About three o’clock the Prussians made their preparations for departure. For an instant past the officer had, as on the previous day, shut himself up with Dominique. Francoise realized that the young man’s life was in balance. She clasped her hands; she prayed. Pere Merlier, beside her, maintained silence and the rigid10 attitude of an old peasant who does not struggle against fate.
“Oh, MON DIEU! Oh, MON DIEU!” murmured Francoise. “They are going to kill him!”
The miller11 drew her to him and took her on his knees as if she had been a child.
At that moment the officer came out, while behind him two men brought Dominique.
“Never! Never!” cried the latter. “I am ready to die!”
“Think well,” resumed the officer. “The service you refuse me another will render us. I am generous: I offer you your life. I want you simply to guide us through the forest to Montredon. There must be pathways leading there.”
Dominique was silent.
“So you persist in your infatuation, do you?”
“Kill me and end all this!” replied the young man.
Francoise, her hands clasped, supplicated12 him from afar. She had forgotten everything; she would have advised him to commit an act of cowardice13. But Pere Merlier seized her hands that the Prussians might not see her wild gestures.
“He is right,” he whispered: “it is better to die!”
The platoon of execution was there. The officer awaited a sign of weakness on Dominique’s part. He still expected to conquer him. No one spoke14. In the distance violent crashes of thunder were heard. Oppressive heat weighed upon the country. But suddenly, amid the silence, a cry broke forth15:
“The French! The French!”
Yes, the French were at hand. Upon the Sauval highway, at the edge of the wood, the line of red pantaloons could be distinguished16. In the mill there was an extraordinary agitation17. The Prussian soldiers ran hither and thither18 with guttural exclamations19. Not a shot had yet been fired.
“The French! The French!” cried Francoise, clapping her hands.
She was wild with joy. She escaped from her father’s grasp; she laughed and tossed her arms in the air. At last they had come and come in time, since Dominique was still alive!
A terrible platoon fire, which burst upon her ears like a clap of thunder, caused her to turn. The officer muttered between his teeth:
“Before everything, let us settle this affair!”
And with his own hand pushing Dominique against the wall of a shed he ordered his men to fire. When Francoise looked Dominique lay upon the ground with blood streaming from his neck and shoulders.
She did not weep; she stood stupefied. Her eyes grew fixed20, and she sat down under the shed, a few paces from the body. She stared at it, wringing21 her hands. The Prussians had seized Pere Merlier as a hostage.
It was a stirring combat. The officer had rapidly posted his men, comprehending that he could not beat a retreat without being cut to pieces. Hence he would fight to the last. Now the Prussians defended the mill, and the French attacked it. The fusillade began with unusual violence. For half an hour it did not cease. Then a hollow sound was heard, and a ball broke a main branch of the old elm. The French had cannon22. A battery, stationed just above the ditch in which Dominique had hidden himself, swept the wide street of Rocreuse. The struggle could not last long.
Ah, the poor mill! Balls pierced it in every part. Half of the roof was carried away. Two walls were battered23 down. But it was on the side of the Morelle that the destruction was most lamentable24. The ivy25, torn from the tottering26 edifice27, hung like rags; the river was encumbered28 with wrecks29 of all kinds, and through a breach30 was visible Francoise’s chamber31 with its bed, the white curtains of which were carefully closed. Shot followed shot; the old wheel received two balls and gave vent32 to an agonizing33 groan34; the buckets were borne off by the current; the framework was crushed. The soul of the gay mill had left it!
Then the French began the assault. There was a furious fight with swords and bayonets. Beneath the rust-colored sky the valley was choked with the dead. The broad meadows had a wild look with their tall, isolated35 trees and their hedges of poplars which stained them with shade. To the right and to the left the forests were like the walls of an ancient ampitheater which enclosed the fighting gladiators, while the springs, the fountains and the flowing brooks36 seemed to sob37 amid the panic of the country.
Beneath the shed Francoise still sat near Dominique’s body; she had not moved. Pere Merlier had received a slight wound. The Prussians were exterminated38, but the ruined mill was on fire in a dozen places. The French rushed into the courtyard, headed by their captain. It was his first success of the war. His face beamed with triumph. He waved his sword, shouting:
“Victory! Victory!”
On seeing the wounded miller, who was endeavoring to comfort Francoise, and noticing the body of Dominique, his joyous39 look changed to one of sadness. Then he knelt beside the young man and, tearing open his blouse, put his hand to his heart.
“Thank God!” he cried. “It is yet beating! Send for the surgeon!”
At the captain’s words Francoise leaped to her feet.
“There is hope!” she cried. “Oh, tell me there is hope!”
At that moment the surgeon appeared. He made a hasty examination and said:
“The young man is severely40 hurt, but life is not extinct; he can be saved!” By the surgeon’s orders Dominique was transported to a neighboring cottage, where he was placed in bed. His wounds were dressed; restoratives were administered, and he soon recovered consciousness. When he opened his eyes he saw Francoise sitting beside him and through the open window caught sight of Pere Merlier talking with the French captain. He passed his hand over his forehead with a bewildered air and said:
“They did not kill me after all!”
“No,” replied Francoise. “The French came, and their surgeon saved you.”
Pere Merlier turned and said through the window:
“No talking yet, my young ones!”
In due time Dominique was entirely41 restored, and when peace again blessed the land he wedded42 his beloved Francoise.
The mill was rebuilt, and Pere Merlier had a new wheel upon which to bestow43 whatever tenderness was not engrossed44 by his daughter and her husband.
The End
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1
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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3
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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4
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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7
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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8
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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9
denouement
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| n.结尾，结局 | |
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10
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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miller
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| n.磨坊主 | |
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12
supplicated
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| v.祈求，哀求，恳求( supplicate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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14
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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15
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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17
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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18
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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19
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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20
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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21
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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22
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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24
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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25
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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26
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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27
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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28
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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30
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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31
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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32
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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33
agonizing
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| adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式) | |
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34
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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35
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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37
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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38
exterminated
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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40
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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41
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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42
wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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44
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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