Part 27 (1/2)
A row of huge icicles hung down from the edge of the roof, and anything more wintry than the whole _anblick_ could not well be imagined; but the sudden appearance of the great mountains in front was so startling that I felt no inclination to move toward bed again. The snow which had collected upon _la fenetre_ had increased the _finsterniss oder der dunkelheit_, so that when I looked out I was surprised to find that the daylight was considerable, and that the _balragoomah_ would evidently rise before long. Only the brightest of _les etoiles_ were still s.h.i.+ning; the sky was cloudless overhead, though small curling mists lay thousands of feet below us in the valleys, wreathed around the feet of the mountains, and adding to the splendor of their lofty summits. We were soon dressed and out of the house, watching the gradual approach of dawn, thoroughly absorbed in the first near view of the Oberland giants, which broke upon us unexpectedly after the intense obscurity of the evening before. ”_Kabaugwakko songwashee k.u.m wetterhorn snawpo_!” cried some one, as that grand summit gleamed with the first rose of dawn; and in a few moments the double crest of the Schreckhorn followed its example; peak after peak seemed warmed with life, the Jungfrau blushed even more beautifully than her neighbors, and soon, from the Wetterhorn in the east to the Wildstrubel in the west, a long row of fires glowed upon mighty altars, truly worthy of the G.o.ds.
The _wlgw_ was very severe; our sleeping-place could hardly be _distinguee_ from the snow around it, which had fallen to a depth of a _flirk_ during the past evening, and we heartily enjoyed a rough scramble _en bas_ to the Giesbach falls, where we soon found a warm climate. At noon the day before Grindelwald the thermometer could not have stood at less than 100 degrees Fahr. in the sun; and in the evening, judging from the icicles formed, and the state of the windows, there must have been at least twelve _dingblatter_ of frost, thus giving a change of 80 degrees during a few hours.
I said:
”You have done well, Harris; this report is concise, compact, well expressed; the language is crisp, the descriptions are vivid and not needlessly elaborated; your report goes straight to the point, attends strictly to business, and doesn't fool around. It is in many ways an excellent doc.u.ment. But it has a fault--it is too learned, it is much too learned. What is '_dingblatter_'?
”'_Dingblatter_' is a Fiji word meaning 'degrees.'”
”You knew the English of it, then?”
”Oh, yes.”
”What is '_gnillic_'?
”That is the Eskimo term for 'snow.'”
”So you knew the English for that, too?”
”Why, certainly.”
”What does '_mmbglx_' stand for?”
”That is Zulu for 'pedestrian.'”
”'While the form of the Wellhorn looking down upon it completes the enchanting _bopple_.' What is '_bopple_'?”
”'Picture.' It's Choctaw.”
”What is '_schnawp_'?”
”'Valley.' That is Choctaw, also.”
”What is '_bolwoggoly_'?”
”That is Chinese for 'hill.'”
”'_kahkahponeeka_'?”
”'Ascent.' Choctaw.”
”'But we were again overtaken by bad _hoggleb.u.mgullup_.' What does '_hoggleb.u.mgullup_' mean?”
”That is Chinese for 'weather.'”
”Is '_hoggleb.u.mgullup_' better than the English word? Is it any more descriptive?”
”No, it means just the same.”
”And '_dingblatter' and 'gnillic,' and 'bopple,' and 'schnawp_'--are they better than the English words?”