James - List Jakuba, Jakub, Jakub
It is, I confess, with considerable diffidence that I approach the strange narrative which I am about to relate. The events which I purpose detailing are of so extraordinary a character that I am quite prepared to meet with an unusual amount of incredulity and scorn. I accept all such beforehand. I have, I trust, the literary courage to face unbelief.
diffidence - brak pewności, nieśmiałość
incredulity - niedowierzanie
scorn - gardzić, lekceważyć, wzgardzić, odrzucić, szydzić, drwić
beforehand - wcześniej
unbelief - niewiara, bezbożność
I have, after mature consideration, resolved to narrate, in as simple and straightforward a manner as I can compass, some facts that passed under my observation, in the month of July last, and which, in the annals of the mysteries of physical science, are wholly unparalleled.
mature - dojrzały, dorosły
narrate - opowiadać, opowiedzieć
straightforward - proste; prostolinijny, bezpośredni
compass - otoczyć, knuć, dopiąć, spiskować; kompas, zasięg, zakres
annals - kroniki
wholly - całkowicie
unparalleled - niezrównany
I live at No. - Twenty-sixth Street, in New York. The house is in some respects a curious one. It has enjoyed for the last two years the reputation of being haunted. It is a large and stately residence, surrounded by what was once a garden, but which is now only a green enclosure used for bleaching clothes.
haunted - nawiedzony; straszyć, nawiedzać, nawiedzić, nawiedzać, nawiedzić
stately - okazały, majestatyczny
residence - miejsce zamieszkanie
enclosure - obudowa; klauzura
bleaching - wybielanie; (bleach) wybielacz; środek wybielający i dezynfekujący
The dry basin of what has been a fountain, and a few fruit trees ragged and unpruned, indicate that this spot in past days was a pleasant, shady retreat, filled with fruits and flowers and the sweet murmur of waters.
basin - dorzecze; umywalka, basen
fountain - fontanna, wodotrysk
ragged - (rag) nabijać się, dokuczać; szmata, gazeta; wystrzępiony
unpruned - nieprzycinane
shady - ocieniony, podejrzany, zacieniony, ciemny
retreat - odosobnienie; wycofać się, uciekać; schronienie, azyl, kryjówka
murmur - pomruk, mruczenie, szmer
The house is very spacious. A hall of noble size leads to a large spiral staircase winding through its centre, while the various apartments are of imposing dimensions. It was built some fifteen or twenty years since by Mr. A--, the well-known New York merchant, who five years ago threw the commercial world into convulsions by a stupendous bank fraud. Mr.
spacious - przestronny; obszerny
noble - arystokrata, arystokratka, arystokratka, szlachcianka
spiral - spirala; helisa, ślimacznica, spiralny
staircase - schody, klatka schodowa
winding - nawijanie; (wind) wiać, przewijać, pozbawić tchu; wiatr; zakole
dimensions - wymiar, wymiar, wymiar, wymiar, wymiar, wymiar
merchant - kupiec
convulsions - drgawki, konwulsje, gwałtowne niepokoje
stupendous - wspaniały
A--, as every one knows, escaped to Europe, and died not long after, of a broken heart. Almost immediately after the news of his decease reached this country and was verified, the report spread in Twenty-sixth Street that No. - was haunted.
decease - umierać; śmierć, zgon
verified - potwierdzić, sprawdzić
Legal measures had dispossessed the widow of its former owner, and it was inhabited merely by a caretaker and his wife, placed there by the house agent into whose hands it had passed for the purposes of renting or sale. These people declared that they were troubled with unnatural noises. Doors were opened without any visible agency.
dispossessed - wywłaszczony; wysiedlać, wywłaszczać
widow - wdowa; bękart
inhabited - zamieszkały; zamieszkiwać, zajmować, wypełniać
merely - tylko, jedynie, jeno
caretaker - opiekun; dozorca, dozorczyni
unnatural - nienaturalne
The remnants of furniture scattered through the various rooms were, during the night, piled one upon the other by unknown hands. Invisible feet passed up and down the stairs in broad daylight, accompanied by the rustle of unseen silk dresses, and the gliding of viewless hands along the massive balusters. The caretaker and his wife declared they would live there no longer.
remnants - resztka, pozostałość
scattered - rozrzucić, rozsypać, rozejść się; rozrzut, rozproszenie
invisible - niewidoczny, niewidzialny
daylight - światło dzienne
rustle - szelest; szeleścić
unseen - niewidoczny, bez przygotowania
gliding - szybowanie; szybownictwo
viewless - bez widoku; niewidoczny
balusters - tralki; tralka, balas, balaska, balasek
The house agent laughed, dismissed them, and put others in their place. The noises and supernatural manifestations continued. The neighbourhood caught up the story, and the house remained untenanted for three years. Several persons negotiated for it; but, somehow, always before the bargain was closed they heard the unpleasant rumours and declined to treat any further.
supernatural - nadnaturalny, nadprzyrodzony
manifestations - oznaka, przejaw, objaw
untenanted - nie wynajęte
rumours - plotki; pogłoska, plotka
It was in this state of things that my landlady, who at that time kept a boarding-house in Bleecker Street, and who wished to move further up town, conceived the bold idea of renting No. - Twenty-sixth Street.
landlady - właścicielka, gospodyni, kierowniczka
boarding-house - (boarding-house) pensjonat
conceived - wyobrażać sobie, stworzyć
Happening to have in her house rather a plucky and philosophical set of boarders, she laid her scheme before us, stating candidly everything she had heard respecting the ghostly qualities of the establishment to which she wished to remove us. With the exception of two timid persons,-a sea-captain and a returned Californian, who immediately gave notice that they would leave,-all of Mrs.
plucky - szczęśliwy; dzielny
philosophical - filozoficzny
boarders - pensjonariusz, lokator, członek oddziału abordażowego
candidly - szczerze
ghostly - upiorny; widmowy, zmorowaty
establishment - założenie, zakładanie, ustanowienie, ustanawianie, establishment
timid - bojaźliwy, płochliwy, nieśmiały
Californian - kalifornijski; Kalifornijczyk, Kalifornijka
gave notice - notyfikować, wypowiadać; zawiadomić; give somebody notice; give one's notice zwolnić kogoś, wręczyć komuś wymówienie
Moffat's guests declared that they would accompany her in her chivalric incursion into the abode of spirits.
chivalric - rycerski
incursion - wtargnięcie, ingerencja
abode - siedzibę; przebywać; miejsce zamieszkania, siedziba
Our removal was effected in the month of May, and we were charmed with our new residence. The portion of Twenty-sixth Street where our house is situated, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, is one of the pleasantest localities in New York. The gardens back of the houses, running down nearly to the Hudson, form, in the summer time, a perfect avenue of verdure.
removal - usunięcie; zwolnienie
charmed - oczarowany; zauroczyć, oczarować, zaczarować; urok; czarujące
situated - usytuowany; umiejscawiać, umiejscowić, umieścić, umieszczać
Eighth - ósmy
avenues - drogi; aleja, podjazd
localities - miejscowości; lokalność, sąsiedztwo
verdure - zieleń
The air is pure and invigorating, sweeping, as it does, straight across the river from the Weehawken heights, and even the ragged garden which surrounded the house, although displaying on washing days rather too much clothesline, still gave us a piece of greensward to look at, and a cool retreat in the summer evenings, where we smoked our cigars in the dusk, and watched the fireflies flashing their dark lanterns in the long grass.
invigorating - orzeźwiać, orzeźwić, ożywiać, pokrzepiać, wzmacniać
clothesline - sznur do bielizny
greensward - greenward; murawa
cigars - cygara; cygaro
dusk - zmierzch
fireflies - świetliki; świetlik
lanterns - latarnie; latarnia
Of course we had no sooner established ourselves at No. - than we began to expect ghosts. We absolutely awaited their advent with eagerness. Our dinner conversation was supernatural. One of the boarders, who had purchased Mrs. Crowe's "Night Side of Nature" for his own private delectation, was regarded as a public enemy by the entire household for not having bought twenty copies.
awaited - oczekiwany; czekać, oczekiwać, oczekiwać, czekać, oczekiwać
advent - adwent; nadejście
eagerness - zapał, pragnienie, ochota
delectation - rozkoszy; rozkoszowanie
The man led a life of supreme wretchedness while he was reading this volume. A system of espionage was established, of which he was the victim. If he incautiously laid the book down for an instant and left the room, it was immediately seized and read aloud in secret places to a select few.
supreme - najwyższy, największa
wretchedness - niedola, nędza
espionage - szpiegostwo, wywiad
incautiously - nieostrożnie
seized - zajęte; chwycić, złapać, chwytać, łapać
aloud - głośno
I found myself a person of immense importance, it having leaked out that I was tolerably well versed in the history of supernaturalism, and had once written a story the foundation of which was a ghost.
immense - ogromne; ogromny, przeogromny, niezmierny
leaked out - wyciekać; wychodzić na jaw
tolerably - znośnie
versed - zweryfikowany
supernaturalism - nadprzyrodzoność
If a table or a wainscot panel happened to warp when we were assembled in the large drawing-room, there was an instant silence, and every one was prepared for an immediate clanking of chains and a spectral form.
wainscot - boazeria
warp - wypaczyć, odkształcić, zwichrować, skazić, wykoślawić; osnowa
assembled - zmontowane; montować, zbierać się, gromadzić się
clanking - (clank) brzęknąć; brzęk, szczęk; brzęczący
spectral - widmowy, upiorny
After a month of psychological excitement, it was with the utmost dissatisfaction that we were forced to acknowledge that nothing in the remotest degree approaching the supernatural had manifested itself.
utmost - najwyższy, największy, maksymalny
dissatisfaction - niezadowolenie
manifested - zamanifestowane; manifest
Once the black butler asseverated that his candle had been blown out by some invisible agency while he was undressing himself for the night; but as I had more than once discovered this coloured gentleman in a condition when one candle must have appeared to him like two, I thought it possible that, by going a step further in his potations, he might have reversed this phenomenon, and seen no candle at all where he ought to have beheld one.
butler - kamerdyner
asseverated - oświadczyć, zapewniać
undressing - (undress) rozebrać; rozbieranie się
potations - potencje
reversed - odwrócony; odwracać, zmieniać, cofać; porażka; odwrotny
beheld - widziany; ujrzeć
Things were in this state when an accident took place so awful and inexplicable in its character that my reason fairly reels at the bare memory of the occurrence. It was the tenth of July. After dinner was over I repaired, with my friend Dr. Hammond, to the garden to smoke my evening pipe.
inexplicable - niewytłumaczalne
reels - kołowrotki; motać, namotać, nawijać, nawinąć, wirować
bare - nagi, goły, obnażony
Occurrence - występowanie; wydarzenie, wypadek, zjawisko, pojawienie
tenth - dziesiąty; dziesiąty, dziesiąta, dziesiąta
Independent of certain mental sympathies which existed between the Doctor and myself, we were linked together by a vice. We both smoked opium. We knew each other's secret, and respected it.
vice - wada, zły nawyk, występek, imadło, wice
opium - opium, opium dla mas
We enjoyed together that wonderful expansion of thought, that marvellous intensifying of the perceptive faculties, that boundless feeling of existence when we seem to have points of contact with the whole universe,-in short, that unimaginable spiritual bliss, which I would not surrender for a throne, and which I hope you, reader, will never-never taste.
marvellous - cudowny
intensifying - intensyfikacja; intensyfikować
perceptive - spostrzegawczy
faculties - wydziały; wydział, fakultet, zdolność
boundless - bezgraniczny, bezkresny
unimaginable - niewyobrażalne
bliss - błogość, błogostan
surrender - poddawać
throne - tron, sedes
Those hours of opium happiness which the Doctor and I spent together in secret were regulated with a scientific accuracy. We did not blindly smoke the drug of paradise, and leave our dreams to chance. While smoking, we carefully steered our conversation through the brightest and calmest channels of thought.
blindly - na oślep, po omacku
paradise - raj, niebiosa
steered - sterowany; kierować, sterować; wół opasowy, wskazówka
We talked of the East, and endeavoured to recall the magical panorama of its glowing scenery. We criticized the most sensuous poets,-those who painted life ruddy with health, brimming with passion, happy in the possession of youth and strength and beauty. If we talked of Shakespeare's "Tempest," we lingered over Ariel, and avoided Caliban.
endeavoured - starał się; starać się; próba, staranie
magical - magiczny
panorama - panorama
glowing - świecące; jarzyć się, żarzyć się, pałać, promienieć, jarzyć się
scenery - sceneria, krajobraz, pejzaż, dekoracja
sensuous - działający na zmysły, zmysłowy
ruddy - rumiany, czerwonawy, cholerny
brimming - być pełnym, przelać się; rondo, kapelusz, krawędź, brzeg
Shakespeare - szekspira; Szekspir
tempest - burza
lingered - zwlekać, utrzymać, trwać, zostać, utrzymywać się
Like the Guebers, we turned our faces to the East, and saw only the sunny side of the world.
sunny side - słoneczna strona
This skilful colouring of our train of thought produced in our subsequent visions a corresponding tone. The splendours of Arabian fairyland dyed our dreams. We paced the narrow strip of grass with the tread and port of kings. The song of the rana arborea, while he clung to the bark of the ragged plum-tree, sounded like the strains of divine musicians.
skilful - sprawny, zręczny, wymagający dużej zręczności
corresponding - odpowiadający; odpowiadać, korespondować
splendours - wspaniałości; wspaniałość, świetność, przepych
Arabian - araba; arabski; Arab, arabus
fairyland - baśniowa kraina
dyed - farbować, ufarbować; farba, barwnik
strip - zdzierać, zabierać, rozbierać się; pasek, skrawek
tread - iść, wdeptać, zadeptać, nadepnąć; krok, bieżnik
clung - przylgnął; uchwycić się czegoś, przylgnąć, opinać
bark - zaszczekać, warknąć; łódź, kora, szczeknięcie, ujadanie
plum - śliwka
strains - szczepy; nadwyrężać, odsączać; odmiana, szczep, obciążenie
divine - odgadnąć; boski
Houses, walls, and streets melted like rain clouds, and vistas of unimaginable glory stretched away before us. It was a rapturous companionship. We enjoyed the vast delight more perfectly because, even in our most ecstatic moments, we were conscious of each other's presence. Our pleasures, while individual, were still twin, vibrating and moving in musical accord.
vistas - widoki; widok
glory - chwały; sława, chwała, chwała, gloria
rapturous - zachwycony
companionship - towarzystwo; asysta, asystencja
ecstatic - ekstatyczny
vibrating - wibrować, rezonować
accord - porozumienie; akord; zgodzić się
On the evening in question, the tenth of July, the Doctor and myself drifted into an unusually metaphysical mood. We lit our large meerschaums, filled with fine Turkish tobacco, in the core of which burned a little black nut of opium, that, like the nut in the fairy tale, held within its narrow limits wonders beyond the reach of kings; we paced to and fro, conversing.
drifted - dryfował; dryft, zaspa, dryfować
unusually - niezwykle
metaphysical - metafizyczny
meerschaums - meerschaumy
Turkish - turecki
tobacco - tytoń, tabaka
fairy - wróżka, wiła, ciota, pedzio, szwagier
conversing - porozmawiać, rozmawiać; odwrotność
A strange perversity dominated the currents of our thought. They would not flow through the sun-lit channels into which we strove to divert them. For some unaccountable reason, they constantly diverged into dark and lonesome beds, where a continual gloom brooded.
perversity - perwersja
strove - usiłować, dążyć do czegoś, zmagać się
divert - obracać, zmieniać kierunek, rozbawiać; zmień kierunek
unaccountable - Nieodpowiedzialny
diverged - rozeszły się; rozchodzić się, rozbiegać się, rozdzielać się
lonesome - samotny
continual - ciągły
gloom - smutnieć, zaciemniać; mrok, przygnębienie
brooded - dumać, rozmyślać, wysiadywać; potomstwo, młode, lęg, zgraja
It was in vain that, after our old fashion, we flung ourselves on the shores of the East, and talked of its gay bazaars, of the splendours of the time of Haroun, of harems and golden palaces. Black afreets continually arose from the depths of our talk, and expanded, like the one the fisherman released from the copper vessel, until they blotted everything bright from our vision.
vain - próżny
flung - rzucony; cisnąć, podrzucać, rzucać; szaleństwo, przygoda
bazaars - bazary; rynek, bazar
harems - haremy; harem
continually - nieustannie; bezustannie
fisherman - rybak
copper - kocioł, miedź; miedziany
vessel - statek; naczynie
blotted - osuszyć, splamić, przysłonić, zatrzeć; plama, skaza
Insensibly, we yielded to the occult force that swayed us, and indulged in gloomy speculation. We had talked some time upon the proneness of the human mind to mysticism, and the almost universal love of the terrible, when Hammond suddenly said to me, "What do you consider to be the greatest element of terror?"
yielded - uległ; ustąpić, poddać się, dawać, przynosić; produkcja
occult - okultyzm
swayed - kołysany; władza, trząść, rządzić
indulged in - oddany czemuś
gloomy - ponury; mroczny
proneness - skłonność
mysticism - mistycyzm
The question puzzled me. That many things were terrible, I knew.
Stumbling over a corpse in the dark; beholding, as I once did, a woman floating down a deep and rapid river, with wildly lifted arms, and awful, upturned face, uttering, as she drifted, shrieks that rent one's heart while we, spectators, stood frozen at a window which overhung the river at a height of sixty feet, unable to make the slightest effort to save her, but dumbly watching her last supreme agony and her disappearance. A shattered wreck, with no life visible, encountered floating listlessly on the ocean, is a terrible object, for it suggests a huge terror, the proportions of which are veiled. But it now struck me, for the first time, that there must be one great and ruling embodiment of fear,-a King of Terrors, to which all others must succumb. What might it be? To what train of circumstances would it owe its existence?
stumbling - potknięcie się
corpse - zwłoki, trup, ciało, truchło
beholding - ujrzeć
wildly - dziko; wściekle
upturned - poprawa, przewracać, przewrócić
uttering - wypowiedź; (utter) wymawiać, wypowiadać, wydawać; mówiący
shrieks - wrzaski; krzyk, krzyczeć, krzyknąć
overhung - okap; przewieszka, zwieszać się nad
dumbly - w milczeniu, milcząco
agony - agonia
disappearance - zniknięcie
shattered - niszczyć, rozwiewać, roztrzaskać
wreck - wrak
listlessly - ospale, apatycznie
veiled - zawoalowany; zasłona, przesłona, welon, woalka
embodiment - wcielenie, uosobienie, ucieleśnienie
succumb - ulec; umrzeć; przytłoczyć
"I confess, Hammond," I replied to my friend, "I never considered the subject before. That there must be one Something more terrible than any other thing, I feel. I cannot attempt, however, even the most vague definition."
more terrible - straszniejsze; paskudniejsze; bardziej przerażający
vague - niejasny
"I am somewhat like you, Harry," he answered. "I feel my capacity to experience a terror greater than anything yet conceived by the human mind;-something combining in fearful and unnatural amalgamation hitherto supposed incompatible elements.
Harry - nękać, dręczyć
fearful - przestraszony; strachliwy
amalgamation - połączenie; amalgamacja
hitherto - do tej pory; dotychczas, dotąd
incompatible - niekompatybilny, niezgodny
The calling of the voices in Brockden Brown's novel of 'Wieland'is awful; so is the picture of the Dweller of the Threshold, in Bulwer's 'Zanoni'; but," he added, shaking his head gloomily, "there is something more horrible still than those."
dweller - mieszkaniec
threshold - próg, przedsionek
gloomily - ponuro; mrocznie
more horrible - okropniejsze
"Look here, Hammond," I rejoined, "let us drop this kind of talk, For heaven's sake! We shall suffer for it, depend on it."
rejoined - dołączył; powrócić, przyłączyć się powtórnie, odpowiedzieć
For heaven's sake - na miłość boską, na litość boską
"I don't know what's the matter with me tonight," he replied, "but my brain is running upon all sorts of weird and awful thoughts. I feel as if I could write a story like Hoffman, tonight, if I were only master of a literary style."
thoughts - myśli; myśl, myśl, pomysł
"Well, if we are going to be Hoffmanesque in our talk, I'm off to bed. Opium and nightmares should never be brought together. How sultry it is! Good night, Hammond."
I'm off - To ja lecę; Odpadam (np. z gry)
sultry - duszny, gorący, parny
"Good night, Harry. Pleasant dreams to you."
"To you, gloomy wretch, afreets, ghouls, and enchanters."
wretch - nieszczęśnik, nikczemnik
ghouls - ghule; ghul, gul
enchanters - zaklinacze; czarodziej, czarownik
We parted, and each sought his respective chamber. I undressed quickly and got into bed, taking with me, according to my usual custom, a book, over which I generally read myself to sleep. I opened the volume as soon as I had laid my head upon the pillow, and instantly flung it to the other side of the room.
respective - odpowiedni
chamber - komnata; izba; komora
undressed - rozebrany; rozbierać się, rozbierać, dezabil, negliż, dezabil
pillow - poduszka, zagłówek
It was Goudon's "History of Monsters,"-a curious French work, which I had lately imported from Paris, but which, in the state of mind I had then reached, was anything but an agreeable companion. I resolved to go to sleep at once; so, turning down my gas until nothing but a little blue point of light glimmered on the top of the tube, I composed myself to rest.
agreeable - zgoda; miły, przyjemny, zgodny
companion - towarzysz, towarzyszka, kompan, kompanka
glimmered - migotać; migotanie, iskra, płomyk, przebłysk
The room was in total darkness. The atom of gas that still remained alight did not illuminate a distance of three inches round the burner. I desperately drew my arm across my eyes, as if to shut out even the darkness, and tried to think of nothing. It was in vain. The confounded themes touched on by Hammond in the garden kept obtruding themselves on my brain. I battled against them.
atom - atom
alight - zapalić; wysiąść, zsiąść, wylądować, siadać
illuminate - iluminować, oświetlać
burner - palnik; nagrywarka
confounded - wprawić w zakłopotanie, pomylić, pomieszać szyki
obtruding - natrętny
I erected ramparts of would-be blankness of intellect to keep them out. They still crowded upon me. While I was lying still as a corpse, hoping that by a perfect physical inaction I should hasten mental repose, an awful incident occurred.
erected - wzniesiony; wznosić, stawiać, rozbijać; podniesiony
ramparts - wały; wał obronny, szaniec, szaniec, bronić, ochraniać
blankness - pustka
intellect - intelekt
lying still - leżeć nieruchomo
inaction - bezczynność
hasten - przyspieszać; przesunąć na wcześniejszy termin, przyspieszyć
repose - odpocząć; odpoczywać, opierać, kłaść; odpoczynek, spokój
A Something dropped, as it seemed, from the ceiling, plumb upon my chest, and the next instant I felt two bony hands encircling my throat, endeavouring to choke me.
plumb - plombować; ołów; pionowy, prosty; dokładnie, pionowo, całkowicie
bony - kościsty, ościsty, kostny
encircling - (encircle) otaczać, okrążać
endeavouring - starania; starać się; próba, staranie
choke - zadławić się, dusić, zaksztusić się
I am no coward, and am possessed of considerable physical strength. The suddenness of the attack, instead of stunning me, strung every nerve to its highest tension. My body acted from instinct, before my brain had time to realize the terrors of my position. In an instant I wound two muscular arms around the creature, and squeezed it, with all the strength of despair, against my chest.
coward - tchórz, strachajło, bojaźliwiec
suddenness - nagłość; raptowność
instinct - instynkt
muscular - mięśniowy; umięśniony, muskularny
squeezed - ściśnięty; ściskać, ścisnąć
despair - rozpaczać; rozpacz, beznadzieja
In a few seconds the bony hands that had fastened on my throat loosened their hold, and I was free to breathe once more. Then commenced a struggle of awful intensity.
loosened - poluzować
commenced - rozpoczęty; poczać, poczynać
intensity - intensywność, nasilenie
Immersed in the most profound darkness, totally ignorant of the nature of the Thing by which I was so suddenly attacked, finding my grasp slipping every moment, by reason, it seemed to me, of the entire nakedness of my assailant, bitten with sharp teeth in the shoulder, neck, and chest, having every moment to protect my throat against a pair of sinewy, agile hands, which my utmost efforts could not confine,-these were a combination of circumstances to combat which required all the strength, skill, and courage that I possessed.
immersed - zanurzać, zanurzyć
profound - głęboki
ignorant - ignorantem; ignorancki
grasp - uchwycić; trzymać, chwytać, rozumieć, pojmować, uchwyt
nakedness - nagość
assailant - napastnik, agresor, atakujący, napadający
sinewy - muskularny, żylasty
agile - zwinny, gibki
confine - zamknąć, umieścić, ograniczyć; ramy
combat - walka; zwalczać
At last, after a silent, deadly, exhausting struggle, I got my assailant under by a series of incredible efforts of strength. Once pinned, with my knee on what I made out to be its chest, I knew that I was victor. I rested for a moment to breathe. I heard the creature beneath me panting in the darkness, and felt the violent throbbing of a heart.
exhausting - wyczerpujące; wyczerpywać, wyczerpać, wyczerpywać, wyczerpać
Victor - Wiktor
beneath - pod, poniżej
panting - dyszenie; (pant) dyszeć, sapać, ziajać, wydyszeć
throbbing - pulsowanie; (throb) drżeć; bicie, walenie, rwanie
It was apparently as exhausted as I was; that was one comfort. At this moment I remembered that I usually placed under my pillow, before going to bed, a large yellow silk pocket handkerchief. I felt for it instantly; it was there. In a few seconds more I had, after a fashion, pinioned the creature's arms.
exhausted - wyczerpany; wyczerpywać, wyczerpać, wyczerpywać, wyczerpać
handkerchief - chusteczkę; chusteczka do nosa, chusteczka
pinioned - zębate; wiązać, krępować; lotka
I now felt tolerably secure. There was nothing more to be done but to turn on the gas, and, having first seen what my midnight assailant was like, arouse the household. I will confess to being actuated by a certain pride in not giving the alarm before; I wished to make the capture alone and unaided.
arouse - wzbudzać, wzbudzić, pobudzać, pobudzić, podniecać
actuated - uruchomić, pobudzać
unaided - bez pomocy
Never losing my hold for an instant, I slipped from the bed to the floor, dragging my captive with me. I had but a few steps to make to reach the gas-burner; these I made with the greatest caution, holding the creature in a grip like a vice. At last I got within arm's length of the tiny speck of blue light which told me where the gas-burner lay.
captive - jeniec, więzień, więźniarka
gas-burner - (gas-burner) palnik gazowy
caution - ostrzeżenie, przestroga, ostrożność, roztropność, przezorność
grip - przyczepność; uchwycić, ścisnąć; uścisk
speck - odrobina, szczypta, plamka, kropeczka
Quick as lightning I released my grasp with one hand and let on the full flood of light. Then I turned to look at my captive.
lightning - błyskawica, piorun, grom, błyskawiczny, błyskawicowy
I cannot even attempt to give any definition of my sensations the instant after I turned on the gas. I suppose I must have shrieked with terror, for in less than a minute afterward my room was crowded with the inmates of the house. I shudder now as I think of that awful moment. I saw nothing!
sensations - doznania; czucie
shrieked - wrzasnął; krzyk, krzyczeć, krzyknąć
afterward - potem, później, następnie
inmates - współmieszkaniec, więzień, pacjent
shudder - dreszcz; wzdrygać
Yes; I had one arm firmly clasped round a breathing, panting, corporeal shape, my other hand gripped with all its strength a throat as warm, as apparently fleshy, as my own; and yet, with this living substance in my grasp, with its body pressed against my own, and all in the bright glare of a large jet of gas, I absolutely beheld nothing! Not even an outline,-a vapour!
clasped - zapięty; klamra
corporeal - cielesny
gripped - grypa
fleshy - mięsisty
glare - blask
vapour - mgła, para, opary
I do not, even at this hour, realize the situation in which I found myself. I cannot recall the astounding incident thoroughly. Imagination in vain tries to compass the awful paradox.
astounding - wprawić, zdumieć
paradox - paradoks
It breathed. I felt its warm breath upon my cheek. It struggled fiercely. It had hands. They clutched me. Its skin was smooth, like my own. There it lay, pressed close up against me, solid as stone,-and yet utterly invisible!
fiercely - zaciekle; zawzięcie, ostro, gwałtownie
clutched - zaciśnięty; ściskać, trzymać, uchwycić; sprzęgło, lęg, grupa
utterly - całkowicie, zupełnie
I wonder that I did not faint or go mad on the instant. Some wonderful instinct must have sustained me; for, absolutely, in place of loosening my hold on the terrible Enigma, I seemed to gain an additional strength in my moment of horror, and tightened my grasp with such wonderful force that I felt the creature shivering with agony.
faint - zasłabnąć, zemdleć; omdlenie; słaby
go mad - oszaleć
sustained - trwały; podtrzymać, podtrzymać, utrzymywać
loosening - poluzować
enigma - enigma, tajemnica, zagadka
tightened - dokręcone; zacieśniać, zacieśniać się
shivering - (shiver) zadrżeć, zatrząść się, roztrzaskać, dygotać; drżenie
Just then Hammond entered my room at the head of the household. As soon as he beheld my face-which, I suppose, must have been an awful sight to look at-he hastened forward, crying, "Great heaven, Harry! what has happened?"
hastened - przyspieszył; przyspieszać, przesunąć na wcześniejszy termin
"Hammond! Hammond!" I cried, "come here. O, this is awful! I have been attacked in bed by something or other, which I have hold of; but I can't see it,-I can't see it!"
Hammond, doubtless struck by the unfeigned horror expressed in my countenance, made one or two steps forward with an anxious yet puzzled expression. A very audible titter burst from the remainder of my visitors. This suppressed laughter made me furious. To laugh at a human being in my position! It was the worst species of cruelty.
doubtless - bez wątpienia; bez wątpliwości
unfeigned - niepokorny
countenance - oblicze, wyraz twarzy, mina
audible - słyszalny
titter - chichot, zachichotać
burst - wybuchnąć; pękać, pęknąć; rozsadzać
remainder - pozostać; reszta, ostatek
suppressed - powstrzymać, stłumić, zatuszować
cruelty - okrucieństwo
Now, I can understand why the appearance of a man struggling violently, as it would seem, with an airy nothing, and calling for assistance against a vision, should have appeared ludicrous. Then, so great was my rage against the mocking crowd that had I the power I would have stricken them dead where they stood.
violently - gwałtownie, silnie
airy - beztroski, przestronny, widny, nonszalancki
ludicrous - niedorzeczne
rage - wściekłość, szał, amok
mocking - kpina; (mock) wyśmiać, przedrzeźniać, pokpiwać, drwić; kpiny
"Hammond! Hammond!" I cried again, despairingly, "For God's sake come to me. I can hold the-the thing but a short while longer. It is overpowering me. Help me! Help me!"
despairingly - rozpaczliwie
For God's sake - na miłość boską, na litość boską
overpowering - obezwładnić, zwyciężyć, ogarnąć, owładnąć, dławić
"Harry," whispered Hammond, approaching me, "you have been smoking too much opium."
"I swear to you, Hammond, that this is no vision," I answered, in the same low tone. "Don't you see how it shakes my whole frame with its struggles? If you don't believe me, convince yourself. Feel it,-touch it."
Hammond advanced and laid his hand in the spot I indicated. A wild cry of horror burst from him. He had felt it!
In a moment he had discovered somewhere in my room a long piece of cord, and was the next instant winding it and knotting it about the body of the unseen being that I clasped in my arms.
cord - przewód; sąg
knotting - wiązanie węzłów; (knot) węzeł, grupka, kok, zawiązywanie
"Harry," he said, in a hoarse, agitated voice, for, though he preserved his presence of mind, he was deeply moved, "Harry, it's all safe now. You may let go, old fellow, if you're tired. The Thing can't move."
hoarse - chrypka; zachrypnięty, ochrypły
agitated - poruszony; agitować
deeply moved - głęboko poruszony
I was utterly exhausted, and I gladly loosed my hold.
gladly - chętnie
Hammond stood holding the ends of the cord that bound the Invisible, twisted round his hand, while before him, self-supporting as it were, he beheld a rope laced and interlaced, and stretching tightly around a vacant space. I never saw a man look so thoroughly stricken with awe. Nevertheless his face expressed all the courage and determination which I knew him to possess.
twisted - skręcony; kręcić
interlaced - przeplatać, splatać
tightly - mocno; ciasno
vacant - wolne; wolny
awe - podziw; groza, trwoga, zachwyt
His lips, although white, were set firmly, and one could perceive at a glance that, although stricken with fear, he was not daunted.
glance - spojrzenie; zerkać, zerknąć, rzucać okiem, rzucić okiem
daunted - zniechęcić, zrazić
The confusion that ensued among the guests of the house who were witnesses of this extraordinary scene between Hammond and myself,-who beheld the pantomime of binding this struggling Something,-who beheld me almost sinking from physical exhaustion when my task of jailer was over,-the confusion and terror that took possession of the bystanders, when they saw all this, was beyond description.
ensued - nastąpiło; wynikać, następować
pantomime - pantomima
binding - wiążące; bezpiecznik; (bind); wiązać, zawiązać, oprawiać
exhaustion - wycieńczenie, wyczerpanie
jailer - więzień; strażnik więzienny, strażniczka więzienna
bystanders - osoby postronne; naoczny świadek
The weaker ones fled from the apartment. The few who remained clustered near the door and could not be induced to approach Hammond and his Charge. Still incredulity broke out through their terror. They had not the courage to satisfy themselves, and yet they doubted.
fled - uciekł; uciec, uciekać, zbiec, umknąć, umykać, uciec, uciekać
clustered - zgrupowane; skupisko
induced - skłaniać, nakłaniać, spowodować
It was in vain that I begged of some of the men to come near and convince themselves by touch of the existence in that room of a living being which was invisible. They were incredulous, but did not dare to undeceive themselves. How could a solid, living, breathing body be invisible, they asked. My reply was this.
incredulous - niedowierzający, sceptyczny, nieufny
undeceive - wyprowadzić kogoś z błędu
I gave a sign to Hammond, and both of us-conquering our fearful repugnance to touch the invisible creature-lifted it from the ground, manacled as it was, and took it to my bed. Its weight was about that of a boy of fourteen.
conquering - podbój; podbijać, podbić
repugnance - wstręt, niechęć
manacled - kajdanki, zakuwać, zakuć
"Now, my friends," I said, as Hammond and myself held the creature suspended over the bed, "I can give you self-evident proof that here is a solid, ponderable body, which, nevertheless, you cannot see. Be good enough to watch the surface of the bed attentively."
ponderable - zastanawiający
attentively - uważnie, bacznie
I was astonished at my own courage in treating this strange event so calmly; but I had recovered from my first terror, and felt a sort of scientific pride in the affair, which dominated every other feeling.
astonished - zdumiony; zdumiewać, zdumieć
calmly - spokojnie
The eyes of the bystanders were immediately fixed on my bed. At a given signal Hammond and I let the creature fall. There was a dull sound of a heavy body alighting on a soft mass. The timbers of the bed creaked. A deep impression marked itself distinctly on the pillow, and on the bed itself. The crowd who witnessed this gave a low cry, and rushed from the room.
alighting - wysiąść, zsiąść, wylądować, siadać, wysiadać; palący się
timbers - drewno, tarcica, drzewa, las
creaked - skrzypnął; trzeszczeć
distinctly - wyraźnie
Hammond and I were left alone with our Mystery.
We remained silent for some time, listening to the low, irregular breathing of the creature on the bed, and watching the rustle of the bed-clothes as it impotently struggled to free itself from confinement. Then Hammond spoke.
impotently - bezsilnie
confinement - zamknięcie, połóg, odosobnienie
"Harry, this is awful."
"Ay, awful."
Ay - tak
"But not unaccountable."
"Not unaccountable! What do you mean? Such a thing has never occurred since the birth of the world. I know not what to think, Hammond. God grant that I am not mad, and that this is not an insane fantasy!"
insane - szalony, obłąkany, porąbany, szaleńczy
"Let us reason a little, Harry. Here is a solid body which we touch, but which we cannot see. The fact is so unusual that it strikes us with terror. Is there no parallel, though, for such a phenomenon? Take a piece of pure glass. It is tangible and transparent. A certain chemical coarseness is all that prevents its being so entirely transparent as to be totally invisible.
tangible - namacalny, dotykalny, konkretny, zrozumiały
transparent - przezroczysty
coarseness - ordynarność, gruboziarnistość, szorstkość, zgrzebność
It is not theoretically impossible, mind you, to make a glass which shall not reflect a single ray of light,-a glass so pure and homogeneous in its atoms that the rays from the sun will pass through it as they do through the air, refracted but not reflected. We do not see the air, and yet we feel it."
theoretically - teoretycznie
homogeneous - jednorodny
atoms - atom
rays - promienie; promień, promyk, raja
refracted - łamać, załamywać
"That's all very well, Hammond, but these are inanimate substances. Glass does not breathe, air does not breathe. This thing has a heart that palpitates,-a will that moves it,-lungs that play, and inspire and respire."
inanimate - nieożywiony, niemrawy
palpitates - palpituje; kołatać, pulsować; kołatanie
respire - oddychać
"You forget the phenomena of which we have so often heard of late," answered the Doctor, gravely. "At the meetings called 'spirit circles,'invisible hands have been thrust into the hands of those persons round the table,-warm, fleshly hands that seemed to pulsate with mortal life."
phenomena - zjawisko, fenomen
gravely - poważnie, ogromnie
meetings - spotkania; (meet) spotykać, natrafiać; spotkanie, poznanie
thrust - pchnięcie; forsować, sforsować
fleshly - cielesny
pulsate - pulsować, tętnić
mortal - śmiertelny; śmiertelnik
"What? Do you think, then, that this thing is--"
"I don't know what it is," was the solemn reply; "but please the gods I will, with your assistance, thoroughly investigate it."
solemn - uroczysty
We watched together, smoking many pipes, all night long, by the bedside of the unearthly being that tossed and panted until it was apparently wearied out. Then we learned by the low, regular breathing that it slept.
bedside - krawędź łóżka, miejsce przy łóżku, pora spania
unearthly - nieludzki, nieziemski, absurdalny, niewiarygodny
tossed - podrzucony; rzut, rzucenie
panted - dyszał; dyszeć, sapać, ziajać, wydyszeć, wysapać
wearied - zmęczony, znużony, męczący, nużyć, znużyć
The next morning the house was all astir. The boarders congregated on the landing outside my room, and Hammond and myself were lions. We had to answer a thousand questions as to the state of our extraordinary prisoner, for as yet not one person in the house except ourselves could be induced to set foot in the apartment.
astir - ożywiony, poruszony
congregated - gromadzić, zbierać, zebrać
The creature was awake. This was evidenced by the convulsive manner in which the bed-clothes were moved in its efforts to escape. There was something truly terrible in beholding, as it were, those second-hand indications of the terrible writhings and agonized struggles for liberty which themselves were invisible.
awake - obudzony; budzić się, uświadomić sobie, obudzić; przebudzony
convulsive - konwulsyjne
writhings - (writhe) zwinąć, skręcić; wijący się
agonized - borykać się, zadręczać
liberty - wolność, swoboda
Hammond and myself had racked our brains during the long night to discover some means by which we might realize the shape and general appearance of the Enigma. As well as we could make out by passing our hands over the creature's form, its outlines and lineaments were human.
racked - torturować, łamać, kimać, chrapać; półka, wieszak, koło tortur
lineaments - rys, cecha
There was a mouth; a round, smooth head without hair; a nose, which, however, was little elevated above the cheeks; and its hands and feet felt like those of a boy. At first we thought of placing the being on a smooth surface and tracing its outlines with chalk, as shoemakers trace the outline of the foot. This plan was given up as being of no value.
elevated - podwyższony
chalk - kreda; magnezja
shoemakers - szewców; szewc, szewczyni
Such an outline would give not the slightest idea of its conformation.
conformation - ukształtowanie
A happy thought struck me. We would take a cast of it in plaster of Paris. This would give us the solid figure, and satisfy all our wishes. But how to do it? The movements of the creature would disturb the setting of the plastic covering, and distort the mould. Another thought. Why not give it chloroform? It had respiratory organs,-that was evident by its breathing.
plaster - gips, tynk
distort - zniekształcać; wypaczać
mould - formować; forma, foremka, pleśń, ziemia próchnicza
chloroform - chloroform
respiratory - oddechowe
Once reduced to a state of insensibility, we could do with it what we would. Doctor X-- was sent for; and after the worthy physician had recovered from the first shock of amazement, he proceeded to administer the chloroform.
insensibility - zamroczenie, niewrażliwość, obojętność
worthy - godny, zacny
physician - lekarz, lekarka, doktor, medyk
amazement - zdumienie
administer - administrować; podać, podawać, zadać, zadawać
In three minutes afterward we were enabled to remove the fetters from the creature's body, and a modeller was busily engaged in covering the invisible form with the moist clay. In five minutes more we had a mould, and before evening a rough facsimile of the Mystery. It was shaped like a man,-distorted, uncouth, and horrible, but still a man.
fetters - kajdany, okowy, pęto
modeller - modelarz
busily - skrzętnie, pilnie, pracowicie
moist - wilgotny
clay - gliny; glina
facsimile - faks, faksymile, kopia, reprodukcja
distorted - zniekształcony; zniekształcać, wypaczać
uncouth - nieokrzesany, ordynarny, nieznany
It was small, not over four feet and some inches in height, and its limbs revealed a muscular development that was unparalleled. Its face surpassed in hideousness anything I had ever seen. Gustav Doré, or Callot, or Tony Johannot, never conceived anything so horrible.
limbs - kończyny; kończyna, konar, człon, psotne dziecko, młody łobuz
surpassed - przewyższać, przewyższyć
hideousness - brzydota, okropność
There is a face in one of the latter's illustrations to Un Voyage oů il vous plaira, which somewhat approaches the countenance of this creature, but does not equal it. It was the physiognomy of what I should fancy a ghoul might be. It looked as if it was capable of feeding on human flesh.
latter - ten drugi; szerokość geograficzna
un - ONZ
oů - ou
physiognomy - fizjonomika
ghoul - ghul, gul
feeding - (feed) karmić, żywić się, dostarczać; karmienie
flesh - ciało, mięso, miąższ, cielisty
Having satisfied our curiosity, and bound every one in the house to secrecy, it became a question what was to be done with our Enigma? It was impossible that we should keep such a horror in our house; it was equally impossible that such an awful being should be let loose upon the world. I confess that I would have gladly voted for the creature's destruction.
curiosity - ciekawość; ciekawostka
secrecy - dyskrecja, tajność
But who would shoulder the responsibility? Who would undertake the execution of this horrible semblance of a human being? Day after day this question was deliberated gravely. The boarders all left the house. Mrs. Moffat was in despair, and threatened Hammond and myself with all sorts of legal penalties if we did not remove the Horror.
execution - wykonanie, egzekucja
semblance - wrażenie
Our answer was, "We will go if you like, but we decline taking this creature with us. Remove it yourself if you please. It appeared in your house. On you the responsibility rests." To this there was, of course, no answer. Mrs. Moffat could not obtain for love or money a person who would even approach the Mystery.
The most singular part of the affair was that we were entirely ignorant of what the creature habitually fed on. Everything in the way of nutriment that we could think of was placed before it, but was never touched. It was awful to stand by, day after day, and see the clothes toss, and hear the hard breathing, and know that it was starving.
singular - w liczbie pojedynczej; osobliwy; pojedynczy; nieodwracalna
habitually - nawykowo
fed - karmione; (feed) karmić, żywić się
nutriment - odżywka; pożywienie
toss - podrzucać; rzut, rzucenie, rzucać, rzucić
Ten, twelve days, a fortnight passed, and it still lived. The pulsations of the heart, however, were daily growing fainter, and had now nearly ceased. It was evident that the creature was dying for want of sustenance. While this terrible life-struggle was going on, I felt miserable. I could not sleep. Horrible as the creature was, it was pitiful to think of the pangs it was suffering.
fortnight - dwa tygodnie -in
pulsations - pulsacje; uderzenie, pulsowanie, tętnienie
fainter - (faint) zasłabnąć, zemdleć; omdlenie; słaby; słabszy
ceased - przestał; zaprzestać
dying - (die) umierać; umierający, przedśmiertny
sustenance - wartości odżywcze, pożywienie
pitiful - żałosny
pangs - ściśnięcie serca, ukłucie
At last it died. Hammond and I found it cold and stiff one morning in the bed. The heart had ceased to beat, the lungs to inspire. We hastened to bury it in the garden. It was a strange funeral, the dropping of that viewless corpse into the damp hole. The cast of its form I gave to Doctor X--, who keeps it in his museum in Tenth Street.
hastened to - spieszyć się (np. żeby coś zrobić)
funeral - pogrzeb, pogrzebanie
damp - wilgotny
As I am on the eve of a long journey from which I may not return, I have drawn up this narrative of an event the most singular that has ever come to my knowledge.
eve - wigilia, przeddzień