伊路利亚小姑娘 (2002)

《伊路利亚小姑娘》是史蒂芬·金所著的短篇小说，最先收录在罗伯特·西尔柏格主编的故事集《传奇》中，2002年，史蒂芬又将故事收录在自己的短篇小说集《史蒂芬金的14张牌》内。

故事简介

罗兰·德斯钦在前往黑塔的路途中，经过一个名为伊路利亚的小镇，在镇上，罗兰遇到一倒卧蓄水池，死亡多时的少年，打算安葬少年时却被一群怪物绿皮人袭击昏倒。罗兰醒后发现自己被五位修女救回，她们自称伊路利亚小姑娘。罗兰虽然醒了，但身体还是不能动弹，基于枪客的直觉，他认为伊路利亚小姑娘不太对劲，后来更发现她们是吸血鬼。她们带回受伤者并用虫子(她们称之为“医生”)治疗病患，并喂食毒药使病人昏迷。待病人痊愈之后就当作食物。罗兰因为身上戴着从已逝少年身上取下的浮雕项链而暂时免于被伊路利亚小姑娘啃食。其中一名美丽的修女珍娜爱上他而在其他伊路利亚小姑娘打算干掉罗兰时，她偷偷给予罗兰药草以对抗同伴给罗兰喂食的安眠药，协助罗兰逃走，并与其私奔。逃离之后，罗兰和珍娜互相表达了爱意，但在吻了珍娜后，她消失了并化为千只虫子(以其原来的样目)。罗兰允许自己短暂的悲伤，但继续他寻找黑衣人华特的行程，独自一人。

The Little Sisters of Eluria is a fantasy novella by American writer Stephen King. It was originally published in 1998 in the anthology Legends. In 2002, it was included in King's collection Everything's Eventual. In 2009, it was published together with the revised edition of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Grant in a limited edition of 4,000 numbered copies of the Artist Edition signed by illustrator Michael Whelan and 1,250 numbered copies of the Deluxe Edition signed by Whelan and Stephen King. Both editions contain Whelan's additional new illustrations for The Gunslinger.

Plot summary

The tale features Roland of Gilead, whose quest for the Dark Tower is in its infancy; its events precede those of the body of the Dark Tower series, but occur after Roland's experiences in Mejis, as chronicled in The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass. At the time of telling he is accompanied by a horse and is already following Walter o'Dim, the Man in Black. He plans to eventually buy another horse, or perhaps a mule, which ties in with the events at the beginning of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.

Roland and his horse arrive at a deserted village, Eluria, where they encounter a feral dog bearing a cross-shaped spot in its fur attempting to eat a dead body. Roland scares it off, and while looking over the corpse, finds a rectangular medallion. Roland takes it and is immediately attacked and rendered unconscious by a group of slow mutants. He later awakens in a hospital marquee run by a strange group of nuns. Calling themselves The Little Sisters, they use tiny bug-like creatures they call "doctors" to heal his severe injuries. Roland slowly discovers the Sisters are actually vampires, who bring stray survivors back to their "hospital" only to feed on them once they've recovered.

The medallion Roland took from the dead body in the village proves to be a sort of holy protection from them. He notices another "patient" next to him who bears a matching medallion, and Roland comes to learn that the dead man whose medallion he removed is the brother of his fellow patient. Roland's wounds are eventually healed, but he is powerless to escape from his malevolent benefactors, who keep him weakened with potions. One of the Sisters, Sister Jenna, reveals to Roland that she had involuntarily joined the others and longs to leave them. She sneaks a dose of a powerful herb to Roland, which counteracts the weakening potions, and he slowly regains his strength until they are ready to escape. The Sisters bring one of the mutants to the hospital to remove the medallions from Roland and the patient next to him, since the Sisters are unable to touch the medallions themselves. The mutant realizes the Sisters will most likely kill him after he has removed the medallions, so he removes the medallion from the patient next to Roland and slashes the patient's neck open. The sight of gushing blood incites the Sisters into a feeding frenzy, allowing the mutant to escape and Roland to retain his medallion. The next night, Roland and Sister Jenna initiate their escape, but the other Sisters try to stop them. Sister Jenna reveals an ability to command the "doctors", who provide a diversion. Their leader, Great Sister Mary, soon catches up with them, but is attacked and killed by the same cross-bearing dog Roland first encountered. Roland and Sister Jenna declare love for each other, but Jenna disintegrates into what may have been her natural state, the tiny doctors, while Roland is asleep.

Roland allows himself a moment of sorrow – before his quest for Walter (and ultimately the Tower) continues, once again "quite alone".

The Dark Tower

In The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (2003), Roland mentions Sister Jenna, noting that after Susan Delgado there was only one woman of note.