登陆注册
5251700000021

第21章 THE HORLA(3)

"Do you believe it?" I asked the monk. "I scarcely know," he replied; and I continued: "If there are other beings besides ourselves on this earth, how comes it that we have not known it for so long a time, or why have you not seen them? How is it that I have not seen them?"He replied: "Do we see the hundred-thousandth part of what exists? Look here; there is the wind, which is the strongest force in nature. It knocks down men, and 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. But have you ever seen it, and can you see it? Yet it exists for all that."I was silent before this simple reasoning. That man was a philosopher, or perhaps a fool; I could not say which exactly, so I held my tongue. What he had said had often been in my own thoughts.

July 3. I have slept badly; certainly there is some feverish influence here, for my coachman is suffering in the same way as Iam. When I went back home yesterday, I noticed his singular paleness, and I asked him: "What is the matter with you, Jean?""The matter is that I never get any rest, and my nights devour my days. Since your departure, Monsieur, there has been a spell over me."However, the other servants are all well, but I am very frightened of having another attack, myself.

July 4. I am decidedly taken again; for my old nightmares have returned. Last night I felt somebody leaning on me who was sucking my life from between my lips with his mouth. Yes, he was sucking it out of my neck like a leech would have done. Then he got up, satiated, and I woke up, so beaten, crushed, and annihilated that I could not move. If this continues for a few days, I shall certainly go away again.

July 5. Have I lost my reason? What has happened? What I saw last night is so strange that my head wanders when I think of it!

As I do now every evening, I had locked my door; then, being thirsty, I drank half a glass of water, and I accidentally noticed that the water-bottle was full up to the cut-glass stopper.

Then I went to bed and fell into one of my terrible sleeps, from which I was aroused in about two hours by a still more terrible shock.

Picture to yourself a sleeping man who is being murdered, who wakes up with a knife in his chest, a gurgling in his throat, is covered with blood, can no longer breathe, is going to die and does not understand anything at all about it--there you have it.

Having recovered my senses, I was thirsty again, so I lighted a candle and went to the table on which my water-bottle was. Ilifted it up and tilted it over my glass, but nothing came out.

It was empty! It was completely empty! At first I could not understand it at all; then suddenly I was seized by such a terrible feeling that I had to sit down, or rather fall into a chair! Then I sprang up with a bound to look about me; then I sat down again, overcome by astonishment and fear, in front of the transparent crystal bottle! I looked at it with fixed eyes, trying to solve the puzzle, and my hands trembled! Some body had drunk the water, but who? I? I without any doubt. It could surely only be I? In that case I was a somnambulist--was living, without knowing it, that double, mysterious life which makes us doubt whether there are not two beings in us--whether a strange, unknowable, and invisible being does not, during our moments of mental and physical torpor, animate the inert body, forcing it to a more willing obedience than it yields to ourselves.

Oh! Who will understand my horrible agony? Who will understand the emotion of a man sound in mind, wide-awake, full of sense, who looks in horror at the disappearance of a little water while he was asleep, through the glass of a water-bottle! And Iremained sitting until it was daylight, without venturing to go to bed again.

July 6. I am going mad. Again all the contents of my water-bottle have been drunk during the night; or rather I have drunk it!

But is it I? Is it I? Who could it be? Who? Oh! God! Am I going mad? Who will save me?

July 10. I have just been through some surprising ordeals.

Undoubtedly I must be mad! And yet!

On July 6, before going to bed, I put some wine, milk, water, bread, and strawberries on my table. Somebody drank--I drank--all the water and a little of the milk, but neither the wine, nor the bread, nor the strawberries were touched.

On the seventh of July I renewed the same experiment, with the same results, and on July 8 I left out the water and the milk and nothing was touched.

Lastly, on July 9 I put only water and milk on my table, taking care to wrap up the bottles in white muslin and to tie down the stoppers. Then I rubbed my lips, my beard, and my hands with pencil lead, and went to bed.

Deep slumber seized me, soon followed by a terrible awakening. Ihad not moved, and my sheets were not marked. I rushed to the table. The muslin round the bottles remained intact; I undid the string, trembling with fear. All the water had been drunk, and so had the milk! Ah! Great God! I must start for Paris immediately.

July 12. Paris. I must have lost my head during the last few days! I must be the plaything of my enervated imagination, unless I am really a somnambulist, or I have been brought under the power of one of those influences--hypnotic suggestion, for example--which are known to exist, but have hitherto been inexplicable. In any case, my mental state bordered on madness, and twenty-four hours of Paris sufficed to restore me to my equilibrium.

Yesterday after doing some business and paying some visits, which instilled fresh and invigorating mental air into me, I wound up my evening at the Theatre Francais. A drama by Alexander Dumas the Younger was being acted, and his brilliant and powerful play completed my cure. Certainly solitude is dangerous for active minds. We need men who can think and can talk, around us. When we are alone for a long time, we people space with phantoms.

I returned along the boulevards to my hotel in excellent spirits.

同类推荐
  • DON QUIXOTE

    DON QUIXOTE

    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。
  • 启信杂说

    启信杂说

    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。
  • 入地眼全书

    入地眼全书

    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。
  • 许真君仙传

    许真君仙传

    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。
  • 真藏经要诀

    真藏经要诀

    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
  • 纪伯伦全集(共7册)

    纪伯伦全集(共7册)

    《纪伯伦全集(共7册)》包括先知+泪与笑+沙与沫+叛逆的灵魂+光与静默+爱你如诗美丽+蓝色火焰,从这套书中你可以看到一个慷慨激昂、横眉冷对的纪伯伦;一位细腻、性感的纪伯伦;一位感性、沉默的纪伯伦;一位对未来充满希望、现在充满斥责的纪伯伦……或许这才是他作为20世纪最富盛名的思想家该有的一面。文中饱含纪伯伦对时代、民族、家国的忧思,因为《纪伯伦全集(共7册)》,他足以和鲁迅一起留名青史。
  • 仙路行舟

    仙路行舟

    玉清留遗府,道赠有缘人。乘风破浪时,我辈正少年。陈庆重生异界,踏上修仙之路,勇猛精进,踏遍千山万水,斩尽异域邪魔,明悟天地,破执念,踏大道。 QQ书友群:737617138。希望提意见。
  • E.C.心理破坏师之重身效应

    E.C.心理破坏师之重身效应

    “做一个约定吧。你必须找出‘指挥家’,时间限制是在‘演出’落幕之前。输掉的话,我便在那个人的眼前亲手杀死你。”即便知道这是来自地狱的邀请,她却不得不答应。因为有不能放弃的东西,一定要从这个男人手中夺得。
  • 我有一个末世世界

    我有一个末世世界

    新书——《改造现世界》已发一不小心改变了世界,该怎么办?“随机向全球投放50000名丧尸!”“随机向全球投放1000座秘境!”“随机觉醒1000名人类!”全新的设定,带给你不同的体验!
  • 风敲笛

    风敲笛

    她的左手可控制冰,右手可控制火,脚踝上殷红的彼岸花让她躲躲藏藏。他是国家未来的继承者,杀伐果断,温和如玉,天生便拥有奇异的血脉。神秘的身世,不过是她成功的基础而已。强大的天赋,只是他君临天下的铺垫罢了。尘埃之下的秘密被缓缓展开。骨笛声起,逆天而行,无畏无惧!【场景版:“殿下,小娘娘把侧妃扔到水里说是要喂鱼。”“随她去。”“殿下,小娘娘把大理寺卿的嫡长子揍了一顿。”“哦,没打死就行。”“殿下,小娘娘离家出走……”侍卫的话还未说完,之前一直看着书的某殿下嗖的一下从窗户跳了出去。远远有声音传来:“我去把那个翘家的小丫头带回来!”】【十年灵谷十年思,不负天下不负卿。】
  • 曼珠沙华之半生浮沉

    曼珠沙华之半生浮沉

    09年夏,收到刘子华短信的杨兰忆起尘封往事。5岁才被接去纪州的余兰,在一场变故后又再次回到了乾江,但接下来发生的一件事却彻底改变了她的一生,从此判若两人,改名杨兰。因误会分开的刘子华杨兰两人,因刘子华的再次出现又在了一起。找工作时偶遇了儿时的玩伴刘美雪,并和张漫妮张梦洁成为了姐妹。生活似乎回归了正轨,一次聚会却让杨兰险些再次出事,美雪被误会,刘子华再次消失,恋情再次无疾而终。而期间遇见的陆永浩,罗云天,阮若凡,何光宇,彭辉,刘子铭,和三个女孩间的情感交织,让张梦洁和张漫妮产生隔阂,杨兰和张漫妮也分道扬镳,张梦洁离开,杨兰也去了别的城市。当杨兰再次接起刘子华的电话,一切,却早已物是人非…
  • 浮世烟云

    浮世烟云

    出身天津日伪政府高官家庭的尹宝笙因家中失势而被婆家抛弃。她从小便活得风光无限,实则她知道,自己当不上主角,做不了英雄,不勇敢,也没有思想。她从小只是随顺着命运的波涛,时时寻求庇护,做一棵渺小的墙头草,当一只漂亮的花瓶。只是这一次的抛弃,她好像从梦中惊醒,头一遭想要自立,却碰到一劫——一个地地道道靠女人混迹的小白脸,却暗含阴谋。她欲脱身而不得,被拖入了更深的洪流。在动荡的局势和晦暗难明的博弈中,她这棵墙头草何去何从?却顾所来径,苍苍横翠微。她回首茫然眺望,那苍苍横着的翠微,在暮色里却都如烟云,好似青蒙蒙的一团雾......
  • 民族救亡(中国近代历史大事详解)

    民族救亡(中国近代历史大事详解)

    中国历史渊源流长,博大精深,是国人精神底蕴之所在,是民族长盛不衰之根本。认识历史,了解历史,是每一位中国人所必须面对的人生课题。本套丛书浓缩了华夏五千年的风雨历程,以一个全新角度纵览中华民族的辉煌历史。全书以全新史料,记述了上溯古代,下至公元1912年的中国历史进程。内容涵盖政治、经济、军事、科技、文化、艺术、外交、法律、宗教、民俗等方方面面。内容详实,存真去伪。并由历史国学权威学者、专家最终审定。
  • 我家绉总人格分裂

    我家绉总人格分裂

    堂堂柳家大小姐竟被威胁成为叶总的专属晚间秘书。怀着对真相的渴望与对绉默叶的思念,柳芷汐心甘情愿每天陪在叶总身边,找寻人间蒸发的心爱之人与叶陌州的联系。当她终于弄清了真相,却难以抉择。去留,就在她的一念之间……“你是我拼尽一生也要守护的温暖救赎。”“我都听你的。”——————————男主多重人格,偏宠文,男女主智商在线,欢迎入坑~作者文笔非常不成熟,请看官们见谅~
  • 为什么那个笨蛋赚钱比我多

    为什么那个笨蛋赚钱比我多

    本书内容包括:为什么你那么聪明却不够有钱、是什么禁锢了你和你的财富、聪明陷阱之一:消磨掉你特立独行的精神力量、聪明陷阱之二:你革于并乐于做精明的贫穷者等15章。