登陆注册
20124800000003

第3章 The Mysterious Parchment(1)

"I DECLARE,"cried my uncle,striking the table fiercely with his fist,"I declare to you it is Runic-and contains some wonderful secret,which I must get at,at any price."I was about to reply when he stopped me.

"Sit down,"he said,quite fiercely,"and write to my dictation."I obeyed.

"I will substitute,"he said,"a letter of our alphabet for that of the Runic:we will then see what that will produce.Now,begin and make no mistakes."The dictation commenced with the following incomprehensible result:

mm.rnlls esreuel seecJde sgtssmf unteief niedrke kt,samn atrateS Saodrrn emtnaeI nuaect rrilSa Atvaar .nscrc ieaabs ccdrmi eeutul frantu dt,iac oseibo KediiYScarcely giving me time to finish,my uncle snatched the document from my hands and examined it with the most rapt and deep attention.

"I should like to know what it means,"he said,after a long period.

I certainly could not tell him,nor did he expect me to-his conversation being uniformly answered by himself.

"I declare it puts me in mind of a cryptograph,"he cried,"unless,indeed,the letters have been written without any real meaning;and yet why take so much trouble?Who knows but I may be on the verge of some great discovery?"My candid opinion was that it was all rubbish!But this opinion Ikept carefully to myself,as my uncle's choler was not pleasant to bear.All this time he was comparing the book with the parchment.

"The manuscript volume and the smaller document are written in different hands,"he said,"the cryptograph is of much later date than the book;there is an undoubted proof of the correctness of my surmise.[An irrefragable proof I took it to be.]The first letter is a double M,which was only added to the Icelandic language in the twelfth century-this makes the parchment two hundred years posterior to the volume."The circumstances appeared very probable and very logical,but it was all surmise to me.

"To me it appears probable that this sentence was written by some owner of the book.Now who was the owner,is the next important question.Perhaps by great good luck it may be written somewhere in the volume."With these words Professor Hardwigg took off his spectacles,and,taking a powerful magnifying glass,examined the book carefully.

On the fly leaf was what appeared to be a blot of ink,but on examination proved to be a line of writing almost effaced by time.

This was what he sought;and,after some considerable time,he made out these letters:

(See illustration.)

"Arne Saknussemm!"he cried in a joyous and triumphant tone,"that is not only an Icelandic name,but of a learned professor of the sixteenth century,a celebrated alchemist."I bowed as a sign of respect.

"These alchemists,"he continued,"Avicenna,Bacon,Lully,Paracelsus,were the true,the only learned men of the day.They made surprising discoveries.May not this Saknussemm,nephew mine,have hidden on this bit of parchment some astounding invention?Ibelieve the cryptograph to have a profound meaning-which I must make out."My uncle walked about the room in a state of excitement almost impossible to describe.

同类推荐
  • 释疑宝卷

    释疑宝卷

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 注肇论疏

    注肇论疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 厘正按摩要术

    厘正按摩要术

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 達朹志

    達朹志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Orlando Furioso

    Orlando Furioso

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 九魔圣战

    九魔圣战

    在云之国中,天山云雾弥漫。山谷中,一个叫齐羽的孩子醒来。他摸了摸头,想起了之前的事:那天,他正在天山上玩耍,一不小心掉下了山崖。之后,他就什么也不知道了。齐羽站了起来,仰起头看了看,说道:“从这几千米的地方掉下了,我怎么会没事呢?这么高,这么滑的的山,该怎么爬上去啊!”这时,齐羽的背上突然长出了一对翅膀,把他带上了天山山顶。之后,那对翅膀又回到了齐羽的身体里。齐羽惊讶地看着自己的背后,说不出话来······
  • 血剑无双

    血剑无双

    当世间的人都是冷漠和无情,虚伪而伪善。你会怎么做?“我会用剑把你们送入轮回,你们在地狱里慢慢忏悔你们所做的一切吧。”在魔法大陆,同修魔法,斗气和东方的灵气。他会用敌人的血书写他的无双传奇。
  • 冰火碎空

    冰火碎空

    空界,一个广阔无垠的世界,一个充满神秘的世界。这个世界以武为尊,几乎所有人都能吸收空中的各类属性武气为己用,强化自身,冲破人体桎梏,成王封帝,掌控一方。凌星因体质特殊不能修行武气而被当做废物受尽屈辱,却在其七岁时觉醒前世记忆和异能力量。“就算我不能修炼武气又如何,我亦能用我自己的力量站在世界巅峰。”
  • 命运与时空交错

    命运与时空交错

    我是离魄,一个除妖家族首领的女儿,从小就被家族的占星师占出自己是一个天赋异禀的人,从小就一个人活着。在三年前,父亲把我送到了我所期待的外面的世界,就这么一个人平淡的生活着。有一天,一只九尾狐少年闯入了我的生活,从此以后我的生活开始发生变化,只是,这样子结果会是怎样?我的命运与九尾狐少年的命运就像与时空交错了一般,看不到尽头。
  • 首富是这样炼成的

    首富是这样炼成的

    让我们记住512这个黑色的日子!徐门长老在三江推荐期间华丽的扑街!什么都不说!祖国知道我!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • 阳光下的友谊

    阳光下的友谊

    她,一个富小姐,在学校里遇到了两兄弟,一个在当门卫,一个却被万人捧在手心,他们之间会发生怎样的奇遇……
  • 古武杀人术

    古武杀人术

    牛角号一响,战场硝烟四起,嘶喊声、咆哮声、惨叫声、绝望声,绵绵不绝。一场战役结束,数以万计的灵魂进入长眠。以为终于解脱,却是另一段故事的开始。
  • 数学教学的趣味运用设计

    数学教学的趣味运用设计

    数学是一门逻辑性非常强且非常抽象的学科,要让数学教学变得生动有趣,关键在于教师要善于引导学生,精心设计课堂教学,提高学生的学习兴趣。在数学教学中,教师应当采取多种方法,充分调动学生的好奇心和求知欲,使学生在每一节课中都能感受学习的乐趣、收获成功的喜悦,从而提高学生自主学习和解决问题的兴趣与热情。只有这样,才能使学生愉快轻松地接受数学知识,并取得良好的教学效果。
  • EXO—傻瓜别走我爱你

    EXO—傻瓜别走我爱你

    每个人都希望自己能嫁个土豪,都希望自己能嫁进豪门。都希望自己的爱人是个帅哥。而夏子曦却希望自己只是一个平平凡凡的人,她不求自己爱人是多有钱的人,多帅的人,多有地位的人,她只求一身平凡,她只求自己的爱人,终身爱自己,心里只有自己,这样夏子曦就足够了。她从小一直想离开这种富裕的生活,可是因为自己的年纪太小,家人的反对。她一直在等自己成年的那一天。她只想逃离这个家....【本文转自鹿晗小说吧,原作者小新。不喜勿喷。】
  • 焚风

    焚风

    ———————————————————————————焚风,来自地狱之风!…忧焚天下,变乱渐生,传说拥有风之力的少年降世之时,忧焚界必遭大难。本是魔法学院优等生的少年,却因家族变故而被家传魔石卷入这场异世纷争中…风之力,破灭之力,永不低头的少年心,必将在这诡奇的异世界卷起烈焰狂风!这就是《焚风》的传奇……本书随着情节的展开,越往后越会渐入佳境,请各位耐心试读一下,绝对会有惊喜。新人需要支持,希望觉得好的朋友顺手收藏,投个票票~在此拜谢~