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