"What thirst for news!"
"I admit it."
"And you expect to find it in the papers!"
It was a fact that I searched in vain for any definite news concerning the serious military and diplomatic situations. Always the same system of brief, touched-up telegrams. One would so much have liked to be certain of England's attitude. However, the theory of Italian neutrality seemed to be confirmed; one good point!
"What will the flying machines do?" I asked suddenly.
The subject interested me. I had visions of raids and fantastic combats à la Wells.
"Nothing at all!" Laquarrière broke in. "They haven't a ghost of a chance against Zeppelins."
He embarked1 on the praises of these Dreadnoughts of the air, one of which had gone two thousand kilometres without a stop, a few months before.
"I shouldn't be surprised to see them over Paris to-night!"
I tossed my head. He continued:
[Pg 67]
"Besides, as regards aeroplanes, you mustn't imagine that we're in any way superior to them in that line. They've beaten all our records lately, distance and height."
It was only one detail among many. He did not hide from me the fact that he had an extremely poor opinion of our state of preparation. Cipollina's tone and mistrust were repeated in him. I ventured to remark:
"Our troops in the East are tip-top."
"Perhaps, but you are hardly up to the same form."
What could one say without losing one's temper, a thing I was not in the least anxious to do.
After leaving the restaurant, we took a turn on the boulevards, where the increasing crowd was gathering3. Lost in the streams of people, alternately bumped into or elbowed, it was impossible to keep up a connected conversation. So much the better. I was quite willing to forget the presence of my companion.
I was haunted by the thought that it was my last evening of liberty ...; after to-morrow my uniform would impose upon me the strictest restraint. I was making use of the final respite4. I inhaled5 without displeasure the dusty air laden6 with the smells of acetylene gas and human emanations.
A lot of the shop windows had their shutters7 up and looked dismal8, and looking up one could make out insolent9 German inscriptions10. Angry bourgeois11 muttered as they passed, clenching12 their fists. People were talking of nothing but the hasty dismissals of the day before. The other shops flaunted13 their dazzling electric lights. The luminous14 sky-signs, intermit[Pg 68]tent and hallucinating, unrolled flamboyant15 zigzags16 and blazing coils. An unreal scene, well suited to the agitation17 of the hour! Soon it would be quenched18 and blotted19 out and dismal.... Paris was lavishing20 her final brilliance21. What gaps were to be made by to-morrow's call in this multitude promenading22 their quivering city with such pride! I tried to read his secret on the face of each man of an eligible23 age for military service. Was he going to rejoin? and I felt inclined to shout to him:
"I'm going, you know; I'm one of you!"
My glance rested approvingly on the sturdy-looking fellows whose martial24 air under their képis I could well imagine. With their heads held high and their hands behind their backs, most of them looked about them with a superlatively good-natured expression, quite innocent of swagger.
Laquarrière shouted down my ear:
"You all look as if you were starting out for a day's shooting!"
Oh! so I looked like the rest? Well, I was not sorry for it!
My companion persuaded me to finish up the evening in a music hall.
The place was full. Lots of people were treating themselves to an evening's amusement before the coming horrors. There was a sketch25, followed by several acrobatic turns. The audience was enthusiastic. But I was struck, nevertheless, by the coldness with which "the eccentric" Fergusson, usually the idol26 of the public, was received.
Laquarrière enlightened me by remarking:
We laughed together over the childishness of crowds,[Pg 69] for this "eccentric" said to be a Londoner, had perhaps been born at Javel. The three Alkenkirch brothers, the Dresden tight-rope walkers, had also disappeared from the programme.
Laquarrière whispered:
I had to echo him, but I thought to myself that if ever there had been a time when Chauvinism was excusable....
The show came to an end. There was not the usual rush for the doors when the curtain fell on the final scene of the little revue.
"The best part is still to come!" whispered my companion.
Laquarrière nudged me with his elbow.
"Now we're off!"
He assured me that the orchestra had had orders to delay striking up in order to give the audience time to work itself up.
True enough the uproar31 was increasing. The audience were on their feet, waving their sticks, and violently demanding:
"La Marseillaise!"
Laquarrière called my attention to the courtesans in the promenade32, who, delighting in an evening which promised to be fruitful, stood on tiptoe leaning on the arms of their chance-met companions, and stamping and shouting: "La Marseillaise!"
The conductor's baton33 gave three short taps. On the sudden abatement34 of the tumult35, rose the superb rhythm of the opening notes,—a virile36 introduction.
[Pg 70]
All the men had bared their heads simultaneously37.
No; not all.
"Hats off!" shouted someone behind us.
For whom was the order meant? For Laquarrière, I could see. He shrugged his shoulders to show that it pleased him to thwart38 such a fool. But the moment was ill-chosen. Other voices, already grown threatening, repeated:
"Hats off! Hats off!"
He gave way, smiling scornfully.
The orchestra excelled themselves. At the opening of the refrain the general attention was caught and held by the imperative39 call of the repeated high note, and the feelings of the audience carried away by the well-marked rhythm of the melody. A warlike jollity was abroad. I swear I had a momentary40 vision of risen troops hurling41 themselves in serried42 ranks against the hostile masses. I shivered. I was entering into communion with the multitude....
Laquarrière leant towards me and made some remark which I did not catch, but which I had to acknowledge with a smile.... My trance was over, I listened untroubled to the crash of the brasses43, as it grew in intensity44 and rose headlong to the heights, to die away in wild flourishes. Then from two thousand throats there rose a clamour which rolled like thunder round the roof. A new thrill ran through me; I was just going to shout ... when Laquarrière seized me by the arm.
"Let's be off!"
That restored things to their proper proportions.
"But what about you? It shook you up a bit, eh?"
[Pg 71]
I denied it obstinately46.
He walked back with me. We talked of nothing but the most ordinary things on the way. I was preoccupied47, almost melted. Why?... good heavens! because in a few minutes I was going to part from the only friend of my childhood, from the only fellow being who really knew me....
Should we ever see each other again?
In spite of my instinctive48 horror of any display of feeling, I could not help imagining that some heartfelt word would pass between us, some brotherly embrace draw us closer to each other ... and the prospect49 moved me.
Laquarrière soon settled the matter.
When we got to my door, he stopped suddenly and held out his hand saying:
"Well, so long, old chap! Hope your pack will weigh lightly on you!"
It just hit the nail on the head.
"So long, old chap!" I repeated.
He went off, swinging his stick.
Oh well, it was quite natural! We were nothing to each other. Nobody was anything to any one.... What idle fancies I had woven!
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1
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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2
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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3
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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4
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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8
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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9
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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10
inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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11
bourgeois
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| adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子 | |
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12
clenching
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 ) | |
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13
flaunted
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| v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的过去式和过去分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
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14
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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15
flamboyant
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| adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的 | |
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16
zigzags
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| n.锯齿形的线条、小径等( zigzag的名词复数 )v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的第三人称单数 ) | |
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17
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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18
quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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19
blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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20
lavishing
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的现在分词 ) | |
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21
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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22
promenading
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| v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 ) | |
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23
eligible
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| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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24
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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25
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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26
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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27
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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28
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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29
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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30
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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31
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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32
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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33
baton
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| n.乐队用指挥杖 | |
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34
abatement
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| n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销 | |
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35
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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36
virile
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| adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的 | |
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37
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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38
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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39
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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40
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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41
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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42
serried
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| adj.拥挤的；密集的 | |
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43
brasses
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| n.黄铜( brass的名词复数 )；铜管乐器；钱；黄铜饰品（尤指马挽具上的黄铜圆片） | |
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44
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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45
patriots
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| 爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 ) | |
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46
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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47
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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48
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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49
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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