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some abyss. I remembered, too, strange stories told about these Ragged Hills, and of the uncouth and fierce
races of men who tenanted their groves and caverns. A thousand vague fancies oppressed and disconcerted
me- fancies the more distressing because vague. Very suddenly my attention was arrested by the loud beating
of a drum.
"My amazement was, of course, extreme. A drum in these hills was a thing unknown. I could not have been
more surprised at the sound of the trump of the Archangel. But a new and still more astounding source of
interest and perplexity arose. There came a wild rattling or jingling sound, as if of a bunch of large keys, and
upon the instant a dusky-visaged and half-naked man rushed past me with a shriek. He came so close to my
person that I felt his hot breath upon my face. He bore in one hand an instrument composed of an assemblage
of steel rings, and shook them vigorously as he ran. Scarcely had he disappeared in the mist before, panting
after him, with open mouth and glaring eyes, there darted a huge beast. I could not be mistaken in its
character. It was a hyena.
"The sight of this monster rather relieved than heightened my terrors -- for I now made sure that I dreamed,
and endeavored to arouse myself to waking consciousness. I stepped boldly and briskly forward. I rubbed my
eyes. I called aloud. I pinched my limbs. A small spring of water presented itself to my view, and here,
stooping, I bathed my hands and my head and neck. This seemed to dissipate the equivocal sensations which
had hitherto annoyed me. I arose, as I thought, a new man, and proceeded steadily and complacently on my
unknown way.
"At length, quite overcome by exertion, and by a certain oppressive closeness of the atmosphere, I seated
myself beneath a tree. Presently there came a feeble gleam of sunshine, and the shadow of the leaves of the
tree fell faintly but definitely upon the grass. At this shadow I gazed wonderingly for many minutes. Its
character stupefied me with astonishment. I looked upward. The tree was a palm.
"I now arose hurriedly, and in a state of fearful agitation -- for the fancy that I dreamed would serve me no
longer. I saw -- I felt that I had perfect command of my senses -- and these senses now brought to my soul a
world of novel and singular sensation. The heat became all at once intolerable. A strange odor loaded the
breeze. A low, continuous murmur, like that arising from a full, but gently flowing river, came to my ears,
intermingled with the peculiar hum of multitudinous human voices.
CHAPTER XXV 110
"While I listened in an extremity of astonishment which I need not attempt to describe, a strong and brief gust
of wind bore off the incumbent fog as if by the wand of an enchanter.
"I found myself at the foot of a high mountain, and looking down into a vast plain, through which wound a
majestic river. On the margin of this river stood an Eastern-looking city, such as we read of in the Arabian
Tales, but of a character even more singular than any there described. From my position, which was far
above the level of the town, I could perceive its every nook and corner, as if delineated on a map. The streets
seemed innumerable, and crossed each other irregularly in all directions, but were rather long winding alleys
than streets, and absolutely swarmed with inhabitants. The houses were wildly picturesque. On every hand
was a wilderness of balconies, of verandas, of minarets, of shrines, and fantastically carved oriels. Bazaars
abounded; and in these were displayed rich wares in infinite variety and profusion -- silks, muslins, the most
dazzling cutlery, the most magnificent jewels and gems. Besides these things, were seen, on all sides, banners
and palanquins, litters with stately dames close veiled, elephants gorgeously caparisoned, idols grotesquely
hewn, drums, banners, and gongs, spears, silver and gilded maces. And amid the crowd, and the clamor, and
the general intricacy and confusion- amid the million of black and yellow men, turbaned and robed, and of
flowing beard, there roamed a countless multitude of holy filleted bulls, while vast legions of the filthy but
sacred ape clambered, chattering and shrieking, about the cornices of the mosques, or clung to the minarets
and oriels. From the swarming streets to the banks of the river, there descended innumerable flights of steps
leading to bathing places, while the river itself seemed to force a passage with difficulty through the vast
fleets of deeply -- burthened ships that far and wide encountered its surface. Beyond the limits of the city
arose, in frequent majestic groups, the palm and the cocoa, with other gigantic and weird trees of vast age,
and here and there might be seen a field of rice, the thatched hut of a peasant, a tank, a stray temple, a gypsy
camp, or a solitary graceful maiden taking her way, with a pitcher upon her head, to the banks of the
magnificent river.
"You will say now, of course, that I dreamed; but not so. What I saw -- what I heard -- what I felt -- what I
thought -- had about it nothing of the unmistakable idiosyncrasy of the dream. All was rigorously
self-consistent. At first, doubting that I was really awake, I entered into a series of tests, which soon convinced
me that I really was. Now, when one dreams, and, in the dream, suspects that he dreams, the suspicion never
fails to confirm itself, and the sleeper is almost immediately aroused. Thus Novalis errs not in saying that 'we
are near waking when we dream that we dream.' Had the vision occurred to me as I describe it, without my
suspecting it as a dream, then a dream it might absolutely have been, but, occurring as it did, and suspected
and tested as it was, I am forced to class it among other phenomena."
"In this I am not sure that you are wrong," observed Dr. Templeton, "but proceed. You arose and descended
into the city."
"I arose," continued Bedloe, regarding the Doctor with an air of profound astonishment "I arose, as you say,
and descended into the city. On my way I fell in with an immense populace, crowding through every avenue,
all in the same direction, and exhibiting in every action the wildest excitement. Very suddenly, and by some
inconceivable impulse, I became intensely imbued with personal interest in what was going on. I seemed to
feel that I had an important part to play, without exactly understanding what it was. Against the crowd which
environed me, however, I experienced a deep sentiment of animosity. I shrank from amid them, and, swiftly,
by a circuitous path, reached and entered the city. Here all was the wildest tumult and contention. A small
party of men, clad in garments half-Indian, half-European, and officered by gentlemen in a uniform partly
British, were engaged, at great odds, with the swarming rabble of the alleys. I joined the weaker party,
arming myself with the weapons of a fallen officer, and fighting I knew not whom with the nervous ferocity of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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