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she-第52部分
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ancestress; the Egyptian Amenartas; had been the means
of guiding us to her。 Ayesha listened intently; and;
when he had finished; spoke to me。
〃Did I not tell thee one day; when we did talk of good
and evil; O Hollyit was when my beloved lay so ill
that out of good came evil; and out of evil goodthat
they who sowed knew not what the crop should be; nor
he who struck where the blow should fall? See; now:
this Egyptian Amenartas; this royal child of the Nile
who hated me; and whom even now I hate; for in a way
she did prevail against mesee; now; she herself hath
been the very means to bring her lover to mine arms!
For her sake I slew him; and now; behold; through her
he hath come back to me! She would have done me evil;
and sowed her seeds that I might reap tares; and
behold she hath given me more than all the world can
give; and there is a strange square for thee to fit
into thy circle of good and evil; O Holly!
〃And so;〃 she went on; after a pause〃and so she bade
her son destroy me if he might; because I slew his
father。 And thou; my Kallikrates; art the father; and
in a sense thou art likewise the son; and wouldst thou
avenge thy wrong; and the wrong of that far…off mother
of thine upon me; O Kallikrates? See;〃 and she slid to
her knees; and drew the white corsage still farther
down her ivory bosom〃see; here beats my heart; and
there by thy side is a knife; heavy and long and
sharp; the very knife to slay an erring woman with。
Take it now; and be avenged。 Strike; and strike home!…
…so shalt thou be satisfied; Kallikrates; and go
through life a happy man; because thou hast paid back
the wrong; and obeyed the mandate of the past。〃
He looked at her; and then stretched out his hand and
lifted her to her feet。
〃Rise; Ayesha;〃 he said; sadly; 〃well thou knowest
that I cannot strike thee; no; not even for the sake
of her whom thou slewest but last night。 I am in thy
power; and a very slave to thee。 How can I kill thee?…
…sooner should I slay myself。〃
〃Almost dost thou begin to love me; Kallikrates;〃 she
answered; smiling。 〃And now tell me of thy country
'tis a great people; is it not? with an empire like
that of Rome! Surely thou wouldst return thither; and
it is well; for I mean not that thou shouldst dwell in
these caves of Ko^r。 Nay; when once thou art even as I
am; we will go hencefear not but that I shall find a
pathand then shall we cross to this England of
thine; and live as it becometh us to live。 Two
thousand years have I waited for the day when I should
see the last of these hateful caves and this gloomy…
visaged folk; and now it is at hand; and my heart
bounds up to meet it like a child's towards its
holiday。 For thou shalt rule this England〃
〃But we have a queen already;〃 broke in Leo; hastily。
〃It is naught; it is naught;〃 said Ayesha; 〃she can be
overthrown。〃 At this we both broke out into an
exclamation of dismay; and explained that we should as
soon think of overthrowing ourselves。
〃But here is a strange thing;〃 said Ayesha; in
astonishment; 〃a queen whom her people love! Surely
the world must have changed since I dwelt in Ko^r。〃
Again we explained that it was the character of
monarchs that had changed; and that the one under whom
we lived was venerated and beloved by all right…
thinking people in her vast realms。 Also; we told her
that real power in our country rested in the hands of
the people; and that we were in fact ruled by the
votes of the lower and least educated classes of the
community。
〃Ah;〃 she said; 〃a democracythen surely there is a
tyrant; for I have long since seen that democracies;
having no clear will of their own; in the end set up a
tyrant; and worship him。〃
〃Yes;〃 I said; 〃we have our tyrants。〃
〃Well;〃 she answered; resignedly; 〃we can at any rate
destroy these tyrants; and Kallikrates shall rule the
land。〃
I instantly informed Ayesha that in England 〃blasting〃
was not an amusement that could be indulged in with
impunity; and that any such attempt would meet with
the consideration of the law and probably end upon a
scaffold。
〃The law;〃 she laughed; with scorn…〃the law! Canst
thou not understand; O Holly; that I am above the law;
and so shall my Kallikrates be also? All human law
will be to us as the north wind to a mountain。 Does
the wind bend the mountain; or the mountain the wind?
〃And now leave me; I pray thee; and thou too; my own
Kallikrates; for I would get me ready against our
journey; and so must ye both; and your servant also。
But bring no great quantity of things with。 thee; for
I trust that we shall be but three days gone。 Then
shall we return hither; and I will make a plan whereby
we can bid farewell forever to these sepulchres of
Ko^r。 Yes; surely thou mayst kiss my hand!〃
So we went; I; for one; meditating deeply on the awful
nature of the problem that now opened out before us。
The terrible _i_ She _i_ had evidently made up her
mind to go to England; and it made me absolutely
shudder to think what would be the result of her
arrival there。 What her powers were I knew; and I
could not doubt but that she would exercise them to
the full。 It might be possible to control her for a
while; but her proud; ambitious spirit would be
certain to break loose and avenge itself for the long
centuries of its solitude。 _i_ She _i_ would; if
necessary; and if the power of her beauty did not
unaided prove equal to the occasion; blast her way to
any end she set before her; and; as she could not die;
and for aught I knew could not even be killed; what
was there to stop her? In the end she would; I had
little doubt; assume absolute rule over the British
dominions; and probably over the whole earth; and;
though I was sure that she would speedily make ours
the most glorious and prosperous empire that the world
has ever seen; it would be at the cost of a terrible
sacrifice of life。
The whole thing sounded like a dream or some
extraordinary invention of a speculative brain; and
yet it was a facta wonderful factwhich the whole
world would soon be called on to take notice。 What was
the meaning of it all? After much thinking I could
only conclude that this wonderful creature; whose
passion had kept her for so many centuries chained; as
it were; and comparatively harmless; was now about to
be used by Providence as a means to change the order
of the world; and possibly; by the building up of a
power that could no more be rebelled against or
questioned than the decrees of Fate; to change it
materially for the better。
CHAPTER XXIII
THE TEMPLE OF TRUTH
Our preparations did not take us very long。 We put a
change of clothing apiece and some spare boots into my
Gladstone bag; also we took our revolvers and an
express rifle each; together with a good supply of
ammunition; a precaution to which; under Providence;
we subsequently owed our lives over and over again。
The rest of our gear; together with our heavy rifles;
we left behind us。
A few minutes before the appointed time we once more
attended in Ayesha's boudoir; and found her also
ready; her dark cloak thrown over her winding sheet…
like wrappings。
〃Are ye prepared for the great venture?〃 she said。
〃We are;〃 I answered; 〃though for my part; Ayesha; I
have no faith in it。〃
〃Ah; my Holly;〃 she said; 〃thou art of a truth like
those old Jewsof whom the memory vexes me so sorely…
…unbelieving; and hard to accept that which they have
not known。 But thou shalt see; for unless my mirror
yonder lies;〃 and she pointed to the font of crystal
water; 〃the path is yet open as it was of old time。
And now let us start upon the new life which shall
endwho knoweth where?〃
〃Ah;〃 I echoed; 〃who knoweth where?〃 and we passed
down into the great central cave; and out into the
light of day。 At the mouth of the cave we found a
single litter with six bearers; all of them mutes;
waiting; and with them I was relieved to see our old
friend Billali; for whom I had conceived a sort of
affection。 It appeared that; for reasons not necessary
to explain at length; Ayesha had thought it best that;
with the exception of herself; we should proceed on
foot; and this we were nothing loath to do; after our
long confinement in these caves; which; however
suitable they might be for sarcophagia singularly
inappropriate word; by the way; for these particular
tombs; which certainly did not consume the bodies
given to their keepingwere depressing habitations
for breathing mortals like ourselves。 Either by
accident or by the orders of _i_ She _i_ ; the space
in front of the cave where we had beheld that awful
dance was perfectly clear of spectators。 Not a soul
was to be seen; and consequently I do not believe that
our departure was known to anybody; except perhaps the
mutes who waited on _i_ She _i_ ; and they were; of
course; in the habit of keeping what they saw to
themselves。
In a few minutes' time we were stepping out sharply
across the great cultivated plain or lake bed; framed
like a vast emerald in its setting of frowning cliff;
and had anot
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