《耶利歌》扭曲灵魂！

II

“克里奇？”
"Kreiger？"

露辛迪克走到窗前向花园望去，口中呼唤着她的爱人——镰刀手-梅司特变形前的名字。克里奇刚才下楼去花

园为她摘花，很久都没有回来。卧室里散发着一种强烈的气味，那是一种做爱后从他们变形身体上分泌出来的

特殊物质，闻起来又苦又臭，与正常人分泌物咸咸的味道截然不同。
Lucidique went to the window and called down into the garden around her father's house．Zarles

Kreiger，The Scythe-Meister，who had lately become Lucidique's lover，had gone out into the

garden to bring her some perfumed flowers．The bedroom stank of the pungent oil that their

violently transfigured bodies gave off．It was a bitter and unpleasant smell; not the salty

smell of natural sex．

楼下的花园里开满了馥郁芬芳的玫瑰，那香甜的气味足以掩盖房间里的怪味，而那些午夜后绽放的花蕊香气最

为浓烈。现在已近凌晨两点，正是一天中花香最浓郁的时候，阵阵花香从漆黑一片的花园里随风飘进卧室。露

辛迪克又叫了一声，克里奇依旧没有回答，可她明明看见一个黑影在灌木丛中闪过，要是那是克里奇的话，为

什么他不回答呢？或者那根本就不是克里奇，而是有人挟持了他使他无法回答。一想到这儿，露辛迪克立刻飞

奔下楼冲进了花园。
But the garden was full of sweet smelling flowers that would conceal the bitterness; and some of

the strangest scents were those of blossoms that opened after dark．It was now almost two in the

morning; and the smells that rose from the darkened garden were giddyingly strong．She called

Kreiger's name again．Then she seemed to see him; a dark presence moving through the bushes．If

it was indeed Kreiger，why didn't he answer her call？ Perhaps it wasn't him．Keeping her

silence now，she crept down the stairs and went out into the garden．

今天晚上的天气很好，柔和的晚风轻轻吹拂过灌木和花丛发出沙沙的响声。虽然花园很大，曲径通幽，但露辛

迪克从小在这里玩耍对每条小路都了若指掌，就算闭着眼睛，她也能毫不费力地穿梭于错综复杂的小径之间，

每片树林每个花丛都逃不过她的眼睛。很快，她就到达了刚才看见人影的地方。空气中弥漫着金银花和茉莉的

香气，可除了花香，另一种气味引起了露辛迪克的注意，那是一种陌生动物或人身上的味道，而气味的源头就

在附近。
There was a gentle，balmy breeze tonight: it made the bushes and trees churn．The garden was

large，and its layout complex，but she'd been playing here since she was a child．She could have

found her way down its narrow，labyrinthine paths and around its rose patches and secret groves

with hers eyes closed．She went directly to the place where she thought she'd seen the man when

she'd been up at the bedroom window．Despite the sweetness of honey[****]le and the night-blooming

jasmine，her nostrils caught the scent of something else，somebody else，in the vicinity．

这气味与她和克里奇身上散发出的那种涩涩的味道不同，那是一种让她联想到疾病、腐烂和死亡的气味。露辛

迪克一动不动地站在原地，有什么东西在她周围的灌木丛中移动着，在漆黑的夜色下她只能看见那家伙的轮廓

：畸形的巨大脑袋，批着盔甲的肩膀，结实的胸膛。不管那到底是个什么东西，它走动的时候明显一跛一跛，

右腿艰难地拖着左腿。随着它越来越近，那种腐败的气味也越来越浓烈起来。毫无疑问，这气味就是从这个不

速之客身上传来的。接着，附近响起她情人克里奇的声音：
There was a stink that was not the bitter smell of her own body，or that of Kreiger．This was

something else．Something that made her think of disease，of corruption，of death．She stood

very still．Something moved through the bushes close by．She saw its form，silhouetted against

the starless sky: a vast misshapen head，armoured shoulders，the chest of an ox．Whatever it was

，it walked with a pronounced limp，dragging its left leg．The closer it came to her the

stronger the smell of corruption became．This trespasser was the source; no doubt of that．Then

，from the darkness close by，the sound of her lover's voice:

“露辛迪克！快离开这儿！快跑！”
"Lucidique！ Get away from here！ Quickly！"

接着，有什么东西打断了他的叫声。
There was something broken in his voice．

“你怎么了？” 露辛迪克焦急地问道，心中充满了不安。
"What's happened to you？" she said，afraid of the answer．

那个不速之客循着声音向她所在的地方转过头来，隐约可见这个家伙额头部分的头皮连着肉翻起来露出森森白

骨。和他们一样，这是一个形容可怖的怪物，但又有一点不同：它肯定不是阿冈尼司帝斯的作品，至少，它肯

定不是出自上帝本人之手。
Hearing her voice，the trespasser looked in her direction．A hood of flesh slid slickly back

from the upper half of its face，revealing its skeletal features．This was - like them - a

monster．And yet it was not like them．Not Agonistes' handiwork，at least．Not the product of

the unsung architect of Eden．

这个不速之客看上去象是刚从停尸房出来，它的身体是用腐烂的死人肉、神经和骨头堆砌出来的，浑身散发着

死尸的恶臭。它大步朝露辛迪克走来，露辛迪克向后退去，并非因为不知该如何应战，而是这个家伙的样子实

在让她觉得不寒而栗。这家伙一定力大无穷，并且非比寻常，露辛迪克暗自思量，不知道它的致命处在哪里。
This trespasser was a charnel-house child if ever there was one．It was made of parcels of

rotten flesh and nerve and bone，all nailed together and given foetid breath．She retreated as

it strode towards her．She knew how to kill; that was not in doubt．But the creature still made

her afraid．It was a powerhouse; and indifferent，she guessed，to any pain she might be able to

cause it．

“快跑！”克里奇朝她大叫起来。
"Go！" she heard Kreiger yelling to her．

她顺着声音望去，借着卧室里倾泻下来的微弱灯光看到自己的情人躺倒在地，浑身是血。
Her eyes flittered in his direction，and by the light shed from the bedroom window she saw him，

on the ground，blood pouring out of him．

“天哪！”
"Christ！"

露辛迪克朝克里奇跑过去，但那可恶的大怪物拦住了她的去路，伸出巨大的双手想要掐死她。但露辛迪克并没

有退却，她不愿抛下她的爱人独自逃跑。相反，她凭借自己对地形的了解穿梭在黑暗的花园里，试图引诱这个

跛子怪物远离克里奇。
She started towards him，but the trespasser moved to intercept her，its vast hands eager to tear

out her throat．But she wasn't going to flee the garden; not with her lover lying there in the

dirt，bleeding from a hundred places．Instead she turned and led the limping slaughterer away

from Kreiger，dodging through the darkened garden，using her knowledge of its layout to double

the distance between them．

与她预料中一样，怪物紧追不放，带着庞大的身躯穿越错综复杂的荆棘丛，喉咙里发出一种恐怖的声音，听起

来象是动物垂死挣扎是发出的喘息声被放大了许多倍。
Still it came after her，throwing its weight through the tangle of thorny bushes，emitting a

guttural din as it did so，like the noise of some immense mechanism that imperfectly copied the

sound of a tormented animal; a bull，perhaps，beneath the slaughterer's hammer．It was horrible

to hear．

终于，露辛迪克跑到了她的目的地——一棵她儿时爬过无数次的大树下，她开始迅速地攀爬起来，试图借此摆

脱追踪她的家伙。她的身手如此敏捷，以至于等她安全地藏在巨大的树冠中时怪物才刚刚赶到。现在，她想，

要是那家伙能在树下徘徊一会的话，她就有机会趁其不备从树上跳下来割断它的喉咙了。露辛迪克想，即便它

真的是用死人造出来的，整个地切断它的喉咙还是应该能将它杀死的。可是，就在离树还有六步远的地方，这

个怪物停下了脚步，抬头在空气中嗅了嗅，警惕地环顾了一下四周。难道它已经察觉到了这是个陷阱？露辛迪

克简直不敢相信它竟然有如此智能，可它的的确确是在犹豫徘徊。就这样过了一会儿，怪物转身离开了露辛迪

克藏身的大树，哼哼唧唧、一拐一瘸地没入黑暗的树丛里。
She had come to the place where she hoped to outwit her pursuer: a tree which she had climbed a

thousand times as a child，and now climbed again，so quickly that by the time the trespasser

came in sight of it she was already concealed in its verdant canopy．Now，she thought，if the

beast would only wander beneath the tree，she could perhaps kill it．Drop out of the branches

and cut open its throat．Even if it was something that was made from mortuary slops，it drew

breath; and if she could open its throat from ear to ear，it would be dead as any other slitted

thing．But about six feet from the tree the creature stopped，and sniffed the air，looking

around suspiciously．Did it sense that there was a trap laid for it here？ She couldn't believe

it had the wit to be so cautious．And yet it had halted，hadn't it？ And now it retreated from

the tree，loosing a low，barely audible noise in its throat，limping off into the darkness．

露辛迪克小心翼翼地拨开树枝观望周围情况，她听见从她刚才跑来的地方有什么动静，隐约间好象还有克里奇

痛苦的呻吟声。上帝啊，不！她痛苦地想道：别让这个怪物拿克里奇当成诱饵吧……然而，几分钟后，她所担

心的事情果然应验了，那怪物重新出现在荆棘丛中，手里拖着一样很重的东西。与露辛迪克预料中一样，那个

看上去象个大麻袋一样的东西是昏迷了的克里奇，她的情人，短短一会儿工夫里，他们竟然就被眼前这个不知

名的魔鬼弄到如此被动的境地。
She carefully parted the foliage，to see if she could discover what it was up to．There was some

sound from the direction in which she'd come，and then an audible moan from Kreiger．Oh God，no

，she thought．Don't let the trespasser be smart enough to use Kreiger as bait… Her fears were

realized a moment later，as the creature reappeared between the thorn bushes，dragging a heavy

burden behind him．It was Kreiger，of course．This lover of hers，who was now reduced to little

more than a sack，hauled behind the nameless fiend，had been a terror in his own right not so

long ago．

在克里奇还是个杀手的时候他就已经凭借自己非凡的武艺穿梭于普利摩顿城中的各个角落，令人闻风丧胆了。

后来，他接受了阿冈尼司帝斯的变形手术，成为了镰刀手-梅司特，让这座城市的统治阶层一夜间命丧他的镰

刀下。可现在，看看他成了什么样子！他脸上裂开了一道大口子，就好象是这个怪物用手指从嘴唇（那是露辛

迪克一个小时前还亲吻过的双唇啊）里撕开的一样。身体的其他部分也同样受过了酷刑折磨：肌肉被生生撕扯

下来，露出森森白骨。大面积的创口造成了大量失血，很难相信克里奇还活着。很显然，他是在刚才下楼为自

己的爱人采摘玫瑰花时遭到了突袭，克里奇一定曾全力反击直到精疲力竭，而偷袭者则很有耐性地在花园里等

待另一个目标的出现，一边眼睁睁地看着被打败的猎物流血致死。而情况正如它预期那般，露辛迪克没多久就

出现了。毫无疑问，那怪物原本是想给予她致命一击的，但露辛迪克没有让它得逞，于是现在它不得不用克里

奇这个血淋淋的人质来骗她现身了。
As the assassin Zarles Kreiger he'd once haunted the city of Primordium from the shanties to the

chateaus．Then，after the transformation worked upon him by Agonistes，as the Scythe-Meister，

he'd wiped out the ruling class of the city in one scarlet night．But now look at him！ His face

was torn open，as though the fiend had simply put his fingers into Kreiger's mouth （whose lips

Lucidique had kissed an hour before） and ripped it apart like a paper bag．The rest of his body

had been just as cruelly treated; the flesh torn away from its seating，exposing the breastbone

and the ribs and the long bone of his thigh．The loss of blood from these wounds was traumatic．

It was a wonder Kreiger was still alive．But plainly - having been surprised in the garden while

peacefully flower-picking - he'd fought back until he had no strength to fight with，at which

point his attacker had simply waited in the garden while one of its two victims slowly bled to

death，knowing the other would appear given time．And so she had．No doubt the creature had

expected to dispatch her in a heartbeat; now it was obliged to coax her out of her hiding place

with this bloody hostage．