「ソロモン王の洞窟」 第16章（全） 原文と平林初之輔 訳

CHAPTER XVI

THE PLACE OF DEATH

It was already dark on the third day after the scene described in the previous chapter when we camped in some huts at the foot of the "Three Witches," as the triangle of mountains is called to which Solomon's Great Road runs. Our party consisted of our three selves and Foulata, who waited on us—especially on Good—Infadoos, Gagool, who was borne along in a litter, inside which she could be heard muttering and cursing all day long, and a party of guards and attendants. The mountains, or rather the three peaks of the mountain, for the mass was evidently the result of a solitary upheaval, were, as I have said, in the form of a triangle, of which the base was towards us, one peak being on our right, one on our left, and one straight in front of us. Never shall I forget the sight afforded by those three towering peaks in the early sunlight of the following morning. High, high above us, up into the blue air, soared their twisted snow-wreaths. Beneath the snow-line the peaks were purple with heaths, and so were the wild moors that ran up the slopes towards them. Straight before us the white ribbon of Solomon's Great Road stretched away uphill to the foot of the centre peak, about five miles from us, and there stopped. It was its terminus.

I had better leave the feelings of intense excitement with which we set out on our march that morning to the imagination of those who read this history. At last we were drawing near to the wonderful mines that had been the cause of the miserable death of the old Portuguese Dom three centuries ago, of my poor friend, his ill-starred descendant, and also, as we feared, of George Curtis, Sir Henry's brother. Were we destined, after all that we had gone through, to fare any better? Evil befell them, as that old fiend Gagool said; would it also befall us? Somehow, as we were marching up that last stretch of beautiful road, I could not help feeling a little superstitious about the matter, and so I think did Good and Sir Henry.

For an hour and a half or more we tramped on up the heather-fringed way, going so fast in our excitement that the bearers of Gagool's hammock could scarcely keep pace with us, and its occupant piped out to us to stop.

"Walk more slowly, white men," she said, projecting her hideous shrivelled countenance between the grass curtains, and fixing her gleaming eyes upon us; "why will ye run to meet the evil that shall befall you, ye seekers after treasure?" and she laughed that horrible laugh which always sent a cold shiver down my back, and for a while quite took the enthusiasm out of us.

However, on we went, till we saw before us, and between ourselves and the peak, a vast circular hole with sloping sides, three hundred feet or more in depth, and quite half a mile round.

"Can't you guess what this is?" I said to Sir Henry and Good, who were staring in astonishment at the awful pit before us.

They shook their heads.

"Then it is clear that you have never seen the diamond diggings at Kimberley. You may depend on it that this is Solomon's Diamond Mine. Look there," I said, pointing to the strata of stiff blue clay which were yet to be seen among the grass and bushes that clothed the sides of the pit, "the formation is the same. I'll be bound that if we went down there we should find 'pipes' of soapy brecciated rock. Look, too," and I pointed to a series of worn flat slabs of stone that were placed on a gentle slope below the level of a watercourse which in some past age had been cut out of the solid rock; "if those are not tables once used to wash the 'stuff,' I'm a Dutchman."

At the edge of this vast hole, which was none other than the pit marked on the old Dom's map, the Great Road branched into two and circumvented it. In many places, by the way, this surrounding road was built entirely out of blocks of stone, apparently with the object of supporting the edges of the pit and preventing falls of reef. Along this path we pressed, driven by curiosity to see what were the three towering objects which we could discern from the hither side of the great gulf. As we drew near we perceived that they were Colossi of some sort or another, and rightly conjectured that before us sat the three "Silent Ones" that are held in such awe by the Kukuana people. But it was not until we were quite close to them that we recognised the full majesty of these "Silent Ones."

There, upon huge pedestals of dark rock, sculptured with rude emblems of the Phallic worship, separated from each other by a distance of forty paces, and looking down the road which crossed some sixty miles of plain to Loo, were three colossal seated forms—two male and one female—each measuring about thirty feet from the crown of its head to the pedestal.

The female form, which was nude, was of great though severe beauty, but unfortunately the features had been injured by centuries of exposure to the weather. Rising from either side of her head were the points of a crescent. The two male Colossi, on the contrary, were draped, and presented a terrifying cast of features, especially the one to our right, which had the face of a devil. That to our left was serene in countenance, but the calm upon it seemed dreadful. It was the calm of that inhuman cruelty, Sir Henry remarked, which the ancients attributed to beings potent for good, who could yet watch the sufferings of humanity, if not without rejoicing, at least without sorrow. These three statues form a most awe-inspiring trinity, as they sit there in their solitude, and gaze out across the plain for ever.

Contemplating these "Silent Ones," as the Kukuanas call them, an intense curiosity again seized us to know whose were the hands which had shaped them, who it was that had dug the pit and made the road. Whilst I was gazing and wondering, suddenly it occurred to me—being familiar with the Old Testament—that Solomon went astray after strange gods, the names of three of whom I remembered—"Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the children of Ammon"—and I suggested to my companions that the figures before us might represent these false and exploded divinities.

"Hum," said Sir Henry, who is a scholar, having taken a high degree in classics at college, "there may be something in that; Ashtoreth of the Hebrews was the Astarte of the Phoenicians, who were the great traders of Solomon's time. Astarte, who afterwards became the Aphrodite of the Greeks, was represented with horns like the half-moon, and there on the brow of the female figure are distinct horns. Perhaps these Colossi were designed by some Phoenician official who managed the mines. Who can say?"[1]

Before we had finished examining these extraordinary relics of remote antiquity, Infadoos came up, and having saluted the "Silent Ones" by lifting his spear, asked us if we intended entering the "Place of Death" at once, or if we would wait till after we had taken food at mid-day. If we were ready to go at once, Gagool had announced her willingness to guide us. As it was not later than eleven o'clock—driven to it by a burning curiosity—we announced our intention of proceeding instantly, and I suggested that, in case we should be detained in the cave, we should take some food with us. Accordingly Gagool's litter was brought up, and that lady herself assisted out of it. Meanwhile Foulata, at my request, stored some "biltong," or dried game-flesh, together with a couple of gourds of water, in a reed basket with a hinged cover. Straight in front of us, at a distance of some fifty paces from the backs of the Colossi, rose a sheer wall of rock, eighty feet or more in height, that gradually sloped upwards till it formed the base of the lofty snow-wreathed peak, which soared into the air three thousand feet above us. As soon as she was clear of her hammock, Gagool cast one evil grin upon us, and then, leaning on a stick, hobbled off towards the face of this wall. We followed her till we came to a narrow portal solidly arched that looked like the opening of a gallery of a mine.

Here Gagool was waiting for us, still with that evil grin upon her horrid face.

"Now, white men from the Stars," she piped; "great warriors, Incubu, Bougwan, and Macumazahn the wise, are ye ready? Behold, I am here to do the bidding of my lord the king, and to show you the store of bright stones. Ha! ha! ha!"

"We are ready," I said.

"Good, good! Make strong your hearts to bear what ye shall see. Comest thou too, Infadoos, thou who didst betray thy master?"

Infadoos frowned as he answered—

"Nay, I come not; it is not for me to enter there. But thou, Gagool, curb thy tongue, and beware how thou dealest with my lords. At thy hands will I require them, and if a hair of them be hurt, Gagool, be'st thou fifty times a witch, thou shalt die. Hearest thou?"

"I hear Infadoos; I know thee, thou didst ever love big words; when thou wast a babe I remember thou didst threaten thine own mother. That was but the other day. But, fear not, fear not, I live only to do the bidding of the king. I have done the bidding of many kings, Infadoos, till in the end they did mine. Ha! ha! I go to look upon their faces once more, and Twala's also! Come on, come on, here is the lamp," and she drew a large gourd full of oil, and fitted with a rush wick, from under her fur cloak.

"Art thou coming, Foulata?" asked Good in his villainous Kitchen Kukuana, in which he had been improving himself under that young lady's tuition.

"I fear, my lord," the girl answered timidly.

"Then give me the basket."

"Nay, my lord, whither thou goest there I go also."

"The deuce you will!" thought I to myself; "that may be rather awkward if we ever get out of this."

Without further ado Gagool plunged into the passage, which was wide enough to admit of two walking abreast, and quite dark. We followed the sound of her voice as she piped to us to come on, in some fear and trembling, which was not allayed by the flutter of a sudden rush of wings.

"Hullo! what's that?" halloed Good; "somebody hit me in the face."

"Bats," said I; "on you go."

When, so far as we could judge, we had gone some fifty paces, we perceived that the passage was growing faintly light. Another minute, and we were in perhaps the most wonderful place that the eyes of living man have beheld.

Let the reader picture to himself the hall of the vastest cathedral he ever stood in, windowless indeed, but dimly lighted from above, presumably by shafts connected with the outer air and driven in the roof, which arched away a hundred feet above our heads, and he will get some idea of the size of the enormous cave in which we found ourselves, with the difference that this cathedral designed by nature was loftier and wider than any built by man. But its stupendous size was the least of the wonders of the place, for running in rows adown its length were gigantic pillars of what looked like ice, but were, in reality, huge stalactites. It is impossible for me to convey any idea of the overpowering beauty and grandeur of these pillars of white spar, some of which were not less than twenty feet in diameter at the base, and sprang up in lofty and yet delicate beauty sheer to the distant roof. Others again were in process of formation. On the rock floor there was in these cases what looked, Sir Henry said, exactly like a broken column in an old Grecian temple, whilst high above, depending from the roof, the point of a huge icicle could be dimly seen.

Even as we gazed we could hear the process going on, for presently with a tiny splash a drop of water would fall from the far-off icicle on to the column below. On some columns the drops only fell once in two or three minutes, and in these cases it would be an interesting calculation to discover how long, at that rate of dripping, it would take to form a pillar, say eighty feet by ten in diameter. That the process, in at least one instance, was incalculably slow, the following example will suffice to show. Cut on one of these pillars we discovered the crude likeness of a mummy, by the head of which sat what appeared to be the figure of an Egyptian god, doubtless the handiwork of some old-world labourer in the mine. This work of art was executed at the natural height at which an idle fellow, be he Phoenician workman or British cad, is in the habit of trying to immortalise himself at the expense of nature's masterpieces, namely, about five feet from the ground. Yet at the time that we saw it, which must have been nearly three thousand years after the date of the execution of the carving, the column was only eight feet high, and was still in process of formation, which gives a rate of growth of a foot to a thousand years, or an inch and a fraction to a century. This we knew because, as we were standing by it, we heard a drop of water fall.

Sometimes the stalagmites took strange forms, presumably where the dropping of the water had not always been on the same spot. Thus, one huge mass, which must have weighed a hundred tons or so, was in the shape of a pulpit, beautifully fretted over outside with a design that looked like lace. Others resembled strange beasts, and on the sides of the cave were fanlike ivory tracings, such as the frost leaves upon a pane.

Out of the vast main aisle there opened here and there smaller caves, exactly, Sir Henry said, as chapels open out of great cathedrals. Some were large, but one or two—and this is a wonderful instance of how nature carries out her handiwork by the same unvarying laws, utterly irrespective of size—were tiny. One little nook, for instance, was no larger than an unusually big doll's house, and yet it might have been a model for the whole place, for the water dropped, tiny icicles hung, and spar columns were forming in just the same way.

We had not, however, enough time to examine this beautiful cavern so thoroughly as we should have liked to do, since unfortunately, Gagool seemed to be indifferent as to stalactites, and only anxious to get her business over. This annoyed me the more, as I was particularly anxious to discover, if possible, by what system the light was admitted into the cave, and whether it was by the hand of man or by that of nature that this was done; also if the place had been used in any way in ancient times, as seemed probable. However, we consoled ourselves with the idea that we would investigate it thoroughly on our way back, and followed on at the heels of our uncanny guide.

On she led us, straight to the top of the vast and silent cave, where we found another doorway, not arched as the first was, but square at the top, something like the doorways of Egyptian temples.

"Are ye prepared to enter the Place of Death, white men?" asked Gagool, evidently with a view to making us feel uncomfortable.

"Lead on, Macduff," said Good solemnly, trying to look as though he was not at all alarmed, as indeed we all did except Foulata, who caught Good by the arm for protection.

"This is getting rather ghastly," said Sir Henry, peeping into the dark passageway. "Come on, Quatermain—seniores priores. We mustn't keep the old lady waiting!" and he politely made way for me to lead the van, for which inwardly I did not bless him.

Tap, tap, went old Gagool's stick down the passage, as she trotted along, chuckling hideously; and still overcome by some unaccountable presentiment of evil, I hung back.

"Come, get on, old fellow," said Good, "or we shall lose our fair guide."

Thus adjured, I started down the passage, and after about twenty paces found myself in a gloomy apartment some forty feet long, by thirty broad, and thirty high, which in some past age evidently had been hollowed, by hand-labour, out of the mountain. This apartment was not nearly so well lighted as the vast stalactite ante-cave, and at the first glance all I could discern was a massive stone table running down its length, with a colossal white figure at its head, and life-sized white figures all round it. Next I discovered a brown thing, seated on the table in the centre, and in another moment my eyes grew accustomed to the light, and I saw what all these things were, and was tailing out of the place as hard as my legs could carry me.

I am not a nervous man in a general way, and very little troubled with superstitions, of which I have lived to see the folly; but I am free to own that this sight quite upset me, and had it not been that Sir Henry caught me by the collar and held me, I do honestly believe that in another five minutes I should have been outside the stalactite cave, and that a promise of all the diamonds in Kimberley would not have induced me to enter it again. But he held me tight, so I stopped because I could not help myself. Next second, however, his eyes became accustomed to the light, and he let go of me, and began to mop the perspiration off his forehead. As for Good, he swore feebly, while Foulata threw her arms round his neck and shrieked.

Only Gagool chuckled loud and long.

It was a ghastly sight. There at the end of the long stone table, holding in his skeleton fingers a great white spear, sat Death himself, shaped in the form of a colossal human skeleton, fifteen feet or more in height. High above his head he held the spear, as though in the act to strike; one bony hand rested on the stone table before him, in the position a man assumes on rising from his seat, whilst his frame was bent forward so that the vertebræ of the neck and the grinning, gleaming skull projected towards us, and fixed its hollow eye-places upon us, the jaws a little open, as though it were about to speak.

"Great heavens!" said I faintly, at last, "what can it be?"

"And what are those things?" asked Good, pointing to the white company round the table.

"And what on earth is that thing?" said Sir Henry, pointing to the brown creature seated on the table.

"Hee! hee! hee!" laughed Gagool. "To those who enter the Hall of the Dead, evil comes. Hee! hee! hee! ha! ha!"

"Come, Incubu, brave in battle, come and see him thou slewest;" and the old creature caught Curtis' coat in her skinny fingers, and led him away towards the table. We followed.

Presently she stopped and pointed at the brown object seated on the table. Sir Henry looked, and started back with an exclamation; and no wonder, for there, quite naked, the head which Curtis' battle-axe had shorn from the body resting on its knees, was the gaunt corpse of Twala, the last king of the Kukuanas. Yes, there, the head perched upon the knees, it sat in all its ugliness, the vertebræ projecting a full inch above the level of the shrunken flesh of the neck, for all the world like a black double of Hamilton Tighe.[2] Over the surface of the corpse there was gathered a thin glassy film, that made its appearance yet more appalling, for which we were, at the moment, quite unable to account, till presently we observed that from the roof of the chamber the water fell steadily, drip! drop! drip! on to the neck of the corpse, whence it ran down over the entire surface, and finally escaped into the rock through a tiny hole in the table. Then I guessed what the film was—Twala's body was being transformed into a stalactite.

A look at the white forms seated on the stone bench which ran round that ghastly board confirmed this view. They were human bodies indeed, or rather they had been human; now they were stalactites. This was the way in which the Kukuana people had from time immemorial preserved their royal dead. They petrified them. What the exact system might be, if there was any, beyond the placing of them for a long period of years under the drip, I never discovered, but there they sat, iced over and preserved for ever by the siliceous fluid.

Anything more awe-inspiring than the spectacle of this long line of departed royalties (there were twenty-seven of them, the last being Ignosi's father), wrapped, each of them, in a shroud of ice-like spar, through which the features could be dimly discovered, and seated round that inhospitable board, with Death himself for a host, it is impossible to imagine. That the practice of thus preserving their kings must have been an ancient one is evident from the number, which, allowing for an average reign of fifteen years, supposing that every king who reigned was placed here—an improbable thing, as some are sure to have perished in battle far from home—would fix the date of its commencement at four and a quarter centuries back.

But the colossal Death, who sits at the head of the board, is far older than that, and, unless I am much mistaken, owes his origin to the same artist who designed the three Colossi. He is hewn out of a single stalactite, and, looked at as a work of art, is most admirably conceived and executed. Good, who understands such things, declared that, so far as he could see, the anatomical design of the skeleton is perfect down to the smallest bones.

My own idea is, that this terrific object was a freak of fancy on the part of some old-world sculptor, and that its presence had suggested to the Kukuanas the idea of placing their royal dead under its awful presidency. Or perhaps it was set there to frighten away any marauders who might have designs upon the treasure chamber beyond. I cannot say. All I can do is to describe it as it is, and the reader must form his own conclusion.

Such, at any rate, was the White Death and such were the White Dead!

[1] Compare Milton, "Paradise Lost," Book i.:—

                 "With these in troop
Came Ashtoreth, whom the Phoenicians called
Astarté, Queen of Heaven, with crescent horns;
To whose bright image nightly by the moon
Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs."

[2] "Now haste ye, my handmaidens, haste and see How he sits there and glowers with his head on his knee."

 

ソロモン王の寶窟 : 第十六章　國王の墓場

 

それから三日目の日が暮れたときには、吾々は既に『三人の魔女』の麓の小舍に停まつてゐた。 ソロモン街道は、そこまで來てゐるのだ。一行は吾々三人と吾々——特にグッド—— の世話をしてゐたファウラタと、インファドオスとガゴオルとであつた。 ガゴオルは駕籠に乘せられて、ぶつ〜呟いたり罵つたりしてゐた。 その外に護衞兵と若干の從者とが蹤《つ》いて來た。三つの山、 といふよりもむしろ一つの山にある三つの峰——は前にも云つたやうに三角形を形造つてゐて、 その基點になる峰々が吾々の方を向いて聳えてゐた。左右に一つ宛《づゝ》の峰があつて、 中央の峰が吾々の眞正面にあるのだ。その翌朝、 朝日を浴びて高く聳えてゐる三つの峰を見たとこの光景は、忘れられないものであつた。 雪を冠つた山頂は高く〜青空に聳え、雪線の下はヒースのやうに紫色に染つてゐた。 吾々の前には、ソロモン街道が、白いリボンのやうに、眞直ぐに約五哩ほど先きにある中央の峰の麓まで、 爪先き上りに走つて、そこで終つてゐた。

だがさうしたことは諸君の想像に任せることにする。 たうとう吾々は、三世紀以前にポルトガルの老人の慘めな死の原因となり、 その何代目かの後裔であつた私の知つてゐる不運な男の死の原因ともなり、 ことによるとサー・ヘンリイ・カーチスの弟のヂョーヂ・カーチスの死の原因ともなつたかも知れない不思議な坑山に近づいた。 吾々は果してそこから無事に歸つて來られるだらうか？ 老婆のガゴオルは彼等に災《わざはひ》が降りかゝつたのだと言つた。 吾々にもその災《わざはひ》が降りかゝるのだらうか？私は歩きながらも幾らか氣がかりになつて來た。 グッドも、サー・ヘンリイも同じだつたと思ふ。

一時間半ばかりも、路傍にヒースの生えた道を歩いて行くと、 少し遲れて蹤《つ》いて來たガゴオルが嗄れ聲を出して吾々に止れと叫んだ。

「もつと悠《ゆ》つくり歩くんだよ。」と彼女は草を編んで拵へた籠の間から顏を突き出して言つた。 「寶物を搜しに行くものには、皆が皆 災《わざはひ》が降りかゝるのだぜ。 そんなに走つてまで、わざ〜災を背負ひ込みに行かなくたつていゝだらう！」 そして彼女は恐ろしい聲で笑つた。彼女の笑ひ聲を聞くといつでも私は背筋が寒くなつた。

だが吾々は尚も進んで行くと、遂に吾々の前に大きな四角い坑《あな》が見えた。 坑の周圍《まはり》は勾配になつてゐて、深さ三百呎、周圍はたつぷり半哩もあつた。

「これは何だか判りますか？」と私は、この大きな豎坑を呆氣にとられて見てゐたサー・ヘンリイとグッドに訊ねた。

彼等は首を振つた。

「ではあんた方はまだダイヤモンドの本場のキンバアリイでダイヤモンドを採掘する所を見たことがないのですね。 これはきつとソロモンのダイヤモンド坑に相違ありませんよ。御覽なさい」 と私は坑の四邊を蔽ふてゐる草の中にまだ見える硬い青土の層を指しながら言つた。 「全然《すつかり》同じですよ。」

ポルトガルの老人の地圖に記してある豎坑に相違ない。この坑の周邊《まはり》で街道は二つに岐れて、 その坑をぐるりとかこんでゐた。この周圍の道の處々はすつかり石で出來てゐた。 それは坑のふちが崩れるのを防ぐためらしかつた。坑の反對《むかう》側に立つてゐる三つの塔のやうなものが見えるが、 あれは何だらうと好竒心に驅られながら、吾々は道を急いだ。 だん〜近づくにつれて、それは三人三樣の形をした三つの巨像であることが判つた。 それこそククアナの人民が非常に畏れてゐる『無言の神』であらうと吾々は推測したが、 果してその通りであつた。しかし、この三つの巨像の壯嚴さはその側へ行くまではつきり判らなかつた。

生殖噐崇拜教の粗笨《そほん》な象徴《しるし》を彫り附けた大きな石の臺の上に、 約二十歩づゝの間隔をおいて、三つの巨像が坐つてゐた。二つは男で、一つは女で、 何れも頭の上から臺の上のところまで十八呎ほどあつた。 女の像は裸體できりつとひきしまつた中々の美人であつたが、 長い年月の間風雨にさらされてゐたために、顏は大分破損してをり、額には角髮のあとがあつた。 これに反して二つの男の像は身に布を纒ひ、恐ろしい形相をしてゐた。 わけても右の方の像は惡魔のやうな顏をしてゐた。左に方のは靜かな顏つきをしてゐたが、 その靜かさは身顫ひするやうな靜かさだつた。

この『無言の神』を見てゐるうちに、誰がこんなものをこしらへたのだらう、 それからこの豎坑を掘り、あの街道を造つたのは誰だらうと言ふ疑念が吾々の心に起つて來た。 ふと私は舊約聖書にソロモンが異國の神を追うて彷徨《さまよ》ひ歩くところを思ひ出した。 その三人の神の名前を私は覺えてゐたシドニヤ人の女神アシトレトとモアビタ人の神ケモシと、 アンモンの子供等の神ミルコムとだ。 そこで私はこの巨像はその三人の神をかたどつたものではなからうかと連れの者に言つた。

吾々がこの古代の遺物をすつかりしらべ終らない中に、インファドオスがやつて來て、 無言の神に槍を擧げて敬禮した。そして吾々に向つて、これから直ぐに國王の墓場に行くか、 それとも晝の食事を濟ますまで待つかと尋ねた。若し直ぐ行くならガゴオルが案内するからといふことであつた。 まだ十一時前ではあるし、吾々は早く目的地が見たくてたまらなかつたので、 直ぐにこれから行きたいと言つた。そして私は、もし遲れた場合の要心に少し食物を持つて行くことにした。 やがてガゴオルの駕籠がその場へ運ばれ、ファウラタは私の頼みで若干の乾肉《ビルトング》と、 水を入れた瓢箪とを葦で造つた籠の中へ入れて持つた。ガゴオルは駕籠の中から出ると、 じろりと吾々を見て杖にすがつて巨像の五十歩ばかり後に立つてゐる八十呎もある嶮しい岩の斷崖の處まで蹌踉《よろ〜》しながら行つた。 吾々も彼女の後からついて行つた。そこには坑道の入口らしいアーチ形の狹い門があつた。

ガゴオルは氣味の惡い笑を浮べながらそこで吾々を待つてゐた。

「さあ、さあ！」と彼女は嗄れ聲で言つた。「皆用意はよいかな。 どれ、それではこれから國王の命令通り光る石のところへ案内することにしよう！は！は！は！」

「用意は良い」」と私は言つた。

「よしきた！氣をたしかに持つて何を見ても吃驚せんやうにするがいゝぜ。 さあインファドオス、國王を裏切つたお前さんも道づれになるかね？」

インファドオスは眉をひそめて答へた。

「いや、わしは行かん、わしには用がない！だがガゴオルよく氣をつけろ！ お客樣がたの髮の毛一本でも傷つけたら、お前の命はないのだぞ、いゝか？」

「判つたよ、インファドオス、わしはお前を知つとる。 お前はいつも大きなことを言ふのが好きだつた。お前はまだほんの赤ん坊の時に、 お前の母親《おふくろ》をおどかしたのを覺えてゐるよ。 それはまだほんの此間のことだつたからな。だが心配せんでもいゝ。 わしは國王の命令をはたすだけのために生きてゐるのだからな。 わしはこれまでにも澤山の國王の命令通りに働いて來たが、 しまひにはどの國王も皆わしの命令を聞くやうになる、は！は！ どれ、これから昔の國王の顏でも見て來ようか！ツワラの顏もな！ さあお出で、こゝにランプがある」と言ひながら彼女は大きな油壺を取り出し、 外套の下からあやしげな燈芯を出して火を點けた。

「お前も行かないかね、ファウラタ？」とグッドはこの娘のお蔭で大分上手になつたククアナ語で訊ねた。

「怖いわね」と娘はおづ〜と答へた。

「では僕がその籠を持つて行かう。」

「いゝえ、あなたの行きなさる處なら、どこへでも一緒に行きますわ！」

「これや愈々困つたことになつたわい」と私は心の中で思つた。

ガゴオルはさつさと道の中へはひつて行つた。道は二人でたつぷり竝《なら》んで歩けるほど廣かつた。 そして眞つ暗だつた。吾々はこは〜゛老婆の嗄れ聲のする方へついて行つた。 すると、不意にばた〜と羽搏きの音がした。

「おや、あれや何だらう？」とグッドは叫んだ。「何か僕の顏にあたつたぜ。」

「蝙蝠だよ」と私は言つた。

かれこれ五十歩ばかりも來たと思ふ頃、吾々は道が少し明るくなつて來たのに氣がついた。 それから暫くたつと、吾々は實に驚くべき場所へ來てゐた。

讀者諸君は諸君がこれまで見たことのある一番大きい伽藍を想像して慾しい。 だがその伽藍には窓はなくて、上の方に、恐らく外へ通ずる豎坑があつて、 そこから微かな明りが通つてるのだ。そしてアーチ形の屋根は、 床の地面から百呎も上にあるのだ。かういふ伽藍を想像すれば、 略《ほゞ》、吾々のはひつて行つた洞窟の大體の見當がつくだらうが、 たゞ異つてゐる點は、この自然にできた伽藍は人間のこしらへたどの伽藍よりも高くて廣いといふ點だ。 しかしこの場所の不思議さは、たゞ大きいといふばかりでなくて、 その中には一見氷のやうな、大きな柱が澤山 竝《なら》んで建つてゐたのだ。 それは鍾乳石の柱なのだ。この白い柱のすくすくと竝《なら》んで立つてゐる光景は到底筆紙でつくしがたい雄大なものであつた。 中には起本部の直徑《さしわたし》が二十呎もあつて天井まで續いてゐる柱もあつたし、 中にはいま現に形成されつゝある柱もあつた。 岩の床からできかゝつて[る]のは古代ギリシャの寺院の壞れた柱そのまゝで、 上の屋根から下つてるのは大きな氷柱《つらゝ》そのまゝであつた。

吾々が見てゐる中にもこの柱は刻々に出來つゝあつた。といふのは上の方の氷柱から下の柱の上へ時々小さい水滴がぽたり、 ぽたりと落ちてゐた。中には二三分に一滴位しか落ちないものもあつた。 こんな割合で高さ八十呎直徑十呎もある大きな柱が出來るには何年かゝるか計算して見るのも興味のあることだらう。

鍾乳石といふものは時々妙な形になることがある。それは水の雫が同じところへ落ちないためにさうなるのであらう。 或るものは大きな説教臺のやうな形をしてゐた。

この大きな洞窟の側壁には、ところどころに道が通じて、 小さい洞窟がその先きに開いてゐた。だが吾々はこんな美しい洞窟もゆつくりしらべてゐるひまはなかつた。 といふのは、ガゴオルは鍾乳洞などには無頓着で、早く自分の仕事を濟ましてしまはうとしてゐたからだ。 特に私はどうして洞窟の中へ明りがはひるのか、それは自然にさうなつてゐるのか、 或はまた人間の手でさういふふうに造つたのかを調べて見られなかつたのを殘念に思つた。 だが吾々は歸りにゆつくり見て行かうと思つて、それで諦めて不愛想な案内者の後を蹤《つ》いて行つた。

ガゴオルのあとへついて眞直にこの洞窟の突き當りまで行くと、 そこはまた入口があつた。この入口は初めの入口と違つて、 上がアーチ形でなく、四角で、ちよつと埃及の寺院の入口に似たところがあつた。

「さあこれからいよ〜國王の墓場へはひるんだぜ、用意は良いかね？」 とガゴオルは訊ねた。明かに吾々をわざと氣味惡がらせるつもりらしかつた。

「いゝから行け！」とグッドはちつとも恐くなんかないといふことを見せやうとしながら嚴かに言つた。 實際吾々はみなさういふふうを裝つてゐたのだ。 たゞファウラタは別で、彼女はグッドの腕につかまつてかばつて貰つてゐた。

「少し氣味が惡くなつてきたねえ」とサー・ヘンリイは暗い道を覗きこみながら言つた。 「さあ行きませう、コオターメンさん、あの婆が待つてゐるから。」

ことり〜とガゴオルは杖の音をさせて無氣味な聲で笑ひながら歩いて行つた。 だが私はまだ何となく薄氣味が惡いのでもぢ〜してゐた。

「早く來なさい」とグッドは言つた。「でないとあの綺麗な案内者を見失ひますよ。」

こんなふうに言はれたので、私も仕方なく道を降りて行つた。 かれこれ二十歩ばかりも行くと、陰氣な暗い部屋の中へ着いた。 その部屋は長さ四十呎、幅三十呎、高さ三十呎位あつて、 明かに人間の手で岩を掘り拔いて造つたものであつた。 この部屋は前の大きな鍾乳洞のやうに明るくはなかつたので、初めて見た時には、 部屋の中に大きな石の臺があつて、その上に巨大な白い像が立つて居り、 その周圍に人間位の大きさの白い姿が立つてゐるのが見えただけであつた。 その次に私は鳶色のものが一つ中央の臺の上に坐つてゐるのを發見した。 それからだん〜眼が光りになれてくるにつれて、そこにあるのが何であるかゞ判つて來た。

私は元來あまり神經質な人間ではない。それにあまり迷信などは信じない方だ。 だがこの光景を見た時ばかりは私は仰天してしまつた。 そしてサー・ヘンリイが私の素首《そつくび》を掴んで止めなかつたら、 私はこの鍾乳洞の外へ飛び出してしまひ、 キンバーリーのダイヤモンドを殘らずこれると言つても二度とその中へはひる氣にならなかつたゞらうと思ふ。 だが、サー・ヘンリイがしつかり掴んでゐてどうにもできなかつたので、私はその場に止つてゐた。 しかし暫らくすると彼の眼も暗《やみ》になれてきたと見えて、 サー・ヘンリイは私を掴んでゐた手を放して額の汗を拭きはじめた。 グッドは微かな聲で神を祈り、ファウラタは彼の頸に抱きついてけたゝましく泣き叫んだ。

たゞガゴオルだけは大きな聲を出して長く笑つただけだつた。

それは實に氣味の惡い光景であつた。長い石の臺の端に、骨だけの指で大きな白い槍を持ちながら死の神が坐つてゐた。 それは高さ十五呎もある大きな人間の骸骨の形をしてゐた。 この骸骨は頭の上へ槍を振りあげて、今にも突かうとするやうな身構へをして居り、 片手は石の臺の上へ載せて、今にも起ち上るやうな樣子をしてゐた。 上體は前こゞみになつて頭蓋骨を前に突き出し、空洞《うつろ》の眼でぢつと吾々を凝視《みつ》め、 頤を少し開いて、今にも物を言はうとするやうな風をしてゐた。

「一體あれは何だらう？」とたうとう私は微かな聲で言つた。

「それから、あの周りにあるものは何だらう？」 とグッドは臺の周りに竝《なら》んでゐる多くの白いものを指ざしながら訊ねた。

「それからあれはなんだね？」とサー・ヘンリイは臺の上に坐つてゐる鳶色のものを指ざしながら言つた。

「ひ！ひ！ひ！」とガゴオルは笑つた。 「國王の墓へはひるものには災《わざはひ》が降りかゝつて來るのぢや。ひ！ひ！ひ！ひ！」

「さあお出で、戰爭では勇しかつたヘンリイとやら、こちらへ來てお前が殺した相手を見るんだ」 と老婆は干乾びた指でカーチスの上衣《うはぎ》を引つぱつて臺のところへ連れて行つた。 吾々はそのあとから蹤《つ》いて行つた。

やがて彼女は立止つて、臺の上に坐つてゐる鳶色のものを指ざした。 サー・ヘンリイはそれを見ると呀《あ》つと叫んで後へ跳び退つた。 それも無理ではない、といふのは、臺の上には、カーチスが戰斧で首と胴とを切り放した、 ククアナの前王ツワラのやつれた死骸が裸のまゝで坐つてゐるではないか。 しかも首は膝の上へのせてあつて、切られたあとの頸の肉は縮んで、 脊柱が一吋ばかり上へ突き出てゐたのだ。おまけに死骸の表面には薄い透明な膜が出來てゐるので、 益々薄氣味が惡かつた。なぜそんなものが出來たのか初めの中は良く判らなかつたが、 よく見ると天井からポタリ〜と水滴が死骸の頸の處へ落ち、 それが體躯の表面を傳はつて、臺の小さな穴から岩の中へ流れてゐるのであつた。 それで薄い膜の出來てゐる譯が判つた。ツワラの死骸は刻々鍾乳石になりつゝあつたのだ。

この氣味の惡い臺の周りを取り圍んで坐つてゐた眞白な人間の姿を見た時に、 この見解は益々確實なものとなつた。そこに竝んでゐるのはみな人間の身體なのだ、 といふよりも嘗て人間だつたのが、今では鍾乳石になつてしまつてゐるのだ。 こんなふうにしてククアナの人民は太古の昔から、國王の屍體を保存してゐたのである。

この國王たちの屍體の長い列は實にこの上なく物凄い見物であつた。 二十七の屍體が悉く氷のやうな屍衣を纒うて、死の神を主人としてその無氣味な臺の周りに列んで坐つて居り、 透明な屍衣を透して、微かに顏の輪廓を見ることが出來た。この屍體の數から推して考へても、 この習慣は餘程昔から行はれてゐたの相違ない。國王の平均在位年限を十五年としても、 四百五十年は經つてゐるのだ。

しかし死の神の巨像の方は、それよりもずつと古いものに相違ない。 これは例の三つの巨像をこしらへたのと同じ藝術家の手になつたものであらう。 この像は天然の鍾乳石を切つて造つたもので、解剖學の心得のあるグッドの説によると、 この骸骨は小さな骨の形や配置にいたるまで、解剖學的に完全なものだとのことであつた。

私の考へによるとそれは多分古代の彫刻家が氣紛れに造つたのを、 ククアナ人が見て、その周圍へ國王の死骸を安置しようと考へついたものであらう。 それともことによるとその先にある寶窟へ闖入しようとするものを恐れさすために造られたものかも知れぬ。

それは何れにしてもこれが白い死の神の白い屍體との正體であつたのだ。