皮漏斗之谜（12）（在线收听）

My heart sank within me as I saw these ominous preparations, and yet I was held by the fascination of horror, and I could not take my eyes from the strange spectacle. A man had entered the room with a bucket of water in either hand. Another followed with a third bucket. They were laid beside the wooden horse. The second man had a wooden dipper—a bowl with a straight handle—in his other hand. This he gave to the man in black. At the same moment one of the varlets approached with a dark object in his hand, which even in my dream filled me with a vague feeling of familiarity. It was a leathern filler. With horrible energy he thrust it—but I could stand no more. My hair stood on end with horror. I writhed, I struggled, I broke through the bonds of sleep, and I burst with a shriek into my own life, and found myself lying shivering with terror in the huge library, with the moonlight flooding through the window and throwing strange silver and black traceries upon the opposite wall. Oh, what a blessed relief to feel that I was back in the nineteenth century—back out of that mediaeval vault into a world where men had human hearts within their bosoms.

I sat up on my couch, trembling in every limb, my mind divided between thankfulness and horror. To think that such things were ever done—that they could be done without God striking the villains dead. Was it all a fantasy, or did it really stand for something which had happened in the black, cruel days of the world’s history? I sank my throbbing head upon my shaking hands. And then, suddenly, my heart seemed to stand still in my bosom, and I could not even scream, so great was my terror. Something was advancing toward me through the darkness of the room.

我在旁边观望着，心里有种不祥的预感，可是受到恐惧感的控制，我无法把目光从这奇异的景象移开。一名男子双手各提一只水桶走进来，后面跟着另一个男子，手里也提着一桶水。他们把水桶放在木马旁边。后面的男子另一只手拿着长柄木勺，他把木勺递给黑衣人。这时，一名壮汉走进来，手里捧着一件黑色的物件，尽管是在梦中，我也觉得那东西有些眼熟。那是个皮漏斗。他使出全身力气插…可是我再也挺不住了，我感到毛骨悚然。我翻滚，挣扎，竭力挣脱梦境…随着一声尖叫我回到了真实的生活中，发现自己浑身战栗地躺在宽大的藏书室里，月光从窗口照进来，把窗户花格的影子投在对面的墙上，组成一幅银色黑色相间的古怪图象。哦，我大大地松了口气，终于回到十九世纪了一一从那个中世纪的拱形房间回到一个温馨的世界。

我在沙发上坐起来，四肢仍在颜抖，心里半是庆幸半是惊恐。难道这种事情真的发生过？难道做恶之人竟不遭天？这一切究竞是幻觉，还是在世界历史上那段黑暗冷酷的年代真的曾经存在过？突然，我的心脏仿佛停止跳动，甚至连尖叫也发不出了，恐惧到了极点一一黑暗中，一个黑影正向我走来。