I imagined I should become the queen of Kasam’s harem, and plotted shrewdly to place him upon the throne. Is it not amusing, my father, to remember that I learned to speak the awkward English tongue, just because Kasam had lived in England and spoke that language?”
“It was time wasted,” said the vizier. “But that reminds me that those American travellers are still in Mekran. I wonder why the Khan is keeping them.”
Maie started.
“Are there not women among them?” she asked.
“Two or three of the party are women.”
“Are they beautiful?”
Agahr laughed, and pinched her cheek.
“There are no beautiful women but ours,” he returned, “and of them you are the queen, my Maie! However, jealous one, the Khan has never looked upon these foreign women, nor does he care to.”
“Then why does he keep the Americans here? Will he permit them to build their railway?”
“Indeed, no,” said the vizier. “He agrees with me that a railway would ruin our country. But why he will neither see the Americans nor permit them to depart from Mekran is really a mystery.”
“Ah, I must discover it!” the girl exclaimed, earnestly. “When a thing is not understood it is dangerous. And it is well to beware of all women, even though they be foreigners and ugly of form and feature. I can manage any man who lives, my father, be he khan or vizier,” with a smile into his face; “but even the far-seeing Prophet failed to understand my sex aright.”
“I have put a spy in the household of the Americans,” said Agahr.
“Whom?”
“David the Jew.”
“David is clever,” said Maie, thoughtfully. “But will he be faithful? Gold is his only master.”
“I have promised, if David is faithful, to purchase from him those wonderful African pearls—at his own price. That will make him rich, and the pearls will be your bridal gift, my daughter.”
She clasped her hands, ecstatically.
“And the great diamond that David brought from Algiers? What of that?”
“The Khan himself has purchased it, by my advice.”
“Then it shall be mine!” she whispered. “You have done well, my father. How long has David been with the Americans?”
“Three days. I expect him here, presently, for the foreigners begin to grow impatient of restraint, and I have told David to let me quiet them with promises.”
“Question the Jew closely when he comes, concerning the Americans. I must know more of them, and we must watch them closely.”
The vizier arose, arranged his robe, and with slow steps left the room to cross a passage that admitted him to the apartment wherein he was wont40 to receive visitors on affairs of state. The fringe of the drapery caught as he threw it back, and hung partially41 open behind him; but neither he nor Maie, who still reclined upon her divan, noted42 this.
Scarcely was Agahr seated in his great velvet-lined chair of state when a slave entered to announce the arrival of David and the young American, who desired an audience.
The vizier hesitated, in deep thought, mindful of Maie’s injunctions. Finally he said to the slave:
“Admit David the Jew to my presence; but tell him the American must wait in the outer chamber43 until he is summoned.”
So presently little David entered the room, drawing the draperies closely behind him and then turning to bow cringingly before the vizier.
Allison waited impatiently. Why should Agahr wish to speak with David in secret? It looked decidedly suspicious, thought the young man, and after a few moments he arose and glanced down the passage. He seemed to be entirely44 alone, and the heavy rugs would deaden any sound of footsteps.
Stealthily he made his way down the passage toward the crimson45 draperies that had fallen behind David’s pudgy form. On his way he passed an entrance on the opposite side, to which the curtain hung half open, displaying the dim interior of the room. And then he paused as if fascinated, his eyes fixed46 upon the most exquisite picture he had ever beheld47.
Maie lay carelessly stretched upon the divan, her robe thrown back, her arms crossed behind her head and the outlines of her rounded limbs showing daintily through the folds of soft mulle that enveloped48 them. Her eyes, languid and dark, gazed full into those of the intruder, and as she noted his enraptured49 face she smiled in a way that instantly robbed Allison of all caution or even a realization50 of his delicate position in this household. In two strides he was by her side, kneeling at the divan and clasping the unresisting hands of the girl in both his own.
“Oh, my darling!” he whispered, looking deep into the lustrous51 eyes, “how very, very beautiful you are!”
Such sincere tribute was beyond Maie’s power to resist. The little head might be{186} full of ambitions, schemes and intrigues52, yet there was room for a vivid appreciation53 of man’s adoration54, and this abrupt55 method of wooing was sure to appeal to her Eastern imagination. She sighed, forgetful of all save the handsome face bent56 over her, and only the sound of her father’s stern voice coming from the opposite chamber had power to recall her to the present.
“You must go, my American,” she said, in clear English, “or you will be discovered.”
“Ah, you speak my language?” said Allison, in delight; “then you will understand me, sweet one, when I tell you how lovely you are—how passionately57 I adore you!”
He clasped his arms around her and drew her so close that her bosom58 rested against his own. The red lips were nearer now—so near that he kissed them again and again, in a very abandon of ecstatic joy.
“They will find you,” said Maie, softly. “And they will kill you.”
“What does it matter?” he rejoined, recklessly. “One moment such as this is worth a hundred deaths!”{187}
With a sudden movement she freed herself from his embrace and sat up, facing him.
“Take this key,” she whispered, drawing it from her bosom, where it was secured by a silken thread. “It unlocks the Gate of the Griffins, at the end of our garden. Meet me there tonight—an hour before midnight—and take care you are seen by no prying59 eye. And now, go—and go quickly!”
She broke the thread and handed him a tiny silver key, which he thrust into his pocket.
“One kiss, sweetheart,” he begged; “just one more to comfort me until—”
“Go, or all is lost,” she answered, almost fiercely, and seizing his arm she dragged him to another doorway60 and thrust him from the room with a force her slender form did not seem to warrant.
It was time. Allison heard footsteps and voices, and staggering through an ante-room he barely had time to reach the outer chamber and throw himself into a chair when David and a slave entered.
“Hiss goot Excellency, de vizier, vill see you,” said David, looking with open surprise into Allison’s flushed and excited face.
“I must have fallen asleep, David,” said the American, reaching out his arms as if to stretch them, “for I dreamed I was in Paradise, and you were imploring61 the Prophet to pardon my sins.”
David grinned, and turned to lead him to the vizier. But the Jew’s keen eyes had made a hasty survey of the room, and noted a curtain swaying gently where no breeze could ever have reached it.
《The Tin Woodman of Oz》
《The Tin Woodman of Oz》
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1
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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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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musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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tattoo
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| n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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concurring
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| 同时发生的，并发的 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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despondently
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| adv.沮丧地，意志消沉地 | |
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awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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siesta
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| n.午睡 | |
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divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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inmate
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| n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人 | |
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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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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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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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contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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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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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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46
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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47
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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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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51
lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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52
intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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53
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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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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prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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