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The phantom shapes, which were becoming gradually...
Posted on Feb. 4, 2010 at 11:33 AM - Link
The phantom shapes, which were becoming gradually materialised from the moonbeams, were those three ghostly women to whom I was doomed
I fled, and felt somewhat safer in my own room, where there was no moonlight, and where the lamp was burning brightly
When a couple of hours had passed I heard something stirring in the Count's room, something like a sharp wail quickly suppressedAnd then there was silence, deep, awful silence, which chilled meWith a beating heart, I tried the door, but I was locked in my prison, and could do nothingI sat down and simply cried
As I sat I heard a sound in the courtyard without, the agonised cry of a womanI rushed to the window, and throwing it up, peered between the bars
There, indeed, was a woman with dishevelled hair, holding her hands over her heart as one distressed with runningShe was leaning against the corner of the gatewayWhen she saw my face at the window she threw herself forward, and shouted in a voice laden with menace, "Monster, give me my child!"
She threw herself on her knees, and raising up her hands, cried the same words in tones which wrung my heartThen she tore her hair and beat her breast, and abandoned herself to all the violences of extravagant emotionFinally, she threw herself forward, and though I could not see her, I could hear the beating of her naked hands against the door
Somewhere high overhead, probably on the tower, I heard the voice of the Count calling in his harsh, metallic whisperHis call seemed to be answered from far and wide by the howling of wolvesBefore many minutes had passed a pack of them poured, like a pent-up dam when liberated, through the wide entrance into the courtyard
There was no cry from the woman, and the howling of the wolves was but shortBefore long they streamed away singly, licking their lips
I could not pity her, for I knew now what had become of her child, and she was better dead
What shall I do? What can I do? How can I escape from this dreadful thing of night, gloom, and fear?
25 June-No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and dear to his heart and eye the morning can beWhen the sun grew so high this morning that it struck the top of the great gateway opposite my window, the high spot which it touched seemed to me as if the dove from the ark had lighted thereMy fear fell from me as if it had been a vaporous garment which dissolved in the warmth
I must take action of some sort whilst the courage of the day is upon meLast night one of my post-dated letters went to post, the first of that fatal series which is to blot out the very traces of my existence from the earth
Let me not think of itAction!
It has always been at night-time that I have been molested or threatened, or in some way in danger or in fearI have not yet seen the Count in the daylightCan it be that he sleeps when others wake, that he may be awake whilst they sleep? If I could only get into his room! But there is no possible wayThe door is always locked, no way for me
Yes, there is a way, if one dares to take itWhere his body has gone why may not another body go? I have seen him myself crawl from his windowWhy should not I imitate him, and go in by his window? The chances are desperate, but my need is more desperate stillAt the worst it can only be death, and a man's death is not a calf's, and the dreaded Hereafter may still be open to meGod help me in my task! Goodbye, Mina, if I failGoodbye, my faithful friend and second fatherGoodbye, all, and last of all Mina!
Same day, later-I have made the effort, and God helping me, have come safely back to this roomI must put down every detail in orderI went whilst my courage was fresh straight to the window on the south side, and at once got outside on this shop side
Them ?s particular onions I was a savin? for dis...
Posted on Feb. 3, 2010 at 11:32 AM - Link
Them ?s particular onions I was a savin? for dis yer very stewI?d forgot they was in dat ar old flannel
Miss Ophelia lifted out the sifting papers of sweet herbs
?I wish Missis wouldn?t touch dem arI likes to keep my things where I knows whar to go to ?em,? said Dinah, rather decidedly
?But you don?t want these holes in the papers
?Them ?s handy for siftin? on ?t out,? said Dinah
?But you see it spills all over the drawer
?Laws, yes! if Missis will go a tumblin? things all up so, it willMissis has spilt lots dat ar way,? said Dinah, coming uneasily to the drawers?If Missis only will go up stars till my clarin? up time comes, I?ll have everything right; but I can?t do nothin? when ladies is round, a henderin?You, Sam, don?t you gib the baby dat ar sugar-bowl! I?ll crack ye over, if ye don?t mind!?
?I?m going through the kitchen, and going to put everything in order, once, Dinah; and then I?ll expect you to keep it so
?Lor, now! Miss Phelia; dat ar an?t no way for ladies to doI never did see ladies doin? no sich; my old Missis nor Miss Marie never did, and I don?t see no kinder need on ?t;? and Dinah stalked indignantly about, while Miss Ophelia piled and sorted dishes, emptied dozens of scattering bowls of sugar into one receptacle, sorted napkins, table-cloths, and towels, for washing; washing, wiping, and arranging with her own hands, and with a speed and alacrity which perfectly amazed Dinah
?Lor now! if dat ar de way dem northern ladies do, dey an?t ladies, nohow,? she said to some of her satellites, when at a safe hearing distance?I has things as straight as anybody, when my clarin? up times comes; but I don?t want ladies round, a henderin?, and getting my things all where I can?t find ?em
To do Dinah justice, she had, at irregular periods, paroxyms of reformation and arrangement, which she called ?clarin? up times,? when she would begin with great zeal, and turn every drawer and closet wrong side outward, on to the floor or tables, and make the ordinary confusion seven-fold more confoundedThen she would light her pipe, and leisurely go over her arrangements, looking things over, and discoursing upon them; making all the young fry scour most vigorously on the tin things, and keeping up for several hours a most energetic state of confusion, which she would explain to the satisfaction of all inquirers, by the remark that she was a ?clarin? up ?She couldn?t hev things a gwine on so as they had been, and she was gwine to make these yer young ones keep better order;? for Dinah herself, somehow, indulged the illusion that she, herself, was the soul of order, and it was only the young uns, and the everybody else in the house, that were the cause of anything that fell short of perfection in this respectWhen all the tins were scoured, and the tables scrubbed snowy white, and everything that could offend tucked out of sight in holes and corners, Dinah would dress herself up in a smart dress, clean apron, and high, brilliant Madras turban, and tell all marauding ?young uns? to keep out of the kitchen, for she was gwine to have things kept niceIndeed, these periodic seasons were often an inconvenience to the whole household; for Dinah would contract such an immoderate attachment to her scoured tin, as to insist upon it that it shouldn?t be used again for any possible purpose,?at least, till the ardor of the ?clarin? up? period abated
Miss Ophelia, in a few days, thoroughly reformed every department of the house to a systematic pattern; but her labors in all departments that depended on the cooperation of servants were like those of Sisyphus or the DanaidesIn despair, she one day appealed to St
?There is no such thing as getting anything like a system in this family!?
?To be sure, there isn?t,? said St
?Such shiftless management, such waste, such confusion, I never saw!?
?I dare say you didn?t
?You would not take it so coolly, if you were housekeeper
?My dear cousin, you may as well understand, once for all, that we masters are divided into two classes, oppressors and oppressedWe who are good-natured and hate severity make up our minds to a good deal of inconvenienceIf we will keep a shambling, loose, untaught set in the community, for our convenience, why, we must take the consequenceSome rare cases I have seen, of persons, who, by a peculiar tact, can produce order and system without severity; but I?m not one of them,?and so I made up my mind, long ago, to let things go just as they doI will not have the poor devils thrashed and cut to pieces, and they know it,?and, of course, they know the staff is in their own hands
?But to have no time, no place, no order,?all going on in this shiftless way!?
?My dear Vermont, you natives up by the North Pole set an extravagant value on time! What on earth is the use of time to a fellow who has twice as much of it as he knows what to do with? As to order and system, where there is nothing to be done but to lounge on the sofa and read, an hour sooner or later in breakfast or dinner isn?t of much accountNow, there?s Dinah gets you a capital dinner,?soup, ragout, roast fowl, dessert, ice-creams and all,?and she creates it all out of chaos and old night down there, in that kitchenI think it really sublime, the way she managesBut, Heaven bless us! if we are to go down there, and view all the smoking and squatting about, and hurryscurryation of the preparatory process, we should never eat more! My good cousin, absolve yourself from that! It?s more than a Catholic penance, and does no more goodYou?ll only lose your own temper, and utterly confound DinahLet her go her own way
But, Augustine, you don?t know how I found things
?Don?t I? Don?t I know that the rolling-pin is under her bed, and the nutmeg-grater in her pocket with her tobacco,?that there are sixty-five different sugar-bowls, one in every hole in the house,?that she washes dishes with a dinner-napkin one day, and with a fragment of an old petticoat the next? But the upshot is, she gets up glorious dinners, makes superb coffee; and you must judge her as warriors and statesmen are judged, by her success
?But the waste,?the expense!?
?O, well! Lock everything you can, and keep the shop key
When I came back to my seat, I found that Lucy...
Posted on Feb. 2, 2010 at 11:33 AM - Link
When I came back to my seat, I found that Lucy had moved slightly, and had torn away the garlic flowers from her throatI replaced them as well as I could, and sat watching her
Presently she woke, and I gave her food, as Van Helsing had prescribedShe took but a little, and that languidlyThere did not seem to be with her now the unconscious struggle for life and strength that had hitherto so marked her illnessIt struck me as curious that the moment she became conscious she pressed the garlic flowers close to herIt was certainly odd that whenever she got into that lethargic state, with the stertorous breathing, she put the flowers from her, but that when she waked she clutched them closeThere was no possibility of making any mistake about this, for in the long hours that followed, she had many spells of sleeping and waking and repeated both actions many times
At six o'clock Van Helsing came to relieve meArthur had then fallen into a doze, and he mercifully let him sleep onWhen he saw Lucy's face I could hear the hissing indraw of breath, and he said to me in a sharp whisperI want light!" Then he bent down, and, with his face almost touching Lucy's, examined her carefullyHe removed the flowers and lifted the silk handkerchief from her throatAs he did so he started back and I could hear his ejaculation, "Mein Gott!" as it was smothered in his throatI bent over and looked, too, and as I noticed some queer chill came over meThe wounds on the throat had absolutely disappeared
For fully five minutes Van Helsing stood looking at her, with his face at its sternestThen he turned to me and said calmly, "She is dyingIt will not be long nowIt will be much difference, mark me, whether she dies conscious or in her sleepWake that poor boy, and let him come and see the lastHe trusts us, and we have promised him
I went to the dining room and waked himHe was dazed for a moment, but when he saw the sunlight streaming in through the edges of the shutters he thought he was late, and expressed his fearI assured him that Lucy was still asleep, but told him as gently as I could that both Van Helsing and I feared that the end was nearHe covered his face with his hands, and slid down on his knees by the sofa, where he remained, perhaps a minute, with his head buried, praying, whilst his shoulders shook with griefI took him by the hand and raised him up"Come," I said, "my dear old fellow, summon all your fortitudeIt will be best and easiest for her
When we came into Lucy's room I could see that Van Helsing had, with his usual forethought, been putting matters straight and making everything look as pleasing as possibleHe had even brushed Lucy's hair, so that it lay on the pillow in its usual sunny ripplesWhen we came into the room she opened her eyes, and seeing him, whispered softly, "Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come!"
He was stooping to kiss her, when Van Helsing motioned him back"No," he whispered, "not yet! Hold her hand, it will comfort her more
So Arthur took her hand and knelt beside her, and she looked her best, with all the soft lines matching the angelic beauty of her eyesThen gradually her eyes closed, and she sank to sleepFor a little bit her breast heaved softly, and her breath came and went like a tired child's
And then insensibly there came the strange change which I had noticed in the nightHer breathing grew stertorous, the mouth opened, and the pale gums, drawn back, made the teeth look longer and sharper than everIn a sort of sleep-waking, vague, unconscious way she opened her eyes, which were now dull and hard at once, and said in a soft, voluptuous voice, such as I had never heard from her lips, "Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me!"
Arthur bent eagerly over to kiss her, but at that instant Van Helsing, who, like me, had been startled by her voice, swooped upon him, and catching him by the neck with both hands, dragged him back with a fury of strength which I never thought he could have possessed, and actually hurled him almost across the room
"Not on your life!" he said, "not for your living soul and hers!" And he stood between them like a lion at shop bay
Even in his sleep he is intense with...
Posted on Feb. 1, 2010 at 11:44 AM - Link
Even in his sleep he is intense with resolutionWhen we have well started I must make him rest whilst I driveI shall tell him that we have days before us, and he must not break down when most of all his strength will be needed? All is ready
2 November, morning-I was successful, and we took turns driving all nightNow the day is on us, bright though coldThere is a strange heaviness in the airI say heaviness for want of a better wordI mean that it oppresses us bothIt is very cold, and only our warm furs keep us comfortableAt dawn Van Helsing hypnotized meHe says I answered "darkness, creaking wood and roaring water," so the river is changing as they ascendI do hope that my darling will not run any chance of danger, more than need be, but we are in God's hands
2 November, night-All day long drivingThe country gets wilder as we go, and the great spurs of the Carpathians, which at Veresti seemed so far from us and so low on the horizon, now seem to gather round us and tower in frontWe both seem in good spiritsI think we make an effort each to cheer the other, in the doing so we cheer ourselvesVan Helsing says that by morning we shall reach the Borgo PassThe houses are very few here now, and the Professor says that the last horse we got will have to go on with us, as we may not be able to changeHe got two in addition to the two we changed, so that now we have a rude four-in-handThe dear horses are patient and good, and they give us no troubleWe are not worried with other travellers, and so even I can driveWe shall get to the Pass in daylightWe do not want to arrive beforeSo we take it easy, and have each a long rest in turnOh, what will tomorrow bring to us? We go to seek the place where my poor darling suffered so muchGod grant that we may be guided aright, and that He will deign to watch over my husband and those dear to us both, and who are in such deadly perilAs for me, I am not worthy in His sightAlas! I am unclean to His eyes, and shall be until He may deign to let me stand forth in His sight as one of those who have not incurred His wrath
MEMORANDUM BY ABRAHAM VAN HELSING
4 November-This to my old and true friend John Seward, M of Purfleet, London, in case I may not see himIt is morning, and I write by a fire which all the night I have kept alive, Madam Mina aiding meSo cold that the grey heavy sky is full of snow, which when it falls will settle for all winter as the ground is hardening to receive itIt seems to have affected Madam MinaShe has been so heavy of head all day that she was not like herselfShe sleeps, and sleeps, and sleeps! She who is usual so alert, have done literally nothing all the dayShe even have lost her appetiteShe make no entry into her little diary, she who write so faithful at every shop pause
Hello, my account friends
Posted on Jan. 31, 2010 at 9:00 PM - Link
Welcome to my first blog
-The great
expense of the engravings which...
Posted on Jan. 31, 2010 at 9:00 PM - Link
-The great
expense of the engravings which adorn the volumes of the
Philosophical Transactions, is not sufficiently known That many
of those engravings are quite essential for the papers they
illustrate, and that those papers are fit for the Transactions, I
do not doubt; but, some inquiry is necessary, when such large
sums are expended I shall endeavour, therefore, to approximate
to the sum these engravings have cost the Royal Society
Previous to 1810, there are upwards of seventy plates to papers
of Sir EHome's; in many of these, which I have purposely
separated, the workmanship is not so minute as in the succeeding
ones Since 1810, there have occurred 187 plates attached to
papers of the same authorMany of these have cost from twelve to
twenty guineas each plate; but I shall take five pounds as the
average cost of the first portion, and twelve as that of the
latter This would produce,
70 X 5 = 350
187 X 12 = 2244
L2594
As this is only proposed as a rough approximation, let us omit
the odd hundreds, and we have two thousand pounds expended in
plates only on ONE branch of science, and for one person!
Without calling in question the importance of the discoveries
contained in those papers, it may be permitted to doubt whether
such a large sum might not have been expended in a manner more
beneficial to science Not being myself conversant with those
subjects, I can only form an opinion of the value from extraneous
circumstances Had their importance been at all equal to their
number, I should have expected to have heard amongst the learned
of other countries much more frequent mention of them than I have
done, and even the Council of the Royal Society would scarcely
have excluded from their Transactions one of those productions
which they had paid for as a lecture
It might also have been more delicate not to have placed on the
Council so repeatedly a gentleman, for whose engravings they were
annually expending, during the last twenty years, about an
hundred pounds On the other hand, when the Council lent Sir E
Home the whole of those valuable plates to take off impressions
for his large work on Comparative Anatomy, of which they
constitute almost the whole, it might have been as well not to
have obliterated from each plate all indication of the source to
which he was indebted for them
THE PRESIDENT'S DISCOURSES-I shall mention this circumstance,
because it fell under my own observation
Observing in the annual accounts a charge of 381L 5sfor the
President's Speeches, I thought it right to inquire into the
nature of this itemHappening to be on the Council the next
year, I took an opportunity, at an early meeting of that Council,
to ask publicly for an explanation of the following resolution,
which stands in the Council-books for Dec
"Resolved, That 500 copies of the President's Discourses, about
to be printed by MrMurray, be purchased by the Society, at the
usual trade price
The answer given to that question was, "THAT THE COUNCIL HAD
AGREED TO PURCHASE THESE VOLUMES AT THAT PRICE, IN ORDER TO
INDUCE MRMURRAY TO PRINT THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECHES
I remarked at the time that such an answer was quite
unsatisfactory, as the following statement will prove
The volume consists of 160 pages, or twenty sheets, and the
following prices are very liberal:
L s
To composing and printing twenty sheets, at
3L 60 0 0
Twenty reams of paper, at 3L 60 0 0
Corrections, alterations,
A-Mei Rocks Beijing
| Taiwan pop diva A-Mei Zhang Huimei held a solo concert in Beijing's Capital Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009. The singer released her latest album "A-Mit" in July this year. [Photo: ent.sina.com.cn/TungStar] |
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