📝 您未登录，登录后完成练习可保存成绩、查看最佳记录。
总字符
0
正确字符
0
错误字符
0
错误率
0.00%
耗时(秒)
0
速度 WPM
0
0 / 65
1Same day, later.--I have made the effort, and God, helping me, have come safely back to this room. I must put down every
2detail in order. I went whilst my courage was fresh straight to the window on the south side, and at once got outside on
3the narrow ledge of stone which runs around the building on this side. The stones are big and roughly cut, and the
4mortar has by process of time been washed away between them. I took off my boots, and ventured out on the desperate way.
5I looked down once, so as to make sure that a sudden glimpse of the awful depth would not overcome me, but after that
6kept my eyes away from it. I knew pretty well the direction and distance of the Count's window, and made for it as well
7as I could, having regard to the opportunities available. I did not feel dizzy--I suppose I was too excited--and the
8time seemed ridiculously short till I found myself standing on the window-sill and trying to raise up the sash. I was
9filled with agitation, however, when I bent down and slid feet foremost in through the window. Then I looked around for
10the Count, but, with surprise and gladness, made a discovery. The room was empty! It was barely furnished with odd
11things, which seemed to have never been used; the furniture was something the same style as that in the south rooms, and
12was covered with dust. I looked for the key, but it was not in the lock, and I could not find it anywhere. The only
13thing I found was a great heap of gold in one corner--gold of all kinds, Roman, and British, and Austrian, and
14Hungarian, and Greek and Turkish money, covered with a film of dust, as though it had lain long in the ground. None of
15it that I noticed was less than three hundred years old. There were also chains and ornaments, some jewelled, but all of
16them old and stained. At one corner of the room was a heavy door. I tried it, for, since I could not find the key of the
17room or the key of the outer door, which was the main object of my search, I must make further examination, or all my
18efforts would be in vain. It was open, and led through a stone passage to a circular stairway, which went steeply down.
19I descended, minding carefully where I went, for the stairs were dark, being only lit by loopholes in the heavy masonry.
20At the bottom there was a dark, tunnel-like passage, through which came a deathly, sickly odour, the odour of old earth
21newly turned. As I went through the passage the smell grew closer and heavier. At last I pulled open a heavy door which
22stood ajar, and found myself in an old, ruined chapel, which had evidently been used as a graveyard. The roof was
23broken, and in two places were steps leading to vaults, but the ground had recently been dug over, and the earth placed
24in great wooden boxes, manifestly those which had been brought by the Slovaks. There was nobody about, and I made search
25for any further outlet, but there was none. Then I went over every inch of the ground, so as not to lose a chance. I
26went down even into the vaults, where the dim light struggled, although to do so was a dread to my very soul. Into two
27of these I went, but saw nothing except fragments of old coffins and piles of dust; in the third, however, I made a
28discovery. There, in one of the great boxes, of which there were fifty in all, on a pile of newly dug earth, lay the
29Count! He was either dead or asleep, I could not say which--for the eyes were open and stony, but without the glassiness
30of death--and the cheeks had the warmth of life through all their pallor; the lips were as red as ever. But there was no
31sign of movement, no pulse, no breath, no beating of the heart. I bent over him, and tried to find any sign of life, but
32in vain. He could not have lain there long, for the earthy smell would have passed away in a few hours. By the side of
33the box was its cover, pierced with holes here and there. I thought he might have the keys on him, but when I went to
34search I saw the dead eyes, and in them, dead though they were, such a look of hate, though unconscious of me or my
35presence, that I fled from the place, and leaving the Count's room by the window, crawled again up the castle wall.
36Regaining my room, I threw myself panting upon the bed and tried to think.... 29 June.--To-day is the date of my last
37letter, and the Count has taken steps to prove that it was genuine, for again I saw him leave the castle by the same
38window, and in my clothes. As he went down the wall, lizard fashion, I wished I had a gun or some lethal weapon, that I
39might destroy him; but I fear that no weapon wrought alone by man's hand would have any effect on him. I dared not wait
40to see him return, for I feared to see those weird sisters. I came back to the library, and read there till I fell
41asleep. I was awakened by the Count, who looked at me as grimly as a man can look as he said:-- "To-morrow, my friend,
42we must part. You return to your beautiful England, I to some work which may have such an end that we may never meet.
43Your letter home has been despatched; to-morrow I shall not be here, but all shall be ready for your journey. In the
44morning come the Szgany, who have some labours of their own here, and also come some Slovaks. When they have gone, my
45carriage shall come for you, and shall bear you to the Borgo Pass to meet the diligence from Bukovina to Bistritz. But I
46am in hopes that I shall see more of you at Castle Dracula." I suspected him, and determined to test his sincerity.
47Sincerity! It seems like a profanation of the word to write it in connection with such a monster, so asked him
48point-blank:-- "Why may I not go to-night?" "Because, dear sir, my coachman and horses are away on a mission." "But I
49would walk with pleasure. I want to get away at once." He smiled, such a soft, smooth, diabolical smile that I knew
50there was some trick behind his smoothness. He said:-- "And your baggage?" "I do not care about it. I can send for it
51some other time." The Count stood up, and said, with a sweet courtesy which made me rub my eyes, it seemed so real:--
52"You English have a saying which is close to my heart, for its spirit is that which rules our boyars: 'Welcome the
53coming; speed the parting guest.' Come with me, my dear young friend. Not an hour shall you wait in my house against
54your will, though sad am I at your going, and that you so suddenly desire it. Come!" With a stately gravity, he, with
55the lamp, preceded me down the stairs and along the hall. Suddenly he stopped. "Hark!" Close at hand came the howling of
56many wolves. It was almost as if the sound sprang up at the rising of his hand, just as the music of a great orchestra
57seems to leap under the bâton of the conductor. After a pause of a moment, he proceeded, in his stately way, to the
58door, drew back the ponderous bolts, unhooked the heavy chains, and began to draw it open. To my intense astonishment I
59saw that it was unlocked. Suspiciously, I looked all round, but could see no key of any kind. As the door began to open,
60the howling of the wolves without grew louder and angrier; their red jaws, with champing teeth, and their blunt-clawed
61feet as they leaped, came in through the opening door. I knew then that to struggle at the moment against the Count was
62useless. With such allies as these at his command, I could do nothing. But still the door continued slowly to open, and
63only the Count's body stood in the gap. Suddenly it struck me that this might be the moment and means of my doom; I was
64to be given to the wolves, and at my own instigation. There was a diabolical wickedness in the idea great enough for the
65Count, and as a last chance I cried out:--
🎉 全部完成！共 65 行