Дракула / Dracula - стр. 2

When we started, the crowd round the inn door made the sign of the cross and pointed two fingers towards me. I asked a fellow passenger[17] to tell me what they meant; he explained that it was a charm against the evil eye.

I soon forgot my fears in the beauty of the scene’s nature. Before us lay a green land full of forests and woods, with steep hills here and there. Sometimes the hills were so steep that the horses could only go slowly. I wished to get down, as we do at home, but the driver said, “No, no, you must not walk here; the dogs are too fierce”.

When it grew dark the passengers began to urge the driver to go faster. The mountains came nearer to us on each side; we were entering on the Borgo Pass.

I was looking out for the conveyance which would take me to the Count. Each moment I expected to see the glare of lamps through the blackness; but all was dark. Finally, I noticed a carriage with four horses. The horses were coal-black and splendid animals. A tall man, with a long brown beard and a great black hat, which hid his face from us, was the driver. I could only see the gleam of a pair of very bright eyes, which seemed red, as he turned to us. He said to the driver, “You are early tonight, my friend.”

The man replied, “The English Herr was in a hurry.”

“Give me the Herr’s luggage,” said the driver and took my bags. Then I descended from the side of the coach, as the carriage was close. The driver helped me with a hand which caught my arm in a grip of steel;[18] his strength was prodigious. Without a word he shook his reins, the horses turned, and we ran into the darkness of the Pass.

The driver said in excellent German, “The night is chill, mein Herr,[19] there is a flask of slivovitz[20] (the plum brandy of the country) underneath the seat.”

The carriage went straight along, then we made a complete turn and went along another straight road. I felt suspense. Then a dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road – a long wailing, as if from fear.[21] Another dog took the sound, and then another and another, till a wild howling began.

The driver suddenly turned down a narrow roadway. Soon we entered the wood, and again great rocks guarded us boldly on either side. The wind carried the howling of the dogs, though the baying of the wolves sounded nearer and nearer. I grew dreadfully afraid, and the horses shared my fear. The driver, however, was not disturbed at all; he was turning his head to left and right, but I could not see anything through the darkness.