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B uda Pest seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I got of it from the train and the little I could walk through the streets. The impression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the East.
We left the capital in pretty good time, and came after nightfall to Klausenburgh. The little German I speak has been very useful here; indeed, I don't know how I should be able to get on without it. Having had some time at my disposal when in London, I made search among the books and maps in the library regarding Transylvania. I found that the district of the nobleman I'm visiting is in the extreme east of the country: one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe. I was not able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the Castle Dracula; but I found that Bistritz, the post town named by Count Dracula, is a fairly well known place. I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into this remote area. If so, my stay may be very interesting.
I did not sleep well, though my bed was comfortable enough, for I had all sorts of queer dreams. There was a dog howling all night under my window, which may have had something to do with it. Towards morning I slept and was wakened by the continuous knocking at my door, so I guess I must have been sleeping soundly then. I had to hurry breakfast,for the train started a little before eight.
It was on the dark side of twilight when we got to Bistritz,which is a very interesting old place. Count Dracula had directed me to go to the Golden Krone Hotel, which I found, to my great delight, to be thoroughly old-fashioned, for of course I wanted to see all, I could, of the ways of the country. At the hotel I was handed a letter by one of the peasants.
“My friend. Welcome to the Carpathians. I am anxiously expecting you. Sleep well tonight. At three tomorrow the carriage will start for Bukovina. At the Borgo Pass my carriage will await you and will bring you to me. Your friend, Dracula.”
The hotel manager and his wife were acting strangely today. When I asked them if they knew Count Dracula,and could tell me anything of his castle, they both crossed themselves, and said, “Do you know what day it is?” I answered that it was the fourth of May. She shook her head as she said,“It is the eve of St. George's Day. Do you not know that tonight,when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will freely run about? Do you know where you are going, and what you are going to?”
She was in such evident distress that I tried to comfort her, but without effect. Finally, she went down on her knees and begged me not to go; at least to wait a day or two before starting. It was all very ridiculous and I did not feel comfortable.
She then rose and dried her eyes, and taking a cross from her neck offered it to me. I did not know what to do. It seemed so ungracious to refuse an old lady meaning so well and in such a state of mind. Whether it is the old lady's fear or the many ghostly traditions of this place, or the cross itself, I do not know,but I am not feeling nearly as easy in my mind as usual.
Ah! Here comes the coach!
When I got on the coach, the driver had not taken his seat,and I saw him talking to the landlady . They were evidently talking of me, for every now and then they looked at me. I could hear a lot of words often repeated, strange words, for there were many nationalities in the crowd, so I quietly got my dictionary from my bag and looked them up. I must say they were not cheering to me, for amongst them were “Devil”,“ Witch ” and “ Vampire ”.
When we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time swelled to a considerable size, all made the sign of the cross and pointed two fingers towards me. With some difficulty, I got a fellow passenger to tell me what they meant. He would not answer at first, but on learning that I was English, he explained that it was a charm or guard against the evil eye.
Then our driver cracked his big whip over his four small horses, which ran abreast , and we set off on our journey. The scenery was beautiful. On either side of us the Carpathian Mountains towered. The road was rough, but still we seemed to fly over it with a feverish haste. I could not understand then what the haste meant, but the driver was evidently bent on losing no time in reaching Borgo.
As we wound on our endless way, and the sun sank lower and lower behind us, the shadows of the evening began to creep round us. When it finally grew dark there seemed to be some excitement amongst the passengers, and they kept speaking to the driver, one after the other, as though urging him to further speed. He whipped the horses unmercifully , and with wild cries of encouragement urged them on to further exertions.
The road grew more level, and we appeared to fly along.Then the mountains seemed to come nearer to us on each side and to frown down upon us. We were entering on the Borgo Pass.
The driver now leaned forward, and on each side the passengers, craning over the edge of the coach, peered eagerly into the darkness. It was evident that something very exciting was either happening or expected. Though I asked each passenger, no one would give me the slightest explanation.
At last, we saw before us the Pass opening out on the eastern side. There were dark, rolling clouds overhead, and in the air the heavy, oppressive sense of thunder. It seemed as though the mountain range had separated two atmospheres,and that now we had got into the thunderous one.
I was now myself looking out for the carriage which was to take me to the Count. We could see now the sandy road lying white before us, but there was on it no sign of a vehicle. The passengers drew back with a sigh of gladness, which seemed to mock my own disappointment.
Turning to me, the driver spoke in German worse than my own, “There is no carriage here. The Count is not expected after all. You can go to Bukovina tonight and return tomorrow or the next day.”
While he was speaking, the horses became anxious so that the driver had to hold them up. Then, amongst a chorus of screams from the peasants and a universal crossing of themselves, a carriage with four horses, drove up behind us,overtook us, and drew up beside the coach.
I could see from the flash of our lamps, as the rays fell on them, that the horses were coal-black and splendid animals.They were driven by a tall man with a long, brown beard and a great black hat, which seemed to hide his face from us. I could only see the gleam of a pair of very bright eyes, which seemed red in the lamplight , as he turned to us.
He said to the driver, “You are early tonight, my friend.”
The man stammered in reply, “The Englishman was in a hurry.”
To which the stranger replied, “That is why, I suppose, you wished him to go on to Bukovina. You cannot deceive me, my friend. I know too much, and my horses are swift.”
As he spoke he smiled, and the lamplight fell on a hard looking mouth, with very red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory .
The driver threw my bags onto the black carriage and as I tried to get aboard, the driver helped me with a hand which caught my arm in a grip of steel. His strength must have been incredible.
Without a word he shook his reins , the horses turned, and we swept into the darkness of the pass. I felt a little strangely,and not a little frightened. I struck a match, and by its flame,looked at my watch. It was within a few minutes of midnight.This gave me a sort of shock, for I suppose the general superstition about midnight was increased by my recent experiences. I waited with a sick feeling of suspense .
A wolf began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road. The sound was taken up by another wolf, and then another and another, till the howling seemed to come from all over the country, as far as the imagination could grasp it through the gloom of the night.
The night grew colder, and fine, powdery snow began to fall,so that soon we, and all around us, were covered with a white blanket. The baying of the wolves sounded nearer and nearer,as though they were closing round on us from every side.
I grew dreadfully afraid, and the horses shared my fear.The driver, however, was not in the least disturbed. He kept turning his head to left and right, but I could not see anything through the darkness.
Suddenly, away on our left I saw a faint blue flame. The driver saw it at the same moment. He at once checked the horses, and jumping to the ground, disappeared into the darkness. I did not know what to do. The horses began to tremble worse than ever and to scream with fright. I could not see any cause for it, for the howling of the wolves had ceased altogether.
But just then the moon appeared from behind a cloud, and by its light I saw around us a ring of wolves with white teeth,and deep red tongues hanging out of their mouths. For myself,I felt a sort of paralysis of fear. All at once, the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had had some peculiar effect on them.
The coachman returned there and raised his voice in a tone of authoritative command. Standing in the road, he swept his long arms, as though brushing aside some invisible obstacle,and the wolves began to back away.
This was all so strange and unreal that a dreadful fear came upon me, and I was afraid to speak or move.
The time seemed endless as we swept on our way, now in almost complete darkness, for the rolling clouds obscured the moon. Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the driver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken walls showed an uneven line against the sky.
nightfall /ˈnaɪtfɔ:l/ n. 黄昏，夜幕降临
nobleman /ˈnəʊblmən/ n. 贵族，有高贵地位的人
locality /ləʊˈkælətɪ/ n. 位置，地点
superstition /ˌsju:pəˈstɪʃən/ n. 迷信；盲目的恐惧
soundly /ˈsaʊndlɪ/ adv. 彻底地；非常好
twilight /ˈtwaɪlaɪt/ n. 黎明；微光
ungracious /ˌʌnˈɡreɪʃəs/ adj. 没礼貌的，没有教养的；不合人意的
ghostly /ˈɡəʊstlɪ/ adj. 鬼的，幽灵的；可怕的
landlady /ˈlændleɪdɪ/ n. 女房东；女地主
witch /wɪtʃ/ n. 女巫；迷人的女子
vampire /ˈvæmpaɪə/ n. 吸血鬼
abreast /əˈbrest/ adv. 并排地，并肩地
feverish /ˈfi:vərɪʃ/ adj. 疯狂的，狂热的
unmercifully / ʌ n ˈ mɜ:sɪ f ʊ l ɪ / a dv. 毫不留情地，无情地
oppressive /əˈpresɪv/ adj. 沉重的，压制性的
thunderous /ˈθʌndərəs/ adj. 雷声轰隆的，打雷的
mock /mɒk/ vt. 嘲笑，嘲弄；挫败
chorus /ˈkɔ:rəs/ n. 齐声，合唱
gleam /ɡli:m/ n. 微弱的闪光
lamplight /ˈlæmplaɪt/ n. 灯火
stammer /ˈstæmə/ vi. 结结巴巴地说，口吃
ivory /ˈaɪvərɪ/ n. 象牙，长牙
rein /reɪn/ n. （常用复数）缰绳
suspense /səsˈpens/ n. 焦躁；悬念
farmhouse /ˈfɑ:mhaʊs/ n. 农家，农舍
gloom /ɡlu:m/ n. 阴暗，阴沉
powdery /ˈpaʊdərɪ/ adj. 粉末状的，粉的
dreadfully /ˈdredfʊlɪ/ adv. 强烈地；可怕地
paralysis /pəˈræləsɪs/ n. 瘫痪，麻痹
coachman /ˈkəʊtʃmən/ n. 车夫，马车夫
authoritative /ɔ:ˈθɒrɪtətɪv/ adj. 威猛的；命令的
unreal /ˌʌnˈri:l/ adj. 不可思议的，不真实的
dreadful /ˈdredfʊl/ adj. 致命的，可怕的
obscure /ɒbˈskjʊə/ vt. 遮住；使暗，使不明显
uneven /ˌʌnˈi:vən/ adj. 不平的；不均匀的