CHAPTER XXIV

 EETING his pupils Goubin and Denis, on one of the paths of the Luxembourg garden, Monsieur Bergeret said:

 

“I have good news for you, gentlemen. The peace of Europe will not be disturbed. The Trublions themselves have assured me of it.”

 

And Monsieur Bergeret went on to relate the following story:

 

“I met Jean Coq, Jean Mouton, Jean Laiglon and Gilles Singe¹ at the Exhibition, where they were listening to the creaking of the footbridges. Jean Coq came up to me, and said sternly: ‘Monsieur Bergeret, you said that we wanted war, and that we should make war, that Jean Mouton and I were going to land at Dover with an army and occupy London, and that then I should take Berlin and various other capitals. You said this, I know. You said it with malicious² intent to harm us and make the French nation believe that we desire war. Understand, monsieur, that this is a lie. Our tendencies are not war-like; they are military, which is quite another thing. We desire peace, and when we have established the Imperial Republic in France we shall not go to war.’

 

“I told Jean Coq that I was quite ready to believe him, and, what was more, that I saw that I had been mistaken and that my mistake was obvious; that Jean Coq, Jean Mouton, Jean Laiglon and Gilles Singe had sufficiently³ proved their love of peace by refusing to go and fight in China, whither they had been invited by beautiful white placards. ‘From that time forth,’ said I, ‘I realized the truly civil nature of your military sentiments, and the strength of your love for your country. You could not leave the soil of France. I beg you to accept my apologies, Monsieur Coq. I rejoice to see that you are as peacefully disposed as I.’

 

“Jean Coq looked at me with that eye that causes the world to tremble: ‘I am peacefully disposed, Monsieur Bergeret, but, thank God, not as you are. The peace I desire is not your peace. You are slavishly content with the peace that is forced upon us to-day. Our spirit is too great to endure it without impatience⁴. This feeble enervating⁵ peace which satisfies you, cruelly wounds the pride of our hearts. When we are the masters we shall make another peace; a terrible, clanking, spurred and booted, equestrian⁶ peace! We shall make a pitiless, savage⁷ peace, a threatening, horrible, blazing peace; a peace worthy⁸ of us; a peace which, more frightful⁹ than the most frightful war, will freeze the world with terror and kill all the English by inhibition. That, Monsieur Bergeret, is our manner of being pacific. In two or three months’ time our peace will burst upon the world and will set it in a blaze.’

 

“After this speech I was forced to admit that the Trublions were peacefully disposed, and thus was confirmed the truth of the oracle¹⁰ written upon an ancient sycamore leaf by the sibyl of Panzoust:

 

“‘Toi qui de vent¹¹ te repais,

Trublion, ma petite outre,

Si vraiment tu veux la paix,

Commence par¹² nous la f...’”

1 singe   

v.(轻微地)烧焦；烫焦；烤焦

参考例句：

• If the iron is too hot you'll singe that nightdress.如果熨斗过热，你会把睡衣烫焦。
• It is also important to singe knitted cloth to obtain a smooth surface.对针织物进行烧毛处理以获得光洁的表面也是很重要的。

2 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

3 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

4 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

5 enervating   

v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The folds of her scarlet silk gown gave off the enervating smell of poppies. 她那件大红绸袍的衣褶里发出销魂蚀骨的罂粟花香。 来自辞典例句

6 equestrian   

adj.骑马的；n.马术

参考例句：

• They all showed extraordinary equestrian skills.他们的骑术都很高超。
• I want to book two equestrian tickets.我想订两张马术比赛的票。

7 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

8 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

9 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

10 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

11 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

12 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。