蜡像馆惊魂（The Horror in the Museum）第三部分
作者：H. P. Lovecraft
译者：九四白灵
本文仅是个人翻译，与同行交流和制作我自己的有声书为主，如果有什么不对的欢迎指出。
“The thing on that throne didn’t move—and we knew then that It needed the nourishment of sacrifice. But we didn’t want to wake It then. Better to get It to London first. Orabona and I went to the surface for the big box, but when we had packed it we couldn’t get It up the three flights of steps. These steps weren’t made for human beings, and their size bothered us. Anyway, it was devilish heavy. We had to have the Americans down to get It out. They weren’t anxious to go into the place, but of course the worst thing was safely inside the box. We told them it was a batch of ivory carvings—archaeological stuff; and after seeing the carved throne they probably believed us. It’s a wonder they didn’t suspect hidden treasure and demand a share. They must have told queer tales around Nome later on; though I doubt if they ever went back to those ruins, even for the ivory throne.”
“王座上的东西一动也不动——那时我们才知道它需要献祭作为滋养。但我们当时不想吵醒它。最好先将它送到伦敦。奥拉贝纳（Orabona）和我到地面上去拿那个大箱子，但当我们将它装好后，却无法把它抬上三层塔梯。这些阶梯不是为人类而建的，它们的尺寸让我们感到困扰。但不管怎样，它非常的沉重。我们得让美国人下来才能把它弄出来。他们并不渴望进入那儿，但最糟糕的东西当然是安全地在盒子里。我们告诉他们那是一批象牙雕刻品——考古的东西；看到雕刻的王座后，他们可能相信了我们。真是奇迹，他们没有怀疑（有）隐藏的宝藏并要求分一杯羹。后来他们一定在诺姆周围讲了一些奇怪的故事；不过，我对他们是否会回到那些废墟中去表示怀疑，即使是为了（得到）那个象牙王座。”
Rogers paused, felt around in his desk, and produced an envelope of good-sized photographic prints. Extracting one and laying it face down before him, he handed the rest to Jones. The set was certainly an odd one: ice-clad hills, dog sledges, men in furs, and vast tumbled ruins against a background of snow—ruins whose bizarre outlines and enormous stone blocks could hardly be accounted for. One flashlight view shewed an incredible interior chamber with wild carvings and a curious throne whose proportion could not have been designed for a human occupant. The carvings on the gigantic masonry—high walls and peculiar vaulting overhead—were mainly symbolic, and involved both wholly unknown designs and certain hieroglyphs darkly cited in obscene legends. Over the throne loomed the same dreadful symbol which was now painted on the workroom wall above the padlocked plank door. Jones darted a nervous glance at the closed portal. Assuredly, Rogers had been to strange places and had seen strange things. Yet this mad interior picture might easily be a fraud—taken from a very clever stage setting. One must not be too credulous. But Rogers was continuing:
罗杰斯停顿了一下，在他的桌子里摸索了一下，拿出一个装着装着相当大的相片的信封。他取出其中的一张，面朝下的放在了自己的面前，并把其他的交给了琼斯。这些相片的确都很奇怪：冰雪覆盖的山丘，狗拉着的雪橇，穿着毛皮衣裳的人，还有雪景为背景的巨大的废墟，这些废墟的奇异轮廓和巨大的石块都难以描述。在一张闪光灯拍出的相片中可以看到一个令人难以置信的内室，里面有狂野的雕刻和一个奇怪的王座，那比例不可能是为了人类而设计的。高大的砖石墙壁和奇特的拱顶上的雕刻主要是象征性的，完全未知的设计样貌和一些神秘传说中暗藏的象形文字。在王座上方的可怕符号也出现在那扇锁着的木板门上方的工作间的墙壁上。琼斯紧张地瞥了一眼紧闭的大门。毫无疑问，罗杰斯去过奇怪的地方，见过奇怪的东西。然而，这个疯狂的内部画面很可能是一个骗局——从一个非常精妙的舞台背景中拍摄的骗局。他不能太过轻信（这个）故事。但罗杰斯继续说着:
“Well, we shipped the box from Nome and got to London without any trouble. That was the first time we’d ever brought back anything that had a chance of coming alive. I didn’t put It on display, because there were more important things to do for It. It needed the nourishment of sacrifice, for It was a god. Of course I couldn’t get It the sort of sacrifices which It used to have in Its day, for such things don’t exist now. But there were other things which might do. The blood is the life, you know. Even the lemurs and elementals that are older than the earth will come when the blood of men or beasts is offered under the right conditions.”
“嗯，我们没有遇到任何麻烦的把箱子从诺姆运到了伦敦。那是我们第一次把有可能复活的东西带回来。我没有将祂展示出来，因为祂还有更重要的事情要做。祂需要献祭来滋养祂，因为祂是一尊神祇。当然，我不能给祂提供祂的时代曾经有的那种献祭，因为现在那已经不存在了。不过，还有别的办法可以使用。你知道的，血液就是生命。在合适的条件下献上人类或动物的血，即使是比地球更古老的亡灵（【1】）和元素也会降临。”
The expression on the narrator’s face was growing very alarming and repulsive, so that Jones fidgeted involuntarily in his chair. Rogers seemed to notice his guest’s nervousness, and continued with a distinctly evil smile.
讲故事的人脸上的表情变得非常令人惊恐和厌恶，因此琼斯在椅子上显得坐立不安起来。罗杰斯似乎注意到了客人的紧张，并继续露出明显邪恶的微笑。
“It was last year that I got It, and ever since then I’ve been trying rites and sacrifices. Orabona hasn’t been much help, for he was always against the idea of waking It. He hates It—probably because he’s afraid of what It will come to mean. He carries a pistol all the time to protect himself—fool, as if there were human protection against It! If I ever see him draw that pistol, I’ll strangle him. He wanted me to kill It and make an effigy of It. But I’ve stuck by my plans, and I’m coming out on top in spite of all the cowards like Orabona and damned sniggering sceptics like you, Jones! I’ve chanted the rites and made certain sacrifices, and last week the transition came. The sacrifice was—received and enjoyed!”
“我是去年拿到祂的，从那以后我就一直在尝试仪式和祭祀。奥拉贝纳（Orabona）帮不上什么忙，他总是反对唤醒祂的行为。他讨厌祂——可能是因为他害怕这将代表着什么。他一直带着一把手枪来保护自己，愚蠢的人，好像人类的措施能够从祂那保护他似的！如果让我看到他拔出手枪，我就亲手掐死他。他想让我杀了祂，然后做个祂的蜡像。但我要坚持我的计策，我要出人头地，尽管有像奥拉贝纳（Orabona）这样的懦夫，还有像你这样该死的窃笑的怀疑论者，琼斯！我吟诵了仪式，做了一些献祭，上周转变到来了。祭品已经被祂接受和享用了!”
Rogers actually licked his lips, while Jones held himself uneasily rigid. The showman paused and rose, crossing the room to the piece of burlap at which he had glanced so often. Bending down, he took hold of one corner as he spoke again.
罗杰斯舔了舔嘴唇，而琼斯则不自在地保持着镇定。讲述者停顿了一下，站起身来穿过房间，走到他瞥了很多次的粗麻布跟前。他弯下腰，一边抓住粗麻布的一个角，一边说着。
“You’ve laughed enough at my work—now it’s time for you to get some facts. Orabona tells me you heard a dog screaming around here this afternoon. Do you know what that meant?”
“你已经嘲笑了很多次我的工作了——现在你该了解一些实情了。奥拉贝纳（Orabona）告诉我你今天下午听到一只狗在这附近叫。你知道这意味着什么吗?”
Jones started. For all his curiosity he would have been glad to get out without further light on the point which had so puzzled him. But Rogers was inexorable, and began to lift the square of burlap. Beneath it lay a crushed, almost shapeless mass which Jones was slow to classify. Was it a once-living thing which some agency had flattened, sucked dry of blood, punctured in a thousand places, and wrung into a limp, broken-boned heap of grotesqueness? After a moment Jones realised what it must be. It was what was left of a dog—a dog, perhaps of considerable size and whitish colour. Its breed was past recognition, for distortion had come in nameless and hideous ways. Most of the hair was burned off as by some pungent acid, and the exposed, bloodless skin was riddled by innumerable circular wounds or incisions. The form of torture necessary to cause such results was past imagining.
琼斯打着颤。尽管他很好奇，他还是巴不得赶快离开，不要对那些使他困惑不解的问题得到进一步的解释。可是罗杰斯不肯罢休，他开始掀开那块粗麻布。下面是一堆压碎了的、几乎没有形状的东西，琼斯只能慢慢地辨别出它的原形。那是一个曾经有生命的东西，被某种力量压扁了，吸干了血，刺穿了上千次，扭成了一堆无力而骨碎怪诞的怪物。过了一会儿，琼斯意识到那是什么东西了。那是一只狗留下的残骸——一只体型较大浑身发白的狗。无法辨别它的品种，因为它是以一种不可名状而可怕的方式扭曲着。大部分的皮毛都像被某种刺鼻的酸烧光了一样，暴露在外的、没有血色的皮肤上布满了无数的圆形伤口或切口。造成这种结果的疯狂折磨酷刑是无法想象的。
Electrified with a pure loathing which conquered his mounting disgust, Jones sprang up with a cry.
琼斯被一种纯粹的厌恶冲昏了头脑，他大叫一声，跳了起来。
“You damned sadist—you madman—you do a thing like this and dare to speak to a decent man!”
“你这该死的虐待狂——你这疯子——你做了这种事，还敢跟一个正人君子说话!”
Rogers dropped the burlap with a malignant sneer and faced his oncoming guest. His words held an unnatural calm.
罗杰斯带着恶意的冷笑丢下粗麻布，面对着在逼近的客人。他的话里透露着一种反常的平静。
“Why, you fool, do you think I did this? Let us admit that the results are unbeautiful from our limited human standpoint. What of it? It is not human and does not pretend to be. To sacrifice is merely to offer. I gave the dog to It. What happened is Its work, not mine. It needed the nourishment of the offering, and took it in Its own way. But let me shew you what It looks like.”
“怎么，你个蠢货，你觉得这是我干的？让我们承认，这样的结果从我们有限的人类角度来看不是很美好。但祂是什么？祂不是人类，也会不假装是人类。献祭就是奉献。我献祭了一条狗给了祂。这是祂的所作所为而不是我的。祂需要祭品的滋养，并以自己的方式接受。但让我告诉你祂是什么样子的。”
As Jones stood hesitating, the speaker returned to his desk and took up the photograph he had laid face down without shewing. Now he extended it with a curious look. Jones took it and glanced at it in an almost mechanical way. After a moment the visitor’s glance became sharper and more absorbed, for the utterly satanic force of the object depicted had an almost hypnotic effect. Certainly, Rogers had outdone himself in modelling the eldritch nightmare which the camera had caught. The thing was a work of sheer, infernal genius, and Jones wondered how the public would react when it was placed on exhibition. So hideous a thing had no right to exist—probably the mere contemplation of it, after it was done, had completed the unhinging of its maker’s mind and led him to worship it with brutal sacrifices. Only a stout sanity could resist the insidious suggestion that the blasphemy was—or had once been—some morbid and exotic form of actual life.
当琼斯犹豫地站着的时候，讲述者回到了他的桌子前，拿起了他朝下没有露出来的相片。现在他带着奇异的神色将它展开。琼斯拿过来，几乎是机械地瞥了一眼。只一会儿，来访者的目光变得更锐利而专注了，因为所描绘的事物具有一种完全邪恶的力量，几乎有一种催眠的效果。毫无疑问，罗杰斯在为摄像机捕捉到的那个可怕的梦魇做出的造型方面做得非常出色。这是一件纯粹的天才作品，琼斯想知道当它被展出时公众会作何反响。这样可怕的东西是不应该存在的——也许在它被造出来后，仅仅是想到它，就足以动摇它的创造者的思想，于是他就用残酷的献祭来崇拜这一事物。某种阴险的思想暗示这是——或者曾经是——现实中某种活物的病态和怪诞的形体，只有坚定的理智才能抵抗这样的心理暗示。
The thing in the picture squatted or was balanced on what appeared to be a clever reproduction of the monstrously carved throne in the other curious photograph. To describe it with any ordinary vocabulary would be impossible, for nothing even roughly corresponding to it has ever come within the imagination of sane mankind. It represented something meant perhaps to be roughly connected with the vertebrates of this planet—though one could not be too sure of that. Its bulk was Cyclopean, for even squatted it towered to almost twice the height of Orabona, who was shewn beside it. Looking sharply, one might trace its approximations toward the bodily features of the higher vertebrates.
相片上的东西蹲坐着，或者是平衡地放在另一张照片中出现的那张雕刻着怪物的可怖王座上。用任何寻常的词汇来描述它都是不可能的，因为在有理智的人类的想象中并不能想象，甚至连与之大致相符的东西也没有。它所代表的某种东西也许大致上与这个星球上的脊椎动物类似——不过对此事（这个东西和脊椎动物类似一事）还不能过于肯定。它的身躯像独眼巨人（Cyclopean）般巨大，因为即使它蹲伏着，它的高度也几乎比站在它旁边的奥拉贝纳（Orabona）高出一倍。仔细观察下可以发现它与高等脊椎动物的身体特征很相似。
There was an almost globular torso, with six long, sinuous limbs terminating in crab-like claws. From the upper end a subsidiary globe bulged forward bubble-like; its triangle of three staring, fishy eyes, its foot-long and evidently flexible proboscis, and a distended lateral system analogous to gills, suggesting that it was a head. Most of the body was covered with what at first appeared to be fur, but which on closer examination proved to be a dense growth of dark, slender tentacles or sucking filaments, each tipped with a mouth suggesting the head of an asp. On the head and below the proboscis the tentacles tended to be longer and thicker, and marked with spiral stripes—suggesting the traditional serpent-locks of Medusa. To say that such a thing could have an expression seems paradoxical; yet Jones felt that that triangle of bulging fish-eyes and that obliquely poised proboscis all bespoke a blend of hate, greed, and sheer cruelty incomprehensible to mankind because mixed with other emotions not of the world or this solar system. Into this bestial abnormality, he reflected, Rogers must have poured at once all his malignant insanity and all his uncanny sculptural genius. The thing was incredible—and yet the photograph proved that it existed.
它有一个几乎是球形的躯干，有六条长长的、弯曲的肢体，肢体末端是蟹钳一样的爪子。在躯干的上端是一个像气泡一样的副球体向前突起着，那上面有三个瞪大的三角形的像鱼一样的眼睛，它有一英尺长、显得很灵活的喙，它还有象鳃一样膨胀的系统，这说明这是它的头部。它的身体大部分被一些看起来像是皮毛的东西覆盖着，但经过仔细地检查之后便会发现那是密集生长的黑色细长的触须或吸须，每一个触须的尖端都像是蝰蛇的头部一样有着一张嘴。头部和喙下面的触须往往会更长更粗，并带有螺旋状的条纹——就像传说中的蛇女美杜莎的头发一样。说这样一个生物有什么表情似乎很矛盾，然而，琼斯觉得，那隆起的三角形鱼眼和倾斜的长喙，都是一种仇恨、贪婪和绝对残忍的情绪的混合体，人类也无法理解这种情绪，因为它混合了某些不属于这个世界或太阳系的情感。在这种残忍的反常中，他反应过来罗杰斯一定是把他所有的邪恶阴险和他不可思议的雕塑天赋一起倾注了进去。这个东西不可思议——然而照片证实了它的存在。
Rogers interrupted his reveries.
罗杰斯打断了他的沉思。
“Well—what do you think of It? Now do you wonder what crushed the dog and sucked it dry with a million mouths? It needed nourishment—and It will need more. It is a god, and I am the first priest of Its latter-day hierarchy. Iä! Shub-niggurath! The Goat with a Thousand Young!”
“那么——你觉得怎么样？现在你知道是什么压碎了这只狗，并用一百万张嘴把它吸干了吗？祂需要滋养——而且还需要更多（献祭）。祂是一尊神祇，而我是它现阶段的第一位牧师。Ia！Shub-niggurath！孕育万千的山羊!”
Jones lowered the photograph in disgust and pity.
琼斯带着厌恶和怜悯放下了相片。
“See here, Rogers, this won’t do. There are limits, you know. It’s a great piece of work, and all that, but it isn’t good for you. Better not see it any more—let Orabona break it up, and try to forget about it. And let me tear this beastly picture up, too.”
“听着，罗杰斯，这肯定是不行的。你知道凡事都是有限度的。这是一项伟大的工作，但它对你没有好处。最好不要再看到它了，让奥拉贝纳（Orabona）去拆了它并试着忘掉它吧。让我把这张讨厌的照片也撕了吧。”
With a snarl, Rogers snatched the photograph and returned it to the desk.
罗杰斯咆哮了一声，一把夺过照片之后把它放回了桌上。
“Idiot—you—and you still think It’s all a fraud! You still think I made It, and you still think my figures are nothing but lifeless wax! Why, damn you, you’re a worse clod than a wax image yourself! But I’ve got proof this time, and you’re going to know! Not just now, for It is resting after the sacrifice—but later. Oh, yes—you will not doubt the power of It then.”
“你个白痴——你仍然认为这是一个骗局！你仍然认为这是我做的，你仍然认为我的雕像只是毫无生气的蜡块！该死的，你自己比蜡像还烂！但这次我能够向你证实，你会知道的！不是现在，而是在不久以后，因为祂在献祭后正在休息。哦，是的——那样你就不会怀疑祂的力量了。”
As Rogers glanced toward the padlocked inner door Jones retrieved his hat and stick from a nearby bench.
罗杰斯瞥了一眼里面的那扇锁着的门，琼斯从旁边的长凳上拿起了他的帽子和手杖。
“Very well, Rogers, let it be later. I must be going now, but I’ll call around tomorrow afternoon. Think my advice over and see if it doesn’t sound sensible. Ask Orabona what he thinks, too.”
“好吧，罗杰斯，之后再说吧。我现在得走了，但我明天下午会再来拜访你。仔细考虑一下我的建议是否明智。也问问奥拉贝纳（Orabona）的想法。”
Rogers actually bared his teeth in wild-beast fashion.
罗杰斯像野兽一样露出了他的牙齿。
“Must be going now, eh? Afraid, after all! Afraid, for all your bold talk! You say the effigies are only wax, and yet you run away when I begin to prove that they aren’t. You’re like the fellows who take my standing bet that they daren’t spend the night in the museum—they come boldly enough, but after an hour they shriek and hammer to get out! Want me to ask Orabona, eh? You two—always against me! You want to break down the coming earthly reign of It!”
“必须走了，嗯？害怕了？毕竟还是害怕了！尽管你说得很大胆！你说这雕像只是蜡制的，可当我开始证明祂不是蜡像的时，你却逃跑了。你就像那些我打赌说他们不敢在博物馆里过夜的人一样——他们胆子是够大的，但一个小时后他们还是会尖叫着锤门想要出去！要我去问奥拉贝纳（Orabona）的想法？你们俩总是在跟我作对！你们是想要破坏祂即将到来的统治！”
Jones preserved his calm.
琼斯仍保持冷静。
“No, Rogers—there’s nobody against you. And I’m not afraid of your figures, either, much as I admire your skill. But we’re both a bit nervous tonight, and I fancy some rest will do us good.”
“不，罗杰斯——没有人在和你作对。虽然我很佩服你的技术，但我也不怕你的雕像。不过今晚我们俩都有点紧张了，我想休息一下对我们俩都会有好处的。”
Again Rogers checked his guest’s departure.
罗杰斯再次制止了他的客人离开。
“Not afraid, eh?—then why are you so anxious to go? Look here—do you or don’t you dare to stay alone here in the dark? What’s your hurry if you don’t believe in It?”
“不害怕是吗？那你为什么这么急着要走呢？听着——你敢不敢一个人呆在这黑漆漆的地方？如果你不相信祂，那为什么要急着走呢？”
Some new idea seemed to have struck Rogers, and Jones eyed him closely.
罗杰斯似乎有了什么新的想法，而琼斯则仔细地打量着他。
“Why, I’ve no special hurry—but what would be gained by my staying here alone? What would it prove? My only objection is that it isn’t very comfortable for sleeping. What good would it do either of us?”
“啊，我并没有急着走啊——不过我一个人呆在这儿有什么好处呢？它能证明什么呢？唯一令我反对的是（在这）睡觉不太舒服罢了。这对我们有什么好处呢？”
This time it was Jones who was struck with an idea. He continued in a tone of conciliation.
这一次想出主意的是琼斯。他继续用安抚的语气说着。
“See here, Rogers—I’ve just asked you what it would prove if I stayed, when we both know. It would prove that your effigies are just effigies, and that you oughtn’t to let your imagination go the way it’s been going lately. Suppose I do stay. If I stick it out till morning, will you agree to take a new view of things—go on a vacation for three months or so and let Orabona destroy that new thing of yours? Come, now—isn’t that fair?”
“听着，罗杰斯——我刚才问你，如果我待在这能够证明什么，我们都知道。这只会证明你的雕像只是雕像，你不应该让你的想象像近期那样发展。如果我真的留了下来。如果我坚持到明天早上，你会愿意以一种新的角度来看待事物吗?——去度三个月左右的假期，或让奥拉贝纳（Orabona）毁掉你的新事物？来吧，这难道不公平吗?”
The expression on the showman’s face was hard to read. It was obvious that he was thinking quickly, and that of sundry conflicting emotions, malign triumph was getting the upper hand. His voice held a choking quality as he replied.
讲述者脸上的表情让人难以捉摸。很明显，他在快速地思考着，各种矛盾的情绪中的他被邪恶的胜利感所折服。他回答的声音有点令人窒息的意味。
“Fair enough! If you do stick it out, I’ll take your advice. But stick you must. We’ll go out for dinner and come back. I’ll lock you in the display room and go home. In the morning I’ll come down ahead of Orabona—he comes half an hour before the rest—and see how you are. But don’t try it unless you are very sure of your scepticism. Others have backed out—you have that chance. And I suppose a pounding on the outer door would always bring a constable. You may not like it so well after a while—you’ll be in the same building, though not in the same room with It.”
“很好！如果你真的能坚持下去，我就会接受你的忠告。但你必须坚持下来。等我们出去吃完晚饭回来之后我就会把你锁在陈列室然后回家。明天早上我会赶在奥拉贝纳（Orabona）之前过来——他比其他人都要早半小时到——我会来看看你怎么样了。但尽量不要这么尝试，除非你非常确定自己怀疑的是真实的。其他人都退缩了——你也有这个机会。我想只要有人敲打外面的门，巡警总会来查看的。过了一会，你就可能不会那么喜欢它了——虽然不是在同一间屋子里，但你会和祂待在同一栋楼里。”
As they left the rear door into the dingy courtyard, Rogers took with him the piece of burlap—weighted with a gruesome burden. Near the centre of the court was a manhole, whose cover the showman lifted quietly, and with a shuddersome suggestion of familiarity. Burlap and all, the burden went down to the oblivion of a cloacal labyrinth. Jones shuddered, and almost shrank from the gaunt figure at his side as they emerged into the street.
当他们离开后门进入阴暗的庭院里时，罗杰斯把这块带着令人发指的秘密的粗麻布带在了身边。在庭院的接近中心的地方有一个井盖，讲述者不动声色地掀开了井盖，带着一种令人颤栗的熟悉感觉。将粗麻布和里面的其他东西被他遗弃在下水道的迷宫里。琼斯打了个寒颤，当他们走到街上时，他几乎要从他身边那个瘦骨嶙峋的身影面前退缩了。
By unspoken mutual consent, they did not dine together, but agreed to meet in front of the museum at eleven.
他们不约而同地没有一起去吃饭，而是约定好了晚上11点在博物馆门口碰面。
Jones hailed a cab, and breathed more freely when he had crossed Waterloo Bridge and was approaching the brilliantly lighted Strand. He dined at a quiet café, and subsequently went to his home in Portland Place to bathe and get a few things. Idly he wondered what Rogers was doing. He had heard that the man had a vast, dismal house in the Walworth Road, full of obscure and forbidden books, occult paraphernalia, and wax images which he did not choose to place on exhibition. Orabona, he understood, lived in separate quarters in the same house.
琼斯招呼了一辆出租马车，穿过了滑铁卢大桥，并向着灯火通明的海滨行驶时，他的呼吸才舒畅了一些。他在一家安静的咖啡馆内用餐，然后去在波特兰的家中洗了个澡，并且拿了一些东西。无所事事时的他想知道罗杰斯在干什么。他听说这个人在沃尔沃斯路（Walworth Road）那边有一所巨大而阴森的房子，里面堆满了晦涩难懂的隐秘书籍、神秘学的器具和蜡像，但他并不愿意将它们展出。他也知道奥拉贝纳（Orabona）住在同一幢房子的不同的房间中。
At eleven Jones found Rogers waiting by the basement door in Southwark Street. Their words were few, but each seemed taut with a menacing tension. They agreed that the vaulted exhibition room alone should form the scene of the vigil, and Rogers did not insist that the watcher sit in the special adult alcove of supreme horrors. The showman, having extinguished all the lights with switches in the workroom, locked the door of that crypt with one of the keys on his crowded ring. Without shaking hands he passed out the street door, locked it after him, and stamped up the worn steps to the sidewalk outside. As his tread receded, Jones realised that the long, tedious vigil had commenced.
在十一点的时候，琼斯发现罗杰斯在南华克街的工作室门口等着。他们的话不多，但他们似乎都带着一种相互威胁着的紧张气氛。他们一致同意将这个拱形的陈列室作为今晚守夜的舞台，罗杰斯没有坚持让守夜者坐在特别的仅供成人参观的极度恐惧的密室里。讲述者熄灭了工作室内所有的灯和开关，用他那钥匙环上一大堆的钥匙中的一把锁上了地窖的门。他没有握手告别，而是直接走出了临街的大门并随手将门锁上，踏着破旧的台阶走到了外面的街道上。当他的脚步声渐渐远去，琼斯意识到漫长而乏味的守夜开始了。
注：【1】lemur的英文译为狐猴，但是拉丁文译为亡灵或亡者之魂
