Thus far the stranger's appalling1 story had progressed when that singular cloak in which hypnotically he had enwrapped me seemed to drop, and I found myself clutching the edge of the table and staring into the gray face of the speaker.
I became suddenly aware of the babel of voices about me, of the noisome2 smell of Malay Jack3's, and of the presence of Jack in person, who was inquiring if there were any further orders. I was conscious of nausea4.
“Excuse me,” I said, rising unsteadily, “but I fear the oppressive atmosphere is affecting me.”
“If you prefer to go out,” said my acquaintance, in that deep voice which throughout the dreadful story had rendered me oblivious5 of my surroundings, “I should be much favoured if you would accompany me to a spot not five hundred yards from here.”
Seeing me hesitate:
“I have a particular reason for asking,” he added.
“Very well,” I replied, inclining my head, “if you wish it. But certainly I must seek the fresh air.”
Going up the steps and out through the door above which the blue lantern burned, we came to the street, turned to the left, to the left again, and soon were threading that maze6 of narrow ways which complicates7 the map of Pennyfields.
I felt somewhat recovered. Here, in the narrow but familiar highways the spell of my singular acquaintance lost much of its potency8, and already I found myself doubting the story of Dr. Kreener and Tcheriapin. Indeed, I began to laugh at myself, conceiving that I had fallen into the hands of some comedian9 who was making sport of me; although why such a person should visit Malay Jack's was not apparent.
I was about to give expression to these new and saner10 ideas when my companion paused before a door half hidden in a little alley11 which divided the back of a Chinese restaurant from the tawdry-looking establishment of a cigar merchant. He apparently12 held the key, for although I did not actually hear the turning of the lock I saw that he had opened the door.
“May I request you to follow me?” came his deep voice out of the darkness. “I will show you something which will repay your trouble.”
Again the cloak touched me, but it was without entirely13 resigning myself to the compelling influence that I followed my mysterious acquaintance up an uncarpeted and nearly dark stair. On the landing above a gas lamp was burning, and opening a door immediately facing the stair the stranger conducted me into a barely furnished and untidy room.
The atmosphere smelled like that of a pot-house, the odours of stale spirits and of tobacco mingling14 unpleasantly. As my guide removed his hat and stood there, a square, gaunt figure in his queer, caped15 overcoat, I secured for the first time a view of his face in profile; and found it to be startlingly unfamiliar16. Seen thus, my acquaintance was another man. I realized that there was something unnatural17 about the long, white hair, the gray face; that the sharp outline of brow, nose, and chin was that of a much younger man than I had supposed him to be.
All this came to me in a momentary18 flash of perception, for immediately my attention was riveted19 upon a figure hunched20 up on a dilapidated sofa on the opposite side of the room. It was that of a big man, bearded and very heavily built, but whose face was scarred as by years of suffering, and whose eyes confirmed the story indicated by the smell of stale spirits with which the air of the room was laden21. A nearly empty bottle stood on a table at his elbow, a glass beside it, and a pipe lay in a saucer full of ashes near the glass.
As we entered, the glazed22 eyes of the man opened widely and he clutched at the table with big red hands, leaning forward and staring horribly.
Save for this derelict figure and some few dirty utensils23 and scattered24 garments which indicated that the apartment was used both as sleeping and living room, there was so little of interest in the place that automatically my wandering gaze strayed from the figure on the sofa to a large oil painting, unframed, which rested upon the mantelpiece above the dirty grate, in which the fire had become extinguished.
On the left of it, from a nail in the wall, hung a violin and bow, and on the right stood a sort of cylindrical27 glass case or closed jar, upon a wooden base.
From the moment that I perceived the contents of this glass case a sense of fantasy claimed me, and I ceased to know where reality ended and mirage28 began.
It contained a tiny and perfect figure of a man. He was arrayed in a beautifully fitting dress-suit such as a doll might have worn, and he was posed as if in the act of playing a violin, although no violin was present. At the elfin black hair and Mephistophelian face of this horrible, wonderful image, I stared fascinatedly.
All these impressions came to me in the space of a few hectic30 moments, when in upon my mental tumult31 intruded32 a husky whisper from the man on the sofa.
“Kreener!” he said. “Kreener!”
At the sound of that name, and because of the way in which it was pronounced, I felt my blood running cold. The speaker was staring straight at my companion.
I clutched at the open door. I felt that there was still some crowning horror to come. I wanted to escape from that reeking33 room, but my muscles refused to obey me, and there I stood while:
“Kreener!” repeated the husky voice, and I saw that the speaker was rising unsteadily to his feet.
“You have brought him again. Why have you brought him again? He will play. He will play me a step nearer to Hell.”
“Brace yourself, Colquhoun,” said the voice of my companion. “Brace yourself.”
“Take him awa'!” came in a sudden frenzied34 shriek35. “Take him awa'! He's there at your elbow, Kreener, mockin' me, and pointing to that damned violin.”
“Here!” said the stranger, a high note of command in his voice. “drop that! Sit down at once.”
Even as the other obeyed him, the cloaked stranger, stepping to the mantelpiece, opened a small box which lay there beside the glass case. He turned to me; and I tried to shrink away from him. For I knew—I knew—yet I loathed36 to look upon—what was in the box. Muffled37 as though reaching me through fog, I heard the words:
“A perfect human body...in miniature... every organ intact by means of... process... rendered indestructible. Tcheriapin as he was in life may be seen by the curious ten thousand years hence. Incomplete... one respect... here in this box...”
The spell was broken by a horrifying38 shriek from the man whom my companion had addressed as Colquhoun, and whom I could only suppose to be the painter of the celebrated39 picture which rested upon the mantelshelf.
“Take him awa', Kreener! He is reaching for the violin!”
Animation40 returned to me, and I fell rather than ran down the darkened stair. How I opened the street door I know not, but even as I stepped out into the squalid alleys41 of Pennyfields the cloaked figure was beside me. A hand was laid upon my shoulder.
“Listen!” commanded a deep voice.
Clearly, with an eerie42 sweetness, an evil, hellish beauty indescribable, the wailing43 of a Stradivarius violin crept to my ears from the room above. Slowly—slowly the music began, and my soul rose up in revolt.
“Listen!” repeated the voice. “Listen! It is 'The Black Mass'!”
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1
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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noisome
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| adj.有害的，可厌的 | |
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3
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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4
nausea
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| n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶) | |
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5
oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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6
maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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7
complicates
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| 使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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8
potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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9
comedian
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| n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员 | |
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10
saner
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| adj.心智健全的( sane的比较级 )；神志正常的；明智的；稳健的 | |
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11
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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12
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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13
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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15
caped
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| 披斗篷的 | |
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16
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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17
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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19
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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20
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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21
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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22
glazed
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| 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 | |
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23
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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24
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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25
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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26
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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27
cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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mirage
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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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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30
hectic
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| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
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31
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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32
intruded
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| n.侵入的，推进的v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 )；把…强加于 | |
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33
reeking
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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35
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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36
loathed
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
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37
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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38
horrifying
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| a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的 | |
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39
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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40
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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41
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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42
eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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43
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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