On May 30, Tograth debarked at Marseilles. The people were massed along the quays8; Tograth landed from the steamer in a launch. No sooner was he recognized than cries, shouts, toasts, from innumerable gullets mingled9 with the sound of the wind, the waves and the sirens of the vessels10. Tograth, tall and thin, was standing11 up in the launch. As it approached the land, the features of the hero could be distinguished12 more and more clearly. His face was smooth-shaven and blue, his mouth almost lipless, disfigured by an ugly cut; he had a receding13 chin which gave him the appearance, one might have said, of a shark. His brow rose straight up, very high and very large. Tograth was dressed in a pasty white costume, his shoes also being white and high-heeled. He wore no hat. As soon as he placed his foot upon the soil of Marseilles the furor14 of the crowd rose to such heights that when the quays were cleared three hundred people were found dead, strangled, trampled15, crushed. Several men seized the hero and raised him upon their shoulders while they sang and shouted, and women threw flowers at him all the way to the hotel where a suite16 had been prepared for him and managers, interpreters and bell-boys were waiting to greet him.
* * *
On the same morning, Croniamantal coming from Brünn had arrived at Marseilles to look for Tristouse who had been there since the evening before with Paponat. All three mingled in the crowd which acclaimed17 Tograth before the hotel where he was to stop.
"Happy tumult," said Tristouse, "You are not a poet, Paponat, you have learned things which are worth infinitely18 more than poetry. Is it not true, Paponat, that you are in no way a poet?"
"Indeed, my dear," replied Paponat, "I have rhymed at times in order to amuse myself, but I am not a poet, I am an excellent business man and no one knows better than I how to manage an estate."
"Tonight you must mail a letter to La Voix of Adelaide; you must tell them all that, and so you will be safe."
"I shall not fail to do that," said Paponat. "Did you ever hear of such a thing, a poet! That goes for Croniamantal."
"I hope to God," said Tristouse, "that they will massacre19 him in Brünn where he expects to find us."
"But there he is right now," whispered Paponat. "He is in the crowd. He is hiding himself and hasn't seen us."
"I wish they would hurry up and massacre him," sighed Tristouse. "I have an idea that that will happen soon."
"Look," exclaimed Paponat, "here comes the hero."
* * *
The cortège which accompanied Tograth arrived at the hotel, and he was permitted to descend20 from their shoulders. Tograth turned to the crowd and addressed them:
"Citizens of Marseilles, in thanking you I could employ, if I wished, compliments that are fatter than your world-renowned sardines21. I could, if I wished, make a long speech. But words will never quite encompass22 the magnificence of the reception which you have accorded me. I know that there are maladies in your midst that I might heal not only with my knowledge but with that which scientists have accumulated for myriads23 of years. Bring forth24 the sick, and I shall heal them."
A man whose cranium was as bald as that of an inhabitant of Mycona cried:
"Thy sterile27 pate28 shall be covered with an abundant vegetation, but remember always this favor by hating the laurel."
"Sweet man, sweet man, look at my mouth, my lover with a blow of his fist has broken several teeth. Return them to me."
The scientist smiled and put his finger into her mouth, saying: "Now thou canst chew, thou hast excellent teeth. But in return, show us what thou hast in thy bag."
The girl laughed, opening her mouth in which the new teeth gleamed; then she opened her bag, excusing herself:
"What a funny idea, before everybody! Here are my keys, here an enamelled photograph of my lover; he really looks better than that."
But the eyes of Tograth were greedy; he had perceived all folded up in her bag several Parisian songs, rhymed and set to Viennese airs. He took these papers and after having scrutinized30 them, asked:
"These are nothing but songs, hast thou no poems?"
"I have a very lovely one," said the girl. "It was the bell-boy of the Hotel Victoria wrote it for me before he left for Switzerland. But I never showed it to Sossi."
My dear beloved, ere I go away,
And thy love, Maria, I betray,
If you'd come with me to the woods, we twain,(!)
All would be sweeter; our parting would not pain.
And he tore up the paper and threw it into the ditch, while the girl knocked her teeth in fright and cried:
"Sweet man, good man, I did not know that it was bad."
Just then Croniamantal advanced close to Tograth and apostrophized the crowd:
They burst into laughter. They yelled:
"Into the water with him, the rat."
And Tograth, looking Croniamantal in the face, said:
"My good brother, let not my affluence35 disturb you. As for me, I love the people, even though I stop at hotels which they do not frequent."
The poet let Tograth talk, then he continued to address the crowd:
"Carrion, laugh at me, your joys are numbered, each one of them will be torn from you one by one. And do you know, o people, what your hero is?"
Tograth smiled and the crowd became all attention. The poet continued:
A cry of astonishment38 issued from all the throats. Women crossed themselves. Tograth wanted to speak, but Croniamantal seized him suddenly by the neck, threw him to the ground and held him there with his foot on the man's chest, while he spoke39:
"He is Boredom and Misery, the monstrous40 enemy of man, the Behemoth glutted41 with debauchery and rape42, dripping the blood of marvellous poets. He is the vomit43 of the Antipodes, and his miracles deceive the clairvoyant44 no more than the miracles of Simon the Magi did the Apostles. Marseillais, Marseillais, woe45 that you whose ancestors come from the most purely46 lyrical land, should unite with the enemies of poetry, with the barbarians47 of all the nations. What a strange miracle, this, of the German returned from Australia! To have imposed it upon the world and to have been for a moment stronger than creation itself, stronger than immortal48 poetry."
But Tograth who was able to extricate49 himself at last, arose, soiled with dust and drunk with rage. He asked:
"Who are you?"
"Who are you, who are you?" cried the crowd.
"I am Croniamantal, the greatest of living poets. I have often seen God face to face, I have borne the divine rapture51 which my human eyes tempered. I was born in eternity52. But the day has come, and I am here before you."
Tograth greeted these last words with a terrible burst of laughter, and the first ranks of the crowd seeing Tograth laugh, took up his laughter, which, in bursts, in rolls, in trills, was soon communicated throughout the entire populace, even to Paponat and Tristouse Ballerinette. All of the open mouths yawned at Croniamantal, who became ill at ease. Interspersed53 with the laughter were shouts of:
"Into the water with the poet!... Burn him, Croniamantal!... To the dogs with him, lover of the laurel!"
A man who was in the first ranks and carried a heavy club gave Croniamantal a blow, causing him to make a painful grimace54 which doubled the merriment of the crowd. A stone, accurately55 thrown, struck the nose of the poet and drew blood. A fish merchant forced his way through the mob and, confronting Croniamantal, said:
"Hou! the raven56. I remember you, all right, you're a policeman who wanted to pass for a poet; there, cow; take that, story teller57."
And he gave him a terrific slap, spitting in his face. The man whom Tograth had cured of alopecia came to him and said:
"Look at my hair, is it a false miracle or not?"
And lifting his cane58, he thrust it so adroitly59 that he gouged60 out Croniamantal's right eye. Croniamantal fell over backward, women threw themselves upon him and beat him. Tristouse jumped up and down with joy, while Paponat tried to calm her. But she went over and with the end of her umbrella stuck out Croniamantal's other eye, while he, seeing her in this last moment of sight, cried:
"I confess my love for Tristouse Ballerinette, the divine poesy that consoles my soul."
"Shut up, vermin!" cried the crowd of men, "there are ladies here."
The women went away soon, and a man who was balancing a large knife on his open hand threw it in such a way that it landed right in the open mouth of Croniamantal. Other men did the same thing. The knives stuck in his belly61, his chest, and soon there was nothing more on the ground than a corpse62 bristling63 with points like the husk of a chestnut64.
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1
pillaged
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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3
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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4
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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5
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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7
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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8
quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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9
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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10
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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11
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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12
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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13
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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14
furor
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| n.狂热；大骚动 | |
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15
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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16
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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17
acclaimed
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| adj.受人欢迎的 | |
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18
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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19
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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20
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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21
sardines
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| n. 沙丁鱼 | |
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22
encompass
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| vt.围绕，包围；包含，包括；完成 | |
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23
myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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24
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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25
puissant
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| adj.强有力的 | |
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26
denuded
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| adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物 | |
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27
sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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28
pate
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| n.头顶；光顶 | |
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29
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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33
idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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34
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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35
affluence
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| n.充裕，富足 | |
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36
boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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37
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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38
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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39
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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40
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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41
glutted
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| v.吃得过多( glut的过去式和过去分词 )；（对胃口、欲望等）纵情满足；使厌腻；塞满 | |
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42
rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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43
vomit
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| v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物 | |
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44
clairvoyant
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| adj.有预见的；n.有预见的人 | |
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45
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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46
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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47
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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48
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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49
extricate
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| v.拯救，救出；解脱 | |
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50
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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51
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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52
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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53
interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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54
grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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55
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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56
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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57
teller
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| n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员 | |
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58
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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59
adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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60
gouged
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| v.凿( gouge的过去式和过去分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出… | |
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61
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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62
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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63
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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64
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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