WHEN I saw Montgomery swallow a third dose of brandy, I took it upon myself to interfere1. He was already more than half fuddled. I told him that some serious thing must have happened to Moreau by this time, or he would have returned before this, and that it behoved us to ascertain2 what that catastrophe3 was. Montgomery raised some feeble objections, and at last agreed. We had some food, and then all three of us started.
It is possibly due to the tension of my mind, at the time, but even now that start into the hot stillness of the tropical afternoon is a singularly vivid impression. M'ling went first, his shoulder hunched4, his strange black head moving with quick starts as he peered first on this side of the way and then on that. He was unarmed; his axe5 he had dropped when he encountered the Swine-man. Teeth were _his_ weapons, when it came to fighting. Montgomery followed with stumbling footsteps, his hands in his pockets, his face downcast; he was in a state of muddled6 sullenness7 with me on account of the brandy. My left arm was in a sling8 (it was lucky it was my left), and I carried my revolver in my right. Soon we traced a narrow path through the wild luxuriance of the island, going northwestward; and presently M'ling stopped, and became rigid10 with watchfulness11. Montgomery almost staggered into him, and then stopped too. Then, listening intently, we heard coming through the trees the sound of voices and footsteps approaching us.
"He is dead," said a deep, vibrating voice.
"He is not dead; he is not dead," jabbered12 another.
"We saw, we saw," said several voices.
"Hullo!" suddenly shouted Montgomery, "Hullo, there!"
"Confound you!" said I, and gripped my pistol.
There was a silence, then a crashing among the interlacing vegetation, first here, then there, and then half-a-dozen faces appeared,--strange faces, lit by a strange light. M'ling made a growling13 noise in his throat. I recognised the Ape-man: I had indeed already identified his voice, and two of the white-swathed brown-featured creatures I had seen in Montgomery's boat. With these were the two dappled brutes14 and that grey, horribly crooked16 creature who said the Law, with grey hair streaming down its cheeks, heavy grey eyebrows17, and grey locks pouring off from a central parting upon its sloping forehead,--a heavy, faceless thing, with strange red eyes, looking at us curiously18 from amidst the green.
For a space no one spoke19. Then Montgomery hiccoughed, "Who--said he was dead?"
The Monkey-man looked guiltily at the hairy-grey Thing. "He is dead," said this monster. "They saw."
There was nothing threatening about this detachment, at any rate. They seemed awestricken and puzzled.
"Where is he?" said Montgomery.
"Beyond," and the grey creature pointed20.
"Is there a Law now?" asked the Monkey-man. "Is it still to be this and that? Is he dead indeed?"
"Is there a Law?" repeated the man in white. "Is there a Law, thou Other with the Whip?"
"He is dead," said the hairy-grey Thing. And they all stood watching us.
"Prendick," said Montgomery, turning his dull eyes to me. "He's dead, evidently."
I had been standing21 behind him during this colloquy22. I began to see how things lay with them. I suddenly stepped in front of Montgomery and lifted up my voice:--"Children of the Law," I said, "he is _not_ dead!" M'ling turned his sharp eyes on me. "He has changed his shape; he has changed his body," I went on. "For a time you will not see him. He is--there," I pointed upward, "where he can watch you. You cannot see him, but he can see you. Fear the Law!"
I looked at them squarely. They flinched23.
"He is great, he is good," said the Ape-man, peering fearfully upward among the dense24 trees.
"And the other Thing?" I demanded.
"The Thing that bled, and ran screaming and sobbing,--that is dead too," said the grey Thing, still regarding me.
"That's well," grunted25 Montgomery.
"The Other with the Whip--" began the grey Thing.
"Well?" said I.
"Said he was dead."
But Montgomery was still sober enough to understand my motive26 in denying Moreau's death. "He is not dead," he said slowly, "not dead at all. No more dead than I am."
"Some," said I, "have broken the Law: they will die. Some have died. Show us now where his old body lies,--the body he cast away because he had no more need of it."
"It is this way, Man who walked in the Sea," said the grey Thing.
And with these six creatures guiding us, we went through the tumult27 of ferns and creepers and tree-stems towards the northwest. Then came a yelling, a crashing among the branches, and a little pink homunculus rushed by us shrieking28. Immediately after appeared a monster in headlong pursuit, blood-bedabbled, who was amongst us almost before he could stop his career. The grey Thing leapt aside. M'ling, with a snarl30, flew at it, and was struck aside. Montgomery fired and missed, bowed his head, threw up his arm, and turned to run. I fired, and the Thing still came on; fired again, point-blank, into its ugly face. I saw its features vanish in a flash: its face was driven in. Yet it passed me, gripped Montgomery, and holding him, fell headlong beside him and pulled him sprawling31 upon itself in its death-agony.
I found myself alone with M'ling, the dead brute15, and the prostrate32 man. Montgomery raised himself slowly and stared in a muddled way at the shattered Beast Man beside him. It more than half sobered him. He scrambled33 to his feet. Then I saw the grey Thing returning cautiously through the trees.
"See," said I, pointing to the dead brute, "is the Law not alive? This came of breaking the Law."
He peered at the body. "He sends the Fire that kills," said he, in his deep voice, repeating part of the Ritual. The others gathered round and stared for a space.
At last we drew near the westward9 extremity34 of the island. We came upon the gnawed35 and mutilated body of the puma36, its shoulder-bone smashed by a bullet, and perhaps twenty yards farther found at last what we sought. Moreau lay face downward in a trampled37 space in a canebrake. One hand was almost severed38 at the wrist and his silvery hair was dabbled29 in blood. His head had been battered39 in by the fetters40 of the puma. The broken canes41 beneath him were smeared42 with blood. His revolver we could not find. Montgomery turned him over. Resting at intervals43, and with the help of the seven Beast People (for he was a heavy man), we carried Moreau back to the enclosure. The night was darkling. Twice we heard unseen creatures howling and shrieking past our little band, and once the little pink sloth-creature appeared and stared at us, and vanished again. But we were not attacked again. At the gates of the enclosure our company of Beast People left us, M'ling going with the rest. We locked ourselves in, and then took Moreau's mangled44 body into the yard and laid it upon a pile of brushwood. Then we went into the laboratory and put an end to all we found living there.
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1
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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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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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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muddled
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| adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子 | |
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sullenness
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| n. 愠怒, 沉闷, 情绪消沉 | |
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sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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watchfulness
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| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
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jabbered
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| v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的过去式和过去分词 )；急促兴奋地说话 | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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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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spoke
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| 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 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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flinched
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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grunted
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| （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 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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dabbled
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| v.涉猎( dabble的过去式和过去分词 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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puma
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| 美洲豹 | |
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37
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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41
canes
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| n.（某些植物，如竹或甘蔗的）茎( cane的名词复数 )；（用于制作家具等的）竹竿；竹杖 | |
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42
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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43
intervals
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| 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 | |
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44
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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