A Momentary Lapse of Reason - 15
A Novella
15. 根深蒂固[i]
(gēn shēn dì gù)
The montage of echoes rocked them to their feet like the clatter of horses’ feet. Something was moving on the surface, and they did not know what perhaps the building of a scaffolding was. It was not clear to Kit what the same so terrible was the noise from above. The reading in her ears caused Maggie to cup them but the roar was still audible though she agreed with him about the noise. She screamed but it was not heard by anyone even herself, her ears were hanging down. There was a shaking that spat them on the ground like a concubine. They moved to the edges fearing what might happen next, each step taking them with alarm. In her heart, Maggie wished to fly away like a dozen wild geese.[ii]
A plume of white clouds came in from above as the ceiling was pierced by a huge iron hand that was as far across as a human being was high.[iii] There were scabs on its neck. Then there was confusion as dim light spattered through the room and the noise became even louder than before everything covered by a bamboo net.
In a momentary clash of feet and knees against the floor, Kit stood up and waved his hands like a rope before his face. It was an intricate collage that ended with a wave of his shirt which Maggie had no understanding of what it was supposed to do. But then a stream broke through from below and in their ears the bright spring resounded. There was a red heat inside the arm and at this point, the iron claw winced and high upwards went the arm like a brachiosaurus. High above them was a shriek from the deep-throated iron golem which almost shattered their eardrums and cloyed their windpipes.
There came down an instant of quiet and Kit pointed to the solitary door that entered the chamber. They quickly led out between the posts of the entryway just as the iron fist pulled up and pressed down shattering the walls and engulfing them and dust, soot, and rocks. Tumbling and over Maggie was unsure of even her direction and did not know up from down. She reached but she did not know the direction and found only rubble. At last, she knew that she was on the ground with a plaster of mortar and brick covering her but her eyes were shut from the soot and she found a voice screaming only to realize that the voice was hers. Then she heard herself babbling and realized that she must control her movements or they would be a catastrophe.
But then she felt a pair of warm and soothing hands on her temples and her eyes were cleared by the fingers. The first thing that she saw was the face that she knew so well, and a long sigh came up from her lungs in relief.
The voice that came from the lips was harsh: “We must get out of here because the giant fist will certainly find where we are.” And she could see that this would quite probably have been true because there was a dim light coming through the ceiling where the fist had cracked the bricks and earth.
And they got to their feet and ran down the dank and dark corridor. But behind them came another punch through the ceiling only this time there were in addition pythons dripping from the arm out of holes in the fist. As soon as the pythons landed on the ground, they searched for the couple, and with red eyes interlocked with the only moving figures that they could see they slithered inexorably towards the pair.
Then the wooden drums did speak. At first, it was like a great thrum, deep and melodious, but then it became a crackle that hammered into the walls with a 1950s-style beat: Thraakt-that-that. They had never heard such a discordant beating from any drum that they had ever heard. And still it came in threes: Thraakt-thrakt-thrakt. Thraakt-thrakt-thrakt. Thraakt-thrakt-thrakt.
It was an act of will not to hold their ears but they had to leave this place and find safety from the pythons and further holes from the violent stiff iron arm. It was like a spatula trying to grind, grind, grind. It was as if the arm wanted to make a paste on the sides of the tunnel with hair closely mixed in with the blood and flesh.
And pursuing them in cacophonous unison the pythons climbed the brick slide to attach their quivering fangs to whatever piece of flesh they could find. Growing close they could hear the jaws snap and the coils unfurl. The problem was that they found walls, not caverns which loomed out from every direction. It seemed like there was no escape and Maggie’s feet seemed to die and her head wanted her to drop from exhaustion rather than go one step forward.
However, every time she thought of feinting, an arm clasped hers and steadied and even quickened the pace.
“Please stay with me, I think I can remember this area from a long time ago.”
This gave her at least a little hope, even though the pythons were trying to strangle them or grab their legs and fling them. The air was claustrophobic. The smells were of the worst filth that Hong Kong produced. And they were sweaty from all of this stained grace.
But the drums continued to clatter as loudly as before: Thraakt-thrakt-thrakt. It became a deafening noise and they could not hear each other even though at times each tried to yell.
Thraakt-thrakt-thrakt.
At last, she called and asked: “Do you not have any spell that will work here?”
He shook his head feeling that any attempt to use his voice would be shouted down by the drums.
Thraakt-thrakt-thrakt.
Then they turned up and felt rather than saw a bony root that would carry them up and away if they could seize it because it was just beyond their reach and the walls here were solid and greasy. The pythons ripped her skirt and she realized that she had to leap out of desperation.
She leaped and half believed that she was going to fall downwards to the nest of serpents. But Kit’s hand grabbed onto her fingers and with a heave all her up, up, up with a rope that he made with scraps of leather.
And still in the distance, there were the drums: Thraakt-thrakt-thrakt.
But each of the pair knew they were safe.
For the moment, by the knot of a rope.
All apologies with a beat.[iv]
[i] Deep-rooted Problem.
[ii] Reference to Meng Haoran, “When I Climbed Mount Lan in the Autumn” L2
[iii] Reference to Meng Haoran, “When I Climbed Mount Lan in the Autumn” L1
[iv] Reference to Nirvana, “All Apologies”