Chapter 10 Chapter 9: Things in the Woods

I strode through the bushes that covered the ridge behind the house, wandered on without paying attention, and continued through the shade of the thick straight-stem forest on the other side. Before long, I was on the other side of the ridge without knowing it. up.Descending the slope, I walked toward a trickling stream that flowed out of a narrow valley.Any sound that might have come from the paddock was muted, either by the distance I had gone, or by the obstruction of these dense jungles.There was silence all around.After a while, with a rustling sound, a rabbit ran out and ran up the hillside in front of me.I hesitated, and sat down on the edge of the shade.

This place is so refreshing.The small river was covered by dense vegetation on both sides.Only in one place, I could see the river shining golden across a small triangular patch of land.Farther on, through the bluish haze, I saw a tangle of trees and vines, again above a brilliant, blue sky.Here and there, here and there, a patch of white or crimson shows the flourishing of a crawling parasitic plant.For a while, I looked around this beauty.Then the strange features of Montgomery's squire began to turn in my mind again.But it was too hot to think carefully.After a while, I fell into a peaceful, half-asleep state.

I don't know how long it took, but on the other side of the stream, I was awakened by the rustling sound in the lush vegetation. For a moment I could see nothing but the dangling tips of ferns and reeds.Then, suddenly, on the bank of the brook, something appeared--I couldn't make out what it was at first, but he bent his head over the water and began to drink.Then I saw clearly that this was a human being, but he was walking on all fours like a wild beast! He was dressed in light blue, with a bronze face and black hair.It seems that the inhabitants of these small islands have the same weird and ugly features as everyone else.As he drank, I could hear the sound of his lips sucking water.

I leaned forward to get a better look at him.I touched some lava with my hand, and it rolled down the hill with a clatter.He looked up guiltily, and his eyes met mine.Immediately he got up, stood there wiping his mouth with a clumsy hand, and stared at me.His legs were not half as long as his body.In this way, we looked at each other awkwardly for about a minute.Then he slinked away through the bushes to my right, pausing now and then.Looked back once or twice.I heard the rustle of fern leaves, and saw him run farther and farther, smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared.He gave me a hard look as he ran away.Long after he had vanished, I sat motionless, gazing in the direction from which he had fled.My drowsy sense of peace had long since vanished.

The sound behind me startled me.I turned sharply to see a rabbit, flapping its white tail, disappearing down the hillside.I jumped to my feet and stood up. The presence of this queer, half-animal creature suddenly added to my sense of afternoon silence.I looked around rather nervously.I am empty-handed and without any weapons, and I am very sorry.Then it occurred to me that the man I had just seen was dressed in light blue, rather than naked like a savage, and from that fact I tried to convince myself that he was, after all, a serene eccentric, It's just that his stupid and ferocious appearance gave people an illusion.

However, I was still incredibly distraught by the presence of this guy.I walked along the hillside to the left, turning my head from time to time, peering back and forth through the trees.As a human being, why do we walk on all fours?And what about absorbing water with your lips?All of a sudden, I heard a wild beast crying and wailing again. I thought it was the mountain leopard screaming again.I turned around and walked in the exact opposite direction to the scream.So I dropped by the stream, and I crossed the stream, and walked up the hill through the bushes. I was startled by a large patch of fresh, scarlet stuff on the ground.Walking over, I found that this is a special kind of fungus, with forked branches and beryllium lines, just like lichen with leaves, but when I touch it, it becomes a viscous slurry.Then, in the shade of dense ferns, I came upon an unpleasant object, the carcass of a rabbit covered with shiny flies.The rabbit's body was still warm, but the head was pulled off.I was stunned and stood there, looking at the blood splatter.Here, at least one of the island's "visitors" was killed!

There were no other signs of violence around.It appeared as though the rabbit had been caught suddenly and killed.Looking at the small, furry body, I find it hard to understand, how did this happen?As I stood there, I saw the man's inhuman face by the creek, and the inexplicable fear that appeared in my mind became more and more intense at this time.I began to realize how daring it was for me to explore among these undiscovered people.It seemed to me that the surrounding bushes suddenly changed their appearance.Every shade of a tree has become not just a shade of a tree, but an ambush for all kinds of vegetation, and every rustling sound makes me startled.It was as if something invisible was staring at me.

I decided to return to the paddock on the beach.I turned away abruptly, and rushed—possibly even frantically—through the bushes, anxious to find another quiet spot around me. I stopped just in time before I ran to a clearing.This is a clearing in the forest created by a felling of trees. Some saplings have sprung out and are vying to occupy this space.And there, densely growing flower stems and twining vines, and spots of mushroom fungi and flowers of various colors, closed the path again, and in front of me, on a huge tree stump full of fungi , there were three weird and deformed figures lying on their stomachs together, and they hadn't noticed my arrival yet.One of them was obviously a woman, and the other two were men.They were all naked except for a bright red cloth wrapped around the middle of their bodies.Their skin was a dull pink, and I had never seen a wildling with such a color of skin before.Their washbasins are so fat that they don't even have a chin.The foreheads are all sunken, and the hair on the head is sparse and straight like a brown brush.I've never seen such a beast before.

They were talking, or at least one male was talking to two others.The three of them were so engaged in talking that they didn't notice the rustling of me approaching.They shook their heads and shoulders from side to side.The man who was speaking had a muffled and tearful voice.I couldn't make out what he was saying, although I heard it clearly.It seemed that he was reciting some complicated and inexplicable words. After a while, the other person's voice became sharp and piercing, and he stretched out his palms and stood up. At this time, the other two began to murmur some inexplicable words together, stood up, stretched out their palms, and swayed their bodies following the rhythm of monotonous singing.At this time, I noticed that their legs were unusually short, but their feet were thick and clumsy, thin and long.The three of them slowly formed a circle again, raised their feet, stomped their feet again, and waved their arms.In their melodious reciting, a certain tone was unconsciously mixed in, and at the end of the reciting, they also sang a repetition like this-"Alura", or "Balula".Their eyes began to sparkle, and a strange expression of joy spread across their ugly faces, as drool dripped from their lipless mouths.

As I watched their strange, inexplicable movements, I suddenly became aware for the first time clearly: what is it that makes me feel so unpleasant, what is it that gives me two contradictory, conflicting feelings It's so strange, yet so strangely familiar.These three fellows, who were engaged in this mysterious ritual, looked like people; if they were people, they carried some very familiar and very strange animal looks.In spite of their human form and rags, despite the crudely human form of their bodies, there is in their actions, in the expressions of their faces, in their lives, a certain irrepressible A nasty, foul smell, something gross, mingled with some unmistakably brutish traits.

I stood there, overwhelmed by this astonishing awareness, and then a terrifying doubt rushed into my mind.Suddenly they leaped into the air, one at first, then another, whining and grumbling.Then one slipped away stealthily, remaining on all fours for a moment, and then immediately resumed the starting position.However, a momentary revelation of the true bestiality of these monsters is enough. I turned and walked back through the bushes as quietly as I could.When a twig broke or a leaf rustled, I often became so stiff and inflexible lest they should find out.It was a while before I dared to move about freely. One of my thoughts at the time was to run away from these disgusting people.I didn't notice that I had come to an inconspicuous path in the forest.As I was traversing a small glade, I was suddenly, unpleasantly startled, aware of two clumsy, hideous legs, moving noiselessly along a parallel course among the trees, perhaps as far away as I was. Thirty yards away.The tangled vines covered his head and upper body, and I stopped abruptly, hoping the monster didn't see me.And those two feet stopped as I stopped.I was so nervous that I had to hold my breath and escape quickly and with great difficulty. I stared hard and looked, through the criss-crossing vines and weeds, I finally made out that it was the head and body of the animal I saw drinking water by the stream just now.He moved his head.As he glanced at me from the shade, there was a bright green light in his eyes, a half-bright light.When he turned his head away, the light disappeared.For a moment he remained motionless, then, with noiseless steps, he ran away through the tangled grass.In a blink of an eye, he disappeared behind the bushes.Although I couldn't see him, I felt that he stopped and stared at me again.What is he? —Is it a human or an animal?What the hell is he after me?I don't have a weapon with me, not even a stick.To run away, that would be madness.Anyway, this thing, whatever it is, lacks the courage to attack me.I gritted my teeth and walked straight towards him.I'm anxious, but don't show a look of fear, but I'm already so scared that my spine is chilling.I pushed aside the tangled, tall, white-flowered bushes, and saw him standing twenty yards away from me, looking sideways at me with a look of indecision.I took another step, two steps forward, staring intently into his eyes. "Who are you?" I said. He tried his best to meet my gaze. "No!" he said suddenly, turning away, and leaping away from me through the bushes.Then he turned around and stared at me again.In the shadows under the trees, his eyes flickered on and on. My heart jumped into my throat.I felt that my only chance of success was to face this danger, and I walked steadily toward him.He turned away again and disappeared into the gloom.I thought I caught the twinkle in his eyes again, and then there was nothing. For the first time, I realized what being too late could do to me.A few minutes ago, the sunset had already set in the west, and the fleeting tropical dusk had gradually lost its luster in the eastern sky.A moth came out first, fluttering quietly over my head.I must hurry back to the paddock, unless I want to spend the night in this mysterious forest of uncertain fortunes. It was unpleasant to think of going back to that haunted house haunted by pain; it was still more disturbing to think that the emptiness might be swallowed up by darkness, and everything might be engulfed in darkness.I glanced again at the blue shadow that had swallowed up the strange grotesque, turned back, and descended the hill toward the creek, in the direction I had come to judge. I hurried on, distracted by all this, and presently found myself on a level place among the sparse trees.The pale and clear sky after the afterglow of the setting sun gradually dimmed.In an instant, the blue sky above his head had become darker and darker.Little stars pierced the dim afterglow in the sky one by one.The spaces of the trees, the gaps in the distant vegetation, which had once been a smoky blue in the sunlight, were now also dark and mysterious. I parted the bushes and walked forward.Everything lost its color.Against the background of the hazy blue sky, the towering treetops draw a silhouette like black ink, and everything under the silhouette is dissolved in the invisible darkness.After a while, the trees became thinner and the bushes denser.Then there appeared a barren clearing covered with white sand, and then an endless tangle of bushes. I was disturbed by a faint rustling sound in the direction of the right hand.At first, I thought it was hallucination.Because whenever I stopped, there was always silence, only the sound of the breeze in the treetops, and when I walked on again.In line with my steps, there was an echo. I left the cluttered bushes and walked along a relatively open place as much as possible.Often changes direction suddenly and suddenly.If the thing existed, and was creeping towards me, I wanted to frighten it as best I could.I saw nothing, and yet I kept growing the feeling that there was indeed something beside me.I picked up the pace.After some time, I came to a low mountain ridge.After turning over the mountain ridge, I turned around suddenly and stared at the guy closely from a distance.It emerged from the darkness, its outline clearly visible against the darkened sky. For a split second, a strangely shaped, shapeless figure appeared on the horizon, and then disappeared.I felt certain now that my tawny-faced adversary stalked me again.Meanwhile, to add to the annoyance, I found myself lost. For a while, I hurried away desperately and distractedly, and was followed closely behind.Whatever it was, the thing either lacked the courage to attack me, or waited for an opportunity to attack me suddenly.Deliberately walking along the open space, turning now and then to listen, I soon had the dubious feeling that my stalker might have given up his pursuit, or that perhaps all this was the figment of my insane imagination .Then, I heard the sound of the sea, and I picked up my pace, almost running.Immediately, something behind me stumbled and fell. I turned around suddenly and stared at the blurry trees behind me.A shadow seemed to jump into another shadow.I moved and listened, hearing nothing but the hum of blood in my ears.I thought, I had a nervous breakdown, and my hallucinations were playing tricks on me, so I resolutely walked towards the sound of the sea again. After a minute or so, when the trees were thinning, I came to a bare, low promontory jutting out into the dark sea.The night was so still and fresh, and the reflections of more and more stars trembled in the undulating tranquil sea.A little farther away, the waves were crashing against a bumpy patch of the reef, and the waves glistened with their own pale sheen. Looking westward, the zodiacal light and the yellow brilliance of the Venus mingled with the coast. Gradually disappear in my east.On both sides, it is covered by the protruding part of the headland.Only then did I recall the fact that Morrow's beach was on the west side. 【① Ecliptic: It is the apparent trajectory (or apparent path) of the sun moving eastward among the stars, and it is the reflection of the earth's orbit around the sun in the sky. 】 Behind me there was the sudden snapping of twigs, and the rustling sound again.I turned around and stood facing the dark woods.I can't see anything—or else I'm seeing too much in my imagination.Every black shadow in the haze has its inauspicious nature and its unique meaning, and we must be vigilant and careful.So I stood for about a minute, and then, still keeping my eyes on the woods, I turned westward and over the headland.Just as I was walking, a lurking black shadow also moved with me. My heart was beating violently.Presently a broad slope of land stretching westward on the bay became visible, and I stopped.The silent shadow also stopped twelve yards from me.A small light illuminated a far bend in the bay, and the gray slope of the sand was visible in the starlight.The little bright spot is about two miles away.To get to the beach, I still had to walk down a scrub-strewn hillside through the woods where the shadows lurked. Now I can see this thing more clearly.It wasn't an animal at all, because it stood there upright.I was about to speak to it, but a mouthful of phlegm blocked my throat and I couldn't make a sound. I tried again, only to yell out, "Who's there?" no answer.I took a step forward.The thing didn't move, it just perked up.My foot hit a rock. This leads me to an idea.While staring at the black figure in front of me, I stopped and picked up the stone.But, seeing my action, the thing turned abruptly, like a dog's reaction, and slid away sideways, disappearing into the distant darkness.At this point I recalled the strategies used by schoolchildren to defend themselves against big dogs.I rolled the stone in a handkerchief and wrapped it around my wrist.I heard movement in the shadows farther away, as if the thing had receded.At this time, my tense mood suddenly relaxed; I was sweating profusely, trembling, and the opponent retreated, but the weapon-the stone was still in my hand. It was a while before I pulled myself together and made up my mind to descend through the woods and bushes on the side of the headland to the beach.Finally, I just ran.As I emerged from the bushes onto the sand, I heard another object clattering down behind me. This time I was so frightened that I started running along the beach.Immediately there was the sound of the stalker's soft footsteps and quick patter.I yelled frantically and ran even faster.Indistinct black things three or four times the size of a rabbit ran or hopped from the sand toward the bushes as I ran by.As long as I live, I will never forget the horror of this chase.I ran to the water's edge, and from time to time I heard the sound of splashing water from footsteps approaching me.That yellow light is still so far away, desperately far away.Everything in the surrounding night is so dark and so still.Crash, clatter!The sound of following footsteps was getting closer and closer.Because I had never trained before, I just felt that I was almost out of breath; when I took a big breath, I found a whirring sound, and my ribs felt as painful as if I had been stabbed by a knife.I could see that this thing was going to catch up to me long before I could reach the paddock.I whimpered and wheezed and circled, and when it came up to me, I pounced on it and hit it—with all my strength.Just as I hit it with my fist, the handkerchief flicked, and the stone was also thrown out. When I turned around, the thing that had been running on all fours stood up, and the flying stone hit it squarely on its left temple.There was a thump on the head of the thing, and the thing bumped into me inadvertently, shoving me backwards with its hands, and staggered forward beside me onto the sand, face in the water.It lay there motionless. I really dare not go near that mass of black whistling thing.I left it there, under the silent stars, with the sea rippling and gurgling around it, I dodged it far away, and walked along the road to the shimmering yellow hut .After a while, when I felt that I was really relieved, the pitiful moan of the mountain leopard came again.It was this miserable sound that first drove me out and made me explore the mysterious island.But now, although I am weak and exhausted, I still gather all my energy and start running towards the light again.I just felt as if a voice was calling me.