Chapter XII The End of the Journey

“Say Doc!” It was Larry’s voice flung back at me. “I was thinking about that frog. I think it was her pet. Damn me if I see any difference between a frog and a snake, and one of the nicest women I ever knew had two pet pythons that followed her around like kittens. Not such a devilish lot of choice between a frog and a snake — except on the side of the frog? What? Anyway, any pet that girl wants is hers, I don’t care if it’s a leaping twelve-toed lobster¹ or a whale-bodied scorpion². Get me?”

By which I knew that our remarks upon the frog woman were still bothering O’Keefe.

“He thinks of foolish nothings like the foolish sailor!” grunted³ Marakinoff, acid contempt in his words. “What are their women to — this?” He swept out a hand and as though at a signal the car poised⁴ itself for an instant, then dipped, literally⁵ dipped down into sheer space; skimmed forward in what was clearly curved flight, rose as upon a sweeping⁶ upgrade and then began swiftly to slacken its fearful speed.

Far ahead a point of light showed; grew steadily⁷; we were within it — and softly all movement ceased. How acute had been the strain of our journey I did not realize until I tried to stand — and sank back, leg-muscles too shaky to bear my weight. The car rested in a slit⁸ in the centre of a smooth walled chamber⁹ perhaps twenty feet square. The wall facing us was pierced by a low doorway¹¹ through which we could see a flight of steps leading downward.

The light streamed through a small opening, the base of which was twice a tall man’s height from the floor. A curving flight of broad, low steps led up to it. And now it came to my steadying brain that there was something puzzling, peculiar¹², strangely unfamiliar¹³ about this light. It was silvery, shaded faintly with a delicate blue and flushed lightly with a nacreous rose; but a rose that differed from that of the terraces of the Pool Chamber as the rose within the opal differs from that within the pearl. In it were tiny, gleaming points like the motes¹⁴ in a sunbeam, but sparkling white like the dust of diamonds, and with a quality of vibrant¹⁵ vitality¹⁶; they were as though they were alive. The light cast no shadows!

A little breeze came through the oval and played about us. It was laden¹⁷ with what seemed the mingled¹⁸ breath of spice flowers and pines. It was curiously¹⁹ vivifying, and in it the diamonded atoms of light shook and danced.

I stepped out of the car, the Russian following, and began to ascend²⁰ the curved steps toward the opening, at the top of which O’Keefe and Olaf already stood. As they looked out I saw both their faces change — Olaf’s with awe²¹, O’Keefe’s with incredulous amaze. I hurried to their side.

At first all that I could see was space — a space filled with the same coruscating²² effulgence²³ that pulsed about me. I glanced upward, obeying that instinctive²⁴ impulse of earth folk that bids them seek within the sky for sources of light. There was no sky — at least no sky such as we know — all was a sparkling nebulosity rising into infinite distances as the azure²⁵ above the day-world seems to fill all the heavens — through it ran pulsing waves and flashing javelin²⁶ rays that were like shining shadows of the aurora²⁷; echoes, octaves lower, of those brilliant arpeggios and chords that play about the poles. My eyes fell beneath its splendour; I stared outward.

Miles away, gigantic luminous²⁸ cliffs sprang sheer from the limits of a lake whose waters were of milky²⁹ opalescence³⁰. It was from these cliffs that the spangled radiance came, shimmering³¹ out from all their lustrous³² surfaces. To left and to right, as far as the eye could see, they stretched — and they vanished in the auroral³³ nebulosity on high!

“Look at that!” exclaimed Larry. I followed his pointing finger. On the face of the shining wall, stretched between two colossal³⁴ columns, hung an incredible veil; prismatic, gleaming with all the colours of the spectrum³⁵. It was like a web of rainbows woven by the fingers of the daughters of the Jinn. In front of it and a little at each side was a semi-circular pier¹⁰, or, better, a plaza³⁶ of what appeared to be glistening³⁷, pale-yellow ivory. At each end of its half-circle clustered a few low-walled, rose-stone structures, each of them surmounted³⁸ by a number of high, slender pinnacles³⁹.

We looked at each other, I think, a bit helplessly — and back again through the opening. We were standing⁴⁰, as I have said, at its base. The wall in which it was set was at least ten feet thick, and so, of course, all that we could see of that which was without were the distances that revealed themselves above the outer ledge⁴¹ of the oval.

“Let’s take a look at what’s under us,” said Larry.

He crept out upon the ledge and peered down, the rest of us following. A hundred yards beneath us stretched gardens that must have been like those of many-columned Iram, which the ancient Addite King had built for his pleasure ages before the deluge⁴², and which Allah, so the Arab legend tells, took and hid from man, within the Sahara, beyond all hope of finding — jealous because they were more beautiful than his in paradise. Within them flowers and groves⁴³ of laced, fernlike trees, pillared pavilions nestled.

The trunks of the trees were of emerald, of vermilion, and of azure-blue, and the blossoms, whose fragrance⁴⁴ was borne to us, shone like jewels. The graceful⁴⁵ pillars were tinted⁴⁶ delicately. I noted⁴⁷ that the pavilions were double — in a way, two-storied — and that they were oddly splotched with circles, with squares, and with oblongs of — opacity⁴⁸; noted too that over many this opacity stretched like a roof; yet it did not seem material; rather was it — impenetrable shadow!

Down through this city of gardens ran a broad shining green thoroughfare, glistening like glass and spanned at regular intervals⁴⁹ with graceful, arched bridges. The road flashed to a wide square, where rose, from a base of that same silvery stone that formed the lip of the Moon Pool, a titanic⁵⁰ structure of seven terraces; and along it flitted objects that bore a curious resemblance to the shell of the Nautilus. Within them were — human figures! And upon tree-bordered promenades⁵¹ on each side walked others!

Far to the right we caught the glint of another emerald-paved road.

And between the two the gardens grew sweetly down to the hither side of that opalescent⁵² water across which were the radiant cliffs and the curtain of mystery.

Thus it was that we first saw the city of the Dweller⁵³; blessed and accursed as no place on earth, or under or above earth has ever been — or, that force willing which some call God, ever again shall be!

“Chert!” whispered Marakinoff. “Incredible!”

“Trolldom!” gasped⁵⁴ Olaf Huldricksson. “It is Trolldom!”

“Listen, Olaf!” said Larry. “Cut out that Trolldom stuff! There’s no Trolldom, or fairies, outside Ireland. Get that! And this isn’t Ireland. And, buck⁵⁵ up, Professor!” This to Marakinoff. “What you see down there are people — JUST PLAIN PEOPLE. And wherever there’s people is where I live. Get me?

“There’s no way in but in-and no way out but out,” said O’Keefe. “And there’s the stairway. Eggs are eggs no matter how they’re cooked — and people are just people, fellow travellers, no matter what dish they are in,” he concluded. “Come on!”

With the three of us close behind him, he marched toward the entrance.

1 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

2 scorpion   

n.蝎子，心黑的人，蝎子鞭

参考例句：

• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。
• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。

3 grunted   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

4 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

7 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

8 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

11 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

12 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

13 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

14 motes   

n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点

参考例句：

• In those warm beams the motes kept dancing up and down. 只见温暖的光芒里面，微细的灰尘在上下飞扬。 来自辞典例句
• So I decided to take lots of grammar motes in every class. 因此我决定每堂课多做些语法笔记。 来自互联网

15 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。

16 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

17 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

18 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

19 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

20 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

21 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

22 coruscating   

v.闪光，闪烁( coruscate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His helmet kept coruscating. 他的钢盔在闪闪发光。 来自辞典例句
• The barge chugs around an island, the morning sun now coruscating brilliantly off the water's surface. 游艇在海岛周围转了转，早晨的阳光照在水面上，波光粼粼。 来自互联网

23 effulgence   

n.光辉

参考例句：

• The effulgence of algorithm will shine the dark future brightly! 这句不知道翻译的好不好，我的原意是：算法之光辉将照亮黑暗前路！ 来自互联网

24 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。

25 azure   

adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的

参考例句：

• His eyes are azure.他的眼睛是天蓝色的。
• The sun shone out of a clear azure sky.清朗蔚蓝的天空中阳光明媚。

26 javelin   

n.标枪，投枪

参考例句：

• She achieved a throw of sixty metres in the javelin event.在掷标枪项目中，她掷了60米远。
• The coach taught us how to launch a javelin.教练教我们投标枪。

27 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

28 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。

29 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

30 opalescence   

n.乳白光，蛋白色光；乳光

参考例句：

• The sunset was making great splashes of fiery opalescence across the sky. 夕阳将大片天空染成色彩变幻的火红色。 来自辞典例句

31 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

32 lustrous   

adj.有光泽的；光辉的

参考例句：

• Mary has a head of thick,lustrous,wavy brown hair.玛丽有一头浓密、富有光泽的褐色鬈发。
• This mask definitely makes the skin fair and lustrous.这款面膜可以异常有用的使肌肤变亮和有光泽。

33 auroral   

adj.曙光的；玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• This high result was interpreted to reflect previous aurora activity.这一高结果可以用以前的极光活动来解释。
• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。

34 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

35 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

36 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

37 glistening   

adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》

38 surmounted   

战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上

参考例句：

• She was well aware of the difficulties that had to be surmounted. 她很清楚必须克服哪些困难。
• I think most of these obstacles can be surmounted. 我认为这些障碍大多数都是可以克服的。

39 pinnacles   

顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔

参考例句：

• What would be the pinnacles of your acting and music? 对你而言什麽代表你的演技和音乐的巅峰？
• On Skye's Trotternish Peninsula, basalt pinnacles loom over the Sound of Raasay. 在斯开岛的特洛登尼许半岛，玄武岩尖塔俯瞰着拉塞海峡。

40 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

41 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

42 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

43 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

44 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

45 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

46 tinted   

adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• a pair of glasses with tinted lenses 一副有色镜片眼镜
• a rose-tinted vision of the world 对世界的理想化看法

47 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

48 opacity   

n.不透明；难懂

参考例句：

• He insisted that the mineral content of the water determined the opacity.他坚持认为水的清澈程度取决于其中矿物质的含量。
• Opacity of the eye lens can be induced by deficiency of certain vitamins.眼球晶状体的混浊可由缺乏某些维生素造成。

49 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

50 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

51 promenades   

n.人行道( promenade的名词复数 )；散步场所；闲逛v.兜风( promenade的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He often promenades his wife along the Thames Embankment. 他常常带太太沿着泰晤士河堤防散步。 来自辞典例句
• Stoas lined marketplaces and sanctuaries and formed places of Business and public promenades. 柱廊围绕在市场和神庙的四周，是交易和公众散步的场所。 来自互联网

52 opalescent   

adj.乳色的，乳白的

参考例句：

• Her skin was flawless and seemed opalescent.她的皮肤洁白无瑕,好象乳色的。
• The east glowed opalescent.东方泛起乳白色。

53 dweller   

n.居住者，住客

参考例句：

• Both city and town dweller should pay tax.城镇居民都需要纳税。
• The city dweller never experiences anxieties of this sort.城市居民从未经历过这种担忧。

54 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

55 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。