《耶利歌》扭曲灵魂！

怪物紧紧掐住克里奇的脖子，单手将他提到空中，用力将他的脸象大树撞去。克里奇的头无力地垂在脖子上，

双目深陷，看上去和死了没什么两样。而凶手此刻却举起了他的另一只手，朝着露辛迪克躲藏着的方向招了招

手，示意她出来，同时用手指把克里奇的脑袋前后摇晃起来，就好象他是一个木偶。看到这样的场面，露辛迪

克心中的痛苦简直无法用语言形容，眼前这个被人想木偶一样玩弄摆布着的男人曾经推翻过一代王朝，改写了

历史，他是她的挚爱，她的情人……这一切使她丧失了理智，尽管她清楚的知道树下的偷袭者有足够的力量可

以杀掉她，她还是无法看着克里奇在临死的时候被人如此羞辱。于是，露辛迪克狂怒地尖叫着跳下枝头，以迅

雷不及掩耳之势刺瞎了怪物的双眼。瞎眼了的怪物不得不丢下手中的人质，口中发出令人毛骨悚然的吼声。露

辛迪克敏捷地穿过怪物扑腾着的双臂来到克里奇身边。他已经死了。
It grabbed Kreiger's neck and lifted him up by one hand，thrusting his broken face towards the

tree．Kreiger's head lolled on his neck; his eyes rolled back into their sockets．He was as

close to dead as made no difference．Then his killer lifted its other hand and beckoned to the

woman in the tree．As it did so it twitched Kreiger's head back and forth，like that of a doll．

For Lucidique it was agonizing beyond words to see her lover，a man who had brought down a

dynasty，bobbing around like a ventriloquist's doll．It made her lose all reason．Though she

knew the trespasser below had the physical power to kill her，she could not watch Kreiger's last

moments played out as a humiliating puppet-show．She leapt from the tree with a shriek of rage，

and before the creature could bring down its visor of flesh，she had slit both of its eyes with

her weapon，blinding it．It dropped Kreiger，and let out a roar that sounded pleasingly like

panic．She ducked under its flailing arms and went to Kreiger．He was dead．

露辛迪克回头看着杀害她情人的凶手，此刻那个怪物就象是个受到惊吓的孩子一般，已经从怒吼转为嚎啕大哭

，哭了一会儿以后慢慢开始低声呜咽起来。她原本可以再给予它致命一击的，或许，在数次进攻之后她甚至可

以取它的性命为克里奇报仇。但她却无暇顾及这个瞎眼怪物了。她必须立即将克里奇转移到什么地方去，或许

还有机会能让他死而复生。
She glanced back at his killer，who was indeed in a state of child-like terror．His roar had

turned into howls that were close to descending into whimpers．She could have wounded it again

easily enough; and perhaps，after a dozen woundings，or two dozen，she might have claimed its

life．But she didn't have any time to waste with the blinded thing．She needed to take Kreiger

somewhere he had a hope of resurrection．

就这样，露辛迪克带着她情人的尸体走进沙漠去寻找他们的主人阿冈尼司帝斯（克里奇的身体比她预计的要轻

，仿佛这躯体里某些蕴涵生命的物质已经一去不返了，即便是魔法也无力回天）。她努力说服自己不要有这样

悲观的念头，丢下玫瑰花丛中愤怒发狂的瞎眼怪物，扛着爱人的尸体走到前院，温柔地将他放进马车厢里，驾

车朝着郊外飞奔而去……
Out into the desert．Out to find Agonistes．She lifted her lover's body up over her shoulders （

he was lighter than she'd expected; troublingly so，as though the mass of his life had gone from

him and would never be returned，even by a miracle）．She would not let such pessimism linger in

her mind however．Leaving the blind trespasser to rage amongst the roses，she headed to the

forecourt of the house．She gently laid the corpse in the back of the car，and then drove out of

the city，in search of a sandstorm．

III

塔利萨克医生低头看着这个从他体内分娩出来的小家伙，他的小孟格里德。他看到自己儿子身上比他漂亮的地

方，但随后，他也看到了丑陋的地方。这个小家伙比任何其他出生才五分钟的生物都要来得独立，它开始行走

起来，更确切地说是用它四条纤细的胳膊爬了起来，同时，它的口中发出含糊不清的声音，仿佛是在自我介绍

。
Talisac looked down at the creature that had spilled from his body: his Mongroid．He'd seen

prettier things，but then he'd seen uglier too．It had more self-reliance than any creature five

minutes old should reasonably have; it walked，crab-like，on four hands; it made rudimentary

attempts to express itself．

塔利萨克医生轻轻地呼唤它的名字，就好象在叫条小狗一样，但那孩子并没有回答。此刻它被眼前到处都是的

尸体深深吸引了，正用它那翻转过来的脑袋仔细研究着，闻着这些发臭的样品。就塔利萨克医生的技术而言，

孟格里德的头脑看上去发育健全。这里面多少有点家族遗传的因素，医生想。他已经放弃去吸引它的注意了，

可突然，那小婴儿的眼睛落在了他的身上，它迈着笨拙可笑的步伐慢慢靠近他，一路上不时打量房间里的其他

地方，看起来它的思路非常清晰。这是它出生后做出的第一个判断：活的和死的。
He called it to him，as he might a dog，but it wouldn't come．It was too interested in the

bodies that lay everywhere about the chamber，examining them with its inverted head，sniffing at

the ranker examples．It seemed to have a well-formed head，as far as Talisac could make out．
There was some family resemblance there，he thought．He had given up trying to draw its

attention，but now - paradoxically - its eyes came to rest on him，and with its ungainly，

sideways gait it approached him．It cast a glance around the charnel house as it did so，and its

thought processes were perfectly clear．It was making the first distinction of its young life:

between the living and the dead．

“非常正确……” 塔利萨克用一种鼓励的语气对它说，“……他们都死了，他们对你已经没什么用了。而我

是唯一一个你必须帮助的人。我是你的父亲。”
"That's right…" Talisac said，attempting an encouraging tone，"…they're dead．They're no use

to you．I'm the one you have to help．I'm your father."

孟格里德究竟听明白了多少，又或许它一句都没有听明白，塔利萨克对此也一无所知。应该是听懂了一点点吧

，他猜想无论如何他们得从头开始。教育和抚养这个小家伙必定是件漫长而琐碎的事情。他曾希望自己能生下

一个更完美的后代，一个能够直接呈献给蒙特法罗将军的作品，那样的话他就能够得到更多的资助来完成更宏

大的研究计划了。现在，他必须先让将军见见他的这件作品。虽然这个从充满精子和海水的人造子宫中降生的

小家伙远远没有达到他心目中完美邪恶的要求，但这又有什么关系呢？它只是一个开始，接着还会有其他孩子

降生的。现在他所需要做的只是去抓住它，然后解剖一下，查看失败的原因以便下次不再犯同样的错误。就在

离他几码远的地方，这个小怪物突然停了下来，低头开始研究那个孕育了自己十七个星期之久的人造子宫。血

依旧从里面汩汩地涌出，淌落到肮脏的地面，只见孟格里德将它翻转过来，深出舌头开始吮吸流出的液体。
How much of this - if any - the Mongroid understood，Talisac had no idea．Very little，he

guessed．But they had to begin somewhere．It would be a long，weary business，rearing this thing

．He had hoped to give birth to something more praiseworthy; something he could show Montefalco

，and thus be funded for further，more ambitious researches．Now，he would have to do some fast

-talking to get the General to see his vision of things．The crab homunculus produced from his

sac of semen and sea-water was very far from the perfect，vicious child he'd hoped to produce: a

hymn to the glories of testosterone．But never mind，there would be others．In time he'd subdue

this one，and vivisect it to see if he could work out where the errors lay．Then he'd try again

．The creature had come to a halt a few yards away from him，and was studying the sac from which

it had been contained for seventeen weeks．Blood still dripped from it，onto the dirt floor．It

scuttled over and put its tongue to the pool，tasting the fluid．

“不，”塔利萨克厌恶地对它说道：“别这样。”
"No，" Talisac said，faintly revolted by its display．"Don't do that."

他可不希望这个怪物有对血或者人肉之类奇怪的嗜好，至少不喜欢它象现在这样吮吸从他身体里分泌的体液，

更何况他自己还没有从挂钩上被放下来呢，这样的姿势让他觉得不太安全。
He didn't want it getting some unnatural appetite; for blood，or flesh，or whatever other juices

ran from him freely as he hung there．He was altogether too vulnerable in his present state．

可是孟格里德看上去好象对禁令之类的事情并不感兴趣。它这么做完全是出自本能，而它的本能告诉它这些是

可以吃的食物。它顺着血水的源头象上望去看到了悬挂着的塔利萨克医生，这个曾经孕育它的身躯。它的目光

让医生感到非常恐惧，更让他不安的是怪物那渐渐隆起的腹部，就好象是它正胃口大开准备好好吃上一顿的样

子。孟格里德顺着医生那沾满血污的袍子慢慢地爬上了他的身体，而他腹部的皮肤依旧在不断的膨胀。
But the creature wasn't interested in being forbidden anything．It was a creature of instinct，

and its instinct told it that there was a meal to be had here．It traced the source of the pool

to the hanging corpse of flesh that had been its makeshift womb．He didn't like the look in the

creature's eyes at all．Nor did he like the way its belly was distending，as though its aroused

appetite was awaking a change in its anatomy．The Mongroid was pulling on the loose bloody

tatters of his flesh now，its belly skin still swelling obscenely．

“卡米尔！” 塔利萨克医生大叫起来，恐惧让他忘记了女侏儒卡米尔已经跟随蒙特法罗将军走了，现在他是

孤单一人了。此时此刻，他就这样被孤伶伶一个人吊在半空中晃来晃去，无助地看着他亲生子的腹部胀裂成一

张血盆大口，口中是两排完整而锋利的牙齿。
"Camille！" Talisac yelled，forgetting in his fear that the dwarf had left in the company of

General Montefalco．He was alone．And now，as he swung there，helpless，the belly of his

offspring split open，revealing a vast mouth，completely arrayed with glistening teeth．

“哦，天啊！我的天啊！”
"Jesus！ Oh Jesus！"

这句话成了塔利萨克医生的遗言。
They were the last words Talisac uttered．

孟格里德用它的四条手臂支撑起身体向滑落在地上的子宫爬去，它腹部的那张大嘴吞没了自己的“母亲”后正

慢慢合拢，锋利的牙齿用力地咀嚼着塔利萨克医生的身体。医生临终前的祈祷化成了令人毛骨悚然的尖叫。孟

格里德将满口的肠子、内脏重新吐到地上，再从中挑选出那些可以吃的部分。
Using its four hands to spring up towards the womb from which he had so recently been delivered

，the thing closed its gaping jaws on the groin of its parent，its teeth digging deep into

Talisac's flesh．The cries to Jesus became a solid shriek．The Mongroid took a healthy mouthful

of gut and manhood and womb，and dropped down to the ground again to devour what it had bitten

off．

塔利萨克医生的内脏从被咬断了的下身流了出来，五脏六肺洒了一地。这个圣心救济院里的天才医生最终没有

了声息……
Talisac's innards，with their lower half removed，simply fell out of his body: uncoiling innards

followed by liver and kidneys and spleen．The genius of the Hospice of the Sacred Heart stopped

screaming．