Chapter 51

The night darkened. Our day’s works had been done. We thought that the last guest had arrived for the night and the doors in the village were all shut. Only some said the king was to come. We laughed and said ‘No, it cannot be!’
 
It seemed there were knocks at the door and we said it was nothing but the wind. We put out the lamps and lay down to sleep. Only some said, ‘It is the messenger!’ We laughed and said ‘No, it must be the wind!’
 
There came a sound in the dead of the night. We sleepily thought it was the distant thunder. The earth shook, the walls rocked, and it troubled us in our sleep. Only some said it was the sound of wheels. We said in a drowsy¹ murmur², ‘No, it must be the rumbling³ of clouds!’
 
The night was still dark when the drum sounded. The voice came ‘Wake up! delay not!’ We pressed our hands on our hearts and shuddered⁴ with fear. Some said, ‘Lo, there is the king’s flag!’ We stood up on our feet and cried ‘There is no time for delay!’
 
The king has come---but where are lights, where are wreaths? Where is the throne to seat him? Oh, shame! Oh utter shame! Where is the hall, the decorations? Someone has said, ‘Vain is this cry! Greet him with empty hands, lead him into thy rooms all bare!’
 
Open the doors, let the conch-shells be sounded! in the depth of the night has come the king of our dark, dreary⁵ house. The thunder roars in the sky. The darkness shudders⁶ with lightning. Bring out thy tattered⁷ piece of mat and spread it in the courtyard. With the storm has come of a sudden our king of the fearful night.
 
夜深了。我们一天的工作都已做完。我们以为投宿的客人都已来到，村里家家都已闭户了。只有几个人说，国王是要来的。我们笑了说：“不会的，这是不可能的事！”
 
仿佛门上有敲叩的声音。我们说那不过是风。我们熄灯就寝。只有几个人说：“这是使者！”我们笑了说：“不是，这一定是风！”
 
在死沉沉的夜里传来一个声音。朦胧中我们以为是远远的雷响。墙摇地动，我们在睡眠里受了惊扰。只有几个人说：“这是车轮的声音。”我们昏困地嘟哝着说：“不是，这一定是雷响！”
 
鼓声响起的时候天还没亮。有声音喊着说：“醒来罢！别耽误了！”我们拿手按住心口，吓得发抖。只有几个人说：“看哪，这是国王的旗子！”我们爬起来站着叫：“没有时间再耽误了！”
 
国王已经来到――但是灯火在哪里呢，花环在哪里呢？给他预备的宝座在哪里呢？呵，丢脸，呵，太丢脸了！客厅在哪里，陈设又在哪里呢？有几个人说了：“叫也无用了！用空手来迎接他罢，带他到你的空房里去罢！”
 
开起门来，吹起法螺罢！在深夜中国王降临到我黑暗凄凉的房子里了。空中雷声怒吼。黑暗和闪电一同颤抖。拿出你的破席铺在院子里罢。我们的国王在可怖之夜与暴风雨一同突然来到了。

1 drowsy   

adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的

参考例句：

• Exhaust fumes made him drowsy and brought on a headache.废气把他熏得昏昏沉沉，还引起了头疼。
• I feel drowsy after lunch every day.每天午饭后我就想睡觉。

2 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

3 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

4 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

6 shudders   

n.颤动，打颤，战栗( shudder的名词复数 )v.战栗( shudder的第三人称单数 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• It gives me the shudders. （（口语））它使我战栗。 来自辞典例句
• The ghastly sight gave him the shudders. 那恐怖的景象使他感到恐惧。 来自辞典例句

7 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。