I wondered what was bringing the ladala into Lora, and where they were vanishing. All of them were flower-crowned with the luminous4, lovely blooms — old and young, slender, mocking-eyed girls, dwarfed5 youths, mothers with their babes, gnomed oldsters — on they poured, silent for the most part and sullen7 — a sullenness8 that held acid bitterness even as their subtle, half-sinister, half-gay malice9 seemed tempered into little keen-edged flames, oddly, menacingly defiant10.
There were many of the green-clad soldiers along the way, and the garrison11 of the only bridge span I could see had certainly been doubled.
Wondering still, I turned from my point of observation and made my way back to our pavilion, hoping that Larry, who had been with Yolara for the past two hours, had returned. Hardly had I reached it before Rador came hurrying up, in his manner a curious exultance mingled12 with what in anyone else I would have called a decided13 nervousness.
“Come!” he commanded before I could speak. “The Council has made decision — and Larree is awaiting you.”
“What has been decided?” I panted as we sped along the mosaic14 path that led to the house of Yolara. “And why is Larry awaiting me?”
And at his answer I felt my heart pause in its beat and through me race a wave of mingled panic and eagerness.
“The Shining One dances!” had answered the green dwarf6. “And you are to worship!”
What was this dancing of the Shining One, of which so often he had spoken?
Whatever my forebodings, Larry evidently had none.
“Great stuff!” he cried, when we had met in the great antechamber now empty of the dwarfs16. “Hope it will be worth seeing — have to be something damned good, though, to catch me, after what I’ve seen of shows at the front,” he added.
And remembering, with a little shock of apprehension17, that he had no knowledge of the Dweller18 beyond my poor description of it — for there are no words actually to describe what that miracle of interwoven glory and horror was — I wondered what Larry O’Keefe would say and do when he did behold19 it!
Rador began to show impatience20.
“Come!” he urged. “There is much to be done — and the time grows short!”
He led us to a tiny fountain room in whose miniature pool the white waters were concentrated, pearl-like and opalescent21 in their circling rim22.
“Bathe!” he commanded; and set the example by stripping himself and plunging23 within. Only a minute or two did the green dwarf allow us, and he checked us as we were about to don our clothing.
Then, to my intense embarrassment24, without warning, two of the black-haired girls entered, bearing robes of a peculiar25 dull-blue hue26. At our manifest discomfort27 Rador’s laughter roared out. He took the garments from the pair, motioned them to leave us, and, still laughing, threw one around me. Its texture28 was soft, but decidedly metallic29 — like some blue metal spun30 to the fineness of a spider’s thread. The garment buckled31 tightly at the throat, was girdled at the waist, and, below this cincture, fell to the floor, its folds being held together by a half-dozen looped cords; from the shoulders a hood32 resembling a monk’s cowl.
Rador cast this over my head; it completely covered my face, but was of so transparent33 a texture that I could see, though somewhat mistily34, through it. Finally he handed us both a pair of long gloves of the same material and high stockings, the feet of which were gloved — five-toed.
And again his laughter rang out at our manifest surprise.
“The priestess of the Shining One does not altogether trust the Shining One’s Voice,” he said at last. “And these are to guard against any sudden — errors. And fear not, Goodwin,” he went on kindly35. “Not for the Shining One itself would Yolara see harm come to Larree here — nor, because of him, to you. But I would not stake much on the great white one. And for him I am sorry, for him I do like well.”
“Is he to be with us?” asked Larry eagerly.
“He is to be where we go,” replied the dwarf soberly.
Grimly Larry reached down and drew from his uniform his automatic. He popped a fresh clip into the pocket fold of his girdle. The pistol he slung36 high up beneath his arm-pit.
The green dwarf looked at the weapon curiously37. O’Keefe tapped it.
“This,” said Larry, “slays quicker than the Keth — I take it so no harm shall come to the blue-eyed one whose name is Olaf. If I should raise it — be you not in its way, Rador!” he added significantly.
The dwarf nodded again, his eyes sparkling. He thrust a hand out to both of us.
“A change comes,” he said. “What it is I know not, nor how it will fall. But this remember — Rador is more friend to you than you yet can know. And now let us go!” he ended abruptly38.
He led us, not through the entrance, but into a sloping passage ending in a blind wall; touched a symbol graven there, and it opened, precisely39 as had the rosy40 barrier of the Moon Pool Chamber15. And, just as there, but far smaller, was a passage end, a low curved wall facing a shaft41 not black as had been that abode42 of living darkness, but faintly luminescent. Rador leaned over the wall. The mechanism43 clicked and started; the door swung shut; the sides of the car slipped into place, and we swept swiftly down the passage; overhead the wind whistled. In a few moments the moving platform began to slow down. It stopped in a closed chamber no larger than itself.
Rador drew his poniard and struck twice upon the wall with its hilt. Immediately a panel moved away, revealing a space filled with faint, misty44 blue radiance. And at each side of the open portal stood four of the dwarfish45 men, grey-headed, old, clad in flowing garments of white, each pointing toward us a short silver rod.
Rador drew from his girdle a ring and held it out to the first dwarf. He examined it, handed it to the one beside him, and not until each had inspected the ring did they lower their curious weapons; containers of that terrific energy they called the Keth, I thought; and later was to know that I had been right.
We stepped out; the doors closed behind us. The place was weird46 enough. Its pave was a greenish-blue stone resembling lapis lazuli. On each side were high pedestals holding carved figures of the same material. There were perhaps a score of these, but in the mistiness47 I could not make out their outlines. A droning, rushing roar beat upon our ears; filled the whole cavern48.
“I smell the sea,” said Larry suddenly.
The roaring became deep-toned, clamorous49, and close in front of us a rift2 opened. Twenty feet in width, it cut the cavern floor and vanished into the blue mist on each side. The cleft50 was spanned by one solid slab51 of rock not more than two yards wide. It had neither railing nor other protection.
The four leading priests marched out upon it one by one, and we followed. In the middle of the span they knelt. Ten feet beneath us was a torrent52 of blue sea-water racing53 with prodigious54 speed between polished walls. It gave the impression of vast depth. It roared as it sped by, and far to the right was a low arch through which it disappeared. It was so swift that its surface shone like polished blue steel, and from it came the blessed, OUR WORLDLY, familiar ocean breath that strengthened my soul amazingly and made me realize how earth-sick I was.
Whence came the stream, I marvelled55, forgetting for the moment, as we passed on again, all else. Were we closer to the surface of earth than I had thought, or was this some mighty56 flood falling through an opening in sea floor, Heaven alone knew how many miles above us, losing itself in deeper abysses beyond these? How near and how far this was from the truth I was to learn — and never did truth come to man in more dreadful guise57!
The roaring fell away, the blue haze58 lessened59. In front of us stretched a wide flight of steps, huge as those which had led us into the courtyard of Nan–Tauach through the ruined sea-gate. We scaled it; it narrowed; from above light poured through a still narrower opening. Side by side Larry and I passed out of it.
We had emerged upon an enormous platform of what seemed to be glistening60 ivory. It stretched before us for a hundred yards or more and then shelved gently into the white waters. Opposite — not a mile away — was that prodigious web of woven rainbows Rador had called the Veil of the Shining One. There it shone in all its unearthly grandeur61, on each side of the Cyclopean pillars, as though a mountain should stretch up arms raising between them a fairy banner of auroral62 glories. Beneath it was the curved, scimitar sweep of the pier63 with its clustered, gleaming temples.
Before that brief, fascinated glance was done, there dropped upon my soul a sensation as of brooding weight intolerable; a spiritual oppression as though some vastness was falling, pressing, stifling64 me, I turned — and Larry caught me as I reeled.
“Steady! Steady, old man!” he whispered.
At first all that my staggering consciousness could realize was an immensity, an immeasurable uprearing that brought with it the same throat-gripping vertigo65 as comes from gazing downward from some great height — then a blur66 of white faces — intolerable shinings of hundreds upon thousands of eyes. Huge, incredibly huge, a colossal67 amphitheatre of jet, a stupendous semi-circle, held within its mighty arc the ivory platform on which I stood.
It reared itself almost perpendicularly68 hundreds of feet up into the sparkling heavens, and thrust down on each side its ebon bulwarks69 — like monstrous70 paws. Now, the giddiness from its sheer greatness passing, I saw that it was indeed an amphitheatre sloping slightly backward tier after tier, and that the white blur of faces against its blackness, the gleaming of countless71 eyes were those of myriads72 of the people who sat silent, flower-garlanded, their gaze focused upon the rainbow curtain and sweeping73 over me like a torrent — tangible74, appalling75!
Five hundred feet beyond, the smooth, high retaining wall of the amphitheatre raised itself — above it the first terrace of the seats, and above this, dividing the tiers for another half a thousand feet upward, set within them like a panel, was a dead-black surface in which shone faintly with a bluish radiance a gigantic disk; above it and around it a cluster of innumerable smaller ones.
On each side of me, bordering the platform, were scores of small pillared alcoves76, a low wall stretching across their fronts; delicate, fretted77 grills78 shielding them, save where in each lattice an opening stared — it came to me that they were like those stalls in ancient Gothic cathedrals wherein for centuries had kneeled paladins and people of my own race on earth’s fair face. And within these alcoves were gathered, score upon score, the elfin beauties, the dwarfish men of the fair-haired folk. At my right, a few feet from the opening through which we had come, a passageway led back between the fretted stalls. Half-way between us and the massive base of the amphitheatre a dais rose. Up the platform to it a wide ramp79 ascended80; and on ramp and dais and along the centre of the gleaming platform down to where it kissed the white waters, a broad ribbon of the radiant flowers lay like a fairy carpet.
On one side of this dais, meshed81 in a silken web that hid no line or curve of her sweet body, white flesh gleaming through its folds, stood Yolara; and opposite her, crowned with a circlet of flashing blue stones, his mighty body stark82 bare, was Lugur!
O’Keefe drew a long breath; Rador touched my arm and, still dazed, I let myself be drawn83 into the aisle84 and through a corridor that ran behind the alcoves. At the back of one of these the green dwarf paused, opened a door, and motioned us within.
Entering, I found that we were exactly opposite where the ramp ran up to the dais — and that Yolara was not more than fifty feet away. She glanced at O’Keefe and smiled. Her eyes were ablaze85 with little dancing points of light; her body seemed to palpitate, the rounded delicate muscles beneath the translucent86 skin to run with joyful87 little eager waves!
Larry whistled softly.
“There’s Marakinoff!” he said.
I looked where he pointed88. Opposite us sat the Russian, clothed as we were, leaning forward, his eyes eager behind his glasses; but if he saw us he gave no sign.
“And there’s Olaf!” said O’Keefe.
Beneath the carved stall in which sat the Russian was an aperture89 and within it was Huldricksson. Unprotected by pillars or by grills, opening clear upon the platform, near him stretched the trail of flowers up to the great dais which Lugur and Yolara the priestess guarded. He sat alone, and my heart went out to him.
O’Keefe’s face softened90.
“Bring him here,” he said to Rador.
The green dwarf was looking at the Norseman, too, a shade of pity upon his mocking face. He shook his head.
“Wait!” he said. “You can do nothing now — and it may be there will be no need to do anything,” he added; but I could feel that there was little of conviction in his words.
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1
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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rift
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| n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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dwarfed
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| vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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sullenness
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| n. 愠怒, 沉闷, 情绪消沉 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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12
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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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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mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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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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dwarfs
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| n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式） | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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dweller
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| n.居住者，住客 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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opalescent
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| adj.乳色的，乳白的 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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mistily
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| adv.有雾地，朦胧地，不清楚地 | |
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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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slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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dwarfish
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| a.像侏儒的，矮小的 | |
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46
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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mistiness
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| n.雾，模糊，不清楚 | |
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cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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49
clamorous
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| adj.吵闹的，喧哗的 | |
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50
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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52
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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53
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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auroral
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| adj.曙光的；玫瑰色的 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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vertigo
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| n.眩晕 | |
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blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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perpendicularly
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| adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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71
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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73
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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76
alcoves
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| n.凹室( alcove的名词复数 )；（花园）凉亭；僻静处；壁龛 | |
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fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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grills
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| n.烤架( grill的名词复数 )；（一盘）烤肉；格板；烧烤餐馆v.烧烤( grill的第三人称单数 )；拷问，盘问 | |
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79
ramp
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| n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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meshed
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| 有孔的，有孔眼的，啮合的 | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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ablaze
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| adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的 | |
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translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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