e saw the long grey fingers of the dawn clutching at the fading stars And he fell asleep again, and dreamed and this was his dream He thought that he was wandering through a dim wood, hung with strange fruits and with beautiful poisonous flowers. The adders hissed at him as he went by and the bright parrots flew screaming from branch to branch. Huge tortoises lay asleep upon the hot mud. The trees were full of apes and peacocks On and on he went till he reached the outskirts of the wood and there he saw an immense multitude of men toiling in the bed of a dried-up river. They swarmed up the crag like ants. They dug deep pits in the ground and went down into them. Some of them cleft the rocks with great axes; others grabbled in the sand They tore up the cactus 3 by its roots and trampled on the scarlet blossoms. they hurried about, calling to each other, and no man was idle From the darkness of a cavern Death and Avarice watched them, and Death said 'I am weary give me a third of them and let me go. But Avarice shook her head. They are my servants, she answered And Death said to her 'what hast thou in thy hand I have three grains of corn, she answered what is that to thee? ay 'Give me one of them, "cried Death, 'to plant in my garden; only one of them, and I will go I will not give thee anything, said Avarice, and she hid her hand in the fold of her raiment And Death laughed and took a cup and dipped it into a pool of water, and out of the cup rose Ague. She passed through the great multitude, and a third of them lay dead. a cold mist followed her, and the water-snakes ran by her side And when Avarice saw that a third of the multitude was dead she beat her breast and wept She beat her barren bosom, and cried aloud Thou hast slain a third of my servants, she cried, ' get thee gone. There is war in the mountains of Tartary, and the kings of each side are calling to thee. The Afghans have slain the black ox and are marching to battle. They have beaten upon their shields with their spears, and have put on their helmets of iron What is my valley to thee, that thou shouldst tarry in it? Get thee gone and come here no more. 56 Nay, 57 answered Death, ' but till thou hast given me a grain of corn i will not go But Avarice shut her hand, and clenched her teeth. ' I will not give thee anything, she muttered And Death laughed, and took up a black stone and threw it into the forest, and out of a thicket of wild hemlocks came Fever in a robe of flame. She passed through the multitude, and touched them, and each man that she touched died. The grass withered beneath her feet as she he saw the long grey fingers of the dawn clutching at the fading star 他看见那些破晓的长手指在摘取衰弱的繁星。 cactus 仙人掌 What hast thou in thy hand?’你手中拿的是什么东西? Tartary n.鞑靼,鞑靼地方(指中世纪时受蒙古人统治的自东欧至亚洲的广 大地区) What is my va l ley to thee that thou shouldst tarry in it? get thee gone and come here no more.我的山谷对你有什么用,你没有必要待在这吧?你快 走吧,不要再到这来了。 Nay相当于No a thicket of wi ld hemlock野毒芹he saw the long grey fingers of the dawn clutching at the fading stars52 . And he fell asleep again, and dreamed, and this was his dream. He thought that he was wandering through a dim wood, hung with strange fruits and with beautiful poisonous flowers. The adders hissed at him as he went by, and the bright parrots flew screaming from branch to branch. Huge tortoises lay asleep upon the hot mud. The trees were full of apes and peacocks. On and on he went, till he reached the outskirts of the wood, and there he saw an immense multitude of men toiling in the bed of a dried-up river. They swarmed up the crag like ants. They dug deep pits in the ground and went down into them. Some of them cleft the rocks with great axes; others grabbled in the sand. They tore up the cactus53 by its roots, and trampled on the scarlet blossoms. They hurried about, calling to each other, and no man was idle. From the darkness of a cavern Death and Avarice watched them, and Death said, 'I am weary; give me a third of them and let me go.' But Avarice shook her head. 'They are my servants,' she answered. And Death said to her, 'What hast thou in thy hand?'54 'I have three grains of corn,' she answered; 'what is that to thee?' 'Give me one of them,' cried Death, 'to plant in my garden; only one of them, and I will go away.' 'I will not give thee anything,' said Avarice, and she hid her hand in the fold of her raiment. And Death laughed, and took a cup, and dipped it into a pool of water, and out of the cup rose Ague. She passed through the great multitude, and a third of them lay dead. A cold mist followed her, and the water-snakes ran by her side. And when Avarice saw that a third of the multitude was dead she beat her breast and wept. She beat her barren bosom, and cried aloud. 'Thou hast slain a third of my servants,' she cried, 'get thee gone. There is war in the mountains of Tartary55, and the kings of each side are calling to thee. The Afghans have slain the black ox, and are marching to battle. They have beaten upon their shields with their spears, and have put on their helmets of iron. What is my valley to thee, that thou shouldst tarry in it? Get thee gone, and come here no more.'56 'Nay,'57 answered Death, 'but till thou hast given me a grain of corn I will not go.' But Avarice shut her hand, and clenched her teeth. 'I will not give thee anything,' she muttered. And Death laughed, and took up a black stone, and threw it into the forest, and out of a thicket of wild hemlock58 came Fever in a robe of flame. She passed through the multitude, and touched them, and each man that she touched died. The grass withered beneath her feet as she 52 he saw the long grey fingers of the dawn clutching at the fading stars 他看见那些破晓的长手指在摘取衰弱的繁星。 53 cactus 仙人掌 54 'What hast thou in thy hand?' 你手中拿的是什么东西？ 55 Tartary n. 鞑靼，鞑靼地方（指中世纪时受蒙古人统治的自东欧至亚洲的广 大地区） 56 What is my valley to thee, that thou shouldst tarry in it? Get thee gone, and come here no more. 我的山谷对你有什么用，你没有必要待在这吧？你快 走吧，不要再到这来了。 57 Nay 相当于 No 58 a thicket of wild hemlock 野毒芹