第 16 节
作者:男孩不逛街      更新:2021-02-18 23:24      字数:9322
  appearing to touch any other nourishment。
  〃Professor Don Pedro Henriques; accompanied by several medical
  savants; has gone to the Province of San…Paulo; in order to study
  the origin and the manifestations of this surprising madness on
  the spot; and to propose such measures to the Emperor as may
  appear to him to be most fitted to restore the mad population to
  reason。〃
  Ah! Ah! I remember now that fine Brazilian three…master which
  passed in front of my windows as it was going up the Seine; on
  the eighth of last May! I thought it looked so pretty; so white
  and bright! That Being was on board of her; coming from there;
  where its race sprang from。 And it saw me! It saw my house; which
  was also white; and He sprang from the ship on to the land。 Oh!
  Good heavens!
  Now I know; I can divine。 The reign of man is over; and he has
  come。 He whom disquieted priests exorcised; whom sorcerers evoked
  on dark nights; without seeing him appear; He to whom the
  imaginations of the transient masters of the world lent all the
  monstrous or graceful forms of gnomes; spirits; genii; fairies;
  and familiar spirits。 After the coarse conceptions of primitive
  fear; men more enlightened gave him a truer form。 Mesmer divined
  him; and ten years ago physicians accurately discovered the
  nature of his power; even before He exercised it himself。 They
  played with that weapon of their new Lord; the sway of a
  mysterious will over the human soul; which had become enslaved。
  They called it mesmerism; hypnotism; suggestion; I know not what?
  I have seen them diverting themselves like rash children with
  this horrible power! Woe to us! Woe to man! He has come;
  thethewhat does He call himselftheI fancy that he is
  shouting out his name to me and I do not hear himtheyesHe
  is shouting it outI am listeningI
  cannotrepeatitHorlaI have heardthe Horlait is Hethe
  HorlaHe has come!
  Ah! the vulture has eaten the pigeon; the wolf has eaten the
  lamb; the lion has devoured the sharp…horned buffalo; man has
  killed the lion with an arrow; with a spear; with gunpowder; but
  the Horla will make of man what man has made of the horse and of
  the ox: his chattel; his slave; and his food; by the mere power
  of his will。 Woe to us!
  But; nevertheless; sometimes the animal rebels and kills the man
  who has subjugated it。 I should also likeI shall be able
  tobut I must know Him; touch Him; see Him! Learned men say that
  eyes of animals; as they differ from ours; do not distinguish as
  ours do。 And my eye cannot distinguish this newcomer who is
  oppressing me。
  Why? Oh! Now I remember the words of the monk at Mont
  Saint…Michel: 〃Can we see the hundred…thousandth part of what
  exists? Listen; there is the wind which is the strongest force in
  nature; it knocks men down; blows down buildings; uproots trees;
  raises the sea into mountains of water; destroys cliffs; and
  casts great ships on to the breakers; it kills; it whistles; it
  sighs; it roars;have you ever seen it; and can you see it? It
  exists for all that; however!〃
  And I went on thinking: my eyes are so weak; so imperfect; that
  they do not even distinguish hard bodies; if they are as
  transparent as glass! If a glass without quicksilver behind it
  were to bar my way; I should run into it; just like a bird which
  has flown into a room breaks its head against the windowpanes。 A
  thousand things; moreover; deceive a man and lead him astray。 How
  then is it surprising that he cannot perceive a new body which is
  penetrated and pervaded by the light?
  A new being! Why not? It was assuredly bound to come! Why should
  we be the last? We do not distinguish it; like all the others
  created before us? The reason is; that its nature is more
  delicate; its body finer and more finished than ours。 Our makeup
  is so weak; so awkwardly conceived; our body is encumbered with
  organs that are always tired; always being strained like locks
  that are too complicated; it lives like a plant and like an
  animal nourishing itself with difficulty on air; herbs; and
  flesh; it is a brute machine which is a prey to maladies; to
  malformations; to decay; it is broken…winded; badly regulated;
  simple and eccentric; ingeniously yet badly made; a coarse and
  yet a delicate mechanism; in brief; the outline of a being which
  might become intelligent and great。
  There are only a fewso fewstages of development in this
  world; from the oyster up to man。 Why should there not be one
  more; when once that period is accomplished which separates the
  successive products one from the other?
  Why not one more? Why not; also; other trees with immense;
  splendid flowers; perfuming whole regions? Why not other elements
  beside fire; air; earth; and water? There are four; only four;
  nursing fathers of various beings! What a pity! Why should not
  there be forty; four hundred; four thousand! How poor everything
  is; how mean and wretchedgrudgingly given; poorly invented;
  clumsily made! Ah! the elephant and the hippopotamus; what power!
  And the camel; what suppleness!
  But the butterfly; you will say; a flying flower! I dream of one
  that should be as large as a hundred worlds; with wings whose
  shape; beauty; colors; and motion I cannot even express。 But I
  see itit flutters from star to star; refreshing them and
  perfuming them with the light and harmonious breath of its
  flight! And the people up there gaze at it as it passes in an
  ecstasy of delight!
  What is the matter with me? It is He; the Horla who haunts me;
  and who makes me think of these foolish things! He is within me;
  He is becoming my soul; I shall kill him!
  August 20。 I shall kill Him。 I have seen Him! Yesterday I sat
  down at my table and pretended to write very assiduously。 I knew
  quite well that He would come prowling round me; quite close to
  me; so close that I might perhaps be able to touch him; to seize
  him。 And thenthen I should have the strength of desperation; I
  should have my hands; my knees; my chest; my forehead; my teeth
  to strangle him; to crush him; to bite him; to tear him to
  pieces。 And I watched for him with all my overexcited nerves。
  I had lighted my two lamps and the eight wax candles on my
  mantelpiece; as if; by this light I should discover Him。
  My bed; my old oak bed with its columns; was opposite to me; on
  my right was the fireplace; on my left the door; which was
  carefully closed; after I had left it open for some time; in
  order to attract Him; behind me was a very high wardrobe with a
  looking…glass in it; which served me to dress by every day; and
  in which I was in the habit of inspecting myself from head to
  foot every time I passed it。
  So I pretended to be writing in order to deceive Him; for He also
  was watching me; and suddenly I felt; I was certain; that He was
  reading over my shoulder; that He was there; almost touching my
  ear。
  I got up so quickly; with my hands extended; that I almost fell。
  Horror! It was as bright as at midday; but I did not see myself
  in the glass! It was empty; clear; profound; full of light! But
  my figure was not reflected in itand I; I was opposite to it! I
  saw the large; clear glass from top to bottom; and I looked at it
  with unsteady eyes。 I did not dare advance; I did not venture to
  make a movement; feeling certain; nevertheless; that He was
  there; but that He would escape me again; He whose imperceptible
  body had absorbed my reflection。
  How frightened I was! And then suddenly I began to see myself
  through a mist in the depths of the looking…glass; in a mist as
  it were; or through a veil of water; and it seemed to me as if
  this water were flowing slowly from left to right; and making my
  figure clearer every moment。 It was like the end of an eclipse。
  Whatever hid me did not appear to possess any clearly defined
  outlines; but was a sort of opaque transparency; which gradually
  grew clearer。
  At last I was able to distinguish myself completely; as I do
  every day when I look at myself。
  I had seen Him! And the horror of it remained with me; and makes
  me shudder even now。
  August 21。 How could I kill Him; since I could not get hold of
  Him? Poison? But He would see me mix it with the water; and then;
  would our poisons have any effect on His impalpable body?
  Nonono doubt about the matter。 Then?then?
  August 22。 I sent for a blacksmith from Rouen and ordered iron
  shutters of him for my room; such as some private hotels in Paris
  have on the ground floor; for fear of thieves; and he is going to
  make me a similar door as well。 I have made myself out a coward;
  but I do not care about that!
  September 10。 Rouen; Hotel Continental。 It is done; it is
  donebut is He dead? My mind is thoroughly upset by what I have
  seen。
  Well then; yesterday; the locksmith having put on the iron
  shutters and door; I left everything open until midnight;
  although it was getting cold。
  Suddenly I felt that He was there; and joy; m