A VOICE FROM THE PIT

"Signor, we are arrived," whispered the old man in my ear; and he put out a sudden cold hand, corded like melon rind, to stay me in the stumbling darkness.

 

We were on a tilted¹ table-land of the mountain; and, looking forth² and below, the far indigo³ crescent of the bay, where it swept towards Castellamare, seemed to rise up at me, as if it were a perpendicular⁴ wall, across which the white crests⁵ of the waves flew like ghost moths⁶.

 

We skirted a boulder⁷, and came upon a field of sleek⁸ purple lava⁹ sown all over with little lemon jets of silent smoke, which in their wan¹⁰ and melancholy¹¹ glow might have been the corpse¹² lights of those innumerable dead whose tombstone was the mountain itself.

 

Far away to the right the great projecting socket¹³ of the crater¹⁴ flickered¹⁵ intermittently¹⁶ with a nerve of fire. It was like the glinting of the watchful¹⁷ eye of some vast Crustacean¹⁸, and in that harsh and stupendous desolation seemed the final crown and expression of utter inhumanity.

 

I started upon hearing the low whisper of my companion at my ear.

 

"In the bay yesterday the Signor saved my life. I give the Signor, in return, my life's secret."

 

He seized my right hand in his left with a sinewy¹⁹ clutch, and pointed²⁰ a stiff finger at the luminous²¹ blots²².

 

"See there, and there, and there," he shrilled²³. "One floats and wavers like a spineless ribbon of seaweed in the water; another burns with a steady radiance; a third blares from its fissure²⁵ like a flame driven by the blowpipe. It is all a question of the under-draught, and some may feel it a little, and some a little more or a little less. Ah! but I will show you one that feels it not at all—a hole, a narrow shaft²⁶ that goes straight down into the pit of the great hell, and is cold as the mouth of a barbel."

 

The bones of his face stood out like rocks against sand, and the pupils of his maniac²⁷ eyes were glazed²⁸ or fell into shadow as the volcano lightnings fluttered.

 

Suddenly he drew me to a broken pile of sulphur rock lying tumbled against a ridge²⁹ of the mountain that ran towards the crater. It lay heaped, a fused and fantastic ruin; and in a moment the old man leapt from me, and was tugging³⁰ by main strength a vast fragment from its place.

 

I leaned over his shoulder, and looked down upon the hollow revealed by the displaced boulder. It was like the bell of a mighty³¹ trumpet³², and in the middle a puckered³³ opening seemed to suck inwards, as it were the mouth of some subterranean³⁴ monster risen to the surface of the world for air.

 

"Quick! quick!" muttered Paolo. "The Signor must place his ear to the hole."

 

With a little odd stir at my heart, I dropped upon my knees and leaned my head deep into the cup. I must have stayed thus for a full minute before I drew myself back and looked up at the old mountaineer. His eyes gazed down into mine with mad intensity³⁵.

 

"Si! si!" he whispered. "What didst thou hear?"

 

"I heard a long surging thunder, Paolo, and the deep shrill²⁴ screaming of many gas jets."

 

He bent³⁶ down, with livid face.

 

"Signor, it is the booming of the everlasting³⁷ fire, and thou hast heard the voices of the damned."

 

"No, my friend, no. But it is a marvellous transmission of the uproar³⁸ of hidden forces."

 

He leapt to the shallow pit.

 

"Listen and believe!" he cried; and funnelling³⁹ his hands about his lips, he stooped over the central hole.

 

"Marco! Marco!" he screeched⁴⁰, in a piercing voice.

 

Something answered back. What was it? A malformed and twisted echo? A whistle of imprisoned⁴¹ steam tricked into some horrible caricature of a human voice?

 

"Paolo!" it seemed to wail⁴², weak and faint with agony. "L'arqua, l'arqua, Paolo!"

 

The old man sprang to his feet and, looking down upon me in a sort of terrible triumph, unslung a water-flask from his belt, and, pulling out the cork⁴³, poured the cold liquid down into the puckered orifice. Then I felt his clutch on my arm again.

 

"He drinks!" he cried. "Listen and thou wilt⁴⁴ understand."

 

I rose with a ghost of a laugh, and once more addressed my ear to the opening.

 

From unthinkable depths came up a strange, gloating sound, as from a ravenous⁴⁵ throat made vibrant⁴⁶ with ecstasy⁴⁷.

 

"Paolo," I cried, as I rose and stood before him—and there was an admonitory note in my voice—"a feather may decide the balance. Beware meddling⁴⁸ with hidden thunders, or thou mayst set rolling such another tombstone as that on which these corpse fires are yet flaming."

 

And he only answered me, set and deathly,—

 

"We of the mountains, Signor, know more things than we may tell of."

1 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 indigo   

n.靛青，靛蓝

参考例句：

• The sky was indigo blue,and a great many stars were shining.天空一片深蓝，闪烁着点点繁星。
• He slipped into an indigo tank.他滑落到蓝靛桶中。

4 perpendicular   

adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The two lines of bones are set perpendicular to one another.这两排骨头相互垂直。
• The wall is out of the perpendicular.这墙有些倾斜。

5 crests   

v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点

参考例句：

• The surfers were riding in towards the beach on the crests of the waves. 冲浪者们顺着浪头冲向岸边。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The correspondent aroused, heard the crash of the toppled crests. 记者醒了，他听见了浪头倒塌下来的轰隆轰隆声。 来自辞典例句

6 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

8 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

9 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

10 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

11 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

12 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

13 socket   

n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口

参考例句：

• He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
• The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。

14 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

15 flickered   

（通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
• These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。

16 intermittently   

adv.间歇地；断断续续

参考例句：

• Winston could not intermittently remember why the pain was happening. 温斯顿只能断断续续地记得为什么这么痛。 来自英汉文学
• The resin moves intermittently down and out of the bed. 树脂周期地向下移动和移出床层。 来自辞典例句

17 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

18 crustacean   

n.甲壳动物；adj.甲壳纲的

参考例句：

• Seafood is a valuable lobster crustacean section.名贵海珍品龙虾属甲壳科。
• The illustrious Cuvier did not perceive that a barnacle was a crustacean.大名鼎鼎的居维叶也未看出藤壶是一种甲壳动物。

19 sinewy   

adj.多腱的，强壮有力的

参考例句：

• When muscles are exercised often and properly,they keep the arms firm and sinewy.如果能经常正确地锻炼肌肉的话，双臂就会一直结实而强健。
• His hard hands and sinewy sunburned limbs told of labor and endurance.他粗糙的双手，被太阳哂得发黑的健壮四肢,均表明他十分辛勤，非常耐劳。

20 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

21 luminous   

adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的

参考例句：

• There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
• Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。

22 blots   

污渍( blot的名词复数 )； 墨水渍； 错事； 污点

参考例句：

• The letter had many blots and blurs. 信上有许多墨水渍和污迹。
• It's all, all covered with blots the same as if she were crying on the paper. 到处，到处都是泪痕，像是她趴在信纸上哭过。 来自名作英译部分

23 shrilled   

（声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Behind him, the telephone shrilled. 在他身后，电话铃刺耳地响了起来。
• The phone shrilled, making her jump. 电话铃声刺耳地响起，惊得她跳了起来。

24 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

25 fissure   

n.裂缝；裂伤

参考例句：

• Though we all got out to examine the fissure,he remained in the car.我们纷纷下车察看那个大裂缝，他却呆在车上。
• Ground fissure is the main geological disaster in Xi'an city construction.地裂缝是西安市主要的工程地质灾害问题。

26 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

27 maniac   

n.精神癫狂的人；疯子

参考例句：

• Be careful!That man is driving like a maniac!注意！那个人开车像个疯子一样！
• You were acting like a maniac,and you threatened her with a bomb!你像一个疯子，你用炸弹恐吓她！

28 glazed   

adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神

参考例句：

• eyes glazed with boredom 厌倦无神的眼睛
• His eyes glazed over at the sight of her. 看到她时，他的目光就变得呆滞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

30 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句

31 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

32 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

33 puckered   

v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His face puckered , and he was ready to cry. 他的脸一皱，像要哭了。
• His face puckered, the tears leapt from his eyes. 他皱着脸，眼泪夺眶而出。 来自《简明英汉词典》

34 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

35 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

36 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

37 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

38 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

39 funnelling   

倾销( funnel的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Wind was funnelling through the gorge. 风吹过峡谷。
• This causes a funnelling from Asian currencies into dollars and euros. 这导致了一种从亚洲货币到美圆和欧元的漏斗效应。

40 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

41 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

42 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

43 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

44 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

45 ravenous   

adj.极饿的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• The ravenous children ate everything on the table.饿极了的孩子把桌上所有东西吃掉了。
• Most infants have a ravenous appetite.大多数婴儿胃口极好。

46 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

47 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

48 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句