登陆注册
5191700000044

第44章

>From the date of the expedition with Taee which I have just narrated, the child paid me frequent visits.He had taken a liking to me, which I cordially returned.Indeed, as he was not yet twelve years old, and had not commenced the course of scientific studies with which childhood closes in that country, my intellect was less inferior to his than to that of the elder members of his race, especially of the Gy-ei, and most especially of the accomplished Zee.The children of the Vril-ya, having upon their minds the weight of so many active duties and grave responsibilities, are not generally mirthful;but Taee, with all his wisdom, had much of the playful good-humour one often finds the characteristic of elderly men of genius.He felt that sort of pleasure in my society which a boy of a similar age in the upper world has in the company of a pet dog or monkey.It amused him to try and teach me the ways of his people, as it amuses a nephew of mine to make his poodle walk on his hind legs or jump through a hoop.I willingly lent myself to such experiments, but I never achieved the success of the poodle.I was very much interested at first in the attempt to ply the wings which the youngest of the Vril-ya use as nimbly and easily as ours do their legs and arms; but my efforts were attended with contusions serious enough to make me abandon them in despair.

These wings, as I before said, are very large, reaching to the knee, and in repose thrown back so as to form a very graceful mantle.They are composed from the feathers of a gigantic bird that abounds in the rocky heights of the country- the colour mostly white, but sometimes with reddish streaks.They are fastened round the shoulders with light but strong springs of steel; and, when expanded, the arms slide through loops for that purpose, forming, as it were, a stout central membrane.

As the arms are raised, a tubular lining beneath the vest ortunic becomes, by mechanical contrivance inflated with air, increased or diminished at will by the movement of the arms, and serving to buoy the whole form as on bladders.The wings and the balloon-like apparatus are highly charged with vril;and when the body is thus wafted upward, it seems to become singularly lightened of its weight.I found it easy enough to soar from the ground; indeed, when the wings were spread it was scarcely possible not to soar, but then came the difficulty and the danger.I utterly failed in the power to use and direct the pinions, though I am considered among my own race unusually alert and ready in bodily exercises, and am a very practiced swimmer.I could only make the most confused and blundering efforts at flight.I was the servant of the wings; the wings were not my servants- they were beyond my control; and when by a violent strain of muscle, and, I must fairly own, in that abnormal strength which is given by excessive fright, I curbed their gyrations and brought them near to the body, it seemed as if I lost the sustaining power stored in them and the connecting bladders, as when the air is let out of a balloon, and found myself precipitated again to the earth; saved, indeed, by some spasmodic flutterings, from being dashed to pieces, but not saved from the bruises and the stun of a heavy fall.I would, however, have persevered in my attempts, but for the advice or the commands of the scientific Zee, who had benevolently accompanied my flutterings, and, indeed, on the last occasion, flying just under me, received my form as it fell on her own expanded wings, and preserved me from breaking my head on the roof of the pyramid from which we had ascended.

"I see," she said, "that your trials are in vain, not from the fault of the wings and their appurtenances, nor from any imperfectness and malformation of your own corpuscular system, but from irremediable, because organic, defect in your power of volition.Learn that the connection between the will and the agencies of that fluid which has been subjected to the controlof the Vril-ya was never established by the first discoverers, never achieved by a single generation; it has gone on increasing, like other properties of race, in proportion as it has been uniformly transmitted from parent to child, so that, at last, it has become an instinct; and an infant An of our race wills to fly as intuitively and unconsciously as he wills to walk.He thus plies his invented or artificial wings with as much safety as a bird plies those with which it is born.Idid not think sufficiently of this when I allowed you to try an experiment which allured me, for I have longed to have in you a companion.I shall abandon the experiment now.Your life is becoming dear to me." Herewith the Gy's voice and face softened, and I felt more seriously alarmed than I had been in my previous flights.

Now that I am on the subject of wings, I ought not to omit mention of a custom among the Gy-ei which seems to me very pretty and tender in the sentiment it implies.A Gy wears wings habitually when yet a virgin- she joins the Ana in their aerial sports- she adventures alone and afar into the wilder regions of the sunless world: in the boldness and height of her soarings, not less than in the grace of her movements, she excels the opposite sex.But, from the day of her marriage she wears wings no more, she suspends them with her own willing hand over the nuptial couch, never to be resumed unless the marriage tie be severed by divorce or death.

Now when Zee's voice and eyes thus softened- and at that softening I prophetically recoiled and shuddered- Taee, who had accompanied us in our flights, but who, child-like, had been much more amused with my awkwardness, than sympathising in my fears or aware of my danger, hovered over us, poised amidst spread wings, and hearing the endearing words of the young Gy, laughed aloud.Said he, "If the Tish cannot learn the use of wings, you may still be his companion, Zee, for you can suspend your own."

同类推荐
  • 纤言

    纤言

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Heroes and Hero Worship

    Heroes and Hero Worship

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Philosophical Dictionary

    The Philosophical Dictionary

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 祝鹊

    祝鹊

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 重楼玉钥

    重楼玉钥

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 小刀的刀

    小刀的刀

    什么是真正的练武奇才?骨骼清奇,双臂过膝,肌肉匀称,肢体协调?NO!!统统不需要!!练武也要靠脑子的!!!小铁匠智商拉满,开启另类习武之路,人形alphaGO让你知道:圣斗士不会在同一个招式下倒下两次。跟着小铁匠一起领略快意江湖吧,走着。
  • 愿你如初,温暖如昨

    愿你如初,温暖如昨

    "无论是在你的青春里低吟浅笑还是颠沛流离,相爱、拥抱,以为美好一直如此。后来,我终于明白,原来世事都敌不过时间,拥有、失去、绝望、伤痛、哭闹、爱恨,都是它的手下败将。在所有物是人非的景色里,唯愿你常驻光明,温暖如初。本书从心动、表白、相爱、放手等四个不同角度回忆了那些年的爱与坚持,清新治愈,温馨动人,语言隽永,韵味悠长,内容积极健康,很适合少年阅读。"
  • 冲突与调适:农村中小学教学改革的文化路向

    冲突与调适:农村中小学教学改革的文化路向

    冲突与调适——农村中小学教学改革的文化路向冲突与调适——农村中小学教学改革的文化路向
  • Christmas Forever (The Inn at Sunset Harbor—Book 8

    Christmas Forever (The Inn at Sunset Harbor—Book 8

    "Sophie Love's ability to impart magic to her readers is exquisitely wrought in powerfully evocative phrases and descriptions….This is the perfect romance or beach read, with a difference: its enthusiasm and beautiful descriptions offer an unexpected attention to the complexity of not just evolving love, but evolving psyches. It's a delightful recommendation for romance readers looking for a touch more complexity from their romance reads."--Midwest Book Review (Diane Donovan re For Now and Forever)CHRISTMAS FOREVER is book #8—and the finale—in the #1 bestselling romance series THE INN AT SUNSET HARBOR, which begins with For Now and Forever (book #1)—a free download!Winter is coming in Sunset Harbor, and Emily Mitchell is nearing her third trimester. While they continue to develop their new private island, a new opportunity arises—one Emily had never anticipated, and which could change everything.
  • 神品召唤师

    神品召唤师

    这是一个纷争的世界,一个弱肉强食的世界,不断的斗争之中,召唤师渐渐成为这个世界的主流......召唤师等级设定为:凡品,良品,优品,上品,极品,灵品,王品,玄品,圣品,帝品,神品。
  • 红尘行吟(全集)

    红尘行吟(全集)

    《红尘行吟》分上下两册,一共六章,计有600余首诗词。诗作有时代气息,有思索,有情感。从开篇的《观景抒情》到结语的《参禅悟道》,王锦森的浪漫之心贯穿始终,不蔓不枝、不雕不啄、不掩不映,发自内心的真情书写。
  • 刘永行刘永好首富长青:希望集团三十年

    刘永行刘永好首富长青:希望集团三十年

    20世纪80年代初,刘永好四兄弟在四川老家开始创业旅程,他们用拼凑起的1000元钱,从养鸡、养鹌鹑做起,在三十年间打造出中国最知名的民营企业——希望集团。其中刘永行刘永好两度被评为福布斯榜的中国首富,二人也先后成为CCTV2001和2006的中国年度经济人物。四兄弟的成功是中国式“白手起家”的典型,他们的创业与改革开放几乎同步,也因此见证了中国民营经济发展各个时期的起伏跌宕,而他们一路走来,三十年屹立不倒、蓬勃长青,的确称得上一个难得的奇迹。
  • 总裁的原配夫人

    总裁的原配夫人

    他,在商场是一个冷酷无情的人,在生活上是非常神秘的人,她,是一个温柔,单纯的人,无论生活怎么如何改变,她只会变得更加坚强,他遇上了她,她用她的温柔,改变了他的固执,他用他的能力,让她飞的自由,一段爱情,让彼此变得更好,让彼此感到幸福,这就是爱的本意……
  • 重生我不是影后

    重生我不是影后

    她演技精湛,却坚定道:我不做影后!重来一次,凌蔚坚决不要再做风光无限好的影后,世人只看到她台上的风光,看不到为了这风光她付出的努力。这一次她要低调演戏,安心过自己的小日子!
  • 灼荣

    灼荣

    东风不为吹愁去,春日偏能惹恨长,卓清清春生春死,三世同归,四世醒来依旧风景如故“老天爷,这到底是为啥子?一定要我死磕吗?!!”ps;封面是自己做的,虽丑犹荣