I cannot conceive that any ordinary mortal ever attained1 to anything like an intimacy2 with Dr. Fu-Manchu; I cannot believe that any man could ever grow used to his presence, could ever cease to fear him. I suppose I had set eyes upon Fu-Manchu some five or six times prior to this occasion, and now he was dressed in the manner which I always associated with him, probably because it was thus I first saw him. He wore a plain yellow robe, and, with his pointed3 chin resting upon his bosom4, he looked down at me, revealing a great expanse of the marvelous brow with its sparse5, neutral-colored hair.
Never in my experience have I known such force to dwell in the glance of any human eye as dwelt in that of this uncanny being. His singular affliction (if affliction it were), the film or slight membrane6 which sometimes obscured the oblique7 eyes, was particularly evident at the moment that I crossed the threshold, but now, as I looked up at Dr. Fu-Manchu, it lifted—revealing the eyes in all their emerald greenness.
The idea of physical attack upon this incredible being seemed childish—inadequate. But, following that first instant of stupefaction, I forced myself to advance upon him.
My return to consciousness was accompanied by tremendous pains in my head, whereby, from previous experience, I knew that a sandbag had been used against me by some one in the shop, presumably by the immobile shopman. This awakening11 was accompanied by none of those hazy12 doubts respecting previous events and present surroundings which are the usual symptoms of revival13 from sudden unconsciousness; even before I opened my eyes, before I had more than a partial command of my senses, I knew that, with my wrists handcuffed behind me, I lay in a room which was also occupied by Dr. Fu-Manchu. This absolute certainty of the Chinaman’s presence was evidenced, not by my senses, but only by an inner consciousness, and the same that always awoke into life at the approach not only of Fu-Manchu in person but of certain of his uncanny servants.
A faint perfume hung in the air about me; I do not mean that of any essence or of any incense14, but rather the smell which is suffused15 by Oriental furniture, by Oriental draperies; the indefinable but unmistakable perfume of the East.
Thus, London has a distinct smell of its own, and so has Paris, whilst the difference between Marseilles and Suez, for instance, is even more marked.
Now, the atmosphere surrounding me was Eastern, but not of the East that I knew; rather it was Far Eastern. Perhaps I do not make myself very clear, but to me there was a mysterious significance in that perfumed atmosphere. I opened my eyes.
I lay upon a long low settee, in a fairly large room which was furnished as I had anticipated in an absolutely Oriental fashion. The two windows were so screened as to have lost, from the interior point of view, all resemblance to European windows, and the whole structure of the room had been altered in conformity16, bearing out my idea that the place had been prepared for Fu-Manchu’s reception some time before his actual return. I doubt if, East or West, a duplicate of that singular apartment could be found.
The end in which I lay, was, as I have said, typical of an Eastern house, and a large, ornate lantern hung from the ceiling almost directly above me. The further end of the room was occupied by tall cases, some of them containing books, but the majority filled with scientific paraphernalia17; rows of flasks18 and jars, frames of test-tubes, retorts, scales, and other objects of the laboratory. At a large and very finely carved table sat Dr. Fu-Manchu, a yellow and faded volume open before him, and some dark red fluid, almost like blood, bubbling in a test-tube which he held over the flame of a Bunsen-burner.
The enormously long nail of his right index finger rested upon the opened page of the book to which he seemed constantly to refer, dividing his attention between the volume, the contents of the test-tube, and the progress of a second experiment, or possibly a part of the same, which was taking place upon another corner of the littered table.
A huge glass retort (the bulb was fully19 two feet in diameter), fitted with a Liebig’s Condenser20, rested in a metal frame, and within the bulb, floating in an oily substance, was a fungus21 some six inches high, shaped like a toadstool, but of a brilliant and venomous orange color. Three flat tubes of light were so arranged as to cast violet rays upward into the retort, and the receiver, wherein condensed the product of this strange experiment, contained some drops of a red fluid which may have been identical with that boiling in the test-tube.
These things I perceived at a glance: then the filmy eyes of Dr. Fu-Manchu were raised from the book, turned in my direction, and all else was forgotten.
“I regret,” came the sibilant voice, “that unpleasant measures were necessary, but hesitation22 would have been fatal. I trust, Dr. Petrie, that you suffer no inconvenience?”
To this speech no reply was possible, and I attempted none.
“You have long been aware of my esteem23 for your acquirements,” continued the Chinaman, his voice occasionally touching24 deep guttural notes, “and you will appreciate the pleasure which this visit affords me. I kneel at the feet of my silver Buddha25. I look to you, when you shall have overcome your prejudices—due to ignorance of my true motives—to assist me in establishing that intellectual control which is destined26 to be the new World Force. I bear you no malice27 for your ancient enmity, and even now”—he waved one yellow hand toward the retort—“I am conducting an experiment designed to convert you from your misunderstanding, and to adjust your perspective.”
Quite unemotionally he spoke28, then turned again to his book, his test-tube and retort, in the most matter-of-fact way imaginable. I do not think the most frenzied29 outburst on his part, the most fiendish threats, could have produced such effect upon me as those cold and carefully calculated words, spoken in that unique voice which rang about the room sibilantly. In its tones, in the glance of the green eyes, in the very pose of the gaunt, high-shouldered body, there was power—force.
I counted myself lost, and in view of the doctor’s words, studied the progress of the experiment with frightful30 interest. But a few moments sufficed in which to realize that, for all my training, I knew as little of chemistry—of chemistry as understood by this man’s genius—as a junior student in surgery knows of trephining. The process in operation was a complete mystery to me; the means and the end alike incomprehensible.
Thus, in the heavy silence of that room, a silence only broken by the regular bubbling from the test tube, I found my attention straying from the table to the other objects surrounding it; and at one of them my gaze stopped and remained chained with horror.
It was a glass jar, some five feet in height and filled with viscous31 fluid of a light amber32 color. Out from this peered a hideous33, dog-like face, low browed, with pointed ears and a nose almost hoggishly34 flat. By the death-grin of the face the gleaming fangs35 were revealed; and the body, the long yellow-gray body, rested, or seemed to rest, upon short, malformed legs, whilst one long limp arm, the right, hung down straightly in the preservative36. The left arm had been severed37 above the elbow.
Fu-Manchu, finding his experiment to be proceeding38 favorably, lifted his eyes to me again.
“You are interested in my poor Cynocephalyte?” he said; and his eyes were filmed like the eyes of one afflicted39 with cataract40. “He was a devoted41 servant, Dr. Petrie, but the lower influences in his genealogy42, sometimes conquered. Then he got out of hand; and at last he was so ungrateful toward those who had educated him, that, in one of those paroxysms of his, he attacked and killed a most faithful Burman, one of my oldest followers43.”
Fu-Manchu returned to his experiment.
Not the slightest emotion had he exhibited thus far, but had chatted with me as any other scientist might chat with a friend who casually44 visits his laboratory. The horror of the thing was playing havoc45 with my own composure, however. There I lay, fettered46, in the same room with this man whose existence was a menace to the entire white race, whilst placidly48 he pursued an experiment designed, if his own words were believable, to cut me off from my kind—to wreak49 some change, psychological or physiological50 I knew not; to place me, it might be, upon a level with such brute-things as that which now hung, half floating, in the glass jar!
Something I knew of the history of that ghastly specimen51, that thing neither man nor ape; for within my own knowledge had it not attempted the life of Nayland Smith, and was it not I who, with an ax, had maimed it in the instant of one of its last slayings?
Of these things Dr. Fu-Manchu was well aware, so that his placid47 speech was doubly, trebly horrible to my ears. I sought, furtively52, to move my arms, only to realize that, as I had anticipated, the handcuffs were chained to a ring in the wall behind me. The establishments of Dr. Fu-Manchu were always well provided with such contrivances as these.
I uttered a short, harsh laugh. Fu-Manchu stood up slowly from the table, and, placing the test-tube in a rack, stood the latter carefully upon a shelf at his side.
“I am happy to find you in such good humor,” he said softly. “Other affairs call me; and, in my absence, that profound knowledge of chemistry, of which I have had evidence in the past, will enable you to follow with intelligent interest the action of these violet rays upon this exceptionally fine specimen of Siberian amanita muscaria. At some future time, possibly when you are my guest in China—which country I am now making arrangements for you to visit—I shall discuss with you some lesser-known properties of this species; and I may say that one of your first tasks when you commence your duties as assistant in my laboratory in Kiang-su, will be to conduct a series of twelve experiments, which I have outlined, into other potentialities of this unique fungus.”
He walked quietly to a curtained doorway53, with his cat-like yet awkward gait, lifted the drapery, and, with a slight nod in my direction, went out of the room.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
attained
|
|
| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
intimacy
|
|
| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
sparse
|
|
| adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
membrane
|
|
| n.薄膜，膜皮，羊皮纸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
oblique
|
|
| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
skull
|
|
| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
oblivious
|
|
| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
awakening
|
|
| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
hazy
|
|
| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
revival
|
|
| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
incense
|
|
| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
suffused
|
|
| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
conformity
|
|
| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
paraphernalia
|
|
| n.装备；随身用品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
flasks
|
|
| n.瓶，长颈瓶， 烧瓶( flask的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
condenser
|
|
| n.冷凝器；电容器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
fungus
|
|
| n.真菌，真菌类植物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
hesitation
|
|
| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
esteem
|
|
| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
Buddha
|
|
| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
destined
|
|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
malice
|
|
| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
frenzied
|
|
| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
frightful
|
|
| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
viscous
|
|
| adj.粘滞的，粘性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
amber
|
|
| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
hideous
|
|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
hoggishly
|
|
| 贪婪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
fangs
|
|
| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
preservative
|
|
| n.防腐剂；防腐料；保护料；预防药 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
severed
|
|
| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
proceeding
|
|
| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
afflicted
|
|
| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
cataract
|
|
| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
genealogy
|
|
| n.家系，宗谱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
followers
|
|
| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
casually
|
|
| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
havoc
|
|
| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
fettered
|
|
| v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
placid
|
|
| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
placidly
|
|
| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
wreak
|
|
| v.发泄；报复 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
physiological
|
|
| adj.生理学的，生理学上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
specimen
|
|
| n.样本，标本 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
furtively
|
|
| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |