皮漏斗之谜（1）

 

THE LEATHER FUNNEL¹

My friend, Lionel Dacre, lived in the Avenue de Wagram, Paris. His house was that small one, with the iron railings and grass plot in front of it, on the left-hand side as you pass down from the Arc de Triomphe. I fancy that it had been there long before the avenue was constructed, for the grey tiles were stained with lichens², and the walls were mildewed³ and discoloured with age. It looked a small house from the street, five windows in front, if I remember right, but it deepened into a single long chamber⁴ at the back. It was here that Dacre had that singular library of occult literature, and the fantastic curiosities which served as a hobby for himself, and an amusement for his friends. A wealthy man of refined and eccentric tastes, he had spent much of his life and fortune in gathering⁵ together what was said to be a unique private collection of Talmudic, cabalistic, and magical works, many of them of great rarity and value. His tastes leaned toward the marvellous and the monstrous⁶, and I have heard that his experiments in the direction of the have passed all the bounds of civilization and of decorum. To his English friends he never alluded⁷ to such matters, and took the tone of the student and virtuoso⁸; but a Frenchman whose tastes were of the same nature has assured me that the worst excesses of the black mass have been perpetrated in that large and lofty hall, which is lined with the shelves of his books, and the cases of his museum.

Dacre’s appearance was enough to show that his deep interest in these psychic⁹ matters was intellectual rather than spiritual. There was no trace of asceticism¹⁰ upon his heavy face, but there was much mental force in his huge, dome-like skull¹¹, which curved upward from amongst his thinning locks, like a snowpeak above its fringe of fir trees. His knowledge was greater than his wisdom, and his powers were far superior to his character. The small bright eyes, buried deeply in his fleshy face, twinkled with intelligence and an unabated curiosity of life, but they were the eyes of a sensualist and an egotist. Enough of the man, for he is dead now, poor devil, dead at the very time that he had made sure that he had at last discovered the elixir¹² of life. It is not with his complex character that I have to deal, but with the very strange and inexplicable¹³ incident which had its rise in my visit to him in the early spring of the year ‘82.

皮漏斗之谜

我的朋友立奥奈尔达克住在巴黎的瓦格拉姆大街，房子不大，前面有草坪，有铁栏杆，如果你从特里奥夫拱门往南走，就会在左边看见它。我觉得早在大街存在之前很久就有这所房子了，灰色的瓦生着青苔，墙发了霉，因为月久年深已经辨不清颜色了。从街上看，房子显得很小，如果我记得不错，正面有五扇窗户，不过后面有个很特别的长方形房间。那是达克的藏书室，专门珍藏神秘文献，还有各种稀奇古怪的古董。收藏古董是他的爱好，他的朋友们喜欢观赏这些古董。他十分富有，品味高雅而怪异，大部分时间和财富都用在私人收藏上了，包括犹太法典、犹太神秘哲学、魔法等方面的书籍，其中许多是极罕见、极珍贵的。他的兴趣偏向神奇和恐怖的东西，听说他在超自然领域所做的实验已经超出了文明和礼法的范围。在英国朋友面前，他总是摆出学者和鉴赏家的姿态，从不谈起这方面的事，可是一位法国人，兴趣品味与他一样，曾十分肯定地对我说，就在那间高雅的大厅，在那些书籍和藏品的旁边，举行过最恶毒的“魔鬼弥撒”

仅从表面看，就可以知道，达克对超自然事物的兴趣是出于理智而非宗教的原因。在他阴沉的面孔上，没有丝毫禁欲主义的浪迹，可是，硕大而秃顶的圆脑袋，仿佛杉树环绕的圆顶雪山，却显出强大的精神力量。他的知识远多于他的智慧，他的能力远高于他的地位。小而亮的眼睛隐藏在须发丛生的脸上，闪烁着智慧的和无穷无尽好奇的光芒，不过那与好色之徒和利己者的目光并无二致。对此人说到这里已经足够了，因为他已不在人世，可怜的家伙，临死前他刚刚确信自己终于发现了长生不老之药，在此，我将要讲述的并不是他的复杂性格，而是在1882年我访问他的时候发生的一件奇特的不可思议的事情。

1 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

2 lichens   

n.地衣( lichen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The only plants to be found in Antarctica are algae, mosses, and lichens. 在南极洲所发现的植物只有藻类、苔藓和地衣。 来自辞典例句
• Litmus: Mixture of coloured organic compounds obtained from several species of lichens. 石蕊：从几种地衣类植物中获取的带色有机化合物的混合物。 来自互联网

3 mildewed   

adj.发了霉的，陈腐的，长了霉花的v.（使）发霉，（使）长霉( mildew的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Things easily get mildewed in the rainy season. 梅雨季节东西容易发霉。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The colonel was gorgeous, he had a cavernous mouth, cavernous cheeks, cavernous, sad, mildewed eyes. 这位上校样子挺神气，他的嘴巴、双颊和两眼都深深地凹进去，目光黯淡，象发了霉似的。 来自辞典例句

4 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

7 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

8 virtuoso   

n.精于某种艺术或乐器的专家，行家里手

参考例句：

• He was gaining a reputation as a remarkable virtuoso.作为一位技艺非凡的大师，他声誉日隆。
• His father was a virtuoso horn player who belonged to the court orchestra.他的父亲是宫廷乐队中一个技巧精湛的圆号演奏家。

9 psychic   

n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的

参考例句：

• Some people are said to have psychic powers.据说有些人有通灵的能力。
• She claims to be psychic and to be able to foretell the future.她自称有特异功能，能预知未来。

10 asceticism   

n.禁欲主义

参考例句：

• I am not speaking here about asceticism or abstinence.我说的并不是苦行主义或禁欲主义。
• Chaucer affirmed man's rights to pursue earthly happiness and epposed asceticism.乔叟强调人权，尤其是追求今生今世幸福快乐的权力，反对神权与禁欲主义。

11 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

12 elixir   

n.长生不老药，万能药

参考例句：

• There is no elixir of life in the world.世界上没有长生不老药。
• Keep your mind awake and active;that's the only youth elixir.保持头脑清醒和灵活便是保持年轻的唯一灵丹妙药。

13 inexplicable   

adj.无法解释的，难理解的

参考例句：

• It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的，现在已经无法说清楚了。
• There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。