51吃瓜

Hermione came down to dinner strange and sepulchral, her eyes heavy and full of sepulchral darkness, strength. She had put on a dress of stiff old greenish brocade, that fitted tight and made her look tall and rather terrible, ghastly. In the gay light of the drawing-room she was uncanny and oppressive. But seated in the half-light of the dining-room, sitting stiffly before the shaded candles on the table, she seemed a power, a presence.

[Oscar Wilde] began to speak in a voice that might have come from the tomb. It grew monotonous, and was fast becoming painful, when, to the evident surprise of everybody, he smiled as he uttered something in reference to the various definitions of aestheticism. The audience was at once relieved from the sepulchral atmosphere and broke into a hearty laugh which did everybody good.

[F]rightening words and concepts repeated over a period of time during childhood will have long-lasting neurological and emotional consequences. Nyctophobia, a pathological fear of night and darkness, might be an extreme example of such a consequence. Yet even the most protected children sometimes believe that there鈥檚 a monster under the bed at night or a ghost outside the window in the darkness. Nor do adults stop being afraid of venturing into Central Park at night, even when they鈥檙e presented with rational and incontrovertible facts about its relative safety after dark.

鈥淏ut wasn鈥檛 it dark inside the trunk?鈥� Nora asked. 鈥淚f Ashley had nyctophobia she wouldn鈥檛 have climbed in there鈥� …. He shook his head. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what to think. I didn鈥檛 recognize the Ashley I knew in any of this, this witch we鈥檝e been tracking. Curses on the floor? Nyctophobia? Ashley wasn鈥檛 afraid of the dark. She wasn鈥檛 afraid of anything.鈥�

鈥淚n humans, anaphylactic shock can be fatal; in sanguivores, it鈥檚 less dangerous but still extraordinarily unpleasant. Garlic is to you as peanuts are to your cousin; I cannot overemphasize the importance of this鈥攁nd it鈥檚 not just garlic, it鈥檚 several other members of the allium family to lesser extents .鈥� Sanguivore just means 鈥榚ater of blood鈥� .鈥� The older term was hemophagous, but these days, all creatures who feed on blood are known as sanguivorous.鈥�

Only three mammalian species are sanguivorous鈥攖hat鈥檚 blood feeding鈥攁nd they are all bats. Blood, apparently, is not that nutritious. It has almost no carbs, fats, or vitamins; its high iron levels can disrupt heart, liver, and pancreas function; its obscenely high protein and salt levels can cause renal disease if nitrogenous waste products build up. It contains pathogens. It clots. Vampire bats have some obvious adaptations to allow them to survive on their limited and macabre diet.