Thaddy, the chief observer, was down with a slight fever. His assistant, Woodhouse, paused for a moment in silent contemplation of the tropical night before commencing his solitary5 vigil. The night was very still. Now and then voices and laughter came from the native huts, or the cry of some strange animal was heard from the midst of the mystery of the forest. Nocturnal insects appeared in ghostly fashion out of the darkness, and fluttered round his light. He thought, perhaps, of all the possibilities of discovery that still lay in the black tangle6 beneath him; for to the naturalist7 the virgin8 forests of Borneo are still a wonderland full of strange questions and half-suspected discoveries. Woodhouse carried a small lantern in his hand, and its yellow glow contrasted vividly9 with the infinite series of tints10 between lavender-blue and black in which the landscape was painted. His hands and face were smeared11 with ointment12 against the attacks of the mosquitoes.
Even in these days of celestial13 photography, work done in a purely14 temporary erection, and with only the most primitive15 appliances in addition to the telescope, still involves a very large amount of cramped16 and motionless watching. He sighed as he thought of the physical fatigues17 before him, stretched himself, and entered the observatory.
The reader is probably familiar with the structure of an ordinary astronomical18 observatory. The building is usually cylindrical19 in shape, with a very light hemispherical roof capable of being turned round from the interior. The telescope is supported upon a stone pillar in the centre, and a clockwork arrangement compensates20 for the earth’s rotation21, and allows a star once found to be continuously observed. Besides this, there is a compact tracery of wheels and screws about its point of support, by which the astronomer22 adjusts it. There is, of course, a slit23 in the movable roof which follows the eye of the telescope in its survey of the heavens. The observer sits or lies on a sloping wooden arrangement, which he can wheel to any part of the observatory as the position of the telescope may require. Within it is advisable to have things as dark as possible, in order to enhance the brilliance25 of the stars observed.
The lantern flared26 as Woodhouse entered his circular den24, and the general darkness fled into black shadows behind the big machine, from which it presently seemed to creep back over the whole place again as the light waned27. The slit was a profound transparent28 blue, in which six stars shone with tropical brilliance, and their light lay, a pallid29 gleam, along the black tube of the instrument. Woodhouse shifted the roof, and then proceeding30 to the telescope, turned first one wheel and then another, the great cylinder31 slowly swinging into a new position. Then he glanced through the finder, the little companion telescope, moved the roof a little more, made some further adjustments, and set the clockwork in motion. He took off his jacket, for the night was very hot, and pushed into position the uncomfortable seat to which he was condemned32 for the next four hours. Then with a sigh he resigned himself to his watch upon the mysteries of space.
There was no sound now in the observatory, and the lantern waned steadily33. Outside there was the occasional cry of some animal in alarm or pain, or calling to its mate, and the intermittent34 sounds of the Malay and Dyak servants. Presently one of the men began a queer chanting song, in which the others joined at intervals35. After this it would seem that they turned in for the night, for no further sound came from their direction, and the whispering stillness became more and more profound.
The clockwork ticked steadily. The shrill36 hum of a mosquito explored the place and grew shriller in indignation at Woodhouse’s ointment. Then the lantern went out and all the observatory was black.
Woodhouse shifted his position presently, when the slow movement of the telescope had carried it beyond the limits of his comfort.
He was watching a little group of stars in the Milky37 Way, in one of which his chief had seen or fancied a remarkable38 colour variability. It was not a part of the regular work for which the establishment existed, and for that reason perhaps Woodhouse was deeply interested. He must have forgotten things terrestrial. All his attention was concentrated upon the great blue circle of the telescope field—a circle powdered, so it seemed, with an innumerable multitude of stars, and all luminous39 against the blackness of its setting. As he watched he seemed to himself to become incorporeal40, as if he too were floating in the ether of space. Infinitely41 remote was the faint red spot he was observing.
“Queer,” said Woodhouse. “Must have been a bird.”
The thing happened again, and immediately after the great tube shivered as though it had been struck. Then the dome of the observatory resounded44 with a series of thundering blows. The stars seemed to sweep aside as the telescope—which had been undamped—swung round and away from the slit in the roof.
“Great Scott!” cried Woodhouse. “What’s this?”
Some huge vague black shape, with a flapping something like a wing, seemed to be struggling in the aperture45 of the roof. In another moment the slit was clear again, and the luminous haze46 of the Milky Way shone warm and bright.
The interior of the roof was perfectly47 black, and only a scraping sound marked the whereabouts of the unknown creature.
Woodhouse had scrambled48 from the seat to his feet. He was trembling violently and in a perspiration49 with the suddenness of the occurrence. Was the thing, whatever it was, inside or out? It was big, whatever else it might be. Something shot across the skylight, and the telescope swayed. He started violently and put his arm up. It was in the observatory, then, with him. It was clinging to the roof, apparently50. What the devil was it? Could it see him?
He stood for perhaps a minute in a state of stupefaction. The beast, whatever it was, clawed at the interior of the dome, and then something flapped almost into his face, and he saw the momentary51 gleam of starlight on a skin like oiled leather. His water-bottle was knocked off his little table with a smash.
The sense of some strange bird-creature hovering52 a few yards from his face in the darkness was indescribably unpleasant to Woodhouse. As his thought returned he concluded that it must be some night-bird or large bat. At any risk he would see what it was, and pulling a match from his pocket, he tried to strike it on the telescope seat. There was a smoking streak53 of phosphorescent light, the match flared for a moment, and he saw a vast wing sweeping54 towards him, a gleam of grey-brown fur, and then he was struck in the face and the match knocked out of his hand. The blow was aimed at his temple, and a claw tore sideways down to his cheek. He reeled and fell, and he heard the extinguished lantern smash. Another blow followed as he fell. He was partly stunned55, he felt his own warm blood stream out upon his face. Instinctively56 he felt his eyes had been struck at, and, turning over on his face to protect them, tried to crawl under the protection of the telescope. He was struck again upon the back, and he heard his jacket rip, and then the thing hit the roof of the observatory. He edged as far as he could between the wooden seat and the eyepiece of the instrument, and turned his body round so that it was chiefly his feet that were exposed. With these he could at least kick. He was still in a mystified state. The strange beast banged about in the darkness, and presently clung to the telescope, making it sway and the gear rattle57. Once it flapped near him, and he kicked out madly and felt a soft body with his feet. He was horribly scared now. It must be a big thing to swing the telescope like that. He saw for a moment the outline of a head black against the starlight, with sharply-pointed upstanding ears and a crest58 between them. It seemed to him to be as big as a mastiff’s. Then he began to bawl59 out as loudly as he could for help.
At that the thing came down upon him again. As it did so his hand touched something beside him on the floor. He kicked out, and the next moment his ankle was gripped and held by a row of keen teeth. He yelled again, and tried to free his leg by kicking with the other. Then he realised he had the broken water-bottle at his hand, and, snatching it, he struggled into a sitting posture60, and feeling in the darkness towards his foot, gripped a velvety61 ear, like the ear of a big cat. He had seized the water-bottle by its neck and brought it down with a shivering crash upon the head of the strange beast. He repeated the blow, and then stabbed and jobbed with the jagged end of it, in the darkness, where he judged the face might be.
The small teeth relaxed their hold, and at once Woodhouse pulled his leg free and kicked hard. He felt the sickening feel of fur and bone giving under his boot. There was a tearing bite at his arm, and he struck over it at the face, as he judged, and hit damp fur.
There was a pause; then he heard the sound of claws and the dragging of a heavy body away from him over the observatory floor. Then there was silence, broken only by his own sobbing62 breathing, and a sound like licking. Everything was black except the parallelogram of the blue skylight with the luminous dust of stars, against which the end of the telescope now appeared in silhouette63. He waited, as it seemed, an interminable time. Was the thing coming on again? He felt in his trouser-pocket for some matches, and found one remaining. He tried to strike this, but the floor was wet, and it spat64 and went out. He cursed. He could not see where the door was situated65. In his struggle he had quite lost his bearings. The strange beast, disturbed by the splutter of the match, began to move again. “Time!” called Woodhouse, with a sudden gleam of mirth, but the thing was not coming at him again. He must have hurt it, he thought, with the broken bottle. He felt a dull pain in his ankle. Probably he was bleeding there. He wondered if it would support him if he tried to stand up. The night outside was very still. There was no sound of any one moving. The sleepy fools had not heard those wings battering66 upon the dome, nor his shouts. It was no good wasting strength in shouting. The monster flapped its wings and startled him into a defensive67 attitude. He hit his elbow against the seat, and it fell over with a crash. He cursed this, and then he cursed the darkness.
Suddenly the oblong patch of starlight seemed to sway to and fro. Was he going to faint? It would never do to faint. He clenched68 his fists and set his teeth to hold himself together. Where had the door got to? It occurred to him he could get his bearings by the stars visible through the skylight. The patch of stars he saw was in Sagittarius and south-eastward; the door was north—or was it north by west? He tried to think. If he could get the door open he might retreat. It might be the thing was wounded. The suspense69 was beastly. “Look here!” he said, “if you don’t come on, I shall come at you.”
Then the thing began clambering up the side of the observatory, and he saw its black outline gradually blot42 out the skylight. Was it in retreat? He forgot about the door, and watched as the dome shifted and creaked. Somehow he did not feel very frightened or excited now. He felt a curious sinking sensation inside him. The sharply-defined patch of light, with the black form moving across it, seemed to be growing smaller and smaller. That was curious. He began to feel very thirsty, and yet he did not feel inclined to get anything to drink. He seemed to be sliding down a long funnel70.
He felt a burning sensation in his throat, and then he perceived it was broad daylight, and that one of the Dyak servants was looking at him with a curious expression. Then there was the top of Thaddy’s face upside down. Funny fellow, Thaddy, to go about like that! Then he grasped the situation better, and perceived that his head was on Thaddy’s knee, and Thaddy was giving him brandy. And then he saw the eyepiece of the telescope with a lot of red smears71 on it. He began to remember.
“You’ve made this observatory in a pretty mess,” said Thaddy.
The Dyak boy was beating up an egg in brandy. Woodhouse took this and sat up. He felt a sharp twinge of pain. His ankle was tied up, so were his arm and the side of his face. The smashed glass, red-stained, lay about the floor, the telescope seat was overturned, and by the opposite wall was a dark pool. The door was open, and he saw the grey summit of the mountain against a brilliant background of blue sky.
Then he remembered the Thing, and the fight he had had with it.
“What was it?” he said to Thaddy—“The Thing I fought with?”
“You know that best,” said Thaddy. “But, anyhow, don’t worry yourself now about it. Have some more to drink.”
Thaddy, however, was curious enough, and it was a hard struggle between duty and inclination74 to keep Woodhouse quiet until he was decently put away in bed, and had slept upon the copious75 dose of meat-extract Thaddy considered advisable. They then talked it over together.
“It was,” said Woodhouse, “more like a big bat than anything else in the world. It had sharp, short ears, and soft fur, and its wings were leathery. Its teeth were little, but devilish sharp, and its jaw76 could not have been very strong or else it would have bitten through my ankle.”
“It has pretty nearly,” said Thaddy.
“It seemed to me to hit out with its claws pretty freely. That is about as much as I know about the beast. Our conversation was intimate, so to speak, and yet not confidential77.”
“The Dyak chaps talk about a Big Colugo, a Klang-utang—whatever that may be. It does not often attack man, but I suppose you made it nervous. They say there is a Big Colugo and a Little Colugo, and a something else that sounds like gobble. They all fly about at night. For my own part I know there are flying foxes and flying lemurs about here, but they are none of them very big beasts.”
“There are more things in heaven and earth,” said Woodhouse—and Thaddy groaned78 at the quotation—“and more particularly in the forests of Borneo, than are dreamt of in our philosophies. On the whole, if the Borneo fauna79 is going to disgorge any more of its novelties upon me, I should prefer that it did so when I was not occupied in the observatory at night and alone.”
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1
observatory
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| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
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crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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7
naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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10
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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11
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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ointment
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| n.药膏，油膏，软膏 | |
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13
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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18
astronomical
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| adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的 | |
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cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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compensates
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的第三人称单数 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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rotation
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| n.旋转；循环，轮流 | |
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astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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23
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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24
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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26
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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27
waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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33
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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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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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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milky
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| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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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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incorporeal
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| adj.非物质的，精神的 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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42
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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44
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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45
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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46
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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48
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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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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52
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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53
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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54
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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55
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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56
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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58
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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bawl
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| v.大喊大叫，大声地喊，咆哮 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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velvety
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| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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64
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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battering
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| n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 ) | |
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defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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funnel
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| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
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smears
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| 污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤 | |
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72
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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73
calves
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| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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75
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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76
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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77
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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78
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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fauna
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| n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系 | |
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