“Upon my word,” said Colonel Laporte, “although I am old and gouty, my legs as stiff as two pieces of wood, yet if a pretty woman were to tell me to go through the eye of a needle, I believe I should take a jump at it, like a clown through a hoop1. I shall die like that; it is in the blood. I am an old beau, one of the old school, and the sight of a woman, a pretty woman, stirs me to the tips of my toes. There!
“We are all very much alike in France in this respect; we still remain knights2, knights of love and fortune, since God has been abolished whose bodyguard3 we really were. But nobody can ever get woman out of our hearts; there she is, and there she will remain, and we love her, and shall continue to love her, and go on committing all kinds of follies4 on her account as long as there is a France on the map of Europe; and even if France were to be wiped off the map, there would always be Frenchmen left.
“When I am in the presence of a woman, of a pretty woman, I feel capable of anything. By Jove! when I feel her looks penetrating5 me, her confounded looks which set your blood on fire, I should like to do I don't know what; to fight a duel6, to have a row, to smash the furniture, in order to show that I am the strongest, the bravest, the most daring and the most devoted7 of men.
“But I am not the only one, certainly not; the whole French army is like me, I swear to you. From the common soldier to the general, we all start out, from the van to the rear guard, when there is a woman in the case, a pretty woman. Do you remember what Joan of Arc made us do formerly8? Come. I will make a bet that if a pretty woman had taken command of the army on the eve of Sedan, when Marshal MacMahon was wounded, we should have broken through the Prussian lines, by Jove! and had a drink out of their guns.
“It was not a Trochu, but a Sainte-Genevieve, who was needed in Paris; and I remember a little anecdote9 of the war which proves that we are capable of everything in presence of a woman.
“I was a captain, a simple captain, at the time, and I was in command of a detachment of scouts11, who were retreating through a district which swarmed12 with Prussians. We were surrounded, pursued, tired out and half dead with fatigue13 and hunger, but we were bound to reach Bar-sur-Tain before the morrow, otherwise we should be shot, cut down, massacred. I do not know how we managed to escape so far. However, we had ten leagues to go during the night, ten leagues through the night, ten leagues through the snow, and with empty stomachs, and I thought to myself:
“'It is all over; my poor devils of fellows will never be able to do it.'
“We had eaten nothing since the day before, and the whole day long we remained hidden in a barn, huddled15 close together, so as not to feel the cold so much, unable to speak or even move, and sleeping by fits and starts, as one does when worn out with fatigue.
“It was dark by five o'clock, that wan16 darkness of the snow, and I shook my men. Some of them would not get up; they were almost incapable17 of moving or of standing18 upright; their joints19 were stiff from cold and hunger.
“Before us there was a large expanse of flat, bare country; the snow was still falling like a curtain, in large, white flakes20, which concealed21 everything under a thick, frozen coverlet, a coverlet of frozen wool One might have thought that it was the end of the world.
“'Come, my lads, let us start.'
“They looked at the thick white flakes that were coming down, and they seemed to think: 'We have had enough of this; we may just as well die here!' Then I took out my revolver and said:
“'I will shoot the first man who flinches22.' And so they set off, but very slowly, like men whose legs were of very little use to them, and I sent four of them three hundred yards ahead to scout10, and the others followed pell-mell, walking at random23 and without any order. I put the strongest in the rear, with orders to quicken the pace of the sluggards with the points of their bayonets in the back.
“The snow seemed as if it were going to bury us alive; it powdered our kepis and cloaks without melting, and made phantoms24 of us, a kind of spectres of dead, weary soldiers. I said to myself: 'We shall never get out of this except by a miracle.'
“Sometimes we had to stop for a few minutes, on account of those who could not follow us, and then we heard nothing except the falling snow, that vague, almost undiscernible sound made by the falling flakes. Some of the men shook themselves, others did not move, and so I gave the order to set off again. They shouldered their rifles, and with weary feet we resumed our march, when suddenly the scouts fell back. Something had alarmed them; they had heard voices in front of them. I sent forward six men and a sergeant25 and waited.
“All at once a shrill26 cry, a woman's cry, pierced through the heavy silence of the snow, and in a few minutes they brought back two prisoners, an old man and a girl, whom I questioned in a low voice. They were escaping from the Prussians, who had occupied their house during the evening and had got drunk. The father was alarmed on his daughter's account, and, without even telling their servants, they had made their escape in the darkness. I saw immediately that they belonged to the better class. I invited them to accompany us, and we started off again, the old man who knew the road acting27 as our guide.
“It had ceased snowing, the stars appeared and the cold became intense. The girl, who was leaning on her father's arm, walked unsteadily as though in pain, and several times she murmured:
“'I have no feeling at all in my feet'; and I suffered more than she did to see that poor little woman dragging herself like that through the snow. But suddenly she stopped and said:
“'Father, I am so tired that I cannot go any further.'
“The old man wanted to carry her, but he could not even lift her up, and she sank to the ground with a deep sigh. We all gathered round her, and, as for me, I stamped my foot in perplexity, not knowing what to do, and being unwilling28 to abandon that man and girl like that, when suddenly one of the soldiers, a Parisian whom they had nicknamed Pratique, said:
“'Come, comrades, we must carry the young lady, otherwise we shall not show ourselves Frenchmen, confound it!'
“I really believe that I swore with pleasure. 'That is very good of you, my children,' I said; 'and I will take my share of the burden.'
“We could indistinctly see, through the darkness, the trees of a little wood on the left. Several of the men went into it, and soon came back with a bundle of branches made into a litter.
“'Who will lend his cape14? It is for a pretty girl, comrades,' Pratique said, and ten cloaks were thrown to him. In a moment the girl was lying, warm and comfortable, among them, and was raised upon six shoulders. I placed myself at their head, on the right, well pleased with my position.
“We started off much more briskly, as if we had had a drink of wine, and I even heard some jokes. A woman is quite enough to electrify29 Frenchmen, you see. The soldiers, who had become cheerful and warm, had almost reformed their ranks, and an old 'franc-tireur' who was following the litter, waiting for his turn to replace the first of his comrades who might give out, said to one of his neighbors, loud enough for me to hear: “'I am not a young man now, but by—-, there is nothing like the women to put courage into you!'
“We went on, almost without stopping, until three o'clock in the morning, when suddenly our scouts fell back once more, and soon the whole detachment showed nothing but a vague shadow on the ground, as the men lay on the snow. I gave my orders in a low voice, and heard the harsh, metallic30 sound of the cocking, of rifles. For there, in the middle of the plain, some strange object was moving about. It looked like some enormous animal running about, now stretching out like a serpent, now coiling itself into a ball, darting31 to the right, then to the left, then stopping, and presently starting off again. But presently that wandering shape came nearer, and I saw a dozen lancers at full gallop32, one behind the other. They had lost their way and were trying to find it.
“They were so near by that time that I could hear the loud breathing of their horses, the clinking of their swords and the creaking of their saddles, and cried: 'Fire!'
“Fifty rifle shots broke the stillness of the night, then there were four or five reports, and at last one single shot was heard, and when the smoke had cleared away, we saw that the twelve men and nine horses had fallen. Three of the animals were galloping33 away at a furious pace, and one of them was dragging the dead body of its rider, which rebounded34 violently from the ground; his foot had caught in the stirrup.
“One of the soldiers behind me gave a terrible laugh and said: 'There will be some widows there!'
“Perhaps he was married. A third added: 'It did not take long!'
“A head emerged from the litter.
“'What is the matter?' she asked; 'are you fighting?'
“'It is nothing, mademoiselle,' I replied; 'we have got rid of a dozen Prussians!'
“'Poor fellows!' she said. But as she was cold, she quickly disappeared beneath the cloaks again, and we started off once more. We marched on for a long time, and at last the sky began to grow lighter35. The snow became quite clear, luminous36 and glistening37, and a rosy38 tint39 appeared in the east. Suddenly a voice in the distance cried:
“'Who goes there?'
“The whole detachment halted, and I advanced to give the countersign40. We had reached the French lines, and, as my men defiled41 before the outpost, a commandant on horseback, whom I had informed of what had taken place, asked in a sonorous42 voice, as he saw the litter pass him: 'What have you in there?'
“And immediately a small head covered with light hair appeared, dishevelled and smiling, and replied:
“'It is I, monsieur.'
“At this the men raised a hearty43 laugh, and we felt quite light-hearted, while Pratique, who was walking by the side of the litter, waved his kepi and shouted:
“'Vive la France!' And I felt really affected44. I do not know why, except that I thought it a pretty and gallant45 thing to say.
“It seemed to me as if we had just saved the whole of France and had done something that other men could not have done, something simple and really patriotic46. I shall never forget that little face, you may be sure; and if I had to give my opinion about abolishing drums, trumpets47 and bugles48, I should propose to replace them in every regiment49 by a pretty girl, and that would be even better than playing the 'Marseillaise: By Jove! it would put some spirit into a trooper to have a Madonna like that, a live Madonna, by the colonel's side.”
He was silent for a few moments and then continued, with an air of conviction, and nodding his head:
“All the same, we are very fond of women, we Frenchmen!”
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收听单词发音
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1
hoop
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| n.（篮球）篮圈，篮 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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3
bodyguard
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| n.护卫，保镖 | |
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follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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5
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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10
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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12
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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15
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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16
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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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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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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flinches
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的第三人称单数 ) | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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25
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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electrify
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| v.使充电；使电气化；使触电；使震惊；使兴奋 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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31
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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32
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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34
rebounded
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| 弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效 | |
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35
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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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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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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38
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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39
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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40
countersign
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| v.副署，会签 | |
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41
defiled
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| v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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42
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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43
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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44
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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45
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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46
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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47
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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48
bugles
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| 妙脆角，一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食； 号角( bugle的名词复数 )； 喇叭； 匍匐筋骨草； （装饰女服用的）柱状玻璃（或塑料）小珠 | |
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49
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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