THE CALL OF CTHULHU - H.P. Lovecraft

Algernon Blackwood (Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre.)

the piecing together of dissociated knowledge

his passing at the age of ninety-two

I felt much averse反對的; 不願意的; 嫌惡的[F][(+t... from showing to other eyes. It

the queer clay bas-relief淺浮雕and the disjointed jottings略記, 草草記下的筆記, ramblings, and cuttings which I found

It seemed to be a sort of monster, or symbol representing a monster

shockingly frightful

comments on long-surviving secret societies and hidden cults

The cuttings largely alluded to outré超出常規的 mental illness and outbreaks of group folly or mania in the spring of 1925.
Wilcox was a precocious早熟的, 早成的youth of known genius but great eccentricity,

He called himself "psychically hypersensitive"

stilted誇張的; 矯揉造作的manner

verbatim逐字的(地)

ooze

sinister

with scientific minuteness

ignorant of any cult or system of cryptic隱祕的lore(有關某一學科的)全部知識; 傳說

delirium精神錯亂, 說胡話[U][C]

lumbered笨重地移動about

account for my continued distrust of the artist

with leanings toward theosophy and occultism

a dire可怕的; 悲慘的future

problems for expert solution.

a commonplace-looking middle-aged man

infinitely more diabolic than even the blackest of the African voodoo circles

the erratic古怪的; 乖僻的and unbelievable tales extorted from the captured members

was scarcely prepared for the sensation which his offering created

throw the assembled men of science into a state of tense excitement

a monster of vaguely anthropoid (猿等)似人類的; 類人的outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers觸角; 觸鬚[P], a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind.

cephalopod頭足綱（學名：Cephalopoda）是軟體動物門的一個綱(A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan phylum Cephalopoda, eg. Inkfish, octopus )

baffling令人困惑的, 難對付的; 難解的

old and unhallowed cycles of life in which our world and our conceptions have no part.
the members severally各自地shook their heads and confessed defeat at the Inspector's problem

who presently told with some diffidence缺乏自信, 懦怯; 羞怯[U] of the odd trifle he knew

angekok or wizard-priest

began at once to ply不斷使用; 不斷給; 不斷問; 不斷做his informant with questions.

hellish rituals

mongrel雜種狗; 雜種動物; 雜交植物

savoured給...加調味品; 使有風味of the wildest dreams of myth-maker and theosophist,

There are vocal qualities peculiar to men, and vocal qualities peculiar to beasts

Sime or an Angarola (Anthony Angarola (1893-1929[1]) was an American painter, printmaker, and art instructor. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Since he was an Italian immigrant himself, his work focused on people who struggled to adapt to a foreign culture)

Void of clothing

the prisoners all proved to be men of a very low, mixed-blooded, and mentally aberrant偏離正道的, 脫離常軌的type

manifest顯然的, 明白的, 清楚的

There was a secret which even torture could not extract.

mestizo混血兒(尤指拉丁民族與印第安族的)

theosophists

There had been aeons when other Things ruled on the earth

They had, indeed, come themselves from the stars, and brought Their images with Them.

The spells that preserved them intact完整無缺的; 原封不動的; 未受損傷的[F] likewise prevented Them from making an initial move, and They could only lie awake in the dark and think whilst uncounted millions of years rolled by.

sepulchres墳墓, 墓穴

Necronomicon (The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound",[1] written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in Lovecraft's "The Nameless City".[2] Among other things, the work contains an account of the Old Ones, their history, and the means for summoning them.) of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred

historic affiliations of the cult

charlatanry吹牛; 騙子行為; 庸醫之行為and imposture

Esquimaux diabolists and mongrel Louisianans

flaunts炫耀, 誇示

stuccoed【建】用灰泥粉飾過的

Arthur Machen

unkempt未梳理的, 蓬亂的; 不整潔的

probing查究; 調查[(+for/into)]

They and their subconscious residuum had influenced his art profoundly

The youth was of a type, at once slightly affected and slightly ill-mannered, which I could never like

I took leave of him amicably, and wish him all the success his talent promises.

at times I had visions of personal fame from researches into its origin and connections

I now heard so graphically at first-hand

on the track of a very real, very secret, and very ancient religion

My attitude was still one of absolute materialism

have come to sinister ears

If heaven ever wishes to grant me a boon恩惠

portentous預兆的, 預示的; 影響未來的Its consequences were historically portentous. 其後果具有重大的歷史影響。凶兆的, 不祥的; 令人畏懼的, 令人驚訝的; 自命不凡的, 矜持的

It read as follows:

all profess complete bafflement

after recovering his senses

peremptorily決定性地; 獨斷地; 橫蠻地; 斷然地

abhorrent

is queerly reticent無言的; 沈默的; 謹慎的; 抑制的 about this part of his story

but what a train of ideas it started in my mind!

lapsed suddenly into delirium

emerged unharmed from the bondage of strange fever

tottering on the brink of cosmic horrors beyond man's power to bear

monstrous menace威脅, 恐嚇[C][U][(+to)]

Waterfront scum was far too common for special mention

after a perfunctory敷衍的, 馬虎的; 得過且過的and inconclusive questioning at Sydney

balefully災難性地 exquisite workmanship

knocked with palpitant heart

Gustaf Johansen was no more.
He had not long survived his return, said his wife, for the doings at sea in 1925 had broken him.

I now felt gnawing (折磨人的; 令人痛苦的gnawing anxiety 折磨人的煩惱 )at my vitals that dark terror which will never leave me till I, too, am at rest; "accidentally" or otherwise.

I cannot attempt to transcribe it verbatim in all its cloudiness and redundance

thank God

abominable

poignantly

miasma沼氣; 臭氣

the geometry of the place was all wrong

He climbed interminably無限地; 冗長地; 漫無止境地along the grotesque stone moulding

tenebrousness陰沈


gibbous【天】凸圓的sky

two perished of pure fright in that accursed instant

eldritch怪異的; 可怕的

mountainous monstrosity怪物; 巨人; 可怕的東西

floundering掙扎

charnel陰森森的; 藏骸所; 埋葬場所

a stench as of a thousand opened graves

Death would be a boon if only it could blot out the memories.

prance雀躍, 歡快地行走and slay ( 【美】【俚】(過去式和過去分詞常作slayed)使大為高興, 使禁不住大笑That clown just slays me. 那小丑真叫我笑死了。

around idol-capped monoliths in lonely places

Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise.