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the moon pool-第2部分
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to him hand in hand; taken possession of him and departing
left behind; ineradicably; their linked shadows!
Yesit was that which appalled。 For how could rapture
and horror; Heaven and Hell mix; clasp handskiss?
Yet these were what in closest embrace lay on Throck…
martin's face!
Deep in thought; subconsciously with relief; I watched
the shore line sink behind; welcomed the touch of the wind
of the free seas。 I had hoped; and within the hope was an
inexplicable shrinking that I would meet Throckmartin at
lunch。 He did not come down; and I was sensible of de…
liverance within my disappointment。 All that afternoon I
lounged about uneasily but still he kept to his cabinand
within me was no strength to summon him。 Nor did he
appear at dinner。
Dusk and night fell swiftly。 I was warm and went back to
my deck…chair。 The Southern Queen was rolling to a dis…
quieting swell and I had the place to myself。
Over the heavens was a canopy of cloud; glowing faintly
and testifying to the moon riding behind it。 There was much
phosphorescence。 Fitfully before the ship and at her sides
arose those stranger little swirls of mist that swirl up from
the Southern Ocean like breath of sea monsters; whirl for an
instant and disappear。
Suddenly the deck door opened and through it came
Throckmartin。 He paused uncertainly; looked up at the sky
with a curiously eager; intent gaze; hesitated; then closed
the door behind him。
〃Throck;〃 I called。 〃Come! It's Goodwin。〃
He made his way to me。
〃Throck;〃 I said; wasting no time in preliminaries。
〃What's wrong? Can I help you?〃
I felt his body grow tense。
〃I'm going to Melbourne; Goodwin;〃 he answered。 〃I
need a few thingsneed them urgently。 And more men
white men〃
He stopped abruptly; rose from his chair; gazed intently
toward the north。 I followed his gaze。 Far; far away the
moon had broken through the clouds。 Almost on the hori…
zon; you could see the faint luminescence of it upon the
smooth sea。 The distant patch of light quivered and shook。
The clouds thickened again and it was gone。 The ship raced
on southward; swiftly。
Throckmartin dropped into his chair。 He lighted a cigar…
ette with a hand that trembled; then turned to me with
abrupt resolution。
〃Goodwin;〃 he said。 〃I do need help。 If ever man needed
it; I do。 Goodwincan you imagine yourself in another
world; alien; unfamiliar; a world of terror; whose unknown
joy is its greatest terror of all; you all alone there; a
stranger! As such a man would need help; so I need〃
He paused abruptly and arose; the cigarette dropped from
his fingers。 The moon had again broken through the clouds;
and this time much nearer。 Not a mile away was the patch
of light that it threw upon the waves。 Back of it; to the rim
of the sea was a lane of moonlight; a gigantic gleaming ser…
pent racing over the edge of the world straight and surely
toward the ship。
Throckmartin stiffened to it as a pointer does to a hidden
covey。 To me from him pulsed a thrill of horrorbut
horror tinged with an unfamiliar; an infernal joy。 It came
to me and passed awayleaving me trembling with its
shock of bitter sweet。
He bent forward; all his soul in his eyes。 The moon path
swept closer; closer still。 It was now less than half a mile
away。 From it the ship fledalmost as though pursued。
Down upon it; swift and straight; a radiant torrent cleaving
the waves; raced the moon stream。
〃Good God!〃 breathed Throckmartin; and if ever the
words were a prayer and an invocation they were。
And then; for the first timeI sawIT!
The moon path stretched to the horizon and was bor…
dered by darkness。 It was as though the clouds above had
been parted to form a lane…drawn aside like curtains or as
the waters of the Red Sea were held back to let the hosts
of Israel through。 On each side of the stream was the black
shadow cast by the folds of the high canopies And straight
as a road between the opaque walls gleamed; shimmered;
and danced the shining; racing; rapids of the moonlight
Far; it seemed immeasurably far; along this stream of
silver fire I sensed; rather than saw; something coming。 It
drew first into sight as a deeper glow within the light。 On
and on it swept toward usan opalescent mistiness that
sped with the suggestion of some winged creature in
arrowed flight。 Dimly there crept into my mind memory of
the Dyak legend of the winged messenger of Buddha
the Akla bird whose feathers are woven of the moon rays;
whose heart is a living opal; whose wings in flight echo the
crystal clear music of the white starsbut whose beak is
of frozen flame and shreds the souls of unbelievers。
Closer it drew and now there came to me sweet; insistent
tinklingslike pizzicati on violins of glass; crystal clear;
diamonds melting into sounds!
Now the Thing was close to the end of the white path;
close up to the barrier of darkness still between the ship
and the sparkling head of the moon stream。 Now it beat up
against that barrier as a bird against the bars of its cage。 It
whirled with shimmering plumes; with swirls of lacy light;
with spirals of living vapour。 It held within it odd; un…
familiar gleams as of shifting mother…of…pearl。 Coruscations
and glittering atoms drifted through it as though it drew
them from the rays that bathed it。
Nearer and nearer it came; borne on the sparkling waves;
and ever thinner shrank the protecting wall of shadow be…
tween it and us。 Within the mistiness was a core; a nucleus
of intenser lightveined; opaline; effulgent; intensely alive。
And above it; tangled in the plumes and spirals that
throbbed and whirled were seven glowing lights。
Through all the incessant but strangely ordered move…
ment of theTHINGthese lights held firm and steady。 They
were sevenlike seven little moons。 One was of a pearly
pink; one of a delicate nacreous blue; one of lambent
saffron; one of the emerald you see in the shallow waters
of tropic isles; a deathly white; a ghostly amethyst; and
one of the silver that is seen only when the flying fish leap
beneath the moon。
The tinkling music was louder still。 It pierced the ears
with a shower of tiny lances; it made the heart beat jubi…
lantlyand checked it dolorously。 It closed the throat with
a throb of rapture and gripped it tight with the hand of
infinite sorrow!
Came to me now a murmuring cry; stilling the crystal
notes。 It was articulatebut as though from something
utterly foreign to this world。 The ear took the cry and trans…
lated with conscious labour into the sounds of earth。 And
even as it compassed; the brain shrank from it irresistibly;
and simultaneously it seemed reached toward it with irre…
sistible eagerness。
Throckmartin strode toward the front of the deck;
straight toward the vision; now but a few yards away from
the ster
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