[Pg 24]
He therefore judged it expedient1 not to go to sleep again. Daybreak is late in Strasbourg in the month of December, and the narrow streets keep the light from the ground floors. It must be about seven. Supposing that it took him an hour to dress and to go to M. Schneider's house, he would arrive there just about breakfast time. He finished an elegant toilet just as Madame Teutch entered.
"Lord!" she cried, "are you going to a wedding?"
"No," replied the boy, "I am going to see M. Schneider."
"What are you thinking of, my dear child! You look like an aristocrat2. If you were eighteen years old instead of thirteen, they would cut off your head on account of your appearance. Away with your fine clothes, and bring out your travelling suit of yesterday; it is good enough for the Monk3 of Cologne."
And citizeness Teutch, with a few dexterous4 movements, soon had her lodger5 clothed in his other garments. He let her do it, marvelling6 at her quickness and blushing a little at the contact of her plump hand, whose whiteness betrayed her innate7 coquetry.
"There, now go and see your man," she said; "but be careful to call him citizen, or else, no matter how well you are recommended, you will come to grief."
The boy thanked her for her good counsel, and asked her if she had any other advice to give him.
"No," she said, shaking her head, "except to come back as soon as possible, for I am going to prepare a little breakfast for you and your neighbor in No. 15, the equal of which he has never eaten, aristocrat as he is. And now go!"
With the adorable instinct of maternity10 which exists in the hearts of all women, Madame Teutch had conceived a tender affection for her new guest, and took upon herself the direction of his conduct. He on his side, young as he was and feeling the need of that gentle affection which makes life easier for all, was willing to follow her instruction, as he would have obeyed the commands of a mother.
He therefore let her kiss him on both cheeks, and, after[Pg 25] inquiring the way to Euloge Schneider's house, left the H?tel de la Lanterne to take the first step in the wide world, as the Germans say—that first step upon which the whole future life often depends.
He passed the cathedral; but as he was not looking about him, he came near receiving his death-blow. A saint's head fell at his feet, and was almost immediately followed by a statue of the Virgin11 embracing her Son.
He turned in the direction whence the double missile had come, and perceived a man, hammer in hand, astride the shoulders of a colossal12 apostle, who was making havoc13 with the saints, the first fruits of which labor14 had fallen at the boy's feet. A dozen men were laughing and approving this desecration15.
The boy crossed the Breuil, stopped before a modest little house, went up a few steps, and rang the bell.
A crabbed16 old servant opened the door and subjected him to a severe cross-examination. When he had replied satisfactorily to all her questions, she grumblingly17 admitted him to the dining-room, saying: "Wait there. Citizen Schneider is coming to breakfast, and you can talk to him then, since you say you have something to tell him."
When Charles was left alone, he cast a rapid glance around the room. It was very plain, being ceiled with wood and having for sole ornament18 two crossed sabres.
And then the terrible judge-advocate of the Revolutionary Commission of the Lower Rhine entered behind the old woman.
He passed near the boy without seeing him, or at least without appearing to notice him, and seated himself at the table, where he bravely attacked a pyramid of oysters19, flanked by a dish of anchovies20 and a bowl of olives.
Let us profit by this pause to sketch21 in a few lines the physical and moral portrait of the strange and terrible man whose acquaintance Charles was about to make.
Jean-Georges Schneider, who had either given himself or had been endowed with the name of Euloge, was a man[Pg 26] of thirty-seven or eight years of age, ugly, fat, short, common, with round limbs, round shoulders, and a round head. The most striking thing about his strange appearance was that he had his hair cut short, while he let his enormous eyebrows22 grow as long and as thick as they pleased. These eyebrows, bushy, black and tufted, shadowed yellow eyes, bordered with red rims23.
He had begun by being a monk, hence his surname of the Monk of Cologne, which his name of Euloge had not been able to efface24. Born in Franconia, of poor laboring25 parents, he had by his talents won the patronage26 of the village priest in his childhood, and the latter had taught him the elements of Latin. His rapid progress enabled him to go to the Jesuit college at Wurzburg. He was expelled from the illustrious society on account of misconduct, sank to the depths of misery27, and finally entered a convent of Franciscans at Bamberg.
His studies finished, he was thought competent to become professor of Hebrew, and was sent to Augsburg. Called, in 1786, to the court of Duke Charles of Wurtemburg as chaplain, he preached there with success, and devoted28 three-fourths of the revenues which accrued29 to him to the support of his family. It is said that it was here that he joined the sect30 of the Illuminated31, organized by the famous Weishaupt, which explains the ardor32 with which he adopted the principles of the French Revolution. At that time, full of ambition, impatient under restraint, and devoured33 by ardent34 passions, he published a catechism which was so liberal that he was obliged to cross the Rhine and establish himself at Strasbourg, where, on the 27th of June, 1791, he was appointed episcopal vicar and dean of the theological faculty35; then, far from refusing the civic36 oath, he not only took it, but preached in the cathedral, mingling37 together comments on political incidents and religious teachings with singular zeal38.
Before the 10th of August, he demanded the abdication39 of Louis XVI., the while protesting against being styled a[Pg 27] Republican. From that moment he fought with desperate courage against the royalist party, which had in Strasbourg, as well as in the neighboring provinces, many powerful adherents40. This struggle earned him, toward the end of 1792, the post of mayor of Haguenau.
Finally he was appointed to the post of public accuser of the Lower Rhine on the 19th of February, and was invested on the 5th of the following May with the title of Commissioner41 of the Revolutionary Tribunal of Strasbourg. Then it was that the terrible thirst for blood, to which his natural violence drove him, burst forth42. Urged on by feverish43 excitement, when he was not needed at Strasbourg, he went about the neighborhood with his terrible escort, followed by the executioner and the guillotine.
Then, upon the slightest pretext44, he stopped at towns which had hoped never to see his fatal instrument, set up the guillotine, established a tribunal, tried, judged, and executed. In the midst of this bloody45 orgy he brought the paper money up to par9, money that had hitherto been worth only eighty-five per cent. He also, by his own unaided efforts, procured46 more grain for the army, which was in need of almost everything, than all the other commissioners47 in the district put together. And finally, from the 5th of November to the 11th of December, he had sent at least thirty-one persons to their death in Strasbourg, Mutzig, Barr, Obernai, Epfig, and Schlestadt.
Although our young friend was ignorant of most of these things, and especially of the latter, it was not without a feeling of genuine terror that he found himself in the presence of the formidable pro-consul. But, reflecting that he, unlike the others, had a protector in the man by whom so many were menaced, he soon regained48 his composure, and after seeking how best to open the conversation, he thought he had found a way in the oysters that Schneider was eating.
[Pg 28]
"I do not mean to say anything at all, citizen Schneider; but I know you are a scholar, and I wanted to attract your attention to a poor little boy like me, and I thought to do it by quoting a language that is familiar to you, and a saying from an author whom you like."
"Faith, that is well said!"
"Recommended to Euloge much more than to the citizen Schneider, I ought to speak as well as possible in order to be worthy51 of the recommendation."
"And who recommended you?" asked Euloge, wheeling his chair so as to face the boy.
"My father. Here is his letter."
Euloge took the letter and recognized the handwriting.
"Ah, ha! an old friend." He read it from one end to the other; then he said, "Your father certainly writes the purest Latin of any one living." Then, holding out his hand to the boy, he asked, "Will you breakfast with me?"
Charles glanced at the table, and his face probably betrayed his lack of appreciation52 of a fare at once so luxurious53 and so frugal54.
"No, I understand," laughed Schneider; "a young stomach like yours needs something more solid than anchovies and olives. Come to dinner; I dine to-day informally with three friends. If your father were here he would make the fourth, and you shall take his place. Will you have a glass of beer to drink your father's health?"
"Oh! with pleasure," cried the boy, taking the glass and clinking it against that of the scholar. But as it was an enormous one, he could only drink half.
"Well?" asked Schneider.
"We can drink the rest a little later to the welfare of the Republic," answered the boy; "but the glass is too big for me to empty at a single draught55."
Schneider looked at him with something akin8 to tenderness. "Faith! he is very nice," he observed. Then, as the[Pg 29] old servant brought in the French and German papers at that moment, he asked: "Do you know German?"
"Not a word."
"Very well; then I will teach you."
"With the Greek?"
"With the Greek. So you are ambitious to learn Greek?"
"It is my only wish."
"We will try to satisfy it. Here is the 'Moniteur Fran?ais'; read it while I look over the 'Vienna Gazette.'"
There was a moment's silence as they both began to read.
"Oh, oh!" said Euloge, as he read. "'At this hour Strasbourg will have been taken, and our victorious56 troops are probably on the march to Paris.' They are reckoning without Pichegru, Saint-Just, and myself."
"'We are masters of the advanced works of Toulon,'" said Charles, also reading; "'and before three or four days will have passed we shall be masters of the entire town, and the Republic will be avenged57.'"
"What is the date of your 'Moniteur'?" asked Euloge.
"The 8th," replied the child.
"Does it say anything else?"
"'In the session of the 6th, Robespierre read a reply to the manifesto58 of the Allied59 Powers. The Convention ordered it to be printed and translated into every language.'"
"Go on," said Schneider. The child continued:
"'The 7th, Billaud-Varennes reported that the rebels of the Vendée, having made an attempt upon the city of Angers, were beaten and driven away by the garrison60, with whom the inhabitants had united.'"
"Long live the Republic!" cried Schneider.
"'Madame Dubarry, condemned61 to death the 7th, was executed the same day, with the banker Van Deniver, her lover. The old prostitute completely lost her head before the executioner cut it off. She wept and struggled, and called for help; but the people replied to her appeals with[Pg 30] hoots62 and maledictions. They remembered the extravagances of which she and such as she had been the cause, and the public misery that had resulted.'"
"The infamous63 creature!" said Schneider. "After having dishonored the throne, nothing must do but she must dishonor the scaffold also."
Just then two soldiers entered, whose uniforms, though familiar to Schneider, made Charles shiver in spite of himself. They were dressed in black, with two crossbones above the tri-color cockade on their caps. White braid on their black cloaks and jackets gave the effect of the ribs64 of a skeleton; and their sabre-taches were ornamented65 with a skull66 and crossbones. They belonged to the regiment67 of "Hussars of Death," in which no one enlisted68 without having first vowed69 not to be made a prisoner. A dozen soldiers from this regiment formed Schneider's bodyguard70, and served him as messengers. When he saw these men, Schneider rose.
"Now," said he to the young boy, "you can stay or go as you please. I must go and send off my couriers. Only do not forget that we dine at two o'clock, and that you dine with us."
Then, bowing slightly to Charles, he entered his study with his escort.
The offer to remain did not appear to be particularly attractive to the boy. He rose as Schneider left the room, and waited until he had entered his study, and the door had shut upon the two sinister71 guards who accompanied him. Then, seizing his cap, he darted72 from the room, sprang down the three steps at the entrance, and, running all the way, reached good Madame Teutch's kitchen, shouting: "I am almost starved! Here I am!"
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
expedient
|
|
| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
aristocrat
|
|
| n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
monk
|
|
| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
dexterous
|
|
| adj.灵敏的；灵巧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
lodger
|
|
| n.寄宿人，房客 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
marvelling
|
|
| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
innate
|
|
| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
akin
|
|
| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
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： |
|
|
|
|
10
maternity
|
|
| n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
virgin
|
|
| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
colossal
|
|
| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
havoc
|
|
| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
labor
|
|
| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
desecration
|
|
| n. 亵渎神圣, 污辱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
crabbed
|
|
| adj.脾气坏的；易怒的；（指字迹）难辨认的；（字迹等）难辨认的v.捕蟹( crab的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
grumblingly
|
|
| 喃喃报怨着，发牢骚着 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
18
ornament
|
|
| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
oysters
|
|
| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
anchovies
|
|
| n. 鯷鱼，凤尾鱼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
sketch
|
|
| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
rims
|
|
| n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
efface
|
|
| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
laboring
|
|
| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
patronage
|
|
| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
accrued
|
|
| adj.权责已发生的v.增加( accrue的过去式和过去分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
sect
|
|
| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
ardor
|
|
| n.热情，狂热 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
devoured
|
|
| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
ardent
|
|
| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
faculty
|
|
| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
civic
|
|
| adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
mingling
|
|
| adj.混合的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
zeal
|
|
| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
abdication
|
|
| n.辞职；退位 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
adherents
|
|
| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
commissioner
|
|
| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
feverish
|
|
| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
pretext
|
|
| n.借口，托词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
procured
|
|
| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
commissioners
|
|
| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
regained
|
|
| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
insinuate
|
|
| vt.含沙射影地说，暗示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
appreciation
|
|
| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
luxurious
|
|
| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
frugal
|
|
| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
draught
|
|
| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
victorious
|
|
| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
avenged
|
|
| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
manifesto
|
|
| n.宣言，声明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
allied
|
|
| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
garrison
|
|
| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
condemned
|
|
| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
hoots
|
|
| 咄，啐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
infamous
|
|
| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
ribs
|
|
| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
ornamented
|
|
| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
skull
|
|
| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
regiment
|
|
| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
enlisted
|
|
| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
vowed
|
|
| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
bodyguard
|
|
| n.护卫，保镖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
sinister
|
|
| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |