Then two yearsmore went by, or perhaps three, for time passes imperceptibly in Tahiti, and itis hard to keep count of it; but at last a message was brought to Dr. Coutras thatStrickland was dying. Ata had waylaid the cart that took the mail into Papeete,and besought the man who drove it to go at once to the doctor. But the doctorwas out when the summons came, and it was evening when he received it. It wasimpossible to start at so late an hour, and so it was not till next day soonafter dawn that he set out. He arrived at Taravao, and for the last timetramped the seven kilometres that led to Ata's house. The path was overgrown,and it was clear that for years now it had remained all but untrodden. It wasnot easy to find the way. Sometimes he had to stumble along the bed of thestream, and sometimes he had to push through shrubs, dense and thorny; often hewas obliged to climb over rocks in order to avoid the hornet-nests that hung onthe trees over his head. The silence was intense.It was with asigh of relief that at last he came upon the little unpainted house,extraordinarily bedraggled now, and unkempt; but here too was the sameintolerable silence. He walked up, and a little boy, playing unconcernedly inthe sunshine, started at his approach and fled quickly away: to him thestranger was the enemy. Dr. Coutras had a sense that the child was stealthilywatching him from behind a tree. The door was wide open. He called out, but noone answered. He stepped in. He knocked at a door, but again there was noanswer. He turned the handle and entered. The stench that assailed him turnedhim horribly sick. He put his handkerchief to his nose and forced himself to goin. The light was dim, and after the brilliant sunshine for a while he couldsee nothing. Then he gave a start. He could not make out where he was. Heseemed on a sudden to have entered a magic world. He had a vague impression ofa great primeval forest and of naked people walking beneath the trees. Then hesaw that there were paintings on the walls." MonDieu, I hope the sun hasn't affected me, " he muttered.A slightmovement attracted his attention, and he saw that Ata was lying on the floor,sobbing quietly."Ata," he called. "Ata. "两年又过去了，也许是三年，因为在塔希提，时间总是不知不觉地流逝过去，没有人费心去计算。但是最后终于有人给库特拉斯医生带来个信儿，说是思特里克兰德很快就要死了。爱塔在路上拦住一辆往帕皮提递送邮件的马车，请求赶车的人立刻到医生那里去一趟。但是消息带到的时候，医生恰巧不在家。直到傍晚他才听到这个信儿。天已经太晚了，他当天无法动身；他是第二天清早才启程去的。他首先到了塔拉窝，然后下车步行；这是他最后一次走七公里的路到爱塔家去。小路几乎已被荒草遮住，看来已经有好几年没有行人的足迹了。路很不好走；有时候他得跋涉过一段河滩；有时候他得分开长满荆棘的茂密的矮树丛。有好几次他不得不从岩石上爬过去，为了躲避挂在头顶树枝上的野蜂窝。密林里万籁无声。最后他走到那座没有油漆过的木房子前面时，他长舒了一口气。这所房子现在已经破旧得不成样子，而且一片龌龊，不堪入目。迎接他的仍是一片无法忍受的寂静。他走到阳台上，一个小孩儿正在阳光底下玩儿，一看见他便飞快地跑掉了；在这个孩子的眼睛里，所有陌生人都是敌人。库特拉斯医生意识到孩子正躲在一棵树后面偷偷地看着他。房门敞开着。他叫了一声，但是没有人回答。他走了进去。他在另一扇门上敲了敲，仍然没有回答。他把门柄一扭便走进去。扑鼻而来的一股臭味几乎叫他呕吐出来。他用手帕堵着鼻子，硬逼着自己走进去。屋子里光线非常暗，从外面灿烂的阳光下走进来，一时他什么也看不见。当他的眼睛适应了室内的光线时，他吓了一大跳。他不知道自己走到什么地方来了，仿佛是，他突然走入了一个神奇的世界；矇矇眬眬中，他好象觉得自己正置身于一个原始大森林中，大树下面徜徉着一些赤身裸体的人。过了一会儿他才知道，他看到的是四壁上的巨大壁画。“上帝啊①，我不是被太阳晒昏了吧，”他喃喃自语道。①原文为法语。一个人影晃动了一下，引起他的注意，他发现爱塔正躺在地板上，低声呜咽着。“爱塔，”他喊道，“爱塔。”