surface [ˈsə:fɪs], hypnotic [hɪpˈnɔtɪk], stature [ˈstæʧə]

Yara recoiled, his dark face ashy. The jewel was no longer crystal-clear; its murky depths pulsed and throbbed, and curious smoky waves of changing color passed over its smooth surface. As if drawn hypnotically, Yara bent over the table and gripped the gem in his hands, staring into its shadowed depths, as if it were a magnet to draw the shuddering soul from his body. And as Conan looked, he thought that his eyes must be playing him tricks. For where Yara had risen up from his couch, the priest had seemed gigantically tall; yet now he saw that Yara's head would scarcely come to his shoulder. He blinked, puzzled, and for the first time that night doubted his own senses. Then with a shock he realized the the priest was shrinking in stature — was growing smaller before his very gaze.

With a detached feeling he watched (он наблюдал с отстраненным чувством; detached — отдельный; беспристрастный; бесстрастный), as a man might watch a play (как человек мог бы смотреть пьесу); immersed in a feeling of overpowering unreality (погрузившись в ощущение всепоглощающей нереальности), the Cimmerian was no longer sure of his own identity (киммериец больше не был уверен в собственной подлинности = что он — это он; identity — идентичность; подлинность); he only knew that he was looking upon the external evidences of the unseen play of vast Outer forces (он только понимал, что созерцает внешние = объективные доказательства невидимой деятельности гигантских Внешних = Космических сил; evidence — ясность; доказательство, подтверждение; play — игра; деятельность; vast — обширный, громадный; большой, значительный), beyond his understanding (за пределами его понимания).

detached [dɪˈtæʧt], identity [aɪˈdentɪtɪ], external [ɪkˈstə:nəl]

With a detached feeling he watched, as a man might watch a play; immersed in a feeling of overpowering unreality, the Cimmerian was no longer sure of his own identity; he only knew that he was looking upon the external evidences of the unseen play of vast Outer forces, beyond his understanding.